IGIHE

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  • Corruption Hindering Africa’s Development

    {{Development in Africa has been lagging because of Corruption. The remarks were made by Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga.}}

    Ms Kadaga said African states had brilliant plans that were let down by “corrupt implementers. While Africa and East Asian countries were at relatively similar levels of development in the immediate post-independent era, the strong governance systems of the latter ensured rapid economic growth and human capacity development in those countries.”

    She said that Corruption is one of the key stumbling blocks to good governance and social development in Africa.

    Ms Kadaga’s remarks come weeks after Uganda was ranked one of the most corrupt countries in the World and the second in the East African region to Kenya, according to a corruption index released by Transparency International.

  • 6th “ITORERO” for Rwandan Youth Living Abroad

    {{The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, in collaboration with other stakeholders, is organising the 6th “ITORERO” for INDANGAMIRWA (Rwandan Youth Living Abroad aging 18- 35 years).}}

    This ITORERO will take place at GAKO from 29th June to 10 July, 2013 and will be underlying: “The role of the youth in Rwanda’s Agenda to self-reliance” .

    The ITORERO for Rwandan Youth Living Abroad provides excellent occasion to interact with Government Officials, discussing on Political issues and economic progress and achievement.

    It will also be an occasion to visit different places of Rwanda for exploring her beauty.

    The Ministry urges interested participants in this “ITORERO” to register through email at: dgrc@minaffet.gov.rw or on cell: (+250)788465298.

    The departure to Gako is scheduled on Sunday 28/07/2013 at 12:00 pm from
    Remera Stadium.

  • Putin says US ties ‘more important’ than Snowden

    {{Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Moscow’s relations with Washington outweighed the “squabbles” over a spying scandal revealed by US fugitive Edward Snowden, who has applied for asylum in Russia.}}

    “Relations between states are much more important than squabbles surrounding the work of security services,” Putin was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

    Putin’s remarks came after the White House voiced opposition to Snowden’s request for a safe haven in Russia as he tries to evade US espionage charges.

    The former National Security Agency contractor has been marooned at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport since June 23 after leaking details of a massive US surveillance programme that has strained ties with Washington’s allies.

    Washington has rubbished the notion that Snowden could be viewed as a human rights activist and has criticised Moscow for providing the 30-year-old with a “propaganda platform”.

    “We believe there is ample legal justification for the return of Mr. Snowden to the United States, where he has been charged with serious felonies,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday.

    “We want to continue (the US-Russia) relationship unimpeded by this issue,” Carney said. “And we believe there is a way to move forward here that allows for Mr. Snowden to return to the United States… and for Russia to resolve this situation that they have been dealing with now for three weeks.”

    On Tuesday, Snowden filed an application for temporary asylum with the Russian migration service, starting a process that could take up to three months.

    Putin, meanwhile, reiterated his earlier stance that Snowden would only be welcome to stay in Russia if he did not harm the United States with further leaks.

    “We have warned Mr. Snowden, that any activity on his part that has to do with harming Russia-US relations is unacceptable for us,” Putin said Wednesday.

    “This is his fate and his choice,” Putin said of Snowden’s request to stay in Russia. “We have our own state interests, including those directed at building Russia-US relations.”

  • Egypt’s new Cabinet Sworn in After Deadly Clashes

    {{Egypt’s first interim government since the military toppled president Mohamed Morsy two weeks ago was sworn in Tuesday, after deadly clashes between the security forces and the deposed Islamist’s supporters.}}

    The Muslim Brotherhood, the influential movement from which Morsy hails, rejected the 35-member cabinet, with spokesman Gehad El-Haddad telling media: “We don’t recognise its legitimacy or its authority”.

    None of the newly appointed ministers are affiliated to any Islamist party or movement, with the Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative Al-Nur party having both rejected calls for them to participate.

    Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general behind the popularly backed coup that overthrew Morsy, was appointed first deputy prime minister and minister of defence in the government headed by liberal economist Hazem al-Beblawi.

    The swearing in ceremony took place after overnight clashes in the heart of Cairo and in adjacent Giza, in which seven people were killed and 261 wounded, health officials said. Hundreds of protesters were also arrested.

    It also came after US envoy Bill Burns — the most senior US official to visit since the military coup on July 3 — appealed for an end to the violence rocking the Arab world’s most populous nation.

    But within hours of his statement, the Egyptian capital was rocked by political violence for the first time since dozens of Morsy supporters were shot dead outside an elite army barracks early last week.

    {agencies}

  • Syria crisis worst since Rwanda, UN says

    {{Six thousand people are fleeing Syria every day as the conflict intensifies and merges with violence in neighbouring Iraq, United Nations officials have said.}}

    The warnings were given on Tuesday at a rare public briefing of the UN’s Security Council in New York

    The High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, told the meeting that the organisation had “not seen a refugee outflow escalate at such a frightening rate since the Rwandan genocide almost 20 years ago”.

    Ivan Simonovic, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, told the meeting that at least 92,901 people were killed in Syria – among them more than 6,500 children – between March 2011 and the end of April 2013.

    “The extremely high rate of killings nowadays – approximately 5,000 a month – demonstrates the drastic deterioration of the conflict,” Simonovic told the council meeting.

    Guterres said that two-thirds of the nearly 1.8m refugees registered with the UN in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and elsewhere had left Syria since the beginning of the year.

    The UN envoy to Iraq, Martin Kobler, later gave warning that escalating violence in Iraq could no longer be separated from the war in Syria because “the battlefields are merging”.

    Kobler said Iraqi armed groups had an increasingly active presence in Syria and as a result, the Syrian conflict is no longer just spilling over into Iraq, but Iraqis are reportedly taking arms against each other inside Syria.

    “These countries are interrelated,” Kobler stressed. “Iraq is the fault line between the Shia and the Sunni world and everything which happens in Syria, of course, has repercussions on the political landscape in Iraq.”

    Kobler said the last four months have been among the bloodiest in Iraq in the last five years with nearly 3,000 people killed and over 7,000 injured.

    The Security Council has been deadlocked on Syria.

    wirestory

  • School meal leaves 21 children dead in India

    {{At least 21 children have died and dozens are in hospital after eating free meals at a primary school in the eastern India, officials have said.}}

    The children, aged between eight and 11 years old, fell ill after lunch on Tuesday at the government-run school in Masrakh, a village 80km north of Patna in Bihar.

    P.K. Sahi, the state education minister, said a preliminary investigation suggested the food was contaminated by phosphorous, which is used to preserve rice and wheat.

    Bihar state official Amarjit Sinha told the Associated Press news agency that 27 children and the school’s cook were taken to hospital in Patna, the state capital.

    Al Jazeera’s Karishma Vyas, reporting from the Indian capital, said eight children were in serious condition.

    The meal was cooked in the school kitchen.

    Nitish Kumar, the state’s chief minister, ordered an inquiry. Authorities have suspended a food inspector and registered a case of criminal negligence against the school headmaster.

    Each of the families of the dead children are set to receive 2,00,000 Indian Rupee ($3376).

    Al Jazeera’s Vyas said the free meals were supposed to give the impoverished parents an incentive to send their children to school.

    “And in fact this worked. Studies have shown that this programme has directly increased enrollment of children in school,” she said.

    “So it is extremely concerning that, after consuming this state-provided meal, 21 children have died and more are in the hospital.”

    aljazeera

  • Bangladesh Islamist Leader Sentenced to Death

    {{A Bangladesh court has sentenced a senior leader of the country’s largest Islamic party to death for war crimes committed during the 1971 liberation war.}}

    Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, 65, was found guilty by the International Crimes Tribunal of five charges, including abduction and murder, and was sentenced to death, MK Rahman, Bangladesh’s junior attorney-general and prosecutor said on Wednesday.

    “In three out of five charges he was given the death sentence,” Rahman said.

    Mojaheed, the secretary-general of Jamaat-e-Islam, had faced seven charges of murder, mass killing, torture, arson and abduction during he war of liberation against Pakistan.

    Media in Dhaka, said that Mojaheed’s son told media that the crimes he was accused of were politically motivated.

    Mojaheed was an influential minister in the 2001-2006 government headed by Khaleda Zia, the present head of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

    {aljazeera}

  • U.S. Warns on credibility Ahead of Zimbabwe poll

    {{The United States said on Tuesday it was “deeply concerned” by lack of transparency in preparations for Zimbabwe’s July 31 general election and called on the government to ensure the vote was peaceful, fair and credible.}}

    State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said elections that were not seen as credible would have implications for U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe, suggesting Washington could maintain or increase sanctions depending on the election outcome.

    The run-up to the election has been peaceful, but Western critics and the opposition say the process has been poorly planned, underfunded and plagued with irregularities, increasing fears of a repeat of the violence and bloodshed that marred a 2008 vote.

    “We are deeply concerned about the lack of transparency in electoral preparations, the continued partisan behavior by state security institutions and the technical, logistical issues hampering the administration of a credible and transparent election,” Ventrell told a daily briefing.

    Ventrell said a troubled election risked undermining political and economic progress Zimbabwe has made since the formation of a unity government after the disputed 2008 vote. He noted that the economy showed signs of recovering from economic mismanagement and hyperinflation.

    The election will see the third attempt by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to unseat President Robert Mugabe, 89, who has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980 and is Africa’s oldest leader.

    Mugabe and Tsvangirai were forced into a power-sharing government after the 2008 polls.

    {agencies}

  • Nigeria Court Summons President Over Forgery Case

    {{An Abuja High Court Tuesday summoned President Goodluck Jonathan to appear before it to testify in the case of alleged forgery brought against two members of staff of Leadership Newspapers following the publication of Presidential Directive’s bromide in its edition of April 3, 2013.}}

    The journalists, Mr. Tony Amokeodo and Mr. Chibuzo Ukaibe, are standing trial on an 11-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy and forgery.

    The summon of July 15, 2013, which was signed by the trial judge, Justice Usman Musale, was addressed to the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, through the Ministry of Justice Headquarters, Maitama, Abuja.

    It followed the request of Leadership’s lead counsel, Mr. Femi Falana, that the President should appear before the court “from day to day until the case is tried, to give evidence on behalf of the accused persons and also to bring with him the purportedly forged document titled “Presidential Directive,” with the seal of office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    The Federal Government had on June 27, 2013, re-arraigned the duo on charges bordering on conspiracy and forgery, to which they pleaded not guilty and were granted bail. At the resumed hearing yesterday, Federal Government’s counsel, Adegboyega Solomon Awomolo (SAN), said he was ready to proceed with the trial.

    However, Falana informed the court that a subpoena personally signed by the trial judge was served on the Presidency via the Ministry of Justice.

    Meanwhile, in a game of wit, Falana, who caused the subpoena to be issued on the President, also told the court that he has filed a motion on notice for an order of the court to suspend further proceedings in the matter sine die till Jonathan leaves office to enable him testify as witness for the accused persons/applicants.

    Falana premised his motion on the grounds that the fundamental right of the accused to fair hearing cannot be observed by the trial court since their application to subpoena the President has not been granted.

    According to him, by virtue of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the court lacks the power to issue and cause to be served a subpoena ad testificandum on the President to testify as a witness for the accused in this case.

    Nevertheless, Awomolo opposed the application on the basis that the accused persons’ motion on notice was not ripe for hearing and that the accused should wait for the prosecution to try the case, and when it is time for the accused to open their defence, they could raise issue of their star witness.

    Having listened to them argue further, Justice Musale summoned both to his chambers, and on resumption, informed the parties that he needed some time before he could deliver his ruling. Consequently, he adjourned till today for the ruling on whether or not Falana’s motion was ripe for hearing.

  • Eritrea pays warlord to influence Somalia – U.N. experts

    Eritrea is undermining stability in conflict-ravaged Somalia by paying political agents and a warlord linked to Islamist militants to influence the Mogadishu government, U.N. sanctions experts said in a confidential report.

    The Eritrean government has long denied playing any negative role in Somalia, saying it has no links to Islamist al Shabaab militants fighting to overthrow the Somali government. It says the U.N. sanctions imposed on it in 2009 for supporting al Shabaab were based on lies and has called for the sanctions to be lifted.

    The latest annual report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea to the Security Council’s Somalia/Eritrea sanctions committee casts fresh doubt on Asmara’s denials, undermining its case for lifting the sanctions against it.

    “The Monitoring Group has received numerous reports about the warming of relations between Asmara and Mogadishu, and has obtained evidence of Asmara’s control of political agents close to the Somali presidency and some of the individual spoilers,” the group said in the report, seen by Reuters.

    One such operative, the monitors said, is “Eritrean agent of influence Abdi Nur Siad ‘Abdi Wal,’ … who is reported to have a close relationship with a senior al Shabaab commander.”

    The monitors describe Abdi Wal as a “warlord.”

    “Abdi Wal is now a close ally of former ARS-Asmara (a Somali Islamist network in Eritrea) leader Zakaria Mohamed Haji Abdi, for whom he provides security in Mogadishu,” the monitors said. “He is known to command the allegiance of about 100 fighters in Mogadishu and is involved in contract killings.”

    The monitors said in their report that they have “obtained direct testimonies and concrete evidence of Eritrean support to Abdi Wal and Mohamed Wali Sheikh Ahmed Nuur.” The Monitoring Group has reported on Ahmed Nuur in the past, describing him as a “political coordinator for al Shabaab” and a recipient of funds from Eritrea.

    “A source on the Eritrean payroll in direct contact with Abdi Wal has confirmed that Abdi Wal has admitted in closed-door meetings that he is acting as an agent for the Eritrean government,” the group said in its latest report.

    Eritrea’s U.N. mission did not respond to a request for comment.