[At a time when Somalia is struggling the drain of scarcity and famine, a flood leaves Somalia’s breadbasket underwater, destroying their makeshift shelters, creating the conditions for an extended famine and taking the area’s misery to a whole new level.]
BURUNDI :
Une personne tuée lors d’un affrontement entre les forces de sécurité et des hommes armés au sud du pays
Xinhua/www.afriquinfos.com/Mardi 2 août 2011
BUJUMBURA (Xinhua) – Une personne a été retrouvée morte le matin de ce lundi après un affrontement entre les forces de sécurité et un groupe d’hommes armés sur la colline Sebeye de la commune Buyengero en province de Bururi dans le sud du Burundi, a rapporté un correspondant de la radio nationale dans cette province.
Cette source indique que des affrontements violents ont commencé vers 18h00 locales, soit 16 h00 GMT entre les forces de sécurité (Police nationale) et un groupe d’hommes armés de fusils dans cette localité plus précisément dans la vallée de la rivière Dama.
Il y aurait eu plusieurs échanges de coups entre les deux parties selon la source d’information. Et c’est après échanges de ces coups de fusils que la police a retrouvée le matin de ce lundi un cadavre d’un homme qui aurait été fait otage par le groupe d’ hommes armés, selon ses propres dires.
Non loin de là, c’est un chef de ménage qui a été grièvement blessé à la grenade lancée par des inconnus dans sa maison à travers la fenêtre dans la nuit dimanche à lundi sur la colline de Karagara en zone Buruhukiro de la commune Rumonge toujours en province de Bururi. La personne connue sous le sobriquet de Mwarimu serait victime des conflits fonciers selon toujours la source.
Plus loin vers l’est du pays, ce sont trois personnes qui ont été blessées à la machette par un groupe de gens armés de machettes la même nuit de dimanche à lundi sur la colline de Muhindo de la commune Gisuru de la province de Ruyigi. L’ administrateur de la commune de Gisuru Egide Ndikuriyo qui a été contacté par Xinhua a fait savoir que les faits se sont produits vers 18h00 locales (16h00 GMT) et que c’est un groupe de cinq hommes dont deux étaient armés de fusils et trois armés de machettes qui ont fait irruption dans le ménage blessant grièvement à la machette trois personnes dont le chef de colline en la personne de Kagoma Léonidas. Son vélo a été emporté par les malfaiteurs et la boutique saccagée où des biens d’une valeur de plus de 230 000 francs burundais (183 dollars) ont été volés.
L’administrateur Egide Ndikuriyo a indiqué que ce groupe de malfaiteurs ont laissé des tracts dans leurs fuites vers la Tanzanie, pays voisin du Burundi à l’est. Ces tracts intimidaient le chef de colline qu’ils n’ont pas pu tuer.
Les communes de Buyengero et de Rumonge en province de Bururi au sud du pays et la commune de Gisuru en province de Ruyigi à l’ est du Burundi sont souvent des théâtres de violences entre des hommes armés et les forces de défense (armée) et de sécurité ( police) depuis les dernières élections générales de 2010 où des partis regroupés au sein de l’Alliance des démocrates pour le changement au Burundi qui s’est constituée après ces élections en ont rejeté les résultats.
Patrice Faye, un Français condamné à vingt-cinq ans de prison au Burundi
www.la-croix.com/1/8/11
À 58 ans, le Français, qui avait été désigné « troisième personnalité » du Burundi, a été condamné lundi 25 juillet à vingt-cinq ans de prison pour viols, notamment sur mineures. Ses avocats feront appel cette semaine.
Libération de Me Suzanne Bukuru après plus de deux semaines d’incarcération
Xinhua/www.afriquinfos.com/Lundi 1 août 2011
BUJUMBURA (Xinhua) – L’avocate Suzanne Bukuru du barreau de Bujumbura a été libérée lundi vers 9h00 locales (07h00 GMT) après avoir passé 17 nuits à la prison centrale de Mpimba, la plus grande prison de Bujumbura et du pays.
Pour l’ordre des avocats du Burundi, c’est une grande satisfaction et la même décision de la libérer devrait être prise à l’endroit de leurs deux autres confrères encore détenus.
« C’est avec une grande joie que nous avons appris la libération de notre client et consoeur Me Suzanne Bukuru au moment où nous nous présentions devant le juge siégeant en charge de conseil au tribunal de grande instance de Bujumbura (Mairie) pour demander sa libération » a indiqué à Xinhua Me Gabriel Sinarinzi, un des avocat de Me Suzanne Bukuru qui vient finalement d’être libérée.
Il a été rejoint dans ses propos par le porte-parole du barreau de Bujumbura Me Sylvestre Banzubaze qui demande cette fois la libération de deux autres avocats de Bujumbura qui sont incarcérés depuis la semaine dernière.
« Nous espérons que la même mesure sera prise pour nos confrères Me Isidore Rufyikiri le bâtonnier et Me François Nyamoya parce que les éléments mis à leurs charges ne peuvent pas justifier une poursuite quelconque. Alors nous en appelons à la bonne volonté du ministère public pour que ces magistrats puissent subir les mêmes traitements que Me Suzanne Bukuru, le plus tôt possible parce que un jour passé en prison, je le considère volontiers comme un jour passé dans une salle de réanimation », a de sa part indiqué à Xinhua Me Sylvestre Banzubaze.
Me Suzanne Bukuru avait été écrouée le 15 juillet 2011 pour avoir facilité le travail d’une équipe de journalistes français en mission au Burundi pour enquêter sur une affaire de viol commis par un français répondant au nom de Patrice Faye à l’endroit de six filles mineures. Le travail fait par l’avocate avait alors été interprété par la justice qui l’a emprisonnée comme relevant de la complicité avec les espions, ce qu’elle avait avec ses avocats contesté surtout que lesdits journalistes avaient pris le soin de demander l’accréditation en bonne et due forme et qu’ils l’avaient eu de la part de l’instance habilitée, le Conseil National de la communication.
Me François Nyamoya est quant à lui poursuivi dans une affaire d’assassinat d’un ancien représentant de l’OMS au Burundi, le Dr Kassim Manlan, où il est accusé d’avoir suborné des témoins en faveur de sa soeur qui était emprisonnée pour être une des commanditaires de cet assassinat.
Cette affaire d’assassinat remonte à 2003. La justice burundaise a emprisonné le bâtonnier Me Isidore Rufyikiri l’accusant d’avoir insulté la magistrature burundaise lorsque Me Suzanne a été emprisonnée. Au moment des faits, il avait traité le magistrat qui l’a emprisonnée d’être parmi les « petits hommes et petites filles qui font honte à la justice ». Ce qu’il ne nie pas arguant que de par la loi, il n’a injurié personne nommément. Plusieurs voix s’étaient levées pour demander la libération de Me Suzanne Bukuru et continuent même aujourd’hui cette fois pour la libération des deux autres avocats. Les cris viennent tant de l’intérieur que de l’extérieur du pays, surtout dans le monde des défenseurs des droits.
Burundi: 98 pour cent des réfugiés recensés originaire de la RD Congo
Pana /01/08/2011
Recensement Burundi – 42.680 demandeurs d’asile sur les 43.708 recensés au Burundi seraient originaires de la République démocratique du Congo(RDC) voisine où perdure l’insécurité depuis des années, a appris la PANA de source humanitaire à Bujumbura. Le Rwanda vient en seconde position avec 945 demandeurs d’asile recensés au Burundi, selon le bilan du mois de juillet 2011que dresse le bureau burundais du Haut Commissariat des Nations unies pour les réfugiés (HCR).
Les autres pays demandeurs d’asile proviennent d’autres pays que le HCR ne cite pas.
Pour entretenir les réfugiés et autres demandeurs d’asile, ainsi que les rapatriés, déplacés intérieurs et apatrides, le HCR a besoin, pour cette année, d’un budget global de près de 45 millions de dollars.
A ce jour, un peu plus de cinq millions ont été versés par les donateurs.
L’autre activité-phare du HCR est la récente ouverture à Bujumbura d’un Centre urbain de conseil et orientation pour les réfugiés (CUCOR).
Le centre met à la disposition des réfugiés et demandeurs d’asile des informations ‘claires, adaptées, non seulement sur le contenu de leur statut, mais aussi sur ce qui est attendu d’eux au sein de la communauté du pays’, précise le HCR.
L’agence spécialisée des Nations unies a réussi à faire revenir au bercail entre les mois d’avril et de juin de cette année près de 514.000 réfugiés burundais dont la plupart étaient recensés en Tanzanie voisine où ils avaient fui les guerres civiles cycliques de ces dernières années dans leur pays, indique le rapport du HCR.
RWANDA :
President winds up Rwanda tour
By Benon Herbert Oluka /www.monitor.co.ug/Posted Tuesday, August 2 2011
Kigali
President Museveni yesterday wound up his four-day state visit to Rwanda by witnessing the signing of three agreements aimed at increasing bilateral collaboration on environmental, agricultural and information and communication technology issues.
Earlier, the Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo read a joint communiqué. She said the three memoranda of understanding followed discussions held by ministers from both countries during the ninth session of the Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) held in Kigali ahead of President Museveni’s visit.
“The following MoUs were concluded and signed during the 9th Session of the JPC: the MoU on shared environmental issues between the Uganda National Environment Management Authority (Nema) and Rwanda Environment Management Authority (Rema), the MoU between Uganda National Agriculture Research Organisation (Naro) and Rwanda Agricultural Board (Rab), the MoU on ICT,” she said.
After signing the agreements, President Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart addressed a joint press conference in which they promised to work together to further strengthen ties between the two countries.
Mr Museveni conceded that there had been “previous misunderstandings” but said they were now in the past. “Along the way, there were some misunderstandings which we have transcended,” he said.
Strengthening ties
President Kagame on the other hand said, President Museveni’s visit was important to Rwanda because it enabled them to strengthen the relationship not only between the leaders but also between the people from the two countries.
“Meetings do not just take place to deal with problems. Sometimes meetings take place to be able to advance solutions or consolidate or do better things which are already being done in a good way,” he said.
The two leaders were, however, cagey about what they discussed during the two-day retreat at President Kagame’s country home in Muhazi. A day earlier, during a state banquet organised in President Museveni’s honour at the Serana Kigali Hotel, both leaders paid tribute to each other for their contributions to the liberation struggles in the two countries.
Mr Kagame, who was one of the 27 fighters who participated in the attack on Kabamba barracks at the launch of the Museveni-led National Resistance Army rebellion, thanked President Museveni, saying the NRA war had helped shape Rwanda’s own rebellion that he led to victory.
“For those of us who were able to live that life and who were able to participate in that effort, many lessons were learnt and our own struggle was only stronger because of it. We were not only inspired and energized but also strengthened. You personally provided us with singularly vital support when it mattered most, not just as a leader in our neighbourhood but also as a Pan African who was truly concerned about the plight of brothers and sisters,” he said.
Mr Museveni on the other hand thanked the Rwandan who participated in the war that brought him to power and said the government intends to formally recognise their contribution. He lauded President Kagame for reorganising the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) when it lost its first leader, Maj. Gen. Fred Rwigyema, at the start of their war against the government in Rwanda at the time.
Heroes
“It took some time to reorganise the RPF until after two years when they gained their strength. If the RPF had been defeated and come back to Uganda permanently, that would have been a problem for the people of Rwanda but also for the people of Uganda. So by the RPF fighting in Rwanda and consolidating their stay here, they also helped defend Uganda. And President Kagame played an important role in that. I know this for a fact,” he explained.
Mr Kagame said such experiences have helped forge lasting solidarity between the two countries and should continue to be the basis of even stronger relations between the people of Rwanda and Uganda and the whole of East Africa.
Health Highlights: Aug. 1, 2011
Posted: August 1, 2011/health.usnews.com
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
New HIV Test Proves Accurate in Field Test
A new rapid blood test detected both HIV and syphilis in a field trial conducted in Rwanda, according to researchers.
The clear plastic, credit-card shaped “lab on a chip” device provided results within 20 minutes and was 100 percent accurate in detecting HIV and 94 percent accurate in detecting syphilis, the Washington Post reported.
Compared to current methods, the new test could offer a quicker, easier and less expensive way to detect infectious diseases among people in developing countries, according to the authors of the study published online in the journal Nature Medicine.
“This is a big step,” Doris Rouse, a vice president at RTI International in North Carolina who specializes in global health technologies, told the Post. “Whats especially exciting about this device is that its rugged, easy to use and doesnt require a lot of infrastructure or training.”
She was not involved in the study.
Human Genes Can be Patented: Court
An isolated human gene can be patented, a U.S. federal appeals court has ruled.
Friday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a lower court ruling about Salt-Lake City-based Myriad Genetics Inc.’s patents for two genes (BRCA1 and BRCA1) whose mutations are associated with an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The case involved a number of researchers, scientific societies and women’s health advocacy groups who filed suit to invalidate the patents.
The case may eventually reach the Supreme Court, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Low Income, Poor Diet Speed Aging: Study
Having a low income or eating poorly can hasten aging, according to researchers who evaluated a test that predicts aging by measuring telomeres.
Telomeres are cap-like structures on the ends of chromosomes. Previous research has shown that people with shorter-than-normal telomeres have a shorter lifespan.
In this study, Scottish scientists used the $700 test to compare telomere length in 382 people. Over 10 years, telomeres shorted by 7.7 percent among people with a household income of less than $41,000, compared with 0.6 percent among those who made more money, CBS News reported.
Telomere lengths shortened by 8.7 percent among renters and 2.2 percent among homeowners, and by 7.7 percent among people with poor diets and 1.8 percent among healthy eaters.
The study is scheduled for publication in an upcoming issue of the journal PLoS One.
RDC CONGO:
Lourd bilan de l’épidémie de choléra en RDC
Publié par La Rédaction /topactus.com/le 1 août, 2011
L’épidémie de choléra qui s’est déclarée en mars dernier a déjà fait 279 morts en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC). Le bilan pourrait encore s’alourdir dans les prochaines semaines en raison du manque d’information des populations qui continuent de boire l’eau du fleuve Congo.
Le nord-est et l’ouest de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) sont les régions les plus touchées par l’épidémie de choléra qui sévit dans le pays.
Les provinces de l’Equateur et de Kinshasa qui bordent le fleuve Congo sont touchées depuis un mois. Les populations continuent de boire l’eau de ce fleuve par habitude alors que 4.062 personnes ont déjà été contaminées et que 279 en sont décidées.
En l’absence de toilettes, les Congolais font parfois leurs besoins dans le fleuve Congo, multipliant ainsi les risques de contamination.
Une femme de 35 ans figurent parmi les victimes enregistrées dans le petit dispensaire de Ngamanzo depuis le mois de juin.
Vital Kamehre désigné et investi candidat à la présidentielle de 2011
août 1, 2011/radiookapi.net
C’est la résolution du premier congrès de l’Union pour la nation congolaise (UNC), tenu du 28 au 31 juillet à Kinshasa. Après quatre jours de travail, le parti cher à Vital Kamerhe place le social, l’emploi, et la reforme de l’armée et de la police parmi ses priorités.
Pour le porte-parole de l’UNC de la diaspora, Embroise Lumbala, si son parti gagne les élections de novembre 2011, il se penchera aussi sur la question de la double nationalité.
«Ce n’est pas le fait de vivre en dehors du Congo qu’on n’est plus congolais, nous allons résoudre le problème de la double nationalité. Nous avons soif du changement. Le vrai changement », a déclaré Embroise Lumbala.
Il a affirmé que l’UNC va également s’impliquer dans la sécurisation des frontières de la RDC.
«Pour y parvenir, nous allons travailler avec deux forces, la police et l’armée. Nous allons aussi faire quelque chose qui ne se fait pas. La police n’aura plus le droit d’arrêter et de juger quelqu’un » a-t-il ajouté.
Kinshasa: un forum des jeunes du Congo, de la RDC et du Cameroun pour le développement
radiookapi.net/ 2011/08/02
Un forum a réuni à Kinshasa des jeunes de la RDC, du Congo Brazzaville et du Cameroun pendant 5 jours.
Cette rencontre a permis aux participants d’aborder plusieurs thèmes relatifs notamment à la lutte contre la corruption et les dévoiements, à la résolution des conflits, aux processus électoraux ainsi qu’à la sexualité responsable.
Les jeunes ont été invités à être au cœur des processus électoraux dans leurs pays respectifs.
Me Pépin Kuampuku, l’un des formateurs a estimé qu’un tel forum est une activité incontournable pour l’encadrement des jeunes dans la société où les mœurs sont dépravées.
UGANDA :
Uganda’s Central Bank Raises Benchmark Interest Rate to 14% to Curb Prices
By Fred Ojambo -/www.bloomberg.com/ – Aug 2, 2011
Uganda’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 1 percentage point, one month after introducing the rate, to help curb inflation and bolster the currency.
The Bank of Uganda increased the rate to 14 percent, Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile told reporters today in the capital, Kampala.
Rising food costs due to drought and higher oil prices boosted inflation in East Africa’s third-biggest economy to an 18-month high of 18.7 percent in July, the statistics office said on July 29. Inflation may ease to between 8 percent and 10 percent by July 2012 and reach 5 percent by the middle of 2013, the governor said today.
The rate increase aims to “curb the growth of bank credit in the economy, which expanded very rapidly in the 2010-11 fiscal year, and to provide some support for the nominal exchange rate, which affects domestic prices of imported goods,” Tumusiime-Mutebile said.
The shilling has slumped 15 percent against the dollar in the past six months, trading as low as 2,650 today.
“If the upside risks to inflation increase in the coming months, monetary policy will be tightened further,” the governor said. Inflation is “severe” and the central bank will do “whatever it takes” to curb price pressures, he said.
The central bank’s target is to bring the core inflation rate, which excludes food, energy and water costs, down to 5 percent. The rate was at 15.6 percent in July.
Higher interest rates won’t derail economic growth in Uganda, which won’t fall below 5 percent in the year through June 2012, the central bank said. Uganda, which will become Africa’s newest oil producer next year, is forecast by the government to expand 6.6 percent in the current fiscal year.
Uganda: Court to Rule On Whether Besigye Should Defend Self
Anthony Wesaka/The Monitor/2 August 2011
Kasangati — Kasangati Magistrates Court will next week on Tuesday give its ruling on whether or not FDC leader Dr Kizza Besigye should be asked to defend himself on allegations that he refused to obey orders of a traffic police officer.
Dr Besigye is accused of failing to obey the orders of the then in-charge of Kasangati police station, Inspector David Collins Mukiite, to stop sitting in the middle of the road at Lutete on Gayaza-Kampala Road on April 11 when the walk-to-work campaign began.
Yesterday when the case came up for submission before Magistrate Christopher Watyekere, Mr David Mpanga, the lead lawyer representing Dr Besigye asked court to acquit his client without having him go on defence, arguing that the prosecution failed to establish the ingredients of having a case to answer.
Last week the prosecution closed its case after lining up three witnesses to testify against Dr Besigye.
They included, Inspector David Collins Mukiite, police constable Patrick Maawa, a traffic police officer at Kasangati police station, and detective superintendent of police Kirya Bernard of Kampala metropolitan East.
Mr Mpanga in his submissions argued that Inspector Mukiite in his evidence failed to tell the court the exact words he used while instructing Dr Besigye to leave the road.
He further argued that Inspector Mukiite while being cross-examined told court that he requested, persuaded, advised Dr Besigye to leave the road and yet he is being charged with failure to obey lawful orders of a police officer in uniform which do not constitute the above offence.
However, the state prosecutor, Ms Gladys Nyanzi in her submissions argued that the words used by the witnesses like advised, persuaded, requested meant an order. She said these are English words which may sometimes be misused.
Uganda Government News: Besigye suspicious about Owino inferno
First published: 20110802 / Ultimate Media/www.ugpulse.com
The main opposition leader in Uganda has expressed his dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of the incidents in the country.
Talking to the traders who lost their property in the inferno that destroyed St. Balikuddembe (Owino) market, Retired Col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye said that the government’s silence on several necessary investigation reports causes suspicion in the minds of many people.
Besigye says that since the same market got burnt in 2009 no findings have been reported to the citizens. He says that all investigations cost taxpayers’ money.
He has asked the government to first put to public the results of the 2009 fire outbreak investigations before instituting another investigation team in the Sunday mysterious inferno.
On the fateful day the traders became riotous against the high profile police commanders who had come to observe the situation. The traders were alleging that the government has a hand in the inferno due its reported plans to redevelop the market.
SOUTH AFRICA:
South African Airways étend son réseau africain
Publié le 1 août 2011 / par Isabelle Blanco dans Actualité, Nouvelle liaison/www.air-journal.fr
Cet automne, la compagnie aérienne d’Afrique du Sud compte ajouter trois nouvelles destinations à son réseau africain avec Bujumbura au Burundi, Kigali au Rwanda et Cotonou au Bénin.
South African Airways continue son expansion africaine. Le 31 octobre prochain, elle ouvrira donc trois nouvelles destinations. Les capitales du Burundi et du Rwanda devraient ainsi être desservies trois fois par semaine, tandis que la capitale économique du Bénin sera reliée directement à l’Afrique du Sud par deux vols hebdomadaires. Tous ces vols seront assurés en Airbus A319.
A noter que le transporteur sud-africain propose déjà à ses clients de rejoindre Kigali via des accords de partage de codes avec Kenya Airways et Ethiopian Airways. Il retrouvera d’ailleurs ces deux compagnies à Bujumbura (aussi desservie par Brussels Airlines, Air Canada, Continental Airlines, KLM, US Airways et Lufthansa) et Cotonou (aussi desservie par Royal Air Maroc, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, etc.).
Depuis le début de l’année, la compagnie membre du réseau Star Alliance a décidé de se renforcer en Afrique. En mars, les vols à destination d’Entebbe (Ouganda) sont devenus hebdomadaires, tandis que les vols pour Harare (Zimbabwe) sont désormais opérés 18 fois par semaine.
South African Equities Head for Five-Week Low, Led by Anglo, BHP Billiton
By Stephen Gunnion /www.bloomberg.com/- Aug 2, 2011
The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index fell, slipping 223.98 points, or 0.7 percent, to 31,033.33 by 10:26 a.m. in Johannesburg.
The following are among the most active stocks in the South African market today.
Absa Group Ltd. (ASA) , the South African bank controlled by Barclays Plc, rose to its highest in more than a week, gaining 1.34 rand, or 1 percent, to 134.29 rand. Net income climbed 19 percent to 4.58 billion rand ($681 million) in the six months to June 30 as bad loans declined, the lender said in a statement today.
Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HAR SJ), Africa’s third-largest gold producer, gained for a second day, adding 1.58 rand, or 1.7 percent, to 93.84 rand. Gold rose as much as 0.6 percent to $1,629.05 an ounce as concern that global economic growth may be slowing overshadowed a U.S. debt deal reached in time to avert a default, spurring demand for wealth protection.
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP) , the world’s second- largest producer of the metal, advanced for a second day, adding 1.30 rand, or 0.8 percent, to 173.29 rand. The National Union of Mineworkers will discuss a wage offer from Impala with its members today, said Eddie Majadibodu, chief negotiator for the labor union with Impala.
Massmart Holdings Ltd. (MSM) , the South African retailer controlled by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., fell for the first day in three, declining 1 rand, or 0.7 percent, to 144.98 rand. South African anti-trust body conditions imposed on Wal-Mart’s acquisition of a controlling stake in Massmart Holdings may be insufficient, government ministers said today.
Merafe Resources Ltd. (MRF) , a ferrochrome mining company, fell for the first time in four days, declining 2 cents, or 1.9 percent, to 1.06 rand. Profit retreated 54 percent to 86 million rand for the six months to June compared with the same period a year earlier, the group said today.
South Africa: Syrian Civilian Carnage – Regional Bodies Need to Intervene to Protect Human Rights
1 August 2011/ Democratic Alliance (Cape Town)/ allafrica.com
The Democratic Alliance (DA) extends our support and sympathy to the people of Syria who are being killed and intimidated by government forces simply for demanding democratic change in their country.
This comes not only after months of rolling government crackdowns which have killed an estimated 1500 people, but also in response to the recent killing of 100 civilians by tanks and soldiers in the town of Hama.
Similar to the events across North Africa and the Arab peninsula, in which undemocratic regimes are facing the discontent of their people, Syrians are demonstrating against the 40-year rule of the Assad family which has responded to popular protest with extreme violence.
The DA worries that, without international and regional support, the people of Syria will become victims of an increasingly violent reprisal by government forces. We call on the Arab League, the region’s most important political body, to act on behalf of the Syrian people and secure the withdrawal of government troops from public areas so as to protect citizens’ human rights.
The Syrian demonstrations for democratic reform are part of the “Arab Spring” rolling across North Africa and the Middle East which saw its first success in Tunisia and Egypt, where civilians pushed out regimes that did not rule in the interests of the people.
But the Syrian government’s repressive response is also sadly part of the same narrative that has defined this “Spring” where autocratic regimes have employed violence against their own citizens to avoid democratic change.
It is time for the members of the Arab League to act responsibly by intervening to demand that President Assad respect the human rights of his people.
The DA recognizes the difficulties international bodies face when intervening in the domestic disputes of sovereign nations. However, the very reason we have these organizations is to provide leadership to prevent countries falling into turmoil and chaos, to provide relief when citizens face deprivation and to secure protection when civilians are targeted by unaccountable military force.
The Arab League must not sit by and tacitly approve of the violent actions taken by these repressive regimes, it must show courage by getting autocrats like President Assad to the bargaining table where both sides can commit to the protection of civilian lives above all else.
Today, the DA will be writing to the Secretary of the Arab League, Nabil el-Araby, to call on him to use his organization for promoting peace, stability and human rights in Syria.
Stevens Mokgalapa, DA Deputy Spokesperson on International Relations and Co-operation
S.African high speed train link takes off
2011-08-02 / AFP/ www.mysinchew.com
JOHANNESBURG, August 2, 2011 (AFP) – South Africa’s first high-speed train on Tuesday morning made its first trip between economic hub Johannesburg and capital city Pretoria.
The first train left Hatfield, the university district of Pretoria at 5.25am (0325 GMT), to the applause of passengers while the other train left a minute later in Rosebank, a commercial district on the northern outskirts of Johannesburg.
“I think the train is convenient for me. It will save me time and money, compared to the (minibus)taxis. I won’t be stuck in traffic, I will use it every day,” said Victoria Seipati, a student who was going to Pretoria who got on the train in Midrand a suburb between the two cities.
Although there were fewer passengers than expected for the first day of operation some braved the chilly morning and took the train for the experience.
“It was a smooth and exciting journey and we are very pleased.
“We came to Joburg for coffee, but it’s too early, so we brought our own,” said Grahame Gertsch from Pretoria.
The Gautrain — Africa’s only high-speed train — was originally scheduled to launch its Pretoria link on June 28, but the opening was delayed by water seeping into a tunnel along its southernmost branch.
Gautrain’s first leg, a link between Johannesburg and OR Tambo International Airport, opened last year on June 8, three days before the city hosted the opening match of the 2010 World Cup.
The $3.8 billion high-speed railway, a landmark initiative in a country with chronically underdeveloped public transport, will be supported by a network of feeder buses serving most of its 10 stations.
Gautrain can travel at speeds of 160 kilometres (100 miles) an hour, enabling commuters to make the trip from Sandton to Pretoria in 27 minutes.
The same trip takes about 45 minutes by car with normal traffic, and can take two hours or more during rush hour.
Local officials expect more than 100,000 passengers a day, mainly car commuters wanting to escape the region’s notorious traffic.
Thousands of Zimbabweans in South Africa Face Deportation
Peta Thornycroft /www.voanews.com/August 01, 2011
| Johannesburg
The South African government has finished processing applications from more than 250,000 Zimbabweans seeking permission to live and work in South Africa. The South African government has indicated that starting next month, any Zimbabwean in the country without authorization could be deported.
More than 100,000 Zimbabweans who applied last year to live and work in South Africa have already been given permission to stay, according to officials in the Department of Home Affairs.
A further 176,000 Zimbabweans applied by the deadline of last December 31 to stay in the country.
Those cases have been decided, according to Jacob Mamabolohead, who heads the Zimbabwe Documentation Project within Home Affairs. However, Home Affairs has not said how many Zimbabweans were accepted or rejected, and many of the applicants do not know the status of their application.
A civil rights group, People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty, or PASSOP, says it hopes there will be no mass deportations.
PASSOP director Bram Hanekom says he fears that if home affairs officials begin looking for illegal Zimbabweans, this could spark another round of xenophobic attacks. Several illegal migrants living in South Africa were killed in a wave of xenophobia three years ago.
“It wouldn’t be logical, it would put too much pressure on the South African situation. We are already continually combating xenophobia and tensions in certain areas,” said Hanekom.
Hanekom said it would not be in the interests of either South Africa or Zimbabwe for mass deportations of those who failed to secure the right to work in South Africa.
Hanekom said many Zimbabweans in South Africa send money home each month to support their families.
He also said that Zimbabwe’s frail economy would be destabilized if thousands of Zimbabweans were forcibly sent back home.
“Zimbabwe’s current situation would obviously be put under immense pressure if large numbers of people were returned to Zimbabwe,” he said. “Economically, Zimbabwe would be put under more pressure because the remittances would be reduced.”
The home affairs department says there will be no “mass deportations” of Zimbabweans who failed to secure work permits. But officials have not ruled individual deportations.
Tara Polzer Ngwato, a migration expert from the Africa Centre in Johannesburg, said deportation was traumatic and expensive, and experience showed that many Zimbabweans who were previously sent home from South Africa found ways of returning because they could not survive at home.
Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have made their way to South Africa in recent years to escape their country’s political turmoil and an economy that was ravaged by hyperinflation. Some reports put the number of illegal Zimbabweans in the country at more than one million, but the exact number remains unclear.
S.Africa says Wal-Mart’s supplier fund not enough
Tue Aug 2, 2011 / Reuters
PRETORIA (Reuters) – Wal-Mart’s planned $15 million fund to develop South African local manufacturers is not enough, South Africa’s government said on Tuesday, a sign the country may want bigger concessions from the world’s top retailer.
While legal experts have said the government has little legal room to overturn a completed transaction, it was not immediately clear if South Africa could re-negotiate conditions of the deal.
South Africa’s anti-trust regulator approved Wal-Mart’s $2.4 billion bid for control of local retailer Massmart in May with minimal conditions that include the creation of a 100 million rand to develop local suppliers.
The three government departments that have appealed the transactions, said on Tuesday the fund was not sufficient to offset Wal-Mart’s impact on Africa’s largest economy.
“A 100 million rand supplier development fund could pale into insignificance given the likely impact of substantial shift to imports by the merged entity,” the departments of economic development, trade and industry and forestry and fisheries said in a joint statement.
The government wants Wal-Mart to increase the fund to 500 million rand, Business Report newspaper said last week, citing a government source.
Wal-Mart and Massmart have said the current appeals will have no impact their on-going implementation of the transaction.
The deal has been seen as a test for foreign investment in Africa’s biggest economy, which is home to both the continent’s most developed economy and some of its most militant labour unions.
UPDATE 1-S.Africa nationalisation talk hurts mining-minister
Tue Aug 2, 2011 / Reuters
JOHANNESBURG Aug 2 (Reuters) – South African mines minister Susan Shabangu admitted on Tuesday that debate inside the ruling ANC about possible nationalisation of the mining sector was hurting investment and job creation, but stopped short of dismissing the idea.
Instead, Shabangu used a breakfast meeting of mining executives to repeat the mantra that nationalisation of the mines in Africa’s biggest economy was “not government policy”.
“I am aware that the investors, and equally members and supporters of the ANC who want to see investments and jobs in the mining industry, will be disappointed because they want certainty and clarity,” she said.
Julius Malema, leader of the African National Congress’s Youth League, has been leading the charge for state ownership of the mining sector, and has forced the issue onto the agenda of a major policy conference next year.
Shabangu said the industry was itself partly to blame for the political pressure because of the “abject failure” of some firms to accept more black managers and shareholders, in line with the wider “black economic empowerment” push to redress the imbalances left by decades of white-minority rule.
She described this sluggish reform by the industry as “fertile ground giving impetus to the current debate about nationalisation”.
Malema’s rhetoric, which has also touched on the seizure of white-owned farms without compensation, has unsettled investors, not least for its parallels to the disastrous policies of President Robert Mugabe in neighbouring Zimbabwe. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard and Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Marius Bosch)
South African Vehicle Sales Growth Slows to 10.5% in July
By Mike Cohen – /www.bloomberg.com/ Aug 2, 2011
…South African vehicle sales rose at a slower pace in July than the month before as unemployment increased and economic growth eased in Africa’s largest economy.
Sales gained 10.5 percent to 45,703 vehicles from the same month a year earlier, after rising 12.6 percent in June, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa said in an e-mailed statement today.
Demand for new vehicles decreased as the unemployment rate, the highest of 61 countries tracked by Bloomberg, rose to 25.7 percent in the second quarter, from 25 percent in the prior three months. Manufacturing, which makes up 15 percent of the economy, grew 0.6 percent in May from the year earlier, while retail sales were unchanged in the same period, indicating a slowdown in economic growth, according to the government statistics agency.
“There were clear signs of slower underlying momentum in demand for new cars,” Naamsa said. “Subdued growth in private sector credit extension and in money supply, sharply higher than inflation administered-price increases, notably electricity and rising fuel costs,” are likely to negatively affect consumer demand going forward.
Passenger car sales rose 9.7 percent from a year ago to 30,030 in July, while purchases of light commercial vehicles, such as pick-up trucks and minivans, climbed 10.2 percent to 11,420, Naamsa said.
Exports rose 8.1 percent to 25,147 in July.
“Whilst the momentum of new vehicle exports remained positive, the July export numbers had been adversely affected by the fact that various automotive plants had lost a few days of production during the month as a result of widespread strike action in the steel and engineering” industries, Naamsa said.
One South Africa Bank bigger than nine top Nigeria banks – Banker
On August 1, 2011 / www.vanguardngr.com/BY OMOH GABRIEL, BUSINESS EDITOR
Nigeria’s top nine banks that featured in the Banker’s top global 1000 banks have a combined tier one capital of $11.332 billion.
This is lower than the $12.06bn of Standard Bank Group of South Africa which is, by capital base classification, the leading bank in Africa.
This fact is contained in the 2011 edition of the Banker Magazine, a publication of Financial Times of London. Bank of America, which occupies the first position in the global ranking, has a capital base of $163.626bn.
It is followed closely by JPMorgan Chase with a capital of $142.450bn. The third position is occupied by HSBC, a British bank with a capital base of $133.179bn. China has three banks in the top ten positions while Japan has just one.
The Banker Magazine’s endorsement has become an instrument that Central Bankers and bankers seek after as a marketing tool. The low level of capitalization of Nigerian banks, when compared to international standard, is a challenge to regulators who are at the moment busy fragmenting the industry.
The Banker Magazine, in its benchmarking of the top 1000 global, bank said that Zenith Bank PLC had, as at 2010, a total tier one capital of $2.405bn. It is followed by the first generation bank First Bank with a total of $2.221bn shareholders stake in the bank known as tier one capital.
The third highly capitalized bank by the standard of Bank of International Settlement BIS is GTbank with a tier one capital of $1.362bn. Access Bank followed closely with a capital of $1.149bn.
The United Bank for Africa (UBA), one of the oldest banks in the country, had $1.037bn as capital, making it one of the internationally recognized strong banks in the country.
Fidelity is next with $904m tier one capital. First City Monument Bank followed closely with $854m capital base. Diamond Bank had $705m while Skye Bank has $695m to feature among the 1000 top banks in the world.
However, the Nigerian banks do not rank among the top five in Africa. Zenith, which is the most capitalized bank in the country, ranks sixth in the continent. The top three banks in Africa are those from South Africa, with Standard Bank Group topping the Africa chart with a capital base of $12.062bn and is in the 94th position globally.
The second in Africa is the FirstRand Bank Holdings, South Africa, with a capital base of $6.036bn. The Needbank Group Limited also of South Africa came third in the top 25 banks in Africa with a capital of $5.716bn.
Attjariwafabank of Morocco, an Islamic Bank, is fourth with a capital base of $2.786bn. Investec of South Africa came fifth in the Banker ranking of the top 25 banks in Africa with a capital base of $2.519bn.
According to the Banker, two Nigeria banks featured in the capital adequacy ratio measurement. Fidelity Bank, the Banker, said has a capital to asset ratio of 28.8 per cent, making it the soundest bank in the country.
The report also said that First City Monument Bank, with capital to asset ratio of 23.89, made it to the 1000 soundest capital to asset ratio banks in the world.
According to the Banker, going by the Bank of International Settlement measure, Zenith was the only Nigeria bank that attained the 1000 soundest BIS ratio of 36.
The Banker report stated: “The banking landscape in Africa remains a case of potential unrealised, as its financial institutions’ share of the Top 1000’s overall assets and Tier 1 capital dipped slightly.
“However, the lowering of the average cost-to-income ratio in the continent did provide some good news.
“Africa’s banks have never constituted a significant share of the Top 1000 ranking, but with about 15 per cent of the world’s population, low levels of bank account penetration and vast natural resources, there should be no question over the continent’s banking potential.
“However, this scope for growth is not reflected in this year’s Top 1000 ranking, which featured just 30 African banks. The continent’s institutions accounted for 0.72 per cent of total assets and 1.01 per cent of total Tier 1 capital from the overall Top 1000 World Banks ranking.
Both figures are fractionally down from last year. Africa offers huge returns on investment for foreign institutions; A step in the right direction; The Gulf’s Islamic banks are targeting Africa’s opportunities”
It further said “South African banks continued to dominate the upper echelons of the African representatives in this year’s “Top 1000 World Banks”, holding four of the top five regional slots and accounting for four of the 10 highest movers.
“Standard Bank is once again Africa’s top bank. The Johannesburg-based bank increased its Tier 1 capital to $12.06bn, an increase of 26.15 per cent from last year, and a total almost twice as much as the second ranked FirstRand Bank Holdings’ $6.04bn. This was enough to place Standard Bank in at seventh in the regional highest movers table.
“For the most part, Nigerian banks halted the dramatic fall through the regional and overall rankings noted in 2010, following the implementation of much-needed reforms by The Banker’s Central Bank Governor of the Year 2011, Lamido Sanusi.
“Nevertheless, the country’s financial institutions certainly did not exhibit dramatic growth. Some, such as Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank, boosted Tier 1 capital, but others, including Mr. Sanusi’s former employer, First Bank of Nigeria, saw a decline.
None of the five new entrants made it into the African top 25, which showed little major movement. Notably absent was Libyan Foreign Bank, which was ranked ninth regionally in 2010 but did not submit data this year.
“There are some positive signs, however. The average cost-to-income ratio among African banks was 49.70 per cent, down from 61.87 per cent last year, despite an average increase in operating costs of 19.11 per cent, indicating a healthy increase in profits.
“Two Kenyan banks entered the lower reaches of the Top 1000 this year; Kenya Commercial Bank, which was the second highest mover among African institutions, thanks to 87.11 per cent Tier 1 capital growth, and Nairobi-based Equity Bank.
“It was a mixed bag for the Egyptian banking sector, one of the African success stories of 2010. The country’s institutions boosted their presence in the regional top 25 to five, but only National Bank of Egypt, Commercial International Bank and Banque Misr actually increased Tier 1 capital year on year. Arab African International Bank and Banque du Caire’s Tier 1 actually fell.
UPDATE 1-S.Africa’s Absa H1 earnings up 19 pct
Tue Aug 2, 2011 / Reuters
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 2 (Reuters) – Absa Group , the South African bank majority owned by Barclays , reported a better-than-expected 19 percent rise in first-half profit on Tuesday, helped by a decline in bad loan charges and rising income from transactions.
South Africa’s largest retail lender said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 638.5 cents in the six months to end-June, from 535.9 cents a year earlier.
Headline EPS, which excludes certain one-time items, is the main gauge of profit in South Africa.
The results compare with an expected 619 cents, according to the average of two analyst estimates taken by Thomson Reuters.
South Africa’s banks were hit hard by a 2009 recession that sparked a million job losses, eroded corporate demand for loans and left houses with ballooning debt.
Like its rivals in Africa’s top economy, Absa’s recovery has been slow as costs continue to rise and bad debts remain a concern. It has been on a push to rein in costs and take a cautious lending stance.
It is also looking to more business in Africa with parent Barclays. The two last month combined their African operations through a joint regional office.
Net interest income, a measure of earnings from lending, totalled 11.62 billion rand ($1.7 billion) compared with 11.29 billion a year earlier.
Absa rival Nedbank posted a 26 percent rise in first-half earnings on Monday.
Absa shares are down 5 percent so far this year, making it the second-biggest decliner among Johannesburg’s index of bank stocks. ($1 = 6.724 South African Rand) (Reporting by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura; Editing by David Dolan)
Mbeki warns on ‘re-colonisation’
August 2 2011 /www.iol.co.za/By Mogomotsi Magome
Former president Thabo Mbeki has warned about Western efforts to “re-colonise” the continent, saying these efforts must be rebuked.
According to Mbeki, who was interacting with students at the opening of the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute, these efforts were often hidden behind the globalisation argument.
Mbeki addressed a packed Senate Hall at Unisa, with the students who had enrolled for courses at the institute given an opportunity to ask him questions.
Mbeki was openly critical of the role of Western powers in the ongoing strife in Libya, saying the UN Security Council was deliberately ignoring African Union decisions.
“There is a worrying phenomenon of the need to recolonise the African continent. This is often expressed in the argument about globalisation, in that we live in times of globalisation, and instability in a certain region affects everybody and therefore there’s a need to intervene. You then have this continent Africa, where all these things are happening. It is like the colonisers are asking: did we leave too early?,” said Mbeki.
Mbeki said a decision had been taken by the UN Security Council to ignore the AU and to decide on the future of the continent without involving Africans.
According to Mbeki, last Friday’s decision by the Security Council to extend the mandate of the peacekeeping force in Darfur while the AU had agreed on beginning dialogue, was a clear example of the AU being ignored. “They took the decision on the basis that a suitable environment to engage in negotiations did not exist and therefore there should be no negotiations.
“In a conflict there is no suitable environment; we know that bombs will go off. If we had said in the early 1990s (in South Africa) that an environment to engage in negotiations did not exist, we would not have achieved what we did,” he said.
He said the African Union’s reliance on Western donors to support its operational programmes was hindering its impact and ability to implement its programmes.
“Recently, the AU could not follow through on one of its programmes in Libya because a donor refused to fund as he disagreed with the AU. The AU’s funding for its operational programmes is a challenge because before they implement they have to go to the donor.”
Mbeki said he was hoping that the institute would help produce leaders who would be able to implement the many decisions of the AU.
“This comes out of the general view that despite many good decisions that have been taken by the continent about its future, these have not been implemented.
“There are many treaties and protocols to deal with issues ranging from peace and security and gender equality. What has been missing is people who are familiar with these policies. There has been a gap between the decision-makers and the people with the capacity to implement the decisions, because as Africans we need to take responsibility for our own future,” said Mbeki.
The orientation for the course will take place until on Wednesday. – Pretoria News
TANZANIA:
Is the traditional hard copy novel under threatened?
Tuesday, 02 August 2011 / thecitizen.co.tz/Esther Kibakaya.
When was the last time that you read a recreational book apart from the one you might have been assigned by your school teacher or your lecturer?
The answer to this questions would probably be no to some if not many of us.
There is a common saying in Tanzania that the best way to hide the truth from a Tanzanian just put it in books.
This adage is a manifestation of how little time Tanzanians spend reading in their daily lives.
But while we still grapple with this truth, the publishing industry is undergoing what many call an evolution as some of the booksellers have had to declare for bankruptcy thanks to fast growing online services.
Early this year, Stricken US bookseller Borders, which has struggled with a long-term shift towards digital sales in the publishing industry, was poised to declare itself bankrupt after failing to reach a deal with bankers over liabilities of more than $1bn.
This happened after the bookshops found trading tough as readers shun high-street stores in favour of buying online or purchasing digital books for handheld readers such as Amazon’s Kindle or Apple’s iPad.
The question that many are asking is whether this trend will soon catch up in Tanzania.
This is especially with the dwindling number of people who visit book stores.
Emmy Johnson, is a sales person at the Novel Idea in Dar Es Salaam and despite the troubled times, she thinks the traditional hard copy still has room and it will take a while before a complete revolutions takes place.
According to her most Tanzanians are not interested in reading books that’s why it will take a long time to feel the effect of digital books in their business.
“The reading tradition is first of all none existent, here most of our customers are foreigners and some few Tanzanians, our sales mostly increase during the festive season when many buy them as gifts,” she says.
Just like many other booksellers admit, most of the sales goes to text books because that is what most people prefer to buy.
“We have students and workers who find it easy to come and look for books that they know will help them in their studies” she says.
The minimum price of books in most stores start from Sh15,000 but the prices are subjected to changes due to fluctuating power of the local currency, whereas those who wish to buy online spend up to $50.
Leila Abdallah, Macmillan Aidan’s general manager also agrees that it will it will take a long time for the traditional hard copy of books especially novels to disappear or to be under threat much given the poor reading culture.
“I am not saying that people have not yet started reading books on line, but what I know is that the number is not all that sizeable. At the moment there is no way how they can make a huge impact on sales of some book stores in the country because most of these stores sell education books and materials,” she says.
She also adds that the whole process of getting online access of purchasing books is still a challenge given the procedure that requires some people to have credit cards and the use of foreign currency.
“I sees great opportunities in digitalization, it’s not a sin not to be in print, but subscriptions are too expensive for many. Moreover, most projects, especially those in the commercial sector, are designed to facilitate the location of individual articles through online search. Very few offer the possibilities of browsing and experiencing a single edition of a publication from cover to cover so I fear at one point that it will be a privilege not available to many in the future,” she says.
So with that some people can ask themselves as why they just can’t spend some few hours and money to buy a book that he or she can move around with and read it whenever she or he feels like doing so in the future?
Jackson Steven, a second year student at University of Dar es Salaam like many book readers, still thinks that traditional hard copy of books still has a long way before they die because starter very few people have access to latest technology.
“Can you imagine someone who is not interested at all in reading a book, bothering him or herself to log in on internet to purchase or read it online? It’s not easy I can assure you,” he says.
Muslims Seize Christian Burial Sites in Tanzania
By Compass Direct News/www.christianpost.com/Mon, Aug. 01 2011
ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (CDN) – Influential Muslims on this East African island have begun building what appears to be a hotel on a 100-year-old burial site owned by an Anglican church, Christian leaders said.
Church leaders with ownership papers for the land told Compass they are disturbed that authorities have taken no action since they filed a police complaint in December about the seizure of the burial site three kilometers (nearly two miles) from Zanzibar city’s airport. Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago, including the largest island of Zanzibar (officially known as Unguja), is 99.9 percent Muslim.
“We see that the government is partisan and would not like to see the church grow in Zanzibar,” the Rev. Canon Emmanuel John Masoud told Compass. “The retired Chief Justice Augustino Ramadani, who is a member of the Anglican church, was appointed to be a link between the church and the government to facilitate the negotiation process, but it seems that nothing is bearing fruits. Hence the church is not supported in any way.”
Masoud led church members from nearby Mbueni to the site to offer prayers on Dec. 29, 2010, two days after the daughter of former Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume placed boundary markers and a metal storage container full of belongings on the land, indicating the take-over. Karume, who erected a fence on the property to indicate it was now included in his residential area, is the vice chairman of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi, a political party of which Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete is chairman.
After the prayers, the Christians removed the boundary markers, and church leaders reported the attempted seizure to the Mazizini police station, Masoud said. They also drew attention to the case to Second Vice-President Seif Ali Iddi. Church leaders said they were promised that the government would take steps to resolve the issue, and that the rights of the church were protected, but construction on the site that began at the beginning of the year continues after seven months, Masoud said.
“It has been even very difficult for us to visit the site, because it is always under police guard,” he said. “It is alleged that this upcoming building is intended to be a hotel or a swimming pool.”
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The church had planned to continue using the two-acre site as a Christian burial ground or build a Christian school as a memorial to those buried there, collecting the bones and burying them in one place, he said.
“It is quite uncalled for to see the government using force to take away the church’s premises,” Masoud said. “Freedom of worship given in Chapter 3 of the constitution seems not to apply here in Zanzibar.”
The church will continue to raise its voice in spite of the hostile environment, he said.
“We are very concerned about the state of the church,” Masoud said. “It is being subjected to various hardships. I am losing faith in our government. There is open discrimination. They are not serious in obeying the constitution, which safeguards people’s rights as well as the established institutions, like churches.”
Seizure in Pemba
Near the city of Wete in Pemba, the archipelago’s second largest island, authorities refused to help Christians who also suffered the seizure of their land at the hands of Muslims, church leaders said.
Wete’s Anglican church purchased a burial site worth 1 million Tanzanian shillings (US$630) in 2007 in Finya village, about five kilometers (nearly three miles) from Wete, but in November 2010 the Rev. Stephen Aaron Kamwendo received word that an unnamed Muslim forestry worker had begun planting trees on the site as a boundary marker and claim of ownership.
The forestry worker had unofficial backing from the island government, which supports opposition to Christian activity, Kamwendo said. He told Compass that rumors were flying that the church – which had lost its property in Wete after local officials decided to build on it – was planning to relocate to the two-acre property in Finya, prompting the Muslims to plan the takeover.
Kamwendo, who has ownership papers for the land, reported the case to the authorities in Wete and was told that the unnamed forestry worker had been given permission to buy the site. Officials told him that if he would be patient, they would resolve the conflict.
The church leader has also brought the matter to the attention of the president of Zanzibar, he said, but to date no action has been taken.
“We are being cheated like some children,” Kamwendo said. “Our rights are not respected. We see no commitment from the government. We shall continue demanding our constitutional rights, which are provided by the 1984 constitution and revised in 1995, which gives freedom of expression and freedom to change one’s religion as a personal choice and to share one’s faith freely.”
He added that there are many cases in Pemba of Muslims deciding to sell their land to Christians, only to face opposition from family members who threaten to call down curses on them.
“It is sad that Christians are not represented as far as their religious rights are concerned,” Kamwenda said. “Instead, all religious issues in Zanzibar are channeled through a Muslim mufti. We feel that our rights will not be presented, because the church is not represented.”
His church was originally located in the central business area of Wete, near a police station, but city planners decided to build a road through the property in 1989. By 1993, the church was forced to relocate its worship site to the present burial site, where the buildings erected are cracking because the ground there is still loose and unstable, he said.
The relocation of the church worship site resulted in the loss of a burial place for its members, prompting the Finya purchase. Kamwenda said church leaders had no choice but to relocate to their burial place, as it is difficult to get government officials to grant land for church purposes, and Muslims refuse to rent property for churches or even sell land to Christians, he said.
Pemba has a population of about 500,000, and Zanzibar island’s population is estimated at 700,000. There are only 60 Christian congregations on the archipelago, according to Operation World.
Zanzibar is the informal designation for the island of Unguja in the Indian Ocean. The Zanzibar archipelago united with Tanganyika to form the present day Tanzania in 1964.
Muslim traders from the Persian Gulf had settled in the region early in the 10th century after monsoon winds propelled them through the Gulf of Aden. The 1964 merger left island Muslims uneasy about Christianity, seeing it as a means by which mainland Tanzania might dominate them, and tensions have persisted.
KENYA:
Rift Valley Railways to Agree $164 Million Loan to Raise Capacity 4-Fold
By Eric Ombok -/www.bloomberg.com/ Aug 1, 2011
…Rift Valley Railways Ltd., operator of the Kenya-Uganda railway, will sign a loan accord to finance an upgrade that may boost capacity by almost four-fold, according to its biggest shareholder, Citadel Capital SAE.
The agreement, to be signed today in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, will form part of the $287 million that is expected to be invested in RVR over the next five years, Citadel Chairman Ahmed Heikal said yesterday in an interview. The loan is for $164 million, the International Finance Corp. said yesterday.
“This investment will not only greatly improve the efficiency of the railway, but that of the port of Mombasa as well,” Heikal said in Nairobi. The line links Mombasa, East Africa’s biggest port, to Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
Citadel, an Egyptian private-equity company with $8.7 billion in assets under management, owns 51 percent of RVR, which is mandated to manage about 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) of railway lines in Kenya and Uganda. Last week, RVR said freight volumes in the year to June increased to 1.61 million metric tons from 1.53 million tons a year earlier.
“The goal is to see that figure grow to 5 million tons per year by 2015,” Heikal said. “An efficient rail network could, in time, bring East African transport costs down by as much as 35 percent due to the operational and fuel efficiency of shipping by rail.”
Investment in the railway will include refurbishing the track, buying new wagons and locomotives and replacing information technology, Karim Sadek, Citadel’s managing director for east, central and southern Africa, said in the interview. The balance will be financed from new equity, existing shareholders and internally generated profits, Sadek said.
Capital Expenditure
“We are looking at a business plan that has roughly $287 million of capital expenditure,” Sadek said. In addition to the $164 million loan, “the balance comes from shareholders and internally generated profits,” he said.
The loan was provided by six development-finance institutions and Equity Bank Ltd. (EQBNK), Kenya’s biggest lender by market value. The African Development Bank is providing $40 million and KfW Bankengruppe $32 million. Other contributors include the International Finance Corp., Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden NV, Cordiant’s Infrastructure Crisis Fund, and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries.
“IFC is the largest financier with a loan of $32 million, $10 million already disbursed,” the company said yesterday in an e-mailed response to questions. “An additional equity investment of $10 million is planned, making the total $42 million.”
TransCentury Ltd., based in Nairobi holds 34 percent and Bomi Holdings of Uganda 15 percent.
Somalia famine: Refugees move into Dadaab extension
Mark Tran guardian.co.uk/Tuesday 2 August 2011
UN refugee agency begins moving thousands of Somalis, fleeing drought and conflict, from the outskirts of the camp into new extension to relieve overcrowding
The UN refugee agency has begun moving displaced Somalis to a new camp extension at the Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya to relieve overcrowding.
Relief groups are struggling with an influx of mainly Somali refugees fleeing drought and conflict that has left more than 12 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. Some 70,000 refugees have arrived in Kenya in the last two months; 40,000 in July alone, according to UNHCR. The number of refugees at Dadaab has swelled to 440,000.
More than 3,000 Somali refugees have been moved from the outskirts of Dadaab – 60 miles from the Somali border – to what is known as the “Ifo extension”.
The site will provide tents for 90,000 people by the end of November.
Latrines and water reservoirs have been constructed and are already in use by the 3,207 people who have moved there since last Monday. Two sites, previously known as Ifo 2 and Ifo 3, have been consolidated to form the new Ifo extension camp.
Ifo 2 was designed to relieve overcrowding last year, before the latest influx, when numbers at the camp hit more than 300,000. Dadaab is the biggest refugee complex in the world and was officially declared full in 2008. The complex is made up of three camps – Dagahaley, Ifo, Hagadera – and now the Ifo extension.
Some 15,000 homes made from mud and brick with corrugated iron roofing were going to be built at Ifo 2 until UNHCR received a letter from the Kenyan government asking work on the site to be stopped. Only 1,116 dwellings were built and, of the three schools to be built, two were finished. There is a health clinic and four water wells. As more refugees arrived in Kenya, some have been setting up tents by the Ifo 2 site, in what became known as Ifo 3.
Even with the new Ifo extension site, aid officials fear that it will not be enough to cope with the numbers pouring across the border.
“Opening Ifo 2 and the extension site is only one step towards getting assistance and protection up to international standards and towards durable solutions for refugees,” said Andrew Wander, a spokesman for the NGO Save the Children, who has just returned to the UK from Dadaab.
Save the Children says the number of refugees is so high there is a backlog of 16,000 people who have to live in the bush outside the refugee camps. This mean families, many with young children, having to live in makeshift shelters without proper sanitation and far from clinics, schools and other services.
The group says a backlog in the registration process, under the control of the Kenyan government, means new arrivals cannot settle in the main camp.
“Any children fleeing hunger and war in Somalia are arriving at the camp exhausted and clinging to life. We need to do better than pushing them out to live in the bush. When they are outside the main camp they struggle to find clinics, feeding centres and schools,” said Prasant Naik, head of Save the Children in Kenya.
The NGO is urging the Kenyan authorities to speed up registration by putting more resources into the camp and increasing the number of officials.
Refugees who arrive are given basic rations to last them for 21 days, until they register and become eligible for regular food distributions. However, many thousands have to wait longer than three weeks because of the backlog, so they subsist on the basics and rely on family and friends to help tide them over until the paperwork is complete.
In a worrying development, the International Rescue Committee is reporting an increase in rapes and attempted rapes in the complex. It says there was a four-fold increase in the number of cases of sexual violence compared with figures from January to May 2011, although the group did not provide absolute figures.
“More and more women are coming forward who have been raped,” Sinead Murray, an aid worker with IRC told the Associated Press, adding that most rapes go unreported.
Work has started in another site, near the Hagadera camp, known as Kambioos, where the land is being cleared. Plots are being demarcated and tents will be erected to house 90,000 people. By the end of November, 180,000 people will have been moved to both the Ifo extension and Kambioos sites.
While UNHCR’s airlifts have brought thousands of tents to Dadaab, there are not enough.
In Ethiopia, more than 75,000 Somalis have arrived in the Dollo Ado camp since the beginning of the year. The influx continues at the rate of 240 a day in Dollo Ado and 1,300 daily in Dadaab.
More than 800,000 Somalis are now living outside Somalia, while nearly 1.5 million are internally displaced, mostly in the south-central region.
Dominion Petroleum Acquires Second Oil and Gas Block Off Kenya
By Sarah McGregor – /www.bloomberg.com/ Aug 2, 2011
…Dominion Petroleum Ltd. (DPL) said it has been granted rights to explore another block, known as L15, in the Lamu Basin off the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya.
The London-based oil and gas explorer expects to sign the agreement with the East African nation’s government “in the coming weeks,” the company said in a statement on its website dated yesterday. Dominion secured exploration rights for block L9 off the Kenyan coast in March.
The two-year agreement for L15 will commit the company to spend at least $2.85 million collecting three-dimensional seismic data, with an option for two more years, over which time Dominion must drill at least one well, the statement said.
The company will serve as the operator and have “100 percent working interest” in block L15, it said.
Kenya: Balala Accuses UN of Conspiracy, Vows to Continue Giving to Islam
Brian Otieno/ Nairobi Star (Nairobi) /1 August 2011
Tourism minister Najib Balala has accused the UN of using diversionary tactics to cover its failure to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Somalia and Kenya, and to fight piracy.
Balala was mentioned in the UN Monitoring Group report on Somalia and Eritrea as having unwittingly funded the al-Shabaab through a donation to reconstruct the Pumwani Riyadha Mosque in Nairobi’s Majengo area. The mosque is the oldest in Nairobi.
Speaking during a free medical camp in his Mvita constituency, Balala maintained that he has no links with al-Shabaab and that his donation was made in good faith for the benefit of Islam. “My commitment is to my religion. My commitment is to Islam. I know I’m clean. I will continue donating for the good caurse of Islam,” said Balala.
He admitted having attended the fundraiser, but denied ever seeing, meeting or knowing Ahmad Iman Ali, the alleged chairman of Muslim Youth Centre. “I have never met the said Iman. I was invited to the fundraiser by Abdallah Ndope, the chairman of the Pumwani Mosque committee. “He confirmed to me that the money I donated was used in the reconstruction of the mosque, which I have personally proven and inspected,” said Balala.
He said he gave the Sh100,000 donation during the fundraiser and sent a further Sh100,000 at a later date and confirmed that the money was deposited in the mosque’s official bank account at Habib Bank, Koinange Street, Nairobi. The bitter Balala accused the UN of conspiring against Islam. He accused the West of intimidating the Arab world and especially the Middle East into cutting the funding of Islamic projects in Africa, particularly in East Africa. “They have failed to deal with piracy which benefits the West.
Now they want to further intimidate Muslims to stop them from donating money towards the construction of mosques. “It is our obligation as Muslims to help the poor and donate towards Islamic projects, especially construction of mosques,” said Balala. He said he is consulting and will be in a position to know what course of action to take after gathering all the facts. “I have instructed my legal team to look into the matter objectively and give me a report on Tuesday so we can see what next,” said the Mvita MP who received rare support from his political nemesis Kisauni MP Hassan Joho, Mombasa mayor Ahmed Mohdhar and Mvita aspirant Abdulswamad Nassir.
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights commissioner Hassan Omar also threw his weight behind Balala saying the report unfairly taints the image of Muslims donating money towards good project. “We must defend what is true. Let us not make a big issue out of a simple goodwill act of donating towards the construction of a mosque,” said Omar.
Speaking during a public forum on the constitution in Mombasa at the weekend, the human rights activist said such kinds of reports may bring differences between Kenyans, which might eventually destroy the country. Balala was particularly bitter that the UN never consulted him to verify some facts despite admitting that they have no evidence of his wrongdoing. “Why put names of individuals in reports if you have no evidence?” posed Balala.
Deacons of Kenya First-Half Profit Increases 73% After Opening New Stores
By Eric Ombok – /www.bloomberg.com/ Aug 2, 2011.
…Deacons Kenya Ltd., a Kenyan clothing retailer that plans to list its shares next year, said half-year profit rose 73 percent from a year earlier as it opened new stores.
Net income climbed to 45.6 million shillings ($500,000) in the six months through June. Sales rose to 1.03 billion shillings from 745.7 million shillings as the company opened new outlets, Deacons said in a statement published in the Daily Nation today.
Deacons said it had 29 stores as of June, up from 21 a year earlier, and plans to increase that to 34 by the end of this year. The company plans to open its first store in Rwanda in October and add another in Uganda as well as two in Nairobi, Chief Executive Officer Muchiri Wahome said in June. Deacons has stores in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and has acquired the franchise for Dubai’s Babyshop.
Kenya’s inflation accelerates to 15.5pc in July
Written By:Stanley Wabomba, /www.kbc.co.ke/ Posted: Mon, Aug 01, 2011
The month of July saw the inflation rate in Kenya shoot up to 15.53 percent from 14.49 percent in June.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates that the high rate of inflation was driven by the rising cost of food, Energy and fuel.
Since October last year, inflation has been rising in the country and according to the KNBS of Statistics last October had the lowest rate of 3.18 percent.
This has risen to the current figure of 15.53 percent in the month of July driven by increasing cost of food prices and fuel.
The average price of a 2kg sifted maize flour, continued to increase from Ksh 130 in June to Ksh 136 in July. The price of sugar rose from 102 shillings in June a kilo to 122 a kilo last month.
In the month however there was a notable decrease in the price of Potatoes, Onions, sukumawiki and cabbages.
The housing, water and fuel rose by 0.85 percent, due to increase in rent and the cost of cooking fuel.
Inflation may slow to between 8 percent and 9 percent by the end of the year if the central bank raises rates, while failure to tighten monetary policy may keep the inflation rate above 12 percent, the International Monetary Fund said July 7.
Inflation has surpassed the government’s 5 percent target every month since January.
In a statement Monday, KNBS director Anthony Kilele says the hotels and restaurants index went up by 2.17 percent due to high cost of food.
The latest rise in inflation continues to put pressure on the government to lower the cost of food and fuel even as Central Bank on Thursday last week maintained the lending base point at 6.25 arguing that any further tightening of the policy would be counterproductive in lowering the high inflation.
EN BREF,CE 02 Août 2011… AGNEWS/DAM,NY,02/08/2011
