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'REASONS FOR YOUR HURDLES': Cotu secretery General Francis Atwoli
Image: COURTESY

Cotu says the issue is a public health concern and not freedom of speech.

In Summary

• Atwoli said the bill was of importance since workers’ safety is a major concern to Cotu and its tripartite partners.

• The proposed law — to be cited as the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2020 — is set for publication and introduction in the National Assembly for consideration anytime this week.

Cotu has asked MPs to support the move by Garissa Township MP Aden Duale to illegalize possessing or publishing pornographic content.

Duale, in the proposals seen by the Star, wants it made illegal to possess or publish pornography, in any computer system or data storage device.

Duale also wants the government, through the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee, to block access to porn websites by persons within Kenya. 

"This is an issue of public health concern and not freedom of speech and or access to information as provided in the Bill of Rights," Secretary general Francis Atwoli said. 

In a statement on Monday, Atwoli said the production and promotion of pornographic materials have an impact on not just the social well-being of the youth, workers and society at large but also sexual health.

"Censorship of pornography will go a long way in also promoting and ensuring workers demonstrate good ethical behaviour at their place of work," he said.

 

Atwoli said the bill was of importance since workers’ safety is a major concern to Cotu and its tripartite partners.

The proposed law — to be cited as the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2020 — is set for publication and introduction in the National Assembly for consideration anytime this week.

It seeks to amend the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act to introduce harsh penalties for any violations.

If approved, persons found in possession of pornographic material in their phones or computer devices or publishes the same on the internet — social media platforms — will face a Sh20 million fine or 20 years in jail. 

Duale’s bill seeks to provide that it would be illegal for any person to produce pornography for the purpose of publication through a computer system. By Jillo Kadida, The Star

 

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply concerned by a series of messages of distress it has been receiving from a group of 10 asylum–seekers currently in a detention facility in Mutukula, in northwestern Tanzania. The asylum-seekers have expressed fears for their safety upon being deported from Tanzania.

UNHCR consistently advocates that refugees and asylum-seekers, including those who claim to be in need of international protection, cannot be returned to their countries of origin until their claims have been properly assessed by the competent authorities, in accordance with the principle of non-refoulement. Non-refoulement is an international principle that prevents states from expelling or returning persons to a territory where their life or freedom would be threatened.

UNHCR is appealing to the Government of Tanzania for immediate access to the detained asylum-seekers in order to assist with the assessments of their individual claims. UNHCR is hopeful that the responsible authorities in Tanzania will work with us to resolve this situation in accordance with their obligations under international law.

For more information on this topic, please contact: In Geneva, Babar Baloch, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +41 79 513 9549

UNHCR

SSPDF division one commander Major-General David Manyok Barach. Photo via Facebook

 

JUBA – South Sudan People’s Defense Forces’s Infantry Division 1 commander Major-General David Manyok Barach has died of coronavirus in the country’s capital Juba, following weeks of infection, according to several security sources.

General Barach died on Friday morning at a local hospital in Juba where he has been receiving life-saving treatment, according to a senior military officer close to him.

“This is to confirm the news on social media that Major General David Manyok Barach is no more,” the military source said. “He died this morning in a hospital here in Juba from the coronavirus and he tested positive for the coronavirus two weeks ago.”

‘Celebrated soldier’

South Sudanese social media users poured in condolence messages describing the late commander as a celebrated soldier who has contributed to the liberation of the world’s youngest country from 1983.

“South Sudan has just lost a liberator and a celebrated soldier, Major-General David Manyok Barac, who passed away with in Juba this morning,” one social media user wrote. “He will be missed by all and his achievements will live forever.”

Another social media user pointed to the army commander’s role in defense of the government in Juba following the outbreak of the civil war in December 2013 saying he saved the nation from collapse.

“Because of his love for his people and his country, he defended the country from collapse and if he wasn’t there for defense, Riek [Machar] would have takeover our government by force.” - Sudans Post

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) listens to a question during a press conference with other House Democratic leaders about Covid-19 financial relief and minimum wage.   -   Copyright  Brendan Smialowski/AFP 

The US House of Representatives approved a $1.9 trillion (€1.5 trillion) pandemic relief bill in a win for President Joe Biden, even as top Democrats tried assuring agitated progressives that they’d revive their derailed drive to boost the minimum wage.

The new president’s vision for flushing cash to individuals, businesses, states, and cities battered by COVID-19 passed on a near party-line 219-212 vote on early Saturday. That ships the massive measure to the Senate, where Democrats seem bent on resuscitating their minimum wage push, and fights could erupt over state aid and other issues. 

Democrats said the still-faltering economy and the half-million American lives lost demanded quick, decisive action. GOP lawmakers, they said, were out of step with a public that polling shows largely views the bill favourably. 

"I am a happy camper tonight," Congresswoman Maxine Waters from California said Friday. "This is what America needs. Republicans, you ought to be a part of this. But if you're not, we're going without you". 

'It's bloated'

Republicans said the bill was too expensive and said too few education dollars would be spent quickly to immediately reopen schools. They said it was laden with gifts to Democratic constituencies like labour unions and funnelled money to Democratic-run states they suggested didn't need it because their budgets had bounced back.

"To my colleagues who say this bill is bold, I say it's bloated," said Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. "To those who say it's urgent, I say it's unfocused. To those who say it's popular, I say it is entirely partisan". 

Moderate Democratic Representatives Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon were the only two lawmakers to cross party lines. That sharp partisan divide is making the fight a showdown over who voters will reward for heaping more federal spending to combat the coronavirus and revive the economy atop the $4 trillion (€3.3 trillion) approved last year.

The battle is also emerging as an early test of Biden's ability to hold together his party's fragile congressional majorities — just 10 votes in the House and an evenly divided 50-50 Senate.

At the same time, Democrats were trying to figure out how to assuage progressives who lost their top priority in a jarring Senate setback on Thursday.

That chamber's non-partisan parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, said Senate rules require that a federal minimum wage increase would have to be dropped from the COVID-19 bill, leaving the proposal on life support. The measure would gradually lift that minimum to $15 (€12.50) hourly by 2025, doubling the current $7.25 (€6) floor in effect since 2009.

Hoping to revive the effort in some form, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is considering adding a provision to the Senate version of the COVID-19 relief bill that would penalise large companies that don't pay workers at least $15 an hour, said a senior Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations.

That was in line with ideas floated on Thursday night by Senator Bernie Sanders, a chief sponsor of the $15 plan, and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden to boost taxes on corporations that don't hit certain minimum wage targets.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered encouragement, too, calling a minimum wage increase "a financial necessity for our families, a great stimulus for our economy and a moral imperative for our country". She said the House would "absolutely" approve a final version of the relief bill because of its widespread benefits, even if it lacked progressives’ treasured goal.

While Democratic leaders were eager to signal to rank-and-file progressives and liberal voters that they would not yield on the minimum wage fight, their pathway was unclear because of GOP opposition and questions over whether they had enough Democratic support.

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal sidestepped a question on taxing companies that don't boost pay, saying of Senate Democrats, "I hesitate to say anything until they decide on a strategy".

Progressives were demanding that the Senate press ahead anyway on the minimum wage increase, even if it meant changing that chamber's rules and eliminating the filibuster, a tactic that requires 60 votes for a bill to move forward.

"We’re going to have to reform the filibuster because we have to be able to deliver," said Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal from Washington, a progressive leader.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another high-profile progressive, also said Senate rules must be changed, telling reporters that when Democrats meet with their constituents, "We can’t tell them that this didn’t get done because of an unelected parliamentarian". 

Against changing Senate rules

Traditionalists of both parties — including Biden, who served as a senator for 36 years — have opposed eliminating filibusters because they protect parties' interests when they are in the Senate minority. Biden said weeks ago that he didn't expect the minimum wage increase to survive the Senate's rules.

Pelosi, too, seemed to shy away from dismantling Senate procedures, saying, "We will seek a solution consistent with Senate rules, and we will do so soon".

The House COVID-19 bill includes the minimum wage increase, so the real battle over its fate will occur when the Senate debates its version over the next two weeks.

The overall relief bill would provide $1,400 (€1,150) payments to individuals, extend emergency unemployment benefits through August and increase tax credits for children and federal subsidies for health insurance.

It also provides billions for schools and colleges, state and local governments, COVID-19 vaccines and testing, renters, food producers and struggling industries like airlines, restaurants, bars and concert venues.

Democrats are pushing the relief measure through Congress under special rules that will let them avoid a Senate GOP filibuster, meaning that if they are united they won't need any Republican votes.

It also lets the bill move faster, a top priority for Democrats who want the bill on Biden's desk before the most recent emergency jobless benefits end on March 14.

But those same Senate rules prohibit provisions with only an "incidental" impact on the federal budget because they are chiefly driven by other policy purposes. MacDonough decided that the minimum wage provision failed that test.

Republicans oppose the $15 minimum wage target as an expense that would hurt businesses and cost jobs. Euronews

Journalists at Harambee House during a media briefing in April 2014.  Image: FILE 

Journalists told to seek insurance covers from their employees

In Summary

• Article 19 directly links three of the slain journalists to their journalistic work

• The key perpetuators of the attacks on and killing of journalists were police officers or people associated with political groupings.


A lobby group has said it documented eight cases on journalists who were killed, while 88 others were attacked in the line of duty in 2020.

 Article 19 programme officer in charge of media and protection Robert Wanjala on Friday said of the eight murdered journalists, three were directly connected with reports they were writing or had already done. 

Wanjala was making a presentation on the physical safety of journalists during a three-day Countering hate speech training for journalists sponsored by Internews NGO. He called on journalists to always make their personal security a top priority. 

Wanjala lamented that the key perpetuators of the attacks on and killing of journalists were police officers or people associated with political groupings.

“We have documented 88 cases of journalists’ attacks. These are journalists who are monitored and verified. We had a number of killings in Kenya. In my record, I have eight killings of journalists but we managed to connect three of those to journalistic work,” Wanjala said.

He said the five other victims were linked to journalistic work.

“If you look at how these five other journalists were killed, it gives you a hint that there could be something that happened. The only challenge is that we have not been able to connect to a specific story."

"We can generally say they were suspicious killings and cannot link them to any story. We documented them as killings,” he said.

He said his organisation has been helping journalists who are attacked to get recourse.

“As article 19 we have been trying to help journalists. Always go and get a police station OB number for these attack cases,” he said. "That helps put pressure for prosecution of the culprits". 

Wanjala called on journalists to seek insurance covers from their employees and urged news stringers to have personal insurance even from NHIF.

Internews NGO official Abraham Mariit encouraged journalists to always secure their communication gadgets to avoid unnecessary tracking by crooks or surveillance from the state. By Musembi Nzengu, The Star

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