Author: Publisher

{{Jalandhar}}: {Eighteen months after the brutal assault on 23-year-old African student Yannick Nihangaza that left him comatose, a local court yesterday awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment to seven persons in the case.}

Additional District and Session Judge BK Sharma also imposed a penalty of Rs. 20,000 each
on the convicts Romi Uppal, Sahildeep Singh, Amandeep Singh, Sumant Ralhan, Amarbeer Singh, Harsh Gosain and Jaswant Singh.

Romi is son of a late senior officer of Punjab Police.

“The accused have been awarded 10-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 20,000 each,
failing the payment of which they will have to serve two years more in jail,” defence counsel Mandeep Sachdeva said.

He said they will challenge the local court’s order in Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Yannick, a Burundi citizen and student of a private university, was going to a party in Jalandhar on April 22, 2012 when he was attacked.

While the attackers had managed to flee, Yannick was admitted to a private hospital in Patiala where he is still lying in coma.

After the incident, Ambassador of Burundi Rubuka Aloys had met a senior External Affairs Ministry official seeking legal help in the case.

The police had registered case against nine persons and two of them – Jaskaran Singh and Ranjot Singh – are still on the run.

NDTV

{President Uhuru Kenyatta’s failure to officially receive newly appointed foreign envoys is causing anxiety in diplomatic circles, putting at risk billions of shillings in trade and investment from some of Kenya’s most valuable partners, reported Business Daily.}

At least six countries, including Zambia, Japan, Italy, France, Germany and Austria have been left in a diplomatic limbo in Kenya after the Foreign Affairs ministry suspended the accreditation of their envoys indefinitely, citing Mr Kenyatta’s busy diary.

The ministry has since advised new envoys posted to Kenya to delay their arrival until they are told of the President’s availability.

Though Mr Kenyatta’s men have stuck to the busy diary narrative, the delay in accrediting the envoys is being seen as communicating a message to the affected countries.

“Whereas there is nothing common among the countries in the list, delay in accreditation has traditionally been used as soft language of rejection or a way of expressing that the matter is not a priority,” said Macharia Munene, a professor of History and International Relations at the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi.

Top Foreign Affairs ministry officials did not respond to queries on the matter but analysts warned that delay in accrediting foreign envoys could send wrong signals to foreign capitals that Kenya is not open for business — a position that could cost the country billions of shillings in missed trade and investment opportunities.

“We cannot accept a situation where ambassadors are kept waiting without explanation. We have summoned the Cabinet secretary to appear before us next week and explain what is happening,” said Bare Shill, the vice-chair of the National Assembly’s departmental committee on Defence and Foreign Relations.

“The President must create time to receive credentials from ambassadors.”

Envoys are crucial in the negotiation of trade treaties, bilateral financing deals and other areas of mutual interest and are the ones who sign bilateral assistance agreements.

Ochieng Adala, a retired career diplomat, said accreditation makes one an ‘ambassadeur extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire’ meaning she or he is the head of mission with full powers to engage the State on all matters.

“Without accreditation, an ambassador cannot meet the President in a formal capacity, cannot host his country’s national ceremonies such as Independence Day and is not empowered to sign and negotiate any bilateral assistance deals,” said Mr Adala in an interview.

The list of diplomats who are awaiting accreditation to assume office includes Tatsushi Terada of Japan and Rémi Maréchaux of France.

The gravity of the diplomatic impasse is underlined by the fact that three of the countries — Japan, France and Germany — are some of Kenya’s leading creditors, accounting for almost a fifth or 18.5 per cent of total external sources of financing.

{Somalia’s central government is in talks with some of the world’s biggest energy companies in an attempt to restart oil exploration in the war-torn country, an adviser to the government said Monday.}

A number of big oil companies signed concessions in Somalia before the country descended into civil war in 1991. The instability prompted the companies to suspend onshore and offshore exploration; they say their contracts remain valid since it has been impossible to conduct activity in the country.

Somalia last year transitioned to its first permanent government in years, and the internationally recognized central government is trying to rebuild Somalia’s economy, with oil as a cornerstone.

Recent, large oil and natural gas discoveries elsewhere in East Africa make Somalia attractive for oil explorers. But so far, no large companies have committed to returning to the country, which is struggling to contain terrorist group al-Shabaab and is plagued by tensions between its central and regional governments.

Shell said talks with the government of Somalia “are of a preliminary and exploratory nature. Any future progress would be dependent on advancing discussions as well as progress on the security and operating environment in and surrounding Somalia.”

BP “had some discussions” about Somalia concessions, a spokesman said. Eni said its chief executive met with Somalia’s president last month. Exxon and Conoco declined to comment. Chevron spokespeople weren’t immediately able to comment.

A number of small companies have signed oil-exploration deals with regional authorities in Somalia, raising tensions with the central government. The only company to sign an agreement with the central government is private startup Soma Oil & Gas Ltd., which is conducting early-stage data collection, its chief executive, Robert Sheppard, said in an interview last month.

WSJ

{A British man in Uganda has been charged over possession of a video depicting a “sexual act”.
}

Bernard Randell was arrested earlier this month and appeared before magistrates with a Ugandan man who was charged with “procuring another person to commit acts of gross indecency”.

The UK Foreign Office said it was aware of the arrest.

Ugandan prosecutors have denied local media reports that the charges related to “homosexual acts”.

Same sex relationships are illegal in the east African country, where politicians have proposed introducing the death penalty as punishment.

{{Consular assistance
}}

Mr Randell and Ugandan Albert Cheptheptoyet were released on bail until 18 November after after appearing at Entebbe Magistrates’ Court – 25 miles (40km) from capital Kampala.

The British man’s lawyer confirmed he had been charged with trafficking an obscene publication.

A press officer for the the Ugandan Directorate of Public Prosecutions denies an account in the local Daily Monitor newspaper of the pair’s court appearance.

The paper quoted state prosecutor Ivan Kyazze, who reportedly told the court the men had been subjected to “medical tests” which confirmed they had engaged in “homosexual acts”.

But the prosecutor’s office told the BBC that whether or not homosexuality was involved, they were not being charged with that crime.

The UK Foreign Office said: “We are aware of the arrest of a British national on 19 October in Uganda and are providing consular assistance.”

BBC

{The EAC secretariat will soon summon all telecom operators and sector regulators from the region to address the high costs of making calls win the region.}

During an interview with the Daily Nation yesterday, East African Community deputy secretary-general for planning infrastructure, Mr Enos Bukuku, said the secretariat was reacting to a decision by Safaricom to raise its international call tariffs.

“We are going to call the operators and governments to the discussion table to resolve this issue. We want a model that will make roaming and international calling seamless as well as affordable in the region,” he said.

Last week, the mobile service provider increased international calling and roaming charges to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, citing a harsher taxation regime.

Though he did not disclose when the meeting would take place, Mr Bukuku said it would be held soon given that addressing the high cost of calling within the region is one of the deliverables in his 2013/2014 performance contract.

Mr Bukuku was speaking on the sidelines of the regional investment forum that was held in Nairobi yesterday.

Daily Nation