State prosecutor Johannes Tomana closed his case against MDC official Roy Bennett on Monday after he finished calling his witnesses. The MDC Treasurer General is facing terrorism charges, which he denies.

As soon as the State said it had no further witnesses to call the defence argued that the evidence that had been presented so far by the prosecution was not sufficient for the case to proceed, and that their client had no case to answer.

Bennett’s legal team said that the prosecution had failed to prove a link between their client and Peter Hitschmann - who was the State’s key witness.

Lead defence lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa also pointed out that Bennett’s co-accused, Hitschmann, was in 2006 acquitted of the same charges facing Bennett.

She further argued that her client was facing charges under a repealed section of the Public Order and Security Act, and that throughout the trial the State had failed to produce sufficient evidence to prove that the MDC official had tried to sabotage and destabilise the government.

One of the defence’s arguments was that the State failed to provide evidence proving the so-called e-mails which were allegedly sent between Bennett and Hitschmann were genuine.

The emails allegedly show communication between the two, and how they conspired to ‘blow up communication lines’. They have both disowned the emails.

But Mtetwa showed the court that it is possible to create emails, as though they were coming from a particular email address.

Two state authorised diamond mining firms, who have been mining the controversial Chiadzwa alluvial fields, could face a stern parliamentary rebuke for avoiding two consecutive parliamentary hearings on their activities.

The directors of the mining ventures, Canadile Mines and Mbada Investment (joint ventures between the government’s Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and South African investors) failed to appear for a scheduled meeting with the Parliamentary portfolio committee on mining on Monday. They also missed another meeting set up two weeks ago, and it’s understood legislators are considering pursuing ‘contempt of Parliament’ charges.

“We have asked for advice from the deputy clerk because we want to nail them. We are preparing for that and we want to conclude the process by next Monday so that on Tuesday we move the contempt of Parliament motion,” a legislator told the ZimOnline news service.

The parliamentary hearings were set up to probe the two firms’ activities in Chiadzwa, where there are still reports of human rights abuses and diamond smuggling. The firms have taken over mining the claim from the UK based African Consolidated Resources (ACR), which holds the legal title to mine there. ACR was forced to abandon the site at gunpoint in 2006, and has since been fighting a protracted legal battle over the ownership rights. At least 30 kgs of diamonds at the centre of the ownership debate have since been handed to the Reserve Bank for safekeeping, after the Mbada firm tried to auction them off earlier this year.

The auction, which was halted at the last minute, apparently because the right officials had not been properly informed, is also set to be a major part of the parliamentary probe into the two firms’ activities. The parliamentary committee has now sent a final letter to the company directors instructing them to appear before the committee, failing which it will invoke the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act, possibly resulting in the contempt charges.

At least 1,500 Zimbabweans who fled their homes in the De Doorns farming area in the Western Cape, after they were attacked by South African mobs, believe they have been overlooked by authorities and aid agencies.

Many of the displaced were informal settlers living in shacks. They competed for seasonal jobs on the farms with local South Africans who began attacking them and demolishing their homes in November last year.

Four months on, half of the original 3,000 refugees that fled the xenophobic attacks say their plight has for the most part been swept under the rug and forgotten.

Emmanuel Mabika and his family have been living on the field of a rugby club since the attacks. There are no family photos or possessions recalling their former lives in a community that was torn apart by xenophobia.

‘Most people here didn’t take anything with them because they didn’t have time. We had to run for our lives. The only thing that comes to mind in such a situation is to save your children and your own life,’ said Mabika. ‘You don’t think about the clothes, you don’t think about personal documents, you just grab what is near you and run.’

Mabika told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that little success has been achieved on local integration, with less than 1,000 former refugees finding space to co-exist with the locals, while the rest have packed their bags and moved elsewhere

‘Most of us that are stuck here live in desperate conditions and face a bleak future. The aid agencies have pulled out, the Red Cross and the United Nations High Commissoner for Refugees have all gone. We very much appreciate PASSOP (a group dedicated to the rights of refugees) drawing attention to the ongoing refugee crisis in De Doorns,’ Mabika said.

Conditions in the temporary camp are dire. When it is raining fires are a regular threat and often fatal. Weeks ago, a blaze destroyed a tent when the occupants were preparing a meal inside, leaving three people injured and without shelter.

The camp has irregular electricity and water supply is from a single source. Hundreds of children live there in difficult conditions without enough food or water and yet almost everyone has forgotten about these victims of xenophobia.

Nairobi — The man who masterminded the 1998 terrorist attacks on US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam is believed to have taken over the leadership of al-Shabaab in war-torn Somalia, Kenyan counter-terrorism officials say.

Ahmed Al Fazul (below) took charge of the ragtag army after the dramatic killing of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who previously led the group that has been a constant headache to Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and US anti-terror campaign.

Fazul Abdullah, who is believed to be on the run after evading arrest. He is wanted over the bombing of Paradise Hotel in Kikambala in 2001. Photo/FILE

Fazul is believed to have been hiding in East Africa and reportedly escaped a police dragnet at the Kenyan coast in August 2008 and sneaked into Somalia.

Counter-terrorism officials in Nairobi, who cannot be revealed without compromising their operations, say Fazul is believed to have lately left Tanzania for Somalia to head al-Shabaab. The heavily armed group, which has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, wants to topple Somalia’s UN-backed government and impose its own strict version of Sharia law.

It controls much of the south and parts of Mogadishu, and courts run by its leadership have ordered executions, floggings and amputations.

Interviews with the officials in Nairobi revealed that al-Shabaab’s top command has at times been divided and it is believed these divisions produced the informants who betrayed Nabhan’s position last year.

Nairobi — At least 13 Cabinet ministers have been caught up in President Kibaki’s temporary ban on foreign trips to facilitate debate on the draft constitution.

Those affected include Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi, Cabinet ministers Najib Balala, Moses Wetang’ula, Anyang’ Nyong’o, Amos Kimunya, Dalmas Otieno, Henry Kosgey, Sam Ongeri, Sally Kosgei, Samuel Poghisio, Soita Shitanda, James Orengo and Charity Ngilu.

Ms Kosgei was to travel to Egypt to hand over as chairman of the Council of African Ministers for Science and Technology.

Kenya will, therefore, miss out on world forums as the ministers have swiftly cancelled the trips, some of which they were invited to attend as early as June last year. The ministers cannot delegate the functions to their assistants as they are also affected by the ban.Tourism minister Balala was scheduled to visit Germany from March 10 to 14 for a marketing conference.

Foreign Affairs minister Wetang’ula was expected to visit a number of countries in Europe from March 15.

Medical Services minister Nyon’go was also scheduled to travel to Senegal for an international health conference at the weekend.

Trade minister Kimunya was scheduled to go to Lusaka, Zambia, on March 22, for a Comesa council meeting.

Public Service minister Otieno is already in Namibia, together with his permanent secretary, Mr Titus Ndambuki, but they are due to come back this weekend.

Industrialisation minister Kosgey was supposed to travel to India on March 14 for a standards bureau conference.

Education minister Ongeri was supposed to attend the sixth International Conference on Adult Education from March 20 to 26 in Germany.

Kampala — Kuwaiti-based Zain, which was last year a headlines maker after its July announcement that it was looking at its options in Africa including a possible sale of its networks, is back in the news.

This time newswires report that it is in talks with Bharti Airtel the leading telecoms giant in India. Officials of Bharti, which saw its own deal with MTN fall through last year, have confirmed talks with Zain.

Bharti officials told the media last week that the company was still doing due diligence but was hopeful of clinching a deal by March 25, when a period of exclusive talks end.

“Bharti should be able to integrate Zain’s operations within six months of closing the deal and that no extraordinary regulatory issues would threaten the deal,” said a Bharti Airtel official.

At Zain Uganda, the head of corporate affairs Fred Massade confirmed there were negotiations ongoing on the impending merger. As to what implications the merger would have on Zain Uganda Massade said it was still early to make a comment.

In detailed comments to analysts since confirming the talks with Zain, Bharti Airtel said $9 billion was not a high price for Kuwaiti telecom Zain’s Africa assets given the growth opportunities, though it could dilute earnings in the short-to-medium term for India’s leading telecom.

They said Africa had good growth opportunities among emerging markets, given its high population, lower mobile penetration and relatively less competition. According to estimates, the total population of the 15 African countries Zain operates in is just under 500 million, and about 35 people in every 100 use mobile phones.

Bharti is yet to detail its financing plans but bankers have said the company is looking to raise debt from offshore as well as the local market in India to fund the deal.

When former Zain chief executive, Saad al-Barrak, quit three weeks ago he re-igniting rumours of the possible sale of Zain Africa operations in his exit interview.

Abuja — A TERRORIST suspected to belong to the Al-Qaeda network, Ibrahim Haman Ahmed, who was extradited to the United States of America by Nigerian government officials had been on the wanted list of the United States Central Intelligence Agency for more than two years, security and diplomatic sources in Abuja told Vanguard, yesterday.

The man who was allegedly trained by Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and working for the Al-Shabaab group in Somalia, was said to be the most senior figure of the terrorist organization in Nigeria. He was said to be trying to recruit young Nigerian Muslims to join the terrorist organization.

Ahmed’s arrest and extradition to the United States was, however, said to be connected to his role in fighting the government of Somalia where he was said to have spent eight months.

He was extradited from Nigeria to the United States through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Before then, he was said to have hiden somewhere in Sokoto and moving around the north western states of Kano, Katsina, Kebbi and Zamfara states where he was said to have been targeting western educated youths for recruitment.

According to Vanguard sources, Ahmed was arrested by security officials in Sokoto following intelligence provided by American security organizations, the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI.

A special jet, ostensibly provided by the CIA was flown into Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja, Friday night and where parked till Saturday morning when the terror suspect was moved in.

According to security sources at the airport, Ahmed was driven through the tarmac to the foot of the aircraft where he disembarked and was handed over to the waiting American security operatives.

Security cooperation

A source told Vanguard: “He was hooded, handcuffed and had leg shackles and was led by two men into the aircraft. He did not pass through normal entry at the airport but was driven though the tarmac right to the foot of the aircraft where he was led into the awaiting American jet. Airport staff were prevented from going near them by both Nigerian and American security men.”

It was gathered that his extradition was part of security cooperation between the United States government and her Nigerian counterpart in tackling growing terrorist threat in Africa.

The December last year attempt by Nigerian born Faruk Abdulmutallab to bomb a jetliner destined for Detroit, USA, Nigeria has attracted closer scrutiny from the American security apparatus which has listed Nigeria as a country of interest on terrorism.

Kampala — Fourteen-year-old Isaac Wadyegere of Bundesi village in Bududa district woke up to a rainy and chilly Monday morning and went to school as usual.

But Mar. 1 was not a usual day in eastern Uganda.

When he heard the sound of rocks and soil tumbling down Mountain Elgon on a path to destroy part of his school, Wadyegere, along with other pupils, fled home.

But instead of finding the refuge he hoped for, disaster awaited Wadyegere.

His house and family were destroyed.

“My father, mother, step-mother, and five siblings all died when our house was covered by the landslides,” the boy says.

Orphaned Wadyegere now stays in a camp set up by the Uganda Red Cross for survivors of the landslides that buried three other villages including; Nametsi, Namakansa and Kubewo villages in the Bududa district.

So far 92 bodies have been dug out of the rubble by the army and rescue workers and over 300 people are still missing. More than 300,000 people will be displaced by the worst disaster in the region according to Joel Aguma, the police commander for eastern Uganda. “We never planned for this and here we are, with so many people to look after, the scale of this disaster is surely beyond our capacity but we are trying our best,” Aguma said as the rescue continued.

Government has now declared the scene of the Bududa landslides a mass grave.

Minister of state for disaster preparedness, Musa Ecweru, says government has called off the search for survivors after dysentery broke out and rescuers contracted it. “We realised it will take longer to get all the bodies out and it was increasingly risky for the rescuers,” Ecweru says.

Experts warn that the worst is yet to come. A weather outlook report released recently by the Intergovernment Authority on Development’s (IGAD) Climate Prediction and Adaptation Centre (ICPAC) based in Nairobi, stated that the region was expected to have higher rainfall than normal.

The statement was released during the Climate Outlook Forum for the Greater Horn of Africa held in Nairobi, Kenya in February. National, regional and international climate scientists reviewed the state of the global climate system and its implications on the seasonal rainfall over the region.

Experts said regional systems that include sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean, which are currently warmer than average, and Atlantic Ocean will have greater influence on the rainfall performance over Uganda

Professor Laban Ogalo, director of ICPAC advises countries in the region to plan accordingly as the changing rainfall pattern may be both a blessing and a curse.

“Rain is a good thing if managed well. The region can benefit from it if it’s used to spur food production for those who get it in plenty so they can supply others who will get less rain,” says Ogalo. He said heavy rains in the region could be destructive to infrastructure and may lead to loss life.

Ugandan weather experts are warning of more landslides and floods in the east, central and western parts of the country as heavy rains continue in most parts of the country. River Malaba in Busia district in eastern Uganda, near the Bududa district, has already burst its banks.

Bildard Baguma, deputy secretary general of the Uganda Red Cross, says there is an increasing possibility of flooding from the river if rains continue. Baguma says people in the affected areas will be evacuated from their villages to higher ground where temporary camps are to be set up.

Uganda’s government has asked residents in low-lying and flood-prone areas to move before tragedy hits. The ministry for disaster preparedness has already started registering people in high risk areas for relocation. Over 300,000 affected people in the Mountain Elgon region and the neighbouring lowlands of Butaleja, Budaka and Tororo are expected to be relocated.

Deus Bamanya, a senior meteorologist with the department of metrology, explains that extreme weather conditions in southern Europe weakened the high pressure systems in north Africa, which in turn pushed the rain belt down to Uganda. Heavy rains that could lead to flooding are expected to continue until June.

Prime Minister Apollo Nsibambi has told parliament government is appealing for donor funds to carry out the relocation exercise before further rainfall causes more destruction.

As the country still mourns the death of those in Bududa district, landslides have displaced hundreds in western Uganda. Heavy rainfall resulted in landslides on Mar. 4. Officials from the ministry for disaster preparedness have rushed to Kabale, which borders Rwanda and DR Congo, to assess the extent of the damage.

District authorities say landslides hit Rubaya and Butanda sub-counties destroying houses and blocking the only access road. Rescuer workers spent an entire day clearing the road before they could access the area.

Three people have been confirmed dead after they were swept by fast running waters off Kigarama Bridge in Kabale district. Soldiers have joined Kabale district authorities in verifying reports that some people are still trapped under the collapsed mud walls of their houses.

Mark Choono, the United Nations Children’s Fund’s Uganda emergency coordinator, warns that an outbreak of water borne diseases is also likely.

“We are concentrating on providing safe drinking water, which is the biggest problem in areas affected by landslides and floods. We have begun providing water purifying chemicals to affected people,” says Choono.

Already in Bududa 60 people have contracted cholera.

Windhoek — African hip-hop prides itself on a more positive portrayal of women, but traditional cultural attitudes towards women still dominate the industry, say Namibian female rappers.

What started in the late Seventies as an expression of disenfranchised African-American youth in the Bronx of New York city, soon took root in Africa’s urban centres. In the townships of South Africa and Namibia, hip-hop morphed into kwaito and afropop and became an expression of post-apartheid identity.

Though the independence struggle and exile that left social networks scattered created a space for Namibian women to break away from convention and take up careers in music, this freedom is fraught with contradictions.

“There are not many places in Africa like Namibia where we can jump around the stage in our mini-skirts without causing an uproar,” says Frieda Haindaka from rap duo Gal Level. “But at the same time our biggest challenge is being females in a male dominated industry. We constantly have to prove ourselves. People just want to see two sexy girls on a stage and don’t think we can actually do anything.”

Other female artists still feel the pull from a traditional Namibian background.

“Of course we feel inferior to men,” affirms singer, Sally.

“I used to be afraid of men. I would go to a show and there’s guy after guy wowing the crowd and I would just feel like: ‘oh my gosh what am I going to do? Maybe I should just turn around and go away.’

“And men are not helpful,” she adds. “I walk into a studio and there’s seven guys hanging around with their kwaito attitude and their hip-hop thing going on, and they just stare at you like: ‘Pff . whacha gonna do lil’ mama?’ It makes me want to curl up in the corner immediately.”

Despite the prejudice, some of the country’s female hip- hop artists are doing what they can to make music that sends young women listeners an inspiring and positive message.

“In my lyrics I encourage women to work for their own bubblegum so to speak, and not depend on favours,” says two-time Channel O Music Award winner ‘Lady May’ (23), who released her third album last year.

One of her hit singles is called Chokola (high heels) “When you are wearing high heels you feel powerful, you feel sexy, you feel like you can conquer the world. High heels give a woman confidence, but they also require focus and discipline, or you will fall over,” she explains.

Sally’s track, ‘dollhouse’, is about a woman who breaks free from an abusive relationship. “Just because you are a man you cannot tell me who I should be,” she sings.

But the demands of the industry and the competition for sales in a business where the macho standard is already set provides little space for activism.

“I would love to make songs that really drive the point home, but hey, you also got to make the people dance,” Sally tells IPS.

“We only have a handful of female artists that have made it in Namibia and none of them are as successful as their male counterparts,” says DJ Ch

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]]> http://www.camsao.com/news/breaking-news/namibia-female-hip-hop-artists-challenge-stereotypes/feed http://www.camsao.com/news/breaking-news/east-africa-plans-on-for-regions-us900-billion-railway http://www.camsao.com/news/breaking-news/east-africa-plans-on-for-regions-us900-billion-railway#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:28:33 +0000 Dil

East Africa: Railway Revival Planned

East Africa: Railway Repair - Taken at the Flood…

Mozambique: $ 500 million for railway line

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Kampala — The East African Community (EAC) secretariat is organising a regional conference aimed at actualisation of a US$900bn East African Railway Master plan which will cost $900 billion.

The March 11-12 conference to be held in Dar es Salaam is being organised together with the World Bank and the ADB. The meeting is fulfilling a directive by the EAC Heads of State to devise a regional strategy to revamp the railways after decades of neglect.

“Recommendations in the master plan have financial implications and the purpose is to mobilise funds from development partners and potential investors,” Owora noted.

The major project provides for a vast network of additional railway lines within East Africa and others linking the region to neighbouring Ethiopia, southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) targeted at constructing 15 new lines under the EAC Railways Development Master Plan.

Tanzania would be the main beneficiary of the new railway lines should the ambitious project materialise. Besides the Isaka-Kigali line, eight other new railway lines have been proposed within the country, linking Tanzania with other states.

Kenya would have two railway branches connecting it to its closest Ethiopia and Sudan. One of the proposed railway lines will connect Garissa town with the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, while another will be constructed from Lamu to Juba in south Sudan via Garissa.

Under the plan, Uganda would have four new lines connecting to southern Sudan, DRC and Tanzania. Burundi and Rwanda, which joined the regional bloc on July submitted their proposals to the master plan study

By revamping, linking and expanding the rail network, players are moving towards establishing a standardised network throughout the region.

Transport analysts say existing East African railways, built at the dawn of the last century, have fallen into near total neglect and need overhaul and the initiative is to replace the one metre-gauge line by a four-metre line.