TANZANIA - SEMINA KWA WATENDAJI WA CCM YAENDELEA LEO MJINI DODOMA

 Katibu Mkuu wa CCM, Abdulrahman Kinana akizungumza mwanzini mwa siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, katika ukumbi wa Sekretarieti, Jengo la White House, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma. Kushoto ni Katibu wa NEC, Oganaizesheni Mohamed Seif Khatib na Naibu Katibu Mkuu wa CCM (Zanzibar), Vuai Ali Vuai.

 Katibu wa NEC, Itikadi na Uenezi Nape Nnauye akitoa mada kuhusu namna nzuri ya kuandaa mikutano, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Washiriki wa semina ya mafunzo kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM, wakiwa wamefurika ukumbini katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi 

za Wilaya na Mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Baadhi ya Wajumbe na Makatibu wa Sekretarieti ya Halmashauri Kuu ya Taifa ya CCM (NEC), wakiongozwa na Katibu Mkuu wa CCM, Abdulrahman Kinana, kusikiliza mada iliyokuwa ikitolewa na Katibu wa NEC, Itikadi na Uenezi Nape Nnauye (hayupo pichani) katika siku ya tatu ya semina 

ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, 

leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Katibu Mkuu wa CCM, Abdulrahman Kinana akisalimiana na baadhi ya wajumbe, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, 

leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Katibu wa NEC, Siasa na Uhusiano wa Kimataifa, Dk. Asha-Rose Migiro (kulia, safu ya mbele)akifuatilia kwa makini mada iliyokuwa ikitolewa na Nape (hayupo pichani), katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013,

 Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Katibu wa CCM, Wilaya ya Kasulu mkoani Kigoma, Kombo Kamote, akiongoza kuimba wimbo wa hamasa, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma. Kulia kwake ni 

Katibu wa CCM, wilaya ya Kigoma mjini, Augustine Minja.

 Baadhi ya wajumbe wakipitia ratiba, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Mkuu wa Mafunzo ya taaluma makao makuu ya CCM, Hadija Faraji (kushoto), akiwa miongoni mwa jopo la sekretarieti, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Baadhi ya wajumbe wakibadilishana mawazo, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013,

 Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

Sekretarieti ikiwa kazini, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini 

Dodoma. Imetayarishwa na theNkoromo Blog

TANZANIA - SEMINA KWA WATENDAJI WA CCM YAENDELEA LEO MJINI DODOMA

 Katibu Mkuu wa CCM, Abdulrahman Kinana akizungumza mwanzini mwa siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, katika ukumbi wa Sekretarieti, Jengo la White House, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma. Kushoto ni Katibu wa NEC, Oganaizesheni Mohamed Seif Khatib na Naibu Katibu Mkuu wa CCM (Zanzibar), Vuai Ali Vuai.

 Katibu wa NEC, Itikadi na Uenezi Nape Nnauye akitoa mada kuhusu namna nzuri ya kuandaa mikutano, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Washiriki wa semina ya mafunzo kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM, wakiwa wamefurika ukumbini katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi 

za Wilaya na Mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Baadhi ya Wajumbe na Makatibu wa Sekretarieti ya Halmashauri Kuu ya Taifa ya CCM (NEC), wakiongozwa na Katibu Mkuu wa CCM, Abdulrahman Kinana, kusikiliza mada iliyokuwa ikitolewa na Katibu wa NEC, Itikadi na Uenezi Nape Nnauye (hayupo pichani) katika siku ya tatu ya semina 

ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, 

leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Katibu Mkuu wa CCM, Abdulrahman Kinana akisalimiana na baadhi ya wajumbe, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, 

leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Katibu wa NEC, Siasa na Uhusiano wa Kimataifa, Dk. Asha-Rose Migiro (kulia, safu ya mbele)akifuatilia kwa makini mada iliyokuwa ikitolewa na Nape (hayupo pichani), katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013,

 Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Katibu wa CCM, Wilaya ya Kasulu mkoani Kigoma, Kombo Kamote, akiongoza kuimba wimbo wa hamasa, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma. Kulia kwake ni 

Katibu wa CCM, wilaya ya Kigoma mjini, Augustine Minja.

 Baadhi ya wajumbe wakipitia ratiba, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Mkuu wa Mafunzo ya taaluma makao makuu ya CCM, Hadija Faraji (kushoto), akiwa miongoni mwa jopo la sekretarieti, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

 Baadhi ya wajumbe wakibadilishana mawazo, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013,

 Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini Dodoma.

Sekretarieti ikiwa kazini, katika siku ya tatu ya semina ya mafunzo ya siku nne kwa watendaji na viongozi wa CCM ngazi za wilaya na mikoa, leo Oktoba 23, 2013, Makao Makuu ya CCM mjini 

Dodoma. Imetayarishwa na theNkoromo Blog

British links to al-Shabab revealed

Al-Shabab is fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia

The names of almost 50 people from Britain who have links to al-Shabab - and related organisations - have been established by the BBC.

Most of those on the list travelled to Somalia to fight or attempted to do so.

Somali-based militants al-Shabab carried out the deadly attack on the Westgate mall in neighbouring Kenya.

Lawyers for the family of one British recruit known to have died in Somalia are investigating whether he was killed in a raid involving western military.

Al-Shabab is fighting to impose a brutal version of Islamic law on the country and the group is linked to al-Qaeda.

Fate unknown

The 47 names compiled by the BBC are based on a combination of sources, including public records from courts in the UK and abroad, and further first-hand research and accounts.

It is not a complete list of people from the UK who are suspected of having gone to fight because it is impossible to establish or estimate with any certainty how many Westerners have taken up arms in Somalia.

The research found that security chiefs believe at least 32 of the identifiable individuals went to fight.

A further seven were named in British court cases as having attempted to enter Somalia, but their plans were discovered and disrupted.

Others have been accused or convicted of raising money for al-Shabab, or facilitating the travel of others.

Seven people on the list returned to the UK - but the fate of most of the others is completely unknown.

'A disservice'

Four of the men on the list are known to be dead, including men who featured on a video released by the group a week ago.

The video included a message from a young man named as "Talha", who asked Muslims in Tower Hamlets - a borough in east London - to join the jihad in Somalia.

Talha, whose real name was Taufail Ahmed, died in Somalia in November 2012.

The Foreign Office said it had confirmed the death to his family, who are of Bangladeshi origin.

He grew up in Stepney Green in east London. The BBC has tracked down people who knew him at school.

They say he fell into a life of gang crime before leaving that world behind in favour of an extreme interpretation of Islam, before disappearing from the UK.

"For British Muslims he's doing a disservice," said one former schoolmate. "For Muslims around the world, he is doing a disservice."

In the al-Shabab video, the narrator says that "Talha" died after an attack involving American and British forces.

The government has not commented on that claim but his family has asked the legal charity Reprieve to investigate.

"The family were notified by British police officers. The FCO [Foreign Office] have knowledge of the incident and have told us that Taufail Ahmed received a Muslim burial," said Kat Craig from Reprieve.

"We have reason to believe that there are Somali eyewitnesses who identified those involved as British personnel and for those reasons we believe that further inquiries need to be made and that the family has quite legitimate questions that need to be answered."

"Talha" grew up in Tower Hamlets

Wave of violence kills 28 in Iraq

A wave of terrorist activities has killed at least 28 people in Iraq’s western province of al-Anbar, officials say.

On Wednesday, officials and medics said that 25 police forces and three civilians were killed in a wave of coordinated attacks in the province. The officials said that 26 police officers were also wounded in the attacks.

On Tuesday, 18 police forces were killed and 25 others were wounded after a bomb exploded near a police checkpoint in the town of Rutba, 360 km (225 miles) west of Baghdad. Three civilians were also killed in a separate bomb explosion in the town.

In another incident on the same day, gunmen attacked a police checkpoint at an entrance to Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province, killing three police officers and injuring a fourth.

Four more police forces were killed in clashes with armed militants in another checkpoint in the city.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but such incidents bear the hallmarks of al-Qaeda-linked militants in Iraq, who seek to destabilize the country.

The recent acts of terror are the latest in a string of attacks across Iraq that has left about 6,000 people dead since the beginning of 2013.

According to the United Nations, a total of 1,057 Iraqis, including 928 civilians, were killed and another 2,326 were wounded in terrorist attacks throughout the country in July - the deadliest month since 2008.

IA/PR/HJL

KENYA - Ruto's wife speaks out on case

Deputy President William Ruto (C) holding hands in prayer with wife Rachel (L) and journalist Joshua Sang. Mrs Ruto said that when ICC prosecutor Louis Moreno-Ocampo said that her husband was one of the key perpetrators of the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya, the allegation came as a blow to their immediate family. PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI  NATION


By Walter Menya

Deputy President William Ruto spent his first Mashujaa Day since he was elected into office away from the country yesterday as he awaited the resumption of his case at the International Criminal Court this morning.

Under normal circumstances, Mr Ruto would have been at the Nyayo Stadium for the national celebrations and would have introduced President Uhuru Kenyatta to give his address to the nation.

However, that job was yesterday left to Dr Hassan Wario, the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Arts.

Mr Ruto and his wife Rachael joined other Kenyans in celebrations marked in Palais des Colonies, Paleizenlaan Tervuren, Brussels. The event brought together Kenyans from various European countries.

Mrs Ruto said that when ICC prosecutor Louis Moreno-Ocampo said that her husband was one of the key perpetrators of the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya, the allegation came as a blow to their immediate family.

“When this came it was very difficult for our family and we even had difficulty telling our children, some of whom are grown-ups,” she told the gathering.

Since Mr Ruto’s case started in The Hague on September 10, his wife and daughter June have always been by his side.

And Sunday, Mrs Ruto said the charges against Mr Ruto came as a shock to the family.

“We have walked a path and a journey that is difficult but as a family and country we believe in God,” she said.

“It is God who has brought our steps here this afternoon.”

The sermon was delivered by Bishop Kiogora Magambo of Jesus House of God International.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Ruto’s co-accused, radio journalist Joshua arap Sang, said his experiences had been painful since the trial began.

“We know this weight on our shoulders shall be lifted.

Pray for us because that has kept us going,” said the man who described himself as “the shortest journalist in Kenya, if not the world.

The defence team will this morning continue cross-examining the fourth prosecution witness.

AU cites war on terror in plea for Kenya deferral

President Uhuru Kenyatta and part of the Kenyan delegation at the AU extraordinary session follow proceedings at the African Union Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 


By KEVIN J. KELLEY

The African Union on Tuesday cited Kenya's status as "a frontline state in the fight against terrorism" in a formal plea to the United Nations Security Council for deferral of the International Criminal Court cases against Kenya's leaders.

The proceedings against President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto "may pose a threat to the ongoing efforts in the promotion of peace, national healing and reconciliation as well as the rule of law and stability in Kenya and the region," the AU declared.

The AU added in a letter to the Security Council president signed by 49 countries that continuing the ICC prosecutions "will distract and divert them from fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities."

Kenya topped the list of signers.

DANGER OF TERRORISM

A separate letter from Kenya's UN Ambassador Macharia Kamau also emphasises the danger Kenya and the entire Horn of Africa faces from terrorism.

A threat to international peace and security is the only consideration by which the Security Council is permitted to order a one-year suspension of proceedings before the ICC.

Postponing the proceedings for one year will give time, Ambassador Kamau wrote, "to consider how best to respond to the threat to international peace and security in the context of the Kenya situation."

In its letter to Azerbaijan UN Ambassador Agshin Mehdiyev, who is serving as council president in October, the AU called the security situation in Kenya "very complex."

"There are at play important dynamics and tensions of politics, peace, justice and the rule of law. regional and national insecurity as well as a very acute sense of ethnicity that cannot be wished away or swept under the carpet," the African Union said.

The AU letter also noted that Kenya has undertaken a series of reforms in recent years, including a strengthening of the judiciary.

With President Kenyatta and Deputy President Ruto at the fore, the country has likewise adopted "bold measures aimed at promoting national reconciliation and healing," the letter added.

The AU also calls on the ICC to postpone President Kenyatta's trial and suspend Deputy President Ruto's until the Security Council addresses the deferral request.

Sources at the UN suggest that the Security Council will find it difficult to reach consensus on the AU request. And if even one of the council's five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- objects, a deferral will not be granted.

The council rejected a plea for deferral of the Kenya cases in 2011.

Somali envoy defends refugees over terrorism claims

Sixty-year-old Suban Osman sits with two of her malnourished grand children at a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) at the Dadaab refugee camp. Somalia has defended its refugees in the Kenyan camp of Dadaab against claims that they take part in terrorism. Photo/AFP  

Somalia has defended its refugees in the Kenyan camp of Dadaab against claims that they take part in terrorism.

Somali ambassador in Nairobi Mohamed Ali Nur told journalists on Tuesday that the refugees at the world’s most populous camp are in fact victims and not participants in terrorism.

“These refugees who are in the camps are innocent people. I want to say that the refugees themselves have been victims. Some of them were killed, some women were raped, and kids were killed,” he said in Nairobi.

“Sometimes I really do not like when I see in the media, in the newspapers, saying that the refugees are themselves terrorists.”

Mr Nur was responding to the recent claims that some of the raiders at the Westgate Mall attack were trained at the Dadaab refugee camp.

ATTACK PLANNED IN DADAAB

The Westgate terrorist attack was planned at the Daadab refugee camp, investigations have revealed.

Security chiefs on Thursday submitted a report to the National Assembly indicating that the September 21 attack in which at least 70 people and 240 others were injured was planned in Dadaab.

(Read: Police step up security in Kakuma after Westgate attack)

“It’s confirmed (that) quite a number of these crooks planned this terror attack from a refugee camp. That’s why we have always said we need to consider relocating all refugees outside this country.

“Go back to Somalia or ask the United Nations to take them to another country. We don’t have a pact with Somalia on refugees,” said chairman of the National Security committee Asman Mr Kamama.

Although Parliament is still carrying out its investigation, Kenya recently urged the repatriation of Somali refugees and the eventual closure of the camp authorities suspect harbour some of the al-Shabaab sympathisers.

But Mr Nur said closing the camp now could be worse for the region than now.

“I want to underline here that we do not agree and we do not support forceful return of refugees. It has to be voluntary. We have also over one million IDPs inside Somalia and we don’t want to create more IDPs. We want to return them voluntarily in a dignified way.”

“I can understand the feeling of the Kenyan government and the people of Kenya the burden that these refugees have placed on them. But there are rules and laws that govern international refugees which say that refugees cannot be returned forcefully to where they came from.”

KENYA HOSTS 600,000 SOMALIS

Kenya has been hosting more than 600,000 Somalis who ran away from the conflict back home since 1993 but the envoy argued they would be here “temporarily.”

Although there have been reports that a draft tripartite agreement between Kenya, Somalia and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, the three sides have nota announced when the agreement would finally be signed.

“It is very important for Somalis to return home. Somalis abroad are not just about refugees. I think we have over 4 million Somalis in diaspora who have come back now.

About 30,000 people have crossed from Kenya and Ethiopia to Somalia this year with some 2,100 movements recorded in September, the UN refugee agency has said.

Last week, UNHCR announced that at least 30,000 Somalis have gone back home from both Kenya and Ethiopia but added that the movement was only “seasonal or temporary” because the situation in Somalis does is not safe for permanent relocations.

After 15 attempts to bring a stable government in Somalia, Somalis in October held elections in Mogadishu in which they elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud. His government though still faces the threat of al-Shabaab and is still supported by Amisom Forces.

EAC to discuss S. Sudan’s request to join community

Secretary General of the East African Community, Dr Richard Sezibera.

NEGOTIATIONS on whether South Sudan should join the East African Community are set to be held in the first week of November, it was revealed here.

The Communications Officer with the EAC Secretariat here, Mr Richard Owora- Othieno, relayed a statement from the Secretary General of the East African Community, Dr Richard Sezibera, who disclosed that the meeting of the High Level Negotiations are to take place on the 7th and 8th of November in Arusha.

A special team from the Republic of South Sudan will be jetting into Arusha where representatives from EAC Member states of Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania will join them in the task force which will commence its work, and determine rules of procedure and programme.

During its 27th meeting held last August, the EAC Council of Ministers approved the proposed process of handling the negotiations with the Republic of South Sudan to join the East African Community.

The council then established a High Level Negotiation Team; directed the partner states to nominate three members to the High Level Negotiation Team by 30 September 2013; and directed the Secretariat to thereafter convene a meeting of the High Level Negotiation Team to start the negotiations with the Republic of South Sudan.

A visit of a High Level Mission of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan is also expected at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, in early November 2013.

The negotiation process is expected to be structured in three phases namely; technical negotiations involving technical experts from the EAC that is the three nominees from each Partner State) and the Republic of South Sudan; second phase will involve Permanent or Principal Secretaries to consider recommendations from the technical phase and recommend to an appropriate Ministerial Negotiations.

The third phase will be at the ministerial level. Each of these phased negotiations will systematically feed into each other.

After being rectified, South Sudan will pave way for North Sudan (Khartoum) to also join the EAC because the latter was being hampered by lack of common border with the rest of the community members.

By MARC NKWAME in Arusha DAILY NEWS

‘Friends of Syria’ meeting in London ends in failure

Friends of Syria group’s meeting in London fails to agree a date for Geneva II peace conference on Syria. 

The meeting of the so-called ‘Friends of Syria’ group and representatives of foreign-backed Syrian opposition in London has ended in failure with Saudi Arabia ditching the West and the Syria opposition embargoing peace talks, media reports said.

The Saudi regime, which is well-known for pouring petrodollars into battlegrounds in Syria as the main supporter of Takfiris, shocked the meeting by announcing that it is ending its collaboration with the West over the issue, while the main Syrian opposition group poured cold water onto the whole idea of trying to make peace in Syria by declaring that it will not join any talks with the government of President Bashar al Assad.

Foreign Ministers of the so-called Friends of Syria group -- the US, France, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates -- were meeting representatives of the Syrian rebel opposition in London to try to hammer out a date for the long-awaited Geneva II peace conference first proposed by the US and Russia.

Responding to pleas made by John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, and William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, representatives of the opposition claimed that they may fail to gather enough votes from among members of the coalition of disparate groups at a forthcoming conference in Istanbul to form a united front for participating in the summit planned in Geneva next month.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’sForeign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal said his country would no longer cooperate with the West on the crisis in Syria, describing the US government’s failure to launch an attack on the Midle Eastern country as an “obvious disappointment”.

The Saudi minister was also furious with the US President Barack Obama’s attempted rapprochement with Iran, according to media reports.

MOL/AMR/HE

Maldives sets new date for postponed election

Presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed and his party members wave at supporters at a march [Reuters]

Presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed warns of 'constitutional void' if polls delayed beyond new date of November 9.

The Maldives will hold a new presidential election on November 9, the election commission said, two days after the police stopped the vote taking place.

The archipelago nation has been in turmoil since February 2012 when former president Mohamed Nasheed was removed in what his supporters called a coup.

Nasheed, who won the Maldives' first free election in 2008 and was frontrunner for Saturday's halted vote, warned on Sunday of a "constitutional void" if a new election was not held before the term of the current president, Mohamed Waheed, ends on November 11.

He demanded the resignation of Waheed, who in turn said he would carry the country forward "without any bloodshed" and had no desire to stay in office beyond the deadline.

The police said they stopped the vote because they could not support an election held in contravention of the Supreme Court guidelines after some candidates failed to sign a new voter register.

Nasheed's supporters condemned it as a new coup.

"We have decided to hold the first round of presidential elections on November 9, and if necessary, a second round on November 16," Elections Commissioner Fuwad Thowfeek told reporters in the capital Male.

He said the commission set the date after discussions with the political parties and the government.

World powers, including the Commonwealth, the United States and Britain, condemned as a threat to democracy the delay to Saturday's polls, which came just weeks after the Supreme Court had annulled a first attempt to hold the election on September 7, citing allegations of fraud.

Waheed, who was Nasheed's vice president and took power when he was removed, said he did not want to stay in the office "even a day beyond November 11".

"I have to consider the country's interests to carry the country forward without any bloodshed," he said.

Nasheed has called for blocking of all streets in Male and bring the densely populated island and the capital of the archipelago to a standstill after the delay in the polls.

Nasheed had looked set to return to office when he won the first round of the election on September 7, putting him in a good position to win a run-off vote set for September 28.

But it was cancelled by the Supreme Court citing fraud despite international observers saying the election was free and fair.

Tanzania officially renounces ‘coalition of the willing’

Dar officially renounced ‘coalition of the willing’—Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda— saying the ongoing tri-lateral talks between the countries were against the EAC protocol. TEA Graphic/Anthony Sitti  Nation Media Group

Tanzania Monday officially renounced the so called ‘coalition of the willing’ between Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

In a statement issued by the ministry of East African Cooperation, the government also said the ongoing tri-lateral talks between the countries were against the EAC protocol.  

According to the government, the projects under deliberation by the new coalition, and which have received the blessing of Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta, Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame, should have been endorsed first by all the EAC member countries.

The statement was issued Monday at a media briefing at the government information services offices by the ministry’s head of communication department Mr Vedastina Justinian.

Mr Justinian said the communication was in response to growing concern among the public that the activities being advanced by the three EAC member countries would isolate Tanzania.  

READ: Tanzania’s anger over isolation by neighbours

He said Tanzania’s official stand regarding the willingness of other countries to enter bi-lateral or tri-lateral arrangements needed consensus before their implementation.

“This is notwithstanding the fact that the coalition of the three countries in exclusion of Tanzania and Burundi is being run under their respective foreign affairs dockets and not through the EAC secretariat,” the official said.

Justinian said the Kenyan, Rwandan and Ugandan leaders were in contravention of Article 7(1) (e) of the EAC protocol. “Even though this Article allows member countries to enter bi-lateral or tri-lateral agreements, it is a must that issues under consideration for implementation under this arrangement are fully discussed and agreed upon by all member countries,” read the statement.

Heads of State from Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda met in Kampala in early July this year and agreed to roll-out several cross-country infrastructure projects in a move that has elicited heated debate on the future of regional integration.

During the Kampala meeting, the three presidents also agreed to look into ways of starting a single customs territory, fast-track the establishment of a political federation and ease movement of people by use of national identity cards as well as introduce a single tourist visa.

Several sectoral meetings have since taken place in Kampala and Kigali as directed by the three presidents to roll out the projects that include a 2,784km railway line from Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali, an oil pipeline from South Sudan-Kampala-Kenya, an oil refinery in Uganda and increasing electricity supply.

ALSO READ: Mombasa - Kigali superhighway likely

On Saturday President Kenyatta revealed talks on the the single visa were progressing on well and could be deployed early next year.  

Defenders of this ‘coalition of the willing’ point out to an urgent need to get things moving between them, citing reported frustration by Dar which is accused of slowing down the speed of regional integration.

Monday however, Mr Justinian said Tanzania was ready to play its part in regional integration as spelt out in the EAC protocol.

He reiterated that Tanzania would wait for a response from the EAC council of ministers over the activities of the three member countries following a protest it sent in August 31st.

READ: Burundi casts its lot with Tanzania in rejecting ‘coalition’

The official said Tanzania was forced to seek an explanation because most of the issues being explored by the coalition between Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda were still being deliberated at various stages within EAC.

Mr Justinian explained that following opposition by Tanzanians to fast-track the political federation, EAC heads summit had directed drafting of a roadmap to attain the goal.

He said a new protocol on the same was currently being studied by member countries before an agreement is made public.

As regards the use of IDs as travel documents, the Tanzanian government said permission was granted for member countries wishing to adopt their use go ahead “so long as the IDs were machine readable.” “But as far as I am concerned, this requirement has not been met,” said the official.

On the single customs territory, Mr Justinian said all members had agreed to its establishment in 2012 and that talks were ongoing on how to implement measures spelt therein, including  one-stop good clearance, electronic cargo tracking, elimination of bonds for internal goods and use of a single bond for exports from the region.

Mozambique peace deal unravels after attack

A Renamo spokesman said the government wanted to kill its leader, Afonso Dhlakama, pictured left [EPA]

Former rebels declare end of 1992 peace accord that ended devastating 16-year civil war in southern African nation. 

Mozambique's former rebel group Renamo says it has annulled a 1992 peace deal that ended a 16-year civil war after clashes with government forces.

A defence ministry spokesman said government forces had attacked a Renamo base in Sathundjira near central Mozambique's Gorongosa on Monday.

The operation comes after Renamo mounted attacks on police positions in the same area. 

The fighting has damaged the decades old peace-deal between the Mozambique Liberation Front, also known as Fremlio, which has lead government since independence in 1975, and the Renamo movement, which is now an official opposition group.

A Renamo spokesman said the aim of the attack on its base was to kill its leader.

"Today, the Frelimo-government used troops and heavy artillery to attack the residence of the Renamo president, Afonso Dhlakama, to kill him in cold blood," said Fernando Mazanga. 

"The taking of president Dhlakama's base by the special forces marks the end of multiparty democracy.

"This irresponsible attitude of the commander in chief of the country's security forces [President Armando Guebuza] signals the end of the Rome Peace accord."

Karl Sousa, a Mozambican journalist, told Al Jazeera that the whereabouts of Dhlakama were not known.

He said the rebels lacked the capacity to engage government troops, they could resort to carrying out attacks against civilians. 

Tensions between Renamo and the Frelimo-led government started escalating last year, after the group's leader Dhlakama set up camp in the Gorongosa mountains to retrain former guerrilla fighters.

The former rebels have been demanding the government renegotiate the terms of a 1992 peace accord.

Renamo became the official opposition after it signed a peace deal with the Frelimo-led government to end a 16-year civil war in 1992. But in April this year simmering tensions erupted in deadly clashes again.

The movement wants more representation on election bodies and in the armed forces.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Assad casts doubt over Geneva peace talks

President Bashar al-Assad (right) speaking during a television interview [EPA]

Syrian president says "factors are not yet in place" for talks and he has the desire for a third term as president

The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has said that  "factors are not yet in place" for peace talks despite efforts by world powers to convene a meeting next month.

In an interview with on Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen television, broadcast on Monday, Assad also said he desired a third term as president and had not ruled out running for re-election in 2014.

His comments came as the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, who has been pushing for a peace conference next month in Geneva, said any attempt by Assad to be re-elected would extend the country's civil war.

"No time has been set, and the factors are not yet in place if we want (a US-Russian peace initiative dubbed Geneva 2) to succeed," Assad told Al-Mayadeen.

"Which forces are taking part? What relation do these forces have with the Syrian people? Do these forces represent the Syrian people, or do they represent the states that invented them?" he asked.

The United States and Russia have been trying to organise the Geneva 2 conference, first announced last year, on the heels of a deal which Syria accepted to destroy its chemical arsenal by mid-2014.

Assad has systematically refused to recognise as legitimate the National Coalition opposition umbrella group, which insists on his removal, a demand the regime rejects.

'They don't dare come to Syria'

"How can these forces represent the Syrian people if they live abroad? They don't dare to come to Syria... but claim to control 70 percent of Syrian territory," he said.

"There are many questions about the conference... What is the framework of the conference?"

He has also repeatedly accused the Coalition of working under the orders of regional and Western backers.

"The solution [to Syria's war] must be a Syrian solution, regardless of whether foreign powers recognise it. It doesn't matter. What matters is that the Syrian people recognises it," said Assad.

Asked whether he would run for re-election, Assad, who succeeded his late father in 2000, said: "My answer depends on two factors. The first is the personal desire, and the second is the will of the people."

"Regarding the first point, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't run in the next election."

Kerry is to meet the Syrian opposition and its Western and Arab backers in Paris on Tuesday. He warned Assad's re-election would doom the country.

"If he thinks he's going to solve problems by running for re-election, I can say to him, I think that certainly this war will not end as long as that's the case that he's there," Kerry said.

Source: AFP

Syria rebels may face military elimination: Analyst

Political analyst Webster Griffin Tarpley

The Syrian rebels’ refusal to attend the forthcoming Geneva 2 conference might pave the way for military solution at their expense, a political analyst tells Press TV

“The Syrian rebels are incorrigible. They simply will not negotiate and that’s the most recent authoritative word we have from the Syrian National Council,” Webster Griffin Tarpley told Press TV on Sunday.

The so-called Syrian National Coalition (SNC) is set to meet on November 1-2 in the Turkish city of Istanbul to decide whether to participate in the Geneva II conference.

On October 13, a key group within the SNC said it would shun the proposed peace talks in Geneva and withdraw from the coalition if it took part in the conference.

"We will not participate in a conference that is intended to hide the failure of international politics," the Council president George Sabra said.

Russia and the United States have been pushing to bring the Syrian government and the opposition to the negotiating table.

The Geneva 2 conference is seen as a chance to find a political solution to Syria crisis. The event has been delayed for months, but Moscow and Washington are now trying to fix a date for it in mid-November.

“So, if they won’t negotiate, one might say that those same rebels are making a military solution at their expense inevitable. If they won’t cooperate with some political solution then only the military solution is actually left,” Tarpley noted.

Referring to the successes of the Syria army over the past few days, Tarpley said rebels have also been weakened due to infighting and assassinating other groups’ leaders.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. Reports indicate that the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside the country.

According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in the violence.

MYA/SL

German Camp in Syria hosting Takfiri militants: Der Spiegel

German media reports say Takfiri militants from Germany have gathered in Syria’s “German Camp” to fight against the Damascus government.

According to a report by Der Spiegel on Monday, some 200 German militants have gathered in northern Syria in what has been dubbed the German Camp.

Intelligence sources say the number of German Takfiri militants traveling to Syria is on the rise, adding that a German Camp has been set up in northern Syria to serve as a collection point and a training center for German-speaking militants.

The majority of these young men hail from the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Authorities estimated that around 1,000 militants from across Europe are currently fighting in Syria -- compared to just 250 in late 2012.

European officials have warned that the influx of Europeans to Syria is increasing the threat of future terrorist attacks in Europe, noting that around a dozen militants have already returned to Germany and pose a “particular threat.”

Militants from countries including the United States, Canada, France, and Britain are fighting in Syria.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. Reports indicate that the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside the country.

According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in the violence. 

37 killed in Syrian car bombing as fighting rages nearby

Stories from the streets of Syria


At least 37 people, including 26 civilians and some Syrian soldiers, were killed in a car bombing Sunday at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and state media said.

SANA, a Syrian-run news agency, said the death toll could rise because at least 10 more people were seriously wounded.

A suicide bomber detonated more than a ton of explosives in a truck on a busy street near a farm machinery company, SANA said. More than 20 vehicles and some homes and stores were damaged, it reported.

Meanwhile, clashes between the Syrian military and rebel brigades continue to rage on the eastern outskirts of the government-held city, the London-based Syrian opposition group said.

Lebanese hostages released after 17 months

Another opposition group, the Local Coordination Committees in Syria, reported at least 15 killings in other parts of the country. Eight people were killed in Damascus and its suburbs, six in Aleppo province and one in Homs province.


According to the United Nations, well over 100,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, which began in March 2011 when government forces cracked down on peaceful protesters.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said Sunday in Cairo that peace talks were scheduled for November 23 in Geneva, Switzerland, but the date is not firm.

"There are many arrangements to be made and many difficulties which must be overcome to make this conference possible," he said.

The proposed conference between Syrian government officials and opposition leaders, intended to broker an end to the country's civil war, has been delayed several times.

Syria's deputy prime minister said Thursday that the "presumed dates" had been agreed to during a conference in the Russian Foreign Ministry.

U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Sunday that he plans to meet with Russian and U.S. officials as well other representatives of the U.N. Security Council to finalize details.

He also stressed that no meeting could be held without a "convincing opposition that represents Syria's opposition population."

The U.N. humanitarian chief called on Saturday for a cease-fire in Moadamiyeh in the rural Damascus region so aid workers could evacuate thousands of civilians trapped in the conflict.

"The humanitarian community has stressed time and time again that people must not be denied life-saving help and that the fighting has to stop," Valerie Amos, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said in a statement.

Aid groups have been barred from Moadamiyeh for months, she said.

Outbreak of polio suspected in Syria

"I call on all parties to agree (to) an immediate pause in hostilities in Moadamiyeh to allow humanitarian agencies unhindered access to evacuate the remaining civilians and deliver lifesaving treatment and supplies in areas where fighting and shelling is ongoing," said Amos, who is also the U.N. emergency relief coordinator.

Thousands of families are trapped elsewhere in Syria, including in Nubil, Zahra, old Aleppo town, old Homs town and Hassakeh, she said.

Judges allow Uhuru Kenyatta to skip ICC sessions

PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda

President Uhuru Kenyatta will not have to attend all sessions during his trial for crimes against humanity charges by the ICC in The Hague.

The court, by a majority of two against one, ruled that President Kenyatta will only have to attend the opening and closing statements when victims are testifying.

Under the terms, the President will also have to be present in court when judgment is being delivered and, if convicted, for the sentencing and compensation hearings for victims of post election violence.

President Kenyatta’s trial is scheduled to start on November 12.

A similar ruling in favour of a request by Deputy President William Ruto was overturned when a majority of the 18 ICC judges upheld the prosecutor’s appeal.

It forced Mr Ruto to attend hearings currently going on in the Netherlands and only return to the country occasionally, like when terrorists temporarily took over the Westgate Mall in Westlands last month killing 67 people.

Mr Ruto was in the country again two weeks ago when President Kenyatta travelled to Addis Ababa for an extraordinary AU summit on relations with the court. (READ: Welcome and goodbye)

The AU resolved that President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto should not attend the hearings until the UN Security Council responded to their request for the cases to be stopped.

Judges Chile Eboe-Osuji and Robert Fremr concurred with the application by Mr Kenyatta’s lawyers while, just like in the Ruto case, Judge Kuniko Ozaki, disagreed with the decision.

The majority, however, required Mr Kenyatta’s physical presence for the entirety of the following sessions — the opening and closing statements of all parties and participants; hearings when victims present their views and concerns in person; the delivery of judgment in his case; and any other attendance ordered by the Chamber.

The judges added: “If applicable, Mr Kenyatta is also required to be present during sentencing hearings, the delivery of sentencing, the entirety of victim impact hearings, as well as reparation hearings.”

They said they had excused Mr Kenyatta from attending all trials only to ensure fairness and to expedite the trial, but also to protect the rights and protection of victims and witnesses.

President Kenyatta’s lawyers had argued that the demands of the presidency required his full attention.

VIDEO LINK

They had also wanted the President to attend trial through video link, if needed, from Nairobi. In the application, President Kenyatta said he had confidence his lawyers would represent him effectively at the trial and he did not have to be physically present.

A statement issued by the ICC yesterday said: “Today, 18 October 2013, Trial Chamber V(b) of the International Criminal Court issued its decision conditionally granting, the request to excuse Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta from continuous presence at his trial, scheduled to start on 12 November 2013. The decision was adopted by majority, Presiding Judge Kuniko Ozaki dissenting.

“The majority asserted that violations of any conditions of Mr Kenyatta’s excusal may result in revocation of the partially granted request, and/or the issuance of an arrest warrant, where appropriate.”

As the decision was being made, Foreign Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed was in the UK campaigning to have the UN Security Council support deferment of the cases to Kenya.

Britain’s minister for Africa, Mr Mark Simmonds, issued a statement saying he “welcomed President Kenyatta’s and Mr Ruto’s continued commitment to cooperate with the ICC”.

Meanwhile, a former ICC chief prosecutor has condemned the Kenyan cases, warning that the indictments could damage the fledgling international justice system.

Mr David Crane, the US lawyer who built the case against Liberia’s former president Charles Taylor, said his successors at The Hague had ignored political realities in pursuing the Kenyan prosecution, which he said “could be the beginning of a long slide into irrelevance for international law”.

“I would never have indicted or gotten involved in justice for the Kenyan tragedy,” said Mr Crane, a former chief prosecutor of the special court for Sierra Leone, a precursor to the ICC. “It’s placed them in a situation where they are damned if they do or don’t.”

UGANDA - 2016 polls: What will influence the voters?

President Museveni (C) and Vice President Edward Ssekandi (3rdL) join Kabaka Mutebi during his 20th coronation anniversary at Lubiri palace in August. Photo by Faiswal Kasirye  

Kampala- Even in the face of tempting policies, political analysts acknowledge that due to poor voter education, allegations of vote rigging and high illiteracy levels, campaigns and elections in Uganda are not normally focused on one’s agenda for the nation. Instead, they are run on trivial matters, empty and unrealistic promises such as a car assembly plant in Teso sub-region.

Analysts think that campaign manifestos are not entirely the basis for the many illiterate and poor voters to make decisions because in the face of poverty, poor health facilities and unemployment, these voters are always swayed by peripheral issues and the fear of the unknown.

According to Mr Nicholas Opio, a political and legal analyst, the issues that might affect manifestos drafting and not the voting patterns in 2016 will certainly be the social services - roads, schools, hospitals and energy.

He says a lot of rubber rousing will also be made about the youth because more than ever before, the demographics of the voting population are drifting towards young voters.

“If they can be enticed to go to the ballot, they will change the course of the election,” Mr Opio says, adding that on regional issues, the oil-rich areas will most definitely make the case for oil revenue sharing and attendant vagaries that come with the industry such as displacement and environmental degradation.

There is still the question of accountability, reconciliation and reintegration in the country. These will be key messages, but perhaps not more important is the question of land resources and reparations of war victims in Kasese, northern and eastern parts, among other areas.

The eastern and Buganda question will re-emerge with an undertone of having at least a Muganda or easterner for President coupled with religious and cultural undertones particularly the Catholic and Pentecostal faiths. Although these will come up, they are unlikely to affect the elections.

What might be more central and attract attention is the role of the armed forces, especially police and the army in elections and partisan politics.

According to the director of Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda, Ms Cissy Kagaba, security will only be used as means of intimidation and insecurity during the campaigns. She says in previous elections, violence has been meted out on the public and some opposition candidates.

“In areas that have been affected by insecurity, we are likely to see some presidential candidates use that as a precursor for garnering support,” she says.

There has been a lot of secrecy and corruption in the oil sector hence heighted suspicion among the members of the public, something that the opposition and independents could ride on and remind voters that the government has failed to fight graft.

President Museveni will try to use the Ebyaffe agreement to woe voters in Buganda but Ms Kagaba says although the MoU with the kingdom looks like bad news to the opposition, winning votes in the region, will depend on whether the head of state holds on to the deal.

Mr Crispy Kaheru, the coordinator of the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, says the campaign platforms of the 2016 candidates must be a reflection of the issues that are affecting citizens by respective demographics, including gender, age, employment status, mobility, disabilities and location.

Unlike in previous elections, Mr Kaheru says: “candidates should be able to invest in thorough research on specific issues that affect the citizenry and then articulate them.”

For instance, during the 2011 elections, Mr Kaheru says presidential candidates did little research in terms of the core issues that affect Ugandans but fortunately, civil society generated a scientific record of the aspirations and demands of citizens by region and interest group.

Key demands related to the need to decisively deal with the rampant corruption, poverty, declining fortunes of agriculture, environmental degradation, low levels of civic consciousness, among others.

Mr Kaheru says the concerns of the public have not shifted significantly because not many successful candidates embraced the issues in the Citizen Manifesto.

“While from the economic lenses we see issues of unemployment, corruption, low investment gaining greater ground, there are growing concerns about the continuously weakening political and state institutions,” he says.

“The 2016 election should be about nothing less than calls for complete political reforms,” the rights activist adds.

According to Mr Kaheru, many people have argued that if the political superstructure was working right, the country would not be in this economic and social state.

President Museveni and his supporters insist the country has achieved the minimum economic recovery the government set out to achieve in 1986.

Referring to the Bible, Information minister Rose Namayanja says: “In Ecclesiastes, there is time for everything. In leadership, there is time for politics and time to deliver and fulfill our manifesto.” 

Action time

“To us, politicking was until February 2011. All we are doing now is to ensure service delivery and development for the entire country which is the mandate the people of Uganda gave us,” she adds.

On unemployment, the minister says critics should know that as a result of NRM’s policy to liberalise the education sector, there are now more graduates than ever before in the country’s history.

“That is why a lot of emphasis is now put on developing infrastructure that has a bearing on boosting investments like energy and roads which will boost employment,” Ms Namayanja says.

However, to the opposition leaders, the promises in previous disputed elections that put President Museveni in office were abandoned to the annals of history.

Mr Museveni used Kabaka Mutebi’s 20th coronation anniversary to remind Ugandans the days of “terrible shortages for essential goods such as sugar, soap, salt, paraffin, beverages”.

The President said Uganda’s GDP is now $22b(Shs54 trillion) using exchange rate method compared to $1.55b(Shs3 triilion) in 1986.

By using the purchasing power parity method, the GDP is now $51.3 billion (Shs127t), adding that the “big growth” is obvious to those whose eyes are not jaundiced by prejudice and envy.

The President was recently on a two-month tour of Luweero and Rwenzori region and met veterans to promote efforts aimed at poverty eradication. His household anti-poverty trips in the countryside fated as a “2016 campaigns gimmick” covered Luweero, Kyankwanzi, Kiboga, Mukono, Masaka and Nakasongola districts and some areas in the north, among others.

According to political analysts, for fear that Buganda properties had pitted the kingdom against his leadership, President Museveni signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kabaka Mutebi that ended a long-standing battle over the properties which were hijacked by Milton Obote government during what became the 1966 crisis.

The return of Ebyaffe according to political analysts confirms one thing: That the 2016 elections will focus on regionalisation in an attempt to address the issues of the day in an attempt to compartmentalise the country and campaign in an issue-specific format depending on where one is speaking.

However, Buganda has been unrelenting in its quest for a federo status and despite the return of their property, this demand remains high on table.

As 2016 slants, it is not clear whether the President will eventually heed to the federo demands as a campaign tool at a time when the opposition is promising to succeed where the ruling party has failed.

Explaining the delay, the President’s spokesperson, Mr Tamale Mirundi, said: “The issue was not that the President never wanted to give them back. [Ebyaffe] They should be returned to their rightful owners .We have two institutions in Buganda which were abolished at the same time. The Kabaka institution which has its property and the Baganda have public land that is the 9000sq miles,” Mr Mirundi says.

“What we have today is that all these properties have gone back to Mengo. The battle now is whether all will be under Mengo or the 9,000 public land goes back to Baganda an issue that the president has left Mengo to decide.”

While poverty, land wrangles and unemployment remain endemic in various parts of the country, the Opposition Leader in Parliament, Mr Nandala Mafabi, says statistics from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics indicate that the problem is worse in northern and eastern parts of the country.

North woes

Northern region has suffered two decades of civil strife as a result of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel activities, still has the highest number of poor people at 46.2 per cent, which is higher than the national average of about 30 per cent.

Eastern Uganda is ranked second with 24.2 per cent of the people living in absolute poverty after a decline from 35.9 per cent in 2005/2006.

In the west, poverty stands at 18.2 per cent down from 20.5 per cent. At a time when the country is set to start pumping up to 200,000 barrels per day onto the world oil market, this is likely to be a campaign issue, especially in Bunyoro sub-region.

Healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure and the quality of education among other issues are likely to dominate the presidential campaigns countrywide come 2016.

“The NRM has failed. We are asking Ugandans to give us a chance in 2016,” Mr Mafabi says, adding: “We are going to table electoral reforms in Parliament before we go to the polls. It is not true that the Opposition is sleeping.” He added: “We want to see an independent Electoral Commission and NRM must stop using taxpayers’ money and security to intimidate our people in elections. In 2011 elections, they smuggled Shs10b through Saccos and this money was used to buy voters.”

“But the good thing is that as we approach 2016, Ugandans are not sleeping, they feel the poverty and unemployment because the corruption in Museveni’s government.”

The issue of disarmament and peace process in the volatile Karamoja where the army is facing accusations of human rights violations, will also influence the voters.

Abuse of public funds meant for the reconstruction efforts in the region is expected to form the highlights of the campaigns focusing on the theft of foreign aid in the Premier’s office.

Parties 2011 manifesto

DP

Improved and equal opportunities for education for all Ugandans.

Upgrade of services country wide, including improved teacher salary and benefits.

Increased opportunities for employment in all sectors.

Improve economic sustainability, including investing in infrastructure to support a global network of goods and production.

FDC

Fighting corruption, poverty.

Equitable distribution of resources,

Job creation and reforming the education sector,

Investing in agriculture and health sector.

Inter-party cooperation(IPC) promised to implement federalism as the best way to govern Uganda.

IPC also promised to trim the government in order to cut public expenditure.

NRM

Prosperity for all

Adding value to agricultural produce,

Industrialization,

Expansion in the education and health sectors

Expanding the provision of clean and safe water to urban areas, trading centers and villages.

Developing the petroleum resource

Realisation of the political federation of East Africa.

Ensuring environmental management

UPC

Create two million jobs in four years

Reconstructing and modernising of schools, hospitals and health care centres.

The budget to agriculture will be increased to 15 per cent

Revive cooperatives.

Investing in health sector by 15 percent.

Rehabilitate the 22 hospitals and the 13 regional referral hospitals built by the former UPC governments