Rwanda is hosting a delegation of the South Sudan People’s Defence Force (SSPDF) led by Maj Gen Malaak Ayuen Ajok who are in the country for an exchange visit in the field of gender empowerment. 

The weeklong visit was organized in collaboration with UN Women- South Sudan with a view to exchange experiences on gender responsiveness and empowerment in post-conflict situations.

“The purpose of our visit to Rwanda is to learn from each other and share experiences. We have seen how women are deeply involved in the development of the country and want to take that experience back home,” said Brig Gen David Lokonga Moses, a member of the delegation.

Lt Col Stella Uwineza an officer with Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), maintained that the journey is still long, but a lot has been achieved. 

“The gender management policy of the RDF gives guidance on how women should be treated in the RDF from the recruitment stage to training through to deployment.”

She added; “women are comfortable and treated with respect in the RDF.”

‘Vital step’

The Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Jeannette Bayisenge received the SSPDF delegation on Tuesday and briefed them on National Gender Policy and its implementation. 

Bayisenge pointed out that such (visits) an exchange visit is vital to the respective countries as they both exchange experiences and learn from each other on matters related to gender responsiveness and women empowerment.

During their stay in Rwanda, the SSPDF delegation will also have an opportunity to visit the Rwanda Military Academy in Gako and the Rwanda Peace Academy in Musanze.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence, the SSPDF officers paid homage to the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi at the Kigali Genocide Memorial and the Campaign against Genocide Museum at Parliament building before being briefed on RDFs transformation journey at the RDF headquarters in Kimihurura. - Edwin Ashimwe, The New Times

Nairobi, Mar 22 (EFE).- Hundreds of Ugandan government critics, opposition supporters and peaceful protesters suffered torture and unlawful detention between 2018 and 2021 at the hands of security forces, who have not been held accountable, Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced Tuesday in a new report.

“The Ugandan government has condoned the brazen arbitrary arrests, illegal detention, and abuse of detainees by its officials,” said HRW Uganda researcher Oryem Nyeko.

Although the authorities have sometimes acknowledged these abuses, the human rights NGO noted, they have made little effort to end them or offer justice to victims and their families, even when the victims face physical, mental and/or economic problems in the wake of their ordeals.

“Urgent steps are needed to help victims, to hold abusive security agents to account, and to end this specter of impunity and injustice,” added Nyeko.

The 98-page report is based on interviews with 51 people, including more than 30 former detainees, witnesses of abductions and arrests, government officials, members of parliament, opposition party members, diplomats, human rights activists, and journalists in Kampala between April 2019 and November 2021.

Former detainees described how, after being forced into unmarked vehicles at gunpoint by security officers, they were held in unauthorized locations such as safehouses, an underground room in parliament, vehicles, military barracks and an island in Lake Victoria.

There, where they were unable to speak to relatives or lawyers, the former detainees claimed to have been beaten, tortured, given electric shocks, and injections of unidentified substances. Some women and men said they suffered rape and sexual torture during their detention.

In almost all cases, those interviewed alleged that security officers stole or extorted money from them or their relatives in order to be released.

In the two months before the January 2021 general election, and for months afterward, incidents of abuse spiked, HRW said, adding that “while the authorities have released some detainees in the course of the past year, the whereabouts of many have not been revealed.”

Security agents accused some detainees of plotting to assassinate or spy on top officials in the government of President Yoweri Museveni, as well as of colluding with the leader’s rivals to oust him.

Ugandan law criminalizes arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention and torture, the latter in two acts, under which no one has yet been convicted, the HRW report noted.

The government should close all unlawful detention centers and investigate all reports of abuses, and ensure that all those found responsible are held to account, HRW said

“The Ugandan authorities, as a matter of urgency, need to reform the police and other security agencies to dismantle the structures that have enabled these horrific abuses to occur and go unpunished,” Nyeko said.

Last Friday, the United States asked the Ugandan government for detailed information on the deaths of 54 people during pro-opposition protests in Kampala in 2020, in addition to expressing concern about reports of missing or tortured citizens.

The European Union delegation in Uganda also expressed its concern in February over reports of torture and other human rights abuses in the country.

Museveni has governed Uganda since 1986 and was re-elected in January last year after a campaign period marked by the disappearance of hundreds of opposition supporters and the dispersal of protests with live ammunition Source: HRW

TotalEnergies Marketing Tanzania launched its first solarized service station in Dar es Salaam on Monday to give users an opportunity to enjoy products and services powered by solar energy.

The solar powered station along Samora Avenue in the Dar es Salaam city centre is part of wider plans by TotalEnergies to solarise some 5,000 service stations in 57 countries by installing solar panels at 1,000 service stations per annum in line with climate ambition to have net zero carbon emission.

In his welcoming remarks the Managing Director of TotalEnergies Marketing Tanzania, Jean-Francois Schoepp introduced the course of the company's transformation from Total to TotalEnergies and the new company's ambition. 

"It is with great honour and pride that we are here today to reveal our milestone and ambition as the first Oil Marketing Company in Tanzania to have solarized service stations which is in line with our climate ambition to have net zero carbon emission and a reflection of our transition from Total Tanzania to TotalEnergies Marketing Tanzania," said Managing Director of TotalEnergies Marketing Tanzania Ltd, Jean-Francois Schoepp.

The Samora service station is the 24th TotalEnergies solarized station in Tanzania, he said as he introduced the course of the company's transformation from Total to TotalEnergies and the new company's ambition in his welcoming remarks.

Eleven solar powered stations are in the coastal region, six in the Southern Highlands, four in northern highlands and three in the Lake zone, he said.

TotalEnergy has an ambitious target to solarize up to 68 service stations by the end of 2022 as well as its industrial sites such as its Dar es Salaam terminal and its Lubricants Oil Blending Plant, he said noting that with that target, the company expects a production of close to 900 kW of electricity on a full year.

The Minister for Energy, January Makamba greatly upheld the efforts of TotalEnergies commitment and ambition towards carbon neutrality and energy transition.

"The transformation of Total to TotalEnergies marks a tremendous development in the energy sector in the country as we have witnessed today that Tanzanians can fuel up with sunlight, enjoy a beverage made by solar power and even recharge their batteries at the speed of light when at TotalEnergies service stations," said the minister.

"With the TotalEnergies new identity, which reflects the company's commitment towards the environment and less carbon emissions, and even more progress in the energy sector, we are excited to see the new developments in TotalEnergies products and services to reach the company's 2050 ambition of net zero carbon emission.

"We are even more excited to witness the electricity production that will result from the solarisation of your service stations and hope in the future that TotalEnergies together with the ministry of energy will facilitate the production and supply of more energies by utilizing the natural sources of energies that we have in the country such as wind, water, biomass and natural gas." Original story from Daily News

Digital lenders will now be barred from accessing customers' contact lists in the course of debt collection under new CBK regulations.

According to the Central Bank of Kenya (Digital Credit Providers) Regulations, 2022, a digital credit provider, its officers, employees, or agents shall also not, in the course of debt collection, use obscene or profane language with the customer or the customer's contacts for purposes of shaming them.

The Central Bank of Kenya has in the past raised concerns about the abuse of the personal data of borrowers by digital lenders.

The apex bank in turn called on lawmakers to fast-track legislation to provide for the regulation of digital lenders.

Under the new regulations, the digital lenders will also not use threat, violence, or other means to harm a customer, or his reputation or property if they do not settle their loans.

The regulations seek to address concerns raised by the public given the recent significant growth of digital lending, particularly through mobile phones. 

"These concerns relate to the predatory practices of the previously unregulated digital credit providers, and in particular, their high cost, unethical debt collection practices, and the abuse of personal information," said CBK.

The lenders under these regulations will also be barred from posting a customer's personal or sensitive information online or on any other forum or medium for purposes of shaming them.

They shall also not engage in any other conduct whose consequence is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt.

Failure to comply with this regulation will incur a monetary penalty on a digital credit provider in an amount not exceeding Sh500,000.

Digital lenders have in recent years flooded the local market, attracted by demand for quick credit that does not require collateral.

Borrowers get loans within minutes via their mobile phones, making digital loans a quick fix for day-to-day bills.  By Susan Nyawira, Capital News