East Africa

Details: Julius Mbaluto; East Africa; 18 April 2022; 610

Zainab Oladehinde had booked into the Warere Hotel in Zanzibar for her birthday in April, little did she know what was in store for her

A holidaymaker’s account of how she was nearly raped at a popular beach front hotel in Zanzibar, Tanzania, is placing sharp focus on the dangers of solo travel, particularly for women.

Zainab Oladehinde posted a long thread on Twitter about her ordeal, which has since gone viral on the social media site. She says she booked into the Warere Hotel in Zanzibar in April 2021 to celebrate her 23rd birthday, but little did she know the horror she would experience on what was to be an otherwise time alone.

“I haven’t been able to talk about it cause I’ve been in therapy for a year to heal from the psychological trauma as this experience has been the most painful and traumatic experience I’ve ever faced in my entire life. Infact! I’m glad I’m still alive today to share my story,” Oladehinde writes at the start of her thread.

‘IT WASN’T A DREAM’ – WOMAN’S ORDEAL AT ZANZIBAR HOTEL

One night, just a few hours into her sleep at the Warere Beach Hotel, she says she could feel someone touch her breast – but figured it was just a dream. Especially because she had locked all the doors before tucking herself in. But then after a few minutes, she could feel her hands touching a man’s penis, which prompted her to wake up.

“Low and behold, it wasn’t a dream. There was a naked man lying on my bed and touching me at 2 am in my hotel room ! He started calling me “baby” and then I became scared cause the room was dark as I had switched off the lights before I went to bed. Now, I was extremely scared,” she wrote.

Oladehinde then asked the man who he was before he placed his hands on her mouth to prevent her from screaming for help. The man kept on speaking Swahili and not English – she then decided to lie to him by claiming she was HIV positive and that he would need a condom before sexually assaulting her.

“He didn’t understand a word I said but immediately he heard HIV, he paused for a while. I quickly wanted to use the opportunity to run but then he started strangling my neck. I became very scared for my life as I saw my life flash right before me in an instant. So I continued begging him and telling him I’d allow him have sex with me but he’d need to go get a condom so as not to get HIV. I saw that he reacted to the word “HIV” so I kept on saying HIV whilst crying profusely at this point”
Zainab Oladehinde

At some point, he agrees to leave the hotel room to go and get a condom, which was her chance to flee. She tried calling the Warere Beach Hotel reception area for assistance and even reached out to what is believed to be a hotel staffer on Whatsapp, but to no avail. Scared and knowing that the mystery man would return, Oladehinde went to the hotel room of a Russian couple she had met. The South African

Details: Julius Mbaluto; East Africa; 18 April 2022; 630

Tanzania, Morocco and Ghana are on the verge of securing their places in the fourth qualifying round for the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup, India 2022 after their comfortable first leg wins on Saturday, April 16.

Tanzania thrashed Burundi 4-0 at Stade Urukundo, as Morocco swept past Niger 11-0 at Stade du General Senyi Kountche, while Ghana defeated Guinea 3-1 at General Lansana Conte Stadium in the initial fixtures of the third round of the African qualifiers.

In Ngozi, the Tanzanite started on a front foot against their Burundians when Clara Luvanga opened the scoring for the visitors in the 32nd minute of the CECAFA derby encounter.

With a 1-0 up, Tanzania continued where they left off when Neema Paul doubled the visitors' lead to the disappointment of the home fans seven minutes into the second half.

To compound the hosts' woes, Luvanga netted her brace and her side's third in the 74th minute before Hunsa Mpanja wrapped up the big away triumph with her fine finish at the death.

After a home loss, Burundi will seek to bounce back in Zanzibar when they take on the Tanzanite at Amaan Stadium on May 1.

Meanwhile, Cherif Djennah opened the floodgates in the ninth minute for the junior Atlas Lionesses in Niamey before El Madani Doha grabbed brace with her 20th and 30th minute strikes and Yasmine Zouhir added the fourth before the half time break.

At the restart, Djennah got the second half back on a high with the fifth goal in the 54th minute before Zouhir's second on the hour mark for the ruthless visitors' sixth of the match.

Red-hot Djennah hit her third of the match in the 66th minute for the rampant Moroccans before Zouhir netted her treble in the 74th minute and Djennah bagged her fourth four minutes later.

In the final five minutes, Khlifi Mayssene and Sioui Yasmine registered their names on the score sheets to complete the rout and made the reverse fixture at Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Al Hassan in Rabat on April 29 a formality for the North Africans.

Elsewhere, the Black Maidens stormed to an early lead thanks to captain Georgina Ayisha Aoyem in the 13th minute in Conakry.

The ambitious Ghanaians continued asking questions of the Guineans defence and were rewarded with the second through Rasheedat Shahadu's brilliant strike in the 31st minute.

On return from recess, the hosts pulled one back three minutes after the restart but Mariama Maltiti struck in the 59th minute to ensure the visitors claimed a two-goal away victory.

With a home defeat, the Guineans wil be facing an uphill task to turn the table around when both sides meet again at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium for the second leg match on April 30. CAF Women's Football

Details: Julius Mbaluto; East Africa; 17 April 2022; 589

Rwanda on Thursday appeared to stoke controversy after a government official said the country will not admit refugees from neighbouring countries under a deal with the United Kingdom to host asylum seekers.

While the United Kingdom had laid down criteria for illegal migrants denied entry into the UK to be considered for resettlement in Rwanda, Kigali says it will not welcome asylum seekers from countries from DR Congo, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania.

Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Vincent Biruta, said there will be a system in place to screen arriving asylum seekers and migrants from the UK for criminal records and origin. Those from Rwanda’s direct neighbours are not welcome.

Minister Biruta made the statement at a media conference in Kigali on Thursday during the signing of a deal that will see illegal migrants who enter the UK through the English Channel on small boats or via smugglers, relocated to Rwanda.

Since January, Rwanda has been working to revive relations with neighbouring countries of Uganda and Burundi by opening land borders with both countries and holding several diplomatic talks.

Since 2019, Uganda and Rwanda have had diplomatic stand-offs with Kigali accusing Uganda of harbouring armed groups.

The deal between Rwanda and the UK has received heavy criticism from several organisations and opposition leaders. Rwanda will receive nearly $160 million as funding from the UK.

Sources told The EastAfrican that the first batch of asylum seekers will arrive in Kigali this coming May.

“We do not support this deal. How could a richer, bigger country be unable to host refugees and think they could just dump them in Rwanda because they have money. It is unacceptable,” said Frank Habineza, President of the Democratic Green Party and member of parliament.

During the press briefing, Minister Biruta, along with UK’s Home Secretary Priti Patel, explained that the programme concerns migrants who arrived in the UK from January 2022.

“This programme will be dedicated to asylum seekers who are already in the UK. For other people who want to come to Rwanda to seek asylum, or want to be refugees in this country, there are existing channels that will be used,” Dr Biruta said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has strongly opposed the deal and made it clear it does not support the externalisation of asylum by countries, including measures taken to transfer asylum seekers and refugees to other nations, with insufficient safeguards to protect their rights.

“UNHCR remains firmly opposed to arrangements that seek to transfer refugees and asylum seekers to third countries in the absence of sufficient safeguards and standards,” said UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs, describing the arrangements as shifting asylum responsibilities and evading international obligations. - Ange Iliza, Daily Monitor

Details: Julius Mbaluto; East Africa; 18 April 2022; 521

Photo Courtesy KDTRV

Interior Cabinet secretary Dr. Fred Matiangi has revealed what exiled lawyer Miguna Miguna has to do before being given permission to jet back into the country.

Speaking during an interview with NTV on Sunday April 17, Matiangi stated that Miguna should complete a one-page document as prescribed in the constitution so as to regain his Kenyan citizenship.

The CS stated that Miguna had lost his citizenship as a result of the former constitution, which prohibited Kenyans from holding dual citizenship.

Matiang’i also addressed allegations that his Ministry disregarded court rulings, as certain political leaders had asserted, emphasizing that he was bound by the law in carrying out his duties.

“There are two court rulings on how you can regain it after you lost it in the previous constitution as you were barred from having dual citizenship. When the new constitution was enacted, the process was prescribed in the act on how you can regain it.”

“You have to fill a certain form or piece of paper so that you regain your citizenship back as it were. Since that time over 300,000 Kenyans have regained their citizenship. It’s as simple as filling a one-page document,” Matiangi said.

Miguna 2

Miguna Miguna’s attempts to return to Kenya have met repeated setbacks since he was deported on February 6, 2018, following ODM leader Raila Odinga’s swearing-in as People’s President at Uhuru Park in Nairobi. By Ezra Nyakunndi, KDRTV

Details: Julius Mbaluto; East Africa; 16 April 2022; 578

Screengrab of voters demonstrating in Nakuru in ongoing UDA Nominations in Nakuru on Thursday, April 14, 2022

CITIZEN TV

A section of aggrieved United Democratic Alliance (UDA) aspirants staged a demonstration outside the Hustler Center in Nairobi to oppose what they termed as the extortionist nature of the party.

The aspirants, who lost in the party’s nominations held on Thursday, April 14, accused the party of setting high complaints filing fees to discourage them from disputing the outcomes.

According to UDA, an aspirant disputing the outcomes of a presidential nomination is required to pay Kshs 500,000 for their complaint to be heard by the party’s Election and Nomination Disputes Resolution Committee.

UDA Electoral Dispute Resolution Committee members hold a press conference on Friday, April 16, 2022.

COURTESY UDA

Gubernatorial aspirants challenging the nomination outcomes are supposed to pay Kshs 200,000 while senatorial, Woman Rep, and parliamentary complainants must part with Kshs 100,000.

For aspirants contesting the Member of County Assembly (MCA) nomination results, their disputes will only be heard once they pay the Kshs 20,000 filing fees.

The demonstrating aspirants sought an audience with the party’s National Election Board (NEB) led by chairman Anthony Mwaura or the party leader, Deputy President William Ruto.

“We want to see the NEB team. The fees they are imposing are too high and we know this is to discourage us from pursuing what falls within our rights,” one aspirant opined.

“Even filing a case at the High Court or any other court is not this expensive. The party should make the fees reasonable so that every aspirant who feels cheated can file their complaint and be heard,” he added.

The aggrieved aspirants further claimed that the nomination exercise was marred with irregularities, fraud and voter bribery.

“A lot of people came to vote but their names were not in the register of voters. The presiding officers then said they will use the 2017 register but the names were also not in that register,” one aspirant argued.

Their prayers to meet NEB were futile as the board made it clear that they had to comply with the set procedure, including payment of the complaints fees before they are heard.

The Thursday exercise was largely peaceful and smooth but was contested in areas such as Bomet, Kiambu, Embu and parts of Nakuru.

In Bomet, former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General, Wilson Sossion, argued that the exercise was fraudulent, claiming the existence of pre-marked ballot papers even before the date of the nominations.

UDA Electoral Dispute Resolution Committee members hold a press conference on Friday, April 16, 2022.

COURTESY UDA

In Embu, a lorry transporting nomination material to Mt Kenya East region was ransacked and the material set on fire by supporters who accused the party of planning to rig out some aspirants.

The party, however, disputed the claims with the Deputy President terming the exercise a 99 per cent success, adding that even the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has never achieved what UDA did. By Mumbi Mutuko, Kenyans.co.ke