IGIHE

Author: Publisher

  • Sudan: Over 99% of Abyei’s Dinka vote to join South Sudan

    Sudan: Over 99% of Abyei’s Dinka vote to join South Sudan

    {Residents of contested region Abyei chose overwhelmingly to join South Sudan in an unofficial referendum, election officials said Thursday, amid warnings the poll could inflame tensions in the volatile region.
    }

    Only one of the two ethnic groups living in the area voted in the poll, which is not recognized by either Khartoum or Juba and which the African Union has warned is a “threat to peace.”

    The fate of Abyei is one of the most important and sensitive issues left unresolved since South Sudan became an independent state in 2011, ending two decades of civil war in Sudan.

    “The referendum committee has announced the results, and the number of people who have chosen to become part of South Sudan is 99.9 percent of the vote,” Luka Biong, spokesman for the Abyei Referendum High Committee, told AFP.

    Celebrations including dancing and music broke out after the results were announced, he said.

    African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has said the vote was illegal and its organizers risk sparking a return to war between civil war foes in Juba and Khartoum.

    “They pose a threat to peace in the Abyei area, and have the potential to trigger an unprecedented escalation on the ground… with far-reaching consequences for the region as a whole,” she said in a statement on Monday.

    Tim Flatman, an independent observer in Abyei, said that 63,433 of 64,775 registered voters voted in the three-day poll which closed Tuesday night, quoting official results.

    Only 12 voted to be part of Sudan, a number vastly outweighed by even the 362 spoiled ballots, Flatman said, adding that initial observations suggested a “very transparent process.”

    Patrolled by some 4,000 Ethiopian-led U.N. peacekeepers, the area is home to the settled Ngok Dinka tribe, closely connected to South Sudan, as well as the semi-nomadic Arab Misseriya, who traditionally move back and forth from Sudan grazing their cattle.

    Only the Ngok Dinka voted — although organizers insist it was open to all residents — and the Misseriya have already angrily said they will not recognize the results of any unilateral poll.

    “The people are celebrating, there is dancing and music, and the nine chiefs of the Dinka Ngok are marching, they will sign a declaration of commitment to join South Sudan,” Biong added.

  • India: Rwandan student killed in an accident

    India: Rwandan student killed in an accident

    {A 24-year-old Rwanda native, studying in the city, was killed when his two-wheeler hit a van at Saravanampatti on the outskirts of the city in the early hours of today.}

    Police said Kalisa Ditace (24), studying BBA in CMS College in the city, went to a party last night at his friend’s house.

    When he was returning home on a two-wheeler this morning, he hit his vehicle against a van and died on the spot.

    webindia123.com

  • Rwanda MPs recommit to promote Unity among Rwandans

    Rwanda MPs recommit to promote Unity among Rwandans

    {Members of both chambers of the Rwandan Parliament started the annual retreat with a fresh call to Nation building and promotion of the Ndi Umunyarwanda (I am Rwandan) campaign aimed building a nation through open dialogue, trust and honest discussions about the nation’s history.
    }

    The retreat was opened by the Speaker of Parliament Chamber of Deputies; Hon. Donatille Mukabalisa said that as people’s representatives, they must set an example in upholding “Ndi Umunyarwanda” Programme that promotes unity of Rwandans.

    The Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi addressed the members of both parliaments at the two-day retreat kicked off on October 30th, 2013 at Gabiro School of Infantry in Gatsibo District, Eastern province of Rwanda.

    While making his presentation titled “Flashback on governance: The role of politicians in the destruction and construction of Rwanda”, Habumuremyi said Divisions and hatred sown by the regimes which succeeded one another after the colonial period are as a result of segregation and heinous ideology disseminated by colonialists many of whom being missionaries.

    He however said that Rwanda has been blessed with good leadership today and stated that the current leadership promotes unity of Rwandans and puts forward all people’s interest irrespective of their would-be differences.

    “The Programmes put in place to cater for Rwandans do not discriminate anyone; they constitute equal opportunities for all Rwandans” he said.

    NOR

  • Rwanda to extend laptop programme to teachers

    Rwanda to extend laptop programme to teachers

    {Rodrigo Arboleda, chief executive officer (CEO) of Rwanda’s One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) programme, has revealed it intends to enter a partnership to benefit teachers as well as pupils.}

    The New Times reports Arbodela made the announcement after meeting with President Paul Kagame after the just concluded Transform Africa Summit where they discussed the progress of the project in the country.

    “The program should be labeled One Laptop Per Child and Teacher because the first person that should have these laptops is the teacher, otherwise they cannot pass on the elements,” said Arboleda.

    He said extending the project to teachers will help to achieve a complete eco-system of learning, maximising the success the project has had so far.

    “To date, we already have 220,000 laptops in place in Rwanda, 42,000 others are on the way and we are now considering with government, a five year plan to expand the project. The idea we have with the president is making Rwanda a One Laptop Per Child country soon,” he said.

    He said his organisation is working towards contributing to the dream and vision of making Rwanda the transformational hub of Africa in terms of participating in the digital age economies.

    “We need to create wealth in the 21st century and that wealth is called, intellectual property, patents, inventions, creativity and exploration. Rwanda has the best possible opportunity to make this happen.”

  • African Countries Seek One Year Suspension of ‘Uhu-Ruto’ Case

    African Countries Seek One Year Suspension of ‘Uhu-Ruto’ Case

    {A group of African countries will present the UN Security Council with a resolution that seeks a one-year suspension of International Criminal Court (ICC) charges against Kenya’s leaders.
    }

    The decision was announced by a delegation of African foreign ministers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Senegal, Namibia and Uganda on Thursday after meeting with Security Council envoys to push for the deferral of charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto.

    The two are accused in the case of political violence after a presidential vote in 2007, where more than one thousand people died. However, Kenyatta and Ruto deny the charges.

    The African delegation, led by Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged the Council to employ its powers to defer the cases for one year.

    Ghebreyesus said the trials could lead to the destabilization of Kenya, highlighting the volatile situation in Somalia, the September attack by Somali assailants on a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and tensions between Sudan and South Sudan.

    “We are asking for deferral because this is a serious threat to international peace and security in addition to our region, and we should prevent any havoc from happening in Kenya,” the Ethiopian foreign minister stated. “We don’t need another destabilized country in that part of the world.”
    Ghebreyesus also said African members of the Security Council, which is led by Rwanda, would put forward the resolution “very soon.”

    The plea comes as the ICC on Thursday postponed Kenyatta’s trial by three months from November 12 to February 5, 2014. Ghebreyesus said the court delay was not enough.

    Judges wrote in their decision to give a third successive delay to Kenyatta’s trial, “The Chamber deeply regrets that repeated adjournments of the trial have been necessary because one or both parties have required more time to prepare.”

    The Security Council is capable of deferring the ICC proceedings for a year under Article 16 of the Rome Statute, which created The Hague-based court. The Council requires adopting a resolution to take the measure.

    However, the Security Council is spilt over the request and gave no firm response to the African delegation. Two previous requests by Kenya for a deferral also did not receive an answer.

    Red Pepper

  • Nile water issue is not a ‘zero-sum game’: Fahmy

    Nile water issue is not a ‘zero-sum game’: Fahmy

    {{Interim foreign minister says Egypt respects the aspirations of the Nile Basin countries and their people}}

    There is no alternative to cooperation between Nile Basin countries, interim Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmhy said on Thursday according to state-run MENA news agency.

    Fahmy said Cairo respects the aspirations for development of the countries of the Nile Basin and their people, including the Ethiopian people.

    Tensions had run high between Egypt and Ethiopia earlier this year over Ethiopia’s construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

    “I think the Ethiopian side is aware of the extreme importance Egypt attaches to the issue of water security as it completely relies on Nile River water and that we are seeking to increase Egypt’s water resources, not just maintain the annual share…”

    Every party wants more than what they have whether that is water, energy or economic development, he said. “There is no room to meet these aspirations without joint action and cooperation,” he said.

    Fahmy added that the Nile River should be reason for cooperation and integration, rather than conflict and dispute.

    Fahmy addressed the importance of not dealing with the water issue as a “zero-sum game” where one party wins at the expense of another party’s loss, especially regarding relations with Ethiopia.

    He reiterated that Egypt does not oppose Ethiopia making use of its natural resources for development, provided it does not harm Egypt’s “water interests and rights.” He stressed that there is continuous contact with the Ethiopian side.

    Fahmy had discussed water security with his Ethiopian counterpart Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus when they met last month in New York on the sidelines of the 68th UN General Assembly.

    On Wednesday, Egypt’s Supreme Committee for Nile Water discussed the most recent developments in the Nile water issue and relations with Nile Basin countries in a meeting headed by Interim Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi. The meeting comes a few days ahead of a scheduled meeting in Khartoum, Sudan next Monday between the water resources ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, where they will discuss the findings of an international tripartite report released in June on the effects of the Ethiopian dam.

    Egypt fears that the Ethiopian dam will affect its lion’s share of the Nile water. Agreements signed in 1929 and 1959 guaranteed Egypt 55.5bn cubic metres of the estimated total of 84bn cubic metres of Nile water produced each year.

    Fahmy also said on Thursday that the strategy Egypt currently follows with Nile Basin countries represents, among other things, an aspect of Egypt’s new orientation towards the continent. Fahmy had said in Burundi earlier this month that Egypt is re-positioning Egypt in its “rightful place as a country of Arab identity and African roots.”

    Fahmy was part of a ministerial delegation that was set to visit three Nile Basin countries but only managed to reach Uganda and Burundi, choosing not to visit Congo in response to Congolese talks over the country’s east, where a militant group of rebels is involved in an armed conflict with the government.

    Fahmy said he plans to embark on a tour of African countries once every two months for the next six months, saying, “We must prove to ourselves and others that we are serious in our commitment towards Africa.”

    Daily News Egypt

  • Mick Jagger denies claim ‘he hit on’ Katy Perry

    Mick Jagger denies claim ‘he hit on’ Katy Perry

    {Sir Mick Jagger has issued a statement denying Katy Perry’s claims that he made a pass at her when she was 18. }

    Perry made the comments during an interview on Australian radio this week, while promoting new album Prism.

    She said the incident took place when she sang backing vocals for Sir Mick’s 2004 song Old Habits Die Hard.

    But a statement from the 70-year-old Rolling Stones frontman said he “categorically denies that he has ever made a pass at Katy Perry”.

    It continued: “Perhaps she is confusing him with someone else.”

    Perry, 29, told her interviewer, “I actually went to dinner with him one time and he hit on me one time when I was like 18.

    “But that was a long time ago and since then he’s been very kind and I got to sing Beast Of Burden on his stage on their tour,” she added.

    She was one of several singers to make a guest appearance on the Rolling Stones’ tour earlier this year.

    When Perry was asked during the interview how she turned down an advance from a star such as Mick Jagger, she responded: “Well, you bring a friend and they do them. You sacrifice your friend.”

    BBC

  • Niger aims to prevent Sahara deaths with travel curb

    Niger aims to prevent Sahara deaths with travel curb

    {A minister in Niger says women and children may be banned from travelling north out of the country.
    }

    “I will be proposing in our next cabinet meeting to ban women and children from travelling to the north from Arlit,” Foreign Minister Bazoum Mohammed told the BBC.

    He was speaking after the bodies of 92 migrants who had died of thirst were found in the Sahara.

    Niger lies on a major migrant route between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.

    But among those who make it across the desert, many end up working in North African countries.

    “What we hear from our ambassador in Algeria and our consular office in Tamanrasset is that these people come from… districts in Niger and they go to Algeria for begging on the streets,” Mr Mohammed said.

    “Most of these people are being driven by poverty into this difficult situation, but as far as we’re concerned this is not a solution,” he added.

    Those found earlier this week are thought to be migrant workers and their families. Most of them were women and children.

    Mr Mohammed said a ban would “stop this kind of tragedy”. But it is not clear how it would be enforced over the country’s porous northern borders.

    The bodies of the migrants were found by rescue workers after the migrants’ vehicles broke down as they tried to cross the Sahara.

    Rescue worker Almoustapha Alhacen told the BBC the corpses were in a severe state of decomposition and had been partly eaten, probably by jackals.

    “There was a well about 25km (16 miles) away from where the truck broke down,” Mr Alhacen said.

    “They were trying to reach the well, but unfortunately they couldn’t make it. So as we followed the route, we kept finding the bodies in groups,” he added.

    BBC

  • U.S. Embassy in Kigali Recognizes Rwandan Recipients of the E-Teacher Certification

    U.S. Embassy in Kigali Recognizes Rwandan Recipients of the E-Teacher Certification

    {{KIGALI}} – {The U.S. Embassy in Kigali Friday recognized six Rwandan teachers of English for completing the intensive E-Teacher program. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and implemented by the University of Oregon.}

    The E-Teacher program is a three-month intensive online course aimed at strengthening English language education outside of the United States.

    This year’s E-Teacher recipients from Rwanda with their areas of focus are: Mr. Heritier Ruboneka, Critical Thinking in Language Learning and Teaching, Mr. Gaetan Mitsindo, Teaching English to Young Learners, Mr. Sostene Ntibanyurwa, Building Teaching Skills through the Interactive Web, Mr. Claude Mukeshimana, Building Teaching Skills through the Interactive Web, Mr. Felix Nshimiyimana, Introduction to Pedagogy and Practices for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Mr. Theogene Tugwenayo, Assessment: Summative and Formative Practices in Language Learning and Teaching

    “English Language development is one of the top goals the U.S. Embassy shares with the Rwandan government,” U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Officer Charles Hawley said. “These teachers are gaining valuable skills to continually develop the level of English education here in Rwanda.”

    The E-Teacher program is open to non-U.S. citizens living outside of the United States who are nominated for the program by their local U.S. Embassy.

    {{angedelavictoire@igihe.com}}

  • Sub-Saharan Africa to gain 6.2% growth in 2014

    Sub-Saharan Africa to gain 6.2% growth in 2014

    {Economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to remain robust at a 5% growth in 2013 and 6.2% in 2014, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest Regional Economic Report Outlook}

    The IMF said the latest outlook was not as strong as portrayed in the May 2013 edition, characterised by rising financing costs, less dynamic emerging market economies, and less favourable commodity prices, as well as diverse domestic factors.

    “Growth is expected to be particularly strong in mineral-exporting and low-income countries, including Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and a few others,” said Antoinette Monsio Sayeh, Director of the IMF’s Africa Department.

    “For example, in Nigeria, oil production is expected to increase in 2014 and electricity reform is advancing,” Sayeh said.

    The main factor behind the continuing growth in most of the region was, as in previous years, strong domestic demand, especially associated with investment in infrastructure and export capacity in many countries, the report added.

    On inflation, the report said the region was expected to remain moderate in 2013 and 2014, reflecting continuing disinflation in low-income countries and benign prospects for food prices.

    According to the report, headline inflation in sub-Saharan Africa has been on a declining trend since early 2012, facilitated by a slowdown and occasional reversal in food prices and the maintenance of tight monetary policies.

    The report said fiscal deficits were also expected to expand in 2013 and 2014 in many countries in the region, adding that debt indicators remain benign in most countries.