IGIHE

Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

  • We are united by universal values and principles—Kagame

    {President Paul Kagame has addressed the National Assembly of Djibouti where he has highlighted the importance of Africa states’ need to complement each other to reach development goals and overcome challenges. }

    Kagame noted that much as Rwanda and Djibouti do not share borders, the distance between both countries is not an obstacle to friendship.

    He lauded Djibouti’s rapid development saying it has had an impact beyond its borders.

    Kagame said that Rwanda and Djibouti have common aspirations for a stable, prosperous, continent, where all Africans live in dignity.

    “We seek the same things for our people: education, health, knowledge and prosperity. An essential element of Rwanda’s development strategy is integration, both economic and political with partner states,” said Kagame.

    “Africa has everything needed to create the opportunities for a hopeful present, and a bright future, for all of us.We are united by universal values and principles, but each country’s challenges are unique,” he added.

    Kagame explained that the most successful nations have a clear understanding of their own circumstances, history and needs of citizens. He called African nations to speak as one voice ‘whatever challenges we face collectively and in our respective countries’.

    Kagame has also talked on Rwanda-Djibouti relations calling for improved relations between citizens of both countries.

    “We want more Rwandans and Djiboutians to visit each other, learn from each other, and invest in each other’s countries.We are making good progress in ensuring that our close bilateral cooperation results into tangible benefits for our people.The solidarity between Rwanda and Djibouti is a firm foundation for our joint pursuit of social and economic transformation. We look forward to deepening our partnership in the years ahead,” he said.

    President Kagame left has also visited Djibouti’s Port of Doraleh, marking the end of two-day State visit accompanied by First Lady and government officials.

    President Kagame arrived in Djibouti where he and the delegation that accompanied him have signed various agreements regarding air transport, investment, cooperation in technology, removing visa costs for diplomats and service passports along with establishing a joint commission of both countries.

  • Syria evacuations resume after deadly bomb attack

    {The reciprocal evacuations from two pro-government villages and two opposition-held towns resumed under tight security.}

    The evacuation and transfer of thousands of Syrians from four besieged areas resumed on Wednesday, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

    The reciprocal evacuations from two pro-government villages and two opposition-held towns was disrupted by a bombing on Saturday that killed more than 120 people.

    A large convoy of buses from the government-held towns of Foua and Kefraya reached the edge of the rebel-held transit point of Rashidin outside the city of Aleppo.

    “The process has resumed with 3,000 people leaving Foua and Kefraya at dawn and nearly 300 leaving Zabadani and two other rebel-held areas,” the head of the SOHR, Rami Abdel Rahman, told the AFP news agency.

    The Syrian government’s Central Military Media also confirmed the resumption of evacuations.

    Rashidin was the scene of Saturday’s deadly car bombing. At least 109 of the 126 dead were evacuees, among them 68 children. The rest were aid workers and rebels guarding the convoy.

    Security was tightened up for Wednesday’s departures. Several dozen armed rebel fighters stood guard over the marshalling area where the buses were parked.

    When Wednesday’s evacuations are complete, a total of 8,000 people should have left Foua and Kefraya, including pro-government fighters as well as civilians.

    In exchange, 2,500 civilians and rebel fighters should have left rebel-held areas, including the towns of Zabadani and Madaya near Damascus that are surrounded by pro-government forces.

    The deal to evacuate the towns was the latest in a string of such agreements, touted by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as the best way to end the fighting. Rebels say they have been forced out by siege and bombardment.

    The population exchange has been criticised by rights groups, which say it rewards siege tactics and amounts to forced displacement.

    The deal, currently in its first stage, has been repeatedly delayed.

    A second phase is due to begin in two months’ time which should see the two government-held towns entirely emptied and all fighters, and civilians who choose to, leave the two rebel-held towns.

    In total, that will amount to more than 30,000 people.

    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday’s bombing.

    The Syrian government blamed “terrorists” – a catch-all term for its opponents. Ahrar al-Sham, a key rebel group in Syria’s north, condemned the “cowardly” attack, saying that many of its members were killed in the blast. The group said it was willing to cooperate with an international probe to determine the culprits.

    The United Nations says 4.72 million Syrians are in hard-to-reach areas, including 600,000 people under siege, mostly by the Syrian army, but also by rebels or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

    There has been a series of evacuations in recent months, mostly around the capital Damascus but also from the last rebel-held district of Syria’s third city Homs.

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • Cold wintry weather sweeps over central Europe

    {Spring warmth is on hold across Europe as cold weather brings snow to parts of Germany, Austria and the Balkans.}

    Parts of central Europe have had a late taste of winter over the last few days.

    This comes after a spell of warm weather saw spring blossom burst through in many parts of the continent as the days start to lengthen throughout the northern hemisphere.

    Just 10 days ago the temperature in central London touched 25C. Highs were back down around the seasonal average of 13C on Tuesday.

    There was a similar contrast in Brussels with a top temperature on 23C on April 9. The high was nearer 10C by Tuesday.

    That was actually four degrees below the April of 14C.

    The warmth in Belgium prompted the apple and pear blossom to come out around 10 days early this year.

    Recent nights have seen the temperature fall close to freezing.

    Efforts have been made to protect the blossom but some damage is inevitable. The trees are usually sprayed with water ahead of the frost.

    They then freeze over so when the temperature drops further the young buds remain protected. This technique has been used in Italy for some time now.

    However, the current water scarcity in Trento, northern Italy, means that they have not been able to protect their delicate fruit this time around.

    Those areas in northern Italy, across the Alps and into the Balkans have been cold enough for some significant and even heavy snowfalls. Some parts of the higher ground have recorded up to a metre of fresh snow over the last few days.

    Temperatures have been as much as 10 to 15 degrees below average across the region. Vienna has been particularly cold, with temperatures struggling to reach 3 or 4C. The April average is 15C.

    It will be the weekend before those temperatures get anywhere near double figures. We can expect highs nearer 19C by Tuesday.

    The current spell of thundery downpours, rain, sleet and snow still extends from the Alps to the Balkans.

    The wintry mix is forecast to drift across the Hungarian Plain over the next few days, allowing that return to spring warmth.

    Snow returned to parts of Germany after the Easter weekend

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • Jakarta Governor Ahok heading for election loss

    {Quick counts show Purnama, on trial for blasphemy, losing to ex-cabinet minister after religiously divisive campaign.}

    Unofficial results show that the Christian governor of the Indonesian capital Jakarta has been resoundingly defeated after a campaign that opened religious and racial divides in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

    So-called quick counts by 10 research companies on Wednesday showed Anies Baswedan, a former cabinet minister, winning between 55 and 60 percent of votes in the head-to-head vote, with about 80 percent of ballots counted.

    Incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, is on trial for blasphemy. In recent months, hundreds of thousands of Indonesians have protested against him in Jakarta, deriding his Chinese ancestry and calling for him to be imprisoned or killed.

    On Thursday, prosecutors will make their sentencing demand in Purnama’s trial.

    Blasphemy is a criminal offence in Indonesia and punishable by up to five years in prison.

    Baswedan, a highly educated Muslim politician, capitalised on the backlash against Ahok by courting the support of conservative religious leaders and figures on the radical fringe who opposed electing a non-Muslim.

    The polarising campaign has given Indonesia’s conservative Muslim groups a national stage.

    Purnama won the first round in February but not by a big enough margin to avoid a runoff.

    Purnama, who was Jakarta’s first Christian governor in half a century and first ever ethnically Chinese governor, had been popular with middle-class Jakartans for his efforts to stamp out corruption and make the overflowing polluted city more livable.

    But his brash manner and evictions of slum communities alienated many in the city of 10 million.

    {{Runoff favourite}}

    Baswedan had been seen as the favourite in the runoff because the votes from a third Muslim candidate who was knocked out were expected to go to him.

    Baswedan was supported by the political and business elite that Jokowi unexpectedly defeated in the 2014 presidential election and who will be seeking to unseat him in 2019.

    Opponents seized their moment last year when a video surfaced of Purnama telling voters they were being deceived if they believed a specific verse in the Quran prohibited Muslims from electing a non-Muslim as leader.

    Conservative Muslim groups drew huge crowds to protests in Jakarta, shaking Jokowi’s centrist government.

    Purnama’s runoff defeat would be a setback for his political patron, President Joko Widodo, who on Thursday hosts Vice President Mike Pence on the Indonesian leg of an Asian tour.

    Ian Wilson, an expert on Indonesia from Murdoch University in western Australia, told Al Jazeera that Purnama’s defeat would be a significant result as he had previosuly been a largely popular figure.

    “I think it shows the instrumental value of invoking identity as a political weapon,” said Wilson.

    {{General tolerance}}

    Wilson said the poll outcome could also be a setback for religous tolerance in terms of politics but that – in a large, diverse city like Jakarta – he did not think general tolerance was going to be under much threat.

    “I think in everyday life in a city like Jakarta I don’t think there’s necessarily going to be a significant change,” he said.

    More than seven million people were eligible to vote and thousands of police and military personnel were deployed to secure the 13,000-plus polling places.

    However, there was no sign of unrest and police said the election had run smoothly.

    Voting closed at 06:00 GMT on Wednesday.

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • Deadly attack near Egypt’s old monastery

    {One policeman has been killed by gunmen who opened fire on a checkpoint near St Catherine’s monastery in Egypt’s south Sinai, officials say.}

    Another three police officers were injured in the attack several hundred metres from the church entrance.

    So-called Islamic State group said its fighters carried out the attack.

    Located at the foot of Mount Sinai, St Catherine’s is one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world and a Unesco world heritage site.

    It is part of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

    Tuesday’s attack comes just days after bombings at two Coptic Christian churches left 45 people dead.

    The attacks have raised security fears ahead of a visit to Cairo by Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

    Egypt’s Christian minority makes up about 10% of the pre-dominantly Muslim country of 92 million people.

    St Catherine's monastery is located at the foot of Mount Sinai

    Source:BBC

  • ‘Phenomenal’ progress in fighting tropical diseases

    {There has been a record-breaking achievement in distributing tablets to fight neglected tropical diseases, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says.}

    The effort has ramped up since a key meeting in London five years ago.

    In 2015, one billion people worldwide were treated for at least one tropical disease.
    Companies have donated seven billion treatments since 2012.

    The World Health Organisation said improving water and sanitation was key to driving further progress.

    The London meeting resulted in a pledge to control or eliminate 10 neglected tropical diseases – including guinea worm, river blindness and trachoma – by 2020.

    Some 170,000 people die from one of the illnesses every year, but their biggest impact is disabling their sufferers.

    In an interview with BBC News, Bill Gates praised pharmaceutical companies for “doing their part in a great relationship” by donating treatment at “a phenomenal scale”.

    {{‘Fantastic story’}}

    Mr Gates said: “None of these diseases are getting worse. They are less neglected than they used to be.

    “We’re behind on some of the very ambitious goals which were set in London for 2020 – but the burden from all these diseases is getting better.

    “And for some, such as lymphatic filariasis (a mosquito-borne worm which causes limbs to swell), there’s been a big reduction in the population we need to treat – from 1.5 billion to one billion people.

    “Guinea worm is close to the end, with only 25 cases last year – though the unrest in South Sudan is making this work harder. But it’s not going to spread back in big numbers.

    “And we’ve had huge progress on sleeping sickness (a parasitic infection which can kill) – with cases now down to under 3,000. This is a fantastic story.

    “It’s a hard area to explain because it’s not just one disease – and there is a certain complexity to the individual diseases.”

    Five of the 10 diseases are tackled with big programmes to distribute multiple drugs, requiring lots of co-ordination to deliver and evaluate treatment in an efficient way.

    Mr Gates was speaking from a meeting in Geneva, where new commitments worth $812m (£641m) have been made by governments, drug companies and charitable bodies.

    He applauded the UK government’s announcement at the weekend that it would double support for fighting neglected tropical diseases.

    Mr Gates told me: “The UK is a critical donor. As somebody who’s very measurement-oriented, I find that partnering with the UK on these health-related areas is a great way to spend money and lift these countries up.

    “Anyone who gets to see these very tough diseases, and to see the benefit from these initiatives, would be absolutely convinced.”

    {{President Trump ‘pragmatic’}}

    Mr Gates, who had a meeting with President Trump last month, described the recent US funding cut to the United Nations Population Fund as “disappointing and unfortunate”.

    He added: “I feel quite confident that when Congress decides the overall aid budget, there won’t be the large cuts to foreign aid that would have been implied by the President’s proposed budget.

    “I don’t know that we’ll get to a situation where there are no cuts – but I think with the support of Congress, we’ll get close to where we’ve been in previous years.

    “I talked to the President about the critical role the US has played in the great progress on HIV, malaria and reproductive health – and in terms of how strong health systems can stop pandemics.

    “We got a glimpse of that with Ebola and Zika.
    “I think I was able to get across the idea that global health matters even in an ‘America First’ framework.

    “The President has proved willing to be pragmatic since he’s been in office – so continued dialogue about development aid will be important.”

    More people are now getting treatment for lymphatic filariasis which makes limbs swell

    Source:BBC

  • Why Somalia is getting more foreign aid than South Sudan

    {International donors are responding adequately to the food crisis in Somalia but are falling far short of supplying required amounts of aid in South Sudan, a United Nations humanitarian aid director has said.}

    “The needs are escalating, but the response is currently keeping pace with those needs,” UN official John Ging told reporters Tuesday at a briefing on his recent monitoring visit to the towns of Baidoa and Kismayo in Somalia.

    The UN has appealed for $825 million to help stave off famine in Somalia and has so far received $558 million in donations, Mr Ging said.

    That nearly 70 per cent response rate is “quite unprecedented,” he noted.

    {{SOMALI DIASPORA}}

    Of even greater significance, Mr Ging added, is the $1.2 billion in remittances that Somalis living abroad send annually to their families.

    In South Sudan, by contrast, a $1.6 billion UN appeal is only 27 percent funded, Mr Ging said. The $438 million contributed to date is “insufficient to keep pace” with hunger in a country where 100,000 people are living in officially declared famine zones.

    Another one million South Sudanese are in danger of experiencing famine, Mr Ging emphasised.

    A team of UN officials, including Mr Ging, recently visited the towns of Wau and Mayendit in South Sudan.

    Asked to explain the difference in donors’ response, he said the South Sudan government has not fulfilled its stated commitment to making dangerous parts of the country accessible to aid providers.

    “We see a gap between statements of the government — comments made by the president and others — and actions on the ground,” Mr Ging declared

    {{HOSTILITY}}

    Violence has claimed the lives of 82 aid workers since the start of South Sudan’s civil war in 2013, he noted. Nine employees of humanitarian organisations have been killed in just the past month, Mr Ging added.

    In Somalia, on the other hand, the recently installed government headed by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo is engaged in “a very strong partnership with international organisations,” he said.

    In addition, Mr Ging continued, the UN and donor countries are determined to prevent a recurrence of the 2011 famine in Somalia that claimed an estimated 260,000 lives. “We were collectively seen as not responding quickly enough” to that emergency, he said.

    Compared with the situation in 2011, Mr Ging added, aid workers today enjoy greater access to parts of Somalia controlled by Al-Shabaab.

    He warned, however, that Somalia is experiencing a “very fast-moving crisis” with a rising peril of famine. More than six million Somalis are in need of humanitarian assistance, Mr Ging said, noting that 571,000 people have been displaced from their homes in the past six months due to drought-caused food shortages.

    Somalia is also grappling with outbreaks of cholera and measles, he said.

    “This crisis is going to continue to grow, Mr Ging predicted. A failure of the upcoming rainy season in Somalia will make dire circumstances worse, he said, warning, “People have exhausted their coping mechanisms.”

    A woman carries a sack of food at a stabilisation centre in Panyijiar, South Sudan, on March 4, 2017. Famine is affecting about 100,000 people in the country.

    Source:Daily Nation

  • South Sudan rebel army chiefs surrender to UPDF

    {Two top South Sudanese rebel commanders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) have abandoned the rebel ranks and surrendered to Ugandan security officials in Lamwo District, northern Uganda.}

    Maj Gen Benjamin Luboi and another officer only identified as Brig Taban reportedly surrendered on Monday last week to Uganda People’s Defence Forces soldiers in Padibe Sub-county, Lamwo District, after fleeing from Imatong State in South Sudan.

    Ugandan security officials said Maj Gen Luboi was the SPLA-IO commander in charge of Pajok sector, in Pajok County, Imatong State, where the South Sudan government troops recently launched offensives against various militias and rebels operating in the area.

    SPLA-IO rebel group led by former vice president Riek Machar split from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 2013 following clashes between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and his then deputy Dr Riek Machar.

    Mr Jonathan Rutabingwa, the Lamwo Resident District Commissioner, confirmed to Daily Monitor the surrender of the SPLA-IO top commanders on Monday.

    He said Maj Gen Luboi surrendered with three of his bodyguards and all wore civilian clothes and had no guns.

    Mr Rutabingwa said the duo in their statements at Padibe Police Station in Padibe Sub-county said they abandoned SPLA-IO because the war wasn’t “profiting and yielding any successes”.

    He said the commanders were later handed over to the UNHCR after a brief interrogation by the Uganda Security officials comprising UPDF and the police.

    But Mr Titus Jogo, the refugee desk officer in the Office of the Prime Minister, denied any knowledge of the presence of Maj Gen Luboi and Brig Taban in Uganda.

    Source:Daily Monitor

  • UPDF withdraws from Central African Republic

    {Uganda has started withdrawing its military troops involved in the US-backed operations against Lords Resistance Army rebels from Central African Republic today.}

    A total of 31 UPDF soldiers landed at Gulu Airfield in Gulu District on Tuesday and Wednesday in the on-going military withdraws.

    The 4th Infantry Division Spokesperson Lt Hassan Kato confirmed to Daily Monitor in an interview Wednesday that UPDF has began it’s total withdraw from CAR.

    BrigadierJoseph Katsigazi, the UPDF Chief of Staff received some of the soldiers at Gulu Airfield.

    Uganda put its boots on the ground in CAR in 2009 after it was reported that the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels were causing instability in the densely forested western town of Obo.
    In 2010, the US government sent 100 of its Special Forces soldiers to support the UPDF in intelligence gathering on LRA activities in CAR.

    The Ugandan army has been the only active African force hunting down the rebels in the jungles, but in 2012, regional governments agreed to form a Regional Task Force (RTF) under the African Union to boost the fight against LRA. Forces from DR Congo, South Sudan and CAR were supposed to deploy under the RTF.

    A contingent of troops after landing in Gulu

    Source:Daily Monitor

  • Kenya:Jubilee sets primaries for two days, assures aspirants of fair poll

    {The Jubilee Party has now rescinded its decision to conduct its high-stakes nominations in a single day, and will now hold them on April 21 and 25.
    }

    The party’s National Elections Board said it made the decision following an increase in the number of counties that will hold the primaries from 33 to 45.

    Board chairman Andrew Musangi also said the Jubilee ballot papers are foolproof.

    “If you can produce the Jubilee ballot paper, then you can also produce the Sh100 note,” Mr Musangi said the party’s ballot papers.

    Secretary-General Raphael Tuju also sought to allay fears of possible rigging in the nominations.

    “If you can rig the Jubilee process, please come to me and I’ll pay you money,” he said.

    Mr Tuju assured aspirants that the process will be free and fair, and that the ballot papers are foolproof.

    He said the papers have five security features including different colour codes for the different seats, unique serial numbers and a watermark he said only five people know.

    {{Counties that will conduct nominations on April 21:}}

    1. Kirinyaga

    2. Elgeyo Marakwet

    3. Meru

    4. Uasin Gishu

    5. Baringo

    6. Bomet

    7. Laikipia

    8. Murang’a

    9. Tharaka-Nithi

    10. Kiambu

    11. Nyandarua

    12. Embu

    13. Kericho

    14. West Pokot

    15. Nandi

    16. Nakuru

    17. Nyeri

    18. Nairobi

    19. Kajiado

    20. Narok

    21. Trans-Nzoia

    22. Taita Taveta

    Counties that will conduct nominations on April 25:

    1. Lamu

    2. Wajir

    3. Mandera

    4. Marsabit

    5. Turkana

    6. Samburu

    7. Kilifi

    8. Tana River

    9. Mombasa

    10. Kitui

    11. Machakos

    12. Makueni

    13. Kakamega

    14. Vihiga

    15. Bungoma

    16. Busia

    17. Homa Bay

    18. Migori

    19. Kwale

    20. Garissa

    21. Nyamira

    22. Isiolo

    23. Kisii

    Jubilee National Election Board officials at a press conference on April 19, 2017. They announced that the party will hold its nominations in two days, on April 21 and April 25.

    Source:Daily Nation