Tag: GreatLakesNews

{The United Nations has criticized Congolese authorities for releasing a video showing the grisly murders of two UN experts, saying the move could harm the investigation and was traumatic for the families.}

“The video is evidence in the crime. We don’t think it should have been released. We don’t think it should have been shown,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Congolese authorities showed the two-minute video to journalists, in an apparent bid to address suspicions that Kinshasa may have had a hand in the murders.

Dujarric said the video was authentic. “One can only imagine how traumatic it is to the families of the victims,” he said.

The video showed Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan surrounded by seven people speaking Tshiluba, the main language of Kasai, armed with machetes, sticks and one with an old gun.

Through an interpreter out of shot, the armed men promise to show the location of mass graves in the bush. Seemingly worried, the white man asks the interpreter in French with a marked accent: “Why are they armed and angry?”

The two foreigners are quickly forced to sit on the ground before orders are barked and they are shot. One of the victims is then beheaded.

“This is how the men of Kamwina Nsapu operate,” government spokesman Lambert Mende told reporters, saying the murder showed “the work of terrorists that must be wiped out by all means.”

Two suspects were detained over the kidnap and murder of Sharp, who was American, and dual Swedish-Chilean national Catalan, earlier this month, but one escaped with the help of police guarding them.

Sharp and Catalan were members of the UN panel of experts who were seeking to investigate reports of mass graves in the central Kasai region.

Hundreds of people have been killed in violence in diamond-rich Kasai since a tribal uprising began after traditional chieftain Kamwina Nsapu was killed in August last year.

Source:AFP

{One of the suspects arrested for masterminding the wave of insecurity in Masaka, Kampala and Wakiso districts has pinned police officers for knowingly providing protection to criminal gangs.}

Juma Muyirwa, a suspect who was paraded before the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kale Kayihura this morning, said their planning meetings, often held in Kampala, are guarded by policemen with patrol cars. He observes that one of the meetings police guarded was attended by more than 250 thugs at Mt Zion hotel in Makerere.

“The hotel where we went to meet our commanders; BK and Senga, was guarded by police. They were dressed in khaki,” Muyirwa said while pointing at one of the police officers at Katwe Police Station. Muyirwa said he commanded a group of 30 people in the criminal gang prior to his arrest.

Police has so far arrested more than 50 suspects in Kampala, 100 in greater Masaka region (comprising of the districts of Lwengo, Rakai, Kalungu, Bukomansimbi and Masaka) and 40 from Mbarara District.

The group is believed to be behind the rampant house break-ins and circulation of anonymous letters warning locals of impending attacks in villages. The letters, first seen in greater Masaka, were recently dropped in suburbs of Kampala and Wakiso districts.

In some of the anonymous letters, the thugs asked residents to prepare enough money and gadgets for them. They asked the underprivileged residents to leave at least Shs20,000 at their doorsteps while the wealthy residents have been asked to keep enough money to be offered to the attackers.

According to the confessions made by more than three suspects, the letters were a brainchild of a criminal gang headed by Charles Bukenya, also known as BK.

Siraj Ssekandi, one of the gang commanders says they have been working for BK. However, their mission was cancelled on March 21, after an initial group that had gone to Lwengo was captured.

“I was asked to bring my crew of 30 people to Zion by BK and Senga; we were there until 3am when the operation was cancelled. They even brought us weapons including Pangas, Machete and hammers,” Ssekandi says.

But Bukenya (BK), a stylish businessman who was arrested two days ago has denied knowledge of the accusations against him.

“He has been interrogated but he says he doesn’t know anything even though very many young men have pinned him as the gang commander,” a source at Katwe Police station told this reporter.

Gen Kayihura says if there is any police officer involved in this they will be brought to book adding that Police has information that there are also some politicians using the same criminal gangs to terrorize residents with an aim of discrediting government.

Source:Daily Monitor

{Most Kenyans will readily accept the outcome of the August 8 General Election, new survey says.}

Results of an Infotrak survey commissioned by Integrated Development Network (IDN), a non-governmental organisation that deals with peace, cohesion and security, show 89 per cent of respondents agreed that, no matter the outcome, they will accept the election results.

The study was conducted in all the former provinces, out of a sample size of 1,500 and with a margin error of +/-2.53.

{{Election violence }}

It also revealed that 93 per cent of Kenyans believe that communities living around them exist harmoniously and cohesively.

Releasing the results, Infotrak CEO Angela Ambitho attributed this positive outlook to the fact that Kenyans have learnt from their past mistakes, are wiser and do not want a repeat of post-election violence.

However, should there be violence, Kenyans believe that national politics might be the highest cause, at 49 per cent.

Those who would blame county or constituency politics were 19.8 per cent and both levels of governance 16.6 per cent.

People from the former Nyanza and Eastern provinces highly believe national politics will be a trigger to violence, at 63.1 and 52.1 per cent, respectively, as do less than a half of those from North Eastern (35.2 per cent).

{{Credible polls }}

The study also showed that 72.8 per cent of Kenyans believe the Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission (IEBC) is capable of handling the elections well, and that 73.2 per cent believe the polls will be free and fair.

IEBC leads in terms of confidence in institutions associated with elections, those that are trusted “a lot”, at 66.2 per cent. Religious organisations follow at 64.2 per cent and the media 59.6 per cent.

Political parties did badly here as they led in “not at all” at 29.4 per cent. Police suffered similar fate, at 27.1 per cent.

According to the study, more than half of Kenyans, or 58.9 per cent, are not happy with how politicians are conducting themselves.

A whopping 94.2 per cent of the respondents are in agreement that politicians who incite violence should be barred from running for elective positions while 95.6 per cent say political parties should take stern punitive action against culprits.

Source:Daily Nation

{The U.N. refugee agency reports that more than 11,000 Congolese have fled to neighboring Angola, seeking refuge from an upsurge in violence between rebels and government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai Province.}

According to the The U.N. refugee agency, more than one million people have been displaced within the DRC since mid-August when conflict erupted in Kasai Province.

UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said more than 9,000 people fled to Angola this month, in fear of their lives, as fighting intensified. He said some refugees have been forced to hide in the forest for several days before making their escape. All the refugees, he said, arrive in Angola in desperate condition.

“The situation among arriving refugee children is dire as about half of the arriving refugee population are children,” he said. “Many of them are arriving malnourished and sick, suffering from diarrhea, fever and malaria. Two children are reported to have already died from severe malnutrition inside Angola.”

Baloch said some parents reportedly sent their children to Angola, fearing they would be recruited as child soldiers by the militias in Kasai. The U.N. Children’s Fund, which agreed that is a valid concern, reported at least 2,000 children are being used by the militia to fight their war.

The UNHCR reported conditions along the DRC border in Angola are overcrowded. It said refugees lack proper shelter and are forced to stay in makeshift buildings, with food, water and other relief in short supply.

It said heavy rains in the country are putting vulnerable refugees — women, children, the elderly and disabled — at risk of becoming ill.

Source:Voice of America

{The Ministry of Energy and Mining says the shortage of fuel earlier his week was due to a “technical breakdown” that interrupted clearance processes within the Burundi Revenue Authority (OBR), an allegation the Authority denies.}

From last Monday till yesterday, many of the fuel pumps around Bujumbura town were dry. Long queues of cars and motorcycles waited for hours at the few stations that were open. Service at fuel stations returned to normalcy this Thursday.

Daniel Mpitabakana, Director of the Fuel department at the Ministry of Energy and Mining, says that connection breakdown that happened on Monday and that hindered the normal course of the OBR activities made it impossible for providers to supply fuel.

“There was a technical breakdown for over four hours [on Monday]”, he says. He says when there is such a breakdown, importers cannot do customs clearance and therefore cannot cater fuel to consumers.

He explains that the breakdown goes back to the end of March when another severe shortage of fuel had interrupted activities- especially public and private transport- that rely on fuel.

In a series of tweets on this Thursday, OBR dismissed the claim saying it “is not aware of any connection breakdown of Monday 1April 2017 the Director of the Fuel department is talking about”.

Asked after OBR had dismissed his claim, Mpitabakana did not backtrack.

The “technical breakdown” reason, which some see as a pretext, for fuel shortage replaces the “lack of foreign currency” explanation that has been usually used to explain away constant fuel supply disruptions in Burundi over the last months.

Source:Iwacu

{Residents of Muswangali zone, Salaama road in Makindye Division, Kampala were on Saturday morning left in grief and fear after a businessman in the area was shot dead in what is believed to be armed robbery by unknown assailants.}

Police said Mathias Byamugisha, a businessman along Salaama road opposite ETM International church was attacked and killed at about 3am on Saturday and robbed of an unspecified amount of money.

“By the time police arrived at the scene, his shop was still open. We picked his body and took it to Mulago National referral Hospital for postmortem,” said Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Mr Emilian Kayima.

Mr Kayima added that police are hunting for the suspects who are on the run to ensure that justice prevails.
“We are following any possible possible leads to see that the suspects are arrested and brought to book,” he added.

The deceased’s vehicle was also found parked outside his shop.

{{500 Ugandans shot dead in three years}}

The data released by Gen Jeje Odongo during an awareness workshop on the proposed Small Arms and Light Weapons Control Bill in Entebbe recently indicate that 503 people were killed between 2014 and 2016, while another 1,477 survived with serious gunshot wounds. The killings were as a result of shooting involving legal and illegal guns in circulation.

Gen Odongo told MPs on Defence and Internal Affairs Committee, who are currently scrutinising the Bill and other invited stakeholders, that in 2014, at least 181 people were shot dead, and another 151 people killed in 2015, while more 171 people were again shot dead last year. He called the development “a dangerous trend that should be addressed.”

“According to the Uganda Police crime statistics, homicide cases, through use of firearms, have been registered in various parts of the country, with statistics showing a dangerous trend that should be addressed,” Gen Odongo said.

However, the minister admitted that the government lacks the data to estimate accurately the number of illegally held guns that have been used in illegal operations.

He said only 6,000 of the civilian-owned guns are registered in the country, while more 16,783 guns are held by private security organisations.

Source:Daily Monitor

{Six people among them five family members died in a road crash involving a matatu and a truck at Sobea near Salgaa along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.}

A woman and her four children lost their lives alongside their family friend during the Friday evening accident.

They were on heading to Olkalau, Nyandarua to make preparations for dowry payment.

According to Rongai divisional police commander Mr Japheth Kioko, the eleven seater shuttle belonging to Eldoret Crossroads Sacco which was headed towards Nakuru town tried to overtake another vehicle along the busy highway before it hit a speedy truck headed to the opposite direction head on.

“Four people including two female adults and three children died on the spot during the 9 p.m. accident. The injured were rushed to Nakuru Level Four hospital,” said the police boss.

One child succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

The Bodies were moved to the Nakuru County mortuary.

According to Mr James Warui who was speaking on behalf of the family, Ms Jane Wambui was travelling to Olkalau together with their five children John Mwangi, Daniel Wanjau, Esther Wangui, Deborah Waweru and Cecilia Mwangi while accompanied by their neighbour when the accident occurred.

The six were going to make preparations for the payment of dowry.

Only one child Cecilia Mwangi among the siblings aged between four and twelve survived the fatal accident.

Mr Warui said his brother Mr Francis Waweru had sent the family to his in laws ahead of him for the purpose of paying the bride price.

According to Mr Warui, other members including himself who had been left behind in Eldoret were to follow, the following day (Friday).

He claims he received information at 11 p.m. Friday night from a good Samaritan who traced him through the survivor (Cecilia) who told them of the her primary school in Eldoret.

The wreckage of the vehicles were however towed to Salgaa Police Station.

Source:Daily Nation

{United Nations investigators have confirmed the existence of at least 17 further mass graves in a Democratic Republic of the Congo region that is a scene of clashes between soldiers and a local militia.}

This brings to 40 the number of mass graves documented in the Kasai region.

Staff from the UN Joint Human Rights Office and UN Police have confirmed the presence of the additional graves.

Fifteen of the mass graves are in a cemetery in the town of Tshimbulu and two in the locality of Tshienk.

The UN team gathered information soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) had reportedly dug the graves, after clashing with presumed elements of the Kamuina Nsapu militia late in March.

At least 74 people, including 30 children, were reported to have been killed by soldiers.

Soldiers were also reported to have shot dead at least 40 people, including 11 children and 12 women, in the Nganza commune of Kananga.

The majority of the victims were said to have been killed in their homes as soldiers went door to door looking for militia members.

UN investigators also received reports that at least two women and three girls had been raped by FARDC soldiers during the same operation.

Defence and security forces were alleged to have arrested and detained 27 people, including ten boys and a 15-year-old girl.

“The discovery of yet more mass graves and the reports of continued violations and abuses highlight the horror that has been unfolding in the Kasais over the last nine months,” said UN commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

DRC is beset by tensions following President Kabila clinging to power at the expiry of his term late 2016. Militia in Kasai are opposed to his stay in power.

Source:All Africa