Uganda's Peruth Chemutai reacts after winning the women's 3000m steeplechase final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 4, 2021.

A grey crowned crane is seen at the Umusambi Village, a sanctuary for endangered cranes in Kigali, Rwanda June 21, 2021. Photo REUTERS/Cedric Karemangingo

KIGALI, Sept 15 (Reuters) - A tall grey crowned crane with an injured leg struts through a bird sanctuary in the Rwandan capital Kigali.

The Umusambi Village has rescued more than 200 cranes from captivity over the years, helping to boost the population of the endangered birds to 881 from 487 just four years ago.

Before the intervention, local communities were hunting or capturing the birds to sell, said veterinarian Olivier Nsengimana, whose conservation organisation runs Umusambi Village together with the government. The name means grey crowned bird in the Kinyarwanda language.

These cranes, which sport a yellow crown of feather tipped with a black and red throat pouch, has often been seen as a status and wealth symbol in Rwanda. They are often found in private homes or hotels, where they are kept as pets.

"There was huge demand for the pet trade," Nsengimana said.

His passion for cranes goes back to his childhood, growing up in a village filled with grey crowned cranes that served as alarm clocks and provided entertainment.

"People really enjoyed their dance, their call, it's just one species that means a lot in the society, in the culture," he said.

Some of the rescued birds in Umusambi Village end up there after being injured by poachers. Others were kept in homes after their legs had been broken or wings were clipped by their captors to prevent them from flying away.

Once the birds are healthy enough to survive in their natural habitat, Nsengimana takes them to a protected forest. - Cedric Karemangingo and Lisa Ntungicimpaye, Reuters

By NANGAYI GUYSON

Uganda's state minister revealed on Tuesday that the government has agreed to host 2,000 Afghan refugees following the worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan emanating from the overthrow of President Ashraf Ghani's government by the Taliban militants that United States toppled 20 years ago when Osama Bin Laden bombed the Twin towers.

Uganda's minister for relief, disaster preparedness, and refugees, Esther Anyakun, said President  Museveni approved a three-month arrangement with President Joe Biden's administration to welcome Afghan refugees, particularly those that were working with the United States government in Afghanistan.

“Because of our good refugee policy, our President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was approached by his counterpart President Joe Biden to host 2000 refugees from Afghanistan in Uganda for three months, which he accepted and the arrangements are under way to receive them in shifts of 500,” Anyakun told Informer East Africa by telephone.

“Of course, we're working with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and we've secured Imperial hotels in Entebbe to serve as a transit hub for them to come and be examined first,” says the minister.  They will be tested for covid and then placed in isolation centers before being reintegrated.”

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Senior External Relations Officer for Uganda, Rocco Nuri, also confirmed the decision by Uganda to accept the Afghan refugees.

“Ugandan government's generosity towards is at play again. Is true and we have already started preparing for them to arrive at the airport, with the Prime Minister's office receiving them and lodging them. Then there'll be all of the screening and testing. Then resettlement plans will follow after the two governments of Uganda and United States reaching an agreement,” he said.

Ugandan ministers Hilary Onek, the Minister of Refugees, and Gen Jeje Odongo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, revealed to Zenger News that Uganda had secured an agreement with the US administration to accept Afghan asylum seekers along other African countries, but did not name them.

“They are not refugees; the US asked us if we could temporarily take them in because they are being vetted for possible relocation,” he explained. “But before we could agree, we asked them for certain information: under what terms and conditions, who are they bringing in —- are they former soldiers, prisoners, translators, and for how long are they staying here?” of which agreed.” Hilary Onek, the Minister for Refugees, told Informer East Africa.

The US embassy in Kampala also said that The United States is continuing to negotiate alternatives for relocating Afghans who supported the US government with partners and allies.

“We are grateful to Uganda for their generous offer to temporarily shelter Afghan evacuees. We have not made a final determination of aid needed in Uganda, and discussions with the Ugandan government about the situation in Afghanistan are ongoing,” the United States embassy in Kampala explained.

Thousands of Afghans are fleeing the country after Taliban fighters declared their entry into Kabul and seizure of the presidential palace.

Afghanistan fell into the hands of the Taliban Terrorist who’ve fought to take power for the past 20 years since 2001. The Humanitarian situation worsened when the United States started withdrawing its soldiers, which gave an opportunity to the insurgents move on the capital after seizing various cities across the mountainous country, prompting President Ashraf Ghani to flee to unknown country allegedly citing a desire to avoid bloodshed as the reason for his departure, bringing an end to a 20-year struggle.

The Taliban militants declared the Afghan war to be over and renamed the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which will be run according to Islamic ideals and Sharia law. However, many Afghans are fleeing the country for fear of being subjected to this harsh law or being prosecuted because of their close ties with the United States.

Uganda's decision to bring in the 2000 Afghani refugees has caused debate, with many asking why Uganda, of all countries, was the first to welcome them. National Resistance Movement leader Francis Babu is among those who are unhappy with the decision, claiming that Uganda already has enough problems to deal with rather than focusing on housing refugees from neighboring countries such as South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia, among others.

“If America has enough states to receive only 2000 refugees, why are they pressuring us to do so?”

Do we want more? We've already paid a price for being in Somalia,” said Francis Babu, President Museveni’s ruling party cadre and his strong ally.

Uganda takes in more refugees than any other African country. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, some 1.5 million people have sought refuge there, the majority of whom are from neighboring South Sudan.

Though Uganda is noted for its welcoming laws, which provide refugees with a wide range of rights, including access to school, employment, and property ownership. Adding more refugees from far away countries is most likely to worsen the humanitarian situation in Uganda.

For the year 2021 alone, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, says it’s in an urgent need of $ 767 Million to carter for food security, protections, health, livelihood, education among others but has since collected only $171 million from partners.

Uganda has also had negative relations with refugee Aid agencies which has worsened the situation of late. In 2020, Uganda announced that it had suspended 208 refugee Aid organizations in Uganda due to their failure to follow Ugandan regulations. Only 69 humanitarian organizations are now permitted to assist Uganda's 1.5 million refugees.

Uganda's move to close more than 200 refugee relief organizations send a message to the rest of the world that the country cannot handle continued refugee influx without more aid from established organizations such as the UN Refugee Agency, but less individual refugee non-governmental organizations.

However, Uganda's involvement in the Afghan issue was prompted by the United States government, which has a long history of collaborative security and bilateral ties with Uganda.

Each year, the United States gives Uganda roughly Shs3.5 trillion ($1 billion), primarily for health and security assistance.

In exchange, the Kampala administration has positioned itself as a stabilizing force in the troubled Great Lakes area, performing security tasks, most notably combating al-Shabaab in Somalia, and acting as a diplomatic intermediary.

Uganda is one of a half-dozen African nations that the United States has scouted and courted to host fleeing Afghan nationals after Taliban rebels, who were ejected by United States soldiers two decades ago, toppled Ashraf Ghani's government and returned to power.

After bombing out the Taliban it accused of hosting Al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden, blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on US soil that killed more than 3,000 people, Washington poured $1 trillion into Afghanistan over 20 years, ostensibly to rebuild the country, strengthen democratic institutions, and improve security.

After two decades of futile war, with rising human tolls and financial costs, the United States negotiated a peace deal with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, home to America's Central Command Forward (Operating) Base at Ul-Udeid, and withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, leaving an exposed Ghani government vulnerable to Taliban attacks within weeks.

To the amazement of the world, the Taliban militants swept to power with little resistance, taking Kabul with ease, leading the United States to lead the evacuation of stranded local allies and other fleeing residents.

The Rev. Rose Okeno, center, was enthroned as bishop of the Butere Diocese in western Kenya on Sept. 12, 2021. Photo via Twitter/Anglican Church of Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Amid celebrations in a predominantly Anglican region in western Kenya, the Rev. Rose Okeno was enthroned as bishop of the Butere Diocese on Sunday (Sept. 12).

Okeno, 54, was consecrated in a ceremony presided over by Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit, the primate of the Anglican Church of Kenya, making her the first woman to be a full Anglican bishop in the East African country, where the consecration of women as bishops is still controversial.

“By the grace of God, I accept to be your bishop,” the long-serving cleric said in her charge after the consecration. “Our election as the fourth bishop of the diocese is a strong confirmation that indeed God is doing a new thing in the history of the church.”

As bishop, Okeno will serve a rural population where the majority of the faithful are small-scale farmers and traders. She was elected on July 20 by a majority of a 23-member college of delegates, beating two male contenders.

The new bishop has promised to remain faithful to the truth, guiding people to celebrate virtue and shun vice. She also vowed to serve the disenfranchised and marginalized in her diocese.

“We will seek to remain faithful to the truth, denounce all evil that subverts justice and the welfare of those we serve,” said Okeno, while promising to advocate for the rights of girls and children and the empowerment of women and other disadvantaged people.

“We shall call out those who use positions of influence, even within the church, to harm the weak.”

Ole Sapit praised Okeno’s courage for putting herself forward as a contender for bishop of Butere and winning. Like in many areas of Kenya, she will lead a patriarchal community where most top leadership positions — even in the church — are held by men.

“I congratulate her for rising above cultural norms and … making history as the first ACK (Anglican Church of Kenya) woman bishop,” said the primate.

Her consecration drew celebration among religious and social leaders, with some saying such women of courage were needed in Kenya and worldwide at the moment.

“It is times like these when we need such strong women, women who are ready to serve,” Charity Ngilu, an Anglican who is the governor of Kitui County, was quoted in the press as saying.

Still, the cleric’s enthronement has defied a 2018 moratorium of the Global Anglican Future Conference, known as GAFCON, on ordination of women. While meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, the GAFCON archbishops resolved to halt the consecration of women into the episcopate until such a time when a consensus is reached. In the meantime, the conservative movement was to uphold the historic practice of consecrating men only.

But Kenya and Uganda, according to reports, had pushed for the consecration of women bishops. Although the two provinces had not consecrated any since then, Kenya produced two quick ordinations this year.

On Jan. 20, the Anglican Church of Kenya ordained the Rev. Emily Onyango, a 59-year-old scholar and researcher, as an assistant bishop of Bondo, a diocese on the edge of Lake Victoria. Months later, Okeno was elected.

While the church in Kenya may appear to be defying the moratorium, some Anglican clerics say it depends on the diocesan synods.

“The GAFCON moratorium is still in force, but it’s not binding. We are in a loose fellowship where, when one diocese takes an action, the other does not have to do the same. Even with this, we still claim to be together. It is unity in diversity,” said retired Anglican Bishop Julius Kalu of Mombasa.

In Africa, Anglican women bishops remain rare. Okeno is probably the fifth, after Onyango — also a Kenyan. In 2016, the Rev. Elizabeth Awut Ngor was consecrated as an assistant bishop in the South Sudan diocese of Rumbek. The South African diocese of False Bay elected the Rev. Margaret Vertue bishop in October 2012 and consecrated her as bishop in 2013.

In 2012, Ellinah Ntombi Wamukoya was ordained as bishop of Swaziland Diocese in southern Africa. Wamukoya died from COVID-19 in January this year. - Fredrick Nzwili, Religion News Service