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
• 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.
Some of the protestors. Photo The Observer
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
South Sudan member of parliament Bor Gatwech Kuany. Photo via Facebook
JUBA – A South Sudan lawmaker allied to the country’s Vice-president Taban Deng Gai has said the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) formed in 2016 as part of a 2015 peace agreement is still legal and still have the legislative powers to function before its revitalization to include opposition lawmakers.
This comes after several members of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU) declined to appear before the TNLA following summon by the lawmakers. Last year, defense minister Angelina Teny refused to appear before lawmakers saying they don’t have legitimacy given the parliament has not been revitalized as part of a 2018 revitalized version of the 2015 peace agreement.
Last week, information minister Michael Makuei Lueth also declined to appear before the parliament also saying the lawmaking institution does not have any legal recognition since the peace deal has provided for its dissolution pending reconstitution.
However, MP Bor Gatwech Kuany, a member of the TNLA loyal to (former first vice president) vice president Taban Deng Gai says the revitalized peace agreement does not provide for the dissolution of the parliament, but for its extension arguing that because the current parliament is part of the upcoming parliament, it has legal recognition to exercise legislative activities.
“Article 1.14.2 stipulated that the TNLA shall be expanded to 550 members and then reconstituted according to power sharing ratios. There are three words that we need to consider in this article. First, the acronym TNLA is not connected with the word revitalized. Second, the agreement provides for only two things to happen with the current parliament (TNLA): expansion from 400 to 550 members and reconstitution.
“This means that, the current parliament doesn’t disappear. It get expanded and formed again. So whatever we have now at the moment, the law consider it as part of the next parliament according to this provision. 400 members of a parliament of 550 members can still take binding decisions, it is more than 2/3 majority. I therefore argue that the current parliament is legal and can therefore continue to function pending its expansion and reconstitution because the agreement doesn’t dissolve it entirely.”
He further accused unnamed members of President Salva Kiir’s cabinet of defiant to respect the legislature.
“The TNLA and CS [Council of States] that were reconstituted by the first agreement of 2015 remains in place. But some members of the executive that was rightly revitalized and came to existence without being vetted or approved by parliament remains selectively defiant to observe the authority of the current parliament alleging that it is illegal,” he said. - Sudans Post
Prosecutors said that artwork, African masks and heroin were also allegedly trafficked by the men.
A Kenyan man accused in a multimillion-dollar operation to deal rhinoceros horns and ivory from elephant tusks, harming more than 100 endangered animals, arrived in New York Monday morning after being extradited to face charges of conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking and other counts.
Mansur Mohamed Surur, who was arrested by Kenyan authorities in late July, is accused of being part of a crew that allegedly transported and smuggled 10 tons of elephant ivory (about £2.9 million worth) and more than 400 pounds of rhinoceros horn (about £2.5million worth) from animals in several countries in east Africa, according to an indictment charging Mr Surur and three others.
Mr Surur, 60, who was extradited Sunday, pleaded not guilty through an interpreter at his arraignment and was ordered detained.
Authorities said 100 elephants and 35 rhinoceroses were illegally poached over a seven-year period beginning in 2012. The illegal merchandise procured by Mr Surur and his co-defendants originated in countries such as Uganda, Guinea and Senegal and were sent to buyers in the United States and southeast Asia, according to prosecutors.
Artwork, including African masks, and heroin were also transported by the alleged traffickers, prosecutors said.
"The enterprise is allegedly responsible for the illegal slaughter of dozens of rhinos and more than 100 elephants, both endangered species," Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement.
Two of Mr Surur's co-defendants, Moazu Kromah and Amara Cherif, were previously arrested and extradited from Uganda and Senegal. Another defendant, Abdi Hussein Ahmed, is a fugitive.
Mr Surur, along with Mr Kromah and Mr Ahmed, allegedly interacted with a confidential source repeatedly to discuss potential ivory and horn deals. Law enforcement agents intercepted a package of rhinoceros horns sent to the source in 2018, items that were intended for a buyer believed to be in New York.
Mr Surur faces up to life in prison on the top count, conspiracy related to heroin trafficking.
The investigation was handled by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York
Shayna Jacobs, The Independent
United Kingdom Defence Secretary Wallace has committed to a joint approach to regional security challenges during a high-level meeting with Kenya Internal Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi at the start of his two-day visit to Kenya.
During the meeting he co-chaired with CS Matiangi under the third UK-Kenya Security Dialogue, the duo signed a pact to strengthen partnerships in pursuit of more stable region.
The UK Defence Secretary said the refreshed UK-Kenya Security Compact will allow the two governments to further deepen their relationship and tackle regional defence issues as ever closer partners.
“Kenya is a standard-bearer in this region for shared values with the United Kingdom, rule of law, democracy and security, its important that friends and allies support you in the task ahead, that when we face the common threat of Al shabaab, we work together to defeat that both there in Kenya, United Kingdom, International community and through the United Nations Mission in Somalia,” Wallace said.
The two leaders discussed ways to enhance coordination and collaboration in tackling Al Shabaab and demonstrating joint leadership on security challenges of international significance.
“The evolution of the Compact is testament to the responsiveness of our bilateral partnership, as we adapt to the changing nature of threats, in working together for the security of our two countries, East Africa and the wider world,” the UK Defence Secretary added.
Matiangi, on his part, noted that the Security Compact will see both countries strengthen their capacity to respond to various facets of global security challenges in a more formidable manner.
“Kenya has been on the forefront of the global war against terror and it is partnerships like these that make a difference, and the world a safer place to be in, this Security Compact will see both countries strengthen their capacity to respond to various facets of global security challenges in a more formidable manner. I look forward to working closely with the UK in achieving this goal.” Capital News
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.
Dr Kizza Besigye (L) and Obeid Kamulegeya in the court martial There is a teaching in the Islamic t...
The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling to organize a high-level conference to imp...
After years of ignoring pleas to sign up to child protection schemes, the controversial messaging ap...
A wreckage of a lorry involved in an accident along the Nyahururu-Nakuru Highway in Nakuru County A...
