Politics

Sunday, 27 October 2013

SMSs warn of terror attacks at city malls

Security has been boosted at two shopping malls in the city following text messages sent randomly that customers should keep off the centres over an impending terror attack.

Guards at the Prestige and Junction shopping malls in Nairobi said they had stepped up security checks and reported to the police about the alarming text messages.

The police responded by sending teams to the malls to investigate the source of the messages.

A private firm official in charge of security at the Prestige mall on Ngong Road said a customer came running to the mall on Saturday afternoon and showed guards a text message urging people to keep off the two shopping complexes.

“It read: ‘Terror plot under way at the Prestige and Junction. Keep off,’” he told the Nation.

The customer at the Prestige mall is said to have hurriedly picked up his child, who was playing on the roof, and left.

A security officer who did not want to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media said a decision was made not to alert the rest of the customers as it would create panic.

He said they took adequate security measures, including informing the police about the alarming text messages.

Yesterday, normal activities were going on at the malls. Customers were going on with their shopping as their children played, which perhaps shows that the text messages were only sent to specific individuals.

There was, however, thorough scrutiny of vehicles and individuals walking in at both shopping centres.

At the Junction mall, a security officer who requested anonymity said he was aware of the text messages circulating. Security checks have been heightened to ensure the safety of customers, he added.

Kilimani police boss Peter Katam said they had intensified security surveillance at the two malls, including CCTV monitoring.

“The police received the alert messages a week and a half ago, including some that were sent yesterday,” said Mr Katam

Saturday, 26 October 2013

Could this mean Africa is revolting against ICC..Ivory Coast youth leader asks government to reject ICC warrant

Charles Ble Goude, wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and an ally of Ivory Coast's ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, should be tried by an Ivorian court and not sent to The Hague, the ex-youth leader's lawyers said.

Gbagbo, who refused to give up power after losing a runoff election in 2010, has been in the ICC's custody since November 2011, accused of responsibility for rapes, murders, persecution and inhuman acts committed during the post-election fighting that killed around 3,000 people.

The ICC earlier this month made public a warrant for Ble Goude, who headed the notorious Young Patriots street militia and served as youth minister in Gbagbo's last cabinet, for his alleged role in the violence.

"We ask that the Ivorian government does not agree to transfer him to the ICC, because we think the Ivorian justice system is capable ... of doing it here," Claver N'Dri, one of his lawyers, told a press conference in Abidjan on Wednesday.

Though the government of President Alassane Ouattara agreed to hand over Gbagbo, it has become less keen on cooperating with the international court as it comes under fire from African governments who say it unfairly targets the continent.

The African Union and Kenya asked the U.N. Security Council this week to defer ICC trials of Kenya's leaders for a year so they can deal with the aftermath of the Nairobi mall attack.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto face charges of crimes against humanity related to violence that followed Kenya's 2007 elections, in which 1,200 people died.

Both deny the charges and have tried to have the prosecutions adjourned or halted.

Last month Ivory Coast said it would try former first lady Simone Gbagbo, who is also being sought by the ICC, in a domestic court.

"We say that what is valid for Simone Gbagbo is also valid for Charles Ble Goude. The Ivorian justice system is already pursuing him and he is in detention here. So he must be judged in Ivory Coast," N'Dri said.

Ouattara's government has so far declined to say whether it would deliver Ble Goude to The Hague-based court.

Ble Goude's lawyers also requested the government release him pending his trial, claiming that doing so would help Ivory Coast's efforts to foster reconciliation.

The ICC is seeking to charge Ble Goude, who was arrested in Ghana and extradited to Ivory Coast in January, with four counts of crimes against humanity, including murder and rape, committed between December 2010 and April 2011.

Ble Goude denies the accusations, his lawyers said.

Ivorian authorities accuse him of kidnappings, illegal detentions, torture, incitement of hatred and economic crimes while a member of Gbagbo's inner circle.

He is also the target of United Nations-imposed sanctions including a travel ban and asset freeze.

(Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by David Lewis and Mike Collett-White)

Vincent Kituku: Treasure Valley residents help Kenyan girl get education Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/10/26/2834322/vincent-kituku-treasure-valley.html#storylink=cpy

"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James 1:27

"I wish I had somewhere else to go to, instead of my home, when schools close." Betsy, one of the girls sponsored by the nonprofit group Caring Hearts and Hands of Hope, said Jan. 25 with a voice that still makes me sad. Her mother's story had already made the audience cry. It is the way her mother's head sunk with a despair only experienced by a mother who has nothing to offer a child with potential. Such despair resurfaces often as I meet girls and women like Betsy and her mother.

The words unearthed bitter memories of how her own potential was unjustly squelched because she was born a girl. When Betsy's mother was in elementary school, she studied hard like all Kenyan children, in order to pass the eighth-grade exams. Her performance was exceptional and she was admitted at Moi Kabarak High School, one of Kenya's best schools.

It's hard for me write this, but her father, although capable of paying tuition, refused to educate her. My own mother suffered the same fate. In her youth, this was a common and generally accepted decision for families with limited resources. They didn't invest in girls' education. It was reasoned that, a girl's education would benefit the family of her future husband. But that was in 1940s.

Betsy's mother married a man who provided basic needs for his growing family. He unfortunately died and left his widow with seven children, Betsy being the first-born, in a one-room house shared by them and their grandmother. That was the beginning of a future of emptiness.

By God's grace, Betsy's potential was known by her second-grade teacher, who also knew the family's financial woes. That teacher, a member of CHHH Kenya committee, contacted me after Betsy passed her eighth- grade exams and had been languishing at "home" with no hope of ever going to high school. A caring sponsor from Eagle paid her freshman year's tuition, $500 that covers uniform, room and board, shoes, books and school supplies.

"Why would a child not want to go home?" is a question that occupied my thoughts until I asked and received pictures of a one-room, mud-thatched structure with obviously rotting and leaking corrugated iron roofing. The Cloverdale Church of God in Boise raised $2,500 to build the family a house with two bedrooms and a living room and outdoor pit latrine.

My son, Kithetheesyo Muli, Beth Schaefer, Jackie Moran and Carrie Barton (sponsors of CHHH) and I visited Betsy's family in July, mainly to see the progress of the house construction.

A few yards from Betsy's unfit–for- human dwelling was a well-fenced compound with a big modern house, separate kitchen and other small houses and flourishing trees. It is the home of Betsy's uncle, who was her mother's classmate in eighth grade. She had better grades, but their father chose to educate him, because of his gender. He is a teacher. Betsy's mother is a beggar. That is when my heart sank as Betsy's mother's head had when she heard her own child's wish-not wanting to go home.

Caring Hearts and Hands of Hope is changing the world, one child at time. Betsy will never hear her child utter the words that crushed her mother because of caring people, mostly in Idaho. Their family's cycle of poverty, like those of other families with children sponsored by CHHH, is being broken.

Caring Hearts and Hands of Hope is currently helping 170 students in high school and 21 in universities and colleges. Learn more at www.caringheartsandhandsofhope.org.

To assist a child such as Betsy with tuition and fees, please mail a check to Caring Hearts and Hands of Hope Inc., (any amount helps), P.O Box 7152, Boise, ID 83707. Your donation is tax-deductible and 100 percent of it is used for the purposed you contribute it for.

Dr. Vincent Muli Kituku is an author and speaker for business organizations, schools and Christian groups. Contact him at (208) 376-8724 or vincent@kituku.com.

The Idaho Statesman's weekly faith column features a rotation of writers from many different faiths and perspectives.

By Vincent Kituku

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/10/26/2834322/vincent-kituku-treasure-valley.html#storylink=cpy

Monday, 21 October 2013

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POLICE HOTLINES 020-240000 020-240800 020-335124
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Tuesday, 15 October 2013

Waki secret envelope now haunts RUTO and Uhuru

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and Deputy President William Ruto face charges in the International Criminal Court at The Hague of instigating and financing deadly tribal violence in Kenya after that country's disputed 2007 election.

Kenya's deputy president William Ruto is back before the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday. He and his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, face charges of instigating and financing deadly tribal violence in Kenya after that country's disputed 2007 election.

But their cases might never have reached this stage if not for one Kenyan judge and a remarkable disappearing act.

Justice Philip Waki was a Kenyan appellate judge appointed to chair a Commission of Inquiry to find the top political officials who instigated the post-election violence of 2007 and 2008, violence that killed more than 1,100 people.

But in Kenya, Commissions of Inquiry are viewed with skepticism. "Commissions end up being toothless bulldogs," says Maina Kiai, a human rights advocate and government critic. "They make a lot of noise. Some that have got good reports, they go nowhere."

Justice Philip Waki didn't want his report to fall prey to politics, so he made an unexpected move. Instead of publishing the names of the accused, he sealed them in an envelope. To keep justice blind, Judge Waki kept the names in the dark.

Then he ordered that envelope not to be opened until Kenyan politicians established a special court to try these people. If the government of Kenya failed to set up a special tribunal, he ordered, the envelope with its names and the evidence collected by the commission would be handed over to the International Criminal Court.

That's what happened when Kenya's parliament failed to set up a tribunal. And at this time, there was wide support in Kenya for the ICC. One survey showed that 80 percent of Kenyans supported the ICC, but politics could be kept out of the justice process only so long.

A Change In Tone

In December of 2010, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo released the names of the people he had decided to prosecute.

The announcement of the names changed the fault lines of Kenyan domestic politics. The two most powerful people on the list, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, teamed up to run on the same presidential ticket. These were the leaders of two tribes that were murdering each other after the last election. Now they were waving from the windows of the same tour bus.

Most surprising to some Western observers, they won the election, not despite the ICC but by playing the ICC charges to their advantage. In campaign stops, Kenyatta and Ruto hit the message that the ICC was an instrument of the West to sideline not just the two of them but both of their tribes, the two biggest tribes in Kenya. To some it sounded like a conspiracy theory, but Kiai says in Kenyan tribal politics, it made sense.

"In this country, the presidency has historically been everything," Kiai says. "You capture the presidency; your people, your constituents get roads, they get water, they get electricity, they get good schools, they get health care."

Kenyan voters from Ruto's Kalenjin and Kenyatta's Kikuyu tribes could be convinced that if their leaders were sent to jail, then they would be the ones to suffer. After all, Kiai says, if the leaders are made to "pay for their crimes," then the little people "won't have access to the little crumbs we get from them in the patronage system."

This, he says, is the biggest challenge of the international court. It was created in order to hold powerful people accountable in countries without strong systems of justice. But in those countries without strong institutions, where patronage prevails, can the ICC hold an individual leader accountable and not seem to punish all the people under him?

Questioning The International Criminal Court

John Githongo, former whistleblower on government corruption, says the ICC is at best "a blunt instrument."

The six men that the ICC chose to prosecute all came from just two tribes. Kenyans widely believe that other names, from other tribes, were in Judge Waki's still-secret envelope. Githongo says the ICC could have had perfectly sound legal reasons to choose just those six, but in limiting itself to trying people only from those two tribes, he says, the ICC made itself vulnerable to the charge of tribal favoritism."It doesn't understand the nuances of Kenyan tribal alliances and politics," he says from his office at Ni Sisi. "It takes evidence and says, 'OK we can build a case against these six guys.' "

"Politics is beginning to chip away at ICC support," says Mwalimu Mati, director of Mars Group Kenya, a government accountability watchdog. He says the recent terrorist attack on Westgate Mall may have chipped away support still further, highlighting for the first time since his election Kenyatta's role as commander-in-chief.

"[Commander-in-Chief] is different from the head of your government," Mati says. "As head of government, his election is disputed by half the country. But as commander-in-chief, you do need someone sitting in that seat. Now the question: Do you want your commander-in-chief to go to Holland to attend a trial? Or put another way: [Is it] justice for the victims or security for me? And that's what's happening to people," he says.

These questions are pulling at Kenyans at the same time. Even as bodies are still being identified in the rubble of Westgate, witnesses back in The Hague have resumed testimony against Kenyatta's deputy, William Ruto. And as for President Kenyatta, the judges at the ICC denied his petition to delay his own court date to deal with Kenya's security. His trial begins as scheduled in November.

This past weekend, the political backlash against the ICC went continent-wide. African leaders asked the United Nations Security Council to suspend the case. The head of the African Union even said that the ICC should not be allowed to bring charges against any acting head of state.

The AU instructed Kenyatta to boycott his own trial at The Hague if the U.N. doesn't answer its request to delay the trial at least a year. A no-show by the president could technically trigger an arrest warrant. But Western nations may be reluctant to antagonize a key partner in the war on terror.

Monday, 14 October 2013

The 10 Youngest Power Men In Africa

Joseph Kabila, Congolese, President, Democratic Republic of Congo

When he was 29, Joseph Kabila became the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after his father, former president Laurent Kabila was assassinated in a coup attempt at the height of a cataclysmic civil war. As soon as he took the reins of power, Kabila moved quickly to end the country’s civil war by negotiating peace agreements with rebel forces, and played a lead role in the signing of the historic Sun City agreement in 2002 which ended the war. Kabila consolidated his hold on power in 2006 when he won the country’s first democratic elections in over 40 years. The DRC has the second highest rate of infant-mortality and the second lowest nominal GDP Per capita in the world, despite its immense deposits of mineral resources. But Kabila believes he can fix it all with more time; Seeking re-election during November’s Presidential elections.

Mark Shuttleworth, South African, Founder, Ubuntu

In 1995, at the age of 22, Shuttleworth founded Thawte, a digital certificate and internet security company which he later sold off to American software giant, VeriSign for over $500 million, ploughing the proceeds to fund a tech incubator and venture Capital firm. But Shuttleworth is most famous for his founding of Ubuntu, a computer operating system which is distributed as free open source software. Shuttleworth is also the founder of the Shuttleworth Foundation, a purpose trust which funds individuals who are actively engaged in social change projects. The foundation identifies social entrepreneurs, gives them a fellowship grant, and multiplies the money the entrepreneurs put into their projects by a factor of ten or more.

Acha Leke, Cameroonian, Partner, Mckinsey & Company

One of Africa’s most sought after business consultants, Leke, 38, is a partner at Mckinsey & Company. The brainy Cameroonian has the ear of the top dogs at multinational corporations whom he helps with strategy setting, investment decisions, corporate finance and turn-around strategies among other things. He also co-authored McKinsey's report on Africa- Lions on the Move: The Progress and Potential of African Economies, and is a co-founder of the African Leadership Academy. In 2009, he was selected as a Global Young Leader by the World Economic Forum.

David Munro, South African, Chief Executive Officer, Corporate and Investment Banking, Standard Bank Group

In July, Munro, 38, was appointed the Chief Executive, Corporate and Investment Banking at the Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest financial services provider. Munro was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Global Young Leader in 2009.

Julius Malema, South African, President of the ANCYL

The son of a resistance, Malema 30, is the President of the Youth League of South Africa’s ruling Action National Congress (ANC). The ANC Youth League wields enormous power in South African politics, and played a pivotal role in the election of the incumbent President, Jacob Zuma during the 2009 Presidential elections. Malema, its leader, remains one of the country’s most divisive and polarizing figures, frequently stirring controversy for his inflammatory rhetoric and racial slurs. Malema has been labeled by President Zuma as a future leader of South Africa.

Fred Swaniker, Ghanaian Founder, African Leadership Academy

Fred

Swaniker- Founder, African Leadership Academy Fred Swaniker, 34, a Ghanaian-born serial entrepreneur, Business consultant and Mckinsey alumnus is the founder of the African Leadership Academy- a World-class coeducational, residential secondary boarding school in Johannesburg, South-Africa which recruits outstanding students from across Africa and prepares them for a future of leadership. Fred Swaniker is a TED and Echoing Green Fellow.

James Mworia, Kenyan, Chief Executive Officer, Centum Investments

At only 33, Mworia is the Chief executive officer of one of Centum, one of East Africa’s largest Private Equity firms. Centum has a cross-listing on both the Nairobi and Ugandan Stock Exchanges, and has substantial regional equity investments in blue chips like Coca-Cola, UAP Insurance and Kenya Commercial Bank. Mworia has been instrumental in pursuing Centum’s regional expansion into new territory like Mauritius and Nigeria.

Andry Rajoelina, Malagasy, Transitional President, Madagascar

The former Disc-Jockey was once the Mayor of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. In 2009, he seized power in a widely condemned military coup, subsequently declaring himself the transitional Head of the state of Madagascar. At 37, Rajoelina is the youngest head of government on the continent. Before dabbling into politics, Rajoelina was a moderately successful media entrepreneur who owned a radio station, Viva and Injet, a successful Advertising company.

Gachao Kiuna, Kenyan, CEO, Transcentury Group

Bagged a PhD in Biotechnology from Cambridge at the age of 24; went on to work for Mckinsey & Company in Johannesburg where he helped in advising corporate clients on strategy and finance; advised the Government of Kenya on the development of the Vision 2030 project. Now 33, Gachao sits at the helm of affairs of the Nairobi Stock Exchange-listed Private Equity powerhouse, Transcentury Group. The company’s diversified portfolio is spread across sectors such as financial services, food and agriculture, energy, real estate and infrastructure in both East and South Africa.

Euvin Naidoo, South African, President of the South African Chamber of Commerce in America

A Mckinsey alumnus, Euvin Naidoo is the President of the South African Chamber of Commerce in America (SACCA), and is one of the most renowned advocates for western investments into Africa. As President of SACCA, Naidoo facilitates the expansion of business, trade, and investment opportunities between South Africa and the North America, with the view of promoting sustainable economic growth across the two continents. In 2009, the Journal of International Affairs at Columbia University named him as one of the 5 Faces of African Innovation and Entrepreneurship, alongside Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim and Ghanaian president, John Atta Mills. In 2009, Euvin was selected as a Global Young Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Sunday, 13 October 2013

AU Requests Kenyatta ICC Trial Delay

A general view shows the opening session of Heads of States and Government of the African Union on the case of African relationship with the International Criminal Court in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, Oct. 11, 2013.

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — African leaders agreed on Saturday that Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta should not attend trial at the International Criminal Court if the U.N. Security Council did not agree to delay the proceedings, Ethiopia's foreign minister said.

Tedros Adhanom said that the African Union would request the trial be deferred under article 16 of the court's Rome Statute that allows a delay of a year subject to renewal and would request a postponement if that demand was not agreed.

Before departing for AU summit in Addis Ababa, Kenyan President Kenyatta, left, with Deputy President Ruto, Nairobi, Kenya, Oct. 12, 2013.

"If that is not met, what the summit decided is that President Kenyatta should not appear until the request we have made is actually answered,'' Tedros told journalists, explaining decisions of a meeting to discuss Africa's relations with the court.

Earlier, foreign ministers of the 54-member African Union agreed that sitting heads of state should not be tried by the Hague-based court.

"It should be underscored that our goal is not and should not be a crusade against the ICC, but a solemn call for the organization to take Africa's concerns seriously," Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said in an opening address.

Leaders meeting in Addis Ababa at the AU headquarters are expected to endorse the recommendations hammered out by ministers in Friday's meeting that extended past midnight.

Following that session, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom said trying Kenya's president and his deputy infringed on that nation's sovereignty. The two men deny charges that they orchestrated a killing spree after a disputed 2007 election.

Frustration with the ICC has been growing in Africa because the court has convicted only one man, an African warlord, and all others it has charged are also Africans.

The ministers did not call for a mass walk-out from the court's jurisdiction, however. Officials previously said that idea would be on the agenda but it did not draw broad support among the continent's 34 signatories to the court's Rome Statute.

Rights groups had urged African nations not to turn their backs on the court, which they say is vital to ending what they see as a culture of impunity in African politics.

Hailemariam told gathered leaders that the court and the U.N. Security Council had showed a "double standard" in the way it treated Africa and said earlier African requests for deferring cases had been ignored.

"It is indeed very unfortunate that the court has continued to operate in complete disregard of the concerns that we have expressed," he said.

Ethiopia's foreign minister said a group led by the AU chair, now Ethiopia, with members from Africa's five regions would press the U.N. Security Council to defer proceedings against Kenya's leadership and the Sudanese president.

'Demanding respect'

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir speaks during a one-day summit in Khartoum, Sept. 3, 2013

While the Kenyan politicians have cooperated with the court, Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir is now subject to an arrest warrant after dismissing charges of war crimes and genocide.

"We underscored that sitting heads of state and governments should not be prosecuted while in office," Ethiopia's Tedros said, adding a one-year delay was being requested under article 16 of the Rome Statute.

Ministers called for using video links in the Kenyan trials to ensure leaders could carry on their official duties.

An April 2011 Combination picture shows Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta, who was finance minister, and William Ruto, former Higher Education Minister at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The court has yet to rule on whether Kenyatta and Ruto can be excused from large parts of their trials or whether they can participate by a video link. Proceedings, though not trials, against the two were underway before their March vote win.

"Demanding respect is the least Africa can do, but I also don't like to see this mistaken for - as we have seen with some of the detractors of this exercise - that Africans are supporting impunity. We don't," Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told Reuters.

Those comments were echoed by Ethiopia's premier and others.

After wrangling over wording on Friday, one senior delegate described the result as a "good compromise". Kenya said it had not sought a walk-out but said others had supported the idea.

Some Africans, including officials from heavyweights South African and Nigeria, had prior to the meeting indicated there was not broad backing for a walk-out from a court that received the backing of many Africans when it was set up.

London-based rights group Amnesty International urged African nations meeting in the Ethiopian capital not to cut ties with the court, saying victims of crimes deserved justice.

"The ICC should expand its work outside Africa, but it does not mean that its eight current investigations in African countries are without basis," Amnesty's deputy director of law and policy, Tawanda Hondora, said in a statement.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said she was satisfied with the outcome of Friday's talks, adding that immunity for a sitting president was "a principle that has existed for a long time" in international law.

Lawyers for Kenyatta asked on Thursday that his trial on charges of crimes against humanity be abandoned, saying defense witnesses had been intimidated.

Ruto went on trial in The Hague last month and Kenyatta's trial is due to start on Nov. 12.

Friday, 11 October 2013

Africa: Nobel Laureate Fights African Pullout From Global Court

United Nations — South Africa's Desmond Tutu, the 1984 Nobel Peace prize laureate, has launched a global campaign to stop African nations from abandoning the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).

Sudan and Kenya, whose political leaders are accused of war crimes and genocide, are leading the movement against the ICC and have already threatened to pull out of the tribunal.

Tutu, the Archbishop emeritus of Capetown and one of the world's most renowned human rights activists, has appealed to leaders of South Africa and Nigeria, two of the most powerful countries in Africa, "to stop Sudan and Kenya from trying to drag Africa out of the ICC".

The campaign has been launched in collaboration with Avaaz, a global civic organisation, described as one of largest online activist networks.

The 54-member African Union, which has demanded the ICC drop the case against Kenya's leadership, will be meeting in Addis Ababa over the weekend to discuss, among other things, the role of Africa in the ICC.

Several African countries, including Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia, have criticised and opposed the upcoming trials of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, on charges of crimes against humanity in the 2007-2008 post-election violence that reportedly left over a thousand people dead.

In an email to over 26 million members of Avaaz, and responding to charges the ICC is a Western witch-hunt because most of its investigations have taken place in Africa, Tutu said, "I do not buy the spin the ICC has an anti-African bias. No."

African leaders who abuse power, he argued, must be held to account for their victims.

"And I am on record saying there are certain former Western leaders, among others, who should join them," he added.

The largest group of ICC members (31 out of 122) are from Africa and the majority of cases being investigated are in Africa, including Sudan, Uganda, Libya, Kenya, Cote d'Ivoire, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Elise Keppler, associate director of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told IPS Tutu is sending a key message on the importance of African governments supporting the ICC as a crucial court of last resort.

This is a message activists across Africa have been sending to their governments this week - as represented by a letter to foreign ministers signed by more than 150 groups from more than 35 African countries sent in advance of the African Union summit, she said.

William R. Pace, convenor of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC), told IPS Tutu and Avaaz are raising awareness that some African leaders are "promoting a great injustice in the name of justice."

"These is little danger that these anti-ICC leaders can kill the ICC, but they could do serious damage to the Court, but mostly to their own reputations, to the truth that the ICC is a major achievement of Africa, and most sadly they can do damage to the hopes and lives of the millions of African victims of crimes against humanity," he added.

The outpouring of support for international justice and the ICC by civil society and by African leaders like Tutu and former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan "is a greater story than tired, old tale of heads of government supporting impunity over accountability", said Pace, a steering committee member of the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP).

Alice Jay, campaign director of Avaaz, said, "The Archbishop's campaign is a stark warning against Africa choosing impunity over justice."

She said that in Congo, Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire, the ICC has brought hope to thousands persecuted by armies, militias and madmen.

"Hundreds of thousands of people are now calling on South Africa and Nigeria to lead the continent to save the ICC," she added.

Far from being anti-African, Tutu said, the ICC's chief prosecutor, vice-president and five of its judges are Africans and its interventions have saved countless lives in Africa.

"Those who fear being prosecuted by the ICC should not be allowed to lead Africa by the nose," he added.

Asked about charges of anti-African bias, HRW's Keppler told IPS that claims the ICC is targeting Africa are simply not based in fact. She said the majority of the court's investigations came about because African governments asked the ICC to get involved. Two more came from Security Council referrals, she said.

The ICC's office of the prosecutor acted on its own initiative in only one case - Kenya - and only after Kenya failed to pursue justice domestically.

That's not to say there are no problems with the reach of justice, she said, pointing out that currently "some powerful governments are able to ensure that they can evade accountability before international courts by not joining the ICC or using their veto power at the Security Council to only refer certain situations to the ICC".

The lack of referral of Syria to the ICC is case in point. Both Russia and China, two permanent members of the Security Council, have threatened to use their vetoes against any attempts to involve the ICC in Syria.

"But that should be impetus to governments African and non-African to call out double standards in the application of justice and press for justice to be possible wherever the most serious crimes are committed, not cripple the only permanent court with authority to try grave crimes," said Keppler.

Friday, 4 October 2013

Imenti Central MP Gideon Mwiti acquitted of fraud charges

Imenti Central MP Gideon Mwiti Irea has been acquitted of fraud charges relating to a collapsed pyramid scheme in which Kenyans lost Sh780m.

A magistrate said the prosecution’s case failed to prove allegations against Mr Irea due to shoddy investigations.

On Friday, the court ruled that none of the monies were paid to Mr Irea neither did the documentary exhibits presented connect him to the offence.

The MP had been accused of inducing members to deposit money with the defunct Kenya Business Community Sacco, which the government shut down in the wake of a purge on illegal banking in 2009.

DECEIT AND TRICKERY

The prosecution had alleged that Mr Mwiti, through deceit and trickery, cheated 12 members of the Sacco to part with a sum of Sh13 million under the guise that their contributions would grow at a 16 per cent monthly interest rate.

“It cannot be said without doubt that he induced. The allegation cannot be ascertained and in my view the prosecution has failed to prove its case against the accused person as investigators clearly left loose ends in their probe,” magistrate Elena Nderitu said.

She said the Sacco was a legal entity with a list of officials which did not include Mr Mwiti.

“Nowhere does his name appear as an official, a member or a shareholder,” she said.

“The biggest undoing is failure to call the known officials to testify and it is indeed baffling that the prosecution did not secure their attendance as witnesses," the magistrate said.

TRACK OFFICIALS

The magistrate said the investigators did not make efforts to track the Sacco officials “who would have perhaps alleged that the accused was acting behind cover".

"Indeed, it is the evidence of prosecution witness number 3 who said an official operated a satellite office within the Sacco for the recruitment of members and that she had been introduced to the Sacco by Irene Muthoni who was her classmate and the national coordinator of the Sacoo, why did the police not secure her attendance?" The magistrate posed.

She said this meant the evidence of a crucial witness had not been secured leaving the case with loose ends.

Moreover, the magistrate said, the complainants never saw Mr Mwiti at the Sacco offices during their numerous visits and therefore he cannot be said to have cheated them.

“In the event, the court cannot convict him on hearsay and forthrightly acquits him of all 12 counts unless proven otherwise,” the magistrate said.

The offence of cheating is defined as a misdemeanour in section 315 of the penal code and has a three-year jail penalty.

Mr Mwiti, in his sworn defence, had told court his role had been “purely that of external consultant” and had not participated in the "day to day affairs" of the Sacco.

{courtesy of the nation}

Thursday, 3 October 2013

Gambia pulls out of Commonwealth

The Gambian government announced on Wednesday that the former British colony is pulling out of the Commonwealth with immediate effect, saying it would "never be a member of any neo-colonial institution".

"The general public is hereby informed that the government of the Gambia has left the Commonwealth of Nations with immediate effect," it said.
"(The) government has withdrawn its membership of the British Commonwealth and decided that the Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism."
The Commonwealth bloc is a voluntary association of more than 50 countries, many of them former territories of the British empire.
No further details were given but a foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the decision came after the government rejected a proposal by the Commonwealth last year to create commissions in Banjul to protect human rights, media rights and fight against corruption.
The proposal followed an April 2012 visit to the Gambia by Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, during which he met with President Yahya Jammeh and other top government officials.
Jammeh, who is regularly accused of rights abuses, has ruled mainland Africa's smallest country with an aura of mysticism and an iron fist since seizing power in 1994.
Earlier this year, the Gambia was singled out for its poor rights record in Britain's annual Human Rights and Democracy report, which cited cases of unlawful detentions, illegal closures of newspapers and radio stations and discrimination against minority groups.
A spokesperson at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said early Thursday: "We would very much regret Gambia, or any other country, deciding to leave the Commonwealth."
He noted however that "decisions on Commonwealth membership are a matter for each member government".
The Gambia is a tiny sliver of land wedged into Senegal. It suffers from widespread poverty but its miles of palm-fringed beaches are a favourite among sun-seeking European tourists.
The west African anglophone nation, the smallest on the mainland, has long been dogged by rights concerns under Jammeh's administration.
Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup, brooks no criticism. He has been re-elected to power three times.
The man who claims he can cure AIDS and other illnesses is often pilloried for rights abuses and the muzzling of journalists.
In 2010, the EU, the country's top aid donor, cancelled $30 million in budget support for Banjul because of concerns over human rights and governance.
In August 2012, Jammeh came under attack from Amnesty International and others for sending nine prisoners to the firing squad and promising many more would go the same way.
Many top officials have found themselves charged with treason, often related to coup plots which observers have said are a sign of paranoia by Jammeh, who has woven an aura of mysticism around himself, dressing in billowing white robes and always clutching his Koran.
Last year he warned foreign diplomats that his country would not be "bribed" with aid to accept homosexuality.
"If you are to give us aid for men and men or for women and women to marry, leave it.
"We don't need your aid because as far as I am the president of the Gambia, you will never see that happen in this country," he said.
In January this year Jammeh accused the European Union of trying to destablise Gambia, after the EU set out a 17-point checklist of demands for reforms.
They included calls for Gambia to abolish the death penalty and to re-open newspapers and radio stations closed down by the authorities.
The president regularly insists that he will not bow to external pressures for reform.

Zimbabwe parliament debates Westgate attack

Zimbabwe’s parliament has adopted a motion to debate last month’s terrorist attacks at Nairobi’s Westgate mall that left 62 people dead and 167 injured.

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP Gorden Moyo said the House “condemned the attacks on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya.”

“Parliament expresses its condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and our solidarity with the people of Kenya at this trying time,” reads part of the motion.

Authorities say no Zimbabweans were caught up in the attacks blamed on Somalia’s Al-Shabaab group.

However, a Zimbabwean man, Norman Musimwa who has lived in Nairobi since 2011, has told local media that he was at the Westgate Mall when the attacks started.

He said he escaped unscathed but lost his vehicle.

ICC unveils arrest warrant for Ivory Coast politician Ble Goude

Judges at the International Criminal Court announced on Tuesday it had issued a warrant for the arrest of Charles Ble Goude, accused of working with former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo to orchestrate deadly post-election violence.

He is the third person, after Gbagbo and Gbagbo's wife Simone, to be indicted by the court for events relating to the post-election civil war in 2010 and 2011, in which more than 3,000 people died.

Ble Goude, 40, headed the youth wing of Gbagbo's political movement and is charged with four counts of crimes against humanity, including murder and rape, committed in Ivory Coast between December 2010 and April 2011.

Gbagbo, who is accused of plunging his country into civil war rather than relinquishing his grip on power after losing the presidential election in 2010, has been in the ICC's custody since November 2011 when he was handed over by his political opponent and successor Alassane Ouattara.

Ouattara's government has since become less keen on cooperating with the international court, delaying handing over Simone Gbagbo, who faces similar charges, before announcing last month that it would try her in a domestic court.

The Ivorian government says its justice system is now sufficiently rehabilitated to try Simone Gbagbo and on Monday introduced a motion of inadmissibility with the ICC in relation to her case.

Ivorian government spokesman Bruno Kone declined to say whether a similar motion would be filed for Ble Goude, who was arrested in January in Ghana and is now in custody in Ivory Coast.

"We duly note today's announcement and when the time comes we will give the suitable response," he said.

Ble Goude's attorney, Nick Kaufman, said he planned to discuss with his client whether a fair trial could be assured in an Ivorian court.

"He is a man of peace and denies all the allegations against him concerning post-election violence. He wants to help with the reconciliation of his country," Kaufman said.

Ble Goude is accused by Ivorian authorities of kidnappings, illegal detentions, torture, incitement of hatred and economic crimes while a member of Gbagbo's inner circle.

He is also the target of United Nations-imposed sanctions including a travel ban and asset freeze.

All 18 cases so far before the ICC, which is based in Europe and largely funded by rich western countries, are against Africans and the court has been criticized, particularly in Africa, of neo-colonial meddling.

The parliament of Kenya, whose president and deputy president have ICC cases pending against them, passed a motion last month calling for withdrawal from the court. African leaders will meet in Ethiopia on October 13 to take a common stance on whether to join Kenya's planned pull-out.

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