IGIHE

Category: News

  • Sudan Counts 600 Dead in Border Fighting

    {{More than 600 people have been killed in insurgencies that erupted in two Sudanese states bordering South Sudan last year, Sudan’s interior minister said on Tuesday in the first official count.}}

    Fighting between Sudan’s army and SPLM-North rebels broke out in the oil-producing state of South Kordofan in June 2011, shortly before South Sudan became independent.

    Violence then spread in September 2011 to nearby Blue Nile state which also borders the new African republic.

    The fighting has forced more than half a million people to flee and stoked tensions between Sudan and South Sudan, former enemies in a civil war that was fueled by oil, ethnicity and religion.

    Khartoum accuses South Sudan of backing the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North), charges dismissed by the South’s government.

    A total of 633 people have been killed in both states since last year, Interior Minister Ibrahim Mahmoud told parliament. Most of the dead were civilians, the rest government soldiers, he said, without giving an estimate of rebel casualties.

    Since the start of the year, 147 people have been killed in South Kordofan and 41 in Blue Nile state, he said.

    A total of 791 people have been wounded since last year in South Kordofan, and 151 people were missing there, he added.

    South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in July last year, under the terms of the 2005 peace deal that ended their civil war.

    But the two countries have still not agreed on the ownership of a number of disputed territories and their armies have clashed a number of times across the border since the secession.

    They agreed to set up a buffer zone along their shared boundary last month after coming under international pressure to end the violence.

    But there has been scant progress in parallel indirect talks between Khartoum and SPLM-North, which fought as part of the southern rebel army during the civil war.

    SPLM-North, which accuses the government of marginalising large parts of South Kordofan and other border areas, has formed an alliance with other rebel groups to try and topple the country’s veteran President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

  • 10 Kenyan Police Injured in Grenade Attack

    {{At least 10 Kenyan police officers were injured when a grenade was hurled at them by suspected al Shabaab sympathisers during a police operation at the country’s Coast province in the early hours of Wednesday.}}

    “We recovered a pistol, an AK-47 rifle, 15 rounds of ammunition and two grenades … We believe these people are connected to al Shabaab,” said Aggrey Adoli, the head of police for Coast province.

  • Agricultural cooperatives Key to Feeding World

    {{Kanayo F. Nwanze President of the International Fund on Agricultural Development said that working with farmers has proven time again that cooperatives are critical to reach IFAD’ objectives.}}

    “From tea growers in Rwanda to livestock resource centres in Nepal, there are many examples of how cooperatives better support smallholder farmers to not only organize themselves, but to collectively increase their opportunities and resources”, he said.

    The note was addressed to participants in the celebration of World Food Day at FAO Headquarter-Rome, on 16th October 2012, and the theme for this year, 2012 is “Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world”.

    FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva emphasized the need to work for the total eradication of hunger, adding that many countries, in South America, Africa and Asia, are proving that it is possible.

    In line with improving agricultural productivity Rwanda has been working closely with small farmers and grouped them into cooperatives which resulted in reducing the trend of speculation in essential food commodities intended for human consumption.

    This also reduce large-scale acquisition of arable lands that in many regions forces farmers off their land because by themselves they are too weak to make it productive.

  • China gives US$1.3Milion to Improve Burundi Infrastructure

    {{Chinese Ambassador to Burundi, Mr. Yu gave Xuzhong last week evening Burundian Minister of Energy and Mines, Como Manirakiza, infrastructure lighting by solar photovoltaic system installed on the Boulevard November 1st. }}

    They were funded by a donation from the Government of Burundi by the Chinese government.

    In his speech for the occasion, Ambassador Yu said that the funding for this project, whose cost is estimated at 1.34 million U.S. dollars, is part of the implementation implement technical assistance measures defined by the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in favor of African countries including Burundi.

    In a context of climate change, said Mr. Yu, the development of clean and renewable energy, such as solar energy, represents a huge potential for a country like Burundi.

    He said China will continue to do its best to support Burundi in the development of the energy sector to cope with the shortage in this area.

    From his part, Mr. Como Manirakiza Burundian Minister of Energy and Mines, particularly welcomed the efforts of the Chinese company Huawei Technologies has nothing spared to carry out the work on time, and he said, “compliance with art in the field.”

    Manirakiza Minister took the opportunity to pay tribute to the Chinese government for its multifaceted support to the location of the Burundian people.

    Already, he said, “we make our request to the Government of the People’s Republic of China to always remain with us for the continuation of this project on other sites.”

  • Former Bosnian Serb Leader Wants Reward

    {{Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has said he should be rewarded for “reducing suffering”, not accused of carrying out war crimes.}}

    Beginning his defence at his trial in The Hague, he said he was a “tolerant man” who had sought peace in Bosnia.

    Mr Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade in 2008 after almost 13 years on the run.

    He faces 10 charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the war in the 1990s, including the Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo.

    More than 7,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys were killed at Srebrenica in the worst single atrocity in Europe since the end of World War II.

    During the 44-month siege of Sarajevo more than 12,000 civilians died.

    Mr Karadzic, 67, went on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in October 2009.

  • Cubans to travel freely for First time in 51 years

    {{The Cuban government announced Tuesday that it will eliminate a half-century-old restriction that requires citizens to get an exit visa to leave the country.}}

    The decree that takes effect Jan. 14 will eliminate a much-loathed bureaucratic procedure that has kept many Cubans from traveling or moving abroad.

    “These measures are truly substantial and profound,” said Col. Lamberto Fraga, Cuba’s deputy chief of immigration, at a morning news conference. “What we are doing is not just cosmetic.”

    Under the new measure announced in the Communist Party daily Granma, islanders will only have to show their passport and a visa from the country they are traveling to.

    It is the most significant advance this year in President Raul Castro’s five-year plan of reforms that has already seen the legalization of home and car sales and a big increase in the number of Cubans owning private businesses.

    Migration is a highly politicized issue in Cuba and beyond its borders.

    Under the “wet foot, dry foot” policy, the United States allows nearly all Cubans who reach its territory to remain. Granma published an editorial blaming the travel restrictions imposed in 1961 on U.S. attempts to topple the island’s government, plant spies and recruit its best-educated citizens.

    “It is because of this that any analysis of Cuba’s problematic migration inevitably passes through the policy of hostility that the U.S. government has developed against the country for more than 50 years,” the editorial said.

    It assured Cubans that the government recognizes their right to travel abroad and said the new measure is part of “an irreversible process of normalization of relations between emigrants and their homeland.”

    The decree still imposes limits on travel by many Cubans. People cannot obtain a passport or travel abroad without permission if they face criminal charges, if the trip affects national security or if their departure would affect efforts to keep qualified labor in the country.

    Doctors, scientists, members of the military and others considered valuable parts of society currently face restrictions on travel to combat brain drain.

  • Tsvangirai & Lover to settle Out of Court

    {{Morgan Tsvangirai and his estranged wife Ms Locardia Karimatsenga Tembo have agreed to settle their US$15 000 maintenance case out of court.}}

    Lawyers representing both parties yesterday told Harare magistrate Mr Rueben

    Mukavhi that they would present to the court an agreed position on the settlement of the case on Thursday.

    Mr Mukavhi postponed the matter to Thursday to allow the parties to reach a settlement.

    The parties’ lawyers appeared before Mr Mukavhi, sitting in his chambers at the civil courts, to apprise him of the latest development.

    Mr Tsvangirai’s lawyers Advocate Thabani Mpofu and Mr Innocent Chagonda indicated that the decision for an out-of-court-settlement was made in the spirit of professionalism.

    “We believe we owe it to the profession, court and the generality of Zimbabwe that we settle the matter,” said Adv Mpofu.

    “We have been able to find each other and we believe there is a way to settle this issue that will not involve the court.”

    Adv Mpofu added: “We have agreed that with the indulgence of the court, this matter will be postponed to allow the process we are carrying out to unfold.

    “We both (lawyers for the two parties) believe we can settle this matter without the involvement of the court.”

    Mr Everson Samukange of Venturas and Samukange confirmed the latest development saying by October 18, the parties would be able to come back to court with an agreed position.

  • Five Aid Workers kidnapped in Niger

    {{Gunmen have abducted five aid workers and a driver in Niger, a country which borders troubled Mali and Nigeria and where Al-Qaeda’s regional branch has carried out kidnappings in the past.}}

    The six were nabbed late Sunday in Dakoro, a village in southeastern Niger, halfway between the borders with Mali and Nigeria.

    “Five aid workers, including a Chadian, and a driver were kidnapped at their home around 10:00 pm (2100 GMT) by armed men driving two 4×4 vehicles” in the village of Dakoro, local official Abou Mahamane said.

    The abduction of the Chadian and the five of Niger nationality was confirmed by an aid group and a security source.

    Mahamane, who is secretary general of the Dakoro region, said the abductors “spoke Arabic, Tamasheq (the language of the Tuareg tribes) and Hausa,” a regional language.

    The aid workers were “kidnapped by men with pale skin and one with black skin, speaking Arabic. The Chadian probably tried to resist and was injured but he was still taken away,” said a humanitarian source.

    Four of the six hostages, including a doctor and a nurse, are employed by the local aid group Befen, which fights against malnutrition, and the Chadian health group Alerte-sante.

    In a joint statement, the two aid groups demanded “their release, with a priority for those who might have been wounded during the incident.”

    They also stressed that they “are only medical NGOs with no other goal than to alleviate the most precarious humanitarian situations and completely politically independent.”

    The kidnappers headed straight for the desert region of Agadez, further north, Mahamane said.

    “Security forces lost track of them in the Abala zone, about 300 kilometres (185 miles) south of Agadez, in the Tahoua region,” he added.

    “Reinforcements arrived at Dakoro, African humanitarian workers are still there and the site has been secured by reinforcements from Maradi and Tahoua,” he said.

    A Niger-based humanitarian source later said, “It appears the Niger army in the north has located the kidnappers and it is determined to neutralise the kidnappers. That’s our worry.”

  • Rwanda Improves in Governance

    {{According to this year’s Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance released October 16, Rwanda is one of the countries that have recorded improvement in governance. }}

    This year’s index examined governance with 88 indicators in the four categories of safety and rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity, and human development. The index showed improvement in governance.

    Out of the total score of 100 points, Uganda got 55.1 in governance and was ranked in position 19.

    Uganda’s score is above the regional average of 47 and the continental average of 51%.

    Rwanda is in the 23rd position after scoring 53.5.

    Kenya scored 52.7% and was ranked 25th. Burundi scored 44.9 and was ranked 36th.

    Tanzania has made tremendous improvements since the launch of the index. It is ranked 10th overall in governance with a score of 58.8.

    The top five included Mauritius which topped with a score of 82.8 out of 100, followed by Cape Verde (78.4), Botswana (77.2), Seychelles (73.4) and South Africa (70.7).

    At the bottom was Somalia (7.2) while Democratic Republic Congo (32.8) was in the 51st position, Chad (32.8) in the 50th position, Eritrea (33) in the 49th and Central African Republic (33.7) in the 48th position.

    A comparison of the continent’s regions in overall governance, safety, rule of law and sustainable economic opportunity categories put East Africa in the fourth position out of the five regions.

    However, in the categories of participation and human rights, and human development, East Africa was the third.

    East Africa’s performance in this year’s index was below the continental average.

  • France issues Euros1 Million to Displaced Congolese

    {{France has provided funding of one million euros to the World Food Programme (WFP) / DRC to support emergency operations in Eastern countries, plagued by fighting between the Congolese military and armed groups.}}

    The financing agreement was signed Monday, October 15 between the French Minister for La Francophonie, Yamina Benguigui, and a representative of Pam Kanyaricunya, 10 kilometers from Goma in North Kivu.

    This town is home to about fifteen thousand displaced families including some eleven thousand are assisted by humanitarian.

    These IDPs fled the territory of Rutshuru, theater of war between the military and rebels of the Movement of 23 March (M23) since last May.

    Pam officials said that the contribution of France will allow them to purchase more than one thousand tons of food to carry in the region.

    This assistance will be distributed to nearly one hundred thousand people arrived at Kanyaricunya since last September.

    In total, more than 500,000 IDPs were registered in the provinces of North and South Kivu between January and August 2012.

    They are fed by Pam. The UN agency said it needs about 66.3 million Euros to support all these people.

    After the signing of this agreement, Yamina Benguigui Minister also visited the displaced Kanyaruchinya to which he stated that “France was on their side.”

    “All forces, including the European Union but also the DRC must mobilize to restore peace in Eastern DRC,” said Yamina Benguigui.