IGIHE

Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • Foreign Branches of Kenyan banks Post Double Profits

    {{Foreign subsidiaries of Kenyan banks more than doubled their profits in the year ended December, underlining the importance of the units to the lenders’ bottom lines.}}

    Kenyan banks, led by Equity and KCB, had opened 282 branches in the region as at December up from 223 in 2011.

    According to statistics from the central Bank of Kenya (CBK) noted,the growth was driven by earnings from South Sudan, which mainly are forex dealings and transition incomes since the market accounted for nine per cent of the loans held by the subsidiaries.

    “Subsidiaries operating in South Sudan accounted for 47% of the total profits followed by Tanzania at 31%, Uganda 12.5%, and Rwanda 9.6%,’’ said CBK in its latest industry report.

    Kenyan banks have increasingly focused on Uganda, which had 125 branches of the subsidiaries last year. South Sudan had 31 branches.

    Analysts in the banking sector note that fees and commissions from forex trading and other non-lending activities were the main drivers of profitability in South Sudan.

    The country relies heavily on imports, creating a huge demand for forex dealers led by the banks.

  • Successful Decentralisation Requires Clean Patriotic Leaders

    {{Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has said local governments need to be led by patriotic and ideologically clear and clean leaders noting that if they are not, the local government can be even more dangerous than leaving power at the centre.}}

    Museveni also the Patron of the Commonwealth local government forum was opening the 7th Commonwealth Local Government conference in Kampala, Uganda.

    The conference will take four days running under the theme “Putting local government at the heart of development”.

    He says the effectiveness of a local government, requires an educated population which can be able to vote in place the right people and demand accountability from their leaders thus the need for universal education.

    He challenged the local government to add wealth creation on their programs noting that emphasizing service delivery alone was not enough to transform societies.

    He said that local governments should be the main advocate of wealth creation since majority of the population live in the country side under the local government administration.

    In his keynote address the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa said that local governance is the most functional expression of democracy and democratic practices.

    The Secretary General of the East African Community Dr. Richard Sezibera thanked the local governments of East Africa for supporting the EAC integration process and appealed to all EA countries to remove all barriers that affect free movement of goods and services to allow business to go on.

    He called for the putting in place a gender sensitive environment to enable the 70 million East African women utilize their potential and contribute to regional development.

    {NV}

  • Chadian Army Crosses into Darfur to Attack JEM Rebels

    {{The Justice and Equality movement (JEM) rebels in Darfur, Sudan, said Chadian troops have crossed the border into Darfur region and warned president Idris Deby from the consequences of his involvement in the Sudanese conflict.}}

    JEM spokesperson Gibreel Adam Bilal said that Chadian soldiers left their basis in Abéché on Monday and are now heading into the positions of JEM combatants in North Darfur.

    He called on the African Union United Nation Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to keep away these troops and force it to return back to Chad, warning of dire consequences should Chad insist on continuing its aggressive approach.

    “If they don’t [withdraw] then the Justice and Equality Movement is prepared to engage in war with Chad which will complicate security and humanitarian situation in Darfur more than how it already is”, Bilal said.

    Following the killing of the leader of a dissident faction Mohamed Bashar and his deputy Suleiman Arko last Sunday, his group accused JEM of attacking his convoy inside the Chadian territory. But the Sudanese rebels said they clashed with the splinters inside Darfur.

    Deby facilitated the peace talks between the dissident group and the Sudanese government. The two parties signed a peace agreement in Doha on 6 April.

    On the other hand, relations between the Chadian president and JEM deteriorated since three years ago when Ndjamena barred the entry of Khalil Ibrahim in May 2010, late leader of the rebel group, and prevented him from crossing into Darfur.

    When Ibrahim was killed in December 2011 after his return from Libya different reports speculated that foreign countries were involved in his assassination, but JEM refused to accuse any side.

    However, JEM spokesperson accused on Tuesday the Chadian president of taking part in this operation saying “We disclose for the first time that Idriss Deby participated with the Sudanese government and other regional partners in the assassination of Dr. Khalil”.

    Bilal added they have intelligence confirming that the Chadian president plans to assassinate the leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement and warned they will “hold Idriss Deby responsible for the assassination of any of JEM leaders in the coming days”.

    The rebel official further accused Deby of being involved in the war crimes committed in Darfur region during the past years, stressing they have evidences proving this accusation.

    He further vowed to work with human rights activists to provide all these evidences to the International Criminal Court.

    The chairperson of the African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma condemned on Monday the killing of Mohamed Bashar terming it as a “cowardly act, aimed at dissuading the hold out groups in Darfur from joining the peace process.”

    JEM political secretary, Suleiman Sandal, in separate statements to Sudan Tribune slammed Dlamini-Zuma statements saying the regional body had to investigate the circumstances of the incident before to issue such “partial statements”.

    He expressed JEM readiness to explain its position on the conditions of the incident.

    Sandal asserted that Bashar and his fighters returned from Chad equipped with vehicles and weapons provided by the Chadian president to attack them.

    He added that JEM combatants repulsed an attack carried by the splinter group inside the Sudanese etrritory, insisting that Bashar and his deputy were killed during the clashes.

    Regarding the other members of Bashar group that JEM holds since Sunday, Sundal pointed out they will be tried before JEM courts.

    “They are not prisoners of war as it is said they are members of our movement and will be tried for treason and disloyalty”, he added.

    Sandal underscored that the leaders of the splinter group had been arrested in the past for attempting to assassinate the founder and late leader Khalil Ibrahim when he had being in Libya but were released after a pardon by the current leader Gibril Ibrahim.

    {ST}

  • UN Security Council to Hear Kenya Case

    {{The UN Security Council is likely to hear Kenya’s request for termination of ICC cases against the country’s two top leaders soon, Kenya’s envoy to UN has said.}}

    Kenya expects to present its arguments while Togo holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, ambassador Macharia Kamau told media.

    He said Togo could invite Kenya to speak to the council as early as this week.

    Kenya’s aim in making such a presentation will be more to explain the contents of a 13-page letter recently sent to the council than to pursue a specific outcome, Mr Kamau noted.

    The strongly worded letter urged the UN’s highest decision-making body to act to end the ICC proceedings against President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto.

    Kenya’s request is viewed sympathetically by at least five of the council’s 15 members. Rwanda’s representative spoke in support of Kenya during a recent public session of the council, while Morocco, Pakistan, China and Russia are understood to be inclined toward Nairobi’s position.

    China and Russia are among the council’s five permanent members. The other three — France, the UK and the US — are thought to regard Kenya’s arguments unfavourably.

    It is thus highly unlikely that the Security Council would accede to Kenya’s request and intervene to halt the cases.

    {NMG}

  • Mai Mai Militia Attack DRC Army Base, 31 Dead

    {{At least 31 people were killed in violent clashes after Mai Mai rebels attacked army positions in Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern town of Beni, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.}}

    Gunmen launched the attack early on Wednesday at an army recruitment center near the North Kivu provincial town before being repelled after more than two hours of fighting, Colonel Olivier Hamuli told Reuters.

    “The provisional death toll is 23 Mai Mai, 5 recruits and 3 FARDC soldiers, including a senior officer,” Hamuli said. Mai Mai is the generic name given to a multitude of local armed groups that roam eastern Congo.

    Agencies

  • Court Summons Queen over Colonial Attrocities in Uganda

    {{Queen Elizabeth has been given a 21-day ultimatum to appear at a British court to explain why a case against Britain over alleged atrocities committed against Bunyoro Kingdom (in current Uganda) during the colonial period should not be heard and determined.}}

    In 1893 Britain and Bunyoro kingdom fought a protracted war which lasted until 1899 leading to the murder of more than 2.4 million tribal Banyoro reducing the Kingdoms population to less than 150,000 people.

    According to Mr Dovico Batwale, who is coordinating the case on behalf of Bunyoro, their London-based lawyer communicated the development to them after filing a fresh suit that seeks court to award damages to the kingdom.

    Through Mr Frank Abbey Okello, a lawyer attached to Falcon Legal Consultancy firm in the United Kingdom, the group seeks ₤700 million in damages.

    Batwale said Britain is responsible for the killing of Banyoro, their livestock, the looting and pillaging of minerals and other resources and laying the kingdom to waste by gazetting more than half of their prime land as forest reserves and game parks.
    This was after Omukama Cwa Kabalega resisted British colonialism.

    A statutory notice seeking reparation for alleged human rights abuses, loss of lives and property was served to the British Government through the British High Commission in Kampala in the municipal courts of Uganda in 2004 through Ms Ayena Odongo & Co. Advocates, by a 10-member team on behalf of the aggrieved indigenous Banyoro.

    {agencies}

  • Willian Ruto Arrives in The Hague for ICC Case

    {{Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto is in The Hague, Netherlands to attend a status conference at the International Criminal Court (ICC).}}

    Ruto left his country Kenya Monday night accompanied by his wife Rachel Ruto.

    The status conference will start at 5pm CAT time.

    The status conference is expected to discuss Mr Ruto’s request to have his trial moved to November as well as ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s request to add five witnesses to their list and modalities of the accused’s participation in the trial.

    The other accused is former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.

    {Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto (left) and his wife Rachel Ruto are received by Kenyan ambassador to The Netherlands Makena Muchiri (right) at the Schipol Airport May 13, 2013. Mr Ruto is in The Hague to attend ICC’s status conference May 14, 2013}

    {NMG}

  • Former IMF chief Strauss-Kahn in Juba to Open Bank

    {{Disgraced former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived in South Sudan on Monday to open a new bank, marking a rare return to the financial world since his career was derailed by a lurid sex scandal two years ago.}}

    Speaking to reporters at the start of his two-day visit, Strauss-Kahn said he planned to open the National Credit Bank (NCB), as well as explore investment opportunities in the new nation.

    Few details have been made public about the NCB bank. However, officials said the Swiss-backed private venture was being launched in cooperation with South Sudanese partners.

    Straus-Kahn was greeted by South Sudan’s minister of commerce, Garang Diing, following his arrival in Juba.

    “This visit is very important to us … especially in relation to investment attraction to South Sudan,” Diing told Press.

    “He (Straus-Kahn) wants to see how South Sudan is prospering in terms of peace, stability, democracy and economic performance,” he added.

    The one-time French presidential hopeful and former IMF boss suffered a spectacular downfall after a New York hotel maid accused him of sexual assault in May 2011.

    Strauss-Kahn, who has always insisted his sexual relations with the maid were consensual, was forced to resign his post in the wake of the scandal; in which allegations surfaced he was also criminally involved in a France-based prostitution ring.

    In August 2011, prosecutors dropped all criminal charges, saying that the alleged victim, Nafissatou Diallo, was not a credible witness.

    Strauss-Kahn quickly returned to France and later settled a civil suit filed by Diallo for an undisclosed sum.

    In an extensive interview with France’s weekly Le Point magazine last October, Strauss-Kahn, who now works as a freelance financial consultant, said he was “looking at getting involved in big international projects”.

    Although rich in natural resources, South Sudan remains grossly under-developed since splitting from the north in July 2011, with vast sections of the population still living beneath the poverty line.

    {ST}

  • Kenyan Private Equity Firm Buys 50% stake in Ethiopian food firm

    {{Kenya-based private equity firm Catalyst said it had acquired a 50% stake in Ethiopian food and drink maker Yes Brands to tap into the Horn of Africa nation’s large population and fast economic growth.}}

    Mauritius-registered Catalyst Principal Partners raised $125 million last year for its Catalyst Fund 1 to be invested in consumer growth-related opportunities in a region with some of the world’s fastest growing economies.

    Paul Kavuma, Catalyst’s chief executive, said it would build on the strength of Yes Brands in mineral water bottling by investing in operational capacity and product distribution.

    The value of the deal was not disclosed due to confidentiality clauses in the agreement.

    Officials in Addis Ababa said last year they expected Ethiopia’s economy to expand by 11% in the 2012/13 fiscal year.

    Catalyst is also looking to invest in east Africa’s property market, Kavuma said last month.

    {reuters}

  • Analysts Question Tanzania’s Rail Project

    {{Tanzania is facing stiff criticism over its railway system that is considered outdated.}}

    Railways development stakeholders have engaged in a heated debated on the country’s continued use of the Metre Gauge (MG) rail over the approved Standard Gauge (SG) system for projects undertaken in the country.

    The tense debate occurred here last week during a seminar which discussed presentations of the final draft for implementing phase II of the Dar es Salaam-Kigali/Keza-Gitega-Musongati Railway project.

    Stakeholders were concerned by recommendations made by project consultants Canarail,a Canadian Company, and GIBB International who had earlier proposed that the current Metre Gauge rail infrastructure be renovated.

    Consultants believe that the capitation expenses (Capex) and operation expenses (Opex) required for the project is higher than the traffic, in terms of passengers and goods, that the region can provide for project viability.

    Instead, they proposed the continual use of the Metre Gauge for the next thirty years while building capacity to increase traffic of both passengers and goods.

    But stakeholders, including government officials, said the consultants’ opinion was contradictory and was aimed at hindering regional strategies to interconnect the East African countries with a reliable means of transport that would stimulate economic growth.

    The deputy Transport minister, Dr Charles Tizeba, told reporters at the seminar’s official opening that the Tanzanian government resolved to transform its railways to the Standard Gauge and that there was no room for a u-turn.

    “The current rail system with meter gauge infrastructure is worse. The government has decided to adopt the standard gauge rail specifications and no reverse is expected,” he said.

    Generally, the consultant showed in his presentation that Tanzania and member countries were not in a position to implement the $4 billion worth project, proposing that the Tanzania government secures renovation facilitation funds from the World Bank (WB).

    The early generation of revenue through the established Joint Project Implementation Unit (JPIU) – according to consultants – was another commendable measure being fronted by professionals.

    But the ministry of Transport permanent secretary, Eng Omari Chambo, blamed government officials responsible for supervising the consultant for laxity which led to a failure to implement the project draft that took into account the interests of the region.

    “You people must really be committed to ensuring this project meets the government’s expectations through preparation of genuine and a marketable draft,” he said.

    {NMG}