Tag: GreatLakesNews

Four senior officers charged for beating Besigye supporters

{Four police officers who are alleged to have beaten up supporters of Opposition leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, last week, have been charged in the police court with unlawful exercise of authority and discreditable conduct.}

The officers who appeared at the Naguru-based police court are; Wandegeya Division Police commander Mr Moses Nanoka; Field Force Unit Commander for Kampala Metropolitan Police, Mr Samuel Bamuzibire; Kampala Metropolitan Police South Commander, Mr Andrew Kaggwa; and Katwe Police Station Operations Commander, Mr Patrick Muhumuza.
All the officers entered a plea of not guilty and they were allowed to be released on police bond.

On procedure of court, the chairman Mr Denis Odongpiny said the accused officers will not be allowed representation by any attorney.

“This is an administrative court so you are not allowed legal representations, prepare your own defence,” he said.

Mr Kaggwa, Mr Bamuzibire and Mr Muhumuza were charged with unnecessary exercise of authority and engaging in events that brought discredit to the reputation of the police force by beating Besigye’s supporters at a junction near Namasole Road in Najjanankumbi.

While Mr Nanoka charged with the same offences that were done at Kalerwe, he however claimed not to understand the charges.
It is alleged that the accused acted contrary to Section 44 (11) code 24b of the Police Act that prohibits unlawful exercise of authority. They are also accused of violating Section 44(1) code 12 of the Police Act that prohibits discreditable or irregular conduct.

The punishments for each of the two charges range from demotion and imprisonment in police custody to dismissal. All the suspects pleaded not guilty, before court was adjourned to Monday July 25 at 2pm for hearing.

On Monday, five police constables and a crime preventer Mr Dan Tandeka, a former guard in Iraq were charged with the same offences when under the command of a senior police officer, they allegedly beat up civilians, who were cheering Dr Besigye after release from Luzira on treason charges.

July 21, 2016
Kenya:Three schools burnt, government sets up team to investigate fire incidents

{Committee given 30 days to submit report.}

Arson hit three secondary schools on Wednesday as the government appointed a team to investigate the wave of fires that has hit public boarding schools across the country.

Students at Muhoho High School in Kiambu, Giakaibii Boys High School in Nyeri and Ruthimitu Secondary School in Nairobi set their schools on fire.

At Muhoho, the students burnt an entire tuition block with six classrooms on Tuesday night, while in Giakaibii, a dormitory and a computer laboratory were reduced to ashes on Wednesday morning.
At Ruthimitu, a dormitory was set ablaze in the morning. The school’s neighbours helped put it out.

At least 73 schools have been torched this term.

Stung by the relentless attacks that have threatened to throw secondary education into a crisis, the government formed an eight-member special investigation team comprising security experts and educationists.

The team has members from the Interior and Education ministries and will be led by career provincial administrator Mrs Claire Omolo. She is the secretary of administration in the President’s office.

Members are; Mrs Lilian Muli (assistant inspector-general of police), Patrick Mugo (criminal investigation directorate), Charles Khayira (education), James Kairu, (education), Ms Loise Nyaseda (Teachers Service Commission), educationist Dr Gracie Mullei and Lt.Col (Rtd) F.C Mugambi.

Education and Interior Cabinet Secretaries Fred Matiang’i and Maj Gen Joseph Nkaissery gave the team 30 days to submit its report.

The team will be required to review recommendations of past task forces on student unrest, assess implementation and suggest ways of incorporating some of the proposals.

SAFETY AND SECURITY

It will also audit school safety and security regulations and propose how to ensure higher discipline standards in schools.

“The report should clearly outline measures to be taken to forestall future cases of unrest and also spell out those who will be held responsible for the school fires, including through prosecution and surcharging of suspects,” said the two Cabinet secretaries in a joint statement.

They said: “In the meantime, directions already issued on containing indiscipline in schools and holding culprits to account must be heeded. The government expects deeper positive community involvement in the protection of learners and property”.

Already more than 100 students have been arrested while another 45 have been charged in court.

Speaking when he appeared before Senate Committee on Education on Tuesday, Dr Matiang’i said parents would bear all costs of repairing the damaged schools.

“No government resources, including constituency development fund will be used to repair the damaged schools,” he said.

Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen said philanthropists who had helped construct schools were discouraged by the chaos.

July 21, 2016
Tanzania:Four PMO employees charged for stealing

{Four officials from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) appeared before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday charged for stealing several items valued over 100m/- meant for disaster management.}

Before Principal Resident Magistrate Respicious Mwijage, the accused persons were Hamed Yusuph,( 48), Halima Mwanjiro (33), both supplies officers and Martin Tyeah (31) and Mwaija Kimata, (55), all assistant supplies officers. They denied the charges and were released on bail upon meeting the set bail conditions.

The conditions demanded each of them securing one reliable surety, employed in any government institution or registered institution. Such surety, according to the magistrate, was required to sign a bond of 25m/-.

The case was adjourned to August 22 for mention as investigations into the matter, according to the prosecution led by Inspector of Police Jackson Chidunda, have not been completed. It is alleged that the accused persons committed the offence between April and September 2014 at Keko area near Medical Store Department (MSD) warehouse in Temeke District, Dar es Salaam.

The prosecution told the court that being employees of PMO, the accused persons stole 5,074 iron sheets, 200 cooking sets, 348 blankets and 300 sleeping mats, all valued at 100,164,000/-, the property of their employer, which came into their possession by virtual of their employment.

Meanwhile, a Chinese, Senxin Van, yesterday escaped a jail term of three years having managed to pay a fine of 500,000/- for violating immigration laws. Before the same court, Principal Resident Magistrate, Huruma Shaidi, convicted Van of failure to comply with conditions specified in his resident permit on his own plea of guilty.

An Immigration Department prosecutor, Novatus Mlay, had told the court that being a citizen of China, Van was found on July 12, this year at Tenglong Investment Limited in Kinondoni District working as a doctor. According to the prosecution, the Chinese’s working permit allowed him only to work as director in the Tong Xing Foot Wear Company Limited.

Before being sentenced, the Chinese had pleaded for light sentence because he has a family that depend on him and that being the director of the company, the business he was supervising would collapse if given a custodian punishment

July 21, 2016
Rebels in eastern Congo suspected of killing seven civilians

{Lawless eastern Congo is plagued by dozens of armed groups that prey on the local population.}

KINSHASA, July 19 (Reuters) – Rebels from the Hutu ethnic group in eastern Congo are suspected of killing at least seven civilians in revenge for the killing of one of their number, local activists said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of civilians have died in inter-ethnic violence and a series of massacres by armed groups in Democratic Republic of Congo’s conflict-ravaged east, which borders Rwanda and Uganda.

An ethnic Nande militia group, the Mai-Mai Mazembe, killed a Hutu on Sunday in Kibirizi, leading to the reprisal attack by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), said Innocent Gasigwa, spokesman for Civil Society of Rutshuru.

The FDLR “came to take vengeance …. There were clashes last night and into this morning,” Gasigwa said by telephone, adding that the army restored calm this morning.

An FDLR spokesman denied that his forces were involved in the attack. An army spokesman said he was aware of the incident but declined to give details.

Lawless eastern Congo is plagued by dozens of armed groups that prey on the local population and exploit mineral reserves. Millions died there between 1996 and 2003 as regional conflict caused hunger and disease.

July 20, 2016
5,000 South Sudan refugees cross to Uganda in two weeks

{The new arrivals are mostly fleeing from Eastern Equatoria state, with a smaller number arriving from Juba. About 6,500 refugees are staying in the Pagiarinya Settlement Camp in Adjumani District.}

At least 1,326 South Sudanese crossed into Uganda between Friday and Saturday, and another 1,633 arrived on Sunday, according to the UN agency for refugees.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHRC) in Uganda said this influx was expected to grow in “the days ahead as tensions remain high across the border.”

UNHCR’s associate external relations officer Charles Yaxley said in a statement yesterday that prior to Friday, the average daily rate of refugees was 233. “These new arrivals bring the total number to have fled to Uganda since the latest violence in South Sudan began on July 7, to 5,015.”

Most affected areas
The new arrivals are mostly fleeing from Eastern Equatoria state, with a smaller number arriving from Juba. About 6,500 refugees are staying in the Pagiarinya Settlement Camp in Adjumani District, while others are waiting at collection points to be transferred to the settlement.

Since the violence broke out, the UN estimates that at least 300 people have been killed and more than 10,000 displaced.

“The fresh displacement will put a further strain on UNHCR’s resources for the South Sudan operation and our ability to provide timely and life-saving assistance,” Mr Yaxley said in a statement.

By end of last year, Uganda was already hosting 512,968 refugees and asylum-seekers. Another 20,000 refugees sought sanctuary in the country fleeing from the political turmoil in Burundi.

July 20, 2016
Kenya sees dramatic rise in HIV infections, study shows

{The number of new HIV infections in Kenya is rising faster than any other country in sub-Saharan Africa.}

Kenya has been cited as one of the countries with “stubborn” HIV new infections.

Kenya’s rate of new HIV infections has risen steadily over the past decade, more dramatically than in other countries, a study has shown.

Beyond Kenya, the world faces “significant challenges” in ending the Aids epidemic by 2030.

According to the study, More than 1.8 million Kenyans were living with HIV in 2015, and 39 per cent were on antiretroviral therapy (ART) drugs to slow the disease’s progression

The study from the Global Burden of Disease collaborative network, published Tuesday in The Lancet HIV, reveals that the dramatic increase in new infections was undermining efforts to end the Aids epidemic by 2030.

From the study, the number of new HIV infections in Kenya is rising faster than any other country in sub-Saharan Africa.

Between 2005 and 2015, the number of new HIV cases grew by an average of 7 per cent per year, one of the highest increases in the world.

The number of new infections decreased over the same time period in Rwanda, Somalia, and Uganda, according to the study.

LOWEST ARV COVERAGE

Kenya is also one of the countries with the lowest antiretroviral coverage at 39 per cent, below the regional average which stands at 43 per cent.

Despite all the high rates of new infections and the rise of people living with HIV, the number of Kenyans dying from the disease has reduced from 120,670 in 2005 to 51,700 in 2015, reveals the study.

“There is need for a more proactive approach in countering new HIV infections in the country. Voluntary testing and treatment is key to avoid further spread of the virus,” said Dr Nduku Kilonzo, the director of the National Aids Control Council (NACC).

Dr Kilonzo said the new infections was because the country was not doing well in testing and counselling of adolescents and that knowledge of HIV/ Aids is scattered.

“In early 1990s everyone knew what HIV was all about because they were investing significantly in marketing testing and counselling,” she said.

She adds: “Adolescents who are the most affected groups are not going for testing hence transmitted and acquiring new infections.

He said in Kenya below 60 per cent of the population are well equipped with the HIV/Aids information. “We need to review what worked well in the past and invest in it,” she said.

“In 2015 HIV estimates, we had 72,000 new HIV infections among adults. This was a reduction from the more than 88,000 recorded in 2013, as we make progress, the numbers are still unsustainably high.

“Something to worry about is that of the 72,000 new adult HIV infections recorded in 2015, more than 35,000 or 46 per cent were among adolescents and young people aged between the ages of 15 to 24 years,” she said.

LACK OF FUNDS

Dr Kilonzo said government’s failure to fund HIV prevention and systems to deliver HIV prevention was a contributing factor to the new infections.

She said Kenyans depend on projects for HIV prevention and treatments that once they elapsed, the people are left hanging hence the new infection rates.

“We must fund HIV prevention, care and treatment. Currently, no government budget for the same. We need to put systems place and not just looking at projects,” she said

The NACC director also said there is no consistency in what works best.

“We have not been consistent as a country and even global community on what is considered as a treatment target and until we do that at a country level, we will continue to have baseless goal. Which means we are headed nowhere,” she said.

July 20, 2016
Tanzania:Man in court allegedly for killing Ghanaian businessman

{DAR ES SALAAM resident, Salim Mohamed Marwa, alias Komba, who disappeared while in hands of prisons officers at Temeke Regional Hospital, having been linked with murder of Ghanaian businessman, has been arrested and was arraigned before the High Court yesterday.}

Senior State Attorney Neema Haule told Judge Ama Munisi that Marwa, who is charged with murdering the Ghanaian, Joseph Oppong, alongside another accused person, Peter Charles Mayala, was apprehended by the law enforcers recently having remained at large since January last year.

The trial attorney disclosed that at the time the accused persons went into hiding, the trial of his case was in progress and the prosecution had already called six witnesses. Later on, she said, the court was forced to proceed with the trial in his absence where three more witnesses were heard.

In the yesterday’s proceedings, the trial judge asked Marwa on how he was going to proceed with the trial following the disqualification of his advocate he had previously engaged. The accused person requested the court to grant him more time to consult his advocate on the matter.

The judge granted the request and adjourned the trial to August 3, where the accused person would be required to report back on whether his advocate would be willing to be reengaged.

She however, pointed out that if such advocate would turn down the offer, the government would have to hire another advocate for the accused person though the trial was in final stages of presentation of final submissions and opinions of court assessors.

Facts of the case show that on September 2, 2010 in the afternoon, Marwa met the deceased at Morocco area in Kinondoni District, where the deceased intimated to him that he was looking for his long lost relative residing at Bagamoyo, who would help him find a client to buy his five motor vehicles.

Marwa became interested due to the fact that he knew that the person who was identified as Alhasan Baba, alias Isaka because he was also residing at Bagamoyo. The two, thereafter, exchanged their mobile phone numbers and kept in touch.

On September 9, 2010, the deceased arrived at Bagamoyo after being called by Marwa who had told him that he has a client who was interested to buy the vehicles, thus the deceased was required to go there with original documents.

It is stated that after meeting in Bagamoyo, the two went to the house of Marwa’s mother to eat and later went to Bomani Hotel to have some beers. Marwa is alleged to have pretended that they were at the hotel to wait for a client, but in fact he and another person had planned to drug the deceased, steal the original documents relating to the imported vehicles and later kill him.

While having the beers at the hotel, Marwa alleged to have drugged the deceased and left the place while the latter was already unconscious heading to his house where they met Matala and started assaulting him with bush knives until he died due to loss of blood.

On September 27, 2010, Marwa and one Nurdin who later went at large were arrested while trying to sell the deceased’s vehicles. Upon interrogations, the two allegedly admitted to have committed the offence jointly with Mayala and later led the police to where they had buried the deceased body.

Thereafter, the trial took off, but Marwa became sick after the prosecution had called six witnesses. He was taken to Temeke regional hospital where he was admitted before disappearing under mysterious circumstances, while in hands of prisons officers.

July 20, 2016
Congo’s Small Miners Fill Hole Left by Downsizing Multinationals

{His toes bursting out of sneakers several sizes too small, a miner hacks with a pick at the copper and cobalt-laced stone in southeastern Congo, slowly filling a sack that could earn him anywhere from a handful to a few hundred dollars.}

The 42-year-old father of five, who only gave his first name, Stany, has done this nearly every day for a decade, after he quit his maize fields for the comparatively lucrative mines of Africa’s top copper producer.

But unlike most artisanal mining, this is sanctioned by the Congolese government. As its mining heartland endures mass layoffs at big mines caused by low commodity prices, small-scale mining is helping to fill the deficit.

The price of cobalt, a byproduct of copper, is expected to rise 45 percent by 2020 owing to demand for electric vehicles.

Congo holds about half the world’s cobalt reserves.

Seizing the initiative, the national mines ministry has recognized dozens of cooperatives of workers to exploit 10 square kilometer plots of land owned by state miner Gecamines.

Tens of thousands of people also dig near mines owned by giants like Glencore and Eurasian Resources Group, as more than 13,000 jobs have been shed in the formal sector.

Yet, as is often the case, poor local diggers say that it is savvier, well-capitalized foreign buyers who are cashing in.

They accuse Chinese and Lebanese middlemen of dominating the market by colluding to drive down prices and rigging their instruments to understate the weight and tenor of ore they buy.

That could store up trouble if discontent turns into unrest, as happened in past years in Zambian copper mines, when workers beat up and killed Chinese mine managers in pay disputes.

At the Musompo market, a smattering of half-built brick and concrete depots 15 kilometers east of Lualaba province’s capital of Kolwezi, miners and traders said that of the roughly 140 buying firms, almost all are Chinese owned.

Cooperatives

Lualaba Governor Richard Muyej would rather see farming and tourism, which he considers paths to more inclusive, sustainable development but reluctantly accepts the need to expand small mining in the near term.

Muyej said giving cooperatives measuring instruments would help level the playing field between miners and foreign buyers.

Alain Chinois, the Congolese president of a cooperative with 34 members, said he might be forced to turn to foreign investors to secure the necessary funding. Under his set up, diggers will receive 60 percent of revenues from the mine while cooperative members consisting of Congolese traders running them and an investor — likely Chinese or Lebanese — would split the rest.

He said the cooperatives would result in better working conditions, equipment and access to capital.

“As a cooperative, we can go to a bank as a well-established group,” said Chinois. But he acknowledged that foreign buyers with money to invest would continue to exert major influence.

At Musompo, Louis, a Chinese buyer who checked London Metal Exchange prices on his phone between deliveries, sells to a smelter owned by Congo Dongfang Mining International (CDM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese mineral giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Ltd, China’s top cobalt chemicals producer.

According to a January report by Amnesty International, CDM exports to China before selling to battery manufacturers who claim to supply electronics companies including Apple, Samsung SDI and Sony.

Hearing miners’ complaints, Louis shrugged: “Those who are happy with the price sell the product. Those who aren’t, leave.”

And the old concerns about the dangers and abuses of artisanal mining haven’t gone away. At the Tilwizembe mine where Stany works, despite its cooperatives, research by Amnesty in 2013 documented deadly accidents and abuse of workers.

But whatever its flaws, few see a viable alternative to more small-scale mining in the near term.

“I do this because there is nothing else. If something else came along, I would do it,” Stany said.

July 19, 2016
Uganda:Sejusa aides sentenced to 15 years for treason

{It was a sombre mood among relatives as the military court yesterday jailed six soldiers, among them two junior officers of the elite Special Forces Command to 15 years for plotting to overthrow the government}

It was a sombre mood among relatives as the military court yesterday jailed six soldiers, among them two junior officers of the elite Special Forces Command to 15 years for plotting to overthrow the government.

The other suspects are four men who worked in various capacities in the Office of the Coordinator of Intelligence Services formerly headed by Gen David Sejusa, alias Tinyefuza.

Relatives shed tears after the General Court Martial at Makindye sentenced the group that was convicted of treachery and aiding commission of offence two weeks ago.

On July 5, the court chaired by Lt Gen Andrew Gutti held that prosecution proved the charges of treachery and abetting commission of offence against the accused persons.

Those jailed are Lance Corporals Grace Nasasira Rwakyozi, 39, and Geoffrey Mwebaze Karuhanga, 36, of SFC’s Task force Battalion and Tank Battalion, respectively who were convicted over treachery while Mr Frank Ninsiima, who was an operative in Tinyefuza’s office, was found guilty of aiding or abetting commission of offence.

Others jailed are: James Karuhanga Nayebare, Moses Nuwagaba Kakarugahi and Abel Twinamasiko, alias Rubanuma.

“The offence of treachery is serious in nature and of great consequence to the security of the country.The accused persons were convicted on two charges which attract death as maximum sentence, but courts are reluctant to give long sentences,” said Lt Gen Gutti.

“We are guided by the 1995 Constitution and the sentencing guidelines to consider the three years the convicts have spent on remand,” he added.

However, the convicts through their lawyer, Mr David Mushabe, said they would appeal against the court decision.

“I have instructions to appeal because of the glaring errors in the proceedings which can only be rectified by the Court of Appeal. Both the sentence and the conviction spring from a wrong grounds and the punishment itself is excessive in nature,” said Mr Mushabe.

He asked court to urgently provide them with typed proceedings to enable the convicts pursue justice from a higher court.

{{The charges}}

Court heard that the two soldiers and others still at large, in or around the months of March to May 2013, and while in the areas of Mityana and Kampala, “consciously failed to disclose to proper authorities vital information about the recruitment of people to engage in activities intended to overthrow the legitimate government of Uganda”.
Court records show that the two SFC soldiers, then based in Mityana, were procured by their co-accused persons to recruit colleague presidential guards into “subversive activities”.

Witnesses also told court that Mr Nayebale, Mr Nuwagaba and soldier/ businessman, Mr Abel Twinamasiko in the two months, conspired with others to aid, abet, counsel and procure other persons to overthrow Gen Museveni’s government.

July 19, 2016
Lobby wants Kenya to exit Commonwealth

{The Pan-African Movement Kenyan Chapter claims that being in the commonwealth, Kenya’s sovereignty has been threatened.}

A lobby group is seeking to petition President Uhuru Kenyatta to pull Kenya out of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

The Pan-African Movement Kenyan Chapter claims that being in the commonwealth, Kenya’s sovereignty has been threatened.

The group says the Commonwealth parent state, Britain, is not giving Kenya the opportunities it deserves.

“Commonwealth is the expression of the will of a superior directed to the inferior, a kind of a master and a dog relationship, dictating local business, economic decisions and government,” the petition reads.

The group claims the Commonwealth of Nations is entrenched only to benefit the British corporations and multinationals that do not reciprocate.

It also notes that economic and geopolitical disparities between Kenya and its former colonial master has caused inequalities in distribution of wealth and economy.

{{No free movement }}

The group says: “There is no free movement of capital, movement of people and labour from Kenya to Britain.

“Britain has been creating barriers for Kenyans wishing to enter Britain by imposing visa bans, expensive and restrictive visa applications.”

The group now wants President Uhuru Kenyatta to spearhead the withdrawal of Kenya’s membership from the British Commonwealth of Nations.

The withdrawal should be done through a referendum, parliamentary mechanism, action by the Executive, or through the Judiciary.

July 19, 2016