IGIHE

Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • Harvard Prof. Advises Africa to Adopt GMOs

    {{A Harvad University Proffessor has warned that if Africa didn’t embrace Genetically Modified Plants in its Agriculture production, the problems that have plagued its agriculture will continue.}}

    Prof. Calestous Juma added that the diseases that affect Africa’s agricultural products will continue doing so unless the continent embraces GMOs.

    He cited the Cassava wilt disease,saying that with GMOs, it would be no more, cassava production will more than double,and to him this is what transformation is all about.

    The Don argued that Genetical engineering has the potential to do for agriculture what mobile technology has done for the communications sector.

    Prof. Juma advised, “to realize this potential, African countries need to adopt flexible and supportive biotechnology regulations”.

    Explaining the benefits of emerging technologies on economic transformation Prof Juma noted that all technological innovations start with deregulation ‘if Africa had restrictive Mobile technology regulations imposed at the outset, it would not have benefited from the technology and even pioneered in fields such as Mobile money transfer “ he said.

    Prof. Juma the Director of the science, technology and globalization project at Harvard University. He was speaking at a Public Lecture in Uganda organized by the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA).

  • Eala MPs Oppose East Africa Work Permit Fees

    {{The issue of work permit fees could be a thing of the past in the East African Community (EAC) bloc if the regional bloc duly implements a Resolution passed by the regional Assembly on Thursday.}}

    The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala), currently meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, passed a motion for a resolution advocating for the elimination of work permit fees for citizens of the region in the spirit of enhancing free movement of workers.

    The resolution specifically targeted Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda which have dragged their feet in eliminating the work permit fees for workers from the EAC member countries as done by Rwanda and Kenya.

    “EAC citizens have been subjected to altered work permit fees in the region which are divided into several classes that cater for different professions,” the legislators said, noting that Tanzania has a total of 13 sub-classes, Uganda nine while Rwanda and Burundi have two sub-classes each.

    The resolution took cognisance of the fact that Article 76 of the Treaty for the establishment of the EAC recognises that within the Common Market, there shall be free movement of labour, goods, services, capital and the right of establishment.

    Article 10 of the Common Market Protocol, for its part, guarantees that the Partner States do provide for free movement of workers, who are citizens of the other Partner States within their territories.

    According to the resolution, the current fees charged to obtain work permits also vary. In Tanzania, the fees range from $6 for peasants to $3,000 for miners whereas in Uganda it ranges from $250 for missionaries up to $2500 for miners. In Burundi, the fees range from $60 for students to $84 for regular workers.

    The objective of the work permit is seen as a mode of earning revenue and taxes or regulation of free movement according to the mover of the motion.

    In the resolution, Eala thus urges the Council of Ministers to call for harmonisation of national laws in order to allow for free movement of labour and services.

    Supporting the motion, Abubakar Zein Abubakar from Tanzania said the move would create a sense of ‘East Africaness’ and would ensure ultimately, ‘Brand East Africa’ is realised.

    He called for a sense of identity and mutual benefit amongst citizens and said abolishing work permits was a step in that direction.

    Mr Mike Sebalu (Uganda) lauded the Motion as timely to take the integration to the next level. ‘We need to move freely and take integration away from the boardroom to the people’, he declared.

    Mr Abdul Karim Harelimana noted that the region had continued to realise some benefits accruing from the Common Market Protocol and noted that the imaginary fears especially about loss of revenue and insecurity should be dispelled.

    The legislator noted that today over 170 Kenyan companies had set up operations in Rwanda and the move was greatly benefiting Rwandans.

    Ms Maryam Ussi supported the motion with caution noting that there were still threats of terrorism around the borders.

    ‘If international passports can be forged, then even the East African passports are subject to forgery’, the legislator remarked. On equality of jobs and provision of services, she noted many citizens were still unable to work in the neighbouring Partner States.

    Ms Susan Nakawuki criticised leaders in some partner states for hiding behind bureaucracies to deny free movement noting that currently, work permit fees were also high.

    ‘I congratulate Kenya and Rwanda for the move to withdraw permit fees and also note that Kenya and Uganda are working on a similar bilateral move’, she said.

    Another MP Mukasa Mbidde noted that the issue of permits had been used as Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and said the decision by Rwanda and Kenya to collaborate in the matter exemplified the Principle of Variable Geometry which applies in the integration model.

    An Eala MP from Tanzania Mr. Abdullah Mwinyi, however, maintained that work permits were a monitoring instrument in absence of the identity cards.

    The deputy minister for EAC Dr. Abdulla Sadaalla noted that harmonisation of the national laws was currently in progress and that Tanzania had reviewed relevant laws, in alignment to the Common Market Protocol.

    “I can confirm that we have finalised the review process and are now awaiting the process of ratification’, the Minister remarked. Her

    Burundi counterpart Leontine Nzeyimana who is the minister of EAC Affairs pledged the Ministry would pursue the removal of the work permit fees with the authorities.

    During a recent private sector CEOs meeting in Kampala Uganda,stakeholders expressed concerns on the contentious issue of work permits in the EA region, saying it still remained largely unworkable.

    Tanzania, in particular, was blamed for being slow in embracing the anticipated cross-border labour regimes in the region as espoused by the EAC Common Market Protocol.

    {NMG}

  • Uganda Crude Oil to Cost US$70 per Barrel

    {{Uganda has announced prices of its locally produced Oil which will cost a conservative fee of $70 per barrel.}}

    With a barrel having 159 litres, the set price means that a litre of Uganda’s crude oil has been set at $0.4 cents.

    The announcement was made by Uganda’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Mr Fred Kabagambe-Kaliisa.

    Dr Frederick Kisekka-Ntale, a political researcher in Uganda said, “We may begin at a point of indebtedness; the cost of paying back the loan [for building refinery] will eat into the cost of production hence driving the cost at the pump higher.”

    The Ugandans are watching closely neighbouring Kenya Oil sector.

    Dr. Kisseka explains that; “All these costs will be borne by the consumer and so by the time we will build our refinery and Kenya has started production, Kenya oil may be cheaper than ours and it is not a paradox because it has happened in other African oil producing countries.”

    Crude oil is currently trading at $88 per barrel on the world market. The highest crude oil price ever was in July 2008 when it traded at $147 a barrel while the average price for a barrel of crude oil between 2005 and 2010 was about $67.

    World crude oil prices fell in December 2008 to $30 a barrel, the lowest since the financial crisis of 2007–2010 began, and traded at between $35 and $82 a barrel in 2009 before hitting $100 a barrel in October 2008.

    {Additional Reporting NMG}

  • Kenyatta Adopts Lean Structure of Government

    Kenya’s new and Fourth President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya unveiled (April 18) the structure of his government.

    He has established a lean structure of 18 ministries. The outgoing government had 44 ministries.

    The official list of ministries and state departments that will form the National Executive are as follows:

    Under the Presidency, there will the Executive Office of the President and the Executive Office of the Deputy President with two ministries:

    1. Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government.

    2. Ministry of Devolution and Planning.

    Other ministries are:

    3. Defence.

    4. Foreign Affairs.

    5. Education which will have the Department of Education and Department of Science and Technology.

    6. The National Treasury.

    7. Health.

    8. Transport and Infrastructure which will have the Department of Transport Services and the Department of Infrastructure.

    9. Environment, Water and Natural Resource.

    10. Land, Housing and Urban Development.

    11. Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) .

    12. Sports, Culture and the Arts.

    13. Labour, Social Security and Services.

    14. Energy and Petroleum.

    15. Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries under which are the Department of Agriculture, Department of Livestock and Department of Fisheries.

    16. Industrialization and Enterprise Development.

    17. Commerce and Tourism which has the Department of Commerce and Department of Tourism.

    18. Mining.

    The structure also contains the Office of the Attorney-General and Department of Justice.

    In the new structure, President Kenyatta has collapsed the ministries from 44 to 18. The reduced structure is geared towards achieving a lean, efficient and effective executive branch of Government.

    Youth, gender, devolution, planning as well as national cohesion and integration have all been brought under the Presidency.

    Also given special focus is mining which is now a stand-alone ministry. Information, Communication and Technology ministry as well as Sports, Culture and Arts are also stand-alone ministries.

    Infrastructure ministries as well as national resources ministries have also largely been brought under the same roof.

    {NMG}

  • South Sudan Troops Attack Hospital, Kill 5 Nurses

    {{Five health workers have been killed when South Sudan soldiers attacked a hospital in revenge for the deaths of eight members of the security forces, the local MP told press.}}

    David Mayo said the fighting was still going on and urged the army to be withdrawn.

    Local community leaders confirm that the hospital in the village of Lorema, Eastern Equatoria state, was attacked.

    But the state governor denied the reports.

    Louis Obong told media that no hospital had been attacked and the security situation was “normal”.

    An army spokesman said he was investigating the reports and any soldier who had committed abuses would face justice.

    The soldiers were deployed after eight of the governor’s bodyguards were killed when they were sent to track down cattle rustlers.

    The BBC’s Nyambura Wambugu in South Sudan says many residents of the mountainous area around Lorema are heavily armed, including with rocket-propelled grenades, left over from the two-decade civil war against the north.

    Mr Mayo said that 13 soldiers were currently being treated in hospital, in the state capital, Torit.

    But he blames the soldiers for the violence, saying they opened fire indiscriminately when they arrived in Lorema, before going on to attack the hospital and set fire to local homes.

    One doctor, one patient and four nurses died, he said.

    {BBC}

  • Uganda Seeks to Manage Mombasa Port

    {{Owing to delays experienced by Ugandan traders at Port Mombasa, the government of Uganda is seeking to manage ports in the East african community.}}

    Uganda is a major importer of goods through the mombasa port and other ports on the East African coastal line.

    A senior official in Uganda’s Ministry of East African Community (EAC) Affairs, Edith Mwanje said Thursday that Uganda should have a say in the management of ports because of “the too many delays” at the ports, which she said affect trade.

    “Let us be recognized as full stakeholders in the management of ports. The ports should be managed collectively as EAC,” she noted during a ‘validation workshop on Uganda’s country position on the single Customs Territory’ held in Kampala.

    The Single customs Territory provides for free movement of goods in the EAC partner states, non-payment of tax of the good that are circulating in the states and imposition of a common tax on goods coming from outside the territory, Mwanje explained.

    {NV}

  • UK to Send Asylum Seekers to Camp Set up in Kenya

    {{The UK could confine asylum seekers in leased houses in Kenya if a proposal by Conservative Party MPs aimed at reducing illegal immigrants is approved.}}

    Unlike today when most immigrants are housed in secure locations inside Britain, this could change with immigrants shipped to ‘safe houses’ in Kenya and upkeep paid by the UK government as cases are processed.

    Kenya hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees and it remains to be seen whether the new government would approve the move. The country also hosts 10,000 UK soldiers for training annually.

    A group of Conservative MPs has forwarded the proposal to have Britain pay Kenya and other countries to host the immigrants from various countries in “processing camps.”

    The plan, contained in a report by the Conservative Way Forward group and authored by Tory MP Julian Brazier, says population growth is putting a strain on UK infrastructure which they claim ends up benefiting ‘immigrants’ at the expense of British citizens.

    Tory MP said, “Overcrowding in turn holds back economic growth, reduces quality of life and puts heavy pressure on government spending.”

    Last month, British Prime Minister David Cameron called for introduction of stringent measures to curb “easy” granting of citizenship to foreigners, saying immigrants must be made to pay a premium on all services enjoyed by British citizens.

    The Conservative Party, in a ruling coalition with Liberal Democrats, has increasingly appealed to voters’ anti-immigration sentiment since Lynton Crosby was put back in charge of the Tory election campaign.

    The Australian strategist is referred to as the Wizard of Oz in the British press after he helped former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard to win four terms.

    Australian government has a similar scheme, which sends boatloads of arrivals to the Pacific island of Nauru or Manus Island in Papua New Guinea to be warehoused in camps as their asylum bids are processed.

    {agencies}

  • Kenya Protests Removal of Candidate from WTO race

    {{Kenya has formally complained to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the manner in which its candidate for the agency’s top job Amina Mohamed was bundled out of the race in the preliminary stage.}}

    In a terse letter to the chairman of the WTO general council, Shahid Bashir, Kenya termed Ms Mohamed’s elimination irregular and threatened to veto the final outcome of the exercise if due process is not followed in the remaining phases.

    The WTO regulations require consensus by all members before one can be declared the director-general.

    “Further to our statement made to the general council heads of department meeting on April 12, 2013, Kenya wishes to state that we remain convinced that the selection process for round one consultations was grossly flawed and has eroded the credibility of the entire process,” the letter says.

    {wirestory}

  • Uganda Worried Over Teachers Influx to Rwanda

    {{Education officials in Uganda especially those at border districts of Kabale and Kisoro have expressed concern over the high rate of teachers crossing over to Rwanda for better salaries.}}

    They have appealed to the government to consider improving teacher’s salaries and welfare if the trend is to be reversed.

    According to education officer Babo Sabiiti in Kabale district, more than 70 primary school teachers have abandoned duty since this year began and crossed to Rwanda.

    The Kisoro District inspector of schools said they face the same challenge, and together with primary school head teachers, are compiling the list of teachers who have left.

    NMG

  • Kenya Floods kill 63

    {{At least 63 people have been killed and over 34,000 displaced by floods countrywide, Deputy President William Ruto said on Thursday.}}

    He said the government will distribute foodstuff to those affected and had come up with a plan to address national disaster.

    He said the Government had come up with a 20 year action plan that include national disaster risk reduction and flood control plan.

    Ruto made the remarks at Moi Air Base in Eastleigh after flagging off 5 tonnes of foodstuff to be airlifted to residents in Isiolo who have been cut off by floods.

    Heavy rains have been pounding various parts of the country causing flash floods and landslides.

    {Standard}