IGIHE

Author: admin

  • Kenya Targets 1.3m Chinese tourists

    {{Kenya is seeking to draw in more tourists from China and reduce the country’s reliance on traditional source markets in Europe.}}

    President Uhuru Kenyatta is promoting Kenya as a tourist destination during the ongoing state visit to China where hundreds of millions have joined the middle class following decades of steady economic growth.

    It remains to be seen whether Kenya can meet the ambitious target of booking at least 1.3 million Chinese visitors per year, with tourists from the Asian country currently standing at less than 8,000.

    Economic growth has seen more Chinese citizens travel around the world for leisure and shopping but their visits to Kenya are restricted to business.

    Europe continues to be the key source of holidaymakers coming to Kenya, accounting for three in five of the visitors to Kenya last year, according to the Economic Survey 2013.

    {Businessdaily}

  • Tanzania Speaksout on Move to Expel Rwandans

    {{Tanzania has denied claims that its recent expulsion of illegal immigrants from the country’s Kagera region targeted Rwandans because of the souring in relations between the two countries.}}

    Director of Communications at Tanzania’s State House Salva Rweyemamu said the move was directed at all illegal immigrants in the region and not Rwandans alone.

    On July 29, President Jakaya Kikwete gave a two-week ultimatum to illegal immigrants to leave the region, a development that has resulted in a bitter war of words between Kigali and Dar es Salaam.

    In an interview with The EastAfrican, Rweyemamu said the ultimatum expired on August 12 and the operation to remove illegal immigrants was expected to start any time from now.

    It will involve security forces and the military. It will be humanitarian and intended to help those who cannot go back to their countries to do so.

    Rweyemamu denied relations between the countries had been affected by the bitter exchange of words following President Kikwete’s May 26 remark urging Rwanda to seek talks with the Democratic Forces for Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a remnant Hutu militia group that is based in eastern DR Congo.

    “Internally, we have no problem with any country. Rwanda and Tanzania remain two friendly countries, the borders of the two countries and diplomatic channels are open, and we continue to communicate as usual,” he said.

    {agencies}

  • Uganda Constructing Road to South Sudan

    Uganda has today started the construction of a modern road linking the East african country to South Sudan.

    President Yoweri Museveni (Wednesday) presides over the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Atiak-Nimule road from Uganda to South Sudan.

    The construction work will be undertaken by the China Railway Wuju (Group) Corporation.

    “Travel between Kampala and Bibia at the border with South Sudan is still a nightmare with unacceptably long journey times. With the upgrading of this road, we hope to solve this problem and this will enhance the trade between Uganda and Southern Sudan,” said Uganda’s transport Minister, Abraham Byandaala.

  • US wants quicker hearings for 9/11 suspects

    {{The US government is pushing for an acceleration of preliminary hearings in the case of five alleged September 11 plotters as proceedings resumed in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.}}

    Lead prosecutor Brigadier General Mark Martins told the court on Tuesday he hoped to see progress “this week” after prosecutors filed a motion calling for a September 2014 trial date.

    Self-declared mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, wearing camouflage garb and his beard tinted with henna, appeared in the military court at the US prison in Cuba with his four co-defendants.

    All face the death penalty if convicted of plotting the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, which left nearly 3,000 people dead. Preliminary hearings in the case began in May 2012.

    “The current practice of being in court for five days approximately every six weeks is inefficient and will result in litigation that is unnecessarily prolonged, and does not serve the interests of justice,” the prosecutors’ motion said.

    Defence lawyers countered, however, that their efforts had been hindered by a variety of factors.

    wirestory

  • Zimbabwe court rules disputed election ‘fair’

    {{Zimbabwe’s constitutional court has ruled that a disputed elections which handed Robert Mugabe five more years in power were free and fair, dismissing allegations of vote-rigging.}}

    “The Zimbabwe presidential election held on 31st July, 2013 was in accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe,” Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku said on Tuesday.

    “The said election was free, fair and credible.”

    Meanwhile, the US State Department said it believed Zimbabwe’s election was flawed and it did not plan to loosen sanctions against Mugabe’s government until there are signs of change in the country.

    The US imposed sanctions on Mugabe in 2003. The sanctions, which ban more than 250 Zimbabwean individuals and companies from doing business with the US, were extended in 2009.

    Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, is set to be sworn in as president as early as this week, extending his 33-year rule of the country after winning the July 31 election.

    The 15-nation Southern African Development Community, which helped broker a power-sharing deal after disputed elections in Zimbabwe in 2008, backed Mugabe’s re-election on Sunday.

    The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, dropped its court challenge on Friday to Mugabe’s landslide win, saying it doubted it would get a fair hearing.

    The Zimbabwe Election Support Network said registration flaws may have disenfranchised up to a million people out of 6.4 million registered voters.

    Source{: Al Jazeera and agencies}

  • Libyan Troops Clash With Striking oil Workers

    {{Libyan authorities have clashed with striking oil workers and blocked attempts by strikers to sell oil themselves at the country’s largest crude terminal.}}

    The head of Libya’s Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), Edris Abokhamada, said he had contacted the defence ministry for reinforcements after clashes on Tuesday at the Zueitina oil port, which has been shut since mid-July.

    “The protesters are still inside the port but the citizens want them to leave,” Abokhamada told the Reuters news agency. “The Zueitina port protesters fired on civilians when they asked them to leave. One is injured.”

    Independent confirmation of the shooting was not immediately available.

    Local resistance to strikes has shown the stranglehold on Libya’s vital oil exports loosening, industry sources in the country say. A second oil port, Marsa al-Brega, reopened on Tuesday.

    Abokhamada said that the protesters at Zueitina were allied with Ibrahim al-Jathran, the leader of strikers at the biggest oil port, Es Sider, who before his dismissal was PFG leader in central Libya.

    {agencies}

  • Ghanaians urged not to Panic over US Caution

    {{The Minister of Interior, Mr. Kwesi Ahwoi has urged Ghanaians not to panic over the caution the US government gave to its citizen resident in and or travelling to Ghana ahead of the Supreme Court verdict.}}

    The US Embassy in Ghana issued a circular to caution its citizens to stay away from the precincts of the Supreme Court and from other areas suspected to be possible hot spots in the country.

    But Mr. Ahwoi reassured Ghanaians and residents of other nationals in Ghana that concrete measures have been put in place to secure the safety of the country and all of its residents after the Supreme Court verdict.

    He said the security agencies are ever ready to deal with any troublemakers who will attempt to create chaos after the Supreme Court verdict on and after August 29.

    The Minister stated that the security agency had identified some possible trouble spot in the country that may breed chaos and violence but they have picked up intelligence to control such areas to avoid any unforeseen incidents.

    Mr. Ahwoi however advised every individual to report to the police if he or she suspects any violence to be committed by a friend or relative.

    Director of Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Ghana, Sarah Stryker also explained on Adom Dwaso Nsem that the circular it issued to its citizens in Ghana ahead of the Supreme Court verdict was not meant to alarm or cause any fear and panic in the country.

    She said it was normal practice for the US to caution its citizens in other countries about safety and security issues, so the circular was intend to direct US citizens in Ghana to register at the Embassy so they could be provided with the necessary guidance.

    Meanwhile, Security Expert Emmanuel Sowatey has said the US Embassy’s caution to its citizens is not enough grounds for Ghanaians to be concerns about the security and safety of the country.

    He however suggested that the various radio and TV stations should moderate phone-in into their programmes ahead of the Supreme Court verdict to avoid any inflammatory statements that could lead to chaos.

    A former Military Leaders in Ghana, Osahene Boakye Gyan has also rubbished the caution from the US Embassy as “not qualified to even be described as a low level security alert”.

    He is therefore urging Ghanaians to get ready to wine and dine after the Supreme Court verdict because “nothing untoward will happen.”

    myjoyonline

  • Egypt court to review Mubarak case

    A court in the Egyptian capital Cairo will hold a hearing to consider a petition to have former president Hosni Mubarak released, pending further investigations.

    The court will convene on Wednesday at the Cairo prison where Mubarak is being held, judicial sources said.

    The judge is expected to rule on the final corruption charge brought against Mubarak. Two previous similar charges have already been dismissed.

    If the court upholds the petition, there would remain no legal grounds for Mubarak’s detention, though he is being retried on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters in 2011.

    Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Cairo, said, “The very fact the release is thought about, talked about, is a real sign of how things have changed over the last six weeks in Egypt.”

    However, even if the judge dismisses this current case and orders his release, the prosecutor has the right to appeal and delay until the new trial begins.

    Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the revolt against him, but a retrial was ordered earlier this year.

    agencies

  • Russia Plans $7Bln Port on Black Sea Coast

    {{As officials scowl at the cargo that goes out through foreign harbors, the government is making headway on a plan to build a $7 billion port on the Black Sea.}}

    The Port of Taman will open in 2019 to handle dry cargoes, such as grain and coal, Transportation Minister Maxim Sokolov said Tuesday.

    Sokolov updated President Vladimir Putin on the work to build the port in the first of a series of port-related meetings with the head of state, the Kremlin said.

    Putin said he initiated the meetings because of high congestion at most of the country’s key ports, which hamstrings foreign trade, he said.

    “The terminals are now strained to the limit,” Putin said.

    A substantial chunk of the cargoes travels through the ports in the Baltic countries like Latvia and Estonia.

    “It’s a downright loss of revenues for Russia,” Putin said.

    Out of 660 million metric tons of Russian exports, the foreign Baltic ports account for 100 million tons, or 15 percent. Sokolov said Russia was moving to scale down its dependence on the Baltic countries.

    A consortium of Russian and Dutch design companies developed a concept for the Port of Taman last year, Sokolov said. The Main State Evaluation Agency is examining its feasibility, he said.

    Taman is Russia’s most expensive port project on the Black Sea, according to Sokolov. Federal spending will amount to 76 billion rubles ($2.3 billion), while private investors are expected to contribute the remaining 152 billion rubles, he said.

    When the port reaches its full capacity in 2025, it will handle 94 million metric tons of dry cargo per year, Sokolov said.

    The Port of South Louisiana, the largest U.S. harbor by the volume of cargo, handled 222 million metric tons of cargo in 2011.

    Private investors have bid to build 20 percent more terminals than the Port of Taman can accommodate, which enables the government to select the best options, Sokolov said. The port is designed to have 10 terminals for shipping steel, containers and other dry cargoes in addition to coal and grain.

    The government also plans to boost capacity at the Novorossiisk Seaport, the largest Russian sea gateway, Sokolov said. The effort will focus on constructing new terminals for containers and bulk cargoes, as well as an upgrade of the equipment at the existing terminals and expanding roads and railways for better access to the ships.

    In a separate plan, the government allowed a private investor to build a smaller port near the Port of Taman to handle coal, primarily from Kazakhstan, and oil. The 45 billion ruble oil terminal has already been completed, Sokolov said without naming the investor.

    Russian Railways Company chief Vladimir Yakunin said at the meeting that the state-owned company would expand its network in the area in a bid to remove bottlenecks for the anticipated increase in the volume of cargoes.

    {The Moscow Times }

  • Rwanda mobile penetration passes 62%

    Rwanda’s mobile subscriber numbers have passed 6.6 million, for a penetration of 62.5%.

    The latest statistics issued by Rwanda’s Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) this week indicate steady growth in subscriber numbers this year, from 5.9 million (55.1% penetration) in January to 6.6 million (62.8%) at the end of July.

    MTN Rwandacell still holds the lion’s share of subscribers, with over 3.66 million.