Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Lafey OCPD Bosita Omukolongolo said the incident happened at 2am.}

Suspected Al-Shabaab militants have attacked and destroyed a communication mast at Fino Town, Lafey Sub-County in Mandera.

Lafey police boss (OCPD) Bosita Omukolongolo said the incident happened at 2am Thursday.

“There was heavy fire exchange between the attackers and our officers guarding the area but no casualty has been reported, ” he said.

On June 26, another communication mast at Damasa in Lafey was destroyed by Al-Shabaab militants who run into neighbouring Somalia.

“We are yet to know how many they were since the incident happened in night but all our officers at the scene can be accounted for,” said Mr Omukolongolo.

Fino Member of County Assembly (MCA) Saad Abajano said it was difficult to confirm if there were casualties since communication had been disrupted.

He asked for the government to boost security in the area “because the destruction of the mast could be a signal that they are going to attack again.”

{FIVE former African presidents are set to attend a high-level meeting scheduled for today in Dar es Salaam to deliberate on the obstacles preventing the continent’s business from flourishing and recommend the way forward.}

They are former Mozambican presidents Joaquim Chissano and Armando Guebuza, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia and Bakili Muluzi of Malawi.

According to a statement released by UONGOZI Institute in Dar es Salaam, the two-day African Leadership Forum will also bring together more than 100 key influential leaders and thinkers across the continent and leaders from business, government, civil society and academia.

Themed ‘Enabling African Businesses to Transform the Continent,’ the forum is the third in a series of annual highlevel meetings convened by former President Benjamin Mkapa and UONGOZI Institute.

The statement detailed that although recent growth rates in Africa are celebrated in policy and development circles, significant challenges remain with regard to realising the potential of the private sector in Africa.

It said enabling businesses to enhance the competitiveness of the continent create employment opportunities and enhance Africa’s economic growth and sustainable development will be the focus of the African Leadership Forum this year.

“The forum builds on the success of the inaugural dialogue in 2014 on Meeting the challenges of Africa’s transformation and the dialogue in 2015 on Moving towards an integrated Africa,” the statement said.

According to the statement, this year’s event will provide a platform to deliberate on the obstacles preventing African business from flourishing, and what needs to be done about them.

{ {{BUJUMBURA – Prominent Burundian journalist Jean Bigirimana has been missing since Friday when he was reportedly arrested by intelligence agents.}} }

He works for the independent media house Group Press Iwacu and also for the Great Lakes regional magazine, Info Grands Lacs.

His wife told ANA that he had left his residence in Bujumbura around 1pm for Bugarama commune in the province of Muramvya, 30km from the capital Bujumbura.

He had told her that he would not be too long.

“Later that evening I received an anonymous call which told me that my husband had been arrested in Bugarama commune,” she said.

She added that the following day she went to Bugarama and got information from anonymous witnesses that her husband had been arrested by intelligence agents of the local administration.

She said for the last three days she had been looking for him in all the jails in Muramvya province and even Bujumbura but did not find him.

Bigirimana is a nephew to Léonidas Hatungimana, the former spokesman of President Pierre Nkurunziza, but now one of the CNDD-FDD senior officials who have gone into exile because they opposed Nkurunziza running for a third term as president last year, despite the two-term limit in the constitution.

According to some sources, Bigirimana has made several trips to neighbouring Rwanda to research reports on the lives of Burundian journalists who currently live in exile in Rwanda.

National police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye told ANA that he could not say anything about the arrest and that even the media houses he worked for had not yet contacted the police to ask for him.

The Observatory of the Burundian Press (OPB) condemned the arrest and detention of Bigirimana in an unknown place.

“This is a deplorable act,” said OPB vice president Léandre Sikuyavuga, who is also chief editor of Group Press Iwacu.

{The Kenyan nationals are to undergo a “relocation” and “reintegration” process.}

An estimated 42,000 Kenyans are living under false pretences in the Dadaab refugee camps, the United Nations said on Monday.

These Kenyan nationals are to undergo a “relocation” and “reintegration” process as part of an expanded effort by the UN refugee agency to reduce Dadaab’s population from 343,000 to 193,000 by the end of this year.

“We are aware of Kenyans falsely registering as refugees in order to get free services and food,” UN refugee agency spokesman Duke Mwancha told the Nation earlier this month.

The Kenyan government had called in May for a complete and expeditious shutdown of the Dadaab complex, saying it represented a threat to the country’s security.

Kenyan officials subsequently modified that position in consultations with the UN and the Somalia government, agreeing to the gradual phase-out cited by the refugee agency on Monday.

The UN is asking donors to provide an additional $115.4 million to carry out the agreed programme of refugee relocation and repatriation.

That new request comes on top of the $110 million that the refugee agency had sought last year to help finance the return of Somalis to their homeland.

But only $7.2 million of that amount had been raised as of last month.

{{KAKUMA INCREASING}}

Even as Dadaab’s population dwindles, the number of people in Kenya’s other large refugee complex, Kakuma, has been steadily increasing as thousands of South Sudanese flee renewed fighting in their country. And Kakuma will grow further under the plan outlined by the UN on Monday.

Some 16,000 non-Somali refugees, mainly Ethiopians, are to be moved from Dadaab to Kakuma, the UN said.

About 15,000 Somalis awaiting resettlement in their homeland are also to be relocated to Kakuma from Dadaab, the refugee agency added.
The UN further aims to facilitate the repatriation of an additional 50,000 Somalis from Dadaab this year.

The refugee agency projects that another 170,000 Dadaab residents would voluntarily return to Somalia in 2017, possibly extending into 2018.

A total of about 17,000 Somalis have so far left Dadaab for their homeland under the repatriation initiative launched two years ago.

The UN is “committed to ensuring that all returns to Somalia are voluntary and carried out in dignity, safety and with the protection of refugees paramount at all times,” the agency’s Africa Bureau Director Valentin Tapsoba said on Monday.

“In order to do this we are requesting the international donor community to support this additional appeal so that returning Somalis can go back to their home country with the best possible opportunities to re-establish themselves and their families in peace and stability.”

{The government has blocked 1.82 million counterfeit International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers since the exercise began last month, with the control against the use of fake devices in the country sustained on a daily basis.}

Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan told delegates to the fourth Annual Mobile360 Africa in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the fake phones were blocked through GSMA, which tracks bogus IMEI numbers and send them to Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

TCRA, the telecommunication industry regulator, prohibits the devices from entering the local market. Ms Suluhu, in a speech that Minister of Works, Transport and Communication Makame Mbarawa read on her behalf, said the government via TCRA remains firm against the use of counterfeit phones in the local markets by blocking their IMEI numbers.

TCRA has contracted GSMA to track and submit weekly updates of lists of IMEI numbers for smooth operation of the Central Equipment Identification Registrar (CEIR) launched late last year.

“These updates from GSMA to TCRA’s data base has enabled the government to block over 1.8 million counterfeit IMEIs. TCRA continues using CEIR to monitor counterfeit IMEIs to ensure they don’t enter the local market,” she explained.

The VP acknowledged the key role that mobile phone technology plays in addressing social and economic development challenges across Tanzania and Sub Sahara Africa through digital inclusion.

“The mobile phone sector is playing a critical role in driving financial and social inclusions in many African countries through providing access to financial information and services,” she said, adding that digital inclusion helps to drive economic and infrastructure development.

The VP said currently mobile phone subscriptions in the country stands at 39.8 million, with 20 million internet users. The construction of the national ICT backbone, the National Fibre Optic Cable Network infrastructure, that connects all regional and districts headquarters in the country has also contributed to internet service affordability. The backbone is also linked to international submarine cable to bridge the gap in the digital inclusion.

“We in Tanzania are already enjoying the benefits of ICT as the price of internet access and transmission has significantly dropped… the backbone infrastructure will bring with it more affordable rates for businesses and citizens,” she charged.

There were 700 kilometres of fibre when the government embarked on the installation of the national backbone but today the country has 18,000km of fibre, said Ms Samia, noting: “ I am sure after two years we will have 25,000km of the fibre network in the country.”

The fibre network also provides neighbouring countries like Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda Zambia and Malawi with access to super highway submarine cable available in the shores of Indian Ocean in Dar es Salaam. GSMA Director General Mats Granryd, speaking at the meeting, said it’s difficult today to imagine a world without mobile connection. “As an industry we are committed to connect everything and everyone to a better future.”

He described Africa, the second largest continent, as the least penetrated, with less than half of its population subscribing to mobile services. Launching the ‘Mobile Economy: Africa 2016’ report yesterday, Mr Granryd said Tanzania was among eight markets in Africa with significant contribution to mobile phone industry growth on continent.

He said in the next five years, there will be an additional 168 million people connected by mobile services across Africa, reaching 725 million unique subscribers by 2020. “Eight markets will account for the majority of this growth, most notably Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania, which will together contribute over a third of new subscribers,” said Mr Granryd.

According to the report, over half a billion people across Africa use mobile phone services as the continent continues to migrate rapidly to mobile broadband networks.

{Brazzaville – A court in the Republic of Congo has jailed an opposition leader for two years for inciting public disorder, a charge arising from an unauthorised demonstration he organised in 2015.
}
Paulin Makaya, who heads the small United For Congo party, said he would appeal his conviction, which also carries a fine of 2.5 million CFA francs €3 800.

Makaya’s lawyers called the verdict “unjust and illegal.”

The October 2015 protests were called to protest a referendum that ended a two-term limit on presidential mandates and allowed President Denis Sassou Nguesso to successfully run for re-election in March this year.

The unrest went on for weeks and in the days immediately before the referendum at least four people were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces.

At the time, the opposition described the referendum as a “constitutional coup”

One UPC member, Destin Sikoula, said Makaya, who returned to Congo in late 2014 after 17 years in exile, had been convicted “just to make the government happy.”

In June, prosecutors had urged the court to jail Makaya for five years should he be found guilty.

{The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) is due to conduct a special review of Burundi on July 28 and 29 in Geneva.}

The review is in light of information it has received about the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

CAT members and a Burundian delegation, headed by the Minister of Justice, will discuss issues specified in the Committee’s written request for a special report sent to the Burundian government in December last year.

Among others, they will be seeking responses to

Steps taken to investigate summary executions, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of opposition members, journalists, human rights defenders, and those considered as supporting the opposition since 2015;

Progress in investigations regarding the attack against human rights activist Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa in August 2015, the kidnapping and murder of his son Welly Nzitonda in November 2015;

Investigations into allegations of torture committed by the National Information Service;

Investigations into killings and acts of torture allegedly carried out by members of the Imbonerakure;

Measures taken to implement the Committee’s previous recommendations issued in 2014, when Burundi was examined under the regular review process.

The two-day review will take place at Palais Wilson in Geneva and would be webcast live at webtv.un.org. The Committee will also hear from representatives of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

President Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term as president led to a political unrest since last April. He went on to win elections in July 2015 and was subsequently sworn in as president.

Rebel groups have been making the country ungovernable with tit-for-tat assassinations and running grenade and gun battles that have killed more than 450 people and forced over 250,000 people to flee the country.

The latest assassination was of a former minister who is considered a close ally of Nkurunziza, Hafsa Mossi, who was murdered in the capital Bujumbura.The action led to widespread condemnation by the government and international bodies.

The European Union (EU) suspended financial support to the Nkurunziza led government in March asserting that the president had failed to do enough to resolve ongoing political and economic crisis.

{The documents accompanying visa application forms went missing two weeks ago on a flight from Pretoria, South Africa, to Entebbe.}

Kampala- The British High Commission in Kampala yesterday regretted what it called “the distress and inconvenience” suffered by about 70 Ugandans whose passports and original documents accompanying visa application forms went missing two weeks ago on a flight from Pretoria, South Africa, to Entebbe.

Mr Samuel Paice, the head of communications at the British High Commission, told Daily Monitor that both the UK Visas and Immigration office and their visa handling subcontractor, TLScontact, had commenced investigations into the incident.

“TLScontact has provided a full apology in writing to the Ugandan visa applicants affected, along with confirmation of the loss to help them apply for new documents from the relevant issuing authority, and is working with them to ensure that they are appropriately compensated for any fees incurred in replacing lost documents.”

Mr Paice also said those affected are receiving assistance with the next steps in their visa application process.”
“Protection of applicants’ personal data is something we take extremely seriously and prioritise at every stage of the visa application process,” he said in an email response to our inquiries.

The consignment of passports along with the original documents submitted along with visa applications forms, including land titles and academic transcripts normally requested for to ascertain whether the individual applicants have strong attachment to their countries and are in position to return once granted the visas, was being transported by a renowned courier firm that the British government uses in Kampala.

Application of and issuance of the UK Visa usually takes about 15 working days.

Yesterday, the Uganda High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa, also said they had launched a separate inquiry into the disappearance of the passports.

{{Report}}

High Commissioner Julius Moto told Daily Monitor from Pretoria that he had received notification about the bizarre incident at the weekend and they were expecting a detailed report from the UK Home Office, which is responsible for immigration issues, by end of the week.

“The details of all the passports have been taken down so that they don’t fall in the wrong hands,” Mr Moto said.

He added: “Normally when someone loses a passport, they are supposed to report the case to police, get a letter and then re-apply for a new one.

In this case, since the passports got lost in the hands of the British, we expect them to circulate the details to various systems so that they don’t fall in the hands of wrong elements and or if they do, they are detected.”

In Kampala, Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary James Mugume told this newspaper separately he had “instructed” the Pretoria Mission to follow-up the matter and also brought it to the attention of the Home Office which was yet to respond.

Some victims, who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity for fear of being denied the UK visa in future, described the occurrence as very “disorganising” much as the British High Commission and TLSContact had apologised individually. TLS’s local office did not pick or return our calls.

However, people familiar with the matter told this newspaper that officials in Pretoria had reviewed the CCTV camera footage at the airport which clearly indicated the package being loaded on the plane. How it disappeared remains a mystery but by the time the British High Commission communicated, the consignment could not be located.