IGIHE

Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • Tanzania:Task force to check land conflicts

    {The government has formed a task force consisting of officials and experts of three ministries to address recurring land conflicts between farmers, pastoralists and authorities managing national parks and game reserves.
    }

    It is also going to distribute some parts of national ranches to pastoralists to expand grazing land in the country to address the same.

    The Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, told the National Assembly here that the officials and experts had been drawn from the ministries of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development; Natural Resources and Tourism, and Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

    The premier made the remarks when responding to a question by Mr Joseph Kakunda (Sikonge-CCM) during the ‘Questions- to-the-Prime- Minister’s session. The MP wanted to know measures taken by the government to address land conflicts in the country as per Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) 2015 election manifesto.

    “The CCM 2015 manifesto directs the government to demarcate new areas for pastoralists and increasing them from 1m hectares to 5 million hectares.

    When will the government appoint a national team to look into this issue and provide recommendations for implementation?” Mr Kakunda queried.

    In his response, Mr Majaliwa said the task force from the three ministries will among others identify borderlines and then identify available land, which will then be demarcated to provide land area for farmers, livestock keepers, industries and settlement areas.

    “Through the proper land use management plans, we will have pastoralists in their own areas and farmers in theirs to control land conflicts,” he noted.equipped with all facilities needed, including tents to provide emergency shelters and food,” Mr Majaliwa explained.

    He was responding to a question from Ms Maria Nasoro Kisanga (Special Seats-CCM), who wanted to know government’s plans to safeguard the public from disasters and food shortage following heavy rains across the country that have caused floods and destroyed crops.

    Mr Majaliwa stated the government was prepared to assist all Tanzanians affected by the heavy rains and, already an evaluation of the extent of the damages is underway under the district councils, which form parts of the disaster committees.

    The premier said government experts on the matter were already on site evaluating the extent of damage with a view to providing emergency response where needed. “Experts on site will present a report to the disaster management department in my office and we will supply the assistance requested,”he told the House.

    Mr Majaliwa noted that the government had enough food reserves to cater for those affected and the distribution exercise had already begun, adding that the government is also preparing for future disasters.

    “We will specially use this season to buy food for storage purposes from areas that were not affected by the floods in readiness for future disasters. I call upon the public to cultivate more crops so that we can have enough food reserves to cater for such disasters,” he urged.

    The premier warned those living in valley and lowland areas to move out of the places, directing local leaders to help relocate them to better areas. Mr Majaliwa extended his sympathy to all Tanzanians who have been affected by the recent rains that claimed some lives and destroyed properties.

    Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa.

  • Uganda:Parliament approves Shs26 trillion Budget

    {With unusually little disagreement on the floor, Parliament on Tuesday night passed a record Shs26.3 trillion post-election Budget for the 2016/17 financial year with the government staying true to what it promised in its campaign manifesto.}

    The major objective of the Budget, according to Finance minister Matia Kasaija is to enable implementation of the ruling party’s 2016 manifesto within the overall framework of the Second National Development Plan.

    “The largest proportion of the resources have been allocated to the key priority sectors of Works and Transport (18.7 per cent); Education (12 per cent); Energy and Mineral Development (11.7 per cent); Health (8.9 per cent) and Agriculture (4.0 per cent),” Mr Kasaija said.

    The minister is expected to present the details in his Budget speech expected in the first week of June.

    The Budget was approved in line with Section 14 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015. The new law changed the budget cycle in such a way that Parliament must now approve the budget before it’s read by the minister so as to ease implementation and delivery of services.

    In laying out public spending plans for the next financial year, Mr Kasaija announced in a statement yesterday that the new budget will focus on wealth creation by supporting agricultural productivity; infrastructure development; improving the quality and access to key social services in education, health and water and heightening defence and security.

    As promised in the NRM manifesto, priority went to Works and Transport, which has been allocated Shs3.6 trillion, Energy Shs2.3 trillion, Education Shs 2.2 trillion, Shs1.4 trillion to the health sector and more than Shs326b going to provision of agricultural inputs such as hoes, pesticides, fertilisers and planting materials like coffee seedlings to boost household incomes.

    Women and youth groups were allocated Shs138.25 billion; salary enhancement for teachers Shs122 billion, salary enhancement for public universities Shs78 billion and recruitment of critical staff in local governments taking Shs50 billion.

    In the NRM manifesto, President Museveni also promised free sanitary pads to school girls, scholastic materials such as textbooks and mathematical sets, hand hoes, Shs1 trillion for Naads, more money towards the Youth Fund, Women Fund, Microfinance Fund and Innovation Fund.

    Like other developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda is facing a crisis of unemployment, widespread poverty amidst constrained growth. Trade imbalances have also aggravated the situation.

    In March, Mr Kasaija unveiled a cocktail of tax proposals which he said would help pay for the government’s spending plans in the coming financial year.

    A month later, Parliament amended the Excise Duty Act 2014 to increase taxes on all types of cigarettes, ready-to-drink spirits, cement, motor spirit (gasoline), gas oil (automotive, light, amber for high speed engine), cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose in solid form, vehicle lubricants, confectioneries (chewing gum, sweets and chocolates).

    However, MPs rejected the proposed tax increase on used clothes and shoes after West Budama North MP Fox Odoi argued that used items were crucial to “a second-hand economy” like Uganda’s.

    Finance ministry spokesperson Jim Mugunga yesterday said: “This is not about the political honeymoon ending, it’s about Uganda working on its tax collection efficiencies so that we all pay a fair share of our obligation to national revenue.”

  • DR Congo announces probe into opposition use of US mercenaries

    {The minister said seven other former American soldiers and at least two South Africans had been staying in residences belonging to Katumbi.}

    DR Congo’s justice minister said on Wednesday he had ordered a probe into the alleged use of foreign mercenaries by opposition politician Moise Katumbi, who later announced his candidacy for president.

    Katumbi hit back at the mercenary allegations describing as a “grotesque lie” claims his camp were recruiting mercenaries specialised in “training and the use of weapons, as security guards or bodyguards”.

    “It’s a disgrace, a grotesque lie… they are simply looking to harm me…. Never will I, Moise Katumbi, take up arms for power,” he told AFP, adding that his “struggle is democratic and peaceful out of respect for the constitution”.

    Justice minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba earlier told journalists he had given orders to the general prosecutor to open a judicial case in the southeastern former province of Katanga.

    “We have documented proof that several former American soldiers are currently in Katanga in the service of Mr Katumbi,” he said, adding that the mercenaries were being recruited via a “network with a company based in Virginia in the United States”.

    On April 24, four members of Katumbi’s entourage including an American were arrested in DR Congo’s second city Lubumbashi, the capital of Katanga, and transferred to Kinshasa.

    Thambwe accused American “ex-corporal Lewis Darryl of having tried to force a police barrier during an opposition protest” in Lubumbashi on Friday and “having tried to flee during his transfer from Ndjili airport to Kinshasa”.

    The minister said seven other former American soldiers and at least two South Africans had been staying in residences belonging to Katumbi, “for reasons that the inquiry will clarify”.

    CRISIS

    Katumbi was formerly governor of Katanga, which has since been split into several different administrative regions.

    He joined the opposition in September after quitting as governor and leaving the party of President Joseph Kabila.

    Popular and charismatic, the 51-year-old wealthy businessman is also head of the prestigious Tout-Puissant Mazembe football club, three-time winner of the African Champions League.

    A coalition of opponents of Kabila announced Sunday that they had chosen Katumbi as their candidate to run against Kabila in the presidential election.

    On Wednesday Katumbi wrote on Twitter: “I accept this heavy responsibility with humility.”

    On Friday the politician accused the regime of targeting him with “false allegations”, drawing reference to the “supposed recruitment of foreign mercenaries in Katanga province” and a report, by a TV station close to the government, of “the existence of training camps”.

    Authorities are under pressure from the international community to hold the polls as planned in November before Kabila’s second — and constitutionally last — mandate ends, but this appears increasingly unlikely.

    DR Congo’s political climate has grown increasingly tense, with Kabila’s opponents accusing him of seeking to extend his stay in power.

    The country has been in crisis since Kabila’s re-election in late 2011 in polls marred by irregularities and massive fraud.

    Kabila assumed power after his father, president Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001.

    Opposition politician Mr Moise Katumbi. He has been accused of using foreign mercenaries.

  • Burundi economy on the ropes amid political crisis

    {Effects of recession are plain to see in the capital Bujumbura, many hotels closed.}

    A year into a political crisis which has claimed about 500 lives, driven a quarter of a million into exile and prompted Western donors to suspend government aid, Burundi’s economy is on the ropes.

    The central African country had only just begun to recover from a 1993-2006 ethnic-based civil war when it became sucked back into violence after President Pierre Nkurunziza announced a year ago that he would seek a third term in office.

    “The economy had been starting to stabilise, inflation was under control, and with average growth of around 4.5 per cent over several years, Burundi seemed to be on the right path,” said an economics professor at Burundi University, who did not wish to be named.

    “But the current crisis has had catastrophic consequences, particularly on public finances” and on the business sector, he told AFP.

    Nkurunziza’s quest for a third term sparked outrage among the opposition and human rights groups, who said the move violated a two-term limit on presidential mandates and flouted a peace deal that ended the civil war.

    Despite mass protests and an attempted coup, Nkurunziza refused calls from the international community to step aside, winning another term in July elections that were boycotted by the opposition.

    {{RECESSION}}

    With his re-election came recession and a further slide in global development ranks.

    The economy shrank by 7.4 per cent in 2015, taking Burundi from the world’s third-poorest country to the poorest, with a GDP of $315.20 dollars per inhabitant, according to the International Monetary Fund.

    The effects of the recession are plain to see in the capital Bujumbura, where most hotels have gone to the wall or laid off most of their staff.

    “The hotel sector is a disaster zone,” said the owner of a big hotel in the capital, which had only two guests during the first four months of the crisis.

    “I only kept a tenth of my staff because it’s impossible to just shut up shop given the investments I’ve made and the bank loans I took out,” the hotelier told AFP.

    Like many people in Bujumbura, he refused to give his name for fear of repercussions.

    The collapse of the fledgling tourism sector has also hit the banks that provided loans for hotel construction in the mountainous country in recent years.

    “No-one is paying them back,” the university professor explained.

    In March, the European Union, Burundi’s biggest donor, cut funding to the government in a move aimed at pressuring Nkurunziza into talks with the opposition on a way out of the political deadlock.

    “It was a very hard blow to the government, even though it has tried to downplay its impact,” a European diplomat in Bujumbura told AFP.

    While the economy had not collapsed per se, the country’s budget deficit has grown and the effects of the recession were “plain to see,” the diplomat said.

    In Bujumbura, at least one bridge on a major road that was washed away by floods has yet to be rebuilt, for lack of funds. Several main roads are also in a dire state of repair.

    Heavily armed police patrol the streets in Bujumbura on April 12, 2016. Burundi economy is in the doldrums amid a year-long political crisis that has driven a quarter million into exile.

  • Kenya:MPs to vote afresh for gender Bill

    {Ms Nyokabi expressed confidence that the lobbying would work this time round.}

    MPs go to the crucial vote on the Bill to fulfill the gender principle in Parliament on Wednesday afternoon with women legislators confident that the lobbying of their male counterparts will prove to be successful.

    To get the male MPs on their side, the women lawmakers split themselves into groups according to regions and held meetings with individual MPs, concentrating on those who voted Nay last Wednesday and those who refused to vote.

    “We think our chances are good. A lot of the people who supported are still supporting and we have people who were not around in the first round – the nine women who were not there and then quite a number of the male members- because we needed 38 votes,” said Nyeri Women Representative Priscilla Nyokabi.

    Kenya Women Parliamentarians Association (Kewopa) chair Cecily Mbarire said in a statement that the vote is an opportunity for MPs to show their commitment to the Constitution.

    “We appreciate all the 136 Male Members of Parliament who voted for the Bill when it was called to vote last week, and we further urge them to turn up once more for the vote tomorrow (Thursday) to ensure that this Bill passes,” Ms Mbarire said Wednesday evening.

    The messages to the MPs were much more polite this time round.

    RECESS

    One of the biggest factors against the vote is the fact that the National Assembly is scheduled to start a one-month break after the sitting ends Thursday and MPs traditionally do not attend the sitting before a recess.

    Ms Nyokabi, one of the architects of the proposed change to the Constitution, said they would be hoping that many MPs show up to discuss the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, which contains the provision on academic qualifications for MPs and MCAs.

    It is understood that some MPs, some of them influential, consider the Bill lost and would push for the alternative by the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee on progressive implementation of the provision.

    Ms Nyokabi expressed confidence that the lobbying would work this time round. Last Wednesday, 195 MPs voted Aye, 28 Nay, two abstained and about 24 refused to vote.

    “A lot of the lobbying is one-on-one and a lot of it is regional because looking at the No vote, we have been able to tell which regions have a problem,” said Ms Nyokabi.

    They had noted in analysis of the voting that MPs from Rift Valley and western Kenya were among those who voted against the Bill.

    The women have also argued, backed by a report from the Institute of Economic Affairs, that the nomination of extra women would keep the budget of Parliament at between 1-1.5 per cent of the national Budget.

    Parliament’s expenses have been increased by its acquisition and construction of buildings, among which is the new building next to Continental House planned to get to 27 storeys.

    “As soon as that has been done, the running costs will be the same. They are not inordinate given the value of talent that comes with new people. That has been the essence of increasing leadership in Kenya, not just women,” said Ms Nyokabi.

    Nyeri Women Representative Priscilla Nyokabi at a past event. She is one of the architects of the Bill that seeks to fulfill the two third gender principle.

  • Tanzania among Africa’s mobile banking leaders

    {Tanzania is among the three East African states that lead the Sub-Saharan Africa in mobile banking, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).}

    The Breton Wood institution said out of 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, for which information is available, the three countries have holders of mobile accounts exceeding 30 per cent of the adult population.

    The fund named three leading countries with their percentage in brackets as Kenya (60), Uganda (37) and Tanzania (35). The report, Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa, issued yesterday, placed Rwanda on seventh position with slightly less than 20 per cent. Burundi was at the tail with about two per cent while South Sudan featured nowhere in the report probably due to lack of available data.

    “Kenya leads the region,” the report shows, “But mobile money transactions are also growing rapidly in Tanzania and Uganda, where the transactions doubled in the last three years in terms of broad money, reaching about 30 percent in mid-2015”.

    In several African countries, namely Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Niger, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, the number of mobile accounts has already exceeded the number of traditional bank accounts. “The developments in mobile money boost financial inclusion, complementing traditional bank services,” IMF says in the report.

    It adds: “The number of banking transactions via mobile devices almost doubled in the region in the last two years. East Africa has led this trend, but mobile banking has also increased in other parts of Africa”.

    Early this year, the central bank set new targets of financial inclusion after the previous one was surpassed ahead of deadline as 80 per cent of adult population using a financial access point. The BoT moved the target to 70 per cent by 2017 from 50 per cent set for 2014.

  • 3 Red Cross employees abducted in eastern Congo

    {Three employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross have been abducted in eastern Congo.}

    The organization’s Director of Operations Dominik Stillhart said Tuesday on Twitter it is doing everything it can to bring its staff back safely.

    The Congo-based Center of Study for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights said the three were working as drivers for the Red Cross. It said they were abducted Tuesday while driving from Goma to Kibirizi in Congo’s North Kivu province. Witnesses told them the drivers were taken by militia fighters into the bush. Their jeeps were abandoned on the road.

    The local rights group condemned the kidnappings.

    Multiple armed groups are active in eastern Congo.

  • Uganda:Oulanyah defies NRM, insists on Speaker job

    {Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah has rejected a closed-door decision by NRM executives to ring-fence the 10th Parliament Speaker job for incumbent Rebecca Kadaga.}

    The NRM Caucus, which is numerically larger and comprises all Members of Parliament elected on the NRM party ticket, is scheduled to meet at State House in Entebbe, tomorrow to decide whether to maintain the status quo where Ms Kadaga remains the Speaker deputised by Mr Oulanyah.

    The party’s Central Executive Committee, meeting at State House Entebbe up to midnight yesterday, had resolved that the current leadership be upheld in order not to polarise the 10th Parliament.
    Hours after the resolution, Mr Oulanyah refused to budge and after a meeting with some of his supporters announced that he would run for Speaker “come rain or come shine”.

    He held a follow up meeting with President Museveni, the national party chairman who presided over the nine-hour Monday meeting, but details of their discussions were not available by press time.

    Whereas the Speakership is, for now, a two-horse race between Kadaga and Oulanyah, the Deputy Speaker position has attracted seven contestants. The party CEC resolved to re-open closed nominations for the crowded slot to enable Oulanyah register but he had not done so by press time.

    Sources that attended the CEC meeting said the proposal to maintain the status quo was fronted by Hajji Moses Kigongo, the National Vice Chairman, and supported by Mr Sam Engola, the party’s vice-chairman (North), and Haji Abdul Nadduli (vice-chairman, Buganda).

    The meeting also grilled Ms Kadaga, faulting her for opening a war of words with CEC members taking exception that she drew the first blood when she branded Mr Oulanyah as a “greedy and arrogant man”.

    Sources at the CEC meeting told Daily Monitor that Ms Kadaga was also questioned over claims that she fraternises with Opposition MPs and her quarrels with the media.

    It is reported that Ms Kadaga apologised and promised to work with Oulanyah. Ms Kadaga reportedly told CEC that she attacked her deputy because she was “under pressure” to defend her job and that she was “not breathing”. She also accused her opponents of using the media to fight her.

    The President who is the NRM chairman, however, apologised for taking long to intervene and promised to reconcile the two principals as soon as possible. When Ms Kadaga and Mr Oulanyah were called to CEC for counselling, members asked the two leaders to “bury the hatchet and move on”.

    NRM electoral commission chairman Tanga Odoi, who attended CEC meeting, confirmed that the bickering between the duo was discussed with CEC and resolving that Mr Museveni should mediate the talks.

    Mr Odoi said the NRM Caucus will take the final decision on the duo tomorrow.

    “The chairman of the party will sit them down and talk to them. They were not reprimanded because it is a learning process,”Mr Odoi said.

    Yesterday, Ms Kadaga was in celebratory mood, telling MPs from the Bugisu sub-region that CEC endorsed her to retain the Speaker’s job.

    Mr Oulanyah

  • Kenya:Kibaki thanks Kenyans for mourning with his family

    {At one time, Mr Kibaki spoke fondly about his wife, reminiscing their good times together.}

    Former President Mwai Kibaki has thanked Kenyans for the love and support they have shown to his family following the demise of his wife, former first lady Lucy Muthoni Kibaki.

    Speaking at his Muthaiga home Tuesday, Mr Kibaki appealed to Kenyans and the world to pray for his family and turn up in large numbers during the burial of Mama Lucy in Othaya on Saturday.

    It was the first time the former president was speaking publicly since the death of his wife at Bupa Cromwell Hospital in London, United Kingdom on April 26, 2016.

    Mr Kibaki urged Kenyans to emulate his wife’s deeds.

    Speaking to a delegation of dignitaries and government officials who had gone to pay tribute to Mama Lucy, the former president expressed his gratitude to Kenyans for standing with his family during trying times.

    “Thank you for turning up in large numbers and praying for us. I am happy and humbled. You are welcome to her home. It is indeed her home because she designed and built it. We are left with memories. Othaya is just here,” he told the more than 40 envoys.

    At one time, Mr Kibaki spoke fondly about his wife, reminiscing their good times together.

    “She was happy here; it has been great and wonderful. Such support is what keeps us strong and going,” said the grief-stricken Mr Kibaki.

    Mid-morning, a delegation from Meru, led by former head of public service Francis Muthaura, had visited the former head of State to deliver their condolences.

    A portrait of former First Lady Lucy Kibaki placed next to a condolence book at Harambee House in Nairobi on May 3, 2016. Former President Mwai Kibaki has thanked Kenyans for standing with his family as they mourn Mama Lucy.

  • Tanzania:Cholera, flood victims in Zanzibar receive aid

    {The Zanzibar government has thanked individuals and organisations who have been providing Aid to victims rendered homeless by floods and Cholera patients in the Islands.}

    The Second Vice President, Ambassador Seif Ali Iddi made the appreciation message here after receiving donation from the ZTE Corporation, the latest to give Aid to both Cholera and Floods victims.

    ZTE, a Chinese multinational telecommu-nications equipment and systems company, donated Bed-sheets, hospital gloves, water and other equipment for the Cholera victims in ‘Cholera Treatment Centres (CTCs),’ before handing over Aid to about 420 flood victims sheltered at Mwanakwerekwe school.

    “We are thankful to all people and different organisations supporting us at this difficult time,” Mr Iddi said as the ZTE representative in the country Mr Wayne Zhu said “Our Company will continue to support Zanzibar to overcome challenges.”

    Before the ZTE donation, another Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company- Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd donated 10,000kg of rice and 400 cartons of water.

    Other local organisations like Al Ikhlas Charitable society and the ‘Zanzibar Social Security Fund (ZSSF)’, and individual persons have also donated food staff, cloths, and sanitary equipment to the people displaced by floods.

    The Principal Secretary (PS) Dr Juma Malik Akili and the deputy Minister, Ms Harusi Said Suleiman in the Ministry of Health also thanked donors for the aid as the Minister of State (Disaster management), Mr Mohamed Aboud Mohamed said that an investigation is underway to find out why the town suburbs remain a flood chronic area.

    “We have to find out why Zanzibar is hit by floods frequently, so that we can come to lasting solution,” said Mr Mohamed. However, the Minister asked members of the public to stop inappropriate disposal of wastes as it blocks the drainage infrastructures for rain water.

    “Keeping our surroundings clean, avoiding construction of houses in authorised areas, and observing ‘rural and town master plan’, will definitely help us minimize floods and cholera,” said Mr Mohamed.

    Second Vice-President, Ambassador Mr Seif Ali Iddi.