Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Ten Tanzanian and Kenyan truck drivers have been kidnapped in Namoyo, South Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the hostage takers, suspected to be Mai Mai rebels, are demanding a ransom of 87m/- for their release.}

Head of Communications in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Ms Mindi Kasiga, told reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the kidnappers have given 24 hours, which expired yesterday at 16:00 hours for settling the payments. Ms Kasiga said that the captors demanded 4,000 US dollars, equivalent to 8.7 million/-, for each driver so that they can be released.

“Tanzanian government has taken preliminary measures to rescue the drivers including communicating with DRC government for the drivers to be released safely,” she said. Ms Kasiga explained that according to preliminary reports, 12 drivers were kidnapped together with their trucks on Wednesday.

Two of them managed to escape and helped to inform about the incident. She said the kidnappers were suspected to be members of the Mai Mai rebel group operating in the eastern DRC’s borderland.

Ms Kasiga explained that after ambushing the trucks, the rebels ordered the drivers to disembark from their vehicles as the kidnappers set on fire four trucks belonging to Tanzanian businessman Azim Dewji. According to Ms Kasiga, out of the 12 trucks seized, eight belonged to Dewji and four of them were the property of a Kenyan businessman.

“This is the second incident after the one which occurred last year whereby Muslim clerics from Tanzania were kidnapped in DR Congo but with the cooperation of the two countries, they were released without any harm,” Ms Kasiga said. She added: “I believe that the measures taken to rescue the Muslim clerics will also be applied to rescue the drivers.”

She, however, called upon the business community in the country to ensure that they get enough information regarding security of the areas with problems such as eastern DRC, particularly Kivu Province before transporting their goods.

Further details from the government and Tanzania Truck Owners Association (TATOA) indicated the Mai Mai group had issued 24-hours ultimatum from 4:00 pm on Wednesday.

TATOA Chairperson Ms Angelina Ngalula told the ‘Daily News’ by phone that the association was as well working with the Congolese business community to facilitate release of the drivers ‘harmlessly.’

Ms Ngalula said the bad news resurfaced on Wednesday evening when four trucks owned by Mr Dewji’s company – Simba Logistics Limited – were set ablaze by the militia. “We tried to get details but it wasn’t easy.

It was only when the two drivers escaped the heavily armed group and secured refuge at Namoya mining that we managed to get further details,” she said. “We held discussions early today (Thursday) with the Director of Africa Affairs in the ministry, Ambassador Samwel Shelukindo and the ministry assured us of help to facilitate the release of drivers,” she explained.

She said that the kidnapping took place at Kaselebele and Matete, some 30 kilometres from Namoya town and that the empty trucks were driving to Tanzania after discharging cargo at Barno in DRC. The trucks, according to Mr Dewji, were carrying cement and had already discharged their cargo. “Four of my trucks have been turned into ashes.

The other trucks were also seriously damaged and have been moved to a police station in Namoya. “They want money. We were supposed to make the payment before 4:00 pm, but it seems nothing bad has happened and we believe our drivers are safe,” Mr Dewji told the ‘Daily News’.

According to Mr Dewji, his trucks were worth 1.6bn/-. Media reports had it that the Congo-based militia was founded by Mr Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga, who escaped from prison in 2011.

In August, last year, eight Muslim clerics were kidnapped by rebels in DRC, two of whom were later released on humanitarian grounds due to old age and failing health. The eight clerics were said to have made their religious mission in the war-ravaged country without informing responsible state agencies.

The efforts taken by the two governments helped the clerics to be released and returned home safely. The six clerics were Ali Khamis Suleiman, Abdullah S. Mohamed, Amini Awest Mohamed, Makame Khamis and Abeid Issa Juma, all from Zanzibar.

{Bujumbura: A former army officer and his family were killed in a grenade attack on their home in Burundi, a government official said on Thursday, the latest episode in political violence that has plagued the central African country for more than a year.}

Burundi’s crisis has broadly followed political lines, but experts fear the violence could revive ethnic rivalries in a nation torn apart by a 12-year civil war pitting Hutu rebels against a Tutsi-led army that only ended in 2005. Dismas Bashirahishize, a pro-government former officer, and his wife and child were killed when a grenade was hurled into their house on Wednesday, the governor of Bururi province in the south of Burundi, Christian Nkurunziza, told Reuters.

Local residents said it may have been staged because of Bashirahishize’s links to the government. “It was believed he was revealing names of political opponents to the police and administration to be arrested and tortured,” said one resident, who asked not to be named.

There was no immediate official comment on the reason for the attack.The governor said two armed people carried out the attack on Wednesday afternoon.

Sporadic violence has gripped Burundi since April 2015 when incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would seek a third term, prompting protests and leading to often deadly clashes with police. He then won a disputed election in July.

Opponents said a third term breached the country’s constitution and the terms of a 2005 peace deal that ended a previous civil war. A constitutional court ruled he could run.

At least three rebel groups though have launched an armed resistance against him and tit-for-tat killings of government officials and opposition figures have continued unabated.

At least 450 people have been killed, while the violence has also uprooted about a quarter of a million Burundians, who have fled mostly to neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda.

In a separate incident, police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye told Reuters a soldier who was in custody for questioning committed suicide using a grenade. Police said he found the weapon during the interrogation procedure.

Opponents of the government say people held for questioning are often tortured and killed, a charge officials deny.

{The snake had reportedly sneaked into the farm with the intention of attacking the president’s cattle.}

A python was on Wednesday shot dead by policemen guarding the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s farm in Kisozi, Gomba District.

The snake had reportedly sneaked into the farm with the intention of attacking the president’s cattle.

According to one of the policemen who preferred not to be named in the story because he’s not authorised to speak to the media, the python was shot thrice at around 10.00am after it turned violent.

“We were terrified by such a huge and dangerous creature and that’s why we had to kill it to secure our lives and protect the ‘big man’s’ cattle. One bullet was shot in in head and other two bullets in the abdomen,” he said.

He added that the snake weighed about 80 kilogrammes and 20 feet in length but by press time, it was still kept in one of the policemen’s shelter in the President’s farm.
The incident comes just days after police in Gomba District arrested three people on allegations of stealing Mr Museveni’s cows from the same farm.

The in-charge of investigations and intelligence at Gomba Police Station, Ms Doreen Kachwo, told the media that the three suspects, one of whom works at the farm were caught with three cows from the farm.
The president’s huge Kisozi farm is located in Gomba district, central Uganda, about 100 kilometres west of Kampala, and boasts long-horned cows traditionally herded by the president’s ethnic Banyankore tribe.

He likes to take visiting heads of state and foreign dignitaries there for talks and excursions.

Mr Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for three decades, was born into a family of cattle farmers and has often said he would happily return to the farm should he lose his political office.

He was re-elected for a fifth term in office in February.

His rival Kizza Besigye rejected the result, accusing the president’s people of massive fraud.

{{About pythons:}}

They kill their prey by constriction, wrapping their muscular bodies around it until it suffocates before swallowing it whole and dozing off for a couple of months while the meal is digested.

{Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mission was in Arusha, Tanzania on Wednesday on a learning mission to the East African Community (EAC).}

The ECOWAS mission comprising of officials from departments of Trade, Customs and Infrastructure of the Economic Community had paid a working visit to the EAC Headquarters and held discussions with the Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb Liberat Mfumukeko and other EAC Senior officials.

The purpose of their mission led by Transport Facilitation and Policy Expert, Mr Appiah Christian and TradeMark East Africa led by Director General, David Stanton, was to gain insight on major developments realised as well as challenges experienced within the EAC especially on areas of Trade and Customs, Investment, and infrastructure as well as sharing experience of the same from ECOWAS.

In his welcoming remarks, the EAC Secretary General hailed the good relationship between EAC and ECOWAS as well as the increasing opportunities for inter-regional trade brought about by the establishment of regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa. Amb Mfumukeko, emphasised the increasing collaboration between the EAC and ECOWAS. He said the EAC was keen on what ECOWAS has attained in the area of financial integration and movements of people.

Noting the establishment of a tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) between the East African Community (EAC), South African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Secretary General said he looked forward to the FTA linking up with ECOWAS and other RECs to form an African Continental FTA (CFTA).

Accompanying the Secretary General, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Dr Enos Bukuku, briefed the ECOWAS delegation on the major developments taking place in the integration process, notably the operationalisation of the EAC Customs Union especially on the Single Customs Territory and status of implementation of the infrastructure projects going on in the region.

Dr Bukuku informed the delegation that the EAC region was undertaking ambitious regional infrastructure development programme in roads, railways, telecommunications and civil aviation.

He hailed the TradeMark East Africa for their support to some of the projects particularly One Stop Border Post (OSPB) and the Establishment of Single Customs Territory.

The EAC official informed the delegation that EAC is a people-centered community and the involvement of the private sector, women and youth entrepreneurs, as well as ordinary citizens of East Africa in the integration agenda is critical.

On his part, the leader of delegation from ECOWAS, Mr Appiah Christian, thanked his host for the warm reception and hospitality accorded to them and commended the EAC Secretariat for the enormous work done that has led to important milestones in the integration process.

Speaking on the ECOWAS administrative structure, Mr Appiah informed the EAC team that in January 2007, the Secretariat of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with its headquarters in Abuja was transformed into a Commission headed by a President, assisted by a Vice President and Commissioners.

By becoming a Commission with enhanced powers and Commissioners in charge of smaller and clearly defined sectors, the ECOWAS Secretariat has more impact and become more visible in Member States, asserted Mr Appiah Christian. He elaborated a number of projects and programmes under ECOWAS Vision 2020 which focus on making ECOWAS more closer to the people than ever before.

{Backers of Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila and part of the opposition agreed on Wednesday on the sequence of a series of upcoming elections, potentially removing a major obstacle to breaking a dangerous political impasse.}

The compromise came just two days after opposition leaders walked out of the talks on the timing of the presidential election, which was due to happen in November but which authorities say cannot be held before July.

The opposition had insisted the presidential election be the next poll held. The government said local elections should take place first, likely further delaying the presidential vote.

While Wednesday’s agreement between the government and a group of opposition parties set no specific dates, the two sides agreed the presidential vote would be combined with legislative and provincial elections, with local polls to be held later.

“This opens the way to a calendar that will mention the exact date of the handover of power between the old president of the republic … and the newly elected president,” said Vital Kamerhe, one of the leading negotiators for the opposition.

Justice Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, who is representing Kabila’s political supporters in the talks, confirmed the agreement.

“We solemnly announce to you that we will finance these elections. Take note of it,” he said.

Despite the apparent advance in the negotiations, efforts to broker a peaceful exit from power for Kabila, who has led Africa’s leading copper producer since the assassination of his father in 2001, remain fragile.

Congo has never experienced a non-violent transition of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.

Most major opposition parties are boycotting the talks, which they see as giving Kabila a chance to justify what they say is his plan to stay in power beyond the end of his mandate in December, breaking constitutional term limits.

Diplomats and observers fear the political crisis could trigger a repeat of civil wars that killed millions of people between 1996 and 2003.

{More than 5 billion/- is needed to repair over 5,000 houses, which were badly damaged by last weekend’s earthquake in Bukoba Municipality and its environs.}

As experts are still conducting more evaluation on the damages caused by the quake, urgent repairs are required for the badly damaged houses. Kagera Regional Commissioner (RC), Major General (Retired) Mustafa Kijuu said yesterday that the stated amount is an early estimation of the resources needed to remedy the situation.

He said the death toll remains the same at 17 but while around 50 injured persons are still admitted to the Kagera Regional Hospital, 26 of whom are in need of special medical treatment, including surgery.

“We are still going on with the assessment of the loss and damage, which requires closer attention to address.This should be regarded as a national disaster needing national attention,” the RC pointed out. Maj. Gen. Kijuu said according to the survey, people were still terrified to the extent of refusing to take shelter outside their devastated houses, which might cause more health concerns.

However, he added, the disaster committee has come out with a number of solutions that would be implemented as the funds flow in. He mentioned some of them as donation of building materials and rent assistance to the tenants whose houses were demolished.

The RC said that plans were afoot for each affected household to be given 20 iron sheets and five bags of cement to start with. “We have estimated an emergency assistance to the victims, which will see households being furnished with building materials while tenants will be given six-month rent support,” Maj. Gen. Kijuu further said.

He also announced the coming of aid from well-wishers and development partners mentioning some of them as China and the US Embassy. Other institutions that has responded to the situation include the Bugando Medical Centre whose Director General and at least 15 experts are at the Kagera Regional Hospital to boost up services.

Meanwhile, experts from the Geological Survey of Tanzania (GST), led by the Chief Executive Officer, Professor Abdulkarim Mruma, paid a visit to the RC and presented their views on how best such tragedies could be managed in future. Prof Mruma said although it is difficult to contain situations, people living in the affected areas must take precautionary measures to avoid more loss of lives.

In another development, the Chinese Embassy has deployed a team of six doctors to Kagera Region to work with local doctors in saving the lives of more than 250 people who were injured during the unprecedented earthquake that hit the region at the weekend.

In the same vein, former President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday sent a condolence message to President John Magufuli following the deadly quake, also congratulating him for cancelling his trip to Zambia so that he could monitor and deal with the post-tremor effects.

“He was set to travel to Lusaka to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu but because of the Kagera disaster, he decided to stay in the country,’’ Mr Kikwete said when addressing people at Msoga Health Centre in Bagamoyo.

According to a statement issued by the Office of Public Diplomacy and Press Section of the Chinese Embassy in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the Chinese doctors’ team is led by Professor Jiang Yonghua.

Other members of the team are Dr Zhou Zhongxiang (physician), Dr Song Shuguang (general surgeon), Dr Wang Xin (paediatrician) and Dr Li Qiang (gynaecologist). The team met the Regional Medial Officer (RMO) and the Director of the Regional Hospital to receive information about the situation and discuss before chatting the way forward.

The embassy in collaboration with Chinese Communities further donated 100m/- humanitarian assistance to support relief measures for earthquake survivors in Kagera Region. The embassy’s donation complements the efforts of the Disaster Management Department under the Prime Minister’s Office.

The donation includes tents, food items and medicines that was transported to Kagera Region and expected to arrive late yesterday or today morning. It will be handed over to the Regional Commissioner’s office. The RC is coordinating the disaster management committee.

A number of diplomatic missions, business groups and individuals on Tuesday provided and pledged emergency relief aid, including cash donations to assist victims of last Saturday’s earthquake in the region.

In Bukoba Municipality yesterday, Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) donated 1.4m/- for purchasing medicines as well as helping the families that were hit by the disaster.

The tremor, never experienced in such magnitude in recent times, hit the Lake Victoria-side municipality of Bukoba, leaving 17 people dead and more than 250 others injured.

According to a geologist assessment, the tremor reached 5.7 Richter scale.

{The republic of Congo has received praise from the United Nations (UN) in respect of its openness during visits by human rights investigators.}

This was disclosed by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, during his opening statement at the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council.

After bemoaning how other countries had shut out his officers, Zeid added, ‘‘I want to emphasise that some States do continue to cooperate fully. This was recently the case of the Republic of Congo, despite the severity of the violations alleged. The report of that mission is being finalized, and the prompt access granted by the authorities is appreciated.’‘

Other African countries that were mentioned during his address included Ethiopia, the Gambia, Mozambique and Burundi.

According to him, despite impressive economic advancement, the UN was deeply concerned about ‘‘repeated allegations of excessive and lethal use of force against protesters, enforced disappearances, and mass detentions, including of children, as well as by worrying restrictions on civil society, the media and opposition.’‘

He emphasized calls for the government to allow his office access to carry out an independent and impartial assessment of the situation on the ground in order to affirm or revise the allegations.

On the situation in Gambia, he said:

“Similarly, in the Gambia the UN has requested clearance to field a joint mission and we await a positive response.

“As I outlined at the June session of this Council, we have been alarmed by instances of inflammatory speech, as well as alleged violence against protesters in the context of the electoral campaign, and more recently, death in detention, and reported torture and ill-treatment of detainees.

Given the potentially serious repercussions of any further decline in the situation, I believe it is urgent to assist the authorities to maintain respect for all human rights.