Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki. Photo Ludovic Marin/AFP
The head of the African Union on Tuesday urged Kenya and Somalia to exercise restraint, and de-escalate tensions along their borders.
"I'm following the tensions on the Kenya-Somalia border with concern, and urge the two neighbors to exercise restraint and engage in dialogue in conformity with the IGAD-led process," Moussa Faki Mahamat said in a statement.
"Peace on the Kenya-Somalia border is vital to regional stability,” Faki said, referring to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-country trade bloc in Africa.
Somalia has accused Kenya of supporting armed fighters who engaged Somali forces on Monday, a fight that claimed 11 lives.
The Information Ministry in Somalia said Kenya-backed bandits were attempting to smuggle weapons into Somalia through the porous border.
Kenya, however, has distanced itself from the allegations and said it wants the conflict to end. - By Rédaction Africanews with Anadolu, Africanews
In this file photo from 2016, Tanzania's President John Magufuli addresses a news conference during an official visit to Nairobi, Kenya. Photo Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
Tanzanian President John Magufuli has claimed that vaccinations against COVID-19 are dangerous and instead urged Tanzanians to protect themselves from the deadly disease by using domestic measures including steam inhalation.
Magufuli has long downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19, which has killed more than 2.1 million people worldwide. He has previously questioned the efficacy of imported COVID tests and urged people to pray to protect themselves from the coronavirus.
The president has resisted imposing strict lockdowns to contain the virus and his government has faced criticism over its secrecy regarding the outbreak in the East African nation, which has not published official COVID-19 statistics for more than six months.
“Vaccinations are dangerous. If white people were able to come up with vaccinations, a vaccination for AIDS would have been found, a vaccination for tuberculosis could have eliminated it by now; a Malaria vaccine would have been found; a vaccination for cancer would have been found by now,” Magufuli said in a speech on Wednesday in his hometown of Chato, northwest Tanzania.
He also urged the health ministry to be cautious with vaccines developed abroad.
The president offered no evidence to support his doubts about the safety of vaccinations, which are being administered across more than 50 countries, according to Our World in Data, after securing regulatory approval.
A microbiologist who requested anonymity citing fear of government retaliation described the president’s statement as “dangerous” and said could help to reverse the country’s decades-long effort to eradicate preventable illnesses through vaccines.
“The fight against COVID-19 needs informed public health measures. Denial, misinformation and inaction only puts Tanzanian citizens, especially the vulnerable ones, at unnecessary risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19,” the scientist told Al Jazeera.
Magufuli’s warning comes a day after the Tanzania Catholic Church issued an alert over a surge in suspected COVID-19 infections in the country. In a letter addressed to church leaders, the president of the episcopal conference (TEC) warned of a possible new wave of infections.
The TEC Secretary Father Charles Kitima told the media that the Catholic Church had noticed an unusually sharp increase in the number of funeral services being held. He said that usually, there would be one or two requiem masses per week in urban parishes, but that now they were conducting the masses daily.
Since the apparent resurgence of cases in recent weeks, Magufuli has sent mixed messages to the public, at times urging people to follow expert advice but also mocking those who wear masks to slow the spread of the virus.
Despite anecdotal evidence suggesting a potential resurgence of infections, there are no official figures to indicate how widespread it might be, as the health ministry stopped releasing regular updates on COVID statistics last April.
Tanzania has reported 509 COVID-19 infections and 21 deaths in total, according to World Health Organization data. - Sammy Awami, Al Jazeera
Cabinet Secretary for Defence Monica Juma, her UK counterpart Ben Wallace and UK High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriot speaking to Uk and KDF soldiers at BATUK on Tuesday./ELIUD WAITHAKA
In Summary
• CS says it is not for Kenya to decide on withdrawal of the security troops, adding that Amisom operations are ongoing because they are not defined by bilateral relations.
• Juma had accompanied UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace in opening Nyati barracks at BATUK in Nanyuki town.
Kenya Defence Forces deployed to Somalia under African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) will not be withdrawn before the matter is discussed and the resolution ratified by the UN Security Council, Defence CS Monica Juma has said.
Juma on Tuesday maintained that it is not for Kenya to decide on withdrawal of the security troops, adding that Amisom operations are ongoing because they are not defined by bilateral relations.
“The withdrawal is the mandate of the African Union which is the authorizing agency. It is not us to decide when to get in or out,” Juma told journalists at the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK).
Juma had accompanied United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace in opening Nyati barracks at BATUK in Nanyuki town where the two supported continued training British and Kenya Army soldiers.
Juma said the joint partnership between the two forces created a platform for training and preparedness, adding that it is historical and which has valuable.
The two noted that Kenyan troops have been in Somalia long enough and have learnt a lot from terror groups such as al shabaab and share the same with the British troops training in the country who also in turn share their military experiences of their excursions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Putting that knowledge together and joint training personnel helps keep Kenyans safe when they are doing this job because the bombers are crafty, clever and dangerous,” said Wallace.
Wallace added that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the last troop of visiting troops from UK arrived on Sunday, noting that there are about 200 troops who are permanently based in Nanyuki.
“It’s an exciting future we’re holding as well as we view Kenya as a standard bearer of top quality professionalism in its military in the region of shared values and also that we have a shared enemy the Al Shabaab who target Kenyans, tourists and all the values we stand for,” Wallace added.
The Secretary of state added that now that both Kenya and the UK were both members of the United Nations Security Council, they would work closely to ensure that there was stability in the Horn of Africa and the entire East Africa region.
“Britain and Kenya are now together this year on the Security Council, Britain is the Chair while Kenya has taken up its place on the same, that’s good news, and we’ve jointly gone through the four priorities for Kenya that is climate change, counter terrorism, nation building and regional stability and that’s where Britain agrees completely with Kenya,” Wallace said. By Eliud Waithaka, The Star
President Uhuru Kenyatta. Image: PSCU
President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged South Sudan leaders to hasten the implementation of the remaining aspects of the peace pact signed in Khartoum, Sudan in 2018.
The President singled out the establishment of the legislative assembly and reforms in the security sector as some of the pending areas that require attention as the country returns to stability after years of conflict.
The Head of State spoke Tuesday evening at State House, Nairobi when he hosted US Special Envoy for South Sudan Amb Stuart Symington and his UK counterpart Bob Fairweather who paid him a courtesy call.
The two envoys briefed the President on the South Sudan peace process and thanked Kenya for its leading role in the long search for peace and stability in the young African nation and the region.
Amb Symington, a former US Ambassador to Djibouti, Rwanda and Nigeria, said Kenya's longstanding support has contributed to the progress made in the journey of returning South Sudan to the road of peace and stability.
He urged the President to continue giving the peace process positive influence by rallying South Sudan leaders to implement the remaining aspects of the Khartoum accord.
On his part, UK Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Bob Fairweather praised parties to the South Sudan peace pact for taking bold steps to end conflicts and forge a stable, peaceful and progressive nation.
The British diplomat assured the President that the Troika nations of Norway, the US and the UK will continue working closely with Kenya and the region in search of sustainable peace and stability in South Sudan.
President Kenyatta assured the two diplomats of Kenya's continued support for the peace process saying the country will leverage on its UN Security Council membership to assist her young neighbour and the region achieve stability.
The President was joined in the meeting by Foreign Affairs CS Amb Raychelle Omamo and the Head of Public Service Dr Joseph Kinyua while the special envoys were accompanied by British High Commissioner to Kenya Amb Jane Marriott and Mr Eric Kneedler, the Charge d' Affaires at the US Embassy in Nairobi.
Separately at State House, Nairobi, President Kenyatta met former Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn who delivered a special message from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The former Prime Minister briefed the President on a number of subjects top among them Ethiopia's internal conflict involving the Federal Government and the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), the simmering border conflict with Sudan and the progress made in resolving the regional stand-off over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on River Nile involving Sudan and Egypt.
President Kenyatta expressed concerns about the stability of the region citing several emerging conflicts and assured the visiting Ethiopian leader that Kenya will continue supporting regional efforts to resolve the challenges.
On the Tigray conflict, President Kenyatta welcomed the measures being taken by the Ethiopian Federal Government in addressing the humanitarian situation in the region.
The former Premier was accompanied by Ethiopia's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Amb Redwan Hussein and the country's Ambassador to Kenya Meles Alem Tekea in the meeting also attended by Kenya's Foreign Affairs CS Amb Raychelle Omamo. - PSCU/The Star
The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) chairman of Katabi-Kitubulu village in Entebbe, Eric Kyeyune has been shot dead this morning during a joint NRM-Democratic Party protest over alleged vote-rigging.
Kyeyune was allegedly shot dead by the presidential guards, Special Forces Command (SFC) while protesting with other voters in the same area over the declaration of independent candidate Fabrice Ruhinda as the winner of the Entebbe mayoral race.
Also shot with Kyeyune, and seriously injured was Godfrey Baguma, husband of Scholastica Baguma, the divisional seat contender who now says she has even lost interest in the race.
Protestors started convening at Entebbe Central Market as early as 7 am, demanding that the Wakiso Electoral Commission registrar and returning officer Tolbert Musinguzi announce that either NRM's Michael Mutebi Kabwama or DP's Vincent DePaul Kayanja winner of the Entebbe Municipality mayoral race instead of Rulinda.
Led by Mutebi, the protestors, both from the NRM and DP camps say their candidates were rigged out. Some of the protestors say soldiers while firing live bullets targeted Mutebi but Kyeyune who'd moved in front of him was hit instead.
According to the official results released by Electoral Commission on Tuesday morning, independent candidate Rulinda who polled 6,703 votes won the election and in the second position was NRM’s Mutebi with 6,342 votes.
Kayanja, in third place, got 5,576 votes, followed by Nassuna with 2,499 votes and Ssimbwa got 45 votes. Also, former Entebbe Municipality MP Kawuma got 521 votes and Muwonge scored 13 votes. The protestors, however, insisted that Rulinda was a distant third according to their tally sheets.
Uganda Red Cross Society volunteers thereafter took Kyeyune to Emmanuel health centre where he has been pronounced dead on arrival. Since the incident, military police and regular police were deployed but the protestors continued to burn NRM branded T-shirts and posters.
The joint protests come days after Mutebi also led a protest last week over the alleged intimidation by military officers who aren't expected to participate in partisan politics.
Emmanuel Dombo, the in-charge of publicity at the NRM secretariat told URN on Sunday that Mutebi had not informed the secretariat about his fears. He however said should Mutebi lose, it could be grounds for a petition.
The Entebbe mayoral race attracted seven candidates namely the incumbent Kayanja, Mutebi, Fabrice Rulinda, Olive Nassuna of the National Unity Platform, Gerald Muwonge, Mohamed Kawuma and Kenneth Ssimbwa of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT). - URN/The Observer
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