Category: Politics

{25 May 2016 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed profound concern over reports of increasing political tensions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) linked to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the country’s electoral process.}

In a statement from his spokesperson, the Secretary-General called for the “strict respect of the fundamental freedoms and rights enshrined in the Constitution,” urging all parties in the central African nation to exercise restraint and express their views peacefully, including in the context of demonstrations scheduled to take place tomorrow.

The Secretary-General called on all Congolese political stakeholders to “place the interests of their country above their own by engaging constructively in a meaningful political dialogue aimed at peacefully resolving their differences,” according to the statement.

The UN chief also urged the political stakeholders to extend their full cooperation to the African Union (AU) Facilitator for the National Dialogue in the DRC, Mr. Edem Kodjo, and reiterated the full support of the UN for his efforts.

{Yesterday was a fashion tips day at Parliament for the new MPs.}

From how they should walk, how they should sit, eat, dance, how heavy they should fill their plates at a buffet line to how long they should stay at parties.

“Don’t wear bras that pump-up your boobs. Don’t wear skirts that reveal the “subject matter”. Don’t wear back shows. Don’t wear tight trousers. Please always use a deodorant,” MPs Abdu Katuntu, Jacob Oboth Oboth and Jalia Bintu warned the freshers.
The three were selected for their seniority and membership on last Parliament’s rules committee, to take the new legislators through matters of house decorum.

“You have to overhaul your wardrobe if you have not done that already,” Mr Oboth Oboth said, adding: “You may want to put on a yellow shirt, yellow trouser and yellow everything but if someone comes in the house looking for a musician, you may fall victim.”

In the audience was Arua Municipality MP Ibrahim Abiriga dressed in what looked like a yellow linen Kaunda suit with a yellow T-shirt inside. At his swearing in, he showed up all dressed in yellow with a cap reading, NRM is my party.

Singling out one MP who had buttoned up his jacket while sitting, Mr Abdu Katuntu said: “I can tell you are feeling uncomfortable,” he said.

Dressing well, Mr Katuntu said, is law and anything short of that doesn not only embarrass the MP but ashames the constituency and the institution of Parliament,.
However, it was MP Jalia Bintu’s frank talk that left the House in fits of laughter.

“Please the men. Those tight trousers inconvenience the opposite sex. Imagine looking at someone in a tight trouser whose AK (47) is charged,” she said amid laughters.
Speaker Rebecca Kadaga warned against absenteeism singling out former MP Nsubuga Kipoi, who was jettisoned from Parliament for absenteeism.

“He asked for leave of three weeks but instead went to DR Congo and was arrested trading in arms and cocaine,” she said.

{The United Kingdom (UK) Special Envoy to the African Great Lakes, Danae Dholakia, has toasted the facilitator for the Burundi Dialogue, Mr Benjamin Mkapa, for a successful four-day meeting in Arusha on the ongoing Burundi political impasse.}

“I strongly welcome the resumption of the internationally mediated Burundi Dialogue in Arusha from May 21 to 24 facilitated by former Tanzanian President Mkapa. “I congratulate Mr Mkapa for his clear and even-handed approach, which has provided a strong foundation on which to build,’’ the UK envoy said in a statement.

Mr Mkapa said on Tuesday that he had completed the first round of the peace talks, saying he would convene another meeting next month, allowing consultation to take place amongst parties that failed to attend the Arusha sessions.

The former president said he was taking the early negotiations to the chief mediator for Burundi conflicts, the Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to seek his advice regarding the way forward.

However, there were a few of those who received the invitations but declined to come. During these four days, according to the facilitator, there were no acrimonious interventions as all parties showed a high degree of civility, patriotism and a great desire to own the dialogue.

Yesterday, Ms Dholakia remarked: “As the president noted in his closing comments, there were some key opposition and civil society representatives who were, for one reason or another, not able to attend.

“I commend his initiative to hold a further consultative event with opposition and civil society voices unable to come to Arusha and his commitment to doing this in the next two weeks. The diplomat supported Mr Mkapa’s desire in urging all sides to participate fully in this process, in the spirit of negotiation and compromise.

For the sake of the people of Burundi, the envoy said swift progress was essential. “I strongly welcome his desire to hold the next full dialogue session in the week commencing June 16,’’ she noted. Ms Dholakia urged that no party should seek to block or slow down this momentum.

In particular, he strongly supported Mr Mkapa’s call for everyone to give this dialogue a chance to succeed by ceasing all armed and political violence. She was optimistic that all parties can reach an agreement which provides the basis for sustainable peace and security in Burundi, built on the strong foundations of the Arusha Agreement.

“The UK stands ready to support the attainment of that goal,’’ said the ambassador.

{The Facilitator for the Burundi Dialogue, Mr Benjamin William Mkapa, has completed the first round of the peace talks, saying he will convene the meeting next month, allowing consultation chance to parties that failed to attend the Arusha sessions.}

Mr Mkapa, who was the president of Tanzania during the initial Burundi Peace accord, said he was taking these early negotiations to the chief mediator for Burundi Conflicts, the Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and seek the latter’s advice regarding the way forward.

“War is not a problem but rather a crisis,” said the former President of Tanzania, urging that all groups that did not come for the four-day dialogue in Arusha to ensure they attend the next gathering because they are not only delaying the process, but also happen to have positive contribution to the negotiations.

He said the high turnout to the Inter-Burundi Dialogue has been very impressive and felt encouraged, but also particularly touched by the presence of the international partners who have expressed support to the process.

Mr Mkapa invited a wide range of participants from the Government of the Republic of Burundi, political parties allied with the Government, political parties that participated in the elections last year, political parties that did not participate in the elections, other political actors, the National Commission for Internal Dialogue, civil society organisations, women, youth, religious groups and the Federal Chamber of Commerce. There were also about 80 Burundians in the diaspora who took part.

Still there were a few of those who received the invitations but declined to come. During these four days, according to the facilitator, there were no acrimonious interventions as all parties showed a high degree of civility, patriotism and a great desire to own the dialogue. “It is evident that you are yearning for peace and a stop to killings and assassinations.

I note that there is tremendous aversion to violence, targeted killings and the realisation that war is not a solution to the crisis. Some of you have expressed concerns about the economic decline obtaining in the country because of the crisis,” he said.

“In the next two weeks, I will continue and complete the consultations with those who did not come during this session, but whom I feel might have positive contributions to make to the process. I will also consult with the Mediator in order to determine the way forward. Thereafter, I expect to convene a dialogue session possibly during the third week of June,” concluded Mr Mkapa.

{23 May 2016 – The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has expressed deep concern about the increasing political tensions in some parts of the Central African country, urging both the majority and opposition sides to reawaken their patriotism.}

“The current situation and the dangers weighing upon it need patriotic reawakening both on the part of the majority as well as the opposition, to place the interests of the country above any other consideration,” Maman Sidikou, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), said in a press release over the weekend.

He noted that increasing the number of judiciary proceedings and actions likely to shrink the political space will only exacerbate the tensions and make it even more difficult to hold the political dialogue insistently called for by President Joseph Kabila.

Mr. Sidikou urged strict respect for the rule of law and the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.

“Only a genuinely inclusive political dialogue, Constitution-abiding, will help Congolese actors to successfully overcome the current challenges, more particularly the ones relating to the electoral process,” he said.

Citing Security Council resolution 2277, he said that the UN stands resolutely with the African Union and its appointed facilitator, former Togolese Prime Minister Edem Kodjo, to facilitate the launch of the political talks.

The Special Representative further expressed the UN readiness to assist an independent nation electoral commission in organizing free and transparent elections to mark a new step forward in the advancement of the democratic process in the DRC.

{Ms Winnie Byanyima, wife to former Forum for Democratic Change party presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye has put government on notice over the life of her detained husband, warning that the police may try to gain access to Luzira prison to harm him.}

In a statement released after she was allowed access to Dr Besigye at the weekend, Ms Byanyima said she is worried about the life of President Museveni’s leading Opposition challenger because he is in “the hands of a scared and increasingly desperate regime.”

Ms Byanyima further claimed the government has acquired unnamed “toxic agents,” which could be used to harm political opponents and specifically accused the Judiciary of being “complicit in the abuse of State processes to persecute Besigye.”

But officials in the Prisons and Judiciary dismissed her claims, insisting the two institutions are not being used by the Executive to fix Mr Museveni’s political opponents.

Prisons spokesperson Frank Baine said: “Dr Besigye has been an inmate in Luzira prison before and was released without harm,” while Judiciary spokesperson Solomon Muyita argued that “the issue of connivance does not occur” as Courts followed due process in all the cases involving Dr Besigye.

“I am concerned that the lawless and violent police and its illegal militias have in the past had access to Besigye while he was in prison. I warn them not to go to Luzira to harm him. Besigye’s life is in the hands of the NRM government. We will hold the government accountable for his safety,” Ms Byanyima said.

Ms Byanyima’s worries re-echo similar concerns raised by Dr Besigye when he told the Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court on May 18 that he fears for his life in prison but the magistrate shut him down half way his pleadings.

Dr Besigye was charged with treason at the Nakawa court and remanded to Luzira prison until June.

When he was held in Moroto Prison, Dr Besigye also said he feared for his life there because the doors to his prison cell were not locked even as he realised suspicious movements around the cell under the cover of darkness.