IGIHE

Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • South Africa Warns Uganda against Land Bonanza

    {{Uganda should not give away the land but instead use it for agriculture development, which is currently operating below its potential, South Africa’s minister for National Planning Commission has said.}}

    The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have often called for land reform policies in order for Uganda to realise agricultural development.

    On several occassions,Uganda has given away land to foreign investors either to set up hotels, factories or to grow crops to provide raw material for their industries a development which has seen schools losing land to investors.

  • South Sudan’s Kiir, ex-VP Machar exchange spats over direction of SPLM

    {{South Sudan’s ex-Vice President Riek Machar warned against any unilateral move to dissolve party structures or dismiss leaders of the ruling Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) who have divergent opinions saying it could lead to chaos and instability.}}

    Machar, who is the deputy chairperson of the party, said it would be wrong for the party politburo to “naively” or “intentionally” remove him from the party, which does not belong to any one individual.

    The former Vice President made these remarks during an interview with Naath FM, a local radio station in Bentiu, the Unity state capital.

    Machar, recently sacked by President Salva Kiir from his VP post, has publicly vowed in the past to challenge his ex-boss for the party chairmanship and subsequently the country’s next presidential elections due in 2015.

    “SPLM belongs to everybody. We fought for it together and many more lives were lost for the prosperity of this nation…and after we signed the CPA on self-determination we allowed him to pilot us. He [Kiir] did not step into leadership by force,” he said.

    The former vice-president, who was removed last week by the president, seemed to have reacted to the statements by the president on 30th July in which he criticized those who challenged his leadership style and performance by telling them to quit the party.

    The ex-vice president further accused the president of not consulting with party members, prior to making major political decisions, citing the recent suspension and probe of SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum.

    Machar, who played a key role in negotiations with Khartoum after the 2005 peace deal, said the right to self-determination, which every citizen voted for, cannot be under-looked.

    He insisted that the 23 July decree, which led to his removal from office, was directly linked to his recent outburst on failure by the leadership to tackle rampant corruption, tribalism, poor service delivery and loss of the ruling party popularity among citizens.

    Machar, in his remarks, also urged his supporters to remain calm, saying his recent criticisms were meant to improve the country.

    Several requests were reportedly made to Kiir to call for the SPLM politburo meeting but he turned them down, amid speculations that he may decide to either dissolve the party structures or dismiss some senior members.

    ST

  • Ban Appoints Kazibwe As Envoy For HIV/AIDS In Africa

    {{United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon August 1, appointed Specioza Wandera-Kazibwe as his Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.}}

    She will replace Asha-Rose Migiro of Tanzania.

    The Secretary-General thanked Asha-Rose Migiro for her outstanding and dedicated service to the UN and her commitment as a powerful advocate for his efforts to end HIV-related stigma and discrimination all around the world.

    Wandera Kazibwe is Senior Adviser to President Museveni on Population and Health.

    She is also the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Microfinance Support Center Ltd.

    Kazibwe served as the Vice President of Uganda from 1993 to 2004.

    She is also the first woman in Africa to be appointed a Vice President.

    Kazibwe holds a Doctorate of Science Degree in Global Health and Population from the Harvard School of Public Health.

  • Kenya: 5 People Killed in Gilgil Road Accident

    {{Reports from Kenya indicate that Five people died in a road accident that occurred in Gilgil on Saturday after a bus they were traveling in lost control and rolled several times.}}

    Traffic commandant Samuel Kimaru told Capital FM news that the bus that was ferrying passengers from Nairobi to Siaya overturned after the driver hit a culvert.

    Those killed include a man and three women who died on the spot in the 1 am incident—according to police.

    “The bus veered off the road as the driver attempted to avoid hitting an oncoming trailer,” Kimaru said “it is apparent the bus was on a high speed at the time of the accident.”

    Forty five other passengers were injured in the accident and taken to the Gilgil District Hospital where some were still admitted.

    {agencies}

  • Expo opens Brazilian trade up to eastern Africa

    {{Companies from across Brazil were on hand to showcase their products and services at the Eastern Africa Expo 2013 held at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, in late July}}

    The expo provided a platform for business opportunities in the technology, agriculture, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, housing, finance and fuel sectors in the East Africa region.

    Brazil has, over the last few years, been seeking business investment opportunities in eastern Africa, with trade volumes between Kenya and Brazil standing at US$306mn in the 2011/12 financial year.

    Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer has recently signed deals with Kenya Airways and supplied a number of planes for the airline’s regional market expansion.

    “Kenya is Brazil’s fifth largest trade partner in Africa with transactions in agriculture and aviation. We see the country as the entry point for expansion to other African markets”, observed Marcela Nicodemus, Brazil’s ambassador to Kenya while addressing delegates at the exhibition.

    With a population of more than 200mn, Brazil has emerged as one the fastest growing nations in the world. It is the world’s leading producer and exporter of coffee, sugar, ethanol, fruit juices, soya, beef, chicken, tobacco and leather.

    Kenya has been eager to tap into this emerging potential having recently signed agreements in bio-diesel, bio-ethanol and power co-generation with Brazilian authorities and companies.

    Kenya’s industrialisation secretary Adan Mohammed remarked, “Brazilian firms should tap into existing investment opportunities in renewable energy. There is available expertise considering that Brazil produces the bulk of its electricity from biofuels.”

    Agreements have also been signed for agricultural mechanisation programme on crop research and developments focused on agribusiness, fisheries and marine culture technology.

    Agreements have also been reached on HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention and control, and institutional strengthening of the Kenya Wildlife Services, Kenya Airports Authority and Nairobi County.

    “Effort should be made to establish direct flights between Brazil and Nairobi. This will significantly increase economic and commercial exchange between the two regions”, observed Mohammed.

    Speaking during the expo, Andre Luis Fodi, an export supervisor with packaging firm and baling machines manufacturer Indumak Company, said, “We have been in contact with a Kenya dealer after studying the local market. There is potential for our products.”

    Indumak is one of the largest in Brazil packaging 90 per cent of the country’s sugar and 75 per cent of its rice, with an annual turnover of US$30mn, and operations in Egypt and Nigeria.

    Another Brazilian firm Perfilline, a maker of construction panels, plans to enter the market by the end of December 2013.

    The expo also provided an opportunity for expansion into the larger East African Community market (EAC). With a population of about 140mn and a GDP per capital of $732, the EAC market offers plenty of opportunities for Brazilian companies, and can act as a gateway to the eastern and southern African nations of South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi and DR Congo.

    {africanreview}

  • MONUSCO Enforces Weapons Ban in Eastern DRC

    {{UN peacekeepers began a new effort to disarm fighters in volatile eastern Congo on Thursday, setting up a zone where only the country’s security forces can now carry firearms.}}

    The move is aimed at stabilizing the eastern city of Goma and areas around it – a zone that is home to more than 1 million people who have faced waves of rebellion and attacks from armed groups in recent years.

    Earlier this week, the UN peacekeeping mission known as MONUSCO issued an ultimatum before beginning the disarming effort.

    “With the expiration of the 48-hour deadline, MONUSCO and Congolese armed forces will take up patrols to make sure that weapons are not being held by any unauthorized people,” MONUSCO spokesman Carlos Araujo told UN-run Radio Okapi on Thursday.

    UN officials have emphasized that the weapons ban will not only apply to the M23 rebel group, which has posed the greatest threat in the region. The group briefly seized control of Goma last November. Peace talks with the government have repeatedly stalled.

    In New York, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said the security zone “is not an offensive operation and is not targeted at any one armed group.” He emphasized that the disarmament effort will protect civilians.

    {agencies}

  • Uganda to Charge Gorilla Trackers

    {{Gorilla trackers in Uganda will soon be charged US$24 for each person aimed at addressing the problem of inadequate funding but also boost revenue collections.}}

    According to local media reports, the country’s Tourism Board (UTB) wants the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to charge $20 and $4 respectively for each person tracking gorillas.

    The UTB executive director, Mr Cuthbert Baguma Balinda, said ,“We are moving from lamenting about inadequate funding for marketing to considering alternative ways.”

  • 46th Blankets & Wine features Ugandan Maurice Kirya, Burundi’s Kidum

    {{Bring out your fashionable outfits, whip out your sunglasses, pack your picnic baskets and join us for the FAB edition of Blankets & Wine this August 4th at the Carnivore Gardens from 1pm to 7pm and the after-party at the Carnivore Simba Saloon thereafter.}}

    For this 46th edition of East Africa’s premier music event we bring you an all round East African lineup comprising some of the most talented musicians in the region.

    Peter Nyabuto, ia budding performer with a rich sound and a captivating live act, will be opening.

    He will be joined by the graceful Amileena Mwenesi with her urbane flavor and the refined Maurice Kirya from Uganda presenting his critically acclaimed, just released album ‘The Book of Kirya’.

    Rounding off our East African musical buffet this August will be the wholesome Kidum from Burundi who makes a return to the Blankets & Wine stage after his last appearance in November 2012.

    In depth: Maurice Kirya

    Maurice Kirya a multiple award winning Ugandan artist has been in the industry for more than 10 years doing what he does best, singing and song writing.

    Known for his enormous talent and unique style of Music that he prefers to call “Mwooyo” or Soul, Maurice Kirya released his maiden album in late 2009 after many years of anticipation.

    The Album was an instant success selling both locally and internationally with numerous copies via iTunes, CD baby and Reverbnation.

    It was the same album that won Maurice the 2010 RFI Discoveries award beating over 500 Artists across Africa.

    Kirya is also known as the Ugandan “King of Mwooyo,” which is now a household name in the Ugandan music industry as a unique breed of Artist. After a very successful year, he then settled down and took a break to put together another album, ‘The Book of Kirya.’

  • Great Lakes to discuss Sudan’s complaint on Ugandan support to rebels

    {{ Sudan’s complaint against Uganda, over its alleged support to rebel groups, to the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) will be discussed by the regional organ in the near future, announced the foreign ministry on Thursday.}}

    The ICGLR held an extra-ordinary meeting on 31 July of heads of state and government in the Kenyan capital on the security situation in the Great Lakes region particularly the implementation of the UN and AU Framework agreement on peace, security and cooperation for Democratic Republic of Congo and its challenges.

    Following the return of the Sudanese delegation led by vice-president Al-Haj Adam Youssef on Thursday, deputy foreign minister Salah Wansi told reporters at Khartoum airport that the summit agreed to discuss Ugandan support to the rebel groups that “destabilize peace and security in Sudan”.

    Wansi further described the decision as “positive step” in order to stop the Ugandan support adding that “this support has led the escalation of rebel attacks in Darfur, which caused the death of a number of Tanzanian soldiers operating within the UNAMID forces in Darfur”.

    In January 2013, rebel groups and opposition parties adopted a political charter to overthrow the regime in a big hotel in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

    The event pushed Khartoum to lodge a complaint to the African Union, IGAD and ICGLR. At the time, Khartoum pointed out it has no intention to file a complaint with the UN Security Council stressing on the primacy of African solutions.

    In March, the ICGLR decided to include the complaint in a report about the security situation in the region. At the time Sudan saw the decision a diplomatic victory saying Uganda sought the dismissal of the complaint.

    Also, in February Khartoum objected to the election of Uganda to the position of a vice-president at the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and demanded to include its accusations against Uganda in the final communiqué of the meeting.

    Last week, Uganda’s Minister of State for International Affairs, Henry Okello Oryem dismissed in statement to media the accusation and termed it as “the usual rubbish from Khartoum”. He also accused the Sudanese government of supporting the LRA rebels.

    Wansi said the security meeting which is expected to discuss the complaint will be held at the level of defence ministers, adding the extra-ordinary summit insisted on the need to stop support to rebel groups in the region.

    Recently the American Administration accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, but Kigali denied the accusations.

    ST

  • Somalia’s al-Shabab Frees Kenyan Hostages

    {{Two Kenyan hostages have been reunited with their families after being freed by militant Islamists in Somalia.}}

    Yesse Mule and Fredrick Wainana were abducted from the Kenyan town of Gerille in January 2012 by fighters of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group.

    Mr Mule told the BBC they moved to 19 different locations, and were kept chained and blindfolded in Somalia throughout their captivity.

    Kenya denied paying a ransom for the release of the government officials.

    Al-Shabab has taken numerous foreigners hostage, including the French spy Denis Allex who was executed in January after a botched French operation to rescue him.

    Mr Mule and Mr Wainana were seized some three months after Kenyan troops entered Somalia to fight al-Shabab.

    Its troops are currently part of the African Union (AU) force helping the UN-backed Somali government fend off threats by the al-Qaeda-linked group to overthrow it.

    {wirestory}