By Robin Toskin and Agencies

The Fifa World Cup (often called the Football World Cup, Soccer World Cup or simply the World Cup) is the most important competition in international football, and the world’s most representative team sport event.

Organised by Federation Internationale de Football Association (Fifa), the sport’s governing body, the World Cup is contested by the men’s national football teams of Fifa member nations.

The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930 (except in 1942 and 1946 due to World War II), however, it is more of an ongoing event as the qualifying rounds of the competition take place over three years preceding the final rounds.

Current holder

The final tournament phase (often called the “Finals”) involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period in a previously nominated host nation, with these games making it the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world. In the 17 tournaments held, only seven nations have ever won the World Cup Finals.

Brazil is the current holder, as well as the most successful World Cup team, having won the tournament five times, while Germany and Italy follow with three titles each.

The 2010 World Cup final will be held in South Africa, the first time it is held in Africa. No other sporting event captures the world’s imagination like the Fifa World Cup.

Ever since the first tentative competition in Uruguay in 1930, Fifa’s (FÈdÈration Internationale de Football Association) flagship has constantly grown in popularity and prestige.

A group of visionary French football administrators, led in the 1920s by the Jules Rimet, are credited with the original idea of bringing the world’s strongest national football teams together to compete for World Champions.

Jules Rimet

The original gold trophy bore Jules Rimet’s name and was contested three times in the 1930s, before the Second World War put a 12-year stop to the competition.

When it resumed, the Fifa World Cup rapidly advanced to its undisputed status as the greatest single sporting event of the modern world.

Held since 1958 alternately in Europe and the Americas, the World Cup broke new ground with the Executive Committee’s decision in May 1996 to select Korea and Japan as co-hosts for the 2002 edition.

The Fifa World Cup has also been punctuated by dramatic upsets that have helped create footballing history – the United States defeating England in 1950, North Korea’s defeat of Italy in 1966, Cameroon’s emergence in the 1980s and their opening match defeat of the Argentinean cup-holders in 1990.

“The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory.”

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Photo: IRIN

Low condom use is still driving new infections

LUSAKA, 9 November 2009 (PlusNews) – An estimated 82,700 Zambians will become newly infected with HIV in 2009, up from just over 70,000 in 2007, according to new figures from the National AIDS Council.

The 2009 Zambia HIV Prevention Response and Modes of Transmission Analysis noted that the percentage of new HIV infections had stabilized, but the absolute number of new infections increased due to population growth.

As many as 71 out of every 100 new infections occur as a result of sex with a non-regular partner, while people who reported having only one sexual partner accounted for around 21 percent of new infections.

“This shows significant HIV risk even for those who are faithful. The country is facing new and tough challenges to reduce the infection rate because the disease is threatening the foundation of families and marriages,” the report commented.

Other drivers of Zambia’s epidemic are low levels of male circumcision in most parts of the country and inadequate condom use, particularly among discordant couples (in which one partner is HIV-positive and the other negative).

Although Zambia has recorded successes in its prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme, ensuring a safe blood supply, and behaviour-change communication campaigns, the authors recommended urgently focusing future prevention efforts on curbing common practices such as having multiple concurrent partners, transactional sex and inter-generational sex.

“Multiple concurrent partnerships are the leading cause of HIV infection in Zambia. Within these relationships, correct and consistent use of condoms remains dismally low despite condoms being readily available, in most cases free of charge,” President Rupiah Banda said at the opening of the National HIV Prevention Convention in Lusaka, the capital, last week, and called for more concerted efforts to curb new infections.

However, the report revealed that the annual estimated requirement was 200 million male condoms and 2 million female condoms, yet only 96 million male and 500,000 female condoms were available.

Vice President George Kunda blamed the high number of new infections on the poor uptake of HIV/AIDS services and reluctance to change risky behaviours.

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Photo: IRIN

HIV programming for MSM is extremely limited despite the country’s national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS classing them as a “most at-risk population”

NAIROBI, 9 November 2009 (PlusNews) – A planned national survey of men who have sex with men (MSM) will be the first step in the government’s plan to incorporate this high-risk group into the country’s HIV programme, a senior government official has said.

“We have continued to ignore this group of people yet they are responsible for a big chunk of new HIV infections; we have resolved as a government that we cannot sit back and wait for things to get out of hand,” said Nicholas Muraguri, head of the National AIDS and Sexually transmitted infections Control Programme (NASCOP).

There have been few studies on HIV among MSM in Kenya; a survey of 285 men in Mombasa in 2007 found an HIV prevalence of 43 percent among men who had sex with men exclusively, compared with 12.3 percent among men who had sex with both men and women. Kenya’s national HIV prevalence is 7.4 percent.

HIV programming for MSM is extremely limited despite the country’s national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS classing them as a “most at-risk population”.

“We cannot do this [provide HIV programmes for MSM] without knowing roughly how many they are and what special needs they require; I hope the survey that we will embark on will help us answer some of these questions,” Muraguri said.

He noted that the survey – due to start in December and last six months – will attempt to discover information such as the specific sexual health risks and needs of MSM, MSM “hot spots” around the country, and the number of MSM-friendly health facilities available.

It will use respondent-driven sampling, recruiting openly gay men to reach out to other MSM who may not be out of the closet, and using existing MSM-friendly facilities to help conduct the research.

High hopes for better services

Joshua* is a male commercial sex worker in Nairobi who recently received training from NASCOP on reaching out to his peers with HIV/AIDS messages.

“Today I talked to 75 male commercial sex workers – 40 of them are HIV-positive but they do not know what to do,” he told IRIN/PlusNews. “Many are homeless after being kicked out of their homes due to stigma.”

Joshua hopes the survey will enable the government and NGOs to provide more services to MSM.

“Currently at a clinic in Nairobi, we are given one bottle of [water-based] lubricant to last three months but you know as a commercial sex worker, you finish it in a week,” he added. “So it means for the remaining time, you engage in sex without the lubricant, putting yourself at great risk.”

He noted that there was also a lack of sufficient knowledge about the risks associated with HIV and anal sex in the general population. “Many women [clients] approach us for anal sex wrongly believing that it lowers their chances of getting infected,” he said. “Everybody should be educated on the dangers of this kind of sex because it seems people have the wrong perception.”

However, not all MSM are as enthusiastic about the prospect of being counted and questioned by a government that has thus far shown little support for the rights of MSM.

Not everyone on board

“People in this country are still very homophobic and we are stigmatized a lot; who will want to come out to agree that he is a homosexual? Let them address issues of stigma first,” said Donald*, who has not come out of the closet. “How do you convince me to come out and say I am a homosexual yet the same government that is asking me to do this criminalizes what I am engaged in?”

“I would rather they offered the services without going into the business of knowing who we are and trying to count us,” he added.

I would rather they offered us the services without going into the business of knowing who we are and trying to count us

Proof that homosexuality remains taboo in Kenya was not hard to come by on the streets of Nairobi: “To say they want to offer services to people who are engaged in acts that do not conform to the law is taking this issue of human rights too far,” said Lynette Moseti. “That money can be used to help children who are living with HIV.”

Homosexuality remains illegal in Kenya, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. According to Muraguri, however, the urgency of the problem necessitated ignoring the law. “Rigidity will only make our situation worse,” he said.

Muraguri stressed that the government’s survey did not intend to stigmatize MSM.

“We appreciate the stigma these people face and that would be [the] last thing we would want to do; even in other mainstream HIV services that the government offers we use data to offer services, so I do not think there is anything unusual about the survey,” he said.

Lorna Dias, MSM coordinator at Liverpool VCT (voluntary counselling and testing), Care and Treatment, one of the only organizations in the country that provides services to MSM, says the planned survey shows that the government is serious about tackling the epidemic among most at-risk populations.

“It is a positive step and a clear indication that the government is ready to open up to the reality that men who have sex with men pose a great risk to the war against HIV unless they are integrated within mainstream HIV and AIDS programmes,” she said. “The next step should be to de-stigmatize them and see them as normal people who need services like everybody else.”

*(not their real names)

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Photo: F18E777/Flickr

The ban has been in place for over two decades

NAIROBI, – A 22-year-old ban on people infected with HIV entering the US was officially lifted on 2 November, with the new rules taking effect in 60 days. AIDS activists have hailed the move as a major coup in the fight against stigma.

“This comes as very good news for us,” Michael Angaga, regional coordinator for the Network of African People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAP+), told IRIN/PlusNews.

“For so long HIV-positive people have felt isolated by one of the greatest nations in the world, which should be spearheading human rights.” Angaga said he looked forward to seeing the new rules rapidly implemented in US embassies around the world.

In 1987 HIV was added to the list of communicable diseases that could prevent infected immigrants, students and tourists from obtaining visas to enter the US without special permission. President Barack Obama’s announcement on 30 October marked the end of a process started in 2008 by then US President George W. Bush, who signed a law repealing these restrictions.

“We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic, yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country. If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it,” Obama was reported as saying.

Samuel Kibanga, national coordinator of the National Forum of People living with HIV/AIDS Networks in Uganda, commented: “This shows that America can now see the reality that people living with HIV are just like any other people, deserving of the right to free movement – the travel ban was discrimination of the highest calibre.”

The UNAIDS International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights state that any restriction on liberty of movement or choice of residence based on suspected or real HIV status alone, including HIV screening of international travellers, is discriminatory.

Governments usually give two main reasons for imposing travel restrictions on HIV-positive people: to help control the spread of HIV, and save host countries the cost of HIV-related treatment, but Kibanga said these regulations merely drove the problem of HIV underground.

“People fear to reveal their status when travelling. It is better to be with someone who feels free to be open about their status than one who is hiding it,” he said. “That way we can all fight AIDS as partners.”

A June 2009 report by watchdog organization Human Rights Watch, found that immigration laws and stringent requirements for accessing free health care often created insurmountable barriers to treatment and care for migrants living with HIV.

Kibanga said he hoped the US’s move would serve as an example to other nations. According to UNAIDS, 59 countries impose some form of travel restrictions on people living with HIV.

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Photo: IRIN

An estimated 25 percent of SANDF employees are HIV positive

JOHANNESBURG, 11 November 2009 (PlusNews) – The South African cabinet has approved a new policy prohibiting discrimination against soldiers and would-be recruits on the basis of their HIV status.

Previously, HIV-positive members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) could be excluded from recruitment, international deployment, and promotion, but a 2008 high court decision declared such policies unconstitutional and gave the SANDF six months to amend them.

The high court case was brought by the AIDS Law Project (ALP) on behalf of the South African Security Forces Union (SASFU) and two HIV-positive men. One man was an SANDF member who had not been allowed to join his unit on foreign deployments; the other had been denied employment in the SANDF, based on his status.

The ALP expressed disappointment about the length of time the SANDF took to comply with the court order and the persistence of unfair discrimination against HIV-positive soldiers and recruits, but in October one of the men, Sergeant Sipho Mthethwa, became the first known HIV-positive soldier to be deployed on international service.

The SANDF had argued that people living with HIV were unfit to withstand the stress and physical demands of foreign deployments. An estimated 25 percent of SANDF employees are HIV positive, higher than the national adult prevalence of 18 percent.

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GLOBAL: Mixed scorecard for donors

Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN

The good humanitarian donorship principles say donors must invest in prevention and risk reduction to minimize the human cost of disasters (file photo)

DAKAR,  – The world’s wealthiest donors do not put enough into helping communities prevent and prepare for disaster, says the non-profit DARA International, in its third annual rating of donors on quality and efficacy of humanitarian aid.

Using the principles donors adopted in the 2003 good humanitarian donorship (GHD) initiative, the Humanitarian Response Index assesses donor performance in assisting people affected by crises.

Released on 10 November, the 2009 HRI says wealthy countries’ support for prevention remains weak, while disasters – many climate-related – and conflicts mount.

The good donorship principles stress the need for donors to invest in prevention and risk reduction to minimize the human costs of disasters, DARA (Development Assistance Research Associates) says. “Countless lives and livelihoods could be saved if the international community made a concerted effort to prevent human suffering” through better preparedness measures.

“A serious shift in donor policy and practice is needed to scale up support for conflict and disaster prevention and risk reduction efforts at the community level,” the report says. This requires new funding, DARA executive director Silvia Hidalgo told IRIN.

Many aid experts say preparedness often falls through the funding cracks – not a top priority in emergency relief operations or in long-term development.

Hidalgo said donors must create more flexible funding pools in order to address prevention. “[Prevention] is too weak right now and it has to be everyone’s [humanitarian and development actors’] business to engage in it.”

Per Byman, head of the humanitarian team at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), agreed that donors do not support disaster preparedness to the extent necessary, but said it must be incorporated into development.

“The main challenge is to make disaster preparedness an integral part of development, not humanitarian response,” Byman told IRIN.

He agreed that disaster risk reduction (DRR) must be integrated into humanitarian work. “But in order to reduce poverty and reach the Millennium Development Goals [disaster preparedness/DRR] must be an integral part of development programmes and integrated into poverty reduction strategies.”

DARA notes the continued gap in donor support for the transition from relief to recovery and development. Humanitarian assistance should include long-term strategies for both DRR and climate change adaptation, the HRI report says.

Other “serious gaps” in how the international community deals with crises, according to DARA, are in ensuring access to at-risk populations and boosting the capacity of local organizations.

Tough environment

DARA looked at 22 donor governments and the European Commission, which together provided about US$10.4 billion in humanitarian assistance in 2008 to help some 250 million people affected by crises.

This is “far less than required” to meet humanitarian needs, DARA said, noting that in late October the UN alone reported a $3.6-billion funding gap for humanitarian programmes covering 43 million people.

DARA said the global economic crisis has led to an “unprecedented shortfall”. The report said donors and humanitarian agencies faced increasingly complex and difficult working environments, with the scale of disasters rising, security problems reducing humanitarian space and staff and budget cuts limiting capacity.

The HRI 2009 ranks donors on five “pillars”: responding to needs; prevention, risk reduction and recovery; working with humanitarian partners; protection and international law; and learning and accountability.

DARA’s Hidalgo noted some progress in coordination. “Donors are engaging more with each other than they were in the past” and have become more oriented to accountability drives like Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP), she said.

But knowledge among donors of the GHD principles and how to uphold them slipped over the past year, she said.

Good gauge?

Some donors have been critical of the HRI approach. Sida’s Byman told IRIN that while it is important to look at donors in terms of the GHD principles, the “naming and shaming” mode is not the best way to go. “We prefer to address GHD issues in bilateral discussions or through joint action within the GHD Initiative.”

He added: “We have doubts about the methodology [of the HRI] and about whether the report is an accurate representation of all aspects of humanitarian aid.”

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AFGHANISTAN: Top five humanitarian needs

KABUL,  – Eight years after the overthrow of the Taliban and billions of dollars spent on aid, Afghanistan remains mired in poverty and deeply insecure.

IRIN asked three experts what they considered were the country’s top five humanitarian needs. The following comments are from Reto Stoker, head of delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross; Laurent Saillard, director of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief; and Raz Mohammad Dalili, executive director of Sanayee Development Organization, one of the country’s oldest NGOs.

Top five: 1

Reto Stoker: “Human security – to be able to get basic services and to move from A to B. Both sides are trying to win hearts and minds, and you hear it said that 80 percent of Afghans are on the fence: the truth is that 80 percent of people are in the ditch, and are trying to resist both sides pulling and pushing. As a farmer you have to be either pro- international forces or pro-Taliban. You may be forced to feed the Taliban at night, while risking being asked by the international forces why you did that the next morning.”

Laurent Saillard: “Access is the biggest challenge – to the population, to information, to independent funding. We need better routing of financing so humanitarian agencies can be protected from being associated with the parties to the conflict. We need needs-based funding without a political agenda; principled assistance regardless of [which part of the country] the beneficiaries are living [in].”

Raz Mohammad Dalili: “The Afghan government doesn’t have a good strategy to bring changes to the lives of Afghans. There is corruption, slow delivery of development, and a perception that some government ministers are working for their own benefit.”

Top five: 2

Photo: Khaled Nahiz/ IRIN

Malnourishment among children is on the rise

RS: “We’re getting more and more malnourished children. They could be treated at the local health centre, or helped [at home] through a little education provided to the mothers. But they come in a very malnourished state, weeks too late. [Because of the insecurity] taxis will only carry them for a very high fare. So many wait and wait until it’s too late, or nearly too late. The number of people dying from the indirect humanitarian consequences [of the fighting] is much higher than those dying as a direct result of the conflict. Security is not just threatened by a roadside bomb or an air strike, it is a much more integrated concept.”

LS: “Dialogue – we need to talk to all parties to the conflict. Only ICRC and MSF [Médecins sans Frontières] have started this. Maybe we need to agree to a code for humanitarian access accepted by all parties to the conflict. An agreement won’t guarantee safety [of humanitarian agencies in the field], but at least it can provide a moral agreement at the political level.”

RMD: “The capacity of ministers: many come from a political, not a development background, they don’t know how to work to bring change. The international coalition has spent a lot of money; if it had been spent on the people, there would have been big changes in Afghanistan. One of the big reasons that the Taliban has followers is because of poverty; as a follower you receive money from the Taliban and you have the opportunity to loot.”

Top five: 3

RS: “Humanitarian access feeds into the problem of services. When people are displaced you assess the situation, either provide assistance or protection – for example an intervention with the parties to the conflict so that people can go back home. Currently there is very little understanding of the problem of displacement; no one fully understands the mechanisms causing short- long-term or partial displacement. There is very little information coming out [of the conflict areas] to understand what’s going on. There are no sufficiently clear ideas of the conditions in their home areas, and you cannot put accurate figures on the numbers of people that have been forced to move.”

LS: “Strengthen coordination and information gathering mechanisms: programmes are based on assumptions rather than reliable, measurable indicators. The problem is they can give you a flawed picture and you can end up doing more harm than good.”

RMD: “Community peace building – not political peace building – is needed for Afghanistan. We need peace shuras (traditional councils) in the community, solving conflicts within the communities. This kind of project is very necessary for Afghans who have spent 30 years in war.”

Top five: 4

Photo: Ebadi/WFP

Access to vulnerable populations is another big challenge

RS: “Everyone needs to admit that there is an intense and widespread conflict with very significant direct and even more so indirect humanitarian consequences. The role and work of humanitarian actors, particularly those that have stuck to fundamental principles, needs to be respected; all parties to the conflict must be reminded of their obligation under international humanitarian law and human rights law; and ICRC’s specific role as a neutral and independent humanitarian organization acting as a neutral intermediary needs to be respected.”

LS: “We need a major reconciliation process – a nationwide consultation to determine Afghan identity. Do we have common elements, can we try and see what unites people rather than divides them? More and more Afghans are being identified as Taliban, as terrorists. What impact does that have on living together, for building rather than destroying? What does it mean to be an Afghan after 30 years of war?”

RMD: “Invest more money in the basic needs of health and sanitation; we need good programmes for poverty reduction. For the cost of keeping one foreign soldier [out of a deployment of over 100,000] in Afghanistan we could [employ] over 40 Afghans. If $500 came to each family [through a breadwinner] nobody will join the Taliban.”

Top five: 5

RS: “Give young people a job and a salary – something to be proud of.”

LS: “Protection is the other big issue: there is no proper distinction being made between combatants and non-combatants.”

RMD: “We need to bring pressure on the government to change their system, to reduce bureaucracy, to reduce corruption, to select good ministers and the ministers should be responsible to the people.”

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GLOBAL: Falling foul of the fund

Photo: Global Fund

The Global Fund supports 2.3 million people on life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs

NAIROBI, 11 November 2009 (PlusNews) – Programmes supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria reported 2.3 million people on life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in June 2009. Funding to beneficiary countries is based on performance, and failure to meet targets can lead to delays, suspension, discontinuation or termination of grants.

In November 2008, IRIN/PlusNews brought you a list of some of the countries that have fallen foul of the Fund’s strict accounting procedures; here is an updated version.

Kenya – In November 2009 the Global fund’s technical review panel – an independent team of health and development experts – recommended that the Global Fund Board reject a bid for $270 million in Round 9 of funding. The chair of Kenya’s CCM said the main reason given was poor coordination between the country’s two health ministries.

The government has experienced difficulties with its Global Fund proposals in the past. In 2008 the Global Fund rejected Kenya’s application for $300 million in Round 8, and $37 million was delayed in 2003 after claims of corruption in the National AIDS Control Council.

Mauritania – In September 2009 the Global Fund suspended support to the Executive Secretariat of the National AIDS Committee after finding evidence of fraudulent and unjustified expenditures. The Fund demanded the reimbursement of US$1.7 million within three months, and immediate removal of the people identified as responsible.

The new government, named in September after presidential elections in June, began proceedings against four National AIDS Committee members suspected of embezzlement. The State has promised to return the $1.7 million and account for a further $2 million whose use was questioned, and has committed to re-structuring the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), Mauritania’s funding management body; CCM weakness is seen as contributing to the problems.

Philippines – In September 2009 the Global Fund suspended all five of its grants to the Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF) – the principal recipient – after an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General found that around $1 million of $85 million in total disbursements were unauthorized expenditure. The Global Fund has demanded repayment and will transfer the TDF’s grants to a new principal recipient.

Zimbabwe – in 2009 the Global Fund decided to bypass the National AIDS Council as the principal recipient of existing and future grants, choosing to channel money through the United Nations Development Programme and paving the way for the country to receive a grant of $37.9 million in August.

Zimbabwe has had a turbulent relationship with the Global Fund; several proposals have been rejected and the government has frequently accused the Geneva-based agency of political bias, which the Fund denies.

Chad – In 2006 the Global Fund suspended support after an audit uncovered misuse of funds and a lack of satisfactory capacity in the principal recipient and sub-recipients to manage the Fund’s resources. The suspension was lifted in 2007 after a series of investigations and commitments from stakeholders to put better systems in place.

Nigeria – In 2006 the Fund decided to discontinue its Round 1 support for HIV/AIDS programmes, but awarded other HIV/AIDS grants in Round 5.

Myanmar – In 2005 the global Fund terminated grants worth $98.4 million after the government imposed temporary restrictions on travel and new procedures for reviewing the procurement of medical and other supplies. The Fund said at the time that the restrictions “prevented implementation of performance-based and time-bound programs in the country”.

Senegal – In 2005 the Fund cut malaria grants worth $7.1 million over systemic issues that resulted in poor performance. A grant proposal for malaria projects submitted in Round 4 was later approved.

South Africa – In 2005 the Global Fund Board stopped funding for an HIV prevention programme. The Board decided that the grant, received by an NGO named loveLife, had failed to “sufficiently address weaknesses in its implementation”.

Uganda – In 2005 the Global Fund temporarily suspended all five of its grants after a review by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers found “serious mismanagement” of one of the grants by the Project Management Unit in the Ministry of Health.

The grants were worth $201 million over two years, of which $45.4 million had been disbursed. The health minister and his two deputies lost their positions and are standing trial with several other government officials for the misuse of Global Fund money.

Ukraine – In 2004 the Global Fund temporarily withdrew grants worth $92 million citing “management issues”. The grants were reinstated six weeks later, when a new principal recipient, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, was put in place.

Pakistan – In 2002 the Fund discontinued support for Pakistan’s malaria projects because of weak project implementation, slow procurement of health products, poor data quality, and slow spending of project funds; according to reports, only 15 percent of insecticide treated bed nets were distributed during the grant period.

Several other countries, including Bolivia, East Timor, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Togo, have also had funding proposals rejected, or have had funding withdrawn. Countries can appeal a grant decision when a proposal has been rejected in two consecutive rounds.

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He also sought to absolve the Attorney General of claims he had failed by not prosecuting post-election violence suspects.

“It is not the failure as such of the Attorney General, but the law that existed then. The current laws are incapable of dealing with the crimes committed then,” he said and challenged MPs to provide leadership, saying it was important that justice be done to all irrespective of status.

However, the Nation established that only Mr Odinga and Forestry minister Noah Wekesa were at the meeting.

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“If there were a playbook of standard procedures for those accused of the worst atrocities, chapter one would be to distract attention from the charges to claim the trial is some sort of plot from other individuals and nations,” Waiser said.

Once the cross-examination of Taylor is completed, the defence will call other witnesses. A ruling is expected in the first half of 2010.

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Former Uganda Army Commander Major General James Kazini. He died on Tuesday morning. Photo/FILE

By Nation Team

In Summary

• The woman has been arrested and taken for questioning at Kampala Central Police Station.

Kampala

A former Ugandan Army Commander, Major General James Kazini, died in the early hours of Tuesday morning after a domestic incident.

He died after his girlfriend allegedly hit him with an iron bar.

Family and security sources say General Kazini was killed at the woman’s home in Namuwongo, a Kampala suburb near The Monitor Newspaper’s  offices on 8th Street, Industrial Area.

The girlfriend has been arrested and taken for questioning at Kampala Central Police Station. Mourners, among them military officers and relatives, arrived at the Namuwongo home as the shocking news spread.

The country was preparing for the burial later Tuesday of Vice President Prof Gilbert Bukenya’s son, Bryan, who died at the weekend after suffering serious head injuries in a car accident.

Major General Kazini’s body had not been removed by 8.00 a.m. Senior Police detectives arrived shortly after to take notes and examine the crime scene.

A small crowd of neighbours gathered outside the home.

Further details regarding the incident have not been released by the police. Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye, the army Spokesman, says the former commander, who was facing trial for various alleged offences, was a “victim of domestic violence.”

He had, among others, been accused of creating the 409 brigade in West Nile allegedly to topple President Museveni’s government.

He is reputed for fighting the Allied Democratic Forces rebel group in western Uganda as well as the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern part of the country.

The United Nations later named him as one of the Ugandan military officers that pillaged the Democratic Republic of Congo resources during 1997-2003 invasion.

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By John Oyuke in Arusha

Trade within East Africa Community (EAC) grew by 47 per cent last year despite earlier fears that a regional free trade area would negatively affect economies of some partner states.

An evaluation of the impact of the Customs Union has revealed that intra-EAC trade moved from $1.85 billion (Sh139 billion) in 2005 to $2.72 billion (Sh204 billion) last year.

Exports to the rest of the world also grew by 26.2 per cent last year compared to the previous year.

Tanzania’s Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda called for acceleration of the integration process saying trade performances are a clear indication of the positive trends by the EAC Partner States.

“Contrary to earlier perceptions that the Customs Union would negatively affect the economies of some Partner States in revenue erosion and competitiveness, major benefits have accrued in terms of increased trade and revenue,” he said.

A vegetables market. From next year, goods will be traded free of duty within the five partner states of the East Africa Community. Photo: File

Pinda was speaking at the East African Community Regional High Level Forum on Customs Reforms and Implementation of a fully-fledged Customs Union in Arusha at the weekend. Implementation of the Customs Union has been progressive since 2005 through a gradual removal of tariffs on intra-EAC trade.

Improving performance

It was against this background that a gradual phase down of duties on selected lists of goods from Kenya to Tanzania and to Uganda was adopted.

From next year — as per the progression — goods will be traded free of duty within the five partner states of the East Africa Community, that is, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The EAC Customs Union will be fully-fledged next year. This is expected to coincide with commencement of the Common Market, which is slated to begin in July next year.

Pinda said with this in mind, improving the performance of the Customs Union should be key to development of the region.

“This is because the EAC would witness not only the free movement of goods enabled by the Customs Union, but also the free movement of persons, labour, services and capital,” he added.

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By Peter Orengo

African countries have been challenged to embrace commercial agriculture to combat food shortage.

The International Center for Soil Fertility and Agriculture Development (IFDC) said many countries were over relying on subsistence farming.

It said the East Africa Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) should develop an input market information system to spur commercial production.

Speaking at an international training forum attended by agricultural stakeholders from East and southern Africa, IFDC East and Southern African Division director Rob Groot asked countries to expand agriculture.

“The food situation in Africa is deteriorating because agriculture is looked at as a development practice rather than a commercial entity,” Groot said.

He added that African markets are not developed due to lack of access to crucial information.

“The role of the inputs market in promoting food security and agricultural growth is critical to the success of regional and national policies,” Groot said.

In East Africa, he said the use of agro-inputs including fertilisers and improved seeds was extremely low, at an average of 8kg per hectare.

Increased output

This cannot be compared to India, the US and Australia, who use four times the amount, resulting into increased production.

Based on IFDC experience in Africa, participants heard that output market demand is a major driver for increased food productivity if combined with other market components that drive the value chain.

In Kenya, despite having favourable agricultural soils, nearly 10 million people in marginal agricultural areas are estimated to be highly food insecure.

The food insecurity follows a succession of poor seasons since March 2007, that have resulted in a series of below average harvests, culminating in near total crop failure during the last short rains season.

This failure was compounded by a precipitous rise in food and non-food prices that began in January 2008 and has continued into this year, the forum heard.

In addition, tightened food supplies had arisen due to reduced domestic production and a decline in cross-border maize imports, reduced food availability in local markets.

Experts blamed the perennial food insecurity on over reliance on rain-fed agriculture.

The Government has since rolled out irrigation projects to supplement rain-fed food production.

IFDC said the revamping of agricultural co-operations and trade association could help in food production and provide farmers with extra cash from their produce.

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The president will not be an MP and will not sit in the Cabinet. But he or she will remain the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and have the power to sign Bills into law.

In an interesting innovation, the president will be able to send Bills to parliament for enacting into law. But he or she will also be able to choose to send such Bills directly to the people, who can adopt them into law through a referendum and with no input from parliament.

The new constitution will also allow for dual citizenship and sets up a commission for resource allocation.

The draft will now be published, then taken to Parliament and subjected to a referendum next year.

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By David Ochami and David Ohito

Eleven UK-based bank accounts through which donor funds are funnelled into the country have been frozen through a court decree.

Several others set up by donors are at risk as the bank involved argues they are not covered by the court order.

A British judge gave orders for the freezing and inspection of the accounts to a company demanding Sh778 million in a deal related to Anglo-Leasing payments.

The Government had agreed to pay the money in a settlement reached last year but failed to do so.

Kenya may suffer serious damage with High Commission property and other critical assets impounded in London as claimants press for payment of their dues.

“Our High Commission (premises) may be auctioned,” said a confidential source familiar with the developing story.

“We do not even have the money being demanded from us because it was not budgeted for in the first place.”

At the centre of the battle are the Government’s accounts at Crown Agents Bank Ltd, an institution donors use to disburse aid.

There are 11 Government-held accounts, some “empty”, but others loaded with huge sums of money. There are also an unknown number of other accounts in Kenya’s name controlled by foreign donors. There is a dispute over whether the court order applies to these special accounts, in which billions more are parked.

A company claiming 10,383,852 British pounds (Sh778 million) successfully secured court orders attaching the Kenyan accounts. Through lawyers Kirkland & Ellis, ICS Inspection and Control Services Ltd moved to a UK High Court and secured orders to freeze accounts “held on behalf of the Government”.

ICS had been hired by the Custom and Excise Department (Kenya Revenue Authority) in 1998 to provide pre-shipment inspection services.

The firm was to inspect goods imported into the country and verify prices, quality and quantities and tariff classification. A dispute over money owed at the end of the contract was settled in arbitration last year.

Financial Secretary at Treasury Mr Mutua Kilaka conceded the country would have to fork out Sh800m — the whole amount owed to the claimant — because there was a binding arbitration that settled the case.

Payment dispute

“The accounts belong to Treasury and one was meant to pay British pensioners (who worked for the colonial government),” he said.

“I do not have the exact figures but it is a lot of money at stake. It is a serious problem. It has the potential to eat into the country’s coffers massively and we have few options.”

Kilaka promised to provide the figures at stake and what it would cost the taxpayer today.

Finance Permanent Secretary Joseph Kinyua revealed the order sprung from payment dispute with Swipco, a private firm contracted by Kenya to carry out pre-shipment inspection services in the late 1990s. Swipco and ICS had an arrangement to provide the services. Kinyua admitted the country was hit by a court order but could not confirm the amount of money in dispute.

“There was a ruling last year compelling the Government of Kenya to pay Swipco which Kenya did not honour,” he said.

“Kenya contested the amount demanded by Swipco and could not also pay because there was no budget for it. The delayed payment was then considered inability to pay. The ruling two weeks ago was made because Kenya failed to honour last year’s warning.”

Donor projects

The PS explained the account was meant for Ministries of Medical Services and Health and but he would not remember the amounts involved. It was at this point Kinyua referred The Standard to Kilaka.

The orders to freeze the accounts were handed down on October 28, but very few Government officials are even aware of the order. Sources familiar with the closure of the accounts reveal the flow of donor funds into Kenya has been thrown into disarray.

At risk are billions of shillings from donors, including those meant for procuring essential medicines, which flow through donor projects including Ministry of Health (now Public Health and Ministry of Medical Services.)

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US President Barack Obama at a past news conference. Photo/ REUTERS

The government is planning to build a Sh112 million cultural centre in honour of US President Barack Obama at his ancestral home in Kogelo.

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President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga meets the ICC chief Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo when he called on him at his Harambee House office, Nairobi. PHOTO/ FILE

The government could still move to block the International Criminal Court from investigating key post-election violence suspects, the Nation has learnt.

Although Mr Kilonzo’s plans to set up a local tribunal had not taken shape, he assured Kenyans that the main planners and executors would be punished.

“It (plans to set up a local tribunal) is not something that has coalesced. However, the window (to set up one) is not yet closed,” he said.

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By Tony Mochama

They say a prophet is not respected in his own home, but Pastor Ock-soo Park, is an exception. The founder of the Good News Broadcasting Station (GBS) is revered globally — from Korea, his homeland, to Kenya, his mission’s biggest base in Africa.

On a lightning visit to the station’s premises in the Garden Estate area of Nairobi, so busy was Pastor Park’s schedule that this writer had to conduct the entire interview at the back of a GBS minivan on the way from Thika Road to town, by the fading light of dusk.

For once, the thick Thika Road traffic was a blessing in disguise.

“I was born in 1944,” Pastor Park tells me, dapper in manner, his speech rapid and voice firm with the certainty of one used to telling a unique life story many, many times.

“Not a fortuitous time to be born in Korea, because the Axis armies of Imperial Japan invaded the country, and there was a lot of mass suffering and starvation,” he says.

Of course the Americans ended World War II against the Japanese by bombing Nagasaki and Hiroshima in August 1945, but if Korea thought its political problems were over, it was bitterly disappointed.

“I can’t recall a single happy moment in my childhood,” Park says, a faraway look in his eyes. “Not a single one! My father had been killed in the war. We were always half starved. Then, when I was eight years old, tragedy struck again.”

Park’s life, certainly, has been no walk in the park.

Civil war

In 1953, Korea was plunged into civil war as the communist North and capitalist South fought it out for political supremacy. Death and famine stalked the land, including the family of mother, two girls (aged 15 and 13), 17-year-old Park and their four-year-old brother. Then his mother got stomach cancer and passed on.

“Now we were hungry orphans in a war-torn nation,” he recalls.

“No hope, not knowing what would happen next in this life, begging for food. I remember my teenage sisters and myself crying ourselves to sleep almost every night and our younger brother not knowing what was going on but joining in nonetheless.”

When he was just 17, Park joined the South Korea army as a volunteer.

“I was not so smart, not so well educated, not outstanding, life had not been kind. No hope, no job, so why not?”

He says he really felt like a sinner who deserved all the trash life had thrown at him, that he was not a good person.

two chapters of life

But all that changed on October 7, 1962 when he was 18.

“On that day, I asked Jesus to come into my life and change me. I have had only two kinds of life. The one I had from when I was born until that October, which was no life at all. Then the life I have had from then until today.”

With the gospel foundation he had in various mission schools, Park set out to preach and introduce Jesus into the lives of his fellow Korean soldier conscripts.

For the first, but not last, time during our congenial van interview, pastor smiles: “When I asked our commanding officer for permission to preach to the new trainees, he was pleased. Relieved even. Not because he was a staunch Christian himself, no, but he figured with the gospel, he would have better, more obedient young soldiers, less trouble all around,” he says.

Park served in the army for three years and earned converts among the young recruits “through the Grace of God”.

Met Kenyan delegation

Fast-forward to 1993. There is an exhibition in Korea and Kenya has sent a delegation of 20 functionaries there. Coincidentally, and with his wife and childlike curiosity, Park happened upon the Kenyan stand and immediately felt a divine intuition that God had work for him in this country of which he knew little except “it had animals and game park safaris”.

With his wife’s consent, he invited the Kenyans for a meal at their home.

“We all got along so well that I ended up hosting them and taking them around Korea, for an extra two days beyond their official schedule,” he says.

Kenya’s then Minister for Trade was so impressed by the pastor that he invited him to visit Kenya. Never one to miss the opportunity to spread the good news, Park arranged to come at a time when there was a large prayer crusade at Nyayo Stadium in 1994. And he got the chance to curtain raise.

“From that day, I knew God wanted me to start a mission here, and on March 1, 1996, we had our first Good News Missionaries from Korea on the ground in Kenya,” he says.

The Kenya senior pastor now is Kim Jeong Hong, a young, tall, handsome soft-spoken man. And the general manager of GBS is Hae Jong, an older tough fellow who looks every bit the cool corporate operator.

Thirteen years later, not only does the pastor’s mission have a 400 student strong Bible College but it also has a high-tech digitised media studio — the Good News Broadcasting System.

“Fifty five per cent of GBS’s programming is Christian,” say Hong and Jong.

“The other 45 per cent is equally split between informational programmes, drama, entertainment, news and education”.

Successful broadcasts

Looking at GBS’s Sunday programming alone, one finds varied content involving news panorama, programmes such as The Lighthouse and Out of Despair as well as children’s animation and an ‘art stage’ programme.

Park says of the success, “Receive the word of God, and not his judgment. Rely not in your experience, but the wisdom of the Lord. Not to be self-centred, but to be spiritual. To know that no problem of yours in life is too big for Jesus. And to realise that, when one reads the Bible correctly, all our sins are washed away.”

In the 1960s, after the army, Park was a roaming missionary, spreading the gospel on a relatively empty belly, relying on the kindness of human brethren, “as God always provided”.

Matthew 6: 25-26 are some of his favourite biblical verses: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Seven years of hard labour

As he traversed South Korea with the gospel in his mouth and the Lord’s song in his heart, in 1969, grace finally flooded his face.

“An American joined me in my missionary travels for exactly one year. He returned to the US and ten days later, his church, which I knew nothing about, sent me $350 (Sh26,250, at today’s rate), which in 1969 was a lot of money. After seven years of hard labour for the Lord, the cup I held finally had a bit of wine.”

Forty years later, and working with Christian organisations from Kenya to Ghana and the USA, no one can claim that the cup of the man of God from Korea doesn’t overflow.

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By James Anyanzwa

The East African Community (EAC) Council of Finance Ministers has extended Kenya’s right to waive duty on barley and malt imports by one more year.

The ministers granted Kenya’s request for extension of remission of duty, to apply an import duty rate of zero per cent instead of 10 per cent on malt, and 10 per cent instead of 25 per cent on barley, until June 30, 2010.

Last year, Kenya made a request for reduction of duty on barley and malt imports for East African Breweries Limited (EABL) for a period of one year, because of shortages of the two commodities after crop failure.

A similar request by Tanzania was granted during the Pre-Budget consultations of Ministers of Finance of June last year.

As the EAC’s policy-making organ, the Council of Ministers is charged with, among other responsibilities, keeping under constant review the implementation of the programmes of the Community.

The EAC Post-Budget consultations meeting of the Ministers of Finance, which ended in Arusha on November 5, also emphasized the need for a social protection regime, to support the movement of labour across the region, ahead of the free movement of labour as envisaged in the Common Market Protocol.

Lower rates

In a statement from the EAC secretariat in Arusha, Tanzania on Saturday, the Ministers approved the remission of duty on goods used in the manufacture of products for export, subject to conditions specified in Articles 25 and 27 of the Protocol Establishing the EAC Customs Union.

Under the Draft Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation (DTA), the Ministers adopted fixed rates for withholding tax at 5 per cent on dividends, and 10 per cent on interest, royalties, management and professional fees under the DTA.

They also agreed that Partner States should not negotiate with third parties for rates lower than those in the EAC DTA.

The meeting, chaired by Mr James Musoni, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of the Republic of Rwanda, was attended by finance ministers and respective Permanent Secretaries, Central Bank Governors and senior officials from all the partner states.

The Republic of Burundi was, however, not represented at the post-budget consultative meeting.

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ICC chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo. Photo/FILE

Those pushing for the local tribunal have been arguing that the ICC would take long and would not deal with a large number of the suspects. But Mr Moreno Ocampo seemed to indicate that this notion is incorrect, indicating that the ICC has enough information on Kenya for the swiftest action possible.

Additional reporting by Jonathan Komen

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The new rules became effective at the beginning of this month.

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By Alex Ndegwa and Sam Otieno

The International Criminal Court (ICC) set in motion the wheels of justice to try perpetrators of post-election violence as its Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo indicated trials could begin in July next year.

He also indicated President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga had agreed to facilitate arrests of the indicted, irrespective of their positions. This signals a change of heart barely days after reports indicated the two leaders were unwilling to sacrifice their political allies for fear of a political backlash.

Moreno-Ocampo even hinted the suspects could be taken to Tanzania instead of The Hague. As the seat of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which is set to wound up soon, Arusha, he suggested, has the capacity and facilities to try the Kenyan suspects.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. He believes he has a strong case against a few people for crimes committed during Kenya’s post-election violence and he will move fast to avoid a repeat at the 2012 election.

Three pre-trial judges were appointed to determine whether the ICC should commence investigations into the Kenya case. The development came after Ocampo left the country at the end of his three-day visit with a declaration he would hasten the trials.

He said he plans to present two to three cases for trial possibly by July, next year, so that Kenya would go to the next General Election, due in 2012, without fear of violence.

“Everyone is worried about the next General Election. That’s why I understand the importance of speed,” he told a news conference, at the Windsor Golf and Country Club, on Saturday.

If his request is accepted, Moreno-Ocampo said, then he will begin work next month. After the Thursday meeting with Kibaki and Raila, the prosecutor announced he would be asking ICC judges to open investigations.

“We expect to do the cases in four, five or six months; that is our style and that is what we are trying to do,” he added. Ocampo said he has a strong case against masterminds of the violence and exuded confidence ICC judges would back his probe.

Meet victims

As soon as the judges open investigations, the prosecutor said, he would meet the victims of the violence. Officially, some 1,300 people were reported killed and more than 300,000 displaced.

Procedurally, the prosecutor must obtain the court’s permission to open an investigation upon proof crimes committed are within the jurisdiction of the ICC and that there are no relevant national proceedings in connection with those offences.

The presidency of the ICC on Friday, a day after receipt of the prosecutor’s request, assigned the case to Pre-Trial Chamber II, which comprises a Bulgarian Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova, Hans-Peter Kaul (Germany) and Cuno Tarfusser (Italy). The President, Justice Sang-Hyun Song, signed the notification dated November 6.

With the exception of Tarfusser who was appointed in March this year, the other two judges have served at the ICC for six years.

Under the Rome Statute, the prosecutor can decide proprio motu (on his own) to initiate an investigation as an option to either a State referral or one by a resolution of the UN Security Council.

Crimes against humanity

Ocampo, who has stated he considered the atrocities committed in Kenya crimes against humanity, said he has solid evidence based on the Waki Report and other international reports.

“I think I have a strong case because the Waki Commission did a very good report, and there are other reports from the UN and human rights groups. I think I have a very strong case,” he said. He said investigators were analysing the information in The Hague.

He, however, stressed that he will complement the Waki Report with his own investigations, adding names suggested by the Waki Commission are not necessarily binding to him.

In July, Chief Mediator Kofi Annan handed over to Ocampo the envelope containing the names of high profile individuals — among them at least four Cabinet ministers — who are believed to bear the greatest responsibility for the mayhem.

On Saturday, the prosecutor seemed to support the report, saying that there will “probably” be “two or three cases because there are different groups who committed the crimes and we will identify the most responsible of each group”.

Once sufficient evidence to establish criminal liability is gathered, he explained, he would request ICC judges to either issue summonses requesting the suspects to voluntarily appear before the court or issue warrants of arrest.

Once the arrest warrants are issued, he said, it is the duty of the Kenya police to enforce them. “The police have a duty and they are the only ones who can arrest people in Kenya and they have to do it. Kenya is a well organised State,” he said.

He added: “I don’t have any doubts that they can arrest people. Kenya is a beautiful country. They can do it, and they will do it if the judges tell them to.”

Ocampo said 25 to 30 witnesses are normally called for the process that will take five to six months.

He, however, said the identity of the witnesses would be confidential. “I will take statements in a very confidential way. No one will know who the witnesses are, where we are taking them. No one will know, that has to be made clear,” he said.

“I will come back to Kenya. I will go to the places where crimes occurred. I will meet the victims, and I will listen to them.”

In accordance with the Rome Statute, the victims of the crimes have a role in the proceedings. The victims’ role will also be part of their healing process.

“Victims can present their views and concerns and they can request reparations,” he said.

The prosecutor said his motivation to bring to justice post-poll chaos suspects is driven by the citizens’ quest for justice and desire to prevent a repeat of the violence. But he said to stamp out impunity a special local tribunal must be established to deal with other perpetrators who could be in hundreds.

Imanyara Bill

Parliament reopens on Tuesday and debate on a Bill by Central Imenti MP Gitobu Imanyara seeking to establish a local tribunal could be considered.

Imanyara told The Standard on Sunday on Saturday the Bill gives Kenyans hope that all suspects in the atrocities would be prosecuted. He said it was the responsibility of MPs to pass the Bill, which he reckoned would be key to the setting up of a local mechanism for trying a majority of post-election violence suspects.

The Government on Thursday declined to refer the Kenyan case to the ICC, prompting Ocampo to indicate he would seek approval from ICC Pre-Trial Chamber to begin investigations next month.

Imanyara welcomed the prosecutor’s arrival but blamed the Government for making the ICC Chief Prosecutor look like a prisoner. He said the prosecutor could not meet other interested groups such as civil society and victims because of Government interference.

He said he had secured an appointment with Ocampo for 4pm on Friday, but when he went to see him at his hotel, security officers blocked him. He said although the ICC was determined to deal with the suspects, he does not believe the Government will arrest the indicted.

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Prime Minister Raila Odinga during the interview with Sunday Nation. Photo/WILLIAM OERI

He also holds a post-graduate diploma in labour and public administration from the University of Oxford and a similar qualification in industrial relations from Australia.

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Attorney General Amos Wako. Sources in legal circles have indicated that the AG intends to leave office in May 2010 “after overseeing the present reform agenda’’. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI

At the top of the list of those touted for the AG’s job is Lands minister James Orengo. Mr Orengo has a respected record for championing change and is a respected lawyer. “Orengo’s name has been floated although there are those who consider the political implications given that he entered the national psyche more as a politician than a lawyer,” our source said.

Yet another name that came up during interviews by the Sunday Nation with lawyers who are close to government’s thinking, is that of Kathurima M’Inoti, a member of the ICJ and the chairman of the Kenya Law Reform Commission. ODM stalwarts are also said to be considering forwarding the name of Donald Kipkorir.

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ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo addresses a press conference at Windsor Golf Club in Nairobi on November 7, 2009. He said Kenya has a strong case against suspects of the post election violence. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI.

By ANTHONY KARIUKI

In Summary

• ICC prosecutor vows to end impunity for most serious crimes.
• Mr Ocampo says Pre-Trial Chamber already constituted.

The International Criminal Court Prosecutor has said he has a strong case against Kenya’s post election violence suspects.

“I think I have a strong case because the Waki commission is a very good report, it’s full of information and there are other reports; the UN report, different other human rights groups reports, I believe I have a very strong case,” said Mr Luis Moreno Ocampo at a news conference at the Windsor Golf and Country Club, Nairobi on Saturday.

He also said he was confident of getting The Hague backing to open investigations into the violence and if it does so “the Prosecutor will ensure that the investigation proceeds expeditiously,” adding that the Pre-Trial Chamber was constituted on Saturday, just a day after he announced his intention.

He said that he already has in place a team of investigators, including lawyers and international cooperation advisers.

But he added that while he will consider the Waki Report, he was not bound to it as he “has a duty to conduct an impartial investigation; this is why the names suggested by the Waki Commission are not binding to him.”

Mr Ocampo said he will “prosecute those who bear the greatest responsibility for the most serious crimes.”

He also vowed to end impunity.

“My mandate is to end impunity for the most serious crimes. I will do that.”

He said that doing so will allay Kenyans fears of a repeat of violence in the 2012 elections since “everyone is worried about the next election in Kenya.”

The Prosecutor said that once the judges give him the go ahead to open the probe he will visit Kenya to meet the victims as a way of building his case on crimes against humanity, the “widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population.”

He said he will build his case based on between 25- 30 witnesses adding that the investigations may take at least six months.

“As soon as the Judges authorise the investigation, the Prosecutor will return to Kenya to visit the sites where crimes were committed and to meet with the victims.

“In accordance with the Rome Statute, the victims of the crimes have a role during the proceedings. They can present their views and concerns and they can request reparations.”

The ICC Prosecutor said should he get authorisation to start a probe he will be presenting a few cases.

“The Prosecutor will present in Court a limited number of cases, 2or 3, against those persons considered the most responsible. Only some of the gravest incidents will be presented at trial,” said Mr Ocampo.

After gathering enough evidence, he will go to the Pre-Trial Chamber to request summons or warrant of arrest.

“This would be the moment that the names of persons who have to face justice will be revealed, not before.”

The Summons to Appear can only be issued if the perpetrators of the violence will not seek to evade justice.

“If the Prosecutor considers the persons will not try to escape justice, that they will not destroy evidence or threaten witnesses, he can propose that the Pre-Trial Chamber issue a Summons to Appear, under which the person appears voluntarily before the Court,” he said. He gave the example of Darfur rebel leader Abu Garda, who appeared voluntarily.

Mr Ocmapo expressed confidence that Kenya will arrest the post election violence suspects if called upon because it “is a well organised state.”

Mr Ocampo, who jetted into the country on Thursday to meet President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga over the post poll violence, left for South Africa after the media briefing.

His meeting with the two principals on Thursday yielded little, after the two leaders declined to hand over the case to the ICC. This left the Prosecutor will no option but to take over the case.

However, the government agreed to cooperate fully with the ICC in case it takes possession of the case.

The government has, on several occasions, failed to meet the deadline for forming a Special Tribunal to try the post election violence suspects locally, the latest being September 30.

The chaos that followed a disputed presidential election in 2007 left at least 1,300 and another 650,000 displaced from their homes.

The two months of violence ended after former United Nations secretary general Kofi Anann brokered a peace deal that saw Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga agree to form a power-sharing coalition government.

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Gilbert Deya’s flight to Kenya on extradition is not a question of if but when. It is unlikely he will fly in this helicopter branded with his name. Photo/FILE

His powers

“We need a donation to Gilbert Deya Ministries. Do you need a prayer?’’ asked the woman. “The archbishop is here in the studio recording a broadcast. You will speak to him shortly after I take your donation,” she said. But she hung up when hearing the reason for the call.

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Tabu Ley. Photo/FILE

Ever since being taken ill, Tabu Ley has had to suspend his role as Kinshasa provincial minister for Culture and Arts, Sports, Youth and Leisure and Tourism. Shaba Kahamba, a former Orch Bella-Bella and all-time best Afrisa band bass player, who lives in Amsterdam, is also in regular contact with Tabu Ley.

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Photo: wd/IRIN

The ‘kissing pool’ at AAU’s Siddist Kilo campus is a favourite haunt for student couples

ADDIS ABABA,  – Being a university freshman is an exciting time for any young person, but many students get carried away, partying too hard and taking sexual risks.

“It’s a chance to experience life; there is no family, there are no restraints,” said Biniam Eskinder, project coordinator of the Modelling and Reinforcement to Combat HIV/AIDS (MARCH) project in the Siddist Kilo Campus of Addis Ababa University (AAU). “Some use it in a good way but some do risky things, such as chewing khat [a mild stimulant] … having [unprotected sex] and using commercial sex workers.

“Some of these students will have limited awareness of the risks of HIV/AIDS, and then there is peer pressure as well,” he added.

Ethiopia’s overall HIV prevalence is a relatively low 2 percent, but prevalence in the capital, Addis Ababa, is 7.5 percent. According to the Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (FHAPCO), anecdotal evidence of widespread unsafe sexual practices suggests students may be among the more high-risk groups in terms of HIV vulnerability.

MARCH statistics show that 50 percent of AAU students are sexually active, but only half of them use condoms, said Biniam.

High-risk behaviour

“Often they do not use condoms… they are doing it emotionally, without any thought,” said Selam, a 19-year-old AAU student.

Selam added that students coming to the city from the countryside usually had less information about HIV and were not as street-smart as Addis youth, leaving them unprepared to resist unwanted sexual advances or insist on protected sex.

Former student Girma Tesfaye, now Addis Ababa project coordinator for HIV-focused NGO Mekdim, says female students often fall prey to “sugar daddies”.

“There are lots of beautiful girls at university and older people with beautiful automobiles stop around the university and look for them,” he said. “It is common to take students this way. They have lots of money; they will provide the girls with money and different [presents].

“The older ‘daddy’ may have three or four partners in such a way, which facilitates the spread of HIV,” he added.

Selam agrees that this is a significant problem, noting that in the early evening, heavily made-up and scantily clad female students make their way to the area outside the main gates known as the Debab to try to find a rich boyfriend, usually one who already has a wife, and quite possibly a string of other girlfriends.

“If you have sex because of a threat, or you have a ’sugar daddy’, it is one-sided and that makes them more at risk,” said MARCH’s Biniam. “Influenced or coerced sex is high risk.”

Often they do not use condoms…they are doing it emotionally, without any thought

Evidence also suggests that male students use local sex workers; a survey of Addis-based sex workers found that 5.8 percent of their clients were students. Sex workers in the nearby Arat Kilo area confirmed that many of their clients were AAU students.

MARCH, with funding from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, produces Life 101, a quarterly photo graphic novel that follows the story of three students and one couple at AAU as they experience daily university and city life and deal with issues such as transactional sex, condom use, relationships, testing for HIV, and gender equity. MARCH also facilitates student-led entertainment events to stimulate discussion of the issues.

Recently, more than 20 Ethiopian university presidents initiated a request to the Ministry of Education and FHAPCO for more HIV activities, including a national HIV/AIDS policy and strategy for universities, an HIV/AIDS research and information centre, gender and HIV/AIDS advocacy efforts and sustainable training and discussion forums.

wd/kr/mw source.irinnews.org

The resolution was that ODM was for cooperation with Mr Moreno-Ocampo, but with the caveat that any trials for pre-election violence suspects should be preceded by trial for those who provoked the violence; in other words those who allegedly manipulated the elections to secure President Kibaki a second term. The party also demanded arrest and trial of the Police Commissioner and the Administration Police Commandant, whose forces are accused of many killings.

As the ODM meetings were taking place, key figures around President Kibaki, including public service head Francis Muthaura and some selected security chiefs and permanent secretaries, were having their own strategy sessions. In the end, political expediency prevailed, and Mr Moreno-Ocampo came away empty-handed.

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By james anyanzwa

Foreign investors from the United Kingdom (UK) are seeking to build partnerships and increase investment in Kenya.

A delegation led by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), one of Britain’s leading support organisations, is in the country to explore new investment opportunities.

The group include companies wanting to invest in key development sectors like water, roads and renewable energy and offering goods and services tailored to the Kenyan business and consumers.

The trade mission is also expected to travel to Uganda and Tanzania to look for other regional investment opportunities.

Mr Jonathan Webber, head of the delegation and director of the International Trade at BCCI, is also expected to push for the strengthening of local chambers of commerce in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi and Mauritius.

Amongst the companies representatives include solar experts (Daima Energy Solutions) and Octagon Europe Ltd.

clean energy

Daima’s plans to manufacturer solar energy products locally is expected to have real impact in Kenya by providing affordable clean energy, creating job opportunities particularly targeted at the youth and raising environmental awareness amongst consumers.

Octagon Europe, which offers sustainable and affordable housing solutions, hopes to work with agencies, Government and local business to ensure that slum dwellers, refugees and internally displaced people have access to decent and durable housing.

The British High Commission’s UK Trade and Investment team (UKTI), which facilitated the visit, have created targeted programme for each of the delegates in the mission, focusing on meetings with local businesses.

The move is part of UKTI’s efforts to encourage investments in Kenya and build on the strong commercial links that exists between the two countries.

The British High Commission said the current BCCI mission underlined the interest from UK companies in doing business in Kenya, and the East African region.

source.ke

By Martin Mutua and David Ohito

It was the day Kenya’s options ran out, the interest of the international community triumphed, and the nation left in the hands of the International Criminal Court.

On Thursday marked a turning point in the upcoming trials of post-election offenders, as ICC got the entry card to Kenya because of its refusal to refer the case to The Hague.

It also marked a turning point as President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, by the default of inaction on ICC’s direct request for referral of Kenya’s case to The Hague, automatically left those who may have committed crimes in their names to ICC, and so sparing themselves accusations of betrayal. In front of Harambee House where last February they signed the life-saving power deal, Kibaki and Raila stood as ICC thunderbolt struck.

Elsewhere wananchi haggled over ‘what next?’ over lunch. Off the cameras Moreno-Ocampo is reported to have told Raila and Kibaki to show leadership in search of justice. He is also said to have also told them whereas he was only capable of handling about three or five cases of key perpetrators of the violence, the rest must be dealt with locally.

It may be the first time the President and PM are meeting Moreno-Ocampo but their faces do not say so

In February, last year, Chief Mediator Kofi Annan was our guest and his message was of hope. On Thursday, standing with them was ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo

Shook Kenya

His message could have been clear, but its ramifications shook Kenya, and the aftershock could last a long time. He announced he would next month ask ICC judges to open investigations on Kenya’s high profile personalities suspected to hold higher responsibility for post-election violence.

Last year before Annan, and an expectant nation, Kibaki and Raila shook hands and promised to share power and save the country. On Thursday, they may not have given Ocampo the formal letter of reference of Kenya’s case to ICC as he wanted, or even openly agreed or rejected the offer to have suspects tried and sentenced to serve in local prisons.

But they spoke in turns like last year and promised what they have twice lost because of a hostile Parliament: establishing a local tribunal to deal with lesser offenders.

The words that stood out in their joint statement, which Kibaki read in English and Raila paraphrased in Kiswahili, were that they had a “constructive meeting” with Ocampo, and the “discussions were candid and frank”.

But they were silent on Ocampo’s main request, a formal referral of the case to ICC. This let the case to progress along the line charted by the Roman Statute.

This is why Moreno-Ocampo’s announcement echoed his statement to Kibaki and Raila last week that if there were no referrals, he would exercise his powers and ask The Hague’s Bench for Pre-Trial Chamber hearings on Kenya.

As the evening set in, reality struck ICC will be swinging into action within days.

One of the post-election violence flashpoints in Kibera slum, last year. Photo: File /Standard

“Ocampo was categorical President Kibaki and PM Raila Odinga must lead from the front and ensure victims of the violence get justice locally,” our sources reported.

The prosecutor, who arrived yesterday morning, is also reported to have been told by Kibaki and Raila they would not be referring Kenya’s case to ICC, arguing it could jeopardise Agenda Four. These include the constitutional review by the Committee of Experts, constituency boundary review, and the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission.

The sources also revealed they opposed the prosecutions being held locally.

“The Government side was clear that since Ocampo has a case against some individuals as he told us, then the prosecution should be carried out at The Hague,” added other sources.

Agenda four

According sources Raila took the prosecutor through the Agenda Four items that were being implemented following the adoption of the reports by Justice Philip Waki and Justice Johann Kriegler commissions.

“We have had a constructive meeting with Mr Louis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The discussions were candid and frank,” said Kibaki and Raila in their statement.

They also said they were committed to co-operating with the ICC within the framework of the Rome Statute and the International Crimes Act.

They added they were fast tracking the necessary reforms to ensure election-related violence does not recur.

“We will co-operate with the International Criminal Court to ensure that those who bear the responsibility for crimes committed during the post-election conflict are brought to justice,” the leaders said.

Execute mandate

Moreno-Ocampo said he was impressed by the Government’s efforts to prevent a recurrence of post-election violence. He said that during the meeting he explained how he intended to execute his mandate.

“According to the explanations that he was offering, he seems to have built a case around five persons whom he wants to arrest for trials at The Hague,” revealed a source.

Other sources further said Kibaki and Raila seemed to have been briefed about the prosecutor’s mandate, and that was the reason the meeting did not take long.

The stage is set for Kibaki and Raila to spearhead the formation of a local tribunal, or reforms that would bring justice to other post-election violence victims.

Parliament reconvenes on Tuesday, and one of the businesses on the agenda is a proposed Bill by Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara.

The Bill seeks to establish a special tribunal that meets international standards.

source.standard.ke

by Cyrus Ombati

If his arrival had been trumpeted like that of a king come to dispense justice to his subjects, then the International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo sneaked in like a thief in the night.

The arrival of Moreno-Ocampo was shrouded in secrecy that side-stepped media teams and government officials who had camped overnight at the JKIA for the visit.

Moreno-Ocampo’s handlers had kept his arrival details, itinerary of his arrival and engagements in Nairobi a tight secret. They succeeded in throwing media corps off his trail and sneaking him into town undetected.

Private jet

Reports, which later turned out to be a decoy enhancer, had first been circulated that Moreno-Ocampo would arrive by private jet at 3am.

Security men escort the limo carrying Luis Moreno-Ocampo from Harambee House. Photos: Tabitha Otwori/Standard

Journalists who had braved a chilly night at JKIA later learnt that he would be on a commercial airliner.

The man who is said to hold the secret to big names fingered for prosecution over post-election violence, later landed aboard Kenya Airways Flight 117 from Amsterdam.

One of the security men at the airport confided: “He travels first-class on commercial airlines since the ICC has no private jet and has never hired one for the chief prosecutor.”

There was notable heavy security detail at the airport shortly before his 7am arrival, similar to the scenario that prevails before a presidential appearance at the airport.

However, the media teams craning their necks both at the international arrivals lobby and the direction of the VIP lounge for the Argentinean prosecutor were disappointed.

They learnt a shade too late that Moreno-Ocampo was sneaked out with a Government Mercedes Benz limousine, GK A344M, through the airport’s cargo wing and driven to his hotel under heavy security.

Even after his arrival, security people at the airport threw media teams off his trail, some ‘confiding’ that the Chief prosecutor was headed for the Serena Hotel while others said Norfolk Hotel.

Moreno-Ocampo’s car, shadowed by unmarked police vehicles, used Mombasa Road, then Uhuru Highway, Westlands and made its way to the Windsor Golf and Country Club.

Two police cars led Moreno-Ocampo’s vehicle, clearing the way for him with four others in hot pursuit. Coincidentally, former Tanzania President Benjamin Mkapa who arrived few minutes after Moreno-Ocampo used the normal route to leave the airport.

Even some senior police officers at the airport did not seem privy to the details of where the ICC boss would be.

Whereas Mkapa’s engagement in Nairobi was unclear, there was word by security people that he was here to meet Moreno-Ocampo by virtue of his being a member of the Eminent Persons committee that partly negotiated the post-election settlement.

Police sources said Moreno-Ocampo has been assigned a security team of uniformed and plainclothes officers, the size that is assigned a visiting president.

“There are more than 10 local police officers joining a United Nations security team assigned to his motorcade and his hotel and about 20 more plainclothes officers shadowing his functions and movement,” said the source.

A senior police officer explained that Moreno-Ocampo’s security detail was above the normal accorded to senior UN emis saries due the sensitivity of his assignment which may ruin top politicians’ careers.

“He is here to announce his programme of investigating the perpetrators of post-election violence some of whom are powerful people. We do not take anything for granted,” said the officer who asked not to be named.

Those believed to be in the list that Moreno-Ocampo has include business and political elites who may want to frustrate his efforts to haul them before the international court for trial.

Security detail

His security detail went into action at Harambee House as he arrived and as he left. When he left together with the Presidential and PM’s motorcade, there was a brief traffic jam at the exit point.

This forced four security officers who had communication gadgets tagged to their ears to alight from their cars and make an exit for the prosecutor.

A press conference that was organised at the Serena Hotel was cancelled as the motorcade headed for Windsor where he was scheduled to have lunch.

Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe explained that Moreno-Ocampo is a VIP State guest and would get the kind of protection that such a person deserves.

“It is prudent that such measures are taken to ensure his safety at all times while he is here. No one would want to see something bad happen to him,” he said.

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Photo: Eva-Lotta Jansson

Young girls often engage in sex with older men for financial reasons

MASERU, – Having more than one sexual relationship at the same time is driving the spread of HIV in small landlocked Lesotho. The health sector has long suspected this, but a new report by the National AIDS Commission (NAC), in partnership with UNAIDS and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, has confirmed it.

The report, Gender and Multiple and Concurrent Sexual Partnerships in Lesotho, found that 76 percent of men and 82 percent of women knew that having only one partner reduced HIV risk, but they were reluctant to limit themselves.

Now a new awareness campaign aims to get people talking about the taboo subject of HIV and how to prevent it. “Changing behaviour begins with communication,” said Ma-’Neheng Ninie Mopeli, the NAC’s Director of Services.

“People know about HIV prevention but they are afraid to talk about it, so mothers do not discuss the practical application of their knowledge with their daughters, or husbands with wives.”

Open and frank discussion cannot start soon enough; 23 percent of Lesotho’s adult population are infected with HIV, the third highest prevalence in the world.

The study on multiple concurrent partners (MCPs), conducted in focus group discussions and interviews with participants of various ages and socioeconomic backgrounds at five sites in Lesotho, found that poverty was among the factors driving the practice. Young girls often engaged in sex with older men for financial reasons, providing HIV with a major entry point into the younger generation.

“Financial neglect, along with domestic discord, physical and emotional abuse, were mentioned as some of the reasons for seeking other partners,” the report said. Marriage offered no protection from HIV infection; in fact, it was a major source of risk for women married to unfaithful husbands.

People know about HIV prevention but they are afraid to talk about it

Cultural factors also played a role; men were considered the dominant partners in marriage by virtue of the dowry they traditionally paid to brides’ families.

Unwillingness to use condoms stemmed from a perception that they implied a lack of trust. “It is critical to help people understand that condoms are used even in trusting relationships.” The study also recommended “more focus on fidelity among married partners” if anti-AIDS efforts were to succeed.

Getting the word out

“Having the data is the starting point. We suspected that MCP is a major driver, and now we know; now we have the process of getting the word out,” said the NAC’s Mopeli.

Media organizations, sports organizations, faith-based groups, and youth groups will all be briefed on how to disseminate the study’s findings. “Men need to talk to men, telling each other not to be ashamed to carry a condom, and women should talk to women about such things as being frank about sexual matters with their sisters, daughters and neighbours. Then we will bring those groups together,” said Mopeli.

Health motivators often ran into obstacles, such as needing permission from parents to speak to children about sexual matters, but encouraging people to talk about HIV among themselves would help overcome these.

“Having different group discussions is also important for cultural reasons,” Mopeli said. “It is inappropriate to discuss condom use and such matters with the elderly, but there are things they too must know.”

Mohau Mokoatsi, a UNAIDS programme officer in Lesotho, said respect for cultural traditions would be vital to successfully getting the message out. “We have revised our national strategy to incorporate chiefs and traditional leaders; it is these authority figures who will take the message to their subjects,” he told IRIN/PlusNews.

Lacking large numbers of facilitators, the government is relying on existing programmes to spark a nationwide debate about MCPs. “When the agriculture ministry agents go out to talk with the farmers about fertilizer and irrigation, then they can also talk about AIDS. We will train them to spread the message,” Mopeli said.

The next step will be to ensure that people know where to find condoms and counselling services so they can apply what they have learned.

jh/ks/he source.irinnews.org

Photo: Glenna Gordon/IRIN

“When I dance I have so much energy”

HARARE,  – When Anna Matopodza, 55, from a village in the Buhera district of Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe, found out she was HIV-positive, she was anxious about who would look after her five children when she died. The thought of death haunted her for months; then she joined dance group and travelled around the world, teaching people about HIV/AIDS through song and dance.

“I tested HIV positive in 1996, after the death of my husband. My husband had been sick for a very long time; we were always in and out of hospital but I had never got the opportunity to get tested. I got tested after some counselling from an organization called Family Care Trust-Nyanga (Fact-Nyanga).

“Back then, in 1996, we didn’t have the New Start Centres that are now offering voluntary counselling and testing around the country, so for someone to get tested it was a very difficult and an expensive thing.

“The result came back positive. I didn’t even know what that meant, except that I knew I had a disease that had no cure, no treatment, and that I would soon die in the same painful way my husband had died.

“My concern was for my four girls – I was afraid that after I had died they would be forced to get married early and also expose themselves to the disease. I lost a lot of weight just thinking about all these things.

“When I joined Tsungai ['be strong' in the Shona language] support group I had no idea what to expect; I just joined because I was probably looking for answers. I found peace at this support group because we were no longer talking in hushed tones about HIV/AIDS.

“While in this support group I heard about the Murambinda Peer Educators Dance Group and I decided to join them. I wanted to let others know about this disease before it was too late.

“The children I was worried about years ago are all grown up now. The four girls are married and have children of their own. They all completed their education and they have good jobs.

“I didn’t think I would live to see my children grow up, or to see my 14 grandchildren. My fifth child – my only son – is still at home with me, doing his studies.

“Many people died of stress in the 1990s because there was not much information about HIV/AIDS … this is why I am part of Murambinda Dance Group, as old as I am.

“When I tell people I am a grandmother, they do not believe me because when I dance I have so much energy – there is no old and young when we are fighting HIV!”

st/kn/he source.irinnews.org

Photo: Gary Hampton/World Lung Foundation

Fifty-eight percent of TB patients completed their treatment last year

MBABANE,  – Swaziland not only has the world’s highest HIV prevalence rate, it now also has the highest tuberculosis (TB) rate, but health officials warn that not enough is being done to integrate TB and HIV services.

Last week the Ministry of Health and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the international medical humanitarian organization, brought together health experts to look at practical solutions for the small landlocked country.

One in four adults is infected with HIV; by the end of 2007 an estimated 170,000 people were living with HIV, and every year an estimated 13,000 people develop TB, the primary opportunistic disease in HIV-positive people.

“When you look at the history of TB in Southern Africa you see that it was considered a very serious disease in the 1950s, but seemed to be under control by the 1980s; but with the arrival of HIV and AIDS, TB rates have really gone out of control,” said Prof Alan Whiteside, head of the Health Economics and HIV Research Division (HEARD) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

Themba Dlamini, manager of Swaziland’s National TB Control Programme, said 80 percent of Swaziland’s TB cases were also HIV-positive.

But with governments focused on HIV/AIDS, TB has not been getting enough attention.

“Part of the problem is we’ve been very good at mobilizing for HIV and AIDS, and we sort of forgot about TB as we did that. Unfortunately, I don’t think the people mobilizing for TB have been as articulate and as powerful as those mobilizing for HIV and AIDS – we need to put TB higher on the public agenda,” Whiteside told IRIN/PlusNews.

Swaziland’s Health Minister, Benedict Xaba, reminded delegates that although the country provided free TB medicines, other costs, such as hospital fees and transport, made it difficult for many people to access health services.

More on TB

Turning the tide against drug-resistant TB

Tackling HIV and TB – where there’s a will, there’s a way

“It’s TB that’s killing people”

The burden of drug-reistant TB

“There are several issues that Swaziland needs to face. Access to care is particularly important … so people who show signs of symptoms can be checked immediately. Free consultation is absolutely imperative – we must think of free care from diagnosis to clinical cure,” urged Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the Stop TB Department of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Raviglione urged the country to step up efforts to integrate TB and HIV services. “It doesn’t make any sense for a person taking TB drugs and ARVs [antiretrovirals, to treat HIV] to go to two separate doctors. These must be integrated.”

About 58 percent of TB patients completed their six-month course of treatment last year, falling far short of the 85 percent target recommended by WHO. International guidelines also set a 70 percent detection target for TB, but in Swaziland the case detection rate is below 60 percent.

The good news is that, unlike HIV/AIDS, TB is curable. “I know people living with HIV and TB, and their TB has been dealt with,” noted Whiteside. “It is a community message we need to get out – that we are capable of eliminating the scourge of TB in your community.”

jh/kn/he source.irinnews.org

Photo: Tugela Ridley/IRIN

The HPV vaccine is too expensive for most Kenyan women

NAIROBI,  – Three years after being diagnosed with HIV, Alice Mworia, 28, went for a routine medical check-up during which she told the nurse she had noticed an unusual vaginal discharge; a test revealed she had pre-cancerous lesions on her cervix that could develop into cancer if untreated.

“I was experiencing a bad smell from my private parts and I wondered whether it was because I was HIV-positive; I could not keep quiet any more and I shared with one of the nurses and she referred me to the doctor,” Mworia told IRIN/PlusNews. “I did not even know there was anything called cervical cancer, which I was informed can kill very easily.”

According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), some 2,635 Kenyan women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, with 2,111 dying from the disease, making it the most prevalent cancer among women in the country. About 38.8 percent of women in the general population are estimated to harbour cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) infection – a leading cause of cervical cancer – at any given time.

High risk, low knowledge

For cervical HPV infection to progress to cancer, certain co-factors must be in place, including smoking, long-term hormonal contraceptive use and co-infection with HIV. However, medical professionals strongly recommend that all women over the age of 21 be screened for cervical cancer.

“Women who are HIV-positive have weak immune systems and this makes them very susceptible to persistent human papillomavirus that develops into cancer of cervix,” said Lucy Muchiri, a senior lecturer in human pathology at the University of Nairobi’s College of Health Sciences and a member of the sub-Saharan Africa Cervical Cancer Working Group.

“It takes a relatively shorter time for the HPV virus to develop into full-blown cancer of the cervix for women who have the HIV infection … It would take relatively longer in women who are not infected with HIV.”

Pap smear tests – which check for changes in the cells of the cervix – are available at most district health facilities in Kenya, but according to WHO, fewer than 6 percent of women access them.

“I think many women die from the disease for a number of reasons – one is ignorance because knowledge about the disease among women and in the general population is very low and it is mistaken for other diseases,” she said. “It is appalling that despite most cancer-related deaths in women happening because of cervical cancer, it is the least talked about or even known by people, including women.”

According to Francis Kimani, director of medical services at the Ministry of Health, Kenya is planning a screening programme for early detection and treatment of cervical cancer as well as a widespread education campaign.

Education gap

“I think our best bet is to carry out education to let people know about the disease and that early detection of it can be very helpful,” Kimani told IRIN/PlusNews. “It is true that not many people – especially in rural areas – know about the disease.”

Studies have shown that HPV is higher among women who have multiple sexual partners and unprotected sex.

“Maybe to prevent it in the first place, the same methods used in combating HIV, like condom use, abstinence and keeping to one faithful partner, should be encouraged in this case too,” Muchiri suggested.

It is appalling that despite most cancer-related deaths in women happening because of cervical cancer, it is the least talked about or even known by people, including women

She noted that the government also needed to invest in making the HPV vaccine – which protects against four major types of HPV, including two types that are responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancers – widely available in public hospitals.

Vaccine availability

The Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board approved the sale of an HPV vaccine in the country in 2007, but its availability is extremely limited and it is still prohibitively expensive for most Kenyans.

“HPV is a sexually transmitted virus and with the vaccine in place, it is important to encourage parents to take their young girls between the ages of nine and 15 to be vaccinated before they debut into sex,” she said.

A recent study by the local NGO, Centre for the Study of Adolescence, found that four in 10 Kenyan girls had sex before the age of 19, many of them as early as 12.

“Once they [women] become sexually active, it is important to encourage [them] to go for Pap smear tests or visual detection of the pre-cancerous lesions but even vaccination at this stage is still feasible so long as one has not contracted the virus,” Muchiri added.

ko/kr/mw source.irinnews.org

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Photo/FILE

The government has said it will invite international election observers, most likely from the European Union, and last week agreed a “code of conduct” for next year’s elections with three parliamentary opposition parties.

“I don’t agree with jailing Birtukan,” a senior Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front member, who did want to be named, told Reuters. “She’s a strong opponent, but Meles is good for Ethiopia and I wanted us to debate openly and show the people our economic achievements.” (Reuters)

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Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (centre), First Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim (left) and Second Vice President Abdul Karim Khalili attend a news conference in Kabul November 3, 2009. REUTERS

There are currently around 67,000 U.S. troops and 42,000 allied troops in Afghanistan. A White House spokesman said a decision by Obama on troop levels was still weeks away.

“The credibility of the Karzai government is not going to be simply decided by this election, it will now be decided by the actions the president takes over the coming days and weeks,” said a Kabul-based Western official who asked not to be named.

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Usain Bolt strikes his trademark pose before an amused President Mwai Kibaki at Harambee House on Monday. Photo/MOHAMMED AMIN

The Segera Ranch is owned by Zeitz who is also the chief executive of sportswear firm, Puma, Bolt’s competition gear sponsors.

The Zeitz Foundation chairman, Jochin Zeitz, also received a certificate in recognition for his work.

source.nation.ke