Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

{Three mass graves have been discovered in central Democratic Republic of Congo, where hundreds have been killed since July in clashes between security forces and a local militia, the top U.N. rights official said on Wednesday.}

At least 400 people have died and 200,000 have been displaced since the fighting broke out with the Kamuina Nsapu militia. Police killed its leader, Kamuina Nsapu, last August, causing the violence to swiftly escalate.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein urged the U.N. human rights council in Geneva to set up an inquiry “in light of recurrent reports of grave violations and the recent discovery of three more mass graves”.

Zeid gave no additional details about the graves during his remarks to the council, which touched on the human rights situations in dozens of countries. The U.N. rights office in Congo could not immediately provide further details.

Congo’s human rights minister told Reuters she was not able to immediately comment on Zeid’s remarks.

Congo’s government has said it is investigating allegations of rights abuses, including a video last month that appeared to show Congolese troops massacring militia members. However, it has dismissed offers of support from the U.N. rights office in Congo, which it accuses of bias.

Last month, Zeid said there were credible allegations of “massive human rights violations” in central Congo, including of people being targeted by soldiers for their alleged affiliation with Kamuina Nsapu.

The United Nations and rights groups, meanwhile, accuse Kamuina Nsapu of using child soldiers and attacking churches and government buildings.

Before his death, Kamuina Nsapu vowed to rid Kasai Central province of all state security forces, tapping into widespread opposition to the central government in the region.

Militia violence in Congo, a tinder box of conflicts over land, ethnicity and minerals, has been worsened by President Joseph Kabila’s failure to step down when his mandate expired in December, according to analysts.

Millions died in armed conflict in the country’s east from 1996-2003 and dozens of militia groups continue to operate near the Rwandan and Ugandan borders, but such violence in central Congo has been rare until now.

A formal U.N. investigation in central Congo would require action by the human rights or security councils as the zone falls outside U.N. investigators’ current mandate.

Source:Reuters

{The Makerere University authorities have suspended Ms Margaret L. Etuusa, the deputy academic registrar over an award of a contract for handling phones during the just concluded 67th graduation.}

Ms Etuusa, who is in charge of Certificates, Ceremonies and Production Division, was suspended on Tuesday by the acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Okello Ogwang, pending disciplinary action.

“Your written explanation was found not convincing. Accordingly, you are hereby suspended on half-pay with immediate effect and your matter is forwarded to the Appointments Board for Disciplinary action,” Prof Ogwang stated in the letter suspending Ms Etuusa.

“You are required to handover university property within your possession and under your care to the Academic Registrar, with a copy to the director Human Resource before you leave the university,” the letter added.

According to Prof Ogwang, preliminary investigations have shown that Ms Etuusa is the officer at the centre of the controversy of obtaining money from more than 44,000 graduands and guests and “attempting to paint the good image of Makerere University black.”

“It has been discovered that you irregularly handled a process of charging phone owners without approval from the university authorities,” the letter added.

The letter also indicated that Ms Etuusa overstepped her powers and abused her office by single-handedly procuring the phone handler.

Ms Etuusa signed a letter awarding a contract to Exxon Contractors Ltd to keep watch over mobile phones and other gadgets for graduands and guests during the ceremony at a fee of Shs3,000 per phone.

The letter further stated: “You flouted the PPDA provisions and vested yourself with the powers of the Contracts Committee with such a mandate, so your actions are susceptible to fraud, abuse of office and tantamount to gross misconduct contrary to the well-known and laid down procurement laws, policies and procedures.”

Ms Etuusa has also been banned from accessing her office during her suspension.

But in an earlier interview, Ms Etuusa told Daily Monitor that the issue had been used by some individuals within the university administration as a scapegoat to witch-hunt her. She said “the university organs should handle the issue in a manner they deem appropriate.”

Source:Daily Monitor

{A resolute government on Wednesday withdrew an earlier indication that it was willing to promote doctors one job group higher, but offered them all the pay perks contained in their contested 2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement.}

In an advertisement, the Ministry of Health indicates that the lowest job group — for interns — remains L, while it had earlier agreed to move them to M.

It also wants doctors who abscond duty evicted from government premises, and insists, despite doctors’ calls on Wednesday for one more chance at the negotiating table, that there would be no further talks with medics unless they return to work.

In the meantime, the government has recalled all postgraduate medical students, who are expected to take up positions in the counties.

In the government offer, the senior-most doctors will be in job group T, earning a maximum salary of Sh592,000. Interns will earn a minimum of Sh196,000 and a maximum of Sh206,000.

{{Allowance removed }}

Doctors have been fighting for a minimum salary of Sh325,000 for interns and a starting salary of Sh852,000 for the highest cadres.

The proposed additional Sh10,000 risk allowance has been removed. Also, the extraneous allowance in the new deal is Sh30,000 across all the eight job groups, which differs from the 2013 CBA, which had proposed that medical specialists in job groups S and T receive a Sh40,000 extraneous allowance.

The new offer and tough talk from the government came as doctors termed the decision by President Kenyatta to stop all pay talks with them as “unfortunate” and “shocking.”

They also asked what could have happened in the short period between a court hearing in Nairobi Tuesday morning that raised hopes of a deal, and the announcement in Naivasha later in the afternoon that the government would no longer engage them in talks.

Through their lawyer, Mr Philip Murgor, the medics said they had all along believed they had reached an agreement with the mediation team after they agreed to take a 40 per cent pay increase on Monday evening, only to realise it would not be captured in a new CBA.

“There was joy in court after the hearing because we believed we had ended the stalemate,” said Mr Murgor on the phone yesterday. “I was actually shocked by the threats to deregister the doctors’ union and recall of the previous offer.”

{{Table report }}

The battle for the President’s ear, however, had started earlier, on Monday evening. The clergy mediating the dispute wanted to table their report to State House after expiry of their mandate, and they brought in lawyers to write it for them.

The doctors’ union officials, however, differed with the final report, seen by the Nation, as it, among other things, asked the President to forgive them for disobeying him.
“Having met with the doctors,” the report to the President read, “we can now say that they have expressed their remorse and they humbly request, Sir, for forgiveness.”

It was signed by John Cardinal Njue (Catholic), Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit (ACK), Rev Julius Mwamba (PCEA), Sheikh Adan Wachu (Supkem), Bishop John Warari (EAK), and Nitin Malde (Hindu Council of Kenya).

The doctors, however, said they had never, in their negotiations, asked the clergy to beg for forgiveness of the President on their behalf, and refused to accompany the preachers to State House as earlier planned. They believe the clergy went ahead to present the contested report to the President.

They also said they were shocked to learn, at the Court of Appeal Tuesday morning, that the clergy had included a paragraph to the effect that they would call of the strike.
The paragraph, towards the end of the report to the court, read: “We have further been informed this morning that the KMPDU is ready to enter into a return-to-work formula and the recognition agreement pending the initialisation of the CBA.”

But doctors said they had not agreed or indicated to anyone that they would call off the strike before signing the CBA as they feared the government might not honour it. When they raised this concern, lawyers for the clergy cancelled the paragraph with a pen before submitting it to the court.

Source:Daily Nation