ETHIOPIAN and Tigrayan leaders agreed to allow humanitarian access to the warzone and form a joint disarmament committee on Saturday, extending a truce agreed last week.

The commanders, who since Monday have been meeting in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, signed an agreement mandating disengagement from all forms of military activities.

Both parties have agreed to protect civilians and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region of more than five million people.

The agreement states that disarmament will be “done concurrently with the withdrawal of foreign and non-[Ethiopian military] forces” from Tigray. Since the beginning of the war in November 2020, troops from Ethiopia’s northern neighbour Eritrea have assisted the government in fighting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the rulers of the Ethiopian region.

Ethiopia’s lead negotiator Redwan Hussein said the talks had established a conducive environment for ongoing peace negotiations and suggested that the next round would “most likely” be conducted in Tigray itself followed by a meeting in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

Both sides blame each other for the outbreak of the civil war, which followed Tigray’s decision to proceed with elections the central government had ordered postponed because of the Covid pandemic.

The brutal fighting in Tigray, which spilled into Amhara and Afar regions as Tigrayan forces tried to break the military blockade of their region, reignited in August after months of lull that allowed thousands of lorries carrying humanitarian aid into Tigray.

The TPLF’s decades-long dominance of Ethiopia’s government, which ended with the election of Abiy Ahmed as president in 2018, means it is regarded with suspicion by central authorities who have accused it of seeking to re-establish national power.

A study by Belgium’s Ghent University last month found the war to be the largest ongoing conflict in the world involving up to half a million troops and a death toll estimated at between 300-600,000, including hundreds of thousands of civilians. Both sides have been accused of war crimes.

Phone and internet connections to Tigray are still down, and foreign journalists and human rights researchers remain barred, complicating efforts to verify reports of ongoing violence in the region.  Morning Star

The United States has identified three suspected Al Shabaab terrorists.

However, the US embassy in Kenya says the three; Mahad Karate, Jehad Mostafa, and Ahmed Diriye are still at large.

In a statement made on Monday, November 14 afternoon in Nairobi, the US has also offered a Sh 1.2 billion [$10 million] reward to persons with information on their whereabouts. 

““To our Kenyan and regional partners, the United States is offering reward money for information that will lead to the identification and disruption of Al-Shabaab’s revenue sources and funding. This is huge information on Al-Shabaab’s exploitation of local natural resources and financial donors and facilitators,” an official at the US embassy said.

According to the US, the trio who are leaders of the terror group are responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Kenya, Somalia, and other neighbouring countries.

The attacks have led to the loss of lives in hundreds. 

“We know that Al-Shabaab receives money through a plethora of illegal activities that go on around the world to fund their operations and to fund the killing of hundreds of civilians every year,” he added.

The informants are urged to submit the information through Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp to +254-71-87-12-366 (Kenya) or +252-68-43-43-308 (Somalia).  

The US embassy in Kenya has also promised to protect individuals who give information that will lead to the arrest of the three suspects. By Winfrey Owino, The Standard

OLIVIA KOMUGISHA is an NTV journalist and social media influencer, who told Quick Talk how first son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s tweets sent her into depression for months...

Hello, Olivia! I hear you refer to yourself as a small goddess...

Yes, I am [laughs our loud]. 

To the point; what led you into a Twitter quarrel with the first son?

I don’t want to call it a quarrel, because I was in the newsroom and NTV had a one-on-one with Kakwenza [Rukirabashaija, the activist/writer allegedly tortured on the first son’s orders].

I went to the library and looked through the footage from that interview. I saw the cutaways of how his body looked like and the damage and scars that he had on his body. I felt for him. I wasn’t involved in any Twitter battle, but that day when Kakwenza left the country and posted that he was in Malawi, having travelled through Rwanda, that’s when the first son posted about his call with President Kagame trying to find out whether Kakwenza was in Rwanda.

I responded [to that tweet] and said, instead of addressing the issues that have led to Kakwenza fleeing the country you’re more concerned about his whereabouts and calling him a young boy...

That attracted many other opinions!

Yeah. Before I knew it, everyone had jumped on the tweet. I think someone called KK Melon on Twitter. I can never forget that name because, I was a bit depressed because of the things they said about me, body shaming me and all those things; so, when the general said something like, ‘KK Melon handle her’...

Eeh!

...He threw me to the wolves and all these people who probably want to please him came for me. They abused me they body-shamed me; they dragged my family into it and all that nonsense. So, it wasn’t a quarrel for me. It was just a concern like any other journalist who will respond to a minister and ask them why is this happening this way?

But maybe I got him on the wrong day. [KK Melon and others] threw me into a long spell of depression. When you see someone who has never interacted with you, doesn’t know anything about you have an opinion about you, it’s different. I remember what caused Kakwenza problems was body-shaming the general. 

So, having these people body-shame me because I am small, didn’t make any sense. Why are you doing something that you don’t want to be done to you? It was hypocrisy. I was depressed and for a while I had to seek professional help.

Sorry! For how long were you depressed?

It was more than a month, because at some point I’d be on my recovery journey and then someone brings it back on social media. It also made me feel like my confidence was compromised, but one day I woke up and was like, wait a minute; who are these guys who are lashing at me? They don’t even know me. I have taken time to grow; who are they to make me feel less important?

Was the ‘small goddess’ nickname one way of fighting depression? 

It wasn’t a way of fighting depression; it was self-awareness. Knowing that, look, you are beautiful; there is nothing that this guy is saying that should put you down.

Tell Quick Talk about your choice of journalism.

When I was younger, my grandfather used to listen to the radio every evening and I enjoyed being around him. So, I grew up liking the job. When I went to secondary school, I would anchor news at assembly. It became a thing and when it came to applying for what I wanted to do, it was very easy for me to choose journalism. I joined NTV in 2017 as a second-year student at Makerere University; so, this is my fifth year.

Any challenges so far?

Of course, the challenges are quite many in this profession, but being a female – and I don’t want to play that card – there is so much you must do to prove that you deserve a position and there are a lot of pressures that come with this job.

It is said that young female journalists are subjected to sexual harassment. What has been your experience?

I was lucky enough that the person who brought me into NTV was Josephine Karungi. She wasn’t a boss; she was like a mum. The day I entered the newsroom, she sat me down and told me the realities of the newsroom, the profession, the challenges I would face, and how best to handle them. So, even when I go to the field and people make advances – sometimes really ugly advances – I can’t submit to any.

Would you date a journalist?

No; not that I’m despising them, but when I get into that space at the office or even with colleagues for me, it is strictly work. It would take a lot of work to sweep me off my feet as a fellow journalist because that’s not my portion. I do not have a journalist crush. My ideal man is my man; the current man I have is an ideal man for me.

So what did you consider when choosing this man?

He is friendly; he is my friend, most importantly. Respectful, honest. Hardworking and many things. You see there is one thing about our generation: we don’t like the idea of putting our eggs in one basket, but I am very comfortable putting all my trust in one person.

Do you hang out?

I love fun and if you ask any of my friends, they will tell you I show up when it’s fun time, because work is already hard and there is more to life than just being worried about what the future holds. I enjoy talking to people. I love traveling and experiencing new places, new people, and new cultures.

Do you do sports?

I don’t do sports, but I enjoy sports. Football is my favourite. I am a fan of Manchester United.

What is your weird confession?

I fear injections so much. I’ll put up a fight before I’m injected and probably cry...Also, on the outside, I look like a very talkative, stubborn, and outgoing person, but I love being alone.

Who are your best artistes?

Mowzey Radio will always be up there. For females, I think currently it is Azawi. For comedians, Amooti Omubalanguzi is unmatched. But [I also love] Anne Kansiime. I am a Mukiga, [don’t call me] tribalistic; she’s very funny. Internationally, I love Adele; I love sad music and she gives me just that...

In this day and era, how have you maintained your natural skin colour?

Why would I change my skin colour? What’s wrong with this chocolate skin? It’s knowing that you’re beautiful and comfortable in your skin and how you look. No one else should define beauty for you.

Who is special to you, but is not a relative?

He is Abbas Mpindi, the CEO of Media Challenge Initiative. He was my boss, then became a mentor and then a friend. He is someone who doesn’t want to see anyone stagnating. If he sees opportunities, he is the first to hook you up. By DAVID MWANJE,The Observer