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Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • M23 rebels & DRC Sign First Deal

    The DRC government and M23 rebels Wednesday signed a preliminary peace agreement during the dialogue presently ongoing in Kampala.

    Dr. Crispus Kiyonga, the chief facilitator of the dialogue hailed both sides for showing commitment to the peace negotiations taking place at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

    He said that the peace deal was reached in the “spirit of reconciliation” and was “significant” because it establishes the goodwill necessary for the talks to continue.

    The dialogue evaluated the implementation of the accord that was signed on March 23, 2009 between the DRC government and the Congréss National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP) rebel group.

    However, implementation of the 2009 peace accord failed which led to the resurgence of the former CNDP fighters under the M23 group.

    Kiyonga said that the two warring sides accepted responsibility for the failure of the March 23, 2009 agreement reached between the government and the then CNDP.

    According to a review of the failed March peace accord, conducted by the rebels and the Congolese government, 23 provisions of the agreement were either fully or partially respected while 12 were “either poorly implemented or not implemented at all.”

    Kiyonga said the M23 rebels had violated a provision of that 2009 agreement which stated that any disputes were to be resolved through “political means” not militarily. He said both parties view the 2009 agreement as a document that is “still relevant. Accordingly, it is recommended that a monitoring and evaluation mechanism be established.”

    The talks began in December last year after regional Heads of State and Government of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) met in Kampala on November 24, to seek solutions to the security situation in Eastern DRC.

    NV

  • Kenya Politicians Must Avoid the word ‘Dog’

    Kenya’s National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has flagged three key phrases among them thief, uncircumcised and dog as some of those used to stir negative ethnic tensions.

    NCIC vice chairperson Millie Lwanga said the coded words were being used to create stereotypes against some of the target communities in a bid to mask direct hate speech and cause unnecessary tribal divisions.

    Lwanga added that the words, which were mostly used in vernacular settings, must be avoided during the campaign period as they undermined integration.

    “Thief, uncircumcised, dog, monkey or any animal phrase are terms we feel do not promote unity or anything positive in any way and they should not be tolerated. And we have a detailed list of many other words that we feel hamper cohesion,” she cautioned on Thursday.

    The commission, which was releasing findings of a survey on coded language, noted that their use was also widespread during the 2007 electioneering period, which led to a blood bath.

    NCIC Acting Director of Programmed Julius Jwan added that the words were mostly used in political contexts.

    “They are used to judge a given people or sway the views of an inner group about a given community. Some of these terms can be used to express outright hate and when you do this what are you trying to achieve?” he posed.

    Lwanga also said that there was need to embark on massive education to correct some of the perceptions as a means of fostering unity.

    She added that the diversity of Kenyan tribal differences could also be celebrated through the educative forums if they are held between different communities.

    “Now we are talking about governors so if someone comes to you and tells you, you cannot trust a member of community X because of either of these stereotypes then you know they are perpetrating negative stereotypes for political gain,” she argued.

    She also urged politicians to focus their campaigns on issues that would reform the country as opposed to hateful statements.

    Lwanga further reminded Kenyans of the 2007 bungled elections saying they must not allow a repeat.

    She observed that the commission was closely monitoring the campaigns being conducted country wide to ensure that they do not end up polarising the country.

    “We realise that when some statements are picked by certain people they may become ethnicised so we are trying to guard from that and we cannot wait for things to take their own natural course because it will be difficult to bring people back to the national agenda,” she argued.

    The commission also listed ignorance, suspicion, unfair generalisation of isolated incidents and ill motivated politicians as the root cause of these hateful words.

    The study was conducted last year sampling 39 counties across the country, with a total of 1,233 participants.

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  • Kenya & DRC to Strengthen Trade Cooperation

    The Embassy of Kenya in the DRC, in partnership with the Kenya Export Promotion council group (EPC) organized a trade show in Kinshasa capital (Feb 5-9) aimed at promoting economic partnership between the DRC and Kenya.

    The show is under the theme: “Achieving African economic development through trade and investment”.

    Operators at the trade show exhibited pharmaceutical products, printed material, and other manufactured goods made in Kenya.

    Prominent Kenyan firms including Kenya airways also exhibited their products at the economic forum.

    Director of Commercial Exchanges in Kenyan Export Promotion Group council (EPC), Maurice Abuom said the fair inaugurates the era of exploration of Kenyan products in the DRC.

    Abuom says the fair will also allow Kenyan entrepreneurs and employers to strengthen Congolese economic partnership.

    “We will do export and investment in the DRC where there are highly competitive products in terms of quality and accessibility. This is a reason for us to do business, “said Abuom.

  • ICC Requests ICTR to Prosecute Kenyatta & Ruto

    The International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested ICTR to try cases of two Kenyans; Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto MP for crimes against humanity.

    Although ICTR said it has not received any request from the ICC the spokesperson of the ICTR, Mpumilwa Danford said that the ICTR cannot prosecute the two men without the approval of the Security Council of the UN and the Tanzanian government adding that the mandate of the tribunal is to prosecute cases from Rwanda.

    “The ICTR was established by the Security Council to try those responsible for the genocide in Rwanda” Xinhua quoted the spokesman of the ICTR.

    Both men were among suspects indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC.

  • Mai-Mai Militia Kill FARDC Soldier at Military Base

    The Mai-Mai militia in DRC have reportedly killed a government soldier after they attacked a military base in the town of Kambo in the territory of Beni (North Kivu).

    Congolese Military sources in the region say the attackers also siezed two guns from the soldiers before retreating into the bush.

    According to the same sources, the militia came from the town of Kakasa, located about 20Km from Kambo.

    Civil society at Kasindi, a town near the village attacked, indicate that light gunfire were heard early Tuesday morning at Kambo area where people remained holed up in their homes , around 6 pm local time.

    Radiookapi

  • S. Sudan Church Calls for Separation of Religion & State

    The church in South Sudan has called on the government to review the current policy and constitutional provision which stipulates the separation of the state from religion and introduce a better new approach.

    In the resolutions passed on Sunday in Juba during a meeting called by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, Rev. Peter Gai Lual, with all the constitutional post-holders in Juba who are Presbyterians, the church criticized the policy which it said should not hold after the independence from the former Sudan.

    The participants in the meeting included the Vice-President, ministers, deputy ministers, members of parliament and pastors.

    The ruling SPLM called for a secular state during the war and that was provided for in the 2005 peace deal with Khartoum and consequently enshrined in the interim constitution of the country before and after the split in July 2011.

    The church however argued that the idea of “separating the state from religion” was based on the fear that Khartoum wanted to make Islam the religion of the state as well as make Shariah law the basis for legislation in the whole country.

    Now that South Sudan is an independent state from Khartoum, the church feels that the policy should be reviewed and the constitutional provision amended.

    The resolutions acknowledge that “there is no state religion” but to “separate the state from religion” is not the best policy.

    The Vice-President, Riek Machar, who is also member of the Presbyterian Church and attended the church meeting also shared the new idea and consented to the need for dialogue in order to review the policy.

    Machar said the government through its relevant institutions including the constitutional review commission would dialogue with the church in general including representatives from other church denominations in South Sudan to look into the policy and come up with a better policy expression.

    He further explained that the main concern of the SPLM-led government was to make sure that no religion shall be imposed on the people as the state religion, adding that this can however be addressed without necessarily separating the state from religion.

    Hence, the expression that “there is no state religion” would address the concern, he said.

    The general church in South Sudan is concerned that the government doesn’t support its programs or even assist in rebuilding the church’s infrastructures such as hospitals and schools which were destroyed during the war simply because the policy separates it from religion.

    The country’s Vice-President acknowledged the difficulty the policy presents when the government tries to assist activities of the religious groups.

    Three months ago the government however facilitated the movement of hundreds of South Sudanese Muslim pilgrims to Mecca in Saudi Arabia to visit the Islamic holy land.

    (ST)

  • DRC & M23 Delegations to be cut to 12 Members Each

    The number of M23 delegates and the Congolese government in Kampala talks will reduce from 30 to 12 for each delegation.

    DRC delegates indicate that the bulk of the work has been done. But to the delegation of M23, this decrease in the number of delegates “must be decided between the two parties as was done during the increase.”

    In early January, the rebel delegation was accredited 5 new members, including the opposition politician Lumbala.

    At the end of January, the government delegates had indicated to be done with the evaluation of the agreement of 23 March 2009 that was the most important part of the talks in Kampala.

    The application of this agreement was the main demand of the M23 at the establishment of the rebel movement, which subsequently expanded its demands for democracy and human rights.

    The M23 rebels argue that Kinshasa government has not complied with the agreement of March 2009.

    “We, MPs and senators are there for two months. We participated in all discussions. And overall, the work evolved. Monitoring needs to be done by a group of technicians, “said Mr. Vila Konde Kikanda of North Kivu where M23 are based.

  • Uhuru Denies Stealing Public Wealth

    Uhuru Kenyatta, a presidential candidate under kenya’s Jubilee coalition has challenged his political rivals in CORD to provide evidence he stole public wealth.

    “If you have any evidence that I have stolen anything, table it,” said Uhuru.

    He was responding to Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s remark that Jubilee leaders must return stolen public property, including land.

    Uhuru spoke when he led leaders from Jubilee coalition to a rally at Githunguri Stadium in Kiambu.

    He was accompanied by among others his running mate and URP party leader William Ruto.

    A visibly angry Uhuru challenged Raila to tell Kenyans what he had in store for them or quit the presidential race.

    Uhuru accused the PM of engaging in cheap politics.

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  • Russia to Develop Arms Market in Uganda

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  • Sudan Against Uganda’s Senior Position in OIC

    The Sudanese government voiced its objection to Uganda’s election to a senior position at Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) during its ministerial meeting in Cairo, Sudan state media reported.

    Egypt was elected as president of the OIC commission’s office with Palestine, Pakistan and Uganda named as members and Senegal as rapporteur.

    Sudan’s representative at the OIC, Abdel-Hafiz Ibrahim, who is also its ambassador in Saudi Arabia, said in remarks at the meeting that his country made its views known in writing on Uganda’s ascension to the high-level position, calling it a violation of the organisation’s charter.

    Ibrahim asked that Sudan’s reservations be included as part of the meeting’s minutes.

    Khartoum and Kampala have a long history of troubled relations over alleged support to rebel groups on both sides of their borders.

    Kampala says that Khartoum is providing support and refuge to the notorious Ugandan rebels Lord Resistance Army (LRA) even after South Sudan’s secession created a buffer zone between Sudan and Uganda.

    Khartoum on the other hand says that Kampala has become a safe harbour for Sudanese rebel leaders. A recent report published on US news website McClatchy by Alan Boswell speaks of seeing munitions crates carrying the tag of the Ugandan ministry of defence in the hands of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan.

    Last month, Sudanese opposition parties and rebel groups signed a charter in Kampala, putting their stated goal to topple the Khartoum government via different political and military means.

    This triggered Sudan to lodge three complaints against Uganda with the African Union (AU), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

    However, Uganda’s foreign affairs state minister, Henry Okello Oryem, dismissed the allegations at the time, calling it “the usual Sudanese rubbish”.

    Cairo will be hosting leaders from 56 countries which make up the OIC at the summit which is due to start on Wednesday.

    About 26 heads of state from OIC member countries, including Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir, have confirmed their participation in the summit.

    (ST)