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The World Bank group President Robert Zoellick is set to start an eight-day, three-nation Africa visit next Tuesday to help focus the attention of African governments, development partners and private investors on seizing the opportunity for renewed momentum in economic growth and overcoming poverty.

A statement released in Dar es Salaam yesterday said Mr Zoellick will first head to Sierra Leone before travelling to Cote d'Ivoire and then Ethiopia for the African Union (AU) summit.

Ahead of the trip, Zoellick noted that many sub-Saharan African countries had enjoyed a decade of solid growth before the crisis and it was important to preserve and expand on these gains by drawing investment to high growth areas.

He said although hit by the global food, fuel and financial crises, African governments have persisted in strengthening their economic policies as they pursue development, or rebuild after conflict.

"I am visiting Africa to learn about how its people have coped with the global economic crisis and to see how the World Bank Group can work with them to improve prospects for economic growth and expanded opportunity.

Much of Africa has a solid record of economic growth, including in some of Africa's fragile states, and it has the potential to be another pole of growth for the world economy," Mr Zoellick was quoted by the statement as saying.

In Addis Ababa Mr Zoellick will co-host, together with African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka, a working breakfast forum on the sidelines of the AU summit where several African leaders will discuss the transformative impact that information and communications technologies (ICTs) can have on the continent.

"The skeptics wondered whether Africa was ready for a revolution in telecommunications. But African entrepreneurs, with the help of supportive government policies, changed the facts on the ground," said Zoellick.

Mr Zoellick said that a combination of policy and institutional reforms and external resources are urgently needed to help build capacity, generate economic opportunities in fragile states, and lay the foundation for stability and overcoming poverty.

He also called for policies and investments that would expand Africa's share of global and intra-African trade by fostering regional integration and building crucial infrastructure in energy, transport and irrigation needed to promote agriculture, manufacturing and industrialization on the continent and for helping countries adapt to climate change.

Acknowledging that private sector participation will continue to be key to take Africa to the next level of high-speed connectivity and to create jobs, the breakfast forum is expected to urge African leaders to further lift barriers to private investment in the sector.

It is also expected to encourage African leaders and the private sector to take advantage of ICTs to advance agriculture, education and health sectors, and to similarly realize the considerable promise of other sectors.

During his trip, Zoellick will visit energy, agriculture and fishery projects that have benefited from WB support.

He will hold working sessions with representatives of other donor agencies; discuss ways of boosting World Bank support to governmental and civil society organizations promoting peace, transparency, accountability, and good governance, the statement said.

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Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Governor Benno Ndulu yesterday defended the decision to build two official residences for himself and one of his deputies at a total cost of Sh2.54 billon. The governor's mansion alone cost Sh1.27 billion.

Prof Ndulu, whose Mr Clean image has come under threat recently, following severe criticism from people questioning the huge expense on the house in Dar es Salaam, absolved himself from blame, and also cleared the institution he heads.

He told attentive members of the parliamentary Public Corporations Accounts Committee that the plan to buy the land and put up several houses for the central bank's top officials was above board.

"The planning for the construction started long ago; and not during my short tenure. What is happening has duly been approved by the board of directors," said Prof Ndulu, whose handling of the country's response to the global economic crisis last year won him acclaim from professionals and the business community.

In defending the colossal amount spent on the imposing five-bedroom residence, complete with a heated swimming pool, the BoT chief told the committee chaired by Kigoma North MP Zitto Kabwe that security and other sophisticated features in the house to suit the needs of anyone in his position, had pushed up the cost.

The BoT boss said it was wrong to call the building on Tumbawe road in the affluent Oysterbay area of the city a house. He explained that it was more of a building comprising several living quarters.

He said that other than the fully equipped self-contained five bedrooms, there is a large living and dining rooms with an exterior in-service extension guest wing.

There are also self-contained quarters for his bodyguards and domestic servants.All the quarters are equipped with independent kitchens, toilets and other vital facilities for guests.

Prof Ndulu, who moved into his new residence last December, from a rented house in the plush Masaki suburb, said the Sh40 million swimming pool was still under construction in the compound.

"But the pool is not an issue. I always swam across rivers during my entire childhood and even my personal home has no swimming pool," he said, sending the MPs keenly following his presentation into laughter.

He said he was perturbed that he had been accused of not moving into the house because it lacked a swimming pool.

The BoT chief also explained elaborate security systems installed to protect him and safeguard his working environment. The mansion is fitted with an automatic electric system with a standby generator.

There is central airconditioning and a security system to monitor movement around the property. There is an underground water system and fire sensing alarms.

"I think the governor is a very important person in this country. Therefore, he or she needs that kind of protection. My work is very sensitive and some people will not sleep if I were to be kidnapped," said the governor.

The building's design incorporated a secured data system that enables him to continue working at home even after office hours.

Prof Ndulu said the plots on which his mansion and the one for deputy governor Lila Mkila, are built were bought in 2003. The deputy's house cost Sh2 million more. The costs include design and landscaping and other architectural requirements.

Having official residences, he added, would save the millions of shillings paid for rented premises. Prof Ndulu's monthly rent was $7,000 or Sh10 million and Sh126 million a year.

He told the committee that the cost of the two houses would be recooped in 10 years' time.

The MPs appeared satisfied with the explanations, with former Cabinet minister Antony Diallo, saying he was not surprised the cost was that high. "For those of us in the know, this was not an issue because the cost of land could be as high as Sh500 million,"he said.

The committee later went into closed-door session to scrutinise the bank's other reports, with Mr Kabwe explaining to reporters they were barred by regulations from attending.

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The national health department and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) have added their voices to condemning the use of HIV home testing kits, saying they are risky to use at home and their accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

This follows a warning from the SA Medical Association (Sama), which cautioned that home testing for HIV could leave people devastated.

Sama chairman Norman Mabasa discouraged people from using the kits, urging them to rather get free HIV tests at public health institutions. These came with essential pre- and post-test counselling, he said.

"Let us not create a situation where we wait for disaster to happen by encouraging potentially risky practices where people discover their HIV status at home unmonitored," Mabasa added.

TAC general secretary Vuyiseka Dubula warned against the use of the kits. Suicides could result if people tested at home and got a positive result.

"If they are out there, we encourage people not to utilise them. When doing an HIV test it's very important to know why you are doing it, and to have a proper support system.

"The fact is there are a lot of emotions involved, and if there is no proper support system some people may end up committing suicide," she warned.

Dubula also questioned the accuracy of home testing kits, saying there was no confirmation.

"All HIV tests must be confirmed. The worry with self-testing is that it's not always possible to confirm the results. Some people may not be able to afford to buy a second kit to confirm their results," she said, urging people to get free tests at public health facilities.

Mabasa said rapid HIV testing was important in facilitating the diagnosis of HIV infection, but that it was vital that this was conducted in an ethical manner that included pre- and post-test counselling.

Mabasa said he had heard from pharmacies in the country selling the kits that many people feared being recognised by relatives and colleagues at health facilities, so opted for home testing instead.

"While rapid testing may assist in facilitating the diagnosis of HIV infection, improving HIV testing capabilities in facilities without access to laboratories, the tests have important implications for the individual, especially in respect of HIV counselling procedures," he said.

There was also the danger of misinterpretation of the results of the home test kit.

"The danger of tragic incidents happening once people are encouraged to conduct home testing cannot be excluded. Similarly, if a person goes for counselling before they do their own test they might well be assisted in doing the test," Mabasa said.

The national health department also discouraged people from using the kits.

Spokesman Fidel Hadebe that people should rather get tested free at health facilities.

Professor Peter Eagles, chairman of the Medical Control Council, said while the council had not endorsed the use of the product in the country, because it was a medical device and not medicine, he still urged people who used these kits to do so "carefully".

The council is responsible only for the registration of medicines.

Eagles said consumers needed to ensure the product was of a good quality, and registered in its country of origin.

"There is a risk that if the product is not good quality, it could produce incorrect results," he said.

He added that the council encouraged importers of the kits to always consult with the SABS to check that the products met acceptable standards.

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Nairobi — A witness told the court that he saw a document showing a suspected pirate ship was a Kenyan registered vessel.

Lieutenant David Ratner testifying against 17 Somalis charged with piracy also told the court that another document he saw indicated that MV Ishaka was a Puntland registered vessel.

Upon cross examination by defence counsel Mr Donald Muyundo, the witness who is a member of the US Coast Guard told the court that it could be true the vessel was registered in the country then in Puntland.

The witness who was giving evidence before senior resident magistrate Mr Michael Kizito said the ship was registered as a fishing vessel.

He told the court that each suspect apprehended had a separate bag with a tag in which their clothing was kept.

"I could not see any specific reason to seal weapons in the evidence bag," said Mr Ratner adding that Yemen navy took custody of MV Ishaka.

He said he was not party to the decision why the vessel was not brought into the country.

The court heard that the grenade allegedly found on the suspected pirate vessel was poorly maintained and could have exploded hence it was documented and discarded.

Another witness Mr James Powers, a helicopter pilot from the US navy told the court that on May 13 at around 9am he was on a flying surveillance mission and had contact on a vessel along the International Transit Recommended Corridor.

Mr Powers said he saw people on the deck of the vessel which he described as red in colour who appeared to be "hanging out" and that he could not recall if the vessel was in motion.

"I kept surveillance for three hours before retuning to USS Gettysburg, a US naval ship, and downloaded pictures which he took while over the vessel.

The witness told the court that later in the day while on another flying mission he received a distress call from MV Amira saying that they were under attack from pirates who were firing rocket propelled grenades (RPG) at them.

The helicopter pilot who said he had no knowledge if fishing vessels carry firearms told the court he did not witness the attack on MV Amira.

He described the crew on the suspected pirate boat as unfamiliar since they did not acknowledge their presence.

"From the past experience fishermen acknowledge navy vessels and aircrafts by waving their hands," said Mr Powers.

The 17 Somali's allegedly committed piracy against MV Amira on May 13, last year, in the high seas.

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A Human Rights Watch report has revealed details of health care providers withholding care or engaging in treatment that intentionally inflicts pain on patients for no medical reason.

World report 2010 details major human rights violations in more than 90 nations and territories worldwide. It is a record of investigative work carried out by the organisation in 2009.

An essay "Abusing Patients: Health Providers' Complicity in Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment," details recent research by Human Rights Watch. Joseph Amon, health and human rights director at Human Rights Watch opens the essay by reflecting on an incident in 2002 where the organisation documented a network of facilities in China where dissidents were detained alongside the mentally ill.

Tan Guihua was one of the 'patients' who was detained in 1999. Guihua was sent to Jiaozhou Mental Hospital in Shandong province for supporting and practicing Falungong, a form of spiritual meditation. She refused to renounce her beliefs and was repeatedly tortured by medical personnel using electroshock therapy. Guihua was also force-fed antipsychotic medicines, according to Human Rights Watch.

According to Amon such acts perpetuated by health care providers were not confined to political prisoners or counterterrorism efforts.

Amon pointed out that ethical guidelines and international human rights laws openly condemn health care providers' involvement in torture or ill treatment.

"Yet providers engage in a wide range of abuses in the name of 'medical treatment' often because they are following abusive government policies," said Amon.

The essay documents a variety of examples where health care workers have complied with torture, cruel or inhumane activities in many countries throughout the world. These include:

(a) Egypt, where government health care workers conducted forced anal exams on men suspected of being involved in sexual activities with other men.

(b) Health care providers in Libya and Jordan conducting virginity exams of patients without their consent. In both countries these were done in 'social rehabilitation centres'. These were done in order to establish the virginity status of the women for prosecution purposes or to inform the family's decision on whether to abandon, institutionalise or cause harm to the woman.

(c) In Iraqi, Kurdistan midwifes conducting female genital mutilation and physicians supporting and promoting the act and denying any form of negative health effects caused by the procedure.

(d) Physicians in China physically and sometimes sexually abusing drug users detained in treatment centres. Patients being made to work long hours without pay. No evidence based medical methods of treating drug dependency were being used in most of the drug treatment centres.

(e) Denying of abortions to women in Nicaragua in circumstances where one should be performed to save the mother, resulting in avoidable deaths.

(f) Health care workers in India withholding pain medicine to chronically ill patients.

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Kampala — Their caricatures show great wealth and status, being driven in flashy four-wheel drives surrounded by bodyguards, and receiving benefits including mansions, cars, medical care and travel and sitting allowances. They are treated as Very Important Persons.

They are not powerful business man, celebrities or even heads of national corporations. They are cabinet ministers, elected to government to serve the people.

In Uganda the role of a cabinet minister is to determine, formulate and implement government policies and perform other state functions conferred by the legislature - but in this part of the world cabinet ministers are often associated more with large fortunes than policy.

Cabinet ministers are possibly playing their roles, but this is not much in evidence. In most instances they are described only as chief guests - at the inauguration of a village spring well, launching of a workshop, or officiating at the opening of a new school or health centre - creating the impression that their function is merely to give speeches and cut ribbons for new projects.

And at the end of the day they go home with a fat ministerial pay check of up to 20,000 dollars a month in salaries and allowances - a remarkable salary in a country where medical doctors earn only 200 dollars a month.

The Constitution stipulates that the total number of ministers and their deputies appointed shall not exceed 42 without the approval of parliament. But Uganda has 25 full ministers and 44 ministers of state (deputy ministers), including three deputy prime ministers, three deputy ministers each for education, health and tourism, and four deputies for gender, labour and social development.

All these have their own departmental structure, and there are concerns that ministers in the same ministry duplicate responsibilities and are even in conflict, while others are redundant. A few years back one minister made it public that he was actually redundant, creating debate on whether we needed such a huge cabinet after all.

In spite of the numbers, development indicators remain poor. For instance, 435 of every 100,000 women still die in childbirth each year, and 76 of every 1,000 children are malnourished.

The Office of the President has now proposed that two more cabinet posts be created, sparking public debate on whether 71 cabinet members can make a bigger difference than 69 in an economy where 31 percent live on less than one dollar a day.

"I don't think we need more ministers. This country needs only 10 ministers and 10 assistant ministers. That is 20," says Professor Aaron Mukwaya, of the School of Politics, Makerere University in Kampala.

"The smaller the cabinet the better, because it is all about debating and taking decisions on critical issues. Making such decisions requires a small number of people, so as to reduce leakages and increases compliance and general respectability," Mukwaya said in an interview with IPS.

Mukwaya also questions the role of the cabinet, and whether it performs as stipulated by the Constitution, or simply to appease the appointing authority.

"The cabinet is not only large but virtually useless. The intention of the cabinet is to appease the head of state. It is based on the idea that when you have a huge cabinet, it is incapable of making serious decisions. Therefore the president remains the only person who can make decisions. The cabinet is no longer an issue for development," he says.

Some citizens agree with Mukwaya. "We have an unnecessarily big cabinet. I do not see the relevance of some ministries. Taxation is already a strain on us. Efficiency does not depend on numbers. Look at the state of our roads," says 33-year-old Hadijah Kalibala, a management consultant in Kampala.

Thirty-nine-year-old taxi driver Boniface Kateregga concurs. "I do not see why Uganda should have a larger cabinet than developed countries like Britain and the United States," he says.

Yet permanent secretary to the presidency Opio Lukone defends the numbers, saying they are not in contravention of the provisions of the Constitution: "Every situation is specific to a country," he tells IPS in an interview.

"One must not forget that we are a nation in the process of construction, and there are many forces (challenges) that we are facing. The public says this number is too large, and the basis for this revolves around affordability.

"But I think before we draw a conclusion, there are many factors that go into putting a cabinet together, including effectiveness and the cabinet as the primary institution responsible for determining government policy and providing strategic direction."

But Gerald Werike Wanzala, a team leader with the African Leadership Institute (AFLI), a policy think-tank and non-governmental organisation in Kampala, thinks Uganda is just getting its priorities wrong.

"Already the cost of public administration is so high. Women are dying in childbirth while thousands of children are stunted. There are no teachers in schools. So why can't we first close those gaps before we can think of having so many ministers?" Wanzala asks.

Mukwaya calls the situation patronage politics to satisfy citizens, and based on ethnicity, tribe and region, not national issues. He says huge cabinets are part of the corruption process, a way of rewarding loyal ethnic groups and soliciting votes as the 2011 presidential election draws near.

But Lukone describes it differently: "In our situation there are a number of considerations, including political ones and ethnic group expectations."

He describes it as 'sharing the national cake' (national resources) among the more than 50 ethnic groupings, who may be disgruntled if not represented in policy-making at national level.

"These are some of the difficulties that the president has to juggle with. You want a small and affordable cabinet, but there are all these aspirations and expectations, as groups will feel left out.

"It is a very difficult political balancing act. You want to pay attention to affordability and effectiveness, but you are also working for the population and this is what they expect," is Lukone's key argument.

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Nairobi — Over 50,000 fruit farmers in Kenya and Uganda are expected to increase their yields and double their incomes in four years, following the signing of a $11.5 million (Sh862.5 million) partnership deal between TechnoServe and two other organisations.

TechnoServe, a non-government organisation that helps farmers find markets, has received a donation of $7.5 million (Sh562.5 million) from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, $3 million (Sh225 million) from Coca-Cola Company and $1 million (Sh75 million) from Coca-Cola Sabco for the four-year project.

The money will go into training farmers to improve quality, increase production and help them form farmers groups. TechnoServe will also help the farmers to get credit.

Mr Lionel Marumahoko, Coca-Cola East & Central Africa general manager in charge of non-carbonated beverages, said yesterday that the partnership seeks to enable smallholder mango and passion fruit farmers to participate in Coca-Cola's supply chain for the first time.

"The project aims to create new market opportunities for local farmers whose fruits will be used for Coca-Cola's locally produced and sold fruit juices," he told reporters in Nairobi.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation programme officer Richard Rogers said that as global and local demand for fruit juice grows, there is critical need to increase production.

While Kenya has tremendous potential to benefit from this demand, many multinational companies currently import fruit juice concentrate. This is due to lack of sufficient local fruit supply, despite locally produced concentrate costing an average of 33 to 50 per cent less than imports.

Mr Rogers said that the foundation has committed more than $1.4 billion (Sh105 billion) focused on sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, to strengthen the entire agricultural value chain from seeds and soil to farm management and market access to make progress against hunger and poverty sustainable.

TechnoServe country director Fred Ogana said that the investment would drive momentum towards reducing poverty in Kenya by helping entrepreneurial farmers connect to markets.

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Nairobi — Scientists baffled by the continued spread of sleeping sickness through Uganda have discovered that it is livestock markets that are driving the disease.

A team from Uganda and the United Kingdom analysed the incidence of the serious Rhodesian form of sleeping sickness, which is carried by cattle, in two newly affected districts.

They confirmed that villages close to livestock markets have higher rates of the disease.

The team looked at nearly 700 villages in the two districts. The scientists calculated the vulnerability of a village to sleeping sickness by mapping how close it was various risk factors such as areas where tsetse flies - which transmit the disease - are likely to live, livestock markets and health facilities.

They found that for every kilometre further from a livestock market a village was, the chance of catching sleeping sickness reduced by 21 per cent.

The research shows that livestock markets are a "major risk" to disease control, Sue Welburn, professor of medical and veterinary molecular epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, and co-author of the research, told SciDev.Net.

There are two forms of sleeping sickness, or African trypanosomiasis - the Rhodesian form, common in eastern Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Gambian form which affects western and central Africa.

Uganda has caused particular concern because the country experiences both forms. In 2005, a British Medical Journal paper - also co-authored by Welburn - warned that the Rhodesian form was spreading northwards, posing the risk of convergence (see Double parasite threat of sleeping sickness in Uganda).

"The diseases have been separate for over 100 years but with expanding cattle trade northwards Rhodesian sleeping sickness has been moved northwards," Welburn explained.

She added that because diagnosis and treatment of the two forms are so different, treatment could be compromised - with patients receiving the wrong drugs for example - if the diseases coexisted.

To prevent the convergence, said Joseph Maitima, a senior scientist with the Kenya-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), it is necessary to restrain each of the two in the areas they are endemic to by treating livestock before they are moved for sale or for pastures.

In response to the 2005 findings, a campaign - Stamp Out Sleeping Sickness - was launched. Cattle were treated and transmission was reduced by 75 per cent, diminishing fears of a deadly convergence. But villages are still being infected.

"The disease has stopped moving, but we are still having outbreaks because infected animals are not being treated as they should be," said Welburn.

The Stamp Out Sleeping Sickness programme will continue in February to treat all cattle in the two new regions to which it has spread.

The research was published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases last month (December).

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Nairobi — Even as dark rain clouds pepper the skies over the barren hills overlooking Kikopey in Kenya's Rift Valley province, inhabitants of these vast plains are unaware of an even larger shadow looming over their heads, occasioned by a possible international standoff over their participation in a controversial film.

The government of Sudan has petitioned its Kenyan counterpart to intervene and stop Danish film makers from releasing a movie. The movie blames Kenya's northern neighbour for widespread genocide in the Darfur region. The film, Havnen (Danish for revenge), is centred around the war in Darfur and the vicissitudes of life for a group of refugees living in a town on the banks of river Funen in Denmark, and is scheduled to be released in August, this year.

According to media reports, the director of Sudan's Department of Conflict Resolution and Management, Omer Dahab, has allegedly submitted complaints to the Kenyan embassy in Khartoum, saying that the film has racist contents. He contends that it will negatively affect ethnic harmony in Darfur.

The same reports quote S. Somaya, the Sudanese government spokesperson at its embassy in Nairobi, as saying that it is misleading for the film producers to shoot the movie in Kenya using 2007 post-election violence victims, and then claiming that the location in question is Darfur.

Ms Somaya claims also that the IDPs were lured with low pay, and taken advantage of because they could hardly afford to reject the offer. But IDPs who participated in the film beg to differ. Take 15-year-old Esther Nyambura who has called home the IDP camp in Kikopey, near Gilgil, for nearly two years now.

She and her parents were displaced from their Narok home at the height of the 2008 post-election violence and fled to the Naivasha showground, from where they were moved to the Ebenezer camp in Kikopey.

Absentee parents

Her mother Ann Waithera, and father David Maina are virtually absentee parents. They been gone for weeks now, and she doesn't know where they are. They occasionally drop by to give her money for food and then disappear again for days on end without telling her where they are.

The diminutive but energetic teenager, who at her tender age acts as both father and mother to her five siblings -- feeding, clothing and taking care of their every need almost single-handedly -- bubbles with enthusiasm and absolute joie de vivre, or the joy of living. True, life has been hard for the Standard Seven pupil at Mukinduri school, but when the film crew dropped by in October, bringing with them an unprecedented financial windfall, Esther was right in the thick of things.

For her trouble, she got five full days of sumptuous dishes and more money than she had ever had in a single day -- enough to buy herself a new pair of shoes, a school bag and a new pen, besides presents for her brothers and sisters. It all started in early October when a bus-load of strangers drove up to the camp, clutching at an introductory letter from the Naivasha district commissioner's office and asked to see the IDPs.

The film crew first arrived at the camp on October 1 after scouting the country for an ideal location for their movie. After explaining their mission, they drew up and signed a written agreement with the IDPs, saying that the IDPs understood the purpose of the film shoot and that they had agreed to take part in it for a daily wage.

The crew then pitched camp on the hillside, peppering its slope with a sea of dark green tents. They stayed there for almost a month building the movie set, only leaving on Sunday November 1 after the shooting. For power, the residents say they used a heavy-duty generator which lit up the whole camp.

They brought with them also hundreds of tall, dark strangers whom the IDPs claim were of Nubian origin. "They spoke fluent Kiswahili and Sheng, so I think they are Kenyans," says Lucy Wambui, a 30-year-old mother of three who was also chosen for a role as supporting cast.

"They told us that they had been picked from Kibera (slums) in Nairobi," she adds. "I think they picked our camp because it looks like a desert. It is dry and windy, and has a lot of dust," says John Mwangi, the Ebenezer IDP camp committee, who acts as their spokesman. The film was shot between October 20 and 24.

Internal refugees

Ebenezer has two camps -- Ebenezer A and B, composed of internal refugees moved from the Naivasha showground at the height of the post-election clashes in January 2008. Located in the sprawling and dusty plains near Kikopey, on the Nakuru-Nairobi highway, the camps provide an ideal setting for a desert environment, which the film makers wanted to capture. More than 240 people live in Ebenezer.

"They told us that they wanted to remake the war in Darfur. They even dressed women in veils and men in flowing white robes and asked us to speak in Arabic. "They taught us the words to say," says Lucy Wambui. She laughingly adds that, although they didn't understand a word of the language, they had a great time pretending to be Arabs.

The expansive set was composed of a make-believe hospital that the film makers built from scratch on the hillside. "We never got to go inside (the hospital), but a few of us were lucky enough. They say that the lead actor was a white "doctor", but I don't know," says Esther Nyambura.

Josephat Githaiga, one of the "lucky few", confirms that, indeed, it was so. Esther says that the supporting cast was picked according to how an individual resembled the inhabitants of Darfur. "One had to be a little taller than average, light skinned and with a narrow face," recalls Esther, who adds that more than 100 men, women and children were picked for the parts.

All they had to do, according to Lucy Wambui, was lounge around the "village" and scream when "the men with guns came". And for just that, they were well paid. Beatrice Wambui says they each received Sh700 a day for adults and Sh350 for children over the age of five.

Children under five were paid Sh150, which was given to their mothers. "I got Sh850 a day because of my young one," says Beatrice, motioning to the sleeping eight-month-old child strapped onto her back. And it didn't end there. For breakfast, members of the supporting cast were each offered one fried egg, two slices of buttered bread and tea with milk.

A sumptuous lunch came in the form of sukuma wiki (kales) and meat stew with ugali and a banana or orange, replete with a thoughtful bottle of water. In the evening, they were offered tea with mandazi after work, before being paid their daily wages and heading for home.

The dust at Ebenezer is now sludge and puddles of muddy water and the strangers have been gone for over two months but the good memories linger on among the residents. The film crew left behind enough memorabilia -- a large water tank that the residents say will solve their perennial water problems, and remnants of the building materials used to put up the "hospital".

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Johannesburg — ESKOM's proposed 35% tariff hikes every year for the next three years could cost SA 200 000 jobs and delay the economy's recovery from recession, Jerry Vilakazi, CEO of Business Unity SA, warned yesterday.

On the second-last day of public hearings on the proposed tariff increases, business groups and companies poked holes in Eskom's argument for the rises to help fund its R385bn expansion.

While the hikes would bring in R18,2bn in the first year, the cost to SA would far exceed this, and the economy could lose R80bn, Vilakazi said.

A 35% hike could lead to consumer price inflation rising 1,2%. "And the pass-through effects would hit food prices."

This, he said, would come after last year's negative economic growth and 1-million job losses.

Ian Langridge, chairman of the Energy Intensive User Group, said Eskom needed to change its funding model and sell an existing power station instead of a mere stake in the still-to-be-built Kusile power station, as planned.

Langridge said procurement for Eskom's Medupi and Kusile power stations was done at the peak of the market, and the costs were too high, making them unattractive to private investors.

He said prospective private investors were likely to be interested in Eskom's older, more established power stations rather than Kusile, which was still under construction.

" The offer will have limited uptake due to the fact that construction risk has already been managed by Eskom, and potential bidders cannot apply their expertise to enhance their capital return," he said.

Langridge said investment in Eskom's older power stations could be a preferred option for investors if the market became more attractive.

"It is difficult to imagine that an investor will invest in a power station that was procured at the peak." But an existing power station, with a good track record, presented an attractive opportunity for investment in good assets.

Greg Kinross, president of CIC Energy, was also sceptical about Eskom securing private equity partners for Kusile in the next three years.

"The risk of not securing a partner for Kusile during (this period) ... is very high," he said. It was unlikely that an investor would enter into material contracts in which it played no part in negotiating.

Investors would also be reluctant to assume Kusile's coal supply, environmental and water supply risks, he said.

Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa) council member Guy Harris said: "No investor in their right mind will look at a minority stake at an unproven asset."

Kinross also questioned the wisdom of granting Eskom high tariffs. "Eskom is raising tariffs now, to finance capital to build capacity for electricity that will only be generated in the future. Today's users will be subsidising tomorrow's, at great current cost to the economy," Kinross said.

Eskom would over-recover its operating costs if the 35% increase was granted, and only a 25% hike was needed, he said.

CIC Energy is the developer of the Mmamabula energy project in Botswana. The project includes a 1320MW coal plant. Of the electricity from the plant, 75% will be sold under a still unsigned long-term power purchase agreement to Eskom.

Kinross said delaying or downsizing all or part of Kusile would reduce Eskom's cash-flow requirements "significantly".

He said there was likelihood of Medupi, the other new power station, and Kusile being delayed beyond the dates estimated in the multiyear price determination.

According to Eskom, the first unit of Medupi will be commissioned in 2012, while Kusile is scheduled for commissioning in 2014. Kinross said a delay in the commissioning of the power stations would aggravate the energy crunch, requiring Eskom's existing plants to run harder. Such a delay would also cause the capital costs of the two power stations to soar.

Chris Meares, MD of Progress Ceramics, told Nersa yesterday that his company was on the brink of closure because of, among other things, the rising electricity costs. He said he had retrenched employees in the past year. "The future of my business is on a knife edge."

While it was possible to change his company's business model and reduce reliance on electricity, doing so required "massive" investment. "It is not that easy to change your business model in the face of a crisis like this," he said.

Meanwhile, ratings agency Standard & Poor's yesterday confirmed Eskom's local currency rating at A- and its foreign currency rating at BBB+. According to Eskom, the move brings to an end the uncertainty created by the agency's previous placing of the power utility on credit watch.

Eskom acting chairman Mpho Makwana said he was "satisfied" that the rating reflected Eskom' s critical role in the economy, and recognised Eskom's progress in stabilising its credit profile.

Today will be the last day of the Nersa hearings. The regulator is scheduled to make a determination on Eskom's application next month.

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The hurdle to the 2011 general and presidential elections has been cleared after legislators finally saw wisdom and enacted the controversial constituency threshold bill Wednesday.

The bill is key to the 2011 elections as it sets the basis for constituency demarcation and legislative representation, but since its introduction in 2008, it has suffered several setbacks, characterized with drama, tussles and Presidential veto.

There will be 87 elected members in the House of Representatives in the next legislature, an increase of 23 (64 currently) ,based on the new Population Threshold Bill which

stipulates 40,000 people per electoral constituency annulling the previous 20,000 people requirement.

With this new threshold several less populated counties mostly those in the country's southeastern region will have fewer Representatives, while those with large population will have increment in representation in the House. Grand Kru, the country's least populated county with a population in the neighborhood of 50,000 will have a single electoral constituency with a corresponding one Representative.

Populated counties like Montserrado, Nimba, Bong and Lofa will have 29,12, eight and seven Representatives respectively.

The new threshold is being established based on a constitutional requirement which mandates the legislature to set a constituency threshold following the conduct of census in every ten years.

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allafrica

The so-called 'Anti-Homosexuality Bill' under consideration by the Ugandan Parliament not only violates the fundamental human rights of Ugandans, but will also impede efforts to combat HIV, a United Nations independent expert warned today.

"Uganda is in great danger of taking a step backwards - away from realizing human rights for its people and away from an effective, evidence and rights-based HIV response," stressed Anand Grover, the Special Rapporteur on health.

Lessons from the past three decades of the HIV epidemic have shown that recognizing the rights of people with different sexual identities is a crucial element of efforts to respond to the virus, he said.

In many nations where sex between men is not criminalized and where both stigma and discrimination have been eased, men who have sex with men are more likely to pursue HIV prevention, care, support and treatment services, Mr. Anand emphasized.

"I urge the Ugandan Parliament to build on its past successes in responding to HIV and to refrain from passing this bill," he said, noting that several UN human rights conventions ban discrimination on the grounds of sexual identity or orientation.

Further, laws criminalizing homosexual acts between consenting adults also infringes on the right to privacy, the expert pointed out.

Homosexuality is already criminalized through Uganda's existing penal code, but the new bill - which was tabled by a Parliament member and is due to be put before the entire legislative body later this month - prohibits any form of sexual relations between people of the same sex, as well as the promotion or recognition of homosexual relations as a healthy or acceptable lifestyle in public institutions.

Since the bill would also include the publication of materials which 'promote or abet homosexuality,' Mr. Anand cautioned that it could impact the work of civil society actors and human rights defenders working on issues of sexual orientation or gender identity, which are essential to addressing vulnerability to HIV.

The new legislation also criminalizes failure to report relevant offenses, in effect compelling citizens, including health workers and civil society organizations, to report anyone they suspect of being homosexual to the authorities.

Those deemed to be 'serial offenders' and those living with HIV could receive the death penalty, the Special Rapporteur said.

Last week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spoke out against the "draconian" bill.

"It is extraordinary to find legislation like this being proposed more than 60 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - as well as many subsequent international laws and standards - made it clear this type of discrimination is unacceptable," Navi Pillay said.

Describing the bill as "blatantly discriminatory," she said that, if passed, it would have "a tremendously negative impact on the enjoyment of a range of fundamental human rights by homosexuals, lesbians and transgendered individuals, as well as on parents, teachers, landlords, human rights defenders, medical professionals and HIV workers."

The High Commissioner added that she was "encouraged" by the fact that a number of Ugandan civil society groups were actively opposing the bill, and by the recent statement by President Museveni, reported in the Ugandan press, which appeared to suggest the Government would intervene to prevent the draft bill from becoming law.

"This is the only responsible course of action for a government to take in such circumstances," she said, while also urging the Government repeal existing Ugandan laws that criminalize homosexuality, albeit with less severe punishments.

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Nairobi — Civil society groups early Friday camped at the Naivasha law talks meeting in protest at the removal of the Prime Minister position in the proposed new law.

The groups, led by activists Suba Churchill and Paddy Onyango, were also protesting the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitution refusal to give non governmental organisations positions in "all levels of government."

They were also against the committee's proposal to outlaw gay marriages, what they call "trans-sexual rights."

Police were on high alert in case of any disturbances, as the groups had threatened to storm the meeting venue.

They were later dispersed by police.

Some of the protesters arrived last night and checked into the Great Rift Valley Lodge, while another group came early Friday.

A number of the 26-member committee are accusing the civil society activists of seeking to derail the constitutional reform process so that "they can continue milking money from donors in the guise of fighting for reform."

The PSC Wednesday night agreed to a presidential system of government with a powerful Chief Executive, who will be checked by Parliament and an independent Judiciary.

The team also agreed that the president should not be an MP and neither should cabinet members.

The draft handed to the team for debate by the Committee of Experts proposes a hybrid model, with both a president and a premier sharing power.

The committee has until next Friday to debate the draft and make recommendations to the Committee of Experts.

The experts will have 21 days to consider and incorporate the decisions of the PSC before the draft goes to Parliament for debate.

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Abuja — The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday ordered the Federation Executive Council (FEC) 14 days to prove medically that President Umaru Yar'Adua was fit to perform his duties.

The two highest policy bodies existing at the centre are the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the National Council of States (NCS).

The Chief Judge of the Court, Justice Daniel Abutu, in his judgment ordered FEC to comply with the relevant section of the 1999 Constitution.

"Having regards to the fact that the president has been away on a medical treatment since 23 November 2009, he (Yar' Adua) is incapable of performing his presidential duties.

"The FEC should resolve whether the president is capable of performing his presidential functions or not and pass a resolution to that effect,'' the judge said.

A former Minority Leader, Mr Farouk Aliyu and the Chairman of the Jigawa State Chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Sani Gabbas, had sued the Attorney General of Federation (AGF) and FEC over the indefinite absence of the President.

The plaintiffs through their counsel, Mr Bamidele Aturu, asked the court to determine whether the resolution of FEC at its meeting of 2 December 2009 to the effect that Yar'Adua was capable of discharging his functions as President of Nigeria was constitutional.

Aturu contended that the seat of the president had been vacant since 23 November 2009, arguing that the nation had been without a ruler.

He urged the court to compel Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to start carrying out the functions of the president.
Aturu added that the relevant sections of the constitution made it mandatory for the president to hold meetings with ECF.

The plaintiffs pointed out that "it is unlawful, pursuant to the Public Service Rules for Yar'Adua to be absent from the office without going through due process."

Counsel to the plaintiffs further told the court that the "FEC is violating the law, what the Constitution recognises is ECF."

Aturu prayed the court to hold that the President's failure to write the Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives, before going on medical vacation on 23 November 'is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates Section 145 of the Constitution".

He urged the court to compel the council to pass a resolution for the Vice President to start performing the presidential duties in Yar'Adua's absence in accordance with the Constitution.

The AGF, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, who appeared in person, in his counter affidavit to the originating summons filed by the plaintiffs, had argued that the plaintiffs' suit was premature and lacked locus standi.

He also argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit and that the court had no power to declare the president's seat vacant when he was still alive and capable.

Aondoakaa told the court to throw out the entire suit on the ground that the plaintiffs had no legal right to sue and that if the court entertained it, it would amount to abuse of court process.

"Section 146 states that the VP shall hold office if the office of the president is vacant by reason of death, Section 143 must be read in conjunction with section 146, this court cannot declare the seat of the president vacant while he is still alive.

"The Constitution does not vest power on the court to declare the seat of the president vacant.
"I submit that section 5 (1) of the constitution is discretional and does not make it mandatory that the VP should take over office in the absence of the president," Aondoakaa said.

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MOGADISHU (Reuters) - At least eight people were killed when insurgents from the hardline Hizbul Islam and al Shabaab rebel groups took a town in central Somalia from pro-government militia, residents and a rights group said.

More than a dozen others were injured when the rebels struck Baladweyne, capital of the Hiiran region, and wrestled it from clan militia loyal to the government and moderate Islamist group Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca.

"At least eight people were killed and 21 others were injured around Baladweyne. All these casualties took place in the suburbs of the town," Ali Yasin Gedi, the vice chairman of the Elman human rights group told Reuters.

One resident said the insurgents looted offices of the World Food Programme (WFP) and Save the Children (UK) aid agencies and carted off computers and other goods.

"I also saw them taking a car. Islamists are now in the town but the clan militia may return any time. Most of the residents fled days ago except a few poor ones like me," she said.

WFP said this month it was suspending much of its work in parts of the conflict-torn country.

Concerns about Al Shabaab, which is viewed by Washington as al Qaeda's proxy in the region, has risen in recent weeks due to its links with al Qaeda groups in the Arabian Peninsula.

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IN a new twist to the corruption saga in the MDC-T, the party is engaged in an attempt to foil a move to have two of its ministers put on the European Union sanctions list for allegedly conniving with their Zanu PF counterparts in corrupt activities.

Last week the Zimbabwe Independent broke a story in which three MDC-T ministers -- Energy and Power Development minister Elias Mudzuri, Home Affairs co-minister Giles Mutsekwa and deputy Mines minister Murisi Zwizwai -- were named as having been under investigation by a party committee for corrupt activities.

The party's information department has since strongly denied any involvement by it ministers in corrupt activities.

Although it denies there is any such committee set up to expressly investigate the three as originally reported, it has emerged that there has been a campaign from within the party to have at least two of them -- Mudzuri and Zwizwai -- put on the EU sanctions list which contains President Mugabe and about 200 other top Zanu PF officials seen as benefiting from the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy through, among other ills, corruption.

As the party prepares for its 2011 congress, insiders in the MDC-T say infighting has given rise to the allegations. An MDC committee is currently investigating corruption at the local government level and other officials are investigating the British branch.

Zwizwai confirmed that there were attempts to place him, together with Mudzuri, on the sanctions list, describing them as "a Nicodimous diplomatic offensive" by some fellow MDC-T members.

"There has been a Nicodimous diplomatic offensive by some nocturnal characters seeking to place myself, Elias Mudzuri and hence the party under European Union sanctions," Zwizwai said.

"I have a strong feeling that (the) Nicodimous is not from Zanu PF because Europe will not give an ear to that party. I am confident that MDC will unmask (the) Nicodimous sooner than later for the good of the public and the party," he said in a signed statement in response to questions put forward by the Zimbabwe Independent.

Some Western embassies and EU legislators confirmed that senior MDC-T members had approached them urging the placement of the two on the sanctions list. Sources said the Americans were independently investigating the infighting in MDC-T and also the allegations of corruption.

Meanwhile, the MDC-T is preparing a response to be presented at the African Caribbean Pacific/European Union joint parliamentary assembly in Brussels denouncing claims that Zwizwai was conniving with his boss, Obert Mpofu, in corrupt activities, emanating from the way Mbada Diamonds was allowed to mine Chiadzwa diamonds without going to tender.

The issue was first raised at a ACP/EU parliamentary sitting in Luanda held at the end of November last year by two legislators, one each from the Netherlands and Germany, who said they were concerned about Zwizwai's alleged involvement in corruption in the Chiadzwa diamonds.

MDC-T Matobo Senator Sithembile Mlotshwa confirmed in a telephone interview from Matobo that the issue was going to be discussed at a meeting in Brussels between January 25 and 29 but said she was not aware of any intentions to put Zwizwai on the sanctions list.

"Yes I am going to make a presentation on the issue relating to the deputy minister and I am waiting for the response which is being prepared in Harare. The issue raised in Luanda was on the Marange diamonds and they wanted to know about the human rights abuses and they also wanted to know the involvement of the deputy minister in corruption in Marange," she said.

Mlotshwa said the two MPs from the Netherlands and Germany were worried that MDC members were already engaging in corrupt activities at such an early stage in government.

"The allegations were that the deputy minister was involved in corruption and we are going to present something saying the contrary and that we have proven that he is not involved in any corruption in Marange. The MDC is going to respond to the issue so that they know that there are no elements of corruption in our party," she said.

Last week MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said Mudzuri, Mutsekwa and Zwizwai were not being investigated by the party for any corrupt activities.

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ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - African journalism is in crisis with 13 journalists murdered and 32 jailed in 2009 and the African Union is doing nothing to reverse the trend, an international journalists' group said on Thursday.

In a report the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) named Eritrea, Somalia, Tunisia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Gambia as the most repressive countries for African journalists to work in.

The survey was compiled by African journalists from the IFJ's sister organisation, the Federation of African journalists.

"This report outlines in clear, bald terms the scale of the crisis that faces journalists across the continent," Aidan White, secretary general of the IFJ, told Reuters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

"The African Union needs to demonstrate that its members are committed to press freedom. They're not now. The situation in Africa is intolerable."

The report says nine journalists were murdered in Somalia in 2009 and 19 journalists held incommunicado in Eritrea.

"We have been knocking on the door of Eritrea for talks. They haven't opened the door yet. But we'll keep knocking," White said.

"We want dialogue with governments and for governments to stop thinking the media are a political instrument rather than a force for democratic change."

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LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia, Africa's top copper producer, plans to open talks with foreign mining companies over long-term agreements that the government cancelled in 2008, secretary to the treasury Likolo Ndalamei said on Thursday.

Foreign mining companies operating in Zambia have been demanding the restoration of development agreements, whose cancellation caused loss of incentives for the mines.

"In the spirit of dialogue and especially because of the need to attract investors in Zambia's quest for development, (the) government has appreciated the necessity for extensive talks," Ndalamei said in a statement.

The government would soon engage the companies that had raised concerns about the changes to the mining legislation and the resultant impact that the tax measures had on incentives, he said without stating a timetable for the talks.

"This new fiscal and regulatory engagement process with the mines is in line with the presidential guidance given during the official opening of parliament," Ndalamei said.

TAX INCREASES

Zambia in 2008 increased company income tax from 25 percent to 30 percent, raised mineral royalty from 0.6 percent to 3 percent, introduced a 25 percent windfall tax and separated hedging income from mining income for tax purposes.

But following protests from mining companies, the government last year removed the windfall tax.

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ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia denounced on Thursday a rights group report that accused it of cracking down on the opposition and restricting the work of aid agencies ahead of national elections in May.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) annual report said Ethiopia jails opposition members and has passed laws that outlaw most human rights organisations.

"Ethiopia is on a deteriorating human rights trajectory as parliamentary elections approach in 2010," the report said.

"Broad patterns of government repression have prevented the emergence of organized opposition in most of the country," it added.

HRW also condemned the jailing of opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa. She was imprisoned in 2005 and released in a 2007 pardon deal but was rearrested in December 2009 after she said she had never asked for a pardon.

Government spokesman Shimeles Kemal rejected the findings, telling Reuters: "Most of this report is based on fabrications from the Medrek (opposition party) and the ONLF rebel group.

"We don't have any policy of suppressing opposition. But nobody is above the rule of law in Ethiopia, whether members of the opposition or not."

The elections will be the first since a disputed 2005 poll ended in violence when about 200 opposition protesters were killed on the streets by police and soldiers.

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Police on Thursday arrested one of two men who threatened in a television interview to kill fans at June's World Cup, causing uproar among officials fearful that South Africa's high crime rate will deter foreign visitors.

The interview last weekend on the private channel eTV unleashed days of controversy over both crime and freedom of the press after authorities issued subpoenas for two of the station's journalists to reveal their sources.

A man who set up the interview with the two self-styled criminals was found dead earlier this week, apparently from suicide, eTV and police said.

The two men, whose faces were concealed, said on the programme they would commit armed robberies and murder during the month-long soccer spectacular which is expected to attract 450,000 foreign fans. They said this was justified as revenge for colonial wrongs.

"Our specialised unit ... the "Hawks" in the early hours of the morning arrested one of the self-confessed (gang) kingpins," Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said in a statement.

"According to the footage, this is the thug who boasted and threatened to rob and kill during the World Cup," he said.

Police, who launched a major hunt after the interview, said the man was arrested following a tip-off. He faces charges of intimidation and inciting violence, that are punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

Mthethwa, backed by both the ruling ANC party and police Commissioner Bheki Cele, condemned the eTV interview as disturbing and reckless, but the station defended the programme as investigative journalism that did not glorify criminals.

The South African National Editors Forum said it was appalled by the subpoenas, saying they would undermine press independence and credibility.

South African and World Cup officials are sensitive about violence, which is one of the biggest concerns around the tournament. The country has one of the world's highest rates of violent crime, with 50 murders a day, more than the United States which has six times the population.