East Africa

Details: East Africa; 03 May 2022; 878

The Kenyan government has declared a month-long dusk to dawn curfew in the northern Marsabit County following a spike in insecurity.

Interior Minister Fred Matiang'i, while announcing the curfew, said security agencies have been deployed to rid the region of illegal firearms.

"Effective from 6:00 p.m. on May 2, we have placed the whole of Marsabit County under curfew to be followed by an operation to rid of illegal guns causing havoc there. Leaders in the area are urged to cooperate," he said.

"We must get all illegal firearms from that place. We will stay there until the job is done," he added.

In recent months, dozens of people have been killed in the region, with the attacks attributed partly to herders who were searching for pastures for their livestock during the dry period.

In February, President Uhuru Kenyatta asked the region’s leaders to provide a community-initiated strategy to stop the conflicts, failure to which the government would deploy security agencies with strict instructions to forcefully end insecurity in the county. - CGTN

Details: East Africa; 02 May 2022; 929

Kenyan workers had a reason to smile during this year’s Labour Day celebrations after the government increased the minimum wage by 12 per cent.

President Uhuru Kenyatta made the announcement on Sunday while presiding over Labour Day celebrations at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.

The lowest paid workers will now earn KShs 1,620 more, which pushes the minimum wage to KShs 15,120.

Before the increase, the minimum wage was KShs 13,500 and the figure had remained the same in the last three years.

Uhuru noted that there has been a hike in the cost of living with inflation hovering around 5-6 per cent annually.

He said his administration fully appreciates “the critical contribution Kenyan workers have made to the economy during very difficult times.”

“As a caring government, we find there is a compelling case to review the minimum wages so as to cushion workers against further erosion of their purchasing power while also guaranteeing competitiveness of our economy,” he said

“I declare an increase of minimum wage by 12 percentage points with effect from 1 May 2022,” he stated.

This year’s event was marked under the theme: Job Creation, Peace, and Sustainability.

It was the first time the fete will be held in public after the Government lifted the strict Covid-19 regulations.

There were were fears to miss out on a pay raise for the fourth year in a row after recent talks between trade unions, Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), Labour Ministry and Central Organisation for Trade Unions (COTU) collapsed.

Workers through their trade unions have been pushing for increased wages, but FKE had been insisting the government should first allow the economy to recover.

The government last announced a five percent increment in the minimum wage to cushion workers against inflation in 2018.

COTU secretary general Francis Atwoli said workers were expecting an increase of the minimum wage by 23.4 per cent.

“From 40 per cent, we negotiated and settled at 23 per cent. Please give workers that increment,” he said.

Atwoli further accused the Salaries and Remuneration Commission of being an impediment to better pay for workers.

“The SRC was established to play an advisory role and not set wages for workers. Employers and workers bargain collectively freely and fairly. They engage in give and take but the SRC then comes in to say no,” he stated.

He added that SRC has been undermining free and independent collective bargaining between employers and workers.

Federation of Kenyan Employers Executive Director Jacqueline Mugo said the state of the labour market continues to remain fragile with enterprises remaining closed while others struggling to get back to full operation.

She noted that a recent tripartite meeting of FKE, Labour Ministry and COTU failed to reach an agreement on minimum wage “due to the extreme challenges facing the labour market.’

“Employers understand the hardships workers are facing. However, employers seek wage structure that not only protects the lowest paid workers but also increases productivity and is economically sustainable,” she said.

“We take note of the high cost of living that is making life hard for us and certainly for those at the bottom of the scale”

Mugo asked the government to address high cost of fuel, disruptions in supply chains of essential commodities, low food production and unfavourable tax regime.

“We ask the government to revise income tax bracket and the tax relief to support low income earners. The tax bracket could be raised to lets say KSh 35,000 and tax relief increased to KShs 3,500 per month,” she said.

Uhuru further order Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui to gazettes COTU’s nominee to the NSSF Board, Rose Omamo, on Wednesday.

“I order you, after the long holiday, I want to see that gazette notice. I am not requesting, mine is an order. It is COTU that requested”

Atwoli had appealed to the President to intervene and have Omamo gazetted saying wokers needed a representative at the board. By Allan Kisia, The Star

Details: East Africa; 01 May 2022; 896

By NANGAYI GUYSON

Kampala, Uganda - Ugandan lawmakers are pushing for the termination of a government agreement that grants a single corporation exclusive rights to buy the country's coffee, an arrangement that is considered as unfair to local exporters.

Uganda’s Finance Minister Matia Kasaija and an Italian investor Ms Enrica Pinetti signed a Shs 284 billion coffee processing deal on February 10 to process and export Ugandan beans to Europe and the Middle East.

It was later discovered that the said investor whom the government gave free land to construct a product processing plant, valued at $80 million is broke and mortgaging the same to acquire a loan so that It can start buy Uganda’s coffee.

Various players in the agricultural industry have criticized the arrangement. The Finance Ministry was chastised for failing to consult all coffee industry stakeholders before signing on their behalf.

Kasaija signed on behalf of the Ugandan government in the presence of Ramathan Ggoobi, the Secretary to the Treasury.

However, it was discovered that Pinetti, the claimed owner of Uganda Vinci Coffee Company Limited (UVCC), signed the Coffee processing contract as a witness, generating fresh issues about who is the firm's true owner.

Eveln Anite, the State Minister of Finance for Investment and Privatization, stated that she just learned of the arrangement through the media.

Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister of Agriculture, denied any role in the signing of the coffee transaction.

He stated that his ministry was not involved and that any concerns should be directed to the Finance Ministry.

This prompted the Parliament's trade committee to investigate the terms of the "contentious" February agreement with Uganda Vinci Coffee Company Ltd., according to a statement on the Kampala-based legislature's website, quoting Speaker Anita Among.

According to Ramathan GgoobiG, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, the coffee agreement will help the government meet its goal of increasing coffee production from 7 million bags per year to 20 million bags by 2030.

According to a statement released by the Finance Ministry and Uganda Vinci, no one will be able to buy the country's harvest until "this firm gets the quota they want." He added Uganda Vinci had the right to set the price of the item, but this has not gone well with many local farmers in Uganda.

Uganda Vinci is expected to build the country's first final product processing plant, valued at $80 million, under the agreement, which also exempts the firm from all taxes, according to the finance ministry.

The agreement is seen as a critical component of the government's plan to increase coffee production to 20 million bags per year by 2030.

In a tweet, the finance ministry stated, "Uganda Vinci would pay a premium price for superior quality coffee beans, which will be calculated transparently and not lower than the price permitted by Uganda Coffee Development Authority."

Green coffee exports will continue and be determined by market conditions, according to the statement.

The President had early requested MPs to endorse the arrangement, but after strong opposition from the people's representatives, he charged the Attorney General with addressing the concerns.

President Museveni and the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party Caucus agreed on Wednesday 27^th, April to review the coffee deal's disputed provisions after legislators raised vociferous objections to sweeteners offered to the Italian investor, including a decade-long tax exemption and an alleged market monopoly.

The government has now formed a ministerial committee that includes representatives from the Energy Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, Finance Ministry, Works Ministry, and the Attorney General's Office.

Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka, the government's top legal adviser and a signatory to the coffee transaction with Ms Enrica Pinetti's Uganda Vinci Coffee Company (UVCC), told this newspaper last night that he found no flaws in the deal.

The Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) Executive Director approved the coffee agreement that the Ugandan government signed with Uganda Vinci Coffee Company, which is owned by Italian investor Enrica Pinetti.

Some clauses of the memorandum of understanding have been interpreted to provide the investor long tax exemptions and an apparent monopoly, according to members of Parliament's Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industries, who are probing the arrangement.

The UCDA executive director, Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye, told MPs that the arrangement did not violate any terms of the Coffee Act and that it was a "excellent bargain" for Uganda's coffee sector's growth.

Uganda's coffee trade has been liberalized, and growers now receive roughly 80% of the export price, according to the country's coffee regulator.

The majority of the crop is exported to nations like as Italy, Germany, the United States, and Spain, and the country might generate up to 9.1 million 60-kilogram bags in the year through September.

Details: East Africa; 02 May 2022; 885

Ethiopian refugees sheltering at the Gorom refugee settlement of Juba are urging the government and the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of elderly people back to Ethiopia.

The calls were made last week during a visit to the camp by South Sudan's Minister of Interior Mahmoud Solomon, Commissioner for Refugee Affairs and UNHCR Deputy Country Representative in South Sudan.

The Camp Chairman, Ojullu Ochan Ochan told the delegation that the environment has become toxic for their lives due to the presence of cattle herders that have continued to destroy their farmlands.

“We have the issue of migration of cattle keepers near us, and near our farmland which is a serious threat affecting our farming activities. This resulted in no cultivation last year by both refugees and host communities in this area,” Ochan said.

Ochan stated that reduction in food ration and lack of shelter are some of the reasons forcing the refugees to seek other alternatives.

He also requested UNHCR and the government to formulate a policy that will allow permanent settlement for people who do not want to return to Ethiopia.

“We also ask your office to interview those who want to be integrated into South Sudan communities," he added.

For his part, the Minister of Interior, Mahmoud Solomon Agok pledged that his office will ensure the safety and welfare of the refugees is observed.

"For us in the ministry of interior, your welfare, your life is under us. We must make sure that you are in a safe place with good security,” he said.

“We must ensure that UNHCR and other NGOs that are in the camp here are supplying you with food, health services, education and other essential services," he added.

Minister Mahmoud said the government will coordinate with refugee agencies in the country to look into the issue of repatriation.

“We will try to coordinate with relevant authorities such that they go back home safely and meet with their relatives."

Lt.Gen. Bol John Akot, Commissioner for the Commission for Refugees Affairs in South Sudan, said a special police unit will be deployed to keep the security of the refugees in the area.

"We are going to solve these complaints with those of UNHCR and the minister of interior and the commissioner for refugees,” he said.

The refugees were relocated from Pochalla to Lologo and Gorom areas in Juba before South Sudan gained its independence in 2011.

According to the UNHCR, the Gorom refugee settlement camp which was established in 2010 has 200,020 refugees.

The courtesy visit led by the Minister of Interior, Commissioner for Refugee Affairs and UNHCR was meant to strengthen partnerships, foster stronger cooperation among different interlocutors, and enhance security conditions. Radio Tamazuj

Details: East Africa; 01 May 2022; 912

DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi. PHOTO | FILE

Summary

Unlike his predecessor Joseph Kabila, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi can make compromises without being seen as a sellout to Kampala and Kigali, the real force behind the rebels that ousted Mobutu Seseseko from power in 1997.
President Tshisekedi therefore has a narrow window of opportunity to bring the curtain down on an ugly chapter in the DR Congo’s history. Rebels turned allies would be a plus for the fight against the myriad armed bands wreaking havoc in the east of the country.
The rebel groups need to adopt a long-term view that envisages the wider social and economic benefits of a peaceful Congo.

Against a raft of odds that prevented a face-to-face meeting, Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and representatives of the rebel groups still managed to kick off talks hosted by Nairobi, in a last gasp search for peace in the troubled east of the country.

A few tense hours after the M23 delegation failed to show up at the venue, the opening talks eventually happened via video link.

It is still early days but there is reason for hope.

The talks come on the shoulder of the DR Congo’s formal admission to the East African Community. Far from being a harbinger of doom, the M23’s surprise reincarnation, nearly a decade after a combined force of Tanzanian and South African troops flushed them out of their strongholds in North Kivu Province, should be seen in more positive terms.

Their attacks against positions of the Congolese armed forces were clearly timed to draw attention to a cause that was in danger of getting lost as regional leaders popped the champagne to the EAC’s westward expansion.

The latest round of engagement is taking place because all parties recognise the benefits and significance of DR Congo’s admission to the East African Community.

In that sense, the protagonists are probably waging war to win the peace. It is also no coincidence that President Tshisekedi promptly sued for peace.

Unlike his predecessor Joseph Kabila, he can make compromises without being seen as a sellout to Kampala and Kigali, the real force behind the rebels that ousted Mobutu Seseseko from power in 1997.

President Tshisekedi therefore has a narrow window of opportunity to bring the curtain down on an ugly chapter in the DR Congo’s history. Rebels turned allies would be a plus for the fight against the myriad armed bands wreaking havoc in the east of the country.

As the M23 uprising has demonstrated, East Africa cannot be at peace or fully exploit the potential of regional integration if governments in the region engage in acts that create statelessness.

Fortunately, there is precedent. Tanzania defused its Burundian settlers’ crisis by naturalising those who were willing to take up citizenship.

Even as the East African Community’s efforts to pacify eastern Congo are laudable, they can only get so far if they are guided by a spirit of give-and-take and constructive engagement.

The rebel groups need to adopt a long-term view that envisages the wider social and economic benefits of a peaceful Congo.

They should commit the government to restitution of citizenship and their rights as Congolese as the minimum condition for a settlement. The government, meanwhile, should commit the rebels to laying down arms and sign to a programme of rehabilitation and social reconstruction.Editorial, The East African

Page 690 of 904

East Africa

Kenyan government declares night time curfew in northern Marsabit County to tackle insecurity

Win for workers as minimum wage increased by 12 per cent

Ugandan lawmakers push for termination of unfair coffee agreement with broke Italian investor

Ethiopian refugees in Juba call for repatriation

Peace in eastern DRC possible but requires sacrifice

Summary

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