Jane Nayituriki, a farmer from Burera district in northern Rwanda, had been waking up early every morning to catch the migratory grey-crowned cranes flying along the neighboring Rugezi wetland in order to raise their chicks as domestic pets.
Nayituriki, a mother of four, was a member of a group of poachers who used to set up their camps in different parts of marshland zones in Rwanda to catch the grey-crowned cranes flying in her village.
“In the past, people here were engaged in unsustainable practices of poaching cranes, but thanks to latest conservation efforts, most of the villagers have now stopped hunting,” she said in an interview.
These illegal activities by local villagers were conducted before an initiative to address this threat to cranes was developed. Nayituriki is now among a group of crane poachers who recently refrained from the illegal acts and found other means of earning a living. Along with farming, Nayituriki now benefits financially from some activities such as the regular cranes’ census, when conservation groups hire local communities to help.
Official estimates in Rwanda show that the grey-crowned crane is hunted for meat and alleged medicinal value but also, some people use the birds as pets in their households and hotels. They are also sold to global illegal wildlife dealers.
The plumage of the adult crane is gray with white wings that contain feathers with a range of colors, with a distinctive black patch at the very top. The head has a crown of stiff golden feathers, which makes it considered as a symbol of wealth in Rwanda.
Grey Crowned Cranes/Photo Courtesy Infonile
The Rugezi swamp has long been among famous sites in Rwanda where thousands of grey-crowned cranes congregate.
While grey-crowned cranes are part of Rwanda’s wildlife species, the illegal domestication of these endangered birds for both commercial purposes and consumption has gained ground in recent years.
In response, the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (RWCA) has made a concerted effort since 2015 to address the threats posed to grey-crowned cranes: confiscating all cranes being kept illegally in domestication, returning those that are in good health to the wild in the Akagera National Park, and working towards establishing a good captive facility for those that cannot be released – serving ultimately as an education centre for crane conservation.
A sanctuary for disabled birds
Several hundred grey-crowned cranes that fell victim to poaching and wildlife trade in the past few years are now safe in a newly established facility known as “Umusambi Village” (Cranes Village) located in Nyandungu, a suburb of Kigali city.
During the rescuing operation, conservationists retrieved many cranes that were disabled and injured as a result of living in captivity.
Dr Olivier Nsengimana, a Rwandan conservation leader working to save the endangered and symbolic grey-crowned crane /Photo Courtesy
“Umusambi Village” is currently a sanctuary for about 70 of these birds, which can no longer fly.
The 21-square-hectare captive village is the first of its kind in the country after the Cabinet of Rwanda approved in September 2020 the draft law giving green light to private companies or associations seeking to venture into wildlife conservation for commercial purpose in the country.
Before the new law, associations like the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association were only authorized to take cranes from captivity into the wild, but the new measures allow the association to run reserves like Umusambi Village privately.
Umusambi Village provides a sanctuary for over 50 endangered Grey Crowned Cranes saved from the illegal pet trade/Photo Courtesy
Some of the people who used to capture cranes are now employed in the conservation reserve, which is also generating revenue from tourists who come to see the cranes.
“Thanks to these efforts, local communities living around the site are benefiting from ecotourism opportunities in their area,” said Olvier Nsengimana, a Rwandan veterinarian who designed the project aimed at saving the country’s endangered grey-crowned crane.
Habitat loss and poaching
Nsengimana is the Executive Director of Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association, a local non-government organization seeking to abolish the illegal trade of the grey-crowned crane in Rwanda.
Estimates show that these birds are the only species of crane found in Rwanda. However, they continue to be threatened by several human factors, including habitat loss and poaching of adults, chicks and eggs.
A draft of new legislation was approved by the Rwanda Government Cabinet in 2020 that prohibits the domestication and illegal trade of wild grey-crowned cranes. However, the practice is still common in rural areas and urban settings.
These threats, according to experts, are often driven by poverty, livelihood disadvantage and lack of conservation awareness, as well as people and animals competing for the same habitat.
Increased pressure on land, mainly for agriculture and human settlement, has made it difficult to effectively conserve grey-crowned cranes, according to Nsengimana and Ruhagazi of RWCA.
This is because land pressures affect the species’ breeding cycle as the bird’s main habitat is wetlands and marshlands, said Telesphore Ngoga, who is the head of the conservation division at the government’s Rwanda Development Board (RBD).
While Rwanda is home to an incredible variety of biodiversity, the country is challenged by high population density and poverty. Rwanda currently has a population of more than 12.6 million people living on 26,338 square kilometers of land. Land and resources are often overstretched due to high competition between people and wildlife.
Despite the challenges, conservation experts say the threats against this endangered bird species have greatly improved in Rwanda due to the recent initiatives.
According to Nsengimana, the number of grey-crowned cranes in Rwanda has reached impressive levels, driven by measures such as providing support and engaging communities in initiatives to reduce poaching.
The latest estimates by the RWCA show that the population of this threatened bird species has grown by more than 105 percent — from 487 cranes in 2017 to 997 in 2021.
Some wetland zones in Akagera National Park, located about 100 kilometers from Kigali, have become a vital transfer station for the formerly domesticated species. Of the 319 cranes that have been removed from captivity, 242 have been reintroduced to the wild in the national park.
Dr. Deo Ruhagazi, Crane Project Programme Manager and Field Veterinarian at RWCA, said that while selling rare birds was a major economic activity for rural households, “community awareness has been important to those engaged in poaching, selling and keeping cranes at home.”
One of the successful measures includes the development of bird-themed tourism including an awareness campaign focusing on the environmental consequences to those reluctant to hand back any crane they might have.
“Local residents have transformed from poachers to bird protectors as they have realized that protecting cranes is protecting themselves," said Ruhagazi.
Rangers of Umusambi Village Conservation Reserve/Photo Courtesy InfoNile
Since 2014, the RWCA in collaboration with the International Crane Foundation’s Conservation Medicine Department has undertaken public awareness campaigns and helped to officially register 319 cranes held in captivity to supplement a remnant population in eastern Rwanda. By Aimable Twahirwa, InfoNile
A total 150 troops of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and 36 Rwanda National Police members, on Friday, May 26, travelled to Uganda to participate in the 12th East African Community Armed Forces Field Training Exercise, codenamed “Ushirikiano Imara 2022.”
The exercise will run from May 27 to June 16. Its objective is to promote the EAC integration agenda, by enhancing joint state of readiness and interoperability of EAC partner States’ Armed Forces, Police, Civilian Components and other stakeholders in responding to complex security challenges, according to a statement from RDF.
The Division Commander, Mechanised Division, Maj Gen Wilson Gumisir iza, briefed the departing contingent on behalf of the RDF leadership, reminding them to uphold RDF values of patriotism, honour, valour and integrity and also maintain discipline throughout the exercise.
The two-week long exercise is attended by all six EAC partner states’ armed forces, police personnel and civilians. - James Karuhanga, The New Times
Senior officials from Turkish gov't agencies, foundation join panel on Africa's human capital in Turkey-Africa Media Summit
Turkish media organizations are sharing their experiences with African outlets to help prevent misconceptions on the continent in the media, the deputy head of Turkey's Presidency of Turks and Related Communities Abroad (YTB) said on Thursday.
"We're conducting media studies at the YTB, especially with non-governmental organizations that know the sociology of Africa," said Abdulhadi Turus, speaking at a panel titled "Investing in Africa's human capital" held under the Turkey-Africa Media Summit in Istanbul.
At the summit, organized by Turkey's Communications Directorate, Turus underlined the importance of how events are perceived and that the YTB aims to build accurate perceptions in the world, against those that are false.
Likewise, Turkey also aims to prevent misconceptions and spread the truth, as well as to help people facing oppression or poverty in any part of the world, he added.
Besides Turus, the panel was attended by Rahman Nurdun, vice president of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), and Birol Akgun, the chief of Turkey's Maarif Foundation. It was moderated by Ibrahim Bachir, a researcher at the University of Bayreuth in Germany.
Nurdun noted that TIKA, which serves as Turkey's state-run aid agency, opened its first office in Africa in 2005, when it opened its Addis Ababa branch in the Ethiopian. This was followed by its offices in Kenya and Senegal, he added.
"TIKA carries out an average of 400 projects every year in Africa. Our difference from the aid activities of other countries is the Turkish type of development model that our president (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) has always expressed. We never impose our own demands on African countries," he added.
Meanwhile, Akgun emphasized that Turkey-Africa relations have strengthened and evolved to a new dimensions since Ankara launched an initiative in 2005 to expand ties with the continent.
Turkey and Africa complement each other and their relations have gone beyond humanitarian aid and development, he added.
The two-day summit kicked off on Wednesday, marking Africa Day on May 25.
A range of issues were discussed, including post-pandemic challenges in journalism, journalism under digital siege, and women in journalism.
Among the participants were 80 members of the media from 45 African countries, African diplomats, public officials, and civil society members.
The program aims to strengthen Ankara's cooperation with African media outlets and professionals. Yeni Safak
5 suspects arrested for kidnapping a man and demanding for a ransom to set him free on Thursday, May 26,2022. Image:DCI
Women are now luring unsuspecting men from social networking sites before leading them to a room.
In Summary
• The five are Joseph Makau Mulatya, Patrick Wekesa Omosa, Rehema Njeri, Vigilance Mumbi and Hadija Ong’ai.
• The man had called his relatives claiming that he had been involved in a road accident and needed Sh100,000 for treatment.
Detectives based in Parklands have arrested five suspects for kidnapping a man and demandinga ransom to set him free.
The five are Joseph Makau Mulatya, Patrick Wekesa Omosa, Rehema Njeri, Vigilance Mumbi and Hadija Ong’ai.
Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti said it is a crime that is growing where women lure unsuspecting men from social networking sites, before leading them to a room where the man is held hostage and asked to buy his freedom.
Three women who were arrested prey for men online, promising them a good time as a way to trap them.
Man and woman among the 5 suspects arrested for kidnapping a man and demanding for a ransom to set him free on Thursday, May 26,2022. Image:DCI
With a special preference for men of caucasian origin, the women lure the smitten men to a house behind Ruaraka’s Naivas supermarket, with a promise of an action packed night from two to three women depending on ones preference.
"But moments before they get down, a rude knock suddenly interrupts the occasion as a man posing as a boyfriend to one of the women suddenly appears, throwing a spanner in the works of an eventful evening," Kinoti said.
"What follows are demands for a ransom depending on how deep one’s pockets are."
In Thursday’s incident, sleuths from a special team that has been on the trail of the 'babes' stormed the house where the victim was being held hostage.
"They found him stark naked, as the five suspects eagerly waited for an Mpesa transaction of Sh100,000 to set the man free."
"The man had called his relatives claiming that he had been involved in a road accident and needed Sh100,000 for treatment," DCI said.
Two women among the 5 suspects arrested for kidnapping a man and demanding for a ransom to set him free on Thursday, May 26,2022. Image:DCI By Purity Wangui, The Star
Russian President Vladimir Putin, seen in the Black sea resort city of Sochi, Russia, on May 24. (Mikhail Metzel/Pool/Sputnik/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)/Photo Courtesy
Forty-two former presidents and prime ministers have added their signatures to a growing list that calls for the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court, citing both the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the loss of coronavirus funding to fraud as new evidence of the ill effects of grand corruption.
Among those signing the declaration were former leaders of Argentina, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and many others, according to an announcement made Wednesday by nonprofits Integrity Initiatives International and Club de Madrid.
Grand corruption — the abuse of public office for private gain by a nation’s leaders — “has global dimensions and cannot be combated by the affected countries alone,” said Danilo Turk, president of Slovenia between 2007 and 2012 and the current president of Club de Madrid, a forum for former elected world leaders.
Though a proposal for the court was first made a decade ago, some of the signees are now explicitly linking a potential court to growing anger in Western capitals over the impact of dirty Russian money ahead of the invasion of Ukraine.
Former British prime minister Gordon Brown, one of the former world leaders calling for the court, wrote for the Times of London this year that Russian President Vladimir Putin needed to be brought to justice not only for the war in Ukraine but also for “three decades of deceit and corruption.”
Brown and others have added their names to a declaration that includes more than 250 high-profile figures from more than 75 countries. Sitting governments in Canada and the Netherlands have made establishing the court part of their official foreign policy, pushing the creation of the court as a vital international issue.
“Corruption among public officials isn’t just a financial problem; it also undermines democracy and the rule of law in a country and exacerbates inequality among its people,” Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra said at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in April.
But Hoekstra also emphasized that the Netherlands, which houses the International Criminal Court in The Hague, could only establish an anti-corruption court with the support of many other nations — a level of support that is far from assured.
No former U.S. president has signed the declaration, though it was first proposed by Mark L. Wolf, a U.S. district judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan who founded Integrity Initiatives International. The United States, home to a number of secretive tax havens, is considered one of the key facilitators of international corruption.
Reps. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) introduced a bill that called on the United States to oppose kleptocracy around the world by supporting the development of an International Anti-Corruption Court in 2020. However, the momentum quickly fizzled due to a lack of support.
The United States has long had a fraught relationship with the International Criminal Court, with U.S. critics citing concerns about sovereignty and fears that Americans could be targeted for prosecution. Congress never ratified the 2002 Rome Statute that established the court, even though it had been signed by President Bill Clinton, putting the United States at odds with the 123 backers of the court.
After the court moved to open an investigation into possible war crimes in Afghanistan in 2019 — the first ICC investigation that could involve U.S. troops — the Trump administration sanctioned a variety of court officials, including then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. (The Biden administration dropped the sanctions last year.)
The ICC has also developed a complicated reputation in Africa, since so many of the cases it has brought have been against current or former African leaders — in part due to the difficulty of bringing cases against more-powerful nations.
The invasion of Ukraine might have led to a new perspective on international justice in countries that were once skeptical.
In March, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) sponsored a bipartisan resolution that called on the United States to petition the ICC to authorize any and all “investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian Armed Forces and their proxies and President Putin’s military commanders, at the direction of President Vladimir Putin.”
Though 189 countries are already party to the 2003 United Nations Convention Against Corruption, the treaty requires them only to have domestic laws criminalizing corruption. Though many do, such laws are often unenforced, while the sprawling, international nature of modern financial systems makes corruption an international issue.
The signed declaration in support of the court states that “kleptocrats enjoy impunity because they control the administration of justice in the countries that they rule.” By The Washington Post
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