Members of South Sudan’s National Security Service in a pickup vehicle – NSS [Photo by unknown]
JUBA –The Amnesty International has on Monday warned against lifting of the arms embargo on South Sudan saying the world’s youngest country must first end its crimes against dissent, reform the National Security Service and establish the Hybrid Court provided for in the revitalized peace agreement.
The statement by the human rights watchdog comes less than two weeks before the United Nation Security Council’s slated vote on whether the arms embargo can remain in place against a government appeal for its lifting.
“The Security Council must ensure a range of human rights benchmarks are met before the embargo can be lifted. These include an end to crimes under international law, reform of the National Security Service (NSS), and the establishment of a Hybrid Court to ensure accountability,” the Amnesty International said in a statement Monday.
Sarah Jackson, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for East Africa, Horn and the Great Lakes region said state security tools have remained in repressing dissent despite the revitalized peace agreement signed in 2018 and which also provides for reformation of the body.
“South Sudan’s hard-won independence 10 years ago has sadly not resulted in respect for human rights,” she said.
“State security forces repress freedom of expression including media freedoms and both state security forces and armed groups continue to violate international humanitarian law, in some cases amounting to war crimes, with impunity,” Jackson added.
Sarah further said: “When the Security Council assesses keeping or lifting the arms embargo on South Sudan, it must, at a minimum, set the bar at halting these violations and ending impunity.” - Sudans Post
The new Permanent Representative of Burundi to the United Nations, Zéphyrin Maniratanga, paid a courtesy call on UN Secretary-General António Guterres today. He earlier presented his credentials to the Secretariat on 12 March. (See Press Release BIO/5389.)
Before his latest appointment, Mr. Maniratanga was Chief of State Protocol and Head of his country’s Diplomatic and Protocol Office, a post he took up in October 2020. Before that he served as Chief of Protocol for the Presidency of Burundi, beginning in October 2010.
Mr. Maniratanga diplomatic experience includes service as Chargé d’affaires at Burundi’s Embassy in India between 2009 and 2010 and in other capacities at the country’s embassies in Canada (2007-2009) and South Africa (2006-2007).
Between 2004 and 2005, he was a Counsellor in the Department of International Organizations, with a portfolio covering relations with the United Nations, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Mr. Maniratanga was in charge of relations with Belgium, France and Italy from 2000 until 2002.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, a master’s degree in international and comparative environmental law from Limoges University and a diploma in advanced human rights studies from the University of Nantes, both in France. - United Nations
Tanzania and films. Films and Tanzania. It is not what we are famous for. What about Kenya? Uganda? Rwanda? East African film industry is not as well- known as say, our athletics or our tourist haven. So every now and then we hear an actor (or actress) has been awarded some international prize.
We think of Lupita Nyong'o, Daniel Kaluuya or may be Steven Kanumba. Nyong'o is currently the most well- known Kenyan film star outside Africa, followed by Kaluuya- the 2021 Oscar for best supporting actor (playing Black Panther slain leader Fred Hampton). If you Google, Kaluuya , however, he is listed as a British actor. We know his parents were born in Uganda. So...
What about Stephen Kanumba? His 2012 funeral attracted at least 30,000 film fans in Tanzania. He was only 28. And he starred in a few Nollywood (i.e. Nigerian) movies. What does that say about our East African film business? Like the Swahili proverb goes ...Kwenu ni Kwenu Hata Ikiwa Chini ya Mti. (Your home is the best place even if under a tree.)
Home offers the best pie.
In May 1963, more than 30 African leaders met in Addis Ababa and created the Organisation of African Unity (nowadays African Union). Ardent Pan-Africanists – Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah differed on how the continent should unite. Ghana's Nkrumah wanted an African state while Tanzania's Mwalimu preferred a more inter-regional approach.
And that prevailed and beside things like ECOWAS we had the East African Community. And that is where we are at with films. I gather it is apt for this article to check out individual efforts. In Tanzania we have had the success of Bongo-land one and two (twenty years ago) by Josiah Kibira. Kibira dealt with African migrants t overseas; failing and returning home to face even more challenges and struggles. Prior to that Fimbo ya Mnyonge was the well- known feature film. Funded by the state-run Tanzania Film Company, it was a massive hit in mid 1970s.
Several individual film makers have ejected feature films. None of them made a major international impact. The best thing is they tried though. Out of this straggle and struggle....
Wetengere Kitojo arrived in the UK study film in mid 2000s and by 2010 he was shooting short films. It is always said start small. And that is Nyerere (as opposed to Nkrumah's) vision. Manageable projects are a taste and perfume of accomplishment.
Wetengere invited me to a viewing of his first serious attempt in Reading a city with a large number of of UK based Tanzanian students. “Coactum” was about a young lady being coerced to perform an abortion. This is a problem of African females. The second endeavour was writing scripts and striving to get funding. Kitojo was(and is) always interested in true stories. Film Freeway, an international cinema forum describes him as such:
“Wetengere's passion is to educate society by using film medium, tackling most critical political and social issues whilst entertaining audiences...”
So, in 2020 Asking God was completed. In Swahili with English subtitles the 139 minutes thriller steers three main themes. Family of three. Abusive husband, Moses (played by Saidi Kitanji) who quite early on is seen pointing a gun at his wife Rosemary (Rene Joseph). Then their child, Regina (Ester Said Ndalu) knocked down by car and is in a life supporting machine. The pressures and tensions to have her survive, unfold deep rooted emotions plus religious beliefs.
This is the second theme. Christianity and the role of religion in contemporary Africa.
Third theme is the corrupt, husband, Moses' dodgy deals shedding light on institutional financial dishonesty. At the end of the film there is redemption and Wetengere puts his stamp on the importance of family and community cohesion.
The new director was born in Suji, not far from Mount Kilimanjaro, North East Tanzania in the 1970s. After graduating with a Masters degree in Sound design for Film at Bournemouth University he settled at Basingstoke with his family. Asking God was a low budget of £7,000 which in film economics is meagre but expensive for him.
Wetengere speaks of self- sacrifice. Doing odd jobs to maintain his family and keep this creative dream buzzing. He says it is very hard to get funding as our East African businesses do not yet bother invest in cinema. So far Asking God has been accepted at two international film festivals in Canada (Motion Pictures International Festival- MOPIFF) and Boden in Sweden.
Meantime the determined writer is working on his second long feature; aiming to highlight illegal poaching and destruction of our wildlife. Asking God can be seen by logging into NUELLA TV – a site for African and International films.
Contact Wetengere Tel +44- 7886 902558.
Freddy Macha is a London based Tanzanian writer and musician.
Child marriage continues to affect many young girls across Tanzania, in East Africa, but now a series of interventions supported by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) are allowing children to get the support they need to avoid unwanted and potentially damaging relationships.
It was 3 o’clock on a Friday afternoon when Grace*, a counsellor at the National Child Helpline in Tanzania, received a call from a concerned teacher in Msalala, a small town in the remote Shinyanga region in the north-west of the East African country.
One of her brightest students Eliza*, aged 13, had not gone to school that day following worrying rumours that her parents intended to marry her off. She learned that they had accepted a payment in the form of a bride dowry from the family of the intended groom. The man chosen for Eliza was at 35-years-old, more than 22 years her senior.
On a recent two-day visit to Tanzania, UNFPA’s Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem, met with counsellors at the National Child Helpline, in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. The helpline is run by C-Sema, a national NGO, in collaboration with the Government.
UNFPA/Ericky Boniphace
UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem (left) tours the National Child Helpline head office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The #116 toll-free service, available across all mobile networks in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar, responds to around 3,500 calls a day from women and children who are at risk of violence, and from family and community members who report abuses.
The helpline has reported an increase in calls during the COVID pandemic as school closures made children more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
Trained volunteer counsellors like Grace give women and young people support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The counsellors also liaise with support networks and protection systems in the callers’ locality to provide further assistance.
Eliza’s story has a happy ending. As a result of Grace’s coordination with local government authorities and district social welfare officers in Msalala, officers from the Police Gender and Children’s Desk visited Eliza’s parents and the marriage did not take place.
A whole-of-community effort
Dr. Kanem expressed gratitude to C-Sema and counsellors for their dedication to advancing gender equality and the health, rights and well-being of women and young people, including through the use of digital platforms and new technologies.
Despite progress and the commitment by the Government to tackle gender inequalities and discrimination, as articulated in the Five-year National Plans of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children, violence remains a daily reality for many women and adolescent girls.
UNFPA Tanzania is supporting efforts to eradicate gender-based violence and to strengthen protection systems across the country In addition to supporting the National Child Helpline, it is also working with police officers who staff specialized gender and children’s investigation units which meet the needs of women and girls, and other one-stop support services that provide holistic care all in one place to ensure that victims of abuse do not have to go from one place to another to get medical care, psychosocial support or legal assistance.
Community centres, where women support each other and take the lead in ending violence in their communities, have also been set up.
Empowering men and boys as agents of change
Efforts to end violence are not only focused on empowering women and girls. Men and boys, and traditional and community leaders, are also included in conversations in recognition of their role and contribution to gender equality. Through extensive community outreach, UNFPA’s partners are encouraging discussions around harmful stereotypes of masculinity and positive ways to support the rights of women and girls.
Engaging men in holding other men accountable is critical to creating the basis for greater equality and they must not be left out or left behind, stressed Dr Kanem. “Every girl and boy should be valued and should be taught that the expression of their right and empowerment should not be centred on overpowering others."
Supporting government-led efforts
During her visit to Tanzania, Dr. Kanem met with the country’s first female President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, who expressed Tanzania’s commitment to eliminate preventable maternal and child deaths, gender-based violence and harmful practices, including female genital mutilation.
Dr. Kanem commended the government’s leadership and reaffirmed UNFPA’s support to Tanzania to realize development targets and stronger, more inclusive socioeconomic growth with the goal of leaving no one behind.
The Tanzanian government has teamed up with a national non-governmental organization in efforts to eradicate domestic and gender violence as well as early marriages.
The C-Sema NGO, also supported by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), has set up a toll-free National Child Helpline, in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam to protect children and women from abuse.
The #116 toll-free service, available across all mobile networks, is open to people in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
The helpline responds to around 3,500 calls a day from women and children who are at risk of violence, and from family and community members who report abuses.
A recent visit to the National Child Helpline by UNFPA's Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem showed just how vital the facility is in Tanzania's efforts to eradicate domestic violence and early marriages.
Dr. Kanem expressed gratitude to C-Sema and counsellors for their dedication to advancing gender equality and the health, rights and well-being of women and young people, including through the use of digital platforms and new technologies.
The UNFPA reports a recent case of a 13-year-old girl who was saved from getting married to a 35-year-old man. The girl's parents had accepted to give her up for marriage in exchange for a dowry payment.
Despite the occurrence of such incidents, the Tanzanian government has rolled out various efforts to end the vices, including the institution of a Five-year National Plans of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children.
The current administration has also pledged to continue efforts to eradicate such vices from the East African country.
During her visit to Tanzania, Dr. Kanem met with President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who expressed Tanzania's commitment to eliminate preventable maternal and child deaths, gender-based violence and harmful practices, including female genital mutilation.
The UNFPA's Executive Director commended the government's leadership and reaffirmed her organization's support to Tanzania to realize development targets and stronger, more inclusive socioeconomic growth with the goal of leaving no one behind. - CGTN
Informer East Africa is a UK based diaspora Newspaper. It is a unique platform connecting East Africans at home and abroad through news dissemination. It is a forum to learn together, grow together and get entertained at the same time.
To advertise events or products, get in touch by info [at] informereastafrica [dot] com or call +447957636854. If you have an issue or a story, get in touch with the editor through editor[at] informereastafrica [dot] com or call +447886544135.
We also accept donations from our supporters. Please click on "donate". Your donations will go along way in supporting the newspaper.
