East Africa

East Africa

Details: East Africa; 06 November 2022; 542

The African Union Commission chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has offered condolences to Tanzania after a plane carrying 43 people plunged into Lake Victoria in Tanzania early on Sunday November 6.

The African Union Commission chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has offered condolences to Tanzania after three people died when a plane carrying 43 people plunged into Lake Victoria in Tanzania early on Sunday November 6.

The incident is said to have been caused due to bad weather, and it happened shortly before the plane was due to land in the north-western city of Bukoba.

Media reports say that a Precision Air plane crashed into water about 100 meters from the airport.

Precision Air is Tanzania's largest private airline.

The 43 people include 39 passengers, two pilots and two cabin crew who were aboard flight PW 494 from financial capital Dar es Salaam to the lakeside city in Kagera region.

“Our hearts and prayers go to the families of passengers on-board a plane that crashed into Lake Victoria, with our full solidarity to the Government and people of Tanzania,” Mahamat sent a comfort message to Tanzania.

According to the Regional Commissioner, Albert Chalamila, 26 have been rescued and are currently at Kagera Hospital. The Citizen media reported.

Tanzania’s President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, expressed her empathy to those affected by the accident.

"Let's continue to be calm while the rescue operation continues as we pray to God to help us," she said on Twitter.

A rescue operation is still underway to save passengers.

The two pilots survived the crash but remain trapped inside the cockpit and have been speaking to local officials, BBC reported.

Rescue workers and local fishermen are on the scene searching for more survivors.

The plane is almost completely submerged with only the brown and green tail fin above the water, surrounded by rescue workers and fishing boats.

Emergency workers are using ropes to try and pull the ATR-42 aircraft out of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake.

Precision Air, which is partly owned by Kenya Airways, was founded in 1993 and operates domestic and regional flights as well as private charters to popular tourist destinations such as the Serengeti National Park and Zanzibar. By Michel Nkurunziza, New Times

Details: East Africa; 06 November 2022; 573

The Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi /Photo Courtesy

The battle to control Sh2.3 billion held at Ecobank and initially frozen by the authorities over allegations of money laundering, has taken a fresh twist after a foreigner described three Kenyans, who are former directors of a firm at the centre of the row and are laying claim to the funds, as strangers.

In an application to be heard tomorrow, Mr Gregory Schmidt wants High Court judge David Majanja to reverse a ruling allowing the Kenyans — Mr Stephen Maina Njenga, Mr Felix Rantu Lekishe and Mr Solomon Joseph Maina — to access the three bank accounts.

“The petitioners (Kenyans) have approached the court on falsehoods and misrepresentation,” said Mr Schmidt.

The Kenyans blocked the release of the money after it emerged that Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) was planning to withdraw the application for seizure.

Mr Schmidt says Mr Njenga had obtained a court order for status quo to be maintained regarding the directorship of KiwiPay Kenya Ltd, yet they had already resigned as directors of the company.

Also Read: Rafiki Microfinance bid to rescue DP Gachagua’s Sh202 million flops

Later last month, the Kenyans secured another order authorising Mr Njenga to access the company’s accounts but Mr Schmidt claimed it was obtained through misrepresentation of facts.

Mr Schmidt, who holds a French passport, now wants the court to review the order so that he can retrieve the funds to cater for day-to-day operations of the firm and payments of salaries.

He said he could not transact on behalf of the parent company registered in Singapore, which has the controlling shares in the Kenyan company.

“The petitioners became strangers to the company once they signed letters and affidavits of resignation as directors and deed relinquishing their shareholding,” asserted Mr Schmidt.

Further, he revealed that as at June 8, 2020, the shareholding at KiwiPay Kenya Ltd were; KiwiPay PTE (the mother company) 51 per cent, Ms Monthida Rashi from Laos (Southeast Asian country) 20 per cent, while Mr Njenga, Mr Lekishe and Mr Robert Lemerketo and Mr Karimoni each holding 7.5 per cent shares.

According to Mr Schmidt, shares for KiwiPay Kenya were held by Mr Lemerketo. The two were also appointed as the company directors.

In August 9, 2021, Mr Schmidt said Ms Rashi and Mr Njenga allegedly signed a board resolution giving him full access to the bank accounts of KiwiPay Kenya Ltd. This allowed him to transact the accounts without limitation.

There were more developments in May as Mr Lemerketo transferred all his shares to KiwiPay PTE Ltd, making the company registered in Singapore, the largest shareholder with 23,000 shares out of 40,000 in the Kenyan company.

The parent company allegedly deals with digital payment services such as QR Code solutions for retail shops, hotels and restaurants. It enables foreign e-wallet solutions such as Alipay, SamsungPay, ApplePay, WeChatPay and more.

Also Read: Kenyans in Akashas surety bonds want assets back

While applying to freeze the money in June, ARA had suspected that the company was involved in credit and debit card fraud and was part of an international syndicate. The state agency said the firm was involved in an intricate money laundering scheme to hide the source of illicit funds

But last Monday, the High Court adopted a consent withdrawing the application for seizure of the funds.

The lumpsum is, however, yet to be released following a petition by Mr Njenga and two others before the High Court pending the resolution of their case. There have been attempts to have the money released but the bank cannot transfer it until the court cases are resolved.

Mr Njenga says in an affidavit that they should be bought out, if the parent company – KiwiPay PTE Ltd – no longer requires them as owners of the firm.

“The 1st (KiwiPay PTE) and 2nd (Ms Rashi) respondents are hereby directed to buy out petitioners from the 4th respondent [KiwiPay Kenya], if the 1st and 2nd respondents are desirous of remaining the sole shareholders of the 4th respondent,” said Mr Njenga in an affidavit.

Mr Schmidt stated that the Kenyans resigned voluntarily as shareholders of the company in April and were paid for their shares.

The Frenchman has attached letters of resignation and statutory declarations effecting the resignations as well as a copy of CR12 showing the current directors and shareholding of the company.

“The resignation and transfer of shares were signed without duress and properly witnessed. The petitioners went further to take pictures with Ms Rashi, clearly showing that they had transferred shares and that they had been paid,” Mr Schmidt said. The foreigner insists that the Kenyans have no authority to file the case “because they are strangers after resigning”.

“The assertion by the petitioners that they were removed is false. The true position is that they voluntarily resigned as directors and shareholders,” stated Mr Schmidt.

Mr Njenga further accused Mr Schmidt, who is also the chief executive officer of the parent company, of transacting in the three bank accounts.

He further claimed that Mr Schmidt transferred up to $17 million (Sh2 billion) from the company in Kenya and wired it to a bank account in Singapore, through internet banking between October last year and March 9.

The Kenyans declared a dispute against Mr Schmidt and Ms Rashi for allegedly misusing the company’s internet banking credentials to irregularly withdraw money.

They have also said their removal as directors and shareholders is unlawful because the process for their ouster was not followed as required under the Companies Act.

Mr Schmidt has threatened to file criminal charges against the Kenyans ‘at an appropriate time’ for alleged fraud and falsification of documents. By Benson Wambugu, NMG

Details: East Africa; 06 November 2022; 610

Access to electricity has increased from 2 per cent in 2000 to around 74.5 per cent as of today, according to Rwanda Energy Group (REG).

Of these, 50.9 per cent households are connected to the national grid while 23.6 per cent are using off-grid solutions including inter-alia standalone solar home systems and mini-grids.

The milestone was celebrated on Saturday, November 5 in an event which took place in Nyabugogo Cell, Nyarugenge District.

While speaking at the event, Ron Weiss, Chief Executive Officer of REG, thanked stakeholders who played a part, including entrepreneurs who powered households with solar home systems.

Despite the aggressive expansion of Rwanda’s electrical grid network, analysis has shown that grid connections will take time to reach all households. Therefore, off-grid solutions, including solar home systems (SHS), were introduced to increase access to electricity in areas located far from the grid and now present a viable alternative to grid connections.

According to REG, today, more than 640,000 households are connected through off-grid solutions.

Weiss added: "Although a lot has been achieved, we still have a long way to go to ensure 100 per cent access. 25 per cent of people should be connected in two years. It is still a big number but we assure you that this is achievable and we shall meet again in 2024 to celebrate."

Fidele Abimana, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA), declared that this move portrays the government’s effort in general as well as that of REG and other stakeholders.

“As the Government of Rwanda, we recognise that electricity is a strong pillar in development and plays a vital role in improving health and standards of living of people,” he said.

“Considering an average of five people per household, around 10 million Rwandans have access to electricity today. That aligns with the government’s vision concerning having all households in the country accessing electricity by 2024.”

He added: “If we managed to power a million households with electricity in two years, and the same numbers of households remain, it is clear that we will achieve the goal in the next two years (2024).”

Abimana also urged people to keep preserving electricity infrastructures, among others.

During the event, one Richard Bigirimana’s household was awarded a token of electricity worth Rwf100,000 as the 2,000,000th to have access to electricity in Rwanda.

Speaking to the media, Bigirimana’s wife, Jeannette Yankurije, thanked the country and REG for the prize and for powering them with electricity which lit up their house and continues to help her children to study during night time.

Energy, and particularly access to electricity, is the Government's key priority. Significant investments made and progress registered led to the increase of households' access to electricity with the Government target of universal access by 2024.

From 1937, when REGIDESO was established in Rwanda and 1957 when the first ever power plant was built in Rwanda up to the year 2000, access to electricity in Rwanda was considered a rare privilege for those living in cities, with only 46,000 households connected.

In 2009, a special program to roll out access to electricity, especially in rural areas was introduced to increase the access rate in the Rwandan community. According to REG, at that time, only 6 per cent of Rwandan households had access to on-grid electricity.

The current electrification plan leading Rwanda to universal access shows that by 2024, around 70 per cent of households will be connected to the grid while around 30 per cent will be using off-grid solutions. - Patrick Nzabonimpa, The New Times

Details: East Africa; 06 November 2022; 538

Inside the COP27 Newsroom in Eqypt. FILE

Journalists from around the world have been put to test to work together in this year's biggest Newsroom at the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Chairman of Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan confirmed that over 3,000 journalists had been cleared to cover the event from Egypt and that a majority of them had already arrived at the venue.

Whereas journalists are expected to arrange for their own accommodation, the organisers ensured that some facilities were availed to the media personalities on location.

For instance, at the venue is a 300-capacity writing press area which will be split into three to accommodate those who carry their personal laptops for wifi use, those who carry their laptops for hard wired internet access as well as those who work on computers provided at the venue.

A road sign in Eqypt announcing the COP27 event. FILE

For swift delivery, COP 27 site is being fed by a 40gb/s internet connection.

"The network has been configured in such a way so that all users have access to the full incomer and there is no throttling or segregation of that connection.

"All internet connections will be capable of a minimum 10mb/s u/d and burstable up to
100mb/s u/d," read the statement in part.

Journalists were also advised to register for the events they intent to cover two-hours in advance.

In cases of rooms where TV and radio journalists won't be permitted to access, feeds will be provided by the Egypt State broadcaster.

Rules to be Followed

According to the accreditation rules, all media houses were expected to deliver their equipment in bulk by using vehicle on November 3.

Henceforth, all journalists were expected to carry their equipment hand while getting in the main conference.

The foreign journalists were also banned from filming outside of the conference venue and must obtain clearance before proceeding.

All attendees at the event will also be required to wear their identity badges at all time and should undergo a Covid-19 test daily.

Kenya's Nation Media Group (NMG) sent a crew of 8 journalist- its largest ever to attend the event at a go.

The other 3,000 journalists were drawn from 450 media outlets worldwide including Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg News and Fox News among others.

The event will be covered in 15 major languages, including Arabic, English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. Over

40,000 individuals including President William Ruto are expected to attend the event.

President William Ruto gives an address during the 2022 Taxpayers' Day at the Kenyatta International Conventional Centre on Friday, October 28, 2022. Twitter, By Derrick Okubasu, Kenyans.co.ke

Details: East Africa; 05 November 2022; 571

Somalian soldiers attend a military training given by the Turkish Armed Forces's Somalia Turkish Task Force Command at the Anatolian Barracks on the coast of the Indian Ocean in Mogadishu, Somalia on May 25, 2022 [Erçin Ertürk - Anadolu Agency]

Backed by locals, elite Somali forces killed more than 100 members of the Al Qaeda-affiliated terror group Al-Shabaab, the country's Defence Ministry said on Friday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Ministry spokesman, Abdullahi Ali Anod told reporters that two units of the elite Danab, or lightning brigade, troops with the support of, local militia forces known as "Macwisley," engaged Al-Shabaab in an operation since early Thursday.

The operation, which involved airstrikes, took place near the town of Adanyabal in the Horn of Africa country's Middle Shabelle region.

Anad said a large number of Al-Shabaab insurgents tried to defend the town but lost over 100 members on a single front.

The military has been conducting operations against the terror group since President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud declared an "all-out war" against it earlier this week, after a devastating twin car bombing that killed over 100 people in the capital, Mogadishu.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, which also wounded 320 others.

Experts believe the local forces that have been fighting alongside the country's army are playing "significant" role against Al-Shabaab.

READ: EU condemns Al-Shabaab attack in Somalia

Ali Kulow, a former police officer now serving as a security analyst in Mogadishu, told Anadolu Agency that local militia forces helped the government reclaim strategic towns in its recent offensives in parts of the country.

"This militia, that has proven itself a fighting force, is seen by many in the country as a revolutionary force capable of defeating Al-Shabaab if they receive logistical support and strategic military planning," said Kulow.

He underlined that the militia knew the countryside better than anybody and had the support of the local population in terms of gathering intelligence on Al-Shabaab in the area.

"The government should use the anger and dedication towards Al-Shabaab because these people witness the real brutality and money extortion of Al-Shabaab. So, I can see a real opportunity here and the government should organise and use them and then integrate them into the national army," he added.

Somalia has been grappling with security threats for years, with Al-Shabaab being one of its main concerns.

Since 2007, the terror group has fought the Somali government and international forces in a deadly campaign that has claimed thousands of lives.

The UN has warned of growing instability in the country, with its periodic reports on Somalia this year detailing attacks by Al-Shabaab and groups aligned with the Daesh terrorist organisation.

At least 1,242 civilians were killed in terrorist attacks in Somalia in 2018-2019, while 1,735 were injured, according to UN figures. MEMO(Middle East Monitor