Tag: GreatLakesNews

{President John Magufuli yesterday pardoned 2,219 prisoners on the occasion of the 53rd Anniversary of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, marked at national level at the Jamhuri Stadium in the designated capital of Dodoma. Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Maj. Gen.}

Projest Rwegasira, said in a statement yesterday that the pardon was in line with powers vested on the president through Article 45 (1) (d) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania.

“The government hopes that the freed prisoners will return to the community and work with other citizens to build the nation and that they will avoid committing crimes that will send them back to incarceration,” the PS remarked in the statement.

Prisoners to benefit from the amnesty are those suffering from cancer, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS and whose conditions are in terminal stage; these will have to be verified by a panel of medical doctors to be chaired either by district or regional medical officers.

Elderly people at 70 years of age and above are also eligible for the pardon, but their age will have be confirmed by a panel of medical doctors to be chaired by either DCO or RCO, the statement explained.

Another group involved those who after the normal reduction of a third of their sentences provided under Section 49 (1) of the Prisons Act Chapter 58, should have served at least a half of their remaining time, save for those mentioned in Article 2 (i-xxi).

Female convicts who were imprisoned while pregnant, lactating or with children have also been enjoined in this ‘presidential mercy’ by Dr Magufuli – whose amnesty also extends to prisoners with mental and physical disabilities – but who will be subjected to medical examinations by doctors as indicated in such other groups above. However, condemned convicts or whose sentences were reduced to life imprisonment and those serving life in jail will not be covered under this pardon.

The same applies to prisoners who were convicted for trafficking narcotics, corruption and robbery with violence in addition to armed robbery and attempt robbery.

According to the statement, Maj. Gen. Rwegasira mentioned the other group not eligible for freedom as the ones convicted on charges related to possession of firearms, ammunitions and explosives. The statement went on to cite the other prisoners not eligible for the pardon as rapists, defilers and those who attempted such crimes or sexual assault.

“Convicts who were imprisoned for impregnating girls in primary and secondary schools and who committed such crimes at the age of 18 and above will not be freed in the announced amnesty,” the statement explained.

Human traffickers, poachers and prisoners who were charged for possessing human body parts, embezzlers of public funds and recidivists have not been included as they are not eligible for the presidential pardon.

Source:Daily News

{Most of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumers in the country are likely to be purchasing half-filled cylinders due to illegal gas refilling by dishonest traders.}

The government regulatory authorities and some dealers have confirmed to the Daily News that the problem was rampant in some areas in the country and that they are doing everything in their capacity to resolve it. As a result, such acts have since prompted the government of Kenya to ban the importation of gas from Tanzania through land routes.

On Monday, Kenya’s Ministry of Energy banned imports of cooking gas through the common border – on land only, for now. Kenyan Petroleum Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau said traders will not be allowed to import gas via land borders to Kenya.

The move, according to Mr Kamau, is meant to eliminate illegal cooking gas filling plants which have popped up in various parts of Kenya, posing safety and security risks. Speaking to the ‘Daily News,’ one of gas dealers in the country who also supplies gas to neighbouring Kenya, said some dishonest traders had established illegal gas refilling stations along highways, too.

Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) Director General, Felix Ngamlagosi, told the Daily News that his office is aware of the problem and that it is dealing with it accordingly. He admitted that some dishonest traders were illegally refilling gas cylinders.

According to Mr Ngalamgosi, the practice poses safety and security risks and that it is against the Petroleum Act, 2015, which forbids gas filling without the approval of EWURA and other regulatory bodies. He said EWURA had been conducting inspections in various areas within the country from time to time to ensure there’s no illegal refilling or any practices contravening the law of the land.

The EWURA boss said illegal gas ‘dealers’ take the cylinders, fill them and return them into the market, adding that his office had since identified what it calls a “big filling station in Dar es Salaam.” “We are doing everything in our power to curb the situation, but we will only succeed if ‘wananchi’ support us in this war,” he said.

Mr Ngalamgosi asked the public to report anything related to the illegal gas refilling or any kind of criminality that involve gas business to Ewura or police so that immediate measures could be taken to curb the situation.

“I would like to call upon the public to support EWURA get to the bottom of this problem, illegal gas refilling is very dangerous … it can cause fires or any other hazards because the exercise takes place in unauthorised areas and without following safety measures,” he said.

He added that illegal refilling means disaster, especially so when the filling station running this dangerous business sits in the middle of residential areas. He asked the public to report any movements that involve trucks that carry gas cylinders for offloading in such stations. He said such illegal business denies the government millions of shillings in revenue.

Oryx gas Tanzania Marketing Manager, Mr Mohamed Mohamed said the banning of gas exportation to Kenya by Kenyan authority will in one way or another affect businesses. He said, however, that the Kenyan government measure must serve as a waking call to Tanzania authorities to find a lasting solution to illegal gas refilling in the country. He said some traders have been illegally refilling cylinders to make more profit.

He said the Kenyan government has decided to take action for interests of its people. “LPG is highly flammable and just a small leak or contact with a spark can cause an explosion, it’s very dangerous for the people and thus Kenyan government is trying to save its people from problems,” he said.

He added: “To make their business look legitimate, the gas is repackaged into branded cylinders to leverage off trusted brands before finding its way into the market through the backdoor.” He said the recent incident in which Ewura discovered an illegal filling station in Dar es Salaam, they found various cylinders with brands including oryx gas.

“So these people are killing our business, they use our brand to sell half-filled cylinders, this is unfair and unacceptable, therefore, we are asking the government to push more and make sure this bad practice is completely bunged,” said Mr Mohamed.

Source:Daily News

{High Court Judge, Elizabeth Kabanda, who is hearing the case of Makerere University academician Dr Stella Nyanzi has ordered journalists out of her chambers.}

Justice Kabanda on Wednesday ordered journalists out after Dr Nyanzi appeared before her for review of her bail, before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court, where the presiding magistrate Mr James Ereemye remanded her without hearing her bail application. Nyanzi is accused of cyber harassment and offensive communication.

Journalists from various media are packed in the corridor leading to Justice Kabanda’s Chambers.

Dr Nyanzi is currently inside the judge’s Chambers alongside her lawyers led by Nicholas Opiyo, and state attorneys.

Dr Nyanzi is challenging the manner in which she was remanded to Luzira prison on April 10, by Buganda Road Court chief magistrate James Ereemye, without entertaining her bail application.

However, shortly after the proceedings in the judge’s chambers, Mr Opiyo told Daily Monitor that Justice Kabanda had adjourned the case to 3:30 pm.

Source:Daily Monitor

{One person has died and another seriously injured after being stabbed by supporters of a parliamentary aspirant in Pangani, Nairobi.}

The two were posting campaign posters on a wall near the Pangani Girls High School Wednesday morning when a group affiliated to another aspirant attacked them.

Nairobi County Police Commander Japheth Koome said the two were stabbed using a knife and while they were crossing the road to escape from the attackers, one of them was knocked by a car and was rushed to hospital where he was confirmed dead.

However, Mr Koome said a post-mortem will be conducted to ascertain whether the death was caused by the stabbing or the knocking down by the car.

He said police have been directed to be vigilant and prevent youth from campaigning during the nominations as it is illegal.

The other victim of the attack is being treated in hospital.

Source:Daily Nation

{Tanzania government has asked the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to remove its Country Director, Ms Awa Dabo, who is blamed over poor working relations with her colleagues, a situation that has led to inefficiency at the agency.}

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation explained in a statement yesterday that the UN official was involved in disagreements with some of her co-workers and the management and thus putting into jeopardy the implementation of development projects.

According to the statement, her poor working relations with colleagues at the UNDP Tanzania country office was likely to stall development projects if action was not taken.

“After her departure from Tanzania was confirmed; the government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Co-operation advises the UNDP to remind its staff of their obligation of working with the government faithfully in order to attain its development goals,” it stated.

These include Tanzania Development Vision 2025, the Five Year Development Plan and the Agenda 2030.

Source:Daily News

{A U.N. official in the Democratic Republic of Congo has repeated calls for a dialogue to end the deadly, months-long conflict in the Kasai region of the central DRC.}

“There is no solution in Kasai other than a negotiated solution,” said Mamadou Diallo, the coordinator of humanitarian affairs for the U.N.’s mission in DRC.

Diallo addressed a news conference in Kinshasa the day after DRC government spokesman Lambert Mende showed journalists grisly videos of executions he said were carried out by the Kamwina Nsapu rebels, including the murders of two U.N. experts who disappeared in Kasai in March and were later found dead.

“They [The Kamwina Nsapu] are terrorists,” Mende said. “Terrorism in the DRC must be eradicated without condition and [there is] no question of negotiating with these people,” he said.

{{Gruesome videos of killings}}

One of the videos Mende showed at the briefing, which VOA attended, appeared online in a tweet Tuesday but was quickly removed.

The spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general has condemned the government’s decision to play the videos to the media, saying in a statement that “we’re disappointed that the video was shown publicly” and that “it does harm… to the ongoing investigation.”

Mende told reporters the videos had been recorded by the rebels and obtained by the police, without providing further information.

In one, disarmed policemen sit on the ground and are interrogated by their captors. The scene then cuts away to images of decapitated bodies in police uniforms. The video purportedly showed the aftermath of an ambush of a police convoy in late March near Kananga, the capital of Kasai-Central province, when 39 policemen were beheaded.

The second video showed the final moments of two U.N. experts who went missing in Kasai-Central on March 12 and whose bodies were found several weeks later. Michael Sharp, an American, and Zaida Catalan, from Sweden, are seen walking surrounded by men wearing the red headbands associated with Kamwina Nsapu. Both are instructed to sit and soon after are shot and killed. Catalan is then decapitated.

{{Calls for negotiations criticized }}

Mende criticized those calling for a negotiated end to the conflict and the establishment of an independent investigation into the actions of both sides. His statements appear to represent a departure from what looked to be an easing of tensions earlier this month.

The conflict began in August 2016 after the customary chief to which the rebels were loyal — also called Kamwina Nsapu — was killed during clashes with the police. The violence has intensified this year. At least 400 people have been killed and one million displaced since the conflict started, according to the U.N. Initially confined to Kasai-Central, Kamwina Nsapu are now active in five provinces of central DRC. The rebels reject the authority of the central government.

However, discreet negotiations with the customary chief’s family have been taking place. In mid-April, the interior ministry said it had returned the chief’s body to his family and designated a successor. Kamwina Nsapu’s family told the media that the violence would come to an end while the interior ministry called on fighters to surrender.

On Tuesday, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator urged the government to continue the approach.

“We take note of this first gesture and this willingness to extend a hand to find a solution”, Diallo said. “We encourage the government and all local actors to continue down this road.”

The European Union, African Union and the influential Congolese Catholic Church are also calling for dialogue to end the crisis.

{{Mass graves found }}

U.N. investigators say they have found 40 mass graves in Kasai, reportedly dug by the Congolese military after bouts of fighting, and videos that appeared to show soldiers shooting civilians in Kasai have also surfaced this year. The U.N. has regularly also criticized Kamwina Nsapu for its recruitment of child soldiers.

Source:Voice of America

{In the early morning of 24 April, sounds of gunshots were heard in Kigobe neighborhood of Ntahangwa Commune in the capital Bujumbura. “The police officer was pursuing a “tuk-tuk” driver who was trying to escape.}

Instead of stopping, he rather tried to run away and the police officer shot in the air trying to stop him. The policeman has been arrested for investigation”, says Pierre Nkurikiye, the police spokesperson.

Pierre Nkurikiye also says shootings were also heard in Kanyosha neighborhood in the south of the Burundian capital. “it was around midnight past twenty minutes when a police officer shot in the air trying to prevent robbers from stealing a house of the locality”, he says.

In the evening of 22 April, Jean Claude Bashirahishize, a resident of Rukina zone in Mukike Commune of Bujumbura Province was shot dead by soldiers from the Ruhororo military position.

Séverin Ndayizeye, the local chief said the young man was shot when he was trying to escape from the soldiers when they were controlling identity cards of the passengers. Gaspard Baratuza, Spokesman for the Burundian army also confirms the information that the young man was shot dead as he was trying to escape.

On 23 April, a dead body of Asmane Nduwimana, a driver and resident of Buterere neighborhood was discovered in Kanyosha southern area of the capital Bujumbura. “His “probox” type vehicle was stolen by unknown people”, says the police spokesman.

One woman on Musenyi hill of Cankuzo Eastern province and another one from Taba hill of Songa Commune in Bururi southern province were also killed by unknown people on 23 April. One person was arrested in each of the two localities for investigation.

Jean Baptiste Nsabimana, a human rights activist says 10 bodies have been identified. He also says cases of disappearances (14), torture (22) and arbitrary arrests (166) have been reported in different parts of the country from 1 to 23 April 2017.

Source:Iwacu