31 Aug 2009
Three different candidates have claimed victory in Gabon's presidential election to choose a successor for Africa's longest-ruling head of state.

The claims on Monday from the main contenders in the race came ahead of the announcement of preliminary election results, amid huge voter turnout on Sunday.

Omar Bongo, one of the wealthiest men in the world, died in June, after more than four decades at the helm of the oil-rich country.

His son, former Defense Minister Ali Bongo, is seeking to fill his father's shoes and has promised to improve on what he describes as the 'prosperity' that the father brought to the former French colony.

He has the support of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), which immediately pronounced him as the new leader of the oil-rich country.

“Information received from different constituencies in Gabon and abroad put me largely as a winner. I'm waiting for the competent authorities to announce the results officially," Bongo claimed at a press conference on Monday.

However, opposition leader Pierre Mamboundou and the ex-interior minister Andre Mba Obame also insisted on having won the most votes as ballots closed Sunday night.

During the campaign, Bongo's rivals promised to uproot what they called widespread corruption and discrimination in Gabon.

Mamboundou, said his victory would mark a "new era," and has already started outlining his government's economic plan.

Obame said he has won in four of the country's nine provinces.

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HARARE, 31 August 2009 (IRIN) - "Quiet diplomacy", the mantra used by former South African president Thabo Mbeki in his dealings with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, appears to have fallen by the wayside and been replaced with a more no-nonsense approach.

The two-day visit on 27 and 28 August by South African President Jacob Zuma to the country's troubled northern neighbour was characterized by a marked difference in style. Mbeki, appointed as mediator by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to resolve Zimbabwe's economic and political crisis, was seen by analysts as indulging Mugabe; Zuma was more direct.

After opening Zimbabwe's 99th agricultural show in the capital, Harare, Zuma dismissed statements ahead of his visit by Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba, that his presence was only ceremonial. Mbeki was not part of the visit.

"I visited Zimbabwe in my capacity as President of South Africa, as well as in my capacity as Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community, both of which are guarantors of the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

The agreement was signed in September 2008 by Mugabe's ZANU-PF, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and now Prime Minister, and Arthur Mutambara, leader of an MDC faction, which facilitated the formation of a unity government in February 2009.

"I decided to use the opportunity of opening the Harare Agricultural Show to meet the esteemed leaders of political parties to ascertain progress with regards to the implementation of the Global Political Agreement," Zuma said. He held closed-door discussions with Mugabe and Tsvangirai.

The progress of the unity government has been tortured. ZANU-PF has stalled on implementing some aspects of the GPA, among them the appointment without consultation of the reserve bank governor and the attorney general, and Mugabe's refusal to swear in provincial governors, or a white former commercial farmer, Roy Bennett, as deputy minister of agriculture.

"For this [economic recovery] to happen, it is absolutely necessary that the Global Political Agreement be fully implemented without delay," Zuma said.

''For this [economic recovery] to happen, it is absolutely necessary that the Global Political Agreement be fully implemented without delay''
ZANU-PF has complained that the MDC has not done enough to convince Western countries to lift sanctions imposed mainly against the ZANU-PF elite. The US and Britain, the former colonial power, have said sanctions would be lifted once there was respect for human rights and democracy.

"We are aware that some economic development partners and donor countries have put some benchmarks to be met before they can extend assistance, and currently only offer humanitarian assistance," Zuma said in his speech at the agricultural show.

"The achievement of an effective recovery is also dependent on the removal of sanctions and other measures that hold back economic development."

A senior ZANU-PF official, who declined to be identified, told IRIN: "We are a party with a long history of negotiating and we have certainly worn down the MDC - of course, we cannot negotiate ourselves out of power."

However, a senior MDC official, who declined to be identified, told IRIN: "Zuma did get some concessions from Mugabe that certain provisions of the coalition deal would have been implemented by the time the [SADC] summit is held. Very soon there will be some developments."

''The region's leaders [at the SADC summit] need to press Zimbabwe openly and publicly for human rights reforms to prevent the country from backsliding into state-sponsored violence and chaos''

SADC summit

A two-day SADC summit begins on 7 September in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. "This will provide an opportunity to review progress in the implementation of the agreement, and for the countries of Southern Africa to reaffirm their commitment to assisting Zimbabwe," Zuma said.

"At the same time, we have called on all parties inZimbabwe to work together to remove any remaining obstacles to the implementation of the agreement. The parties are agreed on the need to speed up implementation and to find lasting solutions to the current points of disagreements. The important factor is that there was commitment among all parties, which make the movement forward possible," he pointed out.

Human Rights Watch, a global watchdog, noted in a report released on 31 August, False Dawn: The Zimbabwe Power-Sharing Government's Failure to Deliver Human Rights Improvements, "There is mounting evidence that the new government is failing or unwilling to end serious human rights violations, restore the rule of law, institute fundamental rights reforms, and chart a new political direction for the country."

The report also noted that "ZANU-PF retains control of all senior ministries, including the Ministries of Defence, Justice, State Security, and Foreign Affairs; and it co-chairs Home Affairs. The party therefore wields significantly more power than the MDC in the government, and is unwilling to institute human rights and governance reforms."

Georgette Gagnon, Africa director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement: "The region's leaders [at the SADC summit] need to press Zimbabwe openly and publicly for human rights reforms to prevent the country from backsliding into state-sponsored violence and chaos."

irinnews

JOHANNESBURG, 31 August 2009 (IRIN) - As much as 10 percent of South Africa's doctors might have left the country in 2008 to work in developed countries, said local media reports.

However, Bertha Peters-Scheepers, spokesperson for the Health Professionals Council of SA (HPCSA), a statutory body established in terms of the 1974 Health Professions Act to protect consumers of health care services, said using the organization's certificate of good standing to determine the level emigration by doctors was not necessarily an accurate measure.

Local media reports have used the certificate "as a reflection of doctors leaving the country", Peters-Scheepers told IRIN, but the certificate was also requested by local employers to establish whether applicants for jobs were qualified or had malpractice judgments against them.

World Health Organization guidelines frown upon developed countries recruiting doctors from developing countries, but adverts in local medical journals offering doctors work in developed countries are commonplace.

A report by The Times, a South African daily newspaper, notes that in the "July [2009] edition of The South African Medical Journal there were 10 job advertisements for doctors — nine of them for positions in Australia, the UK or Canada."

According to the HPCSA, South Africa has about 35,000 registered doctors; 3,550 applied for certificates of good standing in 2008.

irinnews

WASHINGTON, 31 August 2009 (IRIN) - Special interest groups in Zimbabwe are launching a concerted push to ensure their rights are enshrined in the new constitution.

The Global Political Agreement signed in September 2008 between Zimbabwe's various political rivals, which gave rise to the unity government in February 2009, includes writing a new constitution, expected to be introduced in 2010.

The current constitution was adopted at independence from Britain in 1980 after the Lancaster House negotiations led to Ian Smith's white minority government being replaced by a democratic dispensation.

"We are looking forward to a constitution that reflects and respects the rights of all citizens as inalienable, including those of gays, lesbians and transgenders," Fadzai Muparutsa, programme manager for Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), told IRIN.

Homosexuality is outlawed in Zimbabwe - although there are no specific laws prohibiting lesbian relationships - but President Robert Mugabe's nearly three decades of rule have been increasingly hostile towards the gay community, and he has denounced gays as "Un-African" and "worse than pigs and dogs".

"Specific mention of sexual orientation should be made in the new constitution and homosexuality should be decriminalized. We have made this clear to the parliamentary committee in charge of the whole process; South Africa did it, and so can we," Muparutsa said.

South Africa, Zimbabwe's southern neighbour, became the first country in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation in its 1994 constitution, after the demise of apartheid, and the first African country to legalize same-sex marriages in 2004.

''We want a constitution that expressly enshrines our social, political and economic rights and freedoms''
Disabled

People living with disabilities are also campaigning for their rights to be recognized and a special sub-committee on disability has been working with the parliamentary select committee responsible for drafting the new constitution.

Farai Mungoni, advocacy officer of the National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped, dismissed the present constitution as "disability insensitive."

"Disability is only mentioned in passing in Section 23 of the current constitution, which says no one should be discriminated against because they are disabled, but that's not enough. We want a constitution that expressly enshrines our social, political and economic rights and freedoms," he told IRIN.

"Voting rights for the visually impaired, especially, are being violated. Blind people are assisted by police officers when voting, which virtually robs them of their right to a secret vote - these people should be assisted by trusted associates of their choice. Government should also introduce ballot papers that are in Braille," Mungoni said.

Disagreements

However, the introduction of a new constitution is far from assured, as Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the main opposition party, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, are locked in arguments about the provisions.

"Lack of funds is another serious problem threatening the process," co-chairman of the parliamentary select committee, Paul Mangwana, told IRIN. "We need about US$9 million to fund the process, but government is literally bankrupt."

A number of civic groups are also insisting that parliament hand over leadership of the process to civil society, and have threatened to mobilize the public to reject the draft in the required referendum.

irinnews

30 Aug 2009
Gabonese electors have gone to the polls to elect a successor to deceased President Omar Bongo, Africa's longest serving ruler, who died in June.

Polling stations opened two hours behind schedule on Sunday, in several districts of the capital, Libreville, due to the shortage of staff and material.

The late president's son, former defense minister Ali Ben Bongo, who was chosen as the candidate of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), is seeking to replace his father at the helm of power.

The 50-year-old is considered the top contender, with 18 other candidates running in the presidential race, including former government ministers Andre Mba Obame and Casimir Oye Mba.

Obame has won the backing of five candidates out of the original 23 contenders who pulled out of the race on Friday.

While the opposition has vowed to fight what they deem as widespread corruption and discrimination in Gabon, Bongo has promised to stay true to his father's policies and boosting what he called the country's prosperity during his father's four-decade-long rule.

Omar Bongo was one of the world's wealthiest heads of state.

The oil-rich country is also the world's third biggest provider of manganese metal and the continent's second biggest wood exporter, but the majority of its population of 1.5 million live below the poverty line.

presstv

South Africa is terminating the services of thousands of soldiers whose protests over a pay rise turned violent last week and resulted in clashes with the police.

A court has ruled the protests as illegal and dismissal letters are being sent to the soldiers, the ministry of defense said on Monday.

The soldiers' union was demanding a pay rise of 30 percent.

"There are about 1,500 to 2,000 people that we are interested in. So the letters have started going to them," SAPA news agency quoted a union adviser as saying, Reuters reported.

About 460 soldiers have already received dismissal letters, said the adviser who was not named.

However, South African National Defense Union's legal adviser Michael Thekiso said that the soldiers "have 10 days to motivate to the minister on why they should not be dismissed. It is only final after 10 days."

presstv

MERU, 31 August 2009 (IRIN) - An ancient myth from Meru, eastern Kenya, tells of a war during which all the healthy men in the village were deployed to fight an enemy tribe, only to return and find the women had been impregnated by the men left behind, who had been deemed incapable of defending the village.

From that day on, the legend continues, Meru women have had their clitorises removed to curb their sexual appetites and ensure their marital fidelity.

The practice of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), once the foundation of womanhood among the Meru, is slowly dying out as people become more aware of the physical risks involved and its reinforcement of women’s inferior position in society. There is still some resistance, however, with many believing abandoning FGM/C will undermine Meru values still considered intrinsic to young girls becoming women in the community.

“Female circumcision rites had a dual role; the cut, yes, but there was also the period of seclusion following the cut, during which girls were schooled in the ways of women in Meru society – how they should behave in polite society, how they should interact with men and how to be a respectable member of society,” said Gilbert Musai, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Meru, which, with the Catholic Relief Services NGO, runs an alternative rite-of-passage (ARP) that teaches local girls both new and old-school values as a replacement for FGM/C. “We are trying to find a way to link the old system to the new system.”

Old and new practices

More than 2,000 girls have been through the ARP in several Meru locations since 2007, and according to officials of the diocese, the increase in class sizes and requests for more sessions is proof that they are having the desired impact. The course lasts one week and culminates in a colourful graduation ceremony attended by parents and local leaders.

“Key to our success is the fact that we don’t put down local traditions; we don’t go around bad-mouthing Meru culture, and apart from the cut – and in order to remain friendly with cultural leaders we call it the cut and not mutilation – we teach values that these girls would ordinarily learn in preparation for womanhood, coupled with modern advice,” said Joseph M’eruaki, the diocese’s social development director.

FGM/C has been illegal since 2001 under the Children’s Act, and as a result, the counselling portion of the rite has been lost – circumcisers perform their duties under the cover of darkness, never spending enough time with the girls to impart traditional values. The ARP fulfils that role.

“Meru culture is very rich and varied, and we teach the girls that even with education, which they should pursue earnestly, they must continue to respect their own culture and be assertive in a respectful way,” said Rael Mugambi, a facilitator at the Chiakariga Girls’ High School, which recently hosted an ARP.

Lessons include self-awareness, Meru cultural values, relationships and marriage, as well as substance abuse and HIV/AIDS.

The classrooms are named after prominent Kenyan women – doctors, lawyers and legislators – to encourage the girls’ aspirations. Samantha, 16, one of the girls attending the course, says she wants to be a vascular surgeon and hopes one day to become as well-respected as the women whose names grace the classrooms.

Mixed support

But while Samantha’s parents support her education and her choice not to be circumcised, not all the girls enjoy the same backing. Doris, 21, did not tell her parents she would be attending an ARP but only a diocese seminar.

“My older sisters are all circumcised and so far, I have refused to give in to the pressure to be cut,” she told IRIN/PlusNews. “My parents believe that they will get more goats [bride price] for me if I am circumcised; I think that’s why they are insisting on it.”

In the meantime, her parents have refused to pay for any further education or to support Doris in her quest to open a dress-making business.

The women who carry out the procedure are equally resistant to change - not only are they losing their position as valued and respected members of society, they are also losing income.

“These women get goats, local brew and cash in exchange for their services – one girl’s circumcision can bring as much as 5,000 shillings [about US$70], so you can understand their resistance,” M’eruaki said.

''My parents believe that they will get more goats for me if I am circumcised; I think that's why they are insisting on it''
The diocese has tried to start a dialogue with the circumcisers, said M’eruaki, convincing some to join local micro-finance schemes to find alternative income. However, the illegal nature of the practice means they are very hard to reach.

“Things happen slowly – when we started there was a lot of resistance, but today we find the very people opposing us come to ask us to hold more ARPs,” he added. “Slowly but surely, we will achieve the change that is needed.”

The diocese aims to start the ARPs in all its parishes in Meru, eventually letting each parish run its own every year; one parish is already running the programme independently of diocesan support.

More than half of all Meru women undergo FGM/C and while an impact assessment has yet to be done on the diocese’s ARP, separate alternative rites have registered some success. In 2005, the Family Planning Association of Kenya, through Ntanira na Kithomo, or “initiate me through education”, contributed to a 13 percent decline in the prevalence of FGM/C in Meru North District.

irinnews

MERU, 31 August 2009 (IRIN) - Faith Mukwanyaga, 48, a married mother-of-four in Meru, eastern Kenya, remembers the pain of the female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) she underwent as though it were yesterday. Today, Mukwanyaga is a facilitator for an alternative rite-of-passage organized by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Meru with the support of the Catholic Relief Services NGO, using her own experience as a warning to young girls about the dangers of the practice.

"Circumcision was something I looked forward to, knowing it would mean I had become a woman at last. I knew that women who were not circumcised never got married and never earned the respect of the community - I saw them discriminated against by their peers, and I didn't want to be like them.

"One day when I was nine years old, my family prepared a large amount of traditional brew and lots of women came to my house to cook a feast. I knew my circumcision was soon because my female relatives had been preparing me for the pain of the cut by pinching me in the days before. I and several other girls were then stripped naked and wrapped in blankets before being washed; the ladies sang for us as the circumciser cut the girls one by one - she used the same tool.

"The pain was indescribable - my whole body hurt, I almost fainted. I bled so much that I had to have special herbs put on the wound to stop the bleeding. I then spent several days alone at home healing. One lady was assigned to me to wash me and feed me and ensure I healed properly. During the healing period, I was taught other things; I was prepared for sex and marriage.

"When I got married, I found it difficult to enjoy sex; although I had a healthy sex drive, my husband found it very difficult to please me sexually, and I have always felt that something was missing from my sex life.

"Giving birth was terrible. Each time I gave birth, the scarring from my circumcision meant I had severe vaginal tearing and bleeding, and I had to stay in the hospital for about a week after birth, when other women went home the same day they delivered. Giving birth was like being circumcised all over again.

"I would never allow my girls to go through circumcision - the physical effects alone are a terrible and painful burden, but even the counselling I received after the cut [only] prepared me for marriage. My peers who were never circumcised all went on to complete school and have successful careers, but I had been told the most important thing in life is to be married and respected in the community; many of these women never married, but because of their careers they are respected.

"Today I tell young girls about my own experience so that they can aspire to greater things than just marriage; they should seek education, not the pain and suffering of female circumcision."

irinnews

DAKAR, 31 August 2009 (IRIN) - Across West Africa residents are crossing streets in canoes, carrying babies overhead in suitcases and navigating waist-high water to find shelter.

This rainy season as of 27 August at least 37 people are dead from flooding across West and parts of Central Africa, more than 20,000 displaced living in shelters or with relatives and some 3,600 families homeless, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) West and Central Africa office.

The figures change daily as heavy rains continue. Two children were reported drowned in Mauritania from 28 to 29 August flooding that affected some 3,500 families, according to local authorities.

“I don’t even know what to say,” a woman in the Coronthie neighbourhood of the Guinea capital Conakry told IRIN on 28 August, a day after the area flooded. “We are trapped by water.”

Mohamed Diaby, 19, of Coronthie said: “We put my brother’s nine-month-old twins in a suitcase to bring them to a safer area. That was something you saw all over the neighbourhood.”

He said people were in tears as sacks of rice lay saturated in some homes. A 50-kilogram sack of rice generally costs 160.000 Guinean francs (US$32) – about half of some civil servants’ monthly pay. Prices commonly rise during Ramadan, the Muslim month of dawn-to-dusk fasting, which much of the region’s population is observing.



Response

IFRC, which is working with governments and local volunteers to provide emergency aid to stricken families, said in a 28 August statement that the agency must urgently restock relief supplies to face needs in the region. Red Cross volunteers are distributing mosquito nets, tarpaulins, jerry cans, blankets, water purification tablets and soap.

The Federation on 10 August launched an appeal to help 25,000 people in 16 West African countries better prepare for floods.

Emergency relief is just one part of the answer to the annual flood damage, said Youcef Ait-Chellouche, disaster response coordinator for IFRC West and Central Africa. As with every year, many of the flooded areas are wetlands zones, where people settled during decades of drought, but where – with the resumption of normal rainfall in the 1990s – the ground is again saturated.

In the Pikine department of the Senegalese capital Dakar – once a swamp – as years pass, entire homes have been abandoned to the water. “We have not used these areas for several years,” said one woman, pointing to three rooms under about 10cm of water. In the same courtyard, another woman sopped up water from her bedroom, where furniture is propped up on bricks.

“In some areas flooding can be mitigated and the impact reduced significantly,” IFRC’s Ait-Chellouche said. “But in other urban areas…construction has taken place in known flood areas. This kind of urban extension has to be considered in a development framework.”

He said considerable investment by the government is needed to avoid flood disasters.



Action

Residents across the region are also demanding action from their governments. In recent days prime ministers, mayors and junta leaders have visited flood-affected areas and promised help.

“If they do not come through we will be in the streets again,” Diaby in Coronthie told IRIN. He was among at least 100 youths who on 27 August blocked traffic, burned tyres and marched to the presidential palace demanding the authorities act to prevent communities from being submerged. Junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara visited affected families in Coronthie hours after the demonstrations.

In Pikine traffic on a main road was blocked for hours on 30 August as youths burned tyres, protesting what they called negligence on the part of the government.

Senegalese Prime Minister Souleymane Ndéné Ndiaye visited some affected areas on 27 August, announcing that the government was activating its national emergency response plan, putting $4.3 million toward relief and mitigation efforts.

The Senegalese government has helped families relocate from flood zones as part of a programme launched after severe flooding in 2005.

In the Chad capital N’djamena, homes have crumbled in recent days as 100mm of rainfall fell within hours, leaving neighbourhoods inundated despite recently installed gutters and pump stations. “This exceptionally heavy rain allows us to draw lessons, to test what has already been put in place and see what is not working”, Prime Minister Youssouf Saleh Abbas declared on state media after a 28 August visit to affected areas.

Health experts point out that the danger to flooded communities is not over once the rains stop, as ensuing conditions can trigger malaria, cholera and diarrhoeal disease. “In flooding situations like this hygiene degrades rapidly,” Racine Kane, water and sanitation expert with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Senegal, told IRIN.

In Senegal UNICEF is supporting an awareness campaign including radio spots, home visits and other activities to educate about prevention of waterborne diseases, as well as supporting the Health Ministry in anti-cholera efforts, Kane said.

In Pikine a young girl shouted repeatedly to IRIN: “We do not sleep well at all.” Another girl nearby said: “Too many mosquitoes,” and pointed to tiny bumps all over her arm.

irinnews

30 Jul 2009

Thousands of South African workers are expected to continue striking for a fourth day on Thursday after failing to resolve a wage dispute with employers.

The strike follows days of violent protests by residents of impoverished townships who complain about the lack of healthcare, water and electricity.

South African President Jacob Zuma has warned against any unlawful action during the strikes, saying he would crack down on unrest in the country.

The 150,000-member South African Municipal Workers Union began an indefinite strike on July 27, accompanied by rallies in major cities.

The strikers want President Zuma to fulfill his promises to improve the living standards of the poor.

Economists believe that violent demonstration over poor public services and higher wages could damage Africa's biggest economy as it is suffering from its first recession since 1992, but the hard-pressed workers are steadfast in their demands.

presstv

September 1 2009

I HAD EXPECTED TO SEE COMMERCIAL banks moving quickly to lower interest rates in line with changing monetary policy conditions, and especially after Standard Chartered Bank, one of the largest in terms of assets, set the tone by lowering its lending rates.

The other big banks have stubbornly refused to respond to several recent decisions by the Central Bank of Kenya to lower the cost of lending to customers.

I will not go into the complicated jargon of explaining the significance of what happens when the Central Bank either lowers the cash ratio requirement, brings down the Central Bank Rate, or consistently pumps billions of shillings into the market through the so-called ‘‘reverse repos’’.

As a matter of fact, the Central Bank has been pumping billions into the market consistently since April 24, this year. The effect of all these decisions has been to reduce the cost of funds and make liquidity management easier for banks.

But instead of passing the benefit to businesses in lower interest rates and more credit, the big banks prefer to spur with the Central Bank governor, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, over whether what he has done so far is good enough for them to respond by lowering lending rates.

The standard refrain from chief executives of major banks is that the Central Bank should do more to lower further the cash ratio requirement.

The matter is beginning to polarise commercial banks. In a rare display of sycophancy, one middle-sized bank recently put out an advert in the newspapers in which it not only announced that it had lowered lending rates, but also declared support and loyalty to the governor — as if what was at stake was a popularity contest between Prof Ndung’u and the intransigent commercial banks.

Several issues arise. First, credit is the lifeblood of business. We will not start seeing the effects of the much-vaunted green shoots of economic recovery until the lending activity starts picking up in a significant way.

The big companies have the option of going to the market directly and borrowing through corporate bonds. The power utility company, KenGen, has just launched a Sh15 billion bond. Safaricom has also sent notice that it will shortly be coming to the market with a bond.

But how about small businesses which depend on commercial banks for working capital? Or companies like retailers or flower farmers whose fortunes change with seasons?

The fact of the matter is that many retailers will lose money for most of the year only to make bumper profits as we approach Christmas.

TODAY, FLOWER FARMING MAY NOT look very good, but fortunes will change when the predicted El Niño rains come, and when expenditure on irrigation falls drastically. How do they finance their operations in the meantime if credit is either too expensive or unavailable?

If commercial banks continue to shun such borrowers or cause them to borrow expensively, perfectly viable businesses may go down.

If credit dries up for a long time for medium-sized businesses, the economic slump we are witnessing right now will get worse.

At stake here is not just an academic argument between Prof Ndung’u and the bankers over pricing of credit. The argument is about how to stop the biting recessionary conditions — how to stem any further closure of businesses, how to deal with the problem of depressed profitability, and how to pre-empt more redundancies and job losses.

Why are the big banks reluctant to play ball? What we are dealing with here is a deeply ingrained mindset within our banking system.

We have a commercial bank system that traditionally suffers an acute case of risk aversion — concentrating on lending its money to profitable businesses.

Our banking system prefers to reproduce existing wealth, rather than supporting risk-takers and creators of new wealth. Most of the money the banks lend will be in the form of short-term overdrafts. Investment in government paper is also another preferred channel.

The system’s oligopolistic structure, with half a dozen commercial banks holding close to 60 per cent of the banking system’s total deposits, has impeded effective competition.

Today, half a dozen CEOs of banks can meet at a golf course and make decisions with grave ramifications for the whole economy.

The only person who came close to rattling these banks was former Gem MP Joe Donde.

nation.co.ke

September 1 2009

THE FACT THAT THE RECENTLY launched Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) has received fairly muted response is not really surprising. Most Kenyans feel so overwhelmed by problems that they just want to get through the hassles of the day.

Also, over the years, many Kenyans have become used to viewing government-sponsored proposals with jaundiced eyes since what is promised and actually delivered are often far apart.

But that said, it is important to accept that some considerable thought has gone into putting this proposal together, and so it should be examined on that basis.

As the global economic mayhem has hit country after country, many governments have embarked on a variety of economic stimulus packages. These are often tailored to revive or rescue certain areas such as the banking sector, consumer spending or house mortgage defaulting.

The ESP’s key dual objectives appear to be to boost economic and social activity. Kenya has been hit by the global recession in no small way, but this is only one of several economic hammer blows the economy has suffered in the past 18 months or so

Some of the other main ones are the post-election mayhem, a succession of deficient rains, rampant inflation, coupled with high food prices and rising hunger. So when looking at what is proposed, one should not only ask about how it is going to work but also how or whether it dovetails into existing emergency and other projects.

The ESP is strictly a short-term project with a six-month timeline largely aimed at giving the economy a vitamin injection as well as identifying key areas that are under-performing. Food self-sufficiency is one. Infrastructure is another.

HOWEVER, WHEN ONE LOOKS AT THE actual activities proposed, one sees that they are largely public policy projects to do with education, public health and gainful activity creation such as constructing Jua Kali sheds and fish ponds. The main bias is towards the rural areas where the majority lives.

There is no real problem with either the objectives or the proposed activities. Its rural bias thrust is also commendable. But for it to truly work, some key questions and issues have to be addressed.

First, do any of these proposals and activities duplicate what is already being done? It is fair to ask the question as to whether some or much of what is proposed is just a repackaging of existing projects.

A second question is, bearing in mind the very tight budgetary straightjacket the government is in, will the money actually get to these far-flung places? How much of it has been disbursed?

Third, and most crucial, who will oversee and implement the projects ? Overall the government gives fairly poor value for the money it spends.

nation.co.ke

September 1 2009

THE MAU FOREST PROBLEM is a multi-dimensional conundrum that provides important pointers about tensions in policy approaches and outcomes which often result in non-action.

First, Mau raises serious questions about the nature of property rights in Kenya. It is inarguable that presidential discretion in the control and allocation of public land is at the heart of the current problems in the Mau.

With both presidents Moi and Kibaki having issued titles to various groups and individuals in the Mau, the property rights of these title-holders comes into focus.

On the one hand, Rift Valley legislators have argued that the sanctity of title requires that the property rights of the Mau owners be honoured and any eviction preceded by adequate compensation and relocation to land of equal value.

THE CONTENTION OF MAASAI LEGISLATORS and other pro-eviction supporters on the other hand, is that the titles issued are dubious and no compensation should accrue to title-holders, particularly the beneficiaries of large acreage. Forgotten in this contest of the titans is the aboriginal claim of the Ogiek.

These irreconcilable positions suggest the need for policy to remove the trusteeship of public land from Executive control. Indeed, such has been the proposition of the Draft National Land Policy which vests public land in the yet-to-be-established National Land Commission.

Second, the Mau has become the metaphor for indiscriminate environmental destruction that has prejudiced various sectors of the national economy, including agriculture, energy and tourism, among others.

The Prime Minister’s effort to reclaim the Mau is largely focused on reasserting State control over an environmental resource of immense strategic importance to the entire country and the region. The policy actors in the environment sector, however, are a multitude, and each appears to pull in a different direction for political mileage, creating serious coordination problems.

The notices issued by the Forestry Department which were later quashed by the Prime Minister epitomise this coordination problem. It could also suggest the existence of an asymmetrical information problem, with some of the policy organs having more information than others, leading to disparate decisions.

Third, the Mau issue has further emphasised the relationship between State power and issues of identity, ethnicity and cultural hegemony. Clearly, the State has appeared to pander in the wake of unyielding pressure from Kalenjin MPs.

What this demonstrates is that small homogeneous groups with strong communities of interest are more effective suppliers of political pressure than larger groups whose interests are more diffuse.

For instance, 23 MPs gathered in Eldoret last week could afford to issue ultimatums to the State – in a language laden with negative innuendo – due to the high level of unanimity they exhibited.

nation.co.ke

September 1 2009
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (L) and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma (R) arrive at the Harare Agricultural Show in Zimbabwe capital Harare, August 28, 2009. Zimbabwe teachers refused to return to class when the new school term began on Tuesday as the inclusive government insisted that it was broke to improve on their salaries.

Zimbabwe teachers refused to return to class when the new school term began on Tuesday as the inclusive government insisted that it was broke to improve on their salaries.

Unions representing about 90,000 primary and secondary school teachers said their members would not resume work until government gives them salary increments of US$100 and equivalent amount in allowances.

In July, the seven month old government formed between President Robert Mugabe and his archrivals led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai started paying civil servants salaries of at least US$155 in an effort to revive the collapsed health and education sectors.

The crisis in Zimbabwe’s state run-schools is threatening gains made so far by the fragile coalition, which is still struggling to get meaningful outside assistance.

Educationists also fear it would pose a danger to the country’s status as one of the most literate societies on the continent.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti said Zimbabwe’s economy, which has been in reverse gear since 1997 did not have capacity to accommodate another increment for civil servants.

Mr Biti said in July the government recorded its highest revenue inflows this year of about US$90 million and 65 percent of this was gobbled by salaries.

“Our main priority is to pay the civil servants and from the time we announced salaries for the civil servants, about 70 percent or two thirds of the budget has gone to pay our workers,” he said.

“We paid around US$52 million for civil servants’ salaries and the rest has to go to hospitals for drugs, the various embassies across the world, food and inputs for agricultural activities.

“Unless there is a dramatic improvement in the economy and revenue improves by 300 percent, we have no fiscal space for a salary increment at the moment.”

Last year, Zimbabwean schools and hospitals remained claimed closed for long periods due to unending strikes.

nation.co.ke

August 31 2009
Imported sugar being off-loaded at the port of Mombasa. Kenya will allow in duty free sugar to ease the current shortage.

The government will allow importation of duty-free sugar in a few days to ease a local shortage and to curb the rising domestic prices.

Agriculture minister William Ruto said on Monday that Kenya plans to let business people to buy the commodity from overseas without paying a 100 per cent duty.

“We have already presented our position to Treasury and the Minister of Finance has assured us he is discussing it with the East African Community so that we are able to import duty-free sugar,” Mr Ruto told reporters in Nairobi on Monday.

He termed the shortage and high price of the household item as a crisis, which has to be resolved urgently. A kilogramme of sugar retailing at Sh70 before July has now shot up to between Sh120 and Sh150 depending on the outlet.

Outside Comesa

In a swift reaction, Mumias Sugar Company, which controls 60 per cent of the local market, said the product coming from outside Comesa trading bloc should not be allowed in duty-free.

Under Comesa, Kenya is allowed to import 260,000 tonnes duty-free sugar and any amount above this attracts 70 per cent duty. Sugar coming outside the region is charged 100 per cent.

“As taxpayers, we request the Kenya Revenue Authority to ensure a fair playing ground for all sugar producers and sellers,” said Mumias Sugar managing director Evans Kidero.

“If any sugar comes from non-Comesa countries it should attract full duties as required under East African Community.”

Sugar Campaign for Change lobby chairman Peter Kegode separately told the Nation that although the minister’s move was laudable, it could be hijacked by what he called sugar cartels.

“The key challenge is how the sugar will be distributed so that consumers get it at a lower price,” he said. “But if we use the same brokers and cartels who have caused this shortage, then prices will go further up.”

Second window
This is a second window to allow sugar importers to bring in duty-free sugar besides the quota allowed by Comesa.

Kenya has since 2000 been enjoying a safeguard on sugar imports aimed at creating a conducive environment for the industry to be competitive. This safeguard allows the country to limit duty-free sugar imports annually.

Mr Ruto said the product imported under the duty-free safeguard had failed to meet local demand, further worsened by closure of local sugar millers for annual maintenance.

Mr Kegode said the government might have to subsidise sugar importers if they are to bring in sufficient amounts. “They have to import huge quantities to be able to stabilise prices otherwise we would be benefiting the cartels,” he said.

While opening a four-day All Africa Horticulture Congress at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Mr Ruto said he will soon gazette rules making it mandatory for farm owners to put 10 per cent of their land under trees, such as mangoes, bananas, oranges and other indigenous types.

“It is a way of managing climate change,” he told delegates.

nation.co.ke

September 1 2009

Nearly 700 soldiers from the South African defence force have been sent letters of dismissal following last week’s strike action.

A spokesman for the South African National Defence Union (Sandu) said members who had received letters of dismissal had 10 days to defend their actions, even as the government denounced the strike.

Up to 3,000 military personnel clashed with the police on the streets of Pretoria during demonstrations over pay and working conditions.

The action was condemned by both the Defence minister and the secretary-general of the ruling party, the ANC.

Sent shockwaves

The soldiers’ union says the sackings are illegal and will inflame tensions.

The image of demonstrating soldiers clashing with the police in the heart of South Africa’s administrative capital sent shockwaves throughout the country, said BBC’s Karen Allen in Johannesburg.

The troops left their barracks and marched to Union Buildings on August 26, insisting on seeing President Jacob Zuma to seek 30 per cent more pay.

Police used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the marchers, who reportedly became unruly and attacked police cars.
Now 697 soldiers have been sent letters of dismissal from the Defence department, for what the government claims was an illegal protest.

Defence minister Lindiwe Sisulu has condemned their protests as “disgraceful” and a threat to national security.

The union is seeking an urgent injunction in the high court to stop soldiers from losing their jobs.

nation.co.ke

September 1 2009
President Mwai Kibaki (right) talks to the head of civil service and secretary to the cabinet Francis Muthaura at a past event. Muthaura formally resumed duty on Tuesday after undergoing surgery in South Africa. PHOTO/ FILE

Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura has resumed duty after a two-month absence due to sickness.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said in a statement that Mr Muthaura, who is also secretary to the Cabinet, reported to his Harambee House office on Tuesday.

“Mr Francis Muthaura resumed his full duties today (Tuesday). He worked from his office in Harambee House,” read the statement.

Mr Muthaura was taken ill at his residence in late June and admitted to the Nairobi Hospital for three days before he was flown to South Africa for specialist treatment.

He was treated at Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg for a heart condition, a problem characterised by narrowed arteries.

Treatment for such a problem involves repairing blood vessels in and around the heart which may have narrowed or got blocked due to a combination of factors, among them age and lifestyle.

Mr Muthaura has been recuperating at his in Ongata Rongai home since his return from South Africa on July 25.

He spent the better part of Tuesday in meetings with senior officials. One such meeting was with National Security and Provincial Administration permanent secretary Francis Kimemia, who had been acting in his position.

A senior official at the Cabinet office, Mr Sam Mwale, acted as secretary during some Cabinet meetings.

Intense speculation

He was secretary in the crucial meeting that resolved that the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission will preside over post-election violence matters instead of a special tribunal.

Mr Muthaura is expected to resume his duties as secretary to the Cabinet at this week’s meeting.

nation.co.ke

September 1 2009
James Mwamu Vice Chairman of the Law Society of Kenya (left) with Council Member Evans Monari and Lillian Omondi during a press conference at LSK offices Nairobi on Tuesday. The society condemned the re-appointment of Justice Aaron Ringera and his two Deputy Directors at the helm of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission. PHOTO/ William Oeri

The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission Advisory Board has challenged President Kibaki’s reappointment of Justice Aaron Ringera as the director of the anti-graft agency, and vowed to go ahead with its own meeting scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the position.

The board accused the President of making an illegal appointment, as outrage spread over the manner in which the Head of State had ignored the laws and public opinion to renew the term of an anti-graft chief widely seen to have failed in his duties.

Without approval

In Parliament, angry MPs threatened to paralyse House Business in protest against Mr Justice Ringera’s reappointment to a second five-year term without their approval.

One of the main partners in the governing coalition, Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s ODM also waded into the controversy, rejecting the reappointments of Mr Justice Ringera and his two assistants, Ms Fatuma Sichale and Dr Smokin Wanjala.

However, the KACC came to the defence of their embattled boss, insisting his re-appointment was within the law.

The commission also defended its performance, saying it was “impressive”.

Spokesman Nicholas Simani said in a statement that the process of appointing the director and his assistants was different from that of re-appointing the officers, adding more confusion to the saga.

In the House, MPs rejected all government business, including a Motion of Adjournment to grant them a two-month break. They also rejected a motion to reduce the period to debate a Bill that gives the government the authority to spend money allocated in the Budget, and refused to extend the sitting from the normal 6.30pm to complete business on the Order Paper ahead of the adjournment.

Outside the House, groups such as the Law Society of Kenya, Transparency International, Council of Imams and Preachers, the African Centre for Open Governance and the Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida) expressed displeasure with Mr Justice Ringera’s reappointment and urged President Kibaki to reverse his decision.

They termed the Head of State’s move illegal, contemptuous and a sign of impunity.

The KACC Advisory Board complained that it had not been consulted by the President before he made the announcement.

nation.co.ke

01 Sep 2009
A powerful commander in western Somalia has stepped down from his governmental post, saying Ethiopia has renewed military involvement in his country.

Sheikh Abdirahman Ibrahim Ma'ow, the de facto governor of Hiraan province and an influential member of the ruling Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), announced on Monday that he would no longer back the transitional federal government (TFG).

"As of today, we clearly state that we are withdrawing our backing and can no longer be considered pro-government," Sheikh Ma'ow told reporters at a press conference in the town of Beledweyn, the provincial capital of the Hiran region.

The top commander called the TFG "weak", adding that it was incapable of implementing "Shari'ah law" across the war-torn Horn of Africa country.

Sheikh Ma'ow made no secret of his irritation over the deployment of Ethiopian troop in Somalia.

"I am not happy with the intervention of foreign forces, particularly Ethiopian forces in Somalia," he said.

Hundreds of Ethiopian forces poured into Beledweyn over the weekend, with more than 20 military trucks, driving west towards the Somalia-Ethiopia international border, Radio Garowe reported.

The deployment follows a joint military effort by pro-government forces and Ethiopian troops to retake southwestern Somalia form al-Shabaab militants.

According to Somali officials, the Ethiopian soldiers have now retreated from bases around Beletwein. However, unconfirmed reports say some Ethiopian army units have not yet withdrawn.

Addis Ababa has repeatedly rerjected the presence of its forces on Somali soil.

presstv

30 Aug 2009
The Ukrainian crew of a cargo ship hijacked by pirates off Somalia have reportedly pleaded for speedy negotiations for their release after three months in captivity.

The urgent call on Sunday also sought help to ensure the immediate evacuation of a female hostage who is ill. The nature of the illness has not been made public.

"We are exhausted and desperate," the Ukrainian captain of the MV Ariana, Captain Voronov, told AFP by phone from the ship.

In a similar phone call to a Ukrainian doctor in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, the sick female crewmember asked for medical help.

The pirates hijacked the ship and its 24 crew on May 2 north of Madagascar en route to the Middle East, according to an environmental watchdog. The ship was carrying 10,000 tones of soya beans.

The bandits, who are keeping the ship and the hostages against a ransom, have refused to free the woman separately.

So far this year, 114 merchant ships crossing the crucial but dangerous trade route have come under attack, 29 of which were successful. The pirates continue to defy an international naval anti-piracy presence in the region.

presstv