Tag: GreatLakesNews

{ Lawyers defending the victory of Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni in the February 18 polls have apologized for the late delivery of voting materials in some parts of the country but were quick to deny it was intended to benefit their client at the expense of other presidential candidates as alleged by defeated independent presidential candidate Amama Mbabazi’s legal team.}

The apology was made by one of Mr Museveni’s lawyers Kiryowa Kiwanuka on Wednesday at the ongoing hearing of the presidential election petition before the Kampala based Supreme Court.

Mr Kiwanuka who seemed to be laboring a lot to submit on issues that are meant to be responded to by the Electoral Commission (EC), told a panel of nine justices led by Chief Justice Bart Katureebe that it was Mbabazi’s contention that the delay in delivery of the voting materials in areas such as Wakiso and Kampala districts was intended to benefit Mr Museveni who has been in power for 30 years and that he would be the most affected party in case court rules otherwise.
“Really, it was a mess (referring to late delivery of voting materials),” Mr Kiwanuka told court upon being prompted by one of the justices Eldad Mwangusya who got concerned about the delay.

“Section 28 of the Presidential Election Act requires the 2nd respondent (EC) to deliver voting materials to its returning officers within 48 hours. It is on record that in some parts of Wakiso and Kampala, this provision was not complied with. However, the petitioner (Mr Mbabazi) contends that it was deliberate to benefit 1st respondent (Mr Museveni) yet that is not true,” submitted counsel Kiwanuka.
Mr Kiwanuka, in laboring to explain why the delay in the districts that are close to the EC headquarters attributed the problem the miscalculation in printing of the declaration forms.

He further submitted that the EC begun by printing the declaration forms for the farthest districts like Kaabong and that they would deal with those closest to the headquarters last.

He also explained that the EC got concerned about the delay and that mitigating factors that included extension of voting time from 4pm to 7pm were put in place.
Mr Kiwanuka further argued that people voted as it’s evidenced by the higher voter turn up compared to previous elections.

He also argued that there is no evidence on court record by any voter who failed to vote as a result of late delivery of voting materials in the affected districts.
While presenting their case yesterday, Mbabazi’s lawyers led by Mohammed Mbabazi, claimed that the late delivery in Kampala and Wakiso districts, was intended because it’s a stronghold of the opposition as it was evidenced by President Museveni getting lesser votes against the opposition candidates. They contended that the same non-compliance by the EC to deliver the voting materials; should be one of the basis for the court to annul Museveni’s victory.

On February 18, the EC failed to deliver voting materials to most polling stations in Wakiso and Kampala districts on time (7am) with some polling stations receiving their materials as late as 2:30pm. Voting in some polling stations had to be postponed to the following day.

On March 20 this year, the EC declared President Museveni winner of the highly contested February 18 elections with 60.7 per cent of the total vote, followed by FDC’s Kizza Besigye with 35 percent and Mr Mbabazi came distant third with 1.39 percent.

Hearing continues with the third lawyer Mr Joseph Matsiko defending President Museveni’s victory.

{President Uhuru Kenyatta has mourned former Cabinet Minister Wilson Ndolo Ayah, who died on Wednesday at Aga Khan Hospital aged 84.}

President Kenyatta described Ayah as a dedicated leader who served the country diligently as a legislator and as a minister.

“To everyone who knew him and had the opportunity to work with him, Ayah was well respected as a humble, kind and courageous man who had a singular sense of duty to his family, his community and the nation,” he said.

The President added: “In this hour of sorrow, I convey my sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, relatives and friends.”

GREAT SORROW

Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi also sent a message of condolence to the family of the late Cabinet minister, saying that he had learnt of the death with great sorrow.

“I served with Ayah in the Cabinet of from 1989 to1993 when he left as Kenya’s Foreign Affairs minister after serving earlier from 1987 as Minister for Research Science and Technology,” said Mr Mudavadi.

He went on: “As a colleague, Ayah was very meticulous about government affairs by never letting a detail escape him. That is why—as Minister for Transport and Communications – I was very fortunate and comfortable working with him as the as the first chairman of Safaricom Ltd, a start-up company in which the government held shares and now the largest publicly-owned company in East Africa.”

The ANC leader said the legacy the late Ayah has left behind for leaders to emulate is that they should not be fastidious about things of the good life.

“As foreign minister between 1990 and 1993, he steered Kenya’s international image through the turbulence of the return to a multi-party system of governance,” said Mr Mudavadi in a statement.

{A Tanzanian based in The Netherlands is leading a campaign to ask the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to reopen its controversial ‘plea deal’ investigation into London-based ICBC Standard Bank alleged involvement in bribery in Tanzania’s $600 million sovereign bond after claims that the SFO were misled by the financial institution.}

Kapinga Kangoma, who until mid-day yesterday had won 1,807 supporters, said in a statement that they were deeply concerned on allegations that Standard Bank misrepresented the truth and suppressed material facts about its order to get the deferred prosecution agreement with SFO.

“We urge Serious Fraud Office to reopen the investigation into Standard Bank and its role in alleged bribery relating to a $600 million bond for our country, Tanzania. We deserve to know the full truth about corruption that affects our country,” he said.

The London-based ICBC Standard Bank paid $33m after admitting it failed to prevent bribery by two bankers at a sister firm in Tanzania. Media reports from UK say the deal, sanctioned by a High Court judge, was the first time the SFO had used its powers to strike a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA).

The UK court heard two officials at Stanbic Bank in Tanzania, which is a subsidiary of the London bank, paid $6m to a third-party in Tanzania to help secure a deal for the bank to raise the $600m for the Tanzanian government. It later emerged that $6m was paid to Enterprise Growth Market Advisors, a company linked to two senior government officials.

Enterprise Growth Chairman Harry Kitilya was the commissioner of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), while its MD, Fratern Mboya, was the former CEO of the Tanzanian Capital Markets and Securities Authority.

The petition comes as it was revealed that a former banker involved in the original controversial deal is suing ICBC Bank and Stanbic Bank, its former Tanzanian subsidiary, for $30m for “ruining her banking career and any other finance-related business.”

Shose Sinare, the former head of investment banking at Stanbic Bank, claims the bank secured the DPA by suppressing key facts to secure the SFO deal.

She claims the Standard Bank misrepresented the fact it was not aware of a local third party involvement in the deal, insisting it was well aware before signing the deal and that a draft collaboration document had been circulated to the entire deal team including senior officials in London.

Academics, politicians and members of the public have supported the petition to recall the deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) between SFO and Standard Bank. The Director of Nyerere Research Centre, Professor Issa Shivji, said in a twitter post that the case provides good opportunity to start a movement of liberation from the shackles of debt.

“Because a scandal affecting our country – a country in the South – cannot be unilaterally closed apparently to suppress the misdeeds of a multinational bank belonging to North,” Prof Shivji said in a twitter post.

“We’re fast slipping down the road of debt peonage. International sovereign debt is a vicious form of primitive accumulation.” A Member of Parliament (MP) for Mbinga Urban (CCM), Mr Sixtus Mapunda, said the petition was holding public interest and hence important.

“It’s important for good image of our country. It holds public interest!” he said in a post seen on the website created for the petition purposes. The District Commissioner (DC) for Iringa, Mr Richard Kasesela, said it was common for the similar cases to be closed when offenders pay a fine with authorities in the UK.

{Corruption has become so infectious in Kenya that it does not even spare the dead.}

And chances are high that the dead person whose kin will be compelled to part with some money before a death certificate is issued, lost his life due to lack of medical services, which could not be offered without a bribe.

That corruption is so malignant was revealed on Tuesday in a survey by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which showed the level of the vice and how much ordinary folks pay bribes to be served.

The report, whose findings can be described as a bearing of the anatomy of corruption in Kenya, shows that the vice has permeated the society, deep to the bone marrow, all the way from the national government to the three-year-old counties.

The survey also found that at least 0.4 per cent of those who were interviewed said that they were required to pay a bribe before they were given a birth certificate.

A legal document issued under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, the death certificate has become a key determinant in the rising cases of inheritance, retirement benefits, administration of estates and proof of parenthood, a fact that has not escaped the officers at the Attorney-General Chambers in Nairobi and district registries.

ASKED FOR A BRIBE
The findings show that when you are seeking a death certificate you are likely to be asked five times for a bribe before you are served both at the national and county levels.

However, a person seeking the release of his goods, which have been impounded, faces the possibility of being asked for a bribe four times while an applicant for a passport will encounter three demands for a bribe.

“Obtaining a death certificate (5.27), release of impounded goods (4.66) and application for a passport (3.15) recorded the highest bribe demands,” the survey says.

Normally, on application for a death certificate with requisite documents, it is supposed to be issued within three days in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, while at the district registries, it should take a day.

The findings released on Tuesday, show the likelihood of the cause of death could have been failure to get adequate medical services, with 20 per cent of those interviewed saying they have had to bribe before being treated.

The survey also found that at least 18.4 per cent of Kenyans pay a bribe to get a national identity card followed by birth certificates (13.4).

The two documents, first issued by the Registrar of Persons and the second by the Registrar of Births and Deaths, are closely linked — you require the second one to get the first one.

This is why the Department of Registrar of Persons was cited as one of the most corrupt in the survey.

Perhaps the high level of corruption involving the two, stems from the influx of people from the war-torn Somalia, who have been seeking Kenyan identity.

The Department of Immigration has come under the spotlight for this menace, accused of taking money to hand out Kenyan nationality to foreigners. Other services, which Kenyans are paying bribes for, are title deeds and land registration.

{President John Magufuli has instructed accounting officers in government ministries, departments and agencies as well as local governments to conduct human resource audit and get rid of ghost workers on government payroll in the next 15 days.
}

Permanent Secretaries, District Executive Directors and Chief Executives of public institutions who will fail to identify and erase names of ghost workers in this month’s payroll will be charged in the courts of law, he warned.

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.

President Magufuli broke away from tradition by giving a speech during the swearing-in ceremony. There has been no speech making during such events in the past.

The Head of State challenged the new RCs to act tough on local authorities in their respective regions, noting with concern that most of the rot in the public service involved councils.

According to Dr Magufuli, a mini-survey conducted on 26,900 employees in 14 councils in Singida and Dodoma regions found out that there were 202 ghost workers who were paid salaries in December.

“Out of the 202 ghost workers, six had resigned from duty while 27 employees, who were still on the payroll, had either been incarcerated or deceased. Eight were sacked, 158 had retired and three were on unpaid leave.

“We have over 180 councils countrywide and if this is the trend it is obvious that roughly 1bn/- is paid each month for workers who do not exist. I thus direct accounting officers to get rid of these ghost workers in the next fifteen days or face arraignment,” Dr Magufuli said in a matter-of-fact tone.

The situation could even be worse in those 14 councils since some 3,500 civil servants were not on their work stations when the study was conducted due to illness, truancy and some were on study-leave, the president noted.

“I am sure if the 3,500 workers were on their work stations during the survey, we could have come across more ghost workers in the 14 councils to the tune of around 400,” he noted.

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 government spends a lot of money to pay these ghost workers and, as a result, fails to channel funds to implement development projects,” the no-nonsense president remarked.

He thus directed the new RCs to supervise District Executive Directors in their respective regions to ensure that within the next fortnight, ghost workers are identified and scraped from the payroll.

“I appointed you to the positions because I have a lot of trust in you in helping me to serve the people. As chairpersons of regional defence and security committees, you ought to discharge your duties without fear,” Dr Magufuli told the regional commissioners.

He as well reminded the leaders to implement the ruling party’s manifesto by addressing challenges facing people such as hunger and insecurity. “It does not make sense that the police have to provide escorts for people travelling within the country in some regions due to insecurity. I believe I have appointed the right people to deal with these issues,” he stated.

President Magufuli also spoke against laziness among the young generation and instructed that they must be urged to work to boost productivity.

Meanwhile, the Vice-President, Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan, said the 50m/- revolving fund pledged by the government for each village will come into operation at the start of the next fiscal year in July.

After they were sworn-in, the RCs signed the integrity pledge, which the Commissioner of Ethics, Judge Salome Kaganda, said is meant to bind public leaders to abide by laid down ethics.

{Brussels (AFP) – The European Union, Burundi’s biggest aid donor, on Monday suspended all direct funding to the government for ignoring human rights and failing to stop a wave of deadly violence.}

Burundi has been in turmoil since July when President Pierre Nkurunziza won a third term which the opposition said was illegal.

There have been hundreds of killings since then, with security forces, rebels and the opposition all blaming each other for the bloodshed.

The EU holds Nkurunziza’s government responsible for the surge in unrest and accuses the president of failing to protect human rights since the disputed election.

Opponents have accused Nkurunziza of violating the constitution, as well as the Arusha Accord that brought an end to Burundi’s horrific 1993-2006 civil war, which left about 300,000 people dead.

“The situation in Burundi remains of serious concern for the EU,” the bloc’s foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

“Today’s decision makes clear that for our relations to be fully resumed we expect a number of concrete measures to be carried out.”

The statement, agreed by the 28 EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, said that while financial support for the government was being cut, the bloc would continue its separate funding for civil society and humanitarian assistance.

EU aid programmes for Burundi over the period 2014-20 are worth some 430 million euros ($480 million) and any cuts would have a serious impact in a very poor country wracked by violence.

The Burundian government said it had been expecting the EU move and defended its record.

“The government of Burundi is not surprised by this decision. We had been expecting it in spite of the measures we have taken on human rights and security issues,” External Affairs Minister Alain-Aime Nyamitwe told AFP.

“I am not an economist… but Burundi has managed so far and I hope it will continue to do so,” Nyamitwe added.

The EU has held a series of talks with the government under the terms of the Cotonou agreement, which lays down strict rules for mutual cooperation including the promotion of human rights, and warned repeatedly that aid could be cut if there was no progress.

Mogherini said the government should now build on measures agreed with the African Union, the East African Community and the United Nations to establish a dialogue with the opposition and find “a durable political solution to the crisis”.

{Militia groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have killed two park rangers in one of the world’s last sanctuaries for the endangered mountain gorilla, the park said on Monday.}

A third ranger is missing after the attacks on Saturday in Virunga National Park, Africa’s oldest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Virunga is home to roughly half the world’s remaining 900 mountain gorillas and was the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary film in 2014.

The park said in a statement four ranger posts on the shores of Lake Edward were attacked by more than 120 rebels belonging to what appears to be a new coalition of militia groups.

Dozens of armed groups operate in and around the 7,800-square-kilometre park, which abuts Congo’s borders with Rwanda and Uganda.

Two rangers were captured by the rebels and killed and a search is ongoing for the missing ranger, the statement said. It said rangers and Congolese soldiers had reclaimed the overrun positions, killing one rebel and capturing another.

“These rangers were killed in situations that may amount to war crimes in any other conflict,” park director Emmanuel de Merode said in the statement.

More than 150 Virunga rangers have been killed over the last decade, de Merode added, many battling poachers who target the park’s gorillas, elephants and other rare animals.

The rangers’ presence in the park is resented by many of the more than four million people who live near it but are prevented from cultivating its rich soil.

The Rwandan genocide next door and collapse of Congo’s government in the mid-1990s precipitated years of war in the east that killed millions, mostly from hunger and disease. Armed groups continue to terrorize local populations as they compete over gold, timber and other resources.

International donors are investing over $150 million in and around the park to build hydroplants and tourist infrastructure that they hope can bring sustainable development to the area.

But security has deteriorated in recent months with a spate of kidnappings and inter-ethnic fighting that has led humanitarian organizations to limit their movements.