Tag: GreatLakesNews

{After winding up work in the city, Safina Namawejje would retire to her home around Makerere-Kavule zone, Kampala. Namawejje was known in the area for her tranquillity and solitary life.}

But between May 2 and May 6, 2002, a man would be seen loitering around Namawejje’s home every afternoon and evening. Her neighbours were puzzled by the consistent efforts of the youth. However, none wanted to get involved in affairs that didn’t concern them. They just observed him and proceeded with their business.

Mr Farouk Namugera, a boda boda cyclist operating near Namawejje’s home, said at around 3pm, he saw the man following Namawejje whenever she was returning home. “The man would then walk past her home and continue on his journey. He did it for some days,” Mr Namugera later told the police.

At around 8:30pm on May 2, 2002, as Namawejje strolled around the village, boda boda cyclists at the nearby stage saw the man trailing her. A few metres away from where they were seated, Mr Namugera said they heard a woman yelling that she had been killed.

“Omusajja anzise (the man has killed me),” Mr Namugera recalled the woman crying out loud. “She jumped around in pain and she seemed to have lost her sight because she was staggering and tripping. Then I saw the man we had seen for several days closely following her running away towards Bwaise area,” he recalled.

Namugera and other residents rushed to find out what had happened to her. They found Namawejje groaning in pain. Their first assessment revealed that she was wet and she quickly revealed to them that a man had poured a liquid that was irritating her skin. A close look revealed to them that the man had poured acid on her. Namugera swiftly picked her and put her on a motorcycle and took her to Mulago National Referral Hospital.

By the time she reached the hospital, she was in bad shape. The skin had started peeling off. Meanwhile, her attack infuriated residents after they discovered a container that the suspect had abandoned at the scene. Although it was dark, they chose to carry out a hunt for him.

The attacker had fled towards Bwaise, an area that is populated and has many unplanned buildings, which is very easy for someone to disappear without a trace.

Nevertheless, the residents pursued him. Mr George Byaruhanga and Mr Arthur Kanakulya participated in the hunt.
Mr Byaruhanga said they expected the suspect to be far, but they moved for about 800 metres and intercepted him when he was about to connect to the main road and jump on a motorcycle.
Byaruhanga said the suspect was easy to identify since he had injuries on the face.

Upon arrest, residents asked him why he had poured acid on an innocent woman. The man, who identified himself as Mike Kyoterekera, said someone had poured acid on them as they were walking and he was also a victim.

He showed them the injuries he had sustained in the attack. The residents were sceptical so they asked him why he was fleeing the scene if he had also been a victim. Kyoterekera’s answer was clear. He was running thinking that the attackers were pursuing him to finish him off.

However, residents were not convinced so they took him back to the area where the woman had been attacked. More people converged. Some claimed to have seen him in the area for more than four days tracking the same woman. Others claimed that they saw him moving around the area with the container that was abandoned at the scene.

{The babies born Thursday and who were due to be flown to KNH for specialised treatment.}

Two conjoined twins born at the Coast Provincial General Hospital in Mombasa died early Sunday morning.

The babies born Thursday and who were due to be flown to Kenyatta National Hospital for specialised treatment died while at the ICU despite doctors’ efforts to resuscitate them.

Confirming their deaths, CPGH chief administrator Dr Iqbal Khandwalla told the Nation.co.ke that they tried all they could to save but the efforts were unsuccessful.

“The twins passed on last night at about 12.30am, one was doing poorly and since they were connected, the other one also followed. We had a full team there including the anaesthetist; we tried our best but they still died.

“Such babies are delicate, they have congenital complications, major blood vessels were shared, and the liver was shared. They were joined from the chest downwards,” said Dr Khandwalla.

The twin boys born on Thursday morning were joined at the abdomen and were to be flown to Nairobi by the Amref flying doctors for urgent surgery.

Dr Khandwalla said the babies were being fed through intravenous tubes.

“You don’t breastfeed such babies, they were being fed through intravenous tubes,” he said.

He added that their mother’s condition was good and stable as she went through a caesarean section, which he termed ‘normal’.

{Tanzania is leading in the East African Community (EAC) region in guaranteeing the freedom of the press as provided for in the Constitution, Minister of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Mr Nape Nnauye, has said.}

Mr Nnauye told the National Assembly here yesterday that a report conducted in 180 countries as far as freedom of press was concerned by independent journalists also ranked Tanzania in the 11th position in Africa and was in the 71st positions worldwide.

Debating budget estimates of the President’s Office, the minister said, “These results show that we are doing very well as a country in guiding and preserving freedom of the press. This contradicts claims that we have been undermining freedom of the press.”

He also reacted to some concerned Members of Parliament (MPs), who had advanced that the executive was interfering in the functions, duties and powers of the Parliament, particularly regarding the establishment of a studio to control broadcasts of Bunge sessions before they were aired by other radio and television stations.

The minister explained that the Parliament was operating the studio on its own without any interference and that only technical support was obtained from the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) and other government agencies.

“We have agreed to provide this support until the Parliament gets its own staff to operate the studio. This is not strange as other people might think. So the claims that the executive is interfering in the operation in the Parliament are pure false,” Mr Nape said.

When debating budget estimates on the Prime Minister’s Office presented House last week, the minister defended the decision by the Parliament to establish a studio, saying it has positive effects, including reduction of costs.

He said that radio and television stations would not be obliged to instal broadcast systems inside the debating chamber. Instead, according to the minister, the stations would receive the signals through satellite for public consumption.

The new studio will be operating under Clean Feed and independent radio and television stations would need to hook frequencies of the Parliament, if it would need to broadcast live Bunge sessions.

The Parliament studio will be processing information on its own before circulating to other media organs.

Minister Nnauye, therefore, refuted claims by the opposition camp that through the Parliamentary studio there would be total blackout of Parliamentary proceedings, an act which would deny ‘wananchi’ their constitutional rights of information.

{President John Magufuli yesterday pledged to allocate more resources to the law enforcers but condemned frauds in the force, threatening stern legal measures against the embezzlers.}

The president ordered the police force and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to perform their duties, with the national interest at hearts. Dr Magufuli, addressing Regional Police Commanders, Principal State Attorneys and Regional Crimes Officers in their two-day meeting here, acknowledged challenges impeding the performance of the police, promising to address them head-on.

He vowed to marshal more resources to support smooth execution of the force duties, cautioning them against the misuse of even the meagre funds availed to them.

The president cited misappropriation in procurement of police accessories and uniforms as well as some shoddy contracts that the police have entered with investors as critical issues that weaken the police activities.

He particularly questioned the contract between the force and the investor on the Oysterbay development project. “Oysterbay is a very prime place but you (police) have entered on contracts that are best known to yourselves … someone was given the area and is now developing it,” charged the president, wondering whether the project is indeed in the public interest.

He questioned why the force could not have acquired the title deed for the land and used it as collateral to get loans for the construction of houses to accommodate the police officers. “Let me be open here …. I want you (police) to understand the direction I want you to go,” he stressed.

The president asked the DDP office to work with integrity, expressing his disappointment over the DDP office’s failure to settle court cases despite having enough lawyers.

“I appeal to the state attorneys and the police’s criminal investigation department to always give priority to the country’s interests … I am saying this because some state attorneys do receive tips to mishandle cases at the expense of the public,” he charged.

The head of state charged that the corrupt practices by the state attorneys lead to conspiracy with their private counterparts, resulting into sloppy handling of the cases. He underscored the need for the police force to abstain from bad conducts like engagement in drugs and illegal weapons.

Earlier, the police decried financial constraints. The force had told the president that lack of enough funds was among the challenges that leads to poor working environment.

{Residents on islands of Bugaba, Kasizi, Kagoonya and Bukasa in Kalangala District are living in crocodile scare following increasing attacks on humans by the water beast.}

Most of the victims are attacked while fetching water from Lake Victoria.

The residents voiced out their fear during a meeting with Kyamuswa County MP-elect Carol Nanyondo Birungi on Wednesday.

Ms Nanyondo visited the area following reports that residents were staying indoors for fear of being killed by the reptiles.

Residents led by Mr Augustine Muwanguzi from Kaazi Bugaba Landing Site in Bufumira Sub–county, said crocodiles have for the last three weeks been coming near the fishing village.

Almost all landing sites in Kalangala District have suffered crocodile threat. Three weeks ago, a crocodile invaded Bwendero Landing Site in Bujumba Sub-county and killed a man only identified as Ssebuyira, who was fishing on Lake Victoria.

Ms Nanyondo asked the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to work with local leaders to address the problem. “We want these reptiles for tourism but peoples’ lives are also important and their concerns shouldn’t be taken lightly, ” she said.

Mr Peter Ogwang, a UWA safety officer, blamed the communities on the lake shores for destroying habitats thus exposing themselves to crocodiles.

He, however, said UWA would soon dispatch a team to the Islands to pick all marauding crocodiles and transfer them to game reserves.

{People are still trapped in the building as voices can be heard in the rubble.}

President Kenyatta on Saturday visited the scene where a building collapsed killing seven people during heavy rains.

The President was accompanied by Nairobi Women Representative Rachel Shebesh, Deputy Governor Jonathan Mueke, Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru and Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet.

County officials said seven people have been confirmed dead and that the number could rise as search and rescue efforts continue.

More than 133 people have so far been rescued from the rubble.

Kenya Defence Forces have been deployed to assist in rescue operations.

Mr Mueke ordered people residing in adjacent buildings to evacuate immediately to avoid a similar disaster.

According to the National Disaster Operations Centre officials, people are still trapped in the building as voices can be heard in the rubble.

The six-storey building had 198 rooms.

Kenya Red Cross on Saturday said at least 1,000 people have been displaced in Mathare and Mukuru slums following heavy rains that pounded Nairobi on Friday.

“Approximately 800 households (were) affected in Mukuru Kayaba, Land Mawe, Kinyago last evening (Friday),” the humanitarian organisation added.

{Officials from Uganda and Tanzania yesterday convened for the first time to discuss work plan for the development of the proposed 8.7 trillion/-crude oil export pipeline.}

The Ugandan Minister for Energy and Minerals Development, Eng Irene Muloni, told reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the meeting held at Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam, cleared a path for the commencement of the crucial project that would benefit both countries.

“Today marks the beginning of the commencement of the pipeline, we need support from everyone including communities and the media, so that plans put in place can succeed,” she noted Eng Muloni said in their first meeting focus was on defining the project structure and its timeline in which they want it to be completed before 2020.

The 1,400km pipeline will run from Hoima District in the Albertine Graben through Masaka and Mutukula in Uganda to Bukoba, Biharamulo, Shinyanga and finally to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga in Tanzania.

The meeting was attended by officials from companies with stake in the discovered oil in Uganda, including Total E&P of France, Tullow Oil of United Kingdom as well as China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo, said that the meeting was in response to a directive by heads of state of the two countries who wished to see the project taking off immediately.

“We will be having another meeting on 26 May in Hoima, in which experts will present to us further steps to take in accomplishing this work,” said Prof Muhongo. According to Eng Muloni, the oil pipeline construction work will also involve building an oil refinery plant which will cost about 4.7bn/-.

The government of Tanzania will be involved in its construction through the Public Private Partnership (PPP). Prof Muhongo said 40 per cent of the shares in the oil refinery construction have been given to East African Countries (EAC) which means each country will have eight per cent of shares. Expounding further, he said the shares will cost Tanzania 150.4bn/-.

Mechanism on proper way to buy them was being put in place and that the private sector will be involved in the process, he added. Last Saturday, Uganda chose the Tanzanian route to export its crude oil amid competition from Kenya, which also wanted to clinch the deal to transport oil to yet to be constructed Lamu Port in North-Eastern Kenya.

President Yoweri Museveni made the decision to construct the pipeline through Tanzania during the 13th Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) Summit in Kampala, which was also attended by President Paul Kagame and Uhuru Kenyatta of Rwanda and Kenya, respectively.

The envisaged pipeline through Tanzania will be of benefit not only to Uganda and Tanzania but other countries in the region such as Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).

{Condolence books will be opened at Harambee House.}

The body of the former First Lady Lucy Kibaki will be flown from London to Nairobi aboard a Kenya Airways flight.

Kenya’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mr Lazarus Amayo, said the flight will leave London at 5.55pm on Saturday and land at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 4.30am on Sunday.

The former First Lady died on Tuesday while being treated at the Bupa Cromwell Hospital in South West London.

President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the passing of the former First Lady on Tuesday morning.

On Thursday, a government statement said that once the body arrives, there will be three days of national mourning and flags throughout the country will fly at half-staff.

(Read: Govt plans three days of mourning for Lucy Kibaki)

And starting Friday, condolence books will be opened at Harambee House, which houses the President’s Office, Parliament buildings.

Other condolence books will be placed at Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Holy Family Basilica, Consolata Shrine, Westlands and all 47 county headquarters.

“A national working committee comprising members of the Kibaki family and government officials has been set up and is responsible for ensuring that the former First Lady is given a befitting send-off,” said a statement sent to the Nation by Government Spokesman Eric Kiraithe.

It went on: “The national working committee is also responsible for releasing timely and coordinated information of interest to the public.”

The Kenyan High Commission in London has also announced that it will Friday host a prayer meeting with members of the Kibaki family who had accompanied Mama Lucy.

Kenyans living in the UK have been invited to the 5.45pm-7pm event.

On Thursday, Kenyans living in the UK, ambassadors from various countries and friends of Kenya visited the Kenyan High Commission to sign the condolence book.

AN EXEMPLARY LADY

Ms Elizabeth Kang’ethe, a former Mayor in the Borough of Newham in the UK, said: “Mama Lucy is gone but will be remembered in so many different ways. First as a woman leader in politics. I will remember her for inspiration. She encouraged women to be pushy and aggressive in a nice way in order to take on leadership positions and so I have done exactly that and I’m still going on. Thank you mum.”

Ms Kang’ethe said her father, Mr Richard Kang’ethe, worked with the former First Lady when she was a teacher at Kambui Intermediate School and that her campaign against HIV/Aids cannot be forgotten.

Mr Aggrey Kikaya, a Kenyan-born engineer living in London, said Mama Lucy will be remembered for being a great family protector.

Mr Karanja Njiiri, popularly known in London as Mister Seed, was among those who sent their condolences to the Kibaki family.

Another Kenyan, Mr Thomas Musau, said: “Mama Lucy was a no-nonsense lady who was focused on putting family first and the interest of local mwananchi.”

Ms Thuku Benzinge, also known as Miss Scuba Kenya, said: “We can definitely celebrate the legacy that she left with all her work in leadership.”