Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Deputy President William Ruto on Thursday ordered swift arrest and prosecution of suspects in the Sh1 billion scandal in Kilifi.}

He asked the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Directorate of Criminal Investigation, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Banking Fraud Investigation Department to unravel how the theft took place and bring the culprits to account.

Speaking at the start of a tour of the six counties in Coast, Mr Ruto said it was absurd that a county whose residents were suffering from hunger and drought could lose such a huge amount of money to thieves and fraudsters.

“Every year, the national Government allocates Sh9 billion to Kilifi County due to the numerous problems it faces but it is embarrassing to hear that some people have colluded to steal the funds,” he said, when he officially opened the Godoma Technical Training Institute in Ganze. He also distributed of 10,000 bags of relief food in Vitengeni.

A special oversight committee is investigating how Sh1.18 billion belonging to the county ended up in bank accounts belonging to private companies through what appears to be collusion between senior county officials and outsiders.

Governor Amason Kingi also weighed in demanding to know why no suspects had been arrested yet, although the directors of the companies involved were known.

“When the matter was reported on October 10, 2016, we informed the various investigation agencies who launched investigations,” Mr Kingi said when he donated 630 bags of food to Kanyumbuni residents in Magarini. “It is now a month and no arrests have been made,” he added.

RISK CAREER

Mr Kingi who has suspended 10 senior county officials, whose passwords were used to transfer the money, said he was ready to risk his political career to end corruption in the county.

“All those who shall be found guilty shall face the full force of law,” he said adding that “if it is you, it does not matter who you are since you are going to lose your jobs and be prosecuted.”

The Anglican Church of Kenya Bishop Julius Kalu described the theft as shameful and sad, saying it was a slap in the face of residents who had hoped that devolution would help tackle widespread poverty in the region.

Speaking to the Nation from Kilifi, Bishop Kalu said it was important that the real fraudsters be named and punished.

Bishop Kalu said that it was shameful that hundreds of residents were starving in Ganze, Bamba and Magarini when officials were busy looting the county coffers.

“There should be thorough investigation within the county which seems to be rotten to the bones. Officers who recently were languishing in poverty are now driving heavy vehicles and building skyscrapers all over. Where did they get the cash if not through corruption?” he posed.

“We elected our leaders with a lot of optimism. We thought after devolution our problems would be tackled including food and water scarcity. But what we are seeing is the opposite. They are looting right and left. This is a big shame and Governor Kingi should lead the way in stopping this,” said Bishop Kalu.

SPEAK OUT

Jesus Celebration Centre Bishop Thomas Kakala urged ODM leader Raila Odinga to speak out on the scandal given his firm stand on corruption nationally.

“We demand that Mr Odinga speaks out about the scandal which seems to be bigger than the NYS one, which he condemned strongly. Why is he now silent on this one? Does it mean that he sees corruption only when it touches on Jubilee and not when ODM is involved?” he posed.

MPs allied to Jubilee and who accompanied Mr Ruto demanded that the governor steps aside to pave way for investigations. Led by Kilifi North MP Gedion Mung’aro, they demanded tMr Kingi takes responsibility for the theft.

“Governor Kingi must be held to account for the missing millions in the county,” Mr Mung’aro said.

“Reports have revealed that some companies were paid Sh300 million twice for projects.” They should first arrest directors of those firms,”Mr Mung’aro said.

On Thursday, residents at Mtwapa and Malindi held peaceful demonstrations against the massive corruption demanding action against the theft.

{Refugee camps in the country are reportedly filled to capacity, the government said yesterday, noting that it was now contemplating the next move.}

Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Hamad Yusuf Masauni, told the ‘Daily News’ in a telephone interview that the government will soon issue a detailed statement on the situation at the country’s refugees’ camps.

Media reports have it that a critical situation is unfolding as hundreds of thousands of refugees arrive amid overwhelmed camps.

Fleeing the Burundi crisis, the rate of refugee arrivals has increased almost five-fold in the last four months. Nearly 250,000 Burundian and Congolese refugees are now crammed into three overstretched camps, while discussions on a fourth camp to host those still crossing the border continue.

Contacted yesterday, Mr Masauni said it was too early to issue any official communication on the situation of refugees in the country, promising to give details in the next few days.

According to the Relief- Web, an online source for reliable and timely humanitarian information on global crises and disasters, over recent months, food distribution has been threatened with cuts due to lack of funds.

In October, the World Food Programme (WFP) officially announced reduction in food rations to 60 per cent of the daily recommended nutritional intake, a step only forestalled by a last minute donation. As the numbers of refugees increase, the risk of further cuts in the near future is a pressing concern.

“With total refugee numbers in the three camps estimated at over 280,000 by the end of 2016, this is rapidly becoming one of Africa’s biggest refugee crises,” The ReliefWeb quoted the Head of Mission for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Mr David Nash as saying.

However, despite warnings made by MSF last May, little has been done to scale up assistance. Nduta camp, which receives the newly arriving refugees, is now full.

Up to 10,000 refugees from Burundi arrive in the country monthly and 850 others from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) arrived in October. MSF is again calling for an increase in the international aid efforts.

“The Tanzanian government, which has kept open its borders to respond to this crisis – should not have to shoulder the responsibility alone. A rapid scale-up of assistance is required,’’ said Mr Nash.

{KINSHASA, CONGO — A Congolese press freedom group says a state television reporter was killed in his home by unidentified assailants.}

The group Journalist in Danger said in a statement Wednesday that the reporter, Marcel Lubala, was shot three times early Tuesday morning at his home in the central town of Mbuji-Mayi. The group said his body was dragged in front of his wife, who had been tied up.

The group said Lubala appeared to be the victim of a “settling of scores.” It said journalists in the region would observe a “day without the press” on Thursday.

The provincial government said several people were arrested in connection with the case, but did not suggest a possible motive.

Journalist in Danger has recorded 14 journalist killings in Congo in the past decade.

{NAIROBI, KENYA — A fivefold surge in Burundians fleeing to Tanzania to escape political violence in their troubled central African homeland is creating one of Africa’s biggest refugee crises, a charity said Wednesday, amid warnings from activists of genocide threats.}

Some 10,000 Burundians have arrived in neighboring Tanzania each month since August, increasing the population in three overcrowded northwestern camps to almost 250,000 people, said Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials, MSF.

“This is rapidly becoming one of Africa’s biggest refugee crises,” David Nash, MSF’s Tanzanian head of mission, said in a statement. “Unrest in Burundi [is] showing no signs of abating.”

Almost 325,000 Burundians — 3 percent of the population — have fled since the crisis began in April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term, which he secured in a disputed election in July 2015. Half of those fleeing Burundi have gone to Tanzania and others to Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The refugees say they are fleeing harassment, worsening hunger and an uncertain future, Nash told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.

Crimes against humanity are being committed in Burundi, with the risk of intensifying to genocide, the International Federation for Human Rights and Burundian Human Rights League said Tuesday — charges the government has repeatedly denied.

Burundi intends to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, after the ICC announced plans in April to investigate reports of killings, disappearances and torture in the country.

Steady influx

With 462 Burundians and 42 Congolese arriving in Tanzania each day in November, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) predicts the refugee population will reach 280,000 by the end of 2016.

“It has become necessary and urgent that additional camps be identified to enable dignified reception of new arrivals, many of whom are women and children,” UNHCR’s country representative Chansa Kapaya said in emailed comments to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “UNHCR is confident that the repeated appeal to the government of Tanzania to identify additional camp sites will be successful.”

A fourth site, Karago, has been approved, but it does not have enough water, Nash said, so new arrivals are being taken to the Nduta camp, which has already exceeded its 50,000 capacity.

The Tanzanian government has to displace and compensate its own people each time it makes space for a new camp, Nash said. Until then, refugees risk being held in mass shelters for up to 200 people, he said, as happened at the start of the crisis.

“It’s a disaster for health,” he said, as malaria is a major problem during the current rainy season. “Malaria spreads far quicker [in mass shelters] than when people are housed in family tents.”

{Dr Rose Nassali Lukwago, the PS Ministry of Education and Sports said despite the indefinite closure, staff were not dismissed and were still entitled to their monthly pay.}

Government has said staff at Makerere University will still receive their November salary despite the closure.

Dr Rose Nassali Lukwago, the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Education and Sports said in her November 14 letter to the University Secretary, Charles Barugahare, that despite the indefinite closure, staff were not dismissed and were still entitled to their monthly pay.

“I wish to clarify that staff have not been dismissed, therefore the University is obliged to pay them salaries within the existing rules and regulations of payment for salaries,” read Dr Nassali’s letter in part.

Barugahare had on November 10 written to Dr Nassali Lukwago seeking clarification on the procedure of processing payments for staff at Makerere.

The university was closed 17 days ago by president Museveni following successive strikes by both the academic staff and students. The staff were demanding their incentive arrears of over Shs28 billion that had accumulated since February this year.

Since the president’s directive, all offices were closed and staff were asked to park all university cars and hand in their keys. The university has since operated with a skeletal staff in the top management offices which according to the Eng. Dr Charles Wana-Etyem, University Council chairman, are to coordinate communication between government and the University.

Staff members were also banned from travels both inland and abroad on behalf of the University.

Government has since appointed a nine-member Visitation Committee to investigate the challenges that led to the closure of Makerere University.

{Turkana senator John Munyes and two Members of Parliament who defected from Ford Kenya are today expected to appear before the party’s disciplinary committee to show why they should not be subjected to a by-election.
}

Ford Kenya has summoned Mr Munyes and MPs Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga) and Nicholas Ngikor (Turkana East) to appear before the committee headed by retired judge Richard Kuloba today.

Letters reminding the senator and the two MPs to appear before the committee were dispatched yesterday.

“We write to you to show cause why your name should not be struck from the party register under provisions of section 14(3)(4) and (5a-e) of the Political Parties Act 2011and subsequent invocation of Article 113 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010,” read the letters.

“You officially and voluntarily decamped to Jubilee Party during its official launch on 10th September 2016 at Kasarani stadium, Nairobi,” the letters further state.

“Our conduct in all respects confirms that you defected to another political party under the provisions of section 14(3), (4) and (5a-e) of the Political Parties Act 2011 whose consequences and penalties are clearly stipulated thereof,” the letter concludes.

He asks Mr Munyes, Mr Ngikor and Mr Mwashetani to appear before his committee and show cause why they should not be “recalled for a by-election.”

During a recent party management committee meeting, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale who has been named deputy party leader made it clear that the party intended to expel the trio for disobeying the Ford Kenya constitution.

He explained that they had narrowed on the three because of their continued defiance of the party on whose ticket they were elected to Parliament.

“We have resolved that we create a disciplinary committee that should look into the conduct of some of our members that has been contrary to the constitution of Ford Kenya,” said the Kakamega senator.

The party has however failed to explain why similar summonses are not being extended to other MPs who were elected on Ford Kenya’s ticket but have since defected to ODM, a sister party in the Cord coalition.

They include Kisumu West MP Olago Aluoch and Awendo’s Jared K’Opiyo.

Ironically, Dr Khalwale too defected from the United Democratic Forum (UDF) to join Ford Kenya, raising questions of double standards in the party’s handling of defectors.

{Police in Dar es Salaam are holding 17 suspected criminals, including four women and four school children linked to illegal military drills.}

Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, Simon Sirro, told reporters in the city yesterday that the four women and school children were found hiding in a house believed to be a training camp at Kilongani-Vikindu area in Coast Region. He declined to reveal the names of the suspects on investigation grounds.

“The arrest was facilitated by Shabani Maleck, a father to one of the four children who disappeared from their Kitunda residence in Ilala municipality since last June,” said Commander Sirro.

The suspects were found in a house belonging to one Suleiman, with the women admitting to have received the children from their parents and guardians who took them out of Kitunda Primary School.

They further admitted that the kids were attending Madrasat class neighbouring the camp as well as receiving training on the use of guns and fighting techniques.

The trainees were also groomed to hate the police and engage themselves in crimes, including robbery. Mr Maleck said he has gotten one child but four others are still missing, confirming that the children were reported abducted by his estranged wife, Salma Mohamed, whom he had divorced since last February.

“We are still investigating the matter to find out the parents and guardians of these children … we are still interrogating these women to know their employer who assigned them to take care of the children in the camping house,” said Mr Sirro.

Five other suspects were arrested over the weekend at Toangoma area in Kigamboni over alleged involvement in robbery at various areas in the city.The suspected bandits were arrested after breaking into a house and robbing Toangomabased Patrick Samari of a pistol with registration number A731441 and 12 rounds of ammunitions, 10m/- cash, two laptops, mobile phones and four sets of flat screen television.

“The suspects were also found in possession of a Toyota TI car with registration numbers T533 DEQ believed to have been used in robbery incidents,” said Commander Sirro, adding that the suspects were still being interrogated before arraigning them.

In another development, Commander Sirro said the law enforcers have apprehended five suspected car thieves, including a Roman Catholic Church Priest in Sumbawanga, Demestrious Apolinary, who was found in possession of the stolen vehicle.

He named the four suspects as Aman Dickson (23), Exaud Martin (40), Rashid Haruna (28) and Mzee Nassibu (41). They are suspected to have stolen a Scania Lorry with registration numbers T511AWB, property of Nelson Daniel and Mitsubish Canter with number T814DEF that belongs to Hosea Kapula.

“Priest Apolinary has been found possessing a Toyota Land Cruiser with registration numbers T 616 DCH, the property of Joseph Kayawaya … the vehicle was reported stolen in Dar es Salaam and sold in Arusha through forged details,” said Mr Sirro, noting that the priest remains in police hands for further investigations on the car theft.

{Casimir Ntibagirirwa, 60 years old and secretary of Butara parish, was found dead yesterday night at Mikoni center of Bukinanyana commune, Cibitoke north-western province of Burundi. The spokesman of the Burundian police Pierre Nkurikiye says a gunshot was heard at 18h 40. The police quickly intervened, but the victim was already dead decapitated with a machete.
}
According to Nkurikiye, two people including a Rwandan citizen who sells cans in the same locality, have been arrested for investigation reasons. He adds that the Rwandan citizen didn’t possess identity documents. “The two people arrested were with the victim two hours before his murder.”

According to local sources, the assassination is linked to land disputes. Nkurikiye reports that the deceased had escaped death two weeks ago. “The victim was also accused of being a sorcerer”, he says.

Police officials say some other people involved in the land-related conflicts with the victim will be arrested for investigation.

On the same day, another body was discovered in Murwi commune of the same province. The victim was Jérémie Havyarimana, aged 54. His face bore the marks of knife wounds.