Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Kampala- First deputy premier Moses Ali has questioned the logic of Ugandans participating in the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Israeli commandos’ raid on Entebbe International Airport to free Israeli hostages in 1976.}

Gen Ali (retired), a Finance minister at the time of the July 4, 1976 Operation Thunderbolt, said Uganda should instead be “mourning; shedding tears” for the more-than-a-dozen soldiers killed that day while defending the country’s territorial integrity.

“If you are siding with Israelis, then you can celebrate because it was their victory. [Otherwise] if you are not, then you should be mourning our dead ones,” he told this newspaper in an interview at his home last weekend.

The raid was renamed Operation Yonatan in honour of its commander Lt Col Yonatan Netanyahu, brother to current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was shot dead by a Ugandan soldier.

President Netanyahu is expected to attend tomorrow’s festivities in Uganda where he, according to ministry of Foreign Affairs permanent secretary James Mugume, will meet heads of state in the region gathering in Kampala for a summit.

According to the official programme, Mr Netanyahu and wife Sara will land at Entebbe International Airport at 1pm tomorrow to a 19-gun salute and after the protocol formalities, hold a brief meeting with President Museveni and participate in the anniversary events. The Israelis during that attack, 40 years ago, destroyed 11 MiG fighters the Soviet Union had supplied to Uganda.

“Celebrate what?” General Ali asked when told of a plan by Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) to turn the raid into a cash cow by marking it on the calendar as a flagship event to market Uganda’s tourism potential, particularly to Israelis.

“As things stand, this day should be observed by Israelis because it was their victory over us,” he said, adding: “If we [Ugandans] are to observe it, it must be to remember our dead, not celebrate. We should be shedding tears…”

The government’s plan, so far, does not include arrangements to honour on-duty soldiers the Israeli commandos killed in 1976.

Mid last month, Uganda’s the Observer newspaper reported about a plan announced by UTB President Boniface Byamukama to make a new film based on the 90-minute operation, after the successful Irvin Kershner-directed Raid on Entebbe movie.

Whereas the Israelis pride in their clinical mission, which catapulted its planners and implementers to national political and defence leadership in Tel Aviv, Gen Ali said President Idi Amin was left “humiliated and angry”.

{{The raid}}

The Israeli onslaught, aided by Kenya, was prompted by Uganda’s decision to host pro-Palestinian hijackers who threatened to kill about 100 Jews/Israelis out of their 250 hostages if 53 Palestinian militants jailed in Israel and four other countries were not released.

Uganda at the time, as now, believed in a two-state solution to the long-running Middle East conflict, where Israel and Palestine exist side-by-side as independent states. Under President Obama, the US, Israel’s staunchest ally, has pursued a similar policy — but without much success. The Palestinians remain under Israeli occupation and the region is consumed by internecine bloodshed.

During the weekend interview, Gen Ali said the raid was such an anti-climax that the Cabinet at the time – at least in his presence – never discussed it.

The deputy premier said he believes the Israelis either directly or through Kenya “infiltrated” Uganda’s top security circles because top spies and key military officers in Kampala casually dismissed two credible leads about the impending raid as “lies”.

{The investigators found that corporal punishment was rampant at the schools.}

Shocking details have emerged of how students of Itierio Boys High School in Kisii hatched an elaborate plot to burn down seven dormitories last weekend.

In what appeared to have been a well-executed plan that has puzzled the nation and shocked the education sector, the students sneaked in 20 litres of petrol which they used to light the fire, according to a confidential report by the Education ministry and security officials.

The report also covers the fire incident at Tengecha High School in Kericho, in January.

According to the findings seen by the Sunday Nation, the students at Itierio — an institution that once produced top footballers, some of whom played for national team Harambee Stars — drained all the water from the eight giant tanks to make it harder to put out the fire.

Investigators were baffled how all the water tanks could be emptied without any of the teachers or support staff noticing.

Before the matchbox was struck to set alight the first dormitory, the students also disconnected electricity supply to the school, says the joint report of the Teachers Service Commission, the Education ministry and a county security team dated June 29, 2016.

They then spilled the petrol, lit the fire and reportedly created a buffer zone in the form of a human shield around the dormitories, perhaps to bar anyone from putting out the fire before it spread.

The investigators suspect the students may have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs judging by the extent of the damage.

There are testimonies, says the report, “that some (student) leaders reported (the issue of drugs) to the deputy principal but no action was taken against them”.

Investigators also established that there had been differences between the principal and his deputy, which perhaps could have hindered communication that could have helped pre-empt the situation.

The report, which was presented to top Education ministry officials, including Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, says a change in school routine was largely to blame for the students’ actions – which prompted the institutions’ closure last week.

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The report says school administrators, under the leadership of the principal, introduced stringent measures that were borrowed from Litein Boys High School following a benchmarking trip to the institution in Kericho County.

The measures included cutting down on entertainment, closing of dormitories throughout class time and a reduction of lunch break to only 20 minutes to make time for a “speed test” in mathematics.

“The deputy head implemented the new regulations when the head teacher was attending the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association meeting in Mombasa,” says the report, which also adds that a suggestion box for the students was not placed at a location that allowed giving of feedback freely.

The report said the changes were abrupt and that student views were not taken into consideration.

The investigators found that corporal punishment was rampant at the schools. For example, students found to have broken the new rules at Itierio Boys were likely to get 35 strokes of the cane.

The report notes that teachers could not provide information to the investigators as they said they were not at school at the time of the incident.

It also points out that a case in which the students stoned a vehicle belonging to neighbouring Itierio Girls School was handled casually, a sign of the administration’s inability to effectively address discipline issues.

The report recommends an immediate change of the principal and his deputy. The deputy has been at the school for 23 years.

It also recommends the transfer of seven teachers who have taught in the school for more than 10 years each.

A teacher who was implicated in corporal punishment at the school, the report recommends, should be disciplined.

It also recommends that prime suspects in the arson attack be investigated, apprehended and prosecuted. It proposes the fencing off of the school compound and advocates open student barazas which should be held regularly.

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Further, security guards should be given contracts and suggestion boxes put at locations that students are comfortable with.

At Tengecha High School, where three dormitories were set ablaze on January 21, the investigators established that all teachers meant to be on duty were not at school at the time.

“It was established that at one time, the two masters on duty were present at the school but seemed to have made technical appearances and left without informing one another,” the report says.

The team established that security officers led the students out of the burning dormitories.

“The keys to the dormitory gate were with three people — the watchman, dormitory master and the prefect,” adds the report.

Investigators reported simmering tension between the Form Three and Four students, with the former feeling that they were being treated unfairly by their seniors over who was to take part in an English contest in the institution.

“The Form Three students felt they were being unfairly denied an opportunity to attend,” the report said.

The report also reveals that students of Tengecha High bribed the guards to be allowed to sneak mobile phones into their dormitories.

As a result, the report said, students tampered with the electricity connection as they charged the mobile phones.

Education ministry officials, however, described the report as insufficient and asked local administrators at the sub-county and school to seek more information and provide it by Friday.

{Mobile phone users, whose handsets were recently switched off by the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) on the ground that they were fakes, have asked the government to intervene over their disposal.}

In interviews with the ‘Sunday News’ after the telecoms regulator disconnected their fake mobile phones on June 16, the majority of people who turned up to buy original handsets at the telecommunication companies hesitated to dispose their fake products at the companies once they were issued with original ones in fear of being refurbished to benefit the telecom companies.

“We need a clear statement on where exactly we should dispose the counterfeit mobile phones. We should be told what the authorities will do with them,” one Raphael Kisu, a resident of Dar es Salaam, told this newspaper.

The concern rose after some telecommunications companies, including Tigo Tanzania, started offering the affected people with free, genuine internet-enabled phones upon presenting their fake phones at their shops.

Several residents, especially those with fake handsets, hesitated to go for the offer in fear that their counterfeit phones could have given the telecommunication companies a big deal. “We doubt the offer.

Our phones (counterfeit handsets) might be a big deal and benefit the telecoms that did not purchase them,” said one of the residents who turned up to buy an original phone at Tigo customer care centre in the city.

The residents instead expressed the need for the government to give an official statement over the disposal of the fake phones and further procedures.

“We should know where and why we are disposing the counterfeit products since we bought them with our monies from the markets that are fully recognised by the government,’’ one interviewee commented. He wondered why they (customers/owners) should be punished for buying phone marked ‘original’ in a market infiltrated by fake phones,’’ lamented a Tigo customer whose phone was disconnected.

TCRA Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Innocent Mungy, told the ‘Sunday News’ over the phone that the telecoms regulator had agreed with the telecoms firms to set up collection points at their shopping centres to make it easier for the customers to dispose of their fake devices.

Mr Mungy warned that it was dangerous for the owners of the fake handsets to keep them since such phones contain toxic devices that might be environment-unfriendly.

He said the authority and other agencies, including environment conservation agencies are working on how to dispose of the products once they are discarded. The TCRA official opined that the phones could be recycled to recover other metals that can be re-used in the production of electronic goods.

According to environmental experts, recycling of counterfeit products was the best way to maintain environmental health. About 630,000 counterfeit mobile phones were disconnected by TCRA on June 16, causing communication difficulties among owners.

{Without explaining what became of his Bush War 10-point programme, President Museveni at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, unveiled a new 20-point development agenda, restating his promise of turning Uganda into a middle income country in the next four years.}

Mr Museveni, according to cabinet sources, listed 18 priority action points, that he wants his new government to focus on in the next five years.

However, before cabinet adopted his “new” plan, ministers added two points on his list of priorities; supporting the water sector to widen safe water coverage and intensifying resource mobilisation to fulfil the agreed upon priorities.

At the inaugural cabinet meeting last week, the President had listed 15-priority points, starting with the need to aggressively look for investments and listed corruption as the second priority issue that must be addressed in order to drive Uganda to a middle income status. However, in the second Cabinet meeting at State House Entebbe on Thursday, he added three more points and the ministers added two before he officially unveiled his “new” 20-point plan for Uganda. For the first time, Mr Museveni promised to hold periodical meetings with the ministers and technocrats in the various dockets to assess progress, looking at specific deliverables and indicators he listed. The three points added by the president are improving government communication, supporting the judiciary with all the human and financial resources to improve delivery of justice and fighting crime and urban physical planning.

After what sources called “a comprehensive discussion” of Mr Museveni’s 18-point programme, the ministers also added two on the list.
A statement from Information and ICT minister Frank Tumwebaze, said the President “stressed that organised urban planning is not only good for the environment, tourism but a great enabler for job creation through organised urban trade.”
The statement also confirmed the President’s 20-point agenda, repeating some of the things the President had promised to do 30 years ago when he captured power in 1986.

For instance, in his revised 10-point programme of 2012, among the 10 key bottlenecks he had promised zero tolerance to corruption, improving education to refine human resource, modernising agriculture and job creation, among others. Some of these priorities were also part of the president’s old 10-point programme of 1986.
Mr Tumwebaze said in the medium term under the ICT sector, “the President wants the Ministry of ICT to start and build a strong department of electronics that will ensure assembling of computers, among other electronics.”

“The President wants to see responsible and disciplined media reporting that is not injurious to the image of Uganda and tasked government agencies to always communicate timely and factually about government work and thus the reason he merged the communication agencies into one ministry for easy coordination,” Mr Tumwebaze said in the statement.

The President, according to Mr Tumwebaze, however, noted that all the 20 listed priorities notwithstanding, the issues which must always have the first call on the budget resources remain defence and security, electricity generation and distribution, tarmacking of the already identified roads in the NRM manifesto 2016-2021; concluding all the remaining funding modalities for the Standard Gauge Railway project to start; acquisition of Japanese road equipment for districts for routine maintenance of feeder roads.

Other core priorities are support to operation wealth creation (Naads) to scale up the supply of inputs to farmers with special attention to the 68 per cent homesteads that still operate outside the money economy because of being subsistence producers, supporting and financing of industrial parks in the already identified 22 zones, continued investment in education and health programmes and financing of the science innovation, youth and women funds.

{{The president’s 10-20 point programme over the years}}

20-point programme of 2016
1. Lower the cost of electricity
2. Lower cost of transport
3. Build 22 Industrial Parks to attract investors
4. Uganda Investment Authority must get all the necessary licences in two days
5. There must be zero tolerance to corruption.
6. Poor regulation must be handled
7. Converting 68 per cent of the homesteads from subsistence to commercial agriculture.
8. Expedite the granting of oil production licences to enable actual production start 2019/2020.
9. Reform minerals sector.
10. Protect environment.
11. Address service delivery decisively, focusing on healthcare, Education and feeder roads
12. Stop illegal land evictions
13. Providing accommodation/social services for security officers
14.Setting up a national airline
15.Elimination of our indebtedness to the army veterans
16. Improve government communication;
17. Support the judiciary with all the human financial resources to improve the justice system
18. Fight against crime and then, the issue of urban physical planning.
19.Support the water sector to widen safe water coverage
20. Intensify resource mobilisation for fulfilment of the agreed upon priorities

{{10-point programme of 1986}}

• Democracy
• Security
• Consolidation of national security and elimination of all forms of sectarianism
• Defending and consolidating national Independence
• Building an independent, integrated and self-sustaining national economy
• Restoration and improvement of social services and the rehabilitation of the war-ravaged areas
• Elimination of corruption and misuse of power
• Redressing errors that have resulted in the dislocation of sections of the population and improvement of others
• Co-operation with other African countries in defending human and democratic rights of our brothers in other parts of Africa
• Following an economic strategy of mixed economy,

{{Revised 10-point programme, 2012}}

• Fighting ideological disorientation
• Eliminating sectarianism
• Improving education to refine human resource
• Facilitating private sector-led economic growth
• Developing road, rail and electricity infrastructure
• Market expansion through regional integration
• Pursue industrialisation for exports value addition
• Develop the service sector to create jobs
• Modernise agriculture to increase household incomes
• Deepen democratic governance.

{LSK says it will file petition for removal of top police bosses if they don’t heed call to resign over Willie Kimani’s killing.}

Lawyers have vowed to strike for a week over the killing of advocate Willie Kimani, demanding the resignation of Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet, Deputy IG Samuel Arachi and Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery.

The bodies of the lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwendwa and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri were pulled out of the Ol-Donyo Sabuk river on Friday.

LSK chairman Isaac Okero threatened to file a petition for the removal of the senior security officers if they do not heed the call to resign.

On Friday, Mr Okero said: “Today is a sad day, we have lost one of our own who is lying at the City mortuary. The rule of law is under a serious threat, where the guardians of the rule of law (lawyers) risk their lives.Then every Kenyan must be afraid. We feel that this failure by those charged with the security of the country cannot be tolerated.”

He said Mr Kimani had been an advocate for barely five years and his death was unacceptable.

“Lawyers will continue wearing the purple ribbons until our brother is laid to rest,” he said on Friday evening at the Milimani Law Courts.

Lawyers have also demanded the closure of the Syokimau Administration Police camp in Machakos County, describing it as a “death camp”.

{At least 11 people were killed while 44 others got injured in two separate road accidents which occurred along Morogoro-Dodoma highway at Dakawa-Veta area in Morogoro Region.}

According to the police in the region, the accidents involved a passenger bus christened Otta Classic and two trucks which suffered a head-on collision.

Morogoro Regional Police Commander (RPC), Mr Ulrich Matei, told journalists here yesterday that the first accident occurred on Thursday evening after the two trucks collided and then caught fire that burnt some of the victims to death.

The RPC said the accident occurred in Dumila ward in Kilosa District where the oil tankerwhose registration number could not be easily identified – which was heading to lake zone regions from Dar es Salaam collided with a truck with registration number T 963 BLW that was heading for Dar es Salaam from Dodoma.

Mr Matei said that the accident resulted in the deaths of five people who sustained serious burns.

He noted that among the deceased who were yet to be identified included a cyclist who was standing beside the road when the accident occurred. The police boss explained that the accident was caused by a private vehicle which stopped unexpectedly and thus forcing the driver with a truck to overtake the car.

He added that while overtaking the private vehicle the driver with the truck without caution ended in a headon collision with an oil tanker, thus claiming lives of the two drivers and two passengers in the vehicles.

Mr Matei, however, said that yesterday morning another accident occurred at the same area killing six people on the spot and injuring 44 others.

The RPC said that the accident involved a speeding passenger bus Otta Otta Classic with registration number T 201 DGK which collided with one of the trucks which was involved in the earlier accident. He said that among the people who were injures, six of them were in critical condition and were rushed to Morogoro Referral Hospital.

{President Museveni has blamed the killing of Muslim clerics on rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo and said he had petitioned President Joseph Kabila to act. }

The President was speaking at Entebbe State House Iftar dinner on Wednesday. He pledged to meet Muslim leaders to iron out the differences.

The President’s remarks came after the Mufti of Uganda, Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje, petitioned him on the continued killing of Muslim leaders in the country.

Sheikh Mubajje said the killing of Muslim clerics continues without justice and asked the President to expedite the trial of those rotting in jail.

Jailed Muslim leaders including the leader of Tabliq sect Sheikh Yunus Kamoga and others are on trial over the murder of Muslim clerics including Sheikh Mustafa Bahiiga at Bwebajja on Entebbe Road and Sheikh Abdulkadir Muwaya in Mayuge District.

Sheik Mubajje who hailed the President for backing Islamic Banking also demanded for more Muslim ministerial appointments.

Explaining the killings, the President said those killing Muslim leaders are operating from neighbouring countries like DRC and that their leader (Jamil Mukulu) is in government custody. He said his government had petitioned the authorities in DRC and other countries to deal with the criminals.

The President blamed the recent killing of Muslim leaders on the weakness of the judicial systems, adding that if he had the opportunity to use Kiyekera style (jungle law), the killings would be no more.

Mr Museveni pledged to build a theological college for Muslims to help curtail the wrangles.

“We are going to have a college for Ugandan Muslim leaders where Muslim leaders can study as is the case with other religious groups,” he said.

{Thursday’s warning acknowledges that “thousands of US citizens travel to Kenya without incident.”}

A Kenya travel warning issued by the State Department on Thursday urges US citizens to avoid visiting Lamu, Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighbourhood and the country’s northeastern counties.

The warning further cites a US embassy recommendation that US citizens should visit Mombasa’s Old Town only during daylight hours and avoid using the Likoni ferry “due to safety concerns.”

The new notice also includes a reference to an updated advisory to US air operators concerning possible attacks with ground-launched missiles.

This Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “Notice to Airmen for Kenyan airspace” warns of “the potential for terrorist attack against US and Western interests.”

Specific information is not available, the FAA notice says, but “one possible tactic would be an attack using man-portable air defence systems (Manpads).”

Such an attack was attempted in 2002 against an Israeli air carrier taking off from Mombasa, the FAA notice adds.

{{Target aircraft }}

Background information published by the FAA last February says “Al-Shabaab possesses the capability and intent to utilise weapons, including Manpads” as well as mortars, rockets and small arms that could target aircraft on the ground and during take-off and landing. Some Manpads may reach an altitude of 25,000 feet, the FAA warns.

The State Department’s new travel warning comes at a time when Kenya’s tourism industry is striving to persuade potential visitors that the country is safe to visit.

The tourism sector is reeling from the fallout of a series of terror attacks by Shabaab in the past two years.

Thursday’s warning does acknowledge that “thousands of US citizens travel to Kenya without incident.”

In addition to avoiding the popular tourist destination of Lamu, the State Department is urging US citizens not to travel to Tana River County and to the part of Kilifi County north of Malindi.

Terror attacks by Al-Shabaab should not be the only potential source of concern for US citizens considering travel to Kenya, the State Department suggests.

“Violent and sometimes fatal crimes, including armed carjacking, grenade attacks, home invasions and burglaries and kidnappings, can occur at any time and in any location, including Nairobi,” the warning states. “US citizens and US Embassy employees have been victims of such crimes in the past.”

{The Home Affair Minister, Mr Mwigulu Nchemba, has warned leaders of political parties who agitate for violence among their supporters to brace for the full wrath of the law.}

The minister made the remarks in Parliament when reacting to supplementary questions from legislators Goodluck Mlinga (Ulanga, CCM) and Kangi Lugola (Mwibara, CCM), who quizzed the government on the steps that were being taken to deal with inciters and perpetrators of political violence. The MPs expressed concern over escalating violence instigated by politicians in different parts of the country, including Ulanga and Pemba.

Adding to prior answers given by his deputy, Mr Hamad Masauni, the minister said the Police Force, from now on, will deal with political leaders who mastermind acts of violence and often foment chaos, urging their supporters to riot.

“I have directed security personnel to act tough on inciters rather than their supporters. These are the people we want the Police Force to deal with firmly,” Mr Nchemba said.

“Most often they put their supporters in the front and eventually those who suffer from the consequences are these supporters. But now the leaders would be made to face the full wrath of the law if caught in such acts,” the minister added.

Mr Nchemba warned politicians across the political divide that use of provocative language and making unguarded or inflammatory statements will not be tolerated.

He reminded them to conduct themselves in an orderly manner and adhere to the rule of law when carrying out their political duties. The Home Affairs Minister called on Tanzanians not to be manipulated by politicians who harbour selfish interests.

“May I call upon Tanzanians to be aware of divisive politicians who issue inflammatory statements. People should not kill each other over political differences,” he said.

He added that while people were killing each other, the instigators remained out of trouble, enjoying cool drinks and rubbing shoulders with their compatriots in the leadership hierarchies.

In the basic question, Serengeti legislator Marwa Chacha (Chadema), sought a government statement, saying there were controversial deaths linked to politics, but those involving members of the opposition, were not given priority during investigation.

Mr Nchemba said all Tanzanians were first class citizens and assured the Parliament that the police will continue providing security for all citizens regardless of their political affiliations, race, tribe, and religious beliefs and that the force will remain non-partisan. The minister also hit back at those who claim that the fifth phase government, under President John Magufuli is a dictatorship regime.

“They should be able to differentiate between a dictatorship government and one that makes sure that the rule of the law is adhered to,” he said, insisting that the government will not go back in its quest to transform the country.

On his side, Mr Masauni said the Police were executing their duties according to law, regulations and other procedures, in order to ensure that the rights of every individual are observed.

He rubbished claims that the Police Force was involved in violent acts against Pemba residents. He explained that the law enforcers were arresting criminals, who attacked and destroyed other people