Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Regional Administrative Secretaries (RASs) have been directed to take stern action against those who incorporated ghost workers on the payroll systems in the district councils.}

The directive was issued by the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, in Lindi during the first day of his working tour of Ruangwa District. He said regional authorities should conduct an exercise to identify all the culprits behind the scandal.

“Those who will be identified in the exercise should be punished in accordance with the Public Service Act,” said the premier after a briefing by the Lindi Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr Godfrey Zambi.

Earlier, Mr Zambi said human resource audit conducted by authorities in Lindi Region last month unearthed a total of 57 public servants who have absconded from workplaces and seven ghost employees, who are costing the government 36m/- a month.

Last month, President John Magufuli instructed accounting officers in government ministries, departments and agencies as well as local governments to conduct human resource audits and get rid of ghost workers on government payroll within a 15-day period.

Dr Magufuli issued the directive in Dar es Salaam after swearing-in new regional commissioners as well as the Commissioner General of Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Mr Alphayo Kidata and Director General of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Mr Valentino Mlowola.

The audit, which was recently conducted in all regional authorities, discovered 7,795 ghost workers on the payroll system, costing taxpayers 7.5bn/-.

Deputy Minister in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Mr Suleiman Jaffo, said at the weekend that some of the ghost workers had started to repay the money that were being disbursed to them illegally.

Opening the Association of Local Authorities Tanzania ALAT meeting in Dodoma, Mr Jaffo directed top officials tin the local government to make sure that the salaries that were channelled to ghost workers were returned.

According to the deputy minister, in some district councils, ghost workers had already started bringing back the money as per President John Magufuli’s directive.

“I have information that in one of the district councils, 5m/- had already been returned by ghost workers,’’ he noted without going into details.

Each month, the government spends between 549bn/- and 550bn/- on the wage bill.

Yet a part of the funds has been used to pay employees currently not serving the government. The president directed the new RCs to supervise District Executive Directors to ensure that ghost workers are identified and scrapped from the payroll in their respective regions.

{Government spokesman says Jason Stearns, of New York University, was expelled for making false declarations to immigration services}

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have expelled a prominent American researcher weeks after he published a report linking soldiers to the massacres of civilians, the government and the researcher’s organisation said on Saturday.

Jason Stearns, the director of the Congo Research Group at New York University, was expelled from the country, to which he makes regular research visits, for making false declarations to immigration services, government spokesman Lambert Mende said.

Immigration authorities “wanted to present him to a judge but finally they decided to expel him”, Mende said, adding that he did not have any details on the nature of those declarations.

The group said the reason given by authorities for Stearns’ expulsion on Thursday was his “undesirability”, and said the immigration irregularities were “minor procedural matters, which we are taking steps to address”.

Related: UN sex abuse scandal: 11 peacekeepers face paternity claims in DR Congo

Its statement said the authorities referred to Stearns’ report about the massacres, without giving further detail.

Last month’s report said that soldiers in Congo’s army had participated in massacres of civilians in the country’s northeast since 2014, although it said it was unclear to what extent the military hierarchy was involved.

Mende sharply criticised the report at a news conference in the days after it was released, accusing Stearns of “abusive generalisation”.

Rights groups say more than 500 people have died in a wave of machete attacks and other raids since October 2014. The government has blamed most of them on a Ugandan Islamist group that has operated in eastern Congo since the 1990s.

Political tensions are high in Congo, where President Joseph Kabila, in power since 2001, is required by the constitution to step down before the end of the year.

Opponents, however, accuse him of trying to delay a presidential election due in for November in order to hold on to power. The United Nations and rights groups say the government is cracking down on dissent through arrests and intimidation of opponents.

The government denies both of these charges. Stearns is a former coordinator of the UN panel of experts in Congo and author of a widely read book about the country’s civil wars from 1996-2003.

{A new submarine cable set to run along the East African coast and into the Red Sea is being planned for launch, which will help boost internet speed and mobile communication in Tanzania.
}
The new fibre-optic cable to be worked by Liquid Telecom, who’s Group Executive Officer, Mr Sam Nkusi is in Arusha and has just held talks with the former Secretary General for the East African Community, Dr Richard Sezibera, at the EAC secretariat here.

According to Nkusi, the proposed submarine cable will take a less congested route to Europe and will interconnect with all existing networks and with other international submarine cables.

According to Liquid Telecom, this will also address the need for mobile operators to increase internet speed delivered over their mobile broadband networks. The Secretary General of the East African Community, Dr Sezibera, lauded Mr Sam Nkusi for the initiative.

The firm is the leading independent data, voice and IP provider in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. The Secretary General, who was accompanied by Eng Robert Achieng, the EAC Senior Engineer in charge of Planning and Communications, warmly welcomed the Liquid Telecom Group Executive to the EAC Headquarters, and was briefed on the operations of Liquid Telecom including the project to build a new submarine cable infrastructure that will provide a cost-effective and reliable link for landlocked, southern, central and east African countries to the internet and to the world.

“Leveraging Liquid Telecom’s 20,000km-long fibre optic terrestrial network, this pan-African private sector project will support fast growing needs for internet connectivity and help Africa’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector leapfrog towards achieving its Sustainable Development Goals” noted the Liquid Telecom CEO.

Mr Nkusi reiterated that the cable, running along the East coast of Africa and into the Red Sea, will take a less congested route to Europe, and will interconnect with all existing networks and with other international submarine cables.

According to Liquid Telecom, this will also address the need for mobile operators to increase internet speed delivered over their mobile broadband networks. He said the project was a major step towards fulfilling EAC’s mission to widen and deepen economic, political, social and cultural integration in order to improve the quality of life of the people of East Africa.

The Secretary General hailed the private sector-led initiative and affirmed the Secretariat and the Community’s support to the project, and urged partner states to support the project.

He noted that the biggest support EAC could provide towards the overall implementation of the project would be to provide a Cross-Border Inter-Connectivity Regulatory Framework in order to guide and facilitate inter-connections across borders within the EAC, and could possibly be shared with other regional economic blocks in Africa.

In a different development, the government of Spain has accredited its Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania, Mr Felix Costales Artieda, to also serve as ambassador to the East African Community.

Mr Felix Costales Artieda today presented his accreditation letter to the Secretary General of the East African Community, Dr Sezibera. Ambassador Felix Artieda informed the Secretary General that his government attaches great importance to regional economic groupings such as the EAC and congratulated the EAC Secretary General for the wonderful regional initiative.

“Count on Spain’s support because the goals of the community are excellent for the prosperity of the people in the region”, asserted the Spain envoy, adding that “regional integration initiatives take time but you need to continue so as to build a strong and powerful bloc”. Receiving the Spanish envoy, Amb Dr. Richard Sezibera hailed the existing cordial relations between the EAC and Spain.

The Secretary General welcomed the support from the Spanish government geared towards enabling the community to achieve its ambitious agenda. Dr Sezibera briefed him on the progress being registered by the Community so far that includes implementation of Protocols on the Customs Union, Common Market and East African Monetary Union. The EAC Secretary General also met the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Lv Youqing for bilateral discussion.

The two parties deliberated on a number of areas that offer the potential for collaboration between EAC and China including the cooperation in aviation and trade sectors.

The EAC Secretary General appreciated the Chinese for their role in infrastructure development in the EAC Partner States and specifically for their support to the Secretariat. On his part, the Chinese Ambassador, commended the Secretariat for the role they play in promoting regional cooperation and integration.

{Angered by the recent spate of violence in the Rwenzori region, President Museveni has ruled out dialogue with the perpetrators and vowed to deal with them “decisively and without compromise”.}

The Rwenzori sub-region has for the past one month been rocked by violence with attacks claiming lives of more than 40 people, including security personnel while more than 8,000 people have been displaced in Bundibugyo District alone.

The violence took a turn for the worse this week when four people, including two UPDF officers were killed during clashes at Rwenzururu King Charles Mumbere’s palace, forcing the army to withdraw its soldiers from there.

On Tuesday, Mr Museveni pitched camp in the region where he made a security assessment tours of the affected areas ranging from Bundibugyo and vowed that those involved in the fighting have one option of surrendering.

A State House statement yesterday quoted Mr Museveni saying government will not engage in discussion with perpetrators of “criminal acts of murder and rape” and that those who “destroy the properties of the State and ordinary citizens” would not be spared.
“No one has a right to kill or rape a Ugandan not even to abuse a Ugandan. Nobody has a right to damage someone’s property not even someone’s chicken. No one should tarnish the name of Uganda and scare away business people and tourists. We shall not have any discussion or compromise on the above,”Mr Museveni said.

Rattled by the killings, Mr Museveni during his four-day trip ended yesterday, said there will be no room for discussion.

“…I think we have been a bit relaxed but it’s time we go back to the National Resistance Movement core principle; where no matter who you are, you should never infringe on the rights of other Ugandans, especially the right to life,” he said.
The President also warned residents against dragging cultural leaders into partisan politics and public administration.

The UPDF on Wednesday launched an operation code-named Usalama Rwenzori as Mr Museveni ordered an increase in deployment of security personnel in Bundibugyo.

{Jason Stearns is director of New York University’s Congo Research Group.}

Authorities in Kinshasa have expelled a US researcher specialising in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an official source said Friday.

According to a diplomatic source, Jason Stearns, director of New York University’s Congo Research Group, was sent by plane late Thursday to Europe, from where he was expected to head to the United States.

Stearns “deceived the immigration service” over his place of residence in Kinshasa, a senior Congolese official told AFP, adding that the researcher was invited to the DRC by “an NGO which is not properly registered” in the country.

“But it is more serious,” the official said, without wishing to say more.

Stearns was quoted by Bloomberg news agency in an April 5 article about a person close to Congolese President Joseph Kabila whose name is mentioned in the “Panama Papers” leaks that revealed how the wealthy in many countries stashed their riches offshore.

The Bloomberg story quotes an email from Stearns in which he says the agency’s work on the documents “offers a rare glimpse into what we assume is a large and diverse array of assets owned by the president’s family”.

At a press conference Friday, government spokesman Lambert Mende warned journalists in Congo against publication of the names of Congolese personalities mentioned in the Panama Papers.

He said some people cited in the leaks are ready to launch legal proceedings if their names appear in the media, “because these people say they have no accounts in Panama”.

“You have to be very careful (before) naming names because you may end up in court and then say that there is no freedom in Congo… but people are also entitled to their honour,” he added.

Stearns, who spent several years in the DRC, especially during the 1998-2003 war, is the author of a reference work on the conflict, “Dancing in the Glory of Monsters”.

His research group published a report in March on a series of massacres of civilians in North Kivu province since October 2014, claiming that soldiers from the regular army participated in the killings, allegations refuted by Mende.

{Chase Bank had a significant clientele in the diaspora following an aggressive campaign to woo investors abroad in 2014 and 2015.}

Kenyans in the diaspora, some of whom banked with the fallen Chase Bank, have reacted angrily to the news of its insolvency, with most wondering why the customers were not warned of the impending closure in good time.

Chase Bank, which was placed under receivership on Wednesday, became the third bank to fall in that category in less than a year.

It had a significant clientele in the diaspora following an aggressive campaign to woo investors outside the country in 2014 and part of 2015.

Kenyans abroad are now appealing to the government to ensure that all banking institutions conform to rules and regulations that guarantee the security of customers’ funds.

In a letter sent to the Central Bank Governor and copied to the Nation by a US based lobby group, Kenyan for Kenya (FKF), the members seek the government’s intervention to “ensure the restoration of the fast-waning investor confidence among Kenyans in the Diaspora.”

The letter signed by the lobby chairman, Mr Peter Makanga, suggests that Kenya emulates the United States, which, in 1936, established a Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation (FDIC), to ensure that individual depositors don’t lose their savings even when banks go under.

“This will go a long way in ensuring that Kenyans residing out of the country continue remitting money to their motherland without unnecessary inhibition,” reads part of the statement.

Kenya already has a deposit insurance scheme, established in 1985, to provide cover for depositors and act as a liquidator of failed banking institutions.

The Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KIDC) is established under Section 36 of the Banking Act, Chapter 48 of the Kenyan laws.

A depositor in Kenya is guaranteed payment of a maximum of Sh 100,000 in case of failure of a member institution.

Any excess amount is paid as liquidation dividend after the liquidator has recovered sufficient funds from the sale of the institution’s assets and recovery of debts.

In the US, each depositor is insured to at least $250,000 per insured bank, according to information on the FDIC website.

SOCIAL MEDIA VIEWS

The Kenyans in diaspora took to social media to make their views known.

@Kathyjoe tweeted: “It’s high time they emulated most of the civilised societies where no money gets lost as it is not the investor’s fault. Can’t believe this is happening in this day and age.

Annkarish said: “This embarrassing cycle must end now. Kenyans are milked by politicians, banks, et al. Where shall we run to?”

Mugo Njamba said on Facebook: This is why, in spite of all the assurances about Kenya being a very nice place, I can never risk investing there. Say what you may, but I just don’t trust many of my fellow Kenyans, period!

Ochieng George said: “Many other Kenyans—including thousands of us in the diaspora—have previously lost money through questionable institutions and this cannot be allowed to continue. It’s not only painful but also scares away would-be investors”

Jesse Mukangu wondered on Instagram: So, our banks have become pyramid schemes and poor citizens have nowhere to run to when a few individuals decider to enrich themselves. Which century are we living in?”

In 2015, Dubai Bank Kenya became insolvent after experiencing serious liquidity and capital deficiencies.
In the same year, CBK also placed Imperial Bank under receivership due to what it termed as “illicit banking practices by its directors.”

{Rukwa Regional Commissioner (RC), Zelothe Steven, has ordered Regional Police Commander (RPC), Jacob Mwarunda, to trace and bring to justice 18 ghost workers uncovered during the just-ended verification exercise in workers payroll.}

Nine ghost workers were uncovered in Nkasi District, eight in Sumbawanga municipality and one in Sumbawanga District. The RC also ordered all the money paid to ghost workers be returned to government coffers and punitive action taken against the culprits.

He directed all the districts to repeat the verification exercise after discovering discrepancies in the first exercise. Mr Steven gave the directive during a meeting with elders, religious leaders, civil servants and members of the Regional Defence and Security Committee.

According to the RC, when he first reported to his new office, he was given a payroll with a list of all workers in the four district councils and that he was told there was no any ghost worker in the region.

“I rejected the reports as I smelt something fishy. I felt I was deceived and ordered the regional authorities to carry out a verification exercise in staff payrolls and 18 ghost workers were uncovered,” he said.

He said he was not pleased with the first exercise and ordered repeat of another exercise, warning that people who would be discovered hiding ghost workers would be punished.

The second verification will involve workers in the regional secretariat and local governments who will be required to appear physically with passportsize photographs and whose finger prints would be examined.

Meanwhile, the RC appealed to civil servants to rally behind President John Magufuli‘ s administration in implementing ‘Hapa Kazi Tu’ philosophy. He warned village, ward and divisional leaders not to behave as demi-gods by harassing innocent people, instead they should behave as servants of the people.

At the same occasion, Rukwa Regional Administrative Secretary (RAS), Albinus Mgonya, said the new RC had shown civil servant the direction to be followed in serving the people. Elders and religious leaders who attended the meeting assured Mr Steven of their support in ensuring that the region attains its set developmental goals.