Kenya: Paul Kimugul of Kenya wins men's division of Sun Run

 

Paul Kimugul of Kenya captured the men's elite division of the Vancouver Sun Run. Kimugul's winning time was 29:04.

Photograph by: Kim Stallknecht , PNG

VANCOUVER - After a two-year absence, a Kenyan has returned to the winner's circle at the annual 10-kilometre Vancouver Sun Run.

Paul Kimugul, 33, stepped off a plane Friday from Nairobi and then stepped ahead of the field Sunday morning to capture the men's elite division in a time of 29:04.

American Ian Burrell finished second in 29:16 while another Kenyan, Edwin Kaitany, was third in 29:36. The top Canadian, Kelowna's Cliff Childs, came sixth in 30:09.

Canadian Olympic triathlete Simon Whitfield, now retired from active competition, completed his race in 31:01, good enough for 16th spot.

Kimugul found the wind and the course a challenge but was pleased with his run and the accompanying $3,000 first-place prize money. He sensed he was heading for victory fairly early into the race. It was his first crack at the Sun Run. Kenyans have now won the event 15 times in its 29-year history.

“At three kilometres, I realized that I'm going to win this race,” he said. “I'm really happy. It was a challenge. The wind was so strong, especially at the start, so it was very hard. But I had good finishing power. The course, it was quite okay. It was fine.”

Kimugul caught word of the Sun Run when he was at the Toronto Marathon so he did what anybody would do in this age of the world wide web. He went to his computer.

“I went on the internet and asked if they were willing to have me,” he explained. “I have only been here three days and it is very nice here. My specialty is the half-marathon but I have also run a marathon in 2:10 (Vienna, three years ago). I am going to stay in Vancouver and try to run the marathon here in two weeks.”

Burrell, a 28-year-old law student at the University of Arizona, was also in his first Sun Run and he arrived with every intention of winning. He collected $1,500 for his runner-up finish.

“We went out pretty conservative and there were a lot of folks in the lead pack for about three or four kilometres,” Burrell said. “That's when the leader made his move. Coming into this, I really wanted to get the victory so when he went off, I knew it was going to be hard to stay with him, But I went for it anyway and, about the Burrard Street Bridge, I pulled back up to him. Then on the downside of the bridge, he started picking it up again. He was just too strong today.

“I wasn't as sharp as he was and I couldn't hang with him.”

Burrell, a Tuscon native who ran in the NCAA for the Georgia Bulldogs, was impressed with the Sun Run and appeared to greatly relish his experience.

“I loved it,” he said. “I really enjoyed the course and the energy of the crowd was amazing. You're not really super used to that as a runner. The fan support was awesome today. There were a few stretches where I couldn't hear myself think so that was a lot of fun. And Vancouver itself is beautiful. I've really enjoyed running through Stanley Park and in the downtown area.”

Married with a one and a half year-old daughter, Burrell will finish law school in three weeks and is scheduled to write his bar exam in July. Running has taken a bit of a backseat in his life, but he intends to hang around the scene as long as he can. He laughingly suggested he will use his prize money for diapers.

“They're expensive,” he noted with a smile.

Childs, meanwhile, is nearing an economics degree at the University of Victoria. He was a B.C. high school champion in the 3,000 metres six years ago for the Kelowna Owls and runs for the Vikes at the collegiate level. His goal entering the Sun Run was a top three finish but he was still pleased to be top Canadian. He left for home with $2,500.

“Top three would have been nice but it was still probably the best 10K I've ever run,” Childs said. “I was with the lead pack until about the 4K mark and then the guy who won made a big move. I tried to go with him but he ended up pulling away pretty quickly. Then I stayed with a couple of other Kenyans until about 5K.

“I wasn't entirely sure of what the field was like for Canadians. There were a couple of other guys but I knew I had a chance to be the top Canadian. I knew I was in shape to run probably a sub 30-minute race and I was around that at 30:09. So that was pretty good. I was pretty happy to be top Canadian.”

One Canadian who perhaps might have caught Childs, at least on reputation, was Whitfield. The Olympic triathlon gold medallist in 2000 was a minute behind Childs's time.

“I had no expectations,” Whitfield admitted. “I told Gary Kingston (Sun reporter) I would run in 31 minutes and I ran in 31 minutes. For me, it was truly a fun run although I still ran hard. I enjoyed it but that's all the fitness I have right now.”

It was his first Sun Run and he sounded like a man who might return for a second. Whitfield, a father of two, lives in Victoria.

“It was fun, it was really good,” he said. “To see everybody out running and the atmosphere at the start line was quite something. I've really enjoyed the last couple of days here in Vancouver. It's a great city. I rode yesterday out to Port Moody and had never been there before. It's beautiful. Hopefully, I can come back in a few weeks for the half-marathon.”

SUN CHIPS: Jim Finlayson of Victoria was the men's masters winner in a time of 30:53, followed by Joel Bourgeois of Quebec (31:25) and Victoria's Bruce Deacon (32:19)... Finishing behind Childs in the Canadien men's division were Toronto's Rejean Chiasson (30:31) and Coquitlam's Kevin Friesen (30:32).

epap@vancouversun.com

Source: http://www.vancouversun.com

Tanzania: Catching up: Bringing a 'Clinic of Hope' to Tanzania

Tanzania:
Catching up: Bringing a 'Clinic of Hope' to Tanzania

Since making a plea for donations to help release a shipment of medical supplies stuck in an East African port, the nonprofit Hope 2 Others has ratcheted up its plans for delivering health care to a poor region of Tanzania.

A State Journal story about Hope 2 Others in December 2011 prompted Madison’s Welton Enterprises Inc., to donate warehouse space for the group, founded in 2008 by Karen Klemp and her husband, Rick, after they met a group of musicians from Tanzania at church.

The New Life Band runs a school in the Maasai village of Kisongo, where Hope 2 Others is working to build a clinic and a birthing and nutrition center and someday dreams of building a nursing school, Klemp said. A retired Sun Prairie ambulance helps deliver health care in the area now.

Plans for the $100,000, 3,200-square-foot clinic are being developed by a Madison architect, said Klemp, a nurse in the newborn intensive care unit at Meriter Hospital. Klemp also hopes to build a well in Kisongo, whose residents must collect water from dirty rivers.

A fundraiser by students at St. Francis Xavier School in Cross Plains and a recent fund drive at Boston Store-West Towne raised about $5,800 for the clinic project. Sun Prairie students will hold a fundraiser during their Culture Week in May.

Help 2 Others also needs donated office space near Sun Prairie, a gas-powered portable cement mixer and solar lights for the birthing center, said Klemp, who can be reached at 608-825-9557 or through www.bringinghope2others.com.

Tax-deductible donations can be sent to Hope 2 Others, P.O. Box 1006, Sun Prairie, WI 53590.

“I just realize God’s hand is on this because Rick and I could never have done this ourselves,” she said. 

— Gayle Worland

Source: http://host.madison.com

Tanzania: Report: Mining to speed up economic growth in Tanzania

Tanzania:
Report: Mining to speed up economic growth in Tanzania



Technicians work a mechanical drill at the Geita Gold Mine. Experts believe the mining sector could jumpstart economic growth. PHOTO | FILEBy Ludger Kasumuni

The Citizen Reporter

Dar es Salaam. The contribution of the mining sector to Tanzania’s economy is set to increase tremendously in the next five years as several new major mines go into production, Tanzania Chamber of Minerals and Energy (TCEM) predicts.

Currently, the sector contributes an estimated 3.5 per cent to Tanzania’s gross domestic product.

Statistics from the TCME report shows that between 1997 and 2011 a total of $10.1billion (Sh16 trillion) worth of minerals were sold by the chamber’s 60 members.

The minerals include gold, diamonds, silver, copper and tanzanite. During 2011, $178.6 million was paid as royalties and statutory taxes to the government, while in the same year, community development initiatives amounted to $1.51 million.

Employment in the formal mines increased from 1,781 in 1997 to about 15,000 in 2011.

In 2011 TCME members spent a total of $441.5 million on local procurement of goods and services, up from $440.9 million in 2010, while salaries paid from mining operations to Tanzanian employees amounted to $87.3 million compared to $91.6 million in 2010.

However, according to a TCME report, released during the chamber’s 18th annual general meeting in Dar es Salaam recently, several major mines that are set to start production during the next five years, will change the mining sector landscape in terms of the sector’s contribution to Tanzanian’s economy.

“Depending on fiscal policies and regulatory frameworks and mineral commodity prices, it is anticipated that several new major mines will be brought into production in the next five years or so.

Once they start operating Tanzania will see a major economic transformation,” the TCME chairman, Mr Joseph Kahama told journalists in Dar es Salaam recently.

He said the new mines will result into a substantial increase in the number of Tanzanians employed in the sector, in government revenues, and will see improvements in the infrastructure and social services in areas related to those mines.

Among the mines that expected to start production in the country soon include Mantra’s Mkuju River Uranium project. He brushed aside fears of uranium radiation.

He said as at November 2012, there were about 434 nuclear power reactors. According to the World Nuclear Association, there will be 650 nuclear reactors operating by 2032.

It is also forecasted that yearly reactor related uranium requirements worldwide will rise to between 98,000 tonnes and 136,000 tonnes of uranium by 2035.

“This presents a great opportunity for uranium developers in the country as there will be a ready market for the concentrate (yellow cake),” said Mr Kahama.

Speaking during the recent Great Rift Valley Mining summit in the city, the Chief Executive of Tanzania Minerals Auditing Agency (TMAA), Mr Paul Masanja said that until the end of last year the contribution of mining sector to government’s revenue stood at Sh12.6 trillion and its contribution to economic growth was 3.5 per cent.

Source: http://thecitizen.co.tz 

Uganda: No Military Burial Planned for Maj. Itongwa

Uganda:
No Military Burial Planned for Maj. Itongwa

Renegade UPDF officer and former rebel leader Herbert Itongwa will not be accorded military honours at his burial, a senior presidential advisor on security has said.

Gen. Salim Saleh said Itongwa, who passed away in Denmark on Friday night, will not be accorded a burial given to military officers because he deserted the army and launched a rebellion against the Government.

Akandwanaho explained that it was also unlikely that the Government will facilitate the transportation of Itongwa's remains from Denmark as requested by the family.

"He (Itongwa) was a good fighter, but in mid 1990s, he was imprisoned for indiscipline and when he came out, he made a wrong choice to fight the Government," he added.

Itongwa, who was part of NRA fighters that brought President Yoweri Museveni into power in 1986, fled Uganda in 1995 and later sought assylum in Denmark after his Uganda National Democratic Alliance rebel group, which was mainly operating in central Uganda, was defeated. He was given political asylum in Denmark in 1999.

His rebel group was accused of having been behind the killings of southwestern regional Police commander, Erisa Karakire and his driver Samwiri Kakonge, as well as the kidnapping of the then health minister, James Makumbi. Makumbi was later released unharmed.

Itongwa whose real name is David Kikomeko Sseddyabane was charged with war crimes in a Danish court in 2004 following his arrest a year before in Denmark.

The court acquitted him of murder after it failed to find substantial evidence that the axe he was found with was the murder weapon that killed the Police chief and his driver. He was only convicted for robbery.

Itongwa was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and chronic paranoia by the medico-legal council of Denmark and was sentenced to indefinite treatment at a psychiatric hospital.

Court rejected the prosecution's demand that Itongwa be expelled from Denmark because the country does not expel persons to countries with death penalty.

Itongwa's prosecution was in line with the Geneva Conventions, which calls for countries to prosecute war criminals.

The Danish Special International Crimes Office, responsible for prosecuting serious crimes committed abroad by people residing in Denmark, collected several testimonies from Uganda.

His mother, Angelina Ssedyabane said that she learnt about her son's death through her daughter who lives in Denmark.

"My son has died, I am in great pain because I had not seen him for many years and I don't know how I will get the body," 70-year old Ssedyabane said on phone.

She said she has been living with Itwongwa's four children at her home in Nabweru, Wakiso district since her son, fled the country.
Source: http://allafrica.com

Uganda: Parliament Cited in Sh229 Million KCCA Debt

Uganda:
Uganda: Parliament Cited in Sh229 Million KCCA Debt

Parliament and police make the list of Kampala City Council Authority's (KCCA) top debtors. The two institutions haven't paid Shs 321m in ground rent and the Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has asked the Executive Director Jennifer Musisi to crack the whip, The Observer has learnt.

An investigation by The Observer indicates that Parliament has not paid Shs 229m in ground rent to KCCA for occupying the Parliamentary Building. And the police has not paid Shs 92m in ground rent for using the Central Police Station (CPS) building in Kampala.

A source at City hall told The Observer that KCCA now plans to move on these two defaulting institutions to force them to pay. KCCA's budget is largely financed from government grants, donor contributions and local revenue. However, local revenues, which account for 40% of the council's budget, are generated mainly from property taxes, ground rent, market fees, licences and vehicle parking fees.

When contacted, the Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago said; "Yes, we demand over Shs 200m in ground rent from Parliament, and it is money that we expect them to pay as soon as possible so that we can also operate smoothly," Lukwago said.

"The Executive Director [Jennifer Musisi] should demand that money," he added.

Asked about the Shs 92m police debt, Lukwago said Musisi should start by demanding for this money from the law enforcers. In response, parliamentary spokesperson Helen Kawesa said the ground rent would be paid as soon as possible. Kawesa also advised KCCA officials to get in touch with the office of the clerk to Parliament and harmonise the issues.

"Clerk to Parliament will sort it out. If there is [overdue] rent, let KCCA come to Parliament and we sort it out. They should not shame us in public because these are matters we can solve amicably. Why is KCCA shaming us?" she asked.

Police was not aware of the ground rent arrears when contacted yesterday. Judith Nabakooba, the police spokesperson, said: "I have not heard about it [ground rent]."

She, however, promised to look into it. The debts have accumulated over five years. According to the KCCA director of legal affairs, Mike Okua, when a rent payer doesn't pay after receiving notification of what is payable, then a formal demand is lodged in or a publication of what is due in the newspapers. The other alternative, Okua singles out is the harmonisation in the evaluation courts.

Okua added that if all those stages are exhausted without registering compliance: "The law [Local Government Rating Act, 2005] allows us [KCCA] to bring an action in the court of law, and also get interest on the rent."

Uganda

The Anti-Pornography Bill - The Miniskirt Debate Rages On

With its vague and broad definition of 'pornography', Uganda's proposed Anti-Pornography Bill could curb a range of … see more »

Uganda's Anti-Pornography Bill - 'If a Woman Wears a Miniskirt, We Will Arrest Her'

Uganda:
Uganda's Anti-Pornography Bill - 'If a Woman Wears a Miniskirt, We Will Arrest Her'

ANALYSIS
With its vague and broad definition of 'pornography', Uganda's proposed Anti-Pornography Bill could curb a range of individual rights and freedoms.

Uganda has hit the international headlines once again recently following the re-tabling in parliament of a proposed Anti-Pornography Bill. Just months after MP David Bahati's Anti-Homosexuality Bill - referred to by many as the 'Kill the Gays' Bill - attracted international attention and much condemnation, the Anti-Pornography Bill has now generated another storm of controversy in Uganda and beyond.

If passed, the Anti-Pornography Bill would cover a range of practices and activities, but much of the outrage and debate has come to be centred on one particular issue: the miniskirt.

The Bill laid bare

The Anti-Pornography Bill is purportedly a reaction to an "increase in pornographic materials in the Ugandan mass media and nude dancing in the entertainment world". Its provisions would aim to "equip the country with a better law to tackle the insidious social problem of pornography".

What exactly constitutes pornography, however, has long been a point of contention around the world. In a case in the US Supreme Court in 1964 regarding the proposed banning of a film for obscenity, Justice Potter Stewart famously declined to define pornography, instead saying "I know it when I see it". His remark reflected the subjective and changeable nature of different societies may deem to be pornography.

Unlike Stewart, Uganda's Anti-Pornography Bill does put forward a definition of pornography. But, ironically, this definition does not seem to iron out ambiguities but rather embraces vagueness. Furthermore, the Bill's understanding of pornography is so broad as to extend it from something seen on our screens to something seen on our streets.

The Bill defines pornography as "Any cultural practice, form of behavior or form of communication... or leisure activity... that depicts a person engaged in explicit sexual activities or conduct ... erotic behavior intended to cause sexual excitement or indecent act or behavior intended to corrupt morals".

This leaves as much unsaid as it says and could restrict a range of practices and activities, including the wearing of certain items of clothing. Indeed, Simon Lokodo, Uganda's Ethics and Integrity Minister and the main figure behind the Bill, has clarified: "Any attire which exposes intimate parts of the human body, especially areas that are of erotic function, are outlawed. Anything above the knee is outlawed. If a woman wears a miniskirt, we will arrest her."
Source: http://allafrica.com

Rwanda: Musanze Cave Added to Tourism Catalogue

Rwanda: Musanze Cave Added to Tourism Catalogue

The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has embarked on an exercise to transform a famous cave in Musanze district into a tourism site.

This was disclosed by Rica Rwigamba, the head of Rwanda Tourism and Conservation at RDB, while touring the site together with tour operators to assess the progress on Friday.

Located in Musanze district, the decades-old cave is about 2km. She said works are already ongoing. A meeting between tour operators and the department of tourism and conservation is scheduled next month to seal the cooperation to promote the place as a tourist site.

"We have been planning this for a while, our target is to increase tourism products; caves are part of products attracting tourists. We want to discuss with tour operators to help us let tourists know about our new products," said Rwigamba, adding that within a month, they will announce the price of touring the cave after the consultations with tour operators.

Rwigamba also urged local leaders to help in conservation of the cave by preventing people from dumping wastes or anything which can pollute in the cave.

So far, the inside of the dark cave depicts a picture of a house with several rooms and corridors. The floor is paved and there are some stairs to ease movement.

The cave is said to have been a result of volcanic eruption decades ago.

Residents said they expected the cave to benefit them because they will get jobs. "The cave has been lying idle for years. Now people have started benefitting from it, some are guides there, others are cleaners, we hope as tourism grows more people will get employed," said Pacifique Nshimiyimana, an area resident

Tourism was identified as a priority sector to achieve Rwanda's development goals as set out in Vision 2020.

The cave is the newest tourism product in Rwanda; with plans to turn several other caves into tourism sites in the future, according to officials.

Last year, Rwanda's tourism sector generated $281.8m (Rwf178b) up from $251.3m (Rwf159b) in 2011, according to 2012 Tourism Report by the RDB.

Meanwhile, RDB is also set to introduce hiking as another tourism product, Rwigamba announced.

"The country is hilly. There are people who like mountain climbing," Rugamba said.
Source: http://allafrica.com

Rwanda: Rwanda targets medical tourism

Rwanda:

Rwanda targets medical tourism

Investments in modern health facilities to help attract foreign patients

Joseph Uwimana, a resident of Kabuga, a Kigali suburb says that 2012 was his worst year.

“I had an eye complication which our local eye specialists couldn’t treat. Specialists recommended a transfer to India or South Africa where I ended up paying a lot of money to cater for transport, accommodation and treatment,” he says.

Cases like Uwimana’s are frequent in East and Central Africa and they are always referred to specialised medical attention abroad.

UP to 100,000 people; medical tourists, go to India for medical treatment from East Africa and the number is increasing by 4% annually.

Rwanda, whose expenditure on medical tourism is unknown but could be among those that are rapidly growing in the East African region, is looking at becoming a regional hub of inbound medical tourism.

The acting head of services development section at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Hubert Rutage Ruzibiza, says the institution believes that medical tourism is a new product suitable for developing countries like Rwanda.

“It strengthens linkages in the national economy and increases foreign exchange earnings,” he says.

Medical tourism happens when consumers elect to travel across international borders with the intention of receiving some form of medical treatment.

Rwanda is looking at options to sustain the budding tourism sector that registered high foreign exchange receipts last year, and tapping into medical tourism is one of the catalysts the government is employing.

There has been an increase in the steady health infrastructure mainly boosted by the public and private investments in decent health facilities which include specialised hospitals and state of the art medical equipment to boost medical tourism.

King Faisal hospital, Rwanda’s leading state-owned healthcare provider, has imported state of the art equipment, such as Computed Tomography (CT) scanner system, Magnetic Resource Imaging (MRI) systems, and other advanced imaging machines that may provide better healthcare for patients.

This kind of investment has led to an international accreditation of King Faisall hospital which is currently laying the ground to become a regional referral hospital in the East African region.

“Such investments have enhanced our local healthy sector and this means that Rwanda will earn more foreign exchange from patients from the neighboring countries like Burundi, DRC, Uganda and others,” says Ruzibiza.

Statistics from King Faisal Hospital indicate that in 2012 alone the hospital received 3,755 foreign patients from across the region and DRC sent the biggest number with 1,850.

Recently, another specialised foreign hospital opened in Rwanda to provide eye treatment across the region. Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital from India is the first foreign specialist establishment in Rwanda, which is most likely to become a regional eye referral centre.

Dr. John Nkurikiye, a consultant ophthalmologist at Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, says that the facility is well equipped with state of the art technology for performing surgeries related to cataract, retina, Glaucoma and other eye ailments with techniques matching the international standards comparable with Europe and South Africa.

“These facilities and services are currently in Rwanda for the first time,” says Dr. Nkurikiye.

“Dr Agarwal’s eye hospital is aimed to be the centre of excellence in the field of ophthalmology, fulfilling the need for advanced eye care services of the Rwandan and people from neighboring countries.”

Setting up the hospital in Kigali has so far consumed over US$2 million and more investments are in the pipeline to ensure that the facility delivers the state of the art eye treatment to the regional patients.

Ruzibiza says that boosting medical tourism in Rwanda “is also an added advantage for citizens as they are to enjoy reduced cost, the availability of latest medical technologies, and a growing compliance of international quality standards.”

Dr Nkurikiye says that medical tourists generally pay higher, out-of-pocket rates than local patients and also offer the prospect of spending tourism dollars on hotels, meals and even tours and entertainment for themselves and family members.

Dr. Nkurikiye acknowledges that Rwanda could become a tourism hub only if it has world-class medical facilities, which would be difficult without the participation of private entities.

He says that Rwanda is in a good location in terms of climate, the security and quiet environment, which patients need when going through the healing process.

Tourism is Rwanda’s leading foreign exchange earner for many years. Last year, it registered strong performance compared to 2011 as the revenue generated increased by 17% to US$281.8 million compared to US$251.3 million in 2011.

Source: http://www.independent.co.ug