[An Islamic militant group responsible for a wave of suicide attacks, car bombs, assassinations and assaults across northeastern Nigeria threatens the stability of the country.]
BURUNDI :
RWANDA :
Rwanda: Muslims Celebrate Eid Al-Adhuha
7 November 2011/The New Times
Thousands of Rwandan Muslims, yesterday, joined others around the world to celebrate Eid al-Adhuha, in a national event marked by prayers at Nyamirambo Regional Stadium in Kigali.
The day, which is also known as ‘Feast of the Sacrifice’, is marked in recognition of Abraham’s obedience to Allah by showing willingness to sacrifice his only son. God intervened and instead provided him with a lamb.
In the Islamic belief, Muslims celebrate this day by also slaughtering animals and sharing meat and foodstuff, among other things, with the most vulnerable in their community.
Sheikh Swaib Mvuyekure, the Western Provincial Imam, led the prayers on behalf of the Mufti who is currently on holy pilgrimage in Mecca.
In his speech, he called upon the Muslim community to remember the history of the day and make use of it in their daily lives.
“This should be enough to make you strong believers, meaning that Allah is always there for you, not only in times of happiness, but also during difficult moments,” Mvuyekure said.
In an interview with The New Times, some of the believers said the day is one of the most important events on the Islamic calendar, which means a lot in building faith and bringing Muslims together.
“The fact that Abraham never hesitated to give out his only son, is a landmark that gives us hope, meaning that even in the most difficult times when human beings have lost hope, something better can come up,” observed Amina Kayitesi.
In his speech, the Executive Secretary of Rwanda Muslim Association (AMUR), Sheikh Swaleh Nshimiyimana, emphasised the need for Muslims to actively contribute towards national development.
“As Muslims, we have to unite and even encourage members of the community to live in peace, work together and collectively contribute towards the fight against diseases especially HIV/Aids and other diseases,” Nshimiyimana said.
He also updated members on the reforms AMUR is undertaking in its statutes and internal regulations.
As part of the reforms, he pointed out, the association’s entities have reduced from 10 regions to four provinces, each with a new Imam.
Nshimiyimana encouraged Muslims to contribute towards the construction of AMUR’s headquarters to be built in Nyamirambo at the cost of approximately Rwf10 billion.
RDC CONGO:
RDC : reprise du retour des réfugiés angolais
Par RFI /lundi 07 novembre 2011
Il n’y avait plus eu aucun convoi de rapatriement de réfugiés angolais installés en République démocratique du Congo depuis 2007. Ces retours volontaires au pays ont repris vendredi. Une dizaine de bus et de camions transportant 86 familles (252 personnes) ont quitté Kimpese dans le sud-ouest de la RDC pour franchir la frontière et se rendre dans le nord de l’Angola à Luvo. Des cérémonies ont été organisées de chaque côté de la frontière. La reprise des rapatriements volontaires a été décidée en juin 2010 lors d’une réunion entre la RDC, l’Angola et le Haut commissariat aux réfugiés. Sur les 80 000 réfugiés angolais qui vivent en RDC, la moitié (43 085) ont exprimé le souhait de rentrer (selon le HCR). La plupart de ces réfugiés angolais ont fui la guerre en 1975 entre l’armée du président José Eduardo dos Santos et la rébellion de l’Unita.
Ce premier convoi d’une dizaine de bus et de camions est parti vendredi du Bas-Congo dans le sud-ouest du pays avec à bord 86 familles, 252 personnes.
Lors du recensement des 80 000 réfugiés angolais en RDC, 43 000 ont exprimé leur souhait de rentrer dans leur pays. Pour des raisons logistiques, le HCR a choisi deux premiers axes de rapatriement pour les prochaines semaines.
Le rapatriement de réfugiés angolais est aussi une opération menée depuis le Congo-Brazzaville, mais là ils ne sont que 800 Angolais à rentrer au pays.
RDC : les milices du Nord-Kivu sommées de déposer les armes
07-11-2011 /www.lesafriques.com
Congo (RDC)
Le colonel Sylvain Ekenge, porte-parole de l’opération Amani Leo visant la rébellion dans l’est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), a été on ne peut plus clair : « La constitution de la RDC interdit à quiconque d’organiser des milices.
Et maintenant que les unités des FARDC sont entrain d’être déployées dans le secteur, nous n’allons pas tolérer qu’un groupe de milices d’autodéfense puisse assumer la mission de sécuriser la population ou de combattre les Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda (FDLR), mission dévolue aux FARDC et à la Police nationale congolaise(PNC). »
C’est ainsi que les Forces armées de la RDC (FARDC) ont sommé les milices d’autodéfense armées dans le territoire de Masisi, au Nord-Kivu, à l’est du pays, de cesser leurs activités et de remettre les armes.
« A défaut, elles seront considérées comme des hors-la-loi », a ajouté le porte-parole de l’opération Amani Leo.
Formées, au mois d’août dernier, par des jeunes de Masisi pour combattre les rebelles hutu rwandais des FDLR qui avaient profité du départ en formation des régiments des FARDC, ces milices doivent donc disparaître aujourd’hui.
RDC: heurts entre opposition et majorité à Lubumbashi, incident à Kinshasa
AFP / 06 novembre 2011
KINSHASA – Une quinzaine de partisans de l’opposition et de la majorité ont été blessés lors de heurts samedi à Lubumbashi, dans le sud-est de la RD Congo, et à Kinshasa un élu d’opposition a été brièvement interpellé par la police, a-t-on appris dimanche de source médicale et de l’opposition.
Des incidents se sont aussi produits dimanche à Goma (est), dans la province du Nord-Kivu, également liés à la campagne électorale, de plus en plus tendue à l’approche de la présidentielle et les législatives prévues le 28 novembre.
A Goma, des jeunes ont dressé des barricades et bloqué la circulation de la principale artère une partie de la journée, selon un correspondant de l’AFP, pour protester contre la disparition depuis samedi d’un chanteur local, Fabrice Kifumu, qui s’est notamment produit pour Vital Kamerhe, l’un des candidats de l’opposition pour la présidentielle.
A Lubumbashi, chef-lieu de la province du Katanga, des heurts ont éclaté lors du passage d’une caravane du parti d’opposition Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social (UDPS) devant le local de l’Union nationale des fédéralistes du Congo (Unafec), alliée de la Majorité présidentielle.
Les partisans de deux camps se sont jeté des pierres, certains ont été blessés à l’arme blanche et quelques véhicules ont été incendiés, selon des témoins.
Une quinzaine de personnes ont été blessées, a indiqué à l’AFP une source médicale.
Le maire de la ville, Sanguza Mutunda, a affirmé à l’AFP que deux membres de l’UNAFEC ont été blessés et hospitalisés, ajoutant qu’une commission d’enquête a été mise en place et qu’un bilan précis serait donné ultérieurement.
Dans un communiqué publié dimanche soir, l’UDPS a condmané ces incidents et dénoncé la volonté du candidat Kabila de provoquer des troubles pour perturber le déroulement du processus électoral.
L’Unafec est dirigée par Gabriel Kyungu, président de l’assemblée provinciale du Katanga.
L’ONG Human Rights Watch a relevé fin octobre que M. Kyungu avait ces derniers mois fréquemment employé un langage agressif et provocateur contre les personnes originaires de la province voisine du Kasai Oriental, terre natale d’Etienne Tshisekedi.
Dans la capitale Kinshasa, le député provincial Martin Fayulu, leader de l’Engagement pour la citoyenneté et le développement (Ecidé), parti soutenant l’opposant historique Etienne Tshisekedi pour la présidentielle, a été brièvement interpellé samedi alors qu’il battait campagne sur un marché de la capitale.
Il a été accusé d’haranguer des étudiants de l’université toute proche mais ce n’était pas vrai, a déclaré à l’AFP Me Serge Mayemba, secrétaire national de l’UDPS, le parti de M. Tshisekedi.
Des responsables de l’opposition, dont M. Mayemba, sont allés rencontrer l’inspecteur provincial de la police pour demander la libération de M. Fayulu, qui a été remis en liberté peu après, a ajouté le secrétaire national de l’UDPS.
Fin octobre à Mbuji Mayi, chef-lieu du Kasai Oriental et fief de M. Tshisekedi, une adolescente de 13 ans a été tuée par une balle perdue tirée par un policier lors de la dispersion d’une manifestation d’un parti d’opposition.
UGANDA :
Uganda: Leaders Want Govt-LRA Talks
Moses Akena/The Monitor/7 November 2011
Previous botched military attempts to root out the Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and his fighters signal that military confrontations alone will not end the conflict, panelists in a one-week dialogue that closed in Gulu town on Saturday have said.
The participants, drawn from diplomatic, political and religious circles, said past interventions by the UPDF and regional armies from South Sudan and DR Congo have instead worsened the situation. Peace talks, they said, is the only viable option for government and regional leaders to embrace now that military operations have proved fruitless.
The German ambassador to Uganda, Mr Claus Dieter Duxmann, opened the discussion by saying the experience seen so far makes a case for peace talks as opposed to military actions against the rebels.
“We need to promote peace and reconciliation and the issue of LRA can’t be dealt with by military means alone,” he said.
Mr Duxmann, who decried the regional imbalances in development that was occasioned by the LRA, however, pledged that his government and the European Union would support the African Union to deal with the conflict by sending military experts just like America recently did.
State Minister for Water Betty Bigombe, who once championed peace negotiations with the rebels at a time most people lived in fear, lauded the 2006 Juba Peace Talks championed by the Acholi Religious Leaders’ Peace Initiative for the relative peace being enjoyed in northern Uganda.
Drawing on the peace talks that ended the Sierra Leone conflict, Ms Bigombe advised government not to trash the documents even if they were not signed by the elusive LRA leader.
“I have always told government that even if it (the Juba peace talks agreement) were not signed, it should be implemented. The most important thing is to engage with your enemy, no matter what the situation is,” Ms Bigombe said.
The Archbishop of Gulu Catholic Archdiocese, the Rev. John Baptist Odama, who participated in the Juba peace talks, estimated the cost of the Operation Lightning Thunder at a whooping Shs500 billion.
This, he said, does not make economic sense since the Juba Peace Talks cost only Shs15 billion, adding that Operation Lightning Thunder is to blame for the humanitarian crisis in Congo and the Central African Republic.
Archbishop Odama called for a joint effort to tackle the regional spill-over of the conflict.
Justice Dan Akiiki Kiiza, the head of the International Crime Division of the High Court, however, said forgiving war criminals would make Uganda lose its status of being a ‘civilised country’.
He also said since people from different nationalities were affected by the LRA war, the mato oput cultural justice mechanism may not apply in all the situations.
Uganda Shilling gains over Dollar
Monday, 07 November 2011 / Frank Meyer /www.busiweek.com .
The Uganda Shilling may start showing signs of recovery after appreciating and reaching a three month high by more than 10% at the end of October.
The steep appreciation of the shilling on the dollar is largely due interventions by Bank of Uganda and the return of offshore investors in the market.
On September 23 the Uganda Shilling had reached lows of Ushs2,897.50 since 1993 and settled Ush2,856 in late October before it rallied to settle an average of Ushs2,601 as of last week.
The growing and sustained increase in demand for the Dollar in the early days of October meant that the shilling would continue to struggle since Dollars were largely scarce.
BOU has continued to tighten its monetary stance so as to drive down the erratic double digit inflation. The tight monetary policy has started yielding good results for the Uganda shilling according to BOU officials.
“Offshore investors have seen the tightened monetary stance so that they can start investing. They have brought in their dollars which has eased on the Uganda Shilling,” says Elliot Mwebya the communications Director at BOU.
A weak shilling is usually attributed to increased demand for the dollar by the energy and telecoms sectors.
Their growing demand has not been matched by dollar inflows hence the appreciation of the greenback.
BOU’s tightening has led to increased costs of borrowing on companies that have to import heavily.
This has reduced the dollar imports in the country, keeping the shilling in the economy which has reduced the local demand for the dollar.
“BoU’s tight monetary will continue as the central bank will continue to support the local currency,” said a currency trader at Barclays Bank Uganda.
The Central Bank has been raising its monthly Central Bank Rate (CBR) so as to curb the runaway inflation. The CBR for November was increased by 300 basis points to 23% up from 20% in October with inflation stats show inflation at 30.5%, the highest level in the region. A high CBR means that interest rates on commercial bank loans have to go up and has raised interest rates on government instruments.
Offshore investors are attracted to such medium and long term government instruments when the yields are high. Considering how volatile European markets are, then sub-saharan African still stands out because of the projected growth and return on investment.
The Uganda shilling will continue this rally as offshore investors participated in the Treasury bill auction by BOU last week. The Central Bank auctioned Ush95b ($35.6m) of 91, 182 and 364 -day Treasury Bills.
The Yields for the treasury bills are at 21.05%, 21.32% and 23.27% respectively which are relatively high for offshore investors. This has boosted the appreciation of the shilling on the dollar.
This auction coupled with dollars from the NGO’s to pay wages and other expenses have brought in more dollars into the economy hence boosting the shillings recovery.
“An appreciating shilling is good for the economy right now because it would reduce in imported inflation another cause for the rising cost of goods and services,” a financial analyst from Crane Financial Services says.
Fuel prices are supposed to drop when the shilling appreciates, which reduces on the cost of transportation which is a key factor in chain of food supply.
Stop feeding Ugandans on raw lies
By Robert Kabushenga /www.newvision.co.ug/ Monday, November 07, 2011
IT is not what it appears to be. Certainly not what they want you to believe. This whole hoo-ha about oil, the riots supposedly to improve our cost of living and the cacophony of so-called rebel voices.
It is not about governance, corruption, and democracy. Nor is it even about internal party reforms. It is simple. It is a well-masked attempt at a power grab. By force. Period!
But here is what I cannot seem to get my head around. How the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, a person well heeled in the law can allow a debate to proceed based on forged documents and rumours. This is a criminal act for which in court one would be convicted of perjury.
Then in total disregard of natural justice rules, allow resolutions to be passed and then forward them for action to the President!
Now, the Speaker has allowed yet another discussion of a motion to hold the Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs in contempt of Parliament! But there is no provision anywhere in the law that makes such behaviour offensive, at least not with Parliament.Court, Yes.
So to me this is just a witch-hunt. That is all. How else do you explain the complete lack of interest by this group in the story of crooks that ripped a billion shillings off us and never delivered the bicycles for our LC 1 chairpersons? Or that no one in the Central Executive Committee (which allegedly called for Amama Mbabazi’s departure) did not see it fit to call for the resignation of one of them who stole sh142b out of Bank of Uganda and conned a public organisation out of prime pieces of land in Kampala without paying the full market value for it.
Part of the reasons for the silence is that this particular individual bankrolls some of the accusers.
He was probably fanning this whole issue to distract attention from an investigation into his con acts.
Now to Besigye. His insistence on walking to work (and in the process instigate riots) is simply a gimmick to avoid two things.
One is accounting for the money he got for campaigns. The other is allowing internal reforms called for by opposition politicians who feel that he is way passed his sell-by date. This one has two facets.
Besigye does not want to account for the funds he was given for his failed presidential bid.
His funders (a motley collection of interests that include a deposed leader, a loaded local media owner, groups allied to conservative politicians in the UK, Ugandan Diaspora and so on) did not expect him to win but they hoped for a more decent showing.
The retired colonel had promised outright victory but the more rational in his group were hoping for a rerun. The margin of loss he suffered and particularly in Buganda raised questions about his whole campaign strategy and how the money had been used.
A number of parliamentary candidates complained bitterly that he made no significant financial contribution to their own campaigns. To compound his crisis, there was no uprising in reaction to his loss. So he decided to manufacture one.
The other reason for his riotous ways is that deep in his mind he harbours the delusion that he can force his way into State House. This has been compounded by the fact legally he cannot be candidate again and must give way. So if he can achieve this outcome before the next election, the equation changes.
Walk-to-work and the oil debate looked at together present Besigye with a nightmare he could do without.
The former was a brainchild of opposition young Turks recently arrived in Parliament and some in his party that are disillusioned with him.
They represent a new breed of opposition politicians and offer the Buganda opposition constituency with more legitimate leadership and a better hope for their aspirations than Besigye (and indeed the more consequential wing of FDC) can ever hope to provide. So to him this is a group whose emergence must be neutralised.
So for this reason Besigye has smartly appropriated their political innovation but also because he lacks the imagination to come up with anything original beyond anger and cynicism.
The second reason he is hanging on to it is to forestall a bid by Nandala Mafabi to take the Forum for Democratic Change(FDC) leadership. You see, believers in political musical chairs are touting the view that it is the turn of eastern Uganda ‘to eat’.
Mafabi feels that this is his best possible chance since he is one of the few who can claim to have a real geographical constituency.
Besigye has none having lost the traditional opposition stronghold of the north and failed to maintain sympathy in Teso. Elsewhere, no one takes him seriously anymore. He is quickly being reduced to street types in Kampala.
The oil debate takes away the dissent in politics from playing out in FDC and therefore Besigye’s claim to be the only credible opponent to Museveni. What complicates his calculation even further is when the reformers in his party like Abdu Katuntu that are active in Parliament seem to get a lot of airtime and media prominence. With his thunder stolen and with it the ability to command editorial copy, Besigye must now engage in political gimmickry to remain relevant. So that is your Besigye.
Back to the charade that played out on national television supposedly to protect ‘our oil’. What a joke. A bad and expensive one at that.
Parliament had gone into recess. Then it was called back at great cost to the taxpayer (that is you and me, not Harry Porter).
The real reason for this was so broke MPs can earn a quick buck at our expense. Some among the architects of this con act then got themselves a free trip to Europe and the Middle East at our expense. Not bad for a couple of days’ work. And now we are going to blow a fortune in these tough economic times on an ad hoc committee to tell us what we already know: that the allegations of bribery are based on forged letters and bar room talk by diplomats at Bubbles O’Leary and Just Kicking, which are then filed back home as briefings.
This is stuff that has been national headlines for months, milked for all its worth in a classic display of lazy journalism.
The way I see it, there is no sincerity in the so-called anti corruption crusade, both in Parliament and what is clearly emerging as an industry run by activists around this subject.
During earlier investigations conducted into similar allegations, the people accused (just as powerful) never stepped down or aside. Yet these investigations came up with findings that led to prosecutions. So what is the fuss about stepping aside, if the real intention is not simply to oust Mbabazi with Onek as just collateral damage?
Part of the motivation for this type of behaviour in NRM circles is the raw politics of succession.
For some reason I cannot understand, the view that the President will retire after this term is gaining a lot of currency. And that when this happens Mbabazi is poised to take over.
First of all, the little I know of NRM politics is that it is full of interesting twists and turns. Nothing is certain or even predictable.
Certainly you can lose a lot of money betting on a succession or anointment in NRM.
It is not a vanguard party or a monarchy but a movement where loyalties are very fluid. Or at least, if only for the reason that four years is a long time especially in NRM politics.
From what is I gather, part of the oil charade was driven by the need to neutralise any attempt by Mzee to determine the leadership of the country after he steps down and in particular kill the Mbabazi presidential scheme.
So this issue then became a confluence of different interests groups of individuals. Some have scores to settle with the President for what they consider past betrayals. Others have personal beef with Mbabazi arising out of old rivalries. Some others fearing the recent crackdown on corrupt behaviour hope to derail any possible probes into their own behaviour by fuelling an oil red herring.
For the so-called rebels who have become a mercenary force in a proxy political fight there are personal motivations that have absolutely nothing to do with the fight against corruption. There are those nursing disappointment from failure to make the Cabinet.
Others are still bitter from the rivalries of the NRM primaries and the parliamentary elections. For the new ones, this is a cheap source of personal popularity.
In all this, there has been the invisible hand of foreign policy and business interests of outsiders.
The pillar of this foreign policy is to effect the departure of President Museveni from office.
According to this thinking, Uganda can only be democratic when Museveni is either forced out of office or hands over after defeat in an election by an opposition candidate. Anything short of that will be dismissed as undemocratic. Which is why they are keen on portraying walk-to-work as a protest movement yet similar behaviour in their own backyard is criminal action that must be dealt with firmly.
They see a debate based on forgeries, intrigue and outright lies as a sign of internal democracy that must be encouraged. In so doing, they hope they can achieve regime change. The business interests are largely driven by access to and control of the oil business. It is believed that some of them may have funded this debate by facilitating the forgery of the letters. No wonder there has been growing talk of an oil curse in Uganda.
This is laying the intellectual and ideological foundation for future interventions by these countries to swing the oil business in their favour. I am aware that an NGO has been set up with a head office in a neighbouring country to drive activism around oil. Anyway one hopes that the hubris of intervening in Ivory Coast, the Libyan misadventure and the chaotic nature of their policy in Middle East will drive home the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan.
So it is not surprising that even as the Government makes positive efforts to deal with the economy, even as it becomes increasingly clear that there is nothing to the allegations of oil bribery, and that the substance of the oil agreements has been public knowledge for a while now this theatre of the absurd will continue to play out ad infinitum. Public interest is a mere by the way, for whatever it is worth in propaganda terms.
The writer is a member of the National Resistance Movement
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