[New interventions on behalf of the international community regarding the Somali drama provide some hope of a resolution to the current and disastrous drought and famine in the Horn of Africa.]
BURUNDI :
La visite de Jacob Zuma au Burundi suscite la déception de l’opposition
jeudi 11 août 2011/www.rfi.fr
Le président sud-africain Jacob Zuma est arrivé au Burundi hier mercredi 10 août 2011 pour une visite d’Etat. Il s’agit de sa première visite dans ce pays, où il a assuré une médiation qui a mis fin à treize années de guerre civile. L’opposition burundaise qui appelle à de nouvelles négociations avec le pouvoir, avait mis beaucoup d’espoir dans cette visite. Mais Jacob Zuma a rappelé qu’il était au Burundi pour renforcer les relations entre les deux pays.
Avec notre correspondant à Bujumbura
Annoncé à plusieurs reprises déjà et paré du processus de paix burundais, le président sud-africain, Jacob Zuma, a enfin atterri à Bujumbura hier, mercredi 10 août dans la soirée. Sa visite était très attendue par tous les acteurs politiques dans ce pays. Tout d’abord, par le président burundais Pierre Nkurunziza qui y voit une sorte de consécration politique, une légitimation de son pouvoir contesté par l’opposition.
Cette opposition a justement appelé hier matin, Jacob Zuma à amorcer des négociations entre elle et le pouvoir burundais. « Le Burundi est menacé par la reprise de la guerre », a martelé Léonce Ngendakumana, le président en exercice de cette opposition. Il s’agit d’une allusion très claire à l’existence d’une nouvelle rébellion dans ce pays, ce que conteste le gouvernement.
La réponse du président sud-africain a été tout aussi claire à son arrivée au Burundi : « Il n’est pas question de mener une médiation dans ce pays, pas du tout », a lancé Jacob Zuma, en expliquant qu’il était au Burundi pour une visite d’Etat de trois jours, en vue de renforcer la coopération entre les deux pays. Une prise de position ressentie comme un sérieux revers dans les rangs de l’opposition.
Burundi: Un soldat et cinq civils tués
11.08.11 /Avec Reuters
Un soldat a été tué et cinq personnes grièvement blessées mercredi dans une embuscade tendue par des hommes armés dans l’ouest du Burundi, où la recrudescence des affrontements fait craindre une nouvelle flambée de violences. Une dizaine d’hommes ont attaqué un convoi de deux véhicules, tuant un soldat et blessant cinq personnes, rapporte un responsable du quartier, Bonaventure Ntirandekura. Deux religieuses et un prêtre dans le quartier de Gihanga figurent parmi les blessés, ajoute-t-il.
Le Burundi jouit d’une paix relative depuis que les anciens rebelles hutus des Forces nationales de Libération (FNL) ont déposé les armes et rallié le gouvernement en 2009 après deux décennies d’insurrection. Les attaques contre les civils et les soldats se sont multipliées ces derniers mois. Uprona, le principal parti tutsi membre de la coalition gouvernementale au pouvoir, y voit le signe d’une nouvelle insurrection.
—Avec Reuters
Burundi : une affaire de viol, d’espionnage et de grève d’avocats
www.afrik.com/12082011
Patrice Faye condamné à 25 ans de prison pour viol sur mineures, les avocats du barreau en grève pour soutenir leur consœur accusée d’espionnage
mardi 26 juillet 2011 / par Michelle Nougoum
La justice burundaise a rendu lundi son verdict. Vingt cinq ans de prison pour le français Patrice Faye accusé de viol sur cinq mineures. L’avocate de la partie civile, Me Suzanne Bukuru, a été arrêtée le 15 juillet pour « complicité d’espionnage » dans le cadre de ce dossier. Ses collègues du barreau ont entamé lundi une grève d’une semaine pour soutenir leur consœur.
Burundi : Il faut cesser de harceler les avocats et les journalistes
août 11, 2011/ www.hrw.org
Les détracteurs du gouvernement s’exposent régulièrement à des arrestations et à des interrogations
(New York, le 11 août 2011) – L’arrestation d’avocats par les autorités burundaises et les campagnes d’intimidation lancées par celles-ci à l’encontre de journalistes sont préoccupantes, ont déclaré Human Rights Watch et le Comité de protection des journalistes(Committee to Protect Journalists) aujourd’hui. Bien que la libération de deux des trois avocats arrêtés mi-juillet 2011 constitue une démarche positive, le gouvernement devrait immédiatement cesser de harceler tant les avocats que les journalistes, ont commenté les deux organisations. La procédure lancée contre l’un des avocats libérés reste en cours, tandis qu’un troisième avocat, également arrêté fin juillet, demeure en détention pour des chefs d’accusation qui semblent porter atteinte au droit international.
« Les avocats et les journalistes ne devraient pas avoir à redouter d’être harcelés, voire arrêtés, lorsqu’ils communiquent entre eux », a affirmé Daniel Bekele, directeur de la division Afrique à Human Rights Watch. « Les procureurs burundais devraient imposer le respect de la protection juridique des droits humains et non pas punir les individus qui exercent leurs droits. »
Le 15 juillet, un procureur burundais a ordonné l’arrestation d’une avocate, Me Suzanne Bukuru, pour « complicité d’espionnage » après qu’elle avait facilité une entrevue entre ses clients, plaignants dans une affaire de viol, et des journalistes français qui exerçaient leurs activités au Burundi en toute légalité. Me Bukuru a été mise en liberté provisoire le 1er août, la procédure étant toujours en cours.
Le 27 juillet, des policiers ont arrêté Me Isidore Rufyikiri, bâtonnier du Burundi, pour « outrage à magistrat » après son intervention lors d’un rassemblement dans la capitale, Bujumbura, en soutien à Me Bukuru. Me Rufyikiri a été relâché le 5 août et les accusations portées contre lui ont été abandonnées.
Des membres de l’ordre des avocats du Burundi ont fait grève la dernière semaine de juillet pour montrer leur solidarité avec Me Rufyikiri et Me Bukuru. Cette semaine, environ 70 membres de l’ordre des avocats du Burundi ont entamé un sit-in devant la cour d’appel afin de protester contre la détention d’un autre avocat, Me François Nyamoya, porte-parole du parti d’opposition Mouvement pour la solidarité et la démocratie (MSD),arrêté le 29 juillet.
Me Nyamoya, qui a été accusé de subornation de témoins dans une affaire d’assassinat remontant à 2003, est également l’avocat d’un journaliste radio, Bob Rugurika, assujetti à plusieurs reprises à des harcèlements de la part du gouvernement. Les accusations portées contre Me Nyamoya s’appuient sur un nouveau code pénal qui n’était pas en vigueur au moment du délit présumé. Ces accusations ont été soumises à une prescription de trois ans pour infractions mineures commises au regard de l’ancien code pénal.
La Charte africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples et le Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques, auquel adhère le Burundi, interdisent strictement l’application rétroactive de sanctions et de délits pénaux.
En outre, les autorités ont à maintes reprises soumis des journalistes à des actes d’intimidation suite à la diffusion d’émissions perçues comme critiquant le gouvernement. Ainsi, depuis le 18 juillet, Rugurika, rédacteur en chef de la Radio publique africaine (RPA), a été convoqué quatre fois par le bureau du procureur public de Bujumbura afin de s’expliquer sur la diffusion récente d’émissions consacrées aux développements politiques. Ces harcèlements ont commencé après que la RPA avait diffusé un reportage sur un appel au dialogue lancé par un parti d’opposition et couvert la conférence de presse de la coalition de l’opposition. Un procureur a accusé Rugurika de diffuser « des informations incitant à la désobéissance civile ».
Par ailleurs, un reportage de la RPA a révélé que l’un des agents devant faire partie d’un comité chargé de la conception d’un projet de commission vérité et réconciliation était lui-même cité, dans un rapport de l’ONU sur les crimes contre l’humanité publié en 1996, comme étant l’auteur présumé de délits. Après la diffusion de cette émission, le bureau du procureur public a accusé Rugurika de diffuser des propos « incitant à la haine ethnique ».
Patrick Mitabaro, rédacteur en chef de la Radio Isanganiro, a également été convoqué formellement par les procureurs afin de s’expliquer sur les informations communiquées sur ses ondes. Le 3 mai, il a été accusé de « diffusion d’informations pouvant porter atteinte à la sécurité de l’État » après la transmission d’un entretien avec un chef de l’opposition en exil mettant en cause un projet de loi du gouvernement selon lequel tous les partis politiques devraient redemander un agrément sous six mois. Le 1er août, Mitabaro a été accusé de « diffusion de propos injurieux à l’égard de la magistrature » après avoir retransmis un entretien avec Me Rufyikiri dans lequel il prétendait que certains juges déshonoraient le système judiciaire à travers leurs actes.
Me Rugurika et Me Mitabaro ont été convoqués une nouvelle fois dans le bureau du procureur public le 9 août afin d’y être interrogés.
« Il est extrêmement inquiétant qu’au Burundi, des journalistes fassent fréquemment l’objet de harcèlements lorsqu’ils diffusent ou publient des opinions perçues comme critiquant le gouvernement », a commenté Mohamed Keita, coordinateur du plaidoyer pour l’Afrique du Comité de protection des journalistes. « Les innombrables convocations formelles de journalistes devant les autorités judiciaires semblent conçues pour les intimider et les empêcher de faire leur travail légitime. »
Informations de fond
Au regard du droit burundais, le président du pays est aussi chef du conseil de la magistrature, ce qui révèle un manque de séparation des pouvoirs entre les deux branches du gouvernement et rend le système judiciaire susceptible à une ingérence politique. En 2009 et 2010, Human Rights Watch a relevé plusieurs cas de juges mutés ou menacés car leurs décisions n’avaient pas été considérées favorables au gouvernement ou au parti au pouvoir.
Il s’en est suivi que des journalistes, des avocats et des personnalités de la société civile ont fait l’objet d’une série d’arrestations et de citations à comparaître pour motifs politiques. Bien que le gouvernement ait semblé faire preuve d’un respect accru envers la liberté d’expression en tolérant une manifestation de journalistes au mois d’avril, des agents du gouvernement et de la magistrature tentent en permanence d’intimider des journalistes et des militants de la société civile pour étouffer les critiques et opinions dissidentes publiques et d’affirmer que ceux-ci sont associés à l’opposition politique.
Un journaliste, Jean-Claude Kavumbagu, a passé dix mois en prison pour avoir rédigé un article dans lequel il mettait en doute la capacité de l’État à répondre à d’éventuels attentats terroristes. Il a été acquitté du chef d’inculpation initial de trahison mais jugé coupable de « porter atteinte à l’économie nationale », créant ainsi un précédent néfaste étant donné qu’aucun journaliste n’avait jamais été jugé coupable d’un tel délit. Kavumbagu a été libéré en mai.
Trois autres journalistes ont été arrêtés à la mi-2010 et détenus pendant de courtes périodes. Me Nyamoya, l’avocat, a été arrêté en septembre 2010 pour « menace à la sécurité de l’État » après avoir demandé au président de congédier certains membres des services de sécurité. Il a été libéré sous caution au bout de trois semaines.
Les différentes décisions prises par le système judiciaire dans le cadre d’affaires relatives à des délits contre les détracteurs du gouvernement soulèvent également des interrogations quant à sa neutralité. Par exemple, s’agissant du dossier d’Ernest Manirumva, un militant anti-corruption tué en avril 2009, les procureurs se sont abstenus de donner suite aux recommandations du Bureau fédéral d’investigation selon lesquelles des agents de police et des renseignements haut placés auraient dû être interrogés sur le délit. Un tribunal a maintes fois reporté les audiences relatives à cette affaire sans pour autant fournir de motif satisfaisant.
RWANDA :
Ex-Rwandan presidential adviser acquitted of genocide
(AFP) /11082011
KIGALI — A Rwandan court acquitted Thursday a one-time adviser to killed president Juvenal Habyarimana after he spent 16 years in jail on accusations of planning the 1994 genocide, an official said.
The trial of former university lecturer and botanist Runyinya Barabwiriza began in April this year after he was arrested in 1994 following the roughly 100-day genocide that killed around 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis.
“The judgement has been delivered. He is acquitted,” Rwanda court spokesman Charles Kaliwabo told AFP.
Prosecutors had asked for the maximum life sentence.
“The court has just pronounced a pure and simple acquittal on all the main accusations,” defence lawyer Protais Mutembe confirmed.
Barabwiriza was on trial for planning and inciting genocide and associating with criminals.
“He was present in the trial, dressed in the pink outfit of Rwandan prisoners,” said Mutembe. The reading of the judgement lasted four hours.
Besides being diplomatic adviser to Habyarimana, whose killing in a plane in April 1994 sparked the genocide, the Belgium-educated Barabwiriza also taught at the National University of Rwanda.
He was a leading figure in the late president’s Hutu-dominated National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND).
The Rwandan national rights commission had called for him to be freed.
Barabwiriza was in Dar-es-Salaam at the height of the April-July genocide, but prosecutors said what happened was a consequence of his planning.
East Africa: Rwanda, Tanzania Agree to Harmonise Border Security
11 August 2011/The New Times
Rwanda and Tanzania, on Tuesday, held the 13th session of their Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) that seeks to enhance and identify new areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The session, chaired by Foreign Affairs Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, and her Tanzanian counterpart, Bernard Membe, was attended by senior officials from the two countries.
Speaking to The New Times by phone from Tanzania’s seaport of Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mushikiwabo said that the meeting focused on various crucial areas including, strengthening security at the common border as well as jointly undertaking infrastructural development in both countries.
“We, in particular, discussed how we can put a stop to conflicts that keep arising as a result of cattle keepers crossing the border back and forth,” the minister said.
Mushikiwabo said that the Tanzanian government had promised not to allow some of its officials to politicise the issue.
“We have held private meetings and we received strong assurance that action will be taken not to turn these movements into a political issue,” she said.
The movement of cattle keepers has been ongoing in both the Tanzanian Kagera region and Kirehe District in the Eastern Province.
The meeting also provided a platform for the two sides to discuss areas of cooperation on foreign affairs, immigration, police, communications, social services, science and technology, trade and investment, tourism as well as conservation.
On infrastructural development, Mushikiwabo said that Rwanda and Tanzania will jointly undertake to mobilise resources for infrastructural projects for the benefit of the two countries.
She cited the Isaka-Kigali railway project and the rehabilitation of Rusumo bridge as some of the projects which the two countries are jointly working on.
“The feasibility study was done on the railway project; we are now jointly focusing on how it will be accomplished in a period of five years,” the Minister said.
She hailed the Tanzanian government for working with Rwanda to ensure that Genocide fugitives who could be hiding in Tanzania are brought to book.
The commission resolved to hold its 14th session of the JPC in Kigali in August 2012
Rwanda: African Prosecutors Pledge to Track Down Genocide Fugitives
11 August 2011/ The New Times
Prosecutors from African countries under their umbrella organisation, Africa Prosecutors Association (APA), have called upon all countries to cooperate with Rwanda to apprehend Genocide fugitives wherever they may be, to face justice.
Olyvia M. Imalwa, the president of the association, made the call yesterday while addressing the media.
This was shortly after members of APA, who are in the country to attend an African prosecutors conference, visited Murambi Genocide Memorial in Nyamagabe District, Southern Province and paid tribute to over 50,000 victims killed there during Genocide.
“I call upon prosecution authorities all over the African continent to cooperate with the office of the Prosecutor General of Rwanda, render assistance and persuade their governments to have these fugitives arrested and extradited to Rwanda or ICTR so that they can face the law,” Imalwa said.
The prosecution has often decried the little cooperation they receive from fellow African countries, especially those where indictments were sent to arrest fugitives.
“What I have seen here is terrifying. UN member states should cooperate and ensure that justice is served,” Imalwa, who is also the Prosecutor General of Namibia, added.
She noted that what happened in Rwanda during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi “cannot be explained it’s terrifying. Those who don’t know what happened to Rwandans should come and experience for themselves what happened”.
Imalwa acknowledged that people were killed innocently and defencelessly, adding that she heard about the Genocide “but I didn’t know that what I saw today is actually what happened. This is terrifying.”
Martin Ngoga, the Prosecutor General, noted that African countries lag behind in cooperating with Rwanda to apprehend fugitives on the African soil.
He explained that it was important for the prosecutors to visit the site to witness what happened and understand Rwanda’s call to bring to justice those responsible, and are still hiding in some of the African countries.
“Memorials are there to preserve history and help foreigners, especially prosecutors, who are charged with following up on those responsible for the Genocide, to understand what happened in Rwanda in 1994,” he said.
Ngoga said that his office would continue to fight for justice by working together with other countries where fugitives are hiding.
“Our goal is to bring to justice all those responsible for these atrocities and we will never tire until they are apprehended and charged accordingly,” he said.
At the memorial, prosecutors laid a wreath before they were taken through various chambers where over 840 bodies have been preserved with lime. They also visited several mass graves where victims were buried using earthmoving machinery after they were killed.
Murambi Genocide Memorial was designed to be a technical school and was still under construction during the Genocide.
Over 50,000 Tutsis, who had sought refuge there were killed when the Interahamwe militia raided the area on orders of area leaders, including Laurent Bucyibaruta, who was the Prefect of Gikongoro Prefecture, Capt. Faustin Sebuhura, who represented the army and the then Burgmestre of Nyamagabe Commune, Felicien Semakwavu.
Bucyibaruta is currently in France. Only 14 people survived the massacre, which took place at the school on April 21, 1994.
RDC CONGO:
Gestion des mines, de l’Energie et des Transports en RD Congo
Pana /12/08/2011
Afrique centrale – RD Congo .Le vice-Premier ministre de la RDC pour une synergie entre les ministères des mines, de l’Energie et des Transports – La synergie entre le ministère des Mines, celui de l’Energie et le département desTransports ‘est une solution devant mener à une coordination harmonieuse pour une exploitation optimale et rationnelle des ressources naturelles et minières en vue d’une éclosion d’une industrie minière forte en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC)’, a affirmé le vice-Premier ministre et ministre congolais des Télécommunications, Simon Bulupiy, à la clôture jeudi d’un atelier à Kinshasa.
Pour M. Bulupiy, la mise en œuvre de cette synergie permettra l’élaboration des projets fédérateurs autour des ressources minérales éparpillées sur toute l’étendue du territoire national.
Les participants à l’atelier de 4 jours ont, de leur côté, formulé des recommandations et des résolutions touchant à la réforme des secteurs des mines, de l’énergie et des transports. Ils ont aussi évoqué la problématique du déficit énergétique et des besoins de l’industrie minière, et formulé des recommandations sur la mobilisation des fonds, l’amélioration du climat des affaires et la mise en place d’un cadre de concertation et de suivi.
Ils ont en outre exigé que l’Etat se désengage des entreprises publiques des transports, et que les mines appliquent les dispositions du code minier promulgué en 2002.
Pana /12/08/2011
Les enseignants réclament une majoration de salaires en RD Congo
Pana /12/08/2011
Afrique centrale – RD Congo .Salaires enseignants – Des enseignants du secteur primaire, secondaire et professionnel du Bas-Congo, dans le Sud-Ouest de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), ont organisé ce jeudi une marche pacifique dans la province, au cours de laquelle ils ont réclamé la majoration des salaires des enseignants, dans un cahier des revendications destiné au Premier ministre Adolphe Muzito et remis au gouverneur de province, Floribert Mbatshi, a appris la PANA de source syndicale.
Ce cahier des revendications a été remis à l’exécutif provincial à l’issue de la marche organisée à Matadi, chef-lieu de la province du Bas-Congo, avec comme point de chute le gouvernorat.
Les enseignants veulent bénéficier de la majoration des salaires conformément à celle dont bénéficient depuis deux ans les secrétaires généraux de l’administration publique, avec l’application du 2ème palier de Mbudi, c’est-à-dire l’octroi des 936.283 francs congolais (soit 105 dollars américains) alloués à chacun des secrétaires généraux.
On rappelle que le salaire de Mbudi est un salaire négocié en 2004 entre le gouvernement et les syndicats de l’administration publique et qui sert de référence pour toute négociation pour les fonctionnaires de l’Etat. D’après ces accords, les salaires des fonctionnaires devraient être améliorés par palier, 3 au total. Mais, depuis 2004, les fonctionnaires n’ont bénéficié que du 1er palier, tandis que les secrétaires généraux, le grade le plus élevé de l’administration publique, bénéficient depuis deux ans du 2ème palier.
Pana /12/08/2011
RDC-Elections: l’Union européenne s’engage à envoyer des observateurs
radiookapi.net/2011/08/12
Le gouvernement congolais et l’union européenne ont signé, jeudi 11 août à Kinshasa, un protocole d’accord relatif à l’observation des élections prévues fin novembre 2011. Au cours d’une réunion présidée par le ministre congolais des Affaires étrangères Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, les ambassadeurs de la France, de la Belgique, de l’Allemagne, des Pays-Bas et de la Grande Bretagne ont confirmé la participation de leurs observateurs aux élections présidentielle et législatives en RDC.
L’Union européenne répond ainsi à l’invitation lancée par la Commission électorale nationale indépendante (Ceni), a déclaré Patrick Mutombo le porte-parole du ministre des Affaires étrangères.
Patrick Mutombo a précisé que l’Union européenne vient de mettre en place une mission d’observation qui doit arriver en RDC d’ici la fin du mois de septembre 2011.
« Nous avons pris toutes les mesures utiles pour faciliter, en temps utile, l’octroi des visas à tous les observateurs et le personnel de cette mission. Le gouvernement a même autorisé l’importation et l’utilisation du matériel nécessaire à la mise en œuvre de cette mission. Le gouvernement s’est aussi engagé à faciliter les procédures douanières nécessaires à cette mission », a-t-il affirmé.
UGANDA :
Uganda shilling hits new record low, c.bank action eyed
Fri Aug 12, 2011 / Reuters/By Elias Biryabarema
KAMPALA Aug 12 (Reuters) – The Uganda shilling quickened its retreat against the dollar on Friday to set a new record low as oil importers bought dollars, and traders said they were eyeing possible intervention by the central bank to stem the slide.
At 0810 GMT commercial banks in Kampala quoted the local currency at 2,800/2,820, weaker than Thursday’s close of 2,785/2,795.
“The oil sector came in and bought a huge amount of money dollars, possibly upwards of $10 million, and interbank demand is also still high, so the shilling is under a lot of pressure now,” said Faisal Bukenya, head of market making at Barclays Bank Uganda.
He said uncertainties in the global economic environment were also adding to the shilling’s woes and that the central bank, Bank of Uganda, was likely to inject dollars in the market to relieve pressure on the supply side.
“We are witnessing a period where capital is being eaten into by foreign exchange hikes. Bank of Uganda has this week not yet intervened though market players are patiently in high anticipation,” said a market report by Bank of Africa Uganda.
Bank of Uganda regularly intervenes in the forex market when the exchange swings widely either way to restore stability.
Traders say the local currency is also being undermined by the weakening of the Kenya shilling . Kenya, east Africa’s biggest economy, is Uganda’s key regional trading partner.
UGX Spot Rate…..UGX= Ugandan Shilling Money Guide…. UGX/1 Calculated Cross Rates……….UGXX= Deposits……UGXDEPO= Deposits & Forwards………….UGXF= Uganda Equities Guide……. UG/EQUITY Uganda All Share Index………ALSIUG Shilling background ….. UGX/BKGDINFO Ugandan Debt Guide………… UG/DEBT All Uganda Bonds…………. 0#UGTSY= Uganda T-Bills………….. 0#UGTSYS= Uganda Benchmark…………. 0#UGBMK= Central Bank BOUGINDEX Ugandan Contributor Index…. UG/CONT1 Uganda Coffee Prices…… COFFEE/UG01 (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Catherine Evans)
Uganda: Police Deploy Ahead of Protests
Michael Ssali And Isa Aliga/Daily Nation On The Web/10 August 2011
Police have deployed heavily in Masaka town,150 km west of Kampala, ahead of the re-launch of the Ugandan opposition nationwide walk-to-work protests.
The protest has been called to express dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of the high cost of living in the country.
Assistant Inspector General of Police Andrew Sorowen, who is in charge of the police crackdown, told a press conference Wednesday morning that the opposition will not be allowed to address a rally scheduled for 2pm at Nyendo central market because it would disrupt other people’s activities.
But Masaka Municipality MP Mr Mathias Mpuuga, who doubles as national coordinator of Activists for Change pressure group, which is leading the protests, says the opposition will go ahead with the rally at Kasana playgrounds.
Opposition Forum for Democratic Change president Kizza Besigye is expected to speak at the rally, which will also be used as a memorial service in honour of those who were killed during the earlier protests. A two year-old Juliana Nalwanga was shot in Nyendo, Masaka.
It is expected that the leaders will announce the next course of action countrywide.
Our correspondents on the ground say there is heavy police deployment backed up by military personnel and heavy military hardware.
In late March, the A4C announced protests following a sharp rise in the cost of fuel and other basic commodities.
The protests that were brutally quelled by police and other state agencies ended with nine people shot dead in Kampala, Masaka, Mbale and Gulu and most opposition leaders arrested and charged with various offences ranging from inciting violence, failure to obey police orders, assaulting police and being public nuisance.
Dr Kizza Besigye suffered injuries during the protests and sought treatment in Nairobi.
Bad news for former Uganda Commonwealth Heads Of Government
By Wolfgang H. Thome, eTN /www.eturbonews.com/Aug 11, 2011
UGANDA (eTN) – Civil society activists and anti-corruption groups celebrated an intermediate victory yesterday when the Constitutional Court of Uganda handed down their verdict that former Vice President Dr. Gilbert Bukenya could after all be prosecuted by the Inspector General of Government and did not enjoy the privilege of immunity from prosecution as he had claimed. While it could not be immediately ascertained that a final pitch at the Supreme Court would be made to stem criminal prosecution, it can now be almost taken as a fact that the immediate former Vice President of Uganda will face court and stand trial over allegations made by the IGG of serious wrongdoings when procuring a fleet of posh vehicles for the summit in late 2007.
Other politicians and civil servants, too, are now likely to face similar cases, as the IGG apparently held off further indictments until the Constitutional Court had declared its position. A number of former ministers, permanent secretaries, and other senior staff were under investigation by the parliamentary committee looking into CHOGM expenditure but were at least there let off the hook when the plenary session of the last parliament dismissed the report of the committee. However, with President Museveni then running on an anticorruption platform during the end of February general election, the Inspector General of Government was using the powers of that office to initiate prosecutions, and, in fact, publicly locked horns with the president who had declared his former deputy had no case to answer.
Immediate former Minister of State for Tourism Serapio Rukundo is now also awaiting his fate as the IGG’s office is said to be in high gear preparing more cases to go to court.
The general public, suffering from runaway inflation, is generally in favor of “big shots” being prosecuted.
Orient bank is sound despite takeover – Bank of Uganda
By Faridah Kulabako /www.monitor.co.ug/ Friday, August 12 2011
Kampala
The suspension of Bank PHB by the Nigeria Central Bank will have no effect on the operations of Orient Bank, Mr Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebilie has said.
In a statement to Daily Monitor on Wednesday, Mr Mutebile, the Bank of Uganda governor assured the public that Orient Bank Uganda’s financial condition was sound despite a suspension of its biggest shareholder’s license. “Orient Bank remains a standalone subsidiary which is fully capitalised. It’s in sound financial condition and will continue with its normal business operations,” the statement read in part.
Mr Mutebile, said the intervention to rescue Bank PHB had no impact on the operations of Orient Bank Uganda. Bank PHB of Nigeria’s licence, the majority shareholder in Orient Bank Uganda, was revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and transferred its assets and liabilities to Keystone Bank, a new bank in Nigeria.
Keystone holds about $1.86 billion, which is well above the CBN’s minimum capital adequacy requirement. Bank PHB acquired majority shareholding in Orient Bank in 2009, becoming a standalone subsidiary of PHB. However, in August 2009, in the aftermath of the global financial slowdown, CBN intervened to rescue Bank PHB, along with nine other Nigerian banks, which were short of capital.
They were then given up to September 30 to re-capitalise. According to CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, the bank has, however, failed to demonstrate capacity to re-capitalisation before the September 30, deadline.
Mr Mutebile said the transfer of Bank of PHB’s assets, which includes its shareholding in Orient Bank to Key Keystone Bank, will have no adverse effect on Orient Bank Uganda.
Orient Bank Managing Director, Mr Maxwell Ibeanusi said in a statement last week that while the changes in Nigeria are important for recapitalisation, the transition will be seamless and the bank’s staff would continue to deliver smooth and professional service. Other banks whose licenses were revoked include Afribank Plc and Spring Bank Plc.
Uganda: Sugar Crisis Shouldn’t Eclipse Other Vital Issues
10 August 2011/The Monitor
Is sugar the real problem? Aren’t we forgetting more important issues and focusing on something that is almost a luxury in many Ugandan homes? With 24.5 per cent of Ugandans living below the poverty line, does sugar really flicker in their minds?
It has been reported that the government has given a green light to the importation of sugar to boost the availability of the commodity on the domestic market. But this might still contribute to the widening of the current deficit given the fact that Uganda’s balance of payments is already weak as a result of trade imbalances.
With education and maize constituting the country’s major exports to the region, Uganda’s import bill is higher than its export earnings. The importation of sugar into the country will mean spending more dollars thus weakening the already frail Shilling.
According to experts, Uganda’s real problem is not sugar but deficit-financing. The country is living beyond its means. Uganda’s expenditure is 21 per cent of Gross Domestic Product and the government raises less than 13 per cent revenue, so we borrow consistently.
Traders in Uganda are not helping the situation either as they continue to import more than export thus depreciating the Shilling further. A fall (depreciation) in the exchange rate increases the cost of importing raw materials and component supplies from overseas.
The Shilling traded weak against the dollar and other major currencies last week to about Shs2,680, and having tip-tested Shs2,695 during the early morning sessions on Friday. Money markets have predicted that the Shilling might trade in the range of Shs2,800 this week. As of yesterday, the Shilling was trading at Shs2,720 against the dollar.
It is time to focus on large issues affecting the average Ugandan. And this should be in the sphere of increasing aggregate supply in the economy. Aggregate supply measures the volume of goods and services produced within the economy at a given price level.
In simple terms, aggregate supply represents the ability of an economy to produce goods and services either in the short-term or in the long-term. It tells us the quantity of real GDP that will be supplied at various price levels. The nature of this relationship will differ between the long run and the short run.
SOUTH AFRICA:
‘Two heads’ Zuma must quit Zim talks: Zanu PF
11/08/2011 / by Gilbert Nyambabvu / www.newzimbabwe.com
SENIOR Zanu PF officials have insisted that SADC facilitator and South Africa President, Jacob Zuma must quit his Zimbabwe role at the regional body’s summit due to be held in Angola next week.
Zuma put a few Zanu PF noses out of joint after his report to a recent SADC meeting in the Zambian resort town of Livingstone resulted in the party getting an unusual but firm knuckle rap over reports of violence in the country.
The Livingstone report so irritated President Robert Mugabe that he told his regional colleagues that he wasn’t minded to take instructions from them on how to run the country.
Now with the South African leader set to take over as chair of the SADC Organ on Defence, Politics and Security Co-operation, Zanu PF insists he must quit his facilitation role to prevent an awkward scenario where he would effectively be reporting to himself.
Zanu PF politburo member and former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said Zuma has to choose between the two roles.
“To say President Zuma should execute the two duties is utter nonsense. He should choose one of the two hats (and) he cannot wear two because he does not have two heads,” Professor Moyo told the Zanu PF-leaning Herald newspaper.
“If they insist that he should take the two responsibilities, they will be inviting clear conclusion that there is a sinister agenda. That will create unnecessary tension within the facilitation team and SADC itself.”
An unnamed “government official”, also speaking to the Herald, added: “The whole mediation role in Zimbabwe has got a historical anomaly that is inconsistent with SADC practices when it comes to facilitation roles.
“The SADC norm on facilitation is to rely on a former Head of State and not a sitting president. It is only the Zimbabwe case that has been subjected to a sitting President.”
But SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salamao recently dismissed Zanu PF’s claims.
“In 2008, former South African President Thabo Mbeki chaired SADC while he was still the mediator in the Zimbabwean problem,” Salamao said.
“Why does it have to change now? The fact that President Zuma will chair the organ is a mere coincidence; it does not change anything at all.”
However, Zanu PF says Salamao is a mere SADC employee dabbling in issues way above his pay grade.
“Salamao is just an executive secretary and he does not make authoritative decisions on behalf of the bloc. The issue of Zimbabwe’s facilitator is for Heads of State to decide on and he (Salamao) should stop causing unnecessary confusion,” the official added.
Zanu PF officials say they have been irritated by the “megaphone diplomacy” adopted by members of Zuma’s team which has been engaging Zimbabwe’s three ruling coalition parties, in particular, citing the “constant noise (made) by Lindiwe Zulu” who is accused of screaming outrage at any incident in the country, however minor.
More significantly still, Zanu PF suspects an unwelcome appetite within the facilitation team to entertain demands by President Mugabe’s political rivals and perceived Western enemies that elections must be delayed until political reforms are completed.
Fearing further delays could undermine its electoral prospects because of President Mugabe’s advanced age and concerns over his health, Zanu PF wants elections to be held this year or, failing that, at the earliest opportunity possible.
Moyo gave voice to the anxiety in an article published last weekend, noting: “The enemies of Zimbabwe peddling this narrative in and outside SADC have resolved to do everything possible to throw all manner of spanners in the works to ensure that there’s no election in Zimbabwe until the last second permissible by law in 2013.
“The thinking behind this strategy is that at that time it will not be practical or reasonable for President Mugabe to be a presidential candidate given the allegations that are being made about his age and alleged poor health.”
Mugabe, who turned 87 this year, was endorsed as the Zanu PF choice for the Presidency last December.
South Africa’s maternal mortality rate increases fourfold
Alex Duval Smith in Cape Town guardian.co.uk/Friday 12 August 2011
Unveiling of national health insurance scheme coincides with report identifying major increase in women dying in childbirth
South Africa’s commitment to reduce maternal deaths under the United Nations millennium development goals is headed for a crashing failure, amid reports that the number of women dying in childbirth in Africa’s most industrialised country has quadrupled in 20 years.
The figure was highlighted in a Human Rights Watch report published on Monday, five days before the South African government was due to unveil an ambitious national health insurance (NHI) scheme aimed at improving access to all primary care.
But Human Rights Watch researcher Agnes Odhiambo warned the scheme will backfire unless it is accompanied by a fundamental reorganisation of South Africa’s health service management. “There is something very, very wrong with South Africa’s health system. The idea of the NHI is to bring more equality and therefore more people into the health service. But if you have increased numbers of patients entering a system that is malfunctioning there is a danger that all you will do is chase them away,” she said.
The Human Rights Watch report, called “Stop Making Excuses: Accountability for Maternal Health Care in South Africa”, asks how it is possible that more than 4,500 mothers die each year in a country where 87% of women give birth in clinics or hospitals, maternity care is free and the government spends $748 per person, per year on public health. According to government figures, South Africa’s maternal mortality ratio increased from 150 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1998 to 625 in 2007.
The report concedes that South Africa’s high HIV prevalence plays a role. However, through interviews with 157 women in the country’s poorest province, the Eastern Cape, it found widespread evidence of unprofessional practices. Some women had been chastised for being pregnant, made to clean up their own blood, or denied services because they were foreign. One South African woman delivered a stillborn baby after waiting for three hours to see a doctor at a district hospital; nurses had told her she was lying about being in labour.
According to the UN, maternal mortality in developing countries is 450 per 100,000 live births, against a figure of nine for developed nations. Improving maternal health is one of the eight MDGs, adopted in 2000. MDG5 commits countries to reducing maternal mortality by 75% by 2015. While the target is ambitious, all but six sub-Saharan African countries have failed to achieve a reduction in the past 20 years. A total of 13 African countries have mortality ratios of more than 1,000 per 100,000 live births, but they are largely countries at war, such as Somalia, or emerging from conflict, such as Sierra Leone.
The launch of the green paper on NHI, to be followed by three months of consultations, is heralded as potentially the greatest transformation effort by the African National Congress since it came to power in 1994. ”The goal is to try and finance healthcare for everybody,” health minister Aaron Motsoaledi said earlier this week. ”NHI is one meaningful way to reach across the wealth gap,” he added.
It is not yet clear how the NHI will be funded, but analysts expect general taxation to provide most of the money.
Odhiama believes money alone will not improve the South African health system. ”Maternal health care is a reflection of the whole primary care system. Internationally, we have tended to see maternal mortality as an issue of resources. But in South Africa, reducing maternal mortality requires looking at the human rights abuses that are taking place. Donors should demand much more accountability in their dealings with South Africa,” she said.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has been working with the South African department of health to tackle the problems raised in the Human Rights Watch report. Siobhan Crowley, chief of health and nutrition at Unicef South Africa, said: ”A team of experts has been working feverishly to try to ensure that district specialist teams are put in place to provide oversight and accountability.”
But she feared the ambitious NHI project would overlook mothers and babies. “We would have liked to see much more explicit focus on maternal and child health in the NHI,” she added.
Motsoaledi, who is a medical doctor, is seen as one of the most committed ministers in the current government. He is passionate about NHI’s potential to act as a levelling force in a country where the existing two-speed health system offers superb care for the rich – including access to specialists of world reknown – and minimal health support for the poor, in rundown and crowded facilities.
Odhiama agreed that Motsoaledi ”is a commander who knows what is needed”. She said: ”It is the soldiers on the ground who are the problem. There is no vision at district and provincial level. We found teachers running health districts and managers who had been appointed for political reasons. No one has a sense of responsibility. A lot of blaming goes on. The lack of management just promotes inequality,” she said
TANZANIA:
Gem International Options 100% of Gold Project in Kilindi District, Tanga Region in Tanzania
Aug. 11, 2011/www.marketwatch.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Aug 11, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Gem International Resources Inc. /quotes/zigman/575416 CA:GI -7.41% has entered into an option agreement with Mr. Sylvester Byedile and Mr. Paul E. Millinga (the “Optionor”), to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in a gold property (The Negero Project), located within the Tanga Region of Tanzania. The Project comprises Prospecting License PL7119/2011, contains a total area of 30.69 square kilometers and is located 25 kilometers southwest of Canaco Resources Inc.’s Magambazi Hill Project.
The consideration for the acquisition is cash payments totaling CDN$475,000 and exploration expenditure totaling CDN$1,000,000. The Optionor retains a 2-per-cent Net Smelter Return Royalty of which, 1-per-cent can be purchased for CDN$ 1,000,000.
Cash payment schedule:
i) CDN$175,000 within 5 business days of written approval from the TSX
Venture Exchange;
ii) CDN$150,000 on or before 5 days after the first anniversary of Exchange
Approval; and
iii) CDN$150,000 on or before 5 days after the second anniversary of
Exchange Approval.
Work schedule:
i) CDN$150,000 on or before the first anniversary of Exchange Approval;
ii) a further CDN$350,000 on or before the second anniversary of Exchange
Approval; and
iii) a further CDN$500,000 on or before 5 the third anniversary of Exchange
Approval.
The Negero Project is located within the Neoproterozoic domain of the Mozambique belt, a potentially overprinted Greenstone – hosted gold terrane in northeastern Tanzania. The Mozambique belt is characterized by the occurrence of abundant high pressure – temperature (P-T) granulite-facies rocks including granulite, mafic – to ultramafic intrusions, granite gneisses and quartzites.
Small scale gold mining within the Project area has exposed quartz vein development and prominent potassium feldspar alteration within wallrocks, which include amphibolite and saprolite. Airborne geophysical data over the area shows significant structural development on both a NE-SW and NW-SE trend, similar to that of the nearby Canaco Resources’ Magambazi Hill Project. Grab sampling from metasedimentary outcrop, near the small scale mining area, returned assays values of up to 31.9 ppm gold (Au).
The location of the Negero Project within a potentially overprinted Greenstone Belt, the presence of crustal scale shearzones and nearby felsic intrusions provides significant potential for gold discoveries. In addition, the similarity in geological – and structural setting to that of nearby Canaco Resources’ Magambazi Hill Project, provides additional potential for gold exploration on the Negero Project.
Nico Scholtz, Pri. Sci. Nat., a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has approved the technical content of this news release.
Gem International Resources Inc.
Simon Tam, Director
THIS NEWS RELEASE SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION. “SAFE HARBOR” STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: THIS NEWS RELEASE CONTAINS FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS THAT ARE NOT HISTORICAL FACTS AND ARE SUBJECT TO RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES WHICH COULD CAUSE ACTUAL RESULTS TO DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE SET FORTH IN OR IMPLIED HEREIN.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Gem International Resources Inc.
Simon Tam
Director
(604) 871-9916
(604) 871-9926 (FAX)
SOURCE: Gem International Resources Inc.
Tanzania: Parents Call for Govt to Help Release Jailed Somalis in Tanzania
10 August 2011/ Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
Mogadish — Some the parents on Wednesday asked the transitional federal government of Somalia to help released their sons and daughters who are Tanzania and Mozambique jails.
Ahmed Abdi, a parent, told Shabele a son of his is in a jail located the Tanzania-Mozambique border which is called Mutawara.
Abdi says Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who paid a visit to Tanzania, did not focus on the jailed Somali young men, women in the jails of that country.
He spelled said the total number of Somali guys in that detention is 230; stating they had been in jail for four months.
With the appalling security and living conditions in Somalia, many Somalis have fled to everywhere around the world only to be indefinitely imprisoned in some African countries’ jails.
Most of the Somali immigrants were arrested while heading for South Africa.
Hundreds of Somalis are currently in the jails of Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique and other countries as they were held migrating illegally.
KENYA:
Rape danger as women flee Somali famine
Nino Bucci /www.smh.com.au/August 12, 2011
Women and girls fleeing the famine in Somalia for refugee camps are being raped, abducted and forced into marriage by gangs of armed bandits.
The United Nations said the journey to camps in Kenya was long and perilous and many women and girls had allegedly been attacked by Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government forces and allied militia in the country’s south-central region.
“Once they cross the Somalia-Kenya border or reach Dadaab – the world’s largest refugee settlement – their hopes of finding a safe haven are often overshadowed by new dangers and hardships, including the risk of rape,” UN Sexual Violence secretary general spokeswoman Margot Wallström said.
“I call on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease these gross violations of human rights.”
Tens of thousands of people, including 29,000 children, have died in the famine.
An estimated 3.7 million people, almost half of them from Somalia, are at risk of famine.
Ms Wallström praised Kenyan authorities for their handling of the crisis so far, but urged more support from donors to relieve the famine and stop the attacks on vulnerable women and girls.
“There is an urgent need for services to be provided to survivors of sexual violence and for effective camp management to minimise the risks facing women and girls,” she said.
“We should also improve monitoring and reporting on sexual violence to better inform our actions.”
The Australian Government has donated $41 million for drought relief in the Horn of Africa.
Kenya Re First-Half Profit Climbs as Revenue Increases
By Paul Richardson and Eric Ombok /www.bloomberg.com/- Aug 12, 2011
Kenya Reinsurance Corp., the state- run reinsurer, said first-half profit rose 15 percent as premiums increased.
Net income climbed to 1.03 billion shillings ($11 million) from 893.5 million shillings a year earlier, the Nairobi-based company said in a statement published in the Daily Nation newspaper today. Net earned premiums grew 11 percent to 2.32 billion shillings, it said.
Shares of Kenya Re, as the reinsurer is known, climbed as much as 4.4 percent and traded 1.9 percent higher at 8.20 shillings as of 10:30 a.m. in the capital, Nairobi.
Kenya to award gold mining licence to Goldplat: paper
Fri Aug 12, 2011 / Reuters
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya will award its first commercial gold mining lease to gold producer and explorer Goldplat in October, a senior government official told the Business Daily newspaper on Friday, enabling the company to exploit large gold deposits in the Lolgorien area in the country’s Rift Valley.
The Kenyan government will earn 4 percent in royalties of the value of each export consignment as well as a corporate tax tied to profits that Goldplat will make.
“We will issue Goldplat a special mining lease in October as prescribed in the law to allow for commercial exploitation of gold at its Kilimapesa site to begin,” Commissioner of Mines Moses Masibo told the paper.
Last year, Goldplat got permission to start commercial gold production at Kilimapesa’s processing plant.
Gold prices are up as much as 20 percent since June as investors seek refuge from stock market turmoil and sovereign debt crises. They breached $1,800 an ounce for the first time this week, having almost tripled from 2008 lows of $680.
Environment and Mineral Resources permanent secretary Ali Mohammed also said the ministry was considering granting a mining lease to mineral exploration firm Red Rock Resources in Migori, in western Kenya.
“These deposits should enable us to export between two and 10 tonnes of gold every month after granting two commercial mining licences this year,” Mohammed told the paper.
Kenya Invites Stanbic, Old Mutual to Help Boost Returns From Pension Fund
By Sarah McGregor -/ www.bloomberg.com/ Aug 11, 2011
Kenya’s National Social Security Fund, which has 110 billion shillings ($1.2 billion) in assets, said it signed up Stanbic Investment Management, Old Mutual Plc and four other companies to boost returns on investments.
The state-run pension company has also hired Genesis Investment Management, Co-op Trust Investment Services, PineBridge Investments and ICEA Asset Management, according to a statement handed to reporters today in the capital, Nairobi. Transactions will be handled by two custodians, Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd. (KNCB) and Standard Chartered Bank Ltd., it said.
The move will “guarantee the best return on investment,” Alex Kazongo, the fund’s managing trustee, told reporters today in Nairobi, saying the fund is aiming for profits that are 4 percentage points above the annual rate of inflation, which was 15.5 percent in July.
The managers have control over investments in stocks and government securities, which currently represent about two- thirds of the fund’s investments or as much as 65 billion shillings, Chairman Adan Mohamed said at the same event.
Real estate assets make up the balance of the fund’s investments and it will continue to manage those internally, Mohamed said.
Membership of the fund is compulsory for all employees in East Africa’s largest economy. The contribution for each member is 400 shillings a month, of which employers pay half. There were 2.1 million salaried workers in Kenya as of the end of last year, according to the country’s statistics office.
Kenya’s main stock index dropped 19 percent this year amid rising inflation that pushed investors toward fixed-income securities with better returns. Stocks are still a valuable, long-term investment for the fund, which is the biggest investor in the Nairobi Stock Exchange, Kazongo said.
“Ours is a long-term investment, so we’re not worried about the short term because we plan to be here for the next 1,000 years or more,” Kazongo said in an interview.
Sports Minister sets deadline for national football elections
Xinhua/www.coastweek.com/August 12 2011
‘I will be very disappointed if at this last hour if F.I.F.A. does not play its role in ensuring the
process is completed,” the minister saiD
.
NAIROBI (Xinhua) — Kenya moved a step closer to inviting FIFA sanctions on Thursday after the government gave a Sept. 10 deadline for football elections to be held or it would take over the process.
While reiterating the country was not afraid of a FIFA ban, the country’s Sports Minister, Paul Otuoma also directed the Independent Electoral Board (IEB) mandated to manage the polls to compile and publish the list of all voter clubs in consultation with stakeholders.
“We are not worried about the FIFA ban since we are lying at position 130 that we should not be but IEB must be allowed to execute its mandate and nobody, government, FIFA or other stakeholders should interfere with the process.
“The list of clubs should be made public and the criteria at arriving at them open to scrutiny by Kenyans since we have ran out of patience,” Otuoma said.
According to FIFA rules, only clubs that play Association Football have the greenlight to participate in the elections but the list of almost 1600 outfits released by IEB to take part in the process has been disputed.
IEB that indefinitely postponed the elections on Tuesday has come under fire for the delays in the process prompting the Sports Minister to intervene.
Hussein Mohammed, one of the eight candidates cleared to contest the post of chairman of Football Kenya, the body that shall be formed to run the country’s game after the elections said Otuoma’s declaration did not go far enough.
“We need a clear outline of how civic education is going to be conducted and all stakeholders should be involved in the drawing up the list and IEB has not given a concrete way forward.
“There is nothing to achieve if our petition is not heard and everyone is consulted and the next thing we will hear is a FIFA ban. The date for the election is not the issue, what is important is to put structures in place to run smooth elections,” he said.
It was the third day running that Otuoma, who had remained studiously silent over the issue, has waded into the elections saga that has seen the process deferred for the fourth time since the initial plan to hold them last December.
In calling off the elections that were due Saturday, IEB gave involvement of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission at the August 18 Kamukunji Constituency by-elections as the reason why the football polls that were first deferred to April then this month had been postponed.
“We do not know why we were invited to be interviewed yesterday (Wednesday) since once again, nothing came out of the process.
“IEB are confusing us with the way they are managing this process,” Hussein decried.
Speaking to parliament on Tuesday, Otuoma said the government had ran out of patience with the impasse over the elections as he blamed FIFA for failing to avert the stand-off that has thrown the whole process in doubt.
“We still have alternatives as government if FIFA will not honor their part of the bargain and as a government we are prepared to sever our links so that we can re-organize our own football,” the minister told parliament.
“This is the message I have told them very clearly that as much as we have taken one year to organize these elections and as much as the government has given them all the corporation, I will be very disappointed if at this last hour if FIFA does not play its role in ensuring the process is completed,” the minister said.
ANGOLA:
Angola: Brazilian Consultant for Major Contribution of Oil Companies
10 August 2011/AngolaPress
Luanda — The oil industry must contribute more to the development of other sectors of activity like the agro-industry and energy, said Wednesday in Luanda the Brazilian consultant, José Luiz Neves.
Speaking to Angop about “The importance of diversification of the economy”, the consultant of the Brazilian Oil Company, “Petrobras”, stressed the need of the oil sector to accomplish its universal principle, according to which stronger economies boost other fields of activity.
According to José Neves, in addition to State’s programmes of stimulation of the oil sector, the oil industry is also required to contribute to the development of education and health.
He said that besides investing in training of personnel for its sector, the oil companies are also required to invest in building capacities in various other fields of activity, with a view to a diversified, balanced and sustainable growth of the economies.
“Nowadays, as a result of the social responsibility, oil firms create direct and indirect jobs, invest in human resources, in health and protection of environment, to boost diversified activities, with a view to getting various sources of revenues for the economy,” he stated.
Oil firms also participate in production of alternative sources of energy in order to reduce consumption of hydro-carbons.
José Neves (50), born in the Brazilian State of Espírito Santo, graduated in Environmental Administration and is a post-graduate in the same subject and master in Maritime Sciences and Technology.
Angola: Country Engagement in Security Reform in Guinea-Bissau Highlighted
10 August 2011/AngolaPress
Luanda — The minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians abroad, Mamadou Tangara, said Tuesday that the authorities in Gambia have been following with satisfaction the support of Angola to Guinea-Bissau in reforming the defence and security sector.
In an audience granted to the outgoing ambassador of Angola to Gambia, Brito Sozinho, the Foreign minister stressed that the help of Angola is important to stabilising that “brother country” of the region and stressed that should be an example to be followed up by other African countries.
Due to the unavailability of the President of the Republic of Gambia, Yahya Jammé, the non-resident ambassador of the Republic of Angola to Gambia, Brito Sozinho, presented farewell greetings to the West African country’s minister of Foreign Affairs, after a four-year mission there.
Brito Sozinho stressed the good relations between Angola and Gambia, wishing for their betterment, as it is the desire of the Angolan President, José Eduardo dos Santos.
EN BREF, CE 12 Août 2011… AGNEWS/DAM,NY,12/08/2011
