IGIHE

Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • Kenya to host Open Governance Partnership forum

    {{Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology and the Kenya ICT Board, will host the regional Open Governance Partnership (OGP) Conference from May 29 to 30 in Mombasa.}}

    Permanent Secretary at the Ministry Bitange Ndemo said the conference is aimed at providing a platform to develop a framework to guide African countries’ participation in the global OGP.

    It will also provide ideas on how to increase public integrity, raise access to information, manage public resources and promote corporate accountability.

    Ndemo added that the conference will pave way for discussions around the Open Data Initiative which was launched by the former president Mwai Kibaki in 2011 and how it can be used to promote openness of government information.

    “Kenya was invited to join OGP in 2010 following its fast progress in adopting ICT to promote increase transparency and accountability in government as well as increase public service delivery to citizens.

    The conference is expected to address challenges in regards to government openness, responsiveness and accountability,” said OGP Executive Director Gladwell Otieno.

    The conference is a multi-stakeholder alliance of leading governments and civil society organizations which are working together to advance transparency and accountability in governments.

    Progress has been noted in increased citizen participation in processes like the budget process, through the Open Budget Index (OBI) from providing more information to significant information.

    OGP was launched in September 2011 with eight founding governments including Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States.

    The African continent is represented in the OGP by founding member South Africa; Kenya and Tanzania who made their commitments in April and May 2012 respectively. Liberia and Ghana joined in April 2013.

    {Agencies}

  • Four Star General to Head Uganda Army

    {{The Ugandan Army has a new leader, a four star General, (Gen. Katumba Wamala).

    General Katumba Wamala’s new appointment was also effected with his promotion to a four star General.}}

    President Yoweri Museveni also the commander in chief of the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces announced various changes both in the Army and Cabinet.

    The former Chief of Defence Forces of the UPDF, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima has been transferred to head Ministry of Internal Affairs.

    Gen. Wamala will be deputised by Lt Gen Charles Angina, who has been the Land Forces Chief of Staff.

    {2nd Left General Katumba Wamala is the New Chief of Defence Forces (UPDF)}

  • South Sudan President Attacks ICC

    {{South Sudan’s president is criticizing the International Criminal Court, saying the court is designed to humiliate African leaders.}}

    Salva Kiir spoke Thursday during a visit by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces ICC charges related to Kenya’s post-election violence in 2007-08 that killed more than 1,000 people.

    Kiir said that South Sudan — the world’s newest country — will not sign the Rome Statute that binds countries to the ICC process despite offers of “assistance” in exchange for signing it.

    Kiir and Kenyatta also discussed a planned transport corridor that is to run from Kenya’s coastal of city of Lamu into South Sudan. A proposed pipeline would be used to transport South Sudan’s oil to the coast without having to go through Sudan.

    {wirestory}

  • Survey: Alcoholism Killing Many Tanzanians

    {{Over five million Tanzanians drink too much, posing a threat to their health, family life and productivity, a survey conducted between February and October has indicated.}}

    According to deputy minister for Health and Social Welfare Seif Seleman Rashid, the situation is now catastrophic, and the government has been forced to embark on a special programme to tackle the problem in conjunction with the World Health Organisation.

    “Over drinking is now a big problem that needs urgent solution and the government has already put plans in place to face the challenge,” Dr Rashid told the Parliament in Dodoma yesterday. Excessive drinking is reportedly rampant among men, as 3.6 million of them are categorised as alcoholic while women in this group are 1.7 million.

    The deputy minister admitted that the government cannot stop adults from drinking; adding that it can only urge them to drink responsibly.

    “As a government, there is little we can do on this matter, consumers should understand the side- effects of too much alcohol and decide what to do on their own,” said the deputy minister. About 29 per cent of Tanzanians, equivalent to 13.1 million people, consume alcohol, the deputy minister noted.

    He added that the government, through his ministry, has already instructed all regional hospitals to lay modalities of treating non-communicable diseases, including alcoholism and drug addiction.

    The deputy minister was responding to Mr Abdallah Haji Ali (Kiwani-CCM), who wanted to know if the government plans to ban alcohol.

    The MP said alcohol was leading to a rise in accidents, deaths, rape and social strife. The deputy minister, however, noted that excessive drinking was a global problem, whereby at least two million people die annually due to excessive alcohol use. The minister did not give data for Tanzania.

    {TheCitzen}

  • UN official calls for Extra Humanitarian Efforts in Darfur

    {{The UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, stressed readiness of UN bodies to cooperate with the government in order to provide support to those affected by the recent surge of violence in Darfur.}}

    Amos visited Zam Zam camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) outside North Darfur state capital Al-Fasher in on Wednesday where she was accompanied by the Sudan humanitarian commissioner Abdel Rahman Suleiman.

    She said that her visit was intended to follow up on the humanitarian situation of the affected civilians, adding that she had noticed during her tour at Zam Zam camp that the situation of the newly displaced persons who are mainly women and children was not satisfactory.

    Last Sunday the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a report saying that 60.000 people have been displaced from areas of Muhajiriya and Labado in East Darfur since April’s clashes between the Sudanese army and rebels.

    The report mentioned that an unidentified armed group killed 4 people on May 9 in the town of Bangoul and looted 3000 head of cattle, adding that due to the tense security situation, an African Union – United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) convoy escort could not get clearance from government security authorities.

    The undersecretary further stressed the need to bring together efforts of all partners including aid groups and the government authorities in order to provide assistance for those affected.

    She disclosed that they have distributed food for the newly displaced persons and pointed out that lack of funding represents a real challenge for aid groups, saying that the current situation requires more efforts and cooperation to meet the needs of those affected by the recent events.

    OCHA reported that thousands of civilians from Labado and Muhajeria moved also to IDPs camps in El Neem camp near East Darfur State capital, Ed Daein, and Dereige and Otash IDP camp in South Darfur.

    The governor of North Darfur state, Osman Mohamed Yousif Kibir, strongly denied that armed clashes have taken place within his state during the past two weeks leading to new waves of displacement to Zam Zam camp.

    During a meeting with the visiting UN humanitarian official, Kibir pointed out that the newly IDPs who arrived at Zam Zam came from Labado area in East Darfur following recent armed clashes.

    The governor further claimed that Zam Zam camp represents a serious threat to security in the state, saying that it is a major source of fuel to rebel groups as well as a transit station.

    Last month, the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minnawai (SLM-MM), captured towns of Labado and Muhajiriya in East Darfur before Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) reclaimed the two areas later.

    {ST}

  • Man Charged with the murder of wife who is alive

    {{A port clerk was charged and detained in remand for months over the murder of his wife and daughter who were in fact alive and well.}}

    Henry Onyango Agunda, then a clerk of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), was dragged out of his house in Changamwe on suspicion of murdering his wife Margaret Akinyi and daughter Rhoda Nyanje on December 5, 2010.

    He was detained at the local police station for about 10 days after which he was charged before Justice Maureen Odero who remanded him at Shimo la Tewa Prison to await his trial.

    But when he appeared in court in March 2011 for the mention of his double murder case, he was surprised to see his wife and daughter in the public gallery.

    The wife the KPA clerk is alleged to have killed raised her hand in court to inform the judge that there was a bad mistake but she did not catch the eye of Justice Odero.

    Instead, Agunda was sent back to remand where he remained until April 21, 2011 when the state realised the police had duped the prosecution and terminated the murder charges.

    Now the stonemason has sued the state demanding Sh15 million as compensation for wrongful confinement.

    The state is yet to reply to an affidavit seeking declaration that he was wrongfully brought before the court and his reputation ruined due to a meticulous conspiracy hatched allegedly by his mother in law Mary Nyanguka and police in Changamwe.

    Although Agunda had been set free, he bore injuries he claims to have sustained during a violent arrest and incarceration.

    In his affidavit, Agunda, who hails from Bar Sauri in Yala township of Siaya County, wants the state to compensate him for illegal confinement.

    {Standard}

  • Kenyan Runner Mary Keitany Expecting Second Child

    {{Twice London marathon champion Mary Keitany will not compete this year because she is expecting her second child, a close friend of the Kenyan runner said on Wednesday.}}

    Keitany, 31, won the London Marathon in 2011 and 2012 but did not defend the title last month. In her absence compatriot Prisca Jeptoo finished first.

    “Mary will be away from athletics this year due to pregnancy. That’s why she missed London,” the friend told meda.

    Keitany, a mother of a five-year-old child, will be the second top Kenyan female athlete to miss this August’s Moscow world championships due to pregnancy.

    Earlier on Wednesday, Keitany’s compatriot Vivian Cheruiyot, a double world champion who also won silver (5,000) and bronze (10,000) during last year’s London Olympics, announced she was expecting her first child and would not compete in Moscow.

    Both Keitany and Cheruiyot train in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province, which is home to some of the world’s best middle and distance runners.

    Keitany, who won the 2012/1013 World Marathon Majors, a circuit of the globe’s most lucrative and prestigious marathons was a hot favourite for last year’s London Olympics marathon gold medal but finished only fourth.

    {wirestory}

  • Escapee Patients From Kenya Mental Hospital Voluntarily Return

    {{Reports from Kenya indicate that six of the 40 mental patients who escaped from the Mathari Mental Hospital in Nairobi are still at large. others have voluntarily returned to the facility.}}

    Police and the hospital officials said on Wednesday most of the patients had voluntarily returned while others were being brought back by their parents and members of the public.

    The hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Kisivuli Atzenga confirmed the return of the male patients.

    “They were brought back but some are yet to come and we appeal to the parents of those still out there to bring them back,” said Atzenga.

    Atzenga said none of those who escaped was a criminal or under police care. He said the wards that accommodate police and prisons cases are isolated.

    He said they informed police as a procedure and because they have the network of tracing the missing patients.

    The patients are among 40 who escaped from the facility on May 12 after a confrontation with cleaners and security.

    Officials said the patients were among 75 who were locked in ward nine at the facility when they ganged up and bolted out.

    {Standard}

  • Tanzania Warned Against too much ‘openness’

    {{The World Bank has warned Tanzanians on the danger of too much openness to international trade, saying it creates the risk of exposing the country to global shocks in terms of prices and quantities.}}

    According to the latest report of the World Bank on the country’s economic outlook, those risks have become more visible over the past few years with successive financial and fiscal crises in developed countries as well as increased volatility in the world commodity prices.

    “That said, the heavy reliance on export of gold and the import of oil is currently a risk for Tanzania. Gold now accounts for more than 40 per cent of the total value of merchandise exports.

    A sudden decline in the world gold prices would have a dramatic impact on the total value of Tanzanian exports…a decline in gold prices of 30 per cent would reduce this value by almost 15 per cent,” reads part of the report.

    “Similarly, with crude oil making up a third of the country’s imports, an increase in the price of this commodity could be destabilising,” part of the report reads.

    The World Bank report also pinpoints other weak areas facing the country. It named them as inability to maximise the benefits associated with openness to international trade.

    “One reason is that the vast majority of merchandise exported are low-value-added products such as minerals and unprocessed agricultural goods, which have minimal direct impact on the creation of employment and the development of technology in the domestic economy,” the report further pinpoints.

    At present, Tanzania should diversify its exports and ensure that imports are made more accessible and cheaper for a large number of consumers and local firms, according to the World Bank.

    “The priority of the country should be to reduce transport costs to facilitate trade with the rest of the world. Since approximately 90 per cent of Tanzania’s international transactions transit through the Dar es Salaam port, improvement of this facility should be prioritised by policy makers,” the report says.

    Commenting on the report, the senior lecturer of economics at the University of Dar es Salaam, Prof Humphrey Moshi, said that high transport costs resulting from inefficient Dar es Salaam port and railways transport system has been increasing the cost of doing business in the country.

    Prof Moshi, however, said that the country should not continue to rely on the World Bank reports which were incomplete in finding solutions for economic problems facing it.

    “We should avoid depending on World Bank reports and advice because they are yet to solve economic problems facing us.

    The World Bank, for instance, has to focus on finding lasting solutions to the weak agriculture sector which employs the majority of Tanzanians,” he said.

    He cited the case of the BRICS nations including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa which have designed their own development policies with successful results.

    In its report, the World Bank – however – is optimistic that the country would continue to attain a stable economic growth rate at seven per cent in the 2013/14 financial year due to a fast expanding sector such as mining, transport and telecommunications.

    NMG

  • Angola Opposition Member Killed in Attack

    {{Oil-rich Angola’s main opposition party Unita on Tuesday accused civil war foes now in the ruling MPLA of killing one of its activists in an attack in the south of the country.}}

    The 42-year-old man and 22 others were building a stage for a party rally in the town Londuimbali south west of the capital Luanda when the altercation happened, said Unita provincial secretary Liberty Chiyeka.

    “He was attacked by people from the local MPLA with knives and rocks. He died from his wounds and six others were injured,” said Chiyaka.

    The incident, which happened May 11, marked a step back in relations between the two parties, he added.

    The almost 30-year war ended in 2002, but in the following decade 13 Unita members had died in clashes in the region, he said.

    Huambo province deputy governor Guilherme Tuluca hit back at the accusation.

    “This is an area where Unita doesn’t have the support of local people because of the violence it perpetrated in the past. The party leaders have to accept this,” Tuluca told state news agency Angop.

    He said Unita started unrest in the area, which used to be a party stronghold until the MPLA won it over in 2008 elections.

    {AFP}