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XINHUA NEWS SERVICE REPORTS FROM THE AFRICAN CONTINENT

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LIBYA-TRIPOLI-PROPHET MOHAMMED

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Kenya’s airstrike in Somalia kills
at least 100 Al-Shabaab fighters

Kenyan helicopter gunships on Friday hit at Al-Shabaab positions, which included 200 Al-Shabaab fighters, killing at least 100 fighters and destroying nine technicals and nine trucks
 

NAIROBI,(Xinhua) -- At least 100 fighters including eight top Al-Shabaab commanders have been killed in the latest battle in a town northeast of Badhade, Somalia, officials said on Friday.
Military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the Kenyan helicopter gunships on Friday hit at Al-Shabaab positions, which included 200 Al-Shabaab fighters, one of the largest concentrations of the Al-Shabaab fighters, killing at least 100 fighters and destroying nine technicals and nine trucks used by the fighters.
He said the Kenyan troops advanced into the town of Badhade and Hayo in Southern Somalia, boosting their chances for a successful battle for the port of Kismayu and the town of Afmadhow, a provincial capital and a key hub of the Al-Shabaab, which is one of the main ultimate targets of the operation.
“The operation is likely to shape the future of the operation,” Major Chirchir said in his official Twitter account, minutes after the air-strikes. The military said the Al-Shabaab fighters were concentrated in the town of Dalayat, from where its top commanders planned a counter attack on the town of Badhade.
Chirchir said, “Al-Shabaab strength (was) estimated at over 200. The KDF (Kenya Defense Forces) gunships destroyed Al-Shabaab at Dalayat,” a key transit point from the sea frequently used by the group to re-stock its military supplies.
The KDF military officials also said other attacks against the Al-Shabaab locations took place at Badhade at around 16:45 East African time and a battle damage assessment was still ongoing.
Kenyan troops have been on the ground in Somalia since Oct. 16, 2011 against the Al-Shabaab militants, which have been mounting armed incursions into Kenya.
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Roundup: Kenya extends amnesty to Al-Shabaab fighters

By Ronald Njoroge and Christopher Omar NAIROBI, (Xinhua) -- Kenya’s authorities said on Saturday its amnesty to local Al-Shabaab sympathizers to defect to from the Somali militant group still stands.
Kenya Defense Force (KDF) Director of Military Operations Information Colonel Cyrus Oguna called on the youths who had been radicalised by the militia group to take advantage of amnesty and surrender.
“Those who want to defect can report to the nearest police station so that they can be processed and integrated into the society as the amnesty is still on and there will be no punishment, “ Oguna said during the weekly media briefing on Saturday.
“Alternatively, they can report to any mosque where the Imams can escort him or her to the nearest police station,” he said.
Several young people are said to have been recruited into the militia group and even crossed the border into neighboring Somalia for training in arms operation and terrorist attacks.
Oguna said that the youth would be rehabilitated and integrated into mainstream Kenyan society after owning up.
He added that those who are still in Somalia can report to the nearest KDF or Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Army commander, if they want to surrender.
In November last year, the Kenya police has given amnesty to more than 30 young men who have had links with the Al-Shabaab, three weeks after promising reprieve to those who surrender.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said then that the police are working with the youth to ensure that Al-Shabaab activities have been neutralised inside the country.
During the briefing, Oguna said that following the capture of two key towns in southern Somalia this week, incidences of terrorists attacks that have being occurring in Northeastern part of Kenya are set to decrease.
Oguna said that following intense pressure on the Al-Shabaab militants inside Somalia, the KDF has displaced the militants from some of their former strongholds.
“These two towns, Hosingho and Badhade have been important trading routes for contraband as well as source of the improved explosive devices (IED) that have been used to carry out terrorist attacks inside Kenya,” Oguna said.
Oguna’s statement comes after the KDF killed at least 100 fighters including eight top Al-Shabaab commanders in the latest battle in the small town of Dalayat, North East of Badhade, a key transit point from the sea frequently used by the group to re- stock its military supplies.
The Kenyan helicopter gunships on Friday hit at Al-Shabaab positions, which included 200 Al-Shabaab fighters, one of the largest concentrations of the Al-Shabaab fighters, killing at least 100 fighters and destroying nine technicals and nine trucks used by the fighters.
The Kenyan troops had advanced into the town of Badhade and Hayo in Southern Somalia, boosting their chances for a successful battle for the port of Kismayu and the town of Afmadhow, a provincial capital and a key hub of the Al-Shabaab, which is one of the main ultimate targets of the operation.
The latest seizure of towns amid reports that an alleged Al- Qaeda member from London is reported to have been killed in a missile attack from a U.S. drone while fighting alongside Islamist insurgents in Somalia last month.
An Al-Shabaab spokesman identified the fighter as British passport holder Bilal al-Berjawi. He said drone-fired missiles hit Berjawi’s car south of Mogadishu on Jan 29. There has been no independent confirmation.
Sources say Washington has authorized covert missions against insurgents in the Horn of Africa, but does not comment officially on drone attacks.
Berjawi’s reported killing came a day after Somalia’s transitional government announced a major push to rid Mogadishu of Al-Shabaab militants.
The 27-year-old’s wife is reportedly understood to have given birth to a child in a London hospital a few hours before the missile strike, prompting suspicions among relatives that his location had been pinpointed as a result of a telephone conversation between the couple.
Oguna said on Saturday the recent capture of two towns and killing of at least 100 fighters will significantly reduce the revenue stream going into Al-Shabaab.
“With this loss, we expect Al-Shabaab to be ceding more ground to the KDF and TFG alliance as they retreat towards central Somalia,” he said.
“The towns have been convergence points for the route that supplies smuggled electronics and sugar that ends up inside Kenya without being charged import duty,” Oguna said.
He added that the KDF got intelligence from the locals that the Al-Shabaab were planning to attack KDF and instead used the information to capture the two critical towns which the militants have been using as a positions to attack KDF.
He added that the capture of the captured Hosingo and Badade towns will be critical to the stabilization of the southern part of Somalia that has been under the control of the Islamic militants. “During the attack nine vehicles and nine technicals belonging to the militants were attacked and destroyed,” Oguna said.
He added that the latest seizure of towns will lend to the stability in homeland security inside Kenya.
“The towns have been acting as an important supply route for the IEDs that have used to attack innocent civilians inside Kenya and especially in the refugees camps,” he added.
Oguna said that morale among the KDF is very high following the success they have gotten on the ground.
“The troops understand their mission inside Somalia and know the troops are part of history as this is the first time that Kenyan troops have crossed the border in pursuit of an enemy,” Oguna said.
He also assured the families of the two kidnapped government officials who are still being held by the Al-Shabaab that the government was still working on the various leads in order to return them alive.
“We hope the efforts put by the government will be successful but what is critical is their safety and security,” he added.
Kenya Police deputy spokesman Charles Owino urged Kenyans to remain vigilant as the increased pressure on Al-Shabaab by the KDF inside Somalia will force them to increase attacks in Kenya.
“We request for more vigilance inside Kenya as Al-Shabaab sees the country as soft target,” Owino said.
There has been a string of attacks by Al-Shabaab militants and their sympathizers since Kenya sent troops into Somalia on October last year to restrain the insurgents who were blamed for a series of murders and kidnappings on the Kenya soil with Daadab district which hosts the refugee camps being one of the worst hit by the attacks.
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Airstrikes have kept al-Shabaab down in Somalia: Kenyan official

NAIROBI, (Xinhua) -- The latest airstrikes against al-Shabaab military targets in southern Somalia have weakened the militant group’s capacity to mount quick retaliatory attacks, Kenyan military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir told Xinhua late Saturday.
Kenyan forces battling al-Shabaab from three different locations said they destroyed the group’s key military hardware and combatants on Friday as al-Shabaab prepared to carry out retaliatory strikes to recapture the town of Badhade.
“In terms of operational success, the operation was key to the entire strategy because it reduced al-Shabaab in terms of force strength,” Chirchir said, referring to the airstrikes in Dalayat, a small town northeast of Badhade.
“They massed all troops at one place and we got them. They lost personnel, ammunition and weaponry. They all fizzled out. For them to organize another attack, they must reconstitute their troops from Afmadadow,” Chirchir added.
Badhade, according to the military, is a key meeting point of the supply routes of al-Shabaab.
With the capture of Husingo, another important town on the supply routes of al-Shabaab, the Kenyan soldiers said they believe they have controlled a crucial route into Kenya, through which explosive devices are smuggled into Kenyan refugee camps.
Colonel Cyrus Oguna, operations commander for the Kenyan Defense Forces, said the stability of the two areas are almost guaranteed and the central sector of Somalia would be more stable.
This blow on al-Shabaab has created an environment for the Kenyan forces to make more progress on the ground in Somalia, Oguna said.
Security agencies have been put on an unprecedented state of alert around the country amid reports that al-Shabaab had planned attacks against Kenya and U.S. interests in the country.
Kenya has become the second target since al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab militants in Somalia launched attacks in Uganda on July 11, 2010, when twin bomb blasts killed at least 76 people in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
Al-Shabaab was held responsible for a spate of cross-border murders and kidnappings on Kenyan soil, amid an escalation of war with African Union peacekeepers in Somalia.
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Kenya urges world to seize opportunity to stabilize Somalia

By Peter Mutai NAIROBI, (Xinhua)--Kenya on Friday appealed to the international community to seize the current opportunity created by the foreign troops to stabilize Somalia which has been ravaged by conflict spanning over two decades.
Speaking in Nairobi during a meeting with visiting British Foreign Secretary William Hague, President Mwai Kibaki stressed there was need to capitalize on various gains achieved so far through the combined efforts of the Kenya Defence Forces, African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
“He (Kibaki) said that there was need to utilize the safe havens so far created in Somalia through the ongoing military intervention so as to provide social amenities such as water, health services and schools to Somali refugees currently hosted in the country,” said in a statement issued on Friday after the meeting.
The talks come as Kenyan officials say its military incursion into the Horn of Africa nation has been successful and that troops are pushing deeper into the territory in pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants.
The cross-border operation dubbed Operation Linda Nchi (Protect the Nation), which was launched on Oct. 16, 2011 has seen Kenya deploy ground troops and air assets between its common border and near the Somali port town of Kismayo.
The Kenyan officials have also clarified that its forces were not at war with Somalia but are targeting militants who threaten Kenya’s heavily tourism-dependent economy and its national security.
Speaking on Friday, Kibaki appealed to the international community to consider availing more support to frontline nations like Kenya in the stabilization process of the war ravaged nation.
On his part the British Foreign Secretary thanked Kenya for the pivotal she has played towards the stabilization of Somalia and even hosting the largest ever known number of refugees.
Hague, who was in Somalia on Thursday briefed the President on the current situation in the country where he met various stakeholders in the conflict resolution process among them the TFG leaders and members of the civil society.
“The Foreign Secretary also affirmed Britain’s commitment to the stabilization of the Somalia conflict as evidence by the hosting of an international conference to be attended by about 50 nations to chart the way forward,” the statement said.
Kenya has maintained that the current onslaught on Al-Shabaab which has seen Kenya kill hundreds of Al-Shabaab fighters should not be left to Kenya alone, noting that it’s the responsibility of the broader international community.
There have been kidnappings of tourists and aid workers in Kenya in recent weeks which officials blamed on Al-Shabaab, a charge the group denied.
The two Spanish women, Montserrat Serra, 40, from Girona (Palafrugell), and Blanca Thiebaut, 30, from Madrid, both working as logisticians for MSF in the Dadaab refugee camp, were abducted in Dadaab refugee camp in October 2011.
Aid agencies working in northern Kenya and in Somalia said the latest attack is jeopardizing the assistance to thousands of people in urgent need of humanitarian aid and that a quick and satisfactory solution is necessary.
During the meeting, Kibaki called for urgent action because Kenya was hosting over 600,000 refugees a number that has never been witnessed anywhere in the world.
The president called for voluntary repatriation of the refugees to pacified areas of the war ravaged country so as to mitigate other negative trends that are associated with the conflict, particularly piracy, terrorism, general insecurity and destabilization of the Horn of Africa region.
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FLASH: 29 CHINESE KIDNAPPED IN SUDAN EXPECTED TO BE RELEASED WITHIN 48 HOURS: LOCAL MEDIA

KHARTOUM, (Xinhua) -- Twenty-nine Chinese hostages abducted by the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement are expected to be released within 48 hours with the mediation of the International Committee of Red Cross, Sudanese media reported on Monday.
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About 100 Malian soldiers flee to Niger to escape from Touareg rebels’ attacks

NIAMEY, (Xinhua) -- About 100 Malian soldiers are taking refuge in Niger after fleeing from the attacks carried out by the Touareg rebels who are fighting under the banner of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA).
These soldiers entered the Nigerien territory without weapons in company of their families, through the Nigerien military post of Chingor (about 200 km north of Niamey), following an attack on their barracks at Menaka in northern Mali.
On Saturday, Niger’s National Defense Minister Karidjo Mahamadou visited these Malian soldiers.
A Nigerien military source said the visit “was meant to boost the morale of our Malian brothers, a few hours before they are returned to their country, in company of their families.”
A source from the United Nations bureau for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that about 100,000 families have crossed the Niger-Malian border to take refuge in Niger’s Ouallam and Tillabery villages due to the continued fighting in Northern Mali.
Most of them have fled from the Malian localities of Aderboukane and Menaka which have been targeted by MNLA attacks.
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Thousands of Malian nationals take refuge in eastern Mauritania

NOUAKCHOTT, (Xinhua) -- Over 6,000 Malians who fled from northern Mali where the Touareg rebels are fighting against Mali’s governmental forces, have in the last few days taken refuge at Vassale in eastern Mauritania, a source working with a humanitarian organization said on Sunday.
A diplomatic source told Xinhua that a team from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had already been deployed to the ground to evaluate the conditions of the Malians who had now taken refuge in Mauritania.
These humanitarian teams have described the situation of the Malians living in Mauritania as “worrying, especially due to the risks of disease outbreak and malnutrition.”
The representatives of these humanitarian organizations said that this population of the displaced persons is comprised of “1, 455 children aged between 0-5 years with 53 of them in critical malnutrition condition.”
An official Mauritanian source said the Mauritanian government had already supplied foodstuffs which is enough for the displaced persons for the next 15 days.
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Egypt blast freezes gas supply to Jordan

AMMAN, (Xinhua) -- Jordan said Sunday an attack against a gas pipeline in Egyptian city of Arish led to the complete halt of natural gas supply Jordan receives from the north African country, the state-run Petra news agency reported.
Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company and the country’s National Electric Power Company are currently working on securing necessary amount of fuel derivatives to continue the generation of power to citizens, Jordan’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Qutaibah Abu Qura said Sunday.
Jordan used to receive 2.5 million cubic meters of gas per day before the attack against the pipeline, said the minister, adding that talks are underway with the Egyptian authorities to assess the damages.
The gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan in Egypt’s Arish was bombed in the early hours on Sunday. About ten armed men put the explosives under the pipeline, west of Arish in the north of the Sinai peninsula and bombed it at around 1 a.m. on Sunday (2300 GMT Saturday), a security source told Xinhua.
The explosion caused a blaze as there was gas in the pipeline. No casualties were reported in the explosion.
This was the 12th explosion targeting the pipeline since February 2011.
Over the past three years, about 80 percent of power generated in the energy-poor kingdom, which imports about 96 percent of its energy needs annually, relied on the Egyptian gas. In 2010, Jordan imported about 6.8 million cubic meters of gas per day from Egypt.

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EGYPT-ARISH-GAS PIPELINE-BLAST

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Egypt refers 40 nationals, foreigners to court over NGO funding

CAIRO, (Xinhua) -- Egypt referred on Sunday 40 Egyptians and foreigners to court for offering illegal funding to civil society and non-governmental organizations in the country, official MENA news agency reported.
A special panel, appointed by Minister of Justice Adel Abdel- Hamid Abdullah to investigate the issue, ordered these suspects to be brought to the Cairo Criminal Court for trial, the report said.
The panel also ordered that a travel ban previously issued against them is still in effect.

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EGYPT-CAIRO-UNREST

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Belgian army staff chief to visit Rwanda

KIGALI, (Xinhua) -- The Belgian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Charles-Henri Delcour is expected on Monday in Kigali, for a two-day talks with the Rwandan military authorities aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation, a military source revealed Sunday here.
According to the visiting programme, during his stay in Rwanda, Gen.Delcour will first meet with Rwanda’s Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi and the Defence Minister, Gen.James Kabarebe and he will also meet with Chief of General Staff of the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF), Lieutenant General Charles Kayonga, the statement said.
The Senion officer of the Belgium army is also expected to visit higher military training academy of G before laying a wreath at one of the genocide memorial which located downtown Kigal where 10 Belgian UN Blue Berets where massacred, during the genocide in 1994.
On Wednesday, its last visiting day, the Belgium military delegation will tour some local touristic resorts before leaving Rwanda
Visits to some military units and official talks between representatives of both armies, are also part of the visiting programme, according to the same source.
Belgium and Rwanda have maintained close military cooperation since the Central African country’s independence in 1962.
This partnership between the two countries includes the training of young Rwandan officers in Belgium’s Royal Military Academy in several fields.
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ATM attacks increase rapidly in South Africa

CAPE TOWN, (Xinhua) -- Attacks on Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) have increased rapidly in South Africa partly due to poor policing, according to statistics published on Saturday.
A total of 399 attacks took place in 2010/2011 compared to 247 attacks in 2009/2010, a 61-percent rise, the Institute for Security Studies said.
Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal were the hardest hit provinces, said the institute.
Since the start of the year, ATM attacks had taken place in other parts of the country, including Eastern Cape, North West and Western Cape.
The latest two attacks took place in Cape Town on Friday, an area that had remained mostly unaffected in the past.
Street-facing ATMs or exposed ATMs usually are easy targets where bombers or gangs can gain access.
Most of the attacks took place between 02:00 and 05:00 a.m. in areas with poor lighting.
There was no word on how much money have been stolen from ATM machines.
The institute attributed the increase in ATM attacks to disarray in crime intelligence unit and a lack of experienced detectives.
Organized crime syndicates were taking advantage of weaknesses in the policing system, said crime expert Johan Burger at the institute. “One huge weakness is the inability to produce usable crime intelligence about syndicates because of internal problems. There is huge disarray at the moment,” he said.
“We also need more investigation into these cases. There is far too little attention on appointing experienced detectives... which leads to successful prosecutions.”

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SOUTH AFRICA-JOHANNESBURG-CHINA-EXHIBITION

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Uganda warns of dry conditions, disease outbreak

KAMPALA, (Xinhua) -- Uganda’s Meteorological Department on Friday warned of dry harsh weather conditions leading to water scarcity, reduced pasture and disease outbreak
The department in a statement issued here said that over the next one month the sunny and dry weather conditions expected over several parts of the country especially in pastoral areas are likely to lead to reduced foliage and pastures for livestock.
It said a decline in water resource availability is likely to occur in most parts of the country.
“Likelihood of high day time temperatures (30-40°C), especially in northern and north-eastern parts of the country, may give rise to heat waves which is a potential health risk. It should also be noted that cases of Meningitis diseases may also occur in such places,” the statement said. The department attributes the weather conditions to among others the winds that originate from Arabian Desert.
“These winds (North–East) blowing over Uganda have continental track through Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. Therefore by the time they reach Uganda, they have already lost moisture on their track hence becoming hot and dry and affect the country with hazy conditions,” the statement said.
Uganda ordinarily does not face harsh weather condition apart from the country’s semi-arid region in the northeastern part of the country.
The region has for the last over four decades faced severe drought leaving close to one million people on the verge of starvation.
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Uganda cancer patients face excruciating pain in face of dwindling international financing

KAMPALA, (Xinhua) -- As the world commemorates World Cancer Day on Saturday, a visit to the Cancer ward at the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) shows how the silent killer disease is eating away the country’s population.
In the ward, the young and old, men and women face excruciating pain as they wait for the treatment of the ailment that presents itself in different forms.
Experts said that as much as some of the symptoms of the disease present early, at least 80 percent of patients come to the hospital in the late stages of the disease and can hardly get cured, hence eight in 10 patients die of the disease because of late diagnosis.
According to Jackson Orem, Director of the UCI, the disease, which is referred to as a silent killer because its early symptoms are not as painful as those of malaria, is slowly eating up the country’s population, with at least one in every 500 people suffering from a cancer.
The experts said that the statistics have shot up recently due to many factors ranging from an increase in infectious diseases, changing lifestyles and perhaps an increase in awareness among the population who can now report cases at the hospital rather than die unnoticed in the villages.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa is facing a major public health challenge due to the rising burden of cancer.
It is projected that by 2030, Africa will bear some 1.6 million new cancers with 1.2 million deaths.
The most common cancers are cancers of the cervix, breast, liver, prostate, Kaposi’s sarcoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The increasing burden of cancer comes at a time when there is decreasing international financing due to the global economic downturn.
Most of countries in Africa depend on external financing to run their health sectors.
“Financing cancer activities is going to be more and more difficult because the economic woes that are affecting the economies of the world is not only limited to Uganda but it is all over. That means that the civil society is unlikely to get as much as they used to get from donors internationally,” said Orem.
Because of the limited funding, there has been no expansion of cancer screening services countrywide.
This stretches the UCI beyond its capacity with the inflow of patients from all over the country.
Whereas it is not uncommon to find patients camping at the institute for months to get hold of a doctor for diagnosis, many of them can hardly pay for subsequent tests of about 10 U.S. dollars each.
The minimum cost of treatment is about 500 dollars, but this could rise to 1,200 dollars depending on the severity of the diagnosis.
This leaves many diagnosed patients unable to complete their doses because they cannot afford to pay for the expensive medicines.
In view of the reduced financing, the Ugandan government and the civil society have resorted to putting their emphasis on preventing measures.
According to WHO, scientific knowledge gathered over many decades indicates that at least one-third of all cancer cases can be prevented.
For instance a reduction in tobacco consumption can decrease the morbidity and mortality rates like lung and throat cancers.
Possy Mugyenyi, Program Manager Center for Tobacco Control in Africa said the cancer civil society in Uganda is lobbying the country’s parliament to enact stringent laws against smoking which he said is the leading cause of cancers in Uganda.
He said they are going to push government to increase taxes on cigarettes to up to 70 percent so that the price increase can act as a deterrent to the youth who are increasing adopting the habit of smoking.
As one of the other measures of reducing smoking, pressure is also going to be exerted on government to enforce previously enacted laws for instance a ban on public smoking.
Kaggwa Mugaga, an official from WHO, told reporters on Friday that Ugandans also have to change their eating habits.
According to WHO, healthy diets, particularly diets high in fruits and vegetables, may have a protective effect against many cancers.
Conversely, excessive consumption of red and preserved meat may be associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.
The experts said that whereas governments should play a critical role in fighting cancer, individuals and civil societies also have a responsibility as theme of this year’s World Cancer Day goes, “Together it is possible”.
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Ugandan president cautions youths against HIV/AIDS scourge

KAMPALA, (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has urged the youths in the East African country to desist from immoral life-styles that may lead them to contracting HIV/AIDS.
Museveni in a State House statement issued here on Sunday said that promiscuity is still the main route through which the pandemic spreads.
He urged the youths to appreciate their bodies as sacred vessels that are supposed to be healthy.
“He .. advised the youth to avoid pre-marital sex as a way of keeping away the HIV/AIDS pandemic if they hope to lead healthy and useful lives both for their own benefit and to the benefit of their country,” the statement said.
Museveni’s earlier public campaign against the scourge is among other factors that are said to have successfully brought down the country’s HIV prevalence rate from 30 percent in pregnant women and 18 percent in the general population in the early 1990s to about 5 percent by 2000.
Experts however say that the prevalence is increasing again and now stands at 6.4 percent.
The increase in the prevalence is partly attributed to the country’s concentration on treatment of HIV/AIDS rather than prevention.
Ministry of health statistics show that there are nearly 1.2 million Ugandans living with HIV/AIDS.
According to the ministry, if preventive efforts are not taken to control the disease among married couples, sexual workers and the population explosion, the country will register another 700, 000 cases of the epidemic by 2015.
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News Analysis: Can Zambia have a constitution that will stand test of time

By Elias Shilangwa LUSAKA, (Xinhua) -- The reservations made by the Catholic Bishops in Zambia regarding the current constitution- making process have brought to the fore, once again, the question of whether the southern African nation will ever have a constitution that will stand the test of time.
The Catholic Bishops- in a 23-paged pastoral statement released early this week, have questioned the government’s sincerity in putting in place a constitution that will be accepted by all if it is not willing to do what most Zambians want.
“Much as the government has given the Zambian people assurances that the current process will be independent and that the government will endeavour to deliver a people-driven constitution, these assurances are based on trust than a legal framework. The constitution making process needs a legal instrument that safeguards and protects its content,” the pastoral statement from the authoritative Bishops said.
The Catholic Bishops are concerned that from past experiences, if the constitution-making process is not sufficiently protected by law, it is prone to political manipulation.
And that has been the experiences in past constitution-making processes in Zambia which have ended up in not being accepted by all.
The concerns from the Catholic Bishops stem from the fact that Zambia has had four constitution-making processes since independence from Britain in 1964, which have been costly to the taxpayers and have not yielded desired results.
The Zambian constitution first underwent review in 1972 and this was followed by another review in 1991 under the first government of Kenneth Kaunda. When late president Frederick Chiluba assumed office after the 1991 elections, he embarked on a review of the constitution prior to the 1996 elections and so did his predecessor late Levy Mwanawasa in 2003. This process dragged on until last year when lawmakers failed to pass a bill that would have allowed for the establishment of a new constitution.
The new leader President Michael Sata recently announced a plan to come up with a new constitution and a 20-member technical committee has since been appointed. It has been mandated to come up with the new constitution before the end of this year.
When Sata announced the plan to have a new constitution, many breathed a sigh of relief because they though the process will take a different path from past process that have failed to produce a constitution accepted by all.
However statements that have come from government officials and the technical committee have shown that nothing much has changed in the country’s constitution making process.
For instance, a statement issued by the technical committee’s spokesperson Simon Kabanda recently that the final draft constitution will have to be taken to cabinet was met with resistance because it meant cabinet rejecting any clauses which it is not comfortable with.Stakeholders questioned the committee’s decision to take the draft constitution before cabinet, saying this has caused problems in the past.
Among those who have doubted the current constitution making process are two of the country’s renowned constitutional lawyers.
United States-based law Professor, Muna Ndulo and his United Kingdom-based counterpart Dr. Chaloka Beyani said in a joint statement recently that the current process is “deeply flawed” and may not produce good results.
Professor Ndulo, who lectures at Cornell University Law School in the United States and Dr Beyani, who lectures at the London School of Economics and Politicial Science, stated that the option taken by the government “does not ensure transparency” and that the process had numerous flaws that will make it difficult to come up with a “people’s constitution”.
Among the flaws cited include the fact that the process itself is inherently unrepresentative and suffers from a crisis of legitimacy, it is ill-designed to build consensus and produce a constitution the country can be proud of and that the process is not guided by any agreed constitutional principles or national vision.
The lack of proper representation in the technical committee has caused consternation from some stakeholders who have accused the government of only picking people who campaigned for it in the run-up to last September’s elections and it is comprised of some people who are not legal experts.
The commitee’s chairperson Justice Annel Silungwe said at a press briefing on Tuesday that cabinet will not participate in the adoption process of the draft constitution, saying the final draft constitution will be subjected to a referendum after a nationwide debate in May.
The former chief judge said the biggest problem with past draft constitutions was cabinet involvement, saying in the past cabinet debated the draft constitution before it went to parliament.
“But as things stand now, after the referendum, cabinet and parliament will not debate the draft because it would have already been debated by the people. I want to assure citizens that cabinet will not debate the draft constitution,” he said.
According to a roadmap on the constitution making process, the first draft constitution will be ready by the end of this month while the final draft constitution will be prepared after a national convention scheduled for May. The final draft constitution will be adopted in June.
The former chief judge said the work of the technical committee is to come up with a people-driven constitution which will stand the test of time.
While stakeholders have welcomed the decision taken by the technical committee to subject the draft constitution to a referendum, they have expressed reservations on whether the final document will contain the wishes of the people.
“The issue of having a referendum is good and welcome because this has always been the wish of the people. But the major question is whether Zambians will be given an opportunity to debate the final content of the draft constitution before going for a referendum. The major issue is the contents of the constitution and not the referendum,” Gregory Chifire, executive director of the Committee of Citizens told Xinhua.
He said holding a referendum without allowing people understand the contents of the draft constitution will be a waste of resources because it will not guarantee having a people-driven constitution that will stand the test of time.
“The technical committee is not being sincere when they say they are going to take the draft constitution for a referendum. What are they going to take? Is it the whole draft constitution? In a referendum, people have to vote yes or no and I wonder what they will be voting for if they don’t know the contents,” he added.
The Southern African Center for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) while commending the move taken by the technical committee to subject the draft constitution to national wide debates believes that there must be a guarantee that people’s views will be taken and included in the final constitution.
“Our hope is that people’s views will be taken on board by the committee because in previous experiences people’s views were not taken but were trashed and this resulted in having problems,” the organization’s spokesperson Obby Chibuluma said.
He said the whole process risk being cosmetic if the technical committee will decide to disregard inputs from the general public.
On the other hand, the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) has appealed to the technical committee to share its road map on the process so that other stakeholders can participate effectively.
While commending the committee for assuring Zambians that a referendum will be used to come up with the final constitution, the organization’s executive director McDonald Chipenzi said past constitution making processes have been contentious because of government’s failure to state its position on the process.
Indeed, a constitution is the supreme law of any country and people participation in its making is cardinal if it is to be accepted. The fact that Zambia’s constitution has been subjected to four reviews is not acceptable and the sooner authorities realize the importance of this document the better for the country.
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World Bank urges Kenya to up infrastructure investment

By Chrispinus Omar NAIROBI, (Xinhua) -- World Bank’s Vice President for Sustainable Development Rachel Kyte ended her three-day visit to Kenya on Friday by calling on the government to speed up infrastructural investments to sustain growth.
Speaking at a news conference in Nairobi, Kyte said the east African nation has the opportunity to achieve higher, more sustainable growth if it increases investments in infrastructure and climate resilient development.
“My sense from this visit is that there are abundant opportunities to transform Kenya by good execution of plans for infrastructure, including energy, transport and water. Kenya’s transformation is also key to regional integration,” she said.
Kyte said more efficient transport systems, green energy investments, and actions on adaptation to climate change will increase Kenya’s competitiveness in the East African region and provide safer livelihoods for millions of Kenyans.
“This is an important year for Kenya and we trust that the momentum of growth and reform will be maintained,” Kyte told journalists at the conclusion of her visit.
The World Bank senior official visited Kenya to review the progress of development projects funded by the bank where she also toured two other East African countries.
Kyte’s visit comes as the World Bank forecast Kenya’s economy to grow by 5 percent in 2012, adding the east African nation will record reasonable growth despite prevailing harsh global economic conditions.
World Bank’s Manager for Development Prospects Groups, Andrew Burns said in Nairobi last week that Kenya which has the largest industrial base in the East African region, will also benefit from the high growth rates in the region due to increased demand for manufactured products.
“We are currently in a very difficult period in the global economy, but Kenya’s economy is set to grow by 5 percent this year, same as forecasted rate back in June 2011,” Burns said.
But Kyte who was accompanied by Jamal Saghir, the Bank’s Director for Sustainable Development in the Africa Region, held meetings with other top level government officials including the ministers of finance, roads and agriculture; and with development partners including civil society organizations.
Kyte said the Bretton Wood institution was keen on growing its investment portfolio in Kenya with special focus on strategic projects.
Currently, the bank has invested 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in various projects in energy, water resource management and other infrastructure.
“I am impressed by the progress I have seen in the various projects the bank is undertaking. What is important is that projects in all the sectors go at pace,” she said.
During a meeting with President Mwai Kibaki, Kyte reaffirmed the Bank’s commitment to assist Kenya meet its critical challenges, including providing additional resources of about 1.5 billion dollars to bridge investment deficits in the water, energy and transport sectors.
President Kibaki lauded the Bank for its partnership across all key sectors of the economy. He urged the Bank to continue supporting Kenya’s growth plans and advising on economic development policy.
During her visit, Kyte also held bilateral meetings with ministers of agriculture, roads and finance. In addition, she had discussions with permanent secretaries for energy, housing and water during field visits to Bank-supported projects in geothermal development, urban services, and natural resource management.
At Olkaria, she said that to meet the government’s target to increase electricity access from 25 percent to 40 percent of households by 2020 will require increased leveraging of private sector investment in energy.
The Bank is currently funding expansion of a geothermal power generation project in Olkaria whose current output is 150MW.
Construction of additional power generating units with an expected total output of 280MW is expected to commence early next month at a cost of 450 million dollars excluding funding for drilling activity that was done by the government of Kenya at a cost of 316 million dollars.
The Bank has a portfolio of 2.8 billion dollars in Kenya invested in 21 national and 6 regional projects, with the largest share of this(83 percent of commitments) being in sustainable development—transport, energy, water, urban development and agriculture.
The Bank has invested an additional 316 million dollars through the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and 149 million dollars in insurance cover by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to five private investment projects.
Kyte said disclosed that some funds in additional funding would be released over the next two years to fund various projects in energy and water management across the country.
In Naivasha’s Karagita settlement scheme, Kyte said she was impressed by the community participation in upgrading of access roads, water and sanitation, lighting and solid waste disposal.
She also visited Murang’a where local communities in the upper Tana River catchment are making a living from preservation of water sources and indigenous forests in partnership with Kenya Forest Service, water management authorities and the National Irrigation Board.
“What you are doing is making this country healthier,” she said during a visit to one of the groups, which is propagating the production and use of bamboo as a water-friendly alternative to water-demanding eucalyptus along riverine areas.
The WB official also held discussions with representatives of the private sector, civil society, development partners, and the media to listen to their perspectives on the opportunities for sustainable development in Kenya.
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Africa Feature: Twin SIM mobile phone gains ground in Kenya

By Bedah Mengo NAIROBI, (Xinhua) -- The twin SIM mobile phone is gradually pushing out of the Kenyan market the single SIM card handset as consumers preferences change.
Most subscribers in the East African nation are switching to dual SIM mobile phones as they seek to enjoy services of various telecommunication companies without going through inconveniences of swapping cards.
In Kenya, research by Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) indicates that most subscribers have multiple SIM cards, which they interchangeably use to benefit from services of various mobile companies, namely Safaricom, Yu, Orange and Airtel.
The companies have different calling and data access charges, loyalty reward systems and promotions.
For instance, making calls on Safaricom network costs 0.04 U.S. dollars per minute during the day and 0.02 dollars during the night. Cross network calls cost 0.05 dollars.
On the other hand, Airtel subscribers call within and out of the network for 0.03 dollars per minute. Yu and Orange have similar pricing strategies.
The variations have made many Kenyan subscribers to own SIM cards of at least two telecommunication companies in a bid to benefit from the services.
However, this came with lots of inconveniences, chief among them carrying several SIM cards and one telephone number had to remain offline.
To save the trouble, subscribers are thus shifting to twin SIM mobile phones. The new technology is fast spreading in the East African nation with global mobile phones manufacturers rushing to cash in on increasing demand.
The companies are outdoing each other in introducing both, high and low-end dual SIM handsets in the Kenyan market. Leading the foray are Samsung, Techcom and Nokia, who in the past months have introduced affordable twin SIM mobile phones.
Samsung has Ch@t DUOS mobile phones that are going for between 71 and 89 dollars. The phones, besides twin SIM cards, have many other features that make them appealing to consumers.
Techcom has seven twin SIM models in Kenya namely T21, T31, T33, T35, T51, T55, and T60 respectively. Similarly, Nokia unveiled its 100 series dual SIM mobile phones in Kenya late last year.
“We are on a hurl with dual-SIM. These are entry-level gadgets to give consumers, who are only starting out on their mobile experience a modern, able feature-rich device,” Nokia Executive Vice President of Mobile Phones Mary McDowel said.
She noted that dual SIM mobile phones enable users to link to two networks, assisting them to succeed expenses and sustain network coverage.
“Dual SIM mobile phones are the in-thing right now in Kenya,” Tom Ndonje, an IT expert in Nairobi, told Xinhua on Friday 3 in an interview.
“Every subscriber wants to enjoy services of different telecommunication companies at various times to save costs.”
He noted that the dual SIM is increasingly gaining currency in the East African nation because Kenyan subscribers are extremely price sensitive.
“Any increase in prices by telecommunication companies often leads to reduction of calls made or loss of subscribers. Many people will tell you that they remain with their subscribers to avoid losing contacts but acquire a second SIM card,” he said.
Besides pricing, Ndonje observed that failure of a number portability system that was started in Kenya in 2010 is accelerating the shift to twin SIM mobile phones.
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) involves transferring (porting) ones number from one network provider to another, without losing one’s phone number or contacts.
When CCK came up with the concept, it elicited a lot of excitement with many subscribers believing it will help them avoid swapping SIM cards.
“The system failed in total. Many people thought they could easily swap providers at any time they wished without going through prohibitive bureaucracies like signing forms,” he said.
However, it turned out to be different. “Switching from one provider to another meant paying 2.3 dollars. One also had to exhaust airtime or transfer any accumulated loyalty points and withdraw all mobile money from their accounts. It was expensive than buying another SIM card that cost 0.2 dollars,” he noted.
Fredrick Odongo, a resident of Nairobi, was among subscribers who rushed for MNP. However, he said he switched back to his subscriber because he could not use money transfer service.
Now, he has embraced a twin SIM cell phone. “I bought a dual SIM eight months ago. It has helped me enjoy services of various subscribers and save money because I only make calls through a network that is affordable at that particular time,” he said.
However, not all dual SIM cell phones are popular with subscribers. Most people want mobile phones that two networks are active at the same time.
“Why should I buy a phone that has two slots for SIM cards but they are not functioning concurrently. This is the same as having a single SIM phone and swapping cards as you wish,” said Martin Nzeu, a student in Nairobi.
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Road accident in western Kenya claims 25 lives

KISUMU, Kenya, (Xinhua) -- At least 25 people were killed in a road accident on Friday night on the Kisumu-Kakamega highway in west of the East African nation, witnesses and humanitarian agency confirmed on Saturday.
Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) spokesperson Nelly Muluka said the 9:00 p.m. local time (1800 GMT) accident involved a speeding lorry which was ferrying sugar from a local factory and an overloaded Nissan passenger vehicle (matutu).
“The accident involved a lorry which was speeding lorry. It rammed into 14-seater Nissan matatu which was overloaded but unfortunately both passengers in both vehicles lost their lives,” Muluka told Xinhua by telephone on Saturday.
She said rescuers from the Kenya Red Cross rushed to the scene of the accident to try to save lives but were unable to pullout the bodies from the wreckages. The area is a black spot as several people have lost their lives in the recent past.
“The Red Cross officials were on the ground for rescue mission but it was too late as nobody was pulled out alive from the wreckage. We only ferried the bodies to the New Nyanza General hospital mortuary,” she said.
Eye witnesses said the speeding lorry rammed into a stationary matatu which had been flagged down by traffic police at the roadblock and was heading to Kakamega. They said the passenger vehicle was stopped by the traffic police at a road block for a routine inspection when a lorry from the opposite direction lost control and rammed into them.
The witnesses said the speeding lorry was also flagged down but failed to stop forcing the police to remove the roadblock spikes to avoid a collision with oncoming vehicles but that failed.
“The lorry driver blazed the head lights several times to indicate that all was not well but the vehicles at the road block failed to give way and it rammed into them. The impact of the crash forced the matatu from the road killing all passengers,” the witness said.
According to the Kenya police, more than three quarters of those killed through road accidents are males and about half are children. Fifty seven percent are vulnerable road users – motor cyclists,pedestrians and cyclists.
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Kenya vows to continue investing in ICT

NAIROBI, (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government vowed on Friday to continue investing in the development of the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) in the country to spur economic growth and boost employment opportunities.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga noted that the implementation of reforms and uptake of ICT throughout the economy could provide the impetus required for high and sustained growth.
“We are committed to playing the key roles of ensuring equitable access to new technologies, providing a framework for investment,growth, and competition, opening markets to international competition,and creating an educated workforce that is able to meet the job demands of a digital economy,” Odinga said in Nairobi when officially opened Altech Sameer East Africa Data Centre.
The data centre is a joint venture between Altech and the Sameer Group and is the first of its kind in East and Central Africa.
The facility was built in response to a growing need by local and international companies for an in-region facility to host and manage their information technology requirements.
The Kenya Data Network (KDN) centre, which began operations at the end of last year, already hosts systems and applications for several local and multinational corporations. Odinga was categorical that the future of the country and that of her youth lies in the ICT sector.
“Government must, and is contributing to the development of the IT sector to expand the local information infrastructure, not only because of business imperatives, but also because of meeting the basic societal needs,” he said.
According to Shahab Meshki, Altech KDN CEO, the data centre is testament to Altech KDN’s commitment to provide world class services in the field of information communications technology in East Africa.
“This facility will help our clients cut down on overheads in telecommunications and data storage infrastructure and will provide a physical environment that will ensure the day-to-day running of various communication equipment and application systems, with the aim of ensuring that availability levels meet our clients’ expectations at an affordable cost,” he said.
“This data centre targets corporate clients and financial institutions looking for international standards in data storage and security and offers hosting services to clients in Kenya, Tanzania,Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, in addition to international telecoms providers that need point of presence solutions.”
But Odinga who toured the facility said that the government has created the necessary infrastructure and was now looking for investors keen on reaping from and also extend ICT revolution domestically.
He pointed out that the IT sector has been growing at an average of 20 per cent per annum and has already demonstrated its capacity to transform the economy and lives.
That growth, he said has created a significant shift in the country’s economy most significantly through the birth and growth of mobile money transfer that is transforming the financial sector, creating opportunities for more effective transfers to the poor and spurring a range of productive activities.
“Most importantly, Kenya’s mobile money platform is the largest in the world and it is growing,” he said and challenged IT providers in the country to promote the continued growth of IT industries and information infrastructure so that all segments of the society share the benefits of the Information Age.
He observed that this was particularly crucial in the East African Community context where many citizens still are not connected by telephone, but particularly by computer.
Altech CEO Craig Venter said the data centre not only provides word class facilities for local and international companies, but is also a platform to Kenya’s vision of becoming East Africa’s information and communications hub. “This state-of-the art facility provides local and international companies with physical space in the form of server rooms and floor and rack space, as well as infrastructure such as sufficient dual input power, elaborate security systems and computer room air conditioning. Our clients simply bring in their own servers and routers and we host the equipment in the racks in the server rooms. “
According to Venter, the data centre not only provides word class facilities for local and international companies, but is also a platform to Kenya’s vision of becoming East Africa’s information and communications hub.
“This state-of-the art facility provides local and international companies with physical space in the form of server rooms and floor and rack space, as well as infrastructure such as sufficient dual input power, elaborate security systems and computer room air conditioning,” Venter said.
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Kenya mulling radical change of education system

NAIROBI, (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to fundamentally shift its education system from exam centred to learner centred in a bid to improve quality of graduates and avoid “wastage” that results from high dropout rates.
In proposals contained in a taskforce report commissioned by Ministry of Education, Kenya intends to modify its education system so that it can cater for various needs and skills of learners.
In the proposed system, the East African nation will have four different types of secondary schools namely talent, vocational, technical and general.
The categories will allow students to choose their career paths at secondary school level as it happens in the developed world depending on their skills and interests.
Those who are science or art oriented will settle for technical and general schools respectively. Similarly, those who are good in sports, music, drama and other special skills will join talent schools where they can develop their careers.
Vocational schools, on the other hand, will train artisan and trade courses like carpentry, catering, masonry and motor vehicle mechanics.
However, in all the schools, core subjects will include entrepreneurship, languages, citizenship, environmental studies and information technology.
This is a major departure from the current system where there is no specialisation. Students learn up to secondary school level and choose their careers depending on their performance in exit exams.
Education experts have blamed the current system for letting down millions of youths who drop out of school at Class Eight after failing to get admission in secondary schools and at Form Four for failing to attain university entry scores.
In last year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education for instance, Ministry of Education statistics indicate that 776,214 students sat exit exams. However, out of this, 213,239 pupils will not join secondary schools due to lack of spaces.
Experts have noted that the huge dropout rates, which are similarly higher at Form Four level, are reversing gains the East African nation had made by providing universal education to millions of its pupils at primary and secondary school level.
The state-of-affairs, which the proposed system wants to correct, has been blamed on an exam-centred education system where one’s grades, rather than skills or ability, determine their career
Thus, in the proposed structure, exit exams will not be the main determinant of students’ progression in the education system.
There will be continuous assessment tests, whose scores will be factored in the end-cycle exams to determine learners’ true abilities.
“Learning should focus on child development, skills and competencies and the crucial outcome at each level from early childhood level to university level,” notes the report.
In the new system, Kenya’s students will school for 17 years, starting at early childhood development school to university in a 2-6-6-3 system.
That is, two years at the early childhood institution, six years in primary school, six at secondary, divided into junior and senior, and three years in university.
This is a departure from the current system where pupils school for eight years in primary, four in secondary and four at the university, having spent a year at early childhood education school.
In the system, the task force further proposes learning should be made free from early childhood to senior secondary school, comprising of basic education.
This will make education up to secondary school compulsory and a basic right, as entrenched in Kenya’s Constitution.
It will be a major boost for the East African nation, which started free primary and subsidised secondary education in a bid to enhance access and accelerate achievement of Millennium Development Goals.
“The proposal aims to provide opportunities for lifetime learning and the achievement of basic education for all,” notes the team.
Many Kenyans have lauded the report saying it is what the country needs to eliminate poverty, empower its citizens and become industrialised.
“The system will help curb mass wastage of youths as it is happening now. It will also enable the country have qualified personnel necessary for the building of the economy at all levels. This unlike the way things stand now where everyone is striving to join university shunning middle-level institutions,” said Fredrick Otiato, a teacher in Nairobi, on Friday.
For John Njuguna, a university student, the proposal to develop talent is what makes him feel the new system will better Kenya.
“The current system is failing learners and the country because emphasis is put on exams, at the expense of talent or ability. I believe the system if adopted can help the youth embrace soccer, art, music and drama as careers as it happens in the West,” he noted.
Kenya will require about 16 billion dollars to fully implement the proposed system, starting September 2013, if the report is adopted.
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Uganda gov’t, Tullow sign oil production sharing agreements

KAMPALA, (Xinhua) -- UK independent Tullow Oil on Friday said it has signed two new production sharing agreements (PSA) with the Ugandan government that will pave way for commercial production.
In a statement posted on Tullow’s website the company said it will now proceed to finalize a farm-down deal with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and France’s Total to start commercial production in the East African country.
“As a result of this signing, Tullow will now finalize arrangements with CNOOC and Total for completion of the farm-down and the related transfer of monies as soon as possible,” Tullow said in a statement.
The new PSAs cover the EA-1 and Kanywataba licenses in the Lake Albert Rift Basin in western part of the country. Tullow has also been awarded the Kingfisher production license.
Aidan Heavey, chief executive officer of Tullow hailed the signing of the deal between his company and Ugandan government.
“Today’s signing is a vital step towards the development of the Lake Albert Rift Basin and the oil and gas industry in Uganda and East Africa. I look forward to working in partnership with the Government of Uganda and CNOOC and Total as we progress this world- class asset,” said Heavey, according to the statement.
The development comes barely three months after Ugandan legislators last year in October placed a moratorium on the execution of new oil contracts and transactions until government tables the necessary laws required to operationalize the Oil and Gas Policy.
The legislators’ move followed reports of alleged corruption and mismanagement in the country’s oil sector.
The Ugandan government confirmed also on Friday it had signed the production licence deals and a memorandum of understanding on the farm-down agreement in a separate statement.
“I would like to commend the Government Team led by my Ministry and comprised of officials from the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development and the Uganda Revenue Authority which negotiated the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of 15th March 2011 and subsequently the PSAs that have just been signed,” Irene Muloni, Uganda’s energy minister, said in a statement sent to media houses
“It has not been an easy task as the negotiations extended over a long period of time and therefore we appreciate the patience, effort and commitment shown by both the Government and Tullow teams,” she said.
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Tanzania to launch 20 mil USD sanitation campaign

DAR ES SALAAM, (Xinhua) -- Tanzania is to launch a four- year national sanitation and hygiene campaign which will cost 20 million U.S. dollars that will enable 1.3 million households and 700 schools to have quality toilet facilities, official media reported on Friday.
The campaign, which is set to be launched this month with the first year’s target of covering 43 districts in 12 regions, has been financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), according to the Daily News.
On the implementation of the project, 13 million household latrines will be improved, costing 13 million dollars and a total of 700 schools with improved toilets and hand washing facilities, costing seven million dollars.
Elias Chinamo, Acting Director of Prevention Services in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, told a media seminar on sanitation and hygiene, that poor sanitation costs Tanzania 206 million dollars or one percent of the East African country’s GDP each year.
He stated that 26 million Tanzanians, over half of the country’ s population, use unsanitary or shared latrines while 5.4 million have no latrine at all and defecate in the open.
He noted that 60 to 80 percent of the diseases requiring hospital attendance in Tanzania are caused by water and sanitation related diseases with current sanitation investment in Tanzania less than 0.1 percent of the GDP.
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Mozambique resumes rail services in Sofala 29 years after war

MAPUTO, (Xinhua) -- Rail services have resumed for passengers in Mozambique’s central province of Sofala, 29 years after interruption due to the civil war that ended in 1992,the Maputo daily paper Noticias reported on Saturday.
The route from Moatize to Beira runs 574 km with second and third class carriages to meet the needs of local passengers.
The carriages are equipped with a water system before electric power is installed soon.
Given the long extension of the route, port and railway authorities expect to introduce a restaurant wagon.
Executive Director of the Ports and Railway Company (CFM), Candido Jone, hailed the accomplishment as part of the government program to create good conditions for the free circulation of people and commercial exchanges along the Zambezi valley, including the provinces of Manica, Sofala, Tete and Zambezia.
The CFM chief appealed to passengers to value the company’s efforts and help maintain good and long-term services.
This line will also be used for distribution of coal from Moatize to Beira port, from where it should be exported to final destinations.
The Zambezi valley has a great potential in agriculture, livestock and mining operations.
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One killed in ultralight plane crash in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, (Xinhua) -- One man was dead and the other sustained critical injures as an ultralight plane crashed in the eastern South Africa’s province of Gauteng on Saturday, local paramedicals said.
The plane lost its control after taking off and plunged to the ground in Krugersdorp in Gauteng, local media quoted the paramedicals as saying.
The relief workers rushed to the scene ,and the injured man was airlifted o the hospital, according to the paramedicals.
The cause of the incident was not available,but the Civil Aviation Authority would launch an investigation.
The ultralight plane normally refers to the light-weight, slow- flying, fixed-wing plane with one or two seats, and it could be used for sports, training and other purposes.

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SOUTH AFRICA-JOHANNESBURG-CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR-CELEBRATION

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South Sudan invites Uganda’s soccer team for international build-up

KAMPALA, (Xinhua) -- Uganda’s national football team Cranes will play an international friendly match against South Sudan on Feb. 16 in the South Sudanese capital Juba, Uganda’s football governing body said here on Sunday.
Rogers Mulindwa, Federation of Uganda Football Associations spokesman told reporters that 23 players will on Monday start training in preparation for the game.
South Sudan which got independence from Sudan in July last year hopes to be accepted and affiliated to Confederation of African Football (CAF) later this month when the continental governing body of soccer sits for meeting.
Meanwhile Cranes coach Bobby Williamson has said he might invite Swedish-born Ugandan Martin Kayongo Mutumba for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game against Congo later this month.
“I will get in touch with him soon and possibly, invite him for a game and see how it goes. I’ve watched his videos and he is a brilliant player,” Williamson said.
The Cranes is meant to face Congo away on the weekend of Feb. 27-29.
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FIFA sends officials to mediate in Uganda’s football wrangles

KAMPALA, (Xinhua) -- The world soccer governing body FIFA has sent two officials to Uganda to try to resolve the wrangles between the country’s governing body FUFA and the organizers of the national league USLL.
Rogers Mulindwa, spokesman of the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA), said two officials Ashford Mamelodi and Primo Corvaro would arrive in Uganda on Monday to hold meetings with all concerned parties in order resolve wrangles that have lasted over two months.
“Two high ranking FIFA officials will this Monday jet into the country to access the situation. According to the communication received from Zurich (Switzerland), the two are the designated officials to follow up the matter,” Mulindwa told Xinhua in an interview on Sunday.
He said the continued defiance of association football rules by the Uganda Super League Limited (USLL) and isolated individuals has attracted the intervention of the world football body.
Although FUFA has banned two USLL officials and banned the league, the league has continued and the banned officials have also continued to do their work.
The FIFA officials are expected to hold a meeting with Ministry of Education and Sports officials meanwhile meeting the USLL club chairmen among other people.
However, the State Minister of Education and Sports Charles Bakkabulindi is expected to meet USLL officials, FUFA and club owners on Monday to try and sort out the problems between FUFA and USLL.
FIFA however does not allow government intervention and this normally may lead to suspension of the member association from FIFA events.
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African Nations Cup quarterfinal—Gabon 1 Mali 1

LIBREVILLE, (Xinhua) -- Following is the result of a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal at Stade de l’Amitie on Sunday:
Gabon 1 (Mouloungui 55) Mali 1 (Diabate 84)
Score after 90 minutes: 1-1
Score after extra time: 1-1
Mali win 5-4 on penalties
Note: Mali play Cote d’Ivoire on Feb 8 in semifinals.
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African Nations Cup quarterfinal—Ghana 2 Tunisia 1

FRANCEVILLE, Gabon, (Xinhua) -- Following is the result of a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal at Stade de Franceville on Sunday:
Ghana 2 (Mensah 10, A. Ayew 101) Tunisia 1 (Khalifa 42)
Score after 90 minutes: 1-1
Note: Ghana play Zambia on Feb 8 in semifinals.
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Africa Nations Cup quarterfinal—Zambia 3, Sudan 0

BATA, Equatorial Guinea, (Xinhua) -- Following is the quarterfinal result of Africa Nations Cup match between Zambia and Sudan:
Zambia 3 (Sunzu 15, C. Katongo 66, Chamanga 86) Sudan 0
Teams
Zambia: Kennedy Mweene - Davies Nkausu, Stopilla Sunzu, Hichani Himonde, Joseph Musonda - Chisamba Lungu (Francis Kasonde 56), Isaac Chansa, Nathan Sinkala, Rainford Kalaba - Chris Katongo ( Jonas Sakuwaha 89), Emmanuel Mayuka (James Chamanga 64)
Yellow card: Nathan Sinkala (45+1)
Sudan: Akram Al Hadi - Khalefa Ahmed, Ali Siefaldien, Mowaia Bashir, Mosab Omar - Mohamed Ahmed Bashir, Alaadine Yousif (Amir Kamal 30), Hicham Mustafa (Baderaldien Aldoud 68), Nazer Hamed ( Ramadan Alagab 42), Mohamed Al Tahir - Ibrahim Mudather Eltaib
Yellow card: Ali Siefaldien (34), Khalefa Ahmed (36), Mohamed Al Tahir (45+2)
Red card: Ali Siefaldien (65)
Referee: Bakary Papa Gassama (Gambia)

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