Kenya: Treatment Programmes Recover Patients Lost in Post-Election Violence

Eldoret — When post-election violence struck western Kenya’s Rift Valley last year, hundreds of patients failed to collect their antiretroviral medication from their regular clinics, leading health workers to fear that their patients would develop resistance, or fall ill and even die.More than 90 percent of patients at the Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV (AMPATH) did not report to the facility for their treatment; but today, Cleophas Chesoli, AMPATH’s social work manager, is a much happier man. Most patients have returned from the camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) where they sought refuge, and so far there have been no signs of resistance.

Kenya: Weapons Ship Freed by Somali Pirates Heads for Port

The Ukrainian ship carrying heavy weapons and artillery which was freed by Somali pirates last week is expected to dock on the Kenyan coast Thursday.The Kenyan government has claimed that the weapons on board the MV Faina are for its armed forces.According to The Financial, a Ukrainian financial news web site, a delegation from Ukraine has already left in a special presidential plane for Kenya. The delegation, which is “headed by deputy president’s Chief of Staff Andriy Honcharuk and head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine Mykola Malomuzh” will work to relieve the freed crew members with a new crew.The Ukrainian government faces skepticism over the true destination of the ship’s cargo. When the ship was hijacked in September 2008, some observers speculated the arms were headed to Sudan, in violation of a 2005 United Nations arms embargo.

Kenya: Drought Exacerbating Conflict Among Pastoralists

Isiolo — Clashes over water and pasture have significantly increased in the drought-affected pastoralist areas of north-eastern Kenya, officials said.”The conflicts surround access to water and pasture,” Titus Mung’ou, acting Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) communications manager, told IRIN on 30 January. “The conflicts have increased with the drought.”Dozens of people, he said, had died in clashes over water in Mandera since September 2008. “There have also been conflicts between the Orma and Wardei communities [in the Tana River area] in which about five people died,” Mung’ou said.One more person was killed in the Tana River area last week.

Kenya: Tribunal May Set Example for Africa

London — Kenya is inching closer to the creation of a special tribunal, which could try a host of political figures suspected of engineering the widespread violence that swept the country last year.The move would avoid a possible trial of these prominent personalities, including sitting cabinet ministers, by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.Although the ICC has not issued indictments in connection with the violence, involvement of the ICC has been suggested due to its ethnic and systematic nature.In mid-December, Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed to form a special tribunal for Kenya with the mandate to try those suspected of being behind the 2008 violence that left more than 1,300 people dead and 350,000 displaced.

Africa: No More Excuses on Gender Violence

As the world marks the twenty-seventh International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, United Nations figures indicate that in the course of her lifetime, one in every three women is beaten, coerced into sex or abused, by a relative or acquaintance.In Africa , concerns continue to be raised over poor legislation and enforcement to protect women and girls from harm.At the African Development Forum, held in Addis from Nov. 19-21, it emerged that many women do not report cases of violence, particularly those involving intimate partners, for fear of reprisal, which may include economic deprivation, physical abuse, or losing custody of their children.”There is a deep culture of silence where women do not tell about their husbands or partners beating them; they fear that they may stop being provided for, particularly if the man is the bread winner,” says Auxillia Ponga, a gender advisor with the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Kenya: Judiciary Issuing Bouncing Cheques

Concern over the government budget deficit is likely to intensify with the news that the Judiciary appears to be financially strapped and is not meeting all its obligations.The parlous state of the Judiciary finances came to light after several bond refund cheques issued by the judiciary on its Central Bank account number 010101026 bounced.The cheques were released in October and November bounced because the account did not have funds.The banks returned the rejected cheques with the following comments attached: “We advise that the attached cheques have been returned with the reason that the account does not have funds.”Last week many angry people went to the Nairobi Law courts demanding to know why their cheques bounced. However, officials just stonewalled and promised to issue counter cheques.

Kenya MPs evade taxes

MPs of Kenya have forced the government to withdraw a proposal to tax their generous allowances. The MPs unanimously agreed to vote against the finance bill if the clause was not scrapped. The acting Finance Minister John Njorge Michuki has therefore redrawn the finance bill from parliament.When the proposal to tax MPs hefty packages was made by former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya in June, they defended their untaxed packages unanimously and instead accused the media of blowing the matter out of proportion. Michuki’s therefore withdrew clauses in the Finance Bill which would make legislators and constitutional office holders taxed was reached at after a closed door meeting with MPs.

“Africa leaders must think”

The present generation of Africa’s leadership must re-think and design Africa’s future on the basis of lessons learnt in the past and present. This is to address Africa being the weakest and poorest in the world 50 years after independence, the former President of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa said.He noted that the “tardiness and slow response” of the international community to Africa’s plight, after the post colonial era, has served as a pointer that there was no fundamental interest in the development of Africa.Mkapa expressed these sentiments when he delivered the first in a series of lectures at the eighth edition of the ‘Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Lectures’ at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), under the theme, “Rethinking the political, social and economic paradigm of African development”.

Rebels attack ahead of DRC summit

Congolese Tutsi rebels have made fresh advances and captured several villages in the eastern part of Kivu province ahead of a summit of Great Lakes’ leaders scheduled for today. The meeting is to discuss the Congo crisis.The move has jeopardized the ceasefire announced by renegade commander of the rebel forces Gen. Laurent Nkunda early this week, according to UN military spokesman. Thousands of civilians who fled from Kiwanja area accused pro-government Mai-Mai militiamen for attacks but the North Kivu government army commander said that government forces are respecting the ceasefire.The new offensive has happened when plans have been finalized for a meeting by government leaders from the Great Lakes on Friday to try to end the conflict. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday that he would attend the Great Lakes summit scheduled to take place in Nairobi, Kenya.

Kenya: Ban to attend summit on DRC

The UN’s Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, is to attend the summit on the crisis in eastern DRC in Nairobi, Kenya this coming Friday. The presidents of the DRC and Rwanda, two neighbouring countries with strained relations, will also participate in this international summit.The Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moses Wetangula, said the summit, called by the international community is look at the urgency of the situation in the province of North Kivu, will be devoted to the fighting in eastern DRC and solutions to try to “solve this crisis. The diplomatic and political advisor of President Joseph Kabila has confirmed his arrival at the summit in Nairobi. The Rwandan president Paul Kagame, considered a key player in the region, also confirmed his participation at a press briefing in Kigali, where he denounced the “weakness” of the international community on this issue.