Tag: GreatLakesNews

{{Construction of a major railway line 73Km between Mombasa and Nairobi has been completed at an investment cost worth $20m.}}

The construction is being managed by Rift Valley Railways (RVR) company that operates the Kenya-Uganda railway.

A statement from RVR says completion of the railway modernisation project has reduced cargo delivery time between Mombasa and Nairobi by six hours through rebuilding the most badly rundown sections that were responsible for 60% of blockage time on the railway line.

“RVR’s investment in building this new stretch of railroad is a significant milestone as this railway line had been ailing for lack of investment for over a decade prior to the concession,” said RVR vice-chairman Brown Ondego.

Construction of the new railway line included the laying of 10,000 sleepers to retain track geometry and improve safety.

The upgrade is part of a larger railway track modernisation programme that will see the rebuilding of over 360km of the most affected sections of the railroad in Kenya and Uganda.

Last week presidents Yoweri Museveni, Uhuru Kenyatta and Paul Kagame who met in Kampala made major pronouncements on the railway line, whose development has stalled for almost 10 years.

{additional reporting NV}

{{Sudanese parliament has unanimously adopted the 2013 army reserve law which allows the defense minister to summon all citizens including government and private sector employees, university graduates, army and regular forces retirees, between ages of 18-60 to join the reserves service.}}

According to the law, those who refuse to join the reserve forces without a valid excuse will be fined and jailed for up to six months while conscripts who commit a crime during their service period will be imprisoned for three years.

The law bans all reservists, with the exception of pilots and naval reservists, from leaving Sudan during their call for service unless they obtain prior permission and stipulated that all reservists must notify reserves administration within a month after the end of their service of their home and work address.

The law also provides for the formation of a Council for Reserves service including ministers of defense, finance, higher education and scientific research, and human resources development and labor beside the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, chief of police, director of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), and general manager of the Security and National Intelligence, and the deputy Chief of Staff for ground forces.

The law allows the defense minister or an authorized representative from the reserves administration to exempt any individual from the service and requires reservists undergo military training before they engage in military operations.

The lawmakers insisted that the age limit for the reserves service must be 60 years instead of 50 years as suggested by some.

The Popular Congress Party (PCP) MP Ismail Hussein, called for keeping the age limit for the army and regular forces retirees open while demanding that age limit for other individuals must be kept at 50 years due to potential health problems suffered by older people such as diabetes, high blood pressure and knee pain.

The defense minister insisted on the 60 years age limit and saying it gives a chance to benefit from the cumulative experience of the senior army officer,s pointing that call for service will be made only when necessary and for a maximum of two months.

The parliament speaker, Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir, for his part considered the laws which have been approved recently by the national assembly including the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) law, the reserve service law, the national service law, and the Popular Defense Forces (PDF) a real support for the army, describing it as a “simple gift” for SAF.

Sudanese officials have privately expressed concern over low level of recruitment of conscripts in the armed forces despite intense mobilization campaigns.

This issue was highlighted particularly in the wake of rebel one-month occupation of areas in South Kordofan state.

In a related issue the Sudanese opposition threatened to seek review by the constitutional court of controversial amendments to the 2007 Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) law which will allow for prosecution of civilians in military courts.

The National Consensus Forces (NCF) opposition coalition accused the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of seeking to use the law against dissidents.

ST

Chad’s ex-President Hissene Habre has been charged in Senegal with war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture by a special court.

The 70 year old, who was arrested on Sunday in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, denies killing and torturing tens of thousands of his opponents.

He fled to Senegal when he was deposed after eight years in power in 1990.

Last year, the UN’s International Court of Justice ordered Senegal to put him on trial or extradite him.

Mr Habre appeared before a special court set up in Senegal to investigate the allegations. He will remain in custody pending the trial.

Analysts say the case would be a milestone for African justice – representing the first time an African leader has been tried in a fellow African country on charges of crimes against humanity.

The Senegalese authorities and the African Union had for years failed to make a decision on his fate despite pressure from human rights groups.

Mr Habre and his wife kept a low profile in Dakar, where he lived in relative freedom despite being put under house arrest in 2005 – guarded by two security agents.

Senegalese MPs passed a law in December allowing a special African Union tribunal to be created in the country to try the former leader, who has been dubbed “Africa’s Pinochet”.

{Mr Habre}

BBC

{{A group of South Sudanese media and human rights advocacy groups on Tuesday protested against the closure of an independent radio station in its Lakes state.}}

South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA), in a statement, strongly condemned the shutdown of the state-run Catholic radio, describing the move by authorities as “vague and groundless”.

Using such reasons to take the radio station off the air was an attack on the “heart of South Sudan’s Constitution”, SSHURSA’s statement reads in part.

“This must be condemned by anyone who cares about South Sudan’s current and
future democratic and rule of law based governance”, it adds

The 2011 Transitional Constitution of South Sudan 2011 allows for the right to freedom of expression and media. Article 24(1) states:

“Every citizen shall have the right to the freedom of expression, reception and dissemination of information, publication, and access to the press without prejudice to public order, safety or morals as prescribed by law”.

Garang Deng, a member of South Sudan civil society alliance said the way state authorities acted sends a frightening message to the press and demonstrates the government’s intolerance of independent and critical views.

“Unilateral decision should not be the immediate response of the authorities to issues on which they hold different views”, Deng told media.

Several media and human rights bodies accused Lake state information minister, Dut Makoi Kuok of unilaterally ordering the closure of the radio, allegedly for broadcasting a meeting he held with the station’s management.

Makur Marial, who regularly commented on the radio said government blundered in its decision and that the reasons it put forward did not amount to closure of the Catholic founded station.

“I was not present at the time, but I learned from colleagues that the minister just decided to shut down the radio to show that he is in the position of authority. There are no good reasons he could give to convince the people”, Marial said by telephone from Rumbek, the Lakes state capital.

Some of such reason, according to the minister, includes allegations that the radio station had been reporting on human rights abuses in Lakes state and that the programs and activities at the station have been politicised, he added.

Meanwhile, South Sudan Union of Journalists (SSUJ) called on the authorities to respect the internationally recognised standards of freedom of expression and freedom of the press it purports to uphold, and to cease all further acts of harassment and intimidation against journalists and media houses.

SSUJ, in a statement, further called urged South Sudan’s top leaders, including Lakes state’s governor and the country’s information minister to “quickly” reverse the decision, release all the equipments detained by the state administration and to allow the media to operate freely and without fear of repercussion.

“This is a threat to democracy and human rights; it is an affront to fundamental human rights of the citizen and of the profession which is guaranteed by the constitution of the Republic of South Sudan”, the union’s statement reads in part.

Two year since it attained independence, South Sudan still lack functional media laws, with many of its journalists arrested on shaky grounds and held without trial.

The crack down on the media, media practitioners say, is seen as a contradicting move by a government, which declared its commitment to freedom of the press.

South Sudan, according to Reporters Without Borders, dropped fell 12 places in this year’s press freedom rankings, which placed it at 124 out of 148 countries globally.

(ST)

{{Reports from DRC indicate that Ugandan rebels Allied Democratic Forces-ADF have captured Mamundioma and Totolito towns in North Kivu province following three days of intense clashes with Congolese government forces. }}

The town fell under the ADF rebel control on Sunday after Congolese government forces reportedly made a tactical withdraw from the battle front. Mamundioma and Totolito towns are located 45KM northeast of Beni.

Colonel Richard Bisamaza, the Acting Commander of the 1st sector of the Congolese government forces says that during the clashes they killed 14 ADF rebels and lost four men.

Bisamaza claims that they withdrew from the battle front to minimize civilian causalities caught up in the clashes.

He however, says that they have embarked on plans to recapture the town from the rebels and secure residents and their property.Bisamaza claims that the ADF were backed by Alshabaab fighters in their three days clashes with government forces.

{redpepper}