News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended

Zimbabwe court keeps police ban on protests

Posted: 05 Oct 2016 12:08 AM PDT

Zimbabwe's High Court has upheld a month-long police ban on protests in the capital, a lawyer representing opposition activists says.

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Harare - Zimbabwe's High Court on Tuesday upheld a month-long police ban on protests in the capital on the grounds that this was necessary to preserve peace, a lawyer representing opposition activists said.

Political tension is rising in the country sfter protests in the last three months against the rule of 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has held power since independence from Britain in 1980.

Police banned public demonstrations until October 15 following anti-government protests that led to violent clashes with police.

Tendai Biti, a former finance minister and prominent lawyer, said Judge President George Chiweshe had in his ruling dismissed the application to overturn the police ban.

Biti said the judge, while accepting that the law used by the police violated individual rights allowing peaceful demonstrations, it was nonetheless justified in order to protect property and ensure public peace.

"The court's rationale is that while the section of the law that allows police to ban protests was in breach of fundamental rights, it was justifiable in a democratic society," Biti said.

On September 7, another High Court judge struck down a previous ban on public protests, saying police did not follow procedure and had violated the constitution.

Biti said he would meet other human rights lawyers on Wednesday to decide whether to appeal Chiweshe's ruling at the Supreme Court or launch a challenge at the Constitutional Court.

Angered by a jobless rate above 80 percent, corruption and the worst fiscal crunch and cash shortages since the adoption of the US dollar in 2009, many Zimbabweans have taken to social media to organise anti-government activities.

Reuters

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Kenya lobbies for Amina Mohamed to replace Dlamini-Zuma

Posted: 04 Oct 2016 01:02 PM PDT

Kenya is lobbying for its current Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed to be the next head of the African Union Commission.

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Nairobi – The Government of Kenya is lobbying for its current Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed to be the next head of the African Union (AU) Commission.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said that Kenya had submitted Mohamed’s name for the post. He said Mohamed had extraordinary experience and distinguished service at the national and international levels.

Mohamed will compete with Agapito Mba Mokuy of Equatorial Guinea, Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal and Botswana’s Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi for the position.

The current Chair, South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, did not apply for a second term after the expiry of her first term.

She has been at the helm of AUC since 2012. In July 2016, elections for members of the AU Commission were held in Kigali Rwanda. However, none of the three contenders for the post of Chairperson obtained the required two-thirds majority. This led to a suspension of the elections.

Elections are slated for January 2017, and names of contenders shall be circulated by October 14, according to the AU.

Mohamed has accepted her nomination by Kenya for the post of Chairperson of the AU Commission, saying she was humbled by the privilege as well as the confidence and trust bestowed on her.

In a short statement, Mohamed promised to do her best to serve the continent well if elected to the post during the African Union Summit in January next year.

“If elected, I promise to do my best to serve the continent well. Once again, Your excellency, I thank you very much for this confidence and trust that you have bestowed on me,” said Mohamed.

In a statement, Kenyatta said that among the most significant of Mohamed’s achievements include being the first woman to lead the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Kenya.

“Cumulatively, these assignments have earned Kenya and Mohamed international acclaim and respect,” said Kenyatta.

Between 2008-2011 Mohamed was Kenya’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs, charged with the responsibility of the Constitutional Review and implementation process. In 2011, she was appointed by the UN Secretary General as UN Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

During her tenure UNEP was upgraded from a 58- member Governing Body to the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), encompassing all members of the United Nations.

“Given her track record, I am confident that Amina Mohamed will serve our Continent with the requisite professionalism, intellect, skill, integrity, passion and commitment,” said Kenyatta.

“I have no doubt that her international experience and exposure will be an invaluable asset in driving African Commission in the achievement of Africa`s immense potential.”

African News Agency

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Facebook boast about defiling schoolgirl lands man in jail

Posted: 04 Oct 2016 12:09 PM PDT

A Kenyan man has been jailed after boasted on Facebook to having sex with a minor and posting photos of the girl and himself in a bush.

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Nairobi - Police arrested a Kenyan man in Bomet County, situated in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya, on Tuesday, for allegedly bragging on Facebook about a schoolgirl who was defiled.

The man was arrested in Chepilat in Bomet County on Tuesday following a directive by the Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinnet, for the immediate arrest of the man.

Speaking to journalists at police headquarters in Nairobi on Tuesday, Boinnet cautioned the public to be wary of their activities on social media, warning that those culpable of posting incriminatory remarks and photos would be arrested.

“Kenyans need to be very wary of their activities on social media. Overall it’s against the law and it offends the morals of our society,” said Boinnet.

Kenyans on social media expressed shock over the suspect’s posting on Facebook where he boasted of having sex with a minor and even posted photos of the girl and himself in a bush.

Police said they were still searching for the minor to establish whether the act was truly committed.

An outcry ensued with Kenyans calling for the arrest of the self-identified defiler. This incident comes soon after a similar one last month where a Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) employee posted filthy messages about his encounters with underage girls.

KAA has since terminated the contract of the suspect as investigations continue.

African News Agency

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Zim teacher union to boycott Teachers Day

Posted: 04 Oct 2016 12:08 PM PDT

The Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe will boycott World Teachers Day commemorations in protest at a lack of support for rural teachers.

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Harare - The Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (RTUZ) Tuesday announced that it would boycott World Teachers Day commemorations being hosted by the government on Wednesday in protest at a lack of support for rural teachers.

RTUZ said in a statement said teachers in rural areas still walked for tens of kilometres to and from work everyday, lived in squalor and were paid a paltry rural allowance.

The commemorations will run under the theme “Valuing Teachers, Improving their Status” and will highlight the aims of the Global Education 2030 agenda which emphasises the role teachers play in achieving sustainable development goals.

“RTUZ will boycott government organised commemorations for this year. This is in protest against the deliberate ploy by government to undervalue teachers through systematic depraved practices and policies,” the union said in a statement.

The union said rural teachers would hold their own belated commemorations on October 15 where they would launch the “Mutawatawa diary”, a document which details events of a 200-kilometre march teachers carried out last month that was disrupted by the police and other state security services.

They said teachers deserved recognition from the government and should have better working conditions.

The current conditions, they said, were in direct contradiction to the UNESCO theme.

“The spirit of patriotism pushes teachers to give their best to the education system, teaching under trees and sharing meals with poverty-ravaged, disadvantaged and forgotten pupils who are sons and daughters of poor peasants,” the union said.

The union also complained of harassment by Zanu PF youths who it said forced its members to attend political meetings.

“As if this is not enough, machete-wielding youth militia also frequently harass teachers, blaming them for not being politically correct or not showing enough enthusiasm of supporting the ruling party.”

UNESCO proclaimed 5 October to be World Teachers’ Day in 1994.

African News Agency

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Drug bust: Aristocrat's son in Kenyan court

Posted: 04 Oct 2016 03:08 AM PDT

The case against a British aristocrat’s son accused of smuggling cocaine into Kenya appeared close to collapse on Monday.

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London - The case against an aristocrat’s son accused of smuggling £4.5 million (about R78.4m) of cocaine into Kenya appeared close to collapse on Monday.

Jack Marrian, 31, the grandson of the sixth Earl Cawdor, was arrested in July after the alleged discovery of 220lbs (about 110kg) of cocaine hidden in bags of sugar being shipped via the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

The Marlborough College- educated trader, who is the son of Lady Emma Campbell, was due to go on trial on Monday at the Kibera Law Courts in Nairobi.

But it emerged that the authorities had tested only a small portion of the alleged drugs haul.

Prosecutor James Warui said the Kenyan government’s drugs laboratory had been unable to confirm that the shipment was cocaine, having tested only a sample.

He told a magistrate: ‘Due to the volume of the substance that is involved, he (the government’s drugs analyst) has not yet finalised his report, which we would want to start with. I don’t want to start with a case when we still have holes in exhibits.’

The trial was adjourned pending further tests - much to the fury of Marrian’s family, who accused the Kenyan authorities of ‘clutching at straws’.

His father David said: ‘The prosecution don’t seem to have presented any evidence to any of the lawyers in court that could in any way work as a case for them. The prosecution do not know what they are going to do so it’s easier for them to ask for an adjournment. Jack is disappointed today because he hoped that the case would be dropped. He knows there is no evidence against him. We have faith that he will be found not guilty.’

* AFP reports that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) - which worked with Spanish police to track and seize the shipment in late July - believe Marrian and his co-accused, Kenyan clearing agent Roy Mwanthi, knew nothing of the drugs concealed in a sugar consignment from Brazil.

"We got information from our office in Spain. The intelligence was that their Spanish counterparts had information about a container that had suspected drugs in it," said Melvin Patterson, a DEA spokesman.

Spanish police believe the drugs were intended to be unloaded in Valencia and sold on the lucrative European market, but something went wrong and they were shipped onward to Kenya.

"A criminal group based in Valencia, Spain, tried to get cocaine out of a container, but failed," Patterson said.

When the shipment arrived in Mombasa, Kenyan anti-narcotics police discovered the plastic-wrapped bricks of cocaine hidden among sacks of sugar as well as a duplicate seal.

Experts say this is a sure sign of the "rip-on, rip-off" or "blind hook" smuggling technique whereby cartels secretly stash their illegal products inside a legitimate consignment removing the drugs at a stop en route and replacing the broken seal with the replica.

"The Spanish stressed that this was a 'rip-off' load and the recipient of the container would have no knowledge that it was being used to transport drugs," said Patterson.

Marrian's case has caused a sensation in Britain, where the aristocratic background of his mother Lady Emma Clare Campbell of Cawdor and his attendance at top private schools, including the alma mater of Prince William's wife Katherine, have caught the eye of the press.

Sources familiar with the case suggest the two men were taken into custody because of public and political pressure to make an arrest after news of the bust broke in local media.

Daily Mail, AFP

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Mboweni accused of 'telescopic philanthrophy'

Posted: 04 Oct 2016 01:21 AM PDT

A political columnist in Zimbabwe says Tito Mboweni's idea of a fund to help Zimbabwean beggars is a case of "misbehaviour".

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Gaborone - A political columnist in Zimbabwe's state-owned media stable has dismissed former South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni's proposal to set up a fund to help Zimbabwean beggars and vendors in the country as a case of "misbehaviour" and an act of "telescopic philanthrophy".

The Herald columnist known by the pen-name of "Nathaniel Manheru", although widely believed to be presidential spokesman George Charamba said that Mboweni would be better advised to help South Africans as 40 percent of that country's population was wallowing in unemployment and poverty.

"It is a fact that there are many Zimbabweans in South Africa, including those who beg and sell wares on the streets. But is also a fact that there are many South Africans who beg and sell wares on the streets. Above all, there are many vendors and beggars from other neighbouring states and beyond, which makes poverty mapping such an intricate process in South Africa.

"But to suggest setting up a fund for 'poor' Zimbabweans in a country where there is upward of 40 percent black unemployment ... is surely to be at odds with facts on the ground. To see begging and vending as exclusively Zimbabwean is to indulge in deceitful displeasure. It is Dickensian and Mrs Jellyby-like to indulge in telescopic philanthropy," Manheru said in a column published by all state-owned dailies on Saturday.

African News Agency

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