IGIHE

Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • S.Sudan Leader Says Impunity on Corruption Crimes is Over

    {{South Sudan president Salva Kiir Mayardit reiterated in a speech delivered in the second commemoration of the independence day that his government will no more tolerate corruption and vowed to persecute people involved in such crimes.}}

    “As I stated before, I state it again now and will continue to say it…corruption will not be tolerated. Those implicated will be taken before the court of law”, Kiir said defying high ranking officials in the government and the ruling SPLM who criticised the suspension of two ministers over charges of corruption saying it was politically motivated.

    Kiir went further to say that “the days when mistakes were being committed with impunity are gone. During our transitional period, obtaining independence was our priority. Now that we are a free nation, our fight against corruption shall not be confined at the national level only, but will extend to the states, counties and anywhere that there is public spending”.

    Many times in his speech, Kiir reaffirmed he is the president of South Sudan, reminding he has the responsibility to ensure that public funds are used to develop the new nation and provides services to the citizens and to achieve social justice.

    The celebration of the second anniversary was attended by four presidents including the “Chief Guest” Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Seretse Khama Ian Khama, of Botswana, Paul Kagame, of Rwanda; and Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, of Somalia. Also were present, the Ethiopian deputy prime minister Demeke Makonen, the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission Erastus Mwencha, and Thabo Mbeki, Chairperson of the African Union High Implementation Panel.

    Alluding to the criticism emanating from activists and human rights organizations, Kiir was keen to say that several bills on human rights, freedom of expression, right of access to information, the media authority and the information and broadcasting are currently in the reading stages and will be enacted soon.

    The South Sudanese president further said “troubled by the alarming crime rate” in the cities, stressing on the need to impose more discipline among the organized forces ” we must reflect on how we can change the situation”, he said.

    He nonetheless underlined that huge efforts has been made to professionalize and reorganize the security forces, including the SPLA, national security and police services.

    He admitted that services have been poor in the past year citing education, health, security and water among others and promised to work hard to change the conditions.

    “These scenarios must change. As your President, I promise you that we will work tirelessly to change them”, he told the thousands of the people who gathered at the Mausoleum to celebrate the country’s second anniversary.

    Kiir said that the living conditions of the people need to be improved, pointing out that many citizens hardly afford a meal every day. He also underlined the difficult conditions of the SPLA soldiers saying their salary cannot meet their needs.

    Regarding the normalisation process with the Sudan, Kiir repeated the commitment of his government to the implementation of cooperation agreements and the implementation matrix. “This is the only way to ensure the viability of the two states”, he added.

    But he called on the Sudanese government to work with Juba to fully and unconditionally implement those agreements and to reach an agreement over the “final status for Abyei”. He further said “this issue cannot pend indefinitely”.

    ST

  • EAC to Establish Technical Group on Industrial Research

    {{The East African Community plans to establish a Technical Working Group on Industrial Research, Technology and Innovation, the Secretariat has announced.}}

    Also on the table for consideration is the establishment of a Centre for Adaptation and Transfer of Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies, it was revealed during a just-ended meeting on the EAC Industrialisation Policy and Action Plan.

    The policy and plan call for ‘facilitating the transformation of the manufacturing sector through high value addition and product diversification based on comparative and competitive advantages of the region’ and ‘regional collaboration and development of capacity in industrial research, development and innovation’ respectively.

    The IRTI Technical Working Group will be indispensable in guiding collaboration between research and technology organisations to enhance use of technology in driving the EAC industrial development agenda, it emerged during the meeting.

    In this regard, the technical group will be tasked with identifying specific projects and programmes for regional collaboration, foster stronger linkages between industry, private sector, academia and research and technology as well as be the leading light in the mobilisation of sustainable financial and technical resources among others.

    In his keynote address, Ambassador. Dr Joseph Kiplagat from Kenya’s ministry of Industrialisation and Enterprise Development noted that there was a great need to tap the opportunities the African continent has to offer.

    “Africa has many opportunities for economic growth. While many African countries have experienced tremendous economic growth, science, technology and innovation are critical for the transformation of these economies to aide the attainment of Millennium Development Goals,” he said.

    {{NMG}}

  • Africa Demands permanent Seat at UN Security Council

    {{Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa has demanded for Africa’s permanent membership at the UN security council saying a bigger part the council’s agenda relates to African situations and thus a need for an African Voice.}}

    He said African states are like “visitors” on the Security Council because they seem inert in decision-making on even their own matters.

    “We are not represented permanently and we do not have a veto like other members on the council. Why Africans?” he said.

    He made the remarks in his keynote address at the launch of the national 50th anniversary celebrations of the Organisation of African Union (OAU)/African Union (AU) at Serena Hotel, in Kampala on Monday.

    NV

  • Kenya Teachers given 24Hrs to Stop Strike

    {{ The Kenya Industrial Court has now suspended contempt charges against Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) officials for them to end the teachers strike within 24 hours, failure to which the case will be reinstated.}}

    The charges were suspended after KNUT Chairman Wilson Sossion and Acting Secretary General Mudzo Nzili honoured court summons served on them on Monday while attending a meeting with officials of the Teachers Service Commission.

    TSC has already offered the teachers Sh17 billion to be paid to the teachers, but KNUT is yet to make a decision whether to reject or accept the offer.

    Lady Justice Linnet Ndolo had issued orders directing both KNUT and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers to call off the teachers’ strike on July 1 before the talks could commence.

    KNUT officials are now due to address a news conference.

    {CapitalFm}

  • Car Explodes in Mogadishu, Gunfire Heard

    {{A vehicle carrying men in the uniforms of government security forces exploded in a main market in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday and gunfire could be heard afterwards, witnesses said.}}

    Some witnesses said the casualties were carried away by other security forces, but it was not immediately clear if there were any fatalities. Police said they were gathering details.

    There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

    Somalia’s Islamist al Shabaab rebel group, which has launched several attacks in Mogadishu, threatened last month to press its campaign after launching an assault on July 19 against a United Nations base that killed 22 people.

    “A four-wheel-drive car carrying men in government uniform exploded in … Bakara (market),” said one witness, Hussein Nur, a money exchanger.

    “Immediately gunfire opened up. We are not sure who is doing it. The men in the car looked like soldiers,” he said.

    A Reuters witness at the scene said he saw the ruined car and quoted other witnesses as saying that they saw soldiers in it. There was no sign of casualties when he reached the spot.

    {reuters}

  • Four Tanzanians Seized Carrying illicit Drugs

    {{Four Tanzanians were seized carrying illicit drugs with a total street value of Sh7.1 billion in two separate incidents yesterday, highlighting the concern that East Africa is fast becoming a major trafficking hub in the continent.}}

    In the first incident, two women travelling from Tanzania were arrested at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, after authorities discovered 150kg of illicit drugs known as crystal methamphetamine stashed in their luggage.

    The drug is better known locally in South Africa as ‘tik’. A statement by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) said the estimated street value of the 150kg of ‘tik’ is R42.6 million (about Sh7 billion).

    The head of the anti-narcotics unit in the Tanzanian Police Force, Mr Godfrey Nzowa, said the couple was heading to Bangkok and were arrested on Saturday around 2pm after a tip off.

    “It is the biggest tik or crystal meth bust that SARS customs has made at any port of entry,” said SARS spokesperson, Ms Marika Muller, in an interview yesterday.

    The drug haul shows that Tanzania, like Uganda and Kenya, is also becoming a major conduit of the methamphetamine.

    NMG

  • UK Bank Suspends Money Transfer to Somalia

    {{The announcement by Barclays Bank Plc of the UK that it will from this week withdraw banking services from some 250 money transfer companies has caused panic among Somalis in the diaspora who use these companies to send money to family members back home.}}

    Explaining the move, Barclays stated: “It is recognised that some money service businesses don’t have the proper checks in place to spot criminal activity and could, therefore, unwittingly be facilitating money laundering and terrorist financing.”

    Critics of the decision say that remittances are a “lifeline” for the millions of Somalis who are not served by formal banking institutions and that thousands will not be able to pay for food, education and medical expenses.

    Some researchers have suggested that Somalis operate and even thrive in a largely unregulated and informal economy because of remittances.

    Last month, a group of researchers and aid workers sent a letter to Mark Simmonds, the UK’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa, urging him to persuade Barclays not to withdraw its services to the money transfer companies (also known as hawala), adding that these companies not only provide essential services to the global Somali community, they also make it possible for aid agencies, such as UNDP and Oxfam, to pay their staff and procure services in Somalia.

    NMG

  • Usain Bolt wins Diamond League Paris 200m

    {{Usain Bolt recorded the fastest time of the year as he won the 200m at the Diamond League meeting in Paris.}}

    The six-time Olympic gold medallist clocked 19.73 seconds to beat fellow Jamaican Warren Weir (19.92) and France’s Christophe Lemaitre (20.07).

    Olympic champion Greg Rutherford pulled out of the long jump, little more than a month before the World Championships, after sustaining a hamstring injury.
    The Briton later wrote on Twitter there was “plenty of time” to recover.

    Rutherford initially said: “Looks like bad news people. The old injury strikes. Hamstring pull.”

    But the 26-year-old added: “Just realised worlds is still five and a half weeks away. Plenty of time for this old hand.

    “Flash back to 2009. I tore my hamstring three weeks before worlds in Berlin. First round of the qualification I broke the British record.”

    Rutherford jumped 7.99m in round three before withdrawing from the event, which Jamaican Damar Forbes (8.11) won from Briton Chris Tomlinson (8.08).

    Bolt, meanwhile, showed there was no reason to be concerned about his slow start to the season.

    This was the Jamaican’s second outing over his favoured distance this year after clocking 19.79 in Oslo on June 13.

    “I’m happy with myself,” said the 26-year-old, the world record holder in both sprint events.

    But he added: “I still need to work on a few mistakes.”
    American Tyson Gay, Bolt’s main sprint rival, won the US World Championships trials in 19.74 last month.

    He was also victorious in the 100m at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on Thursday in the second fastest time of the year.

    Britain’s European indoor 400m champion Perri Shakes-Drayton clocked 53.96 seconds to finish second in the women’s 400m hurdles behind Olympic bronze medallist Zuzana Hejnova (53.23).

    Shakes-Drayton, 24, ran 53.82 in her victory in Birmingham last week, and was disappointed with her performance in Paris.

    “I have two more races to go,” the Londoner told the BBC as she continues her
    preparations for the World Championships in Moscow.

    “I am going to the trials next weekend, I have not made the team yet so that will be important, then I have the Anniversary Games in London.”

    Another Briton, Marilyn Okoro, achieved the World Championship A standard in the 800m, her one minute 59.76 seconds enough for fifth place behind winner Francine Niyonsaba (1:57.26) of Burundi.

    “I am really happy,” Okoro said. “It has been an interesting few months, but my coach said I was ready.

    “A tremendous amount of pressure comes off now ahead of the trials. Now I have got the A standard, I just have to focus on finishing in the top two.”

    Okoro’s Great Britain team-mate Steve Lewis finished sixth in the pole vault, equalling his season’s best of 5.60m, with France’s Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie (5.92m) claiming victory.

    World and Olympic champion Kirani James, from Grenada, won the head-to-head with American Lashawn Merritt in the 400m, clocking the first time under 44 seconds in the world this year.

    James (43.96) was followed home by Merritt, who finished second in a season’s best 44.09, with American Tony McQuay (44.84) in third.

    Reigning 10,000m Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba, of Ethiopia, won the 5,000m in 14 minutes 23.68 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year, while Britain’s Stephanie Twell (15:18.60) ran a season’s best to finish 11th.

    Jamaican double Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also ran her best time of the year, 10.92 seconds, to win the 100m, while Olympic champion Robert Harting, from Germany, claimed victory in the discus with a throw of 67.04 metres.


    {BBC}

  • KQ Plane to Rescue Passengers Stranded in Athens

    {{Kenya Airways has mounted an operation to rescue passengers who have been stranded in Athens since Saturday.}}

    The national carrier’s Chief Operating Officer Mbuvi Ngunze said the airline is in the process of obtaining the necessary permits for the plane that will relieve flight KQ117.

    “We are only waiting for civil aviation clearances enroute because that doesn’t depend on us, that depends on airspaces in Sudan, in Ethiopia and through to Egypt before we can send the flight,” Ngunze told Capital FM News.

    Nzunge said 16 of the stranded passengers were already on their way to Nairobi onboard a cargo flight, including four who were unable to leave the airport to be temporarily housed at a hotel as they lacked the necessary documents.

    “We actually eventually managed to get all but four through to a hotel on Saturday evening but we had diverted an aircraft last night to pick up the cargo that was on ground and we were able to pick up 16 from there so that shows you we were trying to be proactive to make sure we could mitigate for those people who were unable to be accommodated,” Ngunze said.

    KQ’s COO said they were forced to send another plane and crew to Athens after the Greece Civil Aviation declined to clear flight KQ117 for take off despite Boeing and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority having already cleared the plane.

    {agencies}

  • Somali President’s plane ‘catches fire’

    {{A plane carrying the Somali president has been forced to make an emergency landing in Mogadishu after one of its engines reportedly caught fire.}}

    A spokesman for President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said it was not clear why the engine stopped working.

    The president was not hurt but firefighters scrambled to put out the flames, local reports say.

    Mr Mohamud was chosen as president last year in a UN-backed move to end decades of conflict.

    The president was flying to the South Sudan capital, Juba, when it was forced to turn round.

    One of the first reports of the incident came from a Twitter feed run by the al-Shabab militant group but it did not say it had attacked the plane.

    African Union and Somali forces backing Mr Mohamud have driven al-Shabab from the country’s main cities in the past year but the al-Qaeda-linked group still stages occasional attacks.

    The new government is the first one in more than two decades to be recognised by the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    BBC