IGIHE

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  • Ugandan Working in US Falls to Death

    Ugandan Working in US Falls to Death

    {{A Ugandan immigrant working as an elevator operator in the US city of Boston has fallen to his death, according to media reports.

    Police were on Friday yet to identify the name of the man who plunged several feet down an elevator shaft, the New York Daily News reported online.

    According to reports, a source said the victim’s family – including several children – live in Uganda.

    He is said to have fallen 30 feet to his death at around 10am (5pm Ugandan time) on Friday, according to the Boston Fire Department.}}

    {wirestory}

  • Kenya Legalises Polygamy

    Kenya Legalises Polygamy

    {{Kenya’s parliament has passed a bill allowing men to marry as many women as they want, prompting a furious backlash from female lawmakers who stormed out, reports said Friday.}}

    The bill, which amended existing marriage legislation, was passed late on Thursday to formalise customary law about marrying more than one person.

    The proposed bill had initially given a wife the right to veto the husband’s choice, but male members of parliament overcame party divisions to push through a text that dropped this clause.

    “When you marry an African woman, she must know the second one is on the way, and a third wife… this is Africa,” MP Junet Mohammed told the house, according to Nairobi’s Capital FM.

    As in many parts of Africa, polygamy is common among traditional communities in Kenya, as well as among the country’s Muslim community, which accounts for up to a fifth of the population.

    “Any time a man comes home with a woman, that would be assumed to be a second or third wife,” said Samuel Chepkong’a, chairperson of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, the Daily Nation newspaper reported.

    “Under customary law, women or wives you have married do not need to be told when you’re coming home with a second or third wife. Any lady you bring home is your wife,” he added.

    Men fear ‘women’s tongues’

    Female MPs stormed out of the late-night session in fury after a heated debate.

    “We know that men are afraid of women’s tongues more than anything else,” female legislator Soipan Tuya told fellow MPs, according to Capital FM.

    “But at the end of the day, if you are the man of the house, and you choose to bring on another party – and they may be two or three – I think it behoves you to be man enough to agree that your wife and family should know,” she added.

    A clause in which a partner who had promised marriage but then backed out of the wedding could face financial damages was also dropped, as male MPs argued it could have been used to extort cash.

    They also argued that marriage should be based on love, and not have a financial cost placed upon it.

    Parliamentary majority leader Aden Duale, a Muslim, said that men marrying more than one woman was part of the Islamic faith, but also highlighted Biblical stories to justify Christians not asking their wife before taking another.

    “I want my Christian brothers to read the Old Testament – King David and King Solomon never consulted anybody to marry a second wife,” Duale told the house.

    Women are not allowed to marry more than one man in Kenya.

    The bill must now pass before the president to be signed before becoming law.

    – AFP

  • Zimbabwe Gets $100m Afrexim Bank Loan

    Zimbabwe Gets $100m Afrexim Bank Loan

    {{The African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim) on Saturday gave Zimbabwe a $100m loan to allow its central bank to set up an inter-bank market for the first time in five years, which would allow the apex bank to influence interest rates.}}

    The southern African state abandoned its own money in 2009 after hyperinflation rendered it worthless, and adopted foreign currencies such as the US dollar and South Africa’s rand which left the central bank unable to influence rates.

    Money market rates have spiralled out of control as a result, with bank deposits attracting returns as low as 0.15% while borrowing costs are quoted as high as 35%- a prohibitive rate for farmers and manufacturers.

    The central bank will use the $100m to re-introduce an inter-bank market – where local banks can borrow from others with surpluses – and set an overnight accommodation interest rate, which would act as the benchmark for market rates.

    Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the fund was part of measures to improve liquidity in an economy facing declining export earnings and companies that are struggling to survive.

    “This will at the very least unlock surplus funds from surplus banks for those in deficit,” Chinamasa told a press conference.

    Local banks would use Afrexim Bank-backed securities and government treasury bills as collateral when borrowing from each other. Treasury Bills will be issued from Monday, Chinamasa said.

    The central bank published an interest rate range guide for the money market in January and proposed indicative yields of between 6.6%and 8% for short term debt.

    The government has taken over the central bank’s $1.35bn debt and is seeking up to $200m to capitalise the bank.

    Britain’s Standard Chartered and Barclays Plc and South Africa’s Standard Bank and Nedbank are the major foreign banks with operations in Zimbabwe.

    {Reuters}

  • S. Sudan Accuses Sudan of Deadly attack in Abyei

    S. Sudan Accuses Sudan of Deadly attack in Abyei

    {{South Sudan has accused the government of neighbouring Sudan with which it contests the ownership of the oil-producing region of Abyei of carrying out a deadly attack on Friday.}}

    Two people were killed and three other injured during the attack, which occurred in the Nyincuor area on Friday morning, Deng Biong, a government official assigned Abyei file by South Sudan president Salva Kiir Mayardit told media.

    Biong said authorities are yet to determine who carried out the attack, although it is believed Sudan is behind it.

    Biong revealed that United Nations Interim force for Abyei (UNISFA) had been alerted by community members of the looming attack, but had failed to deploy peace keeping forces to the area in advance.

    “Actually UNISFA accepted in principle to deploy, unfortunately we do not know what happened that they could not deploy until the area was attacked despite being notified in advance,” Biong said.

    South Sudanese army (SPLA) spokesperson Colonel Philip Aguer said armed elements loyal to the government in Khartoum had been carrying out attacks in the area since the former withdrew in compliance with a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution demanding immediate pulling out of all armed forces in accordance with the 20 June 2011 agreement on the area.

    Aguer has denied allegations by Khartoum and the UN that SPLA forces are present in Abyei.

    “The SPLA forces have no presence in Abyei. We have said this time and again. Our forces never returned to Abyei area after withdrawal in 2011,” he said.

    “It is the Misseriya [tribe] with some armed elements and militia group loyal to the government in Sudan which has been carrying out the attack in the area. Their presence in the area illegally is justified by the killing of the paramount chief of the Ngok Dinka,” he added.

    General Kuol Monyluak, head of the South Sudan supported local administration, has also confirmed the attack.

    The government of Sudan is working to invade the area once again through such attacks and killing of innocent civilians yet the international community is keeping silence,” Monyluak said on Friday.

    {sudantribune}

  • Burundi: 21 Opposition Supporters Sentenced to Life in Prison

    Burundi: 21 Opposition Supporters Sentenced to Life in Prison

    {{A court in Burundi has sentenced 21 opposition supporters to life in prison for participating in an illegal demonstration that turned violent.}}

    Another 26 Movement for Solidarity and Democracy (MSD) supporters were given shorter jail terms.

    They denied participating in a march and say they were out jogging when a police crackdown began.

    Analysts sa the government’s proposals have been partly to blame for the recent rise in political tensions in the East African nation.

    In Burundi, permission must be sought from the authorities to hold a political march or public gathering.

    Police say that on Saturday 8 March, they had intelligence that sporting activities were going to be used as a front to organise illegal demonstrations.

    Officers were deployed in the city to prevent this happening.

    But the situation deteriorated into clashes and some of the joggers tried to seek refuge in the MSD headquarters, taking two policemen hostage.

    Several people were injured in the fracas and afterwards about 70 MSD supporters were arrested, with 48 facing life sentences for insurrection.

    The authorities have since restricted jogging clubs to certain areas.

    All sports must now take place in nine parks in Bujumbura and other designated football pitches, it was announced earlier this week.

    Jogging is a national pastime, with hundreds of people out running or taking a walk on weekend mornings.

    MSD leader Alexis Sinduhije was also charged over the clashes, but has not been caught.

    Those found guilty on Friday are to appeal against their sentences.

    The court in Bujumbura also acquitted 22 of defendants.

    Presidential elections in Burundi are due next year – they will be the third since the official end to the conflict.

    Under a series of peace deals, up to 40% of posts in various state institutions, including parliament, are reserved for members of the minority Tutsi community.

    NMG

  • Nigeria to Generate 10,000MW by 2015

    Nigeria to Generate 10,000MW by 2015

    {{Nigeria’s power generation will increase from 4,000 to 10,000MW by the end of 2015, according to Nigeria’s minister of power Chinedu Nebu.}}

    The minister stated that the current power outages have occurred due to the attack of gas pipelines in the country, assuring journalists while speaking at the Nigerian Stock Exchange that the pipes will be repaired to rectify this problem.

    “Everybody is asking that question of 24 hours uninterrupted power supply, it is not easy to answer it because Nigeria’s population has grown. The facilities in place were not designed for the huge population we have today,” the minister said.

    ”Actually it is the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan that has started addressing the incredible dilapidation that the country power sector has experienced in the last few decades.

    It is this administration that has raised power generation from 2,500 to 4,000MW, by the end of the year 6,000MW plus will be achieved and by the end of 2015 more than 10,000MW will be attained,” the minister added.

    Nigerians across the country expected that there will no longer be power outages following the privatization of the state-owned power company Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    “We will soon get there, I cannot give you specific time. But I can assure you that before the end of this year many Nigerians will experience improved power supply,” Nebu stated.

    {africanreview}

  • U.N. Refugees Registration System Abused in Mali

    U.N. Refugees Registration System Abused in Mali

    {{The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) counted up to three times the actual number of people fleeing conflict in Mali, data from camps in neighboring West African nations has shown, raising questions about wastage of donor funds.}}

    At camps in Burkina Faso, the initial registration completed in May 2012 suggested that 107,000 Malians had fled an offensive that year by Islamist rebels and their Tuareg separatist allies.

    However, this month’s final registration phase, including finger printing and biometric operations like iris scans, came up with only 34,000, according to UNHCR data.

    With a wave of major refugee crises in Africa from South Sudan to Central African Republic, estimated figures are crucial for donors to allocate funding to the humanitarian response.

    However, the Mali data suggest such initial estimates, for which officials count the head of the household and accept his declaration on number of dependents, are being exploited.

    UNHCR sources said Malian Tuareg chiefs cut deals with village elders in Burkina Faso to present local children as their own to gain extra rations which they later sold.

    “I saw it with my own eyes – truck loads of local children arriving for registration at the camps,” said one source who asked not to be named. “Some of the Tuaregs were saying they had up to 15 children in their care and nobody could say otherwise.”

    Cyprien Fabre from the European Union Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), a major donor to UNHCR, said it knew nothing about this but accepted over-registration as normal, especially in drought-ridden regions where locals are desperate for food.

    “It has happened in the past and it will probably happen in the future,” he said. “Initially, it may be difficult to establish accurate figures but we expect a quick shift to get more accurate numbers when things have stabilized.”

    {wirestory}

  • ICC Says Ivory Coast Suspect Ble Goude in its Custody

    ICC Says Ivory Coast Suspect Ble Goude in its Custody

    {{Charles Ble Goude, wanted by the International Criminal Court in connection with a wave of violence after Ivory Coast’s 2010 elections, is in the court’s custody and is on his way to its jail in The Hague, the court said on Saturday.}}

    The Ivory Coast government said on Thursday that it would hand over Ble Goude, a close ally of former president Laurent Gbagbo, who is already in detention in The Hague awaiting trial on similar crimes against humanity charges.

    The court’s prosecutors accuse Ble Goude of helping orchestrate the wave of violence in 2010, which they say Gbagbo unleashed in order to avoid relinquishing his grip on power after losing elections.

    {Charles Ble Goude, minister of youth and employment in Ivory Coast’s incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo’s government, speaks during a rally with youths in Yopougon, Abidjan December 29, 2010.}

  • Twitter ban: Turkey’s President Gul Challenges PM’s Move

    Twitter ban: Turkey’s President Gul Challenges PM’s Move

    {{President Abdullah Gul has challenged a ban on Twitter in Turkey after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “wipe out” the micro-blogging service.}}

    Twitter users across the country reported that the site had been blocked on Thursday.

    But like many others, President Gul evaded the ban to tweet that the “shutdown was unacceptable.”

    Mr Erdogan is angry that people used Twitter to spread allegations of corruption in his inner circle.

    “I don’t care what the international community says at all. Everyone will see the power of the Turkish Republic,” Mr Erdogan said in a speech on Thursday.

    ‘Not technically possible’
    President Gul took to the site on Friday to say that websites should only be blocked if courts found they had violated personal privacy.

    He said it was not “technically possible to totally block access to platforms used all over the world” and added that he hoped the decision would “not last long.”

    Like Mr Erdogan, Mr Gul is a member of the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).

    In Turkey, the government holds most power but the president can veto laws, appoint officials, and name judges.

    The European Union said it was worried about the move to block Twitter, with Stefan Fuele, the EU commissioner for enlargement, saying he was “gravely concerned” by Prime Minister Erdogan’s policy on free speech.

    European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes described the blocking of the site as “groundless, pointless, cowardly.”

    Turkey’s lawyers’ association asked a court to overturn the ban, arguing it was unconstitutional and violated Turkish and European human rights laws. Turkey’s main opposition party also said it would try to have the decision reversed.

    BBC

  • Europe Strikes Deal to Complete Banking Union

    Europe Strikes Deal to Complete Banking Union

    {{Europe took the final step to complete a banking union on Thursday with an agency to shut failing euro zone banks, but there will be no joint government back-up to pay the costs of closures.}}

    The breakthrough ends an impasse with the European Parliament, which persuaded euro zone countries to strengthen the scheme. It completes the second pillar of banking union, which starts at the end of the year when the European Central Bank takes over as watchdog.

    The accord means that the ECB has the means to shut banks it decides are too weak to survive, reinforcing its role as supervisor as it prepares to run health checks on the still fragile sector.

    ECB President Mario Draghi said that plans to allow the new ‘resolution’ or clean-up fund to borrow to top itself up looked promising and that the decision-making scheme to shut a bank had been streamlined.

    “The point we’ve always made that we need a mechanism that is properly funded and the agreement actually improves the existing funding,” Draghi told journalists as he entered a meeting of European Union leaders.

    “All in all we made progress for a better banking union.”

    Michel Barnier, the European commissioner in charge of regulation, said the scheme would help to bring “an end to the era of massive bailouts”.

    “The second pillar of banking union will allow bank crises to be managed more effectively,” he said.

    Thursday’s agreement makes it harder for EU countries to challenge the ECB if the central bank triggers bank closures, and establishes a common 55 billion euro back-up fund over eight years – quicker than planned but far longer than the ECB’s watchdog had hoped.

    But the new system, which Barnier conceded was not ‘perfect’, has shortcomings.

    For one, the ‘resolution’ fund is small and would, in the view of the ECB watchdog, be quickly spent. To remedy that the fund will be able to borrow to replenish spent money.

    Euro zone governments will not, however, club together to make it cheaper and easier for it to do so.

    {wirestory}