DIPLOMAT East Africa - Volume 4

>>Diplomatic Events Galore PGS 28-29, 40-41 July 2010

Volume 004

Door to Region, Window on World

Geopolitics of Terrorism

Undercurrents of US Veep's Visit

Joe Biden

WILD MIGRATION >>: Maasai Mara Marvels PG 56 WATER WARS >>: Nile Jitters PG 20 Kenya KSh300

Uganda USh9000

Tanzania TSh7500

Rwanda RWFr3000

Burundi BUFr6000

South Africa R30

Rest of Africa US$4

USA $4

UK £3

Canada $5

Rest of Europe €3.5

•DIPLOMATIC LICENCE

O

Beware Pitffalls of EA

ptimism about a bold new East Africa has been growing apace. This month, the Common Market protocol, signed last November by the heads of state of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda transcends into a treaty. This comes close on the heels of the January 2010 promulgation of the Customs Union.

Next in the gathering moment on the path to the proposed 2015 East Africa political federation is a single currency anticipated by 2013. All these accolades are quite in order, but should East Africans pop the champagne bottles just yet?

Questions abound about the viability and feasibility of a political federation by 2015 – only five years away!

One can be excused for opining that the fast pace of integration is more a matter for EAC bureaucrats and technocrats than that of the 120 million-plus region’s populace.

Granted that ministries of East African Affairs have been holding sessions to publicise the supra national project. Still, it would appear that only a few bureaucrats are in the know, regarding even the most mundane of details relating to such a far reaching proposition. And even then, some of the first line beneficiaries of the integration ideal are in doubt as to the success of the integration process. Worse still, it has become evident that some Government officials in some countries are outright opposed to some of the measures being put in place.

Take the business community for instance. Ululating and celebrating in Arusha last November after it was announced the region would be a Customs Union, many a captain of industry has since revised this enthusiasm downwards. So have many traders.

The roll out of the Customs Union has not facilitated the movement of goods across borders in the way the business community had envisaged. The challenge, nay, roadblock to the smooth flow of goods across borders has been simply intransigence on the part of member countries, and accusations have been flowing back and forth. Skeptics, particularly those that had whetted appetites about super profits from wider markets, are now putting a damper on the even more intricate Common Market as it comes into force. If in doubt, just ask members of the East African Business Council.

On this score, it is critical that the frustrations of businesses, such as immigration officers at border points who won’t acquiesce to the new customs re-

gime, be addressed once and for all before delving into the more ambitious Common Market. If impediments to the movement of goods still exist months after the region became a fully fledged Customs Union, how much more difficult will it be for capital, labour and services to flow across borders as the Common Market treaty proposes? And how about negotiations for a single currency in a short three years!

It must be appreciated that engendering a truly regional entity is an intensely political process fraught with fragility of the attendant socio-cultural and historical milieu and antecedents. The whispered word is that decisions were rammed down the throats of unwilling partners who then appended their signatures to documents but secure in the knowledge that they had no intentions of implementing them.

The socio-economic benefits of a unified East African Community are manifold and need not detain us here, but this does not mean that East Africans should plunge headlong into it without thinking through the potential challenges. It is the hallmark of a strategist to cast his or her gaze ahead and plan ways EAC must be for and means of overcoming or and about the avoiding hurdles.

Citizens While it is quite in order for the negotiating teams to hammer out deals rapidly and urgently, it would be important for deliberate ownership and involvement of the general populace to be factored in. This far, the opinion of East African peoples has not been sought vigorously enough on the twin issues of a Customs Union and a Common Market, which are seen as the foundation blocks to an East African nation. It could be argued that when the Presidents appended their signatures to protocols and treaties, they have, by extension decided for and on behalf of the citizens they represent. But as the European Union case has shown, committing citizens to intenational decisions of necessity requires their say so. To this end, Ambassador Juma Mwapachu’s secretariat would be well advised to propose and pursue no less than a referendum or at least voting on these issues by national parliaments.

This would be a particularly crucial ingredient enroute to negotiations on the monetary union

July 2010

11

•IMMUNITIES & IMPUNITIES

Heard and Quoted “It remains to be seen whether traditional fans would allow somebody to stand next to them blowing one of those things and making that racket” – A Spokesman of the English Premier League on the rapid sales of the vuvuzelas in the UK

“It is impossible to communicate; it’s like being deaf” – Lionel Messi, Argentine superstar on the distraction caused by the noise made by the vuvuzelas during a match

“To answer all your messages regarding the vuvuzelas, I have always said that Africa has a different rhythm, a different sound. I don’t see banning the music traditions of fans in their own country. Would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions of your country?”

— FIFA President Sepp Blatter responding to calls he bans vuvuzelas from World Cup matches on his twitter

2

July 2010

“It seems like the bad publicity has been good for us. We’re completely sold out. Every time we manufacture more, the next morning by noon we’re sold out” — Brandon Bernado owner of

vuvuzela.co.za website and factory on the controversy surrounding the vuvuzela (plastic horns) at the World Cup in South Africa

“It’s actually very dangerous. Vuvuzelas can produce 200 decibels of noise – which basically sounds like a herd of elephants approaching” – Lindy Gordon-Brown, who runs an online

business selling earplugs, on the dangers of the vuvuzela noise

•DIPLOSPEAK Have Your Say

African Party Story was Spot on...

SPORTS Your articles” Envoys of Sport “are quite descriptive and detailed….

After reading them, it became enticing enough for me to watch the tournament and get into the football fever.

I have been going through the articles over and over as the tournament progresses. However it is my view that the author spoke too soon, assuming that South Africa and other African countries would qualify for finals just because the tournament is on African soil. All the same it is disappointing that most African countries did not qualify past group matches……

Explanations abound, and several among them include; lack of depth among the national teams, weak youth development programs, governing bodies that lack world-class professionalism, and perhaps most notably; overreliance on non-African coaches hired for brief World Cup tenures are some of the explanations for failure by the African teams One of the articles anticipated referees following rules and players playing by the rules but we clearly did not see this in the Brazil vs. Ivory Coast game.

As the tournament draws to a close, I look forward to analyses as indepth as your pre-game stories.

I have been going through the articles over and over as the tournament progresses.

However it is my view that

the author spoke too soon, assuming that South Africa and other African countries would qualify

Jovial Kayomonzi Kampala, Uganda.

FASHION I was attracted by the review of fashion on Paulin-George fashion and design. A woman’s beauty comes out in the way she dresses and clearly the picture of PaulinaGeorge shows exactly that. Pauline is a complete replica of an African beauty with brains. The story of how she started her business and her achievements was quite encouraging. I was also amazed by the wide array of collections that she offers. I would like to know what floor her business is located at 680 Hotel since I am planning to shop for African wear and I think her shop is the right one to visit.

JOHN ONYANGO Nairobi

Jovial Kayomonzi Kampala, Uganda

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July 2010

I was rather perturbed by Wanjohi Kabukuru’s article on wildlife crime. Needless to say, he hit the nail on the head but this was not news.

The fact that the Internet has become man’s greatest foe to the point of being a fast growing marketplace for wildlife related crime is lamentable. Interestingly, the IFAW report that seeks to shed more light on the wildlife trade is an effort in futility as far as East Africa is concerned.

For us to adopt a wait and see approach every time matters of crime and national security rear their ugly heads is a habit that we can only blame on ourselves.

Can't we just adopt our own solutions? East African Community countries are major players in the wildlife trade majorly because of the many wildlife species in the region.

This in itself should be reason enough for our governments to take stern action against poachers. I believe your magazine should focus more on fauna and flora. Give us more of Kabukuru’s stuff and we are sure to look forward to reading it more and more.

Kadzoe Jilado Kampala, Uganda

>>Diplomatic Events Galore PGS 28-29, 40-41

Volume No 004 • July 2010

Door to Region, Window on World

Geopolitics of Terrorism

Undercurrents of US Veep's Visit

Joe Biden

WILD MIGRATION >>: Maasai Mara Marvels PG 56 WATER WARS >>: Nile Jitters PG 20

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Contents Table of

EDITORIAL Editorial Director: Kwendo Opanga Managing Editor: Bob Job Wekesa Consulting Editor: Matt K Gathigira Culture Editor: Ngari Gituku Staff Writers: Wycliffe Muga, Patrick Wachira, Jane Mwangi, Baron Khamadi, Christopher Mburu, Kiishweko Orton, Carol Gachiengo, Rita Njoroge, Gthoni Muraya, Mercy Njung'e

MARKETING & SALES Marketing Director: Simon Mugo

BUSINESS MANAGER Kristine Oloo

PG 52

BUSINESS EXECUTIVES Joseph Ngina Chris Nyaoro Derrick Wanjawa Eunice Kiarie Paul Mucheru

DESIGN TEAM Daniel Kihara Raphael Mokora

PHOTOGRAPHY

DIPLOMATIC LICENCE IMMUNITIES AND IMPUNITIES.......... 2 THE REGION

CONTRIBUTORS

Ethiopia: Election and After .................................... 6 Regions Governments of National Unity................. 7 Burundi: Election Worries........................................ 8 Kenya: Honary Consuls’ Strategy............................. 9

CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTION Stephen Otieno

ADMINISTRATION Josephine Wambui

PRINTER Ramco Printing Works

DISCLAIMER: Diplomat East Africa may not be copied and or transmitted or stored in any way or form, electronically or otherwise, without the prior and written consent of the publisher. Diplomat East Africa is published at Vision Plaza, Ground Floor, Suite 19, Mombasa Road, by Global Village Publishers (EA) Limited, Box 23399 – 0625, and Telephone 020-2525253/4/5. Registered at the GPO as a newspaper.

Humour Break........................................................ 34-35

Beware Pitfalls of East Africa Integration................. 1

Yahya Mohamed Biko Jackson, Nairobi Godwin Muhwezi, Arusha Edward Githae, Kigali Silvia Rugina, Kigali Godfrey Musila, Johannesburg John Gachie, Juba John Mulaa, Washington DC Julius Mbaluto, London Manoah Esipisu, London Mildred Ngesa, Nairobi Mishaeli Ondieki, Los Angeles Rodney Muhumuza, Kampala Peter Mwaura, Nairobi Robert Mugo, Alberta, Canada Wangari Maathai, Nairobi

PG 56

DNA Cover: US Veep Joe Biden’s Visit........................10-13 Children’s Rights...................................................... 14 Ambassador Joseph Muchemi’s Forced Recall......15 Somalia’s Unceasing Woes.................................16-17 Sudan's Arms Race Unravelled .........................18-19 Feud over Niles Water.........................................20-21

CULTURE Music Genres of East Africa......................................... 36 French: The Language of Diplomacy ......................... 37 Roots of African Diplomacy........................................ 38 Expressive Art............................................................... 39

DEA HOTELS SAROVA PANAFRIC: Refreshing African Hospitality............................... 40-43

CONFRENCING Islamic Banking Debunked ................................... 44-45

PERSPECTIVES German Ambassador on Piracy.................................. 46

GLOBAL STAGE

GREENS AGENDA

Gaza Flotilla Attack Fall Out........................................ 48

United Nations Urges Protection of Planet Earth ................................ 24-25 Eco-friendly Infrastructure......................................26 Preparing for Climate Change Negotiations Round 11...............................27

US EAST AFRICA Friendship...................................... 50

ODYSSEYS ENVOYS OF SPORTS 17TH African Senior Athletics Championship..... 52-55

ECONOMY From Common Markets to Monetary Union.........30 Doing Business Scorecard.......................................31 Corporate Philanthropy.......................................... 33

TRAVEL The DEA –MANIAGO Safaris Wildebeest Migration Deal.................................... 56-57

July 2010

55

•THE REGION Eastern Africa Beat

ETHIOPIA: Elections and after

Politics as Usual

E

thiopia’s recent elections drew the criticism of Western observers but Addis Ababa believes Africa’s oldest independent state is on the threshold of a new era.

The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and its allies won 545 seats in the 547-member Parliament, giving Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who has been in power since 1991, another five-year term.

According to the National Electoral Board, EPRDF won 499 parliamentary seats while its allies won 46.

EPRDF is hailing the emphatic victory in the May 28 polls as the continued triumph of democracy which has been in place for nearly 17 years following the ouster of Mengistu Haile Mariam’s military dictatorship.

Ethiopia’s ambassador to Kenya, Mr Disasa Dirribsa, feels that his country, the Horn of Africa’s most populous, has entered a new phase in its history by entrenching multiparty democracy and adopting an internationally accepted Political Parties Election Code of Conduct.

The code, he said, was signed by majority parties which took part in the elections.

The joint party forum at the national and regional levels, a creation of the code of conduct, was also held to resolve conflicts that arose in the course of the election campaigns.

6

July 2010

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

Ethiopia’s opposition cries foul as Meles Zenawi scores big in elections, writes PATRICK WACHIRA

However, the country’s main opposition alliance has gone to court after the electoral board rejected its plea to re-run the election. The eight-party alliance. Medrek, or Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia, won just a single seat.

Medrek had rejected pleas by some opposition parties to boycott the elections.

But the envoy said the technical framework for elections had improved considerably in the last five years, thereby widening the democratic space for all players.

More than 60 political parties, he said, took part in the polls. Some 32

prime minister zenawi:

Big win

million registered voters, against a population of an estimated 90 million, cast their ballots in the polls, which Mr Dirribsa described as free, fair, peaceful and credible.

“The voter turn-out was massive, a clear demonstration of the fact that Ethiopians now have a better understanding of elections.

They voted for the political party that they felt met their aspirations.

Indeed, the electoral environment was more favourable and peaceful than ever before”, he said.

The ambassador holds that allegations by American and European Union observers that the poll was not free and fair were baseless. Ethiopians, he said, voted for peace, stability, security and development in order to bolster a democratic culture in their motherland.

Mr Dirribsa described as historic the decision by the incumbent government to allocate funds for political parties’ election campaigns “to further enhance multiparty democracy in our country”.

The ambassador praised the good bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Kenya, saying the ties would be further buttressed when Addis Ababa begins selling surplus electricity to Nairobi after completion of the Gibbe III dam.

The construction and rehabilitation of two road links between Ethiopia and Kenya would see Addis Ababa export and import goods through the port of Mombasa he pointed

•THE REGION Eastern Africa Beat

Team of rivals

Which Way Coalitions

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

L

eaders at the May 2010 World Economic Forum on Africa in Dar es Salaam strongly scoffed at the emerging model of Governments of National Unity (GNUs).

As a solution to serious political crises, which often have led to violence, they said the growing popularity of this alternative, raises a series of questions on the constitutional legitimacies.

Questions were raised as to whether GNUs work, and whether they contribute to better governance on the conflict-prone continent.

“It is clear that these agreements bring stability to particular countries as the case in Kenya, where the agreement between (Prime Minister) Odinga and (President) Kibaki served to bring to an end the postelectoral violence”, former Tanzania President Bejamin Mkapa said.

A point of view expressed was that had the popular will reflected in the votes, been respected in Kenya and Zimbabwe Presidents Kibaki and Mugabe would have stepped down after the elections.

Mr Motsabe Francis from the Young Global Leadership organisation, opined through fraud and violence first followed by the signing of GNU agreements soon after, both remain in power.

Zimbabwe’s Vice President Professor Mutambara, himself a partaker in a coalition arrangement said it was equally important to determine

It was a major meeting of economic and business minds, but political economy ended up taking centre stage, KIISHWEKO ORTON notes of the World Economic Forum

the extent to which coalition solutions can be positive by analysing the functioning of the GNUs and their progress.

Another participant from Kenya, Ofwono Xavier, said another important risk involved in the formation of a GNU is that the leaders of the main political parties may become complacent leading to a lack of a response to the demands of the populace.

On the issue of prospects for a GNU in Zanzibar, Mkapa opined that Zanzibaris should be given a chance to decide on whether they would want a GNU or not, indicative of the rising interest in this form of governance.

“GNUs depend on different country circumstances where there is an unfortunate reality that none of the parties can form a government,’’ Mr. Mkapa observed, seemingly pushing for the isles to go the

premiers:

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (left) meets his counterpart of Tanzania PM Mizengo Pinda on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Dar es salaam

GNU way. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said there may not be a political recipe for all African countries, noting that all depended on different circumstances and realities. “We cannot have blanket recommendations for every country across the continent,” he said, adding: ‘‘Whether GNUs should be permanent or not all depends on the political situations”.

UN Under Secretary General Anna Tibaijuka, who is also Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Porgramme, was of the view that post-election disagreements were becoming rampant in Africa due to the problem of ‘constitutional legitimacy’.

Ironically, Mr Tsavangirai, the Zimbabwean Prime Minister told the forum that he did not believe coalition governments were the best solution to solving post election conflicts

July 2010

77

•THE REGION Eastern Africa Beat

BURUNDI: Will peace hold?

Election Worries

A

ny hope that the highly staggered elections in troubled Burundi would pass without incident were quickly forgotten once the plebiscite kicked off in late May. Although violence has not escalated to the genocide proportions of yesteryears, the polls, whose results have yet to be validated according to the electoral code, mark a situation further compounded by the opposition’s refusal to accept the outcome.

International observers also agree that due process and the electoral rules have not been respected fully.

There are warnings in the air that a fresh round of killings along ethnic lines could ensue.

A trail of election related attacks has left 21 people injured in the town of Kayanza in northern Burundi. The attacks targeted the homes of local opposition leaders, namely the main parliamentary opposition Frodebu and National Liberation Forces (FNL).

SUSPECTS

What is new is that this time round, suspects have been apprehended and taken into police custody for questioning by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s Government.

Some pundits however opine that those apprehended are small fry, as the attacks are seen as orchestrated by party and factional bigwigs in and out of Government.

What is particularly disconcerting is that grenades – fairly handy weapons for the antagonists – have been lobbed into social places and houses. Burundi’s post-independence history of military dictatorship and war is a reality that rocks the fable

8

July 2010

of peaceful elections. Past incidents of military and guerrilla warfare have followed a cyclic approach starting with isolated incidents such as grenade attacks that eventually graduate to mass killings. Such was the case in1993 when, three months after elections were held, the duly elected president was assassinated and military rule resumed.

This time around, the country has embarked on a rigorous four-month electoral period that ends in September 2010. The process commenced with the May 24 communal elections, followed by the June 28 presidential election that will give way to the election of deputies due on July 23. At the fourth tier will be senatorial elections slated for July 28. Villagebased elections which will be held on September 7 will bring down the curtain on what is ranked as one the world’s most staggered electioneering process.

DEMOCRACY

Unlike the 2005 election where parliamentarians played a key voting role this time round, universal suffrage is at play. The ongoing elections aim to remain true to the ethos of universal suffrage thanks to a system created to mediate democracy in the war scarred country.

Staggered, mediated or otherwise, the innovative elections have already stirred the hornet’s nest. On June 1 2010, five opposition candidates, including Agathon Rwasa said to be the strongest contender against the incumbent, withdrew alleging that the government intended to rig it. This therefore leaves Pierre Nkurunziza without a challenger. Nkurunziza, a born again Christian and former rebel leader, is indeed widely expected

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

Burundi s Staggered Electioneering

By DEA CORRESPONDENT

PRESIDENT NKURUNZIZA:

Election blues

to win a second term. Alleging that fraud took place, the opposition and threatened to skip the June 28 presidential election and the July legislative elections.

The international community is waiting with bated breath to see if the elections will engender stability for Burundi, particularly because the country has enjoyed relative peace since the Forces for National Liberation, the last Hutu guerrilla group, agreed to lay down weapons and join the government last year. Analysts opine that the only way to end Burundi’s current electoral crisis is to organize talks between all stakeholders in the electoral process.

The elections are seen as a litmus test for the peace and solidity of the coffee-producing country of 8 million people. They are also widely viewed as a measure of the state of social and political relations in verifying whether the fledgling peace process will be consolidated. Many Burundians are hopeful that the ongoing peace engendering process will lead to a new era putting an end to the country’s chequered past.

DEATHS

Indeed, many would wish to forget the dark episode that led to the death of more than 300,00 deaths; tearing communities apart along ethnic lines. Citizen were and remain traumatised in the tiny, poor country.

United Nations chief Mr Ban Kimoon, while on a visit to Burundi on June 9 congratulated Burundians for reaching peace following a 12-year civil war. Ki-moon addressed Burundian parliamentarians, among them several opposition leaders such as Agathon Rwasa, the leader of the former rebellion, the National Libera-

•THE REGION Eastern Africa Beat

KENYA: Strategic missions

Minister Wetangula looks to reduce cost, writes RITA NJOROGE

he first conference for Kenya’s honorary consuls was held at the Windsor Golf Hotel in Nairobi from June 5 to 13, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The conference was held to appraise the honorary consuls serving Kenya’s interests on the country’s foreign policy objectives, priorities and their role in actualizing them.

It was also aimed at according the honorary consuls an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the current state of country’s development.

Vice President Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka stressed the need for the consuls to be briefed on what the Government wished to accomplish through them.

“The conduct of Kenya’s diplomacy involves carrying out activities under the pillars of economic, political, peace, diaspora, environmental and cultural diplomacy”, he said, adding that Kenya’s 50 diplomatic missions were the main drivers of the country’s diplomacy abroad.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Moses Wetang’ula pointed out the need to create consulate offices in cities with huge Kenyan populations such as Atlanta, New York, Miami, Houston and Chicago in the U.S. In the middle East and Asia he mentioned Karachi in Pakistan, Guangzhou in China, Manilla in Philippines, Mumbai in India, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Istanbul, Turkey and Shirazin in Iran as the cities where honorary consuls will be established.

In Europe he said honorary consuls will be set up in Poland and Prague in the Czech Republic as well as Bucharest in Romania.

PHOTO: MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

T

Honorary Consuls to the Call

The Minister further noted that Kenya had a mission only in Abuja West leaving key West Africa Capitals such as Accra and Dakar unrepresented. Central Africa, he claimed held great potential for increased trade hence the consideration of consular offices in Goma or Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has adopted the policy of increasing its consular representation to reduce operational costs and restructure Kenya’s missions abroad. As Kenya seeks to strengthen and expand its diplomatic presence within the region and abroad, there’s an evident shift to embrace the concept of economic and trade diplomacy.

This demands alignment with economic blocs of strategic importance to forge closer links with strong economic powers.

During the briefing, financial and economic limitations were said to be the underlying reason for the establishment of few missions abroad. The necessity of maintaining close liaison and links with the

BRIEFING:

President Kibaki and Minister Wetangula consults with Kenya's honorary consuls

Government of host countries and their business communities on behalf of the sending country was emphasized.

The honorary consuls were briefed on the need to provide Kenyans in the Diaspora with consular services as they were recognized by the Government as crucial in the development of the country.” The Diaspora is well positioned to influence policies both at home and in host countries”, Permanent Secretary Thuita Mwangi said. They were also called upon to promote Kenya as an investment destination in line with Vision 2030.

Members of the business community and heads of Economic and Trade Organizations in Nairobi and Mombasa also met with the Honorary Consuls. This was in a bid to facilitate establishment of direct links and future liaison with them.

The countries represented by the Consuls included Germany, Jordan, Lebanon, Canada, Morocco, Greece and Turkey. Others were Iran, Bangladesh, India, Australia, Singapore and Italy

July 2010

99

•DNA

Diplomacy•News•Analysis

Kenya – US ties

Biden Hails Historical Relations, Laments Graft

L

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

adies and gentlemen, it’s great to be in your beautiful country.

I come here as a representative of the United States to say one thing, one primary message —the United States stands with you, stands with you on your journey to a secure, free, democratic, and prosperous Kenya.

On December 12, 1963, 50,000 Kenyans filled the stadium in Nairobi and 200,000 more packed the hillsides around the stadium. An entire nation’s eyes watched as, at the stroke of midnight, the new Kenyan flag was unfurled for the first time, making Kenya the 34th independent state in Africa.

Earlier that week, American President Lyndon Baines Johnson sent a congratulatory letter to Prime Minister Kenyatta, welcoming Kenya to the family of nations and comparing Kenya’s journey toward independence with that of America’s. And he said, and I quote, “as our own freedom for all our citizens was proclaimed to the world by our Declaration of Independence, so Kenya’s freedom begins with her declaration of independence today.”

Some 50 years later, the promise of that day still pulses through this country, on the bustling streets of Nairobi, to Mount Kenya, from the coastal shores of Mombasa to the plains of the Maasai Mara. Once, the wealth of a nation was defined by the expanse of

Joe Biden

10

In a wide ranging speech delivered at Nairobi’s KICC, US Vice President reckons Kenya’s potential has yet to be realised, urges political reform laced with heavy doses of optimism. DEA’s BOB WEKESA picks choicest excerpts from the speech

July 2010

its land, the size of its population or the strength of its army, the abundance of its natural resources. But, now, we know that the true wealth of a nation is found in its human capital, in the skill, ingenuity, and determination of its people. And by that measure, Kenya is a very wealthy nation.

Indeed, Kenya is a rich nation.

You have no oil. You have no precious minerals. But you have built the largest non-oil, non-mineral based economy in sub-Saharan Africa. You have become the hub for the transportation for the goods and people that flow through East Africa.

And you are the financial capital of East Africa.

Your diplomats have helped solve some of Africa’s most intractable problems. Your military is small in number, but large in stature, helping to bring stability to Sierra Leone to East Timor. You’ve produced world-renowned scientists, geneticists, environmentalists, writers, and a Nobel Prize winner.

Enlightenment

At the heart of this success is a conviction that education has the potential to transform a nation—seven public universities, over 20 private ones, among the most of any on the continent of Africa; a determination to make primary and secondary education available to all, although there’s a long way to go.

•DNA

Diplomacy•News•Analysis

Americans know first-hand your commitment to education.

Thousands of our citizens have studied in Kenya. And Kenyans have long been among the largest groups of African students at American universities. And today, Kenyans are the largest group of African students at American universities. And that tradition goes back before your independence. One of the earliest pioneers was a fellow named Barack Obama Sr., the father of a man who is now the President of the United States of America.

Next January, the referendum on the future of southern Sudan envisioned by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement will occur, and it must be credible and it must be peaceful. Sudan is hurtling toward a monumental decision that demands urgent international attention and preparation. And far too many of the people in Sudan’s Darfur region continue to live with unacceptable insecurity. These regional issues are all on your doorstep. They are felt in your communities. They are present, real challenges that we must work on together in partnership to address.

Too many of your resources have been lost to corruption, and not a single high-level official has ever been held accountable for these crimes. Too many of your institutions have lost the people’s confidence.

The crisis that gripped Kenya in the wake of the 2007 elections revealed just how dangerous these forces can be. They are dangerous, but they are not immovable.

Change is within your grasp.

Reforms

Your coalition government has agreed to a reform agenda that would bring about the fundamental change that Kenyans are seeking. If implemented fully, corrupt officials will be finally held accountable.

The judiciary and the police force will place the pursuit of justice above the pursuit of personal gain.

Folks in my 36 years experience on the world stage, stability ultimately rests on the separation of powers. The truth is, better governance is not just an end in itself, it is your path to a lasting democratic stability and your ultimate stability.

And, I might add it’s the best Meltdown route to economic prosperity, The global financial crisis sparking job creation, opening up dampened your economy, slowing opportunity, and improving the demand for Kenyan goods abroad way of life for Kenyans everywhere. and lessened the flow of tourists Reform will also encourage eager to see Kenya’s natural beauty. foreign investment which depends Global climate change is not a upon stability, transparency, the phenomenon of Kenya’s making, but rule of law, and the crackdown on its consequences affect your forests, corruption. So if you make these your harvests, and your way of life. changes, I promise you, new foreign Kenya feels the effects of these private investment will come in like problems and should, because of you’ve never seen and you will have your wealth of human capital, be a a reinvigorated tourism industry part of a global solution—a strong that will exceed the billion dollars it African voice on the international was before the economic crisis. stage. But that voice has been muted Balkans by internal problems—problems that I know from my personal have held you back from making an experience, change is never even greater contribution.

Sudan is hurtling toward a monumental decision that demands urgent

international attention and preparation.

easy. And change in circumstances like yours is extremely difficult.

Fundamental change is never easy.

But I also know from personal experience that it’s possible. I’ve seen it happen around the world.

As a young senator, I’ve stood in the capitals of Sarajevo and Pristina—in the Balkans. From the Balkans to the Middle East to Eastern Europe, I have seen dark paths transform, through the will of the people, to bring about brighter futures.

In the 1990s, I stood in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and in Pristina, Kosovo, and witnessed the god-awful carnage and the blood running in the rivers, the ethnic cleansing that we thought we’d never see again in Europe. I saw the carnage and the hate.

I sat in refugee centers. I sat in homes and heard about how neighbors who had been friends for years literally hacked one another to death in their backyards once Slobodan Milosevic’s ugly, ugly violence took hold. The hate, it seemed to know no bounds. And it seemed like it would never end.

But, the people of those countries, they made a choice.

They ultimately rejected violence.

They drew a line on the past and today they are looking toward a future. And they’ve given up their own vile criminals to the international courts, which is part of the reconciliation that was needed, acknowledging their individual responsibilities.

It was a choice that not only is changing their future, but is changing the future of that entire portion of Europe. And just one year ago, I was in Romania celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the fall of communism and the wall.

And I said then, “Now, when we think of central Europe... we don’t think of what we can do for you, but what we can do with you”

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Diplomacy•News•Analysis

WHOSE INTERESTS

Cracking the Somalia Problem

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

US nudges Kenya to take the lead but at whose cost?, poses BEN GWANG’A

U

S Vice-President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Kenya clearly demonstrated that the sole superpower expects Nairobi to take the lead in providing a lasting solution to the Somali problem.

But the question is whether the new approach is to protect Kenyan or US interests in the region, as al-Shabaab, the Somali insurgent group, poses an increasing security threat to East Africa.

It is no secret that al-Shabaab —with the strong support of Osa-

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ma bin Laden’s al-Qaeda— is now a major threat to American installations and interests in the region.

The visit was seen as a signal to Washington’s determination to bolster support for the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which has been braving the onslaught of the Islamic insurgents.

Thus, Kenya was expecting the US to announce specific programmes that can enable it to provide leadership in the search for a solution to the Somalia problem.

Yet, the only concrete help from Mr Biden—at least in public—was

THIS WAY SIR:

President Kibaki, flanked by PM Odinga welcome Biden at State Nairobi

that the US is Government will assist Kenya secure its borders with Somalia.

However Somalia watchers are of the view that the US is more keen on sealing the border to prevent attacks on its installations and interests in East Africa, which is still not a long term solution to the Somalia problem.

Kenya would rather the US puts in a good word with the UN Security Council to upgrade the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to a peace enforcing outfit with complete funding by the global body.

AMISOM first entered Somalia in September 2007 in readiness for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops in January 2008. But a weak mandate and insufficient troops are hampering efforts by AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to drive alShabaab out of Mogadishu, three years down the line.

The latest experience with the US intervention has been the war against piracy off the Somali coast.

The US and EU naval ships that are manning the Indian Ocean are not only carrying out pre-emptive attacks on pirates, but are also keen on arresting them and shipping them to Kenya for trials. Yet, very few of these countries are willing to underwrite the cost of trials and the danger that such trials expose Kenya to.

Despite midwifing the 2004 Somali peace deal, Kenya has always

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Diplomacy•News•Analysis

wanted to be seen to be operating within the parameters of Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), not withstanding the reality that as a frontline state, the chaos in Somalia is hurting it more than any other country in the region.

Early last year, the US asked Kenya to prevent its territory from being used by some airlines to ferry suspected terrorists to Somalia.

It is not clear whether Kenya has the capacity to implement this request and also whether it would not amount to interference in private enterprises.

CITIZEN

By being seen to be working closely with US to fight al-Shabaab, Kenya could become a target of other international terrorist groups.

Furthermore, there is fear that by getting directly involved in Somalia, Kenya could antagonise its own 2 million citizens of Somali origin and Muslims in general.

The conflict is not a Somalia conflict anymore and there are suspicions that some individuals, mostly in the senior leadership of al-Shabaab, are affiliated either directly or indirectly with international terrorist groups, such as alQaeda. The US has no choice but to help Kenya and other IGAD members find a lasting solution to the Somali problem.

In mid June, the US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Mr Johnnie Carson, indicated that the Obama administration had placed Africa high on the agenda, unlike the previous administrations that overlooked the conflict.

He reiterated that US policy in Somalia is guided by support for the Djibouti peace process. The Djibouti peace process is an African-led initiative which enjoys the

Kenya is a frontline state and a country with the highest population of Kenyans of Somali stock.

Kenya suffers from insecurity and the drain on its social resources, thanks to the conflicts.

Washington on its part is more concerned with al-Shabaab’s possible influence on moderate Muslim populations throughout the Horn of Africa, especially in the face of widespread unemployment that makes the youth targets of recruitment by the rebels. Kenya, since 2004 has been accused of having an incoherent policy towards Somalia, leaving Ethiopia to take charge.

support of IGAD. “The US recognises that any long-term solution to the crisis in Somalia must be an inclusive political solution,” he stated.

That being the case, the US has provided limited military support to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) led by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, but has denied directly coordinating the military operations of the TFG. The US has supported (AMISOM) by assisting in acquisition of non-lethal equipment to the governments of Burundi and Uganda which have deployed their troops in Mogadishu. It has also provided military equipment, communications gear and uniforms. The US has also supported the training of TFG forces outside of Somalia, mostly in Uganda and Djibouti.

HESITATion

But this indirect US involvement, coupled with the hesitation of other African countries to send troops to Somalia, has put AMISOM in a precarious situation.

Since its debacle in Mogadishu in the early 1990s, the US has not been keen to be directly involved in the Somalia conflict. After years of keeping aloof, Washington teamed up with Ethiopia at the end of 2006 to oust the moderate Union of Islamic Courts with the intention of flushing out terrorists.

This experiment collapsed early last year, when Ethiopia withdrew without destroying terrorists’ cells. The invasion instead saw the strengthening of al-Shabaab, which had become more radical during the Ethiopia occupation, and which was no longer under the influence of the religious courts.

Even though al-Shabaab may not be a threat to Kenya because of its capacity on the battlefront,

ACCOMODATIVE

The US has provided limited military support to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) led by

President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, but has denied directly coordinating the military operations of the TFG.

On the other hand, Kenya keeps on bending backwards to accommodate US interests in the region, but US has been snubbing Kenya’s needs and interests unless they are connected to terrorism. It is still too early to tell whether the Obama administration will change this approach, especially in relation to Somalia.

AMISOM has the mandate of peace-keeping and is not allowed to act as a peace enforcer. The initial plan was to have over 8,000 troops on the ground contributed by various countries.

Uganda was the first to send approximately 1,500 troops, followed

by Burundi a while later. Another contingent of Ugandans, was deployed in February 2008, some of which were rotated.

Then the Second Burundian battalion landed in February 2008.

Ghana and Nigeria were supposed to follow in March 2008, but nothing has materialised. Uganda and Burundi have offered to augment their forces, but other countries seem to think that this could turn the Somalia mission into a Uganda/Burundi affair

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Diplomacy•News•Analysis

RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

Shattered Innocence

By GATHONI MURAYA

KENYA

At the eighth Session of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on the human rights record of countries as reviewed by member states held May 3-14, 2010, Kenya was rated as one of the most childfriendly states, in the region.

The commendation, coming from the Angolan delegation, was as a result of the African Report in 2008, but the country is still experiencing rising cases of child abuse, including lack of access to basic rights that include food, water, shelter, clothing and education.

Free Primary Education (FPE), perhaps the biggest positive step that the current Government has successfully undertaken in ensuring all children in the country have a right to uni-

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versal primary education, is now shrouded in corruption.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has also raised concerns on whether the government is considering a national plan on children’s rights.

Child marriages and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) have been greatly reduced by concerted government efforts in collaboration with NGOs as well as the UN, but the UN urges more action — especially towards ending FGM. In Kenya there is now a gender recovery centre at the national referral hospital. Police officers are also being trained in handling crimes related to children.

Statistics from Childline Kenya, indicate that only 20 per cent of child abuse cases in the country are reported.

UGANDA

As Uganda was vying for a seat in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which it won, there were calls from a group of human rights organisations on the authorities to commit to reforms to protect human rights.

Elections to the UNHRC were held in the UN General Assembly on May 13, 2010. UN General Assembly resolution 60/251 which established the UNHRC envisioned elections in which states would compete for membership. Countries including Uganda which goes to the polls in 2011, are required to issue pledges, and commitments.

But there have been worrying trends of upsurges in child abuse in Uganda. An article headlined, "Child sacrifice and ritual murders rise in Uganda as famine looms," published in The Observer, talked of a surge in deaths and kidnapping of children among the poor linked to witch-doctors and organ trafficking.

SUDAN

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

T

he United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR)has appointed a Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, in view of the rising incidence of Child abuse cases.

In eastern Africa and across the sub-Saharan continent, children continue to be the innocent victims of civil strife, domestic conflict and gross human rights violations compounded by issues of poverty and political turmoil. But the situation is showing signs of improvement as states ratify, enact and domesticate various laws and instruments.

ANGUISH:

Taking action for vulnerable minors

The issue of children’s rights has been longstanding, with violations such as recruitment of young boys as soldiers and the marrying off of underage girls in both North and South. But in April 2009, the Child Act was enacted as law by Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir.

The legislation passed through some contentious debates on issues such as female genital mutilation and child adoption, a matter complicated by wide-scale abductions in some areas in the South. It was a step in the right direction for the issue of children’s rights has for too long been placed on the back banner in the complexities of Sudan politics.

Director of the UN Children’s Fund in Southern Sudan, Peter Crowley, voiced praise for the legislation, calling it “a major milestone in creating a protective environment in which children can enjoy their rights to health, education and other basic services, to access information, to express their views, and to be protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation and harm”

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Diplomacy•News•Analysis

RELUCTANT EXIT

Envoy's Forced Recall

By DEA CORRESPONDENT

I

n-between sips of wine from Stellenbosch, South Africa, and the beautiful California valleys, cocktails on the diplomatic circuit in London were ablaze at the start of 2010 with news of the improbable: An ambassador was resisting a recall.

“It is highly embarrassing,” said an envoy from Uganda.

The diplomats were not talking about their colleague from the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru or an anarchic Somalia. They were talking about Nairobi’s man accredited to the Court of St James.

It is very rare indeed that a new ambassador arrives when the old one is still in place.

But that is exactly what happened when Ephraim W. Ngare, Kenya’s former Ambassador to Libya, arrived to take up his job in London in February.

MINISTRY

With the outgoing official, Joseph Muchemi, still very much in London, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Ministry sent a customary diplomatic note to other missions and international organisations simply stating that Mr Ngare was now the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary (high commissioner). As per tradition, the statement made no reference to Mr Muchemi, who had completed his four-year term.

Being a political appointee and way above the civil service retirement age, Muchemi could not return to the parent ministry for reassignment after his recall. But as the former senior civil servant and businessman was a close ally and financial supporter of President Mwai

Kibaki’s 2002 Presidential election, it was still unclear why Muchemi did not plead directly with the President to get him a soft landing after the London posting, opting instead to squat and sulk in Britain.

According to Kenya High Commission in the UK sources, Muchemi offered further consternation after he refused to leave the sprawling ambassadorial residence in a plush suburb. It took weeks for the former diplomat to be convinced that his actions were harming the national interest, and he should leave the residence and limousine.

RESISTANCE

But Muchemi was not the first Kenyan diplomat in London to resist returning home. The rumour mills in London also speak of another senior High Commission official who, only a year ago, played a cat-and-mouse hide-and-seek game with the Foreign Ministry — staying in London for a full year after his recall.

Unlike in Muchemi’s case, this official suffered much greater embarrassment. Returning home to attend to private business, the official showed up at the Foreign Ministry in Nairobi, as is customary for diplomats back home for whatever reason.

The Kenya Government took advantage of this to warn the UK that the diplomat’s visa and diplomatic status had been withdrawn.

When the recalcitrant officer flew back to London, he was detained at Heathrow for a day and returned home on the next flight.

He threatened to take the Government to court, but mindful that his family still needed to be repatri-

Being a political appointee and way above the Civil Service retirement age, Muchemi could not return to the parent

Ministry of Foreign Affairs for re-

assignment after his recall.

ated and being keen not to lose his benefits, he has since backed off.

London’s diplomatic rumour mills, hot on Muchemi’s case, have also highlighted how ambassadors (and high commissioners) usually do not seek internships for their children at global multilateral institutions wherever they are located as it could pose conflict of interest when a country’s interests are at stake.

In Muchemi’s case, he sought and got internship for one of his daughters at the Commonwealth Secretariat. That had the potential to affect his effectiveness when pressing the organisation to take in qualified Kenyans during their traditional competitive recruitment processes or indeed highlight any other of Kenya’s concerns.

It is a habit not witnessed in London alone. In Spain, outgoing Kenyan Ambassador Mwakio Sio cited the internship of his daughter at the World Tourism Organisation as the reason for seeking to extend his stay in Madrid when he was recalled in May. The Government gave him only one more month to wind down whatever extra unfinished business in Spain he might have.

Mr Sio is a former Principal at the Kenya Utalii College and a known political operative close to Joshuah Kulei, the former personal assistant to retired President Daniel arap Moi, both of whom appointed him Chairman of Transnational Bank, where they have considerable shareholding. He is known to be among very few diplomats who the country to which they are acredited have turned down as “unsuitable” in terms of that country’s and Kenya’s interests

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Diplomacy•News•Analysis

SOMALIA: Failed state

A Riddle inside an Enigma Piracy off the Gulf of Aden has led to a suspicious real estate boom in Nairobi, reports PATRICK WACHIRA

S

MENACING:

Indian Ocean waters most dangerous

OMALIA, arguably the world’s most completely failed state, is on the threshold of new woes, thanks to the al-Shabab militia and emerging threats.

The sprouting of the al-Shabab — allied to the dreaded al Qaeda terror group — and its take-over of parts of Mogadishu and Jowhar from government forces, is yet another sign that Somalia still cherishes its penchant for self-destruction.

Long accustomed to ceaseless clan feuds and living in situations in which violence can erupt with apparently little or no provocation, the announcement in January that Sharia law, which the al-Shabab advocates, will be applied throughout Somalia is an added ingredient into an already deadly mix.

The announcement was made by government, or what is left of it, which comprises moderate Islamists, mainly supported by the West. The spread of Sharia Law, might not sit well with the regime’s

Western backers.

Somalia is so bent on self-decimation that even the current President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, rode to power on an outfit that had styled itself the Alliance for the ReLiberation of Somalia, initially based in neighbouring Eritrea.

The European Union, concerned about this unfolding spectre of selfannihilation, has organised army training for some 2,000 Somali soldiers at Bihanga Military Base in Uganda to secure the Federal Transition Government, which is fast losing its grip on Mogadishu.

The first batch of 76 soldiers started off training in May under some 150 trainers and by the time the project is completed in June next year, the entire programme will have cost some US$6.2 million.

Mission Commander Colonel Ricardo Gonzalez Elul of the Spanish Army was quoted as expressing optimism that the project would yield dividends, but pointed out that the success of holding the army together was largely dependent on holding the troops together.

VETTING

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

There are also fears the young officers, once trained, may desert the army and go back to their original groupings. This has prompted vetting based on ethnicity, education, past human rights abuses and attitude.

Against this backdrop the African Union Mission in Somalia, (AMISOM), military component is reviewing the just over 6,200 troops on the ground in Mogadishu. The

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troops are from two Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs), Uganda and Burundi.

The military component is tasked with conducting peace support operations to stabilize the situation in order to create conditions for humanitarian activities and an immediate take-over by the UN. The component is providing protection to transitional federal institutions (TFIs) and key infrastructure. The military is also mandated to protect AMISOM personnel, installations and equipment.

MEDICINE

The component is enjoying massive popularity from the Somali people because it provides services and amenities at no cost . The military provides free medical services to both in-patients and out-patients at the Force Headquarters and in outposts. The component also provides the community with free purified water.

The Military Component is headed by Force Commander Major General Nathan Mugisha, a Ugandan national who took over in August 2009 from Major General Francis Okello. He is assisted by Major General Cyprien Hakiza, a Burundi national.

And to counter new threats, AMISOM Police has deployed to Mogadishu a team of seven police trainers who have begun developing training manuals in conjunction with their Somalia counterparts to start refresher training for the Somali Police Force (SPF).The AMISOM Police component com-

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plements the military and civilian components.

AMISOM police is mandated to train, mentor, monitor and advise the (SPF) to bring it to international standards. In line with this mandate, our source says, AMISOM successfully conducted an induction course for 34 police officers. The officers are from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Sierra Leone, recruited through Selection Assistant Test (SAT) exercises in their respective countries. The SAT exercises produced 600 certified police officers who are in the AU roster for deployment to Mogadishu.

POLICE

The AMISOM police component is headed by Commissioner Hudson Benzu, who has extensive experience in peacekeeping operations.

He has served in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (UNSOM 2) and as the head of the police component during the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) from 2003-2005. He has been a member of the AU/UN Capacity Building Training Team since 2006.

The Deputy Police Commissioner is Oliver Somasa. He is currently the Deputy Inspector General of the Sierra Leonean Police but on secondment to AMISOM. The component has four other experts; Isaac Samson, Dr. Steven Kasiima Munanura, Emmanuel Mbonirema and Vance Baba Gariba.

Somasa is the Chief of Staff of the AMISOM Police component. He is a serving member of the Nigerian Police Force and has vast experience in peacekeeping operations, having served in the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) among others.

Dr Munanura is the AMISOM Police Co-ordinator for Training. He is the Commissioner of Police and Head of Traffic in the Uganda Police Service but currently on second-

ment to AMISOM. He has experience in peacekeeping operations, having served as a member of the police training team and other senior police leadership positions in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

Mbonirema is the Police Coordinator responsible for Reform and Restructuring. A Burundian, he has served in the Burundi Police Force as Director of the National Police School, Director General of Migration, and Director of Training for the National Police Force.

Gariba is the Special Assistant to the AMISOM Police Commissioner who has served in the UN Mission in Liberia as well as being a serving member of the Ghanaian Police Service. He has served as a visiting resource person at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana, and the Humanitarian Peace Support School in Nairobi, Kenya.

UN

Although the incumbent president, a 46-year-old former teacher, came to power courtesy of a peace process initiated by the UN, his life is not on tenterhooks nearly as much as the man he replaced, Abdullahi Yusuf, who missed death by the skin of his teeth several times in attempts on his life. This is due to the round the clock security by AMISOM. In a country that has lost at least 1 million people since Siad Barre exiled himself through Kenya after his ouster in 1991, clan fighting is something of a credo, a national preoccupation of sorts.

The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia entered into a power-sharing agreement with a self-styled group, Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a (ASWJ) on March 15 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at a ceremony chaired by the Chairperson

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

Diplomacy•News•Analysis

REAL ESTATE:

Pirates said to be investing in Nairobi

of the African Union (AU) Commission, Dr Jean Ping. Whether this new arrangement will hold or is just a fleeting chapter in the country’s long and dramatic history is hard to tell.

And just as Somalia and other states in the Horn of Africa grappled with this vile phenomenon, a curious thing happened: Kenyan authorities discovered a massive US$2.1 billion (KSh164 billion) was stealthily making its way into the Kenyan economy. Source? Unknown.

Speculation among economists, statisticians and other experts is rife that Kenya has become a money-laundering destination for the pirates to invest their spoils. The figures were captured in balanceof-payments statistics released by the Central Bank of Kenya.

Only in January, the Kenyan Government, through the Office of the President, ordered a probe into the boom in property and real estate purchases in Nairobi and other major towns. It was thought the property market was being distorted by huge sums paid for real estate, especially in Nairobi.

The CBK Governor, Professor Njuguna Ndung’u, confirmed that the government was worried by the huge sums, which had prompted an artificial surplus in the balance of payment figures. “We do not know where this money is coming from,” Ndung’u he said

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Diplomacy•News•Analysis

NEW NATION

Sudan's Arms Race Unraveled

By WANJOHI KABUKURU

T

here is no doubt that both North and Southern Sudanese are poles apart in terms of cultural socialization, religious orientation and political ideology. The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPA signed in Nairobi ended two decades of bloody hostilities and set in motion a long process of peace, nation building and a calendar for self determination. Events in the Sudan indicate that whilst the peace process is lacerated with teething challenges between the two major partners in the Sudan peace process (Juba and Khartoum), hostilities are still simmering.

In September 2009 SPLA Chief of General Staff, Lt Gen. James Hoth Mai, said that there was a 50-50 chance of resumption of war with

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the North. No one contradicted or even tried to reprimand the SPLA’s CGS. Indeed statements of this nature appear to indicate inner frustrations.

In January 2010, ten NGOs who have a presence in the Sudan issued a Joint Briefing Paper, dubbed “Rescuing the Peace in Southern Sudan” expressing fears of a frosty future and going on to paint a gloomy picture: “Popular confidence in the CPA has been badly undermined by the recent upsurge in insecurity, combined with the slow delivery of expected ‘peace dividends’– essential services such as water and health care, livelihood opportunities, and infrastructure. After decades of war and neglect, it is not surprising that donors and the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) have struggled to deliver development.”

The Joint NGO Briefing also pours scorn on the United Nations Mission In Sudan (UNMIS): “The UN Mission in Sudan was deployed in 2005 with the primary objective of supporting the CPA implementation. Its headquarters are in Khar-

toum, with a regional base in Juba, and a number of smaller bases across southern Sudan and the Three Areas. With an annual budget of almost $960m, UNMIS has deployed 9,275 military personnel.

For most of the mission’s life, however, the UN Security Council has not prioritized protecting civilians in Sudan; the UN Department of Peace Keeping Operations (DPKO) has not provided enough support for protection activities; and the UNMIS in-country leadership has neglected civilian protection.

There are several reasons for this: Southern Sudan’s precarious security environment was not well understood; UNMIS was concentrating on CPA monitoring; and a view existed among mission personnel that the Security Council added the civilian protection component to the mandate as an afterthought.

As a result, UNMIS has been slow to grapple with its mandated protection responsibilities and to use its resources to respond to a changing context.

At the field level, awareness or understanding of the mission’s civilian protection responsibilities is limited or non-existent, with some UNMIS personnel entirely unaware of the Chapter VII component of the mandate, or believing that protecting civilians from ‘tribal violence’ or the Lords’ Resistance Army (LRA) falls outside of the mission mandate and is a distraction from its core business of supporting CPA implementation...”

It is largely known that while the CPA was a binding document of goodwill for the antagonists, the

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Diplomacy•News•Analysis

South has vehemently come out complaining of getting a raw deal from the North. It is this inaction in the full implementation of the CPA and the undercurrents purveying the Sudan that has made keen observers of the region pretty much worried that there is a likelihood of more flare-ups.

Answering to the whims of their suspicions both parties have now recorded massive arms build-ups, simply put, an arms race, in the run-up to the all-important referendum.

“The demand for small arms and light weapons—and some larger conventional weapons systems— among government forces, insurgents, and unaligned groups in the country have grown considerably since the outbreak of hostilities in Darfur in late 2002 and the signing of the CPA in 2005.

Arms imports and internal transfers continue in violation of the UN arms embargo and other multilateral restrictions designed to prevent weapons from reaching certain Sudanese actors and areas—and despite the presence of more than 25,000 international peace-keepers tasked with promoting peace, the Human Security Baseline Assessment (HSBA) brief on the Sudan notes in its December 2009 briefing.

SANCTIONS

The HSBA acknowledges that the arms race in the Sudan has been going on even with the existence of three international arms sanctions on the Sudan namely the CPA, the EU arms embargo on Sudan and the UN arms embargo on Darfur.

“As of late 2009 the optimism that followed the signing of the 2005 CPA between the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army

(SPLM/A) has been overshadowed by increasing violations, mutual distrust and provocation, and the possibility of a return to armed conflict, whether localized or regional. Both the NCP and the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) continue to acquire small arms and light weapons destined for their armed forces (as well as allied and proxy groups), in what is taking on the character of an arms race, despite three legal instruments designed to limit flows.

All three regimes have been violated since 2005,” the HSBA report dubbed Sudan Brief, notes.

The major players in the Sudan arms stock-piling race are China, Iran, Belarus, Hong Kong, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Russian Federation and Kuwait. Kenya, Ethiopia and Ukraine are also named as suppliers of conventional weapons mostly to the Juba government. According to the UN register between 2004 and 2008, Belarus and the Russian Federation supplied to the Sudan 28 attack helicopters, 9 MiG 29S’, 11 SU25 Fighter aircraft, and 10 armored personnel carriers.

LETHAL:

Small arms in plenty

CHINA

In his paper “Skirting the Law: Sudan’s Post-CPA Arms Flows” Mike Lewis outlines some of the reasons

KIIR & EL BASHIR:

Unwilling partners

for arms supplies to the Khartoum government by both China and Iran:“Chinese state-led investment, particularly in Sudanese oil development, has arguably provided both the resources and motivation for Chinese arms sales to Sudan, in addition to China’s diplomatic defense of Sudan’s sovereignty. Iranian military assistance, conversely, appears to be grounded partly in ideological support since 1989. Arms supplies have been accompanied by ideological and military training, particularly for Sudan’s Islamist-inspired paramilitary Popular Defense Forces (PDF), undertaken in part by senior military advisers from Iran’s Pasdaran (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) from 1992 onwards.”

In addition to the external supplies, Khartoum also maintains an elaborate Military Industrial Complex (MIC) of five operational lines namely Elshaheed Ibrahim Shamseldeen Complex producing tanks and armoured vehicles; Safaat Aviation Complex producing avionics and assembling military aircraft; Yarmouk Industrial Complex solely for munitions; Alshagara Industrial Complex which produces small arms and mortar ammunition and Alzargaa Engineering Complex which is specialised in the production of electronics and electrooptical military equipment. In the last two years, Khartoum has often chest-thumped of her MICs prowess.

These undercurrents are among the reasons why keen observers of the Sudan are fidgety. At the moment everyone is grappling with a possibility of a fifty fourth state in the continent and a return to war.

The reluctance by both Juba and Khartoum to translate the CPA and allow its benefits to trickle to the grassroots is making the future scenario of the Sudan unpleasant

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The Nile Waters

Feud Over Old Agreements

A

Egypt and Sudan rattled as upstream countries sign new deal, writes JANE MWANGI

move by five upstream Nile Basin countries to sign a new water sharing treaty has rattled Egypt and Sudan who have dominated use of Africa’s longest river under colonial agreements.

The two countries see the treaty-signed by Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya-as a threat to their historical share of the water and survival.

The Nile supplies water to virtually the entire Egyptian population of 80 million, a number that is projected to reach 97 million by 2025 according to World Bank statistics.

The signing, which excluded Egypt and Sudan, came after years of talks failed to convince the two downstream countries to come on board.

Currently, the sharing of the Nile water is determined by two treaties signed in 1929 and 1959, which grant Egypt and Sudan the lion’s share. Under the terms of these treaties, Egypt has the right to use 55.5 billion cubic metres of the water per year, while Sudan is allocated 18.5 billion cubic metres annually.

The treaties also stipulate that no major water projects, such as dams or irrigation works, can be undertaken in upstream countries without the express permission of Egypt and Sudan.

The upstream countries have long argued that the treaties, signed while they were under colonial occupation, failed to secure

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TRAVERSING: Egypt and Sudan versus the rest

their legitimate water rights hence the effort for redress.

Since the 1990s, upstream countries have been trying in vain to hammer out a revised framework agreement for water sharing, dubbed the Nile Basin Initiative.

The pressure has increased as these countries, with a combined population of over 200 million people, seek to exploit the Nile’s resources, especially in energy generation to power their growing economies.

Some experts have warned that if the matter is left unaddressed, it may lead to a violent conflict over the Nile’s waters in the region.

STATS &FACTS Under the terms of these treaties, Egypt has the right to use 55.5

billion cubic

metres of the water per year, while Sudan is allocated 18.5 billion cubic metres annually.

Egypt has rights to 87 per cent of the Nile while Sudan claims the remaining 13 per cent. Ethiopia, the source of the Blue Nile, and up to 86 per cent of the Nile’s water, has been at the forefront of the new agreement.

It has recently inaugurated a new hydro-power dam on the Blue Nile River-the Tana Beles.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said during the launch that the Tana Beles marks the realisation of Ethiopia’s 100-year efforts to utilise the Nile.

Cairo has expressed concern over the project’s impact on water flows and has threatened to lobby its Italian financiers to stop its construction.

But Mr Mesfin Shenkut, a water and conservation expert with MS Consulting; one of Ethiopia’s leading conglomerates, says that hydropower projects help to regulate water flow, mitigate floods and generate power for the common use of neighbouring countries.

Until recently, Ethiopia generated only about 700 MW of power from the Nile yet it has the potential to generate more than 45,000 MW. Apart from pressure on financiers, Egypt has also launched a charm offensive on Ethiopia and Kenya in a bid to soften their stand on the new agreement. Cairo has pledged to fund a number of projects in these countries, including conservation of Kenya’s Mau forest, in a bid to secure the Nile waters.

On a recent visit to Cairo, Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga

•DNA

Diplomacy•News•Analysis

assured Cairo that the upstream countries will not do anything to jeopardise Egypt’s survival and urged it to sign the treaty.

In 1993, Egypt signed a framework for cooperation with Ethiopia in which they agreed that neither country would do anything with the Nile River that causes “appreciable harm” to the other, and to consult and cooperate on projects.

But all these agreements and treaties do little justice to calm the storm that is slowly brewing.

The reality that 10 Nile riparian countries created the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) to substitute a half-century-old Nile water usage agreement with a new multilateral agreement that mirror contemporary demographic and development realities cannot be ignored. The signing of the landmark Nile cooperation agreement puts a new spin in the wheel that reallocates the water resources among all the riparian countries.

Upon the historic signing, Egyptian Minister for irrigation Mohammad Nasr Allam in a statement to Egypt’s parliament said: “Egypt’s share of the Nile’s water is a historic right that Egypt has defended throughout its history."

RESOLVE

The refusal of Egypt and Sudan to renegotiate has not deterred the rest of the riparian countries but rather strengthened their resolve. Mr Shenkut an Ethiopian environmental expert, says the Nile countries must create a win-win situation.

All these countries should sit together and decide not only on how to use the water but also on how to preserve and conserve it. It’s indeed a very delicate issue,” he says.

In Africa he says, the main source of conflicts is resources. He insists that Ethiopia will not do anything that harms the Nile as per the 1993

agreement signed with Egypt.

But he adds that Ethiopia is perfectly within its rights to exploit the Nile waters citing a research conducted by the University of Colorado based on principles of international law for water allocation of transboundary rivers. According to the research, the upstream state prevails when it comes to absolute territorial sovereignty.

A sovereign nation, he says, enjoys total power over the natural resources within its boundaries. Under this principle, an upstream state may as a matter of international law, do what it wishes with a river in its territory without considering the downstream consequences of another nation.

On the other hand, the downstream state prevails when it comes to absolute territorial integrity.

UTILISATION

Under this theory, the upstream nation has a legal obligation to leave as much water in an international river as the downstream nation needs. Thirdly, there is the doctrine of equitable and reasonable utilisation. This is a more flexible approach to water allocation.

Is there a win-win approach to the conflict surrounding the Nile?

According to Mr Shenkut this can be achieved and he cites the 1993 agreement between Egypt and Ethiopia. Indeed, he says, this is the same goal the Nile Basin Initiative seeks to achieve.

Movers of the NBI says they have a vision to achieve sustainable socioeconomic development through the equitable utilisation of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources. The vision therefore puts economic development at its centre, not to mention concrete investment projects at the sub-basin and national level

Rwanda Elections

By PATRICK WACHIRA AND GATHONI MURAYA

R

wanda President Paul Kagame is walking a tightrope, having to balance between maintaining law and order and perceived harassment of opposition figures ahead of polls next month.

An apparent crackdown on critics has not gone down well with his nemesis, who accuse him of wielding the big stick.

The latest victim is opposition presidential candidate Maitre Ntaganda Bernard, the founding president of the PS-Imberakuri party, who was arrested at his home in Kigali just before he could join protests against the government’s exclusion of all viable opposition.

Police also surrounded the house of FDUInkingi Party presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and prevented her join the protests. Frank Habineza, Democratic Green Party of Rwanda candidate, was arrested outside the U.S. Embassy, where he had gone to protest Mr Ntaganda’s arrest, but police released him within hours.

Earlier in April Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire was arrested and accused of genocide denial and collaborating with a “terrorist organisation”. The Government defended itself then by claiming that Ingabire was collaborating with remnants of the 1994 genocide.

Two Rwandan envoys to India and the Netherlands have abandoned their assignments and sought asylum in South Africa and the Netherlands respectively.

Though Kagame denies he is wielding the big whip, he is quick to dismiss those who have fled the country, comparing them to human waste, and effectively bidding them good riddance.

His wariness is understandable, prompted perhaps by the country’s history, and now only emerging from the morass of death and destruction which saw almost a million people decimated systematically in a period of just under 100 days.

The President is no doubt aware of the enormously delicate balance that has to be maintained in view of the traditional Hutu-Tutsi rivalry and mistrust, now being rebuilt anew as the country rises, like the phoenix, from the ashes

July 2010

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Diplomacy•News•Analysis

DELEGATION

Open for Business Malaysia seeks stronger economic ties with East Africa

M

By DEA CORRESPONDENT

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

alaysia’s leading economic organisation set up camp in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in May in a bid to boost trade and investments between the Asian tiger and East Africa.

The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers’ (FMM) trade mission was in the two capitals between May 8 and 16. The 15-member delegation was seeking networks with a cross-section of the Tanzanian and Kenyan businesses.

In Dar, they met with members of the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and Confederation of Tanzanian Industries, Tanzanian Investment Board, Ministry of Industry, Export Processing Zones and SME Development Agency.

In Kenya, they met the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Kenya Investment Authority, East African Business Council and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Established in 1968, the federation has been the key driving force behind Malaysia’s economic growth and mod-

Delegation members

22

July 2010

ernisation. It has experienced tremendous growth over the years to become the largest private sector economic organisation in Malaysia representing more than 2,300 manufacturing and industrial service companies.

During the delegation’s meeting with officials from Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, two MoUs were signed; between the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, and the Association of Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The agreements will make it easier for Kenyan goods to penetrate the Malaysian market and also reinforce the presence of Malaysian investments in Kenya.

Mr. Zainol Rahim Zainuddin, Malaysia’s High Commissioner to Kenya, told DEA trade was at the top of his agenda.

EXPERIENCE

“We have a series of programmes pegged on encouraging various groups from Malaysia to come as well as having Kenyan businessmen going to Malaysia through the MalaysianKenya Business Council. We are ready to share our experiences in order to assist Kenya achieve its Vision 2030.”

Mr Zainuddin said Malaysia sees Kenya as a crucial partner in trade.

His country, he added, had placed East Africa at the heart of its foreign policy, hence the visit by the investors.

The delegation expressed optimism that the mission would lead to fruitful business cooperation between

Malaysia and East Africa; especially Kenya, the region’s biggest economy.

Ms. Ng Lee Lee, FMM’s International Business Division manager said: “We chose Kenya because it is the leading economy in East Africa and we feel that Malaysia has a lot to offer’’ The MoUs, she said, envisage exchange of information and promoting exhibitions. They also explore ways of how Malaysia and Kenya can work together in trade and investments. ‘’We are looking for partners in manufacturing, steel and industry; for opportunities on buying and selling our products to and from Kenya,” she said.

Mr. Cheah Chee Chon of Malaysian Plastics Forum said the delegation hails from various manufacturing industries in Malaysia that deal in agricultural products, biomass furnace, oil distribution transformers, manufacture of street lights, footwear manufacturing, plastic products and dental equipment.

He said they were keen on joining the Kenya-Malaysian business council in order to have more collaboration with the business sector. “In the next 5 years, we hope to be a key business partner with Kenya.

We developed our economy from agricultural to manufacturing and our core competencies are our good quality products. We have a lot to contribute to Kenya’s economy and this begins with consultancy. When we were making the transition we needed a lot of help and I believe we can help Kenya achieve its Vision 2030.”

The Malaysians advised the Kenyan private sector to be more open to new technologies that are already

•DNA

Diplomacy•News•Analysis

HUMAN RIGHTS

Regional Record

Kenya

By GATHONI MURAYA

E

astern Africa countries are coming under increasing scrutiny over their human rights records by their peers in the United Nations.

In 2006, UN General Assembly resolved to establish the Human Rights Council and created what is known as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). UPR scrutinises the human rights record of all the 192 UN member states, once every four years.

Among the issues under the microscope is the democratic governance policies, including free and fair elections. Here are analyses from three countries: Ethiopia

The country's Parliamentary elections in May were held against the backdrop of the need to institute political reforms as well as revise various laws that were seen as a stumbling block to democracy.

A report submitted by the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) for the sixth session of the UPR in December last year alleges that the government had resorted to a legalistic approach to silence any form of organised dissent and activism.

EHRCO says the patterns shown by the laws enacted or amended during the post-2005 period clearly show a growing trend of using the law and the judicial system as an instrument of suppression.

Apart from this, NGOs are required to obtain permission from the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia to engage in voters’ education or election monitoring. A decision by the Board denying this permission is

not subject to judicial review.

Such issues and alleged government intolerance for political opposition continue to be a serious concern in Ethiopia. In October 2008, authorities arrested and detained dozens of Oromo people on allegations of providing support for the rebel Oromo Liberation Front.

This has attracted the ire of the International community.

Rwanda

A workshop on Rwanda’s was held on May 7. Speaking at the event, Mr Oumar Kane, the Human Rights Advisor to the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), described the country’s progress in human rights observation as impressive and promising.

Mr Kane advised Rwanda to adopt the UPR process since the goal is to improve the human rights situation in all the countries of the world.

Rwanda will undergo its first UPR review next year and stakeholders, including United Nations agencies and NGOs, have until July 5 to submit their reports.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Eugene Munyakayanza, says “The process is of paramount importance to our government for it will provide useful skills and knowledge on the preparation and presentation of a high-quality report to the human rights council.”

Ironically the statements of both the Human Rights Advisor and Government, preceded reports later in May which criticised the Rwandan government’s decision to deny a work visa to Human Rights Watch’s representative.

In 2006, UN General Assembly resolved to establish the

Human Rights Council and

create what is known as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

Lip service has been the norm in the redress of human rights in Kenya but with the likely passing of a new constitution in August and the ongoing institutional reforms, the stage appears set for change.

Although the local political shenanigans threaten the reforms pace and the government has at times lagged in its commitments, recent events augur well for the country’s long struggle for civil, economic and political rights.

Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo who led the Kenya government delegation to the 8th Universal Periodic Review held in Geneva says that under the Vision 2030 which guides the country’s development agenda, the first Medium Term Plan (MTP) is under implementation.

The government position belies the fact that there are serious concerns especially with regard to the setting up of a special tribunal to try perpetrators of the 2008 postelection violence, the near collapse of the established Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC), the lack of accountability on funds provided for the Free Primary Education and extra judicial killings.

In its report submitted to the High Commission in Geneva, the Kenya Stakeholders Coalition took issue with the government on the fact that two-and-a-half years after the poll chaos, the state is yet to effectively prosecute perpetrators of crimes committed during the violence.

During the review, some states such as the Netherlands wished to see more positive initiatives taken up key of which would be the setting up of the Special Tribunal. As a signatory to the ICC Rome Statute, Kenya is mandated to take the necessary steps to have the court in place

July 2010

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•GREEN AGENDA Planet Earth

biodiversity

Protect the Planet’s Dignity, UN Urges

I

n December 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted May 22 as the International Biodiversity Day (IDB) in a worldwide crusade to awaken all nations and peoples into awareness and action regarding the importance of conserving ecosystems.

However, too many countries have paid too little attention to the importance of biodiversity. Over the last couple of centuries human beings have greatly destroyed Mother Nature through deforestation, overfishing, pollution and emission of greenhouse gases. Biodiversity which is the sum of all living things and their interactions that comprise the ecosystems providing humanity with food, fibre, clean water and air is still a theoretical concept for many, especially in the Horn of Africa.

"The overriding aim behind the annual observance of this Day, 18 years on, according to Angela Cropper, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN Environment Programme, is reduction of the high levels of ignorance. A great deal still needs to be done. Cropper said on behalf of the UN Secretary-General at the National Museums of Kenya on May 22.

“Africa finds itself in a paradox where, although it is rich in natural resources, it faces extreme hurdles such as losing its vast forest cover.

Today, species are bocoming extinct at 1,000 times their natural pace due

24

July 2010

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

Preservation of the ecosystems heritage an essential condition for life, the world body reminds everyone on International Biodiversity Day, writes JANE MWANGI

Ms Angela Cropper, Deputy Executive Dircetor UNEP addressing participants during the celebrations of the International Day for Biological Diversity at the National Museum of Kenya.

to human activity, recent science has documented, with 35-to-40 species vanishing each day. There has been a big gap in implementation by countries and therefore the public is not informed,” she enumerated.

The Eastern African region is host to a number of endangered species and can thus be a pioneer in planning for sustainability through involvement of communities. The UN is thus urging everyone to collectively make use of opportunities to demonstrate that they can develop in ways that maintain the dignity of our planet.

Some 13 million hectares of the world’s forests are lost to deforestation each year. Regrettably, it is estimated that 300 million people worldwide, mainly the majority poor, depend substantially on forest biodiversity,

including non-wood forest products, for their survival and livelihood.

Overall, it is estimated that natural capital constitutes 26 per cent of the total wealth of low-income countries, which is why slowing the loss of biodiversity was incorporated as a new target under the Millennium Development Goals.

“Let there be no doubt: it will be absolutely impossible to achieve sustainable development if we do not protect and preserve our biological resource base; Kenya, for instance, is losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate and has only three percent of its original forest cover left,” said Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

At the same time, 70 per cent of Kenya’s energy needs for cooking come from wood, said Djoghlaf, adding that the country has launched an ambitious national tree-planting effort spearheaded by the Green Belt Movement, which has planted 45 million trees nationwide. “These are seeds of hope, the seeds for our future,” he said.

A number of countries in the region signed the Convention on Climate Change and Biological Diversity in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit and ratified it in 1994. Moreover, 10 years ago at the Convention’s Fifth Conference of the Parties in Nairobi, Kenya became the first country in the world to sign the Cartagena Pro-

•GREEN AGENDA Planet Earth

Nakumatt Stands up for Rwanda’s Gorillas

PHOTO: DEA LIBRARY

tocol onBiosafety, other countries in the region followed suit. Biodiversity is now enshrined in many legistlative pieces in the region and at least 10 per cent of all agricultural lands must have forest cover under new regulations.

Kenya has an ambitious goal of achieving a 10 per cent annual economic growth rate by the year 2030 that seeks to have a modern and competitive agricultural sector as a crucial component. Agricultural authorities acknowledged this plan could conflict with protecting and enhancing biodiversity. Agrobiodiversity ( both biodiversity and food production) and agroforestry in what he termed a green revolution, to and poverty and increasing food security, are being encouraged to meet biodiversity goals.

Jochen Flasbarth, President of the German Federal Environment Agency, stressed that biodiversity is the basis of our lives on the planet as we are completely dependent on it. Once a forest is destroyed, he said, it is very costly to get it up again. Biodiversity is an essential heritage for all and stopping its loss should be a priority for everyone experts argued. On the other hand, Antti Seelaff, Policy Advisor for Promotion of Private Sector Development in Agriculture, a programme implemented by German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), has been working closely with the Maasai community in the Mt. Suswa area in creating awareness on biodiversity’s importance. The predominantly pastoralist community has been introduced to the idea of conservation farming under the Mt Suswa Conservation Trust. Seelaff said: “We organised an Action Day on May 15 at Mt Suswa in partnership with WWF, the Centre for Pastoral Development (CEPAD), SUSTAINET, a network promoting conservation agriculture, together with Maasai elders, where we organised activities on conserva-

MOTHER NATURE:

Mr Masayoshi Mizuno, Director Global Environment Division, plants a tree during celebrations of the International Day Biological Diversity at the National Museum of Kenya. tion agriculture, planted over 200 tree seedlings and demonstrated energy-saving stoves, among other things.” As a result of population increase and unfavourable weather conditions, the Maasai find it difficult to live in harmony with nature.

High pressure was meted on Mt Suswa ecosystem and biodiversity due to increasing demand for land for pastoralist activities and agriculture, all essential for their surviving.

Biodiversity is also under threat from invasive alien species that damage natural and man-made ecosystems in addition to threatening livelihoods in developing countries. Dr Geoffrey Howard, Co-ordinator, Invasive Species Programme for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, observed the water hyacinth, ranked as one of the world’s worst invasive water weeds, is being arrested by control agents.

He added, “in Lake Victoria, we introduced a biological control agent that has cleared up most of the Lake.

We had gone to Central America and looked for a leaf feeding beetlewhich is loved and used for eating up the weed

R

egional supermarket giant Nakumatt will donate 1 per cent of its June sales in Rwanda towards the protection of the country’s endangered gorillas.

Fittingly, Managing Director Atul Shah made this groundbreaking conservation statement on World Environment Day both to mark the UN day as well as to commit to its Legacy Initiative on Gorilla Protection.

And Shah praised Kigali, which is transiting to a green economy, for having been chosen by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the global host of World Environment Day (WED) 2010.

Mr Adan Ramata, the Manager of Nakumatt’s Kigali branch, said the retailer would co-operate with Rwanda’s Ministry of Environment and Lands and UNEP for the success of the initiative which is popularly branded as ‘Take a Stand for the Gorillas’.

Ramata said Nakumatt was honoured to be accorded the opportunity to join the rest of the world in marking this year’s World’s Environmental Day (June 5) whose theme was ‘Many Species. One Planet. One Future.’

“Since we opened our doors here in Kigali two years ago, we have continuously engaged with our customers by embracing initiatives that have a positive impact to our planet and make a difference to our people,” he said.

Ramata said Nakumatt appreciates the importance of preservation and protection of the environment as an excellent opportunity to engage and involve customers in a campaign that will directly benefit Rwanda.

To make the campaign a success, Nakumatt’s customers and the public at large were encouraged to shop at the Kigali branch because this would translate into increased sales and boost the ‘protect-the-gorillas’ kitty.

This kitty qualifies Nakumatt to be a ‘WED Partner’. WED, which aims to be the biggest global celebration for positive environment action, is coordinated by UNEP. Occupying 25,000 square feet, Kigali’s Nakumatt branch stocks more than 20,000 products which include foods, beverages, stationery, electronics, toiletries and furniture

July 2010

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•GREEN AGENDA Planet Earth

Buildings & emissions

Eco-Friendly Infrastructure The built environment on the continent has been shown to hold the key for delivering significant cuts in greenhouse emissions, argues JANE MWANGI

O

ne of the main challenges facing subSaharan Africa is undoubtedly the enormous demand

ENERGY FOOTPRINT:

Buildings have an impact on the environment

26

for housing.

With housing settlements sprouting uncontrollably, energy efficient buildings are being highly recommended by experts.

Buildings are responsible for 40 per cent of all energy consumption and up to 30 per cent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions globally.

Promoting the uptake of green buildings has become the priority of many developed countries and now Africa has been awakened to this fact.

Being the least contributor to climate change and global warming, the continent is nonetheless the worst-hit.

The concept of green buildings is gradually taking root as the construction sector has been shown to provide the greatest potential for delivering significant cuts in emissions. By using solar water heating, ultra-low flush toilets, effective day-lighting, the elements of green building are falling neatly in place. These in addition to high-efficiency windows and insula-

July 2010

tion in walls, ceilings and floors are some of the materials used in green buildings.

The setting up of Green Building Councils (GBCs) is something that is slowly catching on. Deemed as the first step towards the promotion of establishing green buildings in any given country, GBCs are non-profit, member-based organisations that seek to transform the building industry towards sustainability through encouraging the adoption of green building practices.

CONCEPT

In Kenya, the Government together with stakeholders developed a housing policy aimed at developing sustainable human settlements. Mr Tirop Kosgey, the Ministry of Housing Permanent Secretary, disclosed Government’s plans for revising the Building Code, a move that is aimed at encouraging and ensuring that new buildings being set up embrace the green building concept in order to protect the environment and ecosystems from pollution, degradation and destruction. He was speaking at a conference on green building rating systems in Africa at the UN in Nairobi, where stakeholders from 20 African countries had converged in early May. Vincent Kioo of UN-Habitat says, “the EAC member countries’ governments, in partnership with UN-Habitat and UNEP, have over the last two years been working on a project that is aimed at looking into ways of promoting sustainable building production”. According to Kioo, the majority of buildings in tropical Africa are a replica of build-

ings in Western countries with cold climates. “Our target is to reduce at least 10-30 per cent of energy consumption of existing buildings in order to enhance property value,” Kioo said.

UN-Habitat recently helped the government to establish a building code in Rwanda, where the agency is planning to build 2,006 houses. “A building lasts 40-50 years, so energyefficient decisions made today have a huge long-term impact on energy consumption and cost implications," A UN - Habitat report says Robert Kehew, Human Settlements Advisor at UN-Habitat, urges stakeholders to be cognisant of the fact that sub-Saharan Africa has a lot of energy and water rationing programmes going on.

Dr Manal Elbatran, co-ordinator of Egypt’s GBC, estimates that by 2012 all tourist buildings in the land of the Pyramids must go green. The process of setting up a GBC in Egypt was initiated by the government with the GBC Chairman being the Minister for housing.

Bruce Kerswill, GBC South-Africa, emphasizes that they will extend support to anyone who wants it in Africa as they would want to see a council established in every country.

Mr C.S. Kumar, from Indian Green Building Council, has wide experience and says the Indian model began as a small organisation of only four people. Professor Akin Akindoyeni, Chairman, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), says Nigeria may use consultants from existing GBCs: “This will be exploring new ground for us, but it is our duty in the built environment to further this concept in order to be at par with countries such as South Africa”

•GREEN AGENDA Planet Earth

NEGOTIATIONS ROUND II

Climate: A Global Threat

D

uring the Copenhagen Summit in December 2009, the battle for compensation or the carbon credit negotiations took centre stage.

It was the first time ever for Africa to bargain as a bloc.

Africa’s demands were not met.

But despite this, emerging paradigms are likely to force the major powers to reconsider their stance.

According to Javier Solana the Secretary General of the Council of the European Union in a treatise, Climate Change and International Security: “Climate change is best viewed as a threat multiplier which exacerbates existing trends, tensions and instability. The core challenge is that climate change threatens to overburden states and regions that are already fragile and conflict prone.”

As early as 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had noted that climate change will affect mass migration of people in the future. While this information was passed to the right channels, inaction by those concerned prevailed.

In February 2005, when the Kyoto Protocol came into effect a new dawn was celebrated worldwide and hailed as a key step in mitigating the harsh effects of climate change.

In his book, Energy Autonomy, Hermann Scheer, the president of EuroSolar notes: “The general tenor goes that what really matters for the future is to dissuade the US from its refusal to participate and to draw as many countries as possible, especially China, into a commitment..."

By WANJOHI KABUKURU

That the EU is scared and is now looking at climate change from a different prism is not in doubt anymore. This is good news to Africa which has been pushing a hard bargain on this issue, warning the major powers to no avail.

Says Rhoda Tumusiime, AU’s Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture: “The Copenhagen Accord that was the outcome of COP15 provided a stepping stone for consideration of the demands of Africa in the next round of negotiations towards COP16 in Mexico at the end of this year.”

The basis for Africa’s position according to her is because the continent will suffer more than most regions in spite of comparatively insignificant contribution to green house gas emissions in the atmosphere.

According to the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, Africa should not be paying the price of the effects of climate change generated by activities of industrialised countries responsible

CLIMATE CHANGE:

Habitats under siege

for global warming, which is why the developed countries should provide for the needs of Africa’s mitigation and adaptation to climate change and variability.

For ignoring Kyoto, dilly dallying at Copenhagen and engaging in meaningless and time-wasting diplomacy-speak, the EU is now worried of the security risk dimension posed by climate change.

Mr Solana’s 15 page report which reads like a threat matrix assessment notes that Africa, Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Arctic are regions where climate change induced threats of “tension over energy supplies, fragility, radicalisation, environmentally induced migration, loss of territory and border disputes, economic damages, risks to coastal cities and critical infrastructures, conflict over resources, and pressure on international governance,” are already being felt and will be exacerbated further.

EU is scared not because of what will happen to the other corners of the world but because of the spillover effects on its territory and its survival.

“Since the EU neighbours include some of the most vulnerable regions to climate change namely North Africa and the Middle East, migratory pressure at the European Union’s borders and political instability and conflicts could increase in the future. This could also have a significant impact on Europe’s energy supply routes”, Solana warns.

Perhaps this worry will bring genuine solution in Mexico during COP16

July 2010

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•PICTORIAL Lights•Camera•Action

19TH ETHIOPIAN NATIONAL DAY, MAY 28 1. SAY CHEERS: Kenya's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Moses Wetangula, and the Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Disasa Dirribsa, toast to the continued consolidation of the Ethiopian-Kenya friendly relations.

2. GOOD READ: The Somali Ambassador to Kenya Mr. Mohamed Ali Nur going through a copy of the Diplomat East Africa magazine during the Ethiopian National Day celebrations in Nairobi.

3. THE HABESHA WAY: An Ethiopian dancer entertains guests during the event.

4. SMELL IT: Ms. Roman Kidane makes Ethiopian traditional coffee during the Ethiopian National Day celebrations in Nairobi.

5. CATCHING UP: The Apostolic Nuncio Paul Lebeaupin, (left) chats with the Russian Ambassador to Kenya Mr. Valery Yegoshkin, the Cyprus High Commissioner to Kenya, Mr. Agis Loizou, and the Uganda High Commisioner to Kenya Ms. Angelina C. Wapakhabulo, during the 19th Ethiopian National Day Celebrations in Nairobi.

6. ALLIES: The German Defence Attaché Probst Herbert, (right) in discussion with the Canadian Defence Attaché General Richard Gervas, and Mrs. Josee Bigras, during the 19th Ethiopian National Day Celebrations at the residence

28

March - April 2010

QUEEN'S BIRTH DAY, JUNE 5 KEEN EYE: Head of European union Delegation, His Excellency Eric van der Linden follows proceedings HOST: British High Commissioner Robert Macaire delivers his speech TÊTE-À-TÊTE: Colonel John Steed with Ambassdor Heli Sirve of Finland confer on the

sidelines of the event ORDER! A TOAST: Speaker of the National Assembly Kenneth Marende toasts to the good health of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the II GLAD: Carey Ngini, Communication Guru Gina Din Kariuki and Major James Clark savour a light moment at the party COMMONWEALTH: Nigerian High Commissioner's wife Tess Wigwe with Mrs Adekeye were not left behind

July 2010

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•ECONOMY

Investment•Technology•Prosperity

MONETARY MATTERS

EA's Common Currency

Euro zone s woes may provide some useful lessons, reports JOHN NDIEMA

A

proposal by the East African Community partner states to integrate their currencies may be put on the back burner as fears over the weakening of the euro spread to other parts of the world.

Some scholars, however, argue that with the merger of markets on July 1, East Africa has no alternative but to strike a deal on how a stronger and well-managed common currency can be created.

For the last two months, the Kenyan and Tanzanian shilling have weakened as the global markets continued to react negatively to the weak political response of rich European countries who continued to dither over providing a far larger rescue package to Greece.

Traders say EAC partner states' currencies would remain at the mercy of the crisis in the euro zone. They are expected to experience volatility in the days ahead until the woes in Europe are settled.

“I think the shilling has overcompensated. Europe is important but not as important as it was before.

The shilling has exhibited a high correlation with the euro of late. With the euro losing ground against the dollar, this has effectively re-priced the dollar-shilling foreign exchange rates lower,” said Aly-Khan Satchu of Rich Management, a Nairobi Stock Exchange data vendor.

“The euro rescue plan will have a huge impact on region’s growth because Europe is a material market for horticulture and fresh produce. This sector alone is worth more than 7.5

30

July 2010

MWAPACHU:

EAC secretariats role crucial

per cent of our daily gross domestic product,” Mr Satchu says.

It is this growing instability of the euro, whose formation was to tame currency instability in the European Union, that is now a bother to one of Africa’s most promising economic blocs. The agony is over whether EAC monetary union is desirable now when the euro has virtually failed.

Some experts blame the current mess on lack of fiscal discipline in the European Union while others say the adoption of a single currency was rushed into well before the continent was ready for such an experiment. It is this rush that has apparently led to a pile-up of Spain’s debts, soaring unemployment and deepening of its budget deficit. Between 2000 and 2008, the country’s prices of goods rose by 35 per cent compared with a 10 per cent rise in Germany.

MECHANISM

STATS &FACTS

Fresh produce sector alone is worth more than 7.5 per cent of our daily gross domestic product,” Mr Satchu says.

Moreover, EAC partner states are yet to sufficiently meet the basic requirements of such a union as they are still facing different shocks as well as different business cycles. In the absence of flexible adjustment mechanisms, a common monetary and exchange rate policy will only suffice if shocks and business cycles are symmetric.

A high degree of asymmetry in shocks and business cycles affecting members of a monetary union renders a common monetary and exchange rate policy incompatible with individual member countries’ economic policy objectives.

Jacob Opolot of Research Depart-

ment, Bank of Uganda, says since the coming into force of the EAC Treaty, significant achievements have been registered on several fronts.

“Several committees have been instituted with the objective of coordinating and harmonising economic policy framework in the region. The co-operation in, and coordination of economic policy formulation has yielded significant achievements in the original three partner states,” he says.

Despite being a well founded idea, the researcher says monetary integration requires a number of fundamental factors for economic optimality to be realised. He argues that countries forming a monetary union will naturally face adjustment costs if their economic structures and policy fundamentals differ.

Thus, in order to assess the viability of a monetary union, a thorough examination of the nature and extent of synchronous movement in macroeconomic fluctuations of key macroeconomic variables is desirable.

According to the basic tenet of the optimal currency area theory, a country should join a monetary union if the benefits it will realise from the demise of transactions costs outweigh the costs induced by foregoing national monetary and exchange rate policy.

But even with the conditions, the theory argues that countries joining a monetary union will benefit from lower transactions costs emanating from trading goods and assets in the same currency. This, according to Mr Opolot, is what will be achieved if EAC takes more time to fine-tune its monetary union proposal details

•ECONOMY

Investment•Technology•Prosperity

DOING Business

World Bank's Scorecard

R

wanda is the most favourable investment destinations in East Africa.

The country moved 76 positions from last year’s 143 to 67 out of 183 economies under study. According to the World Bank-sponsored Doing Business in East African Community 2010 survey, the major strides taken by Kigali are in areas of the ease of employing workers where it moved from position 113 to 30 and credit availability to investors from rank 147 to 61. In spite of falling 11 positions to ninety-fifth rank, the report recognises Kenya as one of the “constant” reformers. From 2004 when the Doing Business report was first published, East African countries have implemented several regulatory reforms aimed at making it easier to do business.

INDICATOR

Today, the average ranking of the region stands at 116 as a result of the different levels of regulatory reforms. However, there is a mismatch between the obtaining status and the region’s proposed ideal. If each East African country were to adopt the region’s best practice for each indicator, the region would rank 12 globally.

In what could be the driving force behind the increasing investor-appetite for Rwanda, it only takes three days and two procedures to set up a business there. This is a major departure from the region’s average of 9.4 procedures that consume more than 45.6 days to fulfill.

Rwanda still maintains her lead, analyses JOHN NDIEMA Overall, the study says East Africa is “home to one of the easiest” places to start a business, the positive comments clearly riding on the boost for the region by Rwanda.

While starting a business in the country takes just two procedures, entrepreneurs must go through 11–18 steps in the other East African countries. These are attributable to a decentralised registration process.

In Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, entrepreneurs must interact with numerous agencies including the registrar of companies, revenue authority, ministry of trade, ministry of labour, social security fund, health authority, town planning as well as commercial banks.

In Rwanda, by contrast, the entire company registration is conducted at a one-stop shop; the Commercial Registration Department. Once an application has been made, it is transmitted to all other relevant agencies, limiting the number of procedures.

“The cost of starting a business in the region ranges from 10.1 per cent of income per capita in Rwanda to 151.6 per cent in Burundi. Rwanda is the only country in East Africa where a company is registered with a single fee of about $43. In Burundi, Kenya and Uganda, entrepreneurs must pay to have company documents verified by a commissioner for oaths,” the report says.

Compared with last year’s ranking, Uganda dropped six points to 112 but maintained its third position in the region. It, however, undertook major reforms in the registration of property, payment of taxes as well

ROBERT ZOLLECK:

World Bank rankings consistent

as the enforcement of contracts.

To launch a business in Uganda, an entrepreneur has to undergo an estimated 18 procedures that will last approximately 25 days to clear. The entire process in Uganda costs an average of 84.4 per cent of income per capita.

The survey puts East Africa on the spot over its apparent reluctance to simplify business procedures. In particular, Tanzania was criticised for complexities involved in securing of a construction permit.

Ironically, Rwanda is ranked last in cases where an entrepreneur winds up his operations in the country.

INVESTIMENTS

STATS &FACTS Rwanda moved 76 positions from last year’s

143 to 67 out of 183 economies under study.

While there still remain a number of challenges facing the business community, EAC Secretary General Juma Mwapachu says the region has relentlessly worked on the harmonisation of EAC customs union legislation and common market protocols while establishing peer-to-peer networks.

Moreover, investment flows are poised to increase drastically following the recent launch of a four-year plan aimed at improving the business climate in the region.

The programme, whose focus will be on advisory services, is projected to tackle a number of issues perceived to be major inhibitors of free flow of goods and services such as taxation, licensing as well as the harmonisation of commercial laws.

It is expected that the project will cost more than $30 million over its four year life span

July 2010

31 31

•ECONOMY

Diplomacy•News•Analysis

INTRA-REGIONAL TRADE

Tracking the Customs Union

By DEA CORRESPONDENT

KIGUTA:

Customs Union beneficial

T

he rejuvenation of the East African Community has had a major impact on businesses, especially after the launch of the Customs Union in 2005.

The Union, which came into full operation in January 2010, is projected to propel trade growth in East Africa due to the removal of non-tariff barriers.

Director General, EAC Customs and Trade Directorate, Peter Kiguta says the new phase has had a number of implications on the region’s business landscape for both the private and public sectors.

“At the outset, goods will circulate more freely in the Customs Union than ever before. Indeed, with the implementation of the Common Market protocol, it is expected that

32

July 2010

there will be free movement of persons and capital,” Kiguta told DEA. While there have been mixed feelings about the coming into effect of this crucial Union, with some member states arguing that it may result in the death of some country’s products, proponents of the protocol say it will result in increased cross-border investment in all the sectors of the East African economy.

According to Kiguta, the new arrangement will have a positive impact on allocation of resources in the region, exploitation of scale of economies, profit margins, distribution of income, market size, efficiency of production and balance of trade in intra-regional trade.

But even with the launch of the Union, the Trade Directorate says further implementation of the protocol calls for commitment and hard work by the Secretariat, business community and governments of the partner states.

To ensure that the process runs smoothly, the EAC Secretariat says it will continue assisting the partner states to adopt best practice in handling activities related to regional integration and those aimed at opening up more trading and investment frontiers such as the operationalisation of export promotion schemes.

Currently, the Secretariat is developing an EAC manual on operationalisation of export processing zones (EPZs). It is also working on a regional work plan to enable partner states to take advantage of export markets under the US Af-

rican Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), now that the EAC has signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with America.

To support small-scale traders, the Secretariat is implementing a simplified trade regime at border entry points.

In respect of movement of goods, the EAC Customs and Trade Directorate says the partner states should endeavour to adopt best practice such as risk-based post-clearance audit and pre-audit release of goods so as to minimise durations at border and ports transaction.

Even with the protocols implementation, the EAC Secretariat is calling on partner states to ensure that there is peace and secure government in place. “Governments of partner states should therefore urge institutions, both private and public, to embrace and practice good governance." Said Kiguta.

In order to encourage trade, governments are urged to liberalise public procurement procedures to support intra-regional trade. To the greatest extent possible, governments should endeavour to purchase goods manufactured within the Customs Union,” the Secretariat said in a statement.

Although intra-regional trade has grown over the years, statistics show that there is still a lot of room for further growth. For instance, intra-regional trade to total volume of trade in the EAC is merely 13 per cent compared to Europe’s 60 per cent and Asia’s 40 per cent. The key to unlocking this potential lies with the private sector

•ECONOMY

Diplomacy•News•Analysis

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

R

egional corporate firms are increasingly taking up Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a corner stone of their businesses.The companies are contributing to the development of the communities in which they operate.

One of the continent’s longest running feuds between communities and a private company is in Nigeria’s Niger Delta where local insurgents have taken up arms against oil giant Shell for what they perceive as exploitation of their natural resources without any benefits to them.

Corporate Philanthropy

By GODWIN MUHWEZI BONGE substantially over the past decade in the region. Consequently, there has been encouraging debate about what constitutes good CSR and how it can act as a positive force for the region’s social, environmental and economic development.

It is not the first time that awards have been granted for good CSR practices in developing countries.

The Asian CSR Awards, Arabia CSR Awards and the Malaysian Prime Minister’s CSR Awards, for example, were all established several years ago. It was only timely that East Africa joins its peers in rewarding its own.

SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT

Therefore, it did not come as a surprise when Tullow Uganda Operations (pty) Limited which recently struck oil in the Albertine Rift Valley in western Uganda won the Most Sustainable and Scalable Community Investment Award at the just concluded East African CSR Awards in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Tullow looks to make a clean break from the Nigerian case example.

The Awards, organised by African Practice in Partnership with East African Business Council.

Out of several entries collected from companies across East Africa, Unilever Tea Tanzania, Unilever Tea Kenya, Sandali Woods Limited of Tanzania, and Eastern Produce of Kenya were rewarded, in respective categories.

The concept of East African CSR Awards was born out of an acute awareness that corporate social responsibility activities have increased

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Vice Chairman of East African Business Council, Mr Keli Kiilu, said the council believes in the power of the private sector to facilitate sustainable development and growth.

“It’s fantastic to see that so many businesses have taken part in these inaugural awards and the variety of entries received reflect the increasingly sophisticated nature of corporate social responsibility," Mr Kiilu said.

Tullow Uganda Operations Limited won for its community driven programme for improving infrastructure, health, education, and natural resource management. In this category, the judges highly commended Mabati Rolling Mills project that delivers vocational skills training to school leavers from underprivileged homes. Unilever Tea Tanzania and Unilever Tea Kenya were the joint winners in the Best Workplace

MR KIILU:

Giving is a virtue

STATS &FACTS

Out of several entries collected from companies across East Africa, Unilever Tea Tanzania, Unilever Tea Kenya, Sandali Woods Limited of Tanzania, and Eastern Produce of Kenya were rewarded, in respective categories.

Practice Category for their lightning detection system.

The judges highly commended Safaricom Foundation’s world-ofdifference programme which provides sustainable technical skills and knowledge transfer to the foundation’s project partners through secondment of Safaricom staff.

The most ethical and responsible business practice for supply chains award went to Sandali Wood Industries Limited of Tanzania for its Responsible Chain Custody project. Under the project, the company aims to give villagers greater financial returns for their labour and make them direct custodians of their natural resource.

The judges highly commended Uganda’s Nile Breweries for its FromGrain-to-Grass project which gives training on HIV prevention to farmers who grow barley and sorghum for beer, the communities neighbouring the brewery and markets, as well as workers who sell beer to consumers.

The effects of climate change have seen more companies focus their corporate social responsibility on environmental projects and Eastern Produce Kenya Limited was awarded for its environmental excellence. The winning project incorporates awareness of environmental and ecological issues in the day today management of the estate. This includes managing and enhancing water resources, elimination of soil erosion re-forestation with indigenous species, conservation and diversity as well as sustainable forest management. Unilever Tanzania was highly commended for its Indegenous ForestConservation project

July 2010

33 33

•WITH A LIGHT TOUCH Seriously Lighthearted

HUMOUR

Nightmare at Airport on Joe’s Visit

I

By BALOZI DIPLOMACIA n my protocol job, there are moments of anticipation and moments of reflection. Right now, I am just emerging from a situation which started with a great deal of promise only to turn out quite problematic.

When I heard that Joseph, strangely referred to as Jo, was bidding his time to visit our shores, I went gaga with great expectations of fun unlimited.

Of course, I had to take extra time to tutor Asumpta the teacum-porridge-cum-juice girl, sorry, lady, about who Jo was.

You see, Asumpta had arrived at Mashariki Mwa Africa Headquarters, which is where I share an office with Minister Mambo wa Kigeni, short of breath because of excitement.

“Jo will be visiting us. After him there is no-one else as powerful, other than my cousin Obama,” she blurted out as soon as she stormed into my cubicle of an office that is situated next to the Grade D Visitors’ Waiting Room.

For a moment I was blank, lost as to what Asumpta meant by Jo. “First, you should never refer to him as Obama. He is President Obama. And I have told you that you are not his cousin because all his relatives come from Nyang’oma and not Kit Mikayi,” I answered Asumpta with the

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July 2010

usual camaraderie sternness as I ordered her to serve me a cup of tea from the flask.

“Now tell me about this Jo. Have you started imitating that teenage son of yours in speaking Sheng’ so that Joseph becomes Jo?” I inquired as I sipped the tea. Asumpta opened her mouth to respond but just at that instant, the extension telephone rang and as is my wont, I shot up erect, saluted and spoke into the handset: “At your service, sir.”

On the other side of the telephone line, His Excellency (HE) Mambo wa Kigeni commanded; “come to my office right away”. I fled for the door, leaving Asumpta, as usual, flabbergasted.

At the Minister’s reception, I raised my head high with pride and walked with a springy gait, just to show the new secretary that I was more important than she thought she was. Since being hired as Secretary to the Minister, Rosalinda had been behaving in a manner likely to suggest I was part of the furniture rather than the Protocol Officer I am.

This was an opportunity for me to show her that I was much more senior in the pecking order than she was. So I reached for the golden door knob leading to the inner sanctums of HE the Minister’s office only to realise it was firmly closed.

“What do you want?” she asked, her eyes fixing me with

an angry gaze over her fake spectacles. “I want in,” I responded.

For good measure I added that the Minister had buzzed me on my personal office line. She reluctantly pressed a button and I eased into the spacious, tastefully furnished office.

“Diplomacia. Make preparations. Joe Biden is coming to town the day after tomorrow. Ok?” Heinstructed rapidly while leafing through a sheaf of papers marked CONFIDENTIAL. My sneaky eyes could not make out what was written on them. There being no further instruction, I walked out of office less than a minute after I walked in.

On my way out, I saw Rosalinda cast me a mocking look, no doubt because of the brevity of my consultation with HE. But it was as I sauntered out of the office feeling cheated at such a brief encounter with the Minister that the import of his words hit me.

Yes, Joseph Biden, the Vice President of the United States of America! Coming to town? “Hey, it’s plenty time,” I whispered to nobody in particular.

On the day Joe arrived, I was at the airport, smart in my official regalia, the pin-striped suit that I wear only on occasions of international importance. Although tall, hefty and mean looking American secret service men had taken over the length and breadth of the airport. I hang onto HE and was able

AMBAS

SADOR

AMBAS

SADOR

•WITH A LIGHT TOUCH

VIDEDI COMICS 2010

Seriously Lighthearted

MR. AMBASSADOR to get pretty close to the red carpet just moments before Joe Biden’s plane touched down.

When Asumpta’s Jo, the selfsame my Joe the Bidder emerged from the plane waving his hand and grinning graciously, I saw the Minister inch closer to the red carpet along with other diplomats. As I moved closer to the Minister, one of the Americans, the one with dark goggles and the biggest menacing bulge under his armpit, stepped on my foot quite deliberately with all his weight.

As I winced in pain, he shoved me backwards into the strong arms of other waiting American security people. I was whisked away into one of our protocol offices which had apparently been converted into a temporary cell.

It was from the makeshift cell that I saw Joe the Dreamer wax lyrical on TV about governance, the rule of law, accountability, checks and balances in power and other alien concepts at our convention centre.

What cheek! Your men shove me, a protocol officer into a cell for performing my duties and you proceed to lecture us on democracy! I told myself deep in my consciousness, all hope of greeting Joe or dining at a table close to his having turned into a nightmare.

It was long after Joe the Dreamer had left that I was allowed to leave the airport cell, without any accusations being leveled against me. So you can imagine the reprimand I got from HE for dereliction of my protocol job when I arrived in the office with a limp the following day

SIR, YOU HAVE VISITORS.

BY K. VIDEDI OUR PRESIDENT HAS ORDERED FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE DEPORTATION !

LET THEM IN PLEASE.

BUT WHY ?

YOU REFUSED TO PRAISE AND WORSHIP HIM DURING HIS 50TH ANNIVERSARY.

Y ETAR

SECR

VIDEDI COMICS 2010

Better Miss a Kiss than Kiss a Miss BY the time you read this, a British couple accused of kissing in public in Dubai may have served a one month sentence in jail and not even an appeal could rescue them.

Ayman Najafi, 24, and his heart throb, Charlotte Adams, 25, claimed all they did was kiss, rather innocently, on the cheek, but a local woman insisted that she had seen the couple kiss and the scene had upset her twoyear old child.

Najafi, from north London, had worked in Dubai for about 18 months. It was reported that the sentence was delivered in Arabic and witnesses for the defence were not called in to give their side of the story.

Najafi contested that the sentence was harsh and based on unreliable testimony by witnesses who contradicted themselves. His plea must obviously have been buttressed by

this English saying, “None so deaf as those who won’t hear.”

The Foreign Office advises visitors to Dubai to be wary of breaching local customs. A travel website cautions that foreigners could face charges relating to cultural differences, such as using bad language, rude gestures or public displays of affections (PDA) in youngster and lifestyle lingo.

Kisses on the cheek (may be inside the cheek, too!) in many towns in the UK and indeed, many other metropolises, would not draw a second glance from anyone in the vicinity.

Not in Dubai, where visitors must beware of offending local sensibilities, with harsh consequences!

When in Dubai better miss a kiss than kiss a Miss!

They Led but they can’t Win! Is it an indictment of African leadership that for two years running the Mo Ibrahim Foundation has not found a retired president fit enough to be awarded the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership?

Just as the case was with the 2009 edition, the Prize Committee returned a blank after sifting through a number of applicants in June 2010.

It would appear that of the healthy number of former presidents on the continent, none meets the criterion traversing governance in sub-Saharan African, accountability and positive legacies.

Former heads of state who had been salivating for the endowment will now have to live with the knowledge that they are not good enough, at least not as far as the Dr Mo Ibrahim Prize Board is concerned.

And the loss for it is quite phenomenal, for unlike Nelson Mandela (Honorary Laureate 2007), Joachim Chissano (2007) and Festus Mogae (2008), retired presidents will not be taking home $5 million annually for 10 years, $200,000 annually for life and a further $200,000 per year for 10 years for public interest causes.

Did we hear some former presidents suggest they don’t need this money anyway?

July 2010

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•CULTURE

REVIEWS•RAVES•REVUES•REPASTS THE BEAT

Sounds of East Africa

M

By JACKSON BIKO

usic, and its production in East Africa, has not only emerged as a strong tool of expression for young people but has also quickly become the barometer of cultures in the region. There is a new crop of young people who view music, not as a hobby, but as a legitimate career that demands respect like other vocations.

And so they pour their hearts out in the microphones, belting tunes and penning lyrics that edify, entertain and hopefully translate to some hard cash in their bank accounts.

Yet one of the greatest challenges that emerging musicians in the region face is the need to distinguish and define their music from the rest.

What is Ugandan music? What is Tanzanian music? And what is Kenyan music? Can these sounds stand apart and retain their authenticity or are they a mish mash of imported tunes from the West, repackaged and sold as local sounds?

Here is how most people might be tempted to pigeon-hole music in the region. Ugandan music is laden with gay and celebratory tunes that seek to preserve a culture haunted by political and social history.

Tanzanian music is for the romantics, a people who cling onto love as redemption and healing from socialism. And Kenyan music? well, Kenyan music is like a mirage in a barren desert, a reflection of something that doesn’t exist …at least not in the subtext of culture. Of course these views are fiercely debatable.

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July 2010

Muthoni Donga, the brains behind Blankets and Wine, East Africa’s premier Afro fusion musical festival says, “I don’t think Kenyan music is distinct enough to be coded, because it’s quite broad in terms of its creativity and genre. We have the authentic sounds like the Benga music which are closer to the traditional sound than anything else. Then we have the urban sounds like Genge and Kapuka which are inspired by experiences in different Nairobi suburbs, and then there is the afro fusion sound, a genre that blends the traditional African sounds with the modern tunes.

All these music genres have a place in the social forum because they are unique in their own right.”

Tanzania has its hip hop music called Bongo Flava, which originated from the boroughs of Dar es Salaam. The pioneers of Bongo Flava are artists such as Kwanza Unit a 90s sensation. It is easy to distinguish Tanzanian music, not only because it generally avoids English lyrics like a new-age plague, but the artists are always singing about love. It is soulful music, which even the older generation cannot help singing along to.

The artist Ali Kiba is particularly a hit in such songs.

In the early 90s when urban music in the region was rising from the ashes, Ugandans had their own artists defining their scene. Particularly prominent was the Bataka Squad which sung in the native Luganda language. This style was called 'Luga Flow.' ‘’The people who buy such music and go for shows’’, says Ray Mugume,

a media consultant in Uganda, ‘’are the normal folk, what marketers categorise as C1 and below. This is where the goldmine is and so it’s natural that the artists would appeal to this group if their music careers are to move an inch. Perfect examples are artists like Jose Chameleon, Bebe Cool, Bobi Wine and Mesach Semakula…there are dozens of others who are also doing well in the industry.”

Insiders and cultural commentators observe that although East African music has made a lot of strides, it hasn’t quite done the full cycle. Kenyan musicians, they say, have not quite grasped the notion of originality; everybody wants to ape Kanye West or Beyonce. And it’s sad.

I suspect that if Kenyans weren’t too cocky, they would borrow a leaf from the neighbours across the border and start making tunes that reflect our cultural reality.

This is not to belittle the efforts that Kenyan artistes have employed so far, but it is becoming increasingly hard to hear a song that does not laud the “virtues” of sex, all- night drinking binges and all that clubbing hoopla.

“We have such rich cultures here in the region that our artists can borrow from,” says Paul Kimundi, a Kenyan producer in Rwanda. Kimundi says although Rwandan music is in its infantile stages as compared to other countries in the region, it shows more promise because the artists seem to have embraced the notion of localising content

•CULTURE

Reviews•Raves•Revues•Repasts

LINGUISTICS

French: Language of Diplomacy

By SHITEMI BARON KHAMADI

T

he French language has been an integral part of diplomacy for centuries.

Indeed, until 1919, when it was overtaken by English, French was the de facto diplomatic language. Frederick Iraki, a professor of French, says the language was used to draft international treaties.

French first played in the big league during the 1775 American Revolution when Paris intervened as it hoped to redress the balance of power that resulted from its humiliation in the Seven Years Wars, which gave considerable economic and military advantages to Britain.

Covertly, France assisted in military supplies to the American colonists.

In the end, this became the hard anvil upon which the new American nation was forged. Prof Iraki says French was regarded as an elite language because diplomats mostly negotiated in the language. It is from this dominance that a number of terms used in modern diplomatic circles are French.

Attaché, for example, is a person attached to an embassy; note verbale is an unsigned diplomatic note written in the third person, of the nature of a memorandum but sometimes considered to be more formal; aide memoire is a diplomatic memorandum summarising the items of an agreement; Chargés d’affaires are those who temporarily head a diplomatic mission.

The presence of Alliance Française in 130 countries and Francophone week celebrated yearly in the month of March form part of the promotion of French culture and diplomacy.

Today, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. “French diplomats have mastered diplomacy and are regarded as trustworthy and dependable,” Prof Iraki says. Charles de Gaulle, arguably the most celebrated French President once said: “A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless”. These words are a true testimony of how France has been able to influence the world in all aspects of life.

TREATIES

Contemporary and emerging issues have cemented the place of French in diplomacy. Modern human rights treaties emanated from the French’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793.

The fact that France was a colonial power has also helped to give it a high diplomatic profile and influence. Frank Asseko, a Gabonese, whose country, like many others in West Africa was colonised by France says colonialism has made France visible in the developing world.

As a result it has much clout on international discourse as evidence of its recent calls to have an African country as a member of the G20 shows.

During the May 2010 two-day 25th Africa-France summit that was attended by 38 African leaders, discussions did border on the restructuring of the United Nations Security Council to reflect the world today.

In East Africa, Rwanda has had frosty relations with France since the 1994 genocide when Paris was

French Ambassador to Kenya, Ms Elisabeth Barbier.

accused by the then rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front led by Paul Kagame of standing by as the Interahamwe militias went on a killing spree.

However, France has been making moves for rapprochement with Kigali and this was capped by the recent visit of President Nicholas Sarkozy to Rwanda and President Kagame’s attendance of the AfricaFrance summit in the French city of Nice.

During his Rwandan visit in February, Mr Sarkozy apologised for the international community’s failure to intervene. “What happened here is unacceptable, but what happened here compels the international community, including France, to reflect on the mistakes that stopped it from preventing and halting this abominable crime,” Mr Sarkozy said. Agath Hume, the French cultural attaché in Kenya says “France also enjoys good relations with the Middle East especially after she refused to send troops to the Iraq war”.

The then France Foreign Minister Dominique Marie Francois Rene Galouzeau de Villepin argued that “If war is the only way to resolve this problem, we are going down a dead end”. France was then the Security Council chair and de Villepin emphasised that “the problem is something more difficult than a question of change of regime. Let us not be diverted from our objective. It is the disarmament of Iraq.”

Sport has also been a key pillar in France’s diplomatic arsenal. “The Olympic Games.’’ Prof Iraki says, ‘’are a result of a French national called Pierre de Coubertin’’. France and French are indeed significant contributors to diplomacy

July 2010

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•CULTURE

Reviews•Raves•Revues•Repasts

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Antiques of Diplomacy

A

NGARI GITUKU makes the case for African societies of yore as adept at communicating.

t the very heartbeat of diplomatic sensibilities — whatever the level or players — are a number of brass tacks, the foremost, of course, being the ability or skill to negotiate. Another equally significant fundamental in diplomacy, albeit subtle, is simply knowledge.

But knowledge is never quite complete without history for it is in history that knowledge finds perspective and value.

Yet, acquisition of diplomatic skills is not always imparted hand in hand with an equally thoroughgoing awareness of the history of one’s country of origin, its people, arts, heritage, beliefs, cultures – indeed its deepest innards. And this now brings me to the question of primordial diplomatic conduct of ancient Africans and how certain practices and attributes of that long gone past still remain relevant in the 21st century.

Consider these two examples.

First folklore. In folklore, the ogre, though always endowed with the ultimate mystique and allure, was hardly the next door neighbour.

Invariably, ogres and indeed all other vestiges of human beasts, were predominantly foreigners.

Their chicanery, for instance, attracted the best brides during their ‘tours of duty’ in foreign lands while their flashes of ‘benevolence’ were merely baits and entry points into the heart and soul of gullible hosts.

The beautiful brides ogres enticed on their journeys back home

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are perhaps the most powerful allegory of ultimate loss to any society. Beautiful lasses, let alone women in general, express any society’s most inherent beauty, potential and indeed future.

The choice of ladies in ogre accounts conjures the image of the most extreme form of possession and passion. In a word, the interplay between beast and bride in ogre tales, besides being proof of sheer genius, squarely captures spheres of diplomatic negotiation and awareness in equal measure.

Apparently, perhaps, because societies of yore were more hopelessly patriarchal than today’s, ogres were predominantly male, itself a universal symbol of dominance.

The second notable edifice of antique African diplomacy was expressed in the institution of royal bards. Also referred to as court poets and to cynics, kings’ fools, royal bards, though viewed at times as clowns were essentially historiographers and society’s most dynamic chroniclers.

While tickling kings and courtiers with their rendition of history, the bards fused platitudes, wit, commentary and, occasionally, admonition in careful doses that made for the most comprehensive journal of any given people. Given that their poetry and odes were designed for the society’s finest, coupled with the fact that their artistic delivery separated then from other poets, bards commanded the attention of nearly every person in the society.

Bards were certainly the best in revealing the history, heroes, attitudes, lore and mores of their people. Consequently, they turned the knowledge of who their people were into common sense, this, a far cry from what today’s contemporary education manages to impart.

In retrospect, perhaps the secret to better prospects in Africa’s diplomacy is ensuring that every child born on the continent gets to fully appreciate the totality of who they are from eons buried far back in time. That way, every African will be a diplomat for this continent wherever else they find themselves under the sun.

How that may be achieved is the big question

International School of Kenya Dance Studio 2010Modern Dance Classes for aspiring movers

Attire:

Leotard and tights with ballet or jazz shoes is ideal. Otherwise, tank tops, sweat pants, stretchy pants, spandex or lycra can be worn as alternatives.

Class Description:

The class will be for intermediate to advanced dancers, but beginners are also welcome.

The focus of this class will be on Modern Dance, featuring ballet as a basic vocabulary, and an intermediary level of modern dance, with a heavy emphasis on choreography and performance techniques. The advanced class is appropriate for those with a passion for dance, who have had some level of experience in any dance form, be it salsa, hip-hop, jazz, etc.

Date: Saturday, July 03, 2010 at 08:00 AM- 12 PM Duration: 1 Hour Repeat Event: Repeat every Saturday until August 28

Sh750 per class or Sh6000 for ten classes ; for teens aged 13 to 18; some dance experience preferred but beginners welcome as well

•CULTURE

Reviews•Raves•Revues•Repasts

EXPRESSIONS & IMPRESSIONS

Art that Speaks

“A

By CAROL GACHIENGO

ncient” describes something from times long past or belonging to early history. Thus if you are ancient, there are two possible explanations: one is that you have discovered the secret of defying death; the other and more likely is that through you, customs and traditions from times long past live on.

In many parts of Africa, we have preserved our culture through traditions. That we are an ancient people is therefore a most sincere compliment. In most African communities, artful speech and art that speaks are part of our culture.

Artful speech

Chinua Achebe’s bestseller, Things Fall Apart, was probably the greatest exposé ever on the art of speech of the Igbo people of West Africa. Igbo proverbs, according to Achebe, are the salt with which words are eaten.

“Eneke the bird was asked why he was always on the wing and he replied: “Men have learned to shoot without missing their mark and I have learned to fly without perching on a twig.” This proverb tells of a people who have learned to adapt and survive; a lesson that serves the world well today.

“When a person says yes, his Chi (personal God) says yes to him.” Determination and positive thinking must have been lessons learned and passed down through Igbo generations.

All African people have their own turn of symbolic speech that speaks not just to the present human condition but from the mouths of past generations. The Swahili proverb, “Kuishi

kwingi ni kuona mengi” (To live long is to see much) sums it up well.

In the ordinary sense, an artist speaks to us through his art. “Painting is just another way of keeping a diary,” according to Pablo Picasso. In the African context, traditional art told the story of a people and their world.

The kiondo, a basket originally woven by Kikuyu and Kamba people of Kenya, to the world is a beautiful receptacle to carry personal belongings or groceries. Currently patented in Japan, it has also evolved into a fashion statement. But long before the kiondo travelled thousands of miles to speak of style and trends, it was already telling the ancient story of its originators.

Kenyan architect Joseph Kamenju has written that “the kiondo is one of the most powerful symbols among the Kikuyu that has been written in an archaic and incomprehensible language that will require careful and systematic decoding today.” He interprets that the bottom or navel of the kiondo represents the peoples mythological origins from a single source while the vertical warp represents the nine clans and the horizontal bands each represent an age group that gives way to another as generations come and go.

Similarly, the beadwork of the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania, now world famous, speaks of more than an “exotic” people that have resisted assimilation into other cultures.

The Maasai wedding necklace, engarewa, worn by the bride on her wedding day, is symbolic through colours and patterns. The colour of each bead in the necklace is chosen for its meaning in Maasai culture: Red for unity, blood, and bravery; blue for peace,

ARTEFACT:

African art loaded with message

water, and the sky; green for health and the land; orange for the gourds that hold the milk that is offered to visitors; yellow for the hospitality signified by animal skins on guest beds; white for purity; and black for the hardships of life which the bride and groom will weather together.

Adinkra symbols from West Africa are an excellent example of art that has an ancient and beautiful tale to tell. These are symbols originally created by the Akan of Ghana and the Gyaman of Cote d’Ivoire.

There are hundreds of Adinkra symbols, warranting an Adinkra dictionary. It may be news to many outsiders that part of the world that the designs on cloth are not just aesthetically pleasing but have age old meaning as well. Besides cloth, Adinkra are used on walls, in pottery, woodcarvings and logos.

In Adinkra symbolism, Akoma, the symbol popularly known as the “love heart” in the West, is a symbol of patience and tolerance. According to Agbo, when a person is said to “have a heart in his stomach,” that person is very tolerant; and so we learn the true meaning of love in this culture.

There are Adinkra symbols for courage, mercy, wisdom, endurance and many other concepts, so that through art, Adinkra not only tells the ancient story of the people, it is a language that can tell any modern tale the artist desires to tell.

Africa then is truly an old continent inhabited by an ancient people; ancient not because we do not embrace contemporary ways, but because through our language and art we speak of times gone by and wisdom acquired through the experiences of numerous generations

July 2010

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•CULTURE PICTORIAL May - June Events

Argentine Ambassador Daniel with her wife Carola Chuburu, when they hosted the National Day Ambassador Heli Sirve, Finland, Pia Stjernvall and Spanish Ambassador Nicolas Martin Cinto at the Argentina Japan's Ambassador Shigeo Iwatani with his wife Yuko Iwatani

Alexey Saltykov, Algerian Ambassador, Ali Benzerga , Polish ambassador Anna Grupinska and Elana Saltyko Zena Nzibo, Nilofer Elias, Nigerian High commission's Leticia Shabi with Torti Blessin High Commissioner's Angelina Wapakhabulo (Uganda) with Lisa Filipetto (Australia)

Ambassadors Elisabeth Barbier, France with Heli Sirve, Finland Marieke Ruberti, Artist Bartiers Joseph and Geraldine Dunford Diplomats Lucia Zachar with Mira Ilic

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July 2010

•CULTURE PICTORIAL May - June Events

DIARY ON CULTURAL CENTRES ALLIANCE FRANCAISE THE PROPOSAL Fri 25th June to Sat 12th July

By Anton Chekov A hilarious farce by the legendary Russian playwright.

Ivan, a long-time neighbor of Steven has come to propose marriage to his 25-year-old daughter, Natalia. After receiving joyful permission to marry Natalia, she is invited into the room, and he tries to convey to her the proposal. This task may seem easy but Steve faces a deeper challenge, he is a hypochondriac and this may prove his greatest challenge yet.

Role Play

By John Sibi- Okumu Fri 16th July-Sat 31st July Be taken into this journey by the Kenyan psyche GOETHE INSTITUTE Translation Experiences Solo Exhibition 2nd JUL-16th JUL

Brazillian musical group Samba das Mocas on stage, During Latin America art exhibition at the National Museum of Kenya The gorgeus Veneluelan Ambassador Maria

Mendoza puts her best leg foward at the exhibition MTV's Lisa Amenya, the lovely Tessy Mudavadi with Louisa Gitau at the Malawi Consulate during celebrations for President Mbingu wa Mutharika Chairmanship of AU Zambian singer Chiikissie Kamthunzi.j

Laura Horelli born in Helsinki in 1976 and based in Berlin is one of the most interesting artists using documentary video, an approach which is currently topical in the international art scene. On the occasion of residency in Nairobi as part of the Afro polis exhibition there will be a solo show of some of her recent works. The show is part of a series of exhibitions with international artist who have worked in Kenya. The exhibition Translating Experiences brings together three moving image works completed in 2009-2010.Shedding Details(with Gerhard Friedl), Haukka-pala(A-BitTo-Bite) and Trading Places(Ann Kaneko).Horelli uses all the sociological and documentary approaches at her disposal-yet she shows how these methods can be humbled or stymied‌..

July 2010

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•DEA HOTELS Lifestyles & Hospitality

Refreshing African Hospitality For its variety and ambience, Sarova Panafric takes our prize as the DEA Hotel of the month

S

et on a hill, encircled by beautifully landscaped gardens on a silhouette of luxurious tranquillity sits a haven, a spit away from Nairobi’s Central Business District. Christened in honour of the pan African movement, Sarova Panafric is as old as independent Kenya.

Inaugurated in 1965 by the first president of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the hotel enjoys the best of both worlds, a rich historical legacy complimented by an embrace of modernity.

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July 2010

Widely reputed as the 4 star Hotel that gives 5 counterparts a challenge and part of the Sarova Group of Hotels, Panafric is positioning itself as the ultimate conferencing centre with a world class appeal.

This is in tandem with the aggressive diversification of services and products targeting, in equal measure, both from within and without the country, leisure and business.

The Hotel boasts a unique blend of African architecture and art with 154 airy, aptly decorated and balconied rooms. Variety is key at the Panafric, what with seventy two of

MR NGUNGA:

Service our promise

the rooms being standard, sixty five superior, thirteen club and 42 apartments, providing a wide array for clients to choose from. The four executive suites with a rich African feel and design complete the picture of facilities done with the tastes and pockets of various clients in mind.

Panafric’s attractive ensemble encompasses state-of-the-art banqueting and conferencing facilities with a wide range of meetings and function rooms equipped with the latest audio visual and WIFI equipment. The rooms offer an assortment of standard, superior and deluxe suites refurbished and decorated in contemporary vibrant African style.

The Hotel offers two types of conferencing packages tailor made to suit client needs. The premier and executive package looks to satisfy specific client demands. This package has confer-

ence rooms that can sit up to 800 people with the biggest room accommodating 450 people and the smallest 25, making these prime choices for a wide range of conferencing solutions. The conference facilities come ready with stateof-the-art conference equipment and devices such that a client does not have to worry about delivery and comfort when holding an event. The equipment and devices include electronic smart boards, LCD screens with high resolution, overhead projectors, high-speed wireless internet connectivity and public address systems.

Among the hotel’s trail of firsts includes being the initial hotel in the city to introduce teleconferencing facilities that enables conference guests to hold conferences remotely with their associates anywhere in the world, at anytime.

“This is the ideal place for conferencing and we always ensure we keep setting new trends,” says Anthony Ngunga, the General Manager, adding that the conferencing facilities ideal for organizations that hold meetings as a matter of course including, corporate organizations, Non Governmental Organizations and international agencies. Indeed, the client list of national, regional and global organisations that annually hold their meetings at the Panafric features who-is-who in virtually all sectors across government, business and philanthropy.

From hosting the International Labour Organization to the rugby Safari sevens, Sarova Panafric has and continues to play host to a wide variety of local and international cast. “We recently hosted a conference for the Kenya Blind Union that comprised of 200 visually challenged people, a challenging and daunting task that we pulled off very well,” Mr. Ngunga exemplifies some of the special-

ised services his team has become an expert in delivering.

To cap the superlative offering for conference and large meeting attendants, Panafric runs the exuberant Flame Tree restaurant which offers a lively and leisurely ambience with a rich history dating back to pre-independence Kenya.

Conveniently located on the ground floor, The Flame Tree once served as the watering hole for freedom fighters, spies and foreign correspondents in the run up to the struggle for independence. Today, it serves as the meeting point for clients looking to relax and unwind. The Flame Tree is complemented by the Pool Garden Restaurant that creates a suitable atmosphere for company cocktails and buffets owing to its exquisite and neatly kept gardens.

Clients with aquatic interests can always dive into the swimming pool in between the sampling of the eclectic chef’s menu or the bar man’s wide variety of drinks.

“We are in the process of a massive upgrading campaign that aims at turning Sarova Panafric into a purely business hotel for a business or leisure oriented client.

The renovation is at a cost of Ksh 230 million,” reveals Mr Ngunga.

We have already incorporated a modern air conditioning system and completed 15 brand new rooms. The upgrading will include 71 standard rooms and renovation of the lobby for which a cool Ksh 130 million has been set aside for the latter. The lobby is being refurbished to adopt the Africathemed elegant look.

The timeless elegance and perfect ambience positions the 4 star hotels at a level playing field with 5 star hotels in the country. Ngunga cites the Hotel’s reputation as the master of outside catering to places as far as Kakamega in Western Kenya to Meru in the Mt.

EXCUISITE: Images of excellence from facing page and above

Kenya region. The Hotel also has an impressive loyalty program dubbed, ‘Sarova Zawadi’ that enables clients to earn points and burn in selected retail and shopping outlets in Kenya.

“It’s out of our experience and capacity to deliver the best that sets us apart from the rest”, Mr Ngunga intones. Add to this the fact that the Hotel provides ample and secure parking space that can hold up to 400 cars and one would understand why it continues to attract droves of Nairobians and the city’s visitors away from the city centre, well, but not too far from it.

And while at it, the length and breadth of Panafric teems with most helpful staff of highly trained personnel, giving service from the depth of their hearts in consonance with its slogan; Refreshing African Hospitality

July 2010

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•CONFERENCING Meetings & Events

Shari’ah COMPLIANT

Islamic Banking Debunked The first Islamic finance Conference in the region throws up unconventional banking practices By DEA CORRESPONDENT

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he Islamic finance market in Africa is potentially worth close to $235 billion, hence positioning the continent as the next growth region for such finance.

Facets of Islamic banking such as the prohibition of interest and involvement in economic activities which are morally unacceptable — such as gambling and products based on risk-sharing and profitsharing — makes it attractive to many. Islamic banking also eschews charging interest on loans, hence making it a safe alternative to the excessive greed characterised by conventional banking that led to the global financial crisis. In Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania the reality of the sizable number constituted by the Muslim community is something that cannot be ignored and the industry is gradually taking notice.

Central Banks in the region are supporting and working on a structure that will eventually lead to the flotation of Shari’ah compliant bonds and Treasury bills. The sukuk bonds, which bar payment of interest, are seen as a move to tap into the enormous cash flowing into Africa from the Gulf region. Alex Nandi, Deputy Director Banking Supervision at the CBK, remarks, “We are still waiting for the structured sukuk to cover bonds and the Treasury bills market.”

CBK has been seeking amendment of the Banking Act to accommodate the Islamic banking alternative. As a regulator, CBK is more concerned with understanding

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July 2010

the product and sitting down with banks to look at their framework.

Conventional banks enjoy the liberty of trading in bonds and Treasury bills but Islamic banks are constrained by Shari’ah law, a situation that is compounded by the lack of an enabling environment by regulators. Since the dark cloud brought about by the global credit crunch, conventional banks have been heavily adversely impacted, therefore giving their Islamic counterparts the upper hand that has seen them enjoy increasing popularity.

Two years ago, CBK issued licenses to Gulf African Bank and First Community Bank. The Gulf states are eyeing African countries as incentive investment destinations and, as Mr Suleiman Shahbal, the Gulf

ALTERNATIVE:

Gulf African Bank CEO Mr Najmul Hassan speaks at the conference

African Bank Chairman, emphasises, there is a huge appetite among businesspeople from the Gulf region to invest in Africa.

Gulf African Bank invested KSh500 million in the sukuk portion of the government infrastructure bond issue last year, receiving a 13.5 per cent rate of return. In 2009, the bank earned KSh56.6 million from its investment in government securities. Shahbal says, “There is a huge increase in the demand for our products and services and we plan to start a micro-finance organisation soon.

We are happy that the Central Bank is today very competent in understanding Islamic banking”.

A new trend has been witnessed through the tapping into mutual funds and takaful co-operative insurance, where members contribute a certain sum to a common pool with the aim of bearing one another’s burden and not for profit.

According to Mr Jawad Ali, Managing Partner, King and Spalding, it is safer to deposit your money with an Islamic bank as they are less likely to fail. Moody’s Investor Service, a leading provider of independent credit ratings, research and financial information to capital markets, states that Islamic financial institutions are resilient but not immune.

“The crumbling of the US financial sector is a wake up call to all financial institutions to say Islamic banking is basic, safe, simple and sturdy. I believe the Islamic finance industry is at a critical juncture and it’s protected by investors, banks and lawyers and doesn’t imitate conven-

•CONFERENCING Meetings & Events

tional banking,” says an emphatic Ali. Recent significant developments have taken place in Islamic retail banking and finance products that have seen them gain popularity with non-Muslim countries due to their competitiveness and efficiency. The history of Islamic banking took root in Egypt in the 1960’s and over 300 institutions in 75 countries with Dubai and Bahrain as undisputed leaders in Islamic finance whereas Hongkong, Kuala lumpur and Singapore to dominate in Asia.

In the region, Tanzania has only two banks; KCB and Stanbic, that have opened a window for Islamic banking. Agapiti Kobello, Director, in Banking supervision, Central Bank of Tanzania says Islamic banking is a new area in which they encourage their banks to go into.

“We admit that the banking industry is ahead of the regulator and so we are taking a pro-active approach. In line with this, we have undertaken to send some of our staff to undergo training and learn the models being applied in Egypt and Bahrain. We hope to make a comprehensive amendment of the laws in order to accommodate this kind of banking.”

On the other hand, Justine Bagyenda, Executive Director Supervision Bank of Uganda terms Islamic banking as the fastest growing industry in the World and lack of regulations are the reason East-Africa is lagging behind. “Sudan and Egypt have already done it, it’s time for practitioners and regulators in the region to come in and do it.”

Conventional bank, she says, are considered obscene profit making vehicles. Uganda is considering comprehensive training programs for stakeholders in order to create a level playing field for the EAC region that will facilitate Islamic banking

The CEO of Gulf African Bank Mr Najmul Hassan spoke to DEA. Excerpts.

Tell us about your experience at the Meezan bank in Parkistan?

I joined the bank in early 2001 as general manager corporate and business development as well as being one of the founder members of the bank and played an instrumental role in leading the successful conversion of the operations of the Bank into full fledged Islamic commercial. During that time, the bank grew from a small investment bank with one branch to 120 branches.

How about your background in aerospace engineering?

I have always been a risk-taker and I had just clocked the age of 46 when I went into banking this of course entailed spending a lot of time with Shari’ah scholars and reading a lot of books on Islamic banking. Before joining Meezan, I worked as a Managing Director, Delphi Diesel systems (Pakistan), prior to that as Managing Director in Agro Auto Industries, which is one of the largest automotive parts manufacturing companies in Pakistan.

What prompted you to leave your successful stint at Meezan?

Working in Islamic finance is more than just a career for me.

I had a deep hunger to spread this form of banking in Africa.

Previously, I didn’t know much about Kenya until my colleague resigned from Meezan and asked me to accompany him to Kenya. It was a gamble as I was far gone in my age not

to mention I had achieved much success in Pakistan. Our success is not measured by the end result but by the work put in while reaching for success.

What do you attribute Gulf African Bank's growth to?

We have a very dedicated and passionate team. We received the first runners up in Tier III banks that is banks with assets below Kshs 10 billion and second runner up in best innovative product for Mortgage product during the 2010 Banking awards. This is a big step for us as we now are competing with the established banks.

We have 12 branches all over the country and are looking to expand into the East African region.

What does the recent launch of SME credit facility portend for your clientele?

As a bank we recognize that SMEs are a valuable business partner who we seek to identify and develop into great corporates tomorrow. The credit facilities offered are tailored to suit various sectors; responding to specific needs of the targeted industry such as asset based financing for purchase of equipment and commercial motor vehicles, SME mortgage, construction financing, mortgage schemes, contract financing and stock financing for businesses that hold stock either for processing or resale. To enhance fairness & transparency in the transactions, medium and long term

asset financing will primarily be based on Musharaka (partnership) financing where the bank partners with a client to acquire an asset. For using the asset, the client pays rent to the bank. The client also buys the bank’s share of the property over a period of time until he gains full ownership of the asset. Rent payable is based on profit rate agreed from the onset.

How has value capping benefited GAB’s transactions?

As you may be aware, on June 24 2009, the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) jointly notified the public that high value payments using cheques and electronic funds transfers (EFTs) will not be processed through the automated clearing house.

The high value payments will be processed through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS). The advantage of using RTGS is that the transfer of funds is not subject to any clearing period as the beneficiary will receive funds the same day. Secondly, high value frauds will be reduced or eliminated as majority of the fraud attempts are perpetrated through cheques and EFTs. Your views on CBK's role in Islamic banking?

The CBK has been very supportive without which our progress wouldn’t have been as optimal. The challenge has to do with knowledge; understanding Islamic products and services

July 2010

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•PERSPECTIVES Views on News

Combating Piracy

M

By MARGIT HELLWIG-BOETTE

odern piracy is not only a threat to the Eastern and increasingly also – Southern African coast and regions; it is a threat to international trade in general as it concerns the most important trade route of the world. It is a crime that damages economic interests and challenges the attractiveness of the ports of the Eastern African region as international trade hubs and diminishes investors’ interest in their further development. As a result, some shipping companies already use the longer route via the Cape of Good Hope. Ultimately, costs for export and import are increasing dramatically. Cruise ships are avoiding the regional ports and waters with significant damage to coast economy and tourism.

Although long term solutions need to be found to tackle the conditions onshore of the failed Somalia state which allow for piracy to evolve, the phenomenon has to be seen in the context of organised crime. Piracy needs to be addressed with means of criminal law just like any other crime. The pirates at sea, front men, middlemen and organisers in the background are ordinary criminals who form part of a more complex situation of organised crime involving inter alia armed robbery, human and drug trafficking as well as money laundering. Any mystification of the act of piracy is misplaced.

The international community is engaged in a well co-ordinated effort to improve maritime security in the

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Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean as well as to repress acts of piracy at sea, the European Union’s ATALANTA mission being a key element.

According to the International Maritime Office, the number of incidents increased considerably in 2009 and the first months of 2010. However, the number of successful hijackings is decreasing in relative terms due to the increased efficiency and presence of the international navies, more robust action of East African countries as well as the heightened awareness of shipping industries when transiting the waters of the Indian Ocean.

With regard to the prosecution of presumed pirates, Kenya has been at the forefront of international efforts and has shown leadership in the fight against piracy. Kenya was the first country in the region which – with due consideration of both its economic interests and its proximity to Somalia – moved towards working with international navies to allow for the transfer of presumed pirates and their prosecution in its national courts. When more and more countries of the region get involved, this is not a consequence of the transfers of presumed pirates by international navies, but more so of the fact that piracy reaches their shores, their fishing fleets, their crew members and citizens. The Kenyan flagged ship FV Sakoba was reported hi-jacked with 10 Kenyan citizens on board in March 2010. Of the forty presumed pirates currently imprisoned in the Seychelles, three quarters have been arrested directly by the Seychelles’ coastguards. Pirates are increasingly

STATS &FACTS The Kenyan flagged ship FV Sakoba was reported hi-jacked with

10 Kenyan citizens on

board in March 2010.

using the islands off the coast of Tanzania as area for retreat. And the first cases of piracy have reached the territorial waters of Madagascar.

But also, more distant countries are making their contribution and share in the burden of prosecution.

To give an example, in early April of this year the containership Taipan – German-owned, under German flag and with a partly German crew - was attacked by a group of ten Somali nationals. Thanks to the intervention of the Netherlands’ navy this attack was brought to a quick and bloodless end. In response, German judicial authorities have requested the transfer of the presumed pirates to Hamburg where their trial is expected to start soon.

In parallel, donor countries are forthcoming with assistance to countries of the region in order to balance the strain on the latter’s resources and to alleviate the additional burden put on them by the prosecution of suspected pirates. The European Union, and in particular Germany, have been supporting Kenya, but increasingly also other countries in the region since early 2009. Assistance is rendered not with the narrow perspective of combating piracy, but with the intention of providing a wider impulse to reform in the areas of police, judiciary and prisons. Examples are the public prosecution team specialising in piracy-related crimes, the courts and the Shimo la Tewa prison in Mombasa who demonstrate best practice in their endeavour to reform.

The international community has no alternative but to further cooperate in the joint development of a robust and coordinated response to piracy. Germany and its partners stand ready to continue the fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean.

And in this fight we want Kenya to be a strong partner The author is Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Kenya, Somalia and the Seychelles

•GLOBAL STAGE Window on World

GAZA FALLOUT

At the end of the Day, Israel had its Way

F

Ultimately, the flotilla achieved its aim, argues KWENDO OPANGA

irst, it set up a panel of its choosing with a sprinkling of foreigners to investigate its May 31 attack on the peace flotilla bound for the Gaza strip with humanitarian aid for blockaded Palestinians.

That satisfied the Israeli position because the government had from the outset insisted that it would not allow an international team to probe its actions which it said were legitimate and legal.

Next, Israel moved to ease the blockade of Gaza and allow into Gaza goods it has blocked from the strip since it imposed the blockade three years ago.

It was a clever move by Israel read correctly by the Palestinian leadership as aimed at stemming international criticism occasioned by the attack on the flotilla. The all-round criticism had the potential of isolating the Jewish state.

For example, the European Union was clear and categorical

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that the situation (blockade of Gaza) remains unsustainable and Israel’s continued policy of closure is “unacceptable and politically counter-productive”.

It called for, “immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of the crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza.”

Ultimately, the flotilla achieved its aim; by attempting to breach the blockade and therefore incurring Israeli fire, the activists forced the blockade and its strangulating effect on the economy and people of Gaza onto the global front burner.

Israel reacted violently to the attempt to bust the blockade of Gaza, with its commandos boarding one of the ships, opening fire and killing 11 peace activists and wounding several others. Typically, defying world opinion and though it attacked and killed civilians, Tel Aviv said it acted in self

defence.

Indeed, right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the international community and media of hostile hypocrisy, opining that the United States, has on occasion taken such a step against its aggressors.

Turkey remains the angriest of the countries that have reacted sharply to the attack by Israeli commandos on one of the socalled peace ships. That is understandable given that most of the activists were Turkish. But it was a position that stunned Israel because it counts Turkey among its allies in what is an increasingly volatile part of the world.

Turkey’s position remains simply that the international community should hold Israel to account because it broke international law. Turkey branded the Israeli attack an act of piracy because it attacked a civilian convoy in international waters.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ah-

•GLOBAL STAGE Window on World

met Davutoglu was emphatic in calling for an international investigation of the attack because the crime was committed in international waters. He said that the participation of non-Israelis in an Israeli-appointed panel does not meet international standards.

Washington’s reaction was muted, with the White House calling for an investigation into the attack and Vice-President Joe Biden saying Israel acted in selfdefence.

These point to a diplomatic challenge for President Barack Obama who may be shifting gears from an earlier position that threatened to be tough on Israel; calling for an end to establishment of settlements and for progress on peace talks with Palestinians.

There has been no success for the White House on both issues, and a meeting between Obama and Netanyahu was cancelled following the attack on the flotilla to allow the Israeli premier who was in Canada to fly back to Israel.

However, the White House might take consolation in the fact that there has been an easing of the blockade and hope that this may be reason to look forward to resumption of proximity talks between the Israelis and Palestinians to, hopefully, result in direct talks.

Special Middle East envoy, former British Prime Minister Tony

Blair, will no doubt take some credit for the easing of the blockade for this came after almost two weeks of talks with Netanyahu.

After 10 days of talks in the wake of the attack, Blair expressed high hopes the blockade of Gaza would be significantly lifted and prove the basis for a breakthrough.

He said there would be a significant shift where items that are a security risk for Israel would not be permitted into Gaza, but items for daily life would be allowed in.

But there may yet be a point of disagreement. Israel regards cement, so vital for building civilian houses, as a security because it may be used by Hamas to build bunkers in which to hide arms and armed personnel.

Israel may, for example, demand to know what projects a consignment of cement will be used on, before adjudging them to be a risk to its security or not.

The blockade has been eased, not lifted.

This is not the last time the world has reckoned with Israel’s militarist approach to issues because the threat by Tel-Aviv to take out Tehran’s nuclear installations remains on the table

Masterplan for Ecowas

T

By PATRICK WACHIRA

he ECOWAS Council of Ministers has adopted the West African Common Industrial Policy (WACIP) action plan.

The document is premised on a global vision that will enable member states to benefit from their comparative advantages.

WACIP seeks to diversify the region’s industrial production base by progressively raising the local content of such products to an average of 30 per cent by 2030 by creating new industrial production capacities and upgrading existing ones.

The policy is designed to help improve intra-Community trade from the present 13 per cent to 40 per cent by 2030 and increase the volume of exports of manufactured goods from West Africa to the global market from the current 0.1 per cent to one per cent by 2030. This will be done through the enhancement and development of skills, industrial competitiveness and quality infrastructure in information, communication and transport.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the committee of ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff has concluded a fact-finding mission to Guinea Bissau during which they revisited the events of April 1 2010 when renegade members of the armed forces detained the Prime Minister and the Chief of Defence Staff. The former was later released while the latter Staff is being detained.

The visit also enabled the four-member delegation of chiefs of defence staff to better understand the events of that day, which also saw the release from the UN compound, of a former chief of the navy who was cited in a failed coup.

The delegation also met with the special representative of the UN Secretary General and other UN officials, the minister of defence and the special representative of the European Union, the ministers of interior, economy, planning and regional integration.

In another development, Ecowas praised the military government in Niger for releasing its 12-month transition timetable for restoring democracy. The country had until the military intervention of February 2010, been embroiled in political crisis over the violation of the constitution by the deposed President, Mahamadou Tandja.

“This is a quantum leap in the journey to constitutional rule, given the confusion that reigned in the country recently over how long the military intended to stay in power”, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency, James Victor Gbeho, said July 2010

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•ODYSSEYS People & Places

Private Diplomacy and Public Benefit

A

By CLARA MCKENNA

n act of private diplomacy more than 50 years ago still benefits the children and families of Kanyariri, a rural community near Nairobi.

As it became clear in the late 1950s that Kenya would achieve independence, the need for a welleducated middle class to run the upcoming civil service was evident.

Julius Kiano and Tom Mboya, the two men who saw the need, realised they would have to look to the US for help.

While America was enjoying a period of unparalleled prosperity, it was also in the middle of a great transition. The long battle for civil rights for blacks was coming to a head: The Supreme Court ruled against segregation in the classroom and Martin Luther King undertook an effective campaign of nonviolent resistance to its broader practice.

Then, the Soviet Union’s ability to beat the Americans into space with a satellite shocked the leadership because it threatened their Cold War strength. The answer was education, it seemed, as the country’s children took to their math and science books. America was focused on a brave new world and learning, in all its facets, was its answer to the challenge. That focus would soon extend outside its borders.

Yet Kenya was a source of consternation to the American government.

Though slated for independence, it was still a British colony. Moreover, the Republican State Department feared the Mau Mau uprising as the

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beginning of a leftist inroad in East Africa. They offered little pubic help for Kenya’s need to educate. Since the British had blocked higher education from most Africans from Kenya’s earliest days as a protectorate, the nation faced a dearth of people who could take over and maintain government services when the British finally retreated. It seemed a stalemate that could cost Kenya dearly.

For some years, Kenyan students had filtered into the US by writing to every American school whose catalogue they could find until someone enrolled them. Now, thanks in large part to Kiano and Mboya, the effort became more organised. A group of influential Americans who had long supported civil rights saw a need to extend their interests to black Africans. Working as the AfricanAmerican Students Foundation, they canvassed American colleges and universities for scholarships and paid to bring less than 100 students to the US in 1959. When the

AIRLIFTS: Beneficiaries of 1960s US education pose for a picture with US Ambassador, Michael Ranneberger

US government refused a request to transport students in 1960 because Kenya was still a British colony, Mboya convinced John F. Kennedy to use a family foundation to pay for air charters for 250 students. Estimates vary, but eventually as many as 2,000 young men and women from East Africa used this bridge to learning.

One of these students was Henry Chege, a 1959 arrival. Chege studied in California and eventually retired as corporate secretary of British Oxygen Co. in Nairobi. He never forgot the miracle that education had wrought in his life and he saw no reason to wait for government to do the job for others. After all, it had been a private effort that assured his future.

This visionary determined to recreate that dream with a non-profit community school in his mother’s former house in Kanyariri, where he was reared. With the help of his wife Miriam Wanjiru, a 1960 airlift student, he opened the school as a kindergarten in 1995, naming it Mary Nyanjega Academy after his mother.

It soon became a day and boarding school through eighth grade for 330 students. When Chege died in 2006, his last wish was that Mrs. Chege continues the operation on behalf of the community, as she has.

A number of those who mounted the initial diplomatic effort in the 50s have grown old and died.

Yet their determination to educate young Kenyans thrives today down a dusty, leafy road where once a young Henry Chege played

•ENVOYS OF SPORT Athletics Nairobi 2010

Kenya Hopes to Reap from Show In recent times, sport has evolved from a leisure activity to a multi-billion dollar industry.

T

he impact of development of sport into a money-spinning venture that can leave a lasting economic stimulus as legacy has not been lost on countries bidding to host major events worldwide.

Countries have engaged in bidding wars to host competitions such as Olympics, FIFA World Cup, African Nations Cup, IAAF World Championships in Athletics and IAAF World Cross Country Championships. The

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July 2010

CAA African Athletics Championships are no exception.

Since 1979 when Dakar hosted the first edition of what is now a biennial event, countries on the continent have jostled to host the showdown that will take place in Nairobi from July 28 to August 1.

A number of factors have precipitated African cities to bid for the event including political/social reasons and as a stepping stone to larger events as exemplified by South Africa who held

the 1993 championships when they emerged out of apartheid.

Following that, South Africa went on to win rights to stage other key sporting carnivals beginning with the IRB Rugby World Cup (1995), the CAN Nations Cup (1996), World Cross Country (1999) and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. However, the overriding interest of host cities is to showcase their commercial wares as an investment option as well as stimulating economic growth.

For the Seventeenth CAA Africa Athletics Championships, Kenya budgeted $5m (Ksh 400m), to stage the event last held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with the government footing half the bill.

The event’s Local Organising Committee (LOC) was required to source the balance from grants from continental governing body, CAA and more importantly, the nation’s business fraternity by entering into

commercial sponsorship agreements.

Kenya’s leading mobile telephone service provider, Safaricom, won the rights as title sponsors in a deal worth $293,750 (Ksh23.5m) that also includes telecommunications support for Nairobi 2010.

Financial institution, National Bank of Kenya, weighed in with $250,000 (Ksh20m) in cash that elevated them to sponsor status alongside national carrier, Kenya Airways whose package is worth $268,000 (KSh20.6m).

The airline’s deal was sponsorship in kind as it conceded to subsidise travel costs for all accredited competitors and officials who will attend Nairobi 2010 at 20 per cent of ticket costs from its 39 destinations across Africa.

Other Kenyan firms were lined up to join the Nairobi 2010 bandwagon by the end of June as organisers announced a potential $1.25m (Ksh100m) budgetary deficit al-

though they were quick to allay concerns the shortfall would impair the event.

“We in athletics do not hide the facts. We have a deficit of Ksh150m ($1.875m) but we are working on reducing the figure by doing away with unnecessary expenses and the shortfall could come to Sh100m ($1.25m),” Mr Isaiah Kiplagat, the chair of the event’s Local Organising Committee disclosed at a function in June.

“However, we shall host a successful event even if this means auctioning everything we have,” he added.

With the $5m outlay for the event, a small fortune by Kenyan standards for a sports event, organisers, government and corporate backers anticipate an economic stimulus for Nairobi just as happened to the coastal city of Mombasa when it hosted the 2007 World Cross Country Championships.

“For sure, Mombasa held its own as a world class tourist destination before the World Cross but since then, some visitors who spent their time there during that period have returned for holidays and we hope the same will apply to Nairobi 2010,” LOC’s Marketing Director, Sue Omanga told DEA. Apart from sponsors who will get preference in displaying their products/services to the projected 2,000 visitors who will converge in Nairobi for the event, other firms are waiting to cash in on the boom.

WE ARE READY:

Nyayo National Stadium, venue of the event (facing page).

Above, Shujaa the official mascot

“I hope fans and competitors who come to this event spend more than what we make during football matches and athletics events held at this stadium,” Calvin Omondi, who hawks a variety of consumer goods including sodas, peanuts, confectionery and mobile phone scratch cards at Nyayo National Stadium that will host the championships stated.

A number of Nairobi hotels are set to make good business by accommodating athletes, officials and fans.

They are Intercontinental (IAAF and CAA family) Sarova Panafric, Hill Park, Ole Sereni and Red Court (athletes), Sarova Stanley (international technical officials). Jacaranda Hotel (local officials) and West Breeze (media)

July 2010

53 53

•ENVOYS OF SPORT Athletics Nairobi 2010

Africa’s top Cream to Star at Nairobi 2010

I

n 1979, the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) organised the first Africa Athletics Championships in Dakar, Senegal where it is headquartered.

Since then, the biennial affair has grown to be the continent’s premier track and field competition showcasing the best talent in athletics.

From July 28 to August 1, Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium will host the 17th edition of the event.

This is the first time Kenya, a country that is peerless in the sport especially in mid and long distance running, will stage the championships.

“It will be a remarkable occasion for all athletics lovers in the country and a fitting tribute to the runners who have made our country,” the chair of Nairobi 2010 Local Organising Committee, Mr Isaiah Kiplagat, said.

The only big surprise is the fact that it took 28 years for Kenya to win the hosting rights for an event in which the East African nation has been a force since 1979. At this inaugural event, Kenya won six gold, nine silver and five bronze medals to finish third behind Nigeria and Algeria.

“Hosting a track and field championship like this requires a lot of preparation since athletics, unlike say football, needs highly specialised equipment and facilities to be in place,” LOC chief executive David Okeyo, explained.

The long journey it took for Kenya to be granted the rights to host

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July 2010

the event and some hurdles the country has faced in organising the championships have, however, not put a dampener to the anticipated excitement.

“Nairobi 2010 has the advantage of being Africa’s qualifying event for the IAAF Continental Cup in Split, Croatia, meaning top athletes seeking places in our continent’s team will be here,” Okeyo enthused.

The Continental Cup (formerly IAAF World Cup) is athletics equivalent of the quadrennial FIFA football World Cup but unlike the Mundial that features individual nations, it pools continental teams competing against each other.

The Continental Cup will run on September 4 and 5 and will feature four teams; Americas, Africa, Asia/Pacific (Asia and Oceania) and Europe.

Nairobi 2010 will be the second high profile athletics event hosted in Kenya following the critically

REARING TO GO:

Event organisers Okeyo (left) and Kiplagat at a media briefing

acclaimed 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in the coastal city of Mombasa.

“We expect Nairobi 2010 to attract the numbers Mombasa World Cross brought to the venue.

Fans travelled from far and we are asking Kenyans to do the same this time around so that we can have a memorable event,” Mr Kiplagat said.

Since inception in 1979, the African Athletics Championships have witnessed a medley of international stars including reigning and mostly future Olympics and world champions.

Among winners in the inaugural edition were Ghanaian sprinter, Ernest Obeng who bagged the men’s 100m title in 10.54 seconds and went on to finish second in the 1981 World Cup behind Europe’s Allan Wells. Obeng is now in charge of television operations for world body IAAF, working from their offices in Monaco

•ENVOYS OF SPORT Athletics Nairobi 2010

Old Rivalries Rekindled

Track and field enthusiasts are salivating on the prospects of key battles on the cards for the 2010 17th Africa Athletics Championships (AAC) that will be held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi from July 28 to August 1.

WOMEN 1,500m- Jebet Lagat versus Gelete Burka In the absence of the 2004 champion, Nancy Jebet MEN 800m- Rudisha versus Kaki

Lagat who skipped Addis

Defending champion, David Lekuta Rudisha, 21, is enjoying the form of his life

Ababa, Ethiopia’s Gelete Burka

after the disappointing exit at the semi-finals during last year’s World Champion-

easily romped to victory. At

ships in Berlin.

the Beijing Olympics that sum-

Sudan’s Abubaker Kaki Khamis, 20, already holds two World Indoor Titles, the

mer, Jebet Lagat soared to the

latest coming this March in Doha and trailed Rudisha in the world list with his

Olympics title. Both athletes

1:42.23 run in Oslo where he finished second to his Kenyan rival. It was his first

will have a go at each other at

defeat in three at the hands of Rudisha and a rendition of their rivalry now dubbed

this year's event.

‘the contest of the future of 800m running’ could gift Nyayo National Stadium.

WOMEN 5,000m- Cheruiyot versus Meseret Defar

WOMEN 10,000m- Masai versus Tirunesh

In the final of the women’s 5,000m in Berlin last

Any race billed as a showdown between the Olympics

year, Cheruiyot stunned defending champion,

and World Champions is enough to capture headlines.

fierce rival on the track and friend off it, Ethiopia’s

Last year, injury ruled Tirunesh Dibaba out of a title de-

Meseret Defar. It was Cheruiyot’s only second vic-

fence in Berlin but she must have watched in glee as

tory over her adversary in13 meetings and Defar,

her fierce domestic rival Defar lost out to Kenya’s dis-

who was also shocked by compatriot and African

tance female running star, Linet Masai, 21. Nairobi 2010

10,000m record holder, Meselech Melkamu in Ad-

offers the stage for Dibaba, who has ever lost only once

dis Ababa has since been scheming retribution.

to Masai, a chance to display who is the boss and re-

Nairobi 2010 provides yet another opportunity for

claim her mantle as the world’s best female 25-lapper.

their rivalry.

MEN 1,500m- Asbel Kiprop versus Deresse Mekonnen Olympic champion, Asbel Kiprop is a man under siege.

MEN 100m- Fasuba versus Phiri

Nairobi 2010 will see the Beijing gold medallist face

For the last five years, Nigeria’s Olusoji Fasuba has been the

one of the harshest fields in the entire competition.

undisputed king of the dash, winning the All Africa Games and

Ethiopia’s two-time World Indoor champion, Deresse

African Championships in that period. However, a title defence

Mekonnen represents an athlete who could tear the

in Nairobi could see him line-up against Zambia’s brightest

script and leave Kenyans with egg all over their faces.

running prospect, Gerald Phiri (21) who has clocked 10.13 this

Kiprop won bronze in Addis Ababa when he stepped

season. Phiri was a semi finalist at the World Championships

down to 800m.

in Berlin in 100m and represents the continents’ sternest challenge to domination of this event by Nigerians.

July 2010

55 55

•TRAVEL ADVENTURE & DISCOVERY

Maasai Mara Marvels Maniago s sizzling platter offers diplomats a rare treat at the World’s Eighth wonder, writes JANE MWANGI

T

he quintessential annual wildebeest migration in Kenya and Tanzania is arguably the most captivating and spectacular natural event in the world. The more than three million mammals send out their native enchantment as they cascade over the vast expanses of the newly-crowned Eighth Wonder of World - the Masai Mara, crossing the crocodile infested waters of the Mara River. The vertiginous enormity of the event is awe inspiring as migrants consist of 1,300,000 Wildebeest, 360,000 Thomson’s gazelle, 191,000 Zebra, and 12,000 Elands.

In a tailor made and handsomely packaged safari expedition, Diplomat East Africa in conjunction with Maniago Safaris is giving our readers a chance to break away from the roll and mill of everyday life – in order to capture the thrill of Africa’s Eden in real time. Producing one of the world’s most spectacular sights is a natural inclination played out during the migration.

Maniago Safaris have joined the fray of tour companies with the ex-

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July 2010

press aim of offering a delightful mix of African harmony and unforgettable safari in the wild. The ‘greatest show on earth’ as it has been referred to in the past is a star attraction for not only international and domestic tourists but also envoys.

Duncan Muriuki, managing director of Maniago Safaris says they have singled out diplomats as they are the best word of mouth ambassadors for Kenya not underscoring the fact that Maasai Mara and famous natural beacons like Lake Nakuru are just not found anywhere else. Founded in 1993 as Abercrombie & Kent Travel, it later changed its name to Maniago Safaris in 1999, after a management buyout.

Indeed Maniago partners with some of the best lodges in Masai Mara and as the migration gets underway the proximity to the Mara River makes it ideal to witness the rough and tumble of the moment firsthand.

The company boasts of the exclusive expertise of Masai Chief James Ole Nairuko amongst its driver guides. Nairuko was crowned chief during a ceremony covered by

National Geographic Spanish Version in 2007. “He is best known for sharing his wealth of knowledge as a driver guide/naturalist for Maniago,” says Muriuki adding, perhaps rather ingeniously that the diplomats will also get a chance to visit and interact with the local Masai community getting to know their way of life.

“Our Masai Chief James Ole Nairuko personally selects the souvenirs for each guest depending on a myriad of factors like gender; age etc so that the gift is relevant. The experience is further complimented by take away souvenirs like Masai belts, rungus, wedding necklaces and bracelets.

Maniago’s expertise is further cemented by their participation in the migration spanning the last two decades. “The animals are not there on show for us who go to view them, they are living their lives and so this is where the skills in planning, organising and executing the safari around the migration comes in; it is not just a chance event,” Muriuki enthuses.

He cites one of the migration

trips out on a game drive in Saruni area in which a family of lions lazily stooped up in what appeared to be a leisurely walk in an area that was teaming with wildebeests. The lions seemed to drift away from each other but this later turned out to be a well executed hunting strategy.

Minutes later, a baby wildebeest was drawn effortlessly and in what appears to be a suicide move driven by maternal love, the mother came trying to rescue the baby only for her to end up on the lions’ dinner table in one swift move.

In lieu of the fact that the migration is a natural occurrence, tracking the migratory path is paramount to getting the most out of the experience. Use of modern technology to get instant updates by the field staff is also complimented by the mobile phone connectivity spread across Masai Mara. Muriuki says that they are able to get blog updates as well as updates on youtube and facebook with recent images and activities of what they have seen minutes back. Also, anyone in their mailing list benefits from these free updates on their mobile phones.

Value for money also drastically ups the stakes for Maniago. The migration time is a more pricy period to travel than other times of the year purely from a demand and supply logic as everyone wants to go there.

Discounts are therefore the catch phrase. Maniago’s rallying call is, the client is always right and must be treated as such as they ensure the next customer tomorrow.

Aside from the rush that comes from being enthralled by this spec-

tacle, the itineraries laid out by Maniago boasts of a wide array of adventurous goodies. These include, game drives that are carefully selected with scouting done ahead of time to ensure you do not drive endlessly before seeing game.

“This also ensures you are going in the right direction,” says Muriuki adding that this is common when planning a trip for a VIP. The evenings will reflect a kaleidoscope of cultural influence rich in Masai entertainment including surprise mock attacks by warriors; a thrill albeit a little bit of a shocker as it looks genuine to the very last detail. Other special offerings include a bush breakfast by the river not to mention ballooning over the plains of Masai Mara to watch the migration from the air. And as Muriuki advises, “ballooning is very relaxing and I always say it’s like a massage for the brain due to the soothing effect that the experience gives.”

A migration tour requires flexibility sometimes going out all day with lunch and drinks including champagne for sundowners as you watch the spectacle from the safety of well chosen spots. What Maniago has lined up is not a pre-packaged tour but rather real time designed programmes that will as much as humanly possible follow the migration pattern. However, as the MD recommends, a one way drive and one way flight will be ideal for an optimal experience as the roads are greatly improved.

His penchant for customer satisfaction has persisted in recent years as he recalls when he used to do this

for the Concorde Millionaires on their around the World trips when Masai Mara was the only safari stop they used to make in their world tour.

Of all the mammals of Africa, the wildebeest is perhaps the most unique. Despite the assumption that the migration is a frenzy with the blind pilgrimage of wildebeests, they have been known to possess what is known as a “swarm intelligence”, whereby they explore and overcome the barrier as one. This creature with a 30-year life span solely inhabits the plains and open woodlands especially the Serengeti National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site in Tanzania, Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya and Liuwa Plain National Park in Zambia.

What an exciting time this exceptional natural phenomenon best renowned as Africa’s greatest wildlife spectacle guarantees to deliver- as the vast plains rumble to the sound of the galloping herds designed to enchant those lucky few.

Highlights of the Wildebeest experience • Balloon safaris, remote wilderness, nature walks, bush camping, wildlife and photographic safaris.

• Masai entertainment including surprise mock attacks by warriors • Champagne for Sundowners as you watch the spectacle from the safety of well chosen spots.

• DEA – Maniago Deal is the attractive discounts offering value for money To book contact – +254 4449461/2 – +254 721 170474 Email - safaris@diplomateast.com, - habari@diplomateastafrica.com

July 2010

57 57

•DIRECTORY Tanzania EMBASSY OF BELGIUM Ambassador of BelgiumJoseph Smetz B.P. 1920 Bujumbura Phone: + (257) (22) 22.32.66 + (257) (22) 22.61.76 Fax: + (257) (22) 22.31.71 http://www.diplomatie.be/ bujumbura Email: Bujumbura@diplobel.fed.be CANADIAN CONSULATE Ambassador of CanadaRejean Frennet 4708, Boulevard de l’uprona,Bujumbura City: Bujumbura Phone: 257 22 24-58-98 Fax: 257 22 24-58-99 Email: bujumbura@canadaconsulate.ca CHINESE EMBASSY Ambassador of China Mr. Zeng Xianqi B.P. 2550 Bujumbura Phone: +257-224307 +257-216856 Fax: +257-213735 +257-224082 Email: chinaemb_bi@mfa.gov.cn COMORAN CONSULATE IN BURUNDI Phone: (257) 93-93-10-27 Fax: (257) 929-728-09 CYPRIOT CONSULATE IN BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI 1660 Bujumbura, Burundi City: Bujumbura Phone: (00257) 22 242630, (00257) 77735325 (Mob.) Fax: (00257) 22 223917 Email: cyprusconsulate.bjm@gmail.com DANISH CONSULATE 6, rue Nyabagare, B.P. 2880 City: Bujumbura Phone: 226099 Fax: 227786, 216697 Email: andersen@cbinf.com

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July 2010

EGYPTIAN EMBASSY Ambassador of EgyptAhmed Fadel Kinindo, Avenue Nzero, NO. 12 Bujumbura City: Bujumbura Phone: (+257)22223161 Fax: (+257)22222918 FRENCH EMBASSY Ambassador of FranceLaurent Contini 60 avenue de l’Uprona City: Bujumbura Phone: [257] 22 20 30 00 Fax: [257] 22 20 30 10 Email cad.bujumburaamba@d iplomatie.gouv.fr GERMAN EMBASSY Ambassador of German to Burundi- Joseph Weiss Hotel Source de Nil, Suite Nr. 301, Avenue de Stade, Bujumbura.

City: Bujumbura, Burundi.

Phone: (00 257) 22 64 12 / (00 257)22 64 16 GREEK CONSULATE IN BUJUMBURA Ambassador of GreekDimitri Alexandrakis P O BOX 1660, Bujumbura, Burundi City: Bujumbura Phone: (00257224) 242532 KENYAN EMBASSY IN BUJUMBURA Kenyan AmbassadorBenjamin Mweri PTA Bank Building 2nd floor, West Wing Chaussee du Prince Louise Rwagasore B.P. 5138 Phone: +257-22-258160/62/ 63/67 Fax: +257 22-258161 Email: information@kenyaembassy.bi

DUTCH CONSULATE IN BUJUBURA, BURUNDI Dutch Ambassador-Robert Krueger Consulate Honoraire du Royaume de Paya Bas Avenue de Grece no. 5 1 etag City: Bujumbura Phone: 00-257-222082 / 223614 Fax: 00-257-2-22615 Email: conspaysbas@mapatro.com RUSSIAN EMBASSY Russian AmbassadorVladimir Timofeye Phone: +257 22-60-98 Fax: +257 22-42-37 Email: ustas@cbinf.com RWANDAN EMBASSY Rwandese AmbassadorRemy Sinkazi Boite Postale 40024 Avenue de la République City: Bujumbura Phone: (+257) 223255, 226865 Fax: (+257) 223255 Email: arbuja@cni.cbinf.com. ambabujumbura@minaffet.gov. rw SENEGALESE CONSULATE BP 382 City: Bujumbura Phone: (+257) 223771 / (+257) 222147 SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY South African AmbassadorMr. M.D. Lembede Hotel Novotel, Chaussee du Peuple Murundi, Room 215 and 217 PO Box 185 Phone: +257-244650/ +257-248219 Fax: +257-244650 / +257-248219 Email: saebujfin@usan-bu.net SWISS CONSULATE Swiss Ambassadoreorges Martin. Also ambassador to Kenya,

Rwanda,Uganada,Somalia, Seychelles Rue du Commerance 11 City: Bujumbura Phone: (+257) 968471 Email: bruno_vincenti@heineken.nl BRITISH EMBASSY British Embassy Liaison Office, Building Old East, Parcelle No1/2, Place de l’Independance, City: Burundi Phone: (257) 22 246 478 Fax: (257) 22 246 479 Email: belo@cni.cbinf.com AMERICAN EMBASSY U.S.A AmbassadorMarcia S.Bernicat B.P. 1720 Avenue Des Etats-Unis City: Bujumbura Phone: (257) 22-34-54/ (257) 21-48-53 Fax: (257) 22-29-26 Web Site: http://bujumbura. usembassy.gov/

•DIRECTORY BURUNDI

THE AMBASSADOR OF ALGERIA A. LAHIOUEL 34 Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road P.O. Box 2963 Dar es Salaam Telephone No:2117619 Fax No: 2117620 e-mail: algemb@twiga.com EMBASSY OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA The Ambassador of Angola Brito Sozinho Plot No. 78 Lugalo Road P.O. Box 20793 Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2117674, 2139235 Telex No: 41251 EMBANG TZ Fax No: 2132349 E-mail: ngola@cats-net.com EMBASSY OF BELGIUM Ambassador of Belgium Peter Maddens Black lines House , 5 Ocean Road P.O. Box 9210 Dar Es Salaam Telephone No:2114025,2112688, 2112503 Fax No. 2117621, 2125675 Telex No: 41094 AMBELG E-mail: ambabel.dsm@cats-net.com BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION Social security house Azikie Street/Samora Machel Avenue P.O. Box 9200 Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 211765964, 2113501/2 Fax: 2112952/2668436 Fax: 2116703 EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI The Ambassador of Burundi – Amuri Leanare Lugalo Road House No. 1007, Upanga P.O. Box 2752 Dar es Salaam Fax 2121499 E- Mail: burundemb@raha.com CANADIAN HIGH COMMISSION The High Commissioner of Canada Andrew McAlister 38 Mirambo/Garden Avenue

2112837, 2112863, P.O. Box 1022 Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 21128656, 2112831/5 Fax No: 2116896 Fax No: (Dev. Section) 2116897 Facsimile: 2116897, 2116896 E-mail: dslam@dfait-maeci.gc.ca EMBASSY OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA The Ambassador of China Xinsheng Liu Chancery: 2 Kajificheni Close P.O. Box 1649 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2667586, 2667694 Fax No: 2666353 EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA The Ambassador of Cuba – Ernesto Diaz Gomez Chancery: Lugalo Road Plot No. 313Upanga , Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 211592 Fax No: 2115927 8 E-mail: embacuba.tz@raha.com DANISH EMBASSY H.E Bjarne Henneberg Sorensen Chancery: Ghana Avenue P.O. Box 9171 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2113887/91, 2117510 Direct Line: 2111325 Telegraphic Address: AMBADANE Telex No: 41057 Fax No: 2116433 E-mail: daramb@um.dk EMBASSY OF THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT The Ambassador of EgyptMasr Ummuldunya Chancery: 24 Garden Avenue P.O. Box 1668,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2113591/2117622/ 2111716 Telex No: 41173 Fax No: 2112543 E-mail: egypt.emb.tz@intafrica.com EMBASSY OF FINLAND The Ambassador of Finland -

Jorma Paukku Corner of Mirambo/ Garden Avenue P.O. Box 2455,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2119170 Fax No:2119173 e-mail: finemb @twiga.com EMBASSY OF FRANCE The Ambassador of France Emmanuelle d’Achon Chancery: Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road/Kinondoni Road P.O. Box 2349 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2666021/3 Fax No: 2668435 E-mail: ambfrance@africaaonline. co.tz EMBASSY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY The Ambassador of GermanyDr. Guido Herz Chancery: NIC Building , 10th Floor,Samora Avenue P.O. Box 9541,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2117409 - 15 Fax No: 2112944 e-mail: german.emb.dar@raha.com HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA Chancery: Design House , 2 Dar es Salaam Place P.O. Box 34889 ,Lusaka Telephone No: 73035/7 Telex No: 42960 UYCOMZA HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA The High Commissioner of India - Debashish Chakravarti Chancery: NIC Investment House 7th & 8th Floor Wing ‘’A’’Samora Avenue P.O. Box 2684 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2117175/6 2116551 Fax. 2118761 Telex. 41335 HICIND TZ E-mail. Hcitz@cats.net.com EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA The Ambassador of Indonesia –

Trijono Marjono Chancery: 299 Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road P.O. Box 572,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2119119,2118133, 2115841 Fax No: 2115849 Telex No: 41575 INDON TZ Telegraphic Address: INDONESIADAR ES SALAAM E-mail: kbridsm@raha.com EMBASSY OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN The Ambassador of Iran – Abbas Vaezi Chancery: Plot 31 Upanga Road P.O. Box 5802 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No:2112255/2117623 Fax No: 2118804/5 Jihad Sazandegi: 2150505 Cultural Center: 2130475 EMBASSY OF ITALY The Ambassador of Italy Marcello Griccioli Chancery: Lugalo Road 316 P.O. Box 2106 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2115935/36, 2123010/11 Ambassador’s: 2113741 Fax No: 2115938 e-mail: italdipl@raha.com EMBASSY OF JAPAN The Ambassador of Japan – Hiroshi Nakagawa Chancery: Plot No. 1018 Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road P.O. Box 2577 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2117384, 115827/9, 2117384, 2117383 Fax No: 2115830 Telex No: 41065 TAISHI Telegraphic Address: TAISHI HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA The High Commissioner of KenyaZachary Dominic Mu buri Chancery: P.O. Box 5231 NIC Investment House 14th Floor Samora Avenue ,Dar es Salaam

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•DIRECTORY Burundi

Telephone No: 2112955/6, Fax No: 2113098 E-mail khc@raha.com EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA H.E Soon Chun Lee Chancery: Plot 8/1 Tumbawe Rd ,Oyster bay P.O. Box 1154 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2600496/2600499/2602000 Fax No: 2600559 E-mail rok@intafrica.com BUREAU OF THE SOCIALIST PEOPLE’S LIBYAN Arab JAMAHIRIYA Ambassador of LibyaMr.Ahmed Abdulasalaam Chancery: Mtitu Street No. 386 P.O. Box 9413 ,Dar es Salaam Telegraphic Address: ASHABI Telephone No: 2150166/ 2150188 Fax No: 2150068 Telex No: 4117 HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOZAMBIQUE The High Commissioner of Mozambique – Mr.Amour Zacharias Kupela Chancery: 25 Garden Avenue P.O. Box 9370 ,Dar es Salaam Chancery: 25 Garden Avenue P.O. Box 9370 ,Dar es Salaam ROYAL NETHERLANDS EMBASSY The Ambassador of the Netherlands - Karel van Kesteren Chancery: ATC Town House Terminal Blg Ohio Street , 2nd Floor P.O. Box 9534 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2118566/8 2130428 Telefax No: 2112828 Fax No: 112828 HIGH COMMISSION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA The High Commissioner of Nigeria – Dr.Tafida Chancery: 83 Haile Selassie Road, Oyster bay

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P.O. Box 9214 , Dar es Salaam Tel No: 2667620/2666000/ 2666834/2666843 Telefax No: 2668947 Telex No: 41240 E-mail: nhc-dsm@raha.com ROYAL NORWEGIAN EMBASSY The Ambassador of NorwayMr.John Lomoy Chancery: Plot 160, Mirambo Street P.O. Box 2646 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2113666 Fax No: 2116564 Telex No: 41221 NORAMB Telegraphic Address: NORAMB E-mail: ambassade-dar@norad.no EMBASSY OF THE STATE OF PALESTINE The Ambassador of Palestine Fariz Mehdawi Chancery: 612 United Nations Road P.O. Box 20307,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2150636/2150643 Dir. 2153257 Fax No: 2153257 EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND The Ambassador of Poland(Ryszard Malik) Chancery: 1/9 Chisiza Close P.O. Box 2188 Oyster bay, Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2667501 Fax No: 2668309 E-mail: polamb@twigas.com EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA The Ambassador of Rwanda Zemo Mutimura Chancery:Plot No. 32 Ali Hassan Mwinyi Rd P.O. Box 2918 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2115889, 2117631 Fax No: 115888 Telex No: 41292 Telegraphic Address: AMBARW TZ EMBASSY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION The Ambassador of Russia –

Mr.Valery Orlov Chancery: Plot 73 Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road P.O. Box 1905 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2666005/6 Fax No: 2666818 E-mail: embruss@intafrica.com SOUTH AFRICAN HIGH COMMISSION The High Commissioner of South Africa HE Mr SG Mfenyana Chancery: Plot 1338/9 Mwaya Road ,Masaki P.O. Box 10723 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2601800 Fax No: 2600684 EMBASSY OF SPAIN H.E Mr. Gerran Zurita Chancery: Plot No. 99B ,Kinondoni Road P.O. Box 842, Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2666018/9 Ambassador’s: 2666936 Fax No: 2666938 E-mail: embesptz@mail.mae.es EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SUDAN H.E Abdelbagi Kabier Chancery: 64 Upanga P.O. Box 2266 Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road, Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2117641 Tel:/Fax No: 2115811 E. mail - sudan.emb.dar@raha.com EMBASSY OF SWEDEN Ambassador of Sweden Lennarth Hjelmåker Chancery: Mirambo Street/Garden Avenue P.O. Box 9303 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2111235 Fax: 2113420 E-mail.www.swedemb-dar.com EMBASSY OF SWITZERLAND The Ambassador of Switzerland Emmanuel Jenni Chancery: 79 Kinondoni Road / Mafinga Street

HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA H.E Ibrahim Mukibi Chancery: Plot No. 25, Msasani Rd , Oyster bay P.O. Box 6237 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No:2667391/2667009 Fax: 2667224 E-mail: ugadar@intafrica.com EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA H.E Alfonso E. Lenhardt Chancery: 140 Msese Road P.O. Box 9123 , Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2666010 Telex No: 41519 Fax No: 2666701 EMBASSY OF THE FEDERATION REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA H.E Richard Viietz Chancery: Plot No. 35/36 Upanga Road P.O. Box 2838 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2115891 - 2 Fax No: 2115893 E-mail: ambyudar@raha.com HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA H.E Inonge Mbikusita Chancery: Plot No. 5 & 6 ,Junction of Ohio/ Sokoine Drive P.O. Box 2525 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: Fax/Phone: 2112977 E-mail:zhcd@raha.com HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE Major Gen Rt. John Edzai Chimonyo Chancery: Plot 2097 East Upanga Off Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road P.O. Box 20762 ,Dar es Salaam Telephone No: 2116789 Fax No: 2112913 T Telex No: 41386 E-mail: zimdares@cats-net.com

•DIRECTORY Uganda

EMBASSY OF ALGERIA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H. E Aziria ABEDELKADER P.O. Box 4025, Kampala Tel. No. 256-312-265212/3 Fax: 256-312-265214 Telex 61184, Jazaira E-mail: ambalgka@imul.com Ambassador's Line: 256- 41-232689

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Jean NGENDANGANYA Plot No.14 Hannington Road SM Chambers Building, 1st Floor P.O.Box 29214. Kampala Tel: 256-41-235850 Fax: 256-41-235845 Email: ambabukpl@utlonline.co.ug

APOSTOLIC NUNCIATURE (VATICAN EMBASSY) Ambassador & Head of Mission) H. E. Archbishop Christophe PIERR Chwa II Road, Mbuya Hill P.O. Box 7177, Kampala Tel. 256-41-505619 Fax: 256-41-221774 E:mail: nuntius@utlonline.co.ug

CHINA Embassy of the People's Republic of China Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E Fan GUIJIN Plot 37 Malcolm X Avenue Kololo P.O. Box 4106, Kampala Tel. 256-41-231095/259881/234058 Fax: 256-41-235087/341463 E-mail: chinemb@infocom.co.ug

EMBASSY OF AUSTRIA Head of Bureau: (Charge d'Affaires a.i.)

Mr. Franz BREITWIEZER Regional Office for Development Co-operation of the Austrian Embassy in Kampala Crusader House, Annex 3rd Floor 3 Portal Avenue P.O. Box 7457, Kampala.

Tel. 256-41-235103/179 Fax: 256-41-235160 Email: franz.breitweiser@ada.gv.at ROYAL BELGIAN EMBASSY, KAMPALA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Jan DE BRUYNE Email: jan.debruyne@diplobel.org 3rd Floor Ruwenzori House Lumumba Avenue Plot 1 P.O. Box 7043, Kampala.

Tel. 256-41-349559/569/570 Emergency No. 256-772-704400 Fax. 256-41-347212 E-mail: kampala@diplobel.org , coop. kla@diplobel.org (development cooperation) Website : www.diplomatie.be/kampala.

EMBASSY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Minister Counselor/ Charge d'Affaires A.I. Mr. Biselele WA MUTSHIPAYI 20 Philip Road, Kololo P.O. Box 4972 Kampala Tel. 256-41-250099/232021 /230610 Fax: 256-41-340140 Email: amba_rdc_kla@yahoo.fr EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Ricardo Antonio Danza SIGAS KAR Drive Plot 10 Lower Kololo Terrace P.O. Box. 9226, Kampala Tel. 256-41-233742 Fax. 256-41-233320/236438 E-mail: ecuba@africaonline.co.ug ROYAL DANISH EMBASSY Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Mr. Stig BARLYNG Plot. 3 Lumumba Avenue P.O. Box. 11243 Kampala Tel. 256-312-263211

Emergency Mobile: 256-772-221470 Fax. 256-312-264624 Telex: 61560 AMBADANE E-mail: kmtamb@um.dk Website: www.ambkampala.um.dk EMBASSY OF THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Reda Abdel Rahman BEBARS E-mail: stibar@um.dk 33 Kololo Hill Drive P.O. Box 4280 Kampala Tel. 256-41-254525/245152 Telex No. 61122 EGYPT UGA Fax. 256-41-232103 Email: egyembug@utlonline.co.ug

H.E. Alexander MÜHLEN Plot 15 Philip Road, Kololo P.O. Box 7016 Kampala Tel. nn256-41-501111 Fax. 256-41-501115 Telefax: 343136 Emergency no.256-77-763 000 E-mail: germemb@africaonline.co.ug EMBASSY OF ICELAND Counsellor/ Chargé d'Affaires a.i Ms. Agusta GISLADOTTIR, Country Director ICEIDA Uganda East African Development Bank Building 4 Nile Avenue KAMPALA, Uganda Tel: 041 230984/92 Fax: 041 341079

EMBASSY OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Terfa Mengesha REMCHIE Plot No. 3L, Off Kira Road, Kit ante Close.

P.O. Box 7745, Kampala Tel. No. 256-41-348340/ 256-41-341881 Fax. No. 256-41-341885 E-mail: ethiokam@utlonline.co.ug

THE HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA High Commissioner: H.E Sibabrata TRIPATHI 11 Kyaddondo Road, Nakasero P.O. Box 7040 Kampala Tel. 256-41-259398/344631 /342994 Telex. 61161 Fax. 256-41-254943 Gram: HICOMIND, KAMPALA E-mail: hc@hicomindkampala.org hoc@hicomindkampala.org attache@hicomindkampala.org/

T HE FRENCH EMBASSY IN UGANDA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E Bernard GARANCHER Plot 16 Lumumba Avenue, Nakasero P O Box 7212, Kampala Tel. 256-41-342120 / 342176/342344/5 Fax: 256-41-341252 E-mail:: ambafrance.kampala@diplo matie.gouv.fr Emergency Tel: 256-77-777717

EMBASSY OF IRELAND Chargé d 'Affaires e.t.

H.E. Áine HEARNS Plot No. 25, Yusuf Lule Road Nakasero P.O. Box 7791 Kampala Tel. No. 256-41-344 348, 256-312-63104/5 Fax: 256-41-344353 E-mail: ireland@ireland.co.ug

EMBASSY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Political, protocol and Consular Affairs

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ITALY Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: H.E. Umberto PLAJA 11 Lourdel Road, Nakasero P.O. Box 4646 Kampala Tel. 256-41-250442/250450/341786 Fax: 256-41-250448/349526

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•DIRECTORY Uganda

Emergency; 256-75-750448 E-mail: ambkamp@imul.com Website: www.imul.com/embitaly EMBASSY OF JAPAN Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H. E. Ryuuzo KIKUCHI East African Development Bank Building, Nile Avenue, Kampala.

P.O. Box 23553 Kampala Tel. 256-41-349542/3/4/5 Fax. 256-41-349547 E-mail: jembassy@jembassy.or.ug THE HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA High Commissioner H.E. Japheth R. GETUGI Plot 41, Nakasero Road P.O. Box 5220, Kampala Tel. 256-41-258232/5/6 Fax. 256-41-258239 E-mail: kenhicom@africaonline.co.ug EMBASSY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE 'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: HE Pak Hyon ZAE 10, Prince Charles Drive, Kololo P.O. Box. 5885 Kampala Tel. 256-41-254603/343424 Telex: 61144 DPRK UG Fax. 256-41-250-224 THE GREAT SOCIALIST PEOPLE'S LIBYAN ARAB Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: Vacant First Counsellor Mr. Salaah A. FARID Jamahiriya People's Bureau, Kampala Plot 26, Kololo Hill Drive P.O. Box 6079, Kampala Tel. 256-41-344-924-27 256-312-344100 Telex. 61090 Allibya Fax. 256-41-344969, 256-312-344237 E-mail: l.a.p.b. @ utlonline.co.ug ROYAL NETHERLANDS EMBASSY Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: H.E . Yoka BRANDT

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4th Floor, Kisozi Complex, Nakasero Lane P.O. Box. 7728 Kampala Tel. 256-41-346000 Fax. 256-41-231861 E.mail: KAM@minbuza.nl www.netherlandsembassyu ganda.org ROYAL NORWEGIAN EMBASSY Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Bjørg S. LEITE Plot 8a, John Babiiha Avenue P.O. Box. 22770 Kampala Tel. 256-41-343621/ 346733/340848 Fax. 256-41-343936 Mob: 256-75-703107 (Emergency) E-mail: emb.kampala@mfa.no Website: www.norway.go.ug Email: bsl@mfa.no THE HIGH COMMISSION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA High Commissioner H.E. Chukudi Dixon ORIKE 33 Nakasero Road, Kampala P.O. Box 4338, Kampala Tel.256-41-233691/2 Fax. 256-41-232543 Telex 61011 Telegraphic address: "NIGERIAN, KAMPALA" Email: nighicom-sgu@africaonline.co.ug EMBASSY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: HE Mr. Valery UTKIN 28 Malcolm X Avenue, Kololo P.O. Box 7022, Kampala Tel:256-41-345-698 Telegraphic address: "SOVPOSOL" Telex 61518 SOVPOS UG Fax 345-798 E-mail: russemb@imul.com EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: H.E Kamali Karegesa IGNACE Plot No. 2, Nakaima Road Next to Uganda National Museum P.O. Box. 2468 Kampala

Tel. 256-41-344045/333541 Fax. 256-41-258547 ROYAL EMBASSY OF SAUDI ARABIA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: H.E. Ahmad Mohammed Abdullah AL-BAHLAL Plot 3 Okurut Close, Kololo P.O. Box 22558, Kampala Tel. 256-41-340614/340616 Tel: 256-41-231248 (Ambassador's Direct) Fax: 254017 E-mail: resakla@utlonline.co.ug EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SUDAN Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Hassan Ibrahim GADKARIM Plot 21 Nakasero Road P O Box 3200 Kampala Tel: 256-41-230001/346583, 256-312-261358/261082 Fax: 256-41-346573 E-mail: sudanikampala@utlonline.co.ug HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICAN High Commissioner: H.E. Thanduyise Henry CHILIZA Plot No. 2B Nakasero Hill Lane P.O. Box 22667 Kampala Tel: 256-41-343543/44/46/60 or 256-312-220006/9 Fax: 256-41-438216 EMBASSY OF SWEDEN Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: HE Mr. Erik ÅBERG Plot no. 24 Lumumba Avenue, Nakasero P.O. Box 22669 Kampala Tel: 256-41-340970 Fax: 256-41-340979 Emergency Tel: 256-77-740970 Email: ambassaden.kampala@sida.se HIGH COMMISSION OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA High Commissioner H.E . Rajab H. GAMAHA 6, Kagera Road, Nakasero

P O Box 5750, Kampala Tel: 256-41-256272 Fax: 256-41-343973 Emergency Number after Closure: 256-41-348139 Telegramme: TANZANREP KAMPALA E-mail: tzrepkla@imul.com HIGH COMMISSION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND High Commissioner: H. E. Francois GORDON CMG British High Commission 4 Windsor Loop P. O. Box 7070 Kampala Main switchboard: (256) (31) 2312000 Telephone: (256) (31) 2312000 Fax: (256) (41) 4257304 General Enquiries (256) (31) 2312281 Consular/Visa Sections (256) (31) 2312267 Political Section Email: bhcinfo@starcom.co.ug Email Kampala.Visasection@fco.gov.uk Email Consular.kampala@fco.gov.uk Website http://ukinuganda.fco. gov.uk/en/:: EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: H.E. Steven Alan BROWING Plot 1577 Ggaba Road P.O. Box 7007 Kampala Tel. 256-41-259791/5 , 234142, 233231 Fax: 256-41-259794 EUROPEAN UNION Delegation of the European Com mission in Uganda Head of Delegation Amb. Vincent DE VISSCHER 15th floor, Crested Towers Building Plot 17-23 Hannington Road P.O. Box 5244, Kampala Tel: 256-41-233303/4, & 256-41-250049, 343516 Emergency Tel: 256-41-257907 Fax: 256-41-233-708 E-mail: delegation-uganda@.cec.eu.int

•DIRECTORY RWANDA

SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY H E Mr. G D Gwadiso- South African Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary P.o Box 6563 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252583185-89 Fax: +250(0) 252511760 Email: saemkgl@rwanda1.com www.saembassy-kigali.org.rw GERMAN EMBASSY H.E Ambassador Elmar Timpe-German Ambassador P.o Box 225 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 575222 www.konsulate.de/rwanda_e.php BELGIUM EMBASSY H.E Ambassador Francois Roux P.o Box 81 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 575551 Fax: +250(0) 252 575551 www.diplomatie.be/Kigali/default BURUNDIAN EMBASSY Burundian Ambassador to Rwanda, H.E. Remy Sinkazi

P.o Box 6159 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 583336 Fax: +250(0) 252 51091

P.o Box 714 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 515512 CANADIAN EMBASSY Canadian Ambassador to RwandaH.E Ross Hynes P.o Box 1177 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 573210 www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/africa/ rwanda-contact-en.asp CHINESE EMBASSY Ambassador to RwandaH.E Mr. Sun Shuzhong P.o Box 1345 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 575415 Fax: +250(0) 252 576420 EGYPT ARAB REPUBLIC EMBASSY Egyptian Ambassador to RwandaH.E Ahmed Rami Awaad Tel: +250(0) 252 587510 Fax: +250(0) 252 576420 KENYAN EMBASSY Kenyan Ambassador to RwandaH.E Mr.Alex.A.Keter

BRITISH EMBASSY British Ambassador to RwandaH.E Nicholas Cannon P.o Box 576 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 584940 Fax: +250(0) 252 510588 www.britishembassykigali.org.rw RUSSIAN EMBASSY Russian Ambassador to RwandaH.E Chirinsky Mirgaias P.o Box 40 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 575286 Fax: +250(0) 252 503322 www.russianembassy.biz/rwan da-kigali

SWEDEN EMBASSY Her Excellency Anna Brandt Swedish Ambassador to Rwanda, P.o Box 547 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 5753534 Fax: +250(0) 252 586808 TANZANIAN EMBASSY H.E Zeno Mutimura P.o Box 3973 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 505400 Fax: +250(0) 252 505403 USA EMBASSY U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda W Stuart Symington P.o Box 28 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 505601 Fax: +250(0) 252 572128 http://www.usembkigali.net

NUNICATURE EMBASSY H.E Archbishop Apostolic Nunciature Ambassador to Rwanda-Apostolic P.o Box 261 Kigali Tel: +250(0) 252 575293 Fax: +250(0) 252 575181

•DIRECTORY Kenya

EMBASSY 0F THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA AMBASSADOR H.E MR ALI BENZERGA Muthaiga Road P.O BOX 64140 – 00620 TELEPHONE 020- 3755559/3752121 Email: algerianembassy@hotmail.com EMBASSY OF THE ARGENTINE AMBASSADOR H.E MR DANIEL CHUBURU REPUBLIC Kitisuru Km . 3.3e P.O BOX 30283 – 00100 TELEPHONE 020 – 4183054 Email: ekeny@bidii.com

AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION HIGH COMMISSIONER H.E MRS LISA KIM FILIPETTO Riverside Drive P. O BOX 39341 – 00623 TELEPHONE 4277I00 www. kenya.embassy.gov.au AUSTRIAN EMBASSY AMBASSADOR: H.E MR. ROLAND HAUSER 2nd floor, City House Corner Wabera Street/Standard Street P O BOX 30560-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-319076/7/8 Email: Nairobi-ob@bmeia.gv.at

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E Mr. K. M. Shamsuddin HIGH COMMISSION FOR THE 2nd floor, City House P O BOX 41645-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-3870701/3870467/3862816 Email: bdhc@bdootnairobi.com EMBASSY OF BELGIUM AMBASSADOR: H.E MR. IGOR HAUSTRATE Limuru Road, Muthaiga P O BOX 30461-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-7122166/7122181/7123093 Email: Nairobi@diplobel.fed.be

HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BOTSWANA HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E MR. CHARLES .T. MOGOTSI Sarit Centre P O BOX 754-00606 TELEPHONE: 020-7123412-4 Email: botken@gov.bw EMBASSY OF THE FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL AMBASSADOR: H.E ANA MARIA SAMPAIO P O BOX 30754-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-7125765/7125766 Email: geral@kenbrem.co.ke

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•DIRECTORY Kenya

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI AMBASSADOR: H.E MR. SALVATOR NTACOBAMAZE P O BOX 61165-00200 TELEPHONE: 020-2719200 Email: embunai@yahoo.fr

HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E MR. VASSOS CHAMBERLEN International House, 6th Floor P O BOX 30739-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2220881 Email: cyphc@nbnet.co.ke

HIGH COMMISSION OF CANADA HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E MR. ROSS HYNES Limuru Road, Gigiri P O BOX 1013-00621 TELEPHONE: 020-3663000 Email: nrobi@international.gc.ca

EMBASSY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC AMBASSADOR: MRS. MARGITA FUCHSOVA Jumuia Place, Lenana Road P O BOX 48785-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2731010/11/12 Email: Nairobi@embassy.mzv.cz

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHILE AMBASSADOR: H.E MR. PABLO RODRIGO Riverside Drive N 66 Riverside P O BOX 45554-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-4443209 Email: echile@echile.co.ke

ROYAL DANISH EMBASSY AMBASSADOR: H.E MR. BO JENSEN 13 Runda Drive, Runda P O BOX 40412-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-4451460-3 Email: nboamb@.um.dk

THE EMBASSY OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AMBASSADOR: H.E MR. ZHANG MING Woodlands Road P O BOX 30508 TELEPHONE: 020-2722559/ 2726851/ 2713325/2719816/2718245 Email: chinaemb.ke@mfa.gov.cn EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA AMBASSADOR: H.E MRS. MARIA VICTORIA International House 6th Floor P O BOX 48494-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2246770/1 Email: emkenia@colombia.or.ke enairobi@cancilleria.gov.co EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA AMBASSADOR: H.E JULIO CESAR GONZALEZ 5th Floor, International House P O BOX 198-00606 TELEPHONE: 020-2241003/05 Email: embacuba@swiftkenya.com

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EMBASSY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AMBASSADOR: H.E MR. TADUMI ON’OKOKO Electricity House, Harambee Avanue P O BOX 48106-00100 TEL: :020-2229772/0722 618343 Email: Nairobi@ambardcke.org EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF DJIBOUTI AMBASSADOR: H.E ADEN HOUSSEIN ABDILLAHI Comcraft House, Haille Sellassie Avenue P O BOX 34446-00100 TELEPHONE: 020 2122859/ 2101124 Email: info.djibouti@accesskenya.com EMBASSY OF THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT AMBASSADOR: H.E MR. SAHER HAMZA 24 Othaya road off Gitanga road, Kileleshwa P O BOX 30285-00100

TELEPHONE: 020-3870360/3870298/3870278 Email: eg.emb_nairobi@mfa.gov.eg EMBASSY OF THE STATE OF ERITREA AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. SALIH OMAR ABDU 2nd Floor, New Rehema House P O BOX 38651-00623 TELEPHONE: 020-4443163/4443164/4448174 Email: info@eritreanembassy.or.ke eriembk@africaonline.co.ke EMBASSY OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. DISASA D. WINSA State House Avenue P O BOX 45198-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2732052 Email: info@ethioembnairobi.org DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA AMBASSADOR: MR. ERIC VAN DER LINDEN P O BOX 45119-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2713020/ 1/2802000 Email: delegation-kenya@ec.europa.eu EMBASSY OF FINLAND AMBASSADOR: H.E. MS. HELI ANNIKKI SIRVE Eden Square, Block 3, 6th floor Greenway Rd off Westlands Rd P O BOX 30379-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-3750721-4/6/7 Email: sanomat.nai@formin.fi EMBASSY OF FRANCE AMBASSADOR: H.E. MRS. ELISABETH BARBIER Barclay's Plaza, 9th Floor, Loita street P O BOX 41784-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2778000 Email: ambafrance.nairobi@diplomatie. gouv.fr

EMBASSY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. WALTER JOHANNES LINDNER Williamson House 4th Ngong Avenue P O BOX 30180-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-4262100 Email: info@nairobi.diplo.de REPUBLIC OF GHANA HIGH COMMISSIONER: VACANT HIGH COMMISSION OF THE KARURA AVENUE, GIGIRI TELEPHONE: 2421801 Email: info@ghanahighcom.or.ke HELLENIC REPUBLIC – EMBASSY OF GREECE AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. POLYDORE KOKONAS Nation Tower, 7th Floor Kimathi Str. P O BOX 30543-00100 TELEPHONE: 020 340722/340744 Email: gremb.nai@mfa.gr APOSTOLIC NUNCIATURE IN KENYA APOSTOLIC NUNCIO: H.E. ARCHBISHOP ALAIN PAUL Mariani Road, off Waiyaki way P O BOX 14326-00800 TELEPHONE: 020-4442975-7 Email: nunciokenya@nunciokenya.org HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E. MR. P.S. RANDHAWA Bank of India Building Nkrumah Road P O BOX 30074-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-222566/7/224500/225104 Email: hcindia@kenyaweb.co hcinfo@wananchi.com EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. BUDI BOWOLEKSONO Menengai Road, Upper Hill P O BOX 48868-00100 TELEPHONE:

•DIRECTORY Kenya

020-2714196/97/98 Email: indonbi@indonesia.or.ke EMBASSY OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. JACOB KEIDAR Bishop Road(Opp. Fairview Hotel) P O BOX 30354-00100 TELEPHONE: 020- 2722182/3/ 2710381/27112400/2716805/ 2712400/2724021/2720484 Email: info@nairobi.mfa.gov.il EMBASSY OF ITALY AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. PIERANDREA MAGISTRATI Mama Ngina St. International House, 9th floor P O BOX 30107-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2247750/2247696/2247755 Email: ambasciata.nairobi@esteri.it EMBASSY OF JAPAN AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. SHIGEO IWATANI Ground Floor, ICEA Bldg, Kenyatta Avenue P O BOX 60202-00200 TELEPHONE: 020-2898000 www.ke.emb-japan.go.jp THE EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA, AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. LEE HAN-GON Anniversary towers, University way P O BOX 30455-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2220000/2218888 Email: emb-ke@mofat.go.kr EMBASSY OF THE STATE OF KUWAIT AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. AHMAD BADER RAZOUQI Matayja Road P O BOX 42353-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-3767144/3761614/3763593 Email: Kuwait@wanainchi.com

THE PEOPLE’S BUREAU OF THE GREAT SOCIALIST PEOPLE’S LIBYA CHARGE D’ AFFAIRES: MR. HESAHM ALI SHARIF N ARAB, JAMAHIRIYA P O BOX 47190 TELEPHONE: 020-250380/221625 Email: jamahiriyanbi@wananchi.com HIGH COMMISSSION OF MALAYSIA HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E. MR. SELWYN DAS No. 58, Red Hill Road P O BOX 42286-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-7123373/4/5 Email: malnairobi@kln.gov.my EMBASSY OF THE UNITED MEXICAN STATES AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. JUAN CARLOS CUE-VEGA P O BOX 14145-00800 TELEPHONE: 020-4183009/4182850/4182593 Email: embkenia@sre.gob.mx HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOZAMBIQUE HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E. MR. MARCOS G. NAMASHULUA Bruno House, 3rd Floor P O BOX 66923 TELEPHONE: 020-2221979/2214191 Email: mozhicom@mozhighcom.or.ke ROYAL NETHERLANDS EMBASSY AMBASSADOR: H.E. Ms. LAETITIA VAN DEN ASSUM Uchumi House, Nkurumah Avenue P O BOX 41537-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-4288000 Email: nlgovnai@africaonline.co.ke HIGH COMMISSION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA HIGH COMMISSIONER:

H.E. DR. C. W. WIGWE, fwc Lenana Road, Hurligham P O BOX 30516-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-3864116 Email: ng@nigeriahighcom.org ROYAL NORWEGIAN EMBASSY AMBASSADOR: H.E. ELISABETH JACOBSEN Lion Place, Waiyaki Way P O BOX 46363-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-4451510-6/4251000 Email: emb.nairobi@mfa.no EMBASSY OF THE SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM AMBASSADOR: H.E.COUNT CICOGNA MOZZONI P O BOX 1556-00502 TELEPHONE: 020-2397445 Email: kenyaembassy@orderofmalta. org HIGH COMMISSION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E. MR. IFTIKHAR A. ARAIN St. Michael's Road, Off Church Road, P O BOX 30045-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-4443911/2 EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES AMBASSADOR: H.E. Ms. MARIA ROSARIO State House Road (next to Hillcrest College) P O BOX 47941-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2725310 Email: nairobipe@philembassy.or.ke EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND AMBASSADOR: H.E. Ms. ANNA GRUPINSKA Kabarnet Road, Woodley P O BOX 30086-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-3872811/2 Email: ambnairo@kenyaweb.com Nairobi@pol.emb.net

EMBASSY OF PORTUGAL AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. LUIS LORVAO 10th Floor Re-insurance plaza P O BOX 34020-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2251879/313203 Email: embassy.nairobi@portugal.co.ke EMBASSY OF ROMANIA AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. MIHAIL COMAN Gardenia Road-Gigiri P O BOX 63240-00619 TELEPHONE: 020-7120607/7123109 Email: secretariat@romaniaembassy. co.ke THE EMBASSY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. VALERY E. EGOSHKIN Lenana Road, Nairobi P O BOX 30049-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-27287— Email: russembkenya@mail.ru EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. GEORGE WILLIAM KAYONGA 2nd floor, International House P O BOX 30619-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-317400/1 Email: rwanemba@wananchi.com ambanairobi@minaffetg.gov.rw ROYAL EMBASSY OF SAUDI ARABIA AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. NABEEL KHALAF ASHOUR City Square Nairobi P O BOX 58297-00200 TELEPHONE: 020-3762781/2/3/4 Email: keemb@mofa.gov.sa

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•DIRECTORY Kenya

EMBASSY OF THE SOMALI REPUBLIC AMBASSADOR: MR. MOHAMED ALI NUR P O BOX 623-00606 TELEPHONE: 020-2736618

Waiyaki Way, Westlands P O BOX 30600-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-4234000 Email: ambassaden.nairobi@foreign. ministry.se

SOUTH AFRICA HIGH COMMISSION HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E. MR. TONY S. MSIMANGA P O BOX 42441-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2827100 Email: sahcadmin@africaonline.co.ke

EMBASSY OF SWITZERLAND EAMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. GEORGES MARTIN Silopark House, 3rd Floor P O BOX 30752-00100 TELEPHONE: 0202228735 Email: nai.vertretung@eda.admin.ch

EMBASSY OF SPAIN AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. NICHOLAS MARTIN CBA Building 2nd Floor Upper Hill P O BOX 45503-00100 TELEPHONE: 020- 342228/342232/2226568/ 2241942 Email: emb.nairobi@mae.es

HIGH COMMISSION OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E. MRS. NYASUGARA P. KADEGE Taifa Road Re-insurance Plaza, 9th Floor P O BOX 47790-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-312027/311948/311950 Email: highcom@tanzaniahc.or.ke

HIGH COMMISSION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E.MR. M.K. MEELAUD KEERAN International House, 8th Floor P O BOX 48145-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-3866681/3872627 Email: slhckeny@africaonline.co.ke EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE SUDAN AMBASSADOR: H.E. MAJOK GUANDONG THIEP Kabarnet Road, off Ngong Road P O BOX 48784-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-3875225/3875118 Email: embassy@sudanembassynrb.org enquiries@sudanembassynrb.org EMBASSY OF SWEDEN AMBASSADOR: H.E. Ms. ANNA BRANDT Lion Place, 3rd floor

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ROYAL THAI EMBASSY AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. APICHIT ASATTHAWASI Rose Avenue, Off Denis Pritt Rd P O BOX 58349-00200 TELEPHONE: 020-2715796/2715800/2715243 Email: thainbi@thainbi.or.ke thai@thainbi.or.ke EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY AMBASSADOR: H.E. MR. SALIM LEVENT AHINKAYA Gigiri Roaad P O BOX 64748-00620 TELEPHONE: 020-7122562/7120404 Email: tcbenair@accesskenya.com UGANDA HIGH COMMISSION HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E. BRIG (Rtd) MATAYO

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KYALIGONZA Riverside Paddock Off Riverside Drive P O BOX 60853-00200 TELEPHONE: 020-4445420/4449096 Email: ugacomnrb@todaysonline.com BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E. MR. ROBERT MACAIRE Upper Hill Road P O BOX 30465-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2873000 Email: commercialsection.nairobi@fco. gov.uk EMBASSY OF THE UNITED AMBASSADOR: HON. MICHAEL RANNEBERGER STATES OF AMERICA Village Market P O BOX 606-00621 TELEPHONE: 020-3636000 EMBASSY OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA AMBASSADOR: H.E. MRS. MARIA JACQUELINE MENDOZA Mama Ngina Street International House, 3rd floor P O BOX 34477-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-340134/67/78 Email: embavene@swiftkenya.com HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E. MRS. CHRISTINA MSADABWE Nyerere Road Nyerere Road P O BOX 48741-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-2724799 Email: zambiacom@swiftkenya.com HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE HIGH COMMISSIONER: H.E. KELEBERT NKOMANI 6th Floor Minnet ICDC Building, Mamlanka Rd

P O BOX 30806-00100 TELEPHONE: 020-3744052/3746546 Email: zimna@wananchi.com

•DIARY Looking Forward

AITEC Kenya ICT Congress 2010 7-8 September 2010 Kenyatta International Conference Centre Nairobi, Kenya

JULY NATIONAL DAYS Date

Country

Occassion

1

Burundi Canada Rwanda Somalia British Virgin Island

Independence Day Canada Day Independence Day Foundation of Somalia Republic Territory Day

3

Belarus

Independence Day

4

U.S.A

Independence Day

5

Venezuela Cape Verde

Independence Day Independence Day

6

Comoros Island Malawi

Independence Day Independence Day

7

Zambia

Heroes Day

8

Zambia

Unity Day

10

Uganda Bahamas

14

France

National Day Independence Day Fete de la Federation

17

Iraq

Revolution Day

20

Colombia

Independence Day

21

Belgium

Ascension to the throne of King Leopold

23

Egypt

National Day

26

Liberia

Independence Day

27

Ethiopia

Ex. Emperor Haile Sellasie death

28

Peru

Independence Day

INTRODUCTION

Kenya’s ICT sector is on the eve of a transformation with the landing of the country’s first undersea fibre cable in 2009. The Conference will provide an ideal opportunity for the country’s ICT managers and professionals to assess the impact this transformation will have on their organisations and what are the optimum strategies and technologies they should deploy to maximise the benefits.

In addition, the exhibition will provide a platform for vendors to promote and launch their new and improved ICT products and services to decision-makers in government and business.

WHO SHOULD EXHIBIT

The expo is a showcase for Information and Communication Technology products and services and therefore invites all companies involved in this sector. These will include Telecommunication Service Providers, Mobile Phone Operators, Computer Hardware Resellers, Computer Accessories Suppliers, Software Developers, Web Solutions Developers, Systems Integrators, ICT Consultants, Training, Internet Service Providers, Data Operators, Communication Equipment Resellers and ICT Projects and Programmes.

CONFERENCE

The exhibition will run in tandem with a conference on the latest developments in the ICT sector. Areas that will be discussed include: Policy, legal and regulatory issues, applications and new technologies. Some of the areas to be covered will include mBanking, eCommerce, mGovernment, eHeath, eProcurement, eSecurity, Policy and Strategies on Telecommunication Infrastructure Development, Datawarehousing, Security and Rural Connectivity.

ELECTIONS CALENDAR Country

Election

Date

Poland

Presidential Second Round

4th

Japan

Senate Election

11th

Alabama(U.S.A)

Gubernational and U.S House Primary Election 2nd round

13th

Guinea

Presidential Second Round

18th

Burundi Suriname

Presidential Second Round Presidential

26th July

UN INTERNATIONAL YEARS 2010

International Year of Biodiversity

2010

International Year for Rapprochement of Cultures

2010

International Year of Youth: Dialogue & Mutual Understanding

July EVENTS July 3

International Day of Cooperatives (1st Saturday of July)

July 11

World Population Day

July 18

Nelson Mandela International Day

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CLASSIFIEDS

We are a one-stop

Multimedia production house OFFERING A VARIETY OF FIRST RATE SERVICES IN: PR, Communications Strategy, High-profile Visibility Actions, Media Buying, Publishing & Graphic Design.

Tel: 020-2525253/4/5, Mobile: 0722787345, 0722401739, Postal: Box 23399 - 00625, Nairobi Place: Vision Plaza, Ground Floor, Suite 19 Mombasa Road, Email: Info@intermac.co.ke

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