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Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • ICC Says Cases Against top Kenya Figure will Continue

    The International Criminal Court process against four top Kenyans will continue regardless of the outcome of March presidential elections in which two of the accused are planning to run, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said today on a first official visit to Kenya.

    “The people of Kenya will decide on the outcome of the upcoming elections and ultimately, they will shape the future of this great country.

    The ICC judicial process will also take its own course irrespective of the political choices that the people of Kenya make,” she told a press conference in Nairobi.

    Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Member of Parliament William Ruto, former head of civil service Francis Muthaura and radio presenter Joshua Sang face crimes against humanity charges at the ICC in connection with 2007-2008 post-election violence.

    Kenyatta and Ruto are presidential candidates for the March elections. ICC judges have set the start of trials for April next year.

    Bensouda said her office was working “at full speed” to prepare for the start of the trials, and that the process of disclosure (of prosecution evidence) has already begun. However, she said there were also problems.

    “As with any judicial process we face challenges,” said the ICC Prosecutor.“We are working hard every day to address efforts to interfere with our witnesses and our evidence.

    We are also working to resolve delays in the execution of our requests by the Government of Kenya.”

    Bensouda stressed that “the people of Kenya are not on trial; the Government of Kenya is not on trial and no ethnic community is on trial before the ICC.

    The allegations concern individual criminal responsibility. The four accused will have a fair trial and an equal opportunity to refute the allegations.”

    During her five-day visit, Bensouda said she plans to meet with key officials including President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, as well as civil society and victims groups.

    She will visit the Kenyan towns of Naivasha, Nakuru and Eldoret, which bore the brunt of 2007-2008 post-election violence that claimed more than 1,000 lives.

  • M23 to Resume Fighting

    Uganda has requested M23 rebels in DRC not to resume fighting.

    The rebels had last week threatened to resume fighting against the DRC army.

    Okello Oryem, Uganda’s State minister for Foreign Affairs said, “I would urge the M23 to remain calm and collected because the peace process is still going. Let them cease fire as President Yoweri Museveni had told them.”

    The rebels stopped fighting in August after President Museveni met them in Kampala and told them to talk with the Kinshasa government.

    However, the leader of M23, Bishop Runiga Lugerero, told a press conference at the weeekend in Bunagana that Congolese President Joseph Kabila was not willing to talk peace.

    The rebel commander said his group was also opposed to the deployment of an international neutral force proposed after a series of meetings between leaders of countries which form the International Conference for Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) chaired by President Museveni.

  • M23 to Resume Fighting

    Uganda has requested M23 rebels in DRC not to resume fighting.

    The rebels had last week threatened to resume fighting against the DRC army.

    Okello Oryem, Uganda’s State minister for Foreign Affairs said, “I would urge the M23 to remain calm and collected because the peace process is still going. Let them cease fire as President Yoweri Museveni had told them.”

    The rebels stopped fighting in August after President Museveni met them in Kampala and told them to talk with the Kinshasa government.

    However, the leader of M23, Bishop Runiga Lugerero, told a press conference at the weeekend in Bunagana that Congolese President Joseph Kabila was not willing to talk peace.

    The rebel commander said his group was also opposed to the deployment of an international neutral force proposed after a series of meetings between leaders of countries which form the International Conference for Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) chaired by President Museveni.

  • Rwanda, Tanzania Sign Deal to Boost Cross-Border Trade

    Rwanda and Tanzania have signed an agreement to boost cross border trade by eliminating trade barriers.

    The deal was signed on October 17 in Kigali by Rwanda’s trade and Industry minister François Kanimba and the deputy minister for Industry and Trade in Tanzania, Gregory Teu.

    The agreement marked the climax of a bilateral meeting on elimination of non-tariff barriers (NTB’s) and the promotion of cross-border trade between the two countries.

    Mr Kanimba observed that Rwanda and Tanzania were important trading partners with a firm commitment to increasing trade and cooperation.

    “I hope with these relations, Rwanda and Tanzania will cooperate to further increase small trader cross-border business,” he said.

    Kanimba added that the agreement will further help the two countries remove barriers to trade and create a favourable business environment to facilitate trade.

    “It is important to eliminate all reported trade barriers and refrain from introducing new ones in order to cut the high cost of doing business and take advantage of all the benefits of regional integration,” he said.

    According to statistics, Tanzania was Rwanda’s seventh largest trading partner in 2011, accounting for four per cent of Rwanda’s international trade and 17 per cent of regional trade.

    Teu said “We expect from this bilateral relations, our citizens from the two countries to trade among themselves easily,” he said, adding that the elimination of non-tariff barriers will reduce the costs of doing business between the two countries.

    The Executive Secretary of Rwanda Long Distance Truckers Association, Theodore Murenzi, said: “I am happy that the two countries have agreed to eliminate NTBs which have been affecting us, especially because we lose money and time along the corridor which impacts on our businesses.”

  • Rwanda, Tanzania Sign Deal to Boost Cross-Border Trade

    Rwanda and Tanzania have signed an agreement to boost cross border trade by eliminating trade barriers.

    The deal was signed on October 17 in Kigali by Rwanda’s trade and Industry minister François Kanimba and the deputy minister for Industry and Trade in Tanzania, Gregory Teu.

    The agreement marked the climax of a bilateral meeting on elimination of non-tariff barriers (NTB’s) and the promotion of cross-border trade between the two countries.

    Mr Kanimba observed that Rwanda and Tanzania were important trading partners with a firm commitment to increasing trade and cooperation.

    “I hope with these relations, Rwanda and Tanzania will cooperate to further increase small trader cross-border business,” he said.

    Kanimba added that the agreement will further help the two countries remove barriers to trade and create a favourable business environment to facilitate trade.

    “It is important to eliminate all reported trade barriers and refrain from introducing new ones in order to cut the high cost of doing business and take advantage of all the benefits of regional integration,” he said.

    According to statistics, Tanzania was Rwanda’s seventh largest trading partner in 2011, accounting for four per cent of Rwanda’s international trade and 17 per cent of regional trade.

    Teu said “We expect from this bilateral relations, our citizens from the two countries to trade among themselves easily,” he said, adding that the elimination of non-tariff barriers will reduce the costs of doing business between the two countries.

    The Executive Secretary of Rwanda Long Distance Truckers Association, Theodore Murenzi, said: “I am happy that the two countries have agreed to eliminate NTBs which have been affecting us, especially because we lose money and time along the corridor which impacts on our businesses.”

  • Hong Kong Seizes $3.4m ivory From East Africa

    Hong Kong authorities have confiscated two shipping containers from Tanzania and Kenya loaded with jumbo tusks worth $3.4 million (about Sh5.4billion).

    This incident involving ivory weighing more than 3,628kg, could affect the country’s attempt to release into the international market its huge stock.

    Hong Kong customs officials as saying the containers arrived from Tanzania and Kenya. The agency seized a total of 1,209 pieces of ivory tusks and three pounds of ornaments from the two containers.

    The Hong Kong Customs department was kept on alert after a tip-off from Guangdong officials in China. On October 16, Hong Kong officers inspected a container from Tanzania purporting to contain plastic scrap and found $1.7 million worth of ivory.

    A day later, a second container from Kenya was seized with ivory valued at $1.7 million, according to Hong Kong Customs.

    Seven people, including one Hong Kong resident, have been arrested by Chinese authorities in connection with the cases, said a customs spokeswoman.

    Hong Kong is viewed as a transit point for the illegal ivory trade, feeding into increasing demands in China, according to an article published this week.

    Elephants are being killed in Africa at an alarming rate as international demand for ivory soars. Much of the demand comes from increasingly affluent Asian countries, particularly China and Thailand.

  • Hong Kong Seizes $3.4m ivory From East Africa

    Hong Kong authorities have confiscated two shipping containers from Tanzania and Kenya loaded with jumbo tusks worth $3.4 million (about Sh5.4billion).

    This incident involving ivory weighing more than 3,628kg, could affect the country’s attempt to release into the international market its huge stock.

    Hong Kong customs officials as saying the containers arrived from Tanzania and Kenya. The agency seized a total of 1,209 pieces of ivory tusks and three pounds of ornaments from the two containers.

    The Hong Kong Customs department was kept on alert after a tip-off from Guangdong officials in China. On October 16, Hong Kong officers inspected a container from Tanzania purporting to contain plastic scrap and found $1.7 million worth of ivory.

    A day later, a second container from Kenya was seized with ivory valued at $1.7 million, according to Hong Kong Customs.

    Seven people, including one Hong Kong resident, have been arrested by Chinese authorities in connection with the cases, said a customs spokeswoman.

    Hong Kong is viewed as a transit point for the illegal ivory trade, feeding into increasing demands in China, according to an article published this week.

    Elephants are being killed in Africa at an alarming rate as international demand for ivory soars. Much of the demand comes from increasingly affluent Asian countries, particularly China and Thailand.

  • M23 Rebels Renamed ‘Congolese Revolutionary Army’

    M23 rebel movement leader Jean-Marie Runiga said M23 has changed its name and is preparing to fend off expected new attacks by the government army.

    “The M23 army… is now named the Congolese Revolutionary Army (ARC),” the group’s leader Jean-Marie Runiga said in a statement issued after a press conference on Saturday.

    Runiga accused the FARDC army of collaborating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

    DR Congo’s army has itself accused the M23 of collaborating with the FDLR in the east, a chronically unstable region that is home to numerous armed groups with murky allegiances and motives.

  • M23 Rebels Renamed ‘Congolese Revolutionary Army’

    M23 rebel movement leader Jean-Marie Runiga said M23 has changed its name and is preparing to fend off expected new attacks by the government army.

    “The M23 army… is now named the Congolese Revolutionary Army (ARC),” the group’s leader Jean-Marie Runiga said in a statement issued after a press conference on Saturday.

    Runiga accused the FARDC army of collaborating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

    DR Congo’s army has itself accused the M23 of collaborating with the FDLR in the east, a chronically unstable region that is home to numerous armed groups with murky allegiances and motives.

  • Exploring Witchcraft in Tanzania

    Around the world a sense of mystery and fear engulfs witchcraft and nowhere is this more evident than in the East African nation of Tanzania.

    Here, faith in this specific form of African tradition can turn deadly.

    People with albinism have been dismembered in western parts of the country because so-called witchdoctors perpetuate a belief that albino body parts bring great wealth.

    From the archives: Scores of albinos in hiding after attacks
    Those suspected of witchcraft are also targeted; an estimated 600 elderly women were killed in 2011 due to the suspicion they were witches, according to the Legal and Human Rights Center in Tanzania.

    In fact, the Pew Forum on Religious and Public life conducted 25,000 face-to-face interviews in 19 African nations and found that among them, Tanzanians hold the strongest belief in witchcraft.

    It says 60% of the Tanzanians interviewed believe that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm, and that many Christians and Muslims incorporate elements of traditional African beliefs into their daily lives.

    Dark arts flourished in Tanzania partly because, compared to its neighbors, it was “less colonized” by European powers, explains Joachim Mwami of Dar Es Salaam University.

    The anthropology professor says for centuries, witchcraft has “served to explain anything inexplicable,” in rural villages like a severely sick child or strange illness.

    Professor Mwami admitted that, “even in my own family, I was advised [as a child] not to visit certain relatives considered to be witches,” even though there was no proof.

    He says without access to education, people are more likely to follow the claims of traditional healers and pass down those beliefs to the next generation.

    Students at Dar Es Salaam University were reluctant to talk about opinions relating to witchcraft. Some explained, even if they don’t personally believe in the practice, their relatives take it seriously.
    Others feel one must believe in the practice for it to have any power over them.

    So even with a university education, some students retain some faith in witchcraft.

    CNN