Tag: GreatLakesNews

Somali insurgents linked to al Qaeda have demanded that Kenya release all Muslims held on terror charges within three weeks, failing which they said they would kill their Kenyan hostages.

Al Shabaab said it killed French hostage Denis Allex last week to avenge what it called France’s growing persecution of Muslims and its military operations against Islamists, including in Mali.

The kidnapping of dozens of hostages at a gas plant in Algeria by Islamist fighters last Wednesday and al Shabaab’s claim illustrate the potential fallout from France’s battle against loosely allied bands of al Qaeda-inspired rebels in Africa.

France sent troops to Mali earlier this month after Islamist fighters in northern Mali advanced south and the government in the capital Bamako appealed for help.

Al Shabaab (@hsmpress) tweeted a link to a video of two Kenyan civil servants, who were seized from the frontier county of Wajir a year ago, telling the Kenyan government their lives were in grave danger.

It then tweeted that Kenya had to release all Muslim prisoners held on “so-called terrorism charges in Kenya” and “secure the release of Muslims extradited to Uganda for terrorism charges”.

“Kenyan government has 3 weeks, starting midnight 24/01/2013 to respond to the demands of HSM if the prisoners are to remain alive,” the group posted on Twitter.

Kenyan officials were not immediately available for comment.

Titled “KENYA POWS: FINAL MESSAGE”, the video released by the insurgents featured Mule Yesse Edward, a local administrator, and Fredrick Irungu who works with ministry of immigration.

Both were captured last January when the militants crossed the border into Kenya and attacked an administration police post in Wajir, killing several police officers.

The video also contained a still photograph of four other Kenyan hostages who were not identified. Yesse, who spoke in the video, said all the Kenyan hostages held by the group were at risk if Kenya did not meet the rebels’ demands.

Kenya has held several suspects due to links with al Shabaab in Nairobi and in the coastal city of Mombasa.

It also extradited several suspects to Uganda after a 2010 suicide bombing, claimed by al Shabaab, in Kampala that killed several people.

Nairobi sent its troops across the border to pursue al Shabaab rebels in October 2011 after the insurgents kidnapped western tourists and Kenyan security forces on Kenyan soil.

Reuters

The line up of candidates for the presidency has begun to take shape with the presentation of documents to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

On Thursday, the commission was waiting for the 14 aspirants it had listed as interested in seeking the presidency to beat yet another deadline.

There are 10 aspirants sponsored by parties and four independent.

Those sponsored by parties are: Peter Kenneth (Kenya National Congress), Raila Odinga (ODM), Paul Muite (Safina), Mwalimu Mohammed (Alliance for Real Change), Martha Karua (Narc-Kenya), Kingwa Kamenchu (Peoples Patriotic Party of Kenya), Musalia Mudavadi (UDF), Prof James ole Kiyiapi (Restore and Build Kenya), Uhuru Kenyatta (TNA) and Chris Matata Musyoka (Party of Democratic Unity).

Independent candidates are; Waqambo Qambo, Stephen Owoko, Peter Luta and Thomas Maitai.

The body was collecting the initial batch of documents required before it begins processing the names of candidates whose names will be on the ballot at the General Election on March 4.

Each candidate was required to present a letter expressing intention to contest the presidency plus lists of 2,000 signatures from supporters in more than half of the 47 counties.

With a candidate required to have 2,000 signatures from each of the at least 25 counties, this means that each one of them would need at least 50,000 supporters for their bid.

Read More….http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/14-Kenyans-eye-State-House-/-/1064/1674300/-/12213jkz/-/index.html

Following the launch in Kigali , The East Africa Exchange will be introduced to the international community at the World Economic Forum in Davos , Switzerland .

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Nicolas Berggruen of Berggruen Holdings, Wiebe Boer of Heirs Holdings and Jendayi Frazer of 50 Ventures will present the project at a press conference today, January 23 at 4:30pm (GMT +1), which can be watched at this link.

EAX Rwanda is the first part of a regional exchange intended to increase transparency in the region’s commodity markets.

Through private-sector-led investment and under the terms of an agreement signed with the Government of Rwanda, the East Africa Exchange aims to increase regional market efficiency and liquidity as well as giving the region’s population of 130 million, especially smallholder farmers, better access to markets.

The exchange will initially focus on establishing an auction facility and spot trading for agriculture and non-agriculture commodities, but will also develop futures trading across East Africa.

Its investors are Berggruen Holdings (a part of the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Trust, and advised by the Berggruen Institute on Governance), Heirs Holdings, 50 Ventures and Rwandan led Ngali Holdings.

EAX will complement the East Africa Community’s (EAC) goal of regional economic integration as set out by the Common Market Protocol, increasing liquidity and sustainability of regional financial and commodity markets, supporting the EAC’s competitiveness globally.

EAX will also uplift national and regional economies by reducing market barriers to trading, providing a transparent regional economy through a secure mechanism that facilitates financing to farmers and traders.

EAX will be powered by NASDAQ OMX’s X-stream Trading and Clearing platforms.

“This is a significant honor for us to be chosen to help launch a new exchange in Africa,” said Lars Ottersgård, Senior Vice President and Head of Market Technology.

“As the East Africa Exchange grows and expands its vision for greater market efficiency, liquidity and transparency, we are dedicated to supporting its efforts through our proven trading and clearing technology.”

Nicolas Berggruen, the founder and president of Berggruen Holdings, said, “A transparent, modern exchange will make such investment much more likely.

Agriculture is key to Africa’s prosperity, and so aiding the flow of information and finance within the agricultural sector will be especially helpful.”

The chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony O. Elumelu, C.O.N., said, “The East Africa Exchange showcases our desire to embrace global opportunities and practices, while ensuring that as much as possible of the value adding aspects of Africa’s resource wealth stay on our continent.”

Jendayi Frazer, who headed the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs and was Senior Director of African Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, is president of 50 Ventures.

She said: “The East Africa Exchange brings together African expertise, global financing, and world-class technology to advance the integration and competitiveness of the East Africa Community’s market.”

Speaking on behalf of the Government of Rwanda, Hon. John Rwangombwa, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said: “The East Africa Exchange fits well within our vision to transform the lives of all Rwandans.

This partnership is a welcomed opportunity to strengthen the linkages between producers and the market and increase access to information vital for price discovery.

We look forward to working with the investors of the East Africa Exchange to increase the income of producers and improve their lives.”

Berggruen Holdings, Heirs Holdings, and 50 Ventures have also partnered to form Africa Exchange Holdings, Ltd (AFEX), which seeks to develop a network of commodity exchanges in Africa, starting in Rwanda, to transform trade dynamics and ensure higher incomes for the rural poor.

Kenya urged the United Nations Security Council on Monday to make “timely and total reimbursement” of what the country is owed for its military contributions to the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).

Kenya’s UN ambassador Macharia Kamau warned that failure to provide Kenya with the full amount pledged by the Security Council is “unacceptable and unsustainable.”

In his speech during a Council debate on UN peacekeeping activities, Mr Kamau did not specify how much Kenya is owed. He said only that the country has received “a fraction of the millions of dollars committed by this Council.”

According to Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper, the UN agreed to pay Kenya $132 million by July of this year but has so far provided only $947,000.

“Troop-contributing countries spend significant amounts of money preparing troops, maintaining readiness and deploying expensive equipment to support given mandates,” Ambassador Kamau noted in his address. That burden weighs particularly heavily on developing countries, he added.

Kenya sent troops into Somalia in October 2010 following a series of terror attacks on Kenyan territory said to have been carried out by forces operating out of Somalia.

The UN Security Council, which partly finances the six-year-old Amisom operation, approved Kenya’s participation in the 17,000-member force in a resolution adopted in February 2011.

A total of 4,664 Kenyan personnel deployed in Somalia were formally integrated into Amisom’s ranks in June of last year. Kenya had sent troops into the country in October 2011.

In September, the Kenyan forces captured the strategic port city of Kismayu, which was their strategic target and the key source of funding for the Al-Shabaab militia.

Kenya has separately asked the UN to designate the country’s maritime forces operating in Somali waters as an official component of Amisom. Such recognition would enable Kenya to receive additional reimbursements from the UN.

The Security Council has so far declined to extend Amisom’s mandate to include maritime forces. Mr Kamau says Kenya will raise the issue again in March when the council conducts a scheduled review of Amisom.

In Uganda, Medical workers at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital were on Sunday shocked after a 17-year-old girl delivered a baby with two heads.

The mother is a resident of Kabateeza village, Butawata parish in Kigando Sub-county, Mubende District.

According to medical workers, the rest of the body parts are functioning well but the mother cannot breast feed the baby because the mouth and the nose are in the same position.

The medical staff at the hospital advised the parents to take the baby to Mulago hospital for further examination.

But this is not a unique case; doctors at Mulago have also reported a growing number of children being born with various deformities.

The acting head of the Neurosurgical unit at Mulago, Dr Michael Muhumuza, said about seven to 10 babies are born every week with this condition at the national referral hospital alone.

Dr Muhumuza says, depending on the severity of the abnormality, babies usually suffer life-long irreversible disability like paralysis of the legs, among others.

The United States has criticized Sudan and South Sudan for failing to resume oil exports that are vital for both economies, saying the delay undermines the peace process.

The two African neighbors last Saturday failed to agree on how to withdraw armies from their disputed border after a round of talks, holding back oil exports from landlocked South Sudan through Sudan.

Both countries had agreed in September to set up a demilitarized buffer zone and resume oil production, but neither side has withdrawn its army from the 1,200-mile border.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 under a deal that ended decades of civil war.

A year ago, South Sudan shut down its entire oil output of 350,000 barrels per day after failing to agree on export and transit fees with Khartoum.

“The government of Sudan’s intent to postpone the restart of oil production until the implementation of security arrangements is complete runs counter to the fundamental principles of the (September) accord and continues to undermine the economic and security situation in both states,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

Sudan has accused its southern neighbor of backing a rebel group called the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North), which still controls part of the Sudan side of the border, complicating the creation of a buffer zone.

The SPLM-North is made up of fighters who sided with the South during the civil war.

Nuland said Sudan should begin direct talks with the SPLM-North in order to bring security to the region, rather than demanding that its security conditions be met prior to further talks.

“Security will only come if Sudan cooperates with South Sudan and begins direct talks with the SPLM-N to address the Two Areas conflict,” she said, referring to two disputed Sudan states that border South Sudan.

Reuters

Officials in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo accuse a rebel force of replacing traditional leaders and extorting heavy taxes from the people, while peace talks take place in Uganda under a ceasefire.

The rebel Movement of March 23 (M23) controls part of the Rutshuru region, a unstable territory rich in minerals and agricultural produce, which borders on Rwanda and Uganda. Both countries are accused by the United Nations of backing M23, but they deny it.

Since taking control of the territory in North Kivu province, the rebels have begun raising taxes and, according to recent accusations by civic leaders, naming their own tribal chiefs in place of the legal traditional leaders, some of whom have fled.

“In the Buhamba sector (…), Mr Makombe, the traditional chief recognised in law, has been replaced by Mr Rusisi, who escaped from the Munzenze prison in Goma”, the provincial capital occupied by M23 for 11 days at the end of November, said Etienne Kambale, of the federation of civil society non-governmental organisations in North Kivu.

“Do you believe that people who place a criminal at the head of a sector are (…) serious?” he asked.

A source close to Makombe gave a different slant on the handover. “Makombe, for security reasons, chose not to remain in a zone under rebel control. There are people thirsty for power who are looking for us,” he added, blaming M23 and asking not to be named.

The divisional chief responsible for the interior of North Kivu, Aloys Majune, declined to comment. “This is a rebellion. We can’t say anything,” he said.

“These tribal chiefs do their work and we do our own,” replied Jean-Marie Runiga, the political leader of M23. “We can’t leave a population without leaders. To say that M23 is shifting traditional power is propaganda (…) these are things that we would never do.”

Benjamin Bonimpa was named administrator of Rutshuru after the rebels seized their part of the territory last July 25.

The legal administrator, Justin Mukanya, for his part runs a “free” part of Rutshuru, bordering on the Lubero territory.

The main demand of M23, which has bases close to Goma, is the implementation of a peace accord signed on March 23, 2009, which provided for the integration of its men into the army, when they were part of a previous rebel movement.

Negotiations to end the crisis began at the start of December in the Ugandan capital Kampala and clashes with the army have finished, but M23 has not put an end to the raising of taxes.

The movement even uses official forms of the General Tax Directorate, to which it has added its own insignia, a local businessman said.

“In security terms, we say that M23 is doing its best (to improve the situation), but what we detest is the payment of customs duties on our merchandise. How do you expect us to pay customs on goods that come from Goma? In the DR Congo? This is a joke and it discourages us,” a trader named Janvier said.

“We pay 40 percent of our income to M23 every day. (…) For our vehicle, there’s a toll fee of five dollars (3.7 euros) and for free passage, we pay five dollars to M23′s traffic police,” said an official in the Association of Road Haulage Drivers of the Congo (ACCO) in Rutshuru.

“There’s no lack of other hassles,” he added. “In all, the driver pays 15 dollars for a bus. For a lorry, it’s bad – you need 320 dollars (240 euros) per vehicle, of which 20 pays the toll and 300 pays the tax on the goods.”

“These taxes do not help us. You see, Ugandan truckers who came to buy our soja no longer come and a bag of soya is now worth 18 dollars. What are we expected to earn as farmers?” said an official in charge of a Rutshuru food market.

“We take ordinary customs duties and taxes. It’s just the same as in the time of the government,” Runiga said in defence of M23. “The same taxes are still received by us for three reasons – security, the upkeep of the administration and road repairs.”

Armed groups and Mayi-Mayi Yakutumba Action Party and the reconstruction of Congo Armed Force Hallelujah (PARC-FAAL), who visited the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC), began on January 19 began sensitising other Mayi-Mayi groups operating in South Kivu to convince them to join the Congolese army.

According to the spokesman of the group Mai-Mai Yakutumba, Pacific Mutiki, the provincial government has made available to policymakers movement PARK FAAL “means necessary to educate the Mayi-Mayi elements still in bush.”

“We started with awareness and then we will direct [those who are willing to go] to collection centers. We were given three weeks [to carry out this mission], “he said.

In Kenya, a 23-year old woman was killed after being thrown off a moving Commuter bus (matatu) over a Sh10 fare dispute in Nairobi’s Kawangware estate.

The incident sparked protests from locals who burnt the matatu.

The woman was thrown off a matatu after a Sh10 fare dispute and was ran over by an oncoming one at around 7am Monday.

According to eyewitnesses, the woman had Sh20 that she intended to pay as her fare to the city centre, but the tout told her the she had to pay Sh30.

This prompted an argument before the tout reportedly pushed her out of the moving vehicle. She fell on the road and was run over by an oncoming matatu.

The driver sped off leaving the one that ran over her at the scene.

The crowd that had gathered at the scene started protesting and set the mini-bus on fire.

Police arrived at the scene after the crowd turned rowdy. Business was paralysed for hours as the youth engaged police in running battles.

Police said the driver of the matatu was arrested after he went to report the incident.

Dagoretti DC Cornelius Wamalwa who arrived at the scene appealed for calm saying they were tracing the matatu whose tout pushed the woman off.

The body of the unidentified woman was taken to the City mortuary.

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