Tag: GreatLakesNews

{{A new commuter train has been launched in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi – the first of its kind since independence in 1963.}}

The train will run between the city centre and the suburb of Syokimau, where Kenya has built its first railway station in more than 80 years.

The service is intended to ease traffic congestion in Nairobi, one of the fastest-growing African cities with a population of about three million.

President Mwai Kibaki was the first commuter on the new train.

He travelled back to Nairobi along with his officials, while ordinary passengers were banned for security reasons.

The first paying customers are expected to take the return trip to Syokimau.

{{Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Okello Oryem has said his country feels “gutted” and “betrayed” by a UN panel of experts’ leaked report that claims Uganda was arming M23 rebels based in DRC.}}

“If the UN upholds the report and condemns Uganda, we shall withdraw troops from Somalia. If they don’t adopt the report and exonerate Uganda, we shall stay,” Oryem said on Sunday.

“On one hand they say we are thugs and on the other they say we are doing a good job. They cannot claim that the UPDF is a professional army, doing a fantastic job in Somalia and in the same breath say they are thugs promoting war in Congo by supporting M23 rebels.

You choose either of that because the UPDF in Somalia is the same UPDF in Uganda,” Oryem said.

The UPDF soldiers account for more than a third of the 17,600 UN-mandated African Union peacekeeping Mission (AMISOM) battling al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militants in Somalia.

{{Kenya was elected on Monday to one of the coveted seats on the United Nations Human Rights Council.}}

There was no expressed opposition to Kenya in the 193-nation General Assembly, which decides the make-up of the 47-member council.

Kenya was one of five countries nominated to fill five open seats on the Geneva-based council that are reserved for African states.

Mr Macharia Kamau, the Kenyan ambassador to the United Nations, said the affirmation “sends a signal to the world that we are committed to the human rights movement.”

Kenya’s membership of the council is “in keeping with the momentum built domestically around the new Constitution,” Ambassador Kamau added, describing that document as “one of the most exemplary instruments of human rights on earth.”

Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon and Sierra Leone were the other countries chosen for the Africa seats. The new members will serve three-year terms beginning in January.

Setting forth its credentials last month in a note to the president of the UN General Assembly, Kenya pointed to its role in mediating conflicts in East and Central Africa as well as its standing as a safe haven for refugees from many countries.

A total of 18 countries gained seats on the council on Monday, with a few of them, including Ethiopia, drawing criticisms from advocacy groups for their records on human rights.

Venezuela, Pakistan and Kazakhstan were also among the new members accused of broad failure to respect human rights.

The United States won re-election to the council in the only competition for a vacant seat.

Five countries had vied to fill three vacancies for the Western group, with Germany and Ireland joining the US as victors. Greece and Sweden lost in their bids for seats.

{{Uganda’s anti-gay bill will be passed before the end of 2012 despite international criticism of the draft legislation, the speaker of the country’s parliament said Monday, insisting it is what most Ugandans want.}}

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga told The Associated Press that the bill, which originally mandated death for some gay acts, will become law this year.

Ugandans “are demanding it,” she said, reiterating a promise she made before a meeting on Friday of anti-gay activists who spoke of “the serious threat” posed by homosexuals to Uganda’s children.

Some Christian clerics at the meeting in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, asked the speaker to pass the law as “a Christmas gift.”

“Speaker, we cannot sit back while such (a) destructive phenomenon is taking place in our nation,” the activists said in a petition.

“We therefore, as responsible citizens, feel duty-bound to bring this matter to your attention as the leader of Parliament … so that lawmakers can do something to quickly address the deteriorating situation in our nation.”

The anti-gay activists paraded in front of Kadaga, with parents and schoolchildren holding up signs saying homosexuality is “an abomination.”

The speaker then promised to consider the bill within two weeks, declaring that “the power is in our hands.”

“Who are we not to do what they have told us? These people should not be begging us,” Kadaga said of activists who want the bill to become law.

Uganda’s penal code criminalizes homosexuality, but in 2009 a lawmaker with the ruling party said a stronger law was needed to protect Uganda’s children from homosexuals.

Parliamentarian David Bahati charged at the time that wealthy homosexuals from the West were “recruiting” poor children into gay lifestyles with promises of money and a better life.

Bahati believes his bill is sufficiently popular among lawmakers to pass without difficulty.

Gay rights activists in Uganda, while opposing the bill, point out that it has helped their fight for equality by putting what used to be a taboo subject on the national agenda.

Homosexuality is illegal in many African countries.

Pepe Julian Onziema, a prominent Ugandan gay activist, said the new push to pass the law was frustrating.

“It’s disappointing, but we are also going to seek a meeting with the speaker,” Onziema said. But it is unlikely the speaker will agree to such a gathering, he said.

While the bill appears to be popular in Uganda, it has attracted widespread criticism abroad.

President Barack Obama has described it as “odious,” while some European countries have threatened to cut aid to Uganda if the bill becomes law.

{{The police death toll from an ambush on Kenyan officers in the north of the country more than doubled to 26 Sunday after more bodies were found.}}

Locals in the northern district where the initial attack took place also said that fighting between police and gunmen had continued for a second day.

The previous police death toll from Saturday’s attack on officers pursuing cattle thieves was 11.

“More bodies have been recovered — the total is now 29” — including 26 police officers and three bandits, said an annonymous police source.

“Of the 18 bodies found this afternoon, 15 are policemen,” added the source.

The remoteness of the northern Baragoi district, where the attack took place, explained why it took a day after the attack for the bodies to be discovered, said the source.

{{Rebels in Sudan say they have shot down a government military aircraft after it had bombed rebel targets.}}

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) says the Antonov bomber crashed on Wednesday in the Jau area, South Kordofan state.

The Sudanese authorities have not commented on the rebel claim.

Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes to escape fighting between government troops and rebels in Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

The government plane was shot down on Wednesday afternoon, Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, a spokesman for the SPLM-North, told the AFP news agency.

He said the rebels “shot at it until they saw the wing burning”, adding that the aircraft went down near Jau – on the disputed border between Sudan and South Sudan.

The rebel claim has not been independently verified because of restricted access to the area.

Correspondents say the SPLM-North sees itself as continuing in the footsteps of the movement from which it sprang, the SPLM, which now runs South Sudan.

Fighting is said to be vicious, with refugees describing frequent air raids by government forces. The Sudanese military denies claims it is targeting the Nuba ethnic community who are seen as rebel supporters.

The SPLM-North has twice shelled the South Kordofan capital, Kadugli, this month.

The government in Khartoum accuses South Sudan of backing the rebels – a claim denied by Juba.

{{The 17th meeting of the Sectoral Council of Ministers responsible for EAC Affairs and Planning concluded Friday in Kampala, Uganda with the Ministers approving key priority interventions for the FY 2013/14.}}

Topping the list is the establishment of a single customs territory including the necessary legal and administrative framework to manage the Single Customs Territory and complete elimination of customs-related non-tariff barriers.

Others include progressive implementation of the Common Market Protocol, by putting in place the necessary legal and institutional frameworks and closely monitoring progress in its implementation; implementation of the East African Monetary Union Protocol;

development of cross border infrastructure; operationalization of the EAC Industrialization Strategy and Policy with particular focus on agro-based industries and the implementation of the EAC Food Security and Climate Change Master Plan; and conclusion of negotiations for the establishment of the Tripartite EAC-COMESA-SADC Free Trade Area comprising 28 African countries.

Others are implementation of the critical activities of Lake Victoria Basin Commission; peace and security; Trade negotiations (EAC-EU-EPA, EAC–US PATIA); and implementation of the Social Development Framework.

Addressing the opening session, the Chairperson of the Council and Minister of East African Community of the Republic of Kenya Hon. Musa Sirma congratulated President Barack Obama on his re-election for a second term as the President of the United States of America.

He said President Obama’s re-election was not only a victory for the people of US but also a victory shared by the whole family of African descent all over the world.

“The victory further cements the liberation and equal treatment of the mankind,” asserted Hon. Sirma.

The Minister informed the delegates that the Sectoral Council for EAC and Planning had an important role of monitoring the integration process in the Community and that significant progress had been made in various sectors, which has contributed towards the integration process.

However, the Minister noted that there were a number of areas that still need more attention. “For example, as you will recall, the Council has in the past made decisions regarding the recruitment process in the Community.

Years down the line, most of these decisions remain outstanding as they are bogged down by unnecessary semantics. May I point out here that once the Council makes decisions they need to be implemented without undue delays” stated Hon. Sirma.

The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Dr. Enos Bukuku expressed great appreciation to the Government and people of Uganda for the warm and cordial hospitality accorded to all the delegations during the meeting.

Some of the decisions and directives of the 17th meeting of the Sectoral Council:

The Sectoral Council adopted the consultative Dialogue Framework for Civil Society and Private Sector participation in the EAC integration process; and directed the Partner States which do not have apex bodies of the private sector and civil society to create an enabling environment for the establishment of the apex bodies by December 2013.

The Sectoral requested the Council to review its earlier decision on the Rules of Procedure and allow the rules be formulated by the Consultative Forum once operational.

{{Political Matters}}

The Sectoral Council directed the Secretariat to convene a meeting of experts on anti-corruption to review the draft EAC Five-Year Plan of Action on Preventing and Combating Corruption, and that of experts on Human Rights to review the Draft 2nd EAC Plan of Action on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

On the EAC Protocol on Good Governance, the Sectoral Council agreed that the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda should proceed with the conclusion of the Protocol on Good Governance and referred the matter to the 26th Council of Ministers to allow the four Partner States to proceed.

In regard to March 2013 Kenya Election, the Sectoral Council recommended to the Council to allow the deployment of an EAC Observer Mission and Diplomatic Mission to Kenya and directed the Secretariat to expedite finalization of the EAC Principles on Election Observation and Evaluation.

On the issue of the internationalization of the EAC passport, the Sectoral Council directed the EAC Secretariat to prepare a background paper on the internationalization of the EAC Passport based on previous decisions on this matter and related on-going activities for consideration by the 18th Meeting of the Sectoral Council responsible for EAC Affairs and Planning.

The Secretariat was also directed to adopt a multi-sectoral approach in addressing the issue of the internationalization of the EAC passport; and to invite Chiefs of Immigration to make a presentation on the internationalization of a passport during the 18th meeting of the Sectoral Council.

The Sectoral Council took note of the progress report on the negotiations of the East African Monetary Union Protocol and directed the Secretariat to convene the meeting of the Sectoral Council on Monetary Union on dates to be agreed upon, following consultations with Partner States.

The Secretariat was also directed to prepare a Progress Report on EAMU negotiations for submission to the 26th Meeting of the Council of Ministers.

{{The government of Uganda has reportedly been holding secrete talks with the Congolese M23 rebels.}}

Uganda’s President Museveni has been in touch with the Congolese rebel group, the M23, and told them to stop fighting, Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga has revealed.

Dr Kiyonga told ugandan press that secret meetings have been going on between Ugandan authorities and the rebels fighting DRC government, following a request by the Secretary General of International Conference for Great Lakes Region, Mr Ntumba Luaba.

The request came after the M23 rebels threatened to attack Goma town.

“We reached out to them and we have been having quiet contact with them for two reasons. The first reason was to insist that they stop fighting and secondly, to try and understand why they are fighting,” Dr Kiyonga said.

He added, “These people are rebels. You need to get their confidence. So, the agreement was that our contact with them should be discreet.”

“In this case, the quiet contact was appropriate. You can’t conduct matters of the rebels in the press. But it was sufficient that all key parties knew what was going on.

This was not our initiative, we were contacted and requested to make these contacts discreet.”

{{In Kenya, seven police officers were killed and more than 20 others seriously wounded after they were ambushed by gunmen in Samburu on Saturday afternoon.}}

The incident occurred when the officers pursuing cattle rustlers were ambushed in Baragoi.

Ten other police officers were reportedly missing following the heavy gun fight with heavily armed bandits.

Police said officers who sustained injuries will be airlifted to Nairobi for specialized treatment.

“At least seven officers have been killed, others have been injured and we have a few others missing,” a senior police officer in the region said.

Rift Valley Provincial Police chief John Mbijiwe confirmed the incident but did not comment on the casualty figures given to us by other senior officers involved in the security operation.

“The officers were pursuing stolen cattle when they were ambushed,” another officer said.

The cattle rustlers the officers were pursuing on Sunday had raided villages in Lomirok on October 30 when they shot and killed 13 people and wounded 3 others.

Villagers in the area have blamed police for failing to put in place adequate security measures to protect them against cattle rustlers.

Police however, insist communities in the region are to blame because they engage in retaliatory attacks whenever a cattle rustling incident occurs.