IGIHE

Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • 3 Killed, 4 Arrested in Foiled Attack in Kenya

    {{In Kenya, 3 terror suspects were killed and four more arrested as police foil their dawn raid on Freretown station in Kisauni during the 2am incident.}}

    According to area residents, about 50 people were heading towards the Freretown Police Patrol base armed with arrows and other crude weapons.

    However, police were alerted by the residents and repulsed the armed group. Unconfirmed reports also say that petrol bombs were recovered.

    According to Kisauni OCPD Julius Wanjohi, the four suspects have confessed to be members of the outlawed Nyuki group, which is affiliated to MRC.

  • Workshop Focuses on Role of Private Sector & Civil Society in EAC Common Market

    {{The Secretary General of the East African Community Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera is expected to officiate at a two-day sensitization workshop themed Role of Private Sector and Civil Society in the Implementation of the EAC Common Market Protocol taking place 10-11 December 2012 at the Blue Pearl Hotel in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. }}

    The main objective of the sensitization workshop is to allow selected stakeholders and the EAC to consultatively work towards realising the Community Objectives and promote a people-centred integration process.

    Specifically, the sensitization workshop aims to, among others, update stakeholders on the progress of implementation of the Common Market Protocol; discuss the role of private sector and civil society organisations in the implementation of the Common Market Protocol; and share experiences on the opportunities, lessons learnt and the challenges in the implementation of the Common Market Protocol.

    It is also expected that participants will develop an action plan for stakeholders to strengthen the synergies in monitoring and advocacy of the implementation of the Common Market Protocol.

  • Uganda Beats Kenya in Cecafa Finals

    {{Uganda’s National soccer team, the Uganda Cranes on Saturday night proved they are the undisputed soccer kings of the East African region after they brushed aside Kenya Harambee stars 2 – 1 in the 2012 CECAFA Tusker Cup final to win a record 13th title at Namboole stadium in Kampala.

    The champions successfully defended the trophy on home soil after beating a resilient Kenyan side.}}

  • 5 Killed, Kenyan MP Injured in Grenade Blast

    {{Yusuf Hassan, a member of Kenya’s parliament representing the Kamukunji constituency in Nairobi, was last night injured in a grenade attack that killed two people in the Eastleigh suburb of the city.}}

    By Saturday morning, the death toll among the injured had risen to five.

    The MP was said to have been holding a discussion with his constituents after evening prayers at Hidaya Mosque when a man hurled a grenade at them, injuring nine people.

    Mr Hassan suffered a fractured leg and was taken to the Aga Khan Hospital and the others to the Kenyatta National Hospital, six of them with serious injuries.

    The blast sparked violent protests, with rowdy youth barricading roads with burning tyres.

    The situation was contained by police who cordoned off the mosque. The scene of the blast was littered with blood and belongings of the victims.

    The attack comes just two days after another that killed one person and injured six others in the same Eastleigh district.

    The Tuesday night explosion went off near a scrap metal store.

    Eye witnesses told the Nation newspaper the explosion occurred shortly after 7pm, getting passers-by off guard.

    Police cordoned off the area from the public as they tried to investigate the cause of the blast.
    Nairobi area police commander Moses Ombati told journalists one of the injured was in a critical condition while seven others sustained minor injuries.

    Eastleigh has been synonymous with explosions in the recent two months leading to injuries and deaths. Last month, a grenade attack on a passenger minibus claimed seven lives.

    The attacks have blamed on Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militants following Kenya’s invasion of Somalia last year.

    Kenyan troops seized the Al-Shabaab bastion of Kismayu in September, prompting warnings of retaliation from both the insurgents and their Kenyan supporters

  • Congolese Refugees in Uganda ask DRC Govt to Negotiate with Rebels

    {{Congolese refugees in Uganda have asked the DRC government to negotiate with M23 rebels to ensure peace and enable them return to their homes.}}

    The refugees made the demands during the commemoration of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign at Nyakabande Transit Centre in Kisoro District on Thursday.

    A Uganda government official at the event noted, “We welcome all of you to Uganda. Please observe the Ugandan laws and always be cooperative with the several national and international development partners so that you are served properly. I sympathise with you for the current problems you are facing and I pray that the conflict in your area is resolved.”

  • AU Forces Capture Al-Shabaab Base

    {{African Union troops and Somali forces seized the formerly Islamist-held town of Jowhar Sunday, wresting control of one of the largest remaining towns held by the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab, officials said.}}

    “We took control this morning and are now establishing security in Jowhar,” Colonel Ali Houmed, a spokesman for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said.

    “AMISOM troops alongside Somali National Forces entered the town, there was little fighting as the Al-Shabaab largely fled ahead of us.”

    Al-Shabaab spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Musab confirmed to media that the extremist forces had pulled out of the town, which lies some 90 kilometres (55 miles) north on a key road from the capital Mogadishu.

  • UN Security Officer Brutally Murdered in Kenya

    {{A United Nations security officer was brutally murdered in a car jacking incident in Nairobi’s Karuri area at the weekend, before his body was tied up and left in his car.}}

    The officer who was in his late 30′s is believed to have been carjacked as he drove home from work at the UN headquarters in Gigiri after dropping friends.

    “We have been told he lives around Pangani, so it looks like he was dropping friends within Karuri area when the carjacking occurred, he must have been driving back home when his vehicle was blocked,” a police officer at Karuri police station said.

    The officer explained that up to three motorists had been carjacked and robbed of money and valuables on Friday night when the incident occurred.

    “One of the motorists told us that he was abandoned with his car when it ran out of fuel, and it was used to block the deceased man’s car, he did not know what happened later,” one officer said.

    The vehicle was discovered at about 11 am on Saturday by residents, abandoned in a thicket within Karuri, having been vandalized with all headlights, bumpers, four tyres and even the spare wheel stolen.

    His lifeless body lay at the back, and police believe he was hit by a blunt object at the back of his head.

    Nothing was recovered from his pockets, but some items he is believed to have purchased earlier in the day at a supermarket were intact in the trunk of the vandalized vehicle.

    “These criminals must have had a lot of time with them, they were in no hurry at all because it must have taken them long to vandalize the car,” another officer said.

    The vehicle with the man’s body was towed to Karuri police station where residents flocked to view it before it was taken out and loaded onto a police truck.

    It was later taken to the Lee Funeral home.

    Nairobi Provincial Police chief Moses Nyakwama said no suspect had been arrested over the car jacking but crucial leads were being pursued.

    “We have been given the description and it clearly fits that of the same group that is responsible for a series of carjacking incidents in town,” Nyakwama said, vowing that “we will get them.”

    Cases of carjacking incidents are on the increase in Nairobi lately, with up to four incidents reported weekly—according to police statistics.

  • Uganda, Kenya Cecafa Meet Explosive

    Uganda national team- the Cranes are facing off with Kenya’s Harambee Stars in this year’s Cecafa Tusker Challenge Cup final in a game expected to evoke memories of the 2008 final in which the two sides featured at the same Namboole venue.

    “We will consider the same strategy that has brought us to the final and there is plenty of determination in camp to win it,” Cranes captain Hassan Wasswa stated.

    The Harambee Stars have always physically dominated the games against the Cranes.

    Ugandans will draw much needed inspiration from the fact that Cranes have not lost a game against Kenya in decades.

    Today’s fixture between Uganda Cranes and Kenya’s Harambee Stars at Namboole Stadium is as massive and explosive.

    the Cranes have beaten their rivals at every stage they have clashed in previous meetings over the last three years ago, including the 2008 CECAFA final.

  • President Nkurunziza tours EAC Jua kali Expo

    {{President of Burundi Pierre Nkurunziza today toured the 13th edition of the EAC Jua Kali/Nguvu Kazi exhibition themed Promoting Jua Kali/Nguvu Kazi through innovation, competitiveness, investment and private public partnership at the Musee Vivant de Bujumbura in Bujumbura, Burundi.}}

    The EAC Director of Trade Dr. Flora Musonda, the EAC Principal Internal Trade Officer Mr. Nduati wa Karanja, the Chairman of the East African CISO Mr. James Bwatuti, the Dean of EAC Ambassadors in the Republic of Burundi Amb. Benjamin A.M. Mweri, Ministry of Trade and other government officials guided the President through various exhibition stands from all the five Partner States and the EAC Secretariat.

    In a short statement to the exhibitors and show-goers, President Nkurunziza welcomed the Jua Kali/Nguvu Kazi artisans to Burundi and commended their presence in the country.

    He said Burundians recognize the efforts and roles played by the other EAC Partner States in bringing peace, security and stability in their country through the Arusha Peace Accord as well as the admission of Burundi into the Community in 2007.

    “Burundi is now enjoying peace, security and stability and as such we are now able to reconstruct our country.

    “Don’t rush to go back, take time to explore the country and see the developments taking place for yourselves,” said the President.

    “We have enough rooms and food,” Nkurunziza joked. He pledged support to the informal and private sectors in Burundi and the region.

    The President concluded by wishing East Africans a happy Christmas and prosperous new year 2013.

  • Raila Odinga Nominated to Contest For Presidency

    {{In Kenya, the Orange Democratic Movement’s National Delegates Conference (NDC) on Friday unanimously endorsed Raila Odinga as the party’s flag bearer for the March 4 general election.}}

    Odinga said that ODM represents the interests of the Kenyan people and was ready to make their lives better and transform the country.

    The PM who spoke after accepting the nomination said that his priority areas will be developing infrastructure, creation of jobs for the youth, food security and enhancing national security.

    When he took to the podium Odinga said that it signified the signing of a contract with the people of Kenya on what his administration will deliver.

    “We focused on infrastructure in 2007 and we have seen the result in expanded road-network, accelerated growth through ICT, and successful irrigation projects in arid and semi-arid lands. While we continue with this work, I now pledge that we shall again invest heavily in three areas: one, jobs, two, jobs, three, jobs” he said.

    “Every one of the ills we suffer has its roots in poverty. At the very root of this poverty is the lack of jobs. Most of our young people do not have jobs. Yet our youths have been educated to expect something more from life.

    They expect to be gainfully employed,” he added saying that youthful population can be a curse if not empowered.

    “We want to live in a country where every family can place food on the table, where water is plenty in supply and every child receives quality education,” he said.

    The PM assured of a peaceful election saying that the country must avoid a repeat of the 2007/08 violence and added it is possible to turn Kenya into “an African lion”.

    Odinga pledged to engage his coalition partners to ensure that the United Nations Security council refers cases facing four Kenyans at the International Criminal Court (ICC), back to Kenya.

    Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai who was the chief Guest at the conference challenged those seeking to be elected to always “serve the people and not to misuse power”.

    Tsvangirai at the same time called for peace to prevail in the elections period and urged that voters make the right decisions to elect a government and avoid a forced coalition scenario similar to the one of 2008 between Odinga and incumbent President Mwai Kibaki through a power-sharing agreement mediated by former UN chief Kofi Annan.

    “Coalitions like that of 2008 build discord and dysfunctional arrangement in government; we want one government that defines its own programs so that it is judged by those programs,” he advised, insisting that candidates had to accept election results.

    “We have to learn that power is institutional and not personal, when you reside power in yourself you become a dictator. The reason why we have remained behind in development is leaders who assume power without vision,” he added.

    Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, who was also present, said that his Wiper Democratic Movement and Odinga’s ODM will work together and deliver to Kenyans their dream of a “prosperous nation”.

    Musyoka reiterated his call on leaders to put the interests of Kenya first ahead of their own at all times.

    The VP who was accompanied by MP’s Johnstone Muthama, Philip Kaloki, and nominated MP Mohamed Affey.

    It emerged that NARC Kenya turned down an invitation from Odinga who had wanted its leader Martha Karua to attend the orange party’s delegates’ conference.

    In a statement sent to newsrooms, Karua said that she was not part of the Coalition for Reform and Democracy (CORD) as implied in the invitation sent to her. She insisted that she did not subscribe to pre election coalitions.

    “For the avoidance of doubt neither me nor the party I lead Narc Kenya are members of the said coalition. We therefore, with respect decline your invitation. We wish you well in your deliberations and promise you and the coalition a healthy and grueling competition in the race to statehouse,” Karua said in a statement.

    ODM Secretary General Anyang Nyong’o on Saturday dismissed Karua saying her statement “will not improve her political stature in Kenyan politics.”

    “The ODM would like us in Kenya to take democratic practice among political parties to this higher level. Hon. Martha Karua shouldn’t make a mountain out of a mole hill,” Nyong’o said, citing the Great Britain where political parties usually invite sister parties, including opponents, to such conventions.