Azimio la Umoja One Kenya presidential candidate Raila Odinga has scoffed at his opponent for telling him to drop off the August 9 elections if he has sensed defeat.

Addressing a rally in Kianyaga in Kirinyaga County yesterday, Mr Odinga wondered: “How am I supposed to quit a race in which I am leading with up to 65 per cent and projected to hit 70 per cent by the election date?”

He said the Azimio coalition meant to send a warning to Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that it would not participate in a lopsided contest. “We only wanted to send a warning to IEBC that we will not allow our victory to be stolen,” he added. 

Mr Odinga said his coalition was leading in almost all key counties, including in Mt Kenya, which was previously seen as a stronghold of Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA). 

“Some people wrote that we were planning to boycott the election. We cannot do this when the victory is ours. We are victorious and we cannot do such a thing,” he said. 

The team said they had insider information that all was not well at IEBC. 

“We know the monkey games they have been playing in there, and we even have evidence that a commissioner bought a building in Mombasa through questionable proceeds. We will take action once we are in power. That building will be taken over by the government and be a Deputy County Commissioner’s office,” Suna East MP Junet Mohamed said at Wang’uru Township in Mwea. 

Mr Junet said Ford-Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula must provide answers on alleged IEBC dealings.

Mr Odinga promised to lower the cost of living within 100 days if Azimio takes over power. During stops in Kagio and Kerugoya town, he said he was aware Kenyans were suffering as a result of high prices of essential commodities, especially flour, and pledged to lower the same by a margin of Sh100 if elected president on August 9.

“This is something our joint administration will change within the first three months in office,” Mr Odinga said. By Nderitu Gichure and Jane Mugambi, The Standard.

The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, July 6, certified 96 graduates who successfully completed a 6-month course in professional mediation. 

Locally known as Abahuza, the role of mediators is to foster alternative dispute resolution through facilitating voluntary settlement of a case out of court.

To be Umuhuza (or a professional mediator), you must possess a bachelors’ degree in any field. 

In total, Rwanda has 165 professional mediators to date who secured Chief Justice’s approval to start practising. 

Some 250 others have also attended the mandatory 6-month course in mediation but they’ve yet to receive the green light from the Chief Justice authorising them to practise, or have not sought it. 

Apart from cases that are criminal in nature, Abahuza can facilitate resolution of any case regardless of the amount involved.  

This is contrary to Abunzi (community-based conciliators) that cannot adjudicate cases whose value exceed Frw3 million. There are a total of 17, 941 Abunzi countrywide.  

Abahuza can also be asked to take up cases that have already been lodged in court provided the both parties agree to it during the pre-trial sessions.

It is hoped that the growing number of Abahuza will see more people embrace mediation as a way of resolving disputes, thereby helping ease case backlog in courts. 

The majority of the Abahuza who were certified this week are lawyers registered with Rwanda Bar Association, with others including engineers and clerics.  

The course was introduced to help empower interested degree holders with mediation skills as a way of enhancing a culture of mediation in dispute resolution. 

Chief Justice Emeritus Prof. Sam Rugege called on professional mediators to put to good use their skills to help promote peace in society. 

“This should promote peace in the community and contribute toward prosperity and development,” he said. “Mediation is not only for cases that have been brought to court, but those that are in the community as well.”

Chief Justice Faustin Ntezilyayo said professionals in mediation will impact the judiciary and country positively. 

Officials are keen to see mediation gain greater recognition and acceptance in society, saying it would help save judicial resources and free up judges to concentrate on more complex cases.  

Cecile Mugeni, a newly certified mediator, noted that mediation is the best way to help both parties to settle their differences and continue to live in harmony with one another. 

Pastor Jean Claude Cyuma, another certified mediator, said: “Now I have become a mediator by profession I will implement what I learnt and facilitate people to resolve their disputes.” 

“We learnt how best to help people come to a solution by themselves, how to communicate and how to get everyone comfortable during the mediation process,” he said. 

The online mediation course was offered by the Edwards Mediation Academy, US. - Olivia Kageruka, The New Times

Photo Courtesy The Peninsula

Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania, H E Dr. Mahadhi Juma Maalim, has revealed plans to teach Kiswahili (Swahili) to non-speakers in Qatar as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Swahili-speaking countries mark the first World Kiswahili Language Day today. The Tanzanian community in Doha recently celebrated the day. 

“We have considered language schools that already teach Arabic, French and others, and they have shown interest. We have some people from our community whose kids can’t speak Swahili. So they would probably be the first clients keen to have their children communicate in Swahili,” Maalim told the media.

He added that some embassy staff and volunteer community members would teach the language using an expert curriculum from Tanzania. 

“We have the embassy staff, and we already have talked with some volunteers from the community; some of them have a teaching background. We’ll use a curriculum and books from the experts back home. We’re just doing it from the resources we have here,” he added.

Maalim stressed that teaching the language in Qatar and other parts of the world would encourage language learners to explore language’s origin to learn and make sure that they perfect the language. 

“So that’s by itself, I mean is encouraging cultural understanding and exchange,” he added.

Last year, the 41st session of the General Conference of UNESCO adopted resolution 41 C/61 which recognised the Kiswahili language’s role in promoting cultural diversity. Hence, the resolution proclaimed July 7 as World Kiswahili Language Day.  

Kiswahili is one of the most widely used languages of the African family and is among the ten most commonly spoken languages in the world, with more than 200 million speakers. Originally from Tanzania and Kenya, the language is one of the lingua franca in many countries within East, Central and Southern Africa like Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, and the Middle East (Yemen, Oman). It is also taught across top universities and colleges globally.

Maalim said the UN recognition for Kiswahili Day is a testament to Tanzania’s efforts, especially as Kiswahili is the first African language to the recognised in such a manner by the UN, adding that this would help preserve the language.

“Getting this recognition at the UN level is important because the language is being taught and studied in different universities worldwide. I think it gives it a better status and pushes probably for other people to continue to study and teach it. 

“We would also like more media houses to start Kiswahili services. Some international media organisations, including BBC, Voice of America, and Radio Cairo, already have that. However, suppose Al Jazeera can have a Swahili service. In that case, it will help promote the language because those people who cannot get their information through English or Arabic can get it in Swahili.”

The envoy revealed that South Africa had already started to teach Kiswahili. As part of the celebration, Tanzania and South Africa will sign an agreement to supply experts to teach Swahili in South African schools.

“Botswana also had adopted that. I think Namibia they are in the process. So that promotes Kiswahili, and we think other countries will,” Maalim said.

According to the envoy, July 7 was picked in recognition of the Tanganyika National Union (TANU) in 1954. The party struggled for Tanzania’s sovereignty from British colonial rule and was led by independence icon Julius Nyerere.  By Ayeni Olusegun, The Peninsula