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President Kais Saied chairs the first meeting of a new cabinet on 14 October following his 25 July power grab (AFP)
 
Members of Congress blast Saied as 'a dictator' as they express frustration with Washington's inability to change Tunisian president's course of action.sharethis sharing button

US lawmakers have expressed frustration over the political crisis in Tunisia, with members of Congress criticising President Kais Saied and questioning whether US assistance to the country should be withheld. 

At a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Global Counterterrorism on Thursday, Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski described recent events in the country as a "coup", while Republican lawmaker Greg Steube declared that "Tunisia's president is not our friend".

Congressman Brian Mast, also a Republican, referred to Saied as "a dictator".

Tunisia descended into a political crisis in late July when Saied, a former constitutional law professor, suspended the country's parliament, sacked the prime minister and granted himself prosecutorial powers, in effect taking full control of the state and sidelining all opposition.

Saied has defended the measures, claiming they were necessary to fight skyrocketing unemployment, rampant corruption, and the coronavirus pandemic. But his political opponents and rights groups have described it as a blatant power grab.  

"The widespread hope for a democratic future that took root in 2011" in the wake of the Arab Spring "has reverted to either continued authoritarianism or civil war," said Congressman Ted Deutch.

Tunisia: Saied withdraws diplomatic passport of predecessor Marzouki
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Saied's office released a statement late on Thursday saying the president had expressed his "dissatisfaction" to the US ambassador over the congressional hearing. 

Will Todman, a fellow in the Middle East programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Middle East Eye that the statement was "amazing in how bold it is".

"A comment like that shows the trajectory Saied is on. He is feeling more and more confident with the passing of time," he said. 

On Thursday, Saied withdrew the diplomatic passport of former president Moncef Marzouki after he labelled Saied a dictator and told France not to support his "dictatorial regime". 

Attacks on the press and opposition have also continued. This month Tunisian police raided news channels and arrested a TV presenter who had made statements critical of Saied.

Recent events have crushed the country's image as the birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring, with Tunisians the first in the region to rise up against their longtime leader, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

In the chaotic years which followed, uprisings in countries such as Syria, Yemen and Egypt were quashed, but Tunisia made democratic gains; adopting a new constitution, strengthening freedom of speech and civil society, and holding elections.

The North African nation, nestled on the shores of the Mediterranean, saw rights groups, NGOs and pro-democracy activists flourish.

In Washington, Tunisia enjoyed broad bipartisan support from Congress and consecutive US administrations, eager to show they could promote democracy and shape governments in the Middle East without getting bogged down in conflict and military campaigns. 

'Not seeing results'

Since the Arab Spring, the US has sent $1.4bn in assistance to Tunisia, averaging around $190 million a year since 2016.

Unlike in countries such as Egypt, where the majority of US dollars are dedicated to the military, economic aid has been roughly balanced between security assistance and supporting the economy and democratic institutions. 

The US also launched projects such as the Tunisian American Enterprise Fund to promote small- and medium-sized businesses in the country. Eddy Acevedo, a senior adviser at The Wilson Center and a former top USAID official, said the program was, "sort of the largest supporter of [such] businesses in the country".

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) alone has sent nearly $685m to Tunisia since 2011, while US loan guarantees have allowed the cash-strapped country to access up to $1.5 bn in affordable financing from capital markets.

At Thursday's hearing, several lawmakers - including Malinowski and Kathy Manning - questioned whether US aid efforts had been effective, and considered the impacts of cutting funding to pressure Saied's administration.

US senators warn of growing instability in Tunisia as political crisis drags on
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"The US has helped the Tunisian people with generous development and security assistance to help grow Tunisia's institutions and improve its economy," Steube said.

"However, we are not seeing the results of our significant US tax dollar assistance today."

Part of the frustration among many lawmakers appeared to be the lack of US leverage over Tunisian politics and Saied.

The European Union is Tunisia's largest trade partner, with nearly 70 percent of its exports going to the bloc. And the promise of more US assistance doesn't appear to be moving the new strongman. 

In July the US approved nearly $500m to improve Tunisia's transportation, trade, and water sectors. Because Saied suspended parliament and hasn't yet announced when it will be restored, the country has been unable to ratify the agreement.

Democratic Congressman Bill Keating said "[President Saied] is telling the world right now that he is not going to be effected by any external pressures… that aid and assistance won't be determinative", as he called for the US to coordinate efforts on Tunisia with the EU.

Asked what effect US support has had on Tunisia's democratic transition, Alexis Arieff, an analyst from the Congressional Research Service, told lawmakers that "the success is obviously mixed".

'Really bad repercussions'

With Saied ramping up his efforts to consolidate power, pressure from Congress has been mounting on the Biden administration to take a more assertive position. 

Earlier this month, a group of Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken asking him to determine whether Saied’s actions constituted a coup, and, if so, to cut US security assistance to Tunisia. 

They have been joined by some Republican lawmakers. Speaking on Thursday, Steube said "it is past time for us to revisit and reconsider our foreign assistance to Tunisia."

The North African country is a major US partner in counter-terrorism operations and receives the most security assistance of any country within the area of US Africa Command.

US lawmakers call on Biden to determine whether Tunisia crisis constitutes a coup
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The Obama administration in 2015 named it a major non-Nato ally.

But witnesses at the hearing cautioned lawmakers against cutting security assistance.

Amna Guellali, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said such a move could backfire, given that Saied still enjoys broad popularity within the country.

"It would be considered really as cutting ties also with the Tunisian people," she said, as she warned about possible deterioration of the country's security environment.

"It would have really bad repercussions… not only in Tunisia, but also in the entire region."

Some 6,000 Tunisians joined the Islamic State (IS) group during its peak, the highest per capita number in the world.

Acevedo warned lawmakers that, given the compounding economic and political crisis in the country, Tunisia could once again become a "hotpot of recruitment" for extremists. By Sean Mathews  in New York, M&E

The joint security forces of Uganda People's Defence Forces and Uganda Police who are currently carrying out a disarmament exercise in Karamoja, have now started forceful disarmament after three-month grace ended.

The grace period for voluntarily handing of exercise elapsed on October 17 with the army and police recovering only 97 guns.

So far at least 60 cattle rustlers who are allegedly hiding guns have been arrested since the new operations approach started last week.

On July 17, 2021 the UPDF and Police launched a joint disarmament exercise which was widely voluntarily where the rustlers freely handed over their guns without facing charges of unlawful possession of fire arms. Those who handed over their guns were given certificates for identification.

Mr Micheal Longole, the Karamoja Regional Police Spokesperson told Daily Monitor on Sunday that they have arrested 60 suspected rustlers who are currently undergoing screening before facing charges of illegal possession of firearms.

He said under the new approach there's no more pleading to rustlers to hand over guns. 

"We have run short of patience for these rustlers because we have been calling on them to hand over guns but they have refused, and they have continued disturbing the region so we must now deal with them properly," he said.

Despite the presence of heavy armed soldiers and police in the region, the rustlers have continued causing havoc.

On Sunday night, rustlers undressed women and looted food stuffs in Nawet village, Nasinyonoit parish in Lorengedwat sub county in Nabilatuk District.

Mr Milton Odongo, the Nabilatuk Resident District Commissioner said peaceful disarmament has failed to yield results, thus forceful disarmament would work better.  By Steven Ariong, Daily Monitor

Photo via Anadolu Agency

 

The snows of Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro are rapidly disappearing and this is having a drastic consequence for wildlife and the environment at Amboseli National Park.

Residents, including 72-year-old Stephen Koitalel, who has lived on the foothills of the snowcapped mountain have seen it in transition since he was a child.

“Every morning as a child when I took the cows out to graze, I could see the snow, the mountain was so clear back then. There was snow everywhere covering not only the top part of the mountain like it does today, but stretching close to the mid-section, said Koitalel. “It was a beautiful sight for everyone and people used to pray and hold initiation ceremonies such as circumcision and weddings while facing the mountain. Nowadays, the snow is thin, barely visible, it used to be a huge chunk of white snow. I don’t know what happened to the snow but it just disappeared.”

Lekumok Lakamai, a 53-year-old nomadic pastoralist from the Entonet area of Kajiado County, echoed those sentiments. “When growing up, my parents used to tell me that there was so much snow on the mountain, even our grandparents told us folk stories based on the mountains passed down from generation to generation. We can’t tell our kids such stories today because there is no snow to talk about,” he said.

What Koitalel and Lakamai, who have never heard the term, “climate change,” do not know is that the warming climate has resulted in the melting of the snow over the years.

The UN has warned that rising temperatures are leading to the disappearance of glaciers found on only three mountains in Africa -- Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya and the Rwenzori Mountains -- which are expected to melt entirely in the near future.

Melting snow cause wetlands attracting flamingoes

Anadolu Agency spoke to Dr. Patrick Omondi, the chief executive officer of Wildlife Research and Training Institute in Kenya, about the effects that melting glaciers have had on the ecosystem. He said the melting snow has turned a large area of the 151 square miles (392 square kilometers) Amboseli National Park into a wetland.

He said the melting of the Kilimanjaro glacier has had positive and negative effects. On the Kenyan side, the results have been positive.

“It is positive because Amboseli was not originally a wetland area. The melting glaciers now have filtered through and created swamps. Amboseli has now become a new bird paradise, we have birds like flamingos which we used not to have here before and we are actually thinking of naming Amboseli as one of the international wetlands of importance,” said the top Kenyan researcher.

The drastic climatic change has brought the pink-feathered birds that stand on impossibly thin legs to Amboseli where there is abundant food in swamps. According to scientists, the snow form on Kilimanjaro and immediately melts because of the warm temperature. The cycle forms an uninterrupted supply of underground water that flows down the mountain to the park.

“These swamps serve the local communities occasionally when they come to give water to their animals when the drought is high, and like now, when the drought is here, this is a permanent water source, so it has helped,” said Omondi.

Despite a severe drought in that part of Kenya, park life is thriving with water and swampy grasslands everywhere. Elephants can be seen wallowing in the mud and other animals like Zebras and wildebeests feeding on pasture.

The melting Kilimanjaro has positive effects on the Kenyan side but devastating effects in Tanzania.

In Loitoktok, on the Kenyan side, residents complain of low water levels.

“The melting of the mountain on the other side is not very good. There are high temperatures that come with droughts meaning animals disperse wide and far and it escalates human-wildlife conflict,” said Omondi.

Paleo-climatologists have warned that melting glaciers will lead to fewer water resources for communities living around the mountain especially on the Tanzanian side. Streams and rivers originating from the mountain have either dried up or have lower volumes of water.

Kenya Wildlife Service Director-General John Waweru told Anadolu Agency that two lakes have formed in Amboseli due to global warming.

“The water that is in the Amboseli system is water that actually comes from Mount Kilimanjaro through underground rivers. We have noticed that there are two lakes that are now forming which have not been named yet, but of course, there is a plan to name them in the near future,” he said. - Andrew Wasike, Anadolu Agency

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to join other world leaders in Glasgow, Scotland today for the United Nations Climate talks hosted by the United Kingdom whose aim is to take collective action to tackle climate change.

The Head of State, who is accompanied by senior government officials including cabinet secretaries who will be attending various themed meetings at the conference, is expected to address world leaders as well as meet UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. 

British High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriott, who welcomed Uhuru to Glasgow said Kenya has been in the forefront to tackle climate change.

“The stakes over the next two weeks have never been higher. Kenya as a leader on tackling climate change is also one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to its effects.

The UK welcomes President Kenyatta to Glasgow as we work together to negotiate a fair inclusive deal to save the planet,” she said.

In today’s session which is the first day of the talks, Uhuru is expected to speak at the Leaders Summit where he will set out the ambitious actions Kenya is taking to tackle climate change and showcase Kenya as a leader on climate action in the region. 

Kenya leading

Despite bearing almost none of the historic responsibility, Kenya is leading the way in tackling climate change in the region being the first African country to pass a Climate Change Act (in 2016) as well as running on 90 per cent renewable power, with a target of hitting 100 per cent by 2030.

Tomorrow, Uhuru and other leaders are expected to attend a high-level event on innovation that will be hosted by Johnson. 

In the meeting, world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, who has been at the forefront of conservation and restoration of forests, adopting 50 hectares of land in Kaptagat forest, which received part of Sh550 million worth of UK funding to support Kenya’s climate transition is expected to join Uhuru to press for action to halt and reverse forest loss. 

 Environment and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko, who is expected to give a keynote speech on Adaptation Day and Science and Innovation Day as well as together with Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo and Kipchoge will attend an event by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on Nature Based Solutions on Wednesday expressed confidence that the conference will come out with better ways of dealing with climate change. 

“COP26 is a make or break for humanity and the planet. The time to take action is now. We hope that this conference will see pledges honoured to enable adaptation, especially on the African continent. COP26 must produce concrete results.

Last November, UK and Kenya launched a joint Year of Climate Action to drive forward the Kenya-UK Strategic Partnership agreed in 2020 by Uhuru and  Johnson. 

In the last three years, the UK government has spent Sh22 billion on climate change-related activities in Kenya including working with Kenya to adapt and manage the worst effects of climate change and create jobs in a green and sustainable way. 

Apart from the address by the president, Cabinet Secretaries Ukur Yattani(National Treasury), Monica Juma (Energy), Tobiko and Elizabeth Wathuti a youth representative are expected to address the conference on various themes.

In particular Yattani is on Wednesday expected to give a keynote speech at Finance Day, where climate finance best practices will be highlighted especially now that Kenya has been an African pioneer in Green Bonds, with UK supporting both the establishment of a regulatory framework and the launch of Kenya’s first Green Bond, which was dual, listed in Nairobi and London exchanges  in January 2020 at the UK Africa Investment Summit. By Mercy Mwai, People Daily

The project seeks to strengthen resilience of civil society to potentially harmful content spread online

 

Social media platforms are increasingly continuing to shape political and social interactions in societies, and people’s perceptions of reality. This increasing prominence of social media indicates the strides towards digital innovation, and advancement of freedom of the media and expression. 

Today, almost four billion people – or more than half the global population – have access to the internet. In Kenya, internet penetration is currently at an all-time high of over 85 percent. Of this number, about 22 million are active internet users. Among the youth of course, internet usage is much higher, and is mainly used for social media.’

However, with this progress comes risks and adverse impacts associated with the spread of harmful content online that threatens social harmony. The rise in internet penetration and the resultant increased use of social media has accelerated the spread of fake news, misinformation and disinformation, and hate speech in society. Consequently, the fabric and foundation of our democracy and societal cohesion are under threat, now more than ever.

It is in this regard, that on 22 October 2021, UNESCO launched a European Union funded new multi-year projected entitled: Social Media 4 Peace in Kenya. The project seeks to strengthen resilience of civil society to potentially harmful content spread online, in particular hate speech inciting violence, while enhancing promotion of peace through digital technologies, notably social media.

While digitization of societies has enhanced free flow of information, digital communication tools have become instrumental platforms for spreading harmful content with significant impact on conflict dynamics and peace.

In his opening remarks, Prof. Hubert Gijzen, UNESCO Regional Director for Eastern Africa and Representative to Kenya reiterated UNESCO commitment to implementing the United Nation Plan of Action on Hate Speech by fostering information as a public good and strengthening transparency of the internet ecosystem.

"We need to craft new solutions for addressing and countering such emerging threats as hate speech, dis and misinformation, by maximizing the potential of digital technologies’ as tools for peacebuilding rather than instruments for violence," Prof. Hubert Gijzen, UNESCO Regional Director for Eastern Africa and Representative to Kenya.

We need to craft new solutions for addressing and countering such emerging threats as hate speech, dis and misinformation, by maximizing the potential of digital technologies’

He further emphasized that the project’s success will be determined by partnerships built around its implementation with government, national authorities, UN family, CSOs, INGOs and academia.  

Mr. Marc Fiedrich, Head of Unit, Foreign Policy Instruments, Stability and Peace Crisis Response, Conflict Prevention and Peace Building at the European Commission stated that: “It is crucial that all stakeholders engage with us and collaborate to help social media platforms to better understand the risks and challenges to peace that are at stake, and work out collectively solutions to improve moderation of harmful content to tackle orchestrated campaigns of disinformation, hate speech that exacerbates tension, division and leads to violence.

At the launch Mr. Stephen Jackson, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Kenya stated that at the height of COVID 19 Pandemic, the UN launched ‘Verified’. An initiative to combat the growing misinformation by increasing the volume and reach of trusted, accurate information.

"Hate speech, for its part, is a menace to democratic values, social stability and peace. It attacks tolerance, inclusion and diversity. Its impact is felts across all UN areas of operations, including: human rights protection; prevention of atrocity crime; preventing and countering terrorism and the underlying spread of violent extremism; preventing and addressing gender based violence; and enhancing protection of civilians," Mr. Stephen Jackson, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Kenya.

Dr. James Njogu, Deputy Secretary-General of the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO; also acknowledged that while hate speech and disinformation predate social media, these digital platforms now amplify their prominence.

Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia CBS, Chairman of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), expressed optimism that through initiatives such as UNESCO Social Media for Peace project, hate speech, election violence, and disharmony among people shall be prevented, tolerance within communities boosted and media and information literacy (MIL) skills and competencies enhanced among social media users in Kenya.

While officially launching the project, the Chief Guest, Mr. Joe Mucheru, the Kenya Cabinet Secretary for ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs, represented by Col. (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna, Kenya Government Spokesperson noted that the project was timely, especially with the upcoming elections in the country where hate speech and disinformation often peaks. He assured UNESCO of the government’s partnership commitment and support during the implementation of the project: “Every generation faces its peculiar challenges: ours is the challenge of balancing development - especially in the digital space – with ensuring that such development does not come at a huge cost to society in terms of disinformation and disintegration of our moral fabric. My ministry remains fully committed to working with UNESCO and other like-minded partners to champion the Social Media for Peace campaign.

The launch of the Social Media 4 Peace in Kenya brought together stakeholders from government, UN agencies, European Union, technology companies, Embassies, CSOs, INGOs, the media and private sector to engage in an interactive discussion in two sessions on: a) harnessing the power of digital technologies for peacebuilding, looking into current state at play about the role of tech companies in peacebuilding in Kenya as well as identifying good practices, opportunities and partnerships for technology companies to contribute to peacebuilding; and b) addressing online hate speech and disinformation in Kenya; focusing in particular on existing mechanisms for tackling hate speech and disinformation, while exploring further challenges to efficiently curbing harmful content on social media, before articulating further on existing opportunities and best practices in remedying the proliferation of harmful digital content online.

About the Social Media for Peace Project

The Social Media for Peace project is premised on the realization that while digitalization of societies presents opportunities for information flow, digital communication tools have also become instrumental platforms for spreading harmful content with a significant impact on conflict dynamics and peace. Through the project, UNESCO seeks to enhance understanding of the root causes, scale and impact of potentially harmful content and of the effectiveness of the tools to address it in the 3 pilot countries – Kenya, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Indonesia. The project is funded by the European Union and will contribute to the achievement of SDG 16, to promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies and to the UN Plan of Action on Hate Speech launched by UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez to combat the online disturbing groundswell of xenophobia, racism and intolerance. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

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