LAGOS, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between an Islamic sect in northern Nigeria's Bauchi State and the police has claims eight lives and several others injured.

"No fewer than eight people including two soldiers and four children have been killed while a number of houses were burnt in another religious crisis which erupted in Zango, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis," a security source told Xinhua.

The source said the violence erupted on Monday when the sect group known as Kala Kato, went on rampage to demand the release of its arrested leader.

Muhammed Barau, state police spokesman, told reporters that the crisis was contained following the deployment of more than 100 armed policemen and other security agents.

The state government has commended security agencies for promptly stopping the Bauchi crisis from deterioration.

Sanusi Muhammad, special assistant on media to the state governor, Isa Yuguda, said government was satisfied with the handling of the situation by the agencies.

According to him, normalcy has been restored in the crisis area while people have been going about with their normal activities. The government has also warned people against spreading false rumor capable of causing a breach of the peace. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Red Cross has been evacuating residents in the crisis area to safe locations.

In July, the state witnessed a sectarian unrest that erupted in northern Nigeria's Bauchi State that spread to neighboring Adamawa, Kano, Bornoand Yobe States where about 800 people were reportedly killed.

Nigeria is a secular country with the population evenly divided between Christians and Muslims. The northern region with 19 out of the country's 36 states is predominantly Muslim, while Christians dominate the south.

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Johannesburg — UNDERWRITING profit margins in short-term insurance are in the low single-digit range, indicating rising claims and poor investment returns, says Glenrand MIB chairman Dudu Kunene.

These factors were likely to put pressure on premium pricing in coming months, he said in his annual report. Glenrand reported a turnaround last year, and its share price over five years appears to have bottomed at 62c in the middle of this year, from as high as 383,22c in July 2005. It traded at 103c last Wednesday.

A R46,5m profit was reported for financial 2009 versus a R82,1m loss the previous year.

CEO Andrew Chislett said the group aimed for a profit margin before tax of 20% by the end of financial 2010 and improved profit. He said the cost base remained too high, and some expected cost cuts had not materialised. Many property leases were restructured, and cost cutting would get attention next year.

In the risk-services division, client retention remained good, but fees were under pressure as clients had to cut expenditure. The commercial insurance market remained soft, negatively affecting commissions earned.

In the specialist division, the credit and political risks operation gained new business despite a 25%-35% decrease in declared values received from most clients.

Premium rate increases were expected to take hold next year.

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Pretoria — President Jacob Zuma is to host a party for orphans and children, said the Presidency on Monday.

The annual party, organised by the Jacob Zuma Education Trust, will be hosted at Mnyakanya High School in the KwaNxamalala area in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, on Tuesday. The president is a patron of the trust.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will promote careers in the military at the event.

Since its inception in 1995, the trust has educated more than 20 000 underprivileged children.

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THE position of UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema on Chinese investment is one which his pact co-leader and partner Michael Sata should emulate.

It is something to be emulated because political leaders must learn to differentiate between what is partisan and what is in national interest whenever they take positions on issues.

The notion that opposition leaders must always disagree with Government is one which must be discouraged if not totally discarded.

There must be issues which all political leaders agree on and one such issue is that investment which benefits the greater good of the society must be supported.

Mr Sata, like his co-leader, must admit that the investment which Chinese firms have poured into the Zambian economy is benefiting the country and there is absolutely no need to rubbish it just for the sake of scoring political points.

What is important is how Zambia, as a country, harnesses the investment to maximise benefits for the local economy and citizens and this can be done in several ways.

One, is ensuring that the investors adhere to the country's labour laws and the if labour laws have weaknesses, then legislative authorities must move to amend and strengthen them so that the workers employed by foreign companies are not disadvantaged.

The other, is ensuring that the tax laws are tailored in a way that all investors make contributions to the central treasury commensurate with the benefits they are deriving from operating in Zambia.

But at the same time, they should not be strangled out of business by excessive tax demands.

The key, really, is that it should not be an issue as to where the investment comes from as long as it is genuine and adds value to the Zambian economy, as Chinese investment is doing.

It should also be realised that since the investment is long term, it does not matter who is in power at a given time since it is for the benefit of the country rather than individuals.

That is why the style of politics that focuses on confrontation and controversy all the time must be condemned because all political parties should be working for the good of the nation.

Hopefully, Mr Hichilema's stance is a realisation that the politics that is practised by Mr Sata is not something that should be emulated all the time on every issue.

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Pretoria — Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has warned that motorists who break the law "will be caught and face the full might of the law".

This comes as the death toll on the country's roads climbs over 800 since the beginning of the festive season. "Roads deaths are not accidents, but are avoidable and deadly incidents," Ndebele said.

The Department of Transport's preliminary reports say 840 deaths in 654 crashes - 218 drivers, 327 passengers and 295 pedestrians - have been recorded since the beginning of December.

The department said the Festive Season Arrive Alive Road Safety Campaign has seen thousands of motorists being fined and arrested over the Christmas weekend.

From Christmas Eve to the early hours of Sunday 126 drunk drivers were arrested in KwaZulu-Natal with Pietermaritzburg accounting for 50 of the arrests.Since the beginning of December, 583 drunk drivers have been arrested in the province.

More than 500 000 vehicles and drivers have been stopped and checked as part of the festive season road safety campaign. Over 3 000 drunk drivers were arrested while about 2000 vehicles, including 1000 buses and taxis, were declared unroadworthy.

Over 280 000 motorists were fined for speeding while more than 200 others were arrested for reckless and negligent driving. Seatbelt offenders were also fine accordingly.

"The thousands of arrests and fines since December 1, as part of the Campaign, is a warning to other motorists that if your commit any traffic offence you will be caught and will face the full might of the law," said Ndebele.

He said as of next year, with the introduction of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) and the Points Demerit System, motorists who disregard the law will not only face arrest or fines but will also forfeit their driving licences.

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Maputo — Mozambique's Constitutional Council, the body that validates election results, announced in Maputo on Monday that over 1,000 of the results sheets ("editais") from the 28 October general and provincial elections could not be processed.

In its ruling proclaiming the election results, the Council said that these were editais that contained "insuperable errors", including some that were deliberately fraudulent.

Of the 12,699 presidential editais, 332 (2.6 per cent) could not be processed. For the parliamentary election, 354 editais (2.8 per cent) were omitted. Because there was no provincial election in Maputo city, only 11,908 polling stations produced a provincial assembly results sheet. Of these, 377 (3.2 per cent) were rejected.

The Council noted that some of these editais were "intentionally corrupted", in that they reported more votes than voters, or a number of voters greater than the number of registered voters in the electoral register for that polling station. Other editais gave the wrong number of the polling station, and so were immediately rejected by the computer system set up by the National Elections Commission (CNE).

The Council did not give a breakdown province by province of the corrupted editais - but this type of fraud clearly refers to those polling stations, mostly in Tete and Gaza provinces that reported impossibly high turnouts of 100 per cent, or more than 100 per cent.

AIM discovered in November that the CNE scrapped 51 of the 122 presidential editais from the most corrupted of the districts, Changara, in Tete. The Constitutional Council has thus backed up the CNE's decision - but it has not gone further. Even with the CNE's purge, there were some Changara editais that still reported turnouts of over 100 per cent, and those results have been allowed to stand.

AIM looked at the remaining 71 editais from Changara, and they were clearly all corrupt, though not all the fraudsters were foolish enough to claim turnouts of over 100 per cent. But in an election where the average turnout is 44 per cent, turnouts of 90 per cent, while theoretically possible, are extremely suspicious and should have sparked off a thorough investigation.

The council also noted that "a large number of votes marked validly by the voters were later deliberately tampered with, leading them to be declared invalid". The most common form of vote tampering was for the polling station returning officer, or other member of staff to add an inky fingerprint to the ballot paper, making it look as if the voter had tried to vote for more than one candidate.

The Council noted that people who tampered with votes were committed a criminal offence, but there have so far been no reports of anyone arrested in connection with vote tampering.

Attorney-General Augusto Paulino informed the Council that 245 people had been arrested in connection with 229 electoral offences - but no breakdown was given of the type of offence.

205 of these were minor offences, which should be dealt with summarily, by the courts and only 24 were crimes serious enough to carry a prison sentence of more than two years. The information on these crimes is sparse, but it is reasonable to assume that most of them refer to destruction of election material and street brawling during the election campaign.

There is no breakdown as to which parties the arrested individuals were supporting, and the Council had no information on how many of them have already been tried and sentenced, or acquitted.

This is a far greater number of arrests than in any previous election. The Council believed that failure to punish electoral offences in the past had generated "a feeling of impunity". It applauded efforts by the police, prosecutors and courts "to apply the law, so that acts that violate it do not go unpunished and to consolidate among all citizens the habit of complying with the norms".

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Maputo — Mozambique's Constitutional Council on Monday sharply criticised the National Elections Commission (CNE) for the way it had handled the procedures leading up to the 28 October general and provincial elections.

In its ruling proclaiming the election results, the Council pointed out that the calendar for the elections drawn up by the CNE "does not indicate with precision and clarity the deadlines for electoral acts, particularly those for the phase of delivering candidates' nomination papers".

In particular, the CNE announced exactly the same period (1 June to 29 July) for both the registration of parties for the parliamentary elections and for the delivery of candidates' nomination papers.

This procedure was in violation of the law, which regards the registration of parties, and the delivery of nomination papers as quite separate.

The law envisages the possibility of appealing to the Constitutional Council against the CNE's decisions on such matters as the legality of political parties' names and symbols. Yet the CNE effectively made this impossible, since the calendar said that the CNE would decide on the legality of names and symbols only after the end of the period for delivery of nomination papers.

This was not an academic issue. There were strong suspicions that one new party, the PLD (Party of Freedom and Development), chose a turkey as its symbol to confuse the electorate, since the main extra-parliamentary force, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) also has a domestic bird, a cockerel, as its symbol.

The most flagrant case was that of the PPD (Popular Democratic Party), a completely obscure group, which obviously chose its name in order to steal votes from the much better known PDD (Party of Peace, Democracy and Development), led by the former number two in Renamo, Raul Domingos.

But the CNE's calendar, described by the Council as "incoherent", made it almost impossible to address such issues.

The CNE also had a legal obligation to publish lists of candidates on three separate occasions - first, immediately after the end of the period for presenting nomination papers (29 July); second, after all the nomination papers had been checked for irregularities (5 September); and finally, after any appeals by parties against the lists had been decided by the Constitutional Council (19 September).

In fact, the CNE only posted one set of lists of candidates on its notice board, on the night of 5/6 September. Even this was incomplete, since it only included the lists that were accepted, and not those that the CNE rejected, although the law states clearly that the rejected lists must also be posted.

The Council pointed out that failure to publish the list of candidates immediately after receiving their nomination papers meant that the parties could not check the lists for any omissions. The parties were thus being denied information they needed for any possible appeal against the CNE to the Council.

The Council also noted that three elections were held, not one. The CNE should therefore have submitted three separate sets of minutes to the Council. Instead, the CNE's decisions on the three elections were bundled together in one document. When the Council asked for separate minutes for the separate elections, all it received were two additional photocopies of the same document.

The electoral bodies, the Council added, needed to explain their decisions better, and always notify parties and candidates of those decisions. It would thus be desirable for the CNE and its subordinate bodies "to develop complementary practical mechanisms which, on the one hand, permit greater publicity for its activities, and on the other improve communication and dialogue with the political parties and candidates".

Such measures were important "to raise the level of trust and credibility that the electoral administration should deserve".

But the Council admitted that the CNE was working with badly drafted laws with overlapping deadlines that were difficult to reconcile with each other. A key problem was that the date for the election must be announced by the President of the Republic (on the CNE's advice) at least 180 days in advance.

The Council said this was not enough time - particularly because updating the voter registration cannot occur until the election date is known (because only people aged 18 before or on the date of the election can vote).

The date for the elections should be fixed further in advance, the Council argued, "so as to allow more time for all the other electoral procedures".

A correct timetable for the elections, it said, "requires parliament to fix more realistic deadlines, which allow a properly phased and harmonised sequence of electoral acts, without overlapping".

The Council also criticized the CNE for demanding residence certificates proving that candidates for the provincial assemblies have lived in the province for at least six months. That demand is not in the law, which only requires that candidates show their identity card and their voter card.

For the voter card number indicates the province where the candidate registered to vote, and where he or she presumably lives. The identity card also shows the candidate's address. A third document is therefore unnecessary.

Opposition parties have repeatedly claimed that local authorities are unwilling to issue residence certificates for their candidates. The failure of opposition candidates to obtain these certificates is the main reason why the ruling Frelimo Party was unopposed in 67 of the 141 district constituencies used for the provincial elections.

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THE Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) has challenged political parties to help inspire Zambians to go and register as voters during the forthcoming 90-day voter registration exercise to ensure high turnout of voters in future elections.

Fodep spokesperson Macdonald Chipenzi said in Lusaka yesterday that eligible voters should turn out in numbers to help grow the budding democracy in the country.

Mr Chipenzi said in an interview that political parties were key players in the voters' registration exercise and they should not leave the task of mobilising potential voters for registration to the Government and civil society organisations.

He said the MMD and opposition parties should be in the forefront and ensure they conducted their affairs in ways that would inspire the members of the citizenry to register to deal with voter apathy.

Mr Chipenzi said as key players in the electoral process, the conduct by politicians could either encourage potential voters to register or discourage them, depending on how they handled their affairs in political parties.

"The political parties should rise to the challenge and help encourage the potential voters to go and register as voters because that is the starting point for this democratic exercise," he said.

He said the current low voter turn-out could only be abated through the increased number of people on the voters' roll, hence the need to intensify the awareness for the forthcoming exercise.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) recently announced that it would next year embark on a 90-day continuous voter registration exercise throughout the country in readiness for the 2011 general elections.

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Johannesburg — ZIMBABWEAN authorities have blamed inadequate parking as a reason for congestion at the Beitbridge border post on the South African side of the border.

Beitbridge is among the busiest border posts in the economic region of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), with volumes rising to more than 12000 travellers and 3500 vehicles a day during the festive holidays.

This forced travellers and long- distance truck drivers to queue for hours on end to be cleared before crossing the border.

Last week, Zimbabwe's main official newspaper, The Herald, quoted border officials blaming lack of space on the South African side of the border for the vehicle pile-up. They said this had a knock-on effect on the Zimbabwean side, which blocked the free movement of travellers.

" You will note that most of the trucks that are queuing here have since been cleared on our side," the paper quoted Zimbabwe Revenue Authority regional manager Angeline Mashiri as saying.

However, regular power cuts in Zimbabwe have also forced the authorities to revert to manual clearance, which Mashiri said was more time consuming.

Since 2003, the Beitbridge border has been operating around the clock, while a toll bridge was commissioned in 1995.

Zimbabwean authorities said that this month traffic flow across the border had reached annual record levels, attributable to growing economic stability in the country along with the introduction of the 90-day visa exemption, which made it easier for Zimbabweans to travel to SA.

Gorden Moyo, minister of state in the prime minister's office, visited the border post and suggested that the old single-lane bridge could be used to cut down on congestion. But that facility had since been set aside for pedestrians and goods trains.

Home affairs spokeswoman Siobhan McCarthy yesterday referred questions to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), which chairs the border control operations coordinating committee.

SARS spokesman Adrian Lackay said a visit to check on operations a week before Christmas had not revealed any problem areas, although he acknowledged that parking for long-distance trucks was a challenge. "People must understand that at this time of the year it's peak traffic volumes," he said.

Earlier this month, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said an extra 150 immigration officers would be deployed to the busiest South African border posts, including Beitbridge, to beef up staff during the Christmas period.

This month, Zambia and Zimbabwe commissioned what was believed to be sub-Saharan Africa's first one- stop border post at Chirundu, which was expected to reduce time spent at the border by 30% to 50%.

It was anticipated that the proposed one-stop border post would help ease congestion and ensure quick clearance of travellers, particularly during the 2010 Soccer World Cup when thousands of fans are expected to pass through Beitbridge and Musina.

20091228

Johannesburg — EXTRA security staff have been called in to SA's international airports to ensure stricter security measures do not delay flights, following an al-Qaeda-linked Nigerian student's attempt to blow up an aircraft travelling to the US from Europe on Christmas Day.

There is also concern the stricter measures, implemented at the request of the US government, could put additional strain on SA's already stretched transport infrastructure leading up to the World Cup in five months' time, should they remain in place.

The US requested stricter security worldwide after the 23- year-old Nigerian tried, and failed, to blow up a flight from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport to Detroit. Airports worldwide tightened security a day after the passenger tried to detonate a device that contained a high explosive.

Passengers now have to contend with extra pat-downs before boarding, staying in their seats without blankets or pillows for the last hour of the flight, and more bomb-sniffing dogs.

Airports Company SA (Acsa) security supervisor Lettie Skosana said in addition to stricter luggage searches, international passengers would no longer be allowed to take any liquids, aerosols or gels in their hand luggage.

Exceptions would be made only for small quantities of liquids where the traveller had a prescription that specified how much medicine needed to be consumed during a flight.

In addition, no one on a US- bound flight would be allowed to buy liquids, aerosols or gels in the duty-free shopping area.

Skosana said extra security staff had to be recalled from leave to beef up security at international airports. "We called them this (Sunday) morning," she said.

Boarding gates were being opened earlier so there was time to check all passengers' hand luggage without delaying flights. Hand luggage was also being checked at book-in, she said.

The security measures were valid for all international flights because "you don't know, they might send someone from another airline" that was not flying to the US, to pass on substances that could be used to make explosives , she said.

The US justice department has charged student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with wilfully attempting to destroy or wreck an aircraft by placing a destructive device in the plane he boarded at Schiphol on Friday.

Abdulmutallab was arrested a month after his father warned US officials of his concern about his son's religious beliefs.

The US government led the world in tightening airline security at the weekend as it searched for answers to how the 23-year-old eluded extensive systems intended to prevent attacks like his botched Christmas Day effort to blow up the Northwest Airlines flight.

South African Airways' Azure Janneker said the airline had implemented additional security measures on flights to Washington and New York to comply with a directive from the US Transport Security Administration.

Measures such as increased prescreening of passengers would apply before departure as well as on board the aircraft, she said.

According to reports, Abdulmutallab, the youngest of 16 children born to a powerful Nigerian banker who worried about his son's extreme views, was a brilliant student studying mechanical engineering at University College, London.

Al-Qaeda involvement in the incident was a "subject of investigation", US homeland security chief Janet Napolitano said.

Nigeria's highest Islamic body yesterday condemned Abdulmutallab's alleged attempt to blow up the aircraft.

"We are embarrassed by this incident and we strongly condemn the alleged action by this young man," said Lateef Adegbite, secretary-general of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria . He said his organisation did not think there was "any organised Islamic group in Nigeria that is inclined to such a criminal and violent act".

Four weeks ago, Abdulmutallab's father, Umaru Mutallab, told the US embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, that he was concerned about his son's religious beliefs. This information was passed on to US intelligence officials, but apparently not to their European counterparts.

Abdulmutallab received a valid US visa in June last year. It expires at the end of next year.

His is one of about 550000 names in the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database maintained by the US National Counterterrorism Centre.

The database was created in response to the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks.

Intelligence officials said there was not enough evidence to place him on the 400000-person terrorism watch list or on the no-fly list of fewer than 4000 people who should be blocked from air travel.

There was no initial evidence that Abdulmutallab was involved in a larger plot, a senior US official.

However, an al-Qaeda operative in Yemen threatened the US and said "we are carrying a bomb" in a video posted online four days before the botched Christmas Day incident.

The video does not contain any clear evidence that the speaker was anticipating Friday's attempt, but it has attracted scrutiny because of reports that the bombing plot may have originated in Yemen.

Abdulmutallab claims he received training and instructions from al-Qaeda operatives there, US officials said, and there were "strong suggestions" of a Yemen link.

President Barack Obama has ordered his administration to review detection methods.

"We are investigating, as always, going backwards to see what happened, and when, who knew what and when," Napolitano said.

"Did we do what we needed to do with that information, and how can we revise watch-listing procedures to ensure there's no clog in the bureaucratic plumbing of information," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. With Sapa-AP-AFP

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Tunis — The fifth session of the Tunisian-German joint think tank on financial and technical cooperation was recently held in Tunis.

The meeting examined the cooperation relations between Tunisia and Germany and looked at ways to further strengthen them by including innovating value sectors in the sectors of environment technologies, renewable energies and water resources.

During the meeting, a financial and technical cooperation agreement was sealed between both countries.

Among the agreements is the signing of financial and technical cooperation projects amounting to nearly 44 million Euros.

Germany is Tunisia's third largest trading partner. 40 % of Tunisian imports from Germany and 80 % of Tunisian exports to Germany come from companies with German holdings in Tunisia.

Germany is the fourth largest foreign investor in Tunisia and the main export partner among the Maghreb countries. German investments in the 265 export oriented companies operational in Tunisia, have amounted to 45 million Euros in 2008 and have enabled the creation of more than 43,000 employments.

20091228
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Revelations that Kenyan lead acid battery makers are running out of raw materials due to increased exports of used car batteries is not only shocking but embarrassing for a country that prides itself in supporting local industries.

The emergence of electric car markets in Western economies and high demand for car batteries in China has fuelled a global demand for lead-acid battery manufacturing with entrepreneurs turning to Africa and by extension Kenya where recyclable lead is sold and categorised as scrap metal.

The development is happening as policymakers, led by mandarins at Treasury, the Ministry of Industrialisation and that of Trade watch.

Kenya appears to have left its doors open--when others have closed theirs.

Uganda and Tanzania, where Kenya exports some of the batteries, have since blocked any exportation of lead from their countries and the Nairobi factories can no longer source from the region.

The situation seems to have been worsened by a decision by Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta to remove a 20 per cent export tax on lead and lead scrap.

The tax had been imposed by Mr Kenyatta's predecessor, Amos Kimunya, in 2007 to cushion the sector against Chinese demand for lead used to manufacture batteries for its emerging motor industry.

In the Budget Speech read in June this year, Mr Kenyatta amended the Customs and Excise Act, exempting scrap lead dealers at the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) from the duty.

This has seen lead smelters take advantage of the new law and set up shop within EPZs from where they are shipping lead and other scrap metals out of the country.

Manufacturers say this has led to a surge in exports of used batteries mostly to Asia draining the local industry of the crucial raw materials.

In the wake of the shortage of raw materials, the prices of scrap batteries has almost doubled, shooting from Sh30 in June to Sh52 this month.

This has meant higher production costs for the manufacturers who are already grappling with high energy costs.

Yet the players cannot increase the selling price because imported batteries are cheaper nor can they import the raw material which has in the recent past suffered from price fluctuations in the global lead market.

While this is not the time that the car battery industry is raising alarm over the exports, it raises crucial questions on the seriousness of the Government in addressing the plight of local manufacturers.

It also brings to the spotlight whether the company has clear policies on exactly how to handle the dicey dilemma of allowing exports of raw materials at the expense of local manufactures.

With such a scenario that threatens a multi-billion shilling local industry that employs thousands of Kenyans, it becomes critical that the government listen to manufacturers when they have genuine feelings of being frustrated by certain policies.

With this in mind, Treasury in consultation with other stakeholders should re-look at the existing policy on the lead batteries for a possible review.

Secondly, its important that Kenya observes and follows trends being taken by its peers both in Africa and also globally.

At the same time, the country must protect the local industry from exploitation by foreign merchants.

Besides, Kenya is a signatory to the Basel and Bamako Convention of Hazardous Waste Management and therefore should completely ban the export of old automotive batteries, a step that has already been taken by Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa and a host of other African nations.

It's only after taking such steps that the country would be assured of cheaply sourced raw materials for lead batteries, which could mean good prices for Kenyan made batteries, giving the industry a competitive edge over its rivals.

Without this, we will kill a whole industry.

20091228
allafrica

The year started with much hope for peace and stability in the chaotic central and southern Somalia, which was largely hit by wave of violence. new presidents took power as elections held for the Federal Government and Somalia's semi-autonomous state of Puntland.

On January 8, the parliament of Somalia's semi-autonomous state of Puntland on elected Abdirahman Mohammed Farole as the new president to replace the incumbent president Mohammed Musa Hirsi.

Mohammed Farole, a former Finance minister and an opposition figure got 49 votes out of 66 house members vote, defeating eight other contenders in the historic presidential election.

He becomes the fourth president of the Puntland that declared its semi-autonomy from Somalia almost 11 years ago.

In the chaotic Somalia, the year started with the withdrawal of US-backed Ethiopian troops who invaded the war-torn country in late 2006 to oust then powerful Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled most of the country's south and central including the capital Mogadishu.

Shortly after the withdrawal, on February 1 Somali lawmakers who were meeting in neighbouring Djibouti for reconciliation talks elected new president after the resignation of Abdullahi Yussuf Ahmed late in 2008.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the leader of Djibouti-based Alliance for Re-liberation of Somalia was elected in a landslide victory, defeating then Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein and Maslah Mohammed Siad, the son of late Mohammed Siad Bare.

Sharif joined the government after participating in an international-backed peace process, which allowed some of his ARS's members to join the bloated parliament.

The election of Sheikh Sharif was followed by days of bloodshed which the insurgents fighting the foreign forces in Somalia launched attacks to declare their stand, fighting that claimed the lives of at least 70 people.

Al-Shabaab, then a military wing for UIC declared holy war against African Union troops mainly from Burundi and Uganda.

Hizbul Islam, another insurgent group that was hurriedly formed after the election of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed as the new president of Somalia, declared its opposition to the new government.

The group is a coalition comprising of Asmara-wing ARS, Mu'askhar Ras Kamboni (Ras Kamboni Brigade) and Anole and Jabhatul Islamiya ("Islamic Front")

Its leaders include Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of Asmara wing of Alliance for Reliberation of Somalia and ally turn enemy of Sharif who was then in self-imposed exile in Eritrea.

On February 13, Ahmed officially announced the former Somali president's son, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke as the new Prime Minister after weeks of consultations in neighbouring Djibouti.

The PM named his cabinet and together with his some his ministers and lawmakers returned to the bullet-riddled capital for the first time in nearly two decades as a Somali leader.

The same month, On February 22, a double suicide bomb attack on an African Union troops' base in Mogadishu left 11 Burundian soldiers dead and another 15 wounded.

On March, the rebellion against Ahmed's administration intensified after Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden called for his ouster in an audio recording published on the internet.

On 28 April, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys returned to the war-torn country for the first time since late 2006, when he fled the powerful Ethiopian invasion.

In Puntland, on April 30, President Farole released his government's first-ever report covering the administration's successes and plans in the first 100 days since his election as the fourth elected president of Puntland.

In the report dubbed "100 Days in Office report," the president highlighted the overall government reform and strengthening the capacity of the Presidency by appointing imperative ministers, namely Democratization Process and Federal Relations; for Good Governance.

On May 7, Puntland unveiled a new constitution after years of review process. The parliament unanimously passed the 2009 budget after six days of negotiations.

Back in the war-torn Mogadishu, The ultimatum rebel onslaught against fragile UN-backed Somali government started On May 7, when a joined force of Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam narrowed down the government's grip in the capital to only the presidential palace Villa Somalia.

A month later, Ahmed declared state of emergency in the country and asked neighbouring countries to send troops to help his weak government thwart rebels.

The month also saw defection of some pro-government UIC commanders to rebel forces.

On June, Puntland President Farole toured Washington, D.C., and London, where he gave speeches at the U.S. Congress and the Chatham House think-tank, respectively. He also held meetings with Puntland Diaspora.

On July 17, Somali gunmen kidnapped two French security advisors working for the Somali government. Later in the year, the kidnappers released one of the men while the whereabouts of the other remains mystery.

The next day, on June 18, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the Medina Hotel in central Somali town of Beledweyne, killing 35 people, among them Omar Hashi Aden, Somalia's Security Minister.

On August 22, Puntland President Dr. Mohammed Farole inked harmonised accord with Somali government delegation led by Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke In Galkayo town.

The accord would allow the two governments to work together under a federal umbrella and share the benefits.

US Special Forces aboard air-bone Helicopters carried out air raid On September 15 near Somali coastal town of Barawe, killing six, including a key Al-Qaida member, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan.

Al-Qaeda inspired Al-Shabaab insurgents vowed to revenge the death of Nabhan.

Two days later, two suicide car bombs struck headquarters of the African Union force in Mogadishu, killing 21 people, mostly Burundian soldiers. Among the dead was the AMISOM deputy commander Burundian Maj. Gen. Juvenal Niyonguruza. AMISOM commander Gen. Nathan Mugisha, from Uganda was also injured in the attack.

In late September, the two main insurgent groups (Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam) disagreed over the formation of an Islamic administration for Kismayo, a lucrative southern Somali port city that fuels insurgent activities across the war-torn country.

Hizbul Islam accused their ally-turn enemy Al-Shabaab of unilaterally formed a new administration for the port city, leading to all out war that killed dozens and displaced hundreds of families.

The disintegration further escalated into conflict between the two groups over southern regions of Juba, where they both had control of large swathes.

The ultimatum blow to Hizbul Islam came on October and November when they were ousted from mainly strategic southern border towns of Afmadow, Dhobley, forcing their fighters and top commanders to flee to neighbouring Kenya.

November 13, Somali TFG Puntland officials met in Nairobi in a bid to harmonise the Galkayo accord but disagreement emerged.

The two presidents, namely Ahmed and Farole agreed to form a committee to look into the issues but the day ended with disarray as both parties stick to their demands with Puntland vowing not to back down.

The shocker of the year came on December 3 when a suicide bomber disguised as women blew himself up in the middle of a graduation ceremony held in Mogadishu's Shamo hotel, killing more than 24 people, including three Somali ministers and two journalists.

Dozens others, mostly innocent students and parents where injured in the attack, which attracted outrage and condemnation from in and outside the country.

The suspicion immediately fell on Al-Shabaab, but the group's Spokesman Sheikh Mohammud Ali Raghe rejected any connection with the bombing.

The man was later identified as a Danish-Somali man aged 26 who reportedly had connection with Al-Shabaab insurgent group.

December also saw the unveiling of Puntland's new flag, which consists of three colors: white, blue and green.

The year ends with misery and hopelessness for millions of Somalis who are internally displaced and largely depend on humanitarian food aid.

On the high seas of the war-torn country, the piracy scourge saw its upsurge with more than 14 ships and over 200 crews under the hands of ransom-hunting pirates.

20091228
allafrica

Nairobi — The International Criminal Court has been urged to publish in local media the rules of procedure and evidence to enable more witnesses make their reports to the trial chambers on 2007 post-election violence.

Consequently, the ICC could extend the 30-day period given to local witnesses to make their representations to the chambers, a human rights lobby has said.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said the actions would allow more victims to give their views.

Article 15 of the Rome Statute says victims may present their views to the pre-trial chambers in accordance with rules of procedure and evidence.

"However it is likely most have been unable to make their representations," KNCHR vice-chairman Hassan Omar, said.

In an interview with the Nation, Mr Omar said Kenyans need to know the process of representations to the Pre-trial chambers.

The victims, he said, also require protection and facilitation to give their views to ICC.

Attorney General Amos Wako, Mr Omar said, should act with speed and table a Bill in Parliament to amend the Witness Protection Act to guarantee witnesses of their security and give them necessary support "to submit their evidence to ICC or make presentations to ICC."

Mr Omar said most victims of the chaos that left 1333 people killed and more than 600,000 uprooted from their homes were contacting KNCHR with hope that they will be given an indication on how to make their representations to the pre-trial chambers.

"The ICC should make it clear how the guidelines are so that victims can present their views without jeopardising their security and safety. The process should further be made more convenient. The 30-day period has almost lapsed. It is not the work of KNCHR to facilitate victims," Mr Omar said.

Through various responsibilities shared across its organs, the court is obligated under article 68(1) of the Rome Statute to provide for the protection of victims and witnesses appearing before the court, including ensuring their safety, dignity, privacy, and physical and psychological well-being.

This obligation extends to all witnesses--without regard to their affiliation with either the prosecution or the defense--and to all victims.

Victims of the post-election violence in the North Rift started presenting their views on whether the ICC should investigate those suspected of being behind the clashes early this month.

This followed an order dated December 10 from judges Ekaterina Trendafilova, Hans-peter Kaul and Cuno Tarfusser of the Pre-Trial chamber II of the ICC in Netherlands.

The order empowers the Victims Participation and Reparations Section to receive and summarise the victims' views before submitting them.ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's request stated that victims or their legal representatives were notified on November 23 of his intention to request authorisation to commence an investigation into the situation in Kenya.

In response to the notification, victims were to make their representations in writing to the chamber within 30 days after the date of the notification.

"Victims' representations at this particular stage are a procedure of limited scope, which is merely confined to the prosecutor's request for authorisation of an investigation," the document read in part.

20091228
allafrica

Nairobi — Declining international tourist arrivals in Tanzania have put the country on alert.

Government sources indicate that tourist arrivals declined by 10 per cent in the first 10 months of 2009, to reach 576,643 down from 641,951 in 2008.

The UN's World Tourism Organisation's 2009 report -- World Tourism Barometer projects that the negative trends in international tourism emerged in the second half of 2008 and intensified in 2009 due to the global economic downturn and swine flu pandemic.

According to the report, international tourism dropped by 8 per cent, from 269 million in 2008 to 247 million in the first quarter of 2009.

The organisation also speculates that the trend will carry on to June 2010.

However, Ibrahim Mussa, assistant director, research, training and statistics at Tanzania's Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism said the effects of the global crunch had not badly wounded the country.

This is despite statistics showing declining figures with the exception of July, which recorded 79,171 visitors compared to 77,775 visitors in 2008.

The trend is replicated in Zanzibar where the Zanzibar Commission for Tourism has reported only 81,985 tourists arrivals against a projected figure of 150,000 in 2009.

It is impossible that Zanzibar will salvage the situation that has badly affected the economy because peak periods are elapsing.

Julia Bishop, director of Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors is optimistic about the country recovering from the crisis.

Tanzania earned $1.2 million from tourism activities in 2008 while Zanzibar received $1.6 million, which is a 3.1 per cent decline from the figures recorded in 2007.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, the average length of stay for visitors in Tanzania mainland was nine nights as compared to 10 in Zanzibar, which earned the country $299 per visitor.

Tanzania is now intensifying its efforts to revamp domestic tourism which grew by 19.3 per cent to reach 639,749 in 2009, compared to 2008.

20091228
allafrica

Nairobi — The move towards Political Federation in East Africa will gain momentum once the other pillars are well established, Kenya's EAC Permanent Secretary David Nalo has said.

Shrugging off calls to shelve the Political Federation -- slated for 2015 -- Mr Nalo said the region had jumped the huddle of creating a free trade area, which he described as the most difficult phase.

"We are on high gear to remove internal tariffs which stand in the way of free and smooth movement of people, goods and services. All indications are that by July 2010, these will be behind us," he said in a telephone interview.

He added that the region is the second, after the European Union, to develop a Common Market.

Mr Nalo called on scholars to adopt a more practical approach to integration, saying their sentiments are based on theory.

He told them to look at the achievements on the ground, such as inter-regional infrastructure projects like roads.

He cited the Arusha-Namanga-Athi River and the Busia-Kampala roads which are under construction, and which are joint EAC projects.

The coming into force of EAC's fully fledged Customs Union from January 1, he said, is the culmination of five years of close consultations between partner states on elimination of duties on goods originating from the region.

It is a strong indication that the EAC is a few steps away from becoming a single destiny, a development beefed up by the Common External Tariff which applies on goods imported into the block.

Mr Nalo said the World Trade Organisation has recognised East Africa as the only region with a functioning Customs Union.

With the Common Market in place, he said, the volume of movement will increase, creating a need for measures to spur growth.

First among these is the need to exchange money, such that East Africans can transact in any currency at determined rates within the community's borders.

This is the reason the region's central banks are working closely to harmonise and standardise forex management.

In some towns, such as Arusha, Kenyan currency is already trading freely.

20091228
allafrica

Nairobi — Conservation efforts in northern Uganda have received a $902,255 boost in a climate adaptation move that will benefit an estimated one million people.

The Danish government grant will see over 4.4 million trees planted in northern Uganda and parts of the Sudan-Uganda border, particularly in the West Nile region.

Karina Hedemark, Danish programme co-ordinator at the embassy in Kampala, said the region was picked because it suffered 19 years of neglect during the Lord's Resistance Army rebellion.

She added that by engaging local communities in tree planting, the project, dubbed Tree Talk Plus - Greening Uganda, will also empower them economically.

"By building on the strong infrastructure and network of the project so far in these areas, the initiative will change knowledge, attitudes and practices surrounding tree growing," said Ms Hedemark.

That the grant came when the world was meeting in the Danish capital, Copenhagen for the United Nation's Climate Summit, reinforces Denmark's concern on global warming.

Country representatives attended the climate conference that ended last week, to accept payment of reparation by developed countries to poor nations.

"Climate change awareness and action should reach people whose livelihoods are at risk of facing the worst effects of a changing climate...I am proud to support this project that combines mass media base awareness with concrete activities as tree planting, for the benefit of people living in northern Uganda, where nature conservation suffered during the conflict," said Danish Ambassador to Uganda, Nathalia Feinberg.

The project will also involve the training of some 2,600 local people on conservation, environment and climate change, as well as strengthen protected areas and natural resource management in five districts of northern Uganda.

This and another project to restore agricultural productivity in northern Uganda have been in place since 2006, when the region's security begun to show signs of improvement, running parallel to those of other key donor agencies like the European Union, Sweden, Ireland and Norway, as well as those supported by UN agencies.

In 2002, Denmark in collaboration with the government of Uganda and two local organisations embarked on improving agricultural productivity through the "voucher for work" system.

In this programme, internally displaced persons receive farm inputs in exchange for work such as development of local infrastructure projects like rural access roads.

The displaced persons work under the supervision of technical staff, who also take care of the input delivery chain, overall administration and provide extension services, as well as funding.

20091228
presstv

The speaker of Somalia's parliament, Sheikh Aden Madobe, has called on lawmakers living abroad to return to Mogadishu in 10 days.

On Sunday, Madobe said any parliament members who fail to return to the capital by January 6, 2010 will face legal action.

He made the call after the parliament was forced to postpone a session on Saturday because not enough members were present.

A number of lawmakers have fled to neighboring countries to escape unrest in the capital, where militants clash with government forces and peacekeepers from the African Union on an almost daily basis.

Somalia has experienced nearly two decades of civil war and has had no effective central government since dictator Mohammad Siad Bare was ousted in 1991.

20091228
allafrica

Cielo 133, a Spanish NGO active in adoption, is to construct a mother and child referral hospital in Addis Abeba at a cost of 15 million euro as a turn-key project and hand it over to the Ministry of Health.

The idea was initiated by the Spanish organisation and presented to Minister Tedros Adhanom (PhD), who gladly accepted it. The hospital will have 240 beds, Tedros said.

The preliminary design of the hospital was done by Cielo 133 itself based on 35,000sqm land. However, the city administration granted the project only 20,000sqm of land in Weyra Sefer in the Kolfe Keranio District.

This led to a reconsideration of the design, which is being handled by Yibrah Architect and Engineering Consult.

The hospital will have five four-storey blocks, according to Yibrah Mehari, manager of the firm. The construction is to be undertaken in four phases, he told Fortune.

However, the ministry will ask for more land, as the 20,000ht will not be enough for the hospital, warned Tedros.

Cielo 133 has an adoption centre at Addis Abeba and a childcare centre in Hossana town in the Hadiya Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State.

The new hospital will be an addition to the existing 37 hospitals in Addis Abeba, five of which are under the Health Bureau, two under NGOs, three under the defence and police forces and the rest privately owned.

20091228
allafrica

Farmers and farm fields with SLM are enhancing technical practice as well as improve agricultural productivity.

The Sustainable Land Management (SLM) project of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) is expecting to see an aid inflow of 38 million dollars from Finnish and German sources in 2010.

The project, which is owned by MoARD was officially launched in October 2008 with a budget of 55 million dollars, of which 8.8 million dollars was provided by the government while the rest was contributed by the World Bank, Global Environmental Facility (GEF), and German Technical Cooperation (gtz).

The project is being implemented in six regional states of the country in weredas with the potential for food security, according to Tesfai Mebrahtu (PhD) deputy director of the GTZ-SLM Programme. He says that the SLM project will begin to undertake soil and water conservation activities in January 2010 at watersheds in all regions. The German Development Service (DED in German) and gtz provide technical support for the Ministry.

The German Bank for Reconstruction (KFW) and the Government of Finland will offer a combined sum of 38 million dollars before the end of 2010 for projects in different areas. KFW's financial support to MoARD will help the implementation of the project in 20 of the weredas in Amhara, Oromia and Tigray, while that of the Finland Government will be for the implementation of the land administration component of the project in the Benishangul Gumuz Regional State and for providing technical support to MoARD as well.

More development partners are expected to support the ministry to implement the project in 177 watersheds of the country for adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change, Tesfai said. He added that the money provided by all the donors would be used for the purchase of equipment and materials to train and pay farmers who will be involved in the implementation of the project.

The development objectives of this SLM project are to reduce land degradation in agricultural landscapes and improve the agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers.

The project will last for five years until the end of 2013. It is being implemented in a total of 62 weredas of the Oromia, Gambella, SNNP, Benishangul Gumuz, Amhara, and Tigray regions. The german organisation, gtz is also working with regional bureaus and offices of agriculture and rural development as well as land administration and environmental protection. Over 700,000 people on 500,000ht of land are expected to benefit from the project.