An 80-year-old former employee of the East African Community (EAC) Lawrence Lule Tindamanyire has appealed to the government to pay him his full pension as he battles illness and financial difficulties.

Tindamanyire, a resident of Karama village, Bunono parish, Nyarushanje sub-county in Rukungiri district, began his career with the EAC on July 10, 1967, serving as a secretary in Uganda after completing his ordinary level (senior four) education.   

He was later sponsored to pursue an advanced course in secretarial work at the commission's registrar's office in Arusha, Tanzania, due to his dedication and diligent work. However, in 1977, the EAC faced dissolution, bringing an abrupt end to its era of regional collaboration. Tindamanyire and his fellow former employees were given two options; seek positions within their home governments or gracefully exit public service. 

For Tindamanyire, his decision was influenced by the challenging war situation in Uganda under President Idi Amin Dada and his deteriorating health. With a heavy heart, he chose retirement, leaving behind an organization to which he had dedicated many years of service.

Tindamanyire and his fellow affected workers sued the government of Uganda in 1996 after their efforts to demand pension benefits reached an impasse. In November 2000, an out-of-court settlement was reached between the government and former EAC employees. The settlement agreement stipulated that the government would pay retirement benefits, totaling at least Shs 45 billion, to the group whose contracts had been abruptly terminated in 1977. 

As per the agreement, workers were entitled to receive pension arrears from July 1, 1977, to the date of payment, as well as monthly pensions in accordance with the Pension Act of the EAC Cap 11 and the Pensions Act 281, as amended by decree 6/1978.    

After the initial agreement, Tindamanyire received Shs 8 million as pension arrears in two installments that concluded in 2001. He was promised more but was not informed of the exact balance for the next phase. Since then, he has not received any further monthly pension payments.

Tindamanyire now resides at his son's home after his house collapsed during heavy rainfall a year ago. He appeals to the government to consider paying him so that he can live a decent life in his old age and cover his health bills and basic needs. 

Emmanuel Byamukama and Paul Ahimbisibwe, Tindamanyire's children, express their frustration and sadness, witnessing their father's struggles, especially given his years of dedicated service to a respected commission, an organization that had seemingly promised a comfortable retirement.  

Silver Baguma, the chairperson for pensioners in the Kigezi sub-region, is aware of Tindamanyire's plight and emphasizes that he is now disabled due to spinal cord complications and requires support to walk.

Rebecca Kadaga, the first deputy prime minister and minister for East African Affairs, acknowledges the challenge of paying the affected pensioners, which the ministry inherited from the ministry of Public Service. She states that the ministry has been tracing the pensioners to ensure their matter is resolved. Among the 482 claimants, 156 remain untraced, and efforts are underway to locate them and arrange for their payment. - URN/The Observer

At the outset, let me say congratulations and happy birthday to the management and staff of the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC).

Thumbs-up for successfully hosting the first African Summit on Climate Change last week. And happy birthday because Sunday was the 50th anniversary since KICC building was opened by President Jomo Kenyatta on September 10, 1973. The building was constructed at a cost of Sh80 million. It would be interesting to find the cost of putting up a similar building today.

In hosting the climate summit, Nairobi lived up to its historic billing as the green city in the sun. For where else do you find a city lying on the Equator and sandwiched between a natural forest (Karura) and a game park (Nairobi National Park)?

At the same time, hats off to President William Ruto. Watching President Ruto deliver his keynote address at the summit, I was proud that he is my president. His speech was rich in content and powerful in delivery. He demonstrated superb mastery of the subject, passion on the issues he spoke on, and great tact in carrying his audience with him.

So moving were President Ruto’s opening remarks that when John Kerry, a former US Secretary of State who was President Joe Biden’s special envoy at the summit, rose to speak, he said he felt there was no need to give his speech since the Ruto had said all there was to be said. It is not every day a top American diplomat gives a bow to a leader from the global South!

President Ruto spoke of the great irony of Africa as a continent hugely endowed with natural resources yet deprived of amenities that make for a decent living. The expansive Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) best illustrates the contrast of a continent so rich yet so poor! Goma Province, an enclave in the eastern region of the DRC, is home to Virunga National Park, which is the largest and richest biodiversity hub in the globe, with centuries-old flora and fauna. It is also richest in deposits of rare minerals, including uranium, cobalt, coltan, gold – name them! The Congo rain forest is also the second largest in the world. Yet Goma remains one of the most miserable and dangerous places to live on earth. 

One word sums up the source of misery in Goma region - exploitation. Data available is that over one million hectares of natural forest were destroyed in eastern DRC in the past one decade. And in the deadly scramble for its mineral wealth, the region is literally a killing field where survival depends on who pulls the trigger quickest. Carting away harvested timber and minerals from Goma goes on hand in hand with removing rotting corpses from the streets.

The insane decimation of Congo Forest - the original home of Kenya’s Bantu communities - has irreversible consequences on climate change in the region, Africa and the globe, with the attendant armageddon consequences on human and wildlife. President Ruto, however, was swift in advising that Africa better move from the grieving zone and make hard bargains. Foremost, he said, going forward, Africa must talk and make demands in one voice.

At the closing session of the summit, Ruto eloquently read out what is now Africa’s position on the issue of climate change and which is what the continent will table at the November/December Global Climate Summit to be held in Dubai. Secondly, and most important, Africa resolved to demand compensation for what it puts on the table in terms of natural resources, and in tackling climate change. The highlight of it is that Africa be appropriately compensated for being the global dumping ground of dangerous carbon emissions.

Lastly, for Kenya, hosting the continental climate summit had a sense of déjà vu. Right on the heels of independence, Kenya demonstrated readiness to be Africa’s anchor State when it hosted major regional, continental and global meetings. Check the calendar of gatherings that came to Nairobi in quick succession within the first decade of independence.

Nevertheless, how does Ruto reconcile his passionate remarks at the summit with his decision to allow resumption of logging? He can say we will plant 15 million more trees in their place, but that is easier said than done. 

It takes a chainsaw only three minutes to fell a grown tree. For another tree to mature it takes 10 years or more. Is the president preaching water abroad but gobbling wine at home? By Kamau Ngotho, The Standard

A sacred religious relic believed to be plundered by British soldiers from Ethiopia is being returned to the African country after being saved by a London-based academic.

The 19^th century tabot, a type of altar tablet from the Christian Orthodox Ethiopian Church, is regarded as so holy it cannot be seen or touched by anyone who is not a member of the clergy. They cannot be photographed and are only shown to the faithful wrapped and covered with cloth.

It is among hundreds of treasures brought back to the UK after the British invaded Ethiopia in 1868 and was due to be sold last year when it was spotted by Dr Jacopo Gnisci.

It will be handed back to the church by Dr Gnisci, who lectures in art at UCL, during a ceremony at the historic Athenaeum gentleman’s club on September 21.

Also being handed over to the country’s national museum are a shield, some ceremonial beakers and a lock of hair cut from the head of the Ethiopian Prince Alemayehu who was brought back to live in the UK by a soldier called Captain Tristram Speedy.

Dr Gnisci, who found the tabot for sale in the UK last year, said: “I have been travelling to Ethiopia regularly since the early 2000s and I have been working collaboratively on the Christian heritage of the country for a number of years, so I immediately knew what kind of artefact I was looking at. 

Tahir Shah from the Scheherazade Foundation, which helped facilitate the handover, said Prince Alemayehu’s hair was being returned by descendants of Captain Speedy.

He said: “They want to do what’s right and I love the fact they haven’t put it up for auction or tried to sell it.

“I think they just want to close the case.”

He said the idea of handing over the treasures in the Atheneum, which dates to 1824 and whose members have included Prime Ministers, inventors and explorers, appealed because it was “the ultimate bastion of Victorian pomp and glory and scholarship”.

He said: “We want to bridge cultures and our very strong sense is the British establishment is going to be hit in the face by all kinds of cultures trying to get their stuff back so all we’re trying to do is facilitate and open a door and dialogue.”

A recent study found London is home to a vast haul of Ethiopian treasures brought back to this country after the British invasion with 538 items identified ranging from tiny scraps of manuscript torn up and stuffed inside a charm bracelet to royal finery and holy artefacts. Story by Robert Dex and Arts Correspondent, Evening Standard

Senior Tories warn the flagship policy to deter people crossing the Channel in small boats must not be derailed again.

A landmark Supreme Court verdict on the legality of the scheme is now not expected until at least December, and Conservatives are demanding radical action to ensure the flights go ahead even if judges rule against the Government. 

They want Britain to work with other European countries battling people smuggling to secure changes to the European Convention on Human Rights so states are not blocked from protecting their borders. Rishi Sunak will also come under intense pressure to change UK law so Britain can press ahead with the Rwanda programme.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, writing in the Sunday Express, insists the Rwanda scheme will "remove the incentive for illegal migrants to leave the safety of France in the first place".

"Labour would do away with all that and fling open our doors to hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants from the safety of Europe."

Tory MPs insist flights must start before the election expected in 2024. Former Brexit minister David Jones said illegal migration is the "single biggest national issue that is raised" by his constituents.

Demanding that planes take off as soon as the Supreme Court gives the thumbs-up, he said: "The flights should go on the very same day. It's extremely important.

"If people know they will not be allowed to remain in the UK but will be taken somewhere else for their application to be processed that will certainly put a lot of people off."  Story by David Williamson , Jonathon Walker, Daily Express