Tag: GreatLakesNews

At least 22 civilians were killed in a massacre in Democratic Republic of Congo’s restive North Kivu province, officials said Sunday, the latest in a two-year wave of violence plaguing the region.

The bloodshed occurred in Eringeti, a town 55 kilometres north of the regional hub Beni, a city hit by a series of attacks that have claimed more than 700 civilian lives according to regional official Amisi Kalonda, who blamed the latest strike on Ugandan rebels.

Kalonda said members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group of rebels dominated by puritanical Ugandan Muslims and entrenched in the region for about two decades, stormed the town on Saturday afternoon.

“The ADF has yet again plunged the people of Eringeti and its surrounding areas into mourning,” he told AFP, speaking from the North Kivu capital Goma.

{{10 Civilians killed }}

“Yesterday, they killed 10 civilians. Twelve other bodies were found (Sunday) in the surrounding villages.”

“The modus operandi is always the same,” he said, adding that the victims were either killed with knives or machetes.

For the past two years the region around Beni has been afflicted by massacres that have killed hundreds of civilians, most of whom were hacked to death.

Congolese officials have blamed the attacks on the ADF but several expert reports have suggested that other groups, including elements within the Congolese army, took part in some killings.

{{ADF rebels }}

Congolese army spokesman Mak Hazukay confirmed the attack, saying military forces had “killed four ADF rebels” but added that “the toll on the civilian side is very heavy”.

Teddy Kataliki, the head of a prominent local civic group, also spoke of at least 22 victims. But a Catholic priest in the area said there had been 27 deaths and the toll could rise “if bodies are found in the forest” bordering the town.

The priest said the Christmas midnight mass was held in the afternoon before nightfall for security reasons.

“Yesterday the bodies of 10 civilians were found and today another 12,” Kataliki said, adding that this was a provisional toll.

{{Toll likely to rise }}

“We don’t understand this situation which continues to bereave the region of Beni.”

Kataliki said another such attack was underway on Sunday evening in the town of Oicha, further south.

An army spokesman said troops were engaged in an operation in the area but refused to provide further details.

The priest however said, when contacted late Sunday, that the army “has pushed back the attackers”.

When the Beni massacres kicked off in October 2014, the ADF was quickly branded the culprit by both DR Congo authorities and MONUSCO, the UN mission in DR Congo.

More than two years on, Congolese authorities and the UN have been unable to protect civilians and the ADF remains the only official explanation — with the government insisting on a jihadist link to the killings.

It comes as relations with the international community have soured over President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down despite his term ending on December 20.

{Burundi’s parliament has passed a law imposing strict controls on international non-governmental organisations after President Pierre Nkurunziza accused such groups of backing an insurrection against him.}

Nkurunziza had announced the bill just after his disputed re-election in July 2015, when his crisis-hit government accused various international groups of using their funding to support the opposition.

The new law, which places tight controls on NGOs’ finances, passed Friday with an overwhelming majority of 105 votes with only one vote against the measure, parliamentary speaker Pascal Nyabenda said.

The law will force international charities and rights groups to keep their accounts in foreign currency at the central bank, with a third of their annual budget to be placed there before the government agrees to cooperate with them.

It also imposes new administration fees on such groups, which must file reports every six months on their activities or face sanctions.

Burundi’s government has been seeking to control cash still coming into its ruined economy as it struggles under the weight of sanctions from major financial backers such as the European Union, its biggest donor, for failing to halt violence in one of the world’s poorest countries.

Controlled by former Hutu rebels, the government has long accused international aid groups of a heavy bias towards members of the Tutsi minority in their recruitment, and the new law states they must “respect the ethnic balance under the constitution”.

Burundi has been mired in crisis since April 2015 when Nkurunziza announced he was seeking a third term, sparking outrage among the opposition and human rights groups who said the move violated a two-term limit on the presidency and flouted a peace deal that ended a brutal civil war.

Nkurunziza’s third term run sparked a failed coup attempt and months of protests that led to a government crackdown, armed attacks and assassinations.

More than 500 people have been killed in the current turmoil, and more than 300,000 others have fled the country.

Burundi has also moved to quit the International Criminal Court which was investigating the country, and cut ties with the UN’s main human rights body after a damning September report detailed atrocities and warned of “genocide”.

{Uganda-Russia ties. As the US and EU rebuked government for the February 18 elections they said fell short of democratic principles, Russia sent praises describing the disputed polls as a demonstration of support. For his swearing in, Moscow sent its deputy minister of foreign affairs Mikhail Bogdanov whom together with dignitaries sent by Beijing, President Museveni described as “genuine friends of Uganda”. Frederic Musisi caught up with the new Russian ambassador to Uganda, Mr Alexander Dmitrievich Polyakov.}

To start with, the newer aspect in the Russia-Uganda relations was the visit in October by your deputy minister for of telecom and mass communications for the first ministerial meeting of the Uganda-Russia Joint Permanent Commission, and during which several MoUs were signed. What is the status of implementation?

Minister Alexey Volin is the chairman of the commission on the Russian side while minister Okello Oryem is the co-chair.

During the meeting in October Memorandums of Understandings (MoUs) were signed for possible cooperation in various areas such as IT, military and technical cooperation with emphasis on training personnel, education, energy (oil and gas, nuclear) and agriculture.

A draft agreement on mutual cooperation in those areas was signed but the Ugandan side requested to make some amendments which we are still waiting. That doesn’t mean we are indifferent to what is happening in Uganda, but in those areas is where our focus will be.
On the Russian side we called for a clause of protection of investment interests, which is still under discussion.

During that meeting there were murmurs of the possible return of RT Global Resources, the consortium that had been selected as preferred bidder for development of Uganda’s refinery, but later walked away. Any progress?
Again, no new negotiations have been held and there is no official Russian position on that matter.

One point I must point out is I was last week interviewed by a colleague from your newspaper who hijacked me during a cocktail reception for Uganda graduates from Russia and asked me about the refinery.

I remember saying most of the things your newspaper attributed to me but the headline, that ‘Russia sets new conditions for Uganda on refinery’ was misleading. There is no nothing like this.

No new negotiations were held during that time because the position of the Ugandan government is very clear; the issue of negotiating with the consortium is closed and is not on the table anymore.

What I said and from our side is not the new official proposal from the Russian government but rather ideas for possible consideration. A day after that story I also read an opinion in your newspaper criticising Russia for setting dictating conditions for Uganda, as a result of the inaccurate headline.

Russia has been here for long but we don’t see or know much about their investments, and especially after President Museveni and president Vladimir Putin first met in 2004 and in 2012. Can you paint a picture on this?

You are right to ask that question, and it is not by chance I mentioned in first place the draft on inter-governmental agreement on protection and promotion of investments. We are still lacking this absolutely basic precondition for the successful Russian investments in Uganda, and that explains why our economic cooperation is not much about investments in Uganda.

Currently, we have only one major Russian investment in Uganda, Cottfield Group, worth Shs56b ($16m) which is involved in (cotton ginning in progress and vegetable oil refinery) and are also targeting fruit processing.

By the way, the two presidents negotiated not so much about investments in Uganda but rather much about global problems and problems of Africa. So we have a very successful political cooperation, especially at both the levels of the United Nations and Security Council levels.

When Uganda was a non-permanent member of the UN between 2009 and 2010, Russia never opposed any proposal by Uganda. In addition we have traditionally supported all African-led proposals because essentially global foreign policy still runs via the United Nations.

Russia also supports the African Union in many ways, for example in South Sudan we have more than 200 Russian personnel on the ground across the country, some of whom are members of the international police force.

{Burundi’s Parliament has passed a law imposing strict controls on international non-governmental organisations after President Pierre Nkurunziza accused such groups of backing an insurrection against him.}

Mr Nkurunziza had announced the bill just after his disputed re-election in July 2015, when his crisis-hit government accused various international groups of using their funding to support the opposition.

The new law, which places tight controls on NGOs’ finances, passed Friday with an overwhelming majority of 105 votes with only one vote against the measure, parliamentary speaker Pascal Nyabenda said.

{{FOREIGN CURRENCY}}

The law will force international charities and rights groups to keep their accounts in foreign currency at the central bank, with a third of their annual budget to be placed there before the government agrees to cooperate with them.

It also imposes new administration fees on such groups, which must file reports every six months on their activities or face sanctions.

Burundi’s government has been seeking to control cash still coming into its ruined economy as it struggles under the weight of sanctions from major financial backers such as the European Union, its biggest donor, for failing to halt violence in one of the world’s poorest countries.

{{THIRD TERM}}

Controlled by former Hutu rebels, the government has long accused international aid groups of a heavy bias towards members of the Tutsi minority in their recruitment, and the new law states they must “respect the ethnic balance under the Constitution”.

Burundi has been mired in crisis since April 2015 when Mr Nkurunziza announced he was seeking a third term, sparking outrage among the opposition and human rights groups who said the move violated a two-term limit on the presidency and flouted a peace deal that ended a brutal civil war.

{{500 KILLED}}

Mr Nkurunziza’s third term run sparked a failed coup attempt and months of protests that led to a government crackdown, armed attacks and assassinations.

More than 500 people have been killed in the current turmoil, and more than 300,000 others have fled the country.

Burundi has also moved to quit the International Criminal Court which was investigating the country, and cut ties with the UN’s main human rights body after a damning September report detailed atrocities and warned of “genocide”.

{The construction of 320 residential houses for prison officers in Dar es Salaam will commence in the next three weeks, the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, was informed yesterday.}

The premier was on his tour of Ukonga Prison to inspect the site where the houses will be built following a directive by President John Magufuli on November 29, this year, that 10bn/- should be allocated for the construction of the houses.

Speaking to Prisons officers before inspecting the site, Mr Majaliwa said that his visit at the prison was a follow up on the president’s directives, which said the construction of the houses should start immediately to address the shortage of houses.

During his visit at the Ukonga Prison on November 29, this year, Dr Magufuli was informed that the prison faced a shortage of 9,500 houses for its officers. He directed the respective authorities to set aside 10bn/- for commencing the project.

The PM was impressed with the steps reached so far in implementing the president’s directives as the Tanzania Building Agency (TBA) was at the site preparing for the project to begin. “I am pleased after I found TBA at the site, I have been told that the next step is to test the soil sample before commencing the construction of the foundation,” he said.

Mr Majaliwa commended TBA for constructing houses of standard within a short time, citing the construction of students’ hostels at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and residential houses at Mogomeni Kota.

He, however, said that the government recognised the contribution by the fourth phase government in addressing the shortage of residential houses for military officers and the Police Force. “The aim of the government is to ensure that all the country’s forces have better houses so that they can continue to execute their duties professionally,” he said.

He said during his tour of various regions in the country, he visited various prisons including Isanga and Msalato in Dodoma, Lindi, Singida and Keko in Dar es Salaam and learnt that houses for prison officers were of poor standard.

Briefing the premier earlier, Acting Commissioner General of Prisons, Juma Malewa, expressed gratitude to President Magufuli for providing them with funds for the construction of the houses. He said that the Prisons would not do shoddy work and use the money well to build more houses.

Representative of TBA Director General, Mr Baltazar Kimangano, said that the construction of the houses was expected to commence in the next three weeks after getting the results of the soil samples from the UDSM’s Bureau for Industrial Cooperation (BICO). He said they expected to build four blocks with six floors each, making a total of 240 houses with two bedrooms each.

He added that they would also build other two blocks with six floors each with 80 rooms.

{Five Burundi soldiers who crossed illegally into Congolese territory while chasing anti-government rebels were shot dead by border guards, an army spokesman said Friday.}

“The confrontation began when the Burundian soldiers, who were pursuing rebels from the FNL (National Forces of Liberation) entered Congolese territory” after midnight on Wednesday, Major Dieudonne Kajibwami said.

“It was this overrunning of the border that led the FARDC (Congolese armed forces) to attack them, leading to five deaths on the Burundian side and none on ours,” he said.

The incident took place just north of Lake Tanganyika, with the Burundian soldiers reaching a few dozen kilometres (miles) into the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the town of Kiliba. The ethnic Hutu FNL, which participated in the 1993-2006 civil war in Burundi and oppose the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza, have long sought refuge when necessary inside DR Congo, in the border province of South Kivu.

{The boat was reportedly carrying about 30 people when the accident occurred.}

Over 20 people are feared dead following a boat accident on Lake Victoria.

The boat was reportedly carrying about 30 people when the accident occurred at about 11. 40 am on Friday.

According to the DPC, Mr Richard Musisi the victims were travelling from Bukasa, Kalangala District to Entebbe mainland for the Christmas festival.

He told this reporter that only six bodies have so far been recovered, four people rescued while 20 are still missing.

“The marine police had barred them from travelling. They also had no life jackets. Some of them said they were going for Christmas on the mainland,” he said.