{jcomments on}DAM, NY, AGNEWS, 29 december 2010 – [Le Gouvernement angolais constate avec beaucoup d’appréhension le fait que toutes les mesures prises jusque-là par la Communauté internationale sont en train de pousser la Côte d’Ivoire irrémédiablement vers la guerre. La célérité avec laquelle ce processus dégénératif se développe n’est que l’indice des graves anomalies et des facteurs qui avant, pendant et après les élections ont contribué et continuent d’affecter négativement la situation critique qui prévaut en Côte d’Ivoire.]

BURUNDI :

EAC should tap into Burundi’s investment potential

By Rev. Titus S. Makuma  (email the author)
Posted Tuesday, December 28 2010 at 00:00

President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi is the new chairman of the Heads of State Summit, the top organ of the East African Community. He takes over from Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete. Nkurunziza takes the torch when his country is asking its peers to tap into its vast investment potential that lies largely idle.

The exciting news is that Mr Nkurunziza, who not so long ago, needed the regional logistical support spearheaded by Uganda to ensure a peaceful working atmosphere in his country which was faced with a political standoff, is now at the forefront of regional leadership with a focus on tracking the regional economic and political progress. Like his counterpart, President Kagame of Rwanda, Nkurunziza took a wise decision for his country to be part of the growing East African integration network.

It has been noted that Burundi could turn out to be the largest beneficiary of the East African integration, considering that it joins a ready market, while the stronger neighbours are willing to assist her to catch up. The fact that it has to get its bite of shared benefits such as hosting regional conferences, it will attract investors to build the necessary infrastructure.

According to Leberati Mfumukeko, the chief executive officer of the Burundi Investment Authority, President Nkurunziza’s reign comes at a time when the EAC is realising major achievements, especially with the Common Market and Customs Union, having come into force this year.

Burundi should be a food secure country by virtue of its adequate and evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year. In my personal assessment, following my working visit to Burundi in 2006, the weather conditions and food distribution in the region have a big similarity with the climatic farming conditions in Bugisu, eastern Uganda. The difference lies in the preferred farming techniques which may be applied to boost the crop production. The country can borrow a leaf from Uganda’s Naads programme. Regional stability and food security are unquestionably the products of good governance as demonstrated by corporate strategic leadership skills.

While Burundi’s hilly landscape, beautiful countryside and the hugely attractive shores of Lake Tanganyika are a big tourist attraction, the facilities are largely underdeveloped, creating vast opportunities for investment. The leadership should also invest in transforming the human resource culture where the nationals will be tasked to lead a productive lifestyle. The key underlying factors are hard work, creativity, positive attitude, time management, demonstrating a sense of belonging and strategic thinking initiative.

A vote of thanks to all regional Heads of State who have consistently put their heads together in order to revive the ruins of political, social, and economic structures aimed at accelerating regional development.

Rev Titus Shem Makuma is the western regional overseer, Pentecostal Assemblies of God
tmakumas@yahoo.com

Burundi spending to rise 18.9 pct in 2011: finance minister

Wed Dec 29, 2010 7:48am GMT

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) – Burundi plans to increase government spending next year by 18.9 percent to 1.026 trillion francs to invest in the farm sector and raise output, its finance minister said.

Clotilde Nizigama told parliament that he expected the economy to expand 4.5 percent in 2011, up from an estimated 3.9 percent in 2010. The budget was passed late on Tuesday.

“The 2011 budget rose sensibly from the previous one, because the government wants to inject more resources to the agricultural sector, in order to modernise the sector and increase production,” Nizigama said.

The coffee producing nation of 8 million people relies heavily on external aid to fund its spending.

She later told reporters that allocations to the health and education sectors would also be raised, adding that increases in the wages of teachers, the army and police officers also contributed to the rise in next year’s budget.

The spending estimates showed that domestic revenues from tax collection will rise to 432.6 billion francs in 2011 from 342.7 billion francs in 2010, due to a new centralised revenue board which started operating in March this year.

In 2011, 51 percent of the budget is likely to be funded by donors, and the government expects grants worth 469.1 billion francs next year against 356.6 billion francs in 2010.

Burundi coffee prices up 10.8 pct in early December

Wed Dec 29, 2010 9:00am GMT

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) – Burundi’ s coffee prices rose by 10.8 percent in the first two weeks of December compared with the same period in November, lifted by high global prices, the industry regulator said on Wednesday.

ARFIC, the regulator, said the average price between 4-16 December climbed to $4.1 per kg from $3.7 per kg in the same period in November. However, earnings fell to $4.2 million from $5.3 million on low volumes.

“Prices were higher due to a stronger New York market,” said a report by ARFIC. New York is a reference market for arabica beans from East Africa nations including Burundi.

The report shows top grade FWA (Fully Washed A) was sold at $4.8 per kg on Dec 16, up from $3.5 per kg on the same date in November. Grade FWB (Fully Washed B) advanced to $4.7 per kg on Dec 16 from $3.4 per kg Nov on 16.

Burundi sold 1,000 tonnes during the period under review against 1,420 tonnes from the same period in November. ARFIC forecasts 2010/11 earnings to rise to $81.6 million from $16.7 million for the 2009/10 season, due to a good harvest.

ARFIC projects output will jump to 31,000 tonnes in the 2010/11 crop, up from 6,381 tonnes harvested in the previous crop season. The coffee crop season in the country of 8 million starts in April this year.

Coffee is Burundi’s top hard currency earner and employs some 800, 000 smallholder farmers.

RWANDA

IMF to Assess Rwandan Financial Industry in February

December 29, 2010, 9:12 AM EST By David Malingha Doya

(Corrects to remove reference to assessment of local- currency debt in first paragraph of story published on Dec. 24.)

Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) — The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank will begin an assessment of the resilience of Rwanda’s financial industry in February, said Dmitry Gershenson, the fund’s representative in the East African country.

“Rwanda’s banks are sufficiently resilient to deal with shocks,” Gershenson said in an e-mailed response to questions today from Kigali, the capital. “At the same time, high credit concentration and notable, albeit falling non-performing loans, call for vigilance on the way forward. A large proportion of all loans are allocated to just a few big borrowers.”

Rwanda’s maturity mismatch, where savings are short term and borrowers demand long-term credit, is a more severe problem compared with other markets, Gershenson said.

Sustained economic growth and poverty reduction, increased access to financial services and a deeper financial market may lead to higher savings in the long term, he said.

Almost 80 percent of Rwandans have no access to formal financial services, according to a survey commissioned the by U.K.’s Department for International Development. The country is rebuilding its economy after it suffered a genocide in which 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed over a period of 100 days in 1994.

–Editors: Ana Monteiro, Antony Sguazzin.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Malingha Doya in Kigali via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Rwanda Mobile Operator Says It Processes Over 5,000 Mobile Banking Transactions Daily

Posted on 29 December 2010

Mobile operator MTN Rwandareports it’s now processing over 5,000 mobile money service transactions every day through the company’s “MTN Mobile Money” service.

MTN Mobile Money was formally launched in February of this year and has already gained roughly 200,000 users and 286 agents across the country.  To use the service, the operator charges 250 Rwf (or roughly $.42) per transaction between 1,500 and 300,000 Rwf (roughtly $2.54 – $507.19), as long as the user is registered.

In addition, the service also allows users to buy things like airtime and data tiers, with the operator also looking to expand in the future to allow things like making loan payments and transferring funds between varying accounts.  MTN said its already invested over $2M in the new service, and that sending money for business-related expenses or to relatives are the two primary uses so far.

Though on a small scale, these are promising numbers in terms of mobile banking, money transfer and micropayments.  Consumers are still a bit weary of paying for larger items via mobile, but when it comes to small amounts, adoption is steadily picking up.

http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/rwanda-mobile-operator-says-it-processes-over-5000-mobile-banking-transactions-daily-12187/

UGANDA

Epidémie de fièvre jaune dans le nord de l’Ouganda

KAMPALA – Une mystérieuse maladie qui a causé la mort d’au moins 48 personnes depuis novembre dans le nord de l’Ouganda a été identifiée comme la fièvre jaune, a indiqué mercredi un responsable des services de santé ougandais.

Après avoir soupçonné une possible épidémie de peste bubonique, les autorités sanitaires, avec l’aide de laboratoires locaux et étrangers, ont pu établir qu’il s’agissait de la fièvre jaune, a expliqué à l’AFP Kenya Mugisha.

“Il faut un certain temps pour identifier la fièvre jaune. Dans certains pays cela a pris six mois”, a justifié M. Mugisha.

La priorité est de trouver des fonds pour immuniser les populations vivant dans la zone touchée, a-t-il précisé, alors que la dernière épidémie connue de fièvre jaune en Ouganda date de 1971-1972.

La maladie avait été détectée à partir du 10 novembre dans plusieurs districts du nord de l’Ouganda, selon le ministère de la Santé.

Transmise par les moustiques, la fièvre jaune est une maladie virale qui sévit dans les zones tropicales et provoque des maladies hémorragiques. Il existe toutefois un vaccin efficace pour éviter de la contracter.

(©AFP / 29 décembre 2010 09h57)

Uganda plans vaccination push to stop yellow fever

Robert Roos News Editor

Dec 29, 2010 (CIDRAP News) – Uganda is planning to vaccinate about 2.5 million people in its northern regions against yellow fever, following the recent confirmation that the disease is the cause of a 2-month-old outbreak that has killed more than 40 people, according to press reports.

Uganda’s health minister, Dr. Nathan Kenya-Mugisha, said this is the first documented yellow fever outbreak in the country since 1972, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) story today. He said Uganda’s defenses against the disease had “relaxed” since then.

The Daily Monitor, a Ugandan newspaper, said today that the mosquito-borne virus has killed 48 people in northern Uganda and another 187 are hospitalized. The AFP story put the total number of confirmed cases at 187.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that the disease is yellow fever, the US embassy in Kampala said in a statement yesterday. Previous reports had suggested that the disease, which causes headache, fever, and vomiting of blood, was dysentery, Ebola fever, or, most recently, pneumonic plague.

Kenya-Mugisha announced the plan to vaccinate 2.5 million people in the northern districts, according to a CNN report yesterday.

Because of the outbreak, the US embassy warned Americans not to travel to northern Uganda unless they have been vaccinated against yellow fever within the past 10 years. The vaccine takes about 10 days to take full effect.

The embassy statement said nearly all of the severe yellow fever cases have occurred in three districts: Abim, Agago, and Kitgum. The Daily Monitor mentioned six other affected districts.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 200,000 people contract yellow fever each year and 30,000 die. Cases have increased over the past 20 years for reasons such as deforestation, urbanization, and climate change, according to a WHO fact sheet. The disease is endemic in 32 African countries and 13 countries in Latin America.

Uganda’s remittances to hit Shs2 trillion – Bank of Uganda

By Walter Wafula   Posted Thursday, December 30 2010 at 00:00

Dr David Kihangire, the Bank of Uganda executive director, has said Uganda will this year receive Shs2.2 trillion up from Shs1.7 trillion received last year from Ugandans working abroad.

“Projections show that remittance in 2010 will amount to $980.9 million (Shs2.2 trillion)” Dr. Kihangire said yesterday at a conference aimed at encouraging Ugandans in the Diaspora to invest back at home.

He attributed the increase to the number of Ugandans going to work abroad and the fact that majority at work, have not lost their jobs despite the global recession in the last two years.

Increased jobs stability
A report by the World Bank; “Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011” released in November attributed the increase in remittances to the global economic recovery, which has resulted into job stability and new jobs for millions of immigrants from developing countries.

Globally remittances are expected to reach $440 billion up from $416 billion in 2009 according to the report. “Remittances help in time of crisis and distress. Remittances impact on poverty and welfare through a multiplier effect,” Dr Kihangire told participants at the 4th annual Diaspora Home is the Best Summit in Kampala yesterday.

Most of those working abroad send home money to friends and relatives for education and health purposes with little going to investment activities according to BoU.

The remittances mainly originate from Europe and America according to a recent BoU survey. “In Uganda, 50 per cent of remittances recorded have been used for education and health expenses. 40 per cent is attributed to savings and investment while 10 per cent goes to social activities,” he said.

Mr Moses Wilson the President, of the Ugandan North American Association, (UNAA) said there would be more remittances going to investment activities in Uganda save for the untrustworthy friends and relatives who mismanage the money.

Workers cheated
“Stories abound of significant sums of money remitted by individuals to trusted friends and family members for investment projects that never materialise,” he said in a speech read on his behalf by Mr Edriss Kironde, a member of the UNAA board of directors.

To encourage the use of remittances for investment, Mr Kironde, called upon the government to fairly distribute investment incentives to both Ugandan and foreign investors instead of favouring the latter. But Mr Aston Kajara the minister of state for investments said government treats all investors alike.

“The incentive regime is non-discriminatory. All investors can access the same incentives at the same levels of investment,” he said.

Dr. Maggie Kigozi, the executive director of the Uganda Investments Authority said; the government gives away incentives including; land, and tax breaks on investments and imports among others.

“We have incentives that we give to Uganda projects regardless of where you come from, as long as you register your company at home.”

http://www.monitor.co.ug/Business/Commodities/-/688610/1080642/-/bwxnax/-/

TANZANIA:

CONGO RDC :

UN reports ongoing expulsions of DR Congo citizens from Angola

Health officials in the DR of Congo say many women arriving from Angola have been sexually abused

29 December 2010 / UN – Citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) expelled from neighbouring Angola continued to arrive in their country of origin this month, with many reporting that they were subjected to mistreatment, including sexual violence, the United Nations humanitarian office said today.

Some 1,355 expellees have arrived in DRC’s Bas-Congo and Kasai provinces since 11 December, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press release. The new arrivals bring to more than 12,000 the number of Congolese expelled from Angola since September.

In September and October, humanitarian agencies reported the arrival of 8,296 people in the Luiza and Tshikapa areas of Kasai Occidental province, 511 people in the Tembo area of Bandundu province and some 2,000 people in Bas-Congo province. The majority were DRC nationals.

“Authorities in both countries must take all necessary measures to ensure that the human rights and human dignity of those expelled are respected,” said Valerie Amos, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Humanitarian assessment missions that visited the areas of arrival in October and November found that many of the individuals had endured ill-treatment and human rights abuses, including torture. There were also more than 100 confirmed cases of sexual violence.

Those expelled are receiving food, clothes, hygiene kits, medication, as well as psychological assistance from the humanitarian agencies, according to OCHA. A response plan has been developed within the framework of the DRC Humanitarian Action Plan to address the needs of those recently expelled. Additional assistance is urgently required, the office added.

“We are seriously concerned by the accelerating pace of expulsions over the last two weeks. Thousands of people are living in deplorable conditions, and the capacity of the humanitarian community is being stretched,” said Fidèle Sarassoro, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the DRC.

Forcible deportation of illegal immigrants between Angola and the DRC is a recurring problem. In October last year, authorities in both countries agreed to consult prior to any expulsions and to ensure respect for human rights, including protection and security for those expelled.

“These consultations must take place so that protection can be provided to those in need,” Mr. Sarassoro added.

News Tracker: past stories on this issue

Angola-DR Congo: Senior UN official calls for probe into reported rape of expellees

DR Congo: removing the snake without breaking the eggs

29-12-2010 Feature

In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo the ICRC is endeavouring to promote respect for international humanitarian law among armed forces personnel and members of various armed groups. This work is often done in remote places in the middle of combat zones.

“You’re operating in the village of X in a populated area,” says Pascal Nepa, a young ICRC communication officer. “What factors must be considered in order to spare the civilian population during the attack?”

Opposite Nepa, 50 officers and non-commissioned officers of the Congolese army listening closely. Sunshine beams through the open windows, relieving the humid chill here in Minembwe on the high plateau in the province of South Kivu, 2,600 metres above sea level.

To discuss the matter, the men are invited out into the sunlit yard, a chance to warm up and stretch their legs. Small groups of five persons each are formed according to rank. The participants are enthusiastic about their task.

“ICRC staff often encounter senior army officers and commanders of the armed groups to talk to them about compliance with humanitarian law,” explains Patient Masiriki, from the ICRC office in Uvira. “This is a combat zone and we try to have regular contact with everyone concerned, including civilians. Our neutrality is well known and understood.” Masiriki has been working for the ICRC for 15 years and he knows the area well. Before the exercise started, he made a brief presentation on the organization. His talk is smooth and practised.

Pascal Nepa adds that most army personnel are acquainted with humanitarian law. His job for the next two weeks will be to travel around the high plateau and organize meetings like today’s. “The problem is applying the law to specific circumstances. For a long time we confined ourselves to stating the rules. But that was too theoretical. For a year now we’ve been working to make this a more participatory event directly adapted to field realities. We work together with them to find ways of reconciling their military mission with the need to protect civilians.”

Out in the yard, meanwhile, Masiriki and Nepa go from group to group, listening to the discussion and suggesting provisions of the law that might help produce a solution.

“You might call our approach ‘dynamic’,” says Masiriki smiling. “Some of the solutions still need to be refined in military terms, and that’s up to the participants or their superiors. After all, waging war is their profession, not ours.”

The participants are taking their places back in the hall. Each group reports the solutions it has found to the problems presented. There is applause at the end of each report. The colonel in command of operations in the region is taking part in today’s meeting.

“This is a bit of luck for us,” Masiriki whispers. “The colonel is an experienced man who feels that soldiers should be exemplary in their conduct. He does everything he can to prevent excesses.”

“It isn’t easy to send young men and officers into this area,” says the colonel. “When engaged in operations we have to make tactical choices. But whatever the pressure we’re under and whatever the constraints we encounter, we must always do our work in compliance with the law.”

In a region marked by armed conflicts and ethnic tensions, compliance with international humanitarian law constitutes a shield for the civilian population. It also protects combatants who fall into enemy hands.

Today’s session nears its end with the projection of a film shot here in the Congo, with army officers playing the parts. The film is followed by a discussion about protecting civilians and caring for wounded combatants.

Before the group disperses, the colonel stands up and presents a riddle:  “A snake has slithered into the box where you keep your eggs. The snake is your enemy, the eggs are civilians. How do you get rid of the snake without breaking the eggs?”

http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/feature/2010/dr-congo-feature-ihl-2010-12-29.htm

RD Congo: Un protocole d’accord sur l’assainissement des réseaux électriques

Assainissement des réseaux électriques – Le ministre de l’Energie, Gilbert Tshiongo Tshibinkubula wa Ntumba, a présidé, le jeudi 23 décembre, la cérémonie de signature d’un protocole d’accord entre la Société nationale d’électricité (SNEL) et lEl Sewedy Electrometer, une société égyptienne de la famille El Sewedy.

Aux termes de ce protocole d’accord, l’entreprise égyptienne va mobiliser les fonds pour la réalisation des études de faisabilité, la fourniture d’équipements et l’exécution des travaux d’assainissement des réseaux de distribution. Elle va assurer également l’implantation des compteurs à prépaiement, principalement dans les communes de Barumbu, Kalamu et Limete pour une enveloppe de 25 millions Usd.

Dans son mot de circonstance, le ministre Tshiongo a rappelé que ce protocole d’accord est le deuxième que signe la SNEL en l’espace de 24 heures.

Pour rappel, la SNEL a signé, le mardi 21 décembre 2010, un protocole d’accord d’investissements avec l’entreprise égyptienne El Sewedy Electric, une autre société de la famille El Sewedy. L’enveloppe de ce premier protocole est estimée à 100 millions Usd. Cela constitue un apport d’El Sewedy à la RDC pour le financement des études de faisabilité et d’assainissement des cinq communes de Kinshasa (Bandalungwa, Ngaliema, Kasa-Vubu, Kintambo et Ngiri-Ngiri) et certaines villes de provinces (Lubumbashi, Matadi, Goma et Bukavu)

La signature de protocole d’accord de jeudi consacre une fois de plus le partenariat entre la SNEL et les sociétés de la famille El Sewedy pour la relance du secteur de l’électricité, l’un des volets des « Cinq chantiers » de la République.

L’occasion faisant le larron, le ministre Tshiongo a invité tous ses collaborateurs ainsi que les gestionnaires de la SNEL et de la REGIDESO à l’assister dans la campagne de mobilisation des fonds dont le secteur de l’énergie a besoin.

Selon lui, le besoin financier du secteur de l’électricité en RDCongo se chiffre à 6,5 milliards Usd et celui de l’eau à 1,5 milliard Usd. Ces fonds, a-t-il précisé, sont à mobiliser d’ici à 2015 pour passer de 9% à 19% de desserte en électricité et de 24% à 34% de desserte en eau potable.

Gilbert Tshiongo a renouvelé son appel à tous les partenaires publics-privés qui s’intéressent au développement du secteur de l’énergie de se manifester sans attendre. Car, « ils seront les bienvenus en ce moment où le gouvernement est engagé à mener les réformes voulues pour libéraliser le secteur de l’énergie en le dotant d’une loi sur l’électricité et l’eau, ainsi que sur l’amélioration du climat des affaires ».

Rappelons par ailleurs, que la Société nationale d’électricité (Snel) vient d’acquérir, il y a quelque temps, un lot de quarante transformateurs. L’annonce a été faite la semaine dernière par l’Administrateur délégué général (Adg) de cette société, Yengo Masampu. Ces transformateurs dont le coût n’a pas été révélé, pourront servir au remplacement de certains transformateurs jugés vétustes. Cela, afin de pallier les insuffisances en fourniture de l’énergie électrique à travers les communes de la capitale.

A en croire les sources de la Snel, l’acquisition de ces transformateurs s’inscrit dans le cadre de l’amélioration des conditions de travail au sein de cette entreprise de l’Etat. Yengo Masampu a, par la même occasion, appelé à une utilisation rationnelle de ces matériels nouvellement acquis.

Ludi Cardoso

Le Potentiel

KENYA :

Has Kenya given up too early on the International Criminal Court?

By Karoli Ssemogerere  (email the author)
Posted Thursday, December 30 2010 at 00:00

In East Africa, you would think the year would belong to any of Kenya’s neighbours conducting elections: Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda’s coming up in February 2011. Kenyans approved by a resounding majority a new constitution and from the look of things, Nairobi is not only on track but is steering far ahead as the region’s largest economy and headquarters of finance and capital in the region.

If one were to compare it by cloth lengths, the rest are ordering in metres and Kenyans are ordering in bales. The health of the Kenyan economy attracted some global attention during the lava disruptions in Northern Europe. When TV cables descended onto Kenya, they found green houses, fresh-picked farmers produce shrink wrapped at the farm for delivery to European supermarkets. Kenyan flowers and coffee command a premium on the world market. Even the aging infrastructure at Embakasi is still far busier than the rest of East Africa’s international airports combined.

It is true some of the poorest East Africans live in Kenya. Drought and perennial water shortages are more than a menace and the first lakes drying up are in Kenya. Kenya, unlike Uganda and Tanzania, has been on a firmly capitalist path with a lot of patronage and nepotism at the helm.

Yet for all its efforts to build a pluralist society from an internally fractured ethnic society, ethnic passions run far deeper in Kenya than anywhere else. Swahili is often sold in Uganda as a panacea to the “tribalism” problem; it has not worked despite its status for 50 years as an official language. In fact, the ethnicity issue seems to be a fairly independent issue.

It is a potent tool in societies where the numbers of the poor rise faster than the numbers of the well-to-do. The near suicidal rise in the ranks of the very poor- Uganda’s jigger-prone locals in Busoga made one spectacle, Kenya’s hungry in a country which, on paper, now pays all its bills- always rise to show the worst failures of the makeshift nation-state.

The middle classes start demanding paved and pothole-free roads so they can put their second hand vehicles on the road without further trips to the auto-repair shop, yet most peasants are happy to be assured of a square meal a day when the rains fail. Sometimes interests converge. In the private sector, Telecoms have to invest in remote cell phone towers. If they don’t, both the middle class and their village folk will migrate to another network that provides coverage for Buliisa, Amolatar or wherever the case may be, depriving them of vital airtime revenue.

Back to Kenya; the country’s long-term success after most of its major questions are answered will seem to depend on whether they are able to successfully bring to closure the bloodshed, mayhem and anarchy that followed the 2007 elections. From the look of things, the International Criminal Court (ICC) route does not seem to be working.

Any ICC process that leaves the central beneficiaries of each political grouping scot free (President Mwai Kibaki and Prime minister Raila Odinga) is a sham. Problem is that ICC work requires cooperation of “state parties”. In fact, outside of state parties, ICC work is very limited. We still have a President Bashir in Sudan recently reelected.

From what has been published in the vibrant press, ICC justice is “expensive”. At a cost of Shs60 million a day for a top flight legal team, Temangalo is not enough to see you through a year- long trial. WikiLeaks, the infamous American clumsy handling of NOFORN (No foreigners) cables seems to say Kenyans have more dirty laundry in their closet.

Stateless capital from venues like Somalia is always in search of a “soft-landing”. Friendly jurisdictions like Uganda can only offer partial refuge because they lack “absorption capacity”. There is a limit to how many gas stations you can put up in a small congested city like Kampala. So, Nairobi with its sophisticated world of finance and business is an obvious location.

As if the ICC indictments were not enough, WikiLeaks says Kenya has worse skeletons. One of the worst secrets in Kenya was not its graft that makes millionaires in days and serves as a redistributive vehicle for the national cake; but Kenya’s central role in the global drug trade. Drug money, very much like oil money, is punitive. Blood is the currency by which it changes hands all the way down the production chain. Reagan’s CIA played with the demon in the 1980s and has stories to tell.

It appears Kenya’s problems are much bigger than prosecutor Moreno Ocampo can handle. Can this thing be broken up into pieces? What about a reconciliation commission to take testimony? What about a de Klerk recusal? After all, South Africans helped end the violence by promising Kibaki and Odinga they would shut down their accounts if they did not call their troops to order.

Mr Ssemogerere, an attorney and social entrepreneur, practices law in New York
kssemoge@gmail.com

http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/OpEdColumnists/KaroliSsemogerere/-/878682/1080622/-/5c15ihz/-/

ANGOLA :

Crise en Côte d’Ivoire – L’Angola s’oppose à l’ingérence de la communauté internationale

Publié le mardi 28 décembre 2010   |  Le Temps

Le Gouvernement angolais continue à suivre avec grande préoccupation le développement de la crise postélectorale en Côte d’Ivoire qui risque de finir dans un conflit aux conséquences imprévisibles, susceptibles de mettre en cause la paix et la stabilité de l’Afrique occidentale, une région fragile où des processus de stabilisation sont en cours dans plusieurs pays ayant des processus démocratiques récents, suite aux longues guerres qui ont marqué tragiquement la sous-région, notam- ment : le Liberia, la Sierra Leone, la Guinée Conakry, la Guinée-Bissau et le Niger. Cette préoccupation devient encore plus grande à l’approche de nouveaux processus électoraux qui peuvent être affectés par la situation en Côte d’Ivoire engendrant ainsi de nouvelles tragédies sur le continent. Le Gouvernement angolais constate avec beaucoup d’appréhension le fait que toutes les mesures prises jusque-là par la Communauté internationale sont en train de pousser la Côte d’Ivoire irrémédiablement vers la guerre. La célérité avec laquelle ce processus dégénératif se développe n’est que l’indice des graves anomalies et des facteurs qui avant, pendant et après les élections ont contribué et continuent d’affecter négativement la situation critique qui prévaut en Côte d’Ivoire. En effet, il est étrange que dans un délai de cinq jours, les mesures radicales et extrêmes que nous connaissons tous aient été prises au niveau international, sans que, premièrement, toutes les plaintes du processus électoral soient reçues et dûment vérifiées, de façon à non seulement désigner le vainqueur de forme non équivoque, mais aussi de dissuader toute contestation ; deuxièmement, sans qu’au moins soient utilisées les voies de résolution pacifique du différend, par le dialogue et la négociation, conformément aux normes universellement acceptées en pareil cas. Le Gouvernement angolais a reçu des contacts de plusieurs entités et pays dans le sens de son implication dans une éventuelle médiation afin de trouver une solution à la crise. Le Gouvernement angolais est favorable à une solution du conflit ivoirien par la voie pacifique et négociée. Par conséquent, il dénonce avec véhémence la campagne diffamatoire qui a été orchestrée selon laquelle on aurait prétendument identifié des mercenaires ou soldats angolais en Côte d’Ivoire ; il considère que ces fausses nouvelles s’inscrivent dans l’habituelle stratégie d’ingérence extérieure dans les affaires du continent, visant à dénigrer ses leaders et ses Institutions et une fois de plus manipuler l’opinion publique pour justifier l’inévitabilité de la guerre. Il est regrettable qu’à ce moment, des puissances extérieures au continent demandent à d’autres pays africains de la sous-région de précipiter la guerre comme une forme de solution à un problème qui, de l’avis du Gouvernement angolais, peut et doit être résolu pacifiquement. Le Gouvernement angolais croit que la crise en Côte d’Ivoire est une affaire africaine et que, de ce fait, il incombe aux Africains de prendre le leadership des actions concernant sa résolution. Ainsi, l’Union africaine doit assumer la responsabilité de ce leadership afin d’éviter que l’actuel conflit devienne irréversiblement une catastrophe humaine, en utilisant tous les instruments qui sont à sa disposition.

Gouvernement de la
République d’Angola
Luanda, le 24 décembre 2010.
Les titres sont de la rédaction

SOUTH AFRICA:

Brazil, Russia, India, China + South Africa = BRICSA?

DECEMBER 29, 2010, 12:58 PM IST

By Aaron Back on the China Real Time blog.

It’s official. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that Brazil, Russia, India and China have agreed to invite South Africa to join their grouping of emerging economies, referred to as BRIC.

There’s been no announcement as to whether the acronym might change, but one possibility, BRICSA, has nice ring to it.

South Africa’s government will be pleased. But the notion has left some scratching their heads. BRIC, after all, is a term coined by a Goldman Sachs economist in 2001 to refer to the four large, fast-growing economies that collectively will take up an ever-greater share of global economic output. Since then, it has become a popular term on Wall Street as a kind of short-hand for the red-hot developing economies that excite investors. (The Chinese translation renders the term BRIC as “gold brick,” adding even more luster to the concept. Sell-side analysts around the world might approve.)

So how could South Africa join what is essentially a concept in the minds of investors—one defined by the names of its four existing constituents–especially when the rainbow nation lacks the main unifying characteristic of the group: a fast-growing economy?

Continue reading on China Real Time.

AngloGold, Anglo Platinum, Sasol: South African Equity Preview

By Nicky Smith – Dec 29, 2010

The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.

South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index rose 111.09, or 0.4 percent, to 32,123.40 at the 5 p.m. close in Johannesburg.

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG SJ): Gold has advanced more than 28 percent this year, headed for the 10th straight annual gain, as investors lost confidence in currencies and bought the precious metal to protect wealth. AngloGold Ashanti, the world’s third-biggest producer of the precious metal, climbed 1.5 percent to 330.40 rand.

Anglo Platinum Ltd. (AMS SJ): Platinum fell as much as 1.1 percent to $1,738.65 an ounce. Anglo Platinum, the world’s largest producer of the metal, retreated 0.1 percent to 682 rand.

Sasol Ltd. (SOL SJ): Oil retreated from 26-month high ahead of a U.S. Department of Energy report on oil stockpiles which will be released today. Sasol, the world’s biggest maker of motor fuel from coal, added 2.97 rand, or about 0.9 percent, to 341.97 rand.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicky Smith in Johannesburg at nsmith38@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net

AFRICA / AU :

Côte d’Ivoire : il faut à tout prix éviter un nouveau Rwanda

Le Monde | 29.12.10 | 13h40  •  Mis à jour le 29.12.10 | 13h40

Alassane Ouattara – et son chef de guerre, Guillaume Soro – a pris une responsabilité historique extrêmement grave en appelant ses militants et sympathisants à prendre la radiotélévision ivoirienne puis la primature. Il risque de donner le signal de massacres croissants, de mettre le feu à la poudrière abidjanaise, puis à l’ensemble du pays.

On peut être fatigué de jouer les Cassandre pour avoir été le seul analyste, dès les années 1980, à prédire la guerre civile à partir d’un enchaînement de violence et l’embrasement de toute l’Afrique de l’Ouest dans une “guerre nomade” tournante. On ne peut cependant que sonner le tocsin devant un danger aujourd’hui similaire.

Chaque camp est prêt à mettre les jeunes dans la rue et, à ce moment-là, à en découdre : “dioulas” d’Abobo contre sudistes de Yopougon, étrangers occidentaux menacés et “exfiltrés”, garde républicaine, armée ou gendarmerie tirant sur des foules peut-être armées… Toutes ces hypothèses cauchemardesques risquent de se réaliser. Comme en 2000. Comme en 2004. L’issue est prévisible à Abidjan, car si même les migrants sahéliens s’alliaient dans la rue aux Ivoiriens pro-Ouattara, la population est largement acquise au président Gbagbo.

Sauf si les deux corps expéditionnaires se rangeaient aux côtés des rebelles et de M. Ouattara : la force “Licorne” française est-elle prête, comme en 2004 à l’Hôtel Ivoire, à tirer sur les foules ? Les “forces de la paix” des Nations unies vont-elles faire partie du problème, comme leur représentant, le si peu diplomate M. Choi, et installer M. Ouattara dans le sang ?

Si les Occidentaux et une introuvable “communauté internationale” largement instrumentalisée par l’Elysée veulent provoquer un nouveau Rwanda, la recette est là et les suites bien connues. Car la violence ne s’arrêtera pas aux portes de la capitale.

La rébellion, qui en quelque sorte a pris des enclaves à Abidjan (quartiers Nord, Hôtel du Golf défendu par un des plus sanglants “com-zone” (commandant de zone militaire) : Wattao), veut descendre de Bouaké pour prendre Yamoussoukro. Les Baoulé à l’Ouest et surtout les migrants sahéliens dans le Sud forestier (Mali, Burkina : entre 3 à 4 millions d’étrangers) sont très vulnérables à des violences intercommunautaires – et leur reflux éventuel pourrait déstabiliser leurs pays d’origine.

Ce n’est pas la première fois que M. Ouattara contribue à déstabiliser le pays, ni à s’appuyer sur ses réseaux français et surtout américains : en dehors des crises ouvertes et du développement d’une rébellion – laquelle s’est aujourd’hui ouvertement ralliée (M. Soro, devenant son premier ministre), la diplomatie internationale a obligé, depuis 2000, le camp Gbagbo à avaliser toutes les concessions (à commencer par la candidature même de M. Ouattara, dont beaucoup de sudistes nient encore l’origine ivoirienne) : commission électorale à sa dévotion, non-désarmement des rebelles au nord où l’administration d’Etat n’est pas rétablie, listes électorales truffées de cas douteux, etc.

L’autre camp ne sera pas en reste : il est connu qu’Abidjan et le sud sont ingouvernables pour M. Ouattara. Une guérilla à l’ouest, en continuation avec le Liberia ; une prise de pouvoir par l’armée loyaliste, en cas de graves troubles : autant de scenarii possibles en cas d’intervention armée. Les pressions et les sanctions notamment européennes en sont les préliminaires. Se rend-on bien compte à Paris, Bruxelles ou Washington des conséquences des ingérences actuelles ?

Quelles autres solutions sont envisageables actuellement ? La négociation, bien évidemment, par toutes les médiations possibles, à commencer par l’Union africaine, l’Eglise catholique – et un représentant des Nations unies autre que M. Choi, définitivement compromis pour avoir outrepassé sa fonction. Et à l’extérieur du pays, l’arrêt du formatage des opinions et des appels irresponsables à la prise de pouvoir dans la rue, dans le sang, la sueur et les larmes.

Si la boîte de Pandore des massacres s’ouvre cette semaine, les responsabilités historiques en seront, par avance, bien établies. Et les requiem cérémonieux à venir, dans la magnifique cathédrale d’Abidjan, n’y changeront rien : une fois de plus les grands leaders auront envoyé leurs militants au massacre, dernier moyen pour eux de négocier le pouvoir.

Michel Galy, politologue et sociologue, chercheur au centre d’études sur les conflitsArticle paru dans l’édition du 30.12.10

UN /ONU :

USA :

CANADA :

Toronto woman awarded $13,500 after passport problem in Kenya

Linda Nguyen, Postmedia News

Published: Wednesday, December 29, 2010

TORONTO – A Toronto woman, who was stranded in Kenya for nearly three months last year after immigration officials thought she was an impostor travelling on a fake passport, has been awarded $13,500 to pay for her legal costs.

Earlier this month, a Federal Court ruled the Canadian government must pay Suaad Hagi Mohamud, her lawyer Julian Falconer confirmed Wednesday when reached by telephone from the Caribbean.

In April 2009, Mohamud, 32, visited her mother and her husband in Kenya. When she arrived at the airport to take her return flight home, she was stopped in Nairobi by a Kenyan immigration official who did not believe she was the woman pictured in her four-year-old passport.

The Canadian High Commission launched an investigation and also determined that Mohamud was an impostor. The mother of one spent eight days in prison in Kenya before she was released on bail.

Her Canadian passport was voided despite the fact she produced a number of pieces of identification. She also insisted DNA and fingerprint testing be done.

In August, a DNA test confirmed there was a 99.9 per cent chance that Mohamud is the mother of the man she claims is her son in Toronto. The federal government urged the Kenyan authorities to drop all charges and issued her emergency papers to return home.

Mohamud has filed a civil lawsuit against the federal government for $2.6 million for its “callous and reckless treatment of her while she was abroad.”

The case is still before the courts.

Twitter.com/lindahu_nguyen

http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=4037519

AUSTRALIA :

EUROPE :

CHINA :

INDIA :

BRASIL:

EN BREF, CE 29 décembre 2010… AGNEWS /DAM, NY, 29/12/2010