Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Deputy President receives complaints from Nike on misuse of donated gear.}

Deputy President William Ruto has ordered an investigation into the bungling management of Kenya’s team in Brazil after embarrassing blunders that have seen some officials being ejected from the Olympic Village.

The latest blemish on Kenya’s athletics management happened on Sunday, when the DP received official complaints from Nike — the official kit sponsors of the Kenyan team for the past two decades — about misuse of donated sports gear.

Despite the American sportswear giant supplying a generous consignment of training, competition and leisure kit, the athletes were only issued with either one pair or none at all, much to the chagrin of the Deputy President.

Mr Ruto on Sunday instructed the ministry in charge of sports to investigate and take stern action against any official involved in malpractices in the Kenyan camp in Rio de Janeiro. He directed Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario to safeguard the interests of the athletes, whom he described as “great ambassadors of the country”.

ISSUE TO BE INVESTIGATED

Mr Ruto spoke after meeting the team in the Olympic Village before holding a session with kit sponsors Nike.

Among the issues to be investigated is the distribution of training and competition kit to the athletes, accreditation and the disbursement of allowances.

The DP told Dr Wario and Sports Principal Secretary Richard Ekai to settle all pending allowances immediately. He said the athletes’ performance should not be compromised by “a few selfish individuals”.

Mr Ruto also asked for a comprehensive report from the management of the Kenyan team.

At the 2012 London Olympics, there was a similar outcry over the misuse of athletes’ kit. At one point, the athletes stormed the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Noc-K) stores in Stratford, seeking to forcibly take their kit.

In Rio, Kenya’s athletics team manager Michael Rotich was ejected from the Olympic Village and is being investigated by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the Kenyan government for allegedly violating anti-doping rules.

Sprints coach John Anzrah was also sent home after anti-doping officials found him gaining access to the Olympic Village bearing the accreditation of 800 metres runner Ferguson Rotich.

{The government of Tanzania has refuted claims published in Kenyan newspaper suggesting that the former First Vice-President of South Sudan, Dr Riek Machar, is in Tanzania’s designated capital of Dodoma where he is seeking asylum.}

In a telephone interview with the ‘Daily News’ yesterday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Co-operation, Dr Augustine Mahiga, said the government was unaware of the said claim by ‘The Star’.

“We are not aware of such news; why should he (Dr Machar) go to Dodoma to seek asylum and yet the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) is based in Dar es Salaam?“What is more, to arrive in Tanzania he should have landed at either Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) or Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) but we are not aware of his arrival,” the veteran diplomat stated.

Dr Mahiga referred this paper to the Ministry of Home Affairs since it is the one in charge of refugees but by the time we went to press we could not get hold of its Minister Mwigulu Nchemba. The Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, Engineer Hamad Masauni, declined to comment, stating that the minister was best placed to comment on the matter.

Efforts to get comment from the UNHCR office in Tanzania were not fruitful. The Kenyan newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, alleged that the embattled Machar gained entry into Tanzania four days ago, and was later spotted on Satellite.

It claimed further that the presence of Dr Machar in Tanzania coincides with the visit of Cord leader Raila Odinga into the country. The former vice-president returned to the capital Juba in April after a peace deal, but left again last month when new clashes broke out.

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan sacked Dr Machar and replaced him with Taban Deng Gai, his former ally after he failed to honour ultimatum to return to capital Juba. Dr Machar has never made any statement since he was replaced as vice-president with Gai, according to the source.

The former vice-president and the SPLM-IO group he leads have been caught up with more than two years of on-and-off, ethnically charged fighting with supporters of the country’s President Kiir.

Machar’s alleged entry into Tanzania comes as the UN Security Council on Friday authorized the deployment of a 4,000-strong protection force in South Sudan’s capital, Juba.

The authorisation is part of the UN peacekeeping mission and threatened an arms embargo if the government does not cooperate.

{The impact. Security observers, however, expressed worry that this might give the rebels a chance to reorganise for fresh attacks.}

Kampala- The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) have begun withdrawing from the military offensive against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in Central African Republic (CAR).

The UPDF troops are withdrawing from their forward bases and are gathering at their tactical base in Obo, eastern CAR before the final withdrawal back to Uganda.

Military sources told Sunday Monitor that the troops are moving from Sam-Oundja in the far northeast of the Central African Republic near the border with Sudan and Nzako, about 490km northeast of the capital Bangui.

The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, confirmed the UPDF pullout from forward bases to Obo, but said there was no definite date yet for the final withdrawal from CAR to Uganda.

“We are still talking to our American partners and CAR government to see if we can train a force to replace us,” Gen Katumba told Sunday Monitor on Friday.

From Obo, the troops will move to their rear base in Nzara in South Sudan before finally moving to Uganda.

Security observers, however, expressed worry that the withdrawal of the two battalions that have been hunting LRA and their elusive leader Joseph Kony for about three years might give the rebels a chance to resume their civilian abductions, train fighters and reorganise for fresh attacks.

The UPDF 11th Battalion was based in Nzako and the 43rd Battalion in Sam-Oundja.

For the last three years, Kony was suspected to be hiding in Kafia Kingi in CAR, but reportedly fled before the UPDF offensive in the area between February and April. Kony is now suspected to be hiding in southern Darfur in Sudan.
It is not clear whether the American troops that have been working with UPDF to hunt Kony will remain after the Ugandan troops have left.

In 2010, the US government sent 100 Special Forces soldiers to support UPDF in intelligence gathering on LRA activities in CAR.

In 2012, regional governments agreed to form a Regional Task Force (RTF) under the African Union in a joint initiative to fight LRA, but UPDF has been the only active force hunting the rebels in the jungles of CAR.

Forces from DR Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic, were supposed to deploy under the RTF but none has because of internal conflicts.

The LRA strength is estimated at between 150-200 fighters, with less than 130 armed.

Security sources say the bigger LRA group is moving from CAR to DR Congo.

The military sources say three LRA groups commanded by Lowila, Aligac and Acaye are already in the DR Congo. Other groups under the command of Odoki Gwe and Larwodo are said to be in Mboki areas heading towards DRC.

The UPDF launched Operation Lightning Thunder on December 14, 2008 using air and ground troops to flush out LRA and its leader Joseph Kony (pictured) from their bases in Garamba, DR Congo. Two years later, the LRA crossed to CAR and UPDF followed them up to areas bordering Chad. Thousands of abductees have been rescued and hundreds of rebels killed since 2008 after the UPDF extended its operations beyond Garamba to CAR.

{Kenya was among the “hottest” upscale holiday destinations in 2016, owing to its exclusive amenities.}

Kenya has in 2016 recorded the largest growth in tourist bookings globally, says American-based luxury travel network Virtuoso.

The agency boasts 390 members and more than 11,400 elite travel advisors in 40 countries across North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.

Virtuoso said Kenya scored 59 per cent, followed by Iceland (56), Saint Martin (39), China (35), Ecuador (34), Japan (32), South Africa (28), Tanzania (27), Croatia (25) and Jamaica 23 per cent to close the top 10 list.

The firm, which has affiliations with 1,700 hotels and resorts, cruise lines, airlines, tour companies and premier destinations, said Africa enjoyed a steady rise in tourist arrivals during summer, with a commanding 28 per cent.

In Nairobi, the Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) signed a partnership with British Airways that will see clients of the federation enjoy a 13-17 per cent discounted air fare for every online purchase of a ticket between now and end of May 2017.

MARKET KENYA ABROAD

Acting KTF chief executive Susan Ongalo described the initiative as timely, saying KTF members would now market Kenya abroad and inform their clients of the subsidised rates.

She said tourists would enjoy lower charges as many hotels, tour operators and travel agents had initiated a cost-reduction incentive for repeat clients.

Virtuoso’s findings were announced during the annual Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas last week on Tuesday evening, attended by travel agency members from the United States and Canada.

Virtuoso commands nearly half of the Sh3.55 trillion tourism revenues.

It said Kenya was among the “hottest” upscale holiday destinations in 2016, owing to its exclusive amenities, rare experiences and privileged access.

Virtuoso added that Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa rank high as investment destinations and stand to experience a 17 per cent rise in tourist arrivals.

“Luxury travellers are seeking out more exotic locales worldwide, including a boom for Africa,” it said.

{Rukwa Regional C o m m i s s i o n e r (RC), Mr Zelothe Steven, has directed the Nkasi District Executive Director (DED), Mr Julius Kaondo, to ensure that safety water supply infrastructures are set up at Kipili Secondary School as soon as possible.}

Mr Zelothe issued the directives following reports that about 303 students from the public secondary school are in danger of contracting water borne diseases due to drinking unsafe and unclean water from the lake, since the school lacks proper water infrastructure.

Kipili Secondary School is located along the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Nkasi District, Rukwa Region. The RC also directed the Nkasi District Medical Officer (DMO) to dispatch a team of health officials to the school and see the possibilities of treating the unsafe and unclean water, which the students drink without first boiling it properly .

Investigations carried by the ‘Sunday News’ recently revealed that students use unsafe water for domestic purposes, including drinking, cooking, washing and worse of all, drinking the water fresh from the lake without boiling it first, while surrounding villages relieve themselves in the lake.

A cross-section of school teachers and students who were interviewed by this paper said the school is afflicted with myriads of challenges, including lack of electricity, shortage of teaching staff and classrooms which are in bad shape. They added that the school environment is inhospitable and unsociable to both teachers and their students.

Vice-Head of the School, Mr Calisto Mapunda, admitted that students at the school fetch water directly from Lake Tanganyika and use it for domestic purposes and drinking without boiling. “Despite such challenges, the school has no science teacher, which compels some of us to teach the subjects including biology, mathematics, physics and chemistry in form one and two because it is compulsory for them (students) to study all the nine subjects.

The school has only nine teachers, all of them are teaching art subjects,” added Mr Mapunda. Expounding further, he said that classrooms are in bad shape with rough floors, some of them have neither doors nor windows and the walls have developed huge cracks. On his part, Mr Chaua Zawadi, a history and civic subject teacher at the school said that even the parents and people living in the school vicinity have abandoned the school, with the opinion that it is the government’s responsibility to run and manage it.

“The school’s surroundings are infested with different species of snakes including cobra, where such reptiles are a threat to the lives of the students, since for instance the boys’ dormitory has no doors ….

Equally Lake Tanganyika is also infested with crocodiles which can easily attack students when they are either fetching water or swimming,” said Mr Zawadi. Similar sentiments were echoed by several students, including Loveness Chaula, Manuel Kamanki, Hosana Kalikula and Joseph Kakunda, who added that it is a pit that they are forced to sleep on the floor in their dormitories due to shortage of beds.

{The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) issued a wake-up call to Burundi today, said Amnesty International after the Committee flagged an increase in the use of torture and other ill-treatment since the beginning of the country’s current crisis in April 2015.}

In its concluding observations following a special report submitted at CAT’s request, the Committee’s 10 independent international experts expressed deep concern over hundreds of cases of torture alleged to have taken place in recent months in both official and unofficial places of detention.

The spike in torture cases we have seen in Burundi since the onset of the crisis is extremely alarming and must be urgently addressed by the Burundian government
Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s East Africa Deputy Regional Director

“The spike in torture cases we have seen in Burundi since the onset of the crisis is extremely alarming and must be urgently addressed by the Burundian government,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s East Africa Deputy Regional Director.

The Committee made strong recommendations including conducting prompt, efficient and impartial investigations into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment and ensuring that all those responsible are prosecuted and sentenced taking into account the grave nature of the offence.

The Committee also raised its concerns about attempts to have four lawyers who contributed to a civil society report to the CAT struck off the professional register.

“Burundi’s unwillingness to cooperate with the UN on such a crucial issue is deeply worrying, and its reprisals against lawyers who provided information to the Committee are totally unacceptable,” said Sarah Jackson.

“The Burundian authorities need to step up to their responsibilities by implementing the Committee’s recommendations, and end the impunity that continues to have a devastating and chilling effect.”

The UN Committee also asked Burundi to provide another special report on implementation of all its recommendations, by 12 October 2016.

Its full observations and all documents relating to the review of Burundi’s report can be found here.

Amnesty International’s submission to the Committee is available here

{12 August 2016 – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein today said that the denial of visa to a human rights researcher in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a regrettable development.}

“[This] does not bode well for civil society space in the run up to the presidential elections,” said Mr. Zeid, according to Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson of his Office (OHCHR).

Last month, the High Commissioner visited the country and had commended its efforts to strengthen human rights. But he also cautioned that some of advances the African country had made may be under threat, especially what he saw as repression against opposition parties in the upcoming elections.

Furthermore, according to the spokesperson, Mr. Zeid was “reassured” by Government officials of their commitment to open up the democratic space, particularly with the President calling for an inclusive national dialogue.

However, the recent denial of visa to the researcher working with the international human rights non-governmental organization, Human Rights Watch, has casted a doubt over the depth of the Government’s commitment, added Ms. Shamdasani.

Noting that it is essential for external observers to be able to work freely to present an independent picture of the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo without fear of reprisals.

“We urge the Government to promptly review its decision to deny the visa,” she concluded.

{A Uganda people Defence Force (UPDF) captain has been arrested for involving in Highway robberies.}

A Uganda People Defence Force’s (UPDF) captain has been arrested for his involvement in Highway robberies.

The suspect, said to have been commanding highway robberies and attached to National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi District, was arrested alongside four others as they planned to stage a robbery on Masaka –Kampala Highway.

Mr Emilian Kayima, the Kampala Metropolitan Political Commissar and Spokesperson, said the five were arrested from a hotel in Buwama town last week after an intelligence alert.

He said the hunt for Highway robbers was intensified after a renowned local singer Mr Geoffrey Lutaaya and his wife Irene Namatovu were robbed on gunpoint in Butambala District in June.

“We believe these are some of the ring leaders of highway robberies and other raids across the country. They had army uniforms which we suspected were provided by their commander (the UPDF Captain),” Mr Kayima said yesterday while speaking to the media at Central Police Station.

He said the criminals have been waylaying public cars and cargo trucks on highways in the districts of Hoima, Kazo, Butambala, Ntungamo, Kyenjojo and Kiboga.

“We have realised that these are habitual offenders who have very many cases at the different police stations. They will be arraigned in court after investigations. They are facing charges of aggravated robbery,” he said.

The police last month killed a UPDF soldier suspected of carrying out armed robberies in the city against mobile money agents. He died after sustaining injuries in a shoot-out with police officers in Nakaseke District.
Corporal Kenneth Tindibweba was intercepted as he was fleeing back to Singo Military Training School in Nakaseke District.
Police spokesman, Mr Fred Enanga, said Cpl Tindibweba resisted arrest and then turned his rifle on the police officers, who shot back and killed him.

This was the second soldier to be involved armed robbery in less than a month. In June, Pte Kenneth Mugombesya, was arrested in Kalagi township in Mukono District after he and four others mounted a roadblock around Kalagi and robbed commuters of their phones and money.

{President Kenyatta asked the two Narok leaders to bury the hatchet and work together for the sake of their people.}

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday reconciled Maasai leaders Governor Samuel Tunai and Senator Stephen ole Ntutu in Narok, urging their factions to stop divisive hate-driven politics against each other.

Mr Kenyatta, who was in Narok to attend the homecoming ceremony of new Geothermal Development Company managing director Johnson Ole Nchoe, demanded the two leaders shake hands in front of thousands of people who attended the event.

“I want the two and their followers to bury the hatchet and forge a way forward to help residents in development and uniting them in Jubilee Party,” said President Kenyatta.

The Head of State also praised former Cabinet minister William ole Ntimama for championing new Jubilee Party in the Maasai region.

On Tuesday, Ntimama led several leaders among them Senator Ntutu, Laikipia East MP Mathew Lempurkel and Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ngeno to State House, Nairobi where they assured President Kenyatta of Maasai support in the 2017 polls.

President Uhuru Kenyatta addresses a crowd that turned up for the turned out for the new Geothermal Development Corporations managing director Johnson Ole Nchoe’s homecoming ceremony in Narok on August 12, 2016. PHOTO | PSCU
(Read: Raila meets Maasai leaders, rejects IEBC role in party nominations)

Again on Friday, Ntimama and Maasai MPs present at Nchoe’s homecoming ceremony includingm Patrick Ntutu (Narok West), Mr Korei Lemein (Narok South) and Mr Lemanken Aramat (Narok East) reassured the Kenyatta they would rally the region to vote for him next year.

During the ceremony, Kenyatta defended the merger of 12 outfits affiliated to the ruling coalition Jubilee.

“The decision to dissolve the smaller parties under Jubilee is meant to establish true national democracy and assured all those seeking the party’s ticket a transparent nomination of fairness and equality,” said President Kenyatta.

In addition, Mr Kenyatta allayed fears that some aspirant would not be given preferential treatment during Jubilee Party nominations.

“It is the people who will decide who will represent them. If you want to become an MP or MCA it’s the people who will make that decision,” said the Head of State.

{The Attorney General (AG) yesterday asked the High Court to dismiss with costs the application lodged by five herbalists to challenge the government’s decision of deregistering their herbal clinics and suspend them as alternative medicine practitioners.}

The herbalists includes Mwaka Juma Mwaka alias ‘Dr Mwaka,’ Abdullah Mandai, Simon Risigwa, Fadhir Kabujanja and John Lupimo. Through legal services of Dr Lucas Charles Kamanija, the herbalists have, however, opposed to the invitation by the AG.

They have filed the application against three respondents, the Traditional and Alternative Health Practices Council, Permanent Secretary Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children and Attorney General, seeking for leave to sue the government on the matter.

Nevertheless, the AG, through Senior State Attorneys Tuli Mwakihesya and Sylivester Mwakitalu, has raised a two set of grounds of objections for the dismissal of the case, alleging that the herbalists, the applicants, have not exhausted all other remedies available before resorting to the court action.

In addition, the two senior state attorneys, assisted by State Attorney Grace Lukondo, content that the affidavit lodged by the applicants to support the application in question was incurably defective, thus rendering the application in question incompetent.

Expounding the grounds of objections, the state attorneys told Judge Ama Munisi, who jeard the matter that according to the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act, Dr Mwaka in his part ought to have appealed to the minister responsible to the sector first before going to court.

They submitted that in respect of other applicants who were suspended and others de-registered were required to seek the court’s intervention by way of appeal and not filing an application for judicial review as they had done.

In his brief reply submissions, however, Dr. Lucas Charles Kamanija, who is appearing for the applicants, asked the court to dismiss all the grounds of objections raised for lacking merits. He told the judge that his clients were challenging the decision given by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary.

Therefore, the advocate submitted, his clients were not challenging the merits of the said decision to deregister and suspend or cancel the applicants’ licenses as well as their licences of their clinics, respectively. “We are not appealing the decision by (permanent secretary of the ministry) because he has no power under section 23 and 24 of the Act,” he submitted.

Thus, according to him, the only remedy for the applicant that remained was to apply for judicial review. On the question of affidavits, the advocate told the court that all of them contained facts and not legal arguments, opinions and conclusions as suggested by counsel for the respondents.

He submitted that the respondents had failed to show specifically which facts offended the law. After hearing the arguments from both parties, the judge said she would deliver her ruling on the matter on August 19.

In the cases, the applicants have advanced several grounds to fault the government’s decision, notably acting under utra vires (exceed limits) or illegality, being biased or discrimination, irrational or unreasonableness and violation of the right to a fair hearing.

According to the statement filed to support the application, the applicants were seeking for orders of certiorari to remove into the court and quash the purported decision of the Council’s allegations against them contained in summons dated June 14 and 20, this year.

They were applying for orders of certiorari (to remove into the court and quash) the allegations and purported decisions by the Ministry against them, which cancelled their registrations, their aids and herbal clinics.

The applicants were further seeking for orders of mandamus (to compel and direct) the respondents to act in accordance with the law and that an order for prohibition, restraining them from illegally harassing the applicants and interfering with their alternative medicineherbology practices.