[Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya is filling up again with a new wave of refugees fleeing conflict in parts of Sudan and South Sudan. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees more than 7,700 people have arrived in the camp so far this year, 75 percent of them from Sudan and South Sudan]
BURUNDI :
Rencontre entre un conseiller politique chinois de haut niveau et le deuxième vice-président du Burundi
2012-05-14 / xinhua
Abdul’ahat Abdulrixit, vice-président du comité national de la Conférence consultative politique du Peuple chinois (CCPPC), a rencontré lundi le deuxième vice-président du Burundi Gervais Rufyikiri au Grand palais du Peuple à Beijing.
M. Abdul’ahat a fait l’éloge de l’amitié traditionnelle et de la coopération entre la Chine et le Burundi, en précisant que la Chine était prête à faire des efforts conjoints avec le Burundi pour porter les relations bilatérales vers un plus haut niveau.
M. Rufyikiri a exprimé sa gratitude à la Chine pour son soutien au développement économique du Burundi.
Lors de leur rencontre, M. Rufyikiri a également déclaré qu’il espérait que les deux pays renforceraient leurs échanges et coopérations pour promouvoir davantage les relations bilatérales.
M. Rufyikiri est en visite en Chine à l’invitation de l’Institut de Politique étrangère du Peuple chinois.
RWANDA :
Rwanda: Kabarebe, DRC’s Tambo Meet
By Bonny Mukombozi and Edwin Musoni/The New Times/14 May 2012
A high-level defence, military and security delegation from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), over the weekend, held bilateral security talks with their Rwandan counterparts led by the Minister of Defence, James Kabarebe.
The DRC Minister of Defence, Alexander Luba Tambo, was accompanied by the Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Didier Etumba and the director general of security and intelligence services, Col. Kalev Mutond.
The ministers, who jointly addressed journalists after the meeting at Lake Kivu Serena hotel, said the bilateral talks were part to the ongoing joint efforts aimed at finding an immediate peaceful resolution of the renewed conflict in DRC’s North Kivu province.
A joint statement issued at the meeting indicated that the mandate of a joint intelligence operation between the two countries had been expanded to include verification of security threats along the common border.
It also said that Chiefs of Defence Staff from either side were assigned to design a joint operation plan against the FDLR militia, one of the many armed groups operating in eastern DRC.
The FDLR is an outfit that is mainly made up of elements responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and have been a key factor in the instabilities that had dogged the region for the last decade and a half.
“The Chiefs of Defence Staff of Rwanda and DRC will present a joint plan of operation against the FDLR,” reads part of the statement.
The Chiefs of Intelligence of the two countries were also tasked to establish – within ten days – a mechanism of how to prevent actions that are detrimental to the Rwanda-DRC relations.
During the meeting, it was also agreed that the government of DRC creates favourable conditions to guarantee the repatriation of the refugees within the shortest time possible.
The two-week old conflict, which again escalated on Friday after a brief ceasefire, has seen thousands of Congolese refugees pouring into Rwanda. More than 8,000 are reported to have crossed the La Corniche border in Rubavu.
They are currently sheltered at the Nkamira Transit Centre in the western district of Rubavu, but the government said last week they would soon be transferred to a new camp in Nyamagabe District, Southern Province.
“The problem of refugees in Africa is not new, it’s a complex issue, we are reviewing our partnership with Rwanda to design measures of promoting security and peace along the borders, we are looking at stronger mechanisms to deal with the problem,” Tambo told journalists.
Apart from the refugees that crossed into the country over the last few days, Rwanda has played host to over 50,000 others who also fled from the volatile eastern DRC since the late 1990s.
The old caseload refugees are in three different camps.
Thousands others have also crossed into Uganda in the wake of the renewed conflict in the country’s east.
The Congolese forces are fighting mutinous soldiers, who previously belonged to the former CNDP and PARECO rebels groups, a situation that has worsened the fragile security in that region.
Minister Kabarebe said that bilateral review of the security situation on the ground, and the continued engagements will help promote peace and avert potential crises.
“Holding meetings itself and putting up mechanisms to restore peace and security in the region is very important; to review the situation, realign and design mechanism to deal with security as it evolves,” Kabarebe said.
The high level security meeting followed two recent ones as both sides continue to explore ways of resolving the latest crisis.
According to security sources, FDLR is taking advantage of the chaotic situation to re-arm and take new positions, as it continues to wreck havoc on civilian populations in eastern DRC.
“The Government of (DR) Congo is committed to fighting and defeating the negative forces; we want to re-affirm our commitment to this cause,” Minister Tumba said.
The meeting also decided that both sides continue to share information regarding the situation
RDC CONGO:
RD Congo: onze Casques bleus de l’ONU blessés dans le Sud-Kivu
lci.tf1.fr/14052012
Onze Casques bleus de l’ONU ont été blessés par balles lundi dans le Sud-Kivu, en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), a indiqué un porte-parole de l’ONU. Selon le porte-parole, Martin Nesirky, l’attaque s’est produite dans la région de Banyakiri et “un certain nombre” d’autres Casques bleus ont été touchés par des pierres lancées par un millier de manifestants qui ont encerclé une base appartenant à la mission de l’ONU (MONUSCO) dans cette zone.
Un porte-parole du département des opérations de maintien de la paix a ensuite précisé que les sept blessés par balles étaient pakistanais et qu’ils ont été hospitalisés à Goma. Les manifestants protestaient contre des attaques menées dans la région par les Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), a précisé Martin Nesirky.
UGANDA :
Uganda receives sh248b World Bank loan
Publish Date: May 15, 2012/By Samuel Sanya/www.newvision.co.ug
Uganda has received a US$100m (about sh248b) World Bank loan for poverty reduction through enhanced service delivery, less than a week after rigorous Parliamentary consideration.
The signing of the 9th Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC) loan was effectively delayed till Monday from Friday last week as Parliamentarians reached consensus.
This brings the total loans disbursed under the program to US$1.2b (sh3trillion) since 2001 with one final installment still in the plans.
Maria Kiwanuka, the finance minister said that the PRSC loans have played a vital role in infrastructure development, rural development and capacity building to ensure a strong economic footing.
“This is very timely given the pressure on government revenues due to the challenging macroeconomic environment we are currently operating in. with the PRSC funding we have able to attain economic growth of over 7%,” she explained.
The loan will be used to improve value for money in core sectors of health, education (Universal Primary Education), water supply and Sanitation and road maintenance.
The hardship allowance currently being enjoyed by public servants in hard-to-reach and hard-to-live areas was part of the previous loan, the PRSC 8 according to World Bank documents.
Mustapha Ndiaye, the World Bank Uganda country director said that the Bank is committed to supporting Uganda’s move towards middle income status in the next three years through various development projects.
“We welcome government’s ambitious move toward middle-income status in the year 2015. We are hopeful that this loan will support interventions to bring down poverty,” he said.
Keith Muhakanizi, finance ministry permanent secretary pointed out that the loan is part of allocations in the current financial year 2011-2012 and that part of it has already been disbursed through an overdraft from the Central Bank.
TANZANIA:
Tanzania: Local Airline Business Set for Cut-Throat Competition
15 May 2012 / Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)
RESUMPTION of flights by Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) on the lucrative Dar-Kilimanjaro-Mwanza route is likely to create stiff competition on the sector currently dominated by Precision Air and Fly 504.
This follows the arrival in Dar es Salaam of a leased Boeing 737-500 plane from Aero Vista of Dubai last Saturday. The plane is expected to hit the skies on Friday and possibly cut fares as well. Passengers to Kigoma which enjoyed daily flights by ATCL’s DASH-8 plane which overshot the runway last month, have been forced to use road transport or fly by PrecissionAir, which charges over 500,000/- for a round trip via Mwanza.
“It’s too expensive to fly to Kigoma via Mwanza for many of us,” said Editha Karlo, a journalist based in the Lake Tanganyika side region. Ms Karlo said many travellers to Kigoma have been forced to either use road transport, which is slow but cheaper or use PrecisionAir services which are expensive.
Rukwa businessman, Mohammed Kassim said suspension of ATCL flights to Kigoma hiked his running costs. “There was no way that I could operate without flying regularly between Dar es Salaam and Kigoma,” said Mr Kassim, a road contractor in Kigoma and Rukwa regions. “Competition is always good and we saw it when ATCL started daily flights to Kigoma last year.
Round trip fares went down to 250,000/- for sometime before stabilising at 350,000/-,” said Kassim hoping fares would fall significantly if ATCL brought in more aircraft. An aviation official with the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) who preferred not to be mentioned because he is not the spokesman, said although operating costs had gone up due to a weak shilling, airlines were still charging very high fares which denies many people the option to fly.
“The problem is that we have no legal powers to check against airfares like the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) on fuel prices,” the TCAA official said. EWURA sets monthly fuel indicative prices that guide oil marketing companies to decide pump prices for consumers.
The only real competitor in the market is Fly540 which operates flights between Dar es Salaam Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Mtwara and Zanzibar using CRJ-100 and Fokker 28 aircraft. Additionally, the company also operates flights to the Northern tour ist circuit of Arusha, Seronera, Manyara and Grumeti using Caravan Cessna aircraft. Fly540 charges modest fares, which Kigoma and Rukwa passengers unfortunately cannot enjoy as there are no flights to the two western most border regions of the country.
Last week, ATCL Acting Managing Director and CEO, Paul Chizi said shortly after the arrival of the 108-seater plane, “after we have stabilised in the local market, we will also look into a possibility of flying to Dubai in the next three months.” “Our loyal partners and supporters should expect high quality services they have missed for some time.
What we need is their support as the national flag carrier,” he said. He said the company will enter into joint venture with various international airliners in a bid to extend its wings. “We will do this very carefully to create a win-win situation. There is no point to enter into a contract just for the sake of it whereby ATCL will not benefit,” Mr Chizi said.
The new plane has already been inspected by a team of experts from the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) in Cairo, Egypt where the aircraft was flown from Dubai and a certificate to fly in the country issued. The plane branded with ATCL corporate colours with its giraffe trademark on its tail touched down at 9:46 pm and was received by the company’s overjoyed workers and invited guests.
It is configured to carry 12 passengers in business and 96 passengers in the economy class. Mr Chizi added that the company’s mid-sized DASH-8 currently undergoing repairs at Terminal One will be ready in the next six weeks and will help boost the company’s service delivery.
KENYA:
Kenya Refugee Camp Fills Again With Sudanese Refugees
Mohammed Yusuf/ /www.voanews.com/May 14, 2012
KAKUMA, KENYA – Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya is filling up again with a new wave of refugees fleeing conflict in parts of Sudan and South Sudan. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees more than 7,700 people have arrived in the camp so far this year, 75 percent of them from Sudan and South Sudan.
The U.N. refugee agency says they receive an average of 100 new refugees at Kakuma per day, mainly from South Sudan.
Refugees are citing tribal conflict, cattle rustling, indiscriminate killings and burning of houses in Jonglei state as reasons for fleeing.
Amour Dau, 31, is a mother of six from Jonglei state. She says she fled her home for fear that violence might spread.
There were some rebels, who came to our village, Dau says, and looted our belongings and burnt our houses, that’s why I came here to save my life. But I left behind my husband who is a government soldier.
Another refugee, Achol Deng, 37, lost her husband and one child in the tribal conflict between her Dinka tribe and the rival Murle. She says her happiness will depend on the sort of assistance she will receive in the camp.
I am not happy at what happened back home, she says, people were being killed, houses burnt, I had to flee and seek asylum here. If I settle well in the camp and get good care I will be happy.
Kakuma camp was first opened in 1992. It has hosted thousands of refugees who fled the civil war in Sudan, which ended in 2005. In December of that year, UNHCR began voluntary repatriations of thousands of Sudanese from the camp.
Jeff Savage, UNHCR’s senior protection officer in Kakuma, says South Sudanese prefer coming to Kakuma camp than going to other camps in Ethiopia.
“Many of them are coming to Kakuma because either they are used to being refugees here, repatriated or they heard from other relatives,” said Savage. “We are wondering why they are going to Kakuma, which is much further than the camps in Ethiopia for instance.”
The 20-year camp is designed to hold up to 100,000 people. As of this month, there were 94,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from 13 countries living there.
ANGOLA:
Angola: Delegations Attending Workshop On Military Criminal Law Leave Country
13 May 2012/AngolaPress
Luanda — The delegations of Brazil, Nigeria, Zambia and Congo Brazzaville, which attended on 9-11 May in Luanda the international seminar on military criminal law and 6th meeting of International Association of Military Justices, left on Saturday for their countries.
During the closing ceremony of the event on Friday, the Angolan Defence Minister, Cândido Van-Dúnem, said that the normal democratisation process of the Republic of Angola, the consolidation of peace and building a market economy, fully justifies the creation of an effective justice system, capable of meeting the needs of the country’s development.
According to the official, this efficient and capable justice system should focus on public order and stability and for the strengthening and credibility of the institutions of the Angolan State.
In this respect, he said that under the process of reform of justice and law underway in the country, some draft laws are in the pipeline and being elaborated, including the preliminary draft laws on Penal and Military Criminal Procedure.
The international seminar was attended by about 150 delegates, including 60 foreigners from 16 countries from different continents, particularly South Africa, Brazil, Cape Verde, China, Congo Brazzaville, United States, Mexico, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Poland, Peru, Russia, Trinidad and Tobacco, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The International Association of Military Justices was founded in December 2003, in Florianópolis (Brazil), with the aim to develop studies on Military Criminal, Procedure, Legal and Humanitarian Law in member countries.
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