Tag: GreatLakesNews

{President John Magufuli yesterday swore-in former Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Mr Diwani Athumani, as the new Kagera Regional Administrative Secretary (RAS).}

Mr Diwani was appointed to the post a few weeks after he had been removed from his previous position as DCI. He takes over the post, which was left vacant by Mr Amantius Msole, whose appointment was revoked.

After the swearing-in, held at the State House in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mr Athumani recited and signed the integrity pledge for public servants. The declaration of the integrity pledge was led by Secretary of the Ethics Secretariat (Department of Political Leaders), Mr Waziri Kipacha.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by the Chief Justice, Mr Mohamed Chande Othman, the Minister of State in the President’s Office -Regional Administration and Local Government, Mr George Simbachawene, the Attorney-General (AG), Mr George Masaju, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Ernest Mangu, and other highranking police officials.

{The six East African Community (EAC) member states have signed the Paris Agreement and that they are all at different stages of ratification processes.}

They are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

The Climate Change Adaptation Specialist at East African Community Secretariat here, Mr Dismas Mwikila, said her that the EAC member states were now review climate change policy documents.

Mr Mwikila noted that the review would enable accommodation of outcomes of the ongoing 22nd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP22) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) taking place in Bab Ighli in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Climate Change Adaptation Specialist, who was making a presentation on EAC Road Map for Implementation of the key Resolution of the Paris Agreement (PA) at a side event organised by the EAC and Partners, said there was need to make adequate preparations for effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.

He disclosed that the EAC Secretariat had developed the road map to implement key resolution of the Paris Agreement and that the road map had several elements that include; showing how to approach the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) implementation; and translation of the Paris Agreement into concrete steps for the Partner States; and how to take the work forward.

It was also revealed that the implementation of the road map would involve several interventions, including, among others, identification of the resolutions of the Paris Agreement, which are more relevant to the EAC Partner States.

The road map will assist policy makers in Partner States dealing with climate change in internalising the Paris Agreement to come up with country specific implementation framework. It also entails identification of common actions across NDCs and develops NDCs Implementation Plans; review of the EAC’s existing Regional Climate Change Policy (2011), Climate Change Strategy (2011/12-2015/16) and Climate Change Master Plan (2013-2033) to mainstream the Paris Agreement.

The specialist underscored the importance to recapitalise the EAC Climate Change Funds through pioneering the accreditation as Regional Implementing Entity (RIE) under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Adaptation Fund (AF); and support Partner States to develop capacities for accreditation of their NIE; as well as support Partner States to develop credible projects that may attract funds from AF and GCF.

Other interventions include promoting the continental climate resilient and low carbon development initiatives such as the Climate Smart Agriculture; and promoting the African Adaptation and Loss and Damage Initiative.

They also include promotion of renewable energy and other sustainable development initiatives to attain global goal of reducing Green House Gas Emissions (GHGEs).

The EAC Climate Change Adaptation Specialist affirmed that implementation of the Paris Agreement must be guided by the principles and objectives of the Convention and that Developed countries should provide adequate, direct and predictable funding to enable Least Developed and Developing Countries to implement their NDCs.

There is also the need for Partner States to ensure most stakeholders are involved in the implementation of Paris Agreement.

At the same side-event, the Programme Manager, Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Mr Ali Raza Rizvi, highlighted key issues on Ecosystem management.

He affirmed that IUCN promotes the use of diversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall climate adaptation strategy both at the policy and practice level.

He said ecosystem-based adaptation involves a wide range of ecosystem management activities to increase resilience and reduce the vulnerability of people and the environment to climate change.

Presenting a paper on climate change impact on water in the EAC region, the Environment and Natural Resources Officer at the Lake Victoria Basin Commission, Mr Fredrick Mngube, outlined some of the water climate change adaptation initiatives that have been put in place in the region.

They include water catchments management, water allocation plans, wastewater management, sanitation and hygiene management.

Mr Mngube mentioned key challenges the region was facing in addressing adaptation to climate change as limited resources and technical support; population increase of people, wildlife and livestock.

In another side-event organised by the EAC and Partners on Tuesday, themed ‘Climate Smart Agriculture, Disaster Risk Management and Mitigation Actions in the EAC Region’, the EAC Showcased Climate Change initiatives.

On her part, EAC Deputy Secretary General in-charge of Finance and Administration, Ms Jesca Eriyo, highlighted the region’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management, while the EAC Agricultural Specialist, Mr David Wafula, discussed the Climate Smart Agriculture in the context of Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Progranmme (CAADP) Agenda.

{Now in its third year, the Africa Prize equips talented engineers with tools and expert advice to develop their innovations into a business.}

Two Ugandan innovators are set to win the prestigious Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.

Ms Hindu Nabulumba, the innovator of Yaaka Network and Mr Brian Turyabagye, the creator of Mama-Ope which diagnoses pneumonia in children are among 16 Africans who have been shortlisted for the top award.

The Africa Prize is organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering and aims to recognise, reward innovative African engineers, and also raise the profile of engineering in Africa.

Now in its third year, the Africa Prize equips talented engineers with tools and expert advice to develop their innovations into a business.

According to a statement posted on the website of Royal Academy of Engineering, the shortlisted innovators will undergo an intensive six months of training and mentorship in business and entrepreneurial skills before a winner is announced to receive the first prize of £25,000 (Shs112million).

Ms Nabulumba designed The Yaaka Digital Learning Network, an online platform which allows students and teachers to share academic materials and knowledge through a tablet. The innovation helps people who are eager to learn but can’t physically go to learning institutions.

Mr Turyabagye‘s biomedical smart jacket helps doctors to identify pneumonia faster and more accurately. Fitted to the patient, the device measures temperature and breathing rates and listens to the sound of the patient’s lungs, and then compares its results to a database of parameters. The jacket, currently a prototype, can diagnose pneumonia three times faster than a doctor and reduce human error.

The smart jacket, currently in a prototype stage, will help to tame a deadly disease which kills about 27,000 Ugandan children under the age of five every year. Most of these cases are due to pneumonia being misdiagnosed as malaria.

The shortlisted 16 entrepreneurs hail from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique and Uganda.

{Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Monday raided the home of a senior sports official and recovered bales of Team Kenya uniforms supplied by Nike.}

Mr Ben Ekumbo, the deputy chef de mission of Team Kenya for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, was arrested afterwards and taken to DCI headquarters for interrogation.

Police officers recovered boxes containing athletics shoes, tracksuits and bags from Mr Ekumbo’s house at Duplex Apartments, on Professor Saitoti Avenue in Nairobi’s Westlands suburb.

The officers, led by Mr Munene Mugambi, broke the door and forced their way into Mr Ekumbo’s house after he refused to open for them during the afternoon raid.

“We have arrested Ekumbo, who will be a guest of the State tonight,” said Mr Mugambi.

“We shall interrogate him further at our headquarters before charging him in court tomorrow.”

Police officers said the raid was part of investigations into the Rio Olympics scandal that saw officials embezzle funds meant for use by Team Kenya at the Games held in Brazil in August.

Some of the Team Kenya uniforms supplied by Nike that were recovered from the Nairobi residence of Ben Akumbo, the deputy chief of mission for Rio Olympics, on November 21, 2016 following a raid by officers attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. PHOTO | AYUMBA AYODI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Mr Ekumbo is also the chairman of Kenya Swimming Federation.

Team Kenya’s chef de mission to the Olympics, Mr Stephen Soi, overall team manager Pius Ochieng and National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) Secretary-General Francis Paul, as well as NOC-K treasurer Fridah Shiroya have already been charged in court over mismanagement of Team Kenya in Rio.

The Cabinet secretary for Sports and Culture, Dr Hassan Wario, in September disbanded NOC-K before shifting its operation to Sports Kenya.

{{HANDED IN REPORT}}

Dr Wario went on to form a probe committee to investigate the mismanagement of Team Kenya at the Games.

The committee, led by Strathmore University’s Dean of Students, Dr Paul Ochieng, handed in its report three weeks ago. Dr Wario then handed the report to President
Uhuru Kenyatta, who is due to release it this week.

Despite the hardships the athletes faced, Team Kenya still managed to produce their best ever results at the Olympics, winning six gold medals, six silver and one bronze.

Already, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has ordered fresh elections at NOC-K before December 31, 2017 under a new constitution.

The IOC directive followed a meeting of its officials, Dr Wario and NOC-K chairman Kipchoge Keino.

{President John Magufuli has assured Chinese President Xi Jinping of continued cooperation in strengthening capacity of the armies of the two countries and other social development matters.}

Dr Magufuli pledged the above yesterday in talks with the Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), General Fan Changlong, at the State House in Dar es Salaam.

The president asked Gen Fan to convey his appreciation and Tanzania’s assurance in continued military cooperation to President XI, who is Commander- in-Chief of the PLA.

A statement issued yesterday by the Directorate of Presidential Communications, signed by its director, Mr Gerson Msigwa, said the two leaders discussed a range of issues basing on the long-standing military cooperation between the two countries.

President Magufuli told Gen Fan that Tanzania valued such cooperation, which has largely contributed to efforts to strengthen the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) to turn it into a modern, wellequipped army. “I am pleased with your visit to our country.

The visit will further cement the existing relations and cooperation between our countries, which were pioneered by our founding fathers, the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere of Tanzania and the late Chairman Mao Tse-tung of China,” Dr Magufuli said.

“Please tell President Xi that apart from our military cooperation, we would like to see China in the frontline in supporting us in our development efforts by setting up industries and implementing other projects such as construction of the Central Railway Line at standard gauge quality,” he added.

Gen Fan praised President Magufuli for his leadership and promised that China would continue strengthening cooperation with Tanzania in the area of security by building the capacity of the TPDF. The PLA is the world’s largest military force, with the strength of approximately 2,285,000 personnel.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s data, China became the world’s third largest exporter of major arms between 2010 and 2014, an increase of 143 per cent from the period 2005– 2009.

China’s share of global arms exports hence increased from 3 to 5 per cent. It exported major arms to 18 African states, underlining China’s increasing global presence as an arms supplier between 2010 and 2014.

Following rapid advances in its arms industry, China has become less dependent on arms imports, which decreased by 42 per cent from 2005 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2014.

Present at the talks were the Minister for Defence and National Service, Dr Hussein Mwinyi, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga, the Chief of Defence Forces, General Davis Mwamunyange, and other commanders of the armies of the two nations.

{The Director-General of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, has condemned last week’s assassination of a public television journalist by armed men in a central city of the Democratic Republic of Congo.}

“I condemn the murder of Marcel Lubala,” Bokova said in a statement published in Paris. “Journalists must be able to carry out their mission of informing citizens without fear for their lives, and I count on the authorities of the country to carry out a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice,” the text added.

The 59-year-old Lubala was shot dead by armed men on the night of 14-15 November in Mbuji-Mayi, the capital of Kasai Oriental province, in the center of the country, he was a journalist with the Congolese National Radio Television (RTNC).

Journalists must be able to carry out their mission of informing citizens without fear for their lives, and I count on the authorities of the country to carry out a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The body of the journalist “is still in the morgue” of the city and “the date of the funeral is not yet fixed,” said Guy Robert Mulopo, provincial director of the RTNC in Kasaï-Oriental.

This assassination was condemned by several organizations which denounced the increase in “targeted attacks” against the press in the DRC. According to the provincial authorities of Kasai Oriental, an investigation has been opened on this case.

Congolese press advocacy NGOs and associations are challenging the fact that Mr. Lubala’s assassination took place when a curfew was declared in Mbuyi-Mayi from 10 pm to 5 am local time.

Mr. Lubala has been working at RTNC for 15 years, presenting a television program on hygiene and the environment. The DRC ranks 152nd out of 180 countries in the 2016 Reporters Without Borders ranking on freedom of information.

The DRC is undermined by a political crisis linked to the postponement of the presidential election. The government reached an agreement in October with a section of the opposition to keep incumbent Kabila in power ahead of polls slated for April 2018.

Under the terms of the agreement, Kabila who has been in power since 2001 and who is banned by the constitution from running for office, appointed a new prime minister last week. Opposition politician, Samy Badibanga, replaced Augustin Matata Ponyo who resigned earlier on in the week.

{Tanzania’s efforts in championing peace talks in the war-torn countries have thrilled the European Union (EU), which has advised the East African nation to sus-tain peace restoration in the region.}

Speaking at the sidelines of a meeting with editors in Dar es Salaam last week, the EU head of delegation, Mr Roeland Van De Geer, described the work by for-mer President Benjamin Mkapa who was leading peace talks between Burundi gov-ernment and a coalition of opposition par-ties to end a political crisis in the tiny East African nation as exemplary.

Burundi has been ensnared in a year-long political crisis that was triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s another new term in office, resulting into the killings of over 450 people and over 200,000 others fleeing to neighbouring countries, includ-ing Tanzania.

The envoy said President Nkurunziza has proved inflexible and unwelcoming to the European Union, African Union and even United Nations.

“But, efforts by Mr Mkapa are a total surprise,” he said, charg-ing that several attempts by international community to calm the situation in Burun-di never worked.

In his observation, he described Tanza-nia as a blessed country.

“There is need to have at least ten people of the Mkapa cali-bre to help restore peace in the politically challenged countries in the region.”

Other than Burundi, the EU is also con-cerned with the political situations in South Africa, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zimbabwe.

But, the EU is optimistic that with on-going peace talks in the region under the tutelage of Tanzania, there were chances of restoring relations between the contesting parties, mostly the governments and the oppositions.

The dialogue between the government and opposition had flopped in Bujumbura last year, with Ugandan Yoweri Museveni failing to mediate the opposition and ruling party leaders.

President Mkapa opened the Burundi peace talks in Arusha last May, with the dialogue resulting into slowed down violence in Burundi.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon acknowledged Mr Mkapa’s initiated peace talks in Burundi, welcoming the move and encouraging the former head of state to sustain his efforts to attain peace.

“A solution to the political crisis that has lasted for a year can only be found through a genuinely inclusive dialogue process based on the Constitution of Burundi and the principles of the Arusha Agreement signed in 2000, “said the UN statement.

The UN secretary general “fully supports the efforts of the region for a peaceful resolution to the crisis” and said that the UN is ready to provide “technical support and relevant expertise.”