Tag: GreatLakesNews

Vietnam police seized more than 100 kilogrammes of rhino horn smuggled into the country in suitcases from Kenya on Tuesday, the latest illegal haul in the wildlife trafficking hub.

Vietnam is a hot market for rhino horn, believed to have medicinal properties and is in high demand among the communist nation’s growing middle class.

{{2 Suitcases }}

The country is a popular transit point for illegal animal products, which often move from Africa through Vietnam to other parts of Asia.

The latest haul of the prized animal parts at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport were found hidden in luggage on a flight from Nairobi, according to the official publication of the Hanoi police department.

“After scanning and checking, customs officials discovered the two suitcases of 57 kilogrammes (125 pounds) and 61 kilogrammes were full of suspected rhino horns,” the online Capital Security Newspaper reports said.

Photos showed the huge haul in suitcases and stacked on tables.

Conservationists have warned that rampant demand for rhino horn in China and Vietnam, where it is falsely believed to cure cancer and treat hangovers, is decimating African rhino populations.

{{$60,000/KILO}}

A single kilogramme of rhino horn can fetch up to $60,000 on the local market, according to reports.

Britain’s Prince William delivered an urgent plea in Vietnam in November to end wildlife trafficking to save critically endangered species such as rhino, elephants and pangolins.

Wild rhino populations have dwindled to just 29,000 from half a million at the beginning of the 20th century, according to the International Rhino Foundation.

Trade in rhino horn was banned globally in 1977 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Source:AFP

{Dar Es Salaam Regional Commissioner (RC) Paul Makonda yesterday ordered immediate demolition of all houses built in the flood prone areas.}

He directed Ilala Municipal Council Director, Ilala District Commissioner and Ilala Administrative Secretary (DAS) to ensure all houses in the condemned areas are pulled down by today for the safety of their occupants.

“All the 36 houses that we had planned to demolish at Msimbazi flood prone area especially during this rain season, should be pulled down by tomorrow (today). I directed all residents who had already been compensated to immediately quit the area before their houses are demolished,” directed RC Makonda.

He issued the order yesterHe issued the order yesterHe issued the order yester day while on a tour of Msimbazi River in Mnyamani ward to inspect the areas affected by floods due to ongoing rains in the city.

Mr Makonda also urged all residents who had not been paid compensation to go to Ilala Director and those who had already received their cheques to immediately leave the Msimbazi flood plain.

He called on Dar es Salaam residents to be on the frontline in ensuring that their houses are not built at risky areas that may lead to deaths and other losses of property.

“I advise you (residents of Msimbazi valley) to leave this area to save your own lives. We advise you to support the government efforts to ensure all people are living in safe areas and decent houses,” he explained.

The RC said that the notice to demolish all houses built in flood plains areas was issued by the government long time ago, with the aim of protecting people’s lives.

He warned residents who have received compensation and are still putting up at the areas, saying they were acting against the law. Mr Makonda said that due to ongoing rains in the city, Dar es Salaam residents should take precautions themselves instead of waiting for the government to take care of them as victims.

He said by next month, all houses built on flood prone areas in the city, especially along Msimbazi valley, will be already demolished and all deserving evictees compensated.

Source:Daily News

{A suspect in the murder of British rancher Tristan Voorspuy in the Laikipia region of northern Kenya has appeared in court.}

Samson Lokayi, 40, was arrested on Sunday.

He did not submit a plea because he does not understand English or Swahili, the languages used in court.

Mr Voorspuy, a founder of luxury safari company Offbeat Safaris and a former British army officer, was killed on 5 March while inspecting his lodges.

Traditional pastoral herders were suspected of being behind the killing.

They have invaded private ranches in the area to seize pasture amid an ongoing drought.

Mr Voorspuy’s body was left at the scene for more than 24 hours owing to the volatile security situation.

Kenya’s government has dispatched police units to the region to improve order.

Mr Lokayi is expected to appear again in court on Tuesday.

Source:BBC

{Police in Kakumiro District are holding a man for allegedly killing his former wife in front of her children.}

The incident happened on Sunday in Kadunduma village, Kitaihuka Sub-county in Kakumiro District.

The suspect, 34, is a resident of the same area and is alleged to have killed Beatrice Nakingi, a mother of seven children.

Narrating the ordeal to Daily Monitor, Ms Mary Nakabito, a daughter of the deceased, said their parents separated some years ago but the duo continued to meet for love affairs.

Ms Nakabito says their mother had built her own house and got another man whom she had seven children with.

{{How it happened}}

According to Ms Nakabito, the suspect visited last Saturday but developed a quarrel with his ex-wife in the night.

“As the quarrel ensued, the man (suspect) killed my mother in our presence with a hand hoe, which he hit on her head and the back several times,” Nakabito narrates.

She revealed that her mother had always tried to chase away the suspect in vain.

The children on seeing their mother lying dead, made an alarm which attracted neighbours.

“Our mother cried for help as the man (suspect) dragged her outside the house. Our father is always away, we just fled the scene while wailing for help from the neighbours,” Ms Nakabito explained.

Ms Emily Penelope, a close neighbour of the deceased, said she rushed home only to find the suspect with a blood stained hoe at the scene.

However, the suspect tried fleeing but was rounded up by residents who beat him to pulp a few kilometers from the scene of crime. When contacted, Kakumiro District police commander, Mr Hassan Katumba Mugerwa, confirmed the incident saying the suspect escaped lynching by the mob.

According to Mr Mugerwa, this is the fourth incident in the area where a woman is killed by their husbands or ex-husbands in domestic related disputes.

On February 15, police arrested a man, 80, for allegedly killing his wife Teopista Nakefeero, 30, over a heated family dispute which had caused them to separate.
Mr Mugerwa said domestic violence cases involving murder are soaring. He attributed the rise in the domestic violence cases to land and property sharing.

“We have tried our level best but things are not changing. We have always told people to use other peaceful means in resolving family disputes than resorting to violence,’’ said Mr Mugerwa.

He further warned residents against taking the law in their hands by killing suspects who are supposed to be tried before courts of law.

However, Section 188 of the Penal Code Act states, “Any person who of malice aforethought causes the death of another person by an unlawful act or omission, commits murder’’.

The punishment of murder on conviction is death sentence according to Section 189 of the same act.

{{Domestic violence}}

Domestic violence in Uganda is a problem as it is in many parts of Africa. It involves abuse by one person against another in a domestic context, such as in marriage or cohabitation. This is mainly caused by alcohol, poverty, land disputes and infidelity.

Source:Daily Monitor

{Public service doctors have removed a contentious clause barring them from private practice in a document filed in court yesterday.}

The doctors version of the return-to-work formula (RTWF) struck off the clause, which reads: “All medical doctors, pharmacists and dentists shall strictly adhere to their terms of employment in regard to engaging directly or indirectly in any other gainful employment and/or private practice as a partner, employee, consultant, director, manager, agent, associate or otherwise.”

They also want the government to be compelled by law to pay them the three months salaries and arrears since December 5 last year, when they went on strike.

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There are, hence, two conflicting RTWFs drafted by the parties.

Yesterday, their lawyer Philip Murgor explained that the clause that was expunged from the document filed in the Court of Appeal was “unconstitutional and discriminatory”.

Argued Mr Murgor: “Even a messenger can have a side business.”

He however said everything else in the document was agreeable to the doctors and that he hoped the government will sign the document today and end the 100-day strike.

Appellate judges Hannah Okwengu, Martha Koome and Jamilla Mohammed had earlier given the parties a last chance to allow the doctors to sign the document.

“In light of the urgency and because of public interest, we are ready to give mediation a chance since poor Kenyans are suffering,” they said then. “We are willing to bend backwards.”

{{Unresolved issues }}

Even though they pointed out that they were worried the talks had gone on for too long, the doctors pointed out that, indeed, various issues had already been resolved.

“Doctors are not able to go back to work because the RTWF has not been agreed on,” they added.

“Governors are ready to look at it but the (Health) ministry says it is no longer interested in negotiating.”

The judges sternly pointed out that the real issues that forced the doctors to go on strike had not been resolved and hinted at the possibility of referring the dispute to the Employment and Labour Relations Court.

But before then, they insisted that for the strike to be called off the RTWF must be signed by all parties despite protests by the Ministry of Health and the Attorney-General that there was no room for further negotiations.

{{Suffering }}

“We appeal to all parties, including the ministry, to be guided by best interest of Kenyans, who are suffering for lack of public healthcare, put differences aside, their egos too,” the judges ruled.

They asked religious leaders to give guidance in a bid to bring a compromise and resolution to the matter, “therefore giving parties the chance to find compromise before case is mentioned today at 10.”

Before the ruling, Ms Stella Mbitho, for the ministry and the AG, told court that the government had withdrawn its offer and even discarded its copy of the RTWF since talks had failed to yield results.

She urged court to consider hearing the appeal by officials of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) on their jail sentence.

She also said the government was not privy to the draft presented by the doctors’ union but, if parties agreed to have it signed, the Collective Bargaining Agreement can only be implemented through court.

{{Signatories }}

However, defending the document presented, terming it “not strange”, the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR) appealed to the State to get involved in the matter.

“KNHCR came into this matter to make sure that all Kenyans, regardless of their status, can access healthcare,” said Mr Suyianka Lempaa for the commission.

In the document, key signatories are Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu and Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri for the national government; the 47 counties, through Kisii Governor James Ongwae, who chairs the Council of Governors’ Labour and Human Resource Committee; and the KMPDU.

Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, KNCHR chair Mbogori Kagwiria, Law Society of Kenya’s John Ohaga and Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Dr Jackson ole Sapit were to sign as witnesses.

Source:Daily Nation

{Two members of the United Nations panel of experts for the Democratic Republic of Congo kidnapped on Sunday are still missing, Congolese Communications Minister Lambert Mende told VOA Monday night.}

A statement issued earlier by the DRC government revealed that Michael Sharp, an American, and Zahida Katalin, a Swedish citizen, as well as four Congolese nationals accompanying them, “had fallen into the hands of negative forces which have not yet been identified” in the province of Kasai Central.

“The administrative and security forces are working in concert with MONUSCO [the U.N. mission in the DRC] to secure the liberation of the kidnapped people,” the statement concluded.

On Monday night, Mende told VOA that Congolese security forces and MONUSCO spent the day using helicopters to look for the six abducted individuals, but were unable to locate them. He confirmed the aerial search parties will start again Tuesday morning.

“Other security forces are on foot scouring the area,” Mende said.

VOA was unable to reach U.N. spokespeople in the DRC, but a short statement confirmed that two members of the panel of experts were missing and the U.N. is doing everything possible to locate the experts.

For the last eight months, conflict between the DRC’s security forces and militiamen has been intensifying in the Kasai region. In August of last year, the Congolese military killed a customary chief, known as Kamwina Nsapu, who had rejected the state’s authority and instructed his supporters to drive out the security forces. A militia of his followers, also called Kamwina Nsapu, is now active in the three provinces of Kasai and Lomami Province.

More than 400 people have been killed and 200,000 displaced by the violence, according to the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The U.N. has condemned both the militia for its use of child soldiers and the government for deploying excessive force, including automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades. On March 8, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees referred to “recurrent reports of grave violations” in the four provinces and the discovery of mass graves before urging the Security Council to establish a commission of inquiry.

It is not known at this stage whether the kidnappers are connected to the militia.

Source:Voice of America

{Heavy rains yesterday pounded in different parts of the country, killing two and destroying infrastructure, crops, houses and livestock.}

In Dar es Salaam, rains wreaked havoc in the morning destroying roads and houses rendering them inaccessible, while in Morogoro more than 1,800 people were left homeless as rains ‘washed’ away their houses. In Kaliuwa District, Tabora Region, two children died after they were struck by lightning during heavy rains that were accompanied by thunderstorm.

A snap survey conducted by the ‘Daily News’ witnessed flash floods in different parts of Dar es Salaam, including flooded houses and roads creating long traffic jams while in other areas people were forced to carry their clothes in plastic bags and cross flooded roads in their underpants.

The downpour which lasted for more than five hours caused flashfloods in areas such as Mwenge, Mikocheni, Mbezi Beach, Sinza Tandale, Mwananyamala, Jangwani and Kinyerezi areas forcing hundreds out of their homes. In Morogoro, floods caused by rains that have been pounding the region since March 2, this year, have rendered 1,892 people homeless after some of the houses were swept away and others flooded with water in four wards of Sali, Ruaha, Cholombola and Euga in Ulanga District. The floods also destroyed six bridges linking the wards in the region.

In a briefing report during an emergency meeting of the disaster management team in the district, the Executive Director of the Committee, Yusuf Semgurka, said the rains that started early this month destroyed property, road infrastructure and livestock.

While inspecting the damage caused by the rains, the Chairperson of the Disaster Management Committee who is also the Ulanga District Commissioner (DC), Jacob Kasembe, called for patience from the public as the government works to restore affected services.

Early this month, Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) Director General, Dr Agness Kijazi, warned on the possibility of flash floods during this rainy season where rains are expected in most parts of the country.

The TMA chief said there will be ‘enough’ rains in the country before urging farmers to seize the opportunity and increase crop yield. But, she also warned the disaster management unit and respective authorities to be on high alert over possibilities of flash floods.

During TMA’s weather outlook, Dr Kijazi said areas that normally receive both short and long rains which include the Lake Victoria Basin; Kagera, Mara, Mwanza, Geita, Simiyu and Shinyanga will receive average to above average rains.

The Northern Coast: Dar es Salaam, Morogoro and Tanga regions, the isles of Unguja and Pemba and the Northeastern highlands of Kilimanjaro, Manyara and Arusha will receive average and below average rains.

Dr Kijazi explained that the November to April rains, in regions that have one rainfall season a year such as Western, Southern and Central regions, Southwestern highlands and Southern Coast areas, will continue to receive rains that will be average in most areas and above average in Njombe, Songwe, Ruvuma, Mtwara, Lindi and Mahenge in Southern Morogoro.

Source:Daily News

The UN special adviser on Burundi is warning that the political impasse in the east African nation is worsening, the humanitarian situation is deteriorating, and there are increasing allegations of disappearances and other human rights violations, including extra-judicial killings.

Jamal Benomar said Burundi still suffers from the crisis sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to successfully pursue a third term in 2015, which some called unconstitutional — and any attempt to seek constitutional amendments allowing him to seek a fourth term would “risk intensifying the crisis”.

He told the UN Security Council Thursday that the government has refused to hold talks with the opposition or allow deployment of UN police and human rights monitors.

Benomar urged the international community “to support those who seek a peaceful resolution of the crisis.”

Source:Reports Afrique

{At least nine in every 10 Ugandans who have completed any form of education are unemployed.}

According to National Planning Authority (NPA) statistics released this week, 700,000 people join the job market every year regardless of qualification but only 90,000 get something to do. This translates to 87 per cent of people ready to work but can’t find a job.

But even then, Mr Hamis Mugendawala, the NPA senior planner in charge of education, adds that 20 per cent of those who find jobs are underemployed. He cited the case of teachers, many of whom have now shunned their teaching profession for boda boda (motorcycle taxi) riding to earn a living.

“We have very scanty data on skills development. At least 27 per cent of our students in institutions of higher learning are in science and technology training against the recommended 40 per cent. One in every five workers is underutilised,” he said.

“We see a lot of trained teachers but riding bodas and doctors as secretaries and in businesses instead of going to hospital. There is a problem at the moment because we are looking at achieving a middle income status by 2040. How we get there will depend on what we do today,” Mr Mugendawala said.

During the last election cycle, President Museveni campaigned on, among others, the promise to turn Uganda into a middle income country by the year 2020 – a target which many critics say is overly ambitious given the current difficult economic realities.

Last month alone, Makerere University graduated more than 14,000 students into the very small job market. The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) records show that there are 47 universities, nine of which are public, nine degree-awarding institutions and 207 other tertiary institutions. All these send their students into the world of work annually, where they find thousands of other graduates floating without what to do.

According to Mr Patrick Kaboyo, the secretary for education of non-state education institutions, every individual who has invested in schooling expects to harvest some dividends. But he explained that when these don’t come by, it doesn’t matter what qualification one has, they must find alternatives to ensure they meet the daily basic needs such as food and shelter, which have become too expensive for many Ugandans.

“The current economic situation is so crazy in that if you don’t have money in your pocket everyday, you can’t afford to meet basic needs. Their survey should be informed by a manpower survey, which tells us which position needs to be filled urgently, mid and long term. It is not possible to achieve the Vision 2040 because there are no drivers when people continue to struggle to put food on their table and pay tuition,” Mr Kaboyo said yesterday.

Dr Florence Nakayiwa, Makerere University director for planning and development, challenged NPA.

“I am tired of the 1989 human resource manual we have been using [to train students]. We need to know how much human resource we need, in which areas and the skills required. We can’t continue to be blamed for things that are not of our making,” Ms Nakayiwa said.

In his response, Dr Patrick Birungi, the NPA director for development planning, reported that the authority had received money to enable them do the national human resource survey.

But the NCHE executive director, Prof John Opuda-Asibo, yesterday told Saturday Monitor that although it is one of their mandates to carry out an assessment of the country’s human resource needs, there are many government agencies which need to be involved like NPA and public service.

He said his council doesn’t have money to do this survey and wasn’t aware that NPA had received funds to support that cause.

“This country has a challenge. I am not aware that NPA got money to do the survey. This is not something we can do alone. There is a problem. A lot of things in this country are not coordinated. And you know what that means,” Prof Opuda noted.
Separately, ministry of Education commissioner for higher education, Mr Robert Oceng, said their biggest challenge is the brain drain, which is affecting key manpower.

“We know we produce 500 doctors every year. The unfortunate thing is that they decide to leave the country for better-paying jobs. I want to remind those who leave that it is our people who trained you. Their salaries are cut every month to see you through school. But you leave our health care suffering. This must change. We need to improve our economy first and serve the people who have sacrificed for us to be where we are,” Mr Oceng said.

Source:Daily Monitor