Rwanda's Savior Has Become a Monster
· Ruth Wedgwood
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Ruth Wedgwood
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· Rwanda's Savior Has Become a Monster
· August 5, 2010 | 12:00 am
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If you’re a betting person, here’s a safe bet: On August 9, the balloting in the east African state of Rwanda will give world-famous military leader Paul Kagame yet another seven-year term as president. The astonishing margin of victory will impress even the modern grand viziers of Central Asia. The outcome is quite easy to predict, when no other candidates are allowed to campaign.
Given this and much else besides, it’s time Washington began to create some distance from a man who has earned his reputation as a de facto despot who terrorizes critics and does not shrink from political violence.
Kagame revels in his fame as the strategist who led a Tutsi invasion force from Uganda in 1994, pushing back the Hutu army and Hutu militia, though not before they perpetrated a shocking genocidal slaughter of hundreds of thousands of the country’s Tutsi minority, as well as moderate Hutu. Washington, reeling from Somalia and fearing another Black Hawk Down, refused to intervene. Madeline Albright was directed to inform the U.N. Security Council that, no, we would not reconstitute the U.N. peacekeeping force in Rwanda, and, further, the United States would veto any resolution that authorized other countries to do so. It was the season of peacekeeping misadventures, and the Clinton White House decided, as one former National Security Council official recalls, that it could not afford to intervene both in Haiti and Rwanda. Presidential Decision Directive 25, drafted by Richard Clarke as a white paper for peacekeeping, morphed into an excuse to “just say no.”
For the last 15 years, Kagame has at every turn invoked these memories to shoehorn the West into a nearly reflexive support for his government. Even Bill Clinton came back to apologize. Kagame has become a fixture at the United Nations in New York, regaling delegations in the Indonesian Lounge, extolling his vision of benevolent autocracy, claiming to admire Singapore as his model for economic growth and insisting that he and only he can keep Rwanda’s torn society knitted together.
In truth, the Rwandan leader presides over nothing more than hollow democracy. He has attacked and exiled any and all viable political opponents. The local press, as well as international journalists, have been bludgeoned and harassed. The regime uses the Stalinist crime of “divisionism” as a pretext to silence and prosecute any critic who dares question its policies or the state sanctioned version of the 1994 conflict.
Unsurprisingly, the intimidation extends to international institutions. President Clinton supported the effort to create an international war crimes tribunal to mete out justice for perpetrators and victims alike. The U.N. court was tasked to investigate the behavior of both sides in the 1994 conflict, operating from a neutral perch in Tanzania. Prosecutors decided first to take on the crimes of the prior Hutu government and militia, since the scale of its violence was larger and the cooperation of Kigali was necessary to obtain witnesses from Rwanda. A decade later, with numerous convictions under its belt and dozens of Hutu defendants still on trial, the U.N. tribunal turned to smaller-scale allegations against the Tutsi invasion force, Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front—including alleged massacres of civilians in the northeast and northwest of the country, as well as attacks on mostly Hutu refugee camps.
At this point, the Bush Administration decided, unwisely, to pull the plug—repudiating the Hague prosecutor who planned to bring the cases, and insisting that the RPF cases could be entrusted to Kagame’s national courts as part of a “completion strategy.” Needless to say, that was the last of the investigations.
This was unfortunate, and not just for history’s sake. The West’s failure to address Tutsi violations of the laws of war has allowed Kagame to conclude, justifiably, that he can do nearly anything with impunity. He certainly hasn’t been intimidated by the observation of the U.N. Human Rights Committee in May 2009 that it was “concerned at the large number of persons, including women and children, reported to have been killed from 1994 onwards in the course of operations by the Rwanda Patriotic Army, and at the limited number of cases reported to have resulted in prosecution and punishment by the Rwandan courts.”
Nor has there been any penalty for Kagame's destructive expedition into the Eastern Congo. The cross-border intervention gave the regime access to minerals ripe for extraction and valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Millions of civilians have been killed in the Eastern Congo conflict, and while Kagame was not the only culprit, his troops hardly quelled the violence.
At the same time, Kagame’s domestic critics have met with unfortunate fates. An outspoken political rival was recently shot and wounded in South Africa. A prominent newspaper editor was gunned down at the end of June, and the deputy president of the Democratic Green party was decapitated in July. Public meetings of rival parties have been banned. Kagame felt audacious enough to jail and threaten a 10-20 year sentence against an American lawyer and law professor–-who hails from former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger’s alma mater in Minnesota—when he went to Rwanda to consult with one of Kagame’s political rivals.
Other smash-mouth ironies abound in this muzzled state. In 2007, President Kagame offered to contribute 3000 Rwandan troops to the peacekeeping force in Darfur, but only if his former chief of military intelligence, Emmanuel Karenzi Karake, was brought on as deputy U.N. force commander for the entire mission. Though Karake’s earlier career was dogged by unresolved allegations of atrocities against civilians in the northwest and northeast regions of Rwanda, the State Department’s Africa desk reportedly vouched for Karake and he got his appointment. In the middle of the mission, a Spanish court indicted Karake for war crimes, and still, he was reappointed to a second term. (Karake has now apparently broken with Kagame; he was arrested in April on "serious charges of immoral conduct.")
Even Rwanda’s celebrated “gacaca” process—sending accused genocidaires to be tried and sentenced in local settings, rather than molder without trial in inconceivably overcrowded prisons—has not lived up to its reputation. The U.N. Human Rights Committee recently noted the “lack of legal training for judges and reports of corruption” in the Gacaca courts—along with impairment of “the rights of defence” even “in cases where sentences of up to 30 years’ imprisonment may be handed down.”
In promoting humanitarian and democratic ends abroad, the Obama administration initially got off to a slow start. The ideals of Eleanor Roosevelt took a back seat to the desire to be “not Bush.”
But the record has lately improved. With this new moral realism, the Obama team ought to take a close and critical look at its erstwhile friend in Africa. He is not what he seems.
Ruth Wedgwood is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor of international law at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
MZALENDO WA KWELI !
THOTHI: [www.eThinkTankTz.org] Mzalendo wa kweli
Mtanzania yeyote Mzalendo wa kweli, mwenye akili timamu, asiye na mtindio wa ubongo, wala mtumwa wa hila chafu, wala udumavu wa kiakili, tena asiye na utando wa buibui wala tongotongo za ufisadi machoni, wala asiye mzembe wa kufikiri, anaalikwa asome kwa uangalifu na azingatie makala hii na awashirikishe ndugu, jamaa na marafiki zake popote pale walipo..
Dr Slaa yes we can! Huyu ni mtanzania wa pili baada ya Nyerere kuchukia ufisadi kwa vitendo. Ni mtanzania wa pili kuchukia umaskini wa watanzania kwa vitendo. Ni Dr. Slaa aliyesimama na kutaja majina ya wala rushwa na mafisadi. Akataka wale wanaopinga wampeleke mahakamani. Hakuna aliyethubutu kujitokeza kumpeleka mahakamani.
Ni Dr. Slaa aliyesimama bungeni kuomba posho za wabunge kupungzwa kuzielekeza zaidi kwa watanzania maskini. Ni Dr Slaa aliyesimama bila woga kunyosha vidole kwa matumizi mabaya ya ofisi za umma. Ni Dr Slaa amekuwa mtanzania baada ya Nyerere kutoa hoja za nguvu zinazomlenga kumkomboa mtanzania maskini. Maisha bora kwa kila mtanzania yako wapi? Ajira milioni moja ziko wapi? Hebu mwenye mbavu za kujibu swali hili ajibu bila unafiki!
Ni Dr Slaa anayeweza kudhibiti matumizi mabaya ya ofisi za umma. Ni Dr Slaa anayeweza kuwapa elimu ya bure watoto wetu pale mlimani. Achana na longolongo za CCM kuwatoza ushuru watoto. Waulizeni majukwaani wao Nyerere aliwatoza ada? Kama si kutaka watanzania waendelee kuwa mambumbumbu ni nini? kama si kutaka watanzania tuendeleee kuwa watumwa ni nini?
Ni Dr. Slaa anayeongelea treni ya umeme kwenda Kigoma, Dodoma, Tabora, na Mwanza. Waulize mpango wao ccm kama si kuwapa wahindi wanaoleta mabehewa ambayo mababu zetu walitumia wakati wa ukoloni. Sasa wahindi wanabaki kutudanganya na bajaji wakati vyuma chakavu vya reli sasa vinatumika kujenga vyoo. Hawa hawatutakii mema. Hawana tofauti na akina Carl Peters.
Ni Dr Slaa anayeongelea mfumko wa bei -nani hajajua dola leo hii ni sawa na tsh 1500. Uchumi unadidimia kwa kasi. Ahadi nyingine za uongo lukuki zinatolewa tena, wakati zile tulizoahidiwa mwaka 2005, hata moja haijatekelezwa. Watanzania walio wengi na hasa wa vijijini, wamelala usingizi. Wanafumbuliwa macho, lakini wamesinzia bado! Wanatabasamu, wanachekelea na kuridhika na vitisheti vya kijani na vikofia za njano. Wamekwishazoea shida kiasi kwamba wanadhani ni sehemu ya maisha yao. Ee mwenyezi Mungu, tunusuru na hili balaa..
Ni Dr.Slaa anaweza kuzuia wizi wa matrilion ya pesa kutoka migodi yetu ya Buzwagi, Geita, Bulyankulu, Buhemba, Nyamongo, Tulawaka, Nzega na Tanzanite. CCM wameshindwa kwa sababu ni washirka wakubwa na wameruhusu wizi huo. Ni Dr Slaa anaeweza kuwalipa wafanyakazi zaidi ya shilingi 350.000 achana na CCM ambayo imeshindwa kusimamia maliasili ambazo zingeliwapa wafanyakazi kima cha chini kinachokidhi mahitaji yao.
Ni Dr.Slaa anayeweza kusimamia mashirika ya umma kuleta tija achana na CCM wanaofyonza michango yetu kule, kwani haya mashirika yameshindwa nini kuwajengea nyumba wanachama wake? Mbona kwingine yameweza? Ni Dr.Slaa anayeweza kuongoza nchi bila woga, kwa utawala wa kweli wa sheria bila kuwaonea watu wala bila kulipiza visasi.
Ni Dr. Slaa ambaye amepanga kubadili katiba ili Rais afuate matakwa ya walio mwajiri ambao ni wananchi. Waulize CCM hata kama mtu kaiba anapewa mda arudishe pesa. Hivi inaingia akilini kweli? Utawala wa sheria uko wapi? Naomba niwape heko ITV kwa kuturejeshe kwenye hotuba za mwalimu. Katika hotuba yake moja alisema waziri mmoja kule uingereza aliandikwa kidogo tu gazetini juu ya kashfa, yule waziri alijiuzulu na waziri mkuu hata hakumjibu bali aliteua mtu mwingine.
CCM hawawezi hayo? Eti wanataka ushahidi. Nani kawambia rushwa tule wawili harafu tutoe vielelezo? Tunaiona rushwa kwa matokeo yake. Matengenezo ya barabara ya bilion 200, baada ya siku mbili imeharibika. Kwanini usimfukuze waziri na katibu wake wa wizara kwanza? CCM hawawezi! eti wanataka vielelezo!
Ni Dr Slaa anayeweza kufanya hayo. Si tumeona mnazi mmoja alivyowataja mafisadi wote! hapo akiwa ni mbunge tu! Je akiwa rais si watakimbia nchi? Jamani nawambia tumpe miaka mitano tu awakurupushe muone moto utakavyowaka.. Tutapata dawa, tutapata shule za bure, tutapata madawati. Jamani hivi kweli karne ya leo watoto wanasoma wamekaa chini? we must be serious! Hivi kweli dunia ya leo watu wanavuliwa nguo njiani kwenda Mwanza, Shinyanaga, Tabora, Kigoma, Mbeya, Lindi na Mtwara kwa sababu ya usafiri wa malori?
Nani asiye jua madaktari wetu wengi bingwa wapo botswana kwa sababu ya maisha duni Tanzania na hivi kwenda kutafuta maisha bora wakati hapa kwetu wananchi maskini wanakufa bila madawa? Nani asiyejua matatizo ya umeme, maji, makazi, maradhi, yanavyotutesa? Nani asiyejua wakulima wetu wasivyokuwa na masoko ya mazao yao? Nani asiejua asilimia 85 ya watanzania wanatumia vibatari au makoroboi kama mwanga? nani asiejua tunavyonyonywa na hawa wakoloni waliokuja kuchukua kila kitu??
Jamani wafanyakazi, wakulima, na wanafunzi, kwa nini mnalala usingizi? Kwa nini mnapiga miayo ya njaa wakati maghala yetu yamejaa nafaka? Ni akili gani hii? Nchi yetu inazo raslimali za kututosha, lakini wanaozifaidi ni vibaka wachache. Mtalala hadi lini?
Ni Dr Slaa mzalendo wa kweli, na sio kwa ajili ya sifa, anaweza kutuvusha tulipo. Nchi hii ni maskini na umaskini wenyewe ni wa kujitakia. Tanzania ni tajiri tuna kila kitu - mito, maziwa, national parks, migodi, mazao ya misitu, na kila aina ya utajiri. Lakini tuko maskini wa kutupwa! Naona huruma na umaskini wa kifikra wa watanzania.
Hivi kuna mtu hajui mapolisi wanalala kwenye vibanda vya mabati? Hivi kuna ambao hawajui mapolisi watendaji wanalipwa laki moja? Wamekosa nini hawa? Ni ajabu! pamoja na laki yao moja utakuta bado wanatumika kuwanyanyasa watetezi wao. Hata maaskari amkeni hiyo laki moja yenu haina tija hadi mrubuniwe kuwanyanyasa wapinzani ambao kimsingi wanawatetea ninyi! Hivi maaskari mnayo macho ya kuona? Jamani tuache woga inawezekana! Mbona Kenya wameweza? Mbona malawi wameweza?Mbona zimbabwe wameweza? Mbona Ghana wameweza? Kufanya mabadiliko sahihi, inawezakana na nafasi ni hii tuitumie.
Tumtume Dr Slaa atukurupushie wezi wote na atuwekee katiba sawa. Huo ndio msingi wa yote. Ni Dr. Slaa asiyeogopa kuwepo na mgombea binafsi. CCM hili hawaliwezi. Wamelipinga hadi mahakamani. Wanataka wao tu ndio waendelee kututawala na kutunyonya.
Jamani 2010 hakuna kudanganyika! enough is enough. Acheni kudanganyika. Wakati ndio huu. Watanzania msipoamua sasa, mtamlaumu nani tena? Nawatamani watu wa kule Mara -hakuna kura inaibiwa. Zote zinasimamiwa. Tukibadilika inawezekana, tena ni rahisi. Peleke ujumbe huu kwa marafiki, ndugu, jamaa, babu na bibi yako kule kijiji ambako wanadhani bado Nyerere ndiye rais wa nchi hii. Peleka ujumbe huu haraka kwa simu kama ipo, au kwa njia ya posta, mradi tu wale jamaa waliochoka kuishi wasiikwapue barua wakidhani ni hela..
Mtanzania yeyote Mzalendo wa kweli, mwenye akili timamu, asiye na mtindio wa ubongo, wala mtumwa wa hila chafu, wala udumavu wa kiakili, tena asiye na utando wa buibui wala tongotongo za ufisadi machoni, wala asiye mzembe wa kufikiri, anaalikwa asome kwa uangalifu na azingatie makala hii na awashirikishe ndugu, jamaa na marafiki zake popote pale walipo..
Dr Slaa yes we can! Huyu ni mtanzania wa pili baada ya Nyerere kuchukia ufisadi kwa vitendo. Ni mtanzania wa pili kuchukia umaskini wa watanzania kwa vitendo. Ni Dr. Slaa aliyesimama na kutaja majina ya wala rushwa na mafisadi. Akataka wale wanaopinga wampeleke mahakamani. Hakuna aliyethubutu kujitokeza kumpeleka mahakamani.
Ni Dr. Slaa aliyesimama bungeni kuomba posho za wabunge kupungzwa kuzielekeza zaidi kwa watanzania maskini. Ni Dr Slaa aliyesimama bila woga kunyosha vidole kwa matumizi mabaya ya ofisi za umma. Ni Dr Slaa amekuwa mtanzania baada ya Nyerere kutoa hoja za nguvu zinazomlenga kumkomboa mtanzania maskini. Maisha bora kwa kila mtanzania yako wapi? Ajira milioni moja ziko wapi? Hebu mwenye mbavu za kujibu swali hili ajibu bila unafiki!
Ni Dr Slaa anayeweza kudhibiti matumizi mabaya ya ofisi za umma. Ni Dr Slaa anayeweza kuwapa elimu ya bure watoto wetu pale mlimani. Achana na longolongo za CCM kuwatoza ushuru watoto. Waulizeni majukwaani wao Nyerere aliwatoza ada? Kama si kutaka watanzania waendelee kuwa mambumbumbu ni nini? kama si kutaka watanzania tuendeleee kuwa watumwa ni nini?
Ni Dr. Slaa anayeongelea treni ya umeme kwenda Kigoma, Dodoma, Tabora, na Mwanza. Waulize mpango wao ccm kama si kuwapa wahindi wanaoleta mabehewa ambayo mababu zetu walitumia wakati wa ukoloni. Sasa wahindi wanabaki kutudanganya na bajaji wakati vyuma chakavu vya reli sasa vinatumika kujenga vyoo. Hawa hawatutakii mema. Hawana tofauti na akina Carl Peters.
Ni Dr Slaa anayeongelea mfumko wa bei -nani hajajua dola leo hii ni sawa na tsh 1500. Uchumi unadidimia kwa kasi. Ahadi nyingine za uongo lukuki zinatolewa tena, wakati zile tulizoahidiwa mwaka 2005, hata moja haijatekelezwa. Watanzania walio wengi na hasa wa vijijini, wamelala usingizi. Wanafumbuliwa macho, lakini wamesinzia bado! Wanatabasamu, wanachekelea na kuridhika na vitisheti vya kijani na vikofia za njano. Wamekwishazoea shida kiasi kwamba wanadhani ni sehemu ya maisha yao. Ee mwenyezi Mungu, tunusuru na hili balaa..
Ni Dr.Slaa anaweza kuzuia wizi wa matrilion ya pesa kutoka migodi yetu ya Buzwagi, Geita, Bulyankulu, Buhemba, Nyamongo, Tulawaka, Nzega na Tanzanite. CCM wameshindwa kwa sababu ni washirka wakubwa na wameruhusu wizi huo. Ni Dr Slaa anaeweza kuwalipa wafanyakazi zaidi ya shilingi 350.000 achana na CCM ambayo imeshindwa kusimamia maliasili ambazo zingeliwapa wafanyakazi kima cha chini kinachokidhi mahitaji yao.
Ni Dr.Slaa anayeweza kusimamia mashirika ya umma kuleta tija achana na CCM wanaofyonza michango yetu kule, kwani haya mashirika yameshindwa nini kuwajengea nyumba wanachama wake? Mbona kwingine yameweza? Ni Dr.Slaa anayeweza kuongoza nchi bila woga, kwa utawala wa kweli wa sheria bila kuwaonea watu wala bila kulipiza visasi.
Ni Dr. Slaa ambaye amepanga kubadili katiba ili Rais afuate matakwa ya walio mwajiri ambao ni wananchi. Waulize CCM hata kama mtu kaiba anapewa mda arudishe pesa. Hivi inaingia akilini kweli? Utawala wa sheria uko wapi? Naomba niwape heko ITV kwa kuturejeshe kwenye hotuba za mwalimu. Katika hotuba yake moja alisema waziri mmoja kule uingereza aliandikwa kidogo tu gazetini juu ya kashfa, yule waziri alijiuzulu na waziri mkuu hata hakumjibu bali aliteua mtu mwingine.
CCM hawawezi hayo? Eti wanataka ushahidi. Nani kawambia rushwa tule wawili harafu tutoe vielelezo? Tunaiona rushwa kwa matokeo yake. Matengenezo ya barabara ya bilion 200, baada ya siku mbili imeharibika. Kwanini usimfukuze waziri na katibu wake wa wizara kwanza? CCM hawawezi! eti wanataka vielelezo!
Ni Dr Slaa anayeweza kufanya hayo. Si tumeona mnazi mmoja alivyowataja mafisadi wote! hapo akiwa ni mbunge tu! Je akiwa rais si watakimbia nchi? Jamani nawambia tumpe miaka mitano tu awakurupushe muone moto utakavyowaka.. Tutapata dawa, tutapata shule za bure, tutapata madawati. Jamani hivi kweli karne ya leo watoto wanasoma wamekaa chini? we must be serious! Hivi kweli dunia ya leo watu wanavuliwa nguo njiani kwenda Mwanza, Shinyanaga, Tabora, Kigoma, Mbeya, Lindi na Mtwara kwa sababu ya usafiri wa malori?
Nani asiye jua madaktari wetu wengi bingwa wapo botswana kwa sababu ya maisha duni Tanzania na hivi kwenda kutafuta maisha bora wakati hapa kwetu wananchi maskini wanakufa bila madawa? Nani asiyejua matatizo ya umeme, maji, makazi, maradhi, yanavyotutesa? Nani asiyejua wakulima wetu wasivyokuwa na masoko ya mazao yao? Nani asiejua asilimia 85 ya watanzania wanatumia vibatari au makoroboi kama mwanga? nani asiejua tunavyonyonywa na hawa wakoloni waliokuja kuchukua kila kitu??
Jamani wafanyakazi, wakulima, na wanafunzi, kwa nini mnalala usingizi? Kwa nini mnapiga miayo ya njaa wakati maghala yetu yamejaa nafaka? Ni akili gani hii? Nchi yetu inazo raslimali za kututosha, lakini wanaozifaidi ni vibaka wachache. Mtalala hadi lini?
Ni Dr Slaa mzalendo wa kweli, na sio kwa ajili ya sifa, anaweza kutuvusha tulipo. Nchi hii ni maskini na umaskini wenyewe ni wa kujitakia. Tanzania ni tajiri tuna kila kitu - mito, maziwa, national parks, migodi, mazao ya misitu, na kila aina ya utajiri. Lakini tuko maskini wa kutupwa! Naona huruma na umaskini wa kifikra wa watanzania.
Hivi kuna mtu hajui mapolisi wanalala kwenye vibanda vya mabati? Hivi kuna ambao hawajui mapolisi watendaji wanalipwa laki moja? Wamekosa nini hawa? Ni ajabu! pamoja na laki yao moja utakuta bado wanatumika kuwanyanyasa watetezi wao. Hata maaskari amkeni hiyo laki moja yenu haina tija hadi mrubuniwe kuwanyanyasa wapinzani ambao kimsingi wanawatetea ninyi! Hivi maaskari mnayo macho ya kuona? Jamani tuache woga inawezekana! Mbona Kenya wameweza? Mbona malawi wameweza?Mbona zimbabwe wameweza? Mbona Ghana wameweza? Kufanya mabadiliko sahihi, inawezakana na nafasi ni hii tuitumie.
Tumtume Dr Slaa atukurupushie wezi wote na atuwekee katiba sawa. Huo ndio msingi wa yote. Ni Dr. Slaa asiyeogopa kuwepo na mgombea binafsi. CCM hili hawaliwezi. Wamelipinga hadi mahakamani. Wanataka wao tu ndio waendelee kututawala na kutunyonya.
Jamani 2010 hakuna kudanganyika! enough is enough. Acheni kudanganyika. Wakati ndio huu. Watanzania msipoamua sasa, mtamlaumu nani tena? Nawatamani watu wa kule Mara -hakuna kura inaibiwa. Zote zinasimamiwa. Tukibadilika inawezekana, tena ni rahisi. Peleke ujumbe huu kwa marafiki, ndugu, jamaa, babu na bibi yako kule kijiji ambako wanadhani bado Nyerere ndiye rais wa nchi hii. Peleka ujumbe huu haraka kwa simu kama ipo, au kwa njia ya posta, mradi tu wale jamaa waliochoka kuishi wasiikwapue barua wakidhani ni hela..
FREDERICK SUMAYE ASHITAKIWA KWA KIKWETE KILOSA
Imeandikwa na Mgaya Kingoba, Kilosa; Tarehe: 6th September 2010 Habari Leo
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Waziri Mkuu katika Serikali ya Awamu ya Tatu, Frederick Sumaye
WANANCHI wa vijiji vya Mvumi na Mvomero mkoani Morogoro, wamewashitaki mfanyabiashara Jeetu Patel na Waziri Mkuu wa Awamu ya Tatu, Frederick Sumaye kwa Rais Jakaya Kikwete, kwa kuhodhi ardhi kubwa bila kuiendeleza na kutaka wanyang’anywe.
Kwa nyakati tofauti jana, wananchi hao walieleza masikitiko yao kwa Rais Kikwete wakati aliposimama kuwasalimia akiwa katika kampeni ya kuomba kura ili achaguliwe tena kuiongoza Tanzania baadaye mwaka huu.
Akiwa njiani kutoka Kilosa alikohutubia mkutano mkubwa wa kampeni, mgombea huyo wa CCM alisimama katika Kijiji cha Mvumi, ambako moja ya kero alizokumbana nazo ni ya Jeetu kuhodhi mashamba makubwa matatu.
Kwa mujibu wa Mwenyekiti wa Kijiji hicho, Jeetu ambaye ni mfanyabiashara maarufu wa Dar es Salaam, anamiliki mashamba hayo na hayamudu katika uwekezaji wake, na zaidi anayakodisha kwa wananchi kwa Sh 50,000.
“Jeetu Patel, amehodhi mashamba bila ya kuyamudu na anatoza shilingi elfu hamsini kwa ajili ya kulima. Suala hili limepelekwa kwa uongozi wa Wilaya na Mkoa, lakini hakuna utatuzi,” alisema na kushangiliwa na wananchi wenzake.
Mbali ya kero hiyo, Mwenyekiti huyo alizitaja kero nyingine ambazo serikali inapaswa kuzifanyia kazi ni maji, elimu na barabara.
Akijibu hoja ya suala la Jeetu Patel, Rais Kikwete alisema, “niacheni nihangaike nalo, halikuwahi kufika kwangu, ndio kwanza nalisikia kwenu, lakini hakuna lisilowezekana. Niachieni nitafute ukweli wake.”
Akiwa Kijiji cha Mvomero katika Wilaya ya Mvomero, kilio cha ardhi kilisikika tena, na safari hii, kilimgusa Waziri Mkuu wa kipindi chote cha miaka 10 ya Awamu ya Tatu, Sumaye anayemiliki ardhi kijijini hapo.
Mwenyekiti wa Kijiji hicho hakuwepo wakati Rais Kikwete aliposimama na kusalimia wananchi, lakini mgombea wa udiwani wa CCM, Selemani Shomari maarufu Siri, alieleza wazi kero inayowasumbua ni shamba la Sumaye.
“Tunataka shamba la Mheshimiwa Sumaye lirudi katika Mamlaka ya Mji Mdogo kwa sababu lipo katikati ya mji,” alisema Shomari na kushangiliwa na maelfu ya wakazi wenzake wa mji huo wa Mvomero.
Kama ilivyokuwa katika majibu yake kwa wananchi wa Mvumi, Rais Kikwete alisema, “niachieni nihangaike nalo, nilijue vizuri na kupata majawabu stahili, kwa sababu ardhi ikishatolewa na serikali, kubadili ni lazima ufuate taratibu.”
Shamba la Sumaye alilolinunua akiwa madarakani, linadaiwa lilikuwa la Ushirika wa Wakulima wa Mvomero, uhamishaji wa miliki yake unadaiwa kwamba haukufuata utaratibu husika. Sakata lake lilivuma sana mwaka 2005.
Akiwa Dumila, alilalamikiwa na wananchi wa mji huo kuwa ekari zao 420 zimeporwa na Mkurugenzi Mtendaji wa Wilaya ya Kilosa pamoja na maofisa ardhi, licha ya hati za kijiji kuonesha kuwa ni mali yao.
bali ya kuzungumzia suala la shamba la Sumaye lililoko katika barabara iendayo Kijiji cha Makuyu, Shomari alizitaja shida zao nyingine kuwa ni maji; kituo cha afya; kituo cha Polisi na gari lake na kujengewa barabara za mitaa.
Akijibu hoja hizo, Rais Kikwete alisema atawapigania wapate Mamlaka ya Mji Mdogo, hivyo kuweza kumudu kujenga barabara zao wenyewe na pia atasaidia kupatikana kwa kituo cha afya.
Akiwa njiani kutoka Kilosa alikoanza kampeni zake jana, Rais Kikwete alisimama katika vijiji vya Ilonga, Mvumi, Msowero, Kitete, Dumila, Mvomero na kuwasili Turiani ambako alihutubia mkutano mkubwa jioni.
Image
Waziri Mkuu katika Serikali ya Awamu ya Tatu, Frederick Sumaye
WANANCHI wa vijiji vya Mvumi na Mvomero mkoani Morogoro, wamewashitaki mfanyabiashara Jeetu Patel na Waziri Mkuu wa Awamu ya Tatu, Frederick Sumaye kwa Rais Jakaya Kikwete, kwa kuhodhi ardhi kubwa bila kuiendeleza na kutaka wanyang’anywe.
Kwa nyakati tofauti jana, wananchi hao walieleza masikitiko yao kwa Rais Kikwete wakati aliposimama kuwasalimia akiwa katika kampeni ya kuomba kura ili achaguliwe tena kuiongoza Tanzania baadaye mwaka huu.
Akiwa njiani kutoka Kilosa alikohutubia mkutano mkubwa wa kampeni, mgombea huyo wa CCM alisimama katika Kijiji cha Mvumi, ambako moja ya kero alizokumbana nazo ni ya Jeetu kuhodhi mashamba makubwa matatu.
Kwa mujibu wa Mwenyekiti wa Kijiji hicho, Jeetu ambaye ni mfanyabiashara maarufu wa Dar es Salaam, anamiliki mashamba hayo na hayamudu katika uwekezaji wake, na zaidi anayakodisha kwa wananchi kwa Sh 50,000.
“Jeetu Patel, amehodhi mashamba bila ya kuyamudu na anatoza shilingi elfu hamsini kwa ajili ya kulima. Suala hili limepelekwa kwa uongozi wa Wilaya na Mkoa, lakini hakuna utatuzi,” alisema na kushangiliwa na wananchi wenzake.
Mbali ya kero hiyo, Mwenyekiti huyo alizitaja kero nyingine ambazo serikali inapaswa kuzifanyia kazi ni maji, elimu na barabara.
Akijibu hoja ya suala la Jeetu Patel, Rais Kikwete alisema, “niacheni nihangaike nalo, halikuwahi kufika kwangu, ndio kwanza nalisikia kwenu, lakini hakuna lisilowezekana. Niachieni nitafute ukweli wake.”
Akiwa Kijiji cha Mvomero katika Wilaya ya Mvomero, kilio cha ardhi kilisikika tena, na safari hii, kilimgusa Waziri Mkuu wa kipindi chote cha miaka 10 ya Awamu ya Tatu, Sumaye anayemiliki ardhi kijijini hapo.
Mwenyekiti wa Kijiji hicho hakuwepo wakati Rais Kikwete aliposimama na kusalimia wananchi, lakini mgombea wa udiwani wa CCM, Selemani Shomari maarufu Siri, alieleza wazi kero inayowasumbua ni shamba la Sumaye.
“Tunataka shamba la Mheshimiwa Sumaye lirudi katika Mamlaka ya Mji Mdogo kwa sababu lipo katikati ya mji,” alisema Shomari na kushangiliwa na maelfu ya wakazi wenzake wa mji huo wa Mvomero.
Kama ilivyokuwa katika majibu yake kwa wananchi wa Mvumi, Rais Kikwete alisema, “niachieni nihangaike nalo, nilijue vizuri na kupata majawabu stahili, kwa sababu ardhi ikishatolewa na serikali, kubadili ni lazima ufuate taratibu.”
Shamba la Sumaye alilolinunua akiwa madarakani, linadaiwa lilikuwa la Ushirika wa Wakulima wa Mvomero, uhamishaji wa miliki yake unadaiwa kwamba haukufuata utaratibu husika. Sakata lake lilivuma sana mwaka 2005.
Akiwa Dumila, alilalamikiwa na wananchi wa mji huo kuwa ekari zao 420 zimeporwa na Mkurugenzi Mtendaji wa Wilaya ya Kilosa pamoja na maofisa ardhi, licha ya hati za kijiji kuonesha kuwa ni mali yao.
bali ya kuzungumzia suala la shamba la Sumaye lililoko katika barabara iendayo Kijiji cha Makuyu, Shomari alizitaja shida zao nyingine kuwa ni maji; kituo cha afya; kituo cha Polisi na gari lake na kujengewa barabara za mitaa.
Akijibu hoja hizo, Rais Kikwete alisema atawapigania wapate Mamlaka ya Mji Mdogo, hivyo kuweza kumudu kujenga barabara zao wenyewe na pia atasaidia kupatikana kwa kituo cha afya.
Akiwa njiani kutoka Kilosa alikoanza kampeni zake jana, Rais Kikwete alisimama katika vijiji vya Ilonga, Mvumi, Msowero, Kitete, Dumila, Mvomero na kuwasili Turiani ambako alihutubia mkutano mkubwa jioni.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
MORE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN THE WORLD - SAUDI A
The Miami Herald
Posted on Tue, Aug. 31, 2010
Foreign women are treated like slaves
BY FRIDA GHITIS
FJGhitis@gmail.com
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- When Mrs. L.P. Ariyawathie showed up at the hospital in the town of Kamburupitiya, near the southern tip of Sri Lanka, few could imagine that the 49-year-old mother of three would make headlines across the world. Normally, the news from Sri Lanka fails to garner much international attention. Ariyawhathie's story, however, managed what decades of civil war, suicide bombings and last year's bloody end to a brutal war failed to do: It made the world pay attention. At first, the woman whose eyes still radiate intense sadness told a story almost too bizarre to believe, except that Sri Lankans have already heard disturbing tales from poor friends traveling to strange lands to earn a living. Those stories are often most outrageous when they describe the experiences of women traveling to Saudi Arabia, as Ariyawhathie did.
In May, she started working as a housekeeper with a Saudi family. The suffering began immediately, with cruel mockery by her employer every time she tried to speak the few words in Arabic she had learned in preparation to leave her home and her family and travel to the mysterious kingdom. Before long, the taunts turned to torture. Then one day, after she accidentally broke a plate, her boss asked if she was blind, aiming his hand toward one of her eyes. When she raised her arm over her face, the first nail went in. By the time she made it back home to Sri Lanka and arrived at the hospital, her Saudi employer had hammered 24 nails and needles into her hands, legs and forehead.
This is not another story about the unspeakable sorrow that poverty inflicts on its victims. It's about how some of the wealthiest, most privileged people on Earth fail the most basic test of humanity, and how the time has come for the Saudi government -- which never tires of proclaiming its piousness -- to make reforms aimed at protecting the most vulnerable in its midst.
Saudi Arabia hosts some eight million foreigners, mostly poor people from Asia and the Middle East, desperate for work. Hundreds of thousands are women employed as domestic workers, living in conditions that are often no better than slavery. Some 400,000 Sri Lankans live there, mostly women working in private homes. Too many of them experience horrific abuse, including beatings, rape and even murder.
Sri Lankan politician Ranjan Ramanayake says he frequently receives pleading calls from relatives of workers in the Gulf. ``Saudi Arabia is the worst,'' he noted. ``It is followed by Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon and Abu Dhabi. Our mothers, sisters and daughters undergo unspeakable harassment.''
Under a Saudi system called Kafala, workers become practically property of employers, surrendering their passport on arrival, becoming trapped in a country where law and culture leave laborers, especially foreigners, with few rights. The situation for migrant women -- impossible as it would seem -- is far worse.
Nonpayment of wages across the board has been thoroughly documented by human rights and labor organizations, as have harsh working and living conditions. But nothing compares to the plight of South Asian women in Saudi Arabia, and for that matter in much of the Middle East.
There is no shortage of examples. Earlier this year, 26-year-old Balakrishnan Dharshan, who had left the Sri Lankan city of Kandy to work in Saudi Arabia, was found dead, her body covered with burn marks. A 25-year-old Indonesian housekeeper lost fingers, toes and part of a foot after her employer kept her tied in the bathroom. A Saudi paper reported last year that the Sri Lankan embassy receives 10 runaway maids every day.
The situation is so desperate that India and Nepal have already banned their women from accepting placements in Saudi Arabia, following thousands of abuse reports.
Kafala ensures that workers have practically no recourse and often no way out. Attitudes towards women, non-Muslims, foreigners and workers in menial occupations set the stage for brutality and impunity.
If the Saudis want to earn some respect from the rest of the world, they now have our attention. All abusers should be prosecuted and punished.
But there's more. Not only should foreign workers have a right to keep their passports and leave the country without special permission, but the laws must be revised to protect their most basic rights. The Ariyawathie case made the world look in a direction it seldom does, toward Sri Lanka. What the world saw, however, is what most urgently needs to change in Saudi Arabia.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/31/1799823/foreign-women-are-treated-like.html#none
Posted on Tue, Aug. 31, 2010
Foreign women are treated like slaves
BY FRIDA GHITIS
FJGhitis@gmail.com
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- When Mrs. L.P. Ariyawathie showed up at the hospital in the town of Kamburupitiya, near the southern tip of Sri Lanka, few could imagine that the 49-year-old mother of three would make headlines across the world. Normally, the news from Sri Lanka fails to garner much international attention. Ariyawhathie's story, however, managed what decades of civil war, suicide bombings and last year's bloody end to a brutal war failed to do: It made the world pay attention. At first, the woman whose eyes still radiate intense sadness told a story almost too bizarre to believe, except that Sri Lankans have already heard disturbing tales from poor friends traveling to strange lands to earn a living. Those stories are often most outrageous when they describe the experiences of women traveling to Saudi Arabia, as Ariyawhathie did.
In May, she started working as a housekeeper with a Saudi family. The suffering began immediately, with cruel mockery by her employer every time she tried to speak the few words in Arabic she had learned in preparation to leave her home and her family and travel to the mysterious kingdom. Before long, the taunts turned to torture. Then one day, after she accidentally broke a plate, her boss asked if she was blind, aiming his hand toward one of her eyes. When she raised her arm over her face, the first nail went in. By the time she made it back home to Sri Lanka and arrived at the hospital, her Saudi employer had hammered 24 nails and needles into her hands, legs and forehead.
This is not another story about the unspeakable sorrow that poverty inflicts on its victims. It's about how some of the wealthiest, most privileged people on Earth fail the most basic test of humanity, and how the time has come for the Saudi government -- which never tires of proclaiming its piousness -- to make reforms aimed at protecting the most vulnerable in its midst.
Saudi Arabia hosts some eight million foreigners, mostly poor people from Asia and the Middle East, desperate for work. Hundreds of thousands are women employed as domestic workers, living in conditions that are often no better than slavery. Some 400,000 Sri Lankans live there, mostly women working in private homes. Too many of them experience horrific abuse, including beatings, rape and even murder.
Sri Lankan politician Ranjan Ramanayake says he frequently receives pleading calls from relatives of workers in the Gulf. ``Saudi Arabia is the worst,'' he noted. ``It is followed by Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon and Abu Dhabi. Our mothers, sisters and daughters undergo unspeakable harassment.''
Under a Saudi system called Kafala, workers become practically property of employers, surrendering their passport on arrival, becoming trapped in a country where law and culture leave laborers, especially foreigners, with few rights. The situation for migrant women -- impossible as it would seem -- is far worse.
Nonpayment of wages across the board has been thoroughly documented by human rights and labor organizations, as have harsh working and living conditions. But nothing compares to the plight of South Asian women in Saudi Arabia, and for that matter in much of the Middle East.
There is no shortage of examples. Earlier this year, 26-year-old Balakrishnan Dharshan, who had left the Sri Lankan city of Kandy to work in Saudi Arabia, was found dead, her body covered with burn marks. A 25-year-old Indonesian housekeeper lost fingers, toes and part of a foot after her employer kept her tied in the bathroom. A Saudi paper reported last year that the Sri Lankan embassy receives 10 runaway maids every day.
The situation is so desperate that India and Nepal have already banned their women from accepting placements in Saudi Arabia, following thousands of abuse reports.
Kafala ensures that workers have practically no recourse and often no way out. Attitudes towards women, non-Muslims, foreigners and workers in menial occupations set the stage for brutality and impunity.
If the Saudis want to earn some respect from the rest of the world, they now have our attention. All abusers should be prosecuted and punished.
But there's more. Not only should foreign workers have a right to keep their passports and leave the country without special permission, but the laws must be revised to protect their most basic rights. The Ariyawathie case made the world look in a direction it seldom does, toward Sri Lanka. What the world saw, however, is what most urgently needs to change in Saudi Arabia.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/31/1799823/foreign-women-are-treated-like.html#none
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BREEDING A VISCIOUS CIRCLE OF MORE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Maid ‘killed mother and daughter’
Awad Mustafa
* Last Updated: August 17. 2010 12:13AM UAE / August 16. 2010 8:13PM GMT
DUBAI // A housemaid stabbed her employer 70 times before killing the woman’s two-year-old daughter by setting fire to the home on Saturday, according to police.
The 21-year-old African maid fled the scene, but she was found by police hiding in another emirate less than 24 hours later and arrested on suspicion of murder, said Lt Col Salim Sultan al Darmaki, the chief of the Ras al Khaimah CID.
The apartment was completely gutted by the blaze, leaving not much more than the toddler’s two bikes, which yesterday lay abandoned in the smoke-streaked corridors of the building.
The killings happened in the Nakheel area of RAK, said the watchman at the building, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said he spotted the fire at 8.30am and called police, who arrived within minutes. “There was lots of smoke and broken glass everywhere,” he said.
According to Lt Col al Darmaki, a fire was reported inside the flat where the bodies of a 35-year-old Arab woman and her daughter were found. Police immediately launched a search in a bid to find the housemaid.
The deceased’s Emirati husband told police the maid had started working for the family only 10 days before the deaths.
“Investigators found and arrested the maid in another emirate, where she was staying with female compatriots,” said Lt Col al Darmaki.
The maid, who had been living in the country for just 20 days before her arrest, had already been sacked by two Emirati families before her employment agency sent her to the home where she allegedly killed the mother and child. Police forensic reports show that the woman died from stab wounds while the child died from smoke inhalation.
Lt Col al Darmaki said the maid confessed to police claiming she killed the Arab woman because she mistreated her. Police say that the two women got into an argument and the maid was told she would be sent back to the employment agency.
The mother contacted the agency and ordered the maid to pack her belongings.
The maid then stabbed the woman 70 times in different parts of her body and placed her blood soaked clothes in a bag before setting light to it and fleeing.
The fire swept through the flat, killing the little girl.“She said in her confession that her work was continuously criticised by her employer and they had repeated arguments during which the Arab woman threatened to fire her and send her home,” said Lt Col al Darmaki.
Lt Col al Darmaki warned the hiring of maids should not be taken lightly.
“The decision to employ a servant at home should be taken with a lot of care and caution, and people should always try to treat each other better and avoid conflicts that can lead to such disasters,” he said.
The case has been referred to the public prosecutor.
Awad Mustafa
* Last Updated: August 17. 2010 12:13AM UAE / August 16. 2010 8:13PM GMT
DUBAI // A housemaid stabbed her employer 70 times before killing the woman’s two-year-old daughter by setting fire to the home on Saturday, according to police.
The 21-year-old African maid fled the scene, but she was found by police hiding in another emirate less than 24 hours later and arrested on suspicion of murder, said Lt Col Salim Sultan al Darmaki, the chief of the Ras al Khaimah CID.
The apartment was completely gutted by the blaze, leaving not much more than the toddler’s two bikes, which yesterday lay abandoned in the smoke-streaked corridors of the building.
The killings happened in the Nakheel area of RAK, said the watchman at the building, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said he spotted the fire at 8.30am and called police, who arrived within minutes. “There was lots of smoke and broken glass everywhere,” he said.
According to Lt Col al Darmaki, a fire was reported inside the flat where the bodies of a 35-year-old Arab woman and her daughter were found. Police immediately launched a search in a bid to find the housemaid.
The deceased’s Emirati husband told police the maid had started working for the family only 10 days before the deaths.
“Investigators found and arrested the maid in another emirate, where she was staying with female compatriots,” said Lt Col al Darmaki.
The maid, who had been living in the country for just 20 days before her arrest, had already been sacked by two Emirati families before her employment agency sent her to the home where she allegedly killed the mother and child. Police forensic reports show that the woman died from stab wounds while the child died from smoke inhalation.
Lt Col al Darmaki said the maid confessed to police claiming she killed the Arab woman because she mistreated her. Police say that the two women got into an argument and the maid was told she would be sent back to the employment agency.
The mother contacted the agency and ordered the maid to pack her belongings.
The maid then stabbed the woman 70 times in different parts of her body and placed her blood soaked clothes in a bag before setting light to it and fleeing.
The fire swept through the flat, killing the little girl.“She said in her confession that her work was continuously criticised by her employer and they had repeated arguments during which the Arab woman threatened to fire her and send her home,” said Lt Col al Darmaki.
Lt Col al Darmaki warned the hiring of maids should not be taken lightly.
“The decision to employ a servant at home should be taken with a lot of care and caution, and people should always try to treat each other better and avoid conflicts that can lead to such disasters,” he said.
The case has been referred to the public prosecutor.
HATIMAYE KENYA YAPATA KATIBA MPYA YA 2010 !
REALLY, TANZANIA SHOULD LEARN FROM ITS NEIGHBOURS. NOBODY IN THOSE NEIGHBOURING COUTRIES WAS AFRAID, SCARED, OR APPREHENSIVE OF LEGISLATING THEMSELVES OUT OF POWER! SHAME ON TANZANIA !
WAY TO GO AFRICA !
Kenya gets new American-style constitution
By TOM MALITI (AP) – 19 minutes ago
NAIROBI, Kenya — African leaders joined tens of thousands of Kenyans on Friday to witness a once-in-a-generation event: the signing into law of Kenya's new constitution.
The East African nation replaced a colonial-era constitution with one that curtails the president's powers with an American-style system of checks and balances.
President Mwai Kibaki's official signing into law of the new constitution has been billed as the single most important political event in Kenya's history since it gained independence from Britain in 1963.
Friday's event comes after an overwhelming majority of Kenyan voters adopted the new constitution in an Aug. 4, 2010 referendum. Kibaki's signature formally marks the end of a decades-long struggle to cut down the massive powers of the presidency.
The government and parliament now must implement the ambitious document that requires, among other things, the formation of a Supreme Court and a Senate. It also demands that the country's judiciary be vetted to rid it of corrupt or incompetent judges and that parliament pass 49 new laws.
Both Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga back the new charter, part of a reform package they committed themselves to after signing a power-sharing deal in February 2008. That deal ended violence that killed more than 1,000 people following Kenya's disputed December 2007 presidential vote.
A surprise guest at Friday's ceremony was Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. This is the second time that al-Bashir has risked arrest by traveling to a member state of the International Criminal Court. In July he traveled to Chad.
Before his visit to Chad, al-Bashir had traveled abroad only to countries that are not ICC members since he was first charged in connection with violence in Sudan's Darfur region in 2009. The ICC has no police force and depends on member states to enforce its orders.
It was not immediately known why Kenyan authorities allowed him to attend.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda also attended the event.
---
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPhX1mecO0eC1pULJkFnsLjHsKkwD9HRMU8G1
WAY TO GO AFRICA !
Kenya gets new American-style constitution
By TOM MALITI (AP) – 19 minutes ago
NAIROBI, Kenya — African leaders joined tens of thousands of Kenyans on Friday to witness a once-in-a-generation event: the signing into law of Kenya's new constitution.
The East African nation replaced a colonial-era constitution with one that curtails the president's powers with an American-style system of checks and balances.
President Mwai Kibaki's official signing into law of the new constitution has been billed as the single most important political event in Kenya's history since it gained independence from Britain in 1963.
Friday's event comes after an overwhelming majority of Kenyan voters adopted the new constitution in an Aug. 4, 2010 referendum. Kibaki's signature formally marks the end of a decades-long struggle to cut down the massive powers of the presidency.
The government and parliament now must implement the ambitious document that requires, among other things, the formation of a Supreme Court and a Senate. It also demands that the country's judiciary be vetted to rid it of corrupt or incompetent judges and that parliament pass 49 new laws.
Both Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga back the new charter, part of a reform package they committed themselves to after signing a power-sharing deal in February 2008. That deal ended violence that killed more than 1,000 people following Kenya's disputed December 2007 presidential vote.
A surprise guest at Friday's ceremony was Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. This is the second time that al-Bashir has risked arrest by traveling to a member state of the International Criminal Court. In July he traveled to Chad.
Before his visit to Chad, al-Bashir had traveled abroad only to countries that are not ICC members since he was first charged in connection with violence in Sudan's Darfur region in 2009. The ICC has no police force and depends on member states to enforce its orders.
It was not immediately known why Kenyan authorities allowed him to attend.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda also attended the event.
---
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPhX1mecO0eC1pULJkFnsLjHsKkwD9HRMU8G1
KWA HILI, TIDO MHANDO [TANZANIA BROADCASTGING CORPORATION] IMEISHIWA NA NI YA KIBAGUZI !
A BIG SHAME ON THE TANZANIA BROADCASTING CORPORATION !
SUNDAY NEWS Reporters, 28th August 2010
Insults and hate speeches against CCM and other parties dominated the CHADEMA election campaign launch on Sunday, forcing the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation [TBC] to suspend live transmission of the event at Jangwani grounds in Dar es Salaam.
TBC Director General, Mr Tido Mhando said later that they cut off nationalwide broadcasting to remind the opposition party of its obligation to condact decent campaigns are required by a code of conduct signed by all political parties. There was also similar agreement between CHADEMA and the station.
"We suspended live broadcasting because CHADEMA went contrary to our agreement, which, among other issues, emphasizes decent conduct. We are glad that they realized their mistake and reformed, after which we immediately resumed our coverage,"clarified Mr Mhando in a telephone interview aftrewards.
The diatribe against the ruling party and its presidential candidate, President Jakaya Kikwete, was led by CHADEMA legal secretary Tundu Lissu, NCCR-Mageuzi defector Mabere Marando and CCM defectors turned the opposition party's parliamentary candidates Fred Mpendazoe and John Shibuda.
The attacked the government over grand corruption accusing the CCM candidate and his predecessors of endorsing dubious deals, including the siphoning of funds from Central Bank's External Payments Accounts [EPA].
Their messages urged workers, pastoralists, artisanal miners, midwives, teachers, higher learning students and retirees not to vote for CCM. They also attacked election coordinating bodies and their leadership, such as the National Electoral Commission [NEC], the office of the Registrar of Political Parties, Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau [PCCB], accusing them of favouring the ruling party.
After interruption of live coverage of the campaign, members of the TBC broadcasting teams at Jangwani were besieged by rowdy CHADEMA members and supporters, who insulted and told them to leave the grounds.
CHADEMA Chairman, Freeman Mbowe later pleaded for the crew but joined the attack on TBC management, threatening unleash the crowd on them.
"You should know that you go on air using tax-payers' money. If the crowd present here descends on you no armed force can save you," he said to TBC bosses.
Meanwhile, Dr Slaa on Sunday unveiled his party’s 2010 Election Manifesto which primarily focuses on nine priority areas, that include building of strong economy based on strong tertiary industries and provision of quality education and other social services as well as promotion of good governance.
He told the gathering that it was through sound tertiary industries that the country would be able to bring about agricultural development.
“We should not deceive ourselves that there can be any agriculture transformation by using power tillers which cannot till hard surfaces,” he argued.
He said that the country cannot just indulge in Kilimo Kwanza without first researching on other variables, such as comparative advantages and markets for the produce.
The presidential aspirant also said if elected to power his government would raise compulsory education to form six, which would be provided for free to all Tanzanian children.
He said he would also come up with new government structure which would be lean and less costly. The move, he said was aimed to minimize wastage as 75 per cent of the revenue was currently going into the running of the government.
The money to be saved, he said would go into financing development activities. Dr Slaa further promised to provide employment and decent work and raise the minimum wage to 315,000/- per month.
SUNDAY NEWS Reporters, 28th August 2010
Insults and hate speeches against CCM and other parties dominated the CHADEMA election campaign launch on Sunday, forcing the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation [TBC] to suspend live transmission of the event at Jangwani grounds in Dar es Salaam.
TBC Director General, Mr Tido Mhando said later that they cut off nationalwide broadcasting to remind the opposition party of its obligation to condact decent campaigns are required by a code of conduct signed by all political parties. There was also similar agreement between CHADEMA and the station.
"We suspended live broadcasting because CHADEMA went contrary to our agreement, which, among other issues, emphasizes decent conduct. We are glad that they realized their mistake and reformed, after which we immediately resumed our coverage,"clarified Mr Mhando in a telephone interview aftrewards.
The diatribe against the ruling party and its presidential candidate, President Jakaya Kikwete, was led by CHADEMA legal secretary Tundu Lissu, NCCR-Mageuzi defector Mabere Marando and CCM defectors turned the opposition party's parliamentary candidates Fred Mpendazoe and John Shibuda.
The attacked the government over grand corruption accusing the CCM candidate and his predecessors of endorsing dubious deals, including the siphoning of funds from Central Bank's External Payments Accounts [EPA].
Their messages urged workers, pastoralists, artisanal miners, midwives, teachers, higher learning students and retirees not to vote for CCM. They also attacked election coordinating bodies and their leadership, such as the National Electoral Commission [NEC], the office of the Registrar of Political Parties, Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau [PCCB], accusing them of favouring the ruling party.
After interruption of live coverage of the campaign, members of the TBC broadcasting teams at Jangwani were besieged by rowdy CHADEMA members and supporters, who insulted and told them to leave the grounds.
CHADEMA Chairman, Freeman Mbowe later pleaded for the crew but joined the attack on TBC management, threatening unleash the crowd on them.
"You should know that you go on air using tax-payers' money. If the crowd present here descends on you no armed force can save you," he said to TBC bosses.
Meanwhile, Dr Slaa on Sunday unveiled his party’s 2010 Election Manifesto which primarily focuses on nine priority areas, that include building of strong economy based on strong tertiary industries and provision of quality education and other social services as well as promotion of good governance.
He told the gathering that it was through sound tertiary industries that the country would be able to bring about agricultural development.
“We should not deceive ourselves that there can be any agriculture transformation by using power tillers which cannot till hard surfaces,” he argued.
He said that the country cannot just indulge in Kilimo Kwanza without first researching on other variables, such as comparative advantages and markets for the produce.
The presidential aspirant also said if elected to power his government would raise compulsory education to form six, which would be provided for free to all Tanzanian children.
He said he would also come up with new government structure which would be lean and less costly. The move, he said was aimed to minimize wastage as 75 per cent of the revenue was currently going into the running of the government.
The money to be saved, he said would go into financing development activities. Dr Slaa further promised to provide employment and decent work and raise the minimum wage to 315,000/- per month.
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