Igihe

Author: b_igi_adm1n

  • Investing in Health For Sustainable Growth in Africa

    The African Development Bank will host a high-level ministerial conference on health financing in Tunisia, on 4 and 5 July, 2012.

    This conference is organized by the Harmonization for Health in Africa mechanism (HHA), in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

    It will emphasize the urgent need to get the best out of available resources in order to accelerate progress towards the health MDGs and beyond.

    Participants will include ministers of finance and health, parliamentarians, civil society organizations, private sector enterprises and representatives of bilateral and multilateral development partners.

    The conference aims at discussing how investing in health is key to sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa, and must be done in a manner that makes the best use of resources in the context of good governance and enhanced accountability.

    As witnessed in North Africa, citizens increasingly demand transparent and equitable social services.

    Africa’s economic emergence is changing the way we think about health financing. The future will be marked by making use of transparent evidence-based planning and budgeting and result-based financing as well as progressing towards universal health coverage and optimizing the opportunities provided by rapidly changing technologies, such as e-health.

    The 2010 World Health Report estimates that globally, 20 to 40 percent of all health spending is wasted through inefficiency. In addition, more than half of total health spending is paid out-of-pocket by African households and plunges the poorest into further poverty.

    The reduction of development aid to Africa additionally warrants increased domestic spending and greater domestic accountability.

    Ministers of finance and health therefore share the common objective of seeking the highest value for the money spent on health services.

    The conference aims to create a common understanding of the causes of ineffective and inequitable health financing.

    It also aims to forge consensus on remedial measures, in particular by raising awareness of successful experiences from Africa and promoting South-South learning.

    The conference is expected to result in the adoption of a framework for engagement and action, which would be used by governments to engage relevant stakeholders in concrete programmes to move the health agenda forward.

    The conference will also stimulate dialogue and enhance leadership and collaboration between ministries of finance and health as well as other national stakeholders like parliamentary committees, civil society, professional associations and employer organizations.

    Key topics of the conference include planning and budgeting for results, improving performance, health insurance, results-based financing, as well as sustainability of programs related to HIV/AIDS and maternal and child health.

  • Forum Urges Compliance to L. Victoria Basin Laws

    Officials from member countries of the lake Victoria Basin region have resolved to promote compliance to existing laws and regulations in order to realise the sustainable development in the Lake Victoria Basin.

    The resolutions were confirmed during the 3rd Lake Victoria Basin Stakeholders Forum which took place at the Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel in Entebbe, Uganda.

    Participants at the two-day meeting that concluded 29th June also commended the improvements in the coordination of sustainable development issues in the Basin, in line with the Kisumu Declaration of October 2009.

    The stakeholders who participated in the Forum included Uganda’s 1st Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs Rt. Hon. Eriya Kategaya, the Assistant Minister for EAC (Kenya), Hon. Peter Munya;

    Also in attendence were senior government officials, representatives of EAC institutions, knowledge leaders from various universities, environmental management agencies, investment promotion agencies, members of civil society networks, development partners and the key players from the private sector.

    Uganda Minister for EAC Affairs, Rt. Hon. Eriya Kategaya, told stakeholders that sustainability ought to remain the basis of mutual cooperation amongst institutions and agencies working in the Lake Victoria Basin.

    “Let me make this clear: there is enough room for all of us to strive to work together in the Lake and its Basin. What we really need to do is to strive to work together on the basis of mutual trust and respect for the various institutional expertise, values and mandates,” Kategaya said.

    The Executive Secretary, Lake Victoria Basin Commission, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, noted that the Commission had contributed to the harmonisation of coordinated actions in various ways.

    Under the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project Phase II (LVEMP II), he said, LVBC had completed the strategy on proposed options for establishing the Lake Victoria Environmental Trust Fund; the Lake Victoria Basin Water Hyacinth Surveillance, Monitoring and Control strategy; and a Basin-Wide Strategy for Sustainable Land Management in the Lake Victoria Basin.

    “I have no doubt that these strategies, when shared, understood and utilised, shall contribute to the environmental conservation and poverty eradication in the Lake Victoria Basin,” Dr. Kanangire said.

    Dr. Kanangire thanked the Lake Victoria Region Local Authorities Cooperation (LVRLAC); the Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) and East African SusWatch Network for co-organising the Forum and encouraged all stakeholders to actively contribute to the realisation of the gathering’s resolutions.

    The Lake Victoria Basin Stakeholders Forum is a biennial event organised by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission to share experiences on sustainable development issues in the Basin.

    The 3rd Lake Victoria Basin Stakeholders Forum was held under the theme: “Enhancing Partnership for Sustainable Development”.

    Participants had the opportunity to explore a diverse range of issues in four thematic areas, including: natural resources, environment and production systems; trade and investment; quality of life; and, knowledge management and information sharing in Lake Victoria Basin.

  • U.S. Warns Against Africa’s Extremist Groups

    The United States has warned that three of Africa’s largest extremist groups are sharing funds and swapping explosives.

    The U.S. is concerned that this could lead into a dangerous escalation of security threats on the continent, the commander of the U.S. military’s Africa Command said early this week.

    General Carter Ham said there are indications that Boko Haram, al Shabaab and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb – groups that he labeled as the continent’s most violent – are sharing money and explosive materials while training fighters together.

    “Each of those three organizations is by itself a dangerous and worrisome threat,” Ham said at an African Center for Strategic Studies seminar for senior military and civilian officials from Africa, the United States and Europe.

    “What really concerns me is the indications that the three organizations are seeking to coordinate and synchronize their efforts,” Ham said. “That is a real problem for us and for African security in general.”

    The United States classified three of the alleged leaders of the Islamist sect Boko Haram, based in remote northeast Nigeria, as “foreign terrorist,” on June 20.

    However, it declined to blacklist the entire organization to avoid elevating the group’s profile internationally. Police in Nigeria said members of the group seized a prison there Sunday and freed 40 inmates.

    Islamist militant group al Shabaab is active in war-ravaged Somalia and has been blamed for attacks in Kenya. Last year it claimed responsibility for the death of Somali Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan.

    Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an affiliate of al Qaeda based in North Africa, is mainly a criminal organization operating in the Sahel region. It kidnaps Westerners for ransom and aids Africa’s drug trade, according to intelligence officials.

    Concerned about Crisis in Mali

    U.S. and regional officials fear that a power vacuum in northern Mali following a military coup in March may open an expanded area of operations for Islamist militants. Some western diplomats talk of the country becoming a “West African Afghanistan.”

    Ham said AQIM was now operating “essentially unconstrained” throughout a large portion of northern Mali, where Islamists have imposed a harsh version of Shariah law.

    The group was a threat not only to the countries in the region, but also has “a desire and an intent to attack Americans as well. So that becomes a real problem,” Ham said.

    Emphasizing that the U.S. military plays mainly a supporting role in Africa, Ham said the United States is providing intelligence and logistical help in the hunt for Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, whose Lord’s Resistance Army is accused of abducting children to use as fighters and hacking off limbs of civilians.

    The International Criminal Court in The Hague indicted Kony for crimes against humanity in 2005, and his case hit the headlines in March when a video entitled “Kony 2012” put out by a U.S. activist group and calling for his arrest went viral across the Internet.

    Ham said he was confident that Kony would ultimately be apprehended by African troops.

    “This is an African-led effort,” Ham said. “It is the African Union increasingly taking a leadership role with a little bit of support from the United States military. We think that is the right approach.”

  • Things Men Do That Annoy Women

    Are you a man in a relationship with a lady? Do you know the things that a man does that women find annoying and irritating?

    Here is a list of some things that men do that women find annoying.

    Being Emotionally Unavailable

    People who are emotionally unavailable are people who create barriers between themselves and other people they are with to avoid emotional intimacy.

    Women find men who are emotionally unavailable annoying because womenfind it hard to create a connection or build a relationship with a guy who isn’t available emotionally.

    Focusing Too much on Sex

    Most women know that most guys have sex on their minds.Women find it annoying when a guy focuses too much on sex when she is trying to get to know him.

    Some women say that it’s difficult trying to figure out if a guy she is interested in is really into her or if he just wants to have sex with her.

    Looking at other Women

    Women know that men are always going to look but it still annoys them when guys do that. Some women in serious relationships will actually get upset if their man is looking at another woman.

    Giving her everything she wants

    This might seem like women would like this but they don’t.There is a type of guy that gives a woman everything she wants. He’s called thenice guy.

    Women actually get annoyed when you give them everything they want because they want a little bit of a challenge in their relationships.

    Women also want something to complain about to their friends. So if a woman gets everything she wants from a man then he is robbing her of precious complaining time with her friends.

    Author Deborah Tannen describes this as “Troubles Talk”in which people complain or talk about their troubles to create social bonds.

    Not helping around the House

    Some women don’t mind doing housework but they find it annoying when their man won’t offer to help.

    Being Submissive

    Women find it annoying when men are submissive because deep down the woman wants to be the submissive one even if she wont admit it. A woman likes a man that knows how to take charge

    Being Indecisive

    Women like when a man knows how to make a decision and comeup with a decision quickly. If she is out on a date and the guy can’t decide what restaurant to take her to she is going to start to get annoyed.

    Leaving the Toilet seat up

    I don’t think I need to explain this one.

    “Making her” feel insecure

    Yes. Women actually do get annoyed at men even for things that aren’t their fault or have no control over. Women get annoyed when they feel like a man doesn’t find them to be the best thing.

    If a woman feels like you don’t think she is special or that she is the most beautiful woman in the world she will be very annoyed and blame it on you for not complimenting her enough.

  • ICC To Sentence Congolese Warlord Thomas Lubanga

    The International Criminal Court said Friday it will on July 10 sentence Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga, convicted of using child soldiers in his rebel army.

    Lubanga was found guilty of conscripting and enlisting children.

    Lubanga, 51, was convicted in March of war crimes for using child soldiers in a brutal conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002-03, in the ICC’s first verdict since it started work a decade ago.

  • EGYPT Gets First Civilian President

    Egypt now has the first civilian head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the country’s modern Army.

    Mohammed Mursi has been sworn in as the country’s first civilian, democratically elected president at a historic ceremony in Cairo.

    Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, took the oath before the Supreme Constitutional Court.

    He promised to respect the constitution and the rule of law, and to protect the people of Egypt.

    He is now due to speak at Cairo University before going to an army base for the handover from military rule.

    On Friday, he undertook a symbolic swearing-in before crowds gathered in Tahrir Square to protest against decrees issued by the country’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf).

    Mursi said he would insist on being given the full powers of a president, and added: “The revolution must continue until all its objectives are met.”

    His administration will try to ease the military out – knowing that in overt confrontation the military is the one with the guns, says regional analyst Magdi Abdelhadi.

    But the Mubarak regime is still largely intact and many in it will not work with the president, he says.

    Mursi took his oath of office about an hour later than scheduled at the constitutional court – not as originally planned at the parliament, which was dissolved by the Scaf last week.

  • DRC Army, FDLR Plot Attacks on Rwanda

    In a new twist of events the Congolese Army has allegedly renewed its cooperation with the FDLR rebels based in Eastern DRC aimed at launching terror attacks on Rwanda soil.

    The Rwandan government on Thursday accused Kinshasa of renewing cooperation with the genocidal forces.

    An official in the Rwanda President’s office Yolande Makolo was quoted saying, “Two FDLR political cadres, travelling on Belgian passports, are currently in Rutshuru in North Kivu to meet the FDLR command and convince them to resume cooperation with the Congolese army.”

    The men have been identified as Faustin Murego and Joseph Nzabonimpa, both residents in Belgium.

    Also their passport numbers on which they are travelling have been revealed.

    The two men are said to have flown into the Ugandan capital, Kampala aboard Egypt Air flight and then made their way to the North Kivu Provincial capital Goma, with the help of DRC intelligence agents.

    Makolo explained that an official in DR Congo’s North Kivu province, where the commander of the Rwandan Hutu rebel group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is based, is tasked with persuading the FDLR to resume cooperation with the DRC army and to “plan terror attacks on Rwanda.”

    The DRC government has in the past weeks accused Rwanda of backing a mutiny in the east of the DR Congo.

    About Faustin Murego and Joseph Nzabonimpa

    Murego was a lieutenant in the former Rwandan army and now lives in the Belgian city of Liege, Makolo said.

    Nzabonimpa was also an officer in the former Rwandan army and now lives in Brussels, where he works in IT, she said.

    Still according to Makolo, North Kivu Governor Julien Paluku asked the UN mission in DRC to fly the two men to Walikale, a town deep in the forest, so they could meet FDLR commander Sylvestre Mudacumura.

    The UN refused and so Mudacumura sent a lower ranking officer Pacifique Ntawunguka to meet them.

    “The meeting took place … and they decided to resume cooperation,” Makolo said, adding that the two had given Ntawunguka $100,000 to give to Mudacumura.

    Meanwhile, DR Congo on Thursday urged Rwanda to stop fuelling conflict in the east, after a UN report found that Kigali officers had assisted a mutiny there.

    “We demand that the Rwandan authorities prevent their officers from continuing to fuel the war in Congo,” government spokesperson Lambert Mende said.

    “We ask them to unconditionally dismantle networks, stop recruitment and supplies feeding the nefarious forces in Congo,” the spokesman said at a press conference.

    Kigali has vehemently denied accusations it had been helping a mutiny in the eastern DRC by former rebels who had been integrated into the army but defected again this year.

  • Tony Blair Wants To Be Prime Minister Again

    The former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has revealed that he would like to be Prime Minister again.

    The former Labour premier, who left Downing Street in a huff in 2007, said he would now do a better job than during his 10 years in power because of what he has learned since leaving frontline politics.

    However , this is not the first time that Blair, who is accused of war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, has confessed he would like to return to No 10.

    Blair, (59) admitted his prospects of a comeback — which would be the first since Harold Wilson reclaimed Downing Street in 1974 after losing a general election in 1970 — were ‘not very likely’.

    In an interview with the London Evening Standard: “I am seeing a lot of the world and I have learned an immense amount in the past five years.

    “One of my regrets is that what I have learned in the last five years would have been so useful to me. Because when you see how the world is developing you get a far clearer picture of some of the issues our country is grappling with.”

    Asked directly if he would do the job again, he said: “Yes, sure, but it’s not likely to happen is it.”

    Blair also said his successor, Gordon Brown, had condemned Labour to defeat by ditching the New Labour policies that got him elected three times.

    He accused Brown of having him ‘forced out’ of power, saying he would have liked to have stayed in the job but left to avoid a ‘bloody battle’ with Brown’s supporters.

    Looking back to the day of his resignation, he said: “I didn’t want to go but I felt that I had to.

    “The only choice would have been to have fought a very bloody battle internally which I thought would damage the country as well as the party.”

    Blair suggested that in some ways he is better equipped now to be PM than he was during his time in Downing Street. “I have learned an immense amount in the past five years,” he said.

    “One of my regrets is that what I have learned in the last five years would have been so useful to me.

    “Because when you see how the world is developing you get a far clearer picture of some of the issues our country is grappling with.”

    Blair said that it was ‘inevitable’ that Labour would go down to defeat in the 2010 general election after it became clear that, under his successor Gordon Brown, it did not know whether or not it wanted to stick to the New Labour agenda he had mapped out.

    He predicted that the Liberal Democrats will struggle at the next election, scheduled for 2015, and urged Miliband to stick to the centre ground.

    Despite the upheavals caused by the financial crash of 2008 — which he admits he did not foresee —Blair said Labour would be wrong to shift to the left.

  • Woman Catches Husband Raping Daughters

    In Zimbabwe a man was allegedly caught red handed by his wife, raping his two daughters aged six and seven.

    The 46-year-old man is now being charged with six counts of rape. He denied the charges when he appeared before regional court.

    He was remanded in custody to July 11.

    He was advised to apply for bail at the High Court.

    Prosecutor Valery Ngoma alleges that sometime in January this year, the man followed his daughters to the bush where they had gone to fetch firewood.

    He reportedly told them to carry the firewood home before ordering the six-year-old daughter to remove her clothes.

    Without any suspicion, the little girl complied and he raped her while her sister watched. After raping the younger girl, the man ordered the elder sister to lie on the ground and also raped her.

    When the children returned home, they reported the abuse to their mother who confronted her husband but he denied the allegations.

    In February, the accused arrived home from a beer drink and found his wife away.

    He then summoned one of his daughters to his bedroom before locking the door from inside and raped her.

    On April 10, the man noticing that his wife was busy watering the garden called the seven-year-old behind the house and raped her once.

    On May 15, the man ordered the girl to accompany him to a nearby bush to collect wild fruits. He raped the minor and ordered her not to tell anyone, it is alleged.

    It is the State’s case that the following month, the man who was sleeping with his wife in their bedroom sneaked out and went to where his children were sleeping.

    He sneaked into the blankets in which one of the girls was sleeping before raping her. However, this time his wife caught him red-handed while abusing the girl.

    She reported the case to the police, leading to his arrest.

  • Two Arrested over Forged Vehicle Documents

    Two Fuso trucks have been impounded and by Police in Rusizi district for using forged certificates and stickers.

    The two suspects are also being held to help in investigations aimed at tracing all people that are connected to this crime.

    The incident happened June 27 when two men were arrested in connection with using counterfeited certificates and stickers on their trucks (Registration numbers RAA 918 X and RAA 685 Y as shown in photo).

    The suspects and trucks were brought at the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center at Remera where it was confirmed that the certificates and stickers on the two trucks were not genuine compared to the ones at the center.

    The arrest of the two men came after Police suspected possible counterfeiting and use of MIC documents in the country but the law enforcer had not yet identified any clear evidence.

    Initially, certificates and stickers are issued by the Motor Vehicle inspection Center (MIC) as a confirmation that a particular vehicle has been inspected by the center and thus allowed to make movements on roads.

    Superintendent Rafiki Mujiji, the MIC commanding Officer condemned the criminal act saying that Police will not tolerate such people who tarnish the good image of the center.

    “We have done all possible to ensure our customers get the best services. We introduced a third lane to reduce the time customers used to spend here waiting for their vehicles to be inspected,” Supt Mujiji said.

    One of the arrested suspect names withheld for investigation purposes denies any responsibility in forging the certificate and sticker.

    He claims, he gave Rwf 210,000 to a friend who promised to get him the documents as quick as possible. “I wanted to get my truck back to work and that is why I accepted to give him this amount of money,” the suspect said.

    “I was surprised when police officers arrested me weeks later accusing me of using forging documents,” he (suspect) said.

    If found guilty, the three are likely to be sentenced between 5 and 10 years and pay a fine up to Frw 100,000 according article 193 of the Rwandan penal code.