Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Immigration Services Department has significantly reduced residence permit charges for citizens from the East African Community (EAC) member states seeking to live in Tanzania.}

While EAC citizens have their charges slashed by threequarters, investors from the region will now pay only half of what they had been coughing.

The charge relief for EAC citizens has come amid complaints by foreigners over exorbitant fees that Tanzania charges on residence permits for foreigners intending to live in the country for investment, business, employment or any other legal activity.

Immigration Services Commissioner for Border Control and Management Abdullah Khamis told the ‘Daily News’ in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the fee change was in line with the government’s commitment to implement the EAC protocol. He said the new fee structure came through the Government Notices (GNs) number 246 and 247 of August, 2016.

The GN 246 details the regulations on preferential treatment and residence permits for EAC citizens and investors as well as student pass, among others. Through the notices, said Mr Khamis, the government has effected changes in regulations as well as introducing new ones.

“These changes seek to provide preferential treatments to citizens of the EAC member countries, as compared to those coming from other countries,” he said.

Under the new fee structure, Kenyans, Ugandans, Burundians, Rwandese and South Sudanese wishing to reside in Tanzania will now pay 500 US dollars (over 1m/-), down from 2,000 US dollars (over 4m/-) they were previously paying. The relief will also benefit investors from the EAC countries to Tanzania, with their residence permit fee decreased by half from 3,000 to 1,500 US dollars.

The move is perceived as an incentive to attract investors from EAC member states to take advantage of the investment opportunities in the country. The immigration has also exempted students under 18 years from EAC countries from paying student pass, instead, they would enter the country freely.

The changes will also reduce the burden on Tanzanian men wishing to have their foreign wives living in the country as the dependence pass charge has been reduced. They will now be paying 100,000/- for their foreign wives against the past 500 US dollars.

{{Introduction}}

The civil unrest in Burundi has led to an outflow of over 210,000 refugees (as of 31 October 2015) to neighbouring countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Tanzania, and as far away as Uganda and Zambia. It started in Bujumbura in April 2015, with a peak in June, ahead of the contested Presidential election that took place on 21 July 2015. Since then, a tense political crisis and a climate of fear and intimidation have spread throughout the country.

The worsening situation led to the declaration by UNHCR of an L1 emergency on 22 April, and an L2 emergency on 11 May 2015. A Regional Refugee Coordinator was also appointed to coordinate the response. To ensure a coordinated response to the protection and assistance needs of the Burundian refugees in the region, a Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) was launched in May and then revised twice, in August and October 2015, as the situation in Burundi remained very volatile despite the conclusion of the electoral process with the contested re-election of President Nkurunziza for a third term in office.

While the influx of new refugee arrivals has somewhat slowed after June, there has been a shift in reasons for refugee movements. While many refugees cited fear of post-election violence in early 2015 an increasing number of refugees have cited human rights violations including against freedom of expression in the second half of the year. Even more worrisome, the security situation has lately deteriorated further: on 10 November, the UN Human Rights Office reported that at least 240 people have been killed in Burundi since 26 April 2015, including 15 children. The killings include the close range shooting on 13 October in Bujumbura of nine people, including an IOM staff and a cameraman for Burundi State radio and television, his wife and two teenage children in their home. A week later, a UNDP national staff was killed when armed men attacked a bar in Bujumbura.

There has also been a rise in inflammatory speeches, raising heightened concerns that the situation within Burundi will significantly deteriorate further. This prompted, on 12 November, to the unanimous adoption by the UN Security Council of Resolution 2248 (2015), which, inter alia, strongly condemns human rights abuses and violence, calls for the respect, protection and guarantee of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all by the Government, and urges the latter to support the mediation efforts; finally, it expresses its intention to consider additional measures against those perpetuating violence and impeding the search for a peaceful solution.

While levels of refugee reception and delivery of protection and assistance were significantly raised in all countries of asylum, the current needs of refugee women, men, girls and boys have only been partially met. Governments in countries of asylum continue to be in need of strong support by humanitarian actors to address the current and evolving needs of Burundian refugees for an extended period of time. This is why this new Regional Refugee Response Plan will cover the period from January to December 2016.

{Opposition leader Kizza Besigye yesterday accused the police of provoking him into a fight when the force blocked a service provider from leaving his Kasangati home.}

On Monday, Dr Besigye engaged police officers in a brawl, which ended in his and other activists’ arrest. Police had blocked his visitors from accessing or leaving his home.

“I had hired a tent in Kasangati, the owner came and picked it in the morning but when I went in the afternoon, he was still stuck there, they had stopped him from leaving the place, the other people had been stopped from coming,” Dr Besigye said. He described as “criminal” the police actions and vowed to fight such acts starting with the “liberation of my home”.

The former presidential candidate explained that he had been forcefully removed from one prison [Kasangati home] to another [Naggalama Police cells] and again forcefully returned [to Kasangati home].

Police, has since the run up to the February 2016 general polls, sieged Dr Besigye’s home, only allowing him to leave at the force’s discretion.

Dr Besigye, has however, beaten the police surveillance on numerous occasions only for police to find him in the Kampala City centre or in the country side.

He has in the past sought and received a court decision stopping police from using his home to detain him.

Police maintain that they are using a “containment approach” and “preventive arrest” on the Opposition leader who has since called for an “audit” of the 2016 poll results and maintains the incumbent hold onto power is “illegitimate”.

No case advanced
Meanwhile, Dr Besigye who reported at High Court yesterday as part of his bail conditions, decried the failure by the prosecution to advance a case against him in the high court almost six month since he was first charged terming it as persecution.

“There is no case committed to this court [High Court] to be tried, there is no case at all, all this is harassment without a case, I could have been in prison without any case. I don’t know whether any case would ever be filed in this court..”

{Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Keriako Tobiko has said there is no reason why parliament cannot issue a warrant of arrest against governors who refuse to honour summons.}

He said parliamentary committees enjoy powers of the high court and don’t have to go through the DPP to enforce compliance. He asked lawmakers to operationalise article 125 of constitution to do away with current interpretation that those who defy summons must be taken through a court process.

“Parliament operates within strict timelines due to nature and urgency of its work,” Mr Tobiko told the Senate public accounts committee Wednesday at parliament buildings.

The committee chaired by Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o expressed disappointment that some governors have been seeking refuge in courts, when called upon to account for public funds.

They said the court process takes long, and some leaders might leave office without accounting for missing funds.

{African leaders have resolved to hasten development and improve people’s lives through investing heavily in development projects, President John Magufuli said yesterday.}

Dr Magufuli, speaking at the launch of the Southern Bypass in Nairobi, said inter-country highways and One Stop Border Posts (OSBP) were among the strategic moves African leaders were pursuing to boost trade amongst their countries.

“People need development and this (road) is what development is … this road will uplift the economy and boost social development,” said President Magufuli who was on a two-day state visit to the neighbouring country.

Dr Magufuli commended his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta and his government for the execution of the grand project, which will not only benefit Kenyans but all East Africans who travel using the roads that pass through the capital, Nairobi.

President Magufuli challenged contractors to perform their duties with high level of precision, threatening to blacklist all shoddy performers in Kenya from operating in Tanzania. He said the shared vision of the two countries entails construction of equally high-standard roads.

“I want you to maintain the quality I am seeing here throughout the project … in case of any defect, you should repair it promptly because that is how you build your reputation,” he told contractors, hinting that the 28 kilometre dual carriageway would facilitate social and economic development in Kenya as well as easy movements of other people from the neighbouring countries, passing through the city.

President Kenyatta said construction of the bypass has helped to reduce traffic jams in the city and will improve development, noting that the road-expansion programmes by the two countries will contribute to development in the East African region.

“We continue pushing our ministers to ensure the projects we are working on are completed. These development projects are useful … our duty is, instead of dividing the people who live on the borders, to provide them with infrastructure that will bring them together,” said President Kenyatta.

The road-expansion programme covers Malindi in Kenya to Bagamoyo in Tanzania through Saadani and the Voi-Taveta-Holili-Arusha roads. Earlier, before the bypass launch, President Magufuli visited Eldoville Dairies, a family owned enterprise that specialises in production of dairy products. Dr Magufuli said Africa has the potential of turning itself into a donor continent should all countries partner in the development and exploitation of their huge natural resources.

Speaking at a state banquet that President Kenyatta hosted in his honor, Dr Magufuli underscored the need for African countries to partner in development for the benefits of their citizens.

“With EAC’s population of 165 million people, the regional economic blocs of COMESA and SADC with a combined population of over 400 million and other African economic blocs like ECOWAS, the continent can become a donor community,” he said on Monday night.

Dr Magufuli who chairs the East African Community (EAC) asked the African nations to remain watchful against foreign forces bent on fuelling turmoil within the continent for selfish amotives.

“Why, for instance, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with all its vast natural resources be wallowing in poverty,” he queried. President Kenyatta described the presence of many Kenyan investors in Tanzania as a clear testimony that the citizens of the two neighbouring countries were brothers and sisters.

The presidents emphasised that EAC member states are not in competition with each other, but complement one another for the mutual benefit of their citizens.

“The success of the Kenyan economy is beneficial to Tanzanians and the success of Tanzanian economy is equally good to Kenyans,” President Kenyatta said, noting that the Magufuli visit has opened a new chapter in cementing the bilateral and brotherly relations between the two countries.

Kinshasa, DRC —Simmering political tensions in the Democratic Republic of Congo were on display Tuesday as the country’s largest opposition party buried six people who were killed when the party’s headquarters was attacked amid violent protests in September.

At the funeral service, hundreds of mourners made no secret of who they hold responsible for their loss. They chanted that President Joseph Kabila is killing people in Congo and must resign immediately.

The day before, the six young men’s bodies had been returned to the place where they died, the headquarters of their political party, the UDPS, the country’s largest opposition party. Its compound in Kinshasa was set on fire in the early hours of September 20.

The service took place in front of the burnt out building.

According to the United Nations, more than 50 people were killed during the unrest that erupted during an opposition march held on September 19.

Martin Fayulu, a prominent politician with the Rassemblement, an opposition coalition in which the UDPS plays a leading role, told VOA the six opposition members were killed by Mr. Kabila’s mob of soldiers as a reprisal for the demonstration. The attack demonstrates Kabila’s barbarism, Fayulu said, a barbarism for everyone to see.

Fayulu said the best way to honor these six men’s memories is to secure democracy. He said the opposition must accomplish the work these activists started and Kabila must step down December 19 when his term ends.

{{Term extended in controversial deal}}

A deal signed in Kinshasa last month, and boycotted by much of the opposition, including the Rassemblement, allows Kabila to stay in office until delayed elections are held in April 2018.

The government has rejected any link to the assault on the headquarters of the UDPS and has blamed unidentified criminal elements.

But in a report released on October 21, the U.N. Joint Human Rights Office said its investigation found that the individuals who broke into the UDPS headquarters were wearing the uniforms of the Republican Guard, which is the presidential protection force.

The report says that the assailants proceeded to attack those inside the compound with machetes, beat those who could not escape, and then set the building on fire and threw into the flames those they had detained.

According to the U.N.’s inquiry, the police then cordoned off the area, preventing the arrival of ambulances and the evacuation of the wounded.

{The African Union has been persuading its member nations to withdraw from the ICC over the court’s alleged institutional bias against Africa and its leaders.}

The recent decision of South Africa, Burundi and The Gambia to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) has evoked mixed responses from various quarters and opened up important questions regarding the future of the ICC, especially with regards the African continent. It is important to understand why these countries have chosen to leave the court.

{{South Africa}}

As a founding member of the court with a rich legacy of supporting international criminal justice measures under the leadership Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s decision to withdraw from the ICC was a first in the history of the court. South Africa justified its decision to quit the Rome Statute was due to the apparent conflict with its obligations to the African Union to grant immunity to serving heads of states.

It must be remembered that South Africa hosted the AU summit in June 2015 which saw the participation of ICC inductee and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

With an ICC warrant on his head, Bashir was supposed to be arrested in South Africa and handed over to The Hague for a trial on three charges, all of them grave – genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. South Africa’s inability to do so resulted in international condemnation and, more crucially, a domestic judicial verdict that the government violated its international and domestic legal obligations in not arresting the ICC fugitive. Coupled with criticism from human rights organisations for its lackadaisical dealing with the matter, the Jacob Zuma government is facing a host of domestic governance issues and felt it best to withdraw from the ICC. The withdrawal is likely to face a challenge on grounds of constitutionality as the same was executed without parliamentary approval or a broad public debate within the country. Surprisingly enough official statements remain silent on the ‘bias against Africa’ allegation and one should thus assume that South Africa’s withdrawal is not presupposed on that ground.

{{Burundi}}

In sharp contrast to South Africa, Burundi officially holds the ICC as a ‘Western tool to target African governments’. This allegation of institutional political bias is not a new one but has gained ground in recent times with nine out of ten situations being currently investigated by the office of the prosecutor being in Africa (Mali, Cote D’ Ivoire, Central African Republic, Libya, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo). Georgia is the only country outside Africa facing such an investigation. The ICC’s inability to try heads of state/leaders of any of the P5 countries or even launch preliminary investigations against them for acts of impunity has bolstered the notion of substantial unfairness and geopolitical prejudice in the debate surrounding individual accountability. Interestingly Fatou Bensouda, ICC chief prosecutor, announced in April 2016, the ICC’s plan of opening a preliminary investigation into acts of killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in Burundi. Being a nation on the verge of an ICC investigation that would have invariably found the top political leadership, including controversial President Pierre Nkrunziza, guilty of widespread violence against political opponents, Burundi’s withdrawal should be seen through the prism of helpless African victims of human rights violations and domestic political considerations as well.

{{The Gambia}}

The Gambia announced on October 25 that it would withdraw from the ICC, accusing the court of “persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans”. Significantly, Fatou Bensouda, the current chief prosecutor of the ICC is a native of The Gambia. It should be apt to mention that The Gambia’s unsuccessful long drawn efforts to employ the ICC to try and punish the European Union for the deaths of thousands of African migrants trying to reach its shores, would have contributed to its decision to leave in no small measure. In fact, the non-prosecution of Tony Blair for his role in the Iraq war was specifically pointed out as an illustration of institutional prejudice on the part of the Hague-based tribunal. Since 1994, The Gambia has been under the rule of President Yahya Jammeh, who exercises full control over the military and those critical of government policies have been at the receiving end of state excesses. With its questionable human rights track record, including the crackdown on political opponents, The Gambia sooner than later faced the prospect of emerging as a contender for an ICC investigation.

{{Role of the African Union (AU)}}

Interestingly, the AU has been at the forefront of persuading its member nations to withdraw from the ICC on grounds of the latter’s alleged institutional bias against Africa and African leaders. In January 2016, the AU decided to mandate its open-ended committee to the ICC for the purposes of developing a “comprehensive strategy” which included a withdrawal from the ICC. In pursuance of the same, three preconditions were stipulated to prevent a withdrawal which included a demand that serving heads of states including senior state officials should be granted immunity from prosecution.

These moves should be viewed in light of Article 4 of the constitutive act of the AU which expressly and unequivocally rejects acts of impunity. The AU has also identified ‘justice’ as one of its “shared values” to be preserved and protected at all times. Also, 2016 has been identified as the “African year of human rights with particular focus on the rights of women”. Any propagation to withdraw from the only permanent international institution established to fight impunity should closely reflect the broad ideological parallels running between the two institutions. The opposition to ICC in the African continent is by no means universal. During the July AU summit, several African ICC members – Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia – initiated a significant step in joining Botswana to expressly oppose the AU call for withdrawal from the Rome Statute. In addition, Sierra Leone, Gabon, Central African Republic, Tanzania and Mali have at various points of time expressly or impliedly supported the ICC. In fact, Gabon invited the ICC to conduct a preliminary investigation into election violence in the last week of September.

While efforts have been made to portray the withdrawal of South Africa, Burundi and The Gambia from the ICC as a response to ingrained geopolitical prejudice against the African continent, a closer examination reveals that domestic considerations, including the possibility of imminent prosecution, play a key role in ICC pull-outs. The African continent is not a monolithic en tity with many different nations appreciating the role of the ICC as a defender and a safeguard in the fight against impunity. Also, closer coordination with the ICC is viewed as a desirable value to be pursued. However, the perception of a bias against Africa is a strong one with robust justifications as well and the ball is in the ICC’s court to weed out any trace of geo-institutional prejudice which would be fatal in the struggle against global impunity.

Abraham Joseph is an assistant professor in the Ansal School of Law, Ansal University, Gurgaon and is also pursuing Ph.D. from NLSIU, Bangalore in the area of International Criminal Law. Views expressed are personal.

{ {{Joint cooperation commission directed to meet soon

Magufuli welcomes Kenyan business people to Tanzania}}

Tanzania and Kenya have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral relations, directing an urgent meeting of the joint commission for cooperation before end of this year. }

President John Magufuli, who is in Kenya for a two-day state visit following an invitation by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, said Kenyans wishing to do business with Tanzania are welcome to do so, stressing that “citizens of the two countries are brothers’’.

At a news conference with his host at the State House in Nairobi, Dr Magufuli said statistics at the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) show that Kenya is the leading investor among African countries investing in Tanzania with investment amounting to 1.7 billion US dollars.

“There are 529 companies from Kenya in Tanzania that have created more than 56,000 employment opportunities to Tanzanians. These statistics make Kenya the leading African country investing in Tanzania. Tanzania considers Kenya as its number one trading partner,” he pointed out.

Trade volume between the two countries has increased from 652.9bn/- in 2010 to 2.044 trillion/- by early this year, President Magufuli pointed out, assuring Kenyans of Tanzania’s brotherly love.

He said his visit to Kenya was aimed at among other things “to cement the good relationship that has existed between Kenya and Tanzania,” initiated by Kenya and Tanzania’s founding fathers — Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

Dr Magufuli assured Kenyans that he was always in touch with President Kenyatta on phone — discussing pertinent issues facing the two countries and the region. “I am always in touch with President Kenyatta on phone.

However, because phone calls cannot get seen in public, some people don’t know this and so today, I want to say that we have always been in touch,” he stressed. President Magufuli said he was in Nairobi to explain his policies meant to make Tanzania a better place to invest and enable it to move forward.

“I have told President Kenyatta about the reality in Tanzania to enable it move forward. We want Tanzanians to pay tax, fight corruption and enable the country to move forward. I believe that if we go at that pace, we can reach the level where we believe we are taking our country to acceptable places,” he explained.

The president also expressed his appreciation for the support extended to Tanzania from Kenya during the earthquake in Kagera Region.

Early yesterday morning when he arrived in Nairobi, President Magufuli was received by his host, President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto and was accorded full military honours, complete with a 21-gun salute.

The reception also included a colourful guard of honour — as well as the playing by the military brass band of the two countries’ national anthems and that of the East African Community (EAC) Dr Magufuli began his itinerary by laying a wreath at the mausoleum of Kenya’s founder President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, before proceeding to the State House for the formal reception.

President Kenyatta, on the other hand, expressed his gratitude to Dr Magufuli for honouring his invitation to visit Kenya, affirming that Kenya will continue to strengthen relationship and cooperation with Tanzania.

“To us, Tanzanians are our brothers and sisters…we have a long relationship with our brothers and sisters and we will continue this good relationship and cooperation that was initiated by our forefathers,” President Kenyatta stressed.

He noted that Kenya and Tanzania had a lot of things in common, including peaceful and democratic change of governments and among other issues agreed between the two heads of state, including assisting other nations in the region, when faced with various challenges.

President Kenyatta said Kenya will continue working with Tanzania in implementing joint projects, including the Bagamoyo (Tanzania) and Malindi (Kenya) ports and other ventures that would be outlined by the joint cooperation commission.

President Magufuli was yesterday expected to attend a state banquet hosted in his honour by President Kenyata at the State House in Nairobi. Today Dr Magufuli will visit Eldoville Dairies in Karen area in Nairobi and open the Southern Bypass road in Nairobi before returning home.

{The academic staff members voted to maintain resolutions of the Monday general assembly to maintain their strike until they are paid.}

Makerere University students are striking following Monday’s general assembly of teaching staff which voted to continue with their sit-down strike until they are paid all the incentive arrears.

The students’ strike started at Lumumba Hall on Tuesday amid heavy police and military deployment inside the university.

The students want lecturers to resume teaching as they demand their incentive payments. The University Council, the highest decision making body at the institution is meeting to decide the next move.

The Monday general assembly which voted to continue with the strike was attended by the Council Chairperson Dr Charles Wana Etyem, the Vice Chancellor Prof Ddumba Ssentamu and Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration, Prof Bernabas Nawangwe.

“I want to appeal to you directly that in the interest of Makerere University…, unless the university is running, we are not going to solve these problems,” Dr Etyem said.

He had promised the lecturers that the university would pay their incentives for one month by end of November. However, the promise was dismissed by the academic staff.

The lecturers are demanding payment of incentives for the last 8 months excluding the month of October.

At the end of June, the arrears had accumulated arrears to Shs27 billion.

What are the incentives

The incentives were introduced during the 2013/2014 academic year after teaching staff went on strike demanding 100 per cent salary increment. They were meant to consolidate allowances that lecturers were earning from teaching evening programme students and eradicate indiscriminate distribution of the allowances among lecturers.

In September, the lecturers stopped teaching evening programme classes after management’s decision to cut their incentives by 75 per cent. The University Council bowed to lecturers’ pressure and rescinded the decision to reduce the incentives on September 14.

According to a statement presented to the lecturers by management, the cumulative budget versus the actual revenue deficit for the past three financial years stands at Sh72 billion.

This, according to management has resulted into inability to meet financial obligations, service and operation interruption, poor service delivery and inability to pay June salaries at the end of 2015-2016 financial year.

All lecturers who reacted to submissions from management said they are frustrated by endless failure by their bosses to honour their promises.

The academic staff members voted to maintain resolutions of the Monday general assembly to maintain their strike until they are paid.

{Tanzania will ratify the Paris Agreement, which is aimed at dealing with greenhouse gases emission mitigation to strengthen the country’s capacity to deal with the impacts of climate change.}

The Agreement will come into force on Friday while the first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement is due to take place in Marrakech, Morocco.

Addressing the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Professorial Chair in Environment and Climate Change in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the Vice-President, Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan, said the government had already embarked on the ratification process.

“This will facilitate our National Climate Change Strategy as each country will have to translate the agreement in its own context,” noted the vice-president while opening the annual festival organised by the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM).

The weeklong festival brings together high level decision makers, development partners, diplomatic missions, policy developers and practitioners from the government, researchers as well as private sectors to discuss ideal ways to adapt and mitigate climate change.

Ms Samia, who was the chief guest, pointed out the Environmental Management Act with its 2016 amendments and the National Climate Change Strategy as measures introduced by the government to mitigate the impacts of Climate Change.

“My office as the government office responsible for environment and climate has now put in place the necessary policy and legal tools to act,” she reported. Ms Samia observed that the Climate Change posed one of the most serious threats to Tanzania and generally Africa’s long-term sustainable development, economic growth and quality of life of its people.

“The environment in which we live is changing very fast. Human activities are using up the Earth’s natural resources at an alarming rate and degrading the very ecosystems that support our existence and determine our collective future prosperity,” she said.

The vice-president pointed out further that about 90 per cent of wastewater generated in developing countries went untreated, hence suffocating rivers, lakes and coastal zones while threatening health, food security and access to safe drinking water.

“We must realise that wastewater can be used for irrigation, especially in arid lands. We have to learn to recycle wastewater and other wastes,” she advised.

UDSM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rwekaza Mukandala, said the Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair in Environment and Climate Change was meant to provide specialised platforms on which the founder president’s ideas and ideals could be discussed and shared. The chair was introduced to honour the founding president.

He noted that it was until the early 1990s when Climate Change issues started to gain renewed prominence and awareness in the country.