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  • Ethiopia Launches Solar Energy Project

    Ethiopia Launches Solar Energy Project

    {{Ethiopian energy ministry has launched a US$11mn solar systems project, which will be used to power 25,000 homes in rural areas of the country.}}

    The ministry’s director of public relations Bizuneh Tolcha said, “The installations will provide enough power for lighting, mobile phones, running computers and solar fridge for each home.”

    Since the launch of the project, 13,200 solar systems have been installed across the East African country and on completion, 11,800 more will be installed.

    In 2009, Ethiopia was plagued by power outages with less than 10 per cent of Ethiopians having access to electricity.

    In order to overcome the situation, the government embarked on an ambitious dam-building program. Three hydropower plants, with a combined capacity of 1.18GW, were commissioned in 2009 and 2010 alone.

    Tolcha said, “The new solar systems project will power locations not connected to the national grid system.

    “The project, which carries a US$40mn grant from the World Bank, was launched to accelerate the development of renewable energy projects in the country,” he added.

    {africanreview}

  • West Africa Business Expo 2013 opens in Accra

    West Africa Business Expo 2013 opens in Accra

    {{The first ever West Africa Business Expo 2013, opened in Accra on Thursday, with a call on Ghanaians to develop interest in setting up their own businesses.}}

    The two-day event was designed to create platforms for business owners to access information and interact with service providers and encourage learning.

    The expo on the theme: “Kick starting and sustaining business growth, “was also aimed at educating the public on how entrepreneurial activities have been the backbone of many economies, and the focus of many countries to drive economic growth in a sustainable way.

    It would enlighten the participants on a number of implementations and successful interventions including finance, capacity and skill building, which have been adopted to drive growth in developed economies.

    Ms Harriet Adabla, Chief Executive Officer of Hak Solutions, organisers of the expo, said entrepreneurship in developing economies has experienced less attention and growth, comparable to other economies.

    Mr Albert Osei, Chief Executive Officer of Koko King Limited, advised the people not to wait until they get huge amount of money before setting up a business of their own.

    “In setting up a business, one need to develop a business plan, have patience, strong will and focus on the business,” he said.

    Companies participating in the expo includes Registrar General Department, Koko King Limited, Growth Mosaic and Enabils Ghana. The event comprise conferencing, workshop and exhibition.

    {myjoyonline}

  • New Malema party to Contest 2014 South Africa Elections

    New Malema party to Contest 2014 South Africa Elections

    {{South Africa’s former African National Congress Youth League leader, Julius Malema, has registered a political party to contest next year’s elections.}}

    The party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, will seek to redistribute land and nationalise South Africa’s rich mines, he said.

    He launched the EFF in July but did not say whether it would take part in the 2014 poll.

    Mr Malema was expelled from the governing ANC in 2012 for indiscipline.

    He also faces corruption charges, which he says are politically motivated.

    Mr Malema described the launch of his party as “the beginning of [a] real radical, militant and decisive political programme which will lead to real emancipation of the people of South Africa, Africa and the world”, the South African Press Association quotes him as saying.

    “The oppressed and exploited people of the world should now expect real anti-imperialist actions and political programmes which will practically and programmatically undermine neo-liberalism and global capitalism.”

    As well as redistributing land and nationalising the mines, he promised to provide free, quality education, healthcare and sanitation.

    Mr Malema is arguably popular, especially with the young and the poor, but it is not clear whether he will be able to set up a nationwide party, capable of grass-roots campaigning and mobilising voters.

    Once a close ally of President Jacob Zuma, Mr Malema has become one of his strongest critics and campaigned for his removal from office at the ANC’s national conference in December 2012.

    He has accused the president of not doing enough to help the poor black voters who had helped to elect him.

    The ANC has a huge majority in parliament and has governed since the end of white minority rule in 1994.

    But analysts say that increasing numbers of South Africans are losing faith in the party, accusing it of corruption and failing to improve the lives of ordinary people.

    South Africa is the continent’s biggest economy, largely based on its mineral wealth, but it has experienced sluggish growth in recent years.

    NMG

  • Kenya Withdraws from the ICC

    Kenya Withdraws from the ICC

    {{Kenya’s parliament on Thursday passed a motion to withdraw from the International Criminal Court just before the country’s president and deputy president face trial at The Hague for allegedly orchestrating postelection violence more than five years ago.}}

    Citing the fact that the United States and other world powers are not members, the majority leader of Kenya’s parliament on Thursday argued that Kenya should withdraw from the statute that created the ICC.

    Adan Duale told a special session of Kenya’s parliament that U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both argued against the United States becoming a party to the Rome Statute, which regulates prosecutions for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.

    A voice vote on the motion easily passed after members of the opposition party walked out, but Kenya can only withdraw from the ICC by formal notification to the United Nations Secretary-General by the government, not parliament.

    Clinton and Bush, Duale said, refused to join the ICC in order to protect U.S. citizens and soldiers from potential politically-motivated prosecutions.

    “Let us protect our citizens. Let us defend the sovereignty of the nation of Kenya,” Duale said.

    The Kenyan debate is a reaction to the start next week of the trial at The Hague of Deputy President William Ruto. Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta face charges of crimes against humanity for allegedly helping to orchestrate postelection violence in 2007-08 that killed more than 1,000 people.

    Kenyatta, who was elected president earlier this year, faces trial in November. Both leaders have said they will cooperate with the court.

    Parliament has voted to withdraw before, but the executive branch took no action. The Rome Statute says a “state party” may withdraw with written notification to the U.N.’s secretary-general; withdrawal takes effect one year later.

    A withdrawal does not affect a state’s obligation to cooperate with criminal investigations and proceedings already underway. If Kenya were to withdraw, it would be the first nation to do so.

    agencies

  • Angelina Jolie to Receive Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

    Angelina Jolie to Receive Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

    {{Angelina Jolie is to receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

    The honorary Oscar is one of several statuettes handed out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Governors Awards in November.}}

    Veteran actress Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin and costume designer Piero Tosi will also be honoured.

    The awards “pay tribute to individuals who’ve made indelible contributions in their respective fields,” said Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs.

    The honorary awards are given out every year in recognition of “extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy”.

    Boone, who phoned all four recipients individually to inform them of the forthcoming honour, called Martin, 68, “a real Renaissance Man” and deemed 87-year-old Lansbury “one of the finest actresses in our industry”.

    Lansbury received three Oscar nominations over the course of her career, for her work in Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray and 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate, but never won the award.

    A gifted stage actress, she also has five Tonys to her name and became a household name in the long-running TV series Murder, She Wrote?.

    Writer, actor and comedian Martin remains best known for his early hits such as 1979’s The Jerk and Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

    He has never been nominated for an Oscar, though he has hosted the award ceremony on three occasions.

    Tosi becomes the first costume designer to receive an honorary Oscar.

    The 86-year-old Italian has been Oscar-nominated five times, and remains best known in his field for his work on Luchino Visconti’s films The Leopard, Death in Venice and Ludwig.

    Jolie, the youngest of the four recipients, won an Oscar in 2000 for her career-defining turn in Girl, Interrupted, and was subsequently nominated in 2009, for The Changeling.

    BBC

  • G20 ‘split’ as US hits out at Russia

    G20 ‘split’ as US hits out at Russia

    {{World leaders meeting for the final day of the G20 summit in Russia remain divided over military action in Syria.}}

    Italian PM Enrico Letta said the splits in opinion were confirmed at Thursday’s working dinner in St Petersburg.

    A spokesman for the Russian presidency said a US military strike on Syria would “drive another nail into the coffin of international law”.

    At the UN, the US ambassador accused Russia of holding the Security Council hostage by blocking resolutions.

    Samantha Power said the Security Council was no longer a “viable path” for holding Syria accountable for war crimes.

    The US government accuses President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of killing 1,429 people in a poison-gas attack in the Damascus suburbs on 21 August.

    The UK says scientists at the Porton Down research laboratories have found traces of sarin gas on cloth and soil samples.

    But Mr Assad has blamed rebels for the attack. China and Russia, which have refused to agree to a Security Council resolution against Syria, insist any action without the UN would be illegal.

    The US and France are the only nations at the G20 summit to commit to using force in Syria.

    The United Nations says it needs another $3.3bn (£2bn) to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis up to the end of this year.

    BBC

  • Station commanders, Judicial Officers Complete Exhibit Handling Course

    Station commanders, Judicial Officers Complete Exhibit Handling Course

    {{Forty-six Police stations commanders (OCs) and District Judicial Police (DJPs) completed a course on exhibit handling on Thursday, with commitment to protect evidences to facilitate the judicial process.}}

    Superintendent Emmanuel Gahizi, one of the trainees, who thanked the Rwanda National Police for its continued process to capacitate the officers, said the acquired skills will enable them to work more professionally.

    The Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) in charge of operations, Dan Munyuza, urged them to implement the acquired skills to accomplish their assignments, and properly handle exhibits for justice delivery.

    “The esteem of Police is remarkable in the kind of service it delivers to the public and how it delivered. The training is good but what matters more is the results,” said DIGP Munyuza.

    He appealed to them to provide professional services to the public.

    The two-day training, the first of its kind, held at the CID school in Kacyiru, is scheduled to be conducted periodically to capacitate the officers and offer justice to victims.

    source: RNP

  • EU Court Rules Against Sanctions on 7 Iranian Companies

    EU Court Rules Against Sanctions on 7 Iranian Companies

    {{A European Union court ruled on Friday that the EU should lift sanctions it imposed against seven Iranian companies, dealing a new blow to Europe’s efforts to use economic pressure to rein in Tehran’s disputed nuclear work.}}

    The ruling, which can be appealed, follows similar decisions earlier this year against sanctions imposed on two of Iran’s biggest banks.

    It covers: Post Bank Iran, Iran Insurance Company, Good Luck Shipping, Export Development Bank of Iran, Persia International Bank, Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Co and Bank Refah Kargaran.

    Governments in Europe and the United States are hoping sanctions against such companies will make it more difficult for Tehran to fund its nuclear program, which they fear is designed to give Iran the capability to build bombs.

    Iran denies having such intentions and says it needs nuclear power for energy generation and medical research.

    The General Court, Europe’s second-highest, said however that the EU had failed to produce sufficient evidence the listed companies were involved in the atom work.

    {wirestory}

  • Shell to Negotiate with Nigerians Over Oil Spill Compensation

    Shell to Negotiate with Nigerians Over Oil Spill Compensation

    {{Compensation talks will begin in Nigeria on Monday between lawyers for Royal Dutch Shell and for 15,000 Nigerian villagers who say their livelihoods were destroyed by oil spills from pipelines operated by the company.}}

    The Nigerians launched a suit against Shell at the High Court in London in March 2012, seeking millions of dollars in compensation for two oil spills in 2008 that polluted the waterways of the Bodo fishing communities in the Niger Delta.

    The legal action is being closely watched by the industry and by environmentalists for precedents that could have an impact on other big pollution claims against oil majors.

    A vast maze of mangrove swamps and creeks, the Niger Delta is home to communities of subsistence farmers and fishermen living alongside the multi-billion-dollar oil industry.

    “They want to be fairly compensated for their losses from the time the spill took place until the oil is cleaned up and the Bodo Creek is returned to its natural state,” said Martyn Day of the Nigerians’ London law firm Leigh Day.

    A Shell spokesman confirmed that talks would begin on Monday between Leigh Day and lawyers for the Anglo-Dutch firm. They will take place in Port Harcourt, the main city in the Delta, and will be attended by representatives of the Bodo communities.

    The region has been plagued by a range of problems including sabotage, kidnappings of oil workers for ransom, theft of crude from pipelines, armed rebellions, and conflict between communities over clean-up contracts or compensation deals.

    Shell accepts responsibility for the Bodo spills but the two sides disagree about the volume spilt and the number of local people who lost their livelihoods as a result. A previous round of compensation talks broke down in 2012, before the lawsuit.

    {agencies}

  • 7th Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State & Government ICGLR on Security Situation in Eastern DRC

    7th Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State & Government ICGLR on Security Situation in Eastern DRC

    {{The Heads of State and Government of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), meeting in Kampala, on 5 September, 2013 at the invitation of H.E. Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda and Chairman of the ICGLR Summit, to discuss the worsening security situation in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.}}

    The Summit recalled its decisions made during 6th Extraordinary Summit, held in Nairobi on 31 July 2013 and was Gravely concerned with the resumption of hostilities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the worsening security and humanitarian crisis that has resulted in continued deaths of civilians, displacement and suffering of populations.

    The Summit was concerned that this new escalation of hostilities is an obstacle to the implementation of the Nairobi Extraordinary Summit Declaration of 31 July 2013, and a threat to regional peace and security;

    The Summit Welcomed and expressed its full support to the ongoing international efforts to address the crisis in Eastern DRC in particular the UN Framework for Peace, Security and Cooperation for the DRC and the Region, signed in Addis Ababa on 24 February 2013, the UN Security Council Resolution 2098 adopted on 28 March 2013, and reaffirmed the support for the mandate of the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary General to the Great Lakes region;

    The summit reiterated its relentless commitment to find lasting solutions to the prolonged security crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the spirit of the Pact on Security, Stability and Development and reaffirm its support to the ongoing Dialogue in Kampala, Uganda, between the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and M23, mediated by the current Chairman of the ICGLR in line with the decisions the Heads of State and Government made at their Extraordinary Summit held in Kampala on 24 November 2012;

    The Summit commended the untiring efforts by H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Chairman of the ICGLR Summit in the search for a lasting solution to the security and humanitarian crisis in Eastern DRC and encouraged him to continue with his efforts;

    The summit was attended by:

    1. H.E. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI, President of the Republic of Uganda and current Chairperson of the ICGLR

    2. H.E. Jakaya Mrisho KIKWETE, President of the United Republic of Tanzania

    3. H.E. Paul KAGAME, President of the Republic of Rwanda

    4. H.E. Joseph KABILA KABANGE, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo

    5. H.E. Salva Kiir MAYARDIT , President of the Republic of South Sudan

    6. H.E. Laurent KAVAKURE, Minister for External Relations and International Cooperation of the Republic of Burundi,

    7. H.E. Charles Richard MONDJO, Minister for Defense of the Republic of Congo

    8. H.E. Amina MOHAMED, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary of the Republic of Kenya

    9. H.E. Wilbur SIMUSA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zambia

    10. H.E Abdalmahmood Abdal Haleem Mohamed, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    Present were representatives of:

    1. The African Union, Mrs Nkosazana Dlamini-ZUMA, Chairperson

    2. UN Secretary General Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, Mrs Mary ROBINSON

    3. SADC, Dr. Tax L. STERGOMENA, Executive Secretary

    4. EAC, Ambassador, Richard SEZIBERA, Secretary General

    Also present were representatives of the co-opted countries including:

    1. H.E. N.J MASHIMBYE, Republic of South Africa Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo;

    2. Brigadier General Marcel R.D CHIRWA (RTD), Deputy High Commissioner of the Republic of Malawi Having received reports from the Meetings of the Committee of Ministers of Defence and the Regional Inter ministerial Committee (RIMC) respectively, on the security situation in Eastern DRC, in particular recommendations on addressing the renewed fighting and the consequent security and humanitarian crises, the Summit decided as follows:

    1. Strongly condemn the recent bombings in Munigi and Goma in DRC that have resulted in the death of a Senior UN officer attached to the Intervention Brigade, hundreds of civilians as well as the injury of UN military officers and civilians, and task the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM) to undertake immediate investigations and provide the report thereof to the Committee of Ministers of Defence of the ICGLR as soon as possible;

    2. Strongly condemn the recent bombings from DRC territory that have resulted in the deaths of civilians in the territory of Rwanda and direct the EJVM to complete the verification process and provide a report to the Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers of Defence as soon as possible;

    3. Direct that the Kampala Dialogue resumes within 3 days after this Extra-ordinary Summit and conclude within a maximum period of 14 days during which maximum restraint must be exercised on the ground to allow for talks to conclude. If the Dialogue is not concluded in the time agreed upon, the Chairman of the Summit shall consult his colleagues on the way forward;

    4. M23 should put an end to all military activities, and stop war and threats of overthrowing the lawful Government of DRC;

    5. Commit to continue exerting pressure together with our partners in particular the Intervention Brigade, on the M23 and all other Negative Forces in Eastern DRC to ensure they stop war;

    6. Accept the request by MONUSCO to have permanent representation in the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM), and appeal to MONUSCO to provide logistical support to the EJVM to enable it to carry out its mandate effectively;

    7. Directed the Committee of Ministers of Defence to develop guidelines for legal and diplomatic protection of officers of ICGLR Mechanisms in line with international standards and develop a code of conduct for officers serving in such stations;

    8. Direct the Executive Secretary to fast track the release of the funds donated to the EJVM by the European Union through the African Union and commit to honour our financial obligations to the EJVM;

    9. Expressed strong concern on the ongoing humanitarian crisis exacerbated by the recent fighting in eastern DRC and called on the international community to provide urgent humanitarian assistance including food, medicine, tents etc;

    10. Requested the United Nations System to urgently find a definitive solution to the former M23 combatants interned in eastern Rwanda since March 2013;

    11. The Summit accepted the proposal by the SADC Summit held in Lilongwe on 17 -18 August 2013 on convening a joint SADC-ICGLR Summit on the Great Lakes Region and directed the ICGLR Executive Secretary to liaise with the SADC Executive Secretary to organise the Summit.