Deputy President William Ruto on Friday criticized leaders bent on tribal politics warning that they risk becoming irrelevant to the country's leadership.
Speaking at Gionseri girls secondary school in Bobasi, Kisii county where he officiated a fundraiser, Ruto told the leaders still dwelling on hostile politics to instead build individual political careers.
He said tribal or religious intolerance no longer have relevance in the country and asked Kenyans to unite and speak as one people.
"The politics of this country is changing. We have embraced the concept of unity among our people. We want to unite the country to create synergy and momentum to drive our economy," he said.
Despite criticism from some opposition leaders, Ruto reiterated that he and President Uhuru Kenyatta will continue visiting all corners of the country taking development to the people. He said no amount of criticism will discourage them from that mission.
Ruto further lashed out at those making tribal sentiments with the aim of benefiting from the resultant confusion telling them they were doomed to fail.
On agriculture, he decried the falling prices of tea on the world market saying the government was seized of the matter and was appealing to Parliament to remove some of the many taxes imposed so that farmers reap maximum returns from the crop.
On education, Ruto restated that the government had increased funds for free primary schools from 10 billion to 14 billion in 2014 and from 20 billion to 28 billion for secondary schools.
He asked those in charge of managing the funds to exercise high levels of accountability, saying the money must be used well to benefit the children of Kenya.
Noting that education is the greatest investment one can make, Ruto called on the management boards of Constituency Development Funds (CDF) to increase their allocations to the schools in their constituencies.
He announced that the national government will build 100 kilometers of tarmac roads in Kisii county every year for the next three years noting that the 2014 programme was at the tendering stage.
Ruto also said Kisii, Nyamache and Marani hospitals will be elevated to level five hospitals and that some Sh350 million had already been set aside for each hospital to buy facilities to realize the goal.
Addressing the gathering, Charles Nyachae, chairman of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), said there is a misunderstanding on what the constitution intended devolution to be.
Saying there is need for more civic education on the matter, Nyachae explained that devolution entails taking more services to the people at the grassroots level and not necessarily more money to the counties.
"We need huduma mashinani and not pesa mashinani," he said.
Nominated Senator Janet Ongera lauded jubilee's way of governing the country noting that even those in the opposition could not help admiring the pomp of the reception that greeted Kenyatta upon his arrival from The Hague on Thursday.
"Even the calls for Okoa Kenya are meant to give us work. Do you want us to remain without work?" she posed.
Other speakers included MPs Stephen Manoti (Bobasi), Elijah Moindi (Nyaribari Masaba), Kisoi Munyao (Mbooni) and David Gikaria (Nakuru west), who hit out at the Okoa Kenya referendum proponents saying Kenyans did not need a plebiscite to resolve challenges facing the country.
Kisii Governor James Ongwae and Senator Chris Obure also spoke at the function.
- DPPS
Tunis, Tunisia — Fighting between rival armed groups in Libya has left almost 290,000 people forcibly displaced across the country, including 100,000 in the past three weeks alone, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.
The internally displaced, from 29 cities and towns, urgently need food, health care and other basic commodities as well as adequate shelter for the approaching winter. "UNHCR and its partners are responding to some of these needs, but we face major constraints in access," spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva.
The main area of recent displacement has been around Warshefana on the outskirts of Tripoli, where fighting has caused some 100,000 people to flee in the last three weeks. This, along with the Benina area outside the eastern city of Benghazi, is among the worst affected areas. Some 15,000 people are estimated to be displaced around Benghazi.
Most displaced people are living with local families who in some cases have opened their homes to several families at a time to meet the growing need for shelter. People unable to stay with relatives or host families sleep in schools, parks or non-residential buildings converted into emergency shelters.
"The growing number of displaced people is outstripping the capacities of local communities, from whom we are hearing increasing concern about the ability to cope," Edwards said.
An example of the increasing humanitarian needs and shrinking humanitarian space is the situation in the small town of Ajaylat, some 80 kilometres west of Tripoli. Ajaylat, a town normally of about 100,000 people, is hosting some 16,000 displaced people. With displaced people now making up more than 10 per cent of the local population, health facilities are struggling to cope.
The main hospital there reports a 30 per cent increase in cases and lacks essential medical supplies and medicines for chronic illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes. Other towns across western Libya and in Benghazi are under similar strain.
Efforts to assist the displaced are hampered by limited access for humanitarians to towns affected by fighting between rival armed groups. When security permits cross-border aid convoys are the only way to get supplies to people in need, as access to warehouses inside the country is often impossible.
UNHCR and International Medical Corps (IMC) despatched the first relief convoy for 12,000 displaced people in western Libya in August. In partnership with World Food Programme, who provided food items, UNHCR and IMC have also distributed additional non-food aid to 6,700 people in recent weeks. But additional help is needed, and for this better access is required.
The UN Support Mission in Libya has called for an immediate ceasefire and access to carry out further assessment missions and distribution of humanitarian aid. The UN has issued a humanitarian appeal for Libya requesting additional funding to continue helping hundreds of thousands of people affected by the crisis in the country.
As well as the impact on the local population, the fighting is also affecting refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants in Libya - many of them from Middle Eastern countries and sub-Saharan Africa. The lawlessness and a recent doubling of food prices have made many desperate to leave.
Libya's policy of detaining refugees and migrants has pushed many to put their lives in the hands of smugglers to try to get to Europe - joining the tens of thousands of people who in recent months have transited through Libya and made the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean. Of the more than 165,000 who have arrived on Europe's shores so far this year, the majority departed from Libya - of whom 48 per cent are Syrians and Eritreans.
Many have not made it far from the Libyan coast. The latest tragedy, off the coast near Tripoli on October 2, left more than 100 people, mostly Syrian nationals, dead or missing. It highlights the need for new legal approaches.
Kenema/Freetown — We set off by jeep from the capital Freetown for Kenema, 240km away. While there are Stop Ebola posters all over the capital, we see very few en route. Every 15 minutes or so we're stopped at an Ebola monitoring checkpoint to have our temperatures taken and to wash our hands in chlorinated water. Thirteen in all - it's enough to make anyone paranoid.
Six Ebola-hit districts, including Kailahun, Kenema, Port Loko, Bombali, Mayambo and parts of Freetown, are "isolated" across the country, meaning locals need a special pass to leave them, and houses with confirmed Ebola cases are cordoned off, their inhabitants instructed not to leave unless they are sick. In those cases they must wait for an ambulance to take them to the nearest Ebola clinic.
The "isolation" followed a three-day government lock-down, in which all six million citizens were ordered to stay at home while contact tracers went to as many households as they could reach to identify the sick, and body collectors tried to gather up the dead: they brought in 300 corpses in total, according to the Ministry of Health. Another lock-down is being considered in coming days. Some international organizations were quietly dubious about the lock-down, fearing it would lead to mounting distrust among locals of health workers, but many say it has been a success.
Suafiatu Tunis, a volunteer community activist from Freetown, who has been travelling with a team from district to district to spread prevention and treatment messages, told IRIN: "The shift in attitude came after the three-day lockdown. That was the best idea that the Sierra Leone government initiated on its own." The lock-down was accompanied by intensive radio messaging - the primary source of information for 75 percent of Sierra Leoneans - and she said it helped to raise consciousness of the disease. "Before, when I went to villages, people said "no thanks". Now it's changing. People are listening. They are Ebola-aware."
She is one of the few women to go house and house and it makes a difference as women open up to her. They converse in local languages - Mende, Temne, Fular and Kriol - and people ask questions. In a village in Blama District that day a woman asked if survivors could transmit the disease (no), and how to disinfect the house if someone has it. Often it is as simple as showing a map of how Ebola is spreading across the region for them to put it into context.
The lock-down, of course, had an economic impact. Families trapped at home with little warning were unable to stock up on sufficient food to last three weeks, and in a country where over half of the population lives under the national poverty line, they could not afford to buy that quantity of food anyway. (The World Food Programme has been delivering food to quarantined neighbourhoods in the capital Freetown, Bombali District and Port Loko, and will begin in Kenema and Kailahun this week.)
Motorbike taxi drivers (known as Okada drivers) complain that the reduced trade means they bring in 25 percent per day of what they used to, now amounting to US$3 on average. The streets of Mayumbo are deserted as no one has been able to practice petty trade. Lavennta Konneh, a contact tracer working with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the government, is one of the few individuals permitted to leave her house. "There is no business now. Our parents usually sell. Now vehicles can't even stop. Soldiers don't allow anyone out." As she was talking, a military officer positioned nearby asked us to drive on.
UNICEF's water, sanitation and hygiene manager, Patrick Okorth, said it is particularly difficult for communities that do not have ready access to clean water: which is the case for 60 percent of rural residents and most of Freetown's slum areas. In some areas people have to wrangle with police to pass through the barrier in order to reach a safe water source. Behaviour change messaging calling on people to wash hands with soap or chlorinated water as often as possible only works if soap and water is available.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Tunisia early this morning where he met with President Moncef Marzouki to pledge full United Nations support for the north African nation in its forthcoming elections and transition to democracy.
"The President and I just had a very productive meeting. I welcomed the way he runs the country without compromising on principles, at this critical time in the history of Tunisia," said Mr. Ban told journalists in the capital of Tunis.
Tunisia's upcoming elections will mark an important milestone on Tunisia's road to democracy, Mr. Ban said pledging that the UN will do its utmost to ensure that elections are open to all, transparent and peaceful.
The UN has already "actively supported the democratic transition with technical assistance on elections, transitional justice and Tunisia's extremely valuable Constitution," he added.
Last January, Tunisia's Parliament adopted the constitution, the country's first since massive public demonstrations ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in early 2011, the first regime to be toppled in the so-called Arab Spring.
"Tunisia raised hopes across North Africa, the Middle East and the globe when the Arab Spring was born here. And Tunisia has risen to high expectations by staying true to its ideals," Mr. Ban said, adding that both he and the Tunisian President are both deeply concerned about the situation in Libya.
"Here we see that with integrity, leadership, civic engagement and commitment, peaceful revolution leads to promising stability," Mr. Ban told reporters, commending the Tunisian Government and the Tunisian people for the great success they have achieved.
"Tunisians have shown the power of inclusive national dialogue. This is an important example for countries of this region. When leaders listen to their people, respond to their needs and work for their aspirations, countries enjoy peace and prosperity," he added.
Mr. Ban's meeting with the Tunisian President was followed by a discussion with Mustapha Ben Jaafar, President of the National Constitutional Assembly, as well as the Presidents of a number of Parliamentary Groups. The Secretary-General also met with the Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa and is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Mongi Hamdi later today.
Tunisia Hold SenegalTunisia's national soccer team held Senegal's to a goalless draw at an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group G Day-3 … see more »
African champions Nigeria are determined to wrestle three points off the Falcons of Jediane (as the Senior National Team of Sudan are known) when both teams clash tonight at the 35,000 -capacity Khartoum Stadium.
With only one point from their previous two games in the campaign, the Super Eagles know only an outright win will keep them firmly in the series and with an opportunity to defend the title they won in South Africa 20 months ago. And Leader of Delegation to the big match, NFF 1st Vice President, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi has stated categorically that outright victory is non -negotiable.
"We are here for serious business. I am happy at the attitude of the Coaches and the players and the spirit in camp. Victory will be ours on Saturday."
The spirit is high in camp as the new faces called up by Coach Stephen Keshi for the quick -fire sessions against Sudan have been proving their mettle, making for good competition in the camp.
The Nigeria delegation of 66 persons, including 24 players and officials, 20 members of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club and few NFF Secretariat Staff and couple of journalists, flew out of Abuja aboard a chartered Air Sudan aircraft at midnight on Thursday, and landed in Khartoum four hours later. The contingent was received at the airport by Mr. Habu Gwani Ibrahim, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Nigeria in Sudan, who stood in for the Ambassador who was outside the country.
There were also Mr. Friday Akpan, Head of Chancery and the Public Relations Manager of the Sudanese Football Association, Issam Gumaa, as well as over 200 Nigerian students in Sudan who chanted names of the players and welcomed them to the country.
Led by goalkeeper and skipper Vincent Enyeama,the playing body that also includes goalkeepers Austin Ejide and Chigozie Agbim, defenders Elderson Echiejile, Juwon Oshaniwa, Efe Ambrose, Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwuekwe and Kenneth Omeruo, midfielders Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi, Nosa Igiebor, Omatsone Aluko, Hope Akpan, Raheem Lawal and Ugonna Anyora, and strikers Ahmed Musa, Emmanuel Emenike, Gbolahan Salami, Osaguona Ighodaro, Emem Eduok, Aaron Samuel, Sunday Emmanuel and Michael Babatunde, trained at the Khartoum Stadium by 8pm yesterday.
The team's Grand Holiday Villa Hotel, situated on the bank of the Blue Nile, is only five minutes' drive from the stadium.
At the match coordination meeting on Friday afternoon, it was decided that the Super Eagles will dorn all -white jersey with green stripes while the Falcons will wear all -red with white stripes.
Officials at the Embassy of Nigeria have informed the Nigeria Football Federation that they they expect over 4,000 Nigerian students who are based in Khartoum to turn up for the big game on Saturday night.
Although temperature has soared above 40 degrees, Sudan FA Public Relations Manager Issam Gumaa has assured that it will be much cooler at night when the match will take place.
The match commissioner is Mike Letti from Uganda, while the Referee is Janny Sikazwe from Zambia. 1st Assistant Referee is Jerson Emiliano Dos Santos from Angola while Zambian Bruno Tembo is 2nd Assistant and another Zambian, Stanley Hachiwa is Reserve Referee.
Sudan's Senior National Team have not beaten their Nigerian counterpart since 1967, when they edged a 1968 Olympic Games qualifier 2-1 at the same venue. But in July 2001, the Super Eagles lashed their hosts 4-0 in Khartoum's twin city, Omdurman, to virtually seal a place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals in Korea/Japan.
Harare — PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is reportedly in a dilemma over how to solve the succession crisis in Zanu PF as he finds himself caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place on whether to stick with the popular support which Vice-President Joice Mujuru has, or Emmerson Mnangagwa who controls handy instruments of cohesion.
As a result, sources said this week, Mugabe is increasingly looking beyond the two feuding prospects and may have settled for his wife Grace, who is already on an aggressive nationwide campaign trail.
Over the years, Mujuru has consistently demonstrated that she can beat Mnangagwa in Zanu PF internal elections, although the polls have always been marred by allegations of rigging, vote buying and other glaring anomalies.
In 2009 she crushed Oppah Muchinguri, who was sponsored by the Mnangagwa faction in the race for the vice-presidency, initially by nine provinces to one, before Masvingo which had nominated Muchinguri changed its stance and supported Mujuru, handing her a clean sweep.
Mujuru was influential in the party's decision to dissolve District Coordinating Committees in 2012 after Mnangagwa had gained an upper hand, before romping to a controversial victory last year in crucial provincial executive elections marred by a host of irregularities, thereby giving her firm control of structures, including the politburo and provinces going into the make-or-break December congress.
She also has the majority of members in the central committee.
The Mujuru faction also beat the Mnangagwa faction in Zanu PF's primary elections ahead of last year's general elections, resulting in the group having the larger representation in parliament.
A senior Zanu PF official said that Mujuru enjoys the popular support is undisputable, although Mnangagwa has close association with an influential military clique, which could be crucial in determining how the Zanu PF succession matrix is resolved.
"For Mugabe, popular support is important and he is aware that Mujuru enjoys it. Mnangagwa does not have popular support and Mugabe is not so sure he would beat (opposition MDC-T president) Morgan Tsvangirai in an election. Mnangagwa though, unlike Mujuru, is close to the security establishment, having spent many years presiding over security ministries and has particularly good relations with the commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General Constantine Chiwenga," said a senior Zanu PF official.
"This (relations with the security establishment) is also very important to Mugabe. Ideally he would have preferred someone who enjoys both the popular support and military support. He is now caught up between the popular candidate internally (Mujuru) and the Zanu PF strongman (Mnangagwa), but crucially none of the two has all the attributes he prefers. Hence his wife Grace's emergence on the political scene."
Mujuru and Mnangagwa have been in cabinet since Independence in 1980. Mnangagwa was the country's first State Security minister, a position he held between 1980 and 1988. He used the time to forge a close relationship with the intelligence services.
He also served as Minister of Defence during the inclusive government era, which drew him closer to hardline military commanders. Even as Justice minister in the late 1990s, Mnangagwa had good relations with the military establishment and worked with them during the Democratic Republic of Congo war.
Mnangagwa has always had close relations with Mugabe. He has acted as Mugabe's chief election agent in several elections. Before that he was his personal aide during the liberation struggle.
Despite falling out with late retired General Solomon Mujuru, Mugabe is reportedly grateful to the Mujurus for helping him ascend to the helm of Zanu PF during the liberation war.
"Although he has not publicly stated his position, Mugabe seems to have taken the position that his wife could be a viable alternative candidate. She lacks popular support and appeal, but her 'meet-the-people' rallies are meant to precisely address that," said an official.
"If she manages to rally people behind her and manages to secure the vice-presidency, the plan would be that he teaches her the ropes while helping her to consolidate power and bring the state apparatus on her side before leaving her on the throne."
Grace, recently conferred with a doctorate by the University of Zimbabwe under controversial circumstance, is on a mission to build her national profile and appeal to the grassroots through her "meet-the-people" tour, which her critics believe are in fact thinly-veiled campaign rallies ahead of the congress in violation of politburo resolution.
The First Lady has also met members of the Women's League, Youth League, chiefs and church leaders as part of her efforts to reach out to the people.
At least 26 members of the Berom ethnic nationality have been killed in multiple attacks on their villages in the last one week, the national leadership of the Berom Youth Movement, BYM, has said.
The national caretaker chairman of the ethnic group association, Rwang Dantong, made the disclosure on Friday evening at the Nigeria Union of Journalists press centre in Jos, while reacting to the renewed attacks in Riyom Local Government Area.
"Berom People from Riyom Local Government Area have lost 26 of our people in series of attacks in seven consecutive days between last Thursday, 2nd October and 10th October 2014," Mr. Dantong said.
He said most victims were children, the aged and women, mostly pregnant. The group accused Fulani herdsmen of having perpetrated the killings.
He named the affected villages to include Law, Shonong, Fang, Dum, Chenengye, Rakweng, Diyan, Rachi and Sharubutu in Bachi District of Riyom local government area of plateau state."
According to Mr. Dantong, farm produce which were ready for harvest were destroyed, with over one hundred houses set ablaze during the attacks.
The group threatened to avenge the death of its people if nothing was done to prevent further killings.
"The National leadership of Berom Youth Movement (BYM) has condemned in strong terms the persistent and systematic attacks on our people, this is an open declaration of war on our people for no justifiable reasons," Mr. Dantang said.
He called on government at all levels to intervene in the attacks to prevent further loss of lives of its members. The group said the number of security men posted to their villages were insufficient, hence the need for armed security men.
Cameroon's Communication Minister, Issa Bakary, on Friday said he was surprised by the news that some hostages kidnapped by Boko Haram militants in Northern Cameroon were released as reported by a news website.
"You are the first to give me that information," the minister said.
According to the report, Boko Haram militants have released the wife of Cameroonian Deputy Prime Minister, Amadou Ali, 10 Chinese workers and district heads who were kidnapped in different attacks.
The Chinese workers were found missing and believed to be taken by the Nigerian Islamist rebels on May 16 after an attack at a Chinese work site in northern Cameroon.
The wife of Amadou Ali was also believed to be kidnapped on July 27 by Boko Haram militants in Kolofata but the group did not claim responsibility.
Cameroonian President Paul Biya in August strengthened military operations in the far north Region to fight against Boko Haram militants. - Xinhua/NAN
Cameroon's presidency says 27 hostages kidnapped by suspected militants of the Islamist group Boko Haram have been released.
It said 10 Chinese workers were among those freed.
Twenty-seven people taken hostage in two incidents earlier this year by suspected members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in Cameroon have been released, Cameroon's presidency said on Saturday.
"The 27 hostages kidnapped on May 16, 2014, at Waza and on July 27, 2014, at Kolofata were given this night to Cameroonian authorities," President Paul Biya said in a statement read on state radio, adding that all were safe.
Biya said that the released hostages included ten Chinese workers taken in the May kidnapping, and the wife of Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali, who was abducted in July along with several others.
He gave no further details.
The group Boko Haram has killed and abducted hundreds of people this year in northeastern Nigeria as part of a self-declared drive to establish an Islamic state.
The militants drew increased international attention after their kidnapping of some 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in April, whose whereabouts remains unknown.
The fighters have also carried out numerous cross-border attacks into Cameroon, leading the government to deploy troops to its northern regions as part of international efforts to combat the group.
tj/msh (AFP, Reuters)
African Union and Somali soldiers are continuing to drive back the Islamist militia al-Shabab. Nevertheless, a durable peace is still not in sight in this country torn apart by decades of civil war.
The forces of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) are reporting one success after the other. On Wednesday (08.10.2014) the commanders announced that Kenyan and Somali government soldiers had "liberated" the southern Somali city of Bula-Gaduud. Only four days earlier, they had taken the port city of Barawe, thereby depriving the Islamist militia al-Shabab of its last base on the coast.
Al-Shabab militants, who only two years ago controlled a broad swathe of Somalia, have been retreating from more than 20,000 advancing AMISOM troops as well as Somali government soldiers, whom the German army is helping to train. In early September a US drone killed al-Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane.
Al-Shabab's supply line cut off
The recent setbacks may have dealt the militia a decisive blow, the Somali journalist and analyst Mohamed Omar told DW. Although al-Shabab still had other places of refuge in the interior of the country, the loss of Barawe deprived the militants of their most important source of revenue, Omar explained.
The city was a commercial hub which brought the Islamists considerable tax revenue. The export of locally produced charcoal via Barawe's small port was deemed to be an especially lucrative source of income. Moreover, al-Shabab used the port to obtain arms, ammunition and food.
Situation improves for civilian population
According to Omar, the civilian population welcomes the soldiers' advance, because the Islamist militia imposed a very strict and therefore unpopular religious regime on the areas under its control.
For the population, the situation had improved noticeably, the German-Somali political scientist and author Abdirizak Sheikh confirmed. This was particularly true for the capital, Mogadishu.
"But the security situation remains precarious," he warned. The military victories against al-Shabab, Sheikh said, glossed over the fact that the violence in Somalia was not simply going to disappear along with the Islamist organization.
This was because al-Shabab did not consist of foreign jihadists, but of members of various domestic clans. These clans, which included some very powerful families, make up the basic structure of Somali society.
Even if al-Shabab was to fall apart as an organization, the clans would by no means lay down their arms, Sheikh stressed. Instead, they would continue to use force to fight for their particular interests. "As long as the large clans are not disarmed, there will be no peace in Somalia," he said.
Sheikh criticized that neither the Somali army nor foreign troops were currently disarming people. "These clans with their militias are even represented in the government and in parliament," Sheikh said.
Al-Shabab has been weakened, but not defeated
Therefore, the government was often not acting in the interest of all Somalis but in that of the large clans.
As evidence of the influence exerted by the heads of these clans, some of whom are allied to al-Shabab, Sheikh cites the case of Hassan Dahir Aweys. The former spiritual leader of al-Shabab was arrested over a year ago. But to this day, he is staying at a hotel in Mogadishu. His influential family is preventing him from being put on trial.
Without meaning to, Western supporters of Somali security forces were even arming various militias in the country, Sheikh said. The government was paying its soldiers very little, and irregularly, too. So many of the soldiers trained by the European training mission, EUTM, defected straight to their respective clan's militia - and some to al-Shabab - taking all their freshly acquired skills with them.
New York — Ali Sahel, the Algerian National Association for Youth Exchange (ANEJ), called in his speech Tuesday before the UN Fourth Committee, Special Political and Decolonization, for a solution to the question of Western Sahara.
Mr. Sahel said "the hopes prompted by the ceasefire turned out to be an illusion and the insurrection of 2010 along with other demonstrations had been repressed with bloodshed and abuse measures like torture by the Moroccan authorities."
"There had been a significant drop in employment among the Saharan youth, ninety per cent left school after primary education, they took refuge in the deserts because of persecution, and were subjected to other precarious situations, all because the Moroccan occupation starved and terrorized them."
"That policy also aimed to implant occupation in the minds of the young people and to kill any hope of a peaceful solution," he added.
Copyright © 2014 Sahara Press Service. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. AllAfrica publishes around 2,000 reports a day from more than 130 news organizations and over 200 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.Monrovia/Freetown/Kenema — Maternal and infant deaths in Liberia and Sierra Leone are set to rise above their current alarming rates as fear of Ebola keeps pregnant women away from hospitals and makes already-scarce health workers reluctant to deliver babies.
"At the beginning of the outbreak, health service staff were the ones getting Ebola - many of them were dying. And they had no facilities to help sufferers. People grew terrified and when news spread, everyone got scared," said the head of maternal health for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Sierra Leone, Augustin Kabano. "Some centres have just two or three staff so if one dies, the whole system shuts down."
Liberia and Sierra Leone already have some of the world's worst maternal and infant death rates though they are better than they were: In 2010 some 890 women in Sierra Leone died per 100,000 live births, down from 2,000 ten years earlier. In Liberia 770 per 100,000 died in 2010, down from 1,100 in 2005, according to UNICEF. The improvements are linked to the introduction of free health care to pregnant, birthing and lactating women in public health facilities. Both countries had also upped the number of births attended by a health professional to 63 percent in Sierra Leone in 2012, and 46 percent in Liberia.
But when Ebola broke out in Sierra Leone in May, and Liberia in August, the number of births attended by a health professional in Liberia dropped from 52 percent to 38 percent, while the number of women in Sierra Leone attending hospitals and health centres to give birth has dropped by 30 percent, according to the countries' respective Health Management Information Systems. These attendance rates will increase maternal and infant death rates, said Kabano, though the extent of this will probably only become clear once studies take place (such as the government-UNICEF comprehensive health indicator study to be rolled out in Sierra Leone in 2015).
Fear on the part of health workers, combined with a shortage of midwives or doctors available to deliver babies, led to the death of expectant Fatumatta Fofana, a mother of five from Bushrod Island, a slum neighbourhood in Monrovia, according to her brother Mohammed Sheriff.
Fofana was turned away from her local clinic because there was no nurse or doctor available. She tried Redemption and JFK hospitals, but they, too, were closed because the government had temporarily shut down all state hospitals amid mass health worker deaths. Fofana finally turned to a small clinic called Muslim Clinic, but its administrator Alieu Konneh said he could not find a doctor who would come to help her deliver. Fofana died a few hours later and her baby did not survive.
Sheriff blames the government: "My sister get four children. I believe when the clinic was open, she could give birth easily but because government closed all the clinics, so she could not make it. I blame the government the way she died."
JFK hospital has since reopened its maternity ward but only for patients receiving pre-natal care, as staff are too afraid to treat women in labour who may be Ebola-positive, said a doctor who preferred anonymity.
High doctors' fees
Doctors are also charging extortionate fees to women to give birth - not a new practice, but the fee has gone up, said a doctor who asked to remain unnamed, linked to the associated risk of a potential Ebola-positive birth.
When Comfort Fayiah, from Monrovia's Paynesville neighbourhood, went to Benson hospital, which is run by the Ministry of Health in Monrovia to give birth, doctors there demanded US$400 to deliver her baby but she did not have the money and was forced to give birth on the floor of a makeshift church a few yards from the hospital, with no one but the church's pastor, Mother Reeves, to help her. She birthed twin girls and called them Mercy and Faith.
Chiemelie Ezeobi An undisclosed number of inmates were yesterday feared dead and several others left with varying degrees of injuries following an attempted jail break at the Kirirkiri Medium Prison, Apapa area of Lagos.
Although the circumstances leading to the incident were unclear, the attempted jail break occurred about 4pm when some of the inmates attempted to overpower the prison officials and scale the huge gates.
According to an eyewitness account, the stillness of the afternoon was broken by sporadic sounds of gunshots and screams from inside the prison.
Sources inside the prison told THISDAY that most of the inmates were forced into their rooms and a secure lockdown done to prevent those inside from assisting the jail breakers to overpower the prison officials.
Immediately the fracas ensued, some of the armed security personnel stationed outside the prison with well trained sniffer dogs were deployed inside while others remained at alert outside.
To quell the situation, personnel of the Nigerian Navy (NN), Navy Town, and the Kirikiri Police Station were said to have been called in to assist the men of the Nigerian Prison Service safeguard the massive gates of the prison.
When contacted, the Lagos State Police Command Prison Public Relations Officer, Biyi Jeje, he claimed ignorance and promised to find out.
Subsequent attempts to reach him again proved abortive as he neither picked the calls nor replied the text message also sent to his phone.
However, security personnel who spoke on strict conditions of anonymity told THISDAY that no inmate was shot; rather the gunshots were to deter them from successfully executing their plans.
He said, "We were called in after the situation began. We did not shoot anyone dead rather the shots were to deter them from succeeding. It is true however that some of them sustained bodily injuries.
"But that could not be prevented because we were forced to use show of force to quell the situation. This was because those that were not even in the know of the plot tried to take advantage of the chaos and escape.
"With the help of sister services, the situation is now calm and peace has been restored but we are still stationed there and we are at high alert. The injured will be treated accordingly."
Ejike Ejike — Oct 9, 2014 |
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has described the bribery allegation against some of its officials over the Gbaran Ubie Gas Project in Bayelsa State as a calculated attempt to deceive the public.
A statement sent to LEADERSHIP by the commission, signed by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren said, “The attention of the EFCC has been drawn to a report which was widely syndicated in the newspapers and online media on Monday, October 6, 2014, alleging the involvement of officials of the commission in a bribery scandal over the Gbaran Ubie Gas Project in Bayelsa State.
“The commission is constrained to respond in the interest of readers who might have been misled by the sponsored story.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no truth in the claim by Chidi David Adebanya that officials of the commission demanded gratification from him to throw out the case, as it is inconceivable that any official of the commission would ask for a bribe, let alone promising to make returns to the attorney general and minister of justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke. This is preposterous! According to Adebanya, the bribes were demanded in 2011. The important question is, why has it taken him three solid years to go public with the allegation?”
The statement added, “The reality is that nothing of such happened. The contrivance is a ploy to discredit the case instituted by the EFCC against Adebanya. The petitioner is currently standing trial before the Federal High Court, Abuja on charges of obtaining money under false pretences.
“He allegedly used his position as Interface Manager for Shell to extort his employer through a phony consultancy in connivance with officials of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Urban Development.”
“He allegedly awarded himself a consultancy contract using his company “Forstech” being run by his girlfriend, Uzoma Ibe, an accomplice. The “team” milked Shell of N1.9billion in consultancy charges for the Gbaran Ubie gas project.”
The statement further said that rather than prove his innocence in court, Adebanya resorted to self-help by petitioning the House of Representatives and seeking to scandalise the EFCC through spurious allegations.
Ankeli Emmanuel — Oct 9, 2014 |
No fewer than 68 persons were involved in auto crashes in Sokoto State within the four days of the festive Sallah period, Federal Roads Safety Commission ( FRSC), Sokoto State sector commander, Mr Kuteb Takum has said.
The commander who disclosed that, four persons died, while 48 others sustained various degree of injuries between October 4th and 8th, however, added that, some have been treated and discharged, while others are still receiving treatment at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto and Sokoto Specialists Hospital.
Giving vivid account of the incidents, the sector commander hinted that the first two accidents that led to the death of one person happened along Sokoto – Gusau road on October 6.
Osa Okhomina — Oct 9, 2014 |
Authorities of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) code-named ‘Operation Pulo Shield’ yesterday declared victory in the security actions against illegal crude oil bunkering, oil theft and violent crimes along the waterways and creeks of Niger Delta.
According to the JTF, the security actions launched by the JTF in the coastal communities, hideouts of sea pirates and kidnappers and illegal bunkering sites have led to the arrest of suspected sea pirates and 22 illegal bunkering vessels involved in crude oil theft.
The commander of the JTF, Major General Emmanuel Atewe, while speaking during a call on him by the new Air Force Officer Commanding the Mobility Command of the Nigerian Air Force, Yenagoa, Air Vice Marshal Umar Omeiza, said the outfit had made tremendous inroads into the nefarious activities of illegal bunkerers, sea pirates and other vices in the region.
According to him, the JTF is working in partnership with other security agencies to make the waterways free of criminals before the end of the year.
Commander Atewe added that recently, the force arrested sea pirates who are presently undergoing interrogation and confirmed that about 22 illegal oil bunkering vessels have been arrested. He hinged the successes recorded on the cooperation of the security agencies attached to the outfit.
On the preparedness of the JTF for the 2015 general elections in the region, Major General Atewe allayed fears of insecurity in the creeks of the oil rich Niger Delta region, saying that the outfit with other security agencies are fully prepared to ensure hitch-free elections.
Banyana Banyana arrived safely in Windhoek for the 2014 African Women's Championship exuding high spirits and raring to go.
The team will be based at Safari Lodge in Windhoek for the duration of the tournament. They held their first training session in Namibia yesterday afternoon.
Banyana Banyana take-on Cameroon in the opening match of group B on Sunday, 12 October at the Independence Stadium.
"The team has settled well in Windhoek and we are looking forward to our opening game against Cameroon on Sunday, the ladies are excited. All the preparations we have been doing for the past nine weeks should result in good outcomes, starting with the match on Sunday," said Janine Van Wyk, Banyana Banyana captain.
Vera Pauw's charges are ready for a tough encounter at this year's tournament which will also be used as a World Cup qualifier. They are in the same group as their nemesis Ghana, together with Algeria.
Sasol Banyana Banyana went on a seven match unbeaten streak in their preparation friendly matches against neighbours Botswana, Tanzania, Cote d I'voire, Zambia and tournament hosts Namibia.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to explain to Nigerians what Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo was doing on the plane that illegally ferried US$9.3million to South Africa, where Asari-Dokubo, another Nigerian and an Israeli were said to have been arrested.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said since the federal government has taken ownership of the funds by saying the national security adviser (NSA) issued the end-user certificate for the arms purchase, the same government ought to know the involvement of all those aboard the plane.
It said that the federal government has a lot of questions to answer on the whole deal, including whether Asari-Dokubo is the contractor or the end user, who he was procuring arms for and for what purpose.
APC said the questions became pertinent because even the NSA, who issued the end-user agreement for the purchase, does not and cannot purchase arms for any of the armed services.
“The service chiefs have separate budgets from the NSA for arms purchase. Under our Constitution, the NSA is an adviser and has no executive powers to deploy troops from any of the services or purchase arms for them.
“That the arms purported to be purchased from South Africa were ordered from the office of the NSA is nothing but a mere fabrication, and raises serious questions about the motive for the purchase.
“Nigerians will, therefore, like to know on whose behalf Asari-Dokubo was purchasing arms. This is very crucial because Asari-Dokubo has been threatening that Nigeria will not know peace if his benefactor, President Jonathan, is not re-elected. Therefore, Nigerians will like to know whether he has started stockpiling arms to make his threat a reality, since elections are due in a few months’ time.
“If these arms are meant to fight insurgency as the government has claimed, what is Asari-Dokubo’s business purchasing arms for the Nigerian military, if indeed they were for the military? Did it not occur to the Nigerian government that this man who once took arms against the state may not have jettisoned his sinister plan against the same state? Which country will ever allow a man who once carried arms against the state to now be purchasing arms for the same state? Even if it is true that he is purchasing the arms for the state, what prevents him from also using the opportunity to purchase arms for his own sinister motive? Could this be why Asari-Dokubo has been talking publicly and confidently, without official censure, that President Jonathan must be re-elected or Nigeria will not know peace again?’’ the party queried.
It further said, “In our press release on Tuesday, we again asked President Jonathan to come clean on the US$9.3 million and US$5.7 million deals. We also asked him to tell Nigerians the identity of the two Nigerians who were on the plane that illegally ferried the money to South Africa. Now that the Nigerians are known, and they are the president’s men, the story has taken a new dimension”.
APC said since those who claim to be fighting for Nigeria’s unity may actually be the ones working against it, and since those who lay claim to patriotism may actually be anything but patriotic, it is more urgent now than ever, for the National Assembly to take these cash-for-arms deals seriously, instead of dismissing the concerns of Nigerians on the basis of some rules as the House of Representatives has glibly done.
The party commended the media for keeping the story alive and for working hard to unearth the identity of the Nigerians aboard the ill-fated plane that illegally flew money into another country in violation of that country’s laws and all known tenets of decency.
It called on the media, in pursuance of its constitutional role of a watchdog, not to relent in exposing the circumstances surrounding the cash-for-arms deals, which have seriously embarrassed Nigeria in the comity of nations and which have the potential to threaten Nigeria’s unity, going by the latest revelations.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Asari-Dokubo has refuted claims that he was involved in the $9.3million arms deal in South Africa, stressing that the last time he entered South Africa was in 2002.
Asari-Dokubo was reacting to a call by the APC for the federal government to explain his presence in the plane that was impounded by the South African government.
A statement by APC’s national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, alleged that Asari was on the flight that carried the cash to South Africa.
Asari who reacted from Saudi Arabia where he is performing the 2014 Hajj said the “APC has reduced itself to a party of liars,” noting that the last time he visited South Africa was in 2002.
He said, “Can you enter any country without a visa? No person can enter any country without a visa. Presently, I am in Saudi Arabia performing my Hajj as the Amirul Hajj of Bayelsa State and this can be confirmed. I flew Flynass from Kaduna on the 27th. So, it is really a shame that Lai Mohammed who has defiled the name of Allah has become a pathological and award winning liar.
“Nobody enters any country without a visa and I have not been to South Africa since 2002. My passport is present. I flew Arik Airline from Lagos on the 27th and went to Kaduna where I flew Flynass Airline and came to Saudi Arabia.”
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Alo Abiola
Former Head of State, Gen Abdusalami Abubakar (Rtd), has pleaded with the Boko Haram insurgents to shealth their swords and dialogue with the federal government to put an end to the crisis rocking the nation.
Abubakar, whose administration returned the country to democratic rule in 1999 after his short stint as the military head of state , also advised politicians and the electorate to give peace a chance and be law abiding before, during and after the 2015 general elections.
He made the plea yesterday in Ado Ekiti while commissioning the administrative block and library of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti built by Governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration.
While decrying the activities of the insurgents which has led to the death of thousands of innocent Nigerians in the northeastern part of the country the ex-military leader said, “As someone who was privileged to survive the civil war , and saw our country return to democracy, I am troubled by the challenges currently confronting our country.”
Also speaking at the event, Governor Fayemi said his administration’s huge investment in the health sector was aimed at banishing poverty from Ekiti, saying, “I have always believed in the age- long axiom that health is wealth.”
The introduction of social security scheme for the elderly according to him, was to back up to the free health mission, where over 500,000 people had benefited in the last four years, knowing full well that poor health condition could be caused by poverty.
Gen Abdusalami, who expressed sadness at the terror attack on the Nigerian nation, which he said has given the country a bad name among the comity of nations, said, “Never in history has our country been subjected to this kind of bloodletting and disrespect for the sanctity of human lives.”
Kunle Olasanmi — Oct 9, 2014 |
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) plans to hold a special public hearing on the gruesome killing of peaceful Quds protesters by soldiers, in which 34 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria including three sons of Shaikh Zakzaky were killed, and over 100 others wounded.
A statement signed by the spokesman of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim Usman and made available to newsmen said the commission told the leaders of the Islamic Movement that the public hearing is scheduled for November this year.
Chairman of the NHRC, Dr Chidi Odinkalu had during a recent visit to Shaikh Zakzaky promised to do all that is legally possible to see that justice is done and the culprits are brought to book.
Human rights groups across the world, both national and international, have expressed readiness to ensure justice is done in the extrajudicial killings of innocent people by Nigerian soldiers on July 25, 2014.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) had visited Nigeria where it conducted preliminary findings on “The Zaria Massacre and the Role of the Military”.
The commission had also last month invited Sheikh Zakzaky and another witness, Dr Musa Shu’aibu, a physician, for panel presentation but they were denied visa.
Sheikh Zakzaky and Dr Shu’aibu, however, addressed the panel via Skype, and the IHRC presented the proceedings to the UN Human Rights Group in Geneva same day.
Midat Joseph — Oct 9, 2014 |
Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero yesterday declared his gubernatorial ambition ahead of the 2015 general elections under the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Governor Yero is the first sitting governorship to declare interest in seeking for re-election in 2015.
He submitted his letter of intention to contest the governorship seat amidst thousand of party faithful including members of the House of Assembly and members of the state executive council.
Yero who was at the Kaduna State secretariat of Peoples Democratic Party to formally handover the letter to the party chairman, Abubakar Haruna said the decision to contest was informed by pressure mounted on him by people to run.
According to him, he had to accept the clarion call because of the need to consolidate on the relative peace achieved in the state under his administration.
“I can’t say no to the wishes of the people when they called on me to contest. It would be a great disservice to them”, Yero stated.
In his remarks after receiving the letter from the governor, the party chairman said the party members are happy now that he has finally signified interest to contest.
Meanwhile, Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero has finally released 50 per cent of the 2013 Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds out of the total money accrued to the 23 local government areas of the state.
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