IGIHE

Category: Politics

  • DR Congo elections could be delayed till 2016 over update of voter lists 10 hours ago

    DR Congo elections could be delayed till 2016 over update of voter lists 10 hours ago

    13 months is what could be required to revise the Democratic Republic of Congo voters lists.

    This is according to sources who said that the estimates came from the country’s elections commission.

    A document dated January 14 purporting to be from the National Independent Elections Commission (CENI) and published on Twitter, said it would take 13 months and 10 days to carry out even a partial revision of the lists at a cost of $122 million.

    The document also indicated that it could take 16 months and $290 million to revise the full voters lists.

    According to the CENI, authentication of the document published by a UK-based political analyst Michael Tshibangu is difficult.

    Tshibangu is the president of the Association of Development and Democracy in the Congo. However, diplomatic sources in Kinshasa confirmed the document was genuine.

    Critics have accused president Joseph Kabila of manoeuvering to delay the elections by drawing out the electoral calendar in a bid to maintain his grip on power.

    The opposition and Kabila have called for polls to be held with updated voter registers that would include an estimated 7 million new voters.

    The mineral rich country has not had a peaceful transfer of power in the last 55 years since independence and there are fears that the ongoing dispute over the elections could spark violence in a nation that has faced instability over the years.

    Source:Africa News:DR Congo elections could be delayed till 2016 over update of voter lists

  • Somalia’s President Mohamud meets House team over attack on KDF soldiers

    Somalia’s President Mohamud meets House team over attack on KDF soldiers

    Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Wednesday held a three-hour, closed door meeting with Kenya’s Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations in Eldoret.

    Sources privy to the meeting told the Nation the meeting discussed the progress so far made in improving security in Somalia since the attack on the Kenyan troops in El-Adde on January 15.

    The Parliamentary team was headed by its chairman, Tetu MP James Gethenji.

    The meeting at Boma Inn Hotel was also attended by Somali Ambassador to Kenya Jamal Mohamed Hassan.

    ROLE IN AMISOM

    Mr Gethenji has said his team will launch investigations into the assault and interrogate Kenya’s role in the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).

    “We want to see debate brought to the floor of Parliament where we will discuss Kenya’s lead role in liberating Somalia,” said the MP.

    Mr Gethenji is on record saying the operation has achieved significant gains, but time has come to “rethink and re look at the challenges.”

    He added that they will run a parallel inquiry to the one being conducted by the Kenya Defence Forces.

    Mr Mohamud arrived at 11:30am, escorted by Deputy President William Ruto and other leaders including Uasin Gishu governor Jackson Mandago.

    Mr Ruto later left the hotel for Eldoret International Airport to receive President Uhuru Kenyatta and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Security around the hotel was beefed up, with uniformed and plain clothes officers stationed inside and outside, to boost security teams accompanying the Somali head of State.

    Source:Daily Nation:Somalia’s President Mohamud meets House team over attack on KDF soldiers

  • UN invites warring parties to Syria talks

    UN invites warring parties to Syria talks

    Kurdish PYD leader says his faction not yet invited to take part in negotiations scheduled to start on Friday.

    The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has sent out invitations to the Syrian participants of the Geneva talks scheduled for Friday.

    Preparations for the talks have been beset by problems including a dispute over who should represent the opposition.

    The UN did not say on Tuesday who had been invited or how many groups might participate.

    De Mistura said in a news conference on Monday that the talks will take begin in Geneva on January 29 and are expected to last for six months.

    He said the talks will push for a nationwide ceasefire for all parties other than the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Nusra Front armed groups.

    After the invites were sent out, conflicting reports emerged of which groups and individuals had finally been invited.

    One contentious issue has been whether or not the powerful Kurdish faction that controls wide areas of northern Syria would be invited.

    Russia, an ally of Syria’s president, has sought to expand the opposition delegation to include the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), as well as other individuals it believes represents Syrian society.

    George Sabra: A unity government is unacceptable
    The Syrian opposition platform created in Saudi Arabia last month, who were meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday to decide whether to send their delegation to the talks, say the PYD should be part of the government delegation.

    Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Geneva, said that the PYD leader was not invited to the talks.

    “We spoke to the PYD leader, Salem Muslim, who is in Switzerland but said he was not invited to the talks,” Bays said.

    Turkey said earlier on Tuesday that it opposes the involvement of the PYD or its armed wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), in the Geneva talks.

    Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said that Turkey will boycott the talks if the PYD are invited.

    The opposition’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC), which was formed in Riyadh, said it would decide on Wednesday whether to take part.

    The committee said it is waiting for a response from the UN to a set of requestsand if their conditions are not met, the group will not attend the talks.

    The Syrian government has already said it will attend.

    Syrian army captures key town

    The latest diplomatic developments came as the Syrian army announced a major victory, capturing the key southern town of Sheikh Maskin from rebel forces after weeks of fierce fighting .

    The fall of Sheikh Maskin on Monday means that government forces will strengthen their hold on Deraa province, while cutting off rebel factions from key supply lines.

    Deraa, the scene of the earliest protests against the Syrian government in 2011, contains routes crucial to both the Syrian army and rebel fighters.

    Multiple bombings also targeted a government-run security checkpoint in the central Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency and opposition activists reported.

    The attack was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

    The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists across Syria, said the death toll had climbed to 25, with 15 of the casualties being security personnel.

    The Syrian conflict has killed at least 250,000 people, according to the UN, and more than half of Syria’s pre-war population of 22.4 million has been internally displaced or have fled abroad.

    Source:Al Jazeera:UN invites warring parties to Syria talks

  • Israel vows to restart law of return for Ethiopian Jews

    Israel vows to restart law of return for Ethiopian Jews

    Ethiopians able to prove Jewish identity promised acceptance again, after thousands of families were split up.

    Gondar, Ethiopia – The Israeli government says it plans to restart its law of return programme in Ethiopia.

    Under the “Aliyah” rule, anyone who can prove their Jewish identity can move to Israel.

    Israel stopped the programme for Ethiopians in 2013, saying there was no one left who met the criteria – a move that split up thousands of families.

    For example, the family of Werkenshe Akalu, an Ethiopian Jew, left for Israel in 2013 but she was unable to follow. “I feel lonely here because all my family are in Israel,” Akalu told Al Jazeera.

    Feleke Goba’s parents and grandparents were allowed to settle in Israel in 2003. He said he does not know why his application was not accepted.

    His mother passed away in Israel and he was unable to afford to travel and see her before she died.

    “Now I hope I can go to Israel before my father dies, even just for one day,” said Goba.

    However, in light of the government’s recent change of heart, critics say Israel arbitrarily makes changes to increase the Jewish population, and treats Ethiopian Jews as second-class citizens.

    Last year, Ethiopian Jews clashed with police in Tel Aviv during protests against institutionalised racism.

    In Hebrew, Aliyah means “the journey to Israel”.

    The Jewish Agency, which helps to organise the immigration of Jews to Israel, denies accusations that the government applies the law of return arbitrarily.

    “Ethiopian immigration to Israel is the only example of a Western democracy investing money to bring people from Africa to serve as full-fledged citizens of that country, and not for other purposes,” Avi Mayer, Jewish Agency spokesman, told Al Jazeera.

    “So I think it does speak to Israel’s reason for existing, Israel’s ideology of serving as a homeland for all Jews around the world.”

    About 135,500 Jewish Israelis of Ethiopian descent live in Israel; more than 50,000 of whom were born inside the country.

    Source:Al Jazeera:Israel vows to restart law of return for Ethiopian Jews

  • Team of experts delayed from entering Burundi to investigate human rights abuses – UN

    Team of experts delayed from entering Burundi to investigate human rights abuses – UN

    26 January 2016 – The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported today that a team of independent experts mandated to probe violations and abuses in Burundi has not been able to enter the country.

    “The experts have been mandated by the [UN Human Rights] Council to swiftly investigate violations and abuses of human rights in Burundi, make recommendations on the improvement of the human rights situation and to engage in a dialogue with the authorities and other relevant actors of the ongoing crisis,” Cécile Pouilly, an OHCHR spokesperson, told reporters in Geneva at a press briefing.

    Ten days ago UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned that deeply worrying new trends have been emerging in Burundi, including cases of sexual violence by security forces and a sharp increase in enforced disappearances and torture cases. The crisis erupted when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term last April.

    In December, a special session of the Council adopted a resolution requesting High Commissioner Zeid to “urgently organize and dispatch on the most expeditious basis possible a mission by independent existing experts.”

    His Office set up a team comprising three experts: two UN Special Rapporteurs specializing in extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, and in the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence; and a third expert, who is a Member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

    Given the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Burundi and the request for an oral update to the Council at its next session in March, the High Commissioner requested the Government of Burundi to allow the team to start its first mission to the country yesterday.

    “The team was not able to deploy due to the lack of response to date from the Burundian authorities,” indicated Ms. Pouilly. “We hope the Burundian authorities will take all the necessary steps, including granting of visas, to allow for the prompt deployment of the experts on the ground.”

    In a statement issued today, OHCHR said it regrets this delay and fears that it might hamper the ability of the team to fulfil its mandate and report in an appropriate and timely manner to the Council.

  • Libya parliament rejects UN-backed unity government

    Libya parliament rejects UN-backed unity government

    Tobruk-based parliament votes against unity government with rivals in Tripoli, and demands cabinet reshuffle.

    Libya’s internationally recognised parliament based in Tobruk has voted against the UN-backed unity government with rival authorities based in Tripoli, Libyan news agencies reported.

    House of Representatives member Abu Bakr Beira said 89 out of 104 members who attended Monday’s session rejected the cabinet formed by the UN-sponsored unity Presidential Council (PC).

    He said the council would be dissolved if it failed to meet a 10-day deadline to form a new, smaller cabinet.

    The unity government, which was announced on January 19, aimed at bridging a political divide that has undermined the fight against armed groups.

    Libya currently has two rival administrations and parliaments; the internationally recognised authorities based in Tobruk and a rebel-backed authority holding power in the capital, Tripoli.

    The Tobruk parliament also approved the Skhirat agreement as a political deal provided that article number 8 – related to sovereign posts in the government, including military occupations – is deleted, giving the presidential council ten days to reshuffle the cabinet or replace the PC with another.

    The Skhirat agreement was signed on December 17, 2015 in Skhirat, Morocco. The agreement was meant to lead to the establishment of a single Government of National Accord (GNA) and national institutions that will ensure broad representation.

    The agreement calls for a 17-member cabinet, headed by businessman Fayez el-Sarraj as prime minister, based in the Libyan capital.

    Under the agreement, a nine-member PC was named and tasked with selecting the national unity government.

    However, the Tobruk parliament called for the boycotting of two PC members, Ali al-Gotrani and Omar al-Aswad. It suggests that they resume their positions once article 8 is deleted.

    Al-Gotrani and al-Aswad suspended their membership from the PC of the UN-imposed government over demands and selection of cabinet members.

    Many members of Libya’s competing parliaments did not back the agreement, and critics say that the plan does not evenly represent all the country’s groups and factions.

    Some critics cite reports that the UN representative who helped broker the agreement, Bernardino Leon, was secretly negotiating a high-paying job with the United Arab Emirates, which backs the Tobruk parliament.

    Since the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has slid into chaos.

    Source:BBC:Libya parliament rejects UN-backed unity government

  • Congo Ruling Party Greenlights Sassou Nguesso Presidential Run

    Congo Ruling Party Greenlights Sassou Nguesso Presidential Run

    Brazaville-Congo Republic’s ruling party on Monday officially designated incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso as its candidate for a March election, bringing the veteran leader one step closer to extending his decades-long rule.

    Sassou Nguesso has ruled the oil-rich Congo for 31 of the past 36 years in two separate stretches. He is widely expected to win a comfortable victory in the polls, having secured the right to seek a third consecutive term in a constitutional referendum last year.

    The decision to back his candidacy, generally viewed as little more than a formality, was taken by members of the central committee of Sassou Nguesso’s Congolese Party of Labor (PCT).

    “Dear comrades, by trusting, totally trusting in Comrade President Denis Sassou Nguesso, we have made the right choice, the best choice,” PCT Secretary-General Pierre Ngolo said.

    Opposition parties boycotted October’s constitutional referendum, during which security forces placed some party leaders under house arrest and fired on anti-government protesters, killing at least four people.

    While they have conditionally agreed to participate in the election, many observers expect at least some of them to pull out ahead of the March 20 poll date.

    Sassou Nguesso is one of a number of veteran African leaders whose moves to extend their time in office – including in Burundi, Burkina Faso and Democratic Republic of Congo – have sparked unrest and earned international condemnation.

    Source:Voice of America:Congo Ruling Party Greenlights Sassou Nguesso Presidential Run

  • South Africa: Nelson Mandela’s friend Goldberg seeks ANC clearout

    South Africa: Nelson Mandela’s friend Goldberg seeks ANC clearout

    Veteran African National Congress (ANC) activist Denis Goldberg has called for leaders of the party to be replaced.

    In a BBC interview, he alleged that the ANC leadership, locally and nationally, was riddled with corruption.

    Mr Goldberg said that leaders’ focus on personal enrichment was threatening freedom in South Africa.

    As a member of the ANC’s military wing, he was convicted of armed resistance to apartheid and sentenced to four life terms in 1964.

    Mr Goldberg was the only white man to be convicted among 10 people on trial for their lives alongside Nelson Mandela.

    Huge steps had been made in education, health care and the development of the civil service since the end of apartheid, Mr Goldberg said.

    “We have undoubtedly made huge progress, [but] we have more progress to make,” he told John Pienaar. in an exclusive interview on BBC Radio 5 live.

    The economy is three times larger than it was when apartheid came to an end in 1994, he said.

    “Corruption is a problem. I personally believe, and I will say it publicly as I do in South Africa, the members of the ANC need to renew the leadership from top to bottom.
    “I’m not going to name names, because it’s a problem throughout, from national, provincial and local government level.”

    The ANC veteran told the Pienaar’s Politics programme that “a definite attempt” was now required by ANC members to say “enough is enough” and instigate a leadership clearout.

    “Let us focus on the needs of our people, not on your needs as new political leaders with access to power, and therefore wealth and personal enrichment, which robs us, in a way, of our freedom,” he said.

    Denis Goldberg

    Served 22 years in Pretoria’s whites-only Central Prison

    “Being black and involved [in the struggle] meant you had the support of many people and it meant you got to be part of a community. Being white and involved meant being isolated,” he once said

    Strongly critical of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and its warm relations with
    the apartheid government despite Israel interceding on his behalf

    Worked for the ANC’s London office from 1985 to 1994

    Widowed twice, he now lives in Cape Town

    Sopurce:BBC:South Africa: Nelson Mandela’s friend Goldberg seeks ANC clearout

  • Ruto’s case to feature at African Union forum

    Ruto’s case to feature at African Union forum

    The post-election violence case against Deputy President William Ruto will once again feature prominently at the 26th African Union Summit, as Kenya prepares to push for the adoption of the outcome of the ICC’s 14th Assembly of State Parties.

    Mr Ruto’s legal adviser Dr Korir Sing’oei told the Nation that Kenya wants the AU to “adopt and affirm” its position on the use of the Rule 68 of the ICC’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence on the use of recanted testimony.

    “Kenya is going to ask the African Union to reaffirm that Rule 68 should never have been applied against the Deputy President. This is one of the major things we will be seeking,” Dr Sing’oei said.

    The theme of the AU Summit that started in Addis Ababa on January 21 is African Year of Human Rights with a particular focus on the rights of women. The biannual summit ends on January 31.

    President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to travel to Addis Ababa for the heads of state and government summit proper which takes place on January 30 and 31.

    But lawyer Haroun Ndubi termed Kenya’s proposed AU agenda as “a political statement equivalent to a roadside declaration.”

    “It is meaningless and wasteful because the matter of Rule 68 is a judicial matter in the hands of the ICC’s Appeals Chamber,” said Mr Ndubi.

    ICC CASES

    The AU at its last summit in South Africa directed the AU Commission to ensure that the AU is added as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in on-going cases of African leaders at the ICC.

    As a result, the ICC received submissions from the AU on the appeal by Mr Ruto against the application of the Rule 68 on the use of recanted testimony.

    The ICC Appeals Chamber however rejected the submissions of Namibia and Uganda who also wanted to be included as amicus curiae in the case.

    The appeal decision on whether ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda can rely on the recanted testimony is one of the two major decisions that Mr Ruto and his legal team are looking out for. The other one is Trial Chamber decision on the no case to answer motion.

    “The Assembly is expected to hear progress on implementation of previous decisions on ICC and adopt a declaration on the same,” head of Oxfam International Liaison Office to the AU Mr Désiré Assogbavi.

    Besides the Rule 68 agenda, Dr Sing’oei also revealed that Kenya will also be pushing ahead with its agenda for the rapid expansion of the criminal jurisdiction of the African court to handle international crimes, otherwise known as the Malabo Protocol.

    “It is something Kenya will be pursuing and the president (Uhuru Kenyatta) will also be talking about to his colleagues,” said Dr Sing’oei.

    This has been Kenya’s agenda for quite some time as the Jubilee lobbies African governments to sign the Malabo Protocol so as to operationalise the African court and bypass the ICC.

    During the 24th AU Summit in Addis Ababa, President Uhuru Kenyatta even pledged Kenya’s donation of $1 million (Sh102 million at current rates) to set up the court.

    Despite Kenya’s push, its continental peers have been hesitant to sign the Malabo Protocol.

    Kenya will also feature when the AU leaders review the state of peace and security on the continent and likely to adopt an omnibus decision on each situation.

    Source:Daily Nation:Ruto’s case to feature at African Union forum

  • Burundi team arrives for public hearing on country’s situation

    Burundi team arrives for public hearing on country’s situation

    A Burundi delegation, led by the Minister in Charge of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador Alain Aimé Nyamitwe, has arrived to present submissions in a public hearing here.

    Also in the delegation is Minister of Public Security Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, Minister to the Office of the President responsible for East African Community Affairs Léontine Nzeyimana and spokesperson of the Ruling Party CNDD–FDD, Mr Gélase Ndabirabe, according to the EALA spokesperson, Mr Bobi Odiko.

    Others are leader of the SANGWE PADER Party, Mr Augustin Nzojibwami, leader of the FNL Party, Mr Jacques Bigirimana, leader of UPRONA Party, Madame Concile Nibigira, and the leader of the Coalition of Parties (COPA), Mr Jean de Dieu Mutabazi.

    Regional Parliamentarians from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, who converge in Arusha this week, will be hearing public reports from East African citizens regarding the situation in Burundi.

    This will be the second public hearing workshop on the Petition filed at East African Legislative Assembly by the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) on the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in the Republic of Burundi which takes place at the EALA Chambers today.

    The EALA Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution Committee (RACR) initially called for the public hearing workshop on January 13-16, 2016 to review the petition by the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) submitted to EALA in November 2015 on the subject matter.

    However, the assembly received a letter from the Burundi Government dated January 8, 2016, indicating their unavailability on the dates (January 13-16) but reiterating the desire to participate in the workshop after January 18.

    On the first day, the Public Hearing Workshop orally received the petition from the six petitioners.

    The presentation was made on behalf of the petitioners by the Chief Executive Officer of PALU, Mr Don Deya. Immediately thereafter, members took the opportunity to seek clarifications on the presentation.

    nkurunziza2016.jpg

    Source:Daily News:Burundi team arrives for public hearing on country’s situation