Tag: GreatLakesNews

{A Swiss court has ruled that the remains of Burundi’s deposed king Mwambutsa IV, who died 40 years ago, must stay in Switzerland, ending a drawn out legal battle, local media reported on Tuesday.}

Mwambutsa led Burundi at independence from Belgium in 1962, but was deposed just four years later in a dispute linked to rivalries between ethnic Tutsis and Hutus, which still haunt the country.

The monarch died in Switzerland in 1977, leaving clear instructions that his remains should never be returned to Burundi.

But his daughter and the Burundian government campaigned for his remains to be repatriated, reportedly hoping to use the occasion to organise a ceremony promoting national reconciliation.

In 2012, one of the king’s relatives authorised the exhumation of his remains ahead of an eventual repatriation.

Mwambutsa’s niece Esther Kamatari opposed the process insisting the king’s last wishes should be honoured.

Switzerland’s federal court, the nation’s highest legal authority, has sided with Kamatari, the ATS news agency said.

The judges upheld a ruling issued last year by a lower court in Geneva.

Amid the legal back and fourth following his exhumation, Mwambutsa’s remains have been held in a cold-storage facility at a Geneva funeral home for the past five years.

Kamatari fled Burundi herself in 1970, ultimately settling in Paris where she worked as a model, including for top designers like Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.

She voiced interest in contesting in Burundi’s 2004 presidential election but never made it onto the ballot.

Burundi has been seized by crisis for two years, since President Pierre Nkurunziza sought a third term. The turmoil has left an estimated 500 people dead, according to the UN.

Source:AFP

{More than 20,000 child soldiers have been freed from the armed forces and groups in DRC in the past ten years, according to a recent report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Obedi, a former child soldier shares his story.}

{{Being a child soldier in DRC}}

« I let out a sigh of relief when I was finally able to leave the army. I no longer wanted to be forced to accompany soldiers or to freeze to death at night. At times, I narrowly escaped death because I was often on the front lines, transporting the dead or injured…,” he relates.

Young Obedi was 11 years old when he started accompanying soldiers of the regular army, which was operating in his village, in Nyamilima, in the province of North Kivu.

{{War after the street
}}

In a calm tone: “Now, I am 21 years old.” He goes back in time to tell his story. Very early, he was forced to leave school, following the deaths of his parents, swept away by the rebellion of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which began around 2007 in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Because he was always aimlessly roaming the streets of Nyamilima, his native village, he was enlisted by the military to transport equipment (ammunition boxes, bags). Some not so easy days from then on: “I wake at dawn, frugal meal and cold nights spent outside.”

{{A child and already Sergeant Major}}

With a sharp eye, Obedi recounts how, during the first years of the conflict, he also entered the ranks of the Mai-Mai rebel group of the Shetani warrior, a young man from his village. “I fought in several places: first in my native village of Nyamililma, in Ishasha, on the Congolese-Ugandan border, and in Kisharo where we earned a lot of money erecting a barrier for vehicles,” he explains.

Following a wake-up call, he decides to escape. “I absolutely needed to leave the rebellion, even though I ended my time there with the rank of Sergeant Major. I no longer wanted to continue to fight,” he recalls.

{{After M23, demobilization}}

It is only after the war against the M23 rebellion towards the end of 2013 that the national programme for demobilization, disarmament and reinsertion PNDDR-child’s section transported these child soldiers from North-Kivu to Kamina, in the ex-province of Katanga.

« We were over 200 child soldiers, if I remember correctly! » he says. This programme is for all child soldiers who are part of an armed force or group, including children who are porters or messengers, explains a community outreach representative.

Obedi was therefore one of the children whom this Congolese government programme wanted to rehabilitate into civilian life. He who fought in DRC and sometimes in Uganda, employed both by governmental forces as well as by those of the opposition.

Child soldier, a descent into hell

This young teenager lived through gruesome scenes of war, hence his psychological struggles. Obedi: “sometimes, during the rebel attacks in my village, I was forced to stay with the soldiers. I trembled in fear at the sound of the bullets whistling over our heads, not to mention the explosion of grenades or the cries of the rebels. It was terrorizing, so much so that I sometimes had nightmares at night.”

With a tired look, Obedi declares that he wants to forget everything in order to return to civilian life. After the demobilization of child soldiers, they follow a social reintegration programme. According to Katembo Malekani, head of the project for the demobilization, reintegration and prevention of recruitment of child soldiers, “education is key for social reintegration.” He adds, “But there are other forms of training to allow those who do not want to pursue the traditional curriculum to benefit from a technical training.

{{Obedi’s dream come true
}}

In front of a house of unburnt bricks under construction, the young demobilized soldier admits he does not want to go back to school for the traditional curriculum, considering his age.

« All that I wanted was to have a hair salon or to get my driver’s license, » Obedi says with a broad smile.

An optimist, the young man is now pulling through. Thanks to the project for demobilzation and social reintegration, Obedi was able to benefit from aid, which allowed him to build his house. “I also received in-kind help, lawnmowers and accessories for my hair salon!” he ponits out.

During this time, he earns a bit of money every day in this business. He continues to build his parents’ house, after their deaths in the war: “This one is made of burnt bricks and is only missing roofing sheets,” indicates a neighbour who also appreciates the work of this young man honouring his parents.

More than 20,000 child soldiers in DRC have been freed from the armed forces and groups in the past 10 years, according to a report of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

{{Children, not soldiers}}

More information on the protection of children leaving armed forces and groups in DRC:

Thanks to Sweden (SIDA), the USA (USAID), Canada (CIDA), Japan (JICA), the Netherlands, Belgium as well as UNICEF France, Amade, UNICEF Germany and previously CERF for their support to programmes assisting children released from armed groups and forces.

Translated by Lisa Berthelot

Source:Relief Web

{Two years after the announcement of the candidacy of Pierre Nkurunziza for another term that plunged the country into a political crisis, Burundi is struggling to see the end of the tunnel.
}

The summit of Heads of State of the East African Community next month could pave the way for an end to the crisis. In any case, it is the hope of the Burundian people, who do not want to be caught up in despair caused by stalling talks and a political and economic crisis without a solution.

It all began on April 25, 2015 with the announcement of another term of Pierre Nkurunziza. A term deemed illegal, unconstitutional and contrary to the observance of the Arusha Peace Agreement by protestors.

They took to the streets the very next day, demanding the withdrawal of the candidacy of the outgoing president who had just spent 10 years in office. Protests were harshly repressed by the police.

On May 13, 2015, Burundi faced a failed coup d’état while President Pierre Nkurunziza was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, at the summit of the Heads of State of the East African Community. As a result, part of the political class, opposed to the third term was forced into exile where it created CNARED platform. The outgoing president had no one to stand in his way during the elections. He was re-elected on July 21, 2015.

In a meeting in Entebbe, Uganda on 28 December 2015, the mediator in the Burundi conflict, Yoweri Museveni, Ugandan President, decided to take the Burundian issue in his own hands. He set a date for dialogue in Kampala in January 2016.

The appointment was rejected by the government of Burundi as CNARED was invited to Entebbe.

Meanwhile, the “Halt to the Third Term movement” was withdrawing from the opposition platform, CNARED.

Bujumbura was, during the month of February, the scene of grenade explosions and shootings all over the capital.

Terrorist acts, according to the government which responded with arrests and a large deployment of police and military forces in the city. Whether or not it was a simple coincidence, Burundi received important visits during that month.

On February 22, it was first of all the visit of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon. Shortly after him, from February 24 to 25, a “high-level delegation” of the African Union, with the presidents of Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania, South Africa and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, arrived. The visits were criticized by the opposition which considered them as a kind of legitimizing of President Nkurunziza.

In March, the European Union officially suspended its direct aid to the Burundian government for non-compliance with its commitments, according to the Cotonou Agreement.

{{A series of resolutions}}

The UN Security Council decided in April to consider the case of Bujumbura. On the 1st of the very month, resolution 2279 decided to send UN policemen to Burundi without specifying their number.

On 13 April, Bujumbura said that “it had undertaken to accept a presence limited to about 20 unarmed foreign police officers.”

The talks resumed on April 21 in Arusha, this time without CNARED, which was not invited by the facilitator Benjamin Mkapa. However, CNARED members who were invited individually were present.

They were threatened to be excluded from the platform. It was not the case, however.

Back to dialogue on July 12-14, 2016, it was a fiasco. The government delegation left the room because of “the presence of some personalities prosecuted by the Burundian justice.”

On 28 July, the Security Council got involved in the process and adopted resolution 2303, which decided on the deployment of 228 UN police officers in Burundi for an initial period of one year on the basis of a proposal made by France. Bujumbura strongly denounced it and refused the deployment of UN police in Burundi.

The year 2016 ended with the shocking departure of facilitator Mkapa. During his visit to Bujumbura to meet with the various actors in this dialogue, the facilitator declared, before his departure, on December 9, 2016, that Pierre Nkurunziza’s term was legal and legitimate.

The last round of the Arusha dialogue from 16 to 18 February 2017 was attended by prominent figures wanted by the Burundian justice. The government, for its part, boycotted the session, which undermined the smooth running of dialogue.

The facilitation, after consultation with the mediator, decided to send an envoy to Burundi. He was the bearer of a message to the Burundian President. The correspondence asked the latter to grant temporary immunity to the people prosecuted in order to participate in the dialogue. The facilitator met with a refusal from Bujumbura. Former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa said he was powerless and called for the summit of EAC Heads of state.

{{Reactions}}

{{Charles Nditije:}}

Two years after the outbreak of the crisis, CNARED Chairman says the violations related to the challenge of the candidacy of Pierre Nkurunziza continue. The record shows more than 1,000 people killed, more than 8,000 political prisoners, more than 500,000 exiles. “We take this opportunity to offer our condolences to families that have lost theirs.”

Charles Nditije pays tribute to all the people, especially the youth that paid a high price. He deplores the inability of the international community and the sub-region with regard to this tragedy. We invite them to consider the gravity of the situation in order to put in place mechanisms to protect the population.

The leader of the coalition of the opposition parties in exile proposes an inclusive dialogue as the only solution that will bring peace and security in a sustainable way. He asked the summit of EAC Heads of state to demand Bujumbura to accept the negotiations. Otherwise, he calls for an economic and arms embargo and targeted sanctions for all those dignitaries opposed to an inclusive dialogue.

{{Willy Nyamitwe: “Burundi is not in crisis”}}

For the Senior Adviser to the President, one cannot talk about a crisis when the country is functioning normally and all institutions from the 2015 elections are in place. As for the figures mentioned, Willy Nyamitwe refers to “a war of figures, an exaggeration for political purposes”, of illegal regime change.

For him, even if it were a single refugee, it would be a matter of great concern. Willy Nyamitwe says these figures that are put forward by some organizations including UNHCR, are a springboard for mobilizing funds and creating employment opportunities for sectarian purposes.

As for Burundian citizens who have lost their lives, the government of Burundi has a responsibility to protect all its citizens and even foreigners living on the Burundian territory.

“It is very unfortunate that selfish individuals without faith or law try to proceed with the strategy of terror which consists of killing people in order to attract ostracism on the government and the Defense and Security Forces. What is important is that they have been defeated, some arrested and others are still on the run. Isolated cases of terrorism can be committed in Burundi as elsewhere, but this does not mean that Burundi is categorized as a country in crisis.

{{Security}}

{{Two years without respite}}

These are the two longest years for Burundians for decades. The country has experienced murders, disappearances, kidnappings, arrests… Iwacu looks back on two years of turmoil in security and human rights.

“Two years have elapsed while the Burundian people are living in tears and sadness following the violation of the Arusha Peace Accord by President Nkurunziza and his CNDD-FDD party,” said Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, two years after the start of protests against Pierre Nkurunziza’s third term on 26 April 2015.

This human rights activist advances a figure of more than 2,000 people dead during this period. He says more than 8,000 people have been imprisoned and thousands of Burundians have gone into exile due to insecurity.

Mr. Mbonimpa says hundreds of Burundians have gone missing, the rape of women in front of their children and the torture of hundreds of people. “As we have always said, we are not slaves of Nkurunziza who seized power by force.”

The National Independent Commission for Human Rights (CNIDH) gives a death toll reaching 720. CNIDH recognizes 80 proven cases of torture and 800 cases of people incarcerated in violation of legal procedures.

{{The failed Coup}}

Demonstrations against Pierre Nkurunziza’s third term began on 26 April 2015 in several neighborhoods of the capital. The young and old from Nyakabiga, Musaga, Ngagara, Cibitoke, Mutakura took to the streets. Népomuscène Komezamahoro, a 15 year-old killed in Cibitoke neighborhood, is the first victim of this crisis. After several days of demonstrations, the protesters were gunned down by the police, which also suffered some damage. The aim of the demonstrators was to arrive in the city center.

On Wednesday, 13 May 2015, on the fifteenth day of the demonstrations, President Pierre Nkurunziza flew to Dar-es-Salaam to attend the summit of Heads of State of the East African Community over the political and security situation in Burundi. Since the morning, protesters from all over the capital had been trying to invade the city center but in vain. To a great surprise and for the first time, women arrived at the Independence Square, right in the center of the city. This reinvigorated other demonstrators. “The victory is near”, they said. Other protestors succeeded in joining women in the city center.

In the afternoon of May 13, the information fell. Major General Godefroid Niyombare had just overthrown Nkurunziza. In the protesting neighborhoods and the city center, it was jubilation.

Demonstrators shouted victory. Protesters stood on armours.

This joy lasted only for short, because around 5:30 pm, the imminent return of Pierre Nkurunziza was announced. Protesters began to despair. The coup had failed.

On Friday 15 May, three leaders, including Major General Cyril Ndayirukiye, number two of the failed coup, and about fifteen men were arrested in Kibenga-Lac area.

Some protesters went to ground; others took the road to exile. According to the latest UNHCR figures, there are more than 400,000 refugees. Mass arrests were made. It was the beginning of a long series of horrors.

{{The attack and repression of 11-12 December 2015}}

The security situation was gradually deteriorating. Grenades were thrown into public places. Dead bodies were found here and there. And then, December 11, 2015 arrived. The inhabitants of the city of Bujumbura will always remember this day. Four military camps, the Ngagara Camp, the Higher Institute of Military Officers (ISCAM), the National Defense Forces Logistics Base Camp (BLFDN) and the Mujejuru camp were attacked during the night.

The next day, the city woke up in shock. Bodies were found in the streets of Ngagara, Nyakabiga and Musaga neighborhoods. The army spokesman, Colonel Gaspard Baratuza, said 12 assailants were killed and 21 captured during the attacks. He said the attackers intended to attack the military camps to get weapons and ammunition.

Residents accused security forces of deliberately executing young people several hours after the attack. There were also reports of robbery and rape during searches, what the police denied. Local and international civil society organizations talked about hundreds of civilians killed by the security forces and buried in mass graves.

{{A crisis with great misfortune}}

In addition to these ordinary citizens, prominent political figures, opposition leaders, civil society figures and army officers have been killed or have barely escaped attacks since the beginning of the crisis.

Several officers of the national army were assassinated, including Brigadier General Athanase Kararuza, a soldier from the former Burundian army (FAB) who was assassinated with his wife, daughter and one of his bodyguards at Gihosha area. It was on 25 April 2016. Colonel Emmanuel Buzubona, former rebel of the CNDD-FDD movement, and Captain Elie Mugabonuwundi, from the former army, were killed on 7 April and 20 April 2016 respectively.

After the assassination of Lieutenant-Colonel Darius Ikurakure, ex-combatant of the CNDD-FDD, Commander of the Civil Engineering Battalion at Camp Muzinda, on 22 March 2016 in the compound of the General Staff of the Burundian army, Major Didier Muhimpundu, (from FAB), Deputy Director of the Health Service at the Burundi army headquarters, was also killed. On 18 January 2016, OPPI Anicet Dusabumuremyi was assassinated at the 6th Avenue in Bwiza.

Jean Bikomagu, a retired colonel and former army chief of staff from 1993 to 1996, was murdered on 15 August 2015 in front of his home in Kabondo area. On 2 August 2015, the world learned of the death of Lieutenant-General Adolphe Nshimirimana, ex-rebel, former Head of the SNR (National Intelligence Service) at Gare du Nord, Kamenge zone in a rocket attack.

Among the civilians, there is the assassination on 13 October 2015 of cameraman of the National Television, Christophe Nkezabahizi and his family, as well as the assassination of Hafsa Mossi, the East African Community Legislative Assembly MP, on Wednesday 12 July 2016 at 10.30 a.m. in Gihosha on Nyankoni Avenue.

Source:Iwacu

{President Museveni has reappointed Gen Kale Kayihura as Inspector General of Police (IGP) for another three-year term, placing him at the helm of the country’s law and order agency until 2020, Daily Monitor can reveal. }

Gen Kayihura’s good fortune also applies to his deputy Okoth Ochola, Commissioner General of Prisons Dr Johnson Byabashaija, and his deputy Mr James Mwanje whose contracts were expiring this month. They have been reappointed for three more years.
In a March 14 letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga which Daily Monitor has seen, Mr Museveni wrote: “The Police Authority and Prison Authority have recommended the following officers for renewal of contract,” before listing names of the quartet that now await approval by the Parliament’s Appointments Committee.
“In line with Article 213 of the Constitution, I hereby nominate the officers for renewal of contract for three years,” the letter states.

Article 213 of the 1995 Constitution provides that the Inspector General of Police GP and his deputy shall be appointed by the President with the approval of Parliament.
In the letter copied to Internal Affairs minister Gen Jeje Odongo, the President also indicated he was attaching the officers’ curriculum vitae for the requisite parliamentary approval.

However, highly placed sources in the Speaker’s office intimated to Daily Monitor that Gen Kayihura, who has been on the receiving end of a barrage of criticisms over the country’s fluid security situation following widespread cases of violence, house break-ins, and robberies, was “buying more time before appearing for approval given the hostile disposition from MPs and the public.”

Only last Thursday Gen Kayihura appeared before Parliament’s Budget Committee where MPs grilled him over the spate of killings in the country and police’s handling of the operations, days after a suspect paraded by the IGP told journalists that criminal gangs were working in connivance with some police officers.

In an interview yesterday, the Parliament’s director of communications, Mr Chris Obore, said: “The Appointments Committee sits when Parliament is on. It is entirely the Speaker’s decision when to call the committee, however, she has had a busy schedule but I am sure she will call the committee to do the vetting at the earliest opportunity.” Gen Kayihura’s contract was set to run out in October. Ordinarily, the service chiefs inform the President that they are available for reappointment and service six months before expiry of their contract.

On March 2, Daily Monitor quoting a police source, reported that Gen Kayihura and his deputy had applied for renewal of their three-year contracts on January 16.
The source said the Police Authority, headed by Internal Affairs minister, Gen Odongo, received Gen Kayihura’s application on January 18, two days after Mr Ochola’s application.

The source also told Daily Monitor that Gen Kayihura in his application for a new contract cited increased personnel, bridging the gap between citizens and police through community policing, improving relations between police and other security agencies, building accommodation, professionalising police and reduced crime rates as reasons he deserves a fifth stint as police chief.

Gen Kayihura also chest-thumps about the Force’s increased workforce from 14,000 to 44,600 personnel since he took over the mantle from Gen Katumba Wamala in 2005. Section 8 of the Police Act establishes the Police Authority composed of the Internal Affairs minister as its chairperson, the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, a senior officer in charge of administration at the headquarters of the Force and three other persons appointed by the President. The Permanent Secretary of the ministry responsible for Internal Affairs is the secretary to the Police Authority, which has a quorum of five.

Gen Kayihura’s re-appointment is likely to rattle human rights groups and Opposition politicians who have since demanded the commander- in- chief to bring the IGP to order owing to a host of “human rights violations, partisan policing and systemic breakdown in professional policing.”

On March 19, President Museveni told mourners at deceased Assistant Inspector of Police Andrew Felix Kaweesi’s funeral that the Force had become a den of criminals on the watch of Kayihura’s leadership.

Mr Museveni then said: “All these murders, I have followed myself. There are always clues leading to the criminals but the criminals have infiltrated the police,” adding, “You get a situation where they are intimidating the witnesses, killing the witnesses. That is why the public fears to give information (about criminals) to the police.”

Kaweesi was gunned down on March 17, and Mr Museveni’s hair-raising remarks came three days after he had already written to the Speaker and Internal Affairs minister, handing his blue-eyed lieutenant, criticised for partisan policing, the mantle for another three years in what comes off as instructions subtly delivered to the IGP for his new term.

Four-time presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye last week demanded that Gen Kayihura should be relieved of his duties for sleeping on the job while crime escalates.

“I think if the regime wants to salvage whatever is left of any care about this country; Mr Kayihura should be thrown out of office. Of course, if it was a more decent political system in which people have authority, he would have resigned by himself. He cannot manage dealing with this; he is partly the problem and I think it will do this country good for him to get out,” Dr Besigye said during a media briefing at his Katonga Road offices in Kampala.

Gen Kayihura’s reign was shaken in July 2016 when the IGP and seven of his officers were summoned by Makindye Magistrates’ court over torture charges relating to police brutality against Dr Besigye’s supporters.

The IGP would later be saved by a last-minute injunction issued by Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma after a lawyer challenged the trial in the Constitutional Court.
Gen Kayihura, who was saved by court from trial, recently ran to the same court and successfully secured an injunction against select online publication, gagging both the publications and their editors from reporting on the on-going investigation into Kaweesi’s killing.

Sources close to the IGP say he considers the online publications “as tools used by his foes within the security apparatus,” especially in the Security ministry, Internal Security Organisation and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence.

Gen Kayihura, according to the sources, claim his detractors are riled by the fat resource envelop apportioned to the Police to do intelligence at the expense of other sister security agencies while “others are genuinely uncomfortable with the IGP’s unorthodox work methods.”

Gen Kayihura three years ago faced a rough time with the Parliament’s Appointments Committee and yet the environment is even harsher today for the IGP who now has to work out ways of softening ground before making an appearance in the Speaker Kadaga-led committee.

Attempts to reach Gen Kayihura for a comment on the story were futile, but an aide who picked up his phone promised the police chief would get back to Daily Monitor for a comment on the story, but had not by press time.

{{Rise of Gen Kayihura }}

Born on December 26, 1955 in Kisoro, south-western Uganda, Kayihura attended Gasiza Primary School in Kisoro, before joining Mutolere Secondary School, in Kisoro District, up to Senior Four.

He then joined St Mary’s College Kisubi for Advanced Level education.
In 1978, Kayihura graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from Makerere University and later enrolled at the London School of Economics where he was awarded a Master of Laws (LLM) in 1982.
According to his online profile, the police chief has attended a number of military courses including, the Army Command Course at the Army Commander College in Nanjing, China; the Combined Arms Course, The Brigade/Battalion Commander’s Course, the Conflict Resolution and Management Course at Nasser Military Academy, Cairo, in Egypt; Command and Staff Course at the Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama, in United States, from 2000 to 2001.
In 1982, Kayihura joined the National Resistance Army (NRA) and rose through the ranks, becoming Aide de Camp to the Commander of the Mobile Brigade, from 1982 to 1986.
From 1986 to 1988, Kayihura was Staff Officer in the office of the assistant minister of Defence, then Chief Political Commissar and simultaneous Director of Political Education in NRA, Operational Commander of the UPDF in Ituri Province, DR Congo, and Military Assistant to the President and later head of Special Revenue Police Services.

{{Tenure as IGP }}

Gen Kayihura has had an eventful tenure as IGP, overseeing incidents that sometimes shook the regime. In all these instances, Gen Kayihura has stuck out his head and managed the crises with a zeal that has thrust him into the limelight and opened up his modus operandi as IGP to harsh criticisms from detractors, but winning a nod of approval from President Museveni, who has defended him and once called him “a loyal cadre of the NRM.”

{{Kayunga riots }}

In 2010, Human Rights Watch demanded that government order an independent investigation into the killing of unarmed persons during and after riots in Kampala on September 10 and 11, 2009. A Human Rights Watch investigation found that at least 13 people were shot by government forces in situations where lethal force was unnecessary.

The minister of Internal Affairs reported to Parliament that 27 people had died during the riots and that seven of those victims were not involved in the riots.
“Shooting in self-defence is one thing, but we found that some soldiers shot at bystanders and shot through locked doors,” said Georgette Gagnon, the Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

{{Walk-to-work demos}}

Hot on the heels of the 2011 presidential election, Opposition politicians took to peaceful demonstrations tagged ‘Walk-to-Work’ that would later be met with lethal response from the security forces.
In 2011, Human Rights Watch carried out investigations “into fatal and non-fatal shootings by the security forces, as well as human rights abuses such as beatings, theft, and rape that occurred on three of the most violent days of the demonstrations on April 14, 21, and 29, 2011. Based on multiple eyewitness accounts, Human Rights Watch documented at least nine unarmed people killed by government forces – six in Kampala, two in Gulu, and one in Masaka – none of whom were actively involved in rioting.”

“Uganda’s security forces met the recent protests with live fire that killed peaceful demonstrators and even bystanders,” said Maria Burnett, a senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.

{{Killings of Muslim clerics}}

Gen Kayihura’s reign has also seen him make endless promises to crack down on and bring to book assassins who since 2012 have been gunning down Muslim clerics with at least 12 shot dead by gunmen using getaway motorcycles.

Sheikh Yunus Kamoga and a host of other Muslims are facing trial on charges of murdering some of the clerics but questions still linger on who killed the others.
A 2015 Aljazeera ‘Africa Investigates’ film quoted sources, including Gen David Sejusa, the former coordinator of intelligence services, who suggested the killings cannot be detached from the regime, which could be playing to the gallery in respect to the international war on terror by exaggerating Uganda’s threat and positioning herself as a key ally in the global fight.

{{Killing of AIGP Kaweesi}}

The lowest point of the city killings was possibly the assassination of Andrew Felix Kaweesi whom Kayihura credited for giving him a safe landing when he joined the Force in 2005. That came a few years after Joan Kagezi, an Assistant Director Public Prosecutions, was gunned down in a similar fashion with the IGP rushing to blame the killing on DR Congo-based Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels.

Gen Kayihura has announced several arrests, but only 13 suspects have so far been charged with the killing.

Human rights lawyers have criticised the IGP “for always pulling public relations stunts, which is not matched by successful prosecution of suspects he parades before the media.”

{{Dr Johnson Byabashaija}}

Born in 1957 in Rukungiri District, Dr Byabashaija studied Veterinary Medicine at Makerere University (1982) and a Master of Science at the University of Glasgow, UK (1986).

He joined the Uganda Prisons Service upon returning to Uganda and rose through the ranks to become CGP in 2005.

Source:Daily Monitor

{SportPesa mega jackpot winner Samuel Abisai, 28, will dedicate a section of the windfall to helping his brother set up a football academy in Kakamega.}

Abisai won Sh221.3 million after predicting correctly the outcomes of 17 listed games to become the first Kenyan ever to win the jackpot that was started in September 2016.

He was raised in Sichilai in Kakamega but his parents, who had 11 other children, entrusted him to an NGO called Compassion.

“I will use this money to uplift my family and the community at large,” he said.

Abisai, who has been working as a salesman for a Chinese company, says he will stop betting but advised people to bet more.

SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri unveiled Abisai at Carnivore restaurant, Nairobi, together with Bonus winner Ahmed Ali, who goes home with Sh41 million.

Abisai was accompanied by his two sisters and three brothers who acknowledged having come from a poor background.

Karauri said the winner goes home with the whole amount, as a proposal to tax 50 per cent of a better’s winnings has not taken effect.

“I would also like to assure that we have in place a programme to ensure that the winners are taken through financial advise.

“We want to ensure that come two or three years from now, he will still look like someone who won Sh221 million and even better,” Karauri said.

Source:Daily Nation

{Tanzania’s workers yesterday asked the government to ease the tax burden on their salaries to enable them provide families with basic needs.}

Presenting their case before President John Magufuli during the International Workers Day , the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) Secretary General, Dr Yahya Msigwa decried what he termed excessive deductions from employees’ salaries, with some workers paying up to 30 per cent in graduate charges.

He said despite the government’s good intention to reduce Pay As You Earn (PAYE) on salaries from 11 to nine per cent, it has come to Tucta’s attention that the reduction benefits only few, getting the minimum wage. “We thank the government for reducing PAYE from 11 to nine percent but we have learnt that there are few beneficiaries – those getting minimum wage only.

The middle and high income earners are subjected to huge deductions of up to 30 per cent in graduate charges,” charged Dr Msigwa. He proposed the threshold of taxed salary to increase from the current 150,000/- to 750,000/-, arguing that a 2015 research concluded that 750,000 is the amount that can enable the worker, spouse and four children to get the basic needs.

Dr Msigwa further pleaded with the president to limit the taxes on employees’ salaries to 18 per cent. The Tucta executive decried an emerging trend of abusing the employment laws and regulations in the country, citing discrimination against Tanzanians while favouring foreigners.

He said there are instances where salaries differ at great margins, with foreigners earning 7m/- against 700,000/- paid to Tanzanians for similar qualifications and job responsibilities.

He accused some employers of hiring their relatives as human resource officers without the required qualifications, and as a result, end up oppressing locals whom they deny permanent job contracts.

Dr Msigwa asked the judiciary to speedily dispose labour cases, especially in upcountry regions where he said judges were not trying cases at the required pace. Responding, President Magufuli said the entire government was present at the celebrations and everybody had heard the pleas.

In attendance was Vice President Samia Suluhu Hssan, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, Speaker of the National Assembly Job Ndugai, his Deputy Dr Tulia Ackson, ministers and Members of Parliament. He said the government will address all workers’ concerns and to start with, it will effect annual increments and promotions in the next fiscal year.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, Policy, Labour, Employment, Youth and Disabled, Jenista Mhagama said the tripartite talks between the government, Association of Tanzania Employers and TUCTA will be sustained to guarantee harmony in the labour market.

Source:Daily News

{Uganda is currently engaged in talks for the UPDF to join the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic ((MINUSCA), to continue keeping a close eye on Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) .}

Diplomatic sources familiar with the matter intimated to Sunday Monitor that the government “expressed willingness” and also sent the terms to the African Union Peace and Security Council, the standing organ of the 55 member continental body charged with prevention and resolution of conflicts, to further the discussions with the United Nations Security Council.

According to sources, government said UPDF will join the UN peacekeeping mission if its mandate has been revised and made robust “to engage in combat when necessary”.

“CAR is polarised like DR Congo, so the President doesn’t want the UPDF to join if they are going to sit around and wait for allowances like the case of the UN Missions in Congo and South Sudan where they are occasionally attacked but look on helplessly,” sources said.

It is estimated that half of CAR is neither under control of the government which is currently being reinforced by MINUSCA to build a security force (army and police) from scratch.

The revelation comes when the UPDF is currently in the process of withdrawing all troops involved in the hunt of the LRA in CAR. The UPDF was operating under auspices of the African Union Regional Task Force (RTF).

Former US president Barack Obama in October 2011 deployed about 100 special forces to help in the hunt for Kony and neutralise the LRA.

However, president Donald Trump’s administration early this year queried whether the LRA posed threat to any US interest and consequently the United States Africa Command has similarly announced withdrawal of US troops.

It is not yet clear whether the AU Peace and Security Council has already engaged the UN Security Council.

Following bouts of sectarian violence, that heightened in 2012, the UN Security Council in 2013 approved the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA), the former French colony with a precise mandate of protecting civilians and other UN personnel, supporting a political transition, creation of security conditions conducive to the delivery of humanitarian assistance, promotion of national dialogue, supporting disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former armed elements, and helping in institution building for long-term socioeconomic recovery.

In September 2014, MISCA metamorphosed into MINUSCA, a UN peacekeeping mission, with a similar mandate for an initial period ending April 2015 but was extended in July last year to November 2017.

Currently, the Mission is comprised of 10,750 military personnel (including military observers and officers) and 2,080 police personnel drawn from Australia, Bangladesh, Armenia, Benin, Belarus, Bolivia, Belgium, Bosnia and Bhutan.

{{Confirmation}}

UPDF spokesperson Brig Richard Karemire confirmed the development but said “discussions on the matter are ongoing.”

The United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), the second largest in the world and most costly, which is authorised to engage in limited combat against the many rebel outfits operating, especially in the eastern part of the country, has been cited as one of the biggest failures of UN’s peacekeeping missions to decisively deal with conflicts.

Similarly, the UN peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan has been slammed for failing to decisively act in the conflict between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and the opposition leader Dr Riek Machar. President Museveni, has on numerous occasions scorned UN peacekeeping missions calling them “military tourism”.

Source:Daily Monitor

{With only two weeks remaining for about 10,000 public servants to quit their jobs over fake certificates, some victims are exploring avenues to appeal against the sacking.}

President John Magufuli last Friday ordered all public employees with forged academic documents to voluntarily quit their offices by May 15 or risk prosecution. But, some victims whose names have appeared on the list of ‘shame’ have maintained their innocence, claiming possession of genuine credentials.

They have instead said they are considering to appeal against the dossier. One of the victims who preferred anonymity, described as bad and shocking news to have his name appearing on the list, vowing to follow up on the matter to its conclusive end.

Dr Magufuli has in several times complained over public servants with fake certificates costing the government billions of money in payment of salaries and other benefits.

The President’s Office, Public Service Management and Good Governance commissioned evaluation of certificates was executed by a 15-person team as a followup exercise after the nationwide crackdown on ghost workers.

The removal of 19,706 ghost workers from the government payroll saved the state coffers 19.8bn/- monthly and about 240 annually as salaries to nonexistent workers. About 10,000 names of fake certificate holders were published in the Sunday News yesterday, with Dar es Salaam municipalities topping the list with high number of deceits.

The report, which was handed over to President Magufuli on Friday, shows that of the five district councils, Ilala tops the list with 330 unqualified employees in its payroll. Temeke and Ubungo district councils come second and third, having 270 and 151 forgeries, respectively.

Other councils in Dar es Salaam with the numbers of forgeries in brackets are Kinondoni (126), Kigamboni (40), Dar es Salaam City Council (15) and Dar es Salaam Regional Administrative Secretary (6).

Another report for over 100,000 workers in the central government is expected out this Friday after completion of certificate verification.

Meanwhile, Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) intends to file against the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Paul Makonda over alleged use of phony academic certificates.

TLS President Tundu Lissu told reporters in Dodoma yesterday that there has been wide circulating claims that the RC is using another person’s certificate and his real name is Daudi Albert Bashite. “This is contrary to the country’s law and is a criminal offence punishable by up to seven years in jail,” he said.

TLS decision comes barely two days after President Magufuli sacked about 10,000 civil servants following an independent team that discovered they had forgery academic certificates. Mr Lissu further argued that the RC’s use of fake certificate and the name, which legally is not his, had tarnished the government image.

“That is to say that the government protects fraudsters…he has committed the offence and must be punished as per the law,” he said. But the state clarified on Friday that political leaders, including Ministers, Regional Commissioners, District Commissioners, legislators and councillors were excluded from the nationwide crackdown.

The verification, according to Minister of State in the President’s Office, Public Service and Good Governance, Angellah Kairuki focused on public employees in local government authorities, public institution, corporations and agencies.

The fate of officials in the central government will be determined this Friday when the Minister for Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training Prof Joyce Ndalichako presents the verification report of their documents.

Source:Daily News

{A plane carrying UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, core relief items arrived in Luanda, Angola, to assist over 11,000 people who fled a recent surge violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).}

The aircraft, supported by UPS, landed Sunday morning from Dubai, carrying 3,500 plastic sheets as well as 100 plastic rolls to provide shelter during the rainy season, 17,000 sleeping mats, 16,902 thermal fleece blankets, 8,000 mosquito nets, 3,640 kitchen sets, 8,000 jerry cans and 4,000 plastic buckets. UNHCR will be airlifting more relief items to Angola in coming days.

The brutal conflict in DRC’s previously peaceful Kasai region has already displaced more than one million civilians within the country since it began in mid-2016.

Humanitarian assistance to the most recent arrivals will be distributed in Dundo area where refugees have been accommodated in makeshift reception centres since early April. Refugees, including some 4,000 children, are arriving exhausted, many with visible signs of violence, and bringing very little resources with them. Conditions in over-crowded centres are extremely poor.

“Arrivals are in urgent need of life-saving assistance including food, water, shelter and medical services” says Ms. Sharon Cooper, UNHCR Regional Representative for Southern Africa. “UNHCR is also procuring food locally to support the most vulnerable persons including children, pregnant women and elderly.”

A UNHCR emergency team is present both in Luanda and Dundo to respond to the needs of the refugees as well as to coordinate the relief response with the Government, local authorities and partners on the ground.

The government is planning to allocate a new site in Nzaji, Camulo municipality some 90 kilometers from the border. The site was previously used to host internally displaced persons during the civil war in Angola. Preparations are underway to assess the site with a view to eventually provide shelter as well as to set up latrines, showers and water points to relocate the asylum-seekers.

The border is managed by the Angolan Army. The UN Refugee Agency has requested the Government to allow refugees to continue crossing the border, provide unhindered access to UNHCR to assist new arrivals, as well as not to return people fleeing the violence to the DRC.

Angola is currently hosting some 56,700 refugees and asylum-seekers, of whom close to 25,000 are from the DRC.

UNHCR Angola had an initial annual budget of USD 2.5 million to protect and assist some 46,000 people of concern. In response to the current emergency, UNHCR is appealing for a total of USD 5.5 million to provide immediate lifesaving assistance.
UPS is one of UNHCR’s key global emergency partners. Every year, the UPS Foundation contributes logistical expertise, funds and services to support and enhance our emergency response to provide life-saving aid to families forced to flee.

Source:UNHCR