IGIHE

Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • Burundi troops end their peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic

    {Burundian authorities have announced they have ended their peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.}

    The authorities have already withdrawn more than 100 police officers deployed in the Central African nation.

    The Burundian police spokesman said that they have fulfilled their mission to the CAR.

    Only 10 police officers will remain in the country to guard heavy equipment.

    Another group of 280 policemen are expected to travel back to Bujumbura on Tuesday evening.

    Last month, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of its peacekeeping operations in the country until November.

    The council decided to keep an authorized troop ceiling of 10,750 military personnel intact to provide time for the mission to assess the post-transition process in the country.

    The 15 member body also called on the authorities to implement a genuine and inclusive reconciliation.

    In June, the UN announced that it was ending the involvement of police units from Burundi in the CAR because of serious and ongoing human rights violations.

    Burundi had hundreds of police officers deployed with the UN mission in the capital, Bangui.

    In 2013, CAR plunged into deeper violence when rebels ousted former president Francois Bozize.

    Violence between Muslim rebels and a Christian militia group has led to the deaths of thousands and displacement of nearly one million people.

  • Uganda:Two men burnt to death for murdering their mother

    {Grief has engulfed residents of Budda village, Kibinge Sub County in Bukomansimbi district after two members of the same family were burnt to death by angry residents for allegedly murdering their mother.}

    Grief has engulfed residents of Budda village, Kibinge Sub County in Bukomansimbi district after two members of the same family were burnt to death by angry residents for allegedly murdering their mother.

    The deceased persons were identified as James Ssekiwala Ddungu a 25 year-old and his elder brother Emmanuel Kabode aged 50.

    The two were attacked by angry residents on Tuesday morning by mainly boda boda cyclists who mobilized after learning that the two brothers had murdered their 70 year old mother Nalongo Josephine Nantale.

    They were conflicting over a one and a half acres of land.

    The angry residents also assaulted Joseph Kabogoza, an uncle to the two men and brother to the slain old woman. He sustained serious injuries and his house was also demolished. He was rushed at Masaka referral hospital for treatment.

    Ms Harriet Nakyanja, the vice chairperson of Budda Village said Ms Nantale was killed on Sunday.

    The Officer in charge of criminal investigations, Bukomansimbi George William Kanzire said police has failed to arrest any of the residents who took the law into their hands.

    The two brothers were tied together and burnt to death.

  • Kenya:Man charged with chopping his wife’s hands was a ‘good guy’

    {‘He was brought up in a Christian way by uncle, says friend, and was even in the choir.}

    Anyone who speaks of Mr Stephen Ngila Thenge, 34, the man from Machakos County who was recently charged with attempting to kill his wife, Jackline Mwende, 27, but ended up chopping her hands, describes him as a “very good guy”.

    A friend who requested anonymity described “Ngila” as “so cool and an excellent youth choir singer” who was brought up in the church and was a youth group member.

    “It was a delight when he had a church wedding as he is an exemplary hardworking man as a tailor and even bought land, where he built a house for his family,” the friend told the Nation.

    But red flags were raised when he separated from his wife and stopped going to church. “He is like a brother, and hearing what he has done is beyond shock. It is unimaginable.”

    Mr Thenge grew up in his uncle’s home, close to his new house that is built atop a hill in Ilenge Village with a beautiful view of Masii Town.

    His shell-shocked family are afraid to talk about him. When contacted, they only say, “Wrong number.” Understandably so, because they, like his friends, are trying to come to terms with the horror of the night of July 24 .

    In addition to losing both hands, Ms Mwende is nursing serious head, neck and back injuries and has lost hearing in her left ear. She lost three teeth.

    “She cannot hear on that side because of the panga injury,” her father Samuel Munyoki told the Nation at is home, where Ms Mwende is recuperating and took refuge.

    PROVIDE MEDICATION

    In the meantime, contributions, prayers and words of comfort are pouring for the family. The Bangladeshi High Commission in Kenya has pledged to provide Ms Mwende with medication for at least three months.

    “We will also give her a loan to start a business as well as a job when she gets better, and we will visit her tomorrow (Wednesday)”, Major-General Kalam Humayun Kabir said at the consulate on Tuesday.

    (READ: Battered woman: Why I remained in abusive marriage)

    LG Electronics East Africa Marketing general manager Moses Marji said; “We are willing to support her with prosthetic limbs and take care of her transport from her home to the hospital, admission and treatment. The procedure will be carried out at PCEA Kikuyu Hospital.”

    Nation reader Jonah Munyi said in an email he knows a person who “underwent an eerily similar ordeal but is now living a near-normal life despite not having her two limbs.”

    Another Nation reader who did not wish to be identified said as part of his company’s corporate social responsibility this year, they will give Ms Mwende prosthetic hands and financial support.

    Mr Stephen Ngila Nthenge, who is suspected of chopping off his wife's hands at Kathama village in Machakos County, sits in a police vehicle after being charged with attempted murder at Wamunyu Law Courts on August 1, 2016.

  • Tanzania:PM turns down sub-standard desks

    {Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, has refused to receive substandard desks from Tanzania Forests Services (TFS).}

    A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday noted that Mr Majaliwa rejected the bad desks at Mabau in Mtibwa yesterday when the TFS manager attempted to hand them over to the premier. Mr Majaliwa was addressing a public rally.

    “The education officer should inspect these desks. I will receive only those which meet the required quality. The rest should be taken back. I cannot receive poorly made desks,” Mr Majaiwa said.

    Premier Majaliwa said TFS had a good intention in supporting the government in the school desk campaign, but stressed that he would not receive any sub-standard furniture. Mvomero District Education Officer, Michael Ligola, inspected the 102 school desks at Mabau and only 14 were of the required quality.

    The remaining 84 were poorly made. Premier Majaliwa refused to receive the desks which were being handed over by Mtibwa TSF Manager Hamza Kateti. He directed the district leadership to make a follow up of the desks and ensure they are of the required standard.

    Meanwhile, Mr Majaliwa called on parents and guardians in the district to ensure children are registered in schools.

    He stressed that those who will fail to do so, will face the wrath of the law. “The government has reduced the load of paying fees and other school contributions. You must seize that opportunity and ensure your children are registered in schools and attend lessons,” he stressed.

    Earlier, the Mvomero Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Saddiq Murad, said one of the major challenges facing the district involved pastoralists who graze their livestock in farms. He called on the premier to intervene and help address the problem.

    Mr Majaliwa said the government is keen on addressing land conflicts between farmers and pastoralists.

    He noted that those with large herds of livestock will be relocated to national ranches, while those with few head of cattle will be sent to special land in villages

  • Republic of Congo Opposition Wants Political Prisoners Freed

    A Republic of Congo opposition party has called for the unconditional release of political prisoners and easing of arbitrary arrests.

    The Pan-African Union for Social Democracy’s statement issued overnight Sunday follows a similar request last week by Amnesty International.

    Gen. Jean Marie Michel Mokoko, an independent candidate in the March presidential elections, is under provisional house detention. Paulin Makaya, president of the opposition United Party for Congo, was sentenced last week to two years in prison for inciting public disorder and insurrection.

    Makaya was detained after participating in an October protest of a referendum allowing the country’s longtime president to seek another term. The referendum ultimately passed.

    President Denis Sassou N’Guesso, in power for more than 30 years, was re-elected in March.

  • Museveni blames police brutality on Besigye

    {President defends the use of batons to break illegal demonstrations as opposed to sticks usually used by herdsmen.}

    President Museveni on Sunday offered mixed reaction to increasing cases of police brutality in the country and blamed it on Dr Kizza Besigye whom he accused of “indiscipline and lawlessness.”

    Answering the Daily Monitor question on the rising cases of police brutality in the country that have put his government in the spotlight, Mr Museveni, who was addressing journalists at the close of a week-long joint retreat for permanent secretaries and Cabinet ministers in Kyankwanzi, also defended the use of batons to break illegal demonstrations as opposed to the sticks usually used by herdsmen, which the policemen were seen using to beat Dr Besigye’s supporters last month.

    “We don’t support police brutality but you also know that we don’t support the indiscipline of the political actors like Dr Besigye,” Mr Museveni said

    “There are many Opposition leaders like Cecilia Ogwal (FDC), Norbert Mao (DP), UPC and others but I haven’t heard them being involved in these conflicts with police.The whole thing is with Besigye because of his lawlessness and indiscipline,” the President said.

    Dr Besigye was busy attending FDC NEC meeting at the party headquarters, but Mr Wandera Ogalo, a senior legal counsel of FDC, disparaged Mr Museveni for linking Dr Besigye to police brutality and reminded the NRM leader that “people see Dr Besigye as their president.”

    “Where is the constitutional freedom to assemble? Either the president is not properly briefed or he is just ignoring the brief on police brutality for political reasons,” Mr Ogalo said.

    “The president is trying to blame the victim yet the stick-wielding goons in police who beat Ugandans like cows are known. If other political leaders and political parties don’t command much enthusiasm from the people, you cannot blame Dr Besigye. People see Dr Besigye as their president and there is no way they can seek for police permission to wave at him as he passes,” Mr Ogalo said.

    Mr Museveni also complained that some people demonstrate peacefully but illegally because “many of the demonstrations are illegal”, adding that if the likes of Dr Besigye, the former presidential candidate of the FDC, wanted to demonstrate they could work with the police and demonstrate legally and peacefully but “FDC doesn’t want that, so they don’t involve the police.”

    On July 12, the police were seen beating supporters of Dr Besigye, who were welcoming the FDC strongman from prison after court granted him bail but Mr Museveni said on Thursday that most of the FDCs demonstrations are illegal and that “if they are illegal and violent then, the police must do something.”

    “Either you charge with a baton, which involves beating in defending yourself or the other options (rubber bullets and live bullets) which in my opinion are worse,” Mr Museveni said.

    As Ugandans speak about police brutality, Mr Museveni asked them to also speak about others killed by the demonstrators, citing a policeman (John Michael Ariong) who was allegedly killed by demonstrators in March 2012.

    Although Mr Museveni said “beating” is one of the accepted police methods of dealing with illegal demonstrations, he sought to distance himself from the use of long sticks, insisting that “baton charge”, is what is provided for in the police Act as one of the many peaceful ways of quelling illegal demonstrations by using “non-lethal ways without killing people.”

    Explaining the use of shields and baton charge, the President said: “These are short and heavy sticks which they (police officers) can use to defend themselves because they are used even in other counties but I am told police here have used some other sticks….”

    Addressing the question of beating citizens; Mr Museveni asked, “They were demonstrating but how were they demonstrating? Were they demonstrating peacefully or they were violent against the police and throwing stones? Were the police defending themselves or people were demonstrating peacefully but illegally? If they were demonstrating peacefully and then you attack them, then, you are wrong.”

    Even though Mr Museveni admitted that since July 12 he has not found time to meet the Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, to find out whether the demonstration was violent or peaceful, he said, “The fact that some people were charged in court, I suspect, this was illegal but not violent, otherwise it wouldn’t have been reasonable to charge these young police people for defending themselves against an illegal and violent demonstration.”

    Addressing journalists in the aftermath of the brutal events, Gen Kayihura said the Force had replaced use of tear gas with baton charge (use of sticks), and indicated that the beating of Dr Besigye’s supporters was sanctioned by the Force’s top command, claiming they had learnt about their planned violent disruptions.

    Asked what his government is doing to stop the police brutality in the face a new Cabinet resolution to deal with demonstrators firmly, Mr Museveni said: “I have not heard time to study it [police brutality] because I was attending the African Union summit (when that incident happened). But I hear that police were involved in beating up people who were demonstrating.”

    Since the Walk to Work protests in 2011, the the relationship between the police and civilians as well as politicians has ebbed with the Police chief now facing torture charges in relation to the beating of civilians. The 2016 disputed election which Dr Besigye claims he won made matters worse.

    President Museveni, in power for 30 years, received nearly 60.75 per cent of the votes, with Dr Besigye taking 35.37 per cent. This result indicated that Dr Besigye’s support grew from 26 per cent while President Museveni declined from 68.38 per cent in 2011 polls.

  • Kenya:Students sent home for saying ‘no’ to exams

    {The decision was arrived at to prevent unrest or destruction of school property.}

    Five secondary schools in Lamu County have sent some of their students home after they refused to sit for their mock examinations.

    The county’s Director of Education, Mr Mwanyoha Ndegwa, said the management of Kizingitini, Siyu, Wiyoni, Witu and Kiongwe secondary schools have been forced to send their Form Three and Four students home.

    The decision was arrived at to prevent unrest or destruction of school property. The students refused to sit the exams on the grounds that they were not well prepared to tackle the questions.

    Some claimed that the exams had been set on topics that they were yet to cover while others claimed that their teachers had not notified them on when the exams were to begin.

    Some of the students who spoke to the Nation and requested anonymity, also said they were not willing to sit the exams because they feared that the results would be used to determine their final score in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam.

    However, Mr Ndegwa said the students were simply not prepared and were therefore scared of failing.

    “We shall soon summon back the students and their parents and chart a way forward. I expect the Lamu education board to meet this week over the same,” Mr Ndegwa said in a telephone interview.

    In a related development, Coast regional coordinator Nelson Marwa on Monday said all public boarding secondary schools at the Coast will be manned by security officers to avert arson attacks.

    At the same time, owners of petrol stations in the region have been warned against selling petrol to underage buyers and other suspicious characters.

    “Don’t sell petrol to students, probe and confirm what it will be used for. Mere interrogations and amount of petrol bought can reveal their intentions. Report underage buyers to relevant authorities,” said Mr Marwa.

    Speaking at his office, Mr Marwa said so far eight students — three from Shimo la Tewa High School, two from Malindi High and two from Lamu — have been arrested as part of the investigations into a fire incident at Kwale High School last Friday.

    “The students from Lamu and Malindi have been arraigned in court. Anyone involved will be arrested regardless of their age,” said Mr Marwa.

    ELECTRIC FAULT
    Meanwhile, police officers in Mombasa County are investigating the circumstances that led to the burning of a dormitory at St Augustine Preparatory School in Tudor, Mombasa on Sunday night.

    Police blamed the fire on an electric fault. The same building had also caught fire in 2013.

    At least eight pupils were taken to hospital and treated for shock and minor injuries after the 11pm incident.

    The fire was quickly contained by the Mombasa County and Kenya Ports Authority fire brigades.

    The headteacher, Ms Serah Kessi, said the fire started shortly after the girls were cleared to go to bed.

    “The girls had not slept as they had just got to the dormitory shortly after their revision ahead of the exams,” Ms Kessi said.

    She said that the school had already made arrangements to accommodate the students until Friday when they will finish their end-of-term examinations.

    RCA Kasuroi Boys taking laboratory lessons at Uhuru Girls on July 9, 2016. Some schools in Lamu County have sent their students home because of refusing to sit examinations.

  • Tanzania:Unlawful pistol possession sends 64-year old to 15-years in jail

    {DAR ES SALAAM-based Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday sentenced 64-year old Said Shomari to 15-year imprisonment for unlawful possession of a pistol.}

    Principal Resident Magistrate Wilbard Mashauri meted out the sentence after convicting the accused on his own plea of guilty. In the case, Shomari and another suspect Ramadhan Said, who is believed to be his son, faced two counts related to possession of firearm, the pistol of Berata make and one round of ammunition.

    Shomari pleaded guilty to the count of unlawful possession of firearm but denied the other count of unlawful possession of ammunition. On the other hand, Said denied all the counts. In yesterday’s proceedings, the case had come for hearing and the prosecution, led by State Attorney Adolf Mkini, brought one witness.

    However, before the hearing started, Shomari requested the court to remind him of the charges. It was at that point, when he admitted the first count, confessing to have illegally been found with the pistol.

    Reading the charges, the trial attorney told the court that the two accused persons committed the offences on November 11, last year, at Kigogo area in Kinondoni District. The prosecution alleged that on that day, the two accused persons were found with the pistol and one round of ammunition without having any permit authorising them to possess them.

  • Uganda:Government to sack civil servants to cut cost

    {News of a planned reduction in the number of civil servants will come as a heart break to millions because many Ugandan families rely on a civil servant for fees or other financial support.}

    Government is plotting to downsize the civil service in what President Museveni has proposed will help save money to improve on service delivery, this newspaper can reveal.

    The President has subsequently tasked former Finance minister Dr Ezra Suruma to lead a study on the bloated public service and associated wage bill and recommend appropriate actions for the government to take.

    One of the solutions Mr Museveni proposed, according to a source that attended the Cabinet retreat that ended in Kyankwanzi last night, is to reduce the number of civil servants.

    Discussions at the closed-door meeting were grainy, another source said, after permanent secretaries demanded for a pay rise saying the Shs3 million salary they get is inadequate yet they hold and account for budgets running into trillions of shillings.

    The President, who has dubbed his new tenure as “Kisanja hakuna mchezo”, meaning a term of not playing games, reportedly rejected the higher salary demand and instead proposed that the wage bill is already unsustainable and the numbers of civil servants be slashed. This, he argued, will enable savings to achieve social economic transformation. Mr Museveni has promised that Uganda, under him, will leap into a middle income country by 2020, although the national Planning Authority and Justice Minister Kahinda Otafiire separately expressed reservations.

    At the Kyankwanzi meeting, the President reportedly informed the permanent secretaries that increasing their pay alone would demoralise their subordinates and that in the past, he rejected similar requests for the same reasons.

    Uganda last undertook a massive retrenchment in 1992 under Bretton Wood institutions-enforced Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) as a pre-condition continued funding and debt relief. The proposed downsising of government workers, coming months after an election which the Opposition says was rigged, could likely render the exercise to claims of political witch-hunt.

    At the Cabinet retreat, ministers also agreed to amend the Land Act to provide for compulsory acquisition of land for investment purposes.The law currently allows the government to compulsorily acquire land for public works, but after compensation.

    Under the proposed amendments to current legal framework, sources told Daily Monitor that some ministers were pushing for expeditious amendment to the Land (Amendment) Act to stop illegal land evictions and provide for compulsory acquisition of land for investment purposes and job creation.

    The proposed amendments to the Land Act are contained in the draft resolutions of the Cabinet shared with journalists by Mr Ofwono Opondo, the executive director of Uganda Media Centre. It reads: “[The] government shall propose expeditious amendment of Land Act and other relevant laws to enable government acquire land for timely implementation of public works.”

    If President Museveni and his ministers get Parliament’s nod on a matter so emotive in the country, some ministers warned that compulsory acquisition of land without compensating owners is likely to cause “public discontent” in the country.

    Shadow attorney general Wilfred Niwagaba reacted with consternation, describing the government plan as a plot to grab land under the cover of investment and job creation. “In acquisition of land for public works, government must follow the Constitution,” Mr Niwagaba said.

    The proposed amendments follow refusal by communities, in some cases, to surrender ancestral land to government-sourced investors.The most outstanding was the contested attempt to take land in the northern Amuru District for sugarcane plantation.

    Sources at the Cabinet retreat in Kyankwanzi told Daily Monitor that ministers, permanent secretaries and members of NRM’s Central Executive Committee supported the proposal on land and tasked Lands Minister, Ms Betty Amongi, to work with the Attorney General’s Chambers to expedite the draft bill for Parliament’s consideration.

    The retreat also resolved “to deal firmly with lawlessness and rioters”, particularly in urban areas, to security of persons and their property. There is a nation-wide criticism of police’s excessive use of force particularly when handling Opposition supporters, and it was not immediately clear what the new call by the political executives for a firmer action would translate into for those carrying out orders in the field.

    To eliminate delays and corruption in procurement, Cabinet also resolved to amend the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) Act. They also authorised Internal Security Organisation to work with the Ombudsman, Auditor General and other anti-corruption agencies to step up the fight against the vice.

    To speed up investment and job creation in the country, Cabinet resolved to reinstate tax holidays to investors. The government contracts will also be studied by the Office of the Prime Minister and NRM secretariat to ensure that jobs go to local entrepreneurs. Because government is implementing NRM’s 2016-2021 manifesto, Cabinet authorised the party secretary general, Ms Justine Kasule Lumumba, to demand for accountability from government departments particularly in the implementations.

    By press time the President and the ministers were still discussing the resolutions.

    {{THE BACKGROUND}}

    In July, this year, particulars of about 5,000 civil servants were deleted from the payroll in a questionable clean up exercise. There are currently some 300,000 employed, with an additional 10,830 pending validation, according to the Public Service ministry records. These exclude Foreign Service officers, administrative attachés, and officers on study leave abroad.

    Makerere Institute of Social Research executive director Prof. Mahmood Mamdani shakes the hand of president Yoweri Museveni at the ongoing cabinet and permanent secretaries retreat at Kyankwanzi on Sunday. The government is plotting to downsize the civil service in what President Museveni has proposed will help save money to improve on service delivery.

  • Kenya:Seven pupils treated for shock after St Augustine Primary School fire in Mombasa

    {The police attributed the fi‎re to an electrical fault and ruled out arson as investigations continue.}

    At least seven pupils were treated for shock and minor injuries after a dormitory at St Augustine Primary School in Mombasa caught fire on Sunday night.

    The girl’s dormitory accommodated 135 pupils caught fire at about 11.30 pm.

    The police attributed the fi‎re to an electrical fault and ruled out arson as investigations continue.

    Mombasa Deputy OCPD Njoroge Ngigi said they received a fire emergency call from St Augustine Primary school at around 11.50pm.

    “There was fire on the second floor of the girls’ dormitory.

    Swift response by the Mombasa County and Kenya Ports Authority fire brigades managed to contain the fire which had consumed a better part of the dorm.” Mr Ngigi said.

    At least seven pupils who suffered shock were rushed to the Coast Provincial General Hospital for treatment.

    Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir rushed to the scene and helped calm the boys and girls who slept at the schools boardroom and staffroom.

    The Kenya Red Cross Society members were also at hand and provided temporary shelter for the pupils at school.

    Firefighters at St Augustine Primary School in Mombasa, which caught fire on Sunday night.