Tag: GreatLakesNews

International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has said the case against Kenya’s president-elect Uhuru Kenyatta will proceed.

Ms Bensouda said despite her office dropping its case against Mr Kenyatta’s co-accused, Mr Francis Muthaura, the former will still stand trial as the two are alleged to have had different roles in the commission of the crimes.

“While Messrs Muthaura and Kenyatta were allegedly linked together as members of the common plan, they are alleged to have played different roles in that plan,” she said in a court filing Wednesday.

“The distinct nature of their roles was summarised by the Pre-Trial Chamber in the following way: whereas Mr Kenyatta was allegedly “in charge of the provision of financial and logistical support to the direct perpetrators”, Mr Muthaura allegedly “secured the support of the Mungiki and directed the latter to commit the crimes in Nakuru and Naivasha”, as well as “provided institutional support for the execution of the crimes on behalf of the PNU Coalition”.

“Because the two accused are alleged to have had different roles, the evidence against them is different, and any insufficiency of evidence with respect to Mr Muthaura’s particular role would not apply to Mr Kenyatta,” said the prosecutor.

Ms Bensouda said Mr Kenyatta’s case remains largely unchanged.

“Finally, the withdrawal of charges does not affect the Prosecution’s allegations regarding the nature of the common plan, Mr Kenyatta’s alleged role in the plan, or the evidence the Prosecution will rely upon to prove its case against him at trial. In sum, the Prosecution’s factual case against Mr Kenyatta is unaltered,” she said.

On Monday, Ms Bensouda said the prosecution had decided to drop the charges facing Mr Muthaura.

“The witnesses that had conveyed evidence have been killed or died, others refuse to speak to the prosecutor,” Ms Bensouda said.

On Wednesday, Mr Muthaura spoke out about the pain and anguish that the charges had caused his family, especially his elderly parents.

NMG

Tanzania Editors Forum (TEF) chairman Absalom Kibanda, who had been bedridden over the past week after sustaining serious injuries in an attack by unknown assailants, is recuperating.

Mr Kibanda, who is also the group managing editor of New Habari Corporation, was attacked at midnight in the city last Wednesday, as he approached his house. He lost his left eye and several teeth while his jaw was damaged.

The body tissue separating his mouth and nasal canal was punctured and he was immediately flown to South Africa.

Doctors at the Johannesburg Milpark Hospital, where he is hospitalised, said he now walks inside his room and could start walking outdoor in the next two days.

The TEF secretary general, Mr Neville Meena, said in the city yesterday that Mr Kibanda’s health was improving, adding: “He is under close doctors’ supervision, but he can stand up and walk,” he said.

MNG

The world’s leading manufacturer of drinks — yesterday issued the final call for entries to the tenth annual Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards.

The Awards recognise the achievements of business journalists reporting on the continent and provide a prestigious forum for international recognition of their work.

As a long-term investor in Africa, Diageo believes that improving the quantity and quality of business reporting can play a significant role in generating business interest and increasing inward investment in Africa.

In 2013, ten years on from the Awards’ inception, Africa’s profile as a business and investment destination is higher than ever. The awards are open to all journalists reporting on Africa, in any medium, and of any nationality. Submissions are accepted in English and in French.

Entries will be reviewed by a high-profile judging panel – further details will be announced soon. The shortlisted finalists from each category will be flown to London for the Gala Ceremony in July. Winners will each receive £500 and a specially commissioned sculpture.

The open period for entries has been extended to 22 March in the categories: Best Information and Communication Technology (ICT) feature, Best Finance feature, Best Infrastructure feature, Best Agribusiness/Environment feature, Best Tourism feature, Best Business News story, Best Business feature, Best Newcomer and Media of the Year.

Media men and women, publishers and other media stakeholders are seeking an end to assaults on journalists that are posing serious threaten to press freedom in the country.

In a crisis meeting called that culminated in the creation of a 16-member team to lay strategies on how to ensure journalists’ safety yesterday, stakeholders hit out at the use of security personnel and State operatives to intimidate media personnel.

They cited recent incidents in which officials from the Immigration Department interrogated the parents of freelance journalist Erick Kabendera for several hours during which they questioned the senior citizens’ nationalities, after having ferried them for several kilometres away from their village homes in Kagera Region to Bukoba town.

A TV reporter, Daudi Mwangosi, died last year in police hands as he covered a political rally in Iringa Region. His abdomen was ripped open by a gas canister that was reportedly fired at close range by a policeman who has since been charged in court.

Yesterday meeting also came hot on the heels of a barbaric attack last week of the chairman of Editors Forum (TEF) Mr Absalom Kibanda who had to be flown to South Africa where he underwent an operation to remove a badly damaged eye.

The stakeholders, drawn from various media organisations including the Media Owners Association (Moat), Misa-Tan, Media Council of Tanzania (MCT), TEF, Tanzania Media Women’s Association (Tamwa), Tanzania Media Fund (TMF), resolved that the attack on Mr Kibanda was an attack on the freedom of the press because it was meant to silence him.

One of the functions of the committee formed yesterday will be to seek audience with heads of security organs and the minister for Home Affairs and discuss the scary situation of journalists in the country.

Moat chairperson Mr Reginald Mengi said the committee would meet the minister for Internal Affairs, the IGP, director of Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services together with his deputy and the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) director general.

“The rate of these incidents has been on the increase and as a result we need to meet these top leaders and discuss what went wrong and what we can do to ensure safety for this endangered group,” said Mr Mengi.

Meanwhile, Moat urged the government to form an independent commission with a duty to investigate criminal acts that target journalists.

“The pace in which the usual commissions from our security organs take is very slow; on the other hand some executives in the organs are seemingly culpable,” reads part of the declaration.

The stakeholders also condemned incidents in which some State security operatives collaborate with those bent on harassing media personnel.

The declaration noted that Mr Kabendera’s parents were questioned by the Immigration officers who had been paid by a person who is, however, not in government.

“We know that person and we challenge the government to name him, otherwise we will do it ourselves since we know him,” said Mr Mengi.

The stakeholders also cited the 2008 case of Saed Kubenea and Ndimara Tegambwage who were attacked with acid as they worked at their office in Dar es Salaam.

Noting that Mr Kibanda was assaulted by elements that were not happy with his brand of journalism, the declaration noted that the motive was of such heinous attacks was to inculcate fear in media workers.

“Mostly journalists now fail to do their work boldly in fear of suffering Mr Kibanda fate,” reads the declaration.

The team will be headed by Mr Mengi and other team members will Mr Henry Muhanika, Moat official, Mr Hussein Bashe the Managing Director of New Habari (2006) Ltd, Mr Tido Mhando from Mwananchi Communications Ltd, Mr Aga Mbughuni from Business Times Ltd, Mr Abdallah Mrisho of the Global Publishers.

Others are: Mr Ansbert Nguromo of Free Media Ltd, Mr Jesse Kwayu from The Guardian Ltd, Mr Mikidadi Mahmoud from Uhuru Publishers, Ms Godfrida Jola from Tamwa, Mr Japhet Sanga from Tanzania Media Fund, Mr Neville Meena from Editors Forum, Ms Pili Mtambalike of Media Council of Tanzania, Mr Tumaini Mwilenge from Misa-Tan, Mr Deodatus Balile from Jamhuri Newspaper and Mr Samson Kamalamo from Changamoto newspaper.

Mr Kibanda becomes the fifth journalist to be attacked within the past six months. Two journalists were killed and three others were seriously harmed during this short period.

In January this year Mr Issa Ngumba – a Kakonko-based correspondent with Radio Kwizera – was found dead in the forest with bullet wounds in his body.

Last November, an editor with Business Times Ltd, Mr Mnaku Mbani, was shot and seriously injured by suspected robbers who were attempting to hijack the vehicle he had hired for the day.

The following month Mr Shabaan Matutu, a journalist with Free Media Group, was shot in his home by the police in what law enforcement called ‘a case of mistaken identity.’

Reported by Alex Bitekeye and Anuciatha Lucas

TheCitizen

The Ministry of Information and Communication has warned foreign journalists who are working illegally in the country that they risk deportation.

The Director of Information Joseph Owiti says there are a number of foreign journalists in the country practicing without proper credentials.

“The Department of Information is currently the organisation that is charged with the responsibility of accrediting international journalists wishing to work in this country so if they don’t have it then they should not be here.”

“We have a lot of foreign journalists in this country and how they are operating we don’t know. We may need to seek the support of security personnel to help us identify those people who are here illegally… we had a few problems with some foreign journalists of CNN and the story on Financial Times.”

The Director of Public Communications Mary Ombara shared Owiti’s sentiments accusing some foreign correspondents of filing stories that display shoddy journalism.

“We also expressed our deep concern over the deliberately negative role played by some international correspondents in the coverage of the elections. In this regard, we are happy that the local media refused to pick up the untruthful stories on the purchase of thousands of ‘pangas’ or the footage run to depict the non-existent mayhem in the country. Stories must always be truthful and balanced.”

The story published by the Cable News Network (CNN) on some Rift Valley residents arming themselves ahead of the just concluded general election caused uproar among Kenyans on Facebook and Twitter.

Government spokesman Muthui Kariuki accused Nima Elbagir, the CNN correspondent behind the story, of stage-managing her report and later held a meeting with her to ascertain the whereabouts of the said militia group.

“I had a very friendly meeting with the reporter who anchored that story Nima Elbagir, and we had a lengthy discussion. However, hiding under the cloak of source confidentially, she didn’t tell me where those militias are training.”

“That information was something I felt she had an obligation to reveal, but going by Article 19 of the Vienna Convention, I decided to let her keep her sources,” Kariuki had said.

Elbagir defended her report saying that although it must have been difficult for Kenyans to accept, it was truthful: “There really was no desire to tell a ‘story’. We wanted to reflect a reality that many human rights organisations have been concerned about.”

A story published in the Financial Times on CORD presidential contender Raila Odinga also sparked fury after the writer was accused of misrepresenting an interview with the outgoing PM.

Odinga went on to state that although he took exception to being misquoted, he had no problem with foreign journalists and the Fourth Estate as a whole as they act as the public watchdog.

capitalfm

A former senior diplomat under President George W. Bush has criticised the United States for not formally recognizing Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory in last week’s elections.

Jendayi Frazer, a former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs said the US and Europe were playing a dangerous game for their delayed endorsement of Kenyatta’s presidency.

“If the US, the UK and the Europeans don’t want to deal with Uhuru Kenyatta, he has another option,” she cautioned.

Speaking in an interview with American TV channel PBS, Frazer said that Kenya is a strategic partner to the United States and a key ally in the fight against terrorism in addition to being East Africa’s economic hub.

“Many American businesses like FORD, General Electric and others are based there so it’s key to the region as whole,” she said.

However, she warned that the West risked losing it’s strategic influence in the region.

“The geo-strategic environment has changed entirely and particulary (in favour of) China. The Chinese have changed the playing field (and) if the US, the UK and Europeans don’t want to deal with Uhuru Kenyatta, he has another option,” she explained.

Frazer who says she has been to Kenya twice this year said the fact that the Chinese ambassador and Foreign Ministry have already welcomed Kenyatta by referring to him as President-elect.

Frazer accused the US, Canada and Britain of meddling in Kenyans domestic affairs by threatening to put trade sanctions to Kenya, if they elected Kenyatta.

“They are in a bad situation because prior to the election, they threatened the Kenyan electorate by saying ‘if you elect Uhuru Kenyatta, there will be consequences; we may put trade sanctions,’ which was extra ordinary because the case for Kenyatta is not proven,” she explained.

She said that the diffusion of power, the expectations about the new institutions as well as the lessons learnt from the 2007 General Elections had accounted for the lack of violence this time.

Frazer also explained that the tribal competition is still imminent and that this election was based on community voting for “their boys” .

“The need for healing and reconciliation is still much there in Kenya,” she said.

Wirestory

The DR Congo government will grant amnesty to members of the M23 rebel group, as well as offer them positions in the national army if they agree to lay down arms and sign a peace accord this week.

A draft peace plan by the DRC government proposes that the M23 rebels should hand in their weapons ahead of the deployment of UN peacekeepers in eastern Congo border with Rwanda.

Also, rebels who are not facing prosecution would be integrated into the army while the government would, in turn, speed up the return of Congolese ethnic Tutsi refugees from Rwanda.

The deal also offers M23 fighters a limited amnesty.

“It’s a working document … on March 15 negotiations will be finished in one way or another, with or without a signature,” Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende said, without saying what would happen if the rebels did not sign.

Mende said the draft peace plan was a reworking of an agreement signed in 2009 to end a previous rebellion. The M23 rebels said they took up arms last year because of the failure to implement that deal.

NV