Warning of violence in Zimbabwe

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The MDC says Mugabe wants to declare an emergency so he can stay in power [GALLO/GETTY] 

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has accused the government of Robert Mugabe of waging a campaign of violence against its supporters as the country continues to wait for official election results.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accused the ruling Zanu-PF on Tuesday of unleashing attacks and trying to provoke a backlash so that it could declare a state of emergency to prolong Mugabe’s 28-year reign as president.

It called on neighbouring African states to intervene to prevent bloodshed.

 ”I say to my brothers and sisters across the continent – don’t wait for dead bodies in the streets of Harare,” Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary-general, said.

 “Militias are being rearmed, Zanu-PF supporters are being rearmed…. The long and short of it is that there has been a complete militarisation of Zimbabwean society since the 29th of March 2008,” he added.

 

The hearing in a Harare court of an opposition request calling for the immediate release of the results has entered its fourth day, with no end in sight.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, speaking in the US, said Mugabe could still redeem himself by stepping down as president to ease post-election tensions.

“In a way we need to hang our heads in shame,” he said. “I never imagined a day would come when I would have to excoriate him.”

The South African Nobel peace laureate added that international peacekeeping troops may be needed to restore order in Zimbabwe.

 In another legal case complicating the election stalemate, police said at least five poll officials around the country were due to be charged with undercounting votes cast for Mugabe.

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African Press International – api

 

Being typical and Norwegian

Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.aftenposteneng

‘Typical’ Norwegians: ‘Jan’ and ‘Anne’

There is no real “typical” man or woman in Norway, but a fresh bunch of statistics from an official state agency can tell us a lot about what they do (or don’t do), and how they differ.

It’s also “typically Norwegian” to wave the flag and brave the elements, not least on a cold and rainy 17th of May like here in Molde last year. PHOTO: KJELL HERSKEDAL / SCANPIX

Let’s call them ‘Anne’ and ‘Jan’ (roughly pronounced “Ah-nuh” and “Yawn” in Norway). These are the two names that state statistics bureau SSB has determined to be the most common first names in the country for women and men, respectively.

Anne does more housework than Jan (though the difference has steadily shrunk) and she reads more books, according to figures collected by SSB.

Jan, for his part, drinks more alcoholic beverages than Anne and spends more time in front of the computer.

They spend equal time watching TV, about two-and-a-half hours per day. That may seem surprisingly high in a country that places great emphasis on the great outdoors.

Jan and Anne are also both keen to read newspapers. SSB says 74 percent of Norwegian men and women read a newspaper every day, reflecting high newspaper readership overall in the Nordic countries.

The biggest differences between the sexes in terms of how they use their time can be seen in their jobs: Jan works an average of 37.7 hours per week, while Anne works 30.4 hours weekly. Only 12.8 percent of Norwegian men work in part-time jobs, compared to 43.7 percent of Norwegian women.

However, if you add the time spent on housework to the equation, Anne and Jan work exactly the same amount of hours per week (41 hours, including housework).

But contrary to stereotype, it’s the men who use credit cards the most. And they’re fatter on average, too — 30 percent of Norwegian men are overweight, compared to 20 percent of the women.

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African Press International – api

Norway begs Vanunu to re-apply for political asylum! What do they want to prove to the world?

Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source. aftenposteneng.

Norway is always willing to do anything for the sake of limelight, a syndrom of being a tiny country, seeking ways and means to be noticed on the world stage. Even when they dish out the Nobel Peace Prize, they love to politicise it so that the world may notice. Norway has no impact in world politics, this is athing the Norwegians should understand and be contended with that instead of hip-hop symptoms.

Vanunu messed up Israel and was jailed. Why should he be rewarded by Norway.? Does it mean that anyone commiting the same crime against The State of Norway should get asylum in other countries? Vanunu deserves to be in Israel and respect the State of Israel. When one is working for a government anywhere in the world, Norway included, you cannot reveal secrets of the state and get away with it. Here, this man let down the State of Israel and should not be brought to Norway to start going around in places lecturing against Israel.

Politics won over human rights in Vanunu asylum case

Norway’s efforts to present itself as a champion of human rights suffered another blow on Wednesday, when news emerged that the Norwegian government stepped in to reject an appeal for asylum from long-imprisoned Israeli physicist Mordechai Vanunu.

Mordechai Vanunu blew the whistle on Israel’s atomic weapons program 22 years ago, and is still suffering for it. He’s disappointed that Norway determined its relations with Israel to be more important than human rights. PHOTO: HAIM ZACH/AP Erna Solberg was the government minister at the time who overruled Norwegian immigration authorities’ decision that Vanunu qualified for asylum. PHOTO: KYRRE LIEN/SCANPIX Solberg’s boss in the government was Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, who claims to champion human rights but didn’t step in to help Vanunu. Israel claims Vanunu remains a threat to the country’s national security. PHOTO: ERLEND AAS/SCANPIX

Related stories:

 

 

Newspaper Bergens Tidende reported Wednesday that Vanunu’s application for asylum in Norway had in fact been approved by the country’s immigration agency UDI (Utlendingsdirektoratet) back in 2004.

UDI was overruled, however, by Norway’s center-right government at the time. Political considerations, not least Norway’s efforts to remain on good terms with Israel and the US, were more important than Vanunu’s human rights, critics now charge.

“This puts Norway in a bad light,” says Vanunu himself. He told Aftenposten.no Wednesday morning that he was disappointed but not surprised to learn that political motives were in fact behind the rejection of his asylum application three years ago.

UDI officials, who are supposed to have responsibility for making asylum decisions without political interference, had determined that Vanunu qualified for asylum. The nuclear physicist had spent 17 years in prison in Israel, 11 of them in isolation, after revealing to the Sunday Times of London that Israel had an atomic weapons program.

He had been kidnapped while in Rome by the Israeli intelligence unit Mossad, after revealing the atomic program in 1986, and forced back to Israel where he was convicted after a secret trial.

He was released from prison in 2004 but his freedom was severely restricted. He then sought asylum in Norway, where immigration authorities determined that his application should be granted.

They were overruled, however, by the center-right Norwegian government at the time, which was led by Kjell Magne Bondevik of the Christian Democrats. Bondevik himself portrays himself as a champion of human rights and now runs a peace institute in Oslo. But Bondevik’s party has long been an enthusiastic supporter of Israel, and its interests apparently took precedence over Vanunu’s.

The minister then in charge of immigration issues, Erna Solberg of the Conservatives, announced in 2005 that Vanunu’s asylum was turned down because he filed it while still residing in Israel. Critics blasted that as an excuse at the time, and now, even Solberg herself concedes political motivations were behind the rejection.

Even though Solberg has claimed in a variety of other cases that politicians shouldn’t interfere in bureaucratic decisions, she now defends her interference and rejection of UDI’s ruling. She suggested on Wednesday that granting asylum to Vanunu would have offended Israeli authorities.

“We discussed the matter within the government (cabinet),” Solberg told Bergens Tidende. “We concluded that bringing Vanunu out of Israel would have amounted to an active move against Israel. That would have been wrong, in relation to the foreign policy processes in which we are engaged in the Middle East.”

Calls for reevaluation
Reaction was swift from members of political parties now making up Norway’s center-left government. Several are already calling for a reevaluation of Vanunu’s asylum application.

“The case must be taken up again immediately,” said both Ågot Valle and Bjørn Jacobsen of the Socialist Left (SV) party, one of three parties forming the current government.

SV’s deputy leader Audun Lysbakken called the news about Vanunu’s rejected asylum “shocking” and “hypocritical.”

Marit Nybakk of the Labour Party, which leads the current government, also said she was “very surprised” to hear about the political motives behind the previous government’s decision to deny asylum to Vanunu. “There should have been very serious reasons to deny such an application,” she said.

Hard life in Jerusalem
Vanunu, meanwhile, continues live under constant surveillance in Jerusalem with restrictions on his freedom of movement and expression. He told Aftenposten.no that he has no work, income or support, and must live in a single room with 12 other persons.

As late as last year, Vanunu was convicted again and sentenced to another six months in prison, because he spoke with foreign journalists. His term was converted to community service, but he’s aware he can be convicted again, at any time, because he defies the ban placed on his own freedom of expression.

The 53-year-old physicist, who has made it difficult for Israel to blast other countries’s atomic weapons programs when it has one of its own, says he still has a hope of winning asylum in Norway. He said he will reapply if his initial application is no longer valid. Attempts to win asylum in other countries have been rejected, since they point to Norway’s initial rejection.

Hypocrisy surrounds his case at nearly every level. “Norway’s relations to Israel and the US are clearly more important for Norwegian authorities than consideration for human rights,” he said.

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African Press International – api

We support the ban! Oslo bans foreign flags from its 17th of May parade

Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.aftenposteneng

Allowing foreign flags on a national day her is madness as Athar Ali is suggesting. It is a Norwegian day not other country. Foreigners keep demanding little by little and soon they want everything, what a disgusting behaviour. Why should a parade on a day Norway is celebrating their independence be coloured with flags from all over the world. Immigrants should now grow up and get their hearts focused in the love for teh country they have immigrated to. If some foreigners want their country flag, let them go home and celebrate in their homeland. Immigrants can also celebrate their country’s independence on their own country’s day. Then they can arrange parties and festivities and dress in their homeland clothing.

Do not try to immigranise the 17th of May! That is the pride for the Norwegian independence.

The Norwegian flag traditionally dominates 17th of May celebrations, not least when the parade passes in front of the Royal Palace.

PHOTO: KYRRE LIEN/SCANPIX

Norwegian flag waving has long played a major role in the country’s Constitution Day celebrations on the 17th of May. A move to integrate foreign flags into Oslo’s main parade has been flatly rejected.

Some immigrants think their children should be able to wave their own homelands’ flags in the traditional parade. PHOTO: STIAN LYSBERG SOLUM / SCANPIX

A group representing immigrants in Norway, Norsk Innvandrerforum, thought children with roots in other countries should be able to wave their own national flags in the parade that involves every school in the city.

The children, claimed the group, should also be encouraged to wear native costumes from their parents’ or grandparents’ homelands, just like Norwegians wear their national costumes known as the bunad.

That could have meant a lot of flags from countries like Sweden, Pakistan, Turkey and Poland, from which many new residents of Norway have emigrated.

“We think that minorities’ culture, language and costumes are now part of the Norwegian society,” Athar Ali, leader of Norsk Innvandrerforum, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) on Tuesday. “Minorities also celebrate the 17th of May. Therefore we think they can show off their own traditions in addition to the Norwegian, not instead of them.”

More than 35 percent of Oslo school students have non-Norwegian ethnic background. In some schools, the so-called “minorities” make up the majority of the studentbody.

Many non-Norwegians already use their own national dress on the 17th of May. It’s not unusual to see Scottish kilts or Indian Saris, for example, on the streets of Oslo that day.

It was up to the city’s official 17th of May Committee to decide whether students from immigrant background would be allowed to wave their own homelands’ flags in the city parade. While Athar Ali believes it would add to integration efforts, the committee disagreed.

“Only Norwegian flags, Sami flags and the UN flag can be used in the 17th of May parade in the capital,” said Amir Sheik, leader of the city’s 17th of May Committee who has an immigrant background himself.

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African Press International – api

Gypsy conflict spreads

Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.aftenposteneng

An increasingly violent feud involving Oslo’s gypsy families exploded with a fire bombing in a residential neighbourhood during the night. One self-proclaimed leader later turned himself in to police.

Alex “Dolla” Karoli is urging a ceasefire among Oslo’s gypsy families. PHOTO: ROLF ØHMAN

 

René “Roma” Karoli had been sought by police in connection with the conflict, which erupted into a brawl in a roadway roundabout over the weekend.

Karoli’s 18-year-old son and 44-year-old wife were arrested and ordered held in custody for four weeks on Tuesday. They’re charged with stabbing and beating two members of the rival Jansen family.

René Karoli’s 22-year-old son Sandrino was arrested early Wednesday, after police had rushed out to a house in the residential area of Furuset in response to a reported fire-bombing. The fire had already been extinguished.

Alex “Dolla” Karoli, known as the local “king” of the gypsies, has ordered a halt to the threats, shootings, fights and stabbings that have been going on between the Karoli and Jansen families. So far, his order hasn’t been obeyed.

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African Press International – api

ANC president criticizes delays on election results in Zimbabwe

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The president of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) Jacob Zuma on Tuesday night criticized the delay in declaring the results of Zimbabwe’s presidential election. “I don’t think it augurs very well,” he said in an interview with South Africa’s SABC news

Zuma, elected head of the ANC in December and the front runner to become next president of South Africa, indicated that “keeping the nation in suspense…keeping the international community in suspense” was wrong.

Zuma was speaking a day after he met Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was on his first foreign trip since the elections. Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won control of the Zimbabwean parliament for the first time in the March 29 polls but the outcome of the simultaneous presidential election is still to be declared.

Tsvangirai has claimed outright victory but the ruling Zanu-PF says there is no clear winner and has endorsed Mugabe to run in a possible second-round run-off vote as well as demanding a complete recount.

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African Press International – api

Islamist suicide bomber targets AU peacekeepers in Somali capital

Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.apa

A suicide car bomb attack targeting the building housing the Burundian contingent of the African Union peacekeepers (AMISOM) near the Somali National University, south of Mogadishu, left four civilians, including the suicide bomber dead, while 10 others, including two Burundian peacekeepers, sustained injuries on Tuesday afternoon, witnesses and officials confirmed to APA.

“As I was sitting near the Burundian camp, a speeding Toyota pick up truck loaded with explosives entered through the gate of the camp, after which I heard a large blast that shook the place,” Elmi Farah, an eyewitness to the incident told APA.

Al-shabab, the military wing of the Islamic Courts Union, claimed responsibility for the attack, which followed another separate mortar shell attack on Ugandan soldiers near the international airport.

“We attacked today both the Burundian and Ugandan soldiers. In the Burundian camp, a car bomb driven by one of our mujahidin fighters, Abdi Asiis Bishaar Abdullahi, drove his car with explosives inside their camp as they were changing duties, resulting in several casualties,” Sheikh Muktar Robow, an Al-Shabab spokesman told APA.

“In the case of the Ugandans, we launched 12 mortar shells inside their camp at Halane near the international airport,” he added.

A spokesman for the African Union peacekeepers, Major Barieyge Bahuko confirmed some casualties among both their soldiers and the civilians.

“A huge explosion rocked the gate of our soldiers-the Burundian contingent-, wounding two of the soldiers while another civilian died on the spot,” the spokesman Major Bahuko said. He added that they were investigating how the incident occurred and who was behind it.

A spokesman of the Burundian army, Captain Clement Cimana also confirmed the incident by telephone to APA, saying a high speed Toyota hit the gate of their camp and exploded. He said two of their soldiers were injured, with one of them seriously.

Three other dead bodies were found near the Burundian camp on Wednesday morning from the suicide car bomb.

This is first time AMISOM peacekeepers from Burundi have been attacked in Mogadishu after four months in the capital, although Islamist insurgents had attacked Ugandan peacekeepers at least four times in the past as the Al-Shabab have vowed to wage attacks on them.

Somalia had been plunged into anarchy after the overthrow of Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, and since then, there has been no effective central authority, leading to constant inter-clan war which left thousands killed or displaced.

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African Press International – api

African leaders welcome the first Africa-India summit initiative

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Many African leaders welcomed the first Africa-India summit held Tuesday and Wednesday in New Delhi, the Indian capital wishing that it will galvanize and accelerate growth and stability in both Africa and India and contribute greatly to sustaining global peace and prosperity.

“Today we are carrying on together the fight on the economic and social solidarity front, both being indispensable for the liberation of our peoples, because, political independence, just like an incomplete symphony, will still remain as an incomplete undertaking if economic sovereignty is not achieved” said Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade.

He noted that Senegal will be the host of the Pan – African network earth station project financed by India and designed to provide telemedicine, distant learning services and video conferences between African heads of state. Adding that this project is about to be inaugurated.

For his part, President John Kufuor of Ghana stressed that Africa sees India as a strategic partner, adding that Africa is immensely impressed by India’s green revolution which enables it to feed its teeming population.

India’s mastery of ICT and general engineering and her success in the promotion of small and medium enterprises are all useful lessons for Africa, Kufuor said.

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda sees the summit as a “God-given opportunity for Africa and India to revive and redefine this relationship for the further transformation of our societies”.

He also asked the Indian government to encourage Indian companies to invest in Africa so as to take the advantage of the zero-tariff, quota-free market.

According to some African commentators in Asia, India is increasingly interested in Africa, as it looks for new sources of energy. It is also trying to counter the influence of China, which is building ties with African countries that were traditionally close to India, as well as seeking the crucial support of African countries in its aspiration for permanent membership of the UN Security in any future reforms of the UN system.

India, the third economic power in Asia after Japan and China, with in average 9 per cent economic growth during the last decade is seeking to foster ties with Africa the same as did China in November 2006 when it received 48 African heads of state and government for a historic Africa-China summit.

The leaders of Algeria, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Libya, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia are attending the summit.

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African Press International – api

Mauritius plans to expand food production to forestall price increase

Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.apa

With the price of food stuffs increasing daily on the world market, the Mauritius government has elaborated a plan to enable the country to produce the maximum of its food needs, APA learns here Wednesday.

Meeting journalists at his office in the Mauritian capital Port Louis, Arvin Boolell, minister of Agro-Industry presented to the press the government’s strategic plan for food security entitled “Strategic Options in Crops and Livestock Sector 2008-2015”.

Elaborating on the plan, Minister Boolell explained that the plan concerns not only Mauritius but also Madagascar and Mozambique. He gave an assurance to those entrepreneurs who have credible business plans for new and innovative projects to be set up in those two countries that the Mauritius will help them financially.

The Mauritian government will also identify land and local partners for them following bilateral agreements which Mauritius has signed with both Madagascar and Mozambique.

In the context of the research programme of the Mauritius Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (MAREU), Boolell indicated that MAREU has introduced two new varieties of onions of its own creation, namely Bellarose and Francis which have already found favour with the planters.

Boolell disclosed that a series of model farms is being set up in different parts of the island. The farms will offer training programmes and will give advice on agriculture to producers and service providers in the sector, he said.

The training will be free of charge to the public, reiterated Boolell, who added that four more such farms will be created in the vicinity of Port Louis.

The minister observed that the state is currently spending US$1million in the creation of a Farmers’ School at Wootun, 20 km from Port Louis to dispense courses on up-to-date agricultural techniques including cattle rearing to women farmers, the unemployed and potential entrepreneurs in the food-processing sector.

A daily allowance will be given to all participants, and following the courses, land and all agricultural paraphernalia will be put at their disposal, he said.

The minister added that the only option for Mauritius is sustainable agriculture in order to cater to the needs of the population.

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African Press International – api

Lesotho journalist on trial for subversion

Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.apa

A case in which a local freelance journalist, Thabo Thakalekoala, is facing charges of subversion, sedition, criminal defamation and crimen injuria proceeded before the High Court in Maseru, the Lesotho capital, on Wednesday.

The initial charge of subversion was based on grounds that Thakalekoala read a letter over Harvest FM radio station on June 22, whose intent was to incite disobedience to the law or lawful authority, while on the criminal defamation charge, he is said to have defamed the character of Lesotho’s Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili.

Thakalekoala allegedly read the letter when he was running a programme called “Rise and Shine” over the said radio station, which he said was sent to him by members of the Lesotho Defence Force.

The unsigned letter urged for the arrest of Prime Minister Mosisili and other government members on charges of corruption.

On Tuesday Detective Sergeant Sello Litabe of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service gave evidence before the court, saying he and his team were instructed to go to the station and arrest Thakalekoala, and he was later charged with sedition.

Mosisili is expected to give evidence in the court against Thakalekoala soon.

Meanwhile, the International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in over 120 countries, said in January, calling for all charges against Thakalekoala to be dropped.

IPI says it believes that the arrest and prosecution of Thakalekoala are an over reaction to a situation where a journalist was merely reporting the controversial views and opinions of others.

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African Press International – api

Tanzanian opposition legislators walk out over accord

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Some 44 opposition lawmakers, out of whom 32 are from the Civil United front (CUF), 11 from Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) and one from the United Democratic Party (UDP), staged a walkout in Parliament in central region of Dodoma in protest of a proposal by Tanzania ruling party Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) to call a referendum on the political future of Zanzibar.

The Leader of the Official Opposition Civil United Front (CUF), Hamad Rashid Mohamed told APA Wednesday that opposition legislators would not participate in the ongoing National House business in a move aimed at protesting and putting pressure on the ruling party to sign the accord reached between two parties known as Muafaka.

Hamad said that the CCM and CUF delegates came to the talks aimed at ending the protracted political rift in Zanzibar, which has pitted the two rival parties, but did not deliberate on the proposed referendum as a condition for creation of a coalition government.

“Opposition legislators have walked out of the House to express dissatisfaction over the way the CCM-led government has handled the muafaka talks,” he said, thanking the rest of the opposition camp in the House for supporting them.

However, Hamad has declined to say how long they would stay away from the on going National assembly business.

On his part the Speaker of the National Assembly, Samwel Sitta has said that he is going to consult and advise them(the opposition) to go for talks, and not otherwise, since Tanzanians believes in dialogue.

The walkout involved Member of parliaments from both CUF, whose rejection of the results of the 2000 and 2005 general elections in the Isles led to the standoff, and other opposition political parties.

President Jakaya Kikwete promised in his inaugural speech to the National Assembly soon after assuming power in late 2005 that he would leave no stone unturned in finding a lasting solution to the Zanzibar political impasse.

The Tanzania National Assembly which started its business Tuesday currently has a total of 321 legislators.

Criminals turned-debt collectors are all over the world

Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.standard.ke

In many parts of the world, one will find debt collectors who are actually hardcore criminals. People must watch out and desist from engaging them to help in collecting lost dues. They will chew your money and leave you to contemplate suicide.

By John Ndegwa

When Stephen Mwanzia Muema read a classified advertisement claiming that anybody who had lost money in pyramid schemes could recover their hard earned cash, he felt like his prayers had been answered.

Mwema, 34, who runs a food kiosk in Kawangware, Nairobi, had last year invested Sh10,000 in Development Entrepreneurship Capacity Initiative (Deci), one of the pyramid schemes that swindled unsuspecting Kenyans millions of shillings.

But after 10 months of following up on every turn and twist of the Deci rip-off, he finally saw light at the end of the tunnel.

“I saw a newspaper advertisement saying that people could recover money lost in pyramid schemes and I decided to seek the agency’s help,” he says.

The advert that attracted Muema’s attention read in part: “Have you invested your money in pyramid schemes, business community Saccos and they have closed their offices, have failed to pay you, have cheated you with excuses? Stop the stories and excuses! Recover your money now!”

New breed of con artists

Thus when he stepped into an office on Nairobi’s Kenyatta Avenue, Muema was confident that his tribulations were about to end.

But were they? Apparently and as it turned out, Muema was yet again walking into another deceiving trap.

To recover his Sh10,000 he was told that he needed to produce all the Deci receipts, a copy of his national identity card and pay Sh2,000 registration fee.

Because his money was less than the minimum amount of Sh75,000 threshold the agency was recovering, he had to pay a five per cent ‘facilitation’ fee.

In total, Muema was required to pay Sh5,750 upfront before the agency could embark on recovering the Sh10,000 he lost in Deci.

According to the lady who served him, it would take four to six weeks to recover the money after which he would pay a final five per cent fee.

If he recovers his money, Muema would have paid the agency Sh9,500.

Unknown to Muema though, the people who allege they could help him recover his money represent a new breed of con artists operating under the guise of debt collectors.

Though debt collection agencies have existed for years, the new crop of swindlers is operating on the pretext of debt collectors targeting desperate investors who lost their money in pyramid schemes.

According to Mr Peter Wanjau, an accountant at a leading beverages distributor and a former debt collector, the agencies are claiming they can recover money on behalf of those conned by pyramid schemes are in fact former pyramid scheme operators who have turned to debt collectors.

“They have realised that people who lost money in pyramid schemes are desperate to recover their money and are easy targets,” he states.

When Shillings & Sense visited the agency that had placed the adverts, a man at the office said they follow up cases for people who lost money in pyramid schemes upon entering a “voluntary agreement” with the distressed party.

“We work with lawyers to file cases on their behalf and wait for the legal process to take course,” he explained unconvincingly, adding that their target is usually frozen accounts of pyramid schemes rather than the directors.

On why they charge a registration fee and ask for a percentage against the amount to be recovered instead of recovering the money first and paying themselves from the recovered money, he said: “Ours is a service and even when you go to a lawyer or doctor you must pay a consultation fee.”

According to Wanjau, individuals disguising as debt collectors to con gullible people are operating on the basis that there is no law that regulates the practice and conduct of debt collectors.

This has effectively provided room for anybody to set up shop and operate as a debt collector. “This is a business that anybody can engage in” he explains, adding that in fact most are briefcase operators with no professional training.

Traditionally debt collectors have been viewed as ruffians who enjoy harassing, intimidating, threatening, attaching and even auctioning a debtor’s properties.

This has made some people believe that because the government has failed in helping them recover their money from pyramid schemes, debt collectors can use their skills to help them.

But according to Mr Wachira Ndege, the group operations director at Credit Reference Bureau Africa, people need to realise the traditional methods of debt collection no longer work. “Things have changed and being crude does not work,” he says.

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African Press International – api

Are politicians the most disgusting parasites?

Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.standard.ke

By Ted Malanda

If you considered politicians the most disgusting parasites, think again. The real monsters, medical workers say, are the little, and sometimes not so little, intestinal parasites that are wriggling and gleefully nibbling your gut to shreds as you read this.

You might want to bury your head in the sand and dismiss this as another Crazy Monday prank. But sorry, experts say they are over 100 different types of parasites that live in our bodies. Further, they estimate that over a billion people suffer silently from the scourge worldwide.

Ungrateful guests

 

 

The first reaction one gets is, ‘not me!’ especially the educated and well to do who imagine that intestinal parasites are a problem for poor, malnourished village children with distended belies. But in truth, anyone, from the shinny, nice scented people we see on TV to the wretched of the poor, could be a walking habitat for wriggling, fornicating and ferocious feeding parasites or worms as we call them.

They are, in a sense, gangsters of the worst order and uninvited guests at your every meal. You could be the Nairobi hawker that braves scorching sun, rain and city council askaris to feed your kids. You might be a US-trained IT expert who spends 18 hours bent over your computer and plays golf to unwind.

Or you could be the big, affluent politician or banker who makes the earth shiver with your mere presence. But the parasites, we are all easy fodder. These guys not only wolf down everything we eat but also have the cheek to wait till we sweat to get, cook and digest it before helping themselves to the finer stuff like sucrose, amino acids and vitamins.

And like all ungrateful guests, the parasites defecate all over our guts, secrete harmful toxic substances and invite all manner of secondary ailments for the bash, too.

This they do by messing up our immune systems with their toxins so that any snotty little infection holds us hostage and literally pushes us to our knees. In short, once you have worms, and you don’t get them fixed, you keep going down every day.

And not unlike many politicians, intestinal parasites are so shortsighted that they practically eat you – their gracious host – to the grave, dying with you in the process.

Some are so smart that they cheat the human body that they are part of body tissue or organs. Thus, our immune system ignores them or gives them high-fives instead of fighting the lecherous intruders and killing them on the spot.

Most also have their bodies coated in armour plating so tough that it protects them from the digestive enzymes and dilute acids that our tummies secrete to break down the food we eat. Do not therefore cheat yourself that you are immune because you drink copious amounts of liquor. These creepy gangsters are most likely way ahead of that game, too.

The irony here is that when you are a well-to-do person and can afford to eat well, they will share your fine cuisine and enjoy your choice whisky for years without you taking note. Since their food supply chain is constant, they reward you with very subtle symptoms of their presence.

If on the other hand you are a poor person, especially a child who feeds badly, the little buggers practically eat you up in disgust because you are not bringing the bacon home!

Sadly, even when we have this creepy feeling that something is wriggling in our tummies, very few of us have the guts to seek medical attention. In fact, if you thought sexually transmitted diseases are scary, imagine the horror of your doctor telling you, ‘Sorry Mheshimiwa. You don’t have a tumour – it’s just worms, sir!’ And don’t forget that by the time you get to that point, the good doctor will have demanded a stool sample, a procedure that many of us view with utter disgust.

Symptoms of severe infection

 

 

When you have a severe worm infestation, experts say, you could really be forgiven for imagining that you have a tumour. Some nematodes, a group of monsters that include roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, pinworms and the like, can grow up to 15 inches long in adult humans.

And when you imagine that each of the rascals can lay up to 200,000 eggs per day, then you have a monster of a problem. In large numbers, the hooligans could — aside from perforating your intestines into a fine sieve — ball up into a tumour-like mass and block your gut, causing constipation.

Thus, you have this major traffic jam in your gut, sort of like armed bandits blocking the Nairobi-Kisumu highway. They not only cause you upper abdominal discomfort but also ensure that nothing comes out from the rear end — in spite of all your grunting and teeth gnashing in the toilet.

In the lucky event that the aforementioned grunting yields fruit, the resulting stool is nothing to write home about: Long, stringy stuff, foul smelling, greenish horrors, diarrhoea or mucus-coated droplets that any self respecting mongrel would be ashamed of.

At this stage, it may not be unthinkable to see the little crawling blighters in your stool.

That aside, there are other symptoms that should cause you worry — anaemia for one. When an army of intestinal parasites invades, it could practically leach your blood away or cause you massive iron deficiency. So if you have this unreasonable urge to eat soil, you might want to slap a stool sample on the doctor’s desk instead of pretending that you are pregnant.

There are other symptoms, too: Are you nervous, anxious, restless…can’t concentrate? Is your tummy bloated and full of gas? Do you feel generally fatigued, depressed and unwell? Do you have flu-like symptoms? Do you have this crazy irritation around your anus? Do you suffer some curious food allergies or skin rashes? Are you vomiting or coughing? If the answer to some of these questions is yes, your might want to see your medical provider urgently.

There is likelihood, my good friend, that a bunch of parasites are holding a noisy bash in your guts at your expense.

A walking animal farm

 

 

But how did we, clean people who shower and wear expensive cologne and perfume, get to this point where the Director of Kenya Wildlife Service could be forgiven for declaring our bodies protected National Parks?

People who know these things say we are to blame. We consume junk food, chemicals, bad fats and sweets that create a perfect habitat for intestinal parasites. This they do by making our bowels unable to eliminate waste products causing constipation and a build up of faecal matter in our colons. Parasites thrive in that gore, I am told.

In addition, walking barefoot, drinking contaminated water, hanging around pets, eating undercooked food and — hold your breath — sexual intercourse could turn you into a veritable animal farm.

Left unattended, experts say, intestinal parasites can lead to long-term retardation of mental and physical development. In very severe cases, these rascals could kill you.

Knowing the deplorable state of hygiene in most of our homes, food markets, butcheries, pubs and eateries, chances that you have an intestinal parasitic infection are high.

And because few of us bother to get de-wormed, you, my dear friend, could be a walking animal farm. Go on — don’t sit there with a horrified look on your face — call the doctor. In the event that you just happen to be a doctor yourself, what the heck, call a doctor!

So this Crazy Monday evening, when you meet your date for an evening drink at that posh hotel and you have dispensed with the hugs and kisses, the first question you should ask is, “When did you last get de-wormed, honey?”

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African Press International – api

Kenya thrown into disarray path by power-hungry politicians

Published by Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source.standard.ke

A sad day for Kenya as ODM pulls out of talks

 By Ayub Savula and Joseph Murimi

 It was a day of drawn swords after ODM announced it had pulled out of Cabinet talks, and PNU declared it was ready for elections if negotiations fail.

The combative mode heightened diplomatic activity and triggered a breakout of isolated violent demonstrations.

Protestors lit bonfires that literally sent black smoke billowing into the skies, as parents rushed to pick their children from school.

On Tuesday, ODM emerged from a joint extraordinary National Executive Council (NEC) and Parliamentary Group (PG) meeting and slapped PNU with a raft of eight conditions it wants met before the talks can resume.

Top in its eight-point statement, the party stated that negotiations between ODM and PNU had been suspended until the latter fully recognised the 50-50 power-sharing arrangement and the principle of portfolio balance.

“This also means that executive power and authority must be shared between the Prime Minister and the President,” the statement, signed by Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, the party secretary-general, said.

But PNU hit back with a declaration that it was ready for fresh elections should the Cabinet talks fold up. It also told ODM to drop all pre-conditions and return to the negotiating table “when there is still time”.

On the diplomatic front, US Ambassador, Mr Michael Ranneberger, is understood to have met President Kibaki earlier in the day.

On Monday night, Prof George Saitoti, the Internal Security minister, paid the envoy a visit at his Muthaiga residence ostensibly to explain PNU’s position on portfolio balance. 

Prime Minister-designate Raila Odinga (right), Pentagon members, Mrs Charity Ngilu and Mr Najib Balala, with the European Union Head of Delegation, Mr Eric van Linden, and the French Ambassador, Ms Elisabeth Barbir at Pentagon House, on Tuesday. Picture: Govedi Asutsa

Elsewhere, Mr Raila Odinga, the Prime minister-designate, said US Secretary of State, Dr Condoleezza Rice, had telephoned him to express concern over the delay in the implementation of the peace accord.

 On Tuesday, accompanied by Pentagon members, Mr Najib Balala, Mrs Charity Ngilu and Mr Joseph Nyaga, Raila hosted diplomats from the European Union and Latin America at Pentagon House.

The EU ambassadors were led by the local chair, Ms Elisabeth Barbier (France), and Head of EU Mission in Kenya, Mr Eric van der Linden. They met Raila for more than an hour before he emerged to address the media.

“Friends of Kenya are concerned with the delay in naming the coalition Cabinet,” he told journalists. “The diplomats were here to express solidarity with Kenyans and to wish us well in the talks.”

Canadian High Commissioner, Mr Ross Hyness, said the continuation of working relations between the international community and Kenya would depend on the implementation of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act in its entirety.

“The working relations are on hold until the Act is implemented. There has to be genuine sharing of power between the two parties (ODM and PNU),” he said.

He added: “Kibaki and Raila have failed Kenyans. They will hold them accountable as they face a crisis.”

Former UN Secretary-General, Dr Kofi Annan, who brokered the peace deal yesterday marked his 70th birthday with the message: “I ask the two parties to give me a nice present — agreement on the Cabinet.”

 PNU MPs vow to back Kibaki 

On Tuesday night, sources told The Standard that Rice had also telephoned President Kibaki on another day of gripping anxiety as tension boiled over in Nairobi’s Kibera slums and Kisumu.

In Kibera, police used teargas and live bullets to battle protestors who had lit bonfires and blocked roads in the slum. The gangs also pulled out up to 90 metres of railway line, disrupting rail transport to the wider region.

Meanwhile, members of the press camped at Harambee House as early as 9am and were still waiting as dusk set in. The President did not turn up.

Emerging from the PNU PG, Vice-President, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, said President Kibaki had the party’s full support should he dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections.

“President Kibaki is ready to take the bull by the horns and to take decisive action. The President cannot continue this way. We will support him even if he decides to dissolve Parliament,’’ Kalonzo, who was speaking after chairing the Government Coalition Parliamentary Group, stated.

He asked ODM to drop all pre-conditions and return to the negotiating table, saying the door was still open.

“We support the President in any decision he makes since it is within his prerogative to decide the number of ministers he wants,” Kalonzo said after the meeting at the KICC, Nairobi.

Ministers, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, Ms Martha Karua, Mr Chirau Mwakwere, Dr Noah Wekesa, Mr Amos Kimunya, Dr Naomi Shaban, Mr Yusuf Haji, Prof Sam Ongeri, Mr Asman Kamama and Mr Kiraitu Murungi, and Government Chief Whip, Mr George Thuo, attended the PG.

On Tuesday, a record 100 ODM MPs, led by Raila, attended the PG where the party took the stand. They also insisted that executive powers and authority must be shared between the Prime Minister and the President.

ODM said the Cabinet, as presently constituted, was illegal and unconstitutional and must, therefore, be dissolved to pave way for the Grand Coalition Government.

“It must be noted that when the constitutional amendment and national accord came into force, the Cabinet as then constituted expired,” the ODM statement said, adding that the party appreciated Kenyans’ concern over the bloated 40-member Cabinet.

The party, the statement went on, was committed to renegotiating the size of the Cabinet.

“We fully support the Prime Minister’s stand that the agreement he signed with President Kibaki on power-sharing includes, but not limited to, equal share of Cabinet, permanent secretaries, ambassadors, high commissioners, heads of State corporations and other public institutions,” the statement stated.

It added: “Indeed, consultations between the Prime Minister and the President have been about the formation of the Grand Coalition Government and not about Cabinet appointments.”

The party NEC/PG also resolved to push for a timetable for institutional, legal and constitutional reforms that were agreed upon by both parties.

For purposes of portfolio balance, ODM says PNU must cede Foreign Affairs, Local Government, Transport, Cabinet Affairs and Energy to it. The party dropped its earlier bid for Finance, Defence and Internal Security.

ODM Pentagon members attended tuesday NEC/PG meeting. Affiliate party MPs, led by Narc chair Ngilu and Kaddu Chairman, Mr Cyrus Jirongo, also attended.

 

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African Press International – api

The Westerner in Nyanza assured safe business without harassment in the hands of the residents demanding hand-outs

Published by Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no

BY  DICKENS WASONGA -KISUMU BASED JOURNALIST.

 

Tel.+254721784774.

 

The Government has assured an American investor working in Nyanza that nobody will be allowed to harass him.

 

The government’s assurance  came amid revelations that the investor with interest in rice farming was bieng threatened with eviction by certain politicians from the region.

 

Last week the local leading media houses were a wash with stories that indicated that the investor was threatening to pull-out due to what was described as persistance interference from some politicians.

 

Today, while addressing church leaders who petitioned him, the Nyanza PC Paul Olando said the government was fully aware of the allegations adding that a civic leader from Siaya has already been arrested and was assisting with investigations.

 

The councillor who is in police custody was nabbed after ha allegedlly wrote a letter to the investor demanding to be given money to in exchange for protection of the firm.

 

The PC said the region needed investors so as to help the locals in explioting the potential to creat jobs and no-one will be allowed to sit on the way of such development.

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African Press International -api