Kenya: Death toll in Garissa gun attack hits 10

Kenya:
Death toll in Garissa gun attack hits 10
By BERNARD MOMANYI 

Garissa has remained volatile in recent months, with gun and explosion attacks targeting law enforcement agents and civilians/XINHUA-File

The death toll in the gun attack at a Garissa hotel on Thursday night has risen to 10, while eight people remain hospitalised with gunshot wounds, police said.

“Six people died on the spot while four others succumbed to injuries in hospital,” a police officer who was at the scene told Capital FM News.

He said the attack occurred when gunmen stormed a restaurant known as Kwa Chege and opened fire indiscriminately at patrons who were watching the 7pm news.

Witnesses told police the three gunmen were armed with AK-47 rifles.

The Kenya Red Cross said all the eight people hospitalised had gunshot wounds.

“We have intensified a manhunt for the attackers,” regional police chief Charlton Mureithi said.

Another police officer told Capital FM News that up to 29 people had been arrested to assist in the investigation but the real culprits were still at large.

Garissa has remained volatile in recent months, with gun and explosion attacks targeting law enforcement agents and civilians.

Police statistics show that up to 120 people have been killed in separate attacks since November 2011 when Kenya sent its military to pursue Al Shabaab militants in Somalia.

Thursday night’s attack was also blamed on the Al Qaeda-linked militants although the group was yet to claim responsibility.

Source of News: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke

Uganda: Uganda wants to run Mombasa Port

Uganda:
Uganda wants to run Mombasa Port

By Joyce Namutebi

Mombasa Port

                                                                        Uganda is seeking to participate in management of Mombasa port and other ports in the East African Community, a senior government official has said.

The Permanent Secretary Ministry of East African Community (EAC) Affairs, Edith Mwanje said Thursday that Uganda should have a say in the management of ports because of "the too many delays" at the ports, which she said affect trade.

"Let us be recognized as full stakeholders in the management of ports. The ports should be managed collectively as EAC," Mwanje said at a 'validation workshop on Uganda's country position on the single Customs Territory' held in Kampala.

At the workshop a draft report on "Uganda's position on the negotiation for a single Customs Territory", which was authored by Development Economist, Paul Bagabo and his colleague Lawrence Othieno was released and discussed by various stakeholders.

The two were commissioned by the Ministry of Finance to undertake a study and develop a position for Uganda for the negotiations for a fully-fledged Customs Union. Their report will inform Uganda's negotiating team.

They study is meant to enable the High Level Task Force to develop a mechanism for engagement in the negotiations for a single customs territory and ensure that Uganda is not disadvantaged, among others.

The Single customs Territory provides for free movement of goods in the EAC partner states, non-payment of tax of the good that are circulating in the states and imposition of a common tax on goods coming from outside the territory, Mwanje explained.

She said that apart from the issue on ports, there are still administrative barriers and problems of corruption which should be addressed.

She advised that Uganda and the partner states should watch out for goods imported into their countries and re-packaged to look as if they are made in EAC and end up evading taxes. Uganda, she said, needs a strong law to monitor such anomalies.

The draft report stated that currently ports handle over 805 of the imports for Uganda. 'The research revealed that recent changes in port charges and other decisions particularly at the port of Mombasa have been taken without input from Uganda. This has led to inconvenience and disruptions in the import process in the country," Bagabo said.

Given the role that the sea ports of Mombasa and Dar-es-salaam play in the import regimes of landlocked partner states in a regional integration arrangement, the study recommended that Uganda should be involved in the decision making process at the ports.  

The draft report was debated by representatives from the ministries of Finance, trade and EAC affairs, private sector, manufacturers, Kampala City Traders Association, members of the high level task force involved in the negotiations with other partner states on the single customs territory, and the Uganda Export Promotion Board, among others.

Source of News: http://www.newvision.co.ug

Uganda:
Uganda appeals to US for army support

By JACKIE NAMBOGGA



Col. Ssentongo (right) talks to US Lt. Anderson Perez (centre) and Maj. Mark Berman (right). Photo by Jackie Nambogga

The chief of the newly established civil military operation (CMO) affairs force in the UPDF Col. Moses Ddiba Ssentongo has called for support to establish a centre of excellence training academy of the CMO cadres.

He said the UPDF elevated CMO affairs to a fully-fledged chieftaincy two weeks ago but it faces challenges which include human resource and lack of training manuals to pass information to other generations.

"We need to have organized information by developing history regarding CMO which can be stored and also be passed to other future cadres in terms of developed materials," Ssentongo stressed.

He said this at the ongoing two-week CMO training which has attracted 55 UPDF officers at the Junior Staff College in Gadaffi barracks in Jinja town.

The training that is being funded by the United States armed forces is also facilitated by trainers from U.S.A under the combined joint task force horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), led by Maj. Mark .J. Berman.

All the trainers have ever served in war torn countries such as Comoro, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and are sharing their experiences with the participants on how to deal with civilians during their civil military operations.

However, Ssentongo stressed the need of having written manuals on civil military trainings which he said can be passed to other cadres in the force other than basing on foreign trainings by the United States army officers.

"There is need for UPDF experts to work with U.S.A experts in order to write CMO training manuals, we shall require support in this regard," he noted.

He added that; "I know the challenge is big but if we get a fully-fledged centre and also have manuals to follow, we will manage basing on the knowledge we are acquiring.

In response, Lt. Commander Anderson Perez, US' country coordination element officer in Uganda said they were ready to facilitate and build Africa's capacity to solve her own problems.

Ssentongo who was flanked by Lt. Col. John Paul Ssonko, UPDF's director of civil military affairs and the commandant of the Junior staff college Col. Godfrey Golooba revealed that the participants would be deployed in Somalia on a civil military operation affairs mission after undergoing the training.

"Somalia is steadily stabilizing and today's conflict is not much in the guns or fighter jets, majority of the conflicts are symmetrical, it is to do with the community where operations take place, we have to get into people's hearts and minds and this is what we are targeting for this training," he noted.

Source of News: http://www.newvision.co.ug

Rwanda: AfDB Provides $38m To Aid Entrepreneurship, Job Creation In Rwanda

Rwanda:

AfDB Provides $38m To Aid Entrepreneurship, Job Creation In Rwanda

VENTURES AFRICA – The African Development Bank (AfDB) is contributing $38 million to boost entrepreneurship and job creation in Rwanda.

This is after the Tuni-based lender and the government of Rwanda, on April 16 signed financing agreements amounting to UA 25.61 million ($38 million) for a skills, employability and entrepreneurship programme.

The AfDB in a statement two days later, explained its support comprised a grant of UA17.19 million ($25.3 million) and a loan of UA 8.42 million ($12,623,264), adding that it will finance Rwanda’s financial year 2012-2013 budget.

The agreements were signed by the Rwandan Finance Minister, Claver Gatete and AfDB’s Resident Representative, Negatu Makonnen.

The overarching goal of this sector budget support is to contribute to the Government’s policy reform efforts aimed at promoting inclusive growth and accelerating poverty reduction.


AfDB Boosts Rwandese Private Sector With $8m Credit Facility 

VENTURES AFRICA – The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) has signed an $8 million Line of Credit (LoC) to boost private sector development in Rwanda by supporting BRD lending to its agriculture, agro-processing, telecommunication, education and tourism infrastructure sectors.

The agreement also provides BRD with a technical assistance package of up to $730,800 under the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA) funded by the Government of Japan, the AfDB, the Austrian Development Bank and the Government of Austria.

The grant’s purpose is to give a wholesome reinforcement to BRD’s internal operational structures and systems.

Emmanuel Murangayisa, BRD Director of Finance, commented: “This grant will contribute optimizing BRD management capacities, by which the Bank will able to be placed at a constant and
favourable level of performance.”

The signing ceremony, which held in the AfDB national office in Rwanda, was chaired by Negatu Makonnen AfDB Resident Representative in Rwanda, and Jack N. Kayonga, BRD CEO.

Makonnen, AfDB Resident Representative in Kigali, said: “The AfDB line of credit and the FAPA technical assistance are aligned with AfDB’s private sector operational priorities for long-term financing to support private sector development especially where long-term financing is scarce. This program will enable BRD to respond effectively to the challenges of developing and promoting the private sector and SME development Rwanda”

The Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA) is a multi-donor thematic trust fund that provides grant funding for technical assistance and capacity building to support implementation of the Bank’s Private Sector Development Strategy. To date, it has provided $35 million to 42 projects across the African continent. The FAPA portfolio includes regional and national projects in sectors such as Business Enabling Environment, Financial Institutions Support, Infrastructure, Trade and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

BRD is Rwanda’s leading development bank specializing in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and as part of its 2010-2014 strategy, its key growth areas include priority SME sectors such as agribusiness, manufacturing, micro-finance, information and communication technology, hospitality, education, health care, energy and water.

Source of News: http://www.ventures-africa.com

Rwanda: Starbucks Increases Coffee Purchases From Rwanda

Rwanda:
Starbucks Increases Coffee Purchases From Rwanda

Rwandan coffee sold to Starbucks Corporation increased by approximately forty containers per year, Alex Kanyankole, the Director General National Agriculture Export Board (NAEB), said.

Starbucks, an American global coffeehouse chain, opened offices in Kigali in 2009, but its purchase of high quality Arabic coffee from Rwanda goes as far back as 2004.

"Starbucks has a growing interest in Rwandan quality coffee and its people have taken an important step to visit factories and farmers with the aim of understanding better the coffee sector and to strengthen relationships with their suppliers," Kanyankole said yesterday during a meeting with officials from Starbucks.

He was hosting over 30 officials from Starbucks who arrived last week.

"Rwandan Arabica coffee began fetching high prices on the US market and has developed an edge over other coffee producers. The relationship between Rwanda and Starbucks has gone as far as opening a support centre that offers training to coffee farmers," kanyankole added.

The head of Global Coffee at Starbucks, Craig Russell, said that the company planned to construct a school and modern health centre in support of coffee farmers in Karenge sector, Rwamagana district.

"Business is very healthy despite economic difficulties," Russell said, pointing out that Starbucks intended to continue its long term business relationship with Rwandan coffee farmers.

Starbucks buys coffee from 30 countries and operates 18,000 stores in 5o countries, and in 2010, the coffeehouse began to sell high grade Rwandan coffee that is fair-trade certified in its 800 outlets in the UK.

Central bank statistics show that coffee exports jumped by 51.8 per cent to 3,436 tonnes in the first half of last year from 2264 tonnes in the same period in 2011. A kilogramme of Rwandan coffee goes for US$3.3 on the international market.

Source of News: http://allafrica.com

Rwanda: HRW On the Spot Over Rwanda

Rwanda: 

HRW On the Spot Over Rwanda

The Executive Director of US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), Kenneth Roth was on Tuesday put on the spot over his disdain for the Rwandan government, which critics say has led him to commit 'serious professional mistakes' as a rights advocate.

This occurred during a symposium that was held in Buffalo, New York, which had been organised in honour of former HRW senior activist who died in a plane crash in 2009.

At the symposium Roth, who was the main speaker presented a paper called Human Rights in the Middle East and Central Africa; Comparisons and Contrasts between Rwanda and Israel, during which he expressed hate towards the Kigali government.

During the presentation, a participant raised the issue of rape of women in eastern DRC which goes unreported by Roth and his organisation, and this got immediate attention of the scholars.

The event had attracted over 200 scholars, including human rights academics and other scholars in related fields.

According to Grace Umurerwa, a Rwandan living in Canada who attended the symposium, different participants questioned Roth why none of his reports highlights the rapes in Eastern DRC, and even where it does, they attribute the problem to the rebel group M23, which is just a year old.

Another participant, Louis Gakumba, a graduate student at George Mason University in Virginia, USA, shared details of Roth's known advocacy for the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, especially the FDLR.

This is not the first time Roth's impartiality has come under scrutiny.

Last month, Richard Johnson, a retired American diplomat wrote a lengthy document; 'The travesty of Human Rights Watch on Rwanda' in which he says that HRW's discourse on Rwanda is a threat to peace and stability in the region.

"It discourages Western governments from doing what they should to support Rwanda's recovery from the 1994 Genocide. It perpetuates impunity for important Genocide perpetrators. It pains many Rwandans, particularly the Genocide survivors. It crowds out the potential for a more constructive dialogue between the West and Rwanda, and raises the risks of cynicism and a bunker mentality in Kigali," Johnson wrote.

"Donors to HRW should think seriously about what causes their money might serve. Western governments should be careful about following HRW advice, and courageous enough to challenge them publicly when need be," Johnson warned in the document.
Source of News: http://allafrica.com

Rwanda: Hutu refugees fear forced return to Rwanda

Rwanda:

Hutu refugees fear forced return to Rwanda
BY RODNEY MUHUMUZA
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NAKIVALE, Uganda -- Leodegard Kagaba lifted his shirt to reveal an ugly scar on his belly left by a bullet that nearly killed him. Tutsi neighbors in Rwanda, he said, attacked him after accusing him of participating in the 1994 genocide.

"I have many scars, even in my heart," he said. "The people who put those scars on me still live freely in Rwanda."

Now nearly two decades later, Kagaba and many of the other 9,000 Rwandans in this camp of 68,000 African refugees say they are troubled by the looming prospect of forced repatriation back to Rwanda. Hutu refugees say they fear reprisal attacks by Tutsis inside Rwanda. During the 1994 genocide, at least 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a campaign of mass murder orchestrated by Hutu extremists.

After the genocide, hundreds of thousands of Hutus - some charged with participating in the genocide, others simply afraid of reprisal killings - fled Rwanda and sought refuge across East and Central Africa.

Many ended up in a sprawling settlement in western Uganda that some now regard as their home for life. Here, in a place called Nakivale, amid green hills reminiscent of their ancestral land, the Rwandans have access to pasture for their cattle and many have set up successful businesses selling groceries or farm animals.

Rwandans who spoke to The Associated Press said the political climate in Rwanda discourages them from leaving Nakivale. At least 92 percent of all Rwandan refugees in Uganda are Hutus, according to U.N. refugee agency.

Kagaba, an ethnic Hutu whose father and siblings were killed in 1994, said he would be harassed or worse in Rwanda because he witnessed atrocities committed by the Tutsi soldiers who came to his village looking for genocide suspects.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame - an ethnic Tutsi - dismisses allegations that his country unfairly targets Hutus, saying those who played a role in the genocide should face the law. Kagame encourages a gospel of unity that disregards ethnicity.

But groups such as Human Rights Watch - which the government openly spars with - have long accused Rwanda's government of using a genocide ideology law to target the regime's critics. Independent journalists who have written critically about the history of the genocide have been threatened with jail terms. Many have fled.

Rwanda's government said in a statement Friday that "Rwandan refugees who hesitate to return home either lack enough information on the current situation in Rwanda or have developed significant ties with host countries.

The 8,000 Rwandans who arrived in Uganda before 1998 have until the end of June to return home voluntarily. Uganda, which hosts the highest number of officially recognized Rwandan refugees, has published lists of those who are expected to return home soon.

In Nakivale, the Hutus who fled Rwanda at the end of the genocide spoke of a persistent witch-hunt, saying sons can be harassed for their father's crimes. Their grim opinion of life in Rwanda is reinforced by the accounts of refugees who returned to Rwanda and fled back to Uganda, saying they had been jailed on trumped-up charges and even tortured.

Some of the refugees freshly arriving from Rwanda claim persecution and want political asylum, said Lucy Beck, a spokeswoman for UNHCR in Uganda.

"It's still a country producing refugees," Beck said of Rwanda. "There is a large amount of fear (in Nakivale), and it's not helped that refugees have gone and come back again."

Source of News: http://www.miamiherald.com

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/19/3353072/hutu-refugees-fear-forced-return.html#storylink=cpy

Burundi: Govt looking to sell stake in Burundi’s Onatel

Burundi:

Govt looking to sell stake in Burundi’s Onatel

The government of Burundi is looking to sell off a majority stake in national PTO Office National des Telecommunications (Onatel), TMT Finance reports citing unnamed sources as saying. It is understood that as part of any deal, the government is expecting the buyer to fully fund the capital needed to upgrade Onatel to a new, modern network, although it is keen to retain a minority shareholding in the PTO. One source familiar with the situation said that the process to find a buyer is already underway and that Onatel has appointed an advisor for the sale. ‘So far there has been some interest from at least one party. Discussions are ongoing,’ the unnamed source is quoted as saying.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the sale of a majority stake in Onatel was first discussed in 1999, but firm plans have failed to materialise. In May 2011 fresh speculation emerged that the PTO could soon be in the hands of private investors, and that Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital had been selected to complete the privatisation process launched in 2009. Supported since 2010 by the World Bank, the sale plans followed a call for tender launched in mid-2010. Despite the government’s optimism that it will conclude the sale by end-2011, it was seen as unlikely to trigger much investor enthusiasm given its small market size, the low levels of per capita income and the low population density outside the capital Bujumbura. Despite general industry apathy though, the government is seemingly trying again, with some suggesting that Onatel could be a target for regional operators seeking to gain a footing in Burundi.

Source of News: http://www.telegeography.com