East Africa

East Africa

Details: East Africa; 22 February 2023; 496

President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his First Deputy President, Dr. Riek Machar have agreed to scrap the powers of the National Security Service to arrest without a warrant of arrest.

Speaking during a press conference held in Juba Tuesday, Cabinet Minister Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro disclosed that the two leaders have resolved the dispute over the powers given to the National Security.

“The national security law where there was disagreement on sections 54 and 55 about the arrest with or without a warrant has now been agreed by the president and first vice president and those will be scrapped,” said Lomuro.

The National Security Service Act, 2014 which was amended in September 2019, allows security agents virtually unfettered authority to arrest and detain suspects, monitor communications, and search and seize property.

An arrest warrant is a document issued by a judge or magistrate that authorizes the police to take into custody someone accused of committing a crime.

The National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC) first handed over the National Security Act to the justice minister in April 2019 and it was meant to ensure national security officers are held accountable for their actions and ensure that people arrested are not kept in custody incommunicado.

The Act was also meant to set up a complaints board made of an independent body.

It was not indicated that national security would arrest anybody without an arrest warrant but later, the draft was sent back to the committee for amendment.

The National Security Service, and particularly the Internal Security Bureau (ISB), has severally been faulted by citizens, rights bodies, and the clergy, among others, of kidnap, arbitrary arrests, abductions, torture, forced disappearances, sodomy as a method of torture, summary executions, etc at its headquarters infamously known as the Blue House in Juba and other non-gazetted detention facilities across the country. By Koch Madut, Tower Post

Details: East Africa; 22 February 2023; 569

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Tanzania has approved the construction of a controversial pipeline that will allow Ugandan crude oil to be delivered for export markets, dismissing environmental concerns about the project as “propaganda”, reported Radio France Internationale.

The government approved the construction of the billion 897-mile (1,443-kilometer) East African Crude Oil pipeline (Eacop) through its territory, a key piece of infrastructure to transport crude from oil fields currently being developed in Lake Albert, northwestern Uganda, to the Tanzanian coastline for export.

The $10 billion oilfields and pipeline project is being developed in partnership with France's TotalEnergies, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, along with the state oil companies of Uganda and Tanzania.

Uganda approved the development and pipeline project last month

The underground heated pipeline is set to become the longest of its type when completed, expected in 2025, and has been promoted as an economic opportunity for both countries.

However, environmental groups have flagged concerns that the project threatens the Lake Albert region’s fragile ecosystem and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people.

Tanzanian Energy Minister January Makamba rejected the environmental and rights concerns as "propaganda".

"There are a lot of noises in opposition to the project,” Makamba said, adding that the country has “complied with all the environmental, safety and human rights standards."

"We are proud of the pipeline because it will increase Tanzania's influence in the world."

Last month, oil drilling started on a CNOOC-operated field in Uganda and the East African country is expected to start production by 2025.

The EU parliament has previously warned that the pipeline project placed 100,000 people "at imminent risk of displacement ... without proper guarantees of adequate compensation."

Ugandan authorities see the pipeline as key to economic development and assert that oil wealth can lift millions out of poverty. Quantum Commodity Intelliegence

Details: East Africa; 21 February 2023; 464

African leaders want to develop a continental carbon market to diversify sources of climate financing and limit disproportionate dependency on western initiatives.

While speaking at the Africa Business Forum, on February 20, President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi urged the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), African Union, and Afreximbank to explore the feasibility of a carbon market in Africa.

ALSO READ: Rwanda set to debut on global carbon market

The forum, held under the theme “making Carbon Markets work for Africa”, brought together different African leaders, climate experts in different organizations, private stakeholders, among others.

Carbon market is basically a scheme of trading carbon credits which an entity gets by reducing emissions extensively beyond the required levels and selling them to those unable to meet their reduction requirements.

The main goal for the creation of carbon credits is the reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from industrial activities to reduce the effects of global warming.

Now, while Africa contributes less than three per cent to global gas emissions, it has to adapt to climate change with limited access to funding including the unfair treatment on global carbon markets.

ALSO READ: African leaders want easier access to climate finance

Industrial carbon credit mainly from developed countries is sold for high prices amounting to over $40 per tonne, whereas, forest carbon credit that abounds in African and water ecosystems is consistently priced cheaply as low as $5 per tonne.

It is estimated that Africa will need around $438 billion in adaptation financing by 2030. This is while carbon markets could unleash an estimated annual $82 billion in value, at $120 per tonne of carbon emissions concealed, as well as create 167 million additional jobs.

President Chakwera said: “We strongly encourage the innovative instruments developed by ECA to support African regional carbon markets. We also urge ECA, AU, Afreximbank to accelerate plans to develop an African carbon market building from the regional carbon registry.”

“They should also explore the feasibility of building a compliant carbon market in certain African countries, particularly, those which have the potential to generate carbon emissions from the extractive industries,” he added.

Broadly, there are two types of carbon markets; Compliance markets –created as a result of any national, regional or international regulatory requirement and Voluntary carbon markets –referred to as the issuance, buying and selling of carbon credits on a voluntary basis at a national or international level.

In August 2022, Rwanda announced plans to debut on global carbon market with more than 16 projects available as they embrace market mechanisms agreed on by countries during the COP26 (Conference of Parties).

ALSO READ: 2022: A look at 15 major climate finance flows in Rwanda

Carlijn Nouwen, Co-founder of Climate Action Platform for Africa (CAP-A), emphasized that carbon markets could help drive socio-economic development and Africa is only scratching the surface.

In 2022, global trade in carbon amounted to $865 billion in compliance markets and $2 billion in voluntary markets. Only about 11 percent of all credits that were retired in voluntary Carbon Markets between 2011 and 2016 were African credits.

“That’s really missed opportunities because many African countries are considered to be really cost competitive locations for interventions that create carbon credits, thanks to low existing machine levels, and massive energy potential, young and fastest growing workforce, and relevant natural resources,” she said.

According to her, carbon markets can unlock finances for climate matter interventions but beyond that, such interventions can create new economic sectors and jobs, improve livelihoods, and solve intractable social problems such as energy poverty, pollution, among others. By Alice Kagina, The New Times

Details: East Africa; 21 February 2023; 1016

Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters along Kiambu Road SIMON KIRAGU KENYANS.CO.KE

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) alerted all Kenyans seeking to apply for the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) - formally Good Conduct - to take note of new changes in the application process.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, February 21, DCI announced that applicants will no longer be required to book a fingerprinting date while applying for the Police Clearance Certificate.

The government institution noted that the section was removed from the online portal and encouraged the applicants to visit any centres of their choice for the service.

"Applicants are encouraged to visit their convenient fingerprinting centres with their printed C24 copies, payment vouchers, and original ID cards," DCI advised.

A sample of a Police Clearance Certificate (Certificate of Good Conduct) FILE

Additionally, all those who will choose the DCI Headquarters along Kiambu Road were informed that the fingerprinting facility can be accessed between 7 am and 3 pm.

"For those choosing DCI Headquarters as their preferred centre, please note that PCC applicants access the fingerprinting facility between 7:00 am and 3:00 pm. After 3:00 pm, only those within the centre are served," DCI warned.

Furthermore, DCI urged Kenyans to make use of Huduma Centres spread across the country to avoid long queues.

However, DCI emphasised that once the certificate is generated, it remains on the individual's eCitizen account for a period of six months after which it is pulled down.

Consequently, Kenyans were advised to print their certificates before the set date to avoid any inconvenience.

The certificate is issued after an individual has been searched in the country's criminal records and found with no criminal records.

"The validity of a certificate of good conduct is based on the information provided as from the date of issuance of the certificate," Kenya Police noted on its website.

All those seeking the PCC are required to make a payment of Ksh1,050 through the mobile money platforms. It takes between two weeks and a month for your certificate to be ready after being processed by the DCI. By MAUREEN NJERI, Kenyans.co.ke

Details: East Africa; 21 February 2023; 450

A South Sudanese refugee and her grandchild at one of eight health facilities in Kenya’s Kalobeyei settlement. © UNHCR/Pauline Omagwa

This is a summary of what was said by Shabia Mantoo – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

To protect and assist 2.2 million South Sudanese refugees in the region this year, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, together with 108 humanitarian and development partners, is today appealing for US$1.3 billion. The funds will go towards supporting South Sudanese refugees and their local host communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda.

The appeal comes amid a worsening economic outlook across the region as the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine have pushed up fuel and food prices and increased unemployment. Host countries that have generously welcomed South Sudanese refugees are bearing the strain of the crisis amid staggering levels of underfunding, prolonged drought, and severe food shortages, including food ration cuts for refugees.

Launching the South Sudan Refugee Response Plan today, UNHCR is urging the international community to scale up support for the millions of refugees who are unable to return home as their country continues to face a fragile peace and security environment marked by cycles of sporadic violence, and the impacts of an unfolding climate crisis. Four years of unrelenting floods have inundated two-thirds of the country, damaging tens of thousands of people’s houses, farmland and livestock.

This support will be crucial in meeting refugees’ most immediate needs in host countries, including for shelter, education, health and food assistance. With women and children comprising 80 per cent of all South Sudanese refugees in the region, funding for programmes to prevent and respond to gender-based violence need to be prioritized.

The appeal also aims to provide digital cash assistance, and other resilience-enhancing initiatives such as access to finance and training, to help refugees and local communities generate income, supplement their needs and live in dignity.

Host governments will also be supported to strengthen the asylum space and further protect the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as boost the prospects for long-term solutions. This includes improved registration and documentation and advancing ongoing efforts to include refugees in national social protection systems and enhance their access to basic services, all of which helps to better prepare refugees for eventual return.

Interventions to increase the use of clean and sustainable energy in refugee hosting communities will also be strengthened, to mitigate environmental impacts.

With only a third of funding requirements met for last year’s South Sudanese refugee appeal, the five major countries of asylum in the region – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda – were among UNHCR’s most under-funded operations.

We call for compassion and commitment to be extended to South Sudanese refugees and other people forced to flee around the world. Timely funding is crucial to ensure adequate support and protection for the most vulnerable.