Tag: GreatLakesNews

{The East African Community (EAC) is yet to fully implement the common market protocols which were meant to boost the region’s trade, a new report has shown.}

The second East African Community Common Market Scorecard 2016 (CMS 2016) launched in Kampala, Uganda on Thursday shows that Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi still run their trades as separate and distinct markets, keeping their economies small and disconnected due to several bottlenecks in the regulations.

This was blamed on failure by individual states to lift legal barriers like recognition of business certificates from each other and double taxation.

This is despite EAC presidents having signed the treaty to give the countries freedom of movement of goods, labour, services, and capital, which would significantly boost trade and investment and make the region more productive and prosperous.

The protocol was signed on November 20, 2009 and came into force on July 1, 2010.

“While there is positive progress, states have remained largely non-compliant in their services and trade liberalisation commitments,” said Ms Jesca Eriyo, the EAC deputy secretary-general in charge of finance and administration during the launch of the report.

She said the first scorecard launched in 2014 had raised similar concerns stating that regional trade in goods was being constrained by not less than 51 non-tariff barriers.

NON-CONFORMING MEASURES

Efforts to freely offer cross-border services such as professional services, distribution, transport and communication were slowed down by at least 63 non-conforming measures while only two of the 20 operations that facilitate deeper financial integration are free of restrictions in all the countries.

“A number of reforms have been undertaken since the 2014 report. These have brought the total number of non-conforming measures down from 63 to 59 in 2016,” said Ms Eriyo.

The second scorecard was developed in 18 months by the EAC secretariat with the support of the World Bank Group and Trade Mark East Africa.

Ms Eriyo disclosed that the five states earned full marks for commitment and that subsequent scorecards should consider assessing their implementation.

Kenya is second at 90 per cent in the implementation of recognition of certificates of origin, an issue repeatedly identified as a significant non-tariff barrier in 2014.

Burundi continues to earn full points on this.

Tanzania’s recognition of certificates of origin has improved from 50 to 60 per cent while Rwanda’s and Uganda’s scores have both declined, indicating a worsening performance in terms of recognising certificates of origin of other partners.

Most countries improved their score on applying tariff-equivalent charges, though such charges persist as barriers to intra-regional trade, stated the official.

Ms Eriyo blamed lack of information for the slow compliance to the treaty in the EAC countries saying some people in the private sector were unfamiliar with the commitments affecting their operations.

“I urge partner states to strongly engage the private sector on the implications of these reforms on their day-to-day operations across the region and set up a team who could help push for implementation,” said Ms Eriyo.

{Dr Peninah Tomusange, a medical consultant at United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said the ban is a sabotage to the attainment of sustainable development goals which governments world over are expected achieve 2030.}

The Netherlands Ambassador to Uganda has condemned the Gender Ministry’s ban on comprehensive sexuality education in schools.

His Excellency Henk Jan Baker, said Ms Janat Mukwaya, the gender minister, could have been misinformed on the critical role of young people having access to sexuality education.

“Sexuality education is something that needs to be taken forward at both community and political level because it a very good thing towards the accessibility to sexuality reproductive and health rights,” Mr Baker said.

He was speaking on Saturday during Reach a Hand Uganda’s (RAHU) third intergenerational dialogue on Sexuality and Reproduction Health Rights (SRH) in Kampala.

The dialogue attracted over 3,000 youths and students across the country who also expressed dissatisfaction against the banning of sexuality education in schools.

Ms Mukwaya in her Friday press release banned comprehensive sexuality education in schools until a policy to regulate sexuality education is formulated.

She the sexuality education was leading to decline in national values.

Maj Rubaramira Ruranga, a board member of the Uganda Aids Commission described the government’s decree on sexuality education as disastrous to the efforts towards the fight against HIV/AIDs, Hepatitis B and early pregnancy.

“I would like to tell government that making laws trying to stop children from learning who they are is creating a disaster. The idea of banning sexuality education is a bad one and disastrous,” Maj Rubaramira said.

Dr Peninah Tomusange, a medical consultant at United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said the ban is a sabotage to the attainment of sustainable development goals which governments world over are expected achieve 2030.

“How can we achieve good health and wellbeing, quality education, gender equality when are youth are still getting sick because of ignorance. They can only get access to rightful information through sexuality comprehensive education,” she said.

Mr Humphrey Nabimanya, the RAHU founder and team leader, said government should instead regulate sexuality information that is being given in regard to age groups.

“Government should have a policy on sexuality education that addresses needs of young people. Banning sexuality education without immediate solutions to sexuality challenges of adolescents and youth would sink energies that have been fostered at addressing sexually transmitted infections and early pregnancies,” Mr Nabimanya said.

In August, Green Hill Academy in Buwate was in a spotlight after books on sexuality were found in the school library.

In May, a study by Daily Monitor revealed that over 100 schools had been duped into training disguised homosexuality to their teachers and students.

{As parts of the country grapple with famine a new report has ranked Kenya as among the worst nations in feeding its citizens.}

Published last week, the Global Hunger Index (GHI), a report from Welthungerhilfe, the International Food Policy Research Institute and Concern Worldwide, shows that Kenya has serious levels of hunger, even as malnutrition is declining around the world.

With a score of 21.9 in Global Hunger Index, Kenya is ranked among the top 50 countries failing to provide their people with enough food.

Kenya is ranked marginally ahead of conflict-prone Iraq which has a score of 22 and is outpaced by Egypt with a score of 13.7 which has in recent years been faced by conflict.

The level of hunger globally is still high despite the progress made since 2000, says the report.

It shows that hunger in developing countries has dropped by 29 per cent since the year 2000, but there are still at least 800 million people worldwide who do not have enough food.

“Ending global hunger is certainly possible, but it’s up to all of us that we set the priorities right to ensure that governments, the private sector and civil society devote the time and resources necessary to meet this important goal,” said Shenggen Fan, director-general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), who calculated the scores.

The report shows that progress in the fight against hunger was unstable and uneven, with some regions improving at a faster rate than others.
It highlights that 20 countries, including Rwanda, Cambodia, and Myanmar, had a strong reduction in their hunger levels, in part due to stabilisation following conflicts.

However, 50 countries still had alarming hunger levels, with places such as the Central African Republic having shown scarce progress.

The IFPRI’s aim is to eradicate world hunger by 2030, an initiative that is being worked on by many NGOs across the globe.

“We have the technology, knowledge and resources to achieve that vision. What is missing is both the urgency and the political will to turn commitments into action,” says Dominic MacSorley, chief executive, Concern Worldwide , an NGO that works with the IFPRI.

The GHI looks at four parameters to calculate its figures: the proportion of the population that is undernourished, the number of children suffering from wasting (low weight for their age), the number of children suffering from stunting (low height for their age) as well as the mortality rate for children under five.

The report corroborates recent reports which show many Kenyans face starvation for lack of food. Drought in various parts of the country has left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of starvation.

Locals in affected areas have called for the government to do more as residents have been forced to move to other counties in search of food.

About 1.3 million Kenyans are facing famine following inadequate rains this year, the government has said recently. “There is a water shortage and increased risk of malnutrition.

As a result, 1.3 million people in Asal (arid and semi-arid lands) counties are in need of relief food,” Devolution and National Planning Cabinet secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri told a press conference at the Treasury.

According to a government situation report, all the 23 Asal counties are adversely affected. The most affected include four in the Coast region — Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River and Taita-Taveta. Others are Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Isiolo, Marsabit, Makueni, Kitui and Samburu. Both Mr Kiunjuri and his Treasury counterpart Henry Rotich played down the alarm over the famine.

“There is no report of any Kenyan who has died of hunger. We would like to assure all Kenyans that the government is on top of the situation and will ensure that the necessary help reaches the most needy on time,” Mr Kiunjuri said.

The threat of famine has prompted the government to form a committee composed of officials from the National Treasury, Interior, Devolution, Health, Education, Agriculture, Environment and Water ministries.

Overall, the report says the world is getting better at addressing the issue of extreme poverty-driven hunger, which is usually understood to refer to the distress associated with lack of food.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a United Nations agency, defines food deprivation, or undernourishment, as the consumption of fewer than about 1,800 kilocalories a day — the minimum that most people require to live a healthy and productive life.
Undernutrition goes beyond calories and signifies deficiencies in any or all of the following: energy, protein, or essential vitamins and minerals.

Undernutrition is the result of inadequate intake of food in terms of either quantity or quality, poor utilisation of nutrients due to infections or other illnesses, or a combination of these factors.

These, in turn, are caused by a range of factors including household food insecurity, inadequate maternal health or childcare practices or inadequate access to health services, safe water, and sanitation.

Malnutrition refers more broadly to both undernutrition (problems of deficiencies) and overnutrition (problems of unbalanced diets, which include consuming too many calories in relation to energy requirements, with or without low intake of micronutrient-rich foods).

In the report, “hunger” refers to the index based on the four component indicators. Taken together, the component indicators (undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality) reflect deficiencies in calories as well as in micronutrients. Thus, the GHI reflects both aspects of hunger.

The report calls for more action to reduce hunger levels.

“Simply put, countries must accelerate the pace at which they are reducing hunger or we will fail to achieve the second Sustainable Development Goal [of ending global hunger by 2030],” said Shenggen Fan, the director general of IFPRI, which has been producing the index annually for the last 11 years.

Africa accounts for six of the worst 10 countries in the ranking this year, with three — Central African Republic, Chad and Zambia — coming in the last three places. Fifty countries have “serious” or “alarming” levels of hunger, and most of the seven countries with “alarming” scores are in sub-Saharan Africa.

{The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has advanced four grounds of objections, seeking dismissal of the application by owner of the fishing vessel linked in the trial, commonly known as ‘Samaki wa Magufuli case’, who is demanding 6bn/- compensation.}

The owner of the ship, Tawariq- 1, which was tendered in court as exhibit during the trial of two Chinese, Hsu Chin Tai and Zhao Hanquing and others, is Mr Said Ali Mohamed al Araimi, who is Managing Director of Sea Tawariq LLC, a company registered in the Sultanate of Oman operating from Muscat.

In his application, Mr Araimi requests the court to order restoration of the exhibits to him, including the motor fishing vessel (Tawariq 1) or its value paged at 2.3 million US dollars and 2,074,249,000/-, being the value of fish, after discontinuation of the trial by the DPP entering nolle prosequi to the accused persons.

Mr Mohamed al Araimi stated that on March 8, 2009, in the morning, while on their way to Mombasa exercising freedom of navigation with 296.3 tonnes of Tuna fish on board, at a place which was about 180 nautical miles from the coast of Tanzania, the seafarers were arrested by “people holding guns’’.

After arrival in Dar es Salaam, the Director of Public Prosecutions instituted several court cases against 37 persons. On March 20, 2009, they appointed Captain Bendera from the said law chambers to represent the accused persons in the matter. Other accused persons were acquitted.

Hsu Chin Tai and Zhao Hanquing were charged with unlawful carrying out of fishing activities in the EEZ in addition to causing water pollution and degradation of marine environment. Hanquing was charged with an alternative count of accessories after the fact.

After full trial, on February 23, last year, the High Court convicted the two of unlawful carrying out fishing activities in EEZ and sentenced to pay a fine of 1bn/- each or go in jail for ten years in default of paying the fine.

Tai was convicted of another separate offence of water pollution and degradation of marine environment. He was sentenced to pay a fine of 20bn/- or imprisoned for 10 years upon failure to pay the fine in question. Both appellants defaulted paying the fine.

Having been aggrieved by the judgment, the two took the matter to the Court of Appeal. In its decision, the Court of Appeal reversed the High Court verdict and discharged the two Chinese. Immediately thereafter, the two were rearrested and charged with same charges at Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court.

But on August 14, last year, the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew the charges by entering a nolle prosequi certificate, showing he was no longer interested to pursue the case.

However, in his objections filed before the High Court, Principal State Attorney Timony Vitalis, for the DPP, states that an order for restoration of the exhibits under section 33 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Act could not be based on fresh evidence, which is not on the trial record.

He states that since none of the exhibits sought is still under the custody of the court, the law organ was not provided with jurisdiction to order restoration of the exhibits that are lawfully in possession of the Republic to the accused persons.

According to the DPP, some relief was sought and granted by the court of the Resident Magistrate of Dar es Salaam at Kisutu on August 22, 2014, as had been indicated rejoinder affidavit by the applicant.

He stated that since the Court of Appeal quashed the proceedings and judgment of trial court, the High Court being a former trial court could not order the restoration of the exhibits tendered before it during the trial to a person other than the Republic and the accused pending on who tendered what exhibit.

The case is being heard by Judge Ama Munisi. The ship’s owner is being represented in the matter by a Dar es Salaam advocate, Captain Ibrahim Bendera, from M & B Law Chambers, which is headed by former Principal Judge Hamisi Msumi.

In his affidavit to support the application, Mr Mohamed al Araimi, stated that on December 15, 2008, they employed Captain Hsu Chin Tai from China to be the master fisherman of the ship. On December 31, 2008, they afforded ticket to him for Mombasa in Kenya to replace Captain Hong Zheng Liang.

At the time, he stated, the vessel was conducting fishing activities in the high seas. Records of their office, he stated, showed that on January 3, 2009, Captain Tai arrived on board the vessel at a position in the Indian Ocean; some 400 nautical miles from the Kenyan coast.

After boarding the vessel, Tai underwent a ship familiarisation tour conducted by Liang after which the vessel was handed over to him on January 9, 2009. The vessel completed fishing in the high seas on March 5, 2009 and hauled all fishing gears on board before getting to another ship to collect the three Kenyans.

Mr Mohamed al Araimi stated that on March 8, 2009, in the morning, while on their way to Mombasa exercising freedom of navigation with 296.3 tonnes of Tuna fish on board, at a place which was about 180 nautical miles from the coast of Tanzania, the seafarers were arrested by “people holding guns’’.

After arrival in Dar es Salaam, the Director of Public Prosecutions instituted several court cases against 37 persons. On March 20, 2009, they appointed Captain Bendera from the said law chambers to represent the accused persons in the matter.

Other accused persons were acquitted. Hsu Chin Tai and Zhao Hanquing were charged with unlawful carrying out of fishing activities in the EEZ in addition to causing water pollution and degradation of marine environment.

Hanquing was charged with an alternative count of accessories after the fact. After full trial, on February 23, last year, the High Court convicted the two of unlawful carrying out fishing activities in EEZ and sentenced to pay a fine of 1bn/- each or go in jail for ten years in default of paying the fine.

Tai was convicted of another separate offence of water pollution and degradation of marine environment. He was sentenced to pay a fine of 20bn/- or imprisoned for 10 years upon failure to pay the fine in question. Both appellants defaulted paying the fine.

Having been aggrieved by the judgment, the two took the matter to the Court of Appeal. In its decision, the Court of Appeal reversed the High Court verdict and discharged the two Chinese.

Immediately thereafter, the two were rearrested and charged with same charges at Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court. But on August 14, last year, the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew the charges by entering a nolle prosequi certificate, showing he was no longer interested to pursue the case.

Bujumbura, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) — While the Burundian government wants Burundian refugees living in Rwanda to return home, visiting UNHCR official believes that the refugees’ repatriation should be voluntary according to international principles.

“We have to respect the voluntary aspect of the repatriation of refugees. This is an international principle,” said UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volker Turk on Thursday, after visiting a transit site for asylum seekers at Cishemere in Cibitoke province, 40 km west of the Burundian capital Bujumbura.

He was reacting to a Burundian government complaint that Rwanda is not allowing Burundian refugees to return home.

“We want all refugees to come back home. They are mainly in Tanzania, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), in Rwanda and in Uganda. But Rwanda is not allowing Burundian refugees to return home,” said Burundian Home Affairs and Civic Education Minister Pascal Barandagiye.

According to him, even refugees voluntarily planning to return home must “hide” themselves to be able to leave the Rwandan territory.

Barandagiye indicated that there is no problem with the other countries hosting Burundian refugees.

He argued that Burundi is in peace and stability, adding that transit sites have been prepared to receive refugees.

While at Cishemere transit site that mainly hosts asylum seekers from the DR Congo, Turk said he was impressed to see how activities are done at Cishemere.

“I am glad to see how interviews with asylum seekers are done here. I also liked a good partnership existing between the Burundian government, the UN Refugee Agency and the Red Cross,” said Turk.

Cishemere transit site currently hosts 80 families of DR Congo asylum seekers who fled fighting in eastern DR Congo.

Turk visited Burundi after visiting Rwanda and the DR Congo to eyewitness refugees’ living conditions.

Relations between Burundi and Rwanda have deteriorated after Burundi accused Rwanda of hosting and supporting perpetrators of the May 13, 2015 coup plot against Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza accused of bidding a third term in violation of the 2000 Arusha Agreement and the Burundian constitution.

Burundi has suffered turmoil since April 2015 when President Nkurunziza decided to run his controversial third term in violation of the national constitution and the 2000 Arusha Agreement that ended a decade-long civil war.

More than 500 people in Burundi have been killed and the UN Refugee Agency estimates that about 300,000 people fled to neighboring countries mostly Tanzania, Rwanda, DR Congo and Uganda since the outbreak of the crisis.

{Since last year, more than 50 Burundian journalists are believed to have fled the country, and now the Burundi government has taken additional measures to clamp down on independent media.}

The Burundi authorities have demanded that all journalists in the country register afresh.

“All journalists in Burundi are requested to re-register themselves otherwise they will not be legally recognised,” said Gabriel Bihumugani, the vice chairman of the Communication Council.

“The National Communication Council (CNC) decided to suspend one of the programmes of Isanganiro radio because they played a song that doesn’t conform to the ethics of journalism,” said Karenga Ramadhan, the CNC chairman.

CNC’s decision came on October 25, two days after two BBC journalists — Julia Steers from the US and Burundian Yihundimpundu Gildas — were arrested in Cibitoke by the police while taking photos of mass graves. The two were accused of accessing the scene without authorisation, and later released.

The journalists were also accused of trying to destroy or interfere with evidence on the mass graves. The mass graves in Mutakura were shown to the public in March when police accused the opposition and those who participated in protests of killing government supporters.

The Burundi government has been criticised by the international community over the continued clampdown on independent media. It is not the first time for a foreign journalist to be arrested in Burundi as British and French journalists were detained earlier this year, and others were expelled before that.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed concern about the deteriorating situation for the media in Burundi after the Burundian Union of Journalists was closed by the Internal Affairs Ministry.

“By suspending the permit of the country’s journalists union, Burundi government has expanded from jailing journalists to trying to silence those who courageously stand up for their imprisoned colleagues,” said CPJ East Africa representative Murithi Mutiga.

Jean Bigirimana, a local journalist has been missing for more than three months and his whereabouts remain unknown.

{It came down to a political decision by former PM Stephen Harper to avoid what looked certain to be a military and political quagmire for years to come.}

Canada took a long hard look at sending a military commander and soldiers to lead international peacekeeping troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the request of the United Nations.

It was early 2010. And the Canadian government was angling — in vain, it would turn out — for a rotating seat on the powerful UN Security Council.

By May, the former Conservative government of prime minister Stephen Harper had turned down the request.

Canada would not send soldiers to lead or boost a UN mission that was struggling to stabilize a massive country where government and army corruption was endemic, rebel attacks rocked the east, and violence to control Congo’s vast mineral riches flared.

The government offered only a brief explanation: “Canada is fully engaged in Afghanistan until 2011. That is what we are concentrating on for now.”

However, with Africa back on the radar, the Star conducted interviews and reviewed nearly 1,000 pages of heavily redacted documents obtained under the Access to Information Act to put together a picture of why Canada gave the UN the cold shoulder, and to shed light on the looming decision facing the current Liberal government.

It’s clear that in 2010 it wasn’t simply a question of military resource constraints. The military said it had enough.

Instead, it came down to a political decision by Harper to avoid what looked certain to be a military and political quagmire for years to come.

Sources say Harper and his cabinet took the view that Canadian soldiers should not be sent to function as domestic or counterterrorism police in countries that were effectively at civil war where there was no end in sight.

Another source puts it differently. Deepak Obhrai, parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs at the time, said: “Let me tell you, the Harper doctrine was very clear on these things — if you’re not effective, he does not see why we should be going out there.”

Six years later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau boasts that “Canada’s back” on the world stage.

He, too, is angling for a seat on the Security Council, but he has decided to recommit Canadian troops to UN “peace operations.” Ministers and public servants are analyzing where to deploy up to 600 Canadian soldiers and 150 police.

Three ministers say a decision has not yet been made. But it seems several African hot spots beckon: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, South Sudan, or the Central African Republic.

All present opportunities, challenges and risks from Canada’s perspective.

Last time around, that is exactly what the public servants, deputy ministers, military leaders and government officials analyzed.

There had been at least three requests from the UN for Canada to contribute a commander to the Congo mission, according to the documents. The UN also indicated it needed 13 helicopters, “intelligence assets,” and a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft for a mission that was — and remains — the largest deployment of peacekeeping troops in the world, where some 20,000 military personnel wear blue helmets.

The UN asked Ottawa to send a deputy police commander for its police mission in Congo. In addition, the European Union, which also had a police operation there, asked Canada for a police commander and officers.

At least one senior Mountie, who had previously worked with the EU’s mission, urged the RCMP to accept.

However, an RCMP briefing memo was grim:

“The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been one of the bloodiest, longest-running struggles in the world, with a death toll surpassing that of Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

“Belligerents on all sides commit horrific human rights violations and use sexual violence as a weapon of war. The front lines of the conflict are blurred, with many actors with varying loyalties.”

The RCMP called the overall security situation in the country “stable, but unpredictable, particularly in the east”

Then, as now, Congo President Joseph Kabila faced elections and was fighting to keep power. He demanded the UN reduce its troops and he strong-armed his opposition critics.

Today, Kabila is defying a constitutional two-term limit and vying for a third. The UN reported last week that Congolese police, armed forces and the Republican Guard had used excessive — including lethal — force to quell demonstrations in September when at least 53 people were killed and 143 injured over two days, and more than 299 were unlawfully arrested.

The assumption in 2010 by military and foreign affairs officials was that a Canadian commander would need Canadian troops under his direct command. The lesson of retired lieutenant-general Roméo Dallaire’s 1994 experience in Rwanda had been learned.

Officials urged that the request for a force commander and the possibility of a larger troop contingent in 2011 be considered separately.

According to Andrew Leslie, who was then the commander of Canada’s army, the Department of National Defence believed the deployment was not only doable, but easily managed and worth doing.

Now an elected Liberal MP and government “whip,” Leslie said the military had ample capacity to take on a new deployment, putting the skills honed in Afghanistan to work in another country that needed stabilizing. It could show allies that Canada was prepared to help in other global hot spots.

At first, Michael Kaduck, director of peace operations and fragile states policy at Foreign Affairs, wrote that the mission was “potentially an attractive offer” in line with Canada’s priorities in the region.

In a widely distributed memo, he nevertheless urged “a hard look” at what civilian, military and police support Canada could offer, what impact it would have on Canada’s engagement in UN missions in Haiti, Darfur and South Sudan, and what kind of political support such a mission would require and for how long.

“We need to consider the overall question of whether this is the right UN mission for Canada, now and in post-2011,” wrote Kaduck.

At that time, Canada had just 12 soldiers posted to the UN in Congo, mainly as legal advisers to improve the military justice system and the Congolese capacity to investigate and prosecute the rampant sexual violence.

For months, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade analyzed the UN request under criteria for when Canada should intervene in fragile states and conflict zones. It sought input from its many branches, Canada’s international development agency CIDA and from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Candice Dandurand, a civilian deployment officer at foreign affairs, “firmly” supported sending Mounties to the EU mission, according to a March 17, 2010 email. She said it dovetailed with Canada’s support of the UN mission to fight rampant sexual and gender-based violence, and had the backing of the department’s Africa branch and the Canadian embassy in Kinshasa, the capital.

Other advisers identified challenges: Canadian allies were represented at mission headquarters, but there were no “formed contingents” of allies on the ground. The bulk of the UN forces came from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Uruguay and South Africa.

Canada had already contributed more than $250 million on the Congo mission since its start in 1999, and had spent $124 million over the previous decade in humanitarian and development aid, and could build on its work.

There had been “progress” as a result of Canada’s efforts, but advisers said “much more is needed.”

“The DRC is a fragile but not a failed state.”

The analysis weighed more questions: whether Congo was a direct and/or indirect threat to Canada or its allies, whether it was a source of organized crime or terrorism, whether Canada had a major strategic interest, such as a key bilateral relationship, at play and whether engagement carried “implications under international law, including tribunals such as the International Criminal Court.”

The answers to those questions and others are blacked out.

Andrew Leslie fills in some of the gaps.

He says the Canadian Forces saw the region’s instability as a potential recruiting ground for Al Qaeda and were keen to help stabilize it. He says government officials also considered the extensive business interests of the Canadian mining industry, and the fact that China was increasingly influential in the country.

Leslie was dispatched in February 2010 — before the UN’s request was formalized in March — on a reconnaissance trip.

Leslie says the military had boosted its ranks of reservists and regular members by 3,000 members in the three years up to 2009. “I knew, and we knew, that we would have had capacity in 2010 . . . to launch into the DRC — not in the same scale as in Afghanistan but in a meaningful way . . . and we could have sustained it, of course.

“It was viewed as a mission that was definitely interesting. If the government of Canada wanted us to do it, we would do it.”

The military’s enthusiasm didn’t impress the Harper government.

In the view of two former senior Harper government officials, the military was always keen to deploy, no matter what.

The government insiders spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about cabinet-level discussions at that time.

One told the Star that the UN’s request, like many that came to the Harper government, amounted to a dangerous mission that threatened to put Canadian lives on the line in a country where there was little peace to keep, and no clear end in sight.

The Conservative prime minister’s skepticism was a big change from 2006 when Harper first travelled to Afghanistan and told Canadian troops that they were, “serving in a UN-mandated, Canadian-led security operation that is in the very best of the Canadian tradition, providing leadership on global issues, stepping up to the plate, doing good when good is required.”

Others explain the government’s thinking differently.

Obhrai said in an interview the government had “no appetite” for the mission because it had concluded Canadian troops could not be “effective” in achieving Canadian goals. It was thought the “more appropriate” intervention would be to offer logistical support to African Union forces, which the Conservatives did. As well, given widespread human rights abuses, including by government forces, “it would have been absolutely disastrous,” said Obhrai.

“Who are you supporting? Which side are you going with? The side that you want to go with are (sic) also being accused of human rights abuses.”

Whatever misgivings Harper had were soon underscored.

At Foreign Affairs, plans for a team of department and RCMP officials to travel to Congo were put on hold because Canada’s then-governor general, Michaëlle Jean, was on an official four-country visit to Africa, including Congo and Rwanda — at Harper’s request.

Jean’s mid-April trip revealed just how much displeasure had been generated by the Harper government’s decision to reduce the number of African countries eligible for aid, and how little enthusiasm there was for Canada’s attempt to win a Security Council seat.

While she was there, a senior UN official in Congo made a direct public appeal to Canada to help. Soon after Jean returned to Ottawa, it was rebuffed. The government decided to turn down the request for a commander.

Late on April 29, 2010, Canada notified the UN of its decision, and Defence Minister Peter MacKay reassigned Leslie to lead a study of how to transform the Canadian Forces.

“I think they (the former government) were tired of the Afghan war,” Leslie now says. “That they were tired of either soldiers going overseas and getting hurt . . . or even worse. I think they were tired of spending money on these missions, and they were a tired team.”

Yet even after refusing the UN’s request, officials continued to study the possibility of deploying to Congo in the following year. The Foreign Affairs and RCMP team finally travelled to Congo in mid-May.

What the group saw there was eye-opening.

Handwritten notes from one unidentified official documented “a lack of infrastructure, starvation deaths in prison” and a dismal judicial system unable to keep pace with sex-crime investigations. Goma’s one judge faced a “backlog of 8,000 cases.” The country had fewer than 1,200 judges and needed “at least 5,000.”

It’s difficult, due to redactions, to say if the final recommendation to cabinet was in favour of a deployment of more Canadian military and civilian resources.

But Leslie believes the bureaucratic analysis shifted to accommodate the political signal that the government was averse to the mission.

Today, he still believes Canada should engage in an African mission, although as a member of the Privy Council, he will not say where he thinks Canada can be most effective.

Obhrai, one of the Conservative party’s leadership contenders, says the problems that were obvious in Congo in 2010 are evident to this day, and the same risks exist no matter what troubled nation in Africa Trudeau might be looking at.

He said his advice to Trudeau: “Don’t do it.”

{Government returned his body last night.}

The family of the fallen former commissioner in charge of agro chemicals in the Ministry of Agriculture Michael Odong is still puzzled as to what killed him.

While addressing mourners at Our lady of Africa Church in Mbuya, Dr Ben Watmon on Saturday, the younger brother of the 53-year commissioner who was found dead in Schiphol Airport on Sunday said when he received his remains on Friday night at Entebbe airport, he was given an envelope which contained documents that were written in Dutch without the autopsy report.

“As a family, we have received our brother but we do not know what killed him. Yesterday i received his body at the airport, but we do not have the autopsy report,” Dr Watmon told the mourners on Saturday.

Last Monday, news broke out about the death of the commissioner whose body was found at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam at about 4pm as he waited for a connecting flight to Geneva where he was scheduled to attend a workshop on the regulation of chemical use in agriculture.

The Commissioner Crop Resources at the Ministry, Okasai Opolot, the Netherlands Embassy in Kampala told Daily Monitor recently that Odong’s postmortem results in Netherlands indicated that he died of natural causes.

The 53-year-old commissioner on Sunday travelled to Switzerland using a KLM flight that was connecting through the airport where his body was found by the Police.

When contacted, Lukiya Otema, the KLM Country manager they are not allowed to discuss customer information with third parties otherwise their license could be revoked.

After the mass, Odong’s body will be taken to Kawanda for an overnight vigil before being taken to Gulu, his home district for burial on Monday.

{Concerns are emerging that corruption has fast devolved into the counties because governors have failed to attract and/or retain qualified personnel to professionally run the governments.}

Professionals, particularly in finance, are shying away from county jobs due to fears of being coerced to make decisions to suit certain interests in disregard of the law.

Those who opt to stick to their guns in following due process are harassed by governors, speakers and members of county assemblies.

Others, especially those eyeing senior positions, decline county offers because the pay is “low” compared to what they earn elsewhere.

As a result, many governors keep on re-advertising for vacant positions and have at times had to recruit people without the requisite skills to effectively discharge their mandate.

Governors Julius Malombe (Kitui), Jack Ranguma (Kisumu) and Isaac Ruto (Bomet) are among those who have confirmed that attracting qualified manpower in the counties is not a walk in the park.

The perception that many counties prefer to hire people from their dominant ethnic communities has made the situation worse.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has already raised the red flag with statistics showing that some counties, like Nandi and Kirinyaga, have employed people from only one ethnic group.

Commission chairman Francis ole Kaparo said the skewed recruitment poses a threat to national cohesion.

{{No extensive training }}

Governor Malombe admitted before the Senate County Public Accounts and Investments Committee that he operates with internal audit staff without extensive training.

According to the Auditor-General’s report, the two employees and a clerk had not been inducted and the department had no internal audit charter to guide its operations.

The Senate committee, chaired by Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, noted that the reports of this department were mainly memos to the management as opposed to those deliberated and enforced by an audit committee, as required by law.

“The department does not meet its obligations due to inadequate staffing,” the Auditor-General’s report indicated.

The governor said they have improved the department to comply with the law though, just like other counties, they are faced with the challenge of attracting professionals with the requisite skills.

“We have an audit system now in place. Interestingly, we advertised but getting people was a tall order due to salary levels. They are low on qualifications and experience desired,” Dr Malombe said.

Counties are expected to establish audit committees that convene at least quarterly to discuss, enforce and implement the findings and recommendations of the internal audit department.

Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar said county governments had not put in place functional systems to attract professionals.

“Due to the weak systems, professionals find it difficult to discharge their duties because they are directed to do things in a certain way,” Mr Omar said.

The Senate committee noted that breach of procedures especially in procurement affects virtually all counties, according to the annual Auditor-General’s reports.

But the challenges notwithstanding, governors are optimistic the effects of devolution have been felt on the ground, through improved services.

“Counties have done well since inception of the devolved units. We can do much better if the national government can stop fighting devolution and ensure the Treasury releases county funds on time,” Council of Governors chairman Peter Munya said.