Tag: GreatLakesNews

Tanzania:25bn/- saved from exit of 12,246 ghost workers

{The government has saved some 25bn/- in the past three months after removing 12,246 employees from the payroll system.}

The Minister of State in the President’s Office – Public Service Management and Good Governance – Ms Angela Kairuki, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the workers had been removed after a meticulous verification exercise, which established that some of them had since died, retired or their contracts had already expired.

Ms Kairuki said the ministry had directed all head of public service institutions, local government authorities and permanent secretaries to submit final report of the verification exercise of ghost workers by June 15.

She pointed out that such information is required to be signed by the head of ministries, local government authorities and agencies. The institutions had earlier been given until June 10, this year, to submit the report.

“After receiving the reports, we are going to do the evaluation to purge all ghost workers in the country,” the minister pledged. President John Magufuli had issued a directive to government departments and agencies to remove ghost workers from the payroll in line with his anti-corruption and austerity drive.

Speaking on the Public Service Week, Ms Kairuki said that this year’s event to be held from June 16, will be used by ministries, departments, agencies and other government institutions to receive and address various grievances from the public.

The theme of this year celebration is ‘Public Leadership for Integrated Development: Towards Africa We Want’ in which public servants are supposed to be hard working, knowledgeable and professional.

“All public servants should provide services to the public on time without bureaucracy and by adhering to good performance,’’ the minister quipped.

June 12, 2016
Congo opposition urges on-time polls, electoral body review

{KINSHASA, Congo – Dozens of Congo opposition leaders are calling for elections to take place on time in November and for a review of the electoral commission, which says it needs more time.}

The head of the main opposition party, Etienne Tshisekedi, led a meeting in Brussels that on Friday also called for the international community to support the opposition’s call for free and fair elections.

Main opposition candidate Moise Katumbi had representatives at the meeting. Two other major parties were not present.

The opposition fears elections will be postponed to keep President Joseph Kabila in power beyond his mandate.

National Assembly President Aubin Minaku denounced the calls Friday, saying the government is respecting the constitution.

The electoral commission’s president has said electoral registration revisions could take more than a year.

June 11, 2016
Rights group says more than 100 Burundi girls sold in the Gulf

{More than 100 Burundian women were trafficked to Gulf nations in the past week, where some are in danger of being mistreated, a non-governmental organization said.}

Human trafficking is a $150 billion market victimizing some 21 million people, 4.5 million of whom are sexually exploited, according to the International Labour Organization.

“They are taken there illegally,” Pacifique Nininahazwe, leader of the Forum for Conscious Awareness, known by its French acronym, Focode, said in a statement in the capital, Bujumbura.

As many as 800 others could have been trafficked to Middle Eastern countries last year, according to another organization, Burundi Women Association Confederation.

Some of the women have been turned into slaves and are sold from one owner to another, according to police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye.

“I was bought by the first boss,” Aline Munyaneza, who was rescued from an Arabian Peninsula country, told reporters in Bujumbura on Thursday. “After six months, my boss sold me to another boss. “We were treated like animals.”

June 11, 2016
Uganda:Besigye petitions CJ over Justice Kavuma

{The jailed former presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye, has written to the Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, seeking his intervention to deal with what the Opposition leader calls injustice in the courts and in particular, the Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma, who heads the Constitutional Court.}

Now on remand for a month since May 11 on treason charges, Dr Besigye faces the prospect of being tried within the premises of Luzira prison if an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) succeeds in court on Wednesday.

The last time Dr Besigye was scheduled to appear before a magistrate at Nakawa court over the treason charges, the DPP, citing what he called security threats, applied that Dr Besigye should instead be tried in Luzira prison.

The Opposition leader was not produced in court that day and the magistrate set Wednesday, June 15, to rule on where Dr Besigye will appear for trial.

“It appears increasingly that I might be tried in secret and that the court will be facilitated to handle my matter in Luzira Prison,” reads Dr Besigye’s letter to Chief Justice Katureebe.

In his missive titled “complaint about mistreatment”, Dr Besigye singles out Mr Katureebe’s colleague, Deputy Chief Justice Kavuma, for issuing an ex parte order on April 29, which “included two very strange decisions.” The order arose from an application by the Attorney General (AG) and was issued in the presence of the Deputy AG Mwesigwa Rukutana.

The “very strange” decisions, Dr Besigye said, were to bar the magistrate at Kasangati court from ruling on whether his confinement at his residence in Kasangati by police was legal. He said Justice Kavuma’s order was also calculated to prevent the hearing of a civil suit Dr Besigye had filed in the High Court seeking removal of the police from his home to regain his freedom and enforce his other rights.

The police laid siege on Dr Besigye’s house shortly after the election, detaining him at his home for more than 40 days. The police claimed he would foment public disorder if he were allowed to get out of his home.

The petition he filed at the Magistrate’s Court in Kasangati was similar to the one he had filed in 2011 during the Walk-to-Work protests, as a result of which the court ordered the police to vacate his home.

“While I found it fit to attempt to secure my rights using the Constitution and the Courts of Judicature, Mr Kavuma and the Attorney General saw it best to deny me that avenue and effectively surrender me back to the whims of the Uganda Police Force,” Dr Besigye’s letter to the CJ reads in part.

“The effect of Mr Kavuma’s orders was to perpetuate my detention without trial,” Dr Besigye tells Chief Justice Katureebe.

Apart from the incidents Dr Besigye complains about, Mr Kavuma has also been criticised for some other decisions, including the order that removed Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago from office just hours after his reinstatement by the High Court.
Later, after Mr Lukwago won re-election to the office in February this year, the Lord Mayor had to rush to court to apply to “arrest judgment” as Justice Kavuma prepared to rule on an application to block him and other elected local government leaders in Kampala from being sworn in.

{{Let “good men” speak out}}

In the seven-page letter delivered to the Chief Justice’s office on June 1, Dr Besigye makes an impassioned plea to Mr Katureebe to take action and save him from injustice meted on him through the courts of law.

“My experiences may be viewed as personal to me,” Dr Besigye writes, “However, in my own analysis of the political landscape in Uganda, it is critical to keep in mind, while considering whether to attend to this letter or not, the words of Edmund Burke, who said that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

Dr Besigye urges the Chief Justice “to recall the political events in Uganda’s history, including those that affected the office you currently occupy.”

Here, he was referring to the fate of the late Benedicto Kiwanuka, the former chief justice who, during Idi Amin’s rule in 1972, was picked from his office and killed. His remains have never been found to date.

Dr Besigye, who has on numerous occasions accused sections of Uganda’s elite class of failing to stand up in defence of human rights and civil liberties, borrowed a famous quotation from a reputed poet to make his point to Mr Katureebe.

“I am reminded in that context about the words of Martin Niemoller to whom a powerful poetic speech is attributed: ‘First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out, because I was not a socialist; then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist; then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew; then they came for me – and there was no one to speak for me’.”

{{Long battle with Museveni}}

Formerly comrades in the Bush War enjoying a cordial doctor-patient relationship, the duels between Dr Besigye and President Museveni have dominated Uganda’s political space since late 2000, when Dr Besigye first declared that he would challenge his former commander-in-chief for the presidency. He has since challenged President Museveni in four consecutive elections since 2001, and he has on each of the four occasions blamed his defeat on rigging and other illegal acts.

In 2001 and 2006, the Opposition leader challenged the outcome of the elections in the Supreme Court, and on both occasions, the court ruled that the elections were flawed in a number of respects. On both occasions, however, the elections were upheld on majority verdict, with most of the judges arguing that the irregularities did not substantially affect the final outcomes.

Dr Besigye vowed not to return to the court over rigged elections after 2006, accusing the court of failing to annul an election even after acknowledging that it was not free or fair.

Indeed in the 2011 election, he did not petition court.

{{2011 elections}}

In his letter to the Chief Justice, Dr Besigye says the 2011 election saw “unprecedented use of money” and Mr Museveni won unfairly. He says he did not go to the courts, but instead opted for Walk-to-Work protests.

As the police held him at his home shortly after the February 18 election, Dr Besigye said he needed to be freed to compile evidence and decide whether to challenge the election or not, but he was kept under confinement until time elapsed.

He was later arrested in Kampala City centre on May 11, having beaten security surveillance to get there and a video of him being “sworn in” as president was later circulated on You Tube and social media.

Dr Besigye, in his letter to CJ Katureebe, narrates how he was incarcerated first at Nalufenya in Jinja, then flown to Moroto in Karamoja, where he was charged with treason after working hours. He would later be transferred to Luzira prison and then produced at Nakawa Magistrate’s Court, where he was charged afresh with treason without representation of a lawyer because the court changed the scheduled time for his appearance from 9am to 8am. He lists several alleged manipulations of the court processes by the State in order to deny him justice and perpetuate violation of his rights and freedoms with impunity.

June 11, 2016
Kenya:Police warn of terror attacks during Ramadhan

{A blast targeting a police car in Mandera last week is an indication of the planned attacks, police said.}

Security has been heightened in several parts of the country to forestall planned Al-Shabaab attacks during the month of Ramadhan, police have said.

Areas near the Somalia border are particularly targeted by terrorists masquerading as herders or refugees, said National Police Service spokesman George Kinoti on Friday.

In Nairobi, Malindi and Mombasa, public transport operators, hotel keepers and guards in charge of public buildings have been asked to be on the lookout when dealing with clients.

“Terror attacks have previously been witnessed in the country during this period. We call upon all Kenyans to exercise extra vigilance and report any suspicious activities to security agencies for action,” Mr Kinoti said.

He added: “The police and other security agencies in the country are continuously monitoring Al-Shabaab activities across the border in Somalia and their attempts to infiltrate Kenya with intention to commit atrocities.”

An explosion targeting a police car in Mandera last week is an indication of the planned attacks, the police also said.

The Somalia-based terrorist group suffered a major blow last week when one of its Kenyan commanders, Mohammed Dulyadayn, alias Kuno, was killed in an air strike.

He was the commander of Al-Shabaab activities in the Juba region of Somalia and was also in charge of recruitment in northeastern Kenya.

Kuno, also known as Gamadhere, had a Sh5 million bounty put on his head for masterminding the Garissa University College terror attack in which 148 people, most of them students, were killed on April 2 last year.

Mr Kinoti also said terrorists from Somalia may already have sneaked into border counties.

“The terrorists may masquerade as herders looking for pasture or as refugees. As such we call upon all citizens particularly in Boni forest and its environs to be on the lookout for such individuals,” he said.

Mr Kinoti added that four people arrested recently at the Coast over the killings of three elders in Ukunda, Kwale County, are members of Al-Shabaab.

Police expect reports to be made via the toll-free telephone lines 999, 911 and 112.

June 11, 2016
Tanzania:Magufuli set to grace local Albinism Day

{President John Magufuli is scheduled to grace the eleventh anniversary of the International Day of Raising Public Awareness on People with Albinism which is marked every June 13.}

Speaking to reporters from various Media Houses in Dar es Salaam, the Chairperson of Tanzania Albinism Society (TAS), Mr Nemes Temba, said despite the anniversary, skin cancer is a major challenge to People with Albinism in Tanzania.

He said the problem of skin cancer, which is caused by sun radiation, is due to the limited understanding of people who care for People with Albinism because they don’t know how to treat them.

“According to the findings, out of 10 people with albinism nine have the problem of skin cancer. So it is believed that 90 per cent of People with Albinism suffer from skin cancer,” he said.

Mr Temba said the problem is getting bigger due to shortage of medication and efforts directed at preventing skin cancer especially in rural areas. “So, I ask the government to establish clinics that will enlighten people with albinism in each region on how to avoid skin cancer,” he added.

Explaining on the anniversary, the Secretary of TAS, Mr Mussa Kabimba, said the event will officially be launched on June 11 and the climax will be on the third day where the President is expected to be guest of honour.

He said the theme of the anniversary of this year is, ‘The right to participation, right to inclusion; Children with albinism be heard and be protected’. According to him, the event will be enlivened by a debate hosted by the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance.

June 11, 2016
WHO says new yellow fever case in Congo transmitted locally

{A new case of yellow fever detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital was transmitted by a local mosquito, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday, raising the possibility of a wider outbreak of the disease in the country.}

The case, confirmed this week after testing by the Pasteur Institute in Dakar and the National Institute of Biomedical Research, was not an imported case from neighbouring Angola as other recent cases were, WHO spokesman Eugene Kabambi said.

“Measures are being taken to strengthen investigation around this case to prevent the spread,” Kabambi said in an email. “Social mobilization activities and surveillance are going on with WHO support.”

This was the fourth case of the disease transmitted inside the country since March linked to an ongoing epidemic, WHO said.

It was not clear how many mosquitoes in Congo may be carrying yellow fever or what effect this will have on a spread of the virus that has already infected nearly 3,000 people in Angola in the last four months, of which about 325 died, according to WHO.

But yellow fever can spread fast in highly populated areas, with devastating consequences.

So far there have been 52 laboratory-confirmed cases of yellow fever in Congo, most of which have come from Angola. The disease has already spread to Kenya and China and there is an unrelated outbreak in Uganda, generating fears of the mosquito-borne fever jumping to sprawling cities in Asia and Africa.

The outbreaks of yellow fever in Angola and the Congo do not constitute a global health emergency but require stepped-up control measures and mass vaccination, the WHO said last month.

June 10, 2016
Uganda:Gen Museveni receives highest military honour

{President Museveni has received the Order Katonga, which is highest military decoration in Uganda.}

The medal was presented to him on Thursday by Chief Justice Bart Katureebe during the national Heroes Day celebrations at Ssi Town Council, Ssi Sub-county, Buikwe District.

President Museveni’s younger brother, Gen. Caleb Akandwanaho alias Salim Saleh got the Kabalega Star, the second highest honour in the country.

Gen Museveni decorated Gen. Saleh.

A citation by Gen. Elly Tumwine, the chairman of the Decoration Board, said Gen. Museveni immensely contributed to the liberation of Uganda.

Gen. Tumwine traced Gen Museveni’s role to an event in December 1972 in Mbale District, some 260 kilometres East of Kampala.

Field Marshal Idi Amin was the President of Uganda, having captured power through a coup a year earlier, from Milton Obote.

Gen Museveni, who was not happy with the Amin regime, started meeting with like – minded persons in Uganda to brainstorm on how to liberate Uganda from Amin’s grip.

During one such meeting, in Maluku Housing Estate in Mbale, an estimated 15 Uganda Army Military Police, acting on intelligence information, surrounded the house in which Gen Museveni was meeting his comrades.

Fighting broke out, resulting in the death of two Uganda Army personnel and two of Gen Museveni’s comrades Martin Mwesiga and H. Mpiima.

Gen Museveni, who reportedly had only a pistol, made a daring escape from the Uganda army soldiers.

“That escape of Yoweri Museveni in 1972…ensured his survival, thus enabling him later, to lead an attack on Kabamba Barracks in Mubende District,” Gen Tumwine said.

He said the attack on Kabamba Barracks marked the start of the National Resistance Army (NRA) bush war struggle.

Gen Tumwine said: “For Museveni to begin the struggle stands out as a unique attribute of leadership, service and sacrifice. This unique contribution to the struggle culminated in the liberation of our country on January 26, 1986 and forms the basis for this award.”

Gen Tumwine said it was Mr Museveni, who conceptualized and planned the execution of the liberation struggle against Amin.

June 10, 2016
Kenya:Governors protest against ‘low’ funds allocation

{He insisted that 45 per cent of national revenue should go to counties.}

Governors have expressed dismay at the “low” allocations to counties and high borrowing by the national government to finance the Budget.

Council of Governors Chairman Peter Munya on Thursday said resources allocated to counties had gone down from 33 per cent of shareable revenue in the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 financial years to 31 per cent this year.

“Whereas the allocation for the national government has increased, that of devolved governments has reduced in terms of percentage,” Mr Munya told the Daily Nation by phone.

“This is happening when new functions have been devolved.”

He added: “It is sad that low allocations to counties are coming when we should be having fully functional devolved governments.”

On Tuesday, senators passed a Bill paving the way for counties to access Sh302 billion in the next financial year. The Bill is to be forwarded to the National Assembly.

From the Sh302 billion, counties are to share Sh280 billion while the remainder would be released as condition grants on request by a devolved government.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich read the Sh2.26 trillion budget on Wednesday, with a projected revenue collection of Sh1.5 trillion and a Sh760 million deficit

“The allocations give credence to our push for the Constitution to fix the percentage of resources that should be devolved,” Mr Munya added.

He insisted that 45 per cent of national revenue should go to counties.

The Meru governor also took issue with senators for agreeing to the Sh302 billion proposal by the Commission on Revenue Allocation “without a single amendment”.

He accused the Senate of passing Bills “only aimed at killing devolution”.

“Nothing positive comes from the Senate as far as protecting devolved governments is concerned. In fact, no changes were made to the CRA proposals so that individual senators could be given money for oversight,” Mr Munya said.

He added that money for rural electrification, water and health should go to counties as the functions were devolved and that the national government should only concentrate on strategic programmes.

Mr Munya said the money allocated to devolved governments “is a drop in the ocean” compared to more than Sh770 billion that the national government was borrowing.

“The borrowing is eating into money meant for counties,” the CoG chairman added.

June 10, 2016
Tanzania:500 girls stranded in India, ask for help

{About 500 Tanzanian girls transported to India by various employment agencies were now experiencing hardships after missing employments as promised and thereafter turned into sex work.}

The girls aged between 18 and 24 years old were now languishing in the streets of New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Goa.

According to the Head of Communications in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East African and Regional Cooperation, Ms Mindi Kasiga, expounding on the ordeal, said 350 of the girls were in New Delhi, 45 were in Bangalore, 20 were in Mumbai and the rest were in Goa.

Ms Kasiga told a press conference in Dar es Salaam that in their fight for a come back home, the girls who are victims of human trafficking have already submitted their request for support to the Tanzania High Commission in India.

She confirmed that the government was aware of the girls’ problem and had started contemplating to bring them back home. “The Tanzanians were taken by employment agencies with promises to help them acquire jobs in hotels, malls and domestic work.

But they were forced into sex work after getting to India. “The Tanzanians are victims of human trafficking carried out by a syndicate which involves Tanzanians and foreigners. The employment agencies hold their passports until the victims repay them the costs incurred to transport them,” she said.

Ms Kasiga pointed out the challenges facing the Tanzanians who are being taken to work in Middle East and Asia to include working without contracts with meagre salaries or overworked.

“So far, a total of 10 out of 18 Tanzanians, who had requested for support to the government, have been repatriated from Oman,” she said. Ms Kasiga said the government has worked on some of the challenges likely to face Tanzanians abroad, saying the government has introduced contracts in accordance to the laws and regulations in the respective countries.

“The Tanzania High Commission to Oman, for instance, has helped a total of 4,358 Tanzanians to acquire jobs with proper contracts since 2011,” she said.

Last year, the government banned up to 70 employment agencies that send women to countries in the Middle East to be housemaids. It comes after complaints that women who travel from Tanzania to the Middle East for work are being mistreated.

June 10, 2016