Kenya: State frees leader Mungiki. In images: manhunt on Mungiki-members 2007-2009

Somalia: somali government, insurgents vow escalation

Somalia's embattled government and Islamist rebels vowed on Friday to step up their war with the government promising a counter-offensive while the Shebab militia threatened to take fighting beyond Somalia's borders.

Speaking a day after an insurgent attack against the presidency in Mogadishu sparked clashes that left at least 21 civilians dead, Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke said tide was turning in the conflict.

"We're very confident that our forces will recapture the town (Mogadishu)," he told reporters in Nairobi after a meeting with UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe.
The western-backed transitional administration headed by President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed controls less than half of Mogadishu and owes its survival largely to the protection of African Union peacekeepers.

Sharmarke stressed that the government would seek to reassert control over southern Somalia, which has been firmly under insurgent control since last year.

Full article: Google News

Kenya: Mungiki leader freed from prison

The leader of a banned Kenyan gang has been freed after charges that he murdered 28 people were dropped.Maina Njenga was freed on Friday and called on all fellow Mungiki members to renounce membership and become Christians.

Speaking in a church in the centre of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, Njenga said: "I have now come to learn that there is something bigger than what is in that mountain... I want to be singing in the church and then I get baptised.

"Those others out there who have not come up publicly should follow suit and get saved and get out of the Mungiki."

Njenga had led Mungiki, a pseudo-religious group of dreadlocked youths who worshipped spirits in Mount Kenya and embraced rituals such as female circumcision.

Full article: Al Jazeera

Kenya: cholera deaths in Nairobi slum

Two more people died of what is suspected to be cholera in Nairobi’s Mukuru Kwa Njenga slums on Saturday, raising the death toll to 11, as hundreds more sought treatment.

A man and a woman, both aged above 30, died on Friday night after complaining of diarrhoea. The woman is reported to have died at home while the man died on his way to hospital. The man is said to have received a prescription at a local clinic.

More residents visited the Medical Missionaries of Mary Hospital on Saturday complaining of stomach pains, diarrhoea and vomiting. “We treated 500 people by yesterday afternoon, most of them children under five years,” said Sr Elizabeth Bundala, the hospital’s project coordinator.

Full article: Sunday Nation

Kenya: why Delamere son was released early

Thomas Cholmondeley had been scheduled to be released on Sunday, but since it is a weekend, the prison authorities decided to free him last Friday.

He quickly returned to his Soysambu Farm home where he will begin to rebuild his life after three years in Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. Prison authorities insisted that he was not a beneficiary of presidential clemency but rather simply qualified for remission.

Mr Cholmondeley will be missed by the many friends he made at the prison and other inmates. Through his initiatives, their life had become more bearable than it was before his arrival.

Full article: Sunday Nation

Ethiopia: drought need not mean hunger and destitution

With droughts becoming more common, donors and the Ethiopian government must look beyond the traditional "band aid" responses to disasters by using approaches that are more cost-effective, sustainable and better suited to the population, international aid agency Oxfam says in a new report.

"We cannot make the rains come, but there is much more that we can do to break the cycle of drought-driven disaster in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa," Penny Lawrence, Oxfam's international director, states. "Food aid offers temporary relief and has kept people alive in countless situations, but does not tackle the underlying causes that continue to make people vulnerable to disaster year after year."


Full article: IRIN

Johnny mad boy

Fact: many of its cast are former boy soldiers who fought for the now arraigned Liberian warlord Charles Taylor. Writer-director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire says he approached the film as therapy for them.

New president Millenium Challenge Corporation

Africare, a leading international development organization specializing in development assistance to Africa, has chosen Darius Mans, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), as its new President. Mr. Mans will officially start on January 4, 2010, when current president, Julius E. Coles leaves after more than seven years of service. Mans will be the fourth president in Africare's 39-year history.

"I am honored to follow in Julius Coles' footsteps and assume the position of President of Africare." said Darius Mans. "I feel very privileged to be given the opportunity to work with one of the finest development organizations working on the continent of Africa." Mans added, "It is also quite a personal honor for me to serve in this very important position and I hope to continue the organization's great tradition of promoting growth on the African continent and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa."

Full article: All Africa

Droogte Kenia 'man made'

In de serie ‘De verhitte aarde’ behandelde de NOS vorige week de gevolgen van klimaatverandering. Middels een reeks reportages en artikelen van eigen correspondenten werd onder volledige boetedoening van climate change de verwoestijning, hongersnood en het uitsterven van de nomadencultuur in een klap verantwoord. “Onzin”, vindt geograaf en ecoloog Marcel Rutten: “De media staren zich blind op klimaatverandering.”

Tekst: Erik de Jong

Vanuit een vervuild modderpoeltje vult een oude nomade haar jerrycan bij. Het zijn de laatste beetjes water waar zij zichzelf en haar familie mee kan voorzien. Een man sjokt door een woud van dode bomen. De lichte aanraking van zijn hand is genoeg om de levenloze takken te doen afbreken.

Het zijn slechts enkele beelden uit de reportages die de NOS uitzond in het kader van klimaatverandering. In een ervan vertelt Oost-Afrikacorrespondent Kees Broere met sobere stem dat “door de veranderingen in het klimaat, de vegetatie verdort.”
Rutten, zelf al meer dan 25 jaar onderzoeker naar droogte, water en land in semi-aride Kenia en werkzaam voor het African Studies Centre in Leiden, is het hiermee oneens: “ Ik ben geen klimaatscepticus en ontken ook niet dat er veranderingen zijn in het klimaat, maar Noord- Kenia is het verkeerde voorbeeld van droogte door klimaatverandering .”

Ruttens kritiek richt zich vooral op diegenen die zich blindelings achter klimaatverandering scharen. Niet alleen de NOS maar ook andere media lijken eensgezind over de oorzaak van de droogte. Rutten: “Tekenend is dat er geen duidelijke onderbouwing komt van 'klimaatverandering'. Graag zou ik cijfers willen zien, maar ik vrees dat dat allemaal te ingewikkeld wordt voor een item van drie minuten. Die nuances halen de insteek van de redactie van het journaal, die op zoek zijn naar voorbeelden van klimaatverandering, onderuit”.

Heleen Ekker, coördinatrice van de NOS-serie ‘De verhitte aarde’ geeft toe dat je je als medium op glad ijs begeeft door het op klimaatverandering te gooien. “Het is inderdaad moeilijk om van een specifiek gebied duidelijk aan te wijzen of het last heeft van klimaatverandering, of alleen van toevallige weersextremen. Ik ga te rade bij degenen die daadwerkelijk het onderzoek doen naar het veranderende klimaat. Dat gebeurt bij universiteiten als Wageningen en het KNMI”.

“Merkwaardig,” aldus Rutten, “het zijn nou juist deze instanties die betrokken zijn bij een studie van het Co-operative Programme on Water and Climate (CPWP). De resultaten van dat onderzoek laten zien dat in bepaalde gebieden in Oost-Afrika de neerslag juist toeneemt. Ook mijn eigen bevindingen onderschrijven dat. Van de negen natte jaren tussen 1962-2007 vonden er vijf in het laatste decennium plaats.” Toch staan sinds 2005 steeds meer putten droog. Het tekort aan water moet gezocht worden in politiek-economische kwesties als ontbossing, het

toenemend aantal (internationale) bloemen- en groententelers en bevolkingsgroei.

Het probleem met de huidige droogte is dat de grondwaterreserves slinken. “Het uitblijven van droogteperiodes zijn een terugkerend fenomeen in Kenia. Feit is dat men nu kampt met een hydrologische en agrarische droogte; door de toegenomen bloementeelt en akkerbouw zakt het waterpeil van grote meren, en lopen rivierbeddingen, waar de inwoners normaliter hun water halen, leeg. Daar komt nog eens bij dat grote stukken bos waar deze rivieren ontstaan, gekapt worden om akkerland te winnen. ”

Oost-Afrikacorrespondent Koert Lindijer, die ook een bijdrage leverde aan ‘De verhitte aarde’, reageert hierop: “Als het om Borana en Samburu gebied gaat, is er wel degelijk sprake van klimaatsverandering, steeds frequenter droogtes. In deze gebieden staan nauwelijks bomen en hoeft dus niet gekapt te worden. Het is nomadengebied, met agrarische activiteit heeft het weinig van doen. Ik hoor nomaden zeggen dat ze nu echt niet meer tegen de droogtes opkunnen. Geleerden mogen twijfels koesteren, ik luister naar de mensen op de grond. En voor hen is zo'n discussie of het climate change is of man made, een onbereikbare luxe. De ramp slaat toe, dat is het uitgangspunt.”

Toch zijn er ook andere instanties die het probleem van de ontbossing onderschrijven. In een artikel dat het humanitair informatienetwerk van de Verenigde Naties (IRIN) onlangs naar buiten bracht, wordt stellig bevestigd dat oorzaken als illegale bewoning, houtskoolbranderij en toegenomen akkerbouw ertoe leidde dat meer dan een kwart van het grootste bos van Oost-Afrika, het Mau-bos, is verdwenen. En dat terwijl Kenia en omliggende landen voor hun watervoorziening op dit ecosysteem zijn aangewezen; in het gebied valt veel neerslag en een groot aantal meren en rivieren in de omgeving wordt door dit enorme bos gevoed.

Om het woud te beschermen en daarmee belangrijke waterbronnen veilig te stellen, is het nodig maatregelen te nemen. “Terugkerende droogtes kun je niet voorkomen, maar je kunt je er wel beter tegen wapenen”, aldus Rutten. “Het waterrijke bosgebied moet beschermd worden en de mensen die er zich gevestigd hebben moeten ander land aangeboden krijgen”.

Andere oplossingen om de lokale watercrisis te bevechten moeten volgens Rutten vooral gericht zijn op het verhogen van de draagkracht van het gebied en het versterken van de weerbaarheid van de veehouderij. Dat vraagt om maatregelen als herbebossing en het stoppen van zandwinning uit rivieren. Ook moet er intensiever gezocht worden naar technologische oplossingen om water op te vangen voordat het ondergronds gaat, het zogenoemde water harvesting. Maar zeker zo belangrijk is dat streng toezicht gehouden wordt op activiteiten die schadelijk zijn voor de grondwatervoorraad; nu worden boreholes viel te diep gegraven en op een te geringe onderlinge afstand. Dat alleen omdat excessieve waterverbruikers de reserves doen slinken. Bewoners zouden zich er juridisch tegen moeten kunnen wapenen.”

En dat zou een doorbraak zijn. Niemand zit namelijk te wachten op lege putten. De vrouw die daardoor genoodzaakt wordt haar water uit een smerige modderpoel te halen niet; de man die moeiteloos dorre takken afbreekt niet en de media die beweren dat dit allemaal de schuld is van klimaatverandering vast ook niet. Rutten: “Nogmaals, ik ben geen klimaatscepticus, maar om in de media de waarheid boven tafel te krijgen zouden meer wetenschapsjournalisten welkom zijn.”

Swaziland: swine flu threats schools' final exams

Ministry of Health officials and school principals yesterday raised serious concerns at the threat posed by the A H1N1 influenza to pupils as they sit for their final examinations.

Making matters worse was that both parties failed to come up with clear answers on what should be done to an infected pupil who cannot afford to miss an exam paper.

The Health ministry officials could only advise the close to 200 principals to adhere to the precautions that they (principals) were taught about yesterday during an open seminar for Hhohho teachers on the A H1N1 influenza (swine flu) held at St Mark’s High school.

Full article: Times of Swaziland

Zambia: president Mwanawasa warns political parties

President Mwanawasa has sternly warned political parties, including the MMD against manipulating the electorates as the country nears the tripartite general elections.

Zambia News and Information Services reports that Mr Mwanawasa also urged political parties to ensure that the electorates are not influenced to supporting and electing candidates who were prone to using underhand methods or corrupt practices in their campaigns.

The caution was made on Friday night during an anti-corruption sensitisation night organised by the National Movement Against Corruption (NAMAC) at Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka.
In a speech read on his behalf by Ministry of Home Affairs Deputy Minister, Justin Chilufya, Mr Mwanawasa said political party leaders should refrain from corrupt methods of campaigning so that the elections were free and fair.

He said for democracy to be seen to be working, all aspiring candidates must ensure that they conducted their campaigns in a fair and corrupt-free manner.

Full article: Sunday Mail

Gambia: "FGM to be outlawed"

The executive director of the Banjul-based women’s rights group, the Gambia Committee for the Prevention of Harmful Traditional Practices (GAMCOTRAP), on Monday disclosed that her organization was sensitizing the National Assembly members on the ills of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) so that it would be outlawed in the Gambia.

Dr Isatou Touray said, “female genital mutilation is a gross violation of the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls. It affects the bodily integrity of women. When children are being taken to circumcision, they are not usually told what is going to happen to them”.

She continued, “When female genital mutilation is carried out on a woman, the damage can never be rectified, because it involves the removal of a very sensitive and essential part of the female genitalia and the sexuality of the woman”.

Kenya: fuel cost increased

Electricity distributor the Kenya Power and Lighting Company has increased the fuel cost segment of its billing, signalling that consumers are unlikely to get relief from the heavy cost burden they have been bearing in recent months despite the onset of heavy rains.

The rains were expected to cause an immediate drop in the cost of electricity as the country consumed more of the less expensive hydro power and cut back on the more expensive thermal power.

A steep drop in hydro power’s contribution to the national grid has seen electricity bills surge by a margin of 60 per cent since March on the back of rising fuel costs charges — a varying item on the bills that is linked to the amount of power on the national grid that is generated from thermal sources.

Power producer KenGen and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) reckon that the hydro power dams will be replenished in December at the earliest should the rains persist at the current rate.

“We have filled a meter within two days and if the rains continue like this, we should get to 30 meters in December,” a senior KenGen executive said.

Full article: Business Daily Africa

Zimbabwe: aide Tsvangirai faces terrorism charges

A senior aide to Zimbabwe's prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, is set to go on trial early next month to face terrorism charges.

The arrest of Roy Bennett has caused a huge rift in Zimbabwe's fragile unity government, prompting Tsvangirai to pull out of the arrangement last week labelling Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, as "dishonest and unreliable".

On Monday a court in the city of Mutare set the date of Bennett's trial for November 9.
Bennett, the treasurer of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was first arrested in February on his return from South Africa to take up the post of deputy agriculture minister in the unity government.

He was then released on bail, but was re-arrested last week prompting Tsvangirai's decision to pull out of the government, at least temporarily.

Tsvangirai said Bennett's detention showed the "fiction of the credibility and integrity" of the unity government, and vowed to resume co-operation once issues such as disputes over key posts and a crackdown against his supporters are resolved.

Full article: Aljazeera

East Africa: strategies for reducing El Nino-effects in Horn of Africa

As countries across East Africa and the Horn of Africa begin to receive El Niño-related enhanced rainfall, disaster risk reduction experts from 10 countries in the region are meeting in Nairobi to develop strategies for reducing the negative impact of the evolving El Niño phenomenon.

"Africa, and in particular the Horn of Africa, suffers more and more the impact of climate-induced hazards," Pedro Basabe, the Africa programme representative of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), said on 19 October at the beginning of the three-day conference, organized by the InterGovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and World Bank. "Drought and floods affect directly or indirectly millions of people each year, in particular the poor who are the most vulnerable."

Full article: IRIN

Sudan: wanted Sudanese president invited to attend summit on refugees

The Sudanese government has dispatched two junior ministers to attend the AU heads of state summit on refugees, returnees and internally-displaced persons, Sudan state media reported yesterday.

Sudan’s official news agency, SUNA, said state minister at the interior ministry, Abbas Goma’a, and the refugee commissioner, Mohamed Ahmed Al-Agbash, will represent Sudan at the summit.

A new controversy erupted last week after President Yoweri Museveni said he had invited Sudanese president Omar el-Bashir to attend the summit.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity he allegedly committed in the western Darfur region.