The panel formed by President William Ruto for the selection of IEBC commissioners has announced its intention to continue with the exercise in a move that may reignite the standoff between the ruling Kenya Kwanza administration and the opposition.

In a press statement signed by Chairperson Nelson Makanda, the panel outlined how it plans to appoint new commissioners following deliberations with the National Assembly Speaker and Parliamentary Service Commission Chairperson Moses Wetangula.

The panel has already met the Speaker in light of its financial challenges. Wetangula has since committed to liaise with the National Treasury on the allocation of funds towards the activities of the Selection Panel which is supported by the Parliamentary Service Commission, where it draws its secretariat and funding towards the implementation of its mandate. 

“The Selection Panel has thus far carried out three stages of verification for all the applications received for the positions of chairperson and members of the IEBC. Further, we are in the process of concluding on the shortlisted candidates, before embarking on the publication of the same and subsequent interviews for successful candidates,” stated Makanda.

“I assure Kenyans that the Selection Panel is committed to conducting the recruitment exercise in an impartial, fair and transparent manner…The panel will continuously issue updates to the country on the progress of this exercise,” added the statement.

The decision by the panel however threatens to drive a wedge between the Raila Odinga-led Azimio la Umoja coalition and Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance which have differed over the selection and appointment of the electoral agency’s commissioners. 

While Ruto had selected the panel to hasten the reconstitution of IEBC, Raila’s team has consistently held that political parties must be involved in the process. A bipartisan team co-chaired by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, as captured in the NADCO report, suggested the process be restarted, and the membership of the selection panel expanded from the current seven to nine.

The High Court earlier this month also dealt a blow to Azimio leader Raila Odinga by ordering for the immediate recruitment of commissioners to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). 

While dismissing by-partisan talks between Azimio and Kenya Kwanza on the expansion of the IEBC selection panel and reconstitution of the commission for lack of constitutional and legal backing, Justice Thande Mugure ruled that the strict timelines to recruit the commissioners to conduct by-elections and boundaries review cannot wait anymore for politicians to agree.

The judge directed the current IEBC selection panel to immediately continue with the recruitment of a new chair and six commissioners to avert a constitutional crisis. By Josphat Thiong'o, The Standard

President hails diaspora’s indomitable spirit and reveals reversal of Idi Amin’s actions Nimisha Madhvani, Lord David Hunt and Rajrajeshwar Guruji at the Indian Overseas Trust event

UGANDA’S president, Yoweri Museveni, has appealed to British Asians expelled by Idi Amin more than half a century ago to “build a living bridge between their newfound homes in the United Kingdom and the cherished homeland of their forefathers”. 

His emotional message was aimed at some 30,000 refugees – and their descendants – who have made a stunning success of their lives in Britain.

At the 19th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that the president chaired in Kampala, Museveni also went of out his way to acknowledge the role of India in helping to rebuild Uganda’s shattered economy.

Held under the leadership of Uganda, the summit brought together more than 120 developing countries and world leaders, including the US secretary general António Guterres.

Museveni noted India had played a leading role in the formation and development of NAM.

The president has been consistent in trying to make amends for the damage done to Uganda, and especially its economy, by Amin since he came to power in 1986.

Museveni expressed regret for the harm Amin had inflicted, saying, “NAM countries also make mistakes like in Uganda. Then we had a man called Idi Amin. In a very short time, he expelled our Asians, especially (people from) India and Pakistan. You had a leader of a NAM country undermining his own economy.”He said pioneers from India had invested in sugar, hotels and steel production. After they were forced to leave the country, a large, prosperous community of Ugandan Asians found themselves scattered across the globe, many having abandoned businesses on which they had spent a lifetime.

Museveni’s government had taken steps to rectify the problems created by Amin. “When we came into government, we gave back the properties of our Asian citizens and non-citizens that Amin had taken from them,” he told the summit.

The vacuum left by Uganda Asians was filled in the 1980s and 1990s by businessmen from India. In fact, they had since become a pillar of the Ugandan economy. A handful of Uganda Asians had also been tempted back.

“I was asking people (in my government) how many factories have been built by our Indian returnees,” Museveni added. “They told me about the 900 factories they had built since they came back.”

India was represented at the summit last month by its foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. He met his opposite number in the Uganda government, General Odongo Jeje, and spoke in positive terms about the growing bilateral relationship.

“Assured India’s wholehearted support for Uganda’s Chairship (of NAM)”, he said on X.

“Noted the progress in our bilateral cooperation since my April 2023 visit. Direct flights, training & exchanges, and commencement of the NFSU (National Forensic Sciences University) campus are among notable developments.”

In the 52 years since the first refugee flights landed at Stansted, many of the first-generation refugees have died.

But Museveni’s hopes that their children and grandchildren could possibly help to rebuild the economy of “the pearl of Africa” (Sir Winston Churchill’s phrase) have been reinforced by Nimisha Madhvani, whom the Ugandan president specially chose as his high commissioner in London.

She spoke at a recent event in London to wind up the affairs of the India Overseas Trust, a charity set up “to promote, protect and support the interests of the British Indian diaspora”, especially from Uganda. Tributes were paid to its founding chairman, Praful RC Patel, who died last year aged 84. He was the only Asian member of the Uganda Resettlement Board.

Madhvani said she had hurried over from Kampala, where she attended the NAM summit.

She told a gathering of prominent Uganda Asians at the London event: “Uganda is your home, your roots. And I really, really want you to think of visiting Uganda.”

She pointed that in January, Uganda had hosted “five major international summits”, which had been attended by 5,800 guests and 120 official delegations at a “state-of-the-art convention centre” built to seat 3,800 people.

“There were no negative incidents, and that really shows you how safe we are,” she stressed. “Therefore, for those of you who haven’t been (to Uganda), it’s a country of vast opportunities.”

“Otherwise, just have a holiday,” she suggested.

The high commissioner repeated Museveni’s appeal to Ugandan Asians to renew their bond with their “motherland” by reading out a message from him that had been printed in a brochure.

Museveni, who is 79 and came to power in 1986, told the London event, “Dear fellow Ugandans and my overseas bazukulu (grandchildren), greetings.

“As we conclude the global events of the Non-Aligned Movement and the group of 77 countries (G77) summits currently taking place in Kampala, I am honoured to address you in the spirit of unity and remembrance of the traumatic events of August 1972 from which our country has recovered on account of our fights for freedom, equality and opportunity as resistance fighters of Uganda.

“It is with pleasure that I acknowledge the commendable work undertaken over the past two years by the India Overseas Trust in London to record and commemorate the Uganda exodus in 1972.

“We were young people at that time and we resolved to fight Idi Amin in those days, because of these evils he unleashed on one of the most enterprising communities that had led the small Uganda economy then – the Asian community, along with thousands of indigenous Ugandans.

“The events which saw the expulsion of our Asian brothers and sisters from their motherland, Uganda, serves as a testament to the resilience and fortitude of those who faced adversity and overcame it.

“What may have been perceived as Uganda’s loss in 1972 has undeniably become Britain and somehow, the world’s gain. The indomitable spirit of the Asian community has left an enduring legacy, shaping the cultural tapestry of both Uganda and the United Kingdom.”

The president recalled a landmark visit in London: “In 1997, I had the distinct honour of addressing a gathering of these resilient brothers and sisters at the BAPS Hindu mandir at Neasden in London.

“The event, organised by the late Manubhai Muljibhai Madhvani, was a reminder of the enduring connections that bind us across continents. During that event, I invited my brothers and sisters to come back to their motherland, and we have restored to the full what was lost in the difficult days of Uganda to them, although nothing replaces the cultural, social and emotional displacement of those who went through these difficult events.

“Many of these have become a strong base on which our growing industrial and agricultural growth is fast rising.

“Now, 25 years hence, I reiterate my invitation to the bazukulu of our Asian community and call upon them to build a living bridge between their newfound homes in the United Kingdom and the cherished homeland of their forefathers in Uganda.”

Museveni concluded: “I welcome you with open arms. Come visit and invest in Uganda, your home. May this brochure preserve an essential chapter in our shared history and foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the events that unfolded during that critical time.

“May it stand as a testament to the enduring bonds that connect us all. By: Amit Roy, Eastern Eye

Tanzania’s former Prime Minister, Edward Lowassa, has died aged 70. Lowassa who served under President Jakaya Kikwete between 2005 and 2008 died at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute.

His death was announced by Vice President Philip Mpango in a televised address through the state Broadcaster, Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation.

President Samia Suluhu has mourned him as a great leader who devoted himself to the service of the country. By Bruhan Makong, Capital News