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{According to police, the accident happened at about 3am on Sunday.}

Three people have been confirmed dead and 30 others seriously injured following a motor accident at Katebe along Mbarara- Ibanda highway.

According to police, the accident happened at about 3am on Sunday when the driver of a speeding Canter, carrying about 60 passengers lost control and overturned several times.

The victims were travelling from an annual Christian crusade of a prominent preacher Fr John Bashobora in Karaama in Mbarara District to Buhweju District.

Police identified the deceased as Kiviri Leonida, 43, Beatrice Nahabwe, 28 and Innocent Asiimwe, 3.

The injured were rushed to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital where they are receiving treatment.

Police attributed the cause of the accident to reckless driving, saying the driver was trying to dodge traffic officers because it’s illegal to carry passengers on the back of the truck.

Buhweju County MP, Mr Francis Mwijukye told this reporter that all the victims are his constituents and are in bad shape.

{Sunday marks the first anniversary of the Battle for El-Adde, where Kenyan troops were ambushed by al-Shabaab militants, leading to one of the heaviest defeats in modern peace operations.}

The Officer Commanding the Kenya Defence Forces camp — operating under the African Union Mission in Somalia — was Major Geoffrey Obwoge of the Eldoret-based 9KR Battalion.

There were at least six officers under him drawn from military intelligence, infantry battalions and other support units.

The officers were Captain JM Gichuhi, Captain Elly Amoit Etyang’, a Captain Wachira, Lieutenant Victor Owino, Lieutenant Joe Murimi Kaaria, Lieutenant Steve Orimba and Lieutenant Martin Nthiga. Only Lt Orimba made it back home. To date, KDF has not revealed the number of those who died, leaving a vacuum that has been filled by speculative figures ranging from 80 to 200.

Accounts of the attack differ but it is generally acknowledged that it started with the explosion of Vehicle Borne Improvised Devices (VBIED), which the militants had previously used against other Amisom forces with devastating results.

For several hours, Kenyan troops pinned down by heavy weaponry and artillery bombardments could not defend the camp perimeters.

By the time a search and rescue team of KDF special forces arrived, many Kenyan soldiers at the camp had been killed, but there also emerged stories of valour.

One year later, the military is still investigating what transpired on that fateful day. Who was to blame? Did the survivors reveal everything they knew?

Was the commander at fault? Was there anything which could have been done to avert the attack or reduce the numbers of the fallen? Did the weapons fail?

We might never know how many men died

The siege at El-Adde caused a major embarrassment to KDF which, for years, maintained the smallest number of casualties in the operation against Somali militants.

Since the attack, the Kenya Government has never revealed how many soldiers died and multiple sources, who spoke in confidence, say instructions were issued that no soldier should discuss El-Adde attack.

According to senior military officers, KDF spread the burial of the fallen soldiers over several months so that journalists could “lose interest” covering the burial ceremonies and the public tired from following.

The exact number of the soldiers who crossed over to Somalia is yet to be known. How many died or survived the El-Adde attack remains a mystery.

After the attack, Defence Secretary Raychelle Omamo said that “a company size team” was attacked – meaning 80 to 250 soldiers, according to KDF formations.

{{What happened to the board of inquiry?}}

Every time an officer dies in war, KDF constitutes a Board of Inquiry (BOI) to investigate the nature and cause of death and to give a report.

At El-Adde, KDF did not just lose one officer but seven and a camp was run down.

The Chief of Defence Forces, General Samson Mwathethe, promised that a Board of Inquiry was constituted. There has never been any information on the findings of the Board of Inquiry.

{{ Were all key equipment working?}}

Interviews with survivors and multiple military sources leave a lingering question: were there delays in supplying spare parts, stalling an Armoured Personnel Carrier and two trucks that could have been used to counter the terrorists?

{{ Why did it take long for help to arrive?}}

One of the strange happenings during the siege is that the first KDF elite troops to arrive at the El-Adde made it in about 48 hours. By that time, al-Shabaab militants had burnt the camp to ashes, carted away weapons and ammunition, and planted their flags at the camp. This was largely blamed on lack of air support by Amisom and delays by KDF to deploy helicopters.

Intelligence of a possible attack

The Department of Military Intelligence is said to have given prior warnings of an attack but this was too broad to be acted upon.

Soured relationship between Somali national army and KDF

The battle for El-Adde soured the relationship between the Kenyan military and the Somali National Forces (SNA).

Intelligence reports indicate that SNA forces who lived at a nearby camp were suspected of having “betrayed” their Kenyan counterparts by fleeing the camp before the Kenyans were ambushed.

{{ Fate of prisoners of war}}

Al-Shabaab captured some troops from their camp. To date, their families have not received any information on their whereabouts.

Those captured include Leonard Maingi and Jonathan Anunda but the militants, in their propaganda videos whose authenticity cannot be independently verified, claim there are other soldiers held captive

{{ Did heads roll after the attack?}}

Months after the attack, the President carried out a military reshuffle of top KDF officers. However, to date, it remains unclear if any officer has been held responsible for not doing enough to either avoid the attack or minimise casualties. Military camps are not just overrun. Such happenings could be as a result of a series of systematic failures.

{The suspects who include Dan Oola Odiya, the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) national deputy mobiliser are detained Nalufenya Police Station in Jinja and Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in Kireka according to their lawyer Nicholas Opiyo.}

Suspects re-arrested from Gulu High Court on Thursday are in Police detention, their lawyer has said.

Mr Opiyo, in a statement said Mr Odiya had been transferred to Nalufenya on Thursday night while his two co-accused Mr Kenneth Otto and Mr Sam Ojok Obama, remain detained at SIU, Kireka.

“No charges have been preferred yet and they have not been subjected to interrogations as yet. They have not been physically hurt either,” Mr Opiyo said in a statement.

When contacted, Mr Opiyo explained that Police was still within 48-hours to legally hold the suspects and that if they are detained beyond that, the lawyers would petition court.

The trio was arrested after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on Thursday dropped charges including treason, concealment, murder by shooting and attempted murder against them.

Before they could be released, however, flying squad police operatives picked them up in a vehicle, registration no., UAZ 992M and took them to an unknown destination.

Aswa Region police spokesperson, Jimmy Patrick Okema confirmed the development and said Police had picked the trio “to have more interviews with them.”

By press time, it was not clear whether fresh charges will be brought against them.

{Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho was last evening detained at the Coast Police Provincial Headquarters where he and other local opposition leaders had gone to inquire the fate of a close friend who was arrested in the morning after a raid by police on his house.}

The governor went to the station at about 2pm accompanied by MPs Abdulswamad Nassir, Rashid Bedzimba, Suleiman Dori, MCAs and other politicians to see Arub Ibrahim Katri, a close ally of Mr Joho and a businessman in the county.

When the news of Mr Joho’s detention broke in the county, other local leaders and his supporters jammed the police station but were locked outside the gate. Among those locked out was Mr Joho’s lawyer Mr Mohamed Balala.

The lawyer told journalists: “The leaders had come here seeking Arub’s release on bail but they were told that there were orders from above. We are still in in the dark about the detention.’’

“It is not clear why they are being detained,’’ Mr Balala, who is also representing Mr Arub, said. “The governor has told me that they are ready to be taken to any police station in solidarity with Arub. We have been asked to bring for them food and clothes,’’ the lawyer a 6.54pm.

Earlier yesterday, Flying Squad officers in civilian clothing had raided Mr Arub’s house in Ganjoni, Mombasa, and searched it for hours, but it was not immediately established what they were looking for.
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At around 8.30am when Nation visited the house, the officers were still on site, while a group of Mr Ibrahim’s relatives stood outside.

“They just came and got into the house. We do not know their motive, but when they are done, they will leave,” one of the relatives said.

Hours later other officers visited an armoury belonging to county inspectorate director Naheed Musa.

Last Friday, the governor’s security detail and that of his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi was withdrawn last week but reinstated two days later. However, Mr Joho has turned down the security deployed by the government.

Mr Johos’s troubles began after he engaged the President Kenyatta in a public spat in Mombasa last week during the launch of a footbridge at Buxton.

{President John Magufuli has warned some of the media houses in the country in connection with their negative campaigns against his style of leadership and administration.}

He has cautioned them sternly, saying that they must watch their steps. He was, in the same vein, thankful to friendly media houses which have the interest of the nation at heart.

He spit fire at some of the unfriendly media establishments. He was particularly angry at two newspapers which he accused of preaching hatred on the pretext of freedom of speech.

Without naming them, Dr Magufuli vividly annoyed, said the two newspapers, owned by some politicians, had a clear but dirty agenda. He warned that their days are numbered.

“The government is working hard to serve the people. It is implementing its electoral pledges. But there are some media houses harbouring sinister motives. They are busy spreading damaging information to people and this is harmful to the peace and security our nation. I cannot tolerate this any more,” he said.

Speaking shortly after visiting two industries which he said were doing very well, Dr Magufuli said the government was not ready to cooperate with irresponsible politicians who use their media houses to breach peace and tranquility.

He recalled the contribution of some of the media in Rwanda during the genocide, saying that he was not ready to see a similar scenario happening in Tanzania.

The president commended the Shinyanga-based Fresho Investment Company and Jambo Food Products Limited for creating investments that have already created employment to many job seekers, apart from other advantages and opportunities.

Meanwhile, the government has encouraged local investors to introduce as many investments as possible since they are now poised to enjoy a number of incentives including assistance in acquiring loans from Tanzania Investment Bank (TIB).

President Magufuli said that the doors were open for many other local investors to come forward for, they will be assisted accordingly. According to the president, banks like TIB were there mainly to serve local investors.

He asked them to report immediately to the government when facing hurdles in accessing loans from the bank. “We are keen on making sure that TIB meets the expectations of local investors who are invited to introduce investments and create employment to our people.

I will always assist them in this direction,” said the president. However, he said TIB should change its kind of operation when serving investors. He recalled incidents when the bank dished out billions of shillings to politicians, some of whom, unfortunately, failed to repay the loans. He still had fresh memory of the politician who took 12bn/- from the bank. The president is keen on seeing him so that he can help him in settling the matter.

But his efforts are in vain. The head of state said while the government is working day and night to woo investors, TIB and other banks must be careful in their operations. They must make sure they give out loans to credible businesses and genuine investors and not otherwise.

Dr Magufuli insisted that Tanzania has decided to embark upon a serious industrialisation policy. He invited serious industrialists to come aboard and help take the nation forward. He expressed his happiness on seeing the two industries that were thriving. He also heard that many others were coming.

He said that the doors were open for them. Dr Magufuli challenged the rest of the Tanzanians to venture into small industries since it is through these ventures they will slowly become wealthy industrial owners. Referring to the records, he said so far Coast Region alone has attracted 48 industries. He challenged Shinyanga to woo more investors in areas like processing of leather and other livestock based products.

The region is rich in livestock. Briefing the president, the Jambo Food Products Company Limited Managing Director, Mr Salum Hamis, said the industry was set for further expansion worth 250bn/- by October, this year.

He said so far the company has created more than 360 direct employments and over 500 indirect ones as it intends to employ more than 2,500 workers when fully operational.

“We are looking ahead to satisfying the local market first starting with exports to foreign countries like Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the near future,” said Mr Hamis.

{The spokesman for the Burundian national police, Pierre Nkurikiye, held a press conference on Thursday clarifying the acts of kidnapping and swindling that are becoming more common in Burundi.}

Recently, there have been many cases of kidnapping all over the country, the police conducted investigation. “Since 2015 the rate of kidnapping cases has increased due to the crisis. We realized there are two types of kidnapping: simulated and real kidnapping”, Police spokesman says.

“Some criminals pretend to be working for Burundi National Intelligence Agency (SNR) and they are most of time helped by unfaithful policemen. They kidnap a known person for money or other purposes. 2 policemen are now jailed for that”, says Mr. Nkurikiye.

For simulated kidnappings, he says there are groups of people who organize a kidnapping of one of them just to demand a ransom from his or her family. Others are teenagers simulating their own kidnapping in order to steal money from their parents, he says.

A case in point is that of a young man aged 20, in need of money, who tried to get BIF 3million from his family. “I had gone to Makamba, sent them a message saying that I was kidnapped, when I went to ecocash to withdraw the ransom, I found it was blocked and I was caught”, says the young man.

Mr. Nkurikiye talked about cases of swindle in Bujumbura town as well. “Most swindlers pretend to be soldiers from Somalia with much money and propose to make business; they finally end up stealing people’s money”

Nkurikiye urges the population to alert the police whenever there is a case of kidnapping. “If ever the police comes to arrest someone, people should ask for a warrant and be told the reason”.

The police spokesperson advises the population to note the number plate, try to follow the car and contact the police to know whether the arrest is legal or not.

The UN independent investigation had released a report on Burundi saying that many persons have disappeared since the beginning of the crisis in April 2015, often following their arbitrary arrest by security forces, notably the Police and the National Intelligence agents. The victims include opposition, civil society members and demonstrators.

{Kenyan officials failed to respect human rights in many instances last year, a monitoring group charged on Thursday in its annual global report.}

“Respect for human rights in Kenya remained precarious in 2016, with authorities failing to adequately investigate a range of abuses across the country and undermining basic rights to free expression and association,” Human Rights Watch said.

The New York-based NGO pointed specifically to 32 cases of “enforced disappearances” and 11 “unexplained deaths” of individuals in Kenya with alleged links to Al-Shabaab.

These persons were last seen in state custody in Nairobi and northeastern Kenya, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

{{Judiciary }}

The Kenya section of its 687-page world survey also cited reports received by the Commission on Administrative Justice regarding at least 25,000 killings by police across the country in the past three years.

“Kenyan authorities have very rarely investigated the killings or held anyone to account,” HRW said.

The group expressed concern about the ability of Kenya’s police to respond effectively and lawfully to violence that could occur before, during or after the elections scheduled for August.

In addition, “questions remain over the credibility and competence of the Judiciary to arbitrate electoral disputes fairly,” HRW said.
{{
PEV victims}}

The collapse last year of the final International Criminal Court case related to the 2007-2008 post-election violence “devastated victims’ hopes for justice,” the report added.

“National authorities made no progress to address these crimes,” HRW observed in regard to the thousands of killings and rapes that occurred nine years ago.

The government has not kept its promise to establish a restorative justice fund for survivors of historical injustices, including the post-election violence, HRW noted.

Some positive developments did occur in Kenya last year, the report acknowledged.

{{Climate change}}

Four police officers were charged with the murders in July of a human rights lawyer, his client and their cab driver, HRW noted.

It also cited enactment in May of the Climate Change Law.

“If rigorously implemented,” the measure will improve governance of national and local policies on climate change, the report said.

Climate change, along with industrial development in neighbouring Ethiopia, has produced a drop in water levels in Lake Turkana, threatening the livelihoods of some 300,000 indigenous people in Turkana County, HRW warned.

“But the Kenyan government has failed to raise this issue with Ethiopia,” the report said.

{Mr Kavuma’s order blocking Parliament from debating the matter was issued a day after an application was filed in the Constitutional Court by a senior lawyer at the Electoral Commission.}

Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has written to President Museveni asking him to investigate what she calls calculated attempts to suffocate the workings of the legislature by some by civil servants.

The speaker’s letter comes after her decision to adjourn the House indefinitely on Tuesday following an order by Deputy Chief Justice Stephen Kavuma blocking the legislature from debating the Shs6b bonus that was paid to 42 public officials who took part in the legal battles that won Uganda a total of $700b against oil companies.
Among the beneficiaries is Uganda Revenue Authority boss Doris Akol, her predecessor Allen Kagina who now heads the Uganda National Roads Authority, and Ms Jennifer Musisi, a former commissioner at URA who currently heads the Kampala Capital City Authority. Two former attorneys general, Mr Peter Nyombi and Freddie Ruhindi, also shared part of the money, just like Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Keith Muhakanizi and his predecessor, the late Chris Kassami.

Mr Kavuma’s order blocking Parliament from debating the matter was issued a day after an application was filed in the Constitutional Court by a senior lawyer at the Electoral Commission. Ms Kadaga, after the order was cited by Deputy Attorney General Mwesigwa Rukutana as a reason why Parliament would not proceed to discuss the matter on Tuesday, angrily adjourned Parliament indefinitely and instructed the Attorney General to proceed to court and get “the stupid order vacated.” She said by stopping Parliament from debating the matter of bonus payments, the order was tying legislators’ hands to discuss matters pertaining to the budget, among others.

Mr Eric Sabiiti, the one who filed the petition, has since said he has withdrawn the petition.

{Tanzanian President John Magufuli said on Friday the “days were numbered” for newspapers deemed to incite dissent, comments that will add to opposition concern that his government is further narrowing the space for public criticism.}

Magufuli, nicknamed “the bulldozer” for pushing through his policies, has won some praise from Western donors for an anti-corruption drive and cutting wasteful public spending, but opponents accuse him of increasingly undermining democracy by curbing dissent and stifling free speech.

The government declared opposition protest illegal last year. Some privately-owned newspapers have published articles criticising Magufuli’s handling of the economy and some governance issues.

“We will not allow Tanzania to be a dumpyard for inciting (newspaper) content. This will not happen under my administration,” Magufuli told a rally in the northwestern town of Shinyanga.

He accused two newspapers, which he did not name, of seeking to cause trouble. “Whenever you read them, they are full of inciting content … their days are numbered,” he said.

Government officials said he was likely referring to one English daily and another Swahili daily owned by a privately-owned media organisation. Both newspapers have published some critical articles on the government’s policies.

The president in November signed into law a bill that journalists said was aimed at muzzling freedom of the press.

The Media Services Act of 2016 gives officials powers to shut down media organisations that violate their licences by confiscating printing machines.

Tanzania last month charged the co-founder of a website where people can post comments about officials they believe are corrupt.

Maxence Melo Mubyazi, 40, managing director and co-founder of jamiiforums website, was charged with multiple counts of obstructing justice and running an unregistered website.

The rights group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, said this week Tanzania should investigate corruption allegations instead of “pressurising a website to violate its users’ trust and privacy”.

The East African country enacted a tough cyber crimes law in 2015 under which several people have been prosecuted for violations including insulting the president, punishable by up to three years in jail.