Tag: GreatLakesNews

{The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo said on Saturday it had received new allegations of sexual abuse against its soldiers.}

The United Nations announced earlier this month that it was investigating accusations that Tanzanian peacekeepers based in northeastern Congo had sexually abused and exploited five women and six girls, leaving them all pregnant.

The head of the U.N. mission in Congo, Maman Sidikou, told reporters in the capital Kinshasa that those 11 cases had involved members of Tanzanian units that left Congo last July but that seven more allegations had since surfaced.

Five involve Tanzanian soldiers who arrived last September, one involves the South African contingent and the seventh case involves forces from Malawi.

“All of these cases are presumed cases of either pregnancy or of paternity … and eight of the victims are minors,” Sidikou said, adding that investigations were underway.

U.N. peacekeeping missions have been beset by accusations of sexual abuse. The United Nations reported 99 such allegations against staff members across the U.N. system last year.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, which was initially established during a civil war that lasted from 1998-2003, is the world’s largest, with around 20,000 uniformed personnel.

{During the “Kagera Operation” that lasted 25 minutes, the Uganda Army used heavy artillery and aerial bombardment to defeat the Tanzanian army who had for 21 days occupied Ugandan territory.}

The retreating Tanzanian army could not defend their other tactical base inside Tanzania. The Ugandan forces followed them inside Tanzania and occupied a territory where they committed heinous crimes against innocent Tanzanians in revenge.

On November 1, 1978, having occupied the Tanzanian territory of approximately 1,870 Sq. km for a whole month, Amin through the Defence Council, issued a public announcement on Radio Uganda about the annexation of the Tanzanian territory.

“We inform the nation and the world at large that new Uganda/Tanzania border is now up to River Kagera [inside Tanzania]. The captured territory will be made a full district of Uganda soon, although the army occupies it temporally,” Amin’s statement read.

“All Tanzanians in the captured area up to River Kagera must know that they are under the direct rule of the Conqueror of the British Empire, Field Marshal Amin. However, they will be treated as brothers and sisters of the people of Uganda.”

Amin came under international pressure, especially from African countries, to withdraw from the occupied Tanzanian territory. Then Nigerian president Lt Gen Olusegun Obasanjo convinced Amin to withdraw his troops from Tanzania.

Earlier, Amin had vowed not to leave Tanzania until president Julius Nyerere writes a written assurance that he would never again invade Uganda, which Nyerere refused to do. Nonetheless, Uganda finally withdrew its troops on November 1, 1978.

Tanzania regroups
By attacking Tanzania, perhaps in self-defence, Amin had humiliated Nyerere and a military defeat was the equivalent Amin would get from Nyerere.

When Uganda withdrew its troops, it gave the Tanzanian army chance to regroup near the Ugandan border. For two months, Tanzanian forces reorganised as they prepared for war and on November 27, 1978, they re-attacked Uganda and overrun the Mutukula Post in Rakai District. The Mutukula II battle was the beginning of the war that deposed Amin.

{{Propaganda war}}

In war, propaganda is a must-employ tool. At the time, no one knew its effectiveness better than Nyerere and the Obote supporters who were in exile in Tanzania.
As a result, Nyerere offered 45 minutes on Radio Tanzania to air well-packaged propaganda in form of news, views and analysis in Luganda and Swahili. The late Sam Odaka, the former minister of Foreign Affairs before the January 1971 coup, was the show host. The programme that aired between 10:15pm to 11pm daily did a lot in breaking the morale of Ugandan soldiers.

Capt Taban Suleiman, a former soldier in the Uganda Army, told Sunday Monitor that propaganda was another tool used to demoralise and divide the army which eventually led to the loss of the war.

One of the lies used was that Amin was a cannibal who ate his own son called Moses. In late November 1978, Radio Tanzania claimed that the much feared General Staff Officer class one (GSO/I) in charge of training and operations, Brig Isaac Maliyamungu, had been dismissed and put under house arrest by Amin.

The radio also declared many senior officers missing in action or said they had crossed to what they called the “liberation army”. Indeed some crossed, including Capt Nkwanga.

While the propaganda worked, it also caused death to some officers such as Brig Yorokamu Tizihwayo, the brigade commander of the western command who was killed in Kasese on suspicion that he was in contact with the enemy (Fronasa) with intent to desert and join them. The show kept on until Kampala fell.

{Victims promised resettlement as leaders tell off Cord over incitement.}

Themes of reconciliation and national unity dominated the major rally held by the Jubilee coalition in Nakuru where President Kenyatta seemed to slam the door shut on any further cooperation with the International Criminal Court.

The President said no other Kenyan would be tried in The Hague.

“It has been a painful journey for all of us. Many lost life and many properties were destroyed. As leaders, we have said that we will never go back to that route,” said the President. “We would not wish any Kenyan to go through the experience we have had.”

Speaking to thousands of supporters, President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto struck notes of reconciliation, with the President saying he would “extend a hand” to work with the opposition to heal the nation.

But he followed that up with a threat to prosecute anyone inciting the masses. “Any leader who promotes hatred and violence should know that the full force of the law will be applied without regard to their position,” said Mr Kenyatta.

Speaking in Kiswahili, he declared the five-year relationship with the ICC over.

“That chapter we have closed. We have our own courts, we will sort out our own issues. I don’t want to see any Kenyan going out there again, we are not going back there…that chapter is closed…” said President Kenyatta.

The ICC prosecutor Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has issued warrants against three Kenyans, former journalist Walter Barasa, lawyer Paul Gicheru and Phillip Bett for alleged witness interference.

Kenya is legally bound to cooperate with the ICC as a signatory of the Rome Statute but MPs have been threatening to pull the country out from the ICC.

This would not affect the prosecutor’s actions against the trio.

The choice of Nakuru for the rally was laced with symbolism, because it was in that town that the Jubilee coalition was launched in December 2012.

OCAMPO SIX

With the cases behind them, the Ocampo Six rode through the town and into the dusty compound across Afraha Stadium, dubbed Afraha Annex, because the stadium was deemed too small for the expected numbers during the thanksgiving prayers.

All the individuals who appeared at The Hague as suspects expressed their gratitude to the Kenyans who prayed for them.

They also thanked their lawyers, their families and the MPs and well-wishers who travelled to The Hague to support them.

President Kenyatta, Mr Ruto and the rest of the politicians vowed that never again would blood be shed and property destroyed because of political competition.

“Mr President. My friend. I have told you in private and I will tell you today in public, that you have an opportunity, and me as your deputy will support you, to make sure that Kenya becomes one. You have my unqualified support, all of us, you have our support Mr President.”

He added: “Under your leadership it’s my prayer that God shall give us the grace and the favour that never again shall the people of this country shed innocent blood or destroy property on account of political competition,” said the Deputy President.

Mr Ruto, President Kenyatta and Interior Cabinet Secretary Mr Joseph Nkaissery also warned that the government would crack down on politicians who seek to stir up ethnic hatred through hate speech and propaganda.

Speaking in Kiswahili, President Kenyatta said: “If I Uhuru lose the election, I will just pack my bags and go rest at Ichaweri.” (Ichaweri is his rural home in Gatundu, Kiambu County).

SOCIAL MEDIA USERS

Mr Nkaissery said the authorities would specifically target social media users.

“Those who spread rumours and incitement, we’ll be with you on the spot. We have the capacity and we’ll come for you,” he said.

Nakuru’s town centre was closed to motorists with hundreds of National Youth Service, prison warders and Kenya Forest Service personnel called in and regular police summoned from other parts of the country.

About 4,000 officers, some from neighbouring counties Baringo, Narok and Nyandarua, were on hand to guide the crowds and at the gate, to pat down everybody going in and verify their identities.

Afraha Stadium, across the road from Afraha Annex, was the first camp established when violence broke out after the 2007 presidential election.

Most of those who ended up there were perceived to be ODM supporters.

Five years later, the stadium was the preferred venue for the declaration by President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto that they would go to the 2013 election as the Jubilee Coalition, the exchange of red and yellow caps marking the symbolic joining of their parties.

Bishop Mark Kariuki who led the prayers, described the cosmopolitan town as Kenya’s spiritual headquarters.

“Whatever decision is made here affects the entire nation. Even the decision you made here has affected the whole nation,” he said, referring to that meeting in December 2012.

Representatives of the Internally Displaced Persons were also given a chance to state their views.

Paul Kariuki, who chaired the IDPs, said there are still 160 families at Muhu Farm in need of assistance, even as he praised efforts to resettle IDPs.

Ms Ann Bett, one of those evicted from Mau Forest, said there were others left out of the resettlement while Robert Opiyo and Simon Mutali also asked for the resettlement of everyone.

{{POLITICAL RHETORIC}}

There was little of the political rhetoric and the exchanges with opposition chief Raila Odinga that have dominated headlines in the past week and those who got the chance to address the thousands in attendance steered clear of coalition politics.

Mr Ruto however referred to the question of victims, whose plight has been highlighted by the Opposition and civil society groups in the wake of the dropping of the charges against him and the ICC.

“Victims of the post-election violence are our friends, we went to Sunday school with them, we attended the same schools, they are our neighbours. It is our responsibility. We will assume the responsibility and we’ll take care of them,” he added.

Deputy Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen declared April the month of forgiveness and reconciliation. “As a country we want to commit that the nation will be reconciled with God going forward we will only preach peace,” he said.

Deputy Majority Leader in the National Assembly Dr Naomi Shaban set the tone of the meeting soon after clergymen concluded the prayer session, urging leaders to keep Kenya together and forget the pains.

“Let (former Chief Prosecutor Luis-Moreno) Ocampo be forgiven freely and the Lord himself will know how to deal with him,” said Dr Shaban who was the first to be invited to speak by Energy Cabinet Secretary Mr Charles Keter, the moderator of the political session.

Mr Murkomen urged Kenyans to blacklist those who preach hatred and fan violence.

“It is you Kenyans who reward violent politicians. Ban them, we want you to deny us your votes, we want to ask the media to glorify those that preach peace and give a blackout to those speaking hatred,” he said.

Mr Duale said no blood would be shed again on the basis of political competition and urged the president to embark on a journey of uniting Kenyans.

“This is what you will be remembered for and that road I know you are starting it now here at Afraha. We have no doubt you will write a history where you will leave a legacy of a united cohesive reconciled nation,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Prof Kindiki Kithure likened the Ocampo Six to the Kapenguria Six, who went through a sham trial in the emergency period before independence.

“We are here today to celebrate the return of the six Kenyans who were framed by enemies and taken to be charged in foreign countries,” he said.

{{BLOCKED ROADS}}

“Never again shall we shed blood brother against brother, sister against sister, as we move into a country of peace, forgiveness and unity. We thank God, Kenya shall never be the same again,” he said.

Nairobi Senator Gideon Mbuvi alias Mike Sonko said it was not a day for politics but one reserved to thank Kenyans.

“Some of us blocked roads at The Hague, but we knew it was all propaganda and nonsense,” he said.

He them led Kenyans in choruses of “Si uchawi – ni maombi” (we didn’t rely on witchcraft but prayers) and “hakuna Mungu kama wewe” (there is no God like you).

{Dar Es Salaam city authorities have been directed to formulate bylaws that will bite deeper into the pockets of people who litter and deface the mirror of the country.}

Issuing the directive yesterday, President John Magufuli said that there should be bigger fines for people who litter the city and people who can ‘whistle blow’ on these culprits should be encouraged and awarded even up to 80 per cent of the fine.

“The government is taking numerous steps at giving the city of Dar es Salaam which is the mirror of our country a facelift but this can only be done if its residents change their ways. It often puzzles me why a person when in Kilimanjaro doesn’t litter but doesn’t think twice to the same in Dar es Salaam,” he explained.

According to the globamethane.org website, the capacity of solid waste collection in Dar es Salaam reached in 2012 is around 1,533 tonnes of solid waste per day which is only 37 per cent of total solid waste generated in the city.

President Magufuli said in their efforts to beautify the city, the government has on several occasions put up streetlights that are often knocked down by irresponsible motorists. “Now the relevant authorities have to build concrete slabs to ensure that there is little damage when they are knocked down.

He said that it was sad to note that when the streetlights are knocked by drivers, they are usually witnessed by either other drivers or law enforcers, but little is done to book the culprits and replace damaged poles.

“Allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate the Regional Commissioner (Paul Makonda) for his efforts to beautify the city. Please support his efforts,” he called on the public.

President Magufuli also took the opportunity to urge the city fathers to play their part in cleaning up the city, hastening to caution that they should refrain from using their own companies to do the job.

He said that he would like Dar es Salaam to look like European cities with numerous flyovers and expanded roads, but said that it would be pointless to have all these if cleanliness of the city isn’t maintained.

{The bomb went off at around 7 pm (1700 GMT) on the main road that runs through Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.}

Three people were killed in Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after a bomb exploded in their car late Friday, officials said.

The bomb went off at around 7 pm (1700 GMT) on the main road that runs through Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.

“The victims are two women and a man who were in the vehicle,” said Evariste Manegabe, mayor of Ibanda commune where the incident happened, adding that an investigation had been launched.

“I heard an explosion before the jeep came to an abrupt stop, the windows blown out,” a witness said, adding that he saw the three people inside the car covered in blood.

A police official told AFP that the three dead had not yet been identified.

“Either the vehicle was booby-trapped, or the explosive device was in the vehicle, or it was carried by one of the passengers,” the police official said.

Manegabe added that such incidents were rare in Bukavu.

The two eastern provinces of North and South Kivu have been chronically unstable since two wars wracked the vast country between 1996 and 2003, drawing in armies from neighbouring and southern African countries, who fought in part over access to vast mineral wealth.

{Holders of East African Community (EAC) passports who previously were limited to travelling to only five countries will from next year be able to cover other parts of the world.}

Speaking after a sensitisation seminar for Members of Parliament (MPs) of the Standing Order Committees on the integration process, the chairman of Tanzanian MPs in the EA Legislative Assembly (EALA), Mr Makongoro Nyerere, said that this comes after presidents of member states signed an agreement.

“Following the signing, the community decided to upgrade the status of the EAC passport by making it international. Already the design has been picked where it will be uniform but each country will have its own name,” he said.

Mr Nyerere explained that this is the first part of the phasing out of national passports and that the production of the newly designed passports has begun with specific quotas going to individual countries.

Earlier, Mr Nyerere had given a talk on the integration process of the EAC, saying that the process had not gone as planned because politicians have not shown the required zeal, but there was a need to revive the push and massively educate the masses on the opportunities and challenges.

He said that the agreed areas of cooperation among member states include trade, infrastructure, investment, industry promotion, increased quality, financial services, human resources, science and technology, agriculture and food security, environment and natural resources, tourism and wildlife, health, social welfare and development, gender equity, politics, security and the judiciary.

“The community has made great strides in some of these areas of cooperation like the one stop border posts where a Tanzanian coming in from Kenya only goes through the immigration on that side, this helps save time. Others are the collective construction of roads like the Arusha-Namanga-Athi River and the collective generation of energy,” he said.

During discussions, a number of issues were raised like the one stop border posts and that apart from educating the masses on the opportunities that exist in the free movement of goods and people, the very people around and in these border posts needed to be enlightened because evidence suggests they do not know.

EALA member, Dr Nderakindo Kessy, concurred that sensitising the masses was a vital component in the revival of the integration, but was quick to add that the fact that Kiswahili isn’t used in the EALA limits the people as local media from effectively educating the people.

Another member, Ms Maryam Ussi said that the fact that Tanzania lacked an integration policy for the EAC was a stumbling block because she feels it is a vital document that would help give direction on how to overcome the challenges and assist in strategising.

Presently the policy is in its draft stage. Earlier this month, the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) embarked on a sensitisation and outreach drive in all five partner states of the EAC.

The theme of the activity is; “EAC Integration Agenda: Accessing the gains.” This came after a rallying call by the EAC Heads of State, for EALA Members to go out and sensitise East Africans on the integration process and its benefits.

It was noted that citizens were still not averse with the integration issues or the milestones so far realised. The activity will be undertaken in two phases. The first phase will take place in April 2016 while the next is scheduled for June 2016.

The activity will focus on the sensitisation of the EAC citizens on the overall integration process; promote liaison with EAC Parliaments and key stakeholders; promote integration with the civil society and the private sector.

Others are to enhance the mutual relationships and sustainable networking between EALA and EAC populace and informing the EAC populace on the role of EALA in the integration process.

{Attackers are entering refugee camps in Tanzania and other neighbouring countries to hunt down opponents and their relatives.}

Teams of thugs are slipping out of Burundi and into refugee camps in neighbouring countries to launch murderous attacks on exiles, as government militias’ campaign of terror spills over the country’s borders, survivors say.

The central African nation slid into violence last year after the president, Pierre Nkurunziza, pushed aside the constitution and ran for a third term in office. Since then more than 250,000 people have poured across its borders seeking safety in neighbouring Rwanda, Tanzania and Congo.

The exodus has been large enough for attackers to hide among the crowds along with their targets. Such is the threat – made clear in police and medical reports seen by the Guardian – that some Burundians have been moved to their refugee camp’s only guarded living area in an attempt to keep them safe.

Some say they are being targeted to prevent them from sharing their accounts of abuse in a country hovering on the brink of civil war, where thousands have been abducted, tortured, raped and killed. Others believe they are being singled out by people who want to punish family members active in the opposition.

Almost all say the violence that followed them across the border is even more terrifying than what they endured at home, because now they have nowhere to run.

Claude and his family fled after armed men killed his younger brother outside their family home, gang-raped his heavily pregnant wife in front of their young son, and beat him badly. He asked that his real name not be used to protect relatives still inside Burundi from possible reprisal attacks.

Claude says he was targeted after he resisted pressure to back a pro-government relative. A man initially demanded his identity documents so he could use Claude’s vote in the presidential poll, and ultimately tried to coerce him into serving as a driver on nighttime militia raids, he says.

Leaving was difficult and traumatic, and the family’s life in exile was dull and stressful, but it seemed a small price to pay for safety – until the week they found his torturers waiting outside church and saw one of his wife’s rapists lingering in the market in their corner of the camp.

“Where are you staying these days?” the thugs asked him after the family service on Sunday. “So you are here?” the rapist said with a grin a few days later. The nightmare they had sacrificed everything to escape had pursued them across the border.

Claude’s family reported the meetings to authorities at the sprawling Nyarugusu camp, a shanty town of 150,000 people on the Tanzanian border. The third largest refugee settlement in the world, it offers would-be killers plenty of places to hide.

Although the road in and out is closely controlled by the Tanzanian military, there are no fences around the camp, meaning residents can fan out into the surrounding brush to look for firewood, and outsiders can slip in unregistered.

The only response the family got from overstretched workers was advice to be careful. But then Claude was attacked again. He was returning to his tent one evening when someone set on him from behind and wrestled him to the ground, trying to stab and strangle him.

They rolled into a pile of rubbish together as they fought, and Claude’s attacker lost his grip, giving him a chance to run, screaming for help, towards some nearby tents.

After getting treatment for his injuries, Claude begged for help, and this time local elders decided he needed more protection. They petitioned camp authorities to move him into a more secure area.

The area is fenced off and only verified residents are allowed in and out, but security is only relative. Claude and his family have to venture out to get their supply of food and collect firewood to cook it on, and his would-be assassins know where they are.

“I am not safe in that place. Everyone knows that I am not safe,” he said. “One day I had been to get our rations, and I was going back and saw him just smoking outside. I ran.”

Aid workers and experts say they have no evidence that Burundian militias are operating inside Nyarugusu or other camps. But the overcrowded secure area, which also hosts victims of domestic violence, is evidence that some vulnerable residents are considered to be at critical risk from attackers inside the camp.

And a widespread and well-documented fear of reprisal attacks among Burundian refugees in several countries is testament to how extensive the terrifying violence inside the country has become, said Carina Tertsakian, senior researcher for Africa with Human Rights Watch.

“The refugees not only in Tanzania but also in a number of other countries are very frightened and very worried about their security even outside Burundi,” she said. “Whether those threats are real or not, it’s alarming because it shows the degree of fear that Burundians are living with because of the violence inside the country, even when they have left.”

Claude’s neighbour Sylvie lost her husband, a former government employee, after he publicly declared his support for the opposition and began organising for elections. He was shot dead outside their home.

“I heard the shots, but I didn’t know it was my husband they were killing. When I saw his body, I fainted because his face had been destroyed,” said Sylvie, 32, who also asked that her real name not be used to protect her children.

Early the next week, a man who she thinks was the killer contacted her by phone. “Please say your last prayers, because after a short time I will come to kill you,” he told her.

She fled to Tanzania and remembers a few nights of relative peace and security, until one evening when she was cooking outside their tent and someone walked up and slapped her back. He winked at her and said: “Shhh, you have to stop talking,” then walked away. It was the voice from the phone.

She reported it to police, who asked authorities to move her to a different part of the camp, a long way from her old tent. It did not take the man long to track her down again. The next month she was assaulted in the camp latrines. Neighbours found her bleeding and with her face covered in faeces, after an unknown attacker had pushed her head into the ditch to silence her.

When he raised a knife to stab her, she said, his grip loosened for a second and she squirmed away, shouted and raised her arm towards the blade. “I think he wanted to stab me in the chest, but I moved my arm so he slashed that instead.”

Neighbours came running to help when they heard her scream, and the man vanished into the night. Sylvie was taken to hospital where she was given nine stitches in her arm and antibiotics to ward off infection.

After four days in hospital, police asked for her to be moved to the fenced-off area. But she too has seen her attackers lurking outside, and she doubts the camp authorities can hold them off forever.

“They follow me here because I know the whole story of what happened in the government,” Sylvie said. “They think I will share their secrets.”