IGIHE

Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

  • Tunisia extends 2015 state of emergency

    {Tunisia has extended for another three months a state of emergency in place since a 2015 jihadist attack, the president’s office announced Thursday.}

    President Beji Caid Essebsi has decided “to extend the state of emergency for three months from 16 February”, his office told AFP.

    The state of emergency has been in place since a November 2015 jihadist bombing in Tunis that killed 12 presidential guards on a bus.

    The Islamic State jihadist group claimed the attack as well as bombings earlier in 2015 at the Bardo National Museum and at a beach resort that killed 59 foreign tourists and a Tunisian guard.

    They were part of an ongoing jihadist insurgency since a 2011 revolution toppled long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

    The government has repeatedly renewed the state of emergency despite its assurances that security has improved in the North African state.

    The state of emergency grants emergency powers to the police and in theory grants authorities the right to prohibit strikes and meetings likely to provoke “disorder”.

    It also allows measures “to ensure control of the press”.

    Prime Minister Youssef Chahed told local radio station Mosaique FM on Wednesday that the state of emergency would be “definitively lifted in three months”.

    Defence Minister Farhat Horchani added that there had been a “major improvement” in the security situation.

    “But as long as our situation is linked to Libya and as long as Libya does not have a government that is in control of the situation… the threat exists,” he said.

    Tunisia shares a 500 kilometre border with Libya, a country plagued by chaos since the 2011 fall of its longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

    Jihadist groups including IS have taken advantage to set up operations in ungoverned areas of the country.

    Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.

    Source:AFP

  • Portuguese prosecutors charge Angolan VP with corruption

    {Portuguese prosecutors on Thursday charged Angolan Vice President Manuel Vicente with corruption over allegations he bribed a magistrate with roughly 760,000 euros ($800,000) in 2012 to drop two investigations against him.}

    Vicente, who was the president of Angolan national oil company Sonangol at the time of the alleged crimes, is charged with bribery, money laundering and document falsification, the public prosecutors’ office said in a statement.

    His alleged accomplices, his lawyer Paulo Blanco and his business representative in Portugal, Armindo Pires, were also charged over the affair, as was the Portuguese magistrate who he is accused of having bribed, magistrate Orlando Figueira.

    Figueira, who was arrested in 2016 and is currently under house arrest, was charged with accepting bribes, document falsification, money laundering and violation of the confidentiality of an official investigation.

    Authorities seized about 512,000 euros which the magistrate had placed in bank accounts and safes in Portugal and Andorra as part of their investigation dubbed “Operation Fizz”, the prosecutors’ office said.

    According to Portuguese media reports, one of the investigations which Figueira allegedly dropped in exchange for cash centred on the origin of funds which Vicente used to buy a luxury apartment in a Lisbon suburb.

    The Angolan vice president will be notified of his indictment through an official letter sent to the authorities in Angola, an oil and diamond rich former Portuguese colony in southwestern Africa, the prosecutors’ office said.

    Vicente has denied any involvement in the affair, saying shortly after Figueira’s arrest that he had “absolutely nothing to do with any payment”.

    {{‘Never been questioned’}}

    Vicente’s lawyer Rui Patricio said Thursday that his client had not been notified of any charges being brought against him.

    “I am astounded that my client has been accused, not only because he had nothing to do with the facts mentioned but also because he has never even been questioned about them,” Patricio said in a statement sent to Portuguese news agency Lusa.
    The fact that Vicente was not questioned “invalidates the (legal) process,” he added, according to Lusa.

    In 2012, attempts to investigate alleged money laundering and tax evasion by several Angolan officials in Portugal sent a chill in relations between the two countries, which have strong economic ties.

    Portugal is Angola’s main source of imports and Portuguese companies are active in banking and construction in the vast African country.

    In turn, Angolan investors including state oil company Sonangol — currently headed by billionaire businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos — have built up significant stakes in Portugal’s top telecommunications firms and banks.

    Dos Santos announced earlier this month he will not run in elections in August, signalling the end to 37 years in power and naming his Defence Minister Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco as the candidate to succeed him.

    Until news of the corruption scandal emerged last year, Vicente had been strongly tipped as a potential successor to Dos Santos, who has ruled Angola since 1979.
    Angola’s vast oil wealth has not trickled down to the masses and critics accuse both dos Santos and his family of amassing huge wealth by siphoning off state funds.

    Angolan Vice President Manuel Vicente

    Source:Daily Monitor

  • South Sudan institutions relocate to Uganda

    {A number of South Sudanese religious and educational institutions are relocating to Uganda as the civil war in the country intensifies. }

    About a million people have fled to West Nile in Uganda amidst claims of ethnic cleansing by the warring factions in South Sudan.

    Already, a health training institution from Kajokeji town has relocated to Arua District with all its students. In Moyo, preparations are almost complete to relocate the Catholic Diocese of Kajokeji to Moyo town.

    Kajokeji is located in Yei River State, one of the 28 states in South Sudan. Before the creation of states, it was part of the six counties of Central Equatoria. It is approximately 150 kilometres south of South Sudan capital, Juba, and 50 kilometres from the Uganda border post at Nimule.

    William Anyama, the Local Council Five Chairperson of Moyo District said land and structures have already been put in place to accommodate the bishop and other diocesan leaders from Kajokeji diocese in the district. He said over the last few months, several people have been displaced from Kajokeji and have taken refuge in Moyo District.

    Mr Anyama further noted that the situation in South Sudan is alarming and called upon the residents of Moyo to offer shelter to the fleeing refugees.

    In Arua town, Kajokeji Health Training Institute has already opened its gates for the students to continue learning. Founded in 2013, the institute produced its first set of graduates last year after three years of training. The school located in Kajokeji town had its own premises complete with facilities. In September last year, unknown gunmen raided the school, killing two students. The raid forced the school management to close the institution and decided to relocate to Arua.

    Santa Gudoa, the Administrative Assistant at the institute said since all the people in Kajokeji have fled, there was no need to continue operating the school there.

    South Sudan national flag. A number of South Sudanese religious and educational institutions are relocating to Uganda as the civil war in the country intensifies.

    Source:Daily Monitor

  • DRC minister says country ‘can’t afford’ to hold election this year

    {Budget minister’s warning on poll funds comes after death of key opposition figure and amid fears over fragile political deal.}

    Repeatedly delayed elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo face another obstacle after the budget minister said he doubted whether the country could find the funds to hold a poll this year.

    Pierre Kangudia said government coffers were empty and it would be “difficult to gather” the necessary $1.8bn (£1.5bn).

    His claim has further dimmed hopes that a fragile political deal could avert serious civil conflict in the central African country.

    It comes 12 days after the death of Étienne Tshisekedi, a veteran politician whom analysts say was the only figure capable of unifying the DRC’s fragmented opposition to the continued rule of President Joseph Kabila.

    Tshisekedi was set to lead a transitional council, part of an agreement put together in December intended to pave the way for Kabila to leave power in 2017 and refrain from running for a third term as president.

    The end of Kabila’s presidential mandate in December prompted protests in cities across the DRC. More than 40 people are thought to have died and hundreds were arrested during two days of violence.

    The deal, concluded under the auspices of Congo’s influential Catholic church, is heavily dependent on a government promise to hold polls this year.

    The US, UK and European nations welcomed the agreement and are pushing for an early election, which they are likely to partially fund.

    Close aides of Kabila, who has been in power since 2001, claim logistical difficulties mean it would be impractical to hold any polls before 2018.

    The president has been accused of trying to cling to power by postponing elections indefinitely – a charge denied by spokesmen and supporters.

    Despite vast mineral and other resources, the DRC is one of the world’s poorest states. Kangudia likened the nation’s treasury to an “empty saucepan with holes in it”.

    “We have to fill the holes before we can even put anything in it,” the minister said.

    In January, Lambert Mende, the information minister, also expressed doubt about the possibility of a 2017 poll.

    After Tshisekedi’s death, analysts predicted the government would seek to weaken the opposition

    Tshisekedi’s son, Felix, may now be named prime minister in a forthcoming power-sharing government, if the agreement holds.

    Western and African powers fear further political instability in the DRC could lead to a repeat of the conflicts seen between 1996 and 2003 in which as many as 5 million people may have died, mostly from starvation and disease.

    The conflict was the deadliest in modern African history, involving two rounds of fighting in the late 1990s and early 2000s that dragged in the armies of at least six countries.

    Analysts suggest two possibilities if opposition factions and the government cannot agree on a process with a minimum of legitimacy: a bloody, popular, urban uprising that ousts the president, or the slow collapse of the government as economic weakness, meddling by regional powers and international isolation undermine its authority.

    A man looks for his name on a list at a polling station in Kinshasa in 2011. DRC has said it does not have the money to hold an election this year.

    Source:The Guardian

  • Kenya’s economy ailing, says Raila Odinga

    {Kenya’s economy is “in turbulence”, opposition leader Raila Odinga has said.}

    The ODM leader said Kenya’s unemployment rate is among the highest in the world, with 17 per cent of the youth, who are the majority population, lacking jobs.

    “Our country is hurting,” he told inventors in Kisumu in a statement read by Governor Jack Ranguma. “Despite the glossy projections we have chosen to believe, the reality is that our economy is in turbulence.”

    To arrest runaway joblessness, Mr Odinga said, the government should get its priorities right and focus on them.

    {{CORRUPTION}}

    “First, let us talk openly and act candidly against corruption,” he said.

    “Corruption is taking away at least 250,000 jobs every year from our country. With a reputation like the one we gained last month as the third most corrupt country in the world, it takes a really brave investor to try Kenya.”

    He went on: “Our unemployment rate is among the highest in the world. It stands at three times that of Uganda and Tanzania.

    “The World Bank says one in every five Kenyan youths of working age has no job compared to Uganda and Tanzania, where about one in every 20 young people is jobless.”

    He said youth unemployment, if not addressed, would be a disaster for Kenya and urged the business community to help deal with it.

    {{AGRICULTURE}}

    “A nation that has no jobs for its youth is a nation working against itself. The business community can play a vital role in reversing this trend,” said Mr Odinga.

    Mr Odinga said Kenya is a signatory to the Maputo Declaration that stipulates that at least 10 per cent of the national Budget must go to agriculture but we have never attained even five per cent.

    If well funded, farming can create millions of jobs and help fight hunger, he said.

    “We must pursue radical reforms in the agricultural sector and address the issue of standards,” he said.

    Mr Ranguma read the speech as he closed a three-day trade investment forum by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Kisumu on Thursday.

    KISUMU

    The governor used the opportunity to woo local and foreign investors to Kisumu, saying the county government had created an enabling environment for business.

    “A recent Word Bank survey ranked Kisumu as the best county in Kenya and number 40 in the world in terms of ease of doing business,” he said.

    “It means that your investment in Kisumu is never in vain.”

    He hailed Mr Odinga for helping inculcate an attitude change that embraces investment in the region.

    “You no longer hear the narrative of stone throwing in this region and residents have embraced peace because they are aware that businesses can only thrive in a peaceful environment,” he added.

    Cord leader Raila Odinga.

    Source:Daily Nation

  • Four more M23 rebels arrested in Kisoro

    {Four people suspected to be members of the M23 combatants have been arrested in Kisoro District on their way to the Democratic Republic of Congo.}

    They are; Captain Karuhije Habiyaremye, 30, Lieutenant Abdu Amani, 28, Sergeant Isaac Habimfura,24, and Corporal Innocent Amani, 21. They are all residents of Masisi territory, North Kivu province in Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Kisoro District Police Commander Charles Okoto said the rebels were arrested at Kanombe cell, Muramba Sub County, Kisoro District on Thursday.

    He added that they were intercepted by locals in the area while trying to cross to Democratic republic of Congo through secret path.

    Hajji Shafique Ssekandi, the Kisoro Resident District Commissioner said the suspects now detained at Kisoro Police Station, are part of the 750 ex-combatants who recently escaped from Bihanga Military Training School in Ibanda District.

    Mr Ssekandi also urged locals to remain vigilant and alert security for intervention in case they become suspicious or fail to recognize any person in the area.

    This is not the first time M23 rebels are arrested in Kisoro trying to cross to Democratic republic of Congo. On January 23, five more M23 rebels were intercepted at Kanaba along Kabale-Kisoro road. They were relocated to Bihanga Military Training School.

    The M23 Movement also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army was a rebel military group based in Eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Ex-combatants sought refuge in Uganda after a ceasefire agreement that ended their activities and control in Goma.

    Some started dwelling in Kisoro District as urban refugees while others were taken to Bihanga Military Training School in Ibanda district for demobilization. In December 2013, a total of 1,374 ex-M23 combatants were transferred from Kavera in Kasese district to Bihanga.

    During the recent meeting with team, military attaches from the United States of America, India, China, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and the ex-combatants at Bihanga Military Training School, it was revealed that the number of ex-combatants dwindles by the day and their destination is yet to be known.

    During the meeting it was also revealed that, a total of 750 former combatants are missing from the Military Training School. Rebel Commander, Sultan Makenga and Lt Colonel Vianney Kazarama, the spokesperson of the M23 Military wing, escaped from the camp.

    Currently, the UPDF can only account for about three hundred of them.

    The suspects at Kisoro Police Station.

    Source:Daily Monitor

  • Uganda:65 pupils admitted over suspected food poisoning

    {Police in Kayunga District are investigating circumstances under which 65 pupils of Kangulumira Church of Uganda Primary School in Kangulumira sub-county are said to have eaten food laced with poison.}

    Four people have so far been arrested after the pupils were rushed Kangulimira Health Centre IV and Jinja Regional Referral Hospital in critical condition.

    The poisoned pupils, mainly in Primary six and seven were admitted after developing severe diarrhoea, stomach-ache and vomiting.

    The head teacher of the school, Mr Livingstone Kalinge declined to talk about the incident, however, teachers found at the health centre said one of the school neighbours identified as Grace Nabitegero on Wednesday came with beans soup from her home and mixed it in the beans the pupils were being served for supper.

    “She claimed that the soup was tastier and mixed it with the pupils’ beans sauce, which they served to pupils,” one teacher narrated.

    However, after having the meal, the pupils developed diarrhoea, stomach-ache and started vomiting.

    The pupils who had been served before the sauce was mixed with the neighbour’s soup were not affected, according to teachers.

    Kayunga District CID boss, Mr Maliserino Mulema said four people had been arrested to help in their investigations. The suspects are the school cook Mr Christopher Kabaya, Nabitegero, Michael Kazungu and Godfrey Kalema, both employed as cooks at Uganda Martyrs SS, a neighbouring school have been arrested to help.

    Kayunga RDC Rose Birungi and her deputy Yahaya Were visit some of the pupils who were admitted to Kangulumira Health Centre IV after eating food suspected to have been laced with poison.

    Source:Daily Monitor

  • Tanzania:Three arrested as formal dialogue on Burundi starts

    {Police in Tanzania have arrested three suspected Burundians over their alleged attempt to thwart the ongoing Burundi peace talks under former President Benjamin Mkapa’s mediation.}

    Mr Mkapa in his capacity as facilitator of the Inter-Burundi Dialogue started the formal dialogue here yesterday after completion of the consultative talks.

    The talks are scheduled to end tomorrow.

    The identities of the three suspects had not been revealed by the time the ‘Daily News’ went to press and the mediation remained under secrecy.

    The mediation session follows rigorous consultations that the facilitator made with various stakeholders within and outside Burundi, after which he identified an eight-point agenda, addressing all the issues that the stakeholders raised and agreed as the key points to submit to the September 2016 Summit.

    Source:Daily News

  • HarvestPlus named semi-finalist in MacArthur Foundation Competition for $100 million grant

    HarvestPlus is one of eight semi-finalists named this week by 100&Change, a global competition for a single $100 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T.

    MacArthur Foundation. The competition seeks bold solutions to critical problems of our time.

    The World Health Organization estimates that malnutrition contributes to 3.1 million deaths of children under-five every year, almost half of all deaths for that age group.

    “We know that good nutrition is an essential building block for growth and development,” says HarvestPlus CEO Bev Postma. “Sadly, many children in rural Africa and other parts of the developing world still suffer from the devastating effects of ‘hidden hunger.’ They may not be visibly hungry, but their basic diets lack the essential micronutrients for good health.”

    HarvestPlus has pioneered a simple but transformative way to increase the nutritional value of staple food crops, such as sweet potatoes, beans, maize, and cassava. These improved varieties provide higher amounts of vitamin A, iron, and zinc—the three micronutrients identified by the World Health Organization as most lacking in diets globally. Recent studies have shown that crops pioneered by HarvestPlus and its partners can dramatically improve vitamin A status, reduce diarrheal disease, improve visual function, and reverse iron deficiency in women and children.

    “HarvestPlus has already reached 20 million people worldwide and our goal is to reach one billion people by 2030. We can do this only with the help of partners, such as the MacArthur Foundation,” says Postma.

    With additional resources, HarvestPlus can work with others to scale up its partnerships and empower rural communities across Africa to tackle hidden hunger by growing and consuming more nutritious and sustainable varieties of staple crops.

    A summary of our solution, an overview video of our project, and a MacArthur video describing our proposal are available here:
    https://www.macfound.org/press/semifinalist-profile/harvestplus/.

    “The eight ambitious proposals exemplify the passion, range, and creativity of the hundreds of applications,” said MacArthur President Julia Stasch.

    “We hope that the competition inspires individuals and organizations to be bold and think big, because solutions are possible.” MacArthur’s Board will select up to five finalists in September. Finalists will present their proposals during a live event on December 11, 2017, before the Board names a single recipient to receive $100 million over up to six years.

    HarvestPlus has pioneered a simple but transformative way to increase the nutritional value of staple food crops, such as sweet potatoes, beans, maize, and cassava.

  • RNP, Muslim youth leaders draw strategies against radicalism and extremism

    {Seventy-five Muslim youth leaders, yesterday, held a one day workshop which concluded with laying strategies to enhance cooperation with Rwanda National Police (RNP) in raising awareness and fighting radicalism and extremism.}

    The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Emmanuel K. Gasana presided over the closing of the workshop at the RNP General Headquarters in Kacyiru, which was also attended by the Mufti of Rwanda, Sheikh Salim Hitimana.

    IGP Gasana reminded the Muslim youth leaders to always “consider the national vision” that is tailored towards “national transformation, unity, thinking big and accountability.”

    “We have since acquired knowledge and skills of dealing with issues of insecurity but we need cooperation and coordinated efforts from all Rwandans in preventing radicalization and extremism,” the Police Chief said.

    The workshop was held under the theme; “Building a Secure World to ensure Safety for All.”

    “Use your influence to direct your peers in the right path; ensure they are not lured in ill-acts… Collaboration is one way we can jointly prevent radicalization from rooting in our communities; whenever you encounter a situation of radicalization or extremism, quickly inform the relevant authorities…this is what community policing means… to work together to prevent any ill-acts,” he said.

    He challenged them to focus on “self development” and the country in general.

    During the meeting, Muslim youth leaders resolved to establish anti-terrorism clubs in their respective areas of leadership and ensure they are operational.

    The IGP pledged the institution’s support them their activities geared towards public safety.

    Mufti Hitimana, on his part, urged the youth leaders to make formation of the anti-terrorism clubs a priority.

    He, however, pointed out that despite a few cases of radicalization that were reported previously, there is a positive attitude within the Islamic community to contribute to safety and security of the country.

    During the workshop, participants deliberated on different topics including the current situation of radicalization in the region; how Islam views terrorism; the role of Muslim youth in promoting peace and living in harmony with believers of other religions, radicalization and and why it is a national security concern, among others.

    The Commissioner for Counter-terrorism in RNP, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Denis Basabose said that the workshop was aimed at networking, enhancing partnership and tutoring Muslim youths on how to avoid being radicalized.

    He pointed out that although there haven’t been many cases in Rwanda, such kind of meeting provides a framework for preventing radicalism and extremism.

    The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Emmanuel K. Gasana addressing Muslim youth leaders during the workshop.

    Source:Police