Felicen Kabuga’s request to the Rwandese government will be channelled this week

Publisher: Korir, africanpress@getmail.no

 Mr Felicen Kabuga (left) The Rwandese government will have to take a decision, either for or against the request for talks with their wanted man, Mr Felicen Kabuga.

The Rwandese government has been briefed through their representative on what is on the way for the government to deal with. As details continue to come in, we realise also that the top government officials are anxiously waiting for the document to be relayed to them. At the same time the government seems to find the situation complicated because the plan for talks has come out in the open.

People wanted to do things quietly but now the fact that the information is out in the open, seems to have placed the Rwandese government into an awkward position that may cause problems should they enter into secret talks with Kabuga without clearing with the International Court.

The talks between LRA/Kony and the government of Uganda was not blessed by the International court who has not agreed to withdraw Mr Kony’s arrest warrant.

Mr Kabuga’s request will be channelled to the government in the next few days. The International arrest warrant has not prevented Kabuga from moving from country to country. He has now decided that the time for talks has come.

In an interesting well-worded appeal, the government will be invited to take a decision in favour of negotiations and find an agreeable solution. The government will do good to accept to talk because Mr Kabuga has alot of information that will also help sort out other cases.

Developments in the case worry some Kenyans

If the Rwandese government chose to enter into talks with Mr Kabuga, some Kenyan politicians and security officers will get sleepless nights. For the talks to succeed, Mr kabuga will have to name names of his Kenyan keepers who helped him evade justice in Nairobi for a long time.

Related story:

Rwandese businessman hunted by ICTR requests API to deliver a massage to Rwandese Government. “I am ready to negotiate for a supervised surrender on agreeable terms”, says Kabuga

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African Press International - api

Who will take Ainamoi seat?

Publisher: Korir, africanpress@getmail.no source. nation.ke

ODM the ticket of choice in Ainamoi

Story by SOLLO KIRAGU and WALTER MENYA

The memories of the murder  of Ainamoi’s newly-elected MP David Kimutai Too in late January are still fresh as the June 11 by-election approaches.

A security officer and the public at the scene of Ainamoi MP David Kimutai Too’s shooting at West Indies in Eldoret Town on January 31, this year. Photo/Jared Nyataya

Commonly referred to as “Principal”, his name is still invoked at every political forum in the constituency. Prospective candidates are pledging to actualise the development projects he had promised in his campaigns for the seat in last year’s General Election.

Mr Too was shot dead soon after members of Parliament were sworn in. The killing inflamed passions in a constituency that had been hit hard by the political violence that rocked the country after the disputed presidential elections.

Thousands had fled the area, especially from Swahili, Mombasa Ndogo, Kambi-Somali and Nyagacho estates in Kericho Town after they were targeted for retribution and their houses and business premises torched and looted.

Front runner

Many of them are still holed up in camps for the displaced in Nakuru, Nyamira, Kisii and Naivasha.

The Ainamoi by-election has attracted more than 20 contenders, with the ODM being the ticket of choice.

An early front runner for the party  nomination is a brother of the felled MP, Mr Benjamin Lang’at. He is likely to get a lot of sympathy votes.

Mr Lang’at has the support of some key Rift Valley ODM figures, including Agriculture minister William Ruto, Belgut MP Charles Keter and Kipkelion MP Magerer Lang’at.

This was demonstrated at Mr Too’s funeral in February when Mr Ruto and Mr Keter told the Ainamoi people to ensure that the seat remained in the family.

In the presence of the area’s former MP Noah arap Too, Mr Ruto introduced Mr Lang’at as a responsible person.

But Mr Lang’at will not have it all his own way.

Another strong contender for the seat is retired Kenya Army general John Koech, who vied in 2007, but lost to Mr Too in the ODM nominations.

Unlike other nomination losers who decamped from ODM to other parties, Mr Koech chose to stay put in the party and helped lead ODM campaigns across Rift Valley.

Others who want to try their luck are newcomers David Kitur, the chief executive of Micro LAN Company, and Dr Paul Chepkwony, a former Moi University lecturer.

Other strong contenders for the ODM nomination include lawyer Onesmus Lang’at, Henry Rop, Job Chirchir, Ezekiel Ng’eny, Andrew Maritim, Paul Chirchir, Gideon Koros, Julius Kiplang’at Kirui and Mrs Anna Kibet, a clinical officer.

A comeback

Also in the race are radio personality Parveen Sigey, who has quit his job with Royal Media Group’s Kalenjin language station, Chamge FM, to try his hand in politics, and a former Kericho Day Secondary School principal, Mr Paul Yaem.

Trying to make a comeback at the Ainamoi by-election are two former MPs, Mr Ayub Chepkwony and Mr Kiptarus Kirior, who served as assistant ministers in Mr Daniel arap Moi’s government.

The two are banking on past experience to regain the seat they occupied when it was part of Belgut constituency. The constituency was created in 1997.

Two former Kericho Town councillors, Joel Siele and Samuel Rugut are also vying for the prized ODM ticket.

Mr Stephen Kipkurui, a former district education officer, wants to run on a PNU ticket. Mr Joseph Mosonik and Mr John Kibet Keino eye the Kanu and Agano party tickets respectively.

The United Democratic Movement (UDM) hopes to bag the seat, which would be its second. Its only MP is Kericho lawyer Joseph Kirui.

Meanwhile, the ODM aspirants have told the party headquarters to ensure transparency in the exercise so that only the best candidate wins.

Speaking to Nation, the aspirants say that missing names in ballot papers and other anomalies should not be allowed to recur, as happened last year.

The growing dissent among ODM faithful in the wider Kericho region will be something to watch during the campaigns.

After the formation of the grand coalition Cabinet, there were perceptions that the Kipsigis had been short-changed.

During a meeting held at Tea Research Foundation of Kenya last month, seven ODM MPs threatened to form a political party to serve their interests. They were Dr Julius Kones, Mr Franklin Bett, Mr Magerer Langat, Mr Zakayo Cheruiyot, Mr Isaac Ruto and Energy assistant minister Charles Keter

This is a warning that the local political elite may  back a candidate from an alternative party if the ODM nominations are not handled fairly.

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African Press International - api

Passport racket unearthed

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

 

 

 

By David Ohito 

 

An immigration, human trafficking and travel documents’ forgery syndicate has been unearthed in Nairobi.

The Immigration Department and the police are piecing together evidence and details of trafficking in suspected terrorists.

Two suspects are in police custody and more than 100 passports of different countries — 87 Somali, 12 Kenyan, 17 from the US, UK, France, Italy and a host of other European countries — were seized from a suspect in what has been described as a multi-million shilling international ring.

 

 

 

Mr Dume Wanda, a senior Immigration officer in charge of prosecutions, displays some of the air tickets and passports netted from a “publisher” in Eastliegh.

The Immigration Department raised the red flag over rising cases of forged documents and human trafficking. It deals with about seven cases daily and at times up to 200 incidents.

So grave is the problem that genuine travellers from Kenya could have problems travelling to the US, United Kingdom, the European Union and other countries with strict immigration rules.

It appears that chartered flights are used to move illegal immigrants to safe escape routes from where they cross borders on foot and in vehicles.

Clients pay between Sh200,000 and Sh500,000 for visas to South America and Europe in search of jobs and a better life.

Documents recovered included asylum application forms for US, South Africa and other European countries. South Africa’s, Kenya, Uganda, Somali and Ethiopia are the most easily forged passports.

The appeal for human trafficking is the lure of well paying jobs and relocation packages offered to unsuspecting clients.

 

Best con facilities

 

 

In the syndicate, Kenyan passports are stolen and the bio-data and photo pages forged, thus making it difficult to ascertain authenticity.

Immigration officials on Tuesday appealed to the public to notify them of loss of passports and other security documents to help curb the crime.

Drug traffickers and international criminals use the forged documents to hide their identities.

The officials deplored the weakness of the law in combating human trafficking.

Details have emerged showing that Kenya was the preferred human trafficking centre in the continent because it had better infrastructure, facilities for local and international cash transfers, international air destination connections and a good road network with neighbourng countries.

Immigration officials said porous borders and an 800-km coastline without guards abetted trafficking in the region.

A key suspect who has been on the Immigration’s ‘most wanted’ list for nearly a year is still at large after two of his workers were nabbed.

The syndicate has been operating in Eastleigh, Nairobi, where forgery of visas, passports, birth and marriage certificates, travellers’ cheques, bank credit cards and air tickets is done.

Immigration officials are also investigating if the criminal outlet is linked to the illegal buying and selling of passports.

A senior Immigration officer, Mr Dume Wanda, said officials had confiscated forged and genuine travel documents.

Linked to the forgery saga is an outlet distributing airtime in Eastleigh where large amounts of money are transacted and banked to hide the illegal activities.

“This is a major breakthrough for our department because this is a dangerous syndicate that many Kenyans and foreigners have fallen prey to,” Wanda said.

Among the equipment recovered from the cartel included an ultra-violet light, a sophisticated instrument used to verify the authenticity of visas, passports, currency and travel documents. Several forged blank visas of the Schengen States were part of the items Immigration investigators were holding.

The gang operates from a hotel building, which disguises itself as a travel agency. Yesterday, detectives were investigating whether the travel agency was a registered business.

Similarly, the Immigration Department wrote to the Registrar of Persons to verify if identity cards and passports recovered from the two suspects were genuine or forgeries.

Application forms for Kenyan and Ugandan visas, vaccination and marriage certificates and stamped travel documents were also confiscated in the Friday operation.

So sophisticated is the cartel that they forge letters for international seminars and workshops which are used to get visas from unsuspecting embassies. Three prominent travel agencies are used as conduits. Stolen credit cards are used to buy airline tickets for clients involved in the fraud. Investigators are zeroing in on the premises where printing of visas is done.

Charges for forged documents range between Sh40,000 and Sh100,000. But in some cases, securing a passport complete with a visa before photographs are superimposed costs up to Sh500,000.

In others, genuine passports are stolen from the public and travellers before they are handed over to ‘look-alike’ people.

The trafficking ring offers fine details how to evade the police and Immigration spots. Clients are advised to travel by road or through porous borders to avoid detection.

“We are unearthing many illegal activities, including women being paid to have ‘miracle babies’ who need passports. We arrest them when they forget and present applications for passports where three children were born of the same mother in a year yet they are not triplets,” Wanda said.

This is the second major immigration and identity fraud in recent times. Recently, a Congolese, identified as Mr Emmanuel Lambata, was deported after he forged travel documents that would have aided 34 countrymen to be flown to Hungary.

He was arrested with 12 Kenyan passports as he presented them to the Czech embassy.

“Foreign missions have been of great help in the efforts to curb visa and passport forgery,” Wanda said.

Last week, 18 Indians trafficked to Kenya were arrested.

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African Press International - api

 

 

 

Ministers shamed for poor performance in their duties

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

10 ministers named and shamed in State report

By Andrew TeyieA government performance evaluation report has named and shamed 10 ministries and by extension the Cabinet ministers who held the offices at the time of the study.

Alongside the ministries, the report on evaluation of performance of public agencies for the year 2006/2007 has also lined up for scrutiny a number of State corporations and local authorities, whose performance it judged as not up to scratch.

But it was a day high performers were feted, as the Prime Minister, Mr Raila Odinga, got a clearer hint of exactly what his duties would entail — co-ordinating and supervising the performance of Government.

Unveiling the report at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, on Monday, President Kibaki also rolled out an incentive system to reward performers.

“I have directed the Minister for Finance to authorise revenue generating public institutions to pay their performing employees based on a formula developed by the ministry,” the President, who also directed that best performing employees in high performing organisations be rewarded immediately, said.

He added: “Public institutions will henceforth be required to fully comply with the new system to ensure equal incentives for equal performance irrespective of whether the institution is generating revenue, regulating or giving service.”

Time for change

In his speech, Raila said he was passionate about changing the way civil service works.

“I remain passionate about changing the Public Service, making changes that are difficult, including learning from business where it is appropriate,” the PM, who was at hand to receive the Head of State at KICC, said in his welcome remarks.

Deputy Prime Ministers, Mr Musalia Mudavadi and Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, also attended the function.

By having their ministries placed at the bottom of the ranking table, the report appeared to indict at least 10 former Cabinet ministers, who at their time enjoyed political goodwill — and by extension Government resources — owing to their party affiliation.

The worst performing former ministers, according to the evaluation, include Mr Musikari Kombo (Local Government), Dr Mukhisa Kituyi (Trade), Mr Mutua Katuku (Water), Mr Simeon Nyachae (Roads and Public Works) and Mr Raphael Tuju (Foreign Affairs).

Others are Mr Joseph Munyao (Livestock), Prof Kivutha Kibwana (Environment), Mr Henry Obwocha (Planning) and Attorney General, Amos Wako (State Law Office).

The ministers were all voted out at the last General Election.

Agriculture Minister Mr William Ruto (left) adjusts the lapel of Prime Minister Raila Odinga as Lands Minister, Mr James Orengo observes at the KICC on Monday. Picture by Collins Kweyu

On a brighter note, however, the evaluation report showed overall improved performance of ministries, State corporations and local authorities since the launch of performance contracts.

“It is evident that as a result of the introduction of the contracts, there is greater accountability in the management of public resources,” states the report.

Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services ministry, previously headed by Mr Maina Kamanda, who lost his Starehe parliamentary seat to Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, sat at the top of the league of the top 10 best performers.

Others, in order of ascendancy, included Regional Development Authorities, Special Programmes, Energy, Housing, Home Affairs, National Heritage and Health. The rest were Immigration and Registration of Persons and Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

Instructively, a number of ministers who previously held the dockets retained their seats in the last elections. Notable examples are Ms Martha Karua, Mr John Munyes, Mrs Charity Ngilu, Mr Kiraitu Murungi and Mr Soita Shitanda.

Karua, Kiraitu and Shitanda have returned to their old dockets, while Munyes and Ngilu are now at Labour and Water in the Grand Coalition Government.

The coalition is the child of the National Accord brokered between President Kibaki’s PNU and Raila’s ODM to haul the country out of a crippling post-election crisis touched off by the disputed December 27 presidential election.

Criteria

It was the second time ministries, parastatals and local authorities were evaluated.

“The performance of any particular ministry is determined by many factors and not necessarily the holder of the ministerial position,” Kibwana, who together with Tuju were recently appointed to the Commission on Constitutional and Ethnic Relations, told The Standard when reached for comment.

Kibwana said: “What I can speak about at the moment are matters that concern the Constitution and not the ministry that I previously served.”

On his part, Kombo said: “I’ll talk about the report after reading it. I have not seen it yet.”

The Local Government ministry is now under Mudavadi, one of the two deputy premiers.

Meanwhile, Kituyi, who lost the Kimilili seat to Dr David Eseli Simiyu, said: “I cannot comment about the performance because I am no longer in that ministry.”

But top performer Kamanda, who could not hide his excitement, said: “I’ll talk at length on how we achieved this, but not right now.”

His former Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services grabbed the top position from Agriculture, which dropped to position 25.

The evaluation report wants the Government to put in place a reward and sanction system for best and worst performers.

Kenyatta University grabbed the top State corporation prize, followed by Nyayo Tea Zones and Kenya Wines.

Nairobi City Council, Municipal Council of Chuka and County Council of Bungoma topped the local authorities category in that order, while Chepareria, Namachie, Bureti, Keroka and Homa Bay were at the bottom of the list.

The most improved ministry was Housing, which rose from position 34 to five. The State Law Office was singled out as a persistently poor performer. It ranked at position 36, having dropped from position 33.

Agriculture, previously held by Mr Kipruto Kirwa, but now headed by Eldoret North MP, Mr William Ruto, recorded the biggest decline, plummeting from position one to 25.

Nyayo Tea Zones was ranked the most improved of the State Corporations, climbing from 110th to become number two this year.

Telkom was also singled out as a persistently poor performer. It was ranked 114, managing to move up only four points to position 110. Kenya Seed Company also registered a major decline. It was ranked 82 in its category.

President Kibaki and Raila asserted said State corporations must conform to performance contracts.

The PM singled out Muhoroni, Gilgil Telecommunication, Safaricom, Development Bank of Kenya, Kenya National Trading Company, National Bank, Rift Valley Textiles, National Council of Children Services and National Council of Law as culprits.

The evaluation report calls for strengthening of the Performance Contracts Secretariat. It also recommends a reward system for the top three achievers in each category.

The report also proposes that Parliament enacts a law on performance contracting.

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African Press International - api

The rising star and fortune of Gedeon Moi in Rift Valley political landscape

Publisher: Korir, africanpress@getmail.no

Commentary

<By Leo Odera Omolo

With the rapidly changing pattern of politics within the expansive Rift Valley Province the continued dominance of two major political parties namely PNU and the ODM parties now hangs in the balance.

 

But the only man  whose stars seemed to be steadfastly on the rise is the former Baringo Central KANU  MP Gideon Moi. The soft spoken favourite son of the retired President Daniel Arap Moi could be the man of the day comes the year 2012 if he plays his card well and ensure that he steer away from unnecessary controversies.

 

Gideon Moi, arguably is steadily making major inroads in nearly all sub-region of the vast Rift Valley Province. He has held consultative meetings in Trans-Mara with the Maasai leaders, organized a close door meting with the Kalenjin leaders in the north Rift and was recently spotted having a close door meeting  with political personalities from across the region at his family tea estate and factory at Kaisugu, about 7 kilometres east of Kericho town. This particular meeting brought a large number of Kalenjins politicians from as far field as Sebei in the Mt. Elgon constituency.

 

This is said to be ostensibly at the expense of the Orange Democratic Movement, which is presently the party of the day in the region. The Raila Odinga led is reputed for having harvested a total of  33 parliamentary seats during the last general elections. Obviously this figure is the largest number of parliamentarians from one Province. All of these were pocketed by the ODM, But the seemingly dwindling unity of purpose, which had propelled this party to election victory is another subject of great importance

 

The local political pundits, were now  quick in saying the populist party which only five months ago had swept the board and even further won the majority of civic seats in Town Councils, Urban Councils, Municipalities and County Councils is now on the receiving end..The fallout  came about following numerous allegations and accusation that it had short-changed the communities that gave it thousands of votes in the last December general elections .And the ODM is doing very little in countering the se claims and dreadful allegations against it.

 

There is ample of a big drift of people in the region, particularly among members of the Kipsigis community, the most populous sub-clan of the larger Kalenjin ethnic groups. This people are said to have read malice in the recent cabinet appointment . The abrupt about turn, by its members of parliament is a major point to worry by the ODM leadership.

 

And the man who stand to gain from the fallout within the ODM rank and file none other than Gideon Moi who is out to cash on the disagreement. The younger Moi is praying that the disagreement  should widen to the extent of a mass walk out of the ODM by the Kipsigis leaders.

 

The ODM only lost a few parliamentary seat in the Central Rift, especially in those area with heavy presence of the Kikuyu settlers.like in the case of Nakuru Town, Molo, Subukia, Naivash, Laikpia and Nyandarua .

 

The Kipsigis leaders maintains that they have smelt a rat on Raila Odinga’s political machinations because the Prim Minister had seen it fit to marginalize them in the same way former president Daniel Moi used to engage their sons and doughters for political expedition, but dumps them after he had achieved his political goals., a situation which has given Gideon Moi a leeway to recapture the glory lost by KANU under his father leadership in the year 2002.

 

It is imperative to note that some of the Kipsigis leaders were all along suspicious about Mr. Odinga’s political machinations, even long before the last general election. One of such leaders is Paul M.K. Sang, the former Minister for Health Services and the MP for Buret who had cautioned his colleagues who were campaigning for the Raila and the ODM to go slow over the matter, arguing that once the ODM supreme achieved his goal, he will eventually dump them.,.Sang’s prophecy eventually translated itself and became the truth of the matter.But the community remains adamant and gave in to the waves of Raila Odinga and the euphoria and the popular slogans for a change that accompanied them.

 

Mr Arap Mibei{The son of the Lake} is the name the Kipsigis gave Raila Odinga. It reigned the air all over the Kipsigis land from river Amalo in the far flung deep south to River Kipchorian {Nyando}.in the north east.

 

The Kipsigis  elders for the son of the late Jaramogi was not in vain. It is part of the fulfillment of the long cherished belief a,mong the community that the third leadership of this country wojuld emerge from the Lake Victoria regionm. The prediction were made over centuaries by the old  Kalenjins, especially the Kipsigis and the Nandis laibons

[Orkoiyot} who accurately predicted the coming of the White man and his rules.

 

The saying goes that after the Whiteman had ruled Kenya for some years the colonialist would be kicked out in a bloody uprising by the natives. There after a strong native ruler would emerge from the east {Kong’asis} and that the seond powerful rule of Kenya would emerge from the Kapkoilong’et Kalenjins } and this is what transpired during the rule of the late Jomo Kenyatta and thereafter that of Daniel Moi.

 

The predictions and prophecies goes that the third powerful rule would emerge from the Lake region. Having in mind of these mythiology, the Kipsigis elders visited villages after villages in Kericho, Buret and Bomet and pleaded with the electorate to vote for Raila Odinga on a man to man. They community appeal had extended to the Kipsigis area of influence in the outlaying districts like Molo, Rongai and Trans-Mara. The message was the same Arap Mibei only.

 

And after the elections were over, the community had duly submitted the three names to the ODM headquarters in the hope that one of them could be given the  nomination to parliament. These were Mrs RACHEL Yegon, Mr. Joel Kirui and Lt. Gen. {rtd} John  Koech. But none of them was picked nomination to Parliament. Odinga was later reported as having said that not even one single Kipsigis had supported the ideas of nominating one of their own during the process, whereas MP from other regions were scrambling for these nominations a claim that was given credence by one of the MP who admitted that they didn’t  conduct lobby exercise for their people.

 

In the last general election Gideon Moi lost his Central parliamentary seat, which his father had sat on ever since 1963 to a relatively unknown political novice.. Ths happened not because Gideon was an ineffective MP in the nineth [parliament, but due to the euphoria of ODM, which was sweeping the entire region.

 

The ODM popularity in the South Rift region, however, will be put to a grueling test next month on June 11^th, when the by-elections to fill the Ainamoi and Kilgoris seats takes place.

 

The contest is expected to be the toughest as there would be strong challenges from the PNU and its affiliate parties involve in the by-elections. Already the ODM haa ditched its former candidate Peter Ole Salaphan and settle on the former KADDU candidate Jinathan Kipyegon Ng’eno. Who is believed to have won in the last elections whose results were nullified by the ECK after the outbreak of violence.

 

Ole Salaphan had performed poor almost taking the fourth position after the two former cabinet ministers, Gideon Konchellah  of PNU and Julius Sunkuli of KANU. Fr the ODM to capture the seat it needed a popular candidate. But owing to its much flawed nominations system in December, the party had ditched Ng’eno  a Kipsigis 3ho had the popular votes and settled on Ole Salaphan.

 

Fr Gideon Moi, the by-election in Kilgoris would be a toll order, for had visited the area only two weeks ago and told the Maasai in proverb that it was unsual in Kalenjin to eatb the lips of a cow slaughtered for him, and that this was the exclusive preserve of the owner of the cow, implying that a Kalenjin should not claim political; leasdership in Maasailand, a view long held by his father. But Ng’eno’s.vctory would be a problematic for the ODM because the indiginant Maasai leaders have vowed not toallow a non-Maasai to become an MP for the area under all the circumstances come what may.   

 

Ends

leooderamolo@yahoo.

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African Press International - api

Burkina Faso: The scientist with a large heart for Africa’s poor

Publisher: Korir, africanpress@gemail.no source.Panafrican News Agency (PANA)

The building behind the light-blue iron gate is not elegant by modern architectural standards, but it is a repository of several decades of scientific knowledge that has brought hope and future to millions of the poor in hard-to-reach communities afflicted with myriad diseases in Africa, especially river blindness. The six-block complex, including four bungalows and a two-storey structure, houses the Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP) in West Africa, the Phase I of the control programme, and it is now the headquarters of the WHO African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), its Special Intervention Zones (SIZ) , and the Multi-Disease Surveillance Centre (MDSC).

On a normal day, the complex is a melting pot of activities and a laboratory of ideas, with scientists and researchers, administrative and technical staff busy on a legion of tasks including the analysis of statistics and data collected from field trips. All of these efforts drive disease control projects in a continent struggling under a disproportionately high disease burden. It is from this building that Africa, with the support of the international donor community, has been fighting onchocerciasis (river blindness) for more than 30 years, first through OCP, and now APOC (Phase II) of the control programme. And from her office on the first floor of the main building, Nigerian scientist, Dr. Uche Veronica Amazigo, has been calling the shots as the Programmes’ first female Director from 2005. APOC was founded in 1995, and effectively took over from where OCP left off in 2002, but with an expanded mandate to replicate the OCP successes in 19 other African river blindness-endemic countries and, this time, using ivermectin as the only control tool. Given the enormity of its mandate, APOC in 1997 devised a new strategy - the Community-Directed Treatment with ivermectin (CDTi), now called the community-directed intervention (CDI) approach, to deal with the stubborn disease caused by worms and transmitted by the black fly.

Indisputably, the CDTi strategy has been a remarkable success and, in the last three years, the mammoth challenge of steering APOC towards its ambitious target of eliminating river blindness as a public health disease in Africa by 2015 has fallen on the broad shoulders of Amazigo, a fire-brand professional who is no stranger to the complexities of scientific research and health administration, having served in APOC for more than 10 years in different capacities, including as Chief of the Sustainable Drug Distribution Unit. Indeed, for this former Senior lecturer on tropical diseases at the well-respected University of Nigeria in the eastern city of Nsukka, anti-river blindness drive is a passion, heightened by her chance encounter in 1991 with a pregnant woman plagued by the disease’s itchy lesions and depigmentation. As it is common with many onchocerciasis patients, the disfiguring effects brought stigmatisation and had, in the case of this pregnant woman at an antenatal clinic in eastern Nigeria, resulted in her husband abandoning her. Amazigo resolved to help the woman pay for her treatment and to learn more about the human devastation of onchocerciaisis.

In a sense, Amazigo can stake a valid claim to the APOC brand, process and philosophy, for it was the result of her research with a WHO grant that formed the scientific basis for the launch of APOC in 1995.
The revolutionary outcome of that research has not only changed international perceptions about onchocerciasis morbidity, WHO has replicated it in a number of countries. A member of the Consultative Group on Women’s Health for the 1993 World Development Report, one eloquent testimony to Amazigo’s well-documented work in communication, advocacy, community mobilisation and partnership is the UNFPA-UNIFEM-sponsored film “Broken Wings,” which she produced for the World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995. The 2005 nominee for the Global Champion of Health award by the US WGGH/NOVA Science has also produced and edited several training modules, with her works appearing in international publications, including the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the medical health journal Lancet and the Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology. In a long distinguished career of public service, involving extensive travelling to remote parts of Africa - from mountainous villages in Cameroon to rural Uganda, to hamlets in the thick forests of the two Congos to villages in Southern Sudan - Amazigo, a humble beginner from a well-to-do family, derives great joy from spending quality time with poor communities, catering to their needs and mobilising support and resources on their behalf at international fora.

Before she assumed the leadership of APOC, the two control programmes, OCP and APOC had between them seen five male directors, including two European pioneer directors. Gambian surgeon Ebrahim Malick Samba, the first African to head the OCP from 1981, left in 1994 to assume the directorship of the WHO Regional Office for Africa. An elegant, unassuming, highly disciplined and deeply religious woman in her 50s, Amazigo has been credited with bringing a dynamic leadership to APOC and health administration in general in Africa. Combining a persuasive and accommodating disposition with an infectious determination and dedication to duty, she is equally praised for inspiring confidence among colleagues and motivating them to higher levels of achievement. APOC Programme Manager/Coordinator, Dr. Laurent Yameogo, said of for Amazigo: “Community service, especially river blindness control, is a passion and helping the poorest of the poor,” almost a vocation. “Her persuasive character makes her a great mobiliser of people and resources and one of her strongest points is that she believes in the strength of others,” said Yameogo, who stressed that Amazigo exudes boundless energy with a motivating and charismatic aura about her. In her carriage, comportment and general character and even simple dressing style, she epitomises the best in the professional African woman.

As she fielded questions from a group of journalists that attended the just-ended WHO international conference on Primary Health Care in Ouagadougou, the APOC director displayed the versatility of a seasoned administrator, a humanist, a mother, a teacher and a good listener. Though soft-spoken, Amazigo - also a stickler for details - will not hesitate to raise her voice, especially to drive home any point she feels strongly  about. Her colleagues and subordinates describe her as “a workaholic” who is always striving for excellence with exemplary result-oriented work ethics. Her admirers call her an “African Amazon” and “a general who commands from the front line.” Dr. Mounkaila Noma, APOC Chief of Epidemiology and Vector Elimination Unit, who has worked with Amazigo for 11 years, said she relates to colleagues as a “sister.” “She has an obsession for deadline and innovation that will bring positive changes,” Noma said. “Dr. Amazigo believes in rendering service to poor communities across the road.”

According to him: “she is a team player who believes in capacity-building both at country level and within the organisation, and she will always insist on results from every member of the team, be they yellow, white or black.” Her secretary of many years, Mrs. Patricia Mensah, said Amazigo “knows her onions and believes in community service.” Under Amazigo and her team, APOC’s reputation and international visibility is on the ascendancy. As reward for its string of successes, the programme is riding on the crest of a strong broad-based partnership involving 19 African countries, 20 donor countries and institutions, UN agencies, 12 Non-Governmental Development Organisations (NGDOs), a number of local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and a free donation of ivermectin by Merck Co Inc for as long as the drug would be needed.
But in her disarming modesty, Amazigo claims no personal credit for APOC’s achievements, insisting they are the product of team work by the programme’s committed staff at all levels, coupled with the unalloyed support of countries, donors and sponsors.

She underscored the high-level support of the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Luis Gomes Sambo, the unwavering commitment of donors and other stakeholders, including APOC’s governing body, the Joint Action Forum (JAF), the Committee of Sponsoring Agencies (CSA), the Technical Consultative Committee (TCC), which provides technical and strategic guidance on the direction of the Programme, and Ministers, Ministries of Health workers and governments of participating countries. The Nigerian scientist equally acknowledges the contributions and support of former OCP and APOC directors, who share their expertise and experiences with her management team, towards the achievement of APOC’s mandate. But she is not under any illusions about the daunting challenges ahead. “We have recorded many milestones, but we still have a lot of ground to cover,” she affirmed, stressing that the ultimate goal is to empower communities to take charge of their own health. According to her, community-based initiatives, whether in health or other sectors, can only be sustained when communities are part of decision-making, planning and management. The CDTi strategy, the APOC trademark, is now being used to protect more than 92 million people from onchocerciasis infection, while 37 million people infected with the disease are being prevented from developing the relentless itching, skin disease or blindness associated with the clinical disease.

APOC has trained more than 38,000 health workers and over 472,000 Community-Directed Distributors (CDDs) of ivermectin in 16 African countries, who provide the human resources necessary for the implementation of the strategy. In 2007 alone, onchocerciasis-endemic communities with the support of NGDOs and donors treated 48.6 million people in Africa. But the task remains enormous in countries, and especially so in countries in conflict and even post-conflict nations, a number of which are under APOC’s mandate, hence the passionate appeal by Amazigo for the cessation of conflict in Africa so that health care can be delivered to poor, remote and needy communities. The good news is that results of an ongoing scientific study in Mali and Senegal have already shown that it is possible to eliminate river blindness transmission from Africa using ivermectin treatment alone over an unbroken period of time.

The findings from the Onchocerciasis Elimination Study reinforce APOC’s belief in Community-directed intervention (CDI) as a powerful tool for the strengthening of health systems through the empowerment of communities. Certainly, CDI is community-driven and APOC is in fact, leveraging on the burning desire among communities to help themselves to push and expand the boundary of self-help in health care delivery.
Apart from empowering communities to assume ownership and control of their health, the CDI approach has become a model and APOC is advocating the use of this approach for the delivery of multiple health interventions including Vitamin A supplementation, home management of malaria and distribution of treated bed nets. The case for the integration of the CDI strategy into health systems has indeed been strengthened by impressive results from a new multi-country research in Cameroon, Nigeria and Uganda.

The study, requested by APOC’s governing body and coordinated by the WHO Geneva-based Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), has shown that when community members themselves lead the process of drug delivery and treatment better all round outcome is achieved. Doubtless, APOC’s cost-effective disease control strategy has achieved impressive results. Communities are happy for their improved health and donors and sponsors are satisfied with handsome value for their money. “We have come a long way and we cannot afford to slacken,” Amazigo affirmed. “APOC’s success is an African victory; community-directed inte