Tag: GreatLakesNews

{{One of the five officers of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces injured in an attack in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has died in South Africa while undergoing treatment.}}

Private Barnabas Munga died in Pretoria on Wednesday where he was being treated for injuries he sustained from an explosive device that was thrown at them in Goma, in the DRC.

On August 28, Munga and four others were injured while he and other soldiers were at their base when a grenade was thrown at them by unknown assailants, instantly killing Major Khatib Mshindo.

According to a statement by TPDF, Private Munga was part of the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (Monusco). The number of Tanzanian soldiers killed while on duty has so far reached nine.

NMG

Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab rebels on Saturday claimed responsibility for an attack on a shopping mall in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, saying on Twitter it was in retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia.

“The Mujahideen entered Westgate Mall today at around noon and are still inside the mall, fighting the Kenyan Kuffar inside their own turf,” the group said on Twitter.

“What Kenyans are witnessing at Westgate is retributive justice for crimes committed by their military,” the group said.

Al-Shabaab claimed that its fighters had killed 100 people in the attack.

The Kenyan Red Cross has said 39 people have been confirmed killed and over 60 wounded.

Kenyan forces entered Somalia two years ago to fight al-Shabaab, and remain in the country as part of an African Union force that is supporting Somalia’s internationally-backed government.

{{East African Local Government ministers have said they want to be involved in the next planning and phasing out of Millennium Development Goals for country suitability and implementation.}}

The ministers from Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania, joined by others from Comoros, Ethiopia and South Sudan, under the East African Local Government Forum (EALGF), September 19, said the MDGs currently coordinated by the UN agencies, have dragged on because individual countries were never consulted thus implementation had been met with mixed feelings.

Speaking at the 2nd EALGF meeting in Kampala yesterday, the body’s chairperson, Ms Hawa Abdul Ghasia, said participation of individual East African states in the next round was in the best interest of development and an approach to see their success.

“We… are more concerned because we are at the centre of implementation. It is the central government which received these policies on paper, but the biggest task of execution is on us, with little resources at hand,” Ms Ghasia said.

EAGLF was established last year by the local government ministers to steer a bottom-up approach to integration and facilitate effective, efficient and sustainable projects in the region.

Ms Ghasia, also Tanzania’ State Minister for Regional Administration and Local Government, said this year’s convention also aimed at funneling cordial relations with the East-notably China, whose developmental approach and intentions in Africa has no underlying strings.

“China has been where we are now and when we run to them, they rarely raise conditionalities as the case for our predominant development partners,” she said.

Uganda’s Vice President Edward Ssekandi, in his delegated speech at the opening the summit, hailed EALGF for championing for democracy, political participation and their stance in deepening the spirit of regional integration.

He, however, urged them to embrace a development mind-like approach of emerging economies like India, China, and Brazil with emphasis on competitive markets.

NMG

{{After the collapse of half a dozen cases over atrocities, International Criminal Court prosecutors are seeking to hire forensic experts to reduce their reliance on witness testimony.}}

Although not the only factor in the court’s failure to secure more than one conviction in a decade, the disappearance of witnesses, doubts over their accounts and withdrawals of their statements have undermined prosecutions over suspected crimes against humanity in Kenya, Sudan, Congo and elsewhere.

That has stymied a court designed to dispense international justice and discourage war crimes. This week, the ICC began hearing testimony in a trial over Kenya’s 2008 bloodshed.

Court officials said they had asked donors for a 10 percent increase in next year’s budget from the 115 million euros ($155 million) in 2013. Much of the additional money would pay for expert investigators.

Some past cases relied too much on witness testimony and had gone to trial with too little evidence, said Phakiso Mochochoko, a senior official in the court’s Office of the Prosecutor.

“We are looking at possibilities for cyber investigations and other forensic evidence we could collect,” said Mochochoko.

The planned overhaul in investigations follows the replacement of high-profile chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo by Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda last year.

When it comes to relying on witnesses, the Kenyan cases show how things can go wrong.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, face separate charges of orchestrating post-election clashes in 2008 which left about 1,200 people dead.

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{{The Sudanese foreign minister, Ali Ahmed Karti, has arrived in New York to attend the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).}}

A diplomatic source told Sudan’s official news agency (SUNA) that the application made by the Sudanese president, Omer Hassan Al-Bashir, to obtain entry visa to the US is still standing, demanding that the US administration meet its obligations as the UN headquarters state.

On Monday, the US state department said it received a visa application for Bashir to attend the 68th session of the UNGA, noting that he should not make such a trip because he is accused of war crimes and genocide by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

But the Sudanese government said that Bashir’s visit would be to the UN headquarters and not to the United States itself which does not have any legal right to object to the participation of any official from any country enjoying full membership of the international organization in the UN activities.

The pro-government, Al-Sudani newspaper, said on Friday that Bashir has obtained clearance of all countries which he will fly through his way to New York to participate in the UNGA’s 68th session.

The newspaper further said that the foreign ministry has received a promise from the US embassy to grant Bashir an entry visa within the next couple of days.

On Thursday, the US state department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that Bashir’s visa application is still pending review.

The US official however, revealed for the first time that the ICC arrest warrant issued for Bashir on alleged war crimes will be a factor in deciding his visa request.

“I don’t have any update for you. There are a variety of considerations in play with respect to President Bashir’s visa request, including the outstanding warrant for his arrest,” she said in response to questions by reporters during daily press briefing.

The ICC Pre-Trial chamber, in a decision issued Wednesday, said it had ‘‘… invited the competent US authorities to arrest Omar Al Bashir and surrender him to the Court, in the event he enters their territory.’’

The visa issue has attracted controversy placing the US, a non-signatory to the ICC’s Rome statute, in the spotlight.

The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the members of the United Nations to publicly oppose attendance at its General Assembly by Bashir.

“If al-Bashir turns up at the UN General Assembly, it will be a brazen challenge to Security Council efforts to promote justice for crimes in Darfur,” said Elise Keppler, associate international justice program director at HRW.

“The last thing the UN needs is a visit by an ICC fugitive”, she added.

On Thursday, a group of Hollywood actors and activists wrote a letter to Obama urging him to block Bashir’s attendance.

“While we recognize that the U.S. government is obliged to facilitate President Bashir’s visit under the U.N. Headquarters Agreement, we urge you to do everything in your power to prevent the trip,” it said.

The letter suggested a number of steps to discourage the Sudanese president from visiting.

The signatories including George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Mia Farrow and Omer Ismail and John Prendergast of the Enough Project said that the US Department of Justice should “explore filing a criminal case against him under 18 USC 1091”.

“This law, which codifies the Genocide Accountability Act of 2007, allows for anyone present in the United States to be prosecuted for genocide, even if their crimes were committed abroad” the letter reads in part.

“By publicly raising the threat of such a prosecution and the specter that President Bashir’s privileges and immunities may not extend to genocidal acts, your administration would make an important statement about the U.S. government’s commitment to atrocity prevention and accountability”.

“Declaring that the U.S. will only offer the Sudanese delegation the minimum amount of protection mandated by the UN Headquarters Agreement could also affect the Sudanese government’s decision making process… Limiting the number of visas granted to President Bashir’s security detail and imposing specific geographic constraints on those visas could also circumscribe the delegation’s mobility and raise the reputational costs of the trip” it adds.

“In the event that President Bashir remains steadfast in his intent to travel to United Nations headquarters despite these actions, there are a number of steps that can be taken to impede his travel.

Our diplomatic corps should encourage countries along President Bashir’s planned flight path to refuse landing rights for his aircraft for refueling and restrict access to their airspace.

The U.S. delegation to the United Nations and Ambassador Samantha Power should also encourage senior UN officials and delegations from other countries to publicly refuse to meet with President Bashir or his delegation. Drawing on the precedent set by a similar rejection of former Iranian President Ahmadinejad in 2011, our diplomats could also coordinate a walk-out of the UN General Assembly session in protest of President Bashir’s presence”.

sudantribune

{{Gunmen who attacked a Nairobi shopping mall on Saturday have taken at least seven hostages, police and security guards at the scene told reporters.}}

“They have seven hostages, confirmed,” an officer said as police were engaged in an operation to clear the mall shop-by-shop and evacuate terrified people caught up in the incident.

The gunmen stormed the upmarket mall and sprayed gunfire on shoppers and staff, killing at least six, reporters and witnesses said.

Several attackers and trapped civilians were believed to still be inside the large four-storey shopping centre more than two hours after the attack began, and heavy fire was heard as police units moved in.

Police and ambulances surrounded the Westgate mall, which is popular with wealthy Kenyans and expatriates and would have been packed with families on a sunny weekend day.

Terrified people could be seen running away from the compound clutching children while others crawled along walls to avoid stray bullets.

Kenneth Kerich, who was shopping when the attack happened, described scenes of panic.

“I suddenly heard gunshots and saw everyone running around so we [lay] down. I saw two people who were lying down and bleeding, I think they were hit by bullets,” he said.

“Initially we thought it is police fighting thugs. But we could not leave until when officers walked in, shot in the air and told us to get out.”

The motive of the attack was not immediately clear, but Kenyan media said the attackers, who witnesses said were black-clad and masked, may have been either armed robbers or “terrorists”.

AFP

{{Tanzania’s government has announced the tenders for the construction of the new Mtwara to Mbamba Bay railway.}}

According to the Tanzania Daily News, the managing director of the Tanzania Railway Asset Holding Company (RAHCO), Bernhard Tito, said that the company had shortlisted 10 consultancy firms out of the 22 that applied for feasibility studies.

Tito added that the company had floated tenders for potential investors to invest in the project via engineering, procurement, construction and financing.

“Tender bids were opened on June 21st, this year, in which 12 companies bid for the project but only six companies have been shortlisted,” said Tito.

“The shortlisted companies have been notified and are required to submit detailed proposals.”

Tito said that the improvement of the route from Tanga (Mwambani) to Arusha and the construction of the railway from Arusha to Musoma is expected to be of the standard gauge.

The railway will be 438km long and 1.435 metres wide and will branch out to Liganga and Mchuchuma mines via Songea.

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{{The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir and his Finance minister Ali Mahmoud Abdel-Rasool made statements today that sparked outrage in the social media amid heightened tensions over the government’s anticipated move to lift fuel subsidies.}}

The two men boasted that the Sudanese people were introduced to “Pizza”, “Hot dog”, and “Luxury housing” only after the 1989 coup which brought Bashir to power.

Bashir, who was addressing a crowed of the students affiliated with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday, said that he “challenges any Sudanese citizen who knew the Hot dog before the Ingaz (Salvation) regime,” asserting that his government will not back down from its decision to remove fuel subsidies.

The Sudanese president said that subsidies money should and would be directed to support poor families, retirees and students.

He acknowledged that wages are low and unrewarding, disclosing that the police for example lost 60% of its personnel due to that.

Bashir also reiterated the government’s justification for removing fuel subsidies saying that it only benefits the rich people while the low-income class continues to suffer.

“They [rich people] are riding the latest cars models and enjoying their air conditioning. They spend their vacations in Europe where they keep their money”, he said

The country’s top man pointed to the need for a fair distribution of resources, saying that the government pays a on pound subsidy for every gallon of gasoline.

He claimed that even the foreign diplomatic mission and the United Nations agencies benefit from the fuel subsidies and also mentioned gasoline smuggling to the neighboring countries.

Therefore the only way to avoid smuggling, he said is to remove subsidies adding that the government buys the oil barrel at a price of $110 and sells it for $40 only.

He emphasized that the loss of oil revenue after South Sudan’s secession represented the biggest challenge to the economy, saying that Sudan’s economy is not an exception from the rest of the world’s economies which go through difficult times following growth and prosperity.

The Finance minister, for his part, said that the Sudanese people rejected the austerity measures the government is contemplating because they got used to “luxurious lifestyle”, pointing that Sudanese houses before 1989 were “ugly” and people only heard about “pizza” without knowing what exactly it is.

He added that Sudanese people used to drive trucks only but now there are different varieties of cars.

Abdel-Rasool said that the per capita income has increased from $400 to $1700 and pointed that the new economic measures would benefit the poor, adding that Darfur states recorded the highest poverty rates in the country.

He stressed that wheat, sugar, and drugs are exempted from the Value Added Tax (VAT) and said that Sudan is attracting foreign labor, pointing that the wage of an expatriate Ethiopian worker in Sudan is Equivalent to the wage of “undersecretary of a ministry” in Ethiopia.

Sudan lost 75% of its oil reserves after the southern part of the country became an independent nation in July 2011 denying the north billions of dollars in revenues.

Prior to the country’s breakup, Sudan produced close to 500,000 barrels but now its output is limited to 140,000 barrels per day. Oil revenue constituted more than half of the Sudan’s revenue and 90% of its exports.

Following the independence of South Sudan in July 2011, Khartoum was forced to introduce a contractionary budget that saw the partial lifting of fuel and food subsidies which triggered rare but small demonstrations across the country.

The government defended the measures saying that the country can no longer afford to pay for these subsidies.

The Sudanese president acknowledged that removal of fuel subsidies is a “difficult but necessary surgery” and called for not underestimating the accomplishments of his government, saying that prior to his taking over power people couldn’t even find the basic goods and 100% of the students in the various Sudanese regions sat on the floor of their “rickety sheds” classrooms.

He accused rebel groups of targeting and destroying development schemes and water sources, calling for ending rebellion and waging war against tribalism and regionalism.

Bashir stressed that his government continues to face conspiracies of the “oppressive and aggressive” foreign powers, adding that they target Sudan’s Islamic orientation.

He said that what is happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Palestine represent a conspiracy against Islam, pointing that the Zionist-Crusader alliance sees Islam as its number one enemy.

Bashir said that his government is led by principles and it could have chosen the easy path by normalizing relations with Israel and bowing to the west.

He called for increasing production and cutting government spending, saying that the 25% decrease in the salaries of the top government employees which was applied as part of the austerity measures had little impact on the economy.

The minister of Welfare and Social Security, Mashair Al-Dawalab, for her part, said that the new economic measures would benefit the vulnerable sections of the society, stressing that the economic reforms were made by the government not the minister of Finance.

The Sudanese government postponed the removal of subsides on several basic commodities as the NCP said its lift should come into force after concluding consultations with the political forces and civil society groups.

Qutbi al-Mahdi, a leading NCP figure, acknowledged that the NCP leadership is in disagreement over the decision but stressed that the majority believes that this has to be done at some point.

The sudden delay follows rumors about sharp divergences within the government ranks about these unpopular decisions which are seen necessary by the finance minister but disastrous by other members who fear that it will push people to take the street against the regime.

The Sudanese government cancelled an extraordinary cabinet meeting scheduled to be held last Sunday to endorse the increase of prices of basic commodities including fuel, without further explanations.

Different sources in Khartoum say the government delayed the implementation of the decision following recommendations from the security apparatus which reported a situation of public discontent against the government.

The Sudanese opposition umbrella organization known as the National Consensus Forces (NCF) announced that it is planning to organize public sit-ins to resist the government’s anticipated decision.

Also the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), an alliance of rebel groups issued a statement calling on their supporters inside the country to protest against the economic reforms.

However the Finance minister Ali Mahmoud denied on Sunday that the cancellation is related to fears of demonstrations to protest such measures. The Sudanese people showed patience and accepted decision biggest and toughest than the removal of subsides, he said.

(ST)

{{The United Nations has expressed concern over the slow progress of albino murder cases in Tanzania, which shows high level of impunity and vulnerability of people with albinism in the country.}}

The report — entitled ‘Persons With Albinism’, released last week by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights — said that of the 72 murders of people with albinism documented since 2000, only five cases are known to have resulted in successful prosecutions.

“While some investigations and prosecutions seem to be taking place, sentencing appears to be extremely rare. We are concerned about the high number of reported incidents in Tanzania and the limited number of court cases and slow proceedings in this regard,” reads in part the report.

The report noted, however, that the Attorney General’s Chambers informed the OHCHR that a special task force was assisting law enforcing authorities in the investigation and prosecution of the cases, which could result in successful prosecutions.

The report also unveiled a list of 15 African countries where the killing of people with albinism is still rampart. Top in the list is Tanzania where the latest death was the murder of a seven-year old boy on January 31, 2013.

Burundi, Kenya, Swaziland and Guinea followed in the list. About 22 people have been killed in Burundi so far, while in Kenya 12 people with albinism were murdered.

In total there were 124 reports of killings, assaults and robberies targeting people with albinism in Tanzania.

About 72 of these led to killings, while 35 assaults left albinos severely mutilated.

There were 15 robberies and two failed similar attempts. Other countries mentioned in the report where albino murders take place include Nigeria, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and Namibia.

The other countries include Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Mozambique, Botswana and Cameroon.

NMG

{{African leaders will meet in the Ethiopian capital on October 13 to take a common stand on whether to join Kenya’s planned pull-out from the International Criminal Court ( ICC) over the prosecution of its leaders, officials said on Thursday.}}

So far there does not seem to be much support for it, but heads of state from the 54-member African Union ( AU) may still discuss the possibility of a pull-out by the 34 African signatories to the Rome Statute that created the tribunal.

Last week’s start of the trial of Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto for crimes against humanity — with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s trial due in November — has fuelled a growing backlash against the Hague-based court from some African governments, which see it as a tool of Western powers.

“The Kenyans have been criss-crossing Africa in search of support for their cause, even before their parliament voted to withdraw from the ICC,” an AU official told Reuters. “An extraordinary summit will now take place to discuss the issue.

A complete walk-out of signatories (to the Rome Statute) is certainly a possibility, but other requests may be made.”

The summit would be preceded by a meeting of African foreign ministers a day earlier, he said.

Kenya’s spokesman for the presidency Manoah Esipisu said the country had not canvassed for the summit, but “welcomed the opportunity by African leaders to discuss what is obviously an important matter for the continent”.

ICC prosecutors have accused Kenyatta and Ruto, alongside radio journalist Joshua arap Sang, of fomenting ethnic violence that killed about 1,300 people after a disputed election in December 2007.

The three suspects deny the charges. Some neighbours of East Africa’s biggest economy have petitioned the ICC alongside Ruto’s lawyers for him to be excused from attending all ICC hearings.

A diplomat at the African Union said Kenya may ask that Kenyatta and Ruto not to attend the entire trial. “There is a belief shared by the Kenyans and African states that the leaders appearing in the trials risks destabilising the country,” said the diplomat who declined to be named.

{{grudge against the ICC}}

In May, the AU backed a request by Kenya for the trials to be referred back to Kenya, on the ground that the ICC hearings risked raising ethnic tensions and destabilising its economy.

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