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The row between land owners in Naivasha and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) over the translocation of giraffes has deepened.

The land owners have accused KWS of failing to follow the laid down procedures.

It has emerged that the wild animals are being transported to a private sanctuary in Mombasa.

A fortnight ago, KWS embarked on translocation of giraffes from North Lake Naivasha without engaging the land owners, who for years have fed and protected the animals.

KWS has confirmed the translocation of giraffes’ to the Coast and admitted that there was a communication breakdown during the exercise.

The agency's Assistant Director Joseph Dadacha downplayed the row, saying KWS has since contacted the land owners who have given a go-ahead for the exercise with the first batch of three giraffes moved to the Coast.

“There was a communication breakdown during the start of the exercise, but this has since been addressed, and the translocation is going on smoothly,” he said.

However, one of the landowners who declined to be named questioned the rationale of getting the animals from Naivasha, which was hundreds of kilometres away from Mombasa.

The rancher claimed that their investigations had established that the giraffes were being ferried to a private sanctuary owned by a senior government officer.

“In the past, we have worked with KWS in translocation of different species of animals, and we are wondering why the secrecy in this exercise,” said the rancher.

Friends of Lake Naivasha chairman Francis Muthui, noted that there were tens of giraffes in Amboseli and Tsavo National Parks closer to Mombasa.

“The translocation of these giraffes is being undertaken in secrecy, and there are more questions than answers over this illegal exercise,” he said.

Muthui said that the exercise had strained the good working relationship between the land owners who had protected the wild animals for years and KWS.

He revealed that some of the animals were being held in a holding area, awaiting the capture of others so that they could be ferried together.

“Over 80 per cent of wild animals in Naivasha are outside parks, and it’s the land owners who use their sanctuaries to feed, water and protect them from the rising number of poachers,” he said. By Antony Gitonga , The Standard


Lords vote to delay treaty declaring Rwanda safe in warning shot to Sunak© Provided by The i / Photo Courtesy

Rishi Sunak will override an attempt by the House of Lords to delay the troubled Rwanda deportation policy, Downing Street indicated yesterday.

The House of Lords voted by a majority of 43 to delay a treaty with the east African nation that is intended to make the policy legally watertight by essentially showing the country is safe.

 

But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Government would “continue” its process to ratify the treaty, part of a two-pronged plan alongside Mr Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill to revive the deportation deal.

Peers agreed on Monday evening with an argument that the treaty should not be approved because the promises made in it have not yet been delivered.

The treaty contains commitments from the Government of Rwanda to treat asylum seekers well and ensure they are not returned to their home country if that will put them in danger.

It is separate to the Safety of Rwanda Bill, which was approved by the House of Commons last week and moves to the Lords next week. By Arj Singh, The I 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Tens of thousands of people marched in the streets of French cities, urging President Emmanuel Macron not to sign the tough law that aimed to reduce migration to France.
  • The reason for this protest was that the new immigration bill goes against French values, and it is heavily related to the far-right approach of the Marine Le Penn party.
  • The bill strengthens France’s ability to deport foreigners considered undesirable and makes it tougher for foreigners to take advantage of social welfare.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across France on Sunday, calling on President Emmanuel Macron not to sign the stringent new immigration legislation, which, according to them, aligns with far-right ideologies and goes against French principles.

 

According to the Interior Ministry, 75,000 people participated in the protest, with 16,000 protesters alone marching in the streets of Paris, whereas the hard-left CGT union contested these figures, claiming there was a turnout of 150,000 protesters, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

The protests occurred just four days before the Constitutional Council’s decision on whether the law, passed in December, aligns with the French Constitution. The bill favours France’s capacity to expel foreigners and introduces stricter conditions for foreigners to access social welfare, among other disadvantages.

More than 200 popular personalities from various sectors, including the arts and unions, called the protest, which objects to the new immigration law – one of the fewest advantages of which is the accelerated procedures for skilled workers to obtain permits in the country, especially in sectors with serious labour shortages.

President Macron fully supported the law through parliament but, in an unusual move, acknowledged some articles might be unconstitutional. Le Monde, the French news publishing outlet, quoted an anonymous Interior Ministry official suggesting that the Constitutional Council could take down more than ten articles.

Other provisions also include even more disadvantages for migrants in France, such as complicating family reunification by requiring applicants to demonstrate proficiency in the French language.

The Constitutional Council is also expected to impose stricter eligibility criteria for social services and housing, as well as the reinstatement of a law abolished in 2012, making it illegal for a foreigner to be in France without residence papers.

Moreover, another provision barred migrants from accessing state healthcare providers – a move that received criticism from different actors. 

On the other hand, this immigration bill will be more favourable for British second home-owners in France, allowing them to stay for more than 90 days in the country, as initially agreed upon in the Brexit agreement.

Currently, British citizens are allowed to spend a maximum of 90 days within every 180 days in France, enabling those who are not willing to go through with the administrative hurdles of obtaining a long-term visa to extend their stay in the European country.

This means that Brits would have an automatic and streamlined process for obtaining long-term visas – a completely different    approach compared to other migrants in France. By Arbërie Shabani, Schengenvisa News

Sunak with Rwanda president Paul Kagame   (PA Archive) /Photo Courtesy

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation plan suffered its first parliamentary defeat as peers voted through an unprecedented move seeking to delay the treaty with the East African nation.

The House of Lords backed by 214 votes to 171 – a majority of 43 – a motion to delay the controversial deportation agreement until the government can prove the country is safe. 

The chamber supported a call by Tony Blair’s former attorney general Lord Goldsmith that parliament should not ratify the pact until government ministers can demonstrate Rwanda is safe. 

The government agreed a legally-binding treaty with Kigali in December – arguing that it addressed concerns raised by the Supreme Court about the possibility of asylum seekers deported to Rwanda being transferred to a country where they could be at risk.

But Lord Goldsmith’s cross-party agreements committee said promised safeguards in the agreement are “incomplete” and must be guaranteed before the pact can be endorsed.

The initial blow delivered by peers signals a potential rough ride for the legislation in the Lords, despite Mr Sunak urging peers not to block the “will of the people”. 

While the government insists that the defeat will not delay the PM’s bill moving through the Lords, there is now a risk that ignoring the new demand by peers could later be used in a legal challenge aiming to stop flights.

The treaty underpins Mr Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill which compels British judges to regard the country as safe. 

Nigel Farage immediately lashed out at the result. “We must sack all current members of the House of Lords,” the hard-right figure tweeted on X. “It is beyond parody.”

Tory deputy chair Lee Anderson earlier said the Archbishop of Canterbury – a peer who has spoken out against the Rwanda plan – should put up small boat arrivals in the “spare rooms” of Lambeth Palace. 

Lord Goldsmith explained that government now had until the middle of March to address 10 flawed areas of the treaty and show Rwanda is safe. 

“We are not saying the treaty should never be ratified, but we are saying that parliament should have the opportunity to scrutinise the treaty … before it makes a judgement about whether Rwanda is safe.”

In a worrying sign for No 10, several Tory peers spoke out against Mr Sunak’s bill and the plan to put failed asylum seekers on one-way flights to Rwanda.

Conservative Lord Balfe even questioned if anywhere in Africa is “particularly safe”. He said he could not think of “any country in Africa that I would wish to go and live in”.

The Liberal Democrats’ Lord Razzall said the reason for the plan to send people to Rwanda was to suggest it was “such a hellhole that nobody would want to get on a boat”.

The peer mocked the government for now trying “so hard to demonstrate what a wonderful, safe place Rwanda is”, adding: “This might just be a moment for them to reflect on the purpose of their policy.”

Defending the plan in the Lords, junior Home Office minister Baron Sharpe said it was “offensive” to refer to Rwanda as a “hellhole”.

And Conservative peer Lord Howell, a former cabinet minister, questioned the move to demand the government demonstrates the country is safety.

“What does safe mean? It is an entirely subjective concept and always will be. In our own judicial system, is that safe? I don’t know. I am not sure all our postmasters would agree about the safety of our own judicial system.”

Last week the PM urged the Lords not to frustrate the “will of the people” over his plan to stop the boats, saying the public had enough of the “merry go round”. 

Labour former shadow attorney general Baroness Chakrabarti criticised Mr Sunak for suggesting that he had some sort of “telepathic connection” will the “will of the people”.

The second reading debate on the Rwanda bill is due to be held in the Lords on 29 January. Source: The Independent

 

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has raised a red flag on land grabbing and use of fake academic papers to gain employment across the country.

The Commission Chairman Bishop David Oginde stated that the two vices remain a great concern for the anti-graft agency.

Oginde says the rate of land grabbing being reported is so high and the Commission has seized up the matter.

Without elaborating measures put in place to deter the vice, Oginde says “We have put measures into place to ensure this does not increase”.

In Kisumu, he says they are working closely with the county government of Kisumu to ensure all public land which has been grabbed is reverted through a legal process.

Addressing the press on Monday in Kisumu after a courtesy call on Governor Anyang Nyong’o, the Commission Chairman says the issue of fake certificates is eroding gains made in the education sector.

“People are trying to get employment using fake certificates, it is an area we are working hard to ensure that it does not jeopardize our education system,” he said.

Oginde says already some countries have started blacklisting certificates from Kenya.

“We are receiving a lot of reports from across the country and in different categories of government offices and the Commission is working hard to address the situation,” he said. 

However, Oginde warned Kenyans who are getting employed using fake certificates that the law will catch up with them and a return of monthly salary for the period worked will be affected.

He says there is no benefit ultimately in one using a fake document to procure a job.

Currently, he said, the Commission is claiming millions of shillings from suspects who earned salaries over a period of time using fake certificates.

He further warned national and county employees’ against using false claims to enrich themselves.

“Some employees use fictitious claims to fleece the government by pretending that they have gone to a seminar, they have gone outside the country, these matters are a concern to us and we are putting our heads together on how to ensure this does not continue,” he said. By Ojwang Joe, Capital News

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