Freeman Mbowe, the chairman of Tanzania’s opposition party Chadema. Photo Nation Media Group

The terrorism case facing Tanzanian opposition leader Freeman Mbowe was postponed last week on Friday to August 27 after prosecutors failed to present him and his three co-accused to court, because of “a prison vehicle breakdown.’’

Friday’s court proceedings were conducted via video link with Mr Mbowe and his three co-accused still incarcerated in Dar es Salaam’s Ukonga prison. Prosecutors asserted that the case was only up for mention even after Mr Mbowe’s defence team filed a petition with the High Court against statements made by “a certain state institution” on the charges facing the Chadema party chairman and his co-accused.

Speaking outside the Kisutu resident magistrate’s court in Dar es Salaam after the adjournment, lead defence attorney Peter Kibatala said statements made by an institution he declined to name had “interfered with the independence of the Judiciary” to hear the case fairly and therefore made it a constitutional matter.

“The statements, in the manner they were uttered, have made our clients believe they have already been convicted and that there is now no way they can get a fair trial,” he said adding, “We have asked the High Court to look into these statements and reach a decision on whether or not they have made the case unreasonable, and if so there is nothing else to do but dismiss it in its entirety.”

In an interview with the BBC at State House Dar es Salaam last week on Monday, President Samia Hassan said she did not think the case against Mr Mbowe and his colleagues was politically motivated because “as far as I know it was opened in September of last year.”

“I think some of the cases against other suspects have been heard, some are already serving jail sentences. In his case the investigations were still continuing. Then came the election, which is now past. I believe now the police have completed their investigation.

“But Mbowe was not in the country for a long time after the election, he was in Nairobi... immediately he returned he started instigating these calls for demos demanding a new Constitution. I believe it was calculated, knowing he still had this case to answer and that if arrested he could claim it was because of the constitution reforms issue.”

Mr Mbowe and his co-accused face charges related to financing terrorist acts and illegal weapons possession. - BOB KARASHANI, The EastAfrican

Although the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu reigned over 4,000 years ago, he has maintained his status in the afterlife. His solar boat has made the news, after being carefully moved several kilometres to a new museum. After seeing 22 royal mummies moved to their new home in April 2021, it was interesting to see a pharaoh’s goods being moved. 

Belonging to the Pharaoh Khnum Khufu who reigned in the Fourth Dynasty, the solar boat is approximately 4,600 years old. Made of 20 tons of cedarwood and measuring 42 metres long, the boat was discovered in 1954 by Kamal el-Mallakh in the Pyramid of Cheops (the largest of the three Pyramids of Giza), sealed in a bottom chamber. Originally housed at the Giza Solar Boat Museum, it was moved to the soon-to-be-opening Grand Egyptian Museum.

Solar boats were not meant to be used on water but were sealed in the tombs of pharaohs to be used in the afterlife. The name “solar boat” denotes the path across the sky that the deceased pharaoh would take to meet the sun god Ra. 

The boat had to be carefully moved. It was moved inside of a metal cage (for stability) on a remote-control vehicle that was specifically imported from Belgium for the move. Beginning late on Friday evening, it took ten hours to move. As reported by ABC News, Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry released a statement saying, 

The aim of the transportation project is to protect and preserve the biggest and oldest organic artifact made of wood in the history of humanity for the future generations.

The Grand Egyptian Museum will provide a more stable environment with needed climate control and access to new technologies for conservation. Given that it is the oldest, surviving complete ship, this move will only help preserve it for generations to come.  Source: Royal Central

By JOYCE TAMBO

It was hoped that under the UK’s recent review of the covid-19 pandemic traffic light system, Kenya would be removed from the group of countries on the red-list.

Was Kenya worth being removed from the red-list? Let’s compare. Kenyans who died from the covid-19 pandemic are 4,179. The number of infections in Kenya 212,573.   The number of Covid-deaths in the UK is 130,357. The number of infections in the UK 6,094,243. Despite the infection happening, this is not so different from any other country on UK’s green light or Amber.

When the UK reviewed their system, several countries were removed from red-list to Amber light. Just an example, US with over half a million people dead from the covid-19 pandemic and a huge population refusing to get inoculated is on the Amber list now, you can travel to the US and came back and you won’t have to isolate.

China, is also now on the UK’s Amber list. On Sunday UK removed more countries from their red-list. India which was on focus recently with a huge surge on cases as a result of Delta Variant was removed from the red list countries. India has registered 400,000 positive cases in 24 hours and 35,000 deaths way beyond Kenya. Why was it removed and Kenya kept on the red- list.

Bahrain, Qatar and UAE have been removed. Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway have been added to green list. France is now on the Amber list. Prior to travelling to the UK from a red-list country one must take a Covid-19 test (except children aged 10 and under), book a quarantine hotel package, including two tests, and complete a passenger locator form. On arrival, they must quarantine in a managed hotel, even if they have been fully vaccinated.

CAS Foreign Affairs Ababu Namwamba explained that the Kenya government will soon provide a way forward. He said they will hold meetings to decide what to do next. Kenyans were very concerned for being left on the red list. In a response to Daily Nation, UK defended its position saying: 

"Decisions to introduce or remove countries from the red list are in direct response to the latest scientific and medical data showing an increased risk to UK public health and community transmission," the spokesperson explained.

"As with all our coronavirus measures, we keep the red list under constant review and our priority remains to protect the health of the UK public."

UK critics of the UK’s lockdown traffic system has accused it of being discriminatory especially to African countries.

JUBA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on Friday urged rival opposition factions in South Sudan to cease hostilities and abide by the 2018 revitalized peace deal.

During a meeting with First Vice President and leader of Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) Riek Machar, Workneh Gebeyehu, executive secretary of IGAD, urged rival factions to embrace dialogue.

"We encourage this thing (conflict) be resolved internally, that will be the best way to solve this issue, if not it could have spillover effect on the peace process," Gebeyehu said at a briefing in Juba, capital of South Sudan.

The regional bloc, which groups Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and Uganda, mediated the 2018 revitalized peace deal signed in Ethiopia by South Sudanese warring parties to end more than six years of civil strife.

Gebeyehu said he will hold a discussion with the breakaway SPLM/A-IO faction led by Machar's former chief of staff Simon Gatwech Dual who is holed up in the Magenis area near the Sudan border.

The two factions clashed last week at Magenis leaving 34 soldiers dead.

The fighting followed the recent declaration by senior officers of SPLA-IO led by Dual deposing Machar from the leadership of SPLM/A-IO while accusing him of nepotism and lacking strong leadership.

The breakaway faction also blamed the First Vice President in the transitional unity government formed in February last year for weakening the hand of the former rebel movement in the coalition government.

Gebeyehu said the region is wary of further violence weakening the ongoing peace process whose slow implementation especially on security arrangement is one of the main grievances among members of the breakaway faction.

South Sudan is supposed to graduate 83,000 unified forces comprising of police, army, intelligence and wildlife but this continues to delay despite assurances by President Salva Kiir.

These forces upon graduation are supposed to take charge of security during the ongoing transitional period.

"The progress is very slow in the implementation of security arrangement, we express our concern for the leadership, for the President, for the First Vice President that security arrangement implementation phase is not going as planned that is really a challenge that South Sudanese are facing now," said Gebeyehu. - Xinhua