News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended

China to help Kenya recover stolen assets

Posted: 25 Oct 2016 11:49 PM PDT

China has pledged to help Kenya recover and repatriate stolen assets as part of the fight against high level corruption.

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Nairobi - China has pledged to help Kenya recover and repatriate stolen assets as part of the fight against high level corruption.

Wang Lingjun, vice-minister of the Chinese Ministry of Supervision, said that the country would support the Kenyan government in the areas of asset recovery and repatriation of illicit proceeds.

He said that China would share its experience in anti-corruption and provide an opportunity for Kenya to understand the various challenges involved in fighting corruption.

Lingjun led a high powered delegation of senior Chinese government officials in a courtesy call on the Attorney General Professor Githu Muigai at his offices in Nairobi.

Muigai said that Kenya could not afford to allow illegitimate forces outside the State to control Kenya.

In 2003 the Kenyan government, under the Presidency of Mwai Kibaki, located US$1 billion in looted tax payers money hidden overseas. The money was believed to have been stolen during the administration of the former President Daniel arap Moi.

As the Kibaki administration discovered, locating the money was easier than bringing it back home even with expert services from New York's Kroll Incorporated, who were contracted to help Kenya track and recover the stolen funds.

At the time Andre Pienaar, who oversaw the African office of Kroll, told New York Times that it was a tough task to get the money back. Some of the challenges cited by the government included costly search efforts, corrupt officials fighting back and tough international banking laws.

Kroll said that the thieves used some of the most respected banks in Europe to hide their loot and also invested in prime property such as hotels, and luxury homes and cars in Europe.

Kenya was the first country to sign the United Nations Convention Against Corruption on December 9 2003. The Convention came into force in December 2005 and is rated as the most comprehensive, legally binding global anti corruption instrument negotiated by members of the United Nations.

African News Agency

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Gambia becomes 3rd African country to leave ICC

Posted: 25 Oct 2016 11:10 PM PDT

Gambia says it will leave the International Criminal Court as fears grow of a mass pullout from the body.

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Dakar, Senegal - A third African country, Gambia, says it will leave the International Criminal Court as fears grow of a mass pullout from the body that pursues some of the world's worst atrocities.

Gambia announced the decision on television on Tuesday night, accusing the court of unfairly targeting Africa and calling it the "international Caucasian court."

The move comes after South Africa, once a strong ICC supporter under former President Nelson Mandela, notified the United Nations secretary-general it would leave the court.

Early last week, Burundi's president signed legislation to leave the court as well.

Only Africans have been charged in the six ICC cases that are ongoing or about to begin, though preliminary ICC investigations have opened elsewhere.

Gambia's decision is also striking because the ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, is Gambian.

AP

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Al-Shabaab kills 12 in Kenyan hotel

Posted: 25 Oct 2016 12:04 PM PDT

Militants from the Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab opened fire inside a hotel in north-eastern Kenya after bombing the building to gain access

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Nairobi - Militants from the Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab opened fire inside a hotel in north-eastern Kenya after bombing the building to gain access, killing at least 12 people.

The assailants entered the Bishaaro Hotel in the town of Mandera with explosives and then proceeded to shoot guests in their rooms, said Mohamoud Saleh, the regional commissioner for North Eastern Kenya.

Bomb experts were combing the area, while police were following several leads, said Saleh. Police were reportedly still working to identify the bodies.

Six people were rescued from the debris of the partially collapsed hotel several hours after the attack started in the early hours of Tuesday.

“We don't know how many people are still trapped there in the rubble but efforts to reach them are ongoing,” a police officer told the Standard newspaper.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the hotel attack on pro-insurgent Somali radio station Andalus.

The extremists, who are seeking an Islamist state in the horn of Africa and are affiliated with the international al-Qaeda terrorist network, attack government facilities and hotels in Kenya and neighbouring Somalia on a regular basis.

SAPA - dpa

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The case of the missing president

Posted: 25 Oct 2016 03:40 AM PDT

Where has the president of Malawi been? Jimmy Kainja, a lecturer at the University of Malawi, takes a look at the issue.

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Where has the president of Malawi been? Jimmy Kainja, a lecturer at the University of Malawi, takes a look at the issue.

The president of Malawi, Peter Mutharika, has finally returned home after a month-long absence.

His still unexplained absence led to speculation that he had either gone awol or was hiding debilitating illness. The failure by his government to explain his whereabouts only served to fuel the speculation.

Mutharika landed in New York on September 16 for the UN general assembly, which ended on September 26. As it is always the case in Malawi, the reports about his trip were dominated by issues about the size of his entourage. Malawi’s presidents always travel with a team of cronies and hangers-on at the expense of the Malawi taxpayers.

When Mutharika finally returned on October 16, he only used his left hand to wave at and greet people who welcomed him at the airport. Given that he is right-handed, the use of his left hand and the seemingly inflexible right hand gave credence to the rumours that he had been receiving medical treatment in America.

He didn’t hold the customary press conference for Malawi presidents returning from official duties. Instead the president held a press briefing five days later. He told the nation that he was in good health and that he only used his left hand because he was diagnosed with rheumatism on his right. He was not moving it, he explained, because he had received an injection on his way back home.

One needs to understand Malawian politics in order to appreciate this bizarre episode in which a state president can be unaccounted for.

That Malawi’s vice president, Saulos Chilima, was not mentioned at all during this episode is revealing. After considerable social media pressure, Mutharika’s communication team was eventually forced to respond about their president’s whereabouts.

But the team’s response to what were serious questions on a matter of public interest question bordered on contempt. Mutharika’s spokesperson retorted that the president was running the country via Skype. Yet the vice president is supposed to assume full presidential duties in the absence of the president.

There is a dynamic behind the spokesperson’s emphasis on Mutharika working remotely. Saying this meant the vice president was not the one in control as that might have serious political implications within the ruling party. The message was that the vice president, a party outsider, did not make decisions on behalf of the president and by extension the ruling party.

Absence continues to feed speculation

Whatever the state of the president’s health, it is clear that the government has lost control over public opinion and has a huge task to regain public trust. To paraphrase James Freeman Clarke, the difference between a politician and a good leader is that a politician thinks about the next election while the good leader thinks about their country. Mutharika may yet be controlled by those who benefit from his presidency but it is his legacy that is at stake.

What was more peculiar was the fact that even the state media, which follows the president everywhere and publishes all the trivia about him, was silent this time. Speculation abounded about what was happening.

Malawians took to social media – mostly twitter and Facebook – demanding to know the whereabouts of their president, using the hashtag #BringBackMutharika.

The silence about the president’s absence continued to feed speculation, including that he was seriously ill. People are justified in their suspicions given a history of African leaders hiding illness.

The ruling party outsider

In the case of Mutharika the main fear is that his absence will result in his vice president, who is an outsider to the party, ascend to power. This is similar to the way that then out-of-favour vice president Joyce Banda succeeded the late Bingu wa Mutharika following his death in 2012.

Admitting to ill health would mean that the vice president would have to take over presidential duties until Mutharika is in a position to return to the office. As it is at the moment, this is the most plausible explanation for the information blackout.

Another reason proffered for his absence is that he was on vacation. After all, the president lived and taught law in American universities for over 40 years and his children are residents there.

The claim that he was working remotely remains doubtful given the lack of coverage of this by the state media and absence of any evidence.

The silence over his whereabouts has everything to do with internal ruling party politics. The vice president is an outsider within the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. He was picked from the corporate world to run as Mutharika’s running mate on the eve of May 2014 elections. Chilima was chosen for his youthfulness and achievements at Airtel (Malawi) where he rose through the ranks to become the company’s chief executive officer.

For the ruling party, the problem with Chilima is that no one can stop him assuming full presidential powers in absence of Mutharika, as this is constitutional. Therefore it is crucial for those wishing Chilima out to insist that Mutharika is in charge even when this may not be the case.

Ultimately, Malawi is bound to pay for such politics as it has the capacity to leave a power vacuum. At the moment Malawians are enduring daily power cuts, eight hours on average. Residents of Lilongwe, the capital city and its main commercial city Blantyre, are going days, sometimes weeks without running water.

Polytechnic, a constituent college of University of Malawi has failed to open due to fees increase stand off between students union and the university council. Yet, petty politics has taken precedence.

* Jimmy Kainja is a lecturer in Media and Communications at the University of Malawi.

** The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Independent Media.

The Conversation

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‘Sanctions hurting us’- Zim

Posted: 25 Oct 2016 01:38 AM PDT

Zimbabwe Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa claims the country's efforts to achieve Agenda 2030 goals were being hampered by economic sanctions.

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Harare - Zimbabwe Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday claimed the country's efforts to achieve Agenda 2030 goals were being hampered by economic sanctions imposed by the West.

In a speech read on his behalf by Minister of Information, Christopher Mushowe, at a function to mark the United Nations's 71st anniversary in Harare, Mnangagwa said the country was doing its best despite the limited fiscal space.

"His excellency, President Robert Mugabe, noted in his address at the United Nations General Assembly that the 16 years of illegal sanctions are hurting the economy and constraining Zimbabwe's ability to achieve Agenda 2030 goals," he said.

Mnangagwa said, however, that the country had registered significant progress in some of the Sustainable Development Goals such as universal primary education, gender equality and women empowerment.

"Going forward, Zimbabwe needs to focus on inclusive economic growth and rural development to reduce poverty," he said.

United Nations Resident Coordinator, Bishow Parajuli, said respect for rule of law and human rights were key in achieving sustainable development, adding SDGs could be achieved even under difficult circumstances.

"Achieving the SDGs, particularly ending poverty is possible even under difficult conditions if we focus on building resilience, invest in rural communities and empower the youth to harness the demographic dividend," he said.

He encouraged other stakeholders to partner government in its programmes.

AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY

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