Category: Rubrique

{{In Kenya, Prime Minister Raila Odinga has opposed appointment of 47 county commissioners saying President Mwai Kibaki did not consult him.}}

The Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) said the appointments should be re-done because the Kibaki did not follow the law while making the appointments.

Dennis Onyango,the spokesman of Odinga said, “The PM says he was not consulted. He also does not understand what their specific roles are because the Constitution says that governors will be in charge of the counties. He feels their appointment is a recipe for chaos in the counties”.

Five Orange Democratic Movement Cabinet ministers have also opposed the selection, many arguing that they were not fair to all tribes.

However, Kenya President’s office explained that appointments concurred with Section 17 of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

It is provided in the section that “Within five years after the effective date, the national government shall restructure the system of administration commonly known as the provincial administration to accord with and respect the system of devolved government established under this Constitution.”

The county commissioners will coordinate security, national government functions and delivery of services, according to the announcement from the President Press Service (PPS).

{{France has spoken. Nicolas Sarkozy is not France’s President
anymore. He lost the Sunday Presidential elections.}}

François Hollande is France’s new president.

Hollande the 57-year-old socialist won the French presidential election capturing more than 51% of the vote beating Sarkozy.

Sarkozy, who had held the French presidency since 2007, grabbed 48.1%, according to the polls.

Hollande narrowly edged Sarkozy 57, in a preliminary election two weeks ago, but since he did not win with an absolute majority, France law required a runoff between the top two candidates.

Sunday’s victory means France will have its first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand, the country’s president from 1981 to 1995.

In voting Sarkozy out of office, French voters expressed their discontent over Europe’s debt crisis.

{{President Paul Kagame also Chairman of Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) urged leaders to step up the fight against corruption and injustices.}}

He said that the campaign against corruption should start with judiciary which can play a leading role against injustices.

Kagame was addressing members of the ruling RPF Political Bureau at Petit Stade in Remera, Kigali.

He said RPF Political Bureau meetings aim at re-focusing on the past achievements and planning for the future.

President Kagame told party members that if they wanted to progress, they needed to put national interests ahead of individual interests; “whatever leaders do has a big impact on the people,” cautioning leaders against any form of malpractices.

The Party chairman urged party members to lead by example otherwise it would affect the national agenda of ensuring the welfare of the people and the development of the nation.

{{In Tanzania, President Jakaya Kikwete has fired six ministers and hired three new officials including Dr. Abdallah Omar Kigoda (Industry and Trade), Dr William Mgimwa (Finance) and Prof Sospeter Muhongo (Energy and Minerals).}}

The much-anticipated reshuffle saw two deputy ministers dropped and 10 new deputies brought on board.

The sacking of ministers has been much anticipated triggered by revelations of embezzlement of billions of shillings in the latest report of the Controller and Auditor-General (CAG).

According to analysts, President Kikwete’s public trust is expected to catapault in the belief that he is determined to get rid of the rot in government that was exposed in the report.

Ten new deputies include January Makamba (Communications, Science and Technology), Amos Makala (Information, Youth, Culture and Sports), Stephen Maselle (Minerals), George Simbachawene ( Energy) and Dr Seif Suleiman Rashid (Health and Social Welfare). Dr. Charles Tizeba is deputy minister in the transportation docket.

Other new deputy ministers are Dr Binilith Mahenge (Water), Angela Kairuki (Justice and Constitutional Affairs), and Janet Mbene and Ms Saada Mkuya Salum (Finance).

Ruling party (CCM) Secretary General Wilson Mukama said President Kikwete’s move was a clear demonstration of the respect and trust he has for parliament. “This move to drop the six ministers is honourable of the president.”

{{Reliable sources have revealed to IGIHE that Intelligence Chiefs from the DR-Congo and Rwanda met Thursday Night at Serena Hotel.}}

The Congolese side included Col. Kalev Mutond the DRCongo Intelligence Chief, Col. Jean Claude Yav the Head of Military Intelligence and also the Head of the Agence National des Renseignements (A.N.R).

The Minister of Defence Gen. James Kabarebe led the Rwandan side and was accompanied by Lt. Gen. Charles Kayonga – CDS- RDF, Lt. Gen. Karenzi Karake -SG NISS and Maj. Patrick Karuretwa, Defense and Security Advisor to the President.

Lt.Gen. Karake told IGIHE , “its neither in Rwanda’s interest nor DRCs to cause or support any form of violent conflict in DRC or in Rwanda hence the agreement between the two delegations to keep focused on the fight against FDLR. It informs also our firm position that the ongoing conflict needs to stop immidiately. Dialogue is the way to go.”

Renewed armed conflict erupted last week between a faction of the Congolese Armed Forces that entered into mutiny and troops loyal to the DRC government.

Less than a week after the beginning of clashes, the conflict has already caused a severe and escalating humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced, with thousands of refugees fleeing into neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda.

The fighting is reportedly between deserters from the regular Army and DRCongo troops. The deserters are said to be loyal to Gen. Jean Bosco Ntaganda a former rebel leader highly wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Gen. Ntaganda denies any involvement in the ongoing deadly clashes.

{{President Paul Kagame Held an exclusive interview with Jeune Afrique-Magazine May 2012, in which several subject were explored; Below we bring you the excerpts of the entire Interview..}}

{{On July 1st, independent Rwanda turns 50. Is there something to celebrate?}}

It depends on what you mean by that. It’s our history, and we must own it, with its share of good parts and tragedies. It will be a day for reflection, not an occasion for festivities or uncontrolled public spending. I know elsewhere on the continent the fiftieth anniversary is often celebrated with pomp and rejoicing, but we do not feel obliged to do the same. In general, for obvious reasons of cost, this date is also joined to another very close one on July 4th, which marks the anniversary of Rwanda’s liberation from genocidal forces. This year, both events will be commemorated on July 1st, with sobriety.

{{Especially since 1 July 1962 was not a day of joy for all Rwandans…}}

Yes indeed. That day will therefore be placed in its historical moment, with no spirit of revenge.

{{It is also an opportunity to reflect on what democracy is in the Rwandan context. For you, obviously, the construction of a strong state, able to overcome community conflicts, takes priority over the Western-style model of democracy. Am I wrong?}}

Yes and no. Before being a concept applicable everywhere, democracy must first be a reality. It must come from the people, how they lead their daily life, in the way they manage and conduct their lives. Democracy is not an abstract theory; it is the product of a context. Look around you: there is no unique form of democracy but different democratic systems, ranging from constitutional monarchy to direct popular representation. Democracy must conform to the aspirations, to the history and culture of the people among whom it claims to take root; otherwise it is doomed to failure. This is what we’re trying to do in Rwanda. Rwanda is neither France nor Great Britain or Belgium.

{{In Africa, democracy cannot be decreed, it has to be built, it has to be prepared…}}

Say that there is a universal model of democracy; let’s call it the Western model, if it suits you. After all, the aspirations of Rwandans are not, in terms of
freedoms, representativeness and prosperity, different from those of other people. But a model is not the same as ready-to-wear.

It must adapt to the wearer. Again, we have our own history, our own traditions and a particular social organization that the tragedies of the last century, including the genocide, have harshly traumatized and abused. All these features bring about a rate of construction and democratic architecture of our own.

Sometimes Rwandan society is described as a sheep-like, blind society, led with a whip by a leadership straight from 1984’s George Orwell. This is stupid. I am not a doctor issuing mandatory orders to the people on what to do or not do by holding them by the throat. Those outsiders who depict us as a kind of anthill with no brain do not respect us and do not deserve our respect. We are open to advice on democratic development, provided this is in good faith, but we do not like the prescriptions, let alone orders.

{{Rwanda is often criticized for the way the authority sees the role of the media. For you, do the media have to echo the collective achievements and mobilize public opinion in favour of the state, rather than educate people to think critically and independently? Are you afraid of freedom of the press?}}

Absolutely not. Just read some Rwandan newspapers in Kinyarwanda to realize how the image of a government muzzling the press is wrong. Criticism is frequent. Excess or even insults, are recurrent there. I told you that we did not like prescriptions: there are none here beyond the limits set by law common to all democracies, which penalizes defamation or genocide apology. Otherwise, my opinion on this subject differs from the one you attribute to me.

I am convinced that media is a key institution for development, in that they help to go beyond the dogmas through debate and criticism. Everyone, be a Rwandan or a foreigner, is also free to start a newspaper, radio or TV here.

The only constraints are those of the market. That said, I’m not naive. As much as I am against the thought police and editorial censorship – and you’ll find books by genocide deniers on sale openly in Kigali bookstores – I am against this tendency of many media professionals to define in their own terms what to do or not do.

Again, we do not like the prescriptions whatever their origin. It is not up to the media, much less when they are foreign, whose independence is also relative, to dictate us the way to go.

{{Your country is regularly praised for its respect of good governance. However, three generals and a colonel are now under judicial investigation for
their alleged involvement in traffic of minerals from the DR Congo. Does this not give grounds to the NGOs that you accuse of participating in looting the wealth of your neighbour?}}

First of all, I do not have to justify myself, much less to respond to NGOs who would be better off examining their own conscience with regard to their role during and after the genocide. Secondly, this case demonstrates the opposite of what you are suggesting. It is precisely because we have zero tolerance when it comes to fighting against corruption, and because the Rwanda Defense Forces adhere to the most rigorous moral and professional standards in the world, that this investigation was opened. Finally, do not except me give detailed comments about a process that belongs only to the justice system.

{{Several leaders of the Rwandan opposition in exile, including your former director of cabinet Théogène Rudasingwa, but also former senior officials of the army, now refugees in South Africa, were leaders that were very close to you. How do you explain that they somehow betrayed you?}}

They have not betrayed me; they betrayed themselves and betrayed the people of Rwanda. In any case, if some of my colleagues are not up to the task of the mission with which they were entrusted, I shouldn’t be blamed for it. I trust, I delegate, but I demand accountability. I verify and sanction shortcomings. Some cannot tolerate this and choose to leave rather than face up to their responsibilities. It’s human nature… There’s no need to go into the criminal records of these people: it is public knowledge.

{{The violence in the arguments used against you is surprising. You are painted as a kind of monstrous Machiavelli, guilty not only of having ordered the assassination of two presidents – Habyarimana and Kabila – but also the extermination of the Tutsi of Rwanda to reach power. Why do you attract such hatred?}}

I believe only psychiatry would be of help to us in responding to your question. This is no longer in the domain of the rational. It is not in my area of expertise and I have neither the time nor the desire to enter into the subconscious of sick minds.

{{There was another grenade attack in Kigali in January. Who is responsible?}}

The investigation is ongoing. It has led, as in the previous acts of terrorism of this type, to the same network: a connection between the ex-generals in exile in South Africa and the genocidaires of the FDLR [Democratic Forces for the liberation of Rwanda] based in Eastern DRC.

{{This collaboration between Tutsi and Hutu opposition, as illustrated by the recent rapprochement in Brussels between the Rwandese National Congress and the United Democratic Forces of Victory Ingabire – still detained in Rwanda – does it worry you?}}

No. It is the sort of thing that happens between people who have no other stand apart from the desire for revenge. But they have absolutely no impact nor influence here.

{{The Tutsi militia chief, Bosco Ntaganda, who operates in North Kivu, a General in the Congolese army, has been under an International Criminal Tribunal (ICC) mandate for five years. Do you support his arrest?}}

This is a matter for the DRC and not Rwanda. Two things however: it is vital to take into account the continued volatile context of this region and to understand the potential impact of such an action on the security situation. It may be positive, but it could equally well be very negative, yet this evaluation still hasn’t been done. Second thing: my reservations about the functioning and impartiality of the ICC, that I have expressed repeatedly, remain intact

{{How is your relationship with President Kabila?}}

Good. We communicate.

{{Why did you reject the new French Ambassador proposed by Paris?}}

Let’s not personalise issues. It is a decision of government, even though I have ultimate responsibility. On assessment, it appears there were certain details in the
CV of the proposed individual that were not suitable. We therefore asked for another name to be proposed. It’s a normal procedure, quite routine.

{{It would seem that your response would be negative no matter the candidate proposed by Alain Juppé.}}

That is not correct. We are capable of making the distinction between France and its Minister of Foreign Affairs. Our wish to have a relationship of active cooperation
and friendship with France remains unchanged.

{{But still, without an Ambassador, nothing moves. Do you think that if Francois Hollande is elected on 6 May, France and Rwanda will finally have a fresh start?}}

I don’t know Francois Hollande but I remain open to pursue dialogue with the head of state chosen by the French people – whoever that will be.

{{You were the only African to openly endorse the nomination of the American Jim Yong Kim to head the World Bank. Was the Nigerian candidate
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala not suitable?}}

Let’s be precise. I welcomed Jim Yong Kim’s nomination by President Obamaand I congratulated him on his election. I happen to know Jim well and he had done remarkable work in Rwanda in the health sector – I wasn’t going to hide this fact or the admiration that I have for him. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t like Okonjo-Iweala, who I also know and who is also very qualified.

{{Do you find it normal that the World Bank is reserved for an American, the IMF for a European, and Africa is perpetually marginalized in all major international institutions?}}

No. But I also know that we live in the real world not one of our dreams. The observation you have just made is merely an expression of the balance of power that Africa will only achieve on one condition – that we show a united front. However, we cannot even agree on the position of the chairperson of the African Union Commission.

{{Who do you choose between Jean Ping and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma?}}

I’ll choose the candidate that Africa chooses

{{Is a coup d’état, like the one that happened in Mali, possible in Rwanda?}}

Mutinying soldiers leave their barracks to storm the Presidency? It’s a like a bad film, one that is impossible to produce here, based on the nature of the actors, the director and the audience. But what happened in Bamako is an example of what I just told you about democracy. Mali was a country with a reputation of democracy, even as such praised by the media and NGOs. However, just like building a house and forgetting the foundation, you cannot build democracy on sand.

{{Your compatriots shift between admiration and fear of you. Often both at once. Is this fear of you necessary to exercise power?}}

Certainly not fear. Respect, yes, absolutely. But I strongly doubt that you have carried out a scientific survey to back up your assertion. Do it and you will see that in the judgment of Rwandans, the positive far outweighs what you assume to be fear.

{{I will not repeat the question on what you intend to do in 2017, at the end of your last mandate…}}

That’s good. I have already answered this a hundred times. So, if you don’t believe me, just wait and see.

{{A Putin-Medvedev scenario, where your successor plays the role of Medvedev, and you that of Putin, would this be science-fiction?}}

The fact that it has already happened in Russia proves that it is not science-fiction. But when it comes to Rwanda, it is, quite simply, fiction.

{{As DRC President Joseph Kabila named 28 ministers in his new government most of whom are technocrats and not well-known by the public, thousands of Congolese fled heavy fighting in the Eastern part of the country.}}

The fighting allegedly resulted from attempts by the DRC troops to neutralize deserters from the regular army believed to be loyal to former rebel leader General Jean-Bosco Ntaganda.

However, Gen. Ntaganda has denied any involvement in the recent deadly clashes between the regular army and its defectors.

“I am not involved in the clashes pitting the FARDC (regular army) against the soldiers who defected,” Jean-Bosco Ntaganda told western press, in reference to army deserters who previously fought in his rebel group.

Gen. Ntaganda also told press, “I’m on my farm near Mushaki. My military hierarchy knows I’m here and I was allowed to stay. Even the head of state (Joseph Kabila) knows. I am not involved in the clashes that occur between the FARDC (DRC Armed Forces) and the military who defected.”

The whereabouts of Gen. Ntaganda have been uncertain for a while and this encouraged rumour about his possible involvement in the defection of more than a dozen senior officers.

Ntaganda is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
Ntaganda’s CNDP was incorporated into the army in 2009 following a peace deal with Kinshasa.

But a group of several hundred CNDP loyalists, including roughly a dozen senior officers, defected from the army earlier this month, citing unpaid salaries and inhumane living conditions among other complaints, and regrouped as a rebel force.

Earlier the DRCongo Chief of General Staff of the army, General Didier Etumba said on arrival in Goma that “those who do not want to submit to the republican order will be hunted down by the army.”

Gen. Etumba was referring to the defection of some FARDC officers from the former rebel CNDP in North and South Kivu for over a week.

“We have a very clear idea. There are some that we must hunt down and undisciplined they are being hunted, and the most radical. This is not necessarily a question of claim. Someone who is undisciplined is not to submit to the constitution of the Republic, the laws of the Republic, someone who does not follow the instructions of President Supreme Commander of the armed forces.”

“Someone who refuses to be Republican cannot serve under the flag. And when it manifests itself, when it takes up arms, well, he is hunted to be neutralized and those problems that are legal they will have to answer for. ”

Some of the defectors attacked army troops on Sunday at Mwesa in the volatile Kivu Nord province, which borders Rwanda, and clashes have continued in the surrounding areas.

The army said Monday that it had launched an offensive to reclaim territory lost to the rebels and the United Nations reported more than 2,000 civilians had been displaced by the fighting.

In an exclusive interview with IGIHE, the head of Nkamira refugee camp in Western Province of Rwanda, noted that Congolese refugees arrived in large numbers from the eastern DRC. For the moment the camp looking for the main materials to help those displaced since they arrived empty-handed.

{{Tanzania Leader Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete is expected to announce changes in his cabinet. The move has been endorsed by the Central Committee of the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).}}

However, Local political analysts in Tanzania allege that the reshuffle is a result of pressure mounted by the opposition parties in the country.

Members of the public have praised the upcoming reshuffle, saying it was long overdue, but cautioned that Tanzanians are tired of seeing a reshuffle where deputy ministers who had been part of the rotten system being promoted to ministerial positions.

The CCM Ideology and Publicity Secretary, Nape Nnauye told local media that the committee chaired by President Kikwete himself endorsed the decision during an emergency meeting in Dar es Salaam.

“The Central Committee deliberated on among other things, the reshuffle of the cabinet,” he said, clarifying that Members of Parliament from the opposition parties should not think that they were the force behind the move. “The process was already underway since the Controller and Auditor General tabled the reports in Dodoma,” said Nnauye.

He said the CC respected the right and responsibility of Members of Parliament to discuss the execution of duties and responsibilities of their government.

“The committee applauded government efforts to ensure that the reports of the CAG were discussed openly by the parliamentarians,” said Nnauye.

He said the officers involved in the misdeeds revealed in the reports by the CAG will be held accountable.

Nnauye said President Kikwete received resolutions from the CCM MPs’ caucus and the House Leadership committee on what transpired in Dodoma’s seventh parliamentary meeting.

“The Prime Minister, Mizengo Pinda handed over the report to the president immediately after the commemoration of 48 years of the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar,” said Nnauye.

He said the CC discussed the reports that were tabled and also received the President’s briefing on the planned cabinet reshuffle and action against other government and public who were implicated in the CAG reports.

The reshuffle announcement comes as activists called on the president to take action against cabinet ministers and government officials named in the reports of the Controller and Auditor General (CAG).

Addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Executive Director, Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) Dr Hellen Kijo-Bisimba said Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda should also resign since legislators have already notified the Speaker of intentions to move a motion of no confidence in him.

“Section 8 of the country’s constitution permits citizens to obligate the government. We appeal to wananchi in their capacities to push the government to act on the MPs’ recommendations because they are the ones responsible to ensure that national resources are equally enjoyed,” she noted.

During the seventh session of the Parliament, Members of Parliament led by Kigoma North legislator Zitto Kabwe spearheaded a move to seek resignation of the Minister for Finance, Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Minister for Trade and Industries and his deputy.

Others in the list were Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government); Minister for Health and Social Welfare; Minister for Transport and Minister for Energy and Minerals.

{{Rwanda’s legislator Faith Mukakalisa has been appointed by The Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) as regional coordinator of women parliamentarians for the Africa region.}}

Mukabalisa out-competed several women members of parliament from various countries and scooped the regional position.

She told a Rwandan local daily saying that her success was a result of Rwanda’s outstanding performance in gender promotion.

The IPU is the international organization of Parliaments established in 1889.

The Union is the focal point for world-wide parliamentary dialogue and works for peace and co-operation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative democracy.

IPU is expected to present a paper stressing the vital link between democracy and development for parliaments around the world in much the same way that trade and development are inter-linked for UNCTAD.

Abdelwahad Radi the IPU President will address a high-level session at the ongoing 13th UN Conference on Trade and Development taking place between 21-26 April in the Qatari capital, Doha.

{{Rwanda’s Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi is in Gambia to attend the swearing in ceremony of President-elect Yahya Jammeh of the republic of Gambia.}}

Yahya Jammeh will be sworn in for a fourth term of office at a ceremony to be held at the Independence Stadium in Bakau today Thursday 19th January.

Jammeh was re-elected for a fourth five-year term of office in the presidential elections held on 24th November 2011, after he polled 72% of the total votes cast.

Jammeh’s main challenger Ousainou Darboe of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) polled 17% while 11% went to independent candidate Hamat Bah, who was backed by the United Front, a coalition of four opposition parties.

Thousands of Gambians mainly APRC supporters are expected to be at the stadium to witness what many have described as an “historic” event.
However, the main oppposition party UDP rejected the results.

The Gambian leader is more optimistic about the potentials of his country transforming into an economic giant after winning the November polls.

In his victory speech delivered at the July 22 nd Square in Banjul, Jammeh said, “Allah has endowed us with a lot of resources which I will not disclose here. We will achieve the dreams of not only turning The Gambia into a Silicon Valley of Africa but an economic superpower in the world. I hereby give notice to countries that have triumphed in terms of socio-economic development such as Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, that in five years, no one will talk about them but The Gambia in terms of advancement.”