Baghdad hit by wave of deadly car bombs

Footage shows the aftermath of the 13 rush hour blasts, as the BBC's Rafid Jabboori reports from Baghdad

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Struggle for Iraq

A series of car bomb blasts in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has killed at least 47 people and injured many more, officials say.

The blasts targeted markets and car parks in mainly Shia Muslim districts of the city.
There has been a recent upsurge in sectarian violence, sparking fears of a return to the bloodletting of 2008.
More than 5,000 people have been killed so far this year, according to United Nations data.
Monday's blasts struck during Baghdad's morning rush hour, with reports of 13 bombs, most of them in Shia neighbourhoods.
Groups of labourers gathering ahead of the working day were among the bombers' targets.
One of the deadliest attacks was reported from the eastern Sadr City district where seven people were killed and 75 injured in a crowded vegetable market.
Another six were reported killed in Shuala, a mainly Shia area of north Baghdad.
The city neighbourhoods affected also included New Baghdad, Habibiya, Sabaa al-Bour, Kazimiya, Shaab and Ur, as well as the Sunni districts of Jamiaa and Ghazaliya, the Associated Press news agency reports.
'War with terrorism'

 

Major attacks this month

• 30 September: At least 42 killed in car bombs in mainly Shia areas of Baghdad
• 21 September: At least 60 killed at funeral in Sadr City, Baghdad
• 15 September: More than 40 killed in blasts across Iraq mostly targeting Shia areas
• 3 September: At least 60 killed in mainly Shia districts of Baghdad

No-one has claimed responsibility for Monday's attacks, but Sunni Muslim insurgents have been blamed for much of the most recent violence.

The interior ministry accused rebels linked to al-Qaeda of exploiting political divisions and regional conflicts to sow violence.
"Our war with terrorism goes on," interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan told AP.
The recent upsurge in violence was triggered in April by an army raid on a Sunni Muslim anti-government protest camp near Hawija, north of Baghdad.
Many in the country's Sunni Muslim minority complain of being excluded from decision-making and of abuses by the security forces. Recent raids in Baghdad on suspected al-Qaeda hideouts in mainly Sunni districts are thought to have worsened grievances.
One of the bloodiest attacks over the past few weeks was a double bombing in a funeral marquee in Sadr City on 21 September, which left more than 60 people dead.
Several dozen people died in a wave of attacks on Sunday, including another explosion at a funeral.
A suicide bomber attacked a Shia Muslim mosque south of the city, causing the roof to collapse. More than 40 people are now known to have been killed in that incident.
Irbil, the normally stable capital of Iraq's autonomous province of Kurdistan, was hit by a series of bombings on the same day, killing six members of the security services. Officials said that violence could be linked to fighting between jihadists and Kurds in Syria.

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Kenya's Westgate siege: Number of missing reduced to 39

 

The Westgate shopping centre attack has shocked Kenya and the world

 

The Kenyan Red Cross has said the number of missing in the Westgate shopping centre attack has gone down to 39 from an earlier figure of 61.

Fourteen of the missing.....

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Date set for Popes John Paul II and John XXIII sainthood

 

 John Paul II (left) is seen as a conservative, while John XXIII is a hero for progressive Catholics

 

Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII will be declared saints on 27 April 2014, Pope Francis has announced.

The Pope said in July that he would canonise his two predecessors, after approving a second miracle attributed to John Paul.
Polish John Paul, the first non-Italian pope for more than 400 years, led the Catholic Church from 1978-2005.
Pope John was pontiff from 1958-1963, calling the Second Vatican Council that transformed the Church.
The decision to canonise the two at the same time appears designed to unify Catholics, correspondents say.
John Paul II is a favourite of conservative Catholics, while John XXIII is widely admired by the Church's progressive wing.
'The good pope' John Paul stood out for his media-friendly, globetrotting style. He was a fierce critic of communism, and is credited with helping inspire opposition to communist rule in eastern Europe.
John Paul has been on a fast track to sainthood since his death, when crowds in St Peter's Square chanted "santo subito" ("sainthood now").
During his own papacy he simplified the process by which people are made saints, and created more of them than all previous popes combined.
John XXIII is remembered for introducing the vernacular to replace Latin in church masses and for creating warmer ties between the Catholic Church and the Jewish faith.
He has a big following in Italy, where he is known as Il Papa Buono, the good pope.
The BBC's David Willey reports from Rome that Pope John was in many ways similar to Pope Francis, a humble, down-to-earth man with a fine sense of humour.
Two living popes are expected to be present at the canonisation ceremony: Francis, who will officiate, and Pope Benedict, who retired earlier this year.
The double canonisation will be the first in the Church's history.
Pope Francis approved John XXIII's canonisation despite the fact that no second miracle had been attributed to him - usually a requirement for sainthood.

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TRA deadline on Sim card tax elapses today

 

TRA Commissioner General Harry Kitilya 

  

Dar es Salaam. The 14-day ultimatum issued by the Tanzania revenue Authority (TRA) to mobile phone companies to remit the controversial Sim card tax elapses today.

The Finance Act of 2013 imposed a Sh1,000 monthly excise duty on Sim cards, to be deducted by mobile phone companies from customers and remit the same to TRA.

This did not go down well with mobile phone firms and opposition politicians. The firms have yet to start submitting the tax, which became effective on July 1.

In a letter dated September 12, TRA Commissioner General Harry Kitilya urged mobile phone companies to remit the cash that the firms were supposed to have deducted from airtime bought by their customers. If they failed to do so, he warned, the money would be collected “in line with the provisions of the law”.

Mr Kitilya also urged mobile phone firms to start remitting excise duty on money transfers at the rate of 0.15 per cent of the amount transferred for amounts more than Sh3,000.

source: The citizen

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Kenya's William Ruto trial: ICC judge warns bloggers

 

Witness 536 survived the massacre of more than 30 people in a church

 

A senior International Criminal Court (ICC) judge has warned Kenyan media and bloggers not to reveal the identity of witnesses at the trial of Deputy President William Ruto.

The first prosecution witness, who gave evidence on Tuesday, was not named.
But the BBC's Odhiambo Joseph in Nairobi says a local newspaper has published the photograph of a woman it claimed to be the witness.
Mr Ruto denies organising violence after the December 2007 elections.

He is charged with crimes against humanity over the violence, in which some 1,200 people died and 600,000 were forced from their homes.

ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has previously complained that some witnesses were being intimidated in Kenya, some of whom have withdrawn from the case.

Her first witness gave evidence from behind a curtain and with her face pixelated and voice distorted on the court video.

She is being referred to as witness 536.
Our correspondent says that, after her appearance, numerous bloggers and social media entries have published her supposed name.

Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed says President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto should not face trial

Beryl Aidi, from the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, says this may deter further witnesses from testifying.

"Now that a witness has been identified it will be difficult to assure others that they and their family members will be safe. And in Kenya, it's not just the nuclear family: There are aunts, uncles, cousins," the AFP news agency quotes her as saying.

"Witnesses are bound to feel that their family and their extended family may be in danger and might want to withdraw," she said.

The proceedings are being closely followed in Kenya.

Church attack

Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji warned that anyone revealing the identity of a protected witness could be guilty of contempt of court.

Our reporter says that the ICC does have jurisdiction in Kenya, but the situation is complicated as it would rely on political good will.

Furthermore, parliament recently voted to withdraw from the ICC, which would end the court's jurisdiction in the country.

Witness 536 broke down in court during her testimony on Tuesday.
She is said to have survived the attack on the Kiambaa Church in which about 36 people were burnt to death.

She is a member of the Kikuyu ethnic group, who were targeted by Mr Ruto's Kalenjin community, allegedly at his behest.

Mr Ruto is the first serving official to appear at the ICC.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is due to start his trial in November - he too denies the charges.

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Govt cracks down on Chinese ambassador

 

In hot water: Chinese ambassador Lu Youqing with CCM secretary-general Abdulrahman Kinana during a CCM rally in Kishapu, Shinyanga Region, last week.

 

Dar es Salaam. The government has taken yet-to-be-named diplomatic action against the Chinese ambassador, Lu Youqing, for attending and speaking at political events organised by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi in Shinyanga last week.

A statement from the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the Chinese ambassador crossed the line and breached article 41(1) of the Vienna Convention of 1961, which requires that foreign diplomats keep off the domestic affairs of their host countries, political events included.

“The Diplomatic and Consular Immunities and Privileges Act that was enacted by the Tanzania Parliament in 1986 also bans diplomats from getting involved in local politics,” said the statement issued by Senior Information Officer Ally Mkumbwa.

Diplomacy and international relations experts said the ministry most likely sent a protest note to the Chinese government and the United Nations. “It is the Chinese government that will decide what to do with the envoy,” said Dr Kitojo Wetengere, a lecturer at the Centre for Foreign Relations. “They might send him back to China or punish him otherwise.”

According to the Foreign Affairs ministry, Mr Lu was not the first to cross the line. Similar incidents reportedly took place between 2010 and 2012 and “appropriate” diplomatic steps were taken. Those envoys have not been named and neither have the steps taken against them been made public. There were complaints last year, though, that some foreign envoys were funding the political activities of some opposition parties. The government’s move came just a day after the main opposition party, Chadema, said it had sent a protest to the United Nations.

Addressing journalists at the party’s offices in Dar es Salaam on Monday, Chadema Director of Foreign Affairs Ezekiel Wenje said the diplomat intentionally violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations which bars diplomats from engaging in partisan politics in host countries.

“Chadema will write protest letters to the Tanzanian and Chinese governments, as well as the UN, seeking clarification on the matter,” Mr Wenje told reporters. “If this is not resolved, it may taint relations between the two countries.”

According to Dr Wetengere, the ambassador is the representative of his country in Tanzania, not of his party, and this makes it wrong for him to participate in local political affairs. His views were echoed by another academician from the University of Dar es Salaam, Dr Frank Tily, who also thought that Mr Lu was in the wrong since he was representing his country in a state that has more than one political parties. “His supporting CCM may give the impression that even the development projects that his country is doing in the country are in favour of CCM, which is not good,” Dr Tily said. The government is on record asking the diplomatic corps to keep off political activities on the grounds that they were working in support of Chadema.

Last week, Mr Lu accompanied CCM Secretary General Abdulraham Kinana and other party officials in a week-long tour of Shinyanga region, where they attended several functions, including commissioning a 120,000-tonne ginnery owned by a Chinese national. The Chinese envoy also attended rallies wearing the green baseball cap that is CCM’s official uniform.

CCM has maintained, though, that the Chinese envoy broke no law. Addressing an impromptu press conference at Mwandoya village in Meatu District on Monday, CCM Ideology and Publicity Secretary Nape Nnauye said the ambassador and the CCM secretary general, Mr Abdulrahman Kinana, were right to jointly inspect the projects because they are all involved parties.

He told reporters it was “amazing” that Chadema leaders were bitter about plans to resolve people’s problems, especially in cotton pricing and adding value to livestock products. He added: “Relations between CCM and the Communist Party of China go back a long way…relations between Tanzania and China have surpassed normal friendship. What is wrong if the two parties and the two countries work together for development of our people?”

According to Mr Nnauye, Chinese investment lined up for Shinyanga Region will greatly help in solving the problems of cotton farmers and pastoralists.
From: The citizen

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Integration : We will not be bulldozed,says Sitta

Minister for East African Co-operation, Samuel Sitta speaks at press conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday on ongoing operation to repatriate peoples who live illegal in Country. With hem is permanent secretary to the ministry Grace Mapunjo.  

Dar es Salaam.The emergence of the Coalition of the Willing--which comprises Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda--has sent ripples in the East African Community, with Tanzania dismissing it as an “act of isolation”.

Yesterday, the minister for East African Community Affairs, Mr Samwel Sitta, warned that the move by the three countries was against the spirit of integration and poses a threat to the future of the EAC. “We will not be bullied into fast-tracking the integration because it will not be sustainable,” Mr Sitta noted.

This is the first such strong and broad statement by Tanzania since the three countries met in Kampala in July and started planning grand regional infrastructure projects.

The leaders of the three countries met in Kenya’s coastal town of Mombasa last month and resolved to fast-track political federation. Experts then reportedly met in Kigali last week to advance negotiations on how to implement the directive of their heads of state and a committee was created to spearhead the federation process.

Mr Sitta told reporters yesterday that the move by the Coalition was discouraging and ran counter to the original integration spirit of the five-member East African Community. It is also a general and wrong interpretation of article 7(3) of the EAC protocol that allows member countries to have separate special-interest engagements, he added.

“The areas of cooperation the three countries are working on are no different from the ones we collectively discussed during the chairmanship of then-Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki,” Mr Sitta added. “If they have all of a sudden chosen to isolate us, all we can do is leave them alone and wish them well.”

Tanzania is an active member of the Southern Africa Development Co-operation (SADC), comprises South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Yesterday, Mr Sitta hinted that Tanzania might never join integration initiatives that would have been taken by the three countries without its involvement.

His statement came a few weeks after the East African Community Council of Ministers officially sought clarification on why the three countries were running a parallel integration agenda.

Early this month, the council directed its chairperson, Uganda’s EAC Affairs minister Shem Bageine, to prepare full information on the blossoming alliance between Kenya and its landlocked neighbours Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.

“The Council requested the chairperson of the council to provide more information on these developments to the Council at its 28th Meeting,” the ministers said after a meeting earlier this month.

Last week, the three countries initiated talks to introduce a single tourist visa from 2014 in order to enhance the flow of tourists across the three countries without additional fees. Infrastructure development and improvement is also on the agenda.

The three countries also want to implement a passport-free travel zone which would allow their nationals to use identity cards or voter registration cards to travel from one state to another.

But Mr Sitta yesterday accused the three countries of embarking on a “political agenda” while well aware of the fact that a committee formed to look into the subject is due to submit its report to the heads of state summit in November.

Tanzania’s position is that approaching integration matters with the kind of haste championed by Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya was a recipe for disaster and it is not ready to bow to such pressure.

The EAC secretariat has denied any divisions, saying the treaty allows members to sign pacts for implementing milestones agreed at regional level as long as there was room for others to join when ready.

But Mr Sitta noted yesterday that implementing regional transport projects such as constructing the Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali standard gauge railway without Tanzania casts doubt on the commitment of the three countries to executing similar projects that run through Tanzania such as the Isaka-Kigali railway and the Uvinza Bujumbura railway.
From: The citizen

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Netherlands Close Eight Prisons Due To Lack Of Criminals

As prison populations surge in the UK, with overcrowded cells and repeat offenders, the opposite in happening in the Netherlands.

The country is actually to close eight prisons because of a lack of criminals, the Dutch justice ministry has announced.

Declining crime rates in the Netherlands mean that although the country has the capacity for 14,000 prisoners, there are only 12,000 detainees, reported the nrc.nl.

The decrease is expected to continue, the ministry said, with Deputy justice minister Nebahat Albayrak saying that natural redundancy and other measures should counter any forced lay-offs.

A report last year on prison overcrowding said that surging populations undermined the rehabilitation of prisoners and risked increasing reoffending in the future.

The Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA), which represents more than 60 organisations, called for the government to urgently limit "the unnecessary use of prison, ensuring it is reserved for serious, persistent and violent offenders for whom no alternative sanction is appropriate".

It came after Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said the rising pressure on prisons from budget cuts and increasing numbers cannot go on indefinitely.

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Drug ship registered in Tanzania, DCI confirms

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Dar es Salaam. Police confirmed yesterday that the ship intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday with cannabis worth over Sh125 billion on board was registered in Tanzania.

The Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr Robert Manumba, told The Citizen that the MV Gold Star was indeed flying the Tanzanian flag and was registered in Zanzibar.

“We checked with the Zanzibar shipping authorities and they confirmed that the ship was a Tanzanian-flagged vessel registered in Zanzibar,” he said.

Italian customs officials intercepted the ship as it sailed off the coast of Sicily, about 60 kilometres north of Malta, following a tip-off that it was carrying a huge consignment of drugs.  Its destination could not be immediately established.

The nine people on board, said to be Egyptians and Syrians, set fire to the ship and jumped overboard as they attempted to avoid being arrested, but they  were too many kilometres  from the sea  shore and had to be plucked to safety.

Mr Manumba said Tanzanian police had given their Italian counterparts the go-ahead to search the ship to establish the type of cargo it was carrying.

“Italian police have asked for permission to search the cargo vessel since it was flying the Tanzanian flag. We gave them the go-ahead and since today is Sunday, we will be in a position to know the outcome of the search tomorrow (today),” he said.

However, reports from Italy said Italian officials had already established that the ship was carrying about 30 tonnes of hashish, an extract of the cannabis plant, worth about 50 million sterling pounds (Sh125 billion).  The cargo was loaded into the vessel in Turkey, according to Italian officials. 

A spokesman for Italian customs said: “The ship was intercepted after intelligence was received that it was carrying drugs, but we never expected such a huge consignment and for the crew to set her on fire.

“The idea was no doubt to try and destroy the evidence so that we could have no case against them but their plan failed and the fire was put out and the drugs were found during the search.

“Nine people on board jumped into the sea but they couldn’t get very far as they were several miles from shore and they had to be rescued by Italian customs officers.

“The fire is now under control and the ship is being taken to a port where it will be thoroughly searched again and the nine crew members will be questioned by prosecutors.”

Mr Gustavu Babile, head of Interpol in Tanzania, also confirmed that the ship was registered in Zanzibar.

Contacted for comment, Zanzibar’s Infrastructure and Communication minister, Mr Rashid Seif Suleiman, told The Citizen that he was not aware of the incident, and promised to make a follow-up.

The Tanzania Ports Authority website lists the ship’s areas of operations as west and southern Africa and the Far East.

According to information on the maritime-connector website, the MV Gold Star is a general cargo ship registered in Tanzania, with Zanzibar as its homeport.  Its owner is Gold Star Shipping of Marshall Islands.

The ship was built in 1975 and its International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Registration Number is 7393860.  Its Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) is 677039200.

The vessel was previously known as the MV Ibrahim Junior (until February 2011), Breogan I (until November 2006), Breogan (until March 2002), Estela del Mar (until December 1996), Inezgane (until 1996), Puerto Suances (until 1988) and Suecia (until 1985).

The interception of the ship and its huge cargo of hashish is yet another incident linking Tanzania to the international drug trade.

The government has in recent months been battling to stem the flow of drugs through Dar  es Salaam’s Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA), which has been identified as a major entry and exit point for narcotics.

Two Tanzanian women were arrested in July with a drug haul valued at about Sh7 billion upon their arrival at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport from JNIA.

Four JNIA officials were recently suspended as part of the Ministry of Transport’s crackdown on drug smuggling through Tanzania’s biggest and busiest airport.

A number of MPs last month pressured the government to name drug kingpins in Parliament, but the State refused, saying it could only do so if it had concrete evidence against the suspects.

“We should understand that the government can name the suspects only if it has concrete evidence to prosecute them,”  said the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office in charge of Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr William Lukuvi.

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Big relief for Tanzania and Rwanda

President Jakaya Kikwete meets his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in Kampala yesterday. The two leaders held talks on the sidelines of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. 

Dar es Salaam/Kampala. It was a day of great relief yesterday for Tanzania and Rwanda after Presidents Jakaya Kikwete and Paul Kagame held one-on-one talks to defuse diplomatic tensions that have sparked ripples of alarm in the two East African Community nations.

The two leaders met for just over an hour and held private talks in Uganda on the sidelines of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

Their eagerly awaited meeting was held at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort in Kampala, according to a statement released by the State House directorate of communications in Dar es Salaam.

Uganda’s permanent secretary in the ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr James Mugume, confirmed earlier that the two leaders would meet under the aegis of President Yoweri Museveni as chairman of the conference. Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda told Parliament last week that Mr Kikwete had asked President Museveni to help resolve the tensions between the two countries.

According to the State House statement, Mr Kikwete and Mr Kagame “had fruitful talks and were all satisfied”. The two presidents agreed to continue cooperating in building the “good and historical” relations between the two countries, according to the statement.

That assurance will raise the spirits of citizens of the two nations who have in the recent past lived in fear of troubled times as tension rose in Kigali and Dar es Salaam.

The crisis, triggered by President Kikwete’s appeal to Rwanda to engage FDRL rebels in talks, started in May. Mr Kikwete’s suggestion at a meeting of the Great Lakes countries, which met on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, did not go down well with Mr Kagame and other top Rwandese officials. They link the FDRL with the 1994 genocide in which over 800,000 people were killed.

The two leaders met on the heels of a fresh row after Rwanda slapped a new transport charge on Tanzanian trucks. The raising of the road toll from $152 to $500 and its timing was viewed as retaliation for the mass expulsion of thousands of Rwandese citizens from Kagera Region in an exercise to flush out illegal immigrants.

There were no further details about the tete-a-tete but sources indicated that the two leaders were prevailed upon by their colleagues to end hostilities and instead build on their strengths. Other presidents attending the conference are Salva Kiir of South Sudan and Joseph Kabila of DR-Congo. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is also a member but did not attend as he was hosting Nigerian counterpart Goodluck Jonathan in Nairobi.

Tanzania and Rwanda are key players in the search for peace in the region and all players are keen to ensure they cooperate and remain within the fold. “When you are the chairman, you take responsibility to ensure that all the parties are happy, that you are able to generate consensus and move forward,” Mr Mugume told the Daily Monitor shortly before the presidents went into a closed-door meeting. “We are all members of the Great Lakes Region. What we are trying to do is resolve the issues so that we can get back on track.”

Mr Kagame arrived in Kampala on Wednesday night while Mr Kikwete and his entourage arrived yesterday morning from Dodoma.
source: The Citizen

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Chadema, CUF MPs stage Bunge walkout

 

 

Dodoma. Chadema and CUF legislators yesterday walked out of Parliament’s debating chamber in protest at the tabling of the Constitutional Review (Amendment) Bill, 2013.

The walkout followed fierce debate on what opposition lawmakers said was improper collection of views on the Bill.

They said the exercise marginalised stakeholders from Zanzibar, which is part of the Union.

The walkout paralysed House business for more than five minutes. CCM MPs mocked their opposition counterparts as they were leaving the debating chamber.

Earlier, Opposition Chief Whip Tundu Lissu said the Bill could lead to a “constitutional deadlock” since its preparations did not involve stakeholders from Zanzibar. He said Zanzibaris did not get an opportunity to air views on the matter.

“This Bill is what we expect to produce new Constitution...since it lacks the views a union partner, the envisaged Constitution will not be complete and will not ensure equality among us,” he said.

Mr Habib Mohammed Mnyaa (Mkanyageni-CUF) sought the Speaker’s guidance about the unequal involvement of stakeholders in providing views.

“I request you to order the withdrawal of this Bill because it is not fair for the Zanzibar side,” he appealed.Mr Khatib Said Haji (Konde-CUF) said he had received a threatening message on a piece of paper reading, “Today you are supporting Tundu Lissu, we will deal with you.”

He and other MPs from both Chadema and CUF then stood up and walked out of the debating chamber.
The citizen

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Kikwete, Kagame come face to face in Kampala

 

 

Dar/Kampala.
President Jakaya Kikwete and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame come face to face today in Uganda in their first encounter since the raging diplomatic wrangle between their countries began. They will converge in Kampala for an international conference on the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will host the 7th Extraordinary Summit on security in Eastern DRC at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort. But Mr Kikwete and Mr Kagame are likely to steal the headlines at the conference with their encounter coming at a time when the stand-off is at its peak.

The tension between the two countries started in May and was triggered by President Kikwete’s appeal to Rwanda to engage FDRL rebels in talks. Mr Kikwete’s suggestion at a meeting of the Great Lakes countries, which met on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, did not go down well with Mr Kagame and other top Rwandese officials. They link the FDRL with the 1994 genocide in which over 800,000 people were killed.

Significantly, too, the two leaders are meeting on the heels of a fresh row after Rwanda slapped a new transport charge on Tanzanian trucks. The rise of the road toll fee from $152 to $500 is seen as retaliation for the mass expulsion of thousands of Rwandese citizens from Kagera Region in an exercise to flush out illegal immigrants.

Mr Salva Rweyemamu, the director of communication at State House, confirmed yesterday that President Kikwete would travel to Uganda this morning. Uganda’s government-owned New Vision reported last evening that Mr Kagame was due in Kampala last night. Mr Rweyemamu said he would not speculate on Mr Kagame’s presence or his meeting with Mr Kikwete.

Last week, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said in Parliament that Mr Kikwete had asked President Museveni to play the role of mediator on the sour relations with Rwanda. Mr Pinda spoke after the Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament, Mr Freeman Mbowe, demanded to know what steps the government was taking to normalise relations with Rwanda.

Mr Mbowe, who is also the Hai MP, claimed that Rwanda had convinced other EAC member states to sideline Tanzania. He pointed to recent tripartite meetings between Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda on infrastructure, immigration and political federation.

Mr Pinda, who said Rwanda had over-reacted, told Parliament that President Kikwete had reached out to Mr Museveni to ensure that matters did not deteriorate further. He added, however, that Tanzania does not believe it is being sidelined on EAC matters.

Efforts to establish whether President Museveni would reconcile the two leaders proved futile as members of the delegations kept their cards close to their chest. But University of Dar es Salaam political science lecturer Bashiru Ally said there was a likelihood that Mr Kikwete and Mr Kagame would use the opportunity to iron out their differences.

“It is important that they meet for the good of their nations and the EAC region at large,” Mr Ally said. “The two countries’ interests are intertwined, so let us hope they will come out of Uganda with good news.”

The DRC Summit was preceded by parallel meetings of regional ministers of defence and a regional inter-ministerial committee comprising ministers of foreign affairs from member states.

Members of the International Conference on Great Lakes Region include Tanzania, Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan and Zambia.
source: the citizen

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Man swallowed Sh76m cocaine haul, court told

Pedro Alfredo Chongo hides his face under a scarf as he is escorted out of the High Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday after the drug trafficking case against him was adjourned. 

Dar es Salaam. A man swallowed cocaine with a street value of Sh76 million and smuggled it into Tanzania from Brazil, the High Court heard yesterday.

Pedro Alfredo Chongo, alias Salum Shaaban, had 90 pellets of cocaine in his stomach when he was arrested at Julius Nyerere International Airport, shortly after arriving on a Qatar Airways flight on April 4, 2011, State Attorney Veronica Matikila told Lady Justice Grace Mwakipesile.

She said the accused defecated the pellets on 13 occasions over five days.

Chongo developed serious abdominal complications after passing 65 pellets in a police cell at JNIA and was rushed to Muhimbili National Hospital, where he released 25 pellets.

“A day after his arrest he began complaining of severe stomach pains. Police took him to Muhimbili Hospital, where he passed more pellets,” Ms Matikila told the court.

Chongo was discharged from hospital after doctors confirmed that he no longer had drugs in his stomach. A sample of the substance passed by Chongo was taken to the Chief Government Chemist for analysis, and it was confirmed to be cocaine.

The accused was later questioned by officers from the Police Anti-Drugs Unit, and confessed to drug trafficking, the court heard.

But Chongo, a resident of Magomeni Mikumi, Dar es Salaam, denied trafficking in drugs and disowned forms allegedly signed by him, police and independent witnesses whenever he passed pellets of cocaine.

Chongo was travelling on a Mozambican passport when he was arrested. The document, issued in Mozambique, was tendered in court as an exhibit.

The prosecution has lined up 16 witnesses, while the defence has called up four.

The trial case is among nine high-profile drug cases the High Court started hearing in Dar es Salaam yesterday. It is a record number of drug cases to be heard in a single High Court session.

Observers view this as a move by the Judiciary to fend off accusations that it has been dragging its feet in the war on drugs.

In another development, the High Court yesterday issued a warrant for the arrest of two Pakistanis who jumped bail and fled the country after they were charged with trafficking in heroin with a street value of Sh6.2 billion.

Lady Justice Mwakipesile also ordered that the fugitive’s sureties present themselves before the court and explain the whereabouts of Abdul Ghan Peer Bux and Shahbaz Malik.

They were arrested in 2010 along with Tanzanians Fred William Chande and Kambi Zubeir Seif, who were present in court yesterday.

Those who stood surety for the fugitives were Mr Mohamed Bahishi Mr Nazar Mohamed Nuru, both residents of Dar es Salaam.

The case had come for preliminary hearing yesterday when Lady Justice Mwakipesile sought to know where the other two accused were. Their lawyer, Mr Yasin Memba, told the court he had no information on their whereabouts.

State Attorney Theophil Mutakyawa said the two had violated bail conditions by not appearing before the court.

“I view of this, the State requests that a warrant for the arrest of the two accused who jumped bail be issued,” he said. The case was adjourned to a date to be set by district registrar of the High Court.

The four were allegedly arrested in 2010 with 180 kilogrammes of heroin and subsequently charged with drug trafficking.

High Court Judge Upendo Msuya later granted a request for bail by the accused’s lawyers.

The decision sparked an outcry by anti-drugs activists. A number of MPs demanded an explanation in Parliament as to why the accused were released on bail despite the offence they had been charged with not being bailable.

Section 148 (5) (a) (ii) of the Criminal Procedure Code forbids the granting of bail to people charged with drug trafficking.

The Director of Public Prosecutions challenged the decision in the Court of Appeal, saying it was contrary to the law.
 However, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision on the grounds that the prosecution had not stated the value of the drugs and that the charge sheet was defective because the nationality of the accused was not mentioned.

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250,000 to get power in Sh881bn project

 

Rural Energy Agency (REA) Board Chairman, Ambassador, Ami Mpungwe speaks with Drem Electrics Ltd, business development manager Bridge Temba, in Dar es Salaam yesterday,  after the signing of memorandum of understanding for power supply in rural.

 

Dar es Salaam. The Rural Energy Agency (REA) yesterday signed contracts worth Sh881 billion to supply power to 250,000 rural households in Tanzania Mainland by mid 2015.

The agreements, signed with various companies, will involve the distribution of electricity in 13 districts and construction of power distribution points in six districts in the second phase of the Rural Electrification Project.

REA acting director general George Nchwali said a big chunk of the money had been sourced locally, while Norway and Sweden would give Sh50 billion.

Four local and five foreign energy contractors signed a memorandum of understanding with REA to undertake the projects.

Mr Nchwali said the firms were picked through competitive bidding.

The chairman of the REA board of directors, Mr Ami Mpungwe, said seven per cent of rural dwellers had been provided with electricity since the authority became operational in October 2007.

“Five years ago, only two per cent of rural residents had electricity, but it is now seven per cent and counting,” he said.

Mr Mpungwe urged local companies to research on various energy sources, saying REA had the money needed for the construction of infrastructure and connection of power to rural residents.

“We have the required financial resources...it is up to you to find ways to turn this money into power for people living in rural areas.”

Mr Mpungwe called for the active participation of the private sector, noting that the government was ready to provide funds.

“The government alone cannot succeed in this...the private sector’s participation is crucial. We need to work together,” he said.

Mr Nchwali said the second phase would be implemented in 14 regions after firms that bid for contracts in 10 other regions failed to meet conditions stipulated by the Public Procurement Act.

“We have floated tenders afresh and will open the bids on October 2, this year,” he said, adding that the second phase would be implemented over two years.

The government plans to have 30 per cent of rural residents provided with power by the end of 2015.

The first phase began in the 2010/11 financial year and is being implemented in 16 regions at the cost of Sh130 billion. Work being undertaken includes the construction of 1,800 kilometres of 33kV power lines.

Mr Nchwali said 1,000 kilometres of distribution lines would constructed in the first phase which ends in December.

He added that 24,000 households, businesses and institution would be provided with electricity in the first phase. The second phase will entail the distribution of power in Buhigwe, Busega, Chemba, Itilima, Kakonko, Kalambo, Kyerwa, Mkalama, Mlele, Momba, Nyasa, Nanyumbu and Uvinza districts.

Power distribution points will be constructed in Tunduru, Mbinga, Ngara, Kigoma, Kasulu and Kibondo districts.

The project will be jointly overseen by REA and Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco), which will own the infrastructure.

source: the citizen

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Egypt to try ex-President Morsi for inciting murder

 

Supporters of Mr Morsi have kept up the pressure for him to be reinstated

 

Egypt's state prosecutor says he has referred ousted President Mohammed Morsi for trial on charges of inciting the murder of protesters.

The accusations relate to violence outside the presidential palace in Cairo last December when at least seven people were killed in clashes.
Fourteen other members of the Muslim Brotherhood are to stand trial on the same charges.
Mr Morsi has been held at a secret location since he was deposed in July.
He faces a number of charges but this case is his first referral for trial.
Since he was ousted from power, the military-backed interim government has cracked down on Brotherhood supporters, who are demanding Mr Morsi's reinstatement.
Last month, hundreds of protesters died when security forces stormed pro-Morsi camps in the capital.
'Palace' case The state prosecutor referred the former president for trial late on Sunday, Egypt's state media reported.
They said he would go on trial on charges of "incitement to murder and violence" in December 2012.

 

 Morsi supporters tore down tents set up by protesters outside the palace on 5 December 2012

The date for the trial is yet to be announced.
The case relates to clashes outside the presidential palace in early December 2012.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators had rallied outside the building on the night of 4 December and the following day in protest at what they described as Mr Morsi's illegal decrees giving him sweeping powers and also his drive to change the country's constitution.
On Sunday, state media said an investigation revealed that Mr Morsi had asked the Republican Guard and the minister in charge of police to break up the protesters' sit-in, but they had refused to obey the order.
Mr Morsi's aides are then alleged to have called their supporters to deal with the demonstrators.
At least seven people died in the clashes and hundreds more were injured.
Mr Morsi's supporters say they were defending the palace after being attacked by opposition activists.
Among the other 14 suspects due to go on trial with the ousted president are leading figures in the Brotherhood's political wing, Mohammed al-Beltagi and Essam El-Erian.
Mr Morsi has previously been accused of the "premeditated murder of some prisoners, officers and soldiers" when he and several Muslim Brotherhood leaders were freed during a breakout at a Cairo prison in January 2011.
He is also alleged to have plotted attacks on jails in the uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak and of conspiring with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

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New bank charge to start

 

Dar es Salaam. The burden of a failed consensus between the Tanzania Bankers Association (TBA) and the ministry of Finance on the newly imposed excise duty on money transfers through banks now falls into the hands of customers.

From September this year, banks will start charging their customers the 0.15 per cent excise duty on all money transfers for the amount exceeding Sh30,000, though there are still some contradictions and confusion on how the process is to be executed.

This comes as banks are struggling to find out a mechanism that will help them to identify which money transfers should be taxed and those that should not.

According to TBA, even though the government has given out the directive, it has not clearly analysed the mechanisms due to be used on the process.

CRDB Bank deputy managing director Estha Kitoka told The Citizen on Sunday by phone that banks were requesting the government to give a clear clarification on the tax base; what should be taxed or should not be taxed.

The Finance Act 2013, which was published in the Government Gazette of July 5, excludes charging excise duty on money transferred between banks and financial institutions, government, diplomats and diplomatic missions, this, according to TBA is tricky in executing through the current systems of money transfers.

“We have written a letter to TRA [Tanzania Revenue Authority] and the ministry of Finance to seek clarification on the scope and implementation of the new requirements, but the ministry has maintained its stance that charges should be as from July 1, 2013, when the law came into effect,” she said.

“We need to adjust our systems so that they can be able to identify the taxable and non-taxable money transfers to avoid manual checkups. This requires enough time for preparations, and the government should give us enough time to set our systems.” She added that banks will have to backdate charges as from July 1, 2013 something which is very cumbersome for banks.

On the other hand, banks have already started communicating with their customers on the move to start charging the 0.15 excise duty on all money transfers for the amount exceeding Sh30,000.

According to the communication made available to its customers, Standards Chartered Bank Tanzania Limited, for example, will start executing the 0.15 per cent charges from August 28, 2013.

It said: “following our earlier communication with you, please be informed that, in compliance with the newly introduced Finance Act, on August 28, 2013, we will start charging the 0.15 per cent excise duty on all money transfers for the amount exceeding Sh30,000 or the equivalent in any other currency.”

“In addition, as required by TRA, we will seek to recover the excise duty for the month of July 2013 by debiting your account on all relevant transfers,” says the communication signed by Liz Lloyd, the chief executive officer of the Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania Limited.

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Suspect in Sh7bn South Africa drug haul arrested in Kenya

 

 

Dar es Salaam. The first suspect to be interrogated by the Tanzanian police over Sh6.8 billion narcotics seized in South Africa in July and bailed out as investigations were going on has been arrested in Kenya with illicit drugs.

The Citizen on Sunday has reliably leant that Tanzanians Rumishaeli Mamkuu Shoo, 27, and his fellow countryman January Gabriel Liundi, 30, were arrested on Thursday together with four Kenyans, and Indians with about 50 kilograms of methamphetamine and several sachets of ephedrine worth Sh2 billion.

According to our sources, Mr Shoo and Liundi were tracked down and arrested in Nairobi driving a car stuffed with the raw material for manufacturing illicit drugs. Both Kenyan and Tanzanian police confirmed the story.

The head of the Anti-drug Unit (ADU), Assistant Commissioner of Police Godfrey Nzowa yesterday confirmed the arrests in Kenya. “We arrested Shoo in July. He was out on bail as we continued investigating him,” he said. The car in which the drugs were found bore Tanzanian plate numbers.

The Kenyans and the Indian accomplices were found at a laboratory for manufacturing drugs.

Kenya’s deputy director of Criminal Investigations, Mr Gideon Kimilu, said the suspects had converted the premises located at Cape Business Park off the Eastern By-pass into a laboratory for manufacturing drugs.

They would be arraigned on Monday.

“The suspects are in custody and they shall be presented in court after final tests are carried out at the government chemist,” he told The Citizen on Sunday.

The laboratory was set up last month by one of the Kenyans in custody, according to police documents.

The report further says he helped the India nationals who are experts in manufacturing drugs to enter Kenya.

Two other Kenyans were described by police as “handymen”.

“The group had already manufactured samples which had been laid out on a table to dry,” by the time police arrived, the report also says.

Several sachets of iodine crystals, and a chemical identified as ephedrine were also confiscated.

Anti-narcotics police in Tanzania apprehended Shoo on July 8, this year, searched his house and interrogated him one day after two Tanzanian women singers were arrested at O. R. Tambo International Airport carrying 180 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.

The officers seized several documents from him and scrutinised records on his mobile phone but could not immediately link him with the two women arrested in South Africa.

Acting on a tip-off that Mr Shoo was a suspected drug trafficker, the officers stormed his mansion in Dar es Salaam’s Kunduchi suburb one day after the seizure of drugs in South Africa as they tried to establish his alleged involvement in the illicit business.

The police, however, could not establish his direct link to the illicit business and he got a bail, pending further investigations.

He was supposed to report at the ADU on September 15 as part of fulfilling a bail condition.

Agnes Gerald Deal, 25, also known as Masogange, and Melisa Edward, 24, who were caught in South Africa with 180 kilograms of methamphetamine are said to have refused to cooperate with the police to name the man behind the haul.

Police in Kenya say the suspects held in the country are believed to be part of a syndicate involved in manufacturing drugs in Kenya and trafficking them to South Africa.

Officers from Kenya’s Special Crimes Prevention Unit raided premises on Ruiru and found the suspects with the drugs. They have also confiscated the drugs, chemicals and equipment used to manufacture them.

Demand for the drugs is usually high in South Africa, Japan and Thailand.

Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant. It strongly activates certain systems in the brain that improve concentration, energy, and alertness while decreasing appetite and causing fatigue.

Although methamphetamine can be prescribed by a doctor, its medical uses are limited, and the doses that are prescribed are much lower than those typically abused.

Production of the drug in illegal makeshift laboratories, like the one raided by police, endangers the people in the labs, neighbours, and the environment.

Consumption of even small amounts of methamphetamine can result in effects similar to those occasioned by cocaine.

Additional reporting by Fred Mukinda and Oliver Kamau.
source: thecitizen

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Nelson Mandela is back at home after almost three months in hospital

 

 

Johannesburg.  Nelson Mandela is now back at home after almost three months in hospital, but his condition remains critical and difficult days lie ahead.

While life for Mandela and his family will be more comfortable at his upscale Johannesburg home, he is not out of danger.

South Africa’s presidency, announcing his discharge from hospital yesterday, said he remains in a “critical” and “at times unstable” condition.

At home the former president will receive essentially the same intensive medical care as he did in hospital.

He will be treated by “a large medical team from the military, academia, private sector and other public health spheres,” the government said.

His home has been re-configured for the treatment.

“We can now provide the same level of care in homes,” said Paris-based pulmonary specialist Bertrand Dautzenberg, citing advances in devices like respirators.

Often the decision to send a patient home is made because of a clinical improvement. But the aim can also be to make a still-struggling patient more comfortable.

“When a condition lasts a long time, sometimes physicians decide to send a patient home, even if he has not been stabilised, with the aim of encouraging healing, to provide palliative care, to make them more comfortable,” Dautzenberg said.

Mandela has at times seemed to be in a dire condition since being admitted on June 8.

He was rushed to hospital in the middle of the night with what the government described as a lung infection, but which may well have been pneumonia.

In late June visitors reported he was on life support, unable to breathe for himself and had not opened his eyes for days.

Court documents filed by his family’s lawyers went as far as to say that he was in a vegetative state and that doctors recommended his life support machine be turned off.

A close friend said that suggestion had been rejected by doctors, unless there was massive organ failure.

They were vindicated. The once spry boxer appeared to have at least one more fight left in him.

By early August, the South African government was reporting that Mandela was responding to treatment and his condition was steadily improving.

Since then he has at times been unstable, but medical interventions have stopped any further worsening of his condition.

The lung infection appeared to have been contained, although doctors were still draining fluid from the lungs. This procedure may well have been linked to a plural effusion -- a build up of infected fluid around the lungs. (AFP)
source: thecitizen

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