Garang's widow raises assasination claims
- Two-years after Sudanese former rebel leader and former First Vice President Dr. John Garang de Mabior died in a helicopter crush in Southern Sudan after successfully completing a tour of Uganda, the cause of his death remains a mystery. The former rebel leader died while returning to his stronghold town of Rumbek, aboard a Ugandan Presidential helicopter-Mi-172 after concluding talks with Uganda’s president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.Initial reports on the accident were blamed on the weather or mechanical failure for the incident. The death of Garang, casts dark clouds over the modernization of the Sudan’s autocratic regime of president Omar-al-bashir and the internal formation of the S…A stronger shilling fails to impress against a weak dollar
- The steady rise in the value of the Kenya Shilling against the dollar has brought surprisingly little cheer among economists and the public. “if the shilling is gaining against the dollar, we expect oil prices to go down since they are set in dollars at the world market, why are we still paying more at the pump station?” asks Goddard Lubisia, a motorists filling up at a petrol station along Muranga road in down town Nairobi. “The only prices that are going down are for agricultural sector, and this hurts farmers because agriculture is the main back borne of the economy,” laments an agricultural specialist with the ministry of agriculture. With the shilling rising from Kshs.65 to K…Kenya: Press Freedom Under Attack
- The Orange democratic Movement-Kenya (ODM-Kenya) politicians led by Raila Odinga, Anyang Nyongo and Tony Gachoka have moved to court seeking orders to block the proposed government-backed media bill.
The MPs argue that the clause seeking to compel journalists to reveal their news sources is draconian and will violate press freedom and undermines democratic principles.
Information and Communication minister Mutayi Kagwa, soften his stand yesterday on the controversial bill and has referred the bill back to the Attorney General for further interpretation.
If passed, the bill will censor journalists and those violating the bill risk to be jailed. The bill has provoked public uproar,…19 June 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi. The International
- 19 June 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has unveiled a completion strategy which is aimed at transferring a backlog of cases to Rwanda under a national jurisdiction despite protests from some of the accused. At least 17 cases have been ear marked for this exercise as the tribunal’s mandate comes to uncertain end by 2008.Two leading officials of the Arusha-based tribunal expressed optimism that Rwanda, a country that is quickly emerging from years of judicial ineptness and misrule has the capacity to conduct fair trials. "Rwanda is the only country in the world with the experience in trying genocide cases. It has so far handle…Kofi Annan offers new opportunity for Africa’s poor farmers
- 14 June 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi. Six months after departure from the UN, where he served to two five-year terms as Secretary-General. Kofi Annan has landed a new position with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. “I am honoured today to take up this important post and join with my fellow Africans in a new effort to comprehensively tackle the challenges holding back hundreds millions of small-scale farmers in Africa,” Annan said while accepting the new appointment. “Africa is the only region where overall food security and livelihoods are deteriorating. We will reverse this trend by working to create an environmentally sustainable, uniquely African Green Revolution. Wh…G8 Leaders should break the conspiracy of silence on Africa
- 7 June 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi. Two years after the G8 leaders promised unprecedented relief for the developing world, Africa still lags behind in realizing sustainable development and poverty remains the major impediment to economic growth in the continent. The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK, and the USA, gathered at Gleneagles, Scotland, and announced their commitment to add their support to Africa. Among their commitments was to increase funding to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria which has claimed millions of lives in Africa. Although funding for the fight against malaria has increased, more than a million people continue to die an…UN Reform will mean little for Africa unless poverty eradica
- 28 May 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi, Kenya. The UN Word Summit, formerly known as the ‘Millennium+ 5 High-Level Meeting’, scheduled to convene in New York next week, is in grave danger of failing to reach a compromise on the world’s most pressing challenge and its greatest injustice - global poverty and inequalities. Only an unprecedented show of human solidarity on a global scale could favorably tip the outcome of the Summit. The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) had some limited success in achieving this during the G8 meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland in July. Africa’s 800 million people are now playing a critical part in a much greater challenge – cutting an agenda for A…A passion for humanity as villagers ravage in abject poverty
Ms Cecilia Mwangi is one extraordinary woman; she is renowned for wining the Miss World Kenya 2005, a prestigious title by all standing. However, what makes her stand out against all odds, is her bold decision to take up a calling that makes her appear as a stranger in a world only familiar with the unclaimed. - She has put her prestige and pride a side to take an initiative that is aimed at restoring hope to thousands of residents of Mathioya, in Muranga District who are struggling to live with a medical condition that has left most of them handicapped and many more have been exposed to poverty; while other have succumbed to jiggers. The infection is attributed to poor environmental p…Why Kenya does not need an anti-terrorism legislation
Pressure is mounting in the country against the anti-terrorism bill officially known as The Suppression of Terrorism Bill 2003. In addition to the public campaign against the bill, human rights organisations are lobbying parliamentarian to reject the bill when it presented to parliament for debt. Through a network of civil societies, they have collected signatures from Kenyans, to petition the government to withdraw the bill. - The Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Kenya, chapter, the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, and opposition have also voiced their concern against the bill. Indeed, the SUPKEM has threatened to mobilise Kenyans to hol…Rail transport offers new hope for East Africa
- 16 May 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi, Kenya. The decision by Kenya and Uganda to hand over railway operations to the Rift Valley Railways (RVR) is bearing fruits, officials said. The deal witnessed the transfer of the management and operations of the railways from government enterprises to the private sector for the first time in over a century. Top managers of the company are making a convincing case for more investment in the sector. Already, the consortium has paid a US$3 mn as entry fee and is to invest a minimum US$6 mn annually. This is projected to increase the current traffic by 75 percent in the first five years.Rift Valley Railways' Managing Director Roy Puffet is optimi…Lasting peace in Sudan fragile as Darfur remains on fire
5 May 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi, Kenya. One interesting addendum to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Christian southerners and Islamists northerners in the war ravaged Sudan is the fact that another war broke out in the western Darfur region. The war in Darfur practically undermines the peace agreement that was mitigated by both the Machakos and Naivasha protocols. - For instance, the Machakos protocol created two separate independent states, one in the south controlled by the SPLA/M and another in the north administered by Khartoum under the Sheria laws.Although the Machakos agreement paved the way for cession of hostilities and laid the ground for the liberat…A prison confession: The rot inside Kenya’s prison walls
30 April 2007, By Evans Wafula Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya's 93 prisons hold approximately 60,000 prisoners, 14,000 of whom are awaiting trial or are placed under pre-trial detention. On average, prisons are overcrowded by 30 percent of holding capacity, although some facilities, such as the Nairobi remand prison, are overcrowded by several hundred percent. . - There were over five hundred deaths in prison in between 2004 to 2006, most due to dysentery and diarrhea this according to a survey conducted by the Oscar Foundation-a free legal Aid clinic and prison records. Kenyan prisons do not have resident doctors, and only one prison had a doctor permanently assigned to it.In September 2004, at leas…Making it all count in the conflict in Marsabit
18 April 2007, by Evans Wafula, Nairobi, Kenya. A group of local and international NGOs in Kenya have come together to promote a greater sense of reconciliation by supporting peace and stability in the conflict ravaged district of Marsabit. - The Inter-Agency group (IAG), consisting of the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), Centre for Minority Rights, MS-Kenya, 4Cs, Peace Net, CEDMAC, , FHI, Farm Africa, SNV, among others from the Inter-ageancy group, believes they have found the antidote to solving the greater problem of accountability among warring communities in northern Kenya. The Inter Agency Group (IAG) has initiated a number of peace initiatives in Marsabit, …Nigeria’s tarnished democracy, and a lost legacy
- 26 April 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi, Kenya - Like many other African nations, Nigeria emerged after independence from a de facto, and then a de jure, under military dictatorship. Government opponents began pushing for democratic reforms, with overwhelming support of a citizen participation in the democratisation process, Nigeria was transformed to democratic governance on May 29, 1999, and the ban on multi party politics was lifted. The reform movement fragmented in the lead up to a democratic governance after 16 years of military dictatorship, giving President Olusegun Obasanjo and his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a victory at the 1999 polls – Nigeria"s first democrati…African governments should learn how to use the media more or chose to ignore the media at their own peril.
- 23 April 2007, By Evans Wafula, Nairobi, Kenya. Last year, l visited Burundi, a tiny central Africa republic where millions of people have been ravaged by years of ethnically oriented conflicts, today millions more are faced with a looming disease epidemic, malnutrition and starvation, and just when l was about to leave, l was informed that forty-three journalists had been arrested for attending a press conference called by a politician to announce his defection from government. In Kenya, first lady Lucy Kibaki stormed the Nation Media house to protest against a report published in the Daily Nation questioning her morals etiquette and the 'democratically" elected government of…A looming Constitutional Impasse threatens tranquility
- 23 April 2007, by Evans Wafula, Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya has been an absolute dictatorship for more than 44 years of her independence, with a political leadership that discards the rule of law, ignores worsening social ills and small elite that is often openly corrupt. A new constitutional order is inevitable if President Mwai Kibaki is to stand the test of times and own up to his historical responsibilities. But contrary, a draft constitution that codifies broad dictatorship and privileges was rejected in a referendum vote which the government lost. Political violence is more eminent than actual but frustration is building up. Kenya's parliamentarians who are the current pr…Civilians bear the brunt of the conflict in northern Kenya
16 April 2007, by Evans Wafula in Marsabit, Kenya.The conflict in Marsabit continues to precipitate serious human rights violation in northern Kenya. The conflict is taking its highest toll on civilians as cases of abductions and murder by both the warring factions are on the increase. Civilians bear the burnt of the ethnic protracted conflict, paying the price of the conflict in the north, causing more pain and suffering to large populations. Both the warring groups are engaged in scorched- earthed abuses that have resulted to the displacement of thousands of innocent civilians. - A coalition of international and local NGOs have painted a genocidal picture to the cycle of violence in Marsab…Sarova Group of hotel unveils new acquisition plan
- 6 April 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi. Sarova Group of hotels, one of Kenya"s largest international groups of hotels, has launched a new acquisition strategy which is part of its ongoing expansion plan aimed at providing its customers with quality services, and adds value to its operations.The expansion plan will enable the group to own property in all key tourists destination in East Africa and will increase its bed occupancy to cope with the increasing demand for its quality services. The hotel has already finalised its acquisition of the expansive Taita Hills Lodge and Salt Lick Lodge. Both are located near the western entrance of the main Indian Ocean coast of Mombassa,…Microfinance does not always brings what it promises
- 5 april 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi, Kenya. Two years after the UN dedicated 2005 as the years for microfinance; borrowers in Kenya have nothing to celebrate despite most micro finance institutions in Kenya recording impressive returns from what they charge as interest rates.Today, the institutions have more money for lending and financial intermediation than ever before due to the current profitability. Customers seem all eager to borrow from micro credit institutions to cover gaps in their budgets. In any form of lending or borrowing, things can go wrong beyond the borrower"s control and lead to default in repayment. Micro finance can only be viable when integrated into l…Urban development faces a daunting prospect
- 4 april 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi. The current wave of urban development within Kenya has generated the demand for better services by residents living in informal settlements; most of them live in appalling conditions with no access to water and sanitation. Increase in population is causing pressure on the limited services that the residents have to cope with.There have been calls for proper urban development and management so as to deal with the ever increasing challenges on population pressure that Nairobi is currently experiencing.Elijah Agevi, a consultant in urban planning, believes that effective urban planning and management will assist in channelling effective services…The Interahamwe remains a stamping block to peace in the Great Lakes region.
23 March 2007 by Evans Wafula in Nairobi, Kenya. If the peace pact on security in the Great Lakes is to get somewhere, then the leaders of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have to sort out the issue of interahamwe once and for all, the Rwanda militia terrorising the Great Lakes. This is due to the growing indications that these militias are key allies of the rebels who are opposed to President Pierre Nkurunziza and who have vowed to fragment the peace deal as long as the leaders of the Great Lakes continue to isolate them. - Humanitarian agencies have confirmed that the interahamwe and their counterparts, the former soldiers of the Ha…Crime is threatening investments in Kenya
23 March 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi, Kenya. Last month, the police announced the gunning down of one of Kenya"s most wanted criminals. Simon Matheri was being sought for masterminding a number of armed robberies in Nairobi and its environs. He is also alleged to have supervised incidents of rape and indiscriminate executions for prominent personage in Kenya. - He was gunned down in his hide out after being on the run for five years, and the police quickly announced that the crime rate is expected to go down.However, the killing of Matheri did not make things any better, the business community in Kenya has threatened to quite and move their businesses elsewhere if the government fails t…Crime is threatening investments in Kenya
23 March 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi, Kenya. Last month, the police announced the gunning down of one of Kenya"s most wanted criminals. Simon Matheri was being sought for masterminding a number of armed robberies in Nairobi and its environs. He is also alleged to have supervised incidents of rape and indiscriminate executions for prominent personage in Kenya. - He was gunned down in his hide out after being on the run for five years, and the police quickly announced that the crime rate is expected to go down.However, the killing of Matheri did not make things any better, the business community in Kenya has threatened to quite and move their businesses elsewhere if the government f…Why the role of the army is causing concern in Zimbabwe
23 March 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi. As political and economic turmoil hit Zimbabwe, there is growing concern over the military's possible role in the country's politics.This point was brought into focus when regional analysts accused Mugabe of planning to import Para- military death squads from Angola to help in cracking down the opposition. - Analysts in Zimbabwe and South Africa have also expressed concern about the apparent close ties between the government of Zimbabwe and senior military chiefs. They explained that their apprehension stems from the fact that Zimbabwe's senior military chiefs were mostly close allies of the embattled President Robert Mugabe and the ruling ZANU-PF p…Air transport and tourism development faces overcapacity and a rush for modernisation in Kenya
23 March 2007, by Evans Wafula in Nairobi. Kenya is experiencing unprecedented over flow as an important travel and tourist destination, which have aroused the attention of major travellers and promoters of tourism in the globe. Kenya has become a privileged destination for tourists and travel agents from Europe, America and Asian markets. - To realize potential growth in its tourism and travel, all the major players in the travel and tourism sectors will need to promote tourists attraction and educate all interested travel agents, meeting and conference planners, and investors about the products and services offered by the travel and tourism industries in the country. For instance, Kenya To…
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