The Democratic Republic of Congo will start its Covid-19 vaccination campaign on April 19 with 1.7 million AstraZeneca doses it received from the COVAX global vaccines sharing scheme after delaying the rollout for more than a month.

Congo received the vaccines on March 2 and was expected to begin the inoculation campaign almost immediately but delayed rollout after several European countries suspended use of the shots. 

A government statement late on Tuesday said a task force had determined that the AstraZeneca vaccines already available in the country presented no risks to the population.

Congo has reported 28,542 infections and 745 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic began.  Reuters

NAIROBI, April 12 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese-built seaport in Kenya's coastal island of Lamu will be operational in June, a Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) official said on Monday.

China Communications Construction Company has already completed construction of the first three berths of the port, Bernard Osero, head of KPA corporate affairs, told Xinhua over the phone.

"Lamu port will specialize in handling containers and oil cargo between the east African hinterland and the rest of the world," he said.

The new facility will enable Kenya to become a gateway of choice for Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia, Osero said.

"Lamu Port will also complement the existing Port of Mombasa because it is a natural deep port that can handle larger sea vessels," he said.

The Kenyan government is prioritizing Lamu Port as a key infrastructure facility that will link east Africa and west Africa through road and rail, Osero said. - Xinhua

Burundi refugees have suffered violations such as arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, allegedly carried out by the Tanzanian police and intelligence services in cooperation with counterparts in their homeland, they reported. 

“In addition to the strict encampment policy imposed on them by the Government of Tanzania, Burundian refugees and asylum-seekers now live in fear of being abducted in the middle of the night by Tanzanian security forces and taken to an unknown location or being forcefully returned to Burundi,” the experts said in a statement. 

Hundreds of thousands of people fled Burundi for neighbouring countries following deadly clashes surrounding the 2015 presidential election.  While the worst of the violence has eased, the situation remains fragile, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.  

Posing as refugees 

Nearly half of those who escaped, or around 150,000 people, are in Tanzania. The rights experts report that Burundian political opponents have allegedly been tracked among refugees and asylum-seekers there.  

Burundian intelligence agents, posing as refugees within the camps, are identifying specific individuals who are later arrested by Tanzanian security forces.  

“The Government of Burundi must stop its repression against its citizens including those seeking international protection in Tanzania,” they said. 

Forced disappearance, ‘voluntary return’ 

Burundian refugees have confirmed being taken by Tanzanian police and subjected to enforced disappearance and torture, before being forced to return home or to sign up for “voluntary return”.   

Some also were interrogated for their supposed affiliation with armed groups, or about their activities in the camps, and even asked for money in order to be released. 

“We are extremely alarmed by reports that some Burundian refugees have been killed after having been abducted by Tanzanian security forces”, the experts said, adding that fear has driven many refugees to return home. 

“It is extremely discouraging that since the Government announced in August 2020 that an investigation into the disappearances was underway no results have been made public yet,” the statement concluded. “The Government of Tanzania is aware of the situation and must take all necessary measures to immediately stop and remedy the violations.”  

UN experts’ role 

The 12 experts who issued the statement are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor specific thematic issues, including enforced or voluntary disappearances, arbitrary detention, and torture or other degrading punishment.   

They serve in their individual capacity and are neither UN staff, nor are they paid by the Organization. - UNITED NATIONS

Photo Courtesy Standard

I will not bring in any new agenda to the Judiciary, High Court Judge Said Chitembwe and candidate for Chief Justice position has told the Judicial Service Commission.

Justice Chitembwe (pictured above) was responding to Acting Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu who wanted to know what transformation he would bring to the Judiciary as the incoming Chief Justice. 

Chitembwe replied he would seek to build on what his predecessors David Maraga and Willy Mutunga did when they held the position.

He further noted that he knew where the weaknesses were and what areas needed to be enhanced, without going into more details.

"You don't always come in with radical changes where you change this or that," he said. 

But pressed further, Chitembwe cited access to justice, construction of more courts, faster court processes, and reducing the backlog of cases as areas to which he will pay more attention.

For a judge known for some controversial judgements, his date with the JSC commissioners will determine if he is suitable to take over the mantle from Justice David Maraga, who retired in January after four years at the helm of the Judiciary.

The 54-year-old  Justice Chitembwe stirred controversy in 2016 when he set free a man serving a 20-year jail term for defiling a 13-year-old girl free on grounds that it was wrong to hand the man the heavy punishment when both were enjoying the relationship.

Chitembwe noted that the country should think of a way of changing the legal age in which a girl should be mature for sex to avoid jailing even those who have consensual intercourse with girls below 18 years.

He gave the example of Spain where the age of consent for sexual intercourse used to be 13 while marriageable age for a girl is 16; and countries like Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Switzerland Czech Republic, Germany, UK and Hungary, where a girl or boy can get married at the age of 16.

It was a decision that attracted international attention from women's rights organisations and was awarded the Women Link Worldwide Golden Bludgeon as the world’s worst ruling for women’s rights in 2016.

He followed the decision with another in April 2018 when he set free a teenage boy who was jailed for 15 years for impregnating his teenage girlfriend.

Chitembwe ruled that it was unfair for the magistrate to jail the boy when the underage girlfriend had admitted they had a flourishing intimate relationship with a promise to get married when they became adults.

“Both the complainant and the appellant were students and engaged in sex at their youthful age with a promise to get married. It would be imprudent to have him spend 15 years in jail when evidence shows they had sex many times for one year before she became pregnant,” he ruled. By Jael Mboga, Standard