Author: b_igi_adm1n

It is now Criminal offense to Skype in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian government has passed new legislation that criminalises the use of Internet-based voice communications such as Skype and other forms of Internet phone calling.

Authorities have also installed a new filtering system that monitors the use of the Internet in the tightly-controlled Horn of Africa country in a move seen as targeting dissidents.

The telecoms law strictly prohibits VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) which includes audio and video related social media communication, and the transfer of information packages through the fast growing global cyber networks.

It also authorises the government to inspect any imports of voice communication equipment and accessories, while also banning inbound shipments without prior permission.

Anyone involved in “illegal” phone calling services will be prosecuted and could be jailed for up to 15 years or fined heavily if found guilty.

Luanda the capital city of Angola is the most expensive place to live in Africa and the second in the world after Tokyo in Japan.

The Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2012 conducted by human resource consulting firm Mercer Group shows that Luanda, last year’s global “winner” is the most expensive city in the continent and second in the world.

According to the survey, three of African cities are among the world’s 20 most expensive places for expatriates to live in.

Djamena city of Chad is listed as the second most expensive and Libreville city of Congo is the third most expensive.

The survey, gathers information used by governments and major companies to protect the purchasing power of their employees when transferred abroad,
Tunis capital of Tunisia ranks at position 209 of the 214 cities covered by the study across five continents is the least expensive African city for expatriates.

“It might be surprising to see 20 African cities in the top third of the ranking.
The main driver behind this is the difficulty in finding good secure accommodation for expatriates. So the limited supply of acceptable accommodation is very expensive,” says Constantin-Métral, the group’s spokesperson.

According to her, the cost of imported international goods is also very high in these cities, considerably contributing to the high cost of living.

The fourth most expensive city is Khartoum up 18 places from last year and ranked 26 on the global list. Ndjamena, Chad (8), follows, dropping five places since 2011.

Dropping eight places, Libreville, Gabon (20), is the next followed by Niamey, Niger.

On the list after Niamey are Lagos in Nigeria, Bamako, Mali, Abidjan,Cote Devoir, Brazzaville, Congo, Djibouti, Djibouti and Dakar, Senegal.

A senior official of the East African Community (EAC) has observed that the region needs a solid and workable peace and security strategy to counter emerging threats.

“We still lack workable strategies to contain new security threats such as maritime piracy, money laundering, terrorism and cyber crimes, among others, with the view to ensuring that peace and stability in the region remain our top priority,” said the EAC deputy secretary general in charge of Political Federation Dr. Julius Rotich.

He was opening a five-day meeting of EAC member states experts to review the regional Peace and Security Strategy. The meeting is taking place in Dar es Salaam, according to a statement from the Arusha-based secretariat.

In a speech read on his behalf by Didacus Kaguta, the EAC Peace and Security officer, the deputy secretary-general emphasised that addressing and maintaining regional peace and stability should continue to serve as the cardinal security agenda among members.

The Peace and Security Strategy is an operational policy document that mandates partner states and the secretariat to jointly plan and respond to issues of peace and security in the region. This should happen as the Peace and Security Protocol is being finalized.

The protocol has been presented before the EAC Sectoral Council on Legal and Judicial Affairs for legal input and endorsement.

The EAC Treaty recognises peace and security as pre-requisites for the success of the regional integration. The matters are more important now than ever because of the already advanced negotiations on the Monetary Union.

“Our joint desire for successful integration cannot and should not be frustrated by criminals or criminal activities and hence a need to move quickly to position ourselves through strengthening the peace and security strategy.

This will ensure that the achievements made through the integration stages are not threatened,” he asserted.

The chairman of the session, David Njoka, said the region cannot sit back without addressing critically new security issues, which can otherwise “divert us from our perceived objective of a united and prosperous East Africa”.

“Emerging security issues must be managed and tackled swiftly so that East Africans can carry out their activities without being inhibited by security threats,” the official added.

The meeting is attended by experts from military, police, security, prisons/correctional services, judicial and legal sectors coordinated by the EAC Secretariat.

The five-day meeting is held with support of the German International Development Agency (GTZ), which has over the years supported a number of EAC Peace and Security programmes.

In the ongoing Police week activities, Police has conducted community work in Kicukiro involving preparation of road and construction of a bridge that connects Niboye and Kanombe sectors.

During the even, Police in partnership with stakeholders lay a foundation stone for the construction of Isange one Stop Center aimed at decentralising Isange and facilitate gender based violence victims.

After the community work, the mayor of Kicukiro district, Paul Jules Ndamage handed a check of Frw 10 million to Police to facilitate construction of Isange One Stop Center within the district.

The construction phase is expected to take 3 months at a total cost of Frw 30 million.

The Police also distributed free 100 mosquito nets and health insurance cards to the most vulnerable people in Kicukiro district.

The Kigali City mayor Fidèle Ndayisaba applauded the existing collaboration in fighting crime between Police and Kigali City citizens.

He said that drugs and illicit alcohol consumption have negative effect to citizens’ health, their socio-economic well being and the development of the country as a whole.

“Drugs are of no use, they only lead to self destruction and death. You should instead focus on income generating activities to improve your livelihood,” Ndayisaba noted.

He added that consumption of drugs and illicit alcohol lead to criminal activities.

Swtizerland’s media has reported that Gaspard Ruhumuliza an alleged Rwandan war criminal suspected of genocide is living in Luzern on welfare benefits.

In 2011 Canada media had reported that Ruhumuriza was suspected to be living in Canada.

Its alleged that most Genocide fugitives changed their names when they arrived abroad to enable them quickly secure assylum.

Identified only as GR he is one of three people living in Switzerland suspected of involvement in the Rwandan genocide. He protests his innocence, online news site Blick reported.

“The accusations against me are nonsense. I always wanted to help my people. But now they want to see me hang,” he said referring to Rwanda government.

GR, now 59 years old, was Rwanda’s Minister of Environment and Tourism when the genocide began in Rwanda 18 years ago.

Meeting with one of Blick’s journalists in Luzern, he said he fled the country when the genocide started, taking refuge in Switzerland, where he has remained ever since.

Since his arrival in Switzerland in 1994, GR has benefited from welfare payments of up to 260,000 francs ($273,000). His wife and four children have been living in Geneva.

He has been living on 1,677 francs ($1,759) a month, having tried without success to find work.

“As long as I am a suspect, I cannot get a job,” he said.

GR is being investigated by the military justice system in Switzerland, but will not be returned to Rwanda despite a request for his extradition, the news site said.

He is also wanted by Interpol for war crimes and genocide.

“We know that Switzerland is a happy hunting ground for former war criminals who live here in secret,” says Philip Grant, director of TRIAL, the Swiss society for international criminal law.

Switzerland cannot return GR to Rwanda because it does not believe that he would receive a fair trial: if the Rwandan system found him guilty, he would almost certainly face the death penalty.

“They have accused me of leading the army in the fighting. This is absurd, I was only Minister of Environment and Tourism. I’ve never given a command to kill,” he told the news site.

Rwanda expert Gerd Hankel from the Hamburg Institute for Social Research believes that GR was not one of the instigators of the genocide, but said that as minister, he must have at least condoned it.

GR said he was not perturbed by the military investigations into his past.
“I have nothing to hide, and it is also important to me that the truth comes to light.”

Police has arrested three people for posessing counterfeit currency notes worth Frw 368,000. The suspects were arrested in two separate operations.

Police in Kayonza district, Nyamirama sector apprehended Mustafa Rushirabwoba 46 and Gilbert Ndikumana 18 as they tried to send Frw 368, 000 worth of counterfeit money through Tigo cash.

The two are detained at Mukarange Police Station.

In a different scenario, in Karongi District, Bwishyuza Sector, Police arrested one Eric Habimana 22, with counterfeit currency worth Frw 68,000.

The suspect is being held at Bwishyura Police Station while investigations to track down other suspects continue.

“We are particularly pleased with the collaboration of the public”, Police Spokesperson Superintendent Theos Badege said, referring to the people who tipped of Police leading to the arrest of three.

Hon. Jesca Eriyo, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors has reaffirmed the importance of collaboration if the region is to successfully manage its transboundary natural resources.

She made the remarks while opening a three-day workshop on transboundary conservation on Tuesday in Arusha, Tanzania, stated that better management of cross-border resources and ecosystems was an essential driver for economic growth.

At the workshop, whose theme is “Managing transboundary resources for the enhancement of the region’s sustainable development”, Hon. Eriyo observed.

She added that through its specialized institutions and with support from development partners the EAC had initiated numerous transboundary natural resource management projects in an effort to achieve sustainable social-economic development from these shared resources.

She noted that EAC is cognizant of the fact that collaborative transboundary resource management practices can help avoid or reduce duplication of efforts, creating economies of scale and enhancing economic opportunities.

Meanwhile, on behalf of United States Government delegation head Julie Fischer, the US Africa Coordinator for Foreign Service Programs Matthew Edwardsen reiterated the country’s strong commitment to promotion of livelihoods and conservation of ecosystems across East Africa.

The workshop is expected to agree a structure and roadmap for promoting, developing and coordinating transboundary conservation in the region; agree mechanisms and processes for sharing information on transboundary initiatives, activities and experiences; and develop a workshop statement on transboundary ecosystems conservation in East Africa, among others.

EAC has organized the transboundary conservation workshop in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the United States Forest Service.

President Paul Kagame has made a surprise visit to Uganda where he was received by his counterpart President Yoweri Museveni at the State House Entebbe.

The Plane Carrying President Kagame touched ground at Entebbe International Airport at Mid-day on Tuesday.

Details of their discussions have not yet been made public. Uganda’s Daily Monitor has only published leaked Photos of President Kagame shaking hands with President Museveni at State House Entebbe.

The photo is tagged to a story with a headline “Uganda tops Africa in blood donation” probably to scoop their archrival state owned New Vision.

NewVision carried a lead story of Heroic welcome of EALA Speaker Margaret Zziwa Tuesday at Entebbe Airport upon her return from Arusha Tanzania.

Equally Rwanda’s State owned media and Rwandas only Print Daily has not published this surprise visit by President Kagame to Uganda.

Presently Rwanda and Uganda relations can be described as Excellent.

Mangwashi Phiyega is the first woman to head the South African Police.
Her appointment follows the firing of Gen Bheki Cele who had been accused of corruption.

South African President Jacob Zuma told Media that he had “decided to relieve Gen Cele of his duties”.

Gen Cele, whose predecessor was jailed for corruption, was suspended in October after it emerged he had been implicated in alleged unlawful property deals – he had denied any wrongdoing.

He played a key role in Zuma’s hard-fought campaign to be elected president in 2009.

Last year a South African corruption investigator, Thuli Madonsela, ruled that police buildings were leased from a company at inflated prices.

Madonsela – who is South Africa’s public protector, a role similar to that of an ombudsman – accused Gen Cele of being among those who were ultimately responsible for the “fatally flawed” deals.