Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Impeached former Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Dr Margaret Zziwa, wants her job back — together with 6bn/- compensation.}

The two are some of her demands made in the ongoing sessions of the First Instance Division of the East African Court of Justice, which commenced a four-day hearing of oral evidence in Dr Zziwa’s case against the Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC).

Dr Zziwa closed her evidence by telling the court that since she was illegally removed from office, she was seeking reinstatement. She said because of the intimidations she went through, she also sought damages in terms of salary, legal costs and compensation as she suffered reputation damage.

She alleged that the process of her removal from the Office of East African Legislative Assembly Speaker was illegal and an infringement of Articles 53 and 56 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC. Zziwa was the then elected Speaker of the EALA in 2014 but after her impeachment on 19th December 2014, the Assembly elected Mr Daniel Kidega as the new Speaker of EALA.

The Clerk of EALA, Mr Kenneth Madete, appeared pursuant to a court order issued on May 6, 2015 following the applicant’s submission to summon him to produce documents in his custody under Rule 56 of the East African Court of Justice which provides for witness summons for witness to give evidence or produce documents.

The court stated that it was clear that, the Clerk had been called to produce documents only for the record of the court and not give his opinion or any matters before the Assembly.

During cross examination by the applicant’s and the respondent’s lawyers, Mr Madete confirmed that the documents he had produced in court were the ones he had been summoned to produce and included the motion for the resolution to remove the Speaker, the report of the committee on legal rule and privileges and Hansard of the EALA during the proceedings for the removal of Ms Zziwa.

Dr Zziwa (the applicant) appeared in court to give evidence on her impeachment from the post of Speaker of the EALA, which she alleges was illegal, and an infringement of Articles 53 and 56 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community.

During examination-in-chief by her lawyer, Mr Jet Tumwebaze, Dr Zziwa evidenced that she has been a Member of EALA since 2006 and was re-elected in 2014.Dr Zziwa stated that the allegations against her included poor governance and leadership skills, poor time management and laissez faire attitude towards the Assembly’s responsibilities.

Others included the provision issue of the Speaker being paid house to enable her reside in Arusha but she hardly stays in Arusha, abuse of office such as involving members of her family in office matters.

She said that once served with the motion of removal she responded to the members on the allegations against her, denying all of them. She also attempted to settle the issue diplomatically, including seeking the intervention of the EAC heads of state though her efforts did not succeed.

Dr Zziwa also said that on May 9, 2014, the East African Court of Justice gave an interim order in the Application by EALA MP Fred Mbidde Mukasa in relation to interpretation of Rule 53 of the EALA rules of procedure and that the court gave a ruling on May 29, 2014 that EALA has its rules of procedure and allowed EALA to use them in the removal proceedings.

She also mentioned that on June 3, 2014, there was a long debate in the Assembly about the motion on the removal of the Speaker, at which members debated whether it should be tabled or not because the signatures had been removed and the motion not tabled. She submitted too that members from Tanzania had withdrawn their signatures and while she did not have a new motion with the required signatures, the motion was, therefore, out of time.

Zziwa added that according to Rule 9 (2) of EALA rules of procedure on the removal of the Speaker, a motion for the removal of the Speaker shall be signed by at least four members from each Partner State and submitted to the Clerk of the Assembly.

She also said that Rule 9 (94) provides that the Motion shall be tabled in the Assembly within seven days of its receipt by the Clerk and, the House shall refer the motion to the legal rules and privileges Committee to investigate and the report of its findings would be tabled before the Assembly for debate.

That the Clerk received the notice on March 26, 2014 and received the motion on March 27, 2014 and it was brought to the Assembly on June 1, 2014, which, she claims, was time-barred.

Dr Zziwa also said that she received a suspension letter stopping her from exercising the functions of the Speaker, signed by 32 members of the Assembly – though “there was no motion to lead to such decision’’ and that she replied to the Clerk of the Assembly objecting to the suspension letter explaining that Rule 9 (6) which provides powers to remove the speaker was not complied with.

{Hundreds of people march in Bujumbura to protest Security Council decision to send up to 228 police officers to Burundi.}

Around 1,000 people have marched through the streets of Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, to protest against a UN decision to send a police contingent to monitor the security and human rights situation in the country.

Saturday’s demonstration came a day after the UN Security Council agreed to deploy up to 228 police personnel to Bujumbura, and throughout Burundi, for an initial period of a year.

More than 450 people have been killed since President Pierre Nkurunziza pursued and won a third term last year, a move his opponents say violated the constitution and a peace deal that ended a civil war in 2005.

Tit-for-tat violence by rival sides has left both government officials and members of the opposition dead, with more than a quarter of a million people fleeing the violence.

French embassy march

Led by Freddy Mbonimpa, the mayor of Bujumbura, the protesters marched peacefully on Saturday to the French embassy, angry at France’s drafting of the UN resolution to send the police squad.

One demonstrator carried a banner saying that it was France that needed UN peacekeepers, making a reference to a lorry attack in the southern French city of Nice that killed 84 people.

French ambassador Gerrit van Rossum, who went out to address the crowd, said there was “a deep misunderstanding” about France’s role at the UN security council.

He said there was “no problem” at the demonstration.

The crowd also protested outside the Rwandan embassy, accusing the neighbouring country of training Burundi rebels.

Nkurunziza’s government has previously said it would only accept up to 50 unarmed UN police and that its sovereignty must be fully respected.

The UN needs approval from Burundi’s government to send the police force.

France had drafted the UN resolution to send the controversial police squad [Reuters].
Four of the 15 council members abstained from Friday’s vote.

“Given an increase in violence and tension the Security Council must have eyes and ears on the ground to predict and ensure that the worst does not occur in Burundi,” said Francois Delattre, the French UN ambassador.

However, Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN, said Friday’s resolution was not strong enough and that the UN police would simply be observers to Burundi’s problems.

She warned that the situation was “all but certain to deteriorate”.

“It is not at all clear to me that a council that says repeatedly that it has learned the lesson of Rwanda has in fact done so,” Power said.

“Police are not being deployed to protect civilians, even though civilians are in dire need of protection. That should embarrass us.”

Four of the 15 council members abstained from Friday’s vote.

“Given an increase in violence and tension the Security Council must have eyes and ears on the ground to predict and ensure that the worst does not occur in Burundi,” said Francois Delattre, the French UN ambassador.

However, Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN, said Friday’s resolution was not strong enough and that the UN police would simply be observers to Burundi’s problems.

She warned that the situation was “all but certain to deteriorate”.

“It is not at all clear to me that a council that says repeatedly that it has learned the lesson of Rwanda has in fact done so,” Power said.

“Police are not being deployed to protect civilians, even though civilians are in dire need of protection. That should embarrass us.”

Al Jazeera’s Daniel Lak, reporting from the UN headquarters, in New York, said: “The ability of 228 police officers who are basically monitoring human rights and helping build capacity and reporting back to headquarters – they’re not really going to be able to do much to stop violence. But it is a symbolic move by the Security Council.

“They’ll be telling the world what’s going on there, and that’s the key – the international community is back in Burundi.”

Council veto power China, along with Angola, Egypt and Venezuela, abstained from the vote.

“On the question of sending United Nations police to Burundi, it is necessary to respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Burundi,” Liu Jieyi, China’s UN ambassador, told the council.

He said the resolution did not reference these principles, which is why China abstained.

{Badru Mwima had always been violent, this time, his beating seemed like the usual hitting that came after the daily fight with his wife Juliet Khainza. But he took her life after Khainza denied him conjugal rights.}

On September 26, 2014, residents of Bwirya village in Himutu Sub-county, Butaleja District woke up to shocking sight of an unidentified dead body lying in a pool of blood. The body looked like it was of a woman.

It all started at 9pm on the night of September 25, when Badru Mwima developed a misunderstanding with his wife Juliet Khainza and they had a quarrel for more than 20 minutes over conjugal rights.

Khainza had just served her two children Edirisa Egesa and Abubakar Wahima supper when they started quarrelling. Both children were below five years. Shortly after supper, the young children started sleeping near the fire place.
As they argued, Mwima lost his temper and tried to hit his wife with a stick, but the woman took off, forcing Mwima to run after her.

When the wife fell down, Mwima hit her twice, with a stick before she collapsed and died instantly.
After killing her, he rushed back home and picked his children from the kitchen to the main house to sleep. But he could not sleep.

Information further indicates that the woman accused the man of marrying a second wife and failure to provide her with basic necessities such as food, soap and clothes.

On September 26 at 4am, he handed himself to Kanghalamba Police Station and told the officer on duty, Ms Joyce Kayendeke, that he had killed his wife. But he refused to tell police officers where the body was.

Kayendeke informed her colleague, Corporal Martin Okwalingha, about the incident and rushed to the police station. When Cpl Okwalingha interrogated the suspect, he assured him that he had killed his wife. Cpl Okwalingha then arrested him as investigations went on.

However, as police at Kanghalamba started hatching plans to search for the body, they received a call from residents informing them about the presence of a body in their area.
The officer in-charge Kanghalamba Police Post then informed the then Butaleja District Criminal Intelligence and Investigation boss, Ms Vincent Otyeng, about the matter.
Otyeng together with other police officers from Butaleja central police station rushed to the scene. They took the body to Busolwe hospital mortuary for a post-mortem. Police later handed over the body to the deceased’s relatives for burial.

News spread about the incident. Relatives of the deceased and residents got so angry about what had happened to their daughter and a friend that they wanted the suspect [Mwima] lynched.

But police led by the district CIID, Mr Otyeng, called for re-enforcement from Butaleja Central Police Station before the mob could lynch the suspect.
The angry residents and relatives of the deceased went on rampage. They burnt houses, a banana plantation and two cows belonging to the suspect.

On that very day, police headed by Otyeng visited the scene.
Otyeng assigned D/Cpl Yefusa Opio to investigate the case.
D/Cpl Opio with other detectives and scenes-of-crime officers visited the scene and took a number of photos of both the scene and the dead body as evidence to help in the investigations.

They interrogated eyewitnesses including the area LC1 chairperson.

The team of detectives interrogated the suspect, who confessed to killing his wife but maintained that it was an accident.

“The deceased had been accusing me of marrying a second wife. And when I came back from the trading centre, she started abusing me seriously,” the suspect said in his statement.
He recalled that he hit his wife with a stick and died on spot, adding that after the incident, he decided to go back to his house and sleep.

Later, it was found that the husband had seized the wife’s phone to jeopardise investigations.

{The officers whose files are required include the CEO Dr Okedi.}

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has opened investigations into the alleged misappropriation of Sh99 million at the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada).

In a letter seen by the Sunday Nation, the anti-corruption body wants Nacada to furnish it with the files of its Chief Executive William Okedi and five other senior officials to facilitate “investigations into allegations of misappropriation of public funds”.

“Further to our various correspondences on this matter and your reply … you are requested to avail the personnel record files for the following officers,” reads the letter signed by Mr John Lolkoloi on behalf of its CEO Halakhe Waqo. The letter was sent on Friday.

The officers whose files are required include Dr Okedi, Mr John Muturi, Ms Florina Mwikali, Mr Zeka Wekesa, Mr Anthony Munyui and Mr George Murimi.

A highly placed source within EACC said the investigations relate to the illegal funding of 86 unregistered Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) allegedly to champion the campaign against drugs and alcohol abuse.

“We have been on this matter since last year. We are determined to dispense with it once and for all. We are looking into how the NGOs were sourced and whether procedures were followed to ascertain whether pubic funds were lost and if so, who was culpable,” said the detective.

On June 19, former Nacada Chairman John Mututho suspended Dr Okedi, Mr Muturi who chairs the agency’s tender committee, Mr Munyui, a procurement officer and Mr Wekesa, a member of the tender committee, accusing them of facilitating the illegal funding of the 86 NGOs.

NO FAULT FOUND
Also sent home was another member of the tender committee, Mr Steven Kimani, Mr Samuel Makini, a finance officer, and Mr Henry Taiti, an accountant.

Mr Mututho accused the officials of being behind the withdrawal of up to Sh500 million from one of the anti-drug agency’s bank accounts while disguised as advocacy funds.

The seven were to be suspended for three months and directed to present themselves to EACC and other investigating arms of government.

But days later, the board’s Vice Chairperson Gladys Nasieku rescinded the suspension, saying there was no consultation before the staff members were sent home.

Ms Nasieku termed the suspensions as “null and void” and accused Mr Mututho of refusing to work with the board and disregarding procedures and systems.

“He has resorted to issuing personal statements through the media without board approval and knowledge and attributing the same to the board,” she added.

The board expressed concerns that the wrangles might affect the capability of the anti-drug agency to fight drug and alcohol abuse in the country.

She said the chairman had no powers to unilaterally suspend Dr Okedi and other staff members for the alleged misappropriation of funds.

Ms Nasieku said the board had so far not discovered any loss of funds but was working with an audit firm to see if any misappropriation occurred at all.

{The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has shown willingness to use the Uganda-Tanzania Oil Pipeline set to be constructed in the country to transport crude oil from Kabale in Uganda to Tanga Port.}

The Minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo, made the revelation in Dar es Salaam yesterday when opening a one-day meeting of ministerial Permanent Secretaries and Regional Commissioners from regions set to be involved in the course of the construction of the pipeline. Prof Muhongo said he was today expected to meet with the responsible minister from Congo to discuss how they would be involved in the project.

According to Mr Muhongo, Burundi is also expected to use the pipeline. He noted that the move by the government of DR Congo and Burundi to use the pipeline would be proper as the two countries would continue using the pipeline once Uganda Oil transport deal comes to an end.

He said the pipeline would also be used to transport oil from South Sudan. “The pipeline would be useful in the course of transporting oil from Lake Tanganyika if the search for oil in the lake is successful,” he said.

Meanwhile, the minister sounded a strong warning to residents against invading the lands that would be involved in the course of the construction of the pipeline. He said those who have invaded and others intending to do so should immediately pave the way as the government would not entertain anybody once construction starts.

“Those intending to invade should immediately stop as they would lose their money putting up houses and other infrastructure on land that would be used to construct the pipeline,” he said, tasking the RCs of the concerned regions to monitor the invaders.

He said research satellites would be used to establish those who would have invaded the construction lane land ahead of August, last year. “Those who will be found to have invaded the areas after August, last year – the start of the pipeline construction deal – will not be compensated,” he said.

He asked the RCs from the regions to be involved to provide the construction map of the pipeline in order to help abstain from unnecessary losses that they may incur in future. The pipeline to be constructed would pass through Kagera, Geita, Shinyanga, Dodoma, Manyara to Tanga.

He tasked the RCs to conduct awareness over the construction of the pipeline. In another development, Ugandans have started construction part of the project where they have provided 40 per cent shares of the project to five East African countries with each country holding eight per cent of the shares (150 million US-dollars).

Prof Muhongo said that plans were underway to involve private sectors to hold some shares (the eight per cent share for Tanzania) to supplement the government’s efforts in construction of the pipeline. Construction of the pipeline is scheduled to start in August, this year. It is expected to be completed before 2020.

{The National Environmental Council (NEMC) has ordered the Dangote Industrial Limited to pay a fine of 15m/- for contravening the Environmental Management Act, 2004 and its regulations.}

The Deputy Minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office, Union and Environment, Luhaga Mpina, penalised the Mtwara based cement industry on his second day of his tour of the region. The minister realised that the industry that has three months since it launched its operations is polluting the environment as it lacked a dumpsite.

The deputy minister further said the industry had no toilets and other environmental facilities.

According to the deputy minister, the penalty is supposed to be paid within two weeks. However, he added, the industry’s administration should work on all environmental weaknesses including employing an environment officer who will oversee all logistics.

The industry’s Administration Manager, James Kajeli, asked the minister to scrap the penalty insisting that the industry had already put measures in place to ensure that the environmental legislation was fully implemented.

He said some of the challenges that were discovered by Mr Mpina came as a result of human errors. Mr Kajeli further defended the administration that failure to put up environmental infrastructure was caused by delays in securing requisite permits from the government institutions.

Mr Mpina also visited the Madiba gas industry where he praised the industry’s top management for abiding by the environmental law. He asked all state owned industries to be in the forefront and lead by example.

{Government-allied youth in Burundi have gang-raped women and girls whose male relatives are suspected to be opposition activists, campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.}

Some of them were tied up and raped at gun or knife point, as their families and children watched, it added.

HRW blamed most of the rapes on Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the ruling party, and the security forces.

Burundi’s government described the allegations as “falsehoods”.

Imbonerakure played a key role in helping President Pierre Nkurunziza remain in power following his decision in April 2015 to seek re-election.

He survived a coup attempt and mass protests and won subsequent elections.

At least 439 people were killed and 240,000 fled to neighbouring states during the unrest, according to the UN.

HRW said that 323 cases of rape or sexual assault, affecting 264 women and 59 girls, were reported from May to September 2015.

It has interviewed more than 70 survivors who have fled to a refugee camp in Tanzania.

“In a pattern of abuse in many locations and in several provinces, men armed with guns, sticks, or knives have raped women during attacks on their homes, most often at night,” HRW said in a report.

“Many of the women have suffered long-term physical and psychological consequences,” it added.

HRW quoted a 36-year-old survivor as saying: “I was held by the arms and legs. [An attacker] said: ‘Let’s kill her, she is an [opposition National Liberation Forces] FNL wife’ as they raped me.”

Other rape cases documented by HRW included:

A mother finding her eight-year-old daughter “sitting in bloody sheets” after being raped by four youths

A 17-year-old being dragged to a banana grove near the family home and gang-raped
A 22-year-old being beaten with sticks and raped by two youths who forced their way into the family home

A woman being picked up from her bed, thrown to the ground and raped by two youths.

“Women said that if the man wanted by the attackers was not there, they would demand to know his whereabouts and would sometimes tell the victim that they were raping her because they could not find the man,” HRW said.

“In nine cases, women said the men had fled before the rape took place, or had begun habitually sleeping elsewhere because of threats,” it added.

Presidential spokesman Willy Nyamitwe said HRW had damaged its credibility through the “publication of falsehoods”.

“Imbonerakure is not a gang of rapists,” he added.

April 2015 – Protests erupt after President Pierre Nkurunziza announces he will seek a third term in office.

May 2015 – Constitutional court rules in favour of Mr Nkurunziza, amid reports of judges being intimidated. Tens of thousands flee violence amid protests.

May 2015 – Army officers launch a coup attempt, which fails.

July 2015 – Elections are held, with Mr Nkurunziza re-elected. The polls are disputed, with opposition leader Agathon Rwasa describing them as “a joke”.

November 2015 – Burundi government gives those opposing President Nkurunziza’s third term five days to surrender their weapons ahead of a promised crackdown.

November 2015 – UN warns it is less equipped to deal with violence in Burundi than it was for the Rwandan genocide.

December 2015 – 87 people killed on one day as soldiers respond to an attack on military sites in Bujumbura

{KINSHASA, Congo – The head of the main opposition party in Congo has returned home after two years away for medical reasons and as tensions grow ahead of November elections.}

Hundreds of supporters greeted Etienne Tshisekedi at the Kinshasa airport Wednesday. Tshisekedi did not speak after his flight from Belgium, where the 83-year-old has been living and where he led an opposition coalition meeting in June.

The opposition claims that President Joseph Kabila wants to delay the November presidential vote so he can stay in power past his mandate that expires at the end of the year.

Dozens of opposition leaders are calling for elections to take place on time and for a review of the electoral commission, which says it needs more time.

Congo has never had a peaceful transition of power.

{Most traders welcomed the President’s directive, saying it will give more Ugandan traders the opportunity to “shine”.}

Traders, employers, labour unions and politicians yesterday cheered President Museveni’s order on foreigners in retail trade and observed that the “importation of importers” had distorted the economy, worsened unemployment and poverty levels.

According to Mr Everest Kayondo, the chairperson of Kampala City Traders Association (Kacita), his members, especially from major towns across the country, have previously petitioned authorities over the influx of foreigners in retail business but were not helped.

He also explained that “the importation of importers” is partly responsible for turning Uganda into what President Museveni previously called a “supermarket of foreign products”.

Chance for Ugandans
“We have no problem with the foreigners coming to do business in the country, but they must be manufacturers, not retailers. We want the whole value chain to be done in Uganda so that our people can get jobs. Let them consume our water, food and electricity. This will create wealth for our country,” Mr Kayondo said.

While Kacita and other private sector leaders called the presidential directive ‘a catalyst for economic growth and job creation’, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago derided the
decision as “a knee-jerk reaction to a complicated problem.”
“Do we have a policy and legal framework to address that matter?” he asked, adding that “It could be a public relations stunt intended to divert public attention on the bailout scam.”
“If he is concerned about the exploitation of the local business community, how come he is not pushing for the enforcement of the Rent Restriction Act, whose purpose was to check the arbitrary increase of commercial rent by property owners?”

The President’s directive
Addressing the social economic transformation obstacles during the on-going Cabinet retreat in Kyankwanzi on Tuesday, Mr Museveni applauded Ugandans for welcoming more than 600,000 African refugees and singled out Chinese and Indians in retailing business, whom he accused of unfairly competing with local traders and other African immigrants.
“It is not correct for the regulators not to take action against the Chinese and Indian retailers who unfairly compete against our retailers,” Mr Museveni said.

The President said foreigners should not operate at “terminal level” and instructed the relevant government ministry to ensure that they are re-directed to manufacturing and construction.

“Retailing should be preserved for the Ugandans or, possibly, the other African immigrants as well,” he said.

Mr Sudhir Ruparelia, the founder of Ruparelia Group, one of Uganda’s largest conglomerates and a member of Federation of Uganda Employers, also backed the presidential directive. He said the ministry of Trade should work with immigration and Uganda Investment Authority “to tighten the rules of the game.”

Information and ICT minister Frank Tumwebaze said the new presidential directive seeks to protect local jobs, attract foreign direct investments and fight dumping of inferior goods.
He explained that ministry of Trade and industry, in conjunction with immigration directorate and Uganda Investment Authority, “will come up with a policy instrument to provide for regulatory framework.”

“This will have to be harmonised with existing immigration policies on work eligibility for foreigners,” Mr Tumwebaze said.

Asked how Chinese and Indians come to be retailers, the Internal Affairs ministry spokesperson, Mr Jacob Siminyu, referred this newspaper to Section 10 of Investment Code. Without explaining how the code has affected the monitoring of the foreigners doing business in the country, he also pointed out that the code requires any foreign investor to have $100,000 (about Shs338m) to invest in any type of business, subject to Section 10(2), which states that an investor may engage in any type of business enterprise.

Section 10 (5) reads: “A foreign investor who is intending to engage in trade shall — (1) incorporate a company with the Registrar General as is required by law; deposit a sum of $100,000 or its equivalent in Uganda shillings at the Bank of Uganda, which shall be specifically used for importation or direct purchase of goods for the business.”

Mr Wilson Usher Owere, the chairman of National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU), said Investment Code needs to be amended to ring-fence retail businesses for Ugandans. He explained that “the influx of (foreign) retailers, doing business in Kikuubo (downtown Kampala) and in major towns across the country, had pushed many Ugandans out of business.

“It (directive) will help us to protect the jobs in informal and formal sectors, especially construction where unskilled labour force are brought from China and India,” Mr Owere said.