IGIHE

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  • Rwanda Optmistic on Hiring Railway Consultant by end of Year

    {{Rwanda is seeking to hire a consultant to conduct feasibility study on Kampala-Kigali railway line.}}

    The Railwayline is part of the greater regional project connecting Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda aimed at improving transportation of goods on the Northern Corridor.

    The northern Corridor links regional countries to the port of Mombasa, which serves Uganda, Rwanda, eastern DR Congo, Burundi, northern Tanzania and South Sudan.

    Josephine Uwineza, the director of railway and marine transport at Rwanda Transport Development Agency told local daily that, “there are no development partners or private investors who have committed to finance the project but governments of the three countries are enthusiastic about it and will mobilise the funds.”

    The Government of Rwanda is optimistic that by end of the year.

    The project that is expected to be completed in 2018 will cost an estimated $3.5 billion and the three member countries will jointly mobilise funds to kick-start it.

  • Police Launches second phase of hygiene competition in Kigali

    Following the successful first phase in the hygiene competition in the City of Kigali, Rwanda National Police on Tuesday launched the second hybrid to further promote cleanliness in the city.

    The move seeks to influence sectors to strengthen their activities to improve sanitation in the three city districts – Nyarugenge, Gasabo and Kicukiro – under the police campaign of “Keep Kigali Clean and Green.”

    The exercise started with the cleaning of Kimironko bus terminal in Gasabo District and giving CDs containing hygiene messages, to drivers of public vehicles.

    The CDs are meant to be played in public cars to send the message to all Rwandans.

    It also included erecting dustbins on roadsides.

    The competition brings together 34 sectors in the three districts, in which the winning sector will be awarded a vehicle and the second gets a motorcycle, the Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana, said.

    He added that a disciplined motorcycle operator with all the traffic requirements will get a motorcycle.

    Others to be awarded are journalists, who will write best articles on hygiene promotion, song and poem composers.

    The competition is slated to end in July next year.

    He said the force conducts such hygienic activities across the country, including during umuganda.

    The Minister of Local Government, James Musoni, while officially launching the exercise, said its success requires “ownership of the public.”

    He said “pure cleanness starts with personal mind.”

    He appealed to Kigali residents to own the exercise, take part in community work – Umuganda – and be part of the development the city needs today.

    The Mayor of Kigali city, Fidele Ndayisaba said cleanliness in part of the city’s master plan.

    He said they have introduced hygiene programmes in schools, delivered once week.

    The first phase of the competition saw Kanombe sector of Kicukiro district emerging the winner, and walked away with a motorcycle.

    Rwezamenyo Sector in Nyarugenge came second with 85 percent; Gikondo sector in Kicukiro was third with 79 percent while Niboye and Remera sectors from Kicukiro and Gasabo districts respectively shared the fourth spot with 77 percent.

    RNP

  • Regional Leaders attend ICGLR Summit in Nairobi

    {{Several heads of State are in Kenyan capital Nairobi for the special summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) to discuss mainly the hostilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).}}

    The leaders are also expected to discuss: tension between the two Sudans over the oil pipeline and rebellions, pacification of Somalia and the crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR).

    The heads of States and governments will also discuss a number of others issues including trade, according to Ken Vitisia of Kenya”s ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    President Yoweri Museveni the the Chairman of the ICGLR, Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania), Joseph Kabila (DRC) ,Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi) and the host Uhuru Kenyatta are attending the summit. South Sudan, Sudan, Angola, Zambia and CAR as well as the UN and development partners such as the African Development Bank, African Union and the World Bank are expected to send delegations.

    ICGLR member countries are: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo (Brazzaville), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

    A media alert sent out by the ICGLR indicated that the summit will open at United Nations Complex, Gigiri after which the heads of State will shift to the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club where the rest of it will take place.

    At a July 25, 2013 consultation of the Great lakes Region Foreign Affairs Ministers in New York, the M23 rebels were asked to stop attacks on DRC government forces and the DRC Government to exercise restraint. The consultation was arranged by the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary- General for the Great Lakes Region on the margins of the high-level Security Council debate on the Great Lakes Region.

    They also recognised that the swift conclusion of the Kampala Dialogue between the DRC Government and the M23 would contribute to addressing the current situation in the eastern DRC.Among the issues of to be addressed during the Nairobi summit are the issues of refugees, the impending regional economic integration, investments in infrastructure and increased regional trade.

    According to Vitisia, the summit will provide an opportunity for Kenya to take a leadership role in regional peace, stability and development.

    He said Kenya will take the opportunity to push its agenda for the region to invest heavily in intra-regional infrastructure development. Kenya will also lobby for diplomatic support in its quest for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for the 2017-2018 period.

    NV

  • Mushikiwabo Dismisses US Charges on M23 Support

    {{Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo has brushed off U.S. charges that Rwanda was supporting M23 rebel movement in DRC saying that levelling accusations would not help pacify the region.}}

    Mushikiwabo on Tuesday told media in Nairobi, Kenya, “Those whose policy is to keep pulling countries of the region into a conflict that is not of their making, we don’t think that is helpful, Scapegoating is not going to help DRC.”

    When asked if that amounted to a denial, she told Reuters in Nairobi: “I think my comment is very clear. There are many complex issues in Congo and those have to be looked at with a view to try to reach a peaceful situation in DRC.”

    Minister Mushikiwabo was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of ministers from the Great Lakes region in the Kenyan capital, which included discussions about eastern Congo and regional efforts to broker peace between the rebel group and Kinshasa.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week led a U.N. Security Council debate on the Great Lakes and urged 11 African nations which signed a February deal brokered by the United Nations on ending fighting to respect Congo’s sovereignty.

    Alongside that peace initiative, Uganda has been hosting talks between Kinshasa and the M23 group.

    Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed told Reuters a draft deal had been given to Kinshasa and the rebels, and that representatives from both sides were expected to meet soon in the Ugandan capital to discuss it. She did not give a date.

    But another delegate at the Nairobi meeting said the two sides remained far apart and little progress was being made in the Kampala talks.

    Congo’s U.N. peacekeeping mission announced on Tuesday it was setting up a security zone around Goma and the nearby town of Sake, which briefly fell into M23 hands last year, to prevent the population being caught up in renewed fighting.

    The mission, known as MONUSCO, said its troops would disarm, by force if necessary, anyone other than members of the Congolese security forces found carrying weapons within the zone after a 48-hour grace period.

    An accompanying map of the proposed zone indicated it would not cover any areas currently held by M23.

    “There are many armed groups in this area. Now the brigade is out to enforce peace by means of the security zone, this is the first stage,” Charles Bambara, MONUSCO’s spokesman, said.

    The operation will be the first for the nearly 3,000-strong Intervention Brigade, which has been charged with aggressively neutralising armed groups in Congo’s lawless eastern borderlands.

    Additional reporting NV

  • Nigeria’s Kano city hit by blasts targeting bars

    At least 28 people have been killed in a series of explosions that targeted bars in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, a hospital source told media.

    Witnesses said the blasts shook a Christian neighbourhood that has previously been attacked by militants from the Islamist group Boko Haram.

    The army said 12 people had been killed when explosions placed in packages were dropped in the area on Monday evening.

    In March, explosions at a bus station in the city killed more than 20 people.

    Correspondents say the Muslim majority in the city are now anxious about possible reprisals, as people come out onto the streets after breaking their daytime fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

    agencies

  • Progress Welcomed in Mozambique Peace Talks

    {{Observers greeted progress in the latest peace negotiations between Mozambique’s government and former rebels with cautious optimism Tuesday after months of renewed violence.}}

    Simmering tensions between rebel group-turned-opposition party Renamo and the Frelimo government erupted into armed clashes in April — more than two decades after the end of the southern African country’s civil war.

    After 11 rounds of talks aimed at resolving the crisis, news finally came Monday that the government and Renamo had reached a partial agreement to change electoral laws — an announcement that was broadly welcomed.

    “This is a positive development. At last there is a basis for a compromise,” said Britain-based analyst Alex Vines.

    It appeared the government was “serious about providing a face-saving mechanism for Renamo,” he added.

    “At last the government and Renamo start to agree!” said independent newspaper O Pais.

    Both sides said Monday they had made progress — the first time since talks started last December.

    “Everything leads us to believe that conditions have been created for (an agreement) to be signed,” chief government negotiator Jose Pacheco told state-run Radio Mozambique.

    “A good consensus prevails between the two parties on key issues,” said Renamo chief negotiator Saimone Macuiane.

    But Renamo says it still wants clarifications before signing a 12-point agreement hammered out during exhaustive talks.

    agencies

  • CAR President Kept Waiting at Kenya Airport

    Kenya Government has denied reports that it intentionally kept the new Central African Republic President waiting in his plane after arriving in the East african country on Tuesday and there was no one from the Kenyan side to recieve him.

    On Tuesday, Central Africa Republic leader Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia’s plane touched down at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at around 4pm. He kept waiting for over an hour.

    A senior official in the Kenyan Foreign Affairs Ministry , Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said the protocol accorded to first-time visiting heads of state is different and requires longer clearances.

    And later Kenya’s Army commander Lt-Gen Joseph Kasaon was sent to receive the CAR president something seen as a diplomatic incidence.

    However, Mr Kibicho said it should not be an issue who was sent to receive the president.

    “There was no intention to delay him even for one second. Indeed, he was only undergoing protocol as is required of head of state visiting for the first time,” Mr Kibicho said.

    The CAR leader is in Kenya for a special summit on the International Great Lakes Region together with 11 other regional leaders. The heads of state are expected to discuss security and regional trade.

  • UN gives DR Congo rebels 48 hours to hand in weapons

    The UN has given rebels from the M23 group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo 48 hours to disarm, warning force will be used if they fail to do so.

    A new UN intervention brigade made up of 3,000 troops will help the DR Congo army set up a security zone in Goma.

    It has been given a mandate to use lethal force against the rebels, who they say have killed civilians in the region surrounding the city of Goma.

    Renewed clashes broke out between the rebels and the army earlier this month.

    A statement by the UN mission in the DR Congo has given everyone in the city of Goma and surrounding areas until 2000 GMT on Thursday to hand in their weapons to the city’s UN base, warning that anyone caught after this would be considered a rebel.

    “They will be considered an imminent threat of physical violence to civilians and [UN mission in DR Congo] Monusco will take all necessary measures to disarm them, including by the use of force in accordance with its mandate and rules of engagement,” the statement read.

    Only soldiers will be allowed to carry weapons, it adds.

    The UN accuses M23 rebels of causing civilian casualties with “indiscriminate and indirect fire” in fresh clashes with the army in Mutaho, about 7 km north of Goma on 14 July.

    An escalation and deterioration in the security situation led to the ultimatum, which was aimed at blocking an apparent attempt by the rebels to advance on Goma.

    agencies

  • Rights group slams conditions at Taiwan iPhone factory

    {{A labor rights group Monday accused a Chinese company that makes iPhones for Apple Inc. of abuses including withholding employees’ pay and excessive working hours.}}

    China Labor Watch said it found violations of the law and of Apple’s pledges about working conditions at factories operated by Pegatron Corp., a Taiwanese company.

    Conditions in Chinese factories that produce iPhones and other popular Apple products have been under scrutiny following complaints about labor and environmental violations by a different supplier, Taiwan’s Foxconn, a unit of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.

    Apple said in a statement it was “committed to providing safe and fair working conditions” and would investigate the claims about Pegatron. The Taiwanese company’s chief executive, in a separate statement, also promised to investigate.

    China Labor Watch said its investigation covered two factories in Shanghai and one in Suzhou, a nearby city, that employ a total of 70,000 people. It found violations including discrimination against ethnic minorities and women, excessive work hours, poor living conditions, health and safety problems and pollution.

    Pegatron assembles products including the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 for Apple, according to the report.

    Apple said it confirmed one accusation by China Labor Watch – that identity cards of some workers were being held by management – and told Pegatron to stop.

    Apple has published a code of conduct for its suppliers and joined the Fair Labor Association, a worker rights monitoring group. The association inspected Foxconn factories early last year and said in August that improvements it recommended were being carried out ahead of schedule.

    Conditions in factories in China are a sensitive issue for foreign companies that outsource production of shoes, consumer electronics and other goods to local contractors.

    france24

  • Security Council demands Darfur rebels negotiate peace

    {{The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has called on rebel groups in Sudan’s western region to end the violence and hold peace talks with the national government under the basis of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).}}

    The 15-member body on Tuesday renewed the mandate of the joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) for a further 13 months, until 31 August 2014. It also demanded that the UN chief prepare a review of UNAMID’s mandate by before 28 February 2014 in light of major changes and developments in the situation in Darfur since its establishment in January 2008.

    The UNSC has seemingly preferred to back the decision of the AU earlier this month which called on the international community to support the DDPD and to disregard calls by rebel groups for a comprehensive process leading to regime change.

    In a communique issued on 19 July, the UNSC said that a holistic approach to bringing democratic transition in Sudan can be achieved once the ongoing conflicts in Darfur and the Two Areas are settled in an inclusive manner with the support of an AU panel chaired by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.

    A resolution unanimously adopted on Tuesday called on all parties to the Darfur conflict “including in particular all the non-signatory armed groups, engage immediately and without preconditions to make every effort to reach a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive peace settlement on the basis of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur”.

    The resolution, which was drafted by Rwanda, Togo and the United Kingdom, urged for the cessation of all acts of violence in Darfur and welcomed the efforts of UNAMID chief and joint mediator Mohamed Ibn Chambas, who made contact with the rebel groups last May in order to revitalise the peace process.

    Chambas is also expected to meet rebel leaders next August to pursue consultations on ways to achieve peace in Darfur.

    The Sudanese government and Tijani El Sissi’s Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) signed the DDPD on 14 July 2011 after two years of failed talks with rebel groups in the region, including the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) which rejected the peace framework. However, a JEM splinter faction later joined the process and signed an agreement with Khartoum in April of this year.

    JEM has rejected the AUSC’s recent decision to support the DDPD and called on the body to reconsider its position, adding that its current stance raises doubts about its neutrality and seriousness in the search for a real solution to the conflict in Sudan.

    JEM, the two main factions of the LJM and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) – which is fighting the Sudanese government in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states – have called for a comprehensive process that involves opposition parties aiming to institute a new regional administration with larger autonomy and the re-establishment of a democratic and secular system throughout Sudan.

    The rebels say that though they have the support of different international actors – particularly the United States and Canada – there has been no official position or proposed plans for change forthcoming from these countries concerning the matter.

    Addressing the UNSC meeting, the Sudanese ambassador to the UN, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, welcomed the resolution to renew UNAMID’s mandate and hailed its support for the DDPD.

    Alluding to the alleged support that rebel groups receive from South Sudan and other countries in East Africa, Osman pointed out that direct and indirect support for non-signatory armed movements must end.

    Osman further demanded that his government be involved in the review process of UNAMID’s mandate.

    He praised the condemnation of the “killing of Mohamed Bashar and other members of his movement by JEM-Gibril forces” and pledged that his government would cooperate with the UNSC to investigate those responsible for the death of seven Tanzanian peacekeepers in South Darfur.

    (ST)