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  • Congolese Forces Repulse Mai Mai Militia

    {{Congolese forces (FARDC) and the Mai Mai militia clashed early morning Sunday in the resort of Kanyihunga-Bulambo located in the community of Bashu in the territory of Beni in North Kivu.}}

    The FARDC commander based in Beni, Colonel Eric Ruhorimbere, confirmed the clashes saying six militiamen were killed and one captured.

    The clashes started from 2:30 (local time), when the FARDC launched an attack against the positions Mai-Mai, according to sources in the area.

    After an hour of fighting,the Mai Mai abandoned their positions fleeing to the town of Soma, in the Rwenzori.

    Col. Ruhorimbere said that situation was under control of the army adding that four AK47 rifles were recovered by the Armed Forces of the DRC. He gave no figures of casualities on the side of the regular army.

    This assessment was however confirmed by local sources and civil society, noting that the Mai-Mai captured is a child of thirteen.

    Mai Mai militiamen attacked, Tuesday, April 24 around 2 am, the military camp Ozacaf Armed Forces of the DRC located in the center of the town of Beni.

    They were repulsed by loyalist forces. The fighting lasted about twenty minutes, wounding three, including two women and a child who was in the camp, according to Col. Ruhorimbere.

  • Rwanda Exploring Oil, Results Expected June

    {{Rwanda government announced plans to sign a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with Vanoil Energy Ltd, the Canadian oil exploration firm before the next phase of exploration begins.}}

    However,Rwanda’s geologists , Ministry of Natural Resources and Vanoil say wouldn’t speculate insisting that to speculate on the facts would only cause anxiety among the people.

    The oil exploration results are expected this month. Based on seismic studies, hopes are high that the country has oil deposits.

    In 2011 Vancouver, British Columbia -Vanoil Energy Ltd. (“Vanoil” or the
    “Company”) announced that it had executed an extension to the Technical Evaluation Agreement (“TEA”) with the Rwandan Ministry of Natural Resources for Vanoil’s exclusive 1,631 square kilometre oil and gas license in the Kivu Graben Basin.

    The highly prospective Kivu Graben is on the same rift trend with the Albertine Graben where at Lake Albert, Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil have stated that they have found 1.5 billion recoverable barrels of oil; a significant discovery that many believe may represent only a small portion of the enormous potential of the area.

    It is the intention of the Company and the Minister of Natural Resources of Rwanda to conclude a Production Sharing Agreement (“PSA”) before the end of 2011.

    Vanoil also confirms that the Syracuse University has received permission from the Rwandan Ministry of Natural Resources to commence a 2D Seismic study of Lake Kivu on behalf of Vanoil.

    This program will assist in identifying the areas of greatest hydrocarbon prospectivity in the Lake Kivu Graben. Additionally, the 2D Seismic study is to demonstrate the similarities between Lake Albert and Lake Kivu and to establish drill targets in and around Lake Kivu on Vanoil’s concession.

    Dal Brynelsen, President, commented: “Since the first Technical Evaluation Agreement signed in October of 2007, Vanoil has worked closely with the Rwandan Government to develop and enter into a PSA. We are pleased to see that our efforts will be rewarded shortly.

    In addition, we are very pleased to secure the technical expertise of the Syracuse University who have provided seismic data for oil and gas discoveries on Lake Albert and recent exploration activities on Lake Turkana as well for Vanoil on Lake Kivu in 2010”.

  • Canada Protests Against Mugabe

    {{Canada has withdrawn from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) in protest over Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s recognition as a tourism ambassador by the world body.}}

    This follows the presentation of an open letter to President Mugabe and his Zambian counterpart Michael Sata last week after they signed a tripartite agreement to co-host the UNWTO general assembly in Victoria Falls in August next year.

    Canada’s Foreign Affairs minister John Baird told his country’s House of Commons that the Zimbabwean leader’s appointment “symbolises what is wrong with the UN”.

    He said Canada would withdraw from the UNWTO this month.
    But the UN body insisted President Mugabe had not been made an ambassador as claimed, in a statement released on Thursday

    “The receiving of the Open Letter implies no legal commitment or official title attribution to the country or the recipient,” the agency said.

    President Mugabe’s alleged appointment has also dominated world news headlines, with many newspapers saying the 88-year-old leader was not fit for the role, because of his human rights record.

    He is currently under US and European Union travel ban for alleged electoral fraud.

  • Motorcycle Thieves Arrested

    {{Four men have been arrested by Police in Ngoma district in connection with theft of a motorcycle belonging to Bonaventure Karuranga.

    On 1 June, Karuranga was allegedly ambushed on his way home. He was stopped and beaten sustaining minor injuries before they fled with his motorbike.

    The arrest of the goons was made possible following shared information from residents that identified them. The motor cycle was later handed back to the owner.}}

  • IFC, AfDB Deal to Enable African Local Currency Swap Transactions

    {{The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation and the African Development Bank have signed a deal to enter into African local currency swap transactions, the lenders said.}}

    This deal will give a boost to Africa’s domestic capital markets and enable the lenders to make loans to their clients in more local currencies than they do now.

    The agreement was signed at the AfDB’s annual meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, and is part of efforts by the two institutions to cut countries’ dependence on foreign currency denominated debt.

    Improving Africa’s capital markets is vital if the continent is to maximise its growth potential.

    Under the deal, the IFC could obtain local currency in a country where it doesn’t have a funding source or an upcoming bond issue but where the AfDB does.

    “The agreement opens up the possibility for both institutions to share our local currency resources,” IFC treasurer Jingdong Hua told Reuters in a phone interview from Arusha.

    “Let’s say AfDB is issuing in a currency where we haven’t started a capital market exploration but we happen to have a programme, we can borrow from the AfDB and on-lend to our clients and vice versa.”

    Hua said the deal had no fixed size and the transactions would depend on project demand. It is the first such deal between two multilateral financial institutions and has no time limit.

    IFC, the World Bank’s private sector arm, said it expects to invest $2.6 billion in sub-Saharan Africa this fiscal year and to mobilise an additional $1.1 billion from other investors.

    The agreement follows the launch of its pan-African bond issuance programme in May. IFC is working with authorities in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia to obtain consent to issue regular local currency bonds.

    Funds raised from the bond sales will be invested in IFC-backed businesses that contribute to social objectives such as job creation and infrastructure development, Hua said.

    Foreign investors who buy the bonds would gain exposure to African local currency debt from triple-A rated issuers.

    Since 2005, the AfDB has issued bonds denominated in or linked to seven African currencies. It is also a regular issuer in South African rand, its third largest lending currency.

    IFC said it wants to strengthen its presence in Ethiopia and in post-conflict or fragile states such as South Sudan, Thierry Tanoh, vice president for sub-Saharan Africa,.

  • 150 Feared Dead in Nigeria Plane Crash

    {{A Plane has crashed into a building in Nigerias Commercia Capital Lagos. Over150 passengers are feared dead.

    “It was a Dana (airline) flight out of (the capital) Abuja to Lagos with about 153 people on board,” Nigeria’s head of civil aviation Harold Demuren said.}}

    Residents said the plane had been coming in low, making a loud noise, when it slammed into the residential area.

    “It was flying low with a lot of noise for about five minutes before it crashed into the residential area,” one resident said. “It then burst into flames.”

    A spokesman for Nigerian airline Dana confirmed one of its planes was involved in the crash but could not immediately provide further details.

    Thick smoke rose from the area near the Lagos airport and flames could be seen coming from the building.

    Asked if anyone likely survived the crash he said, “I don’t believe there are any survivors.”

    Lagos State police spokesman Joseph Jaiyeoba told local media that the plane went down in the Iju neighbourhood on the mainland of the city where the bulk of the city’s population lives.

    Hundreds of residents swarmed the area to see what had happened.

    “I can confirm that one of our planes crashed today on the outskirts of Lagos,” Tony Usidamen told local Media. “We lost communication with the aircraft. We are going to issue an official statement.”

    Nigeria has a spotty aviation record, though Dana has been considered to be a relatively safe domestic airline. It began flights in 2008 and had been operating up to 27 daily flights.

    Dana Air started operating in November 2008 and today is one of Nigeria’s main airlines, flying a fleet of MD-83 aircraft, according to information on its website.

    Its aircraft make daily flights between Abuja, Calabar, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Uyo.

    Lagos, the largest city in Africa’s most populous nation, is home to an estimated 15 million people. Built around a lagoon on the Atlantic coast, it is thought to be the largest city in Africa.

    This latest incident came after another plane crash on Saturday night in the capital of the nearby West African nation of Ghana, which saw a cargo plane overshoot a runway and hit a passenger bus, killing at least 10 people.

    The Allied Air cargo plane had departed from Lagos and was to land in Accra.

  • Two Women Arrested Over Smuggled Narcotics

    {{Two Rwandan Women are being detained at a Police station in Rubavu district being investigated for allegedly illegally importing Marijuana from DRCongo and distributing it to different parts in Rwanda.}}

    The suspects have been identified as Umutoni Shakira and one Uwamahoro. They were arrested at Barinda’s home located at Rugerero sector in posession with two bags of marijuana of upto 70Kgs.

    Sources say Barinda and his wife who have also escaped are highly suspected of providing market for purchase of the narcotics from DRCongo.

    Umutoni is suspected to be dealing with the Barinda’s and she was arrested in posession with the narcotics. While Uwamahoro is suspected of distributing the narcotics to other parts of Rwanda especially Kigali city.

    Police sturnly warns citizens engaged in consuming,selling and distributing narcotics saying such is a serious crime punishable by the law.

  • UN Climate talks Going Nowhere—Expert

    {{In Bonn Germany, the UN climate talks are going nowhere, as politicians dither or bicker while the pace of warming dangerously speeds up, one of the architects of the Kyoto Protocol has said.}}

    “It seems to me that negotiations are returning to square one,” said Raul Estrada, the “father” of the world’s only treaty to specify curbs in greenhouse gases, as the first talks for a new global pact took place in Bonn.

    Estrada has defended his beleaguered accord and said efforts to engineer a replacement were in trouble.

    “We are throwing the dice and then we advance three or four places. Then you throw again and you go back. This is the exercise on climate,” said the Argentine ex-diplomat who steered the historic 1997 conference which yielded Kyoto’s framework.

    Kyoto binds 37 rich nations to reducing carbon emissions but does not have any targeted commitments for poor economies.

    It is a format that critics say is hopelessly out of date today, given that China, India and Brazil are now giant emitters.

    Kyoto’s first roster of pledges expires at the end of the year. Renewing it is one of several keys to unlocking a wider deal to be completed by 2015 and take effect by 2020.

    Kyoto “is an excellent source of experience for any successor treaty,” Estrada said.

    He added he had “serious concerns” about the 2020 negotiations launched last December in South Africa under the 194-party UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

    Senior officials met last week in Bonn for the first round of talks to follow up the so-called Durban Platform.

    The 11-day parlay ended on May 25.

    “There is very little science in the discussion, mostly political interests or political arguments trying to use things that were decided 20 or 30 years ago,” Estrada said.

    With climate discussions in a fragile state since the chaotic 2009 Copenhagen Summit, Estrada said political and economic problems at home were preventing many countries from tackling climate change with the urgency it needed.

    New research recently predicted Earth’s temperature rising by as much as five degrees Celsius (9.0 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels on current pledges, instead of the 2 C (3.6 F) limit targeted under the UNFCCC banner.

    He pointed the finger at countries that had failed to live up to their Kyoto undertakings.

    “I’m frustrated by those governments with whom we adopted the protocol unanimously in Kyoto, not by consensus but unanimously and later didn’t ratify it like the US or, having ratified the protocol, now they don’t comply with it, like Canada and Italy,” said Estrada.

    Kyoto, which came into force in 2005, envisioned a five-per cent reduction of warming gas emissions by rich countries by 2012 from 1990 levels.

    Globally, though, emissions have leapt to ever greater heights, driven especially by emerging giants which are burning coal to power their growth.

    The United States signed but did not ratify the accord, while Russia and Japan have said they did not intend to sign up after Kyoto expires this year.

    Canada has become the only country to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol, and recently said it would not achieve the target of reducing emissions by 17 per cent by 2020 from 2005 levels.

    Estrada said the new 2020 pact must include emission targets not only for countries but for industrial sectors, too — “the amount of carbon you are going to emit by ton of iron or steel or 1,000 megawatts or something like that.”

  • Two Arrested over Abortion

    {{Police at Nyamata, Bugesera district is holding Akimana Jean Claude suspected of aiding a young woman to carryout an abortion.}}

    The lady who hadnt been identified by press time said, she willingly asked Akimana to help her with aborting. She is a student at a highschool in Nyanza district.

    She added that her new boyfriend had asked her to abort the baby promising to marry her in return. The father of the baby was a different man.

    However, Akimana says he didn’t help the young woman to abort but was only admnistering medication to contain her excessive bleeding condition.

    Early Sunday morning, the local defence official Rucyahana Théogene bagiye visited Akimana’s home where they found the young woman. It was discovered that She was staying at Akimana’s home without being registered at the Mudugudu and also a coctail of drugs were found in the house.

    Akimana told Nyamata Police he didn’t intend to help the young woman in carryingout the abortion but he was contacted by other people who brought the lady to his place because he had previously been training as a nurse although he droppedout.

    Akimana further told police that the lady had been brought to his place by other people who claimed that this lady had faulty menstration cycle characterised by overbleeding.

    However, the lady said, she was taken to Akimana to carryout an abortion because the new boyfriend had insisted that he wouldnt marry her if she contained the pregnancy of another man. She was allegedly more than four weeks pregnant.

  • UN document Reveals Rwanda Had French Mistral missiles

    {{A french paper-Libération reports that the Rwandan army was in possession of 15 French Mistral missiles on the eve of the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

    It cites a UN document which, it argues, raises questions about the role Paris played in Kigali in the years and months prior to the genocide.

    Mystery surrounds the discovery of a UN document by a British journalist which reveals the presence of 15 French Mistral ground-to-air missiles in the Rwandan army arsenal in the build-up to the 1994 genocide.

    At the time, the exportation of these missiles was strictly forbidden.}}