Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Tarime District Commissioner Glorious Luoga has banned the use of mobile phones at the District Hospital during working hours.}

He issued the ban during a day-long meeting with workers of the hospital workers last week. He said the decision was aimed at improving service delivery at the hospital which serves hundreds of patients, particularly from poor families.

“The use of mobile phones is prohibited until further notice,” he declared, warning the workers to abstain from corrupt acts.

“Asking bribes from patients is a painful act.

I want you to change and provide quick services to patients,” he said. He said he would install a suggestion box at the hospital to receive public views in relation to services provided at the largest health facility.

Members of District Defence and Security Committee accompanied Luoga during his visit to the hospital.

{The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the welfare of Burundian journalist Jean Bigirimana. The journalist’s news outlet says he has not been seen or heard from since July 22.}

Bigirimana, a reporter with the independent weekly newspaperIwacu, formerly with the pro-government radio station Rema FM, left his home in the capital Bujumbura around lunch time on July 22, after receiving a phone call from a source in the country’s national intelligence service, Iwacureported. He has not been seen or heard from since.

The Associated Press, citing Bigirimana’s wife, reported that the journalist was arrested by the National Intelligence Service and that his family fears he is dead.

Godeberthe Hakizimana told The Associated Press that her husband left home for Bugaramana in the central province of Muramvya. He did not return despite saying that he would be back for dinner, Iwacureported.

CPJ was unable to independently confirm that the journalist was arrested or that his life is in danger. However, Human Rights Watch has documented a pattern of abductions, arrests, torture, and killings of civil society activists, journalists, and others by government forces, armed opposition groups, and unknown assailants since April 2015, when protests broke out in response to President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term. CPJ is aware of at least 100 journalists who have fled Burundi since the mass protests of April 2015 and the ensuing violence.

“Fourteen days after he went missing, Jean Bigirimana’s family and colleagues are still in the dark about his whereabouts and condition,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator. “We call on the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza to disclose any information it has on the journalist’s status, and if it has none, to immediately launch a thorough and credible investigation into his disappearance.”

Bigirimana’s disappearance comes a few weeks after his return from Rwanda, where he had attended a journalism training course, the AP reported.

Iwacu reported on its website that it had received a call from a person claiming to be a “friend of the journalist” who reported that Bigirimana was detained by intelligence agents. Iwacu said that Bigirimana was accused of having shuttled between Burundi and neighboring Rwanda and of having written an article on the life of exiled Burundian journalists living in that country. Burundi and Rwanda are in the throes of a diplomatic spat.

CPJ’s calls and text messages to the journalist’s wife went unanswered. Police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye did not return CPJ’s phone calls seeking comment. CPJ’s phone calls to Minister of Information Nestor Bankumukunzi went unanswered. The president of the National Council of Communication, Karenga Ramadhan, a former minister of information, told CPJ via WhatsApp on July 29 that his deputy would respond to an inquiry, but CPJ received no further communication or responses to further messages.

Iwacu’s director, Antoine Kaburahe, who lives in exile in Belgium, told CPJ yesterday that Jean-Baptiste Baribonekeza, president of Burundi’s National Human Rights Commission, had visited the area where Iwacu’s sources allege that Bigirimana was abducted and detained by intelligence agents. Baribonekeza returned to the capital on August 3 but cancelled a scheduled press conference about Bigirimana, saying he was still investigating the matter, “He called me to say the commission is still verifying information,” Kaburahe said.

Baribonekeza did not respond to CPJ’s phone calls seeking information.
Kaburahe told the CPJ he was disheartened after a series oftweets by presidential spokesman Willy Nyamitwe. Nyamitwe todaytweeted that the government is investigating Bigirimana’s disappearance. Yesterday, he suggested that the opposition might be behind Bigirimana’s disappearance, tweeting in French, “I’m starting to fear the worst. When you look closely, it’s the same modus operandi of the #Sindumuja for the past for months in #Burundi,” and then”#Sindumuja tactics: Take a person, accuse police of having arrested them, kill them and then throw their body in the street. #Burundi.”

“It’s a kind of sign and it’s very discouraging,” Kaburahe said. CPJ’s attempts to reach Nyamitwe on his mobile phone were not successful.

{An old man identified as Loserian Laptak Peter Mollel, aged 52, a peasant and resident of Shambarai in Arumeru District, is being held by the police after being rescued from angry villagers, who wanted to lynch for incest.}

Mzee Loserian Mollel was discovered by fellow villagers to be sleeping with his biological daughter, an 18-yearold girl (name withheld) and according to the report from the Mbuguni Ward, the old man had been committing the crime for many days. However, last Friday evening he was caught red-handed.

Villagers in Shambarai dragged him out and started beating up. Fortunately, the police managed to arrive in time and saved Mzee Mollel from the irate mob. The Acting Regional Police Commander (RPC) for Arusha, Mr Yusuf Ilembo, said the suspect was being held at the Mbuguni Police Station.

The Police report did not reveal whether Mollel was living with his wife or not. In a different incident, a little girl, Erica Joseph, aged 18 months, was beaten up badly before being torched allegedly by both her parents. The girl suffered serious injuries and was being admitted to Mount Meru Hospital.

The incident, according to the Police Commander Ilembo, occurred at Field Force (FFU) area in Muriet Ward, near Kwa-Mrombo area. It was reported last Friday evening by the neighbours. The police arrested both the mother and the father for child cruelty.

The two suspects have been named as Mr Joseph Yaroot (48) and his wife Ms Lucia Daudi (21). The initial report originated from the FFU area Chairman, Mr Anecklet Edward, who after getting complaints from neighbours reported it to the police.

As it happens, Lucia is said to be step-mother to the child. According to reports, it was she who started first beating the child, setting her on fire. The reason behind the hideous act remained a mystery and the police are reportedly still investigating the matter.

{An American security contractor is accusing two top-ranking Congolese officials of ordering his detention and torture, declaring in a lawsuit that they demanded he confess falsely to being part of a plot to overthrow the country’s government.}

Darryl Lewis, an Air Force veteran, said in an Associated Press interview this week that he was illegally held in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, for nearly six weeks and interrogated for as many as 16 hours a day by members of Congo’s national intelligence agency.

Congo’s intelligence chief, Kalev Mutond, and Congolese Justice Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, “acted in concert” to have him detained, tortured and “threatened with indefinite imprisonment on false charges,” according to the lawsuit, filed July 29 in federal court in Washington.

“I feared for my life from the day they captured me,” Lewis, 48, said. He said he never confessed.

Congo’s ambassador, Francois Balumuene, said in a statement Thursday that Lewis was detained because he did not have the proper work permit. He denied Lewis had been mistreated and called his lawsuit “unsubstantiated allegations.”

Law enforcement authorities in Congo released Lewis on June 8 after “extensive diplomatic efforts and negotiations,” the lawsuit said. Lewis is seeking at least $4.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

The lawsuit comes amid mounting tensions ahead of November presidential elections in Congo. Opposition leaders claim that President Joseph Kabila wants to delay the vote so he can stay in power past his mandate that expires at the end of the year. The country’s constitution bars Kabila from running for a third term.

Congo’s relations with Washington have frayed over the past year due to repeated reports that Kabila’s government has cracked down on political foes and activists. The U.S. Treasury Department in June sanctioned a top Congolese police official who activists say is linked to dozens of deaths. The department’s statement announcing the sanctions against Celestin Kanyama noted a “pattern of repression” by Kabila’s government.

Lewis had been working as an unarmed security adviser for Moise Katumbi, Congo’s leading opposition candidate for president. Katumbi, one of Kabila’s harshest critics, has been charged separately by authorities in Congo with hiring mercenaries. Katumbi and his supporters have denied the allegation and say the move is aimed at derailing his bid for the presidency.

Lewis is employed by Jones Group International, which is run by retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Jones. Jones served as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser.

The law firm representing Lewis, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, also was hired by Katumbi to be his Washington representative at a rate of $30,000 a month, according to records filed with the U.S. Justice Department.

In the lawsuit, Mwamba is described as being convinced that Lewis and hundreds of other U.S. citizens had infiltrated Congo since last October to help Katumbi overthrow the government and assassinate Kabila. Lewis’ military background made him especially suspect. At a May 4 press conference, Mwamba displayed as evidence a photo of Lewis holding a large machine gun.

Lewis said the photo was taken in 2009 when he was working as a contractor in Kosovo. Congolese authorities must have pulled it from his LinkedIn account, he said. The photo has since been replaced with another of Lewis.

Mwamba declined to comment on the specifics of Lewis’ lawsuit. “A Congolese who would be found to have acted in the U.S. as Lewis did in the (Congo) surely would have to explain himself before the FBI and other authorities,” he said.

The lawsuit said Lewis and three colleagues were “stopped and surrounded” by Congolese riot police on April 24 as they were driving near a political rally that Katumbi had attended in the city of Lubumbashi. They were unarmed and breaking no laws, according to Lewis. He was the only American in the group.

Soon, several members of Congo’s intelligence agency, who were not named in the suit, arrived. They handcuffed and physically assaulted Lewis and his colleagues, and at one point, a car door was slammed into his elbow, the lawsuit said.

Lewis said they were taken to a “filthy, unsanitary” jail in Lubumbashi and put in separate cells. He was assaulted and abused, according to the lawsuit. His bound hands were pulled up behind his back, creating painful pressure on his shoulder joints. During the night, Lewis could hear his captors “brutally beat” and interrogate one of his colleagues. “You’re next,” Lewis said he was warned.

The next day Lewis was transported to the intelligence agency’s headquarters in Kinshasa. Over the next six weeks, he was questioned for long periods and deprived of sleep, according to the lawsuit. His captors gave him just one small meal a day. Lewis said his captors also began a series of “mind games,” such as using information about his ailing mother, to wear him down and secure a confession.

Lewis was not charged with a crime before he was released.

{President Museveni has said Uganda will help connect Democratic Republic of Congo to the Ugandan oil pipeline in 2019.}

President Museveni has said Uganda will help connect Democratic Republic of Congo to the Ugandan oil pipeline in 2019.

He said this on Thursday after meeting his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila at Mweya Safari Lodge in Kasese District.

The two heads of state met over issues on joint security, economic investments and intelligence support to fight rebels in either country.

{{Conclusions}}

“We have agreed that after our oil pipeline is ready by 2019, we shall connect the pipeline from DR Congo to ours,” President Museveni told the media shortly after the heads of state’s two-hour closed meeting.

Uganda and Tanzanian governments recently agreed on a $4 billion oil pipeline that would connect Uganda to foreign markets even though construction won’t start in August as they originally projected.

The companies behind what could be East Africa’s first major oil pipeline believe the August start-date that Tanzanian officials gave last March for work on the 900-mile pipeline through Tanzania is unrealistic.

But the governments have made more progress in preparing the way for construction to start on the project that would transport Uganda’s crude to the Tanzanian port of Tanga on the Indian Ocean.

{{Contractors}}

French oil giant Total SA, the UK-based Tullow Oil and Chinese state-owned oil company Cnooc Ltd are the three firms developing Uganda’s oil fields expected to invest in the Ugandan pipeline which will have an estimated capacity to handle 200,000 barrels of oil a day. The aim is to keep Uganda on track with the goal of exporting its first crude reserves by 2020.

President Museveni spoke to Mr Kabila about Uganda’s readiness to deploy troops in DR Congo to battle the ADF fighters upon consent from the Kinshasa government.

Mr Kabila did not give an automatic approval of sending Ugandan troops to his country, saying there is need for his government to first consent on the deployment of a foreign army in Congo and the modalities of their operations.

“My government is willing to join hands with Uganda in promoting economic investments, regional peace and cross-border trade,” Mr Kabila said.

{{Elections}}

Asked on the controversies surrounding the delayed elections in DR Congo, Mr Kabila said a deliberate process of fresh registration of voters started at the end of July and is still ongoing.

“After the voter registration process, a date shall soon be set for the country to go for national elections,” Kabila answered journalists in a brief press conference after the talks.

{{The background }}

The Alliance of Democratic Forces (ADF) was in the 1990s made up of Ugandan opposition forces which fought the Government.

The rebel group launched operations in western Uganda near the Rwenzori Mountains in 1996 and inflicted substantial harm on the population in the area.

The rebels harassed government forces, murdered and kidnaped civilians in the north and west but did do not, however, hold ground to threaten the government.

The ADF heightened their activities in 1998, which included repeated attacks on civilians, trading centres, resulting in hundreds of deaths and abductions and displacement of local people.

In February 1998, 30 students were abducted by ADF from Mitandi Seventh Day Adventist College in Kasese.

{The driver of the tanker survived the crash and was rushed to the Webuye Sub-County Hospital.}

A police officer is among two people killed early Saturday morning in a crash involving two fuel tankers at Kaburengu Junction on the Webuye- Eldoret highway.

According to eye witnesses, the policewoman and her colleagues were manning a roadblock when the tanker failed to stop and hit her.

It dragged her for several metres before colliding with another tanker.

The turn boy of the tanker was also killed in the crash.

The driver of the tanker survived the crash and was rushed to the Webuye Sub-County Hospital.

The two tankers were headed to Webuye from Eldoret.

The crash caused a traffic snarl-up on the road.

According to an eye witness Josephat Karanja, the driver of the tanker appeared to have lost control of the vehicle in the 1am incident

Ms Millicent Awino, a resident, asked the government to erect bumps on the road.

“This area has become a blackspot. There was a similar accident recently but no one was injured,” said Ms Awino.

The bodies of the two were moved to the Kakamega County Referral Hospital.