Sex hungry priests castigated and condemned by the Pope

The Catholic church priests have been warned by the Pope. His warning came in a letter send to the Catholic church in Ireland.

In the letter the Pope has asked the priests who are involved in defilement and molestation of kids to take responsibility and face justice. The Pope apologised to the victims telling them he was deeply sorry for what they have had to endure.

Some bishops who had the knowledge of the priests molesting children and chose to keep quiet may now loose their jobs. The Pope has told his followers that an independent� investigation will be carried out by the Vatican and those involved must face justice.

While condemning the priest involved for having committed crimes against those who could not defend themselves the Pope urged them to be ready to come clean. Being fatherly, he also told them God’s mercy will be on their side to support them through the crisis.

Chief Editor Korir

Kenya: Two orphaned brothers perish while harvesting sand.

By Dickens Wasonga in Kisumu.

Two brothers died yesyerday in Kisumu when a pit they were digging caved in burrying them while harvesting sand.

Another one cheated death by a but left with two broken legs in the 2pm tragic incident which occurred at the Osiepe area of Kisumu east district.

According the local� police boss Mr John Mwinzi,the three orphaned brothers have been engaging in sand harvesting in the area for some time now as their only source of income

The two� who were burried in the sand died on the spot during the incident and were identified as Boniface Okoth 20 and Arthur Ajwan g 18 by the police.

The one who survived was still fighting for dear life at the new Nyanza general hospital where he was rushed to by the police..

Bodies of the deceased were also taken to the provincial hospital s mortuary awaiting postmortem.

Speaking soon after visiting the scene of the incident,the OCPD asked the area chief and his assistants to stop people from sand harvesting,particularly near river banks to avoid more tragedies in future.

ENDS.

CONSTITUTION – MR PRESIDENT YOU HAVE A LEGACY PROBLEM

What will be Kibaki�s leadership be remembered for? Of course the answers here are myriad and diverse for their quantity and quality. But if there is anything that will make or destroy his legacy it�s the constitution. The rest are subsidiary and so subsidiary. The reasoning is that the 2002 walloping and eventual decimation of KANU�s long rule was precipitated by the many mistakes which has its sanitization on the independence constitution which over time KANU mutilated with amendments to personalize the leadership of the country clearly manifested by what the Kenyan presidency had become.

So the coming of a unified yet loose opposition under the NARC umbrella and the leadership of Kibaki almost at the eve of the 2002 election was a perfect opportunity to get rid of the rather monstrous KANU with a country�s� economy whose continued decline meant disaster in the beckoning future. The promise that the constitution will be reviewed and have a new one within 100 days was refreshing the practicality part of it not withstanding.

But the first Kibaki regime though it did well in some front in reforms such as the economy, Primary �schooling and the roads, failed in a fundamental way. The constitution making was sabotaged , schemed and manipulated such that the 2005 referendum was the anti-climax of Kibaki and NARC. In a nutshell all the seeds of discord had already germinated by the referendum period then. The 207 chaos were the production of the �germination gone wrong.

Without fundamental changes in the governance structure and systems in the country going forward Kenya, will be simply at a standstill or in reverse gear. The myriad and legions of problems bedeviling this nation will simply magnify. In fact it is so risky to attempt another presidential election with the current constitution. The disputes will be major and the possibility of another� tribal conflagration and polls amalgam is �very real. So it has to be reforms �this time or never. But a constitution not acceptable to all will still create potential future wars. So this is not a case of simple majority winning. It must be a largely acceptable document.

It is often argued that Kibaki came to power with plenty of goodwill which has largely been squandered. At the present state his regime is still bedeviled by the failure to address corruption in all its facets, the 2007 pool debacle, the government in perpetual infighting, the run-away tribalism across all parties and across the entire government leadership (may it be ODM or PNU), an economy which is barely performing, the monster of insecurity, road carnage, tribal animosity, MP�s greed and generally leadership failure across the entire spectrum. The buck stop with the president. The Prime Minister position even with the National accord is just a mere political office with no real powers. In fact seriously evaluated the accord was flawed in as far as that position is concerned. What even makes it even have some semblance of power is Mr. Raila Odinga�s own political charm. It�s a worse than the Vice �president position in terms of constitution dispensation and power arrangements.

In a nutshell the person fully �liable for state failure is ultimately the President in the current political and constitution �dispensation. The Prime Ministers role is quite nominal. If the constitution review result in failure Kibaki will ultimately carry the blame. President Kibaki has little time left to make history and leave a legacy worth remembering. All the rest he has achieved can easily be reversed by a future leadership failure. It need to be protected and indeed improved by a strong and well thought constitution. This is where President Kibaki legacy lie. Success can redeem some lost ground. Failure will confine his leadership to just another African failure. The point is, considered Kenya�s post independence history President Kibaki has had and still has the best chance to make good history for Kenya so far . He has very little time left.

It�s up to President Kibaki. The people around him have little to lose. He has all the moral and personal esteem marks to lose if he does not seize the moment. Forget the existence of the nominal and loose coalition in place � the ultimate responsibility in realization of a new face of �kenya lies with president Kibaki as a person and the Presidency of Kenya. The president conduct therefore will determine what will be of Kenya and legacy forthwith. History is in many �times made by very small noble actions done at the right time. It�s up to President Kibaki to make the choices.

By Harrison �Mwirigi �Ikunda

Nairobi, Kenya.

GLOBAL: Campaigners target landmine use by “non-state actors”

Photo: Guy Oliver/IRIN

A home-made landmine, known as a balloon bomb. A syringe, attached to a 9 volt battery is used to detonate the device

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JOHANNESBURG,� – The steep decline in anti-personnel landmine use in the past decade by governments is being mirrored by a similar trend among armed non-state actors (NSAs).

According to the 2009 Landmine Monitor, a civil society network monitoring compliance with the decade-old Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), at least 59 NSAs in 13 countries have committed themselves to halt the use of anti-personnel land mines. A total of 156 states – or more than three quarters of the world’s nations – are signatories to the MBT.

“Only two states have used antipersonnel mines in 2008-2009: Myanmar and Russia. NSAs used antipersonnel mines in at least seven countries, two fewer than the previous year,” the 2009 Landmine Monitor said.

The constriction of the international trade, the destruction of stockpiles, and almost complete cessation of manufacturing – only India, Pakistan and Myanmar were thought to have produced anti-personnel landmines in 2008 – does not mean these weapons are unavailable to NSAs.

Anti-personnel landmines can be crude, “home-made” devices, which are just as devastating on civilian populations as their commercial equivalents.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia � People�s Army (FARC-EP), a guerrilla organization embroiled in a four-decade civil war, uses child soldiers as well as home-made landmines as part of its armoury.

The “balloon bomb” is a simple but effective weapon. Spherical in shape – with bits of metal, such as nuts, bolts and screws taped onto it, and with a detonator constructed from a plastic medical syringe – it is placed in the ground and covered with foliage.

Carl Case, director of the Organization of American States mine action, told IRIN “it [the balloon bomb] looks like a football, so it’s attractive for children,” and was often utilized to protect FARC-EP’s coca plantations – the raw ingredient for cocaine – against pilfering from the local community.

Deed of Commitment

Geneva Call, established in March 2000 as a neutral and impartial humanitarian organization dedicated to getting NSAs to comply with international law, has launched a Deed of Commitment for NSAs – to try to get them to stop using anti-personnel landmines altogether.

Photo: Guy Oliver/IRIN

A Colombian army helicopter door gunner surveys the ground below

Thirty-nine NSAs have signed the Deed of Commitment, and five others have renounced their use without signing the Deed. Self-declared Somaliland (not internationally recognized) has banned the use of anti-personnel landmines.

NSAs, even before Geneva Call’s efforts, were voluntarily abandoning the use of antipersonnel landmines. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) began clearing landmines in areas under its control in 1996.

Nicolas Florquin, a Geneva Call programme officer, told IRIN: “Many signatory NSA have realized that the military utility of antipersonnel mines is limited, especially when weighed against their costs.

“Even from a military point of view, antipersonnel mines are double-edged weapons that create many disadvantages. They can trap your own people, they can restrict the movements of your combatants, which is problematic in guerilla warfare, and they never determined the final outcome of any war,” he said.

Florquin said NSAs might be motivated to sign the Deed “as they could present themselves as taking the moral high ground and place pressure on [non-MBT] governments to reciprocate”.

Geneva Call has implemented a three tier compliance monitoring and verification process to ensure NSAs adhere to their commitments.

“As with [MBT signatory] states, challenges concerning effective monitoring remain: For example, a lack of responsiveness and/or transparency from some signatory NSAs; the inherent limitations of third-party monitoring; lack of access due to insecurity; and government imposed travel restrictions,” Florquin said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a Philippines-based rebel movement and signatory to the Deed of Commitment, is being investigated for reneging on its pledge to end its use of antipersonnel mines.

The MILF signed the Deed of Commitment in 2000 and reaffirmed its commitment in 2002. However, reports that they had begun using antipersonnel mines between August 2008 and May 2009 are being investigated. The Philippines is also a signatory to the MBT.

A Geneva Call team – including law professor Eric David of Brussels University and Mines Advisory Group technical specialist Phil Halford – undertook an investigation between 17 and 26 November 2009.

Its findings have not yet been published, but David said in a statement: “As far as I am aware, this is the first time in the history of international relations that such a fact-finding mission has been carried out with the agreement of, and facilitation by, both parties to an armed conflict.�

go/cb/oa source.irinnews

AFRICA: Mapping truckers’ route to the health centre

Photo: Maplecroft

The maps show the location of more than 160 clinics across Africa (See larger version of map)

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NAIROBI/DAR ES SALAAM,� – New maps pin-pointing the exact location of �wellness centres� in sub-Saharan Africa are improving truck drivers’ access to treatment and care for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Oil giant Shell, with risk specialist Maplecroft and the North Star Alliance, which builds roadside clinics at truck stops, have developed and printed 20,000 maps for distribution to truck drivers in Kenya, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Guinea, Mali and Namibia. The maps show the locations of more than 160 clinics.

“Many of us want treatment but at times you might not know where to get it when you are on the road but these maps can help us now,” Eliud Musili told IRIN/PlusNews at Mlolongo, a truck stop in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. “Now you can even advise other drivers where to get [health services].”

In East and Central Africa, the maps are being distributed to truckers at North Star Alliance-supported �SafeTStops� where wellness centres provide a range of services, including screening of STIs, HIV testing and counselling and tuberculosis screening, for truck drivers and communities with whom they interact.

“The wellness centres have been put up in areas where these high-risk groups converge to provide information about HIV and other STIs, prevention methods like condoms, diagnosis of STIs and testing and counselling,” says Dorothy Muroki, project director for the Regional Outreach Addressing AIDS through Development Strategies II, a project of� the NGO, Family Health International (FHI). “For high-risk groups, information is critical.”

FHI runs sites in Uganda, Tanzania and�Rwanda in partnership with North Star Alliance, the Solidarity Centre and local transport unions; so far, the map distribution has not been rolled out at these sites.

Living dangerously

For more than six years now, Julius Mwapele*, 35, a father of five, has worked as a loader at Dar es Salaam port; three months ago, he visited a clinic to treat a persistent rash on his penis.

“At first I wanted to [ignore] it but when it continued, I decided to go to a clinic here at the port,” he told IRIN/PlusNews. “At the clinic, they told me I had gonorrhoea; I was afraid but they told me it can be treated.”

While his job is not particularly well paid, compared with many of the residents around the port, Mwapele is well-to-do. He suspects that he contracted the STI from a local woman.

“I have three mistresses here – I buy food from them,” he said. “I get into sexual relationships with them so that at times I can get free food when I don’t have money but when I get money, it is my turn to give them a treat.”

Sex stops

Sex work is widespread at truck stops along sub-Saharan Africa�s transport corridors; a 2006 University of Manitoba study found an estimated 8,000 female sex workers on the trans-Africa highway from Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa to the Ugandan capital, Kampala. It also reported that truckers and their assistants had high rates of reported STIs and many exhibited high-risk sexual behaviour.

The SafeTStops aim to provide truck drivers and sex workers with information and other services in a non-judgmental way. “Women do not get into commercial sex work for fun but due to economic needs, just like truck drivers seek sexual services from commercial sex workers because they are rarely with their spouses,” said FHI’s Muroki.

We have a joke that after five bottles of beer, every woman is beautiful

The centres are also a source of entertainment. “We provide facilities like pool and offer reading material and TV so when one walks in, nobody knows for sure what has brought them except the clinic personnel,” said Victoria Jonathan, head of the wellness centre in the port of Dar es Salaam. “This gives a sense of privacy; the uptake of the services is very impressive.

Alcohol a factor

“The centres are alcohol-free to send the message that alcohol abuse is one of the key drivers for risky sexual behaviour,” she added.

Ben Manyala, an HIV-positive trucker in Dar es Salaam, agreed that alcohol was an important factor in HIV transmission among truck drivers.

“Alcohol is contributing [to the spread of HIV]; we have a joke that after five bottles of beer, every woman is beautiful,” he said.

ko/kr/mw� source.irinnews

* Not his real name

SOUTH AFRICA: HIV testing and mental illness

Photo: WHO

The Luthando Psychiatric HIV Clinic holds regular support groups that pair counselling with income generation projects

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JOHANNESBURG,� – As more HIV-positive people access treatment and live longer, the number of people suffering from HIV-related mental disorders is growing, but mental health remains an ethical, legal and clinical minefield, where many doctors and nurses fear to tread � and fear to test.

“We’re moving away from seeing patients on their death beds towards patients who are living longer, and are being affected by mental disorders that have real impacts on their life and work,” said Dr Greg Jonsson, a psychiatrist at the Luthando Psychiatric HIV Clinic at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, in Johannesburg.

Various studies have shown a higher than average prevalence of mental illness among people living with HIV. A 2005 study by South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council found that about 44 percent of the 900 HIV-positive individuals surveyed suffered from a mental disorder.

The links between HIV and mental illness are complex, but factors include the effects of the virus on the central nervous system, as well as difficulties in dealing with HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

South Africa has the world’s largest ARV programme to counter an HIV prevalence rate of about 18 percent, according to UNAIDS, and about 920,000 people are on ARV treatment.

No easy choices

Doctors and nurses in clinics often find it daunting to test mental health patients for HIV. “People who are not trained in psychiatric disorders are scared of getting consent from patients with mental disorders,” Jonsson told IRIN/PlusNews. “People should not assume that mentally ill or even psychotic patients are incapable of understanding [testing] and consenting.”

But Jonsson added that there would be times where doctors would need to make tough calls about testing severely mentally ill patients who could not consent to HIV testing and whose families may not be approachable to consent on their behalf.

Psych is hard because the ‘three ticks equal this’ approach doesn’t really work, and that’s why people are so scared of it.

“If you can’t obtain informed consent, you need to weigh up the potential harm and benefit to the patient – ask yourself whether this test is going to change your diagnoses or your treatment,” he suggested to health workers at an annual symposium held by the Aurum Institute, a non-profit medical research organization.

“I think if the answer is ‘yes’ to either, then go for it. It is really the right of the patient to be offered effective HIV treatment,” said Jonsson, who pointed out that doctors should be aware of possible interactions between mental health medications and antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

He advised doctors to document the process and counsel patients throughout, especially about how to reduce risk, given the prevalence of substance abuse among mental health as well as HIV patients.

“Psych is hard because the ‘three ticks equal this’ approach doesn’t really work, and that’s why people are so scared of it,” Jonsson told IRIN/PlusNews.

No right answers

Once a mental health patient started taking ARVs, healthcare providers would have to evaluate whether mandating a “treatment supporter” � a friend or family member to help the patient adhere to treatment – would be appropriate. Again, there may not be a right answer.

“We need to draw up protocols and put them in primary healthcare, but the problem with protocol-based system is that people don’t think outside the box – with mental health patients it really is on a case-by-case basis,” Jonsson told the symposium audience.

“I tell most of my patients, ‘If you can get treatment support, go for it’, but I don’t insist on it – disclosing to a patient’s family is difficult and … at my clinic, our patients on treatment are already so stigmatized and victimized.”

The Luthando Psychiatric HIV Clinic has a treatment default rate � patients who discontinue ARVs � that is the same as institutions in Johannesburg that mandate treatment supporters, Jonsson added.

llg/he source.irinnews

Kenya: Fearing for his life – Senior Deputy Provincial Commissioner said to have gone underground resurfaces in Western Kenya

By Dickens Wasonga in Kisumu.

In what appeared like a push by the Kenya government to shield its dented image over media reports indicating that a senior deputy provincial commissioner based in Nyanza was missing, top security chiefs hurriedly convened press briefings in three different towns, several miles apart� to set the record straight and stop what it described as confusion spread by the press to mislead the public.

However one fact� could not be wished away by the good old government and that fact was� that Mr Oku Kaunya who is understood to be� a potential and key witness against the sponsors of the country s worst post poll violence had indeed gone into hidding after he recieved death threatening text messages on his cell phone a few weeks ago.

While Nairobi woke up to the shocking news of the pc s disapearence, Nyanza province and Kisumu in particular was already awash with speculations about who could have possibly wanted to eliminate Mr. Oku Kaunya who was serving in the area as a� regional commisioner in charge of central part of the province.

In a bid to alley fears and stop more confusion, as they described the media reports, the Ps in the ministry of internal security and provincial administration adressed a well attended morning press conference in Nairobi where he declared the officer was on annual leave and was not missing..

The same chorus was being echoed miles away in Kisumu, Nyanza provincial headquaters by the local Pc Mr Francis Mutie who seemed to have been� taken aback by the reports of the alleged disappearence of his principal assistant.

What they however failed to tell the media was why they appeared only too keen to dismiss the media reports instead of taking a keen interest in investigating the matter that touched on the very life of one of their own dear senior colleague.

Even more interesting is the fact that the reports about the disappearence of the officer was made to a section of Kenyan media by his wife who dusclosed that the man had not been home for three days and could not be reached even by the worried family members since the phone was swiched off.

Focussing its entire efforts only on� damage control the government was holding yet another press conference at the western provincial headquaters in Kakamega this time is strangely adressed by both� the area PC Mr Simon Kelele and the officer whose life is at stake.

Although the officer also denied earlier� press reports that said he was missing the senior administrator confirmed that he had recieved death threats and proceeded to report the matter to the police in Bungoma.

He also told the press that the same report was made to the police in Nyanza adding that the PCIO Mr Sabastian Ndaru was fully briefed.

Its however not clear why the senior civil servant chose to report and record statements over a threat on his life to the police several kilometers in another province instead of doing so Kisumu where he is based.

The Pc under whose command the officer worked� found himself hard pressed to explain to journalists gathered at his office why Kaunya s wife told the media in Kisumu that her husband was missing and even went ahead to record a statement with the CID officers in Kisumu if she indeed� was well aware that the man was on leave as put by his bosses.

Observers will be keen to follow the baffling� story of the deputy PC unfold given that he is said to be one of the potential and key witnesses of the post poll chaos that rocked the country in early 2008.

Kaunya was,until his posting in January as deputy Pc for Nyanza central,the administration police deputy commandant based at the formation s training school in Embakasi, Nairobi.

The Aps were variously mentioned as having taken a partisan role during and after the elections whose results were disputed and a section of the media in Kenya carried reports that alleged that some of the officers were killed by voters on suspicion that they were agents of a certain political party that had fielded its candidate on the presidential race.

Before media reports of his alleged disappearence,security men at his Kisumu s official residence and his driver are said to have also recieved death threats allegedly from a senior administration police officer in the rapid deployment unit (RDU), a special squad with no definite mandate.

Mrs. Milicent Kaunya,� the administrator s wife, his guard and the driver have since recorded statements at the Nyanza provincial police headquaters.

Yesterday Mrs Kaunya told journalists in Kisumu that a call was made to her husband by some sources that an offer of ksh. 3m had been placed on his head.

His lawyer Mr Aja Alubayi when contacted said Kaunya has lately resorted to putting up with friends because he was constantly being trailed by people he suspected were on a mission to kill him.

He said he met his client on march 4 in Nairobi before he left for Kisumu the following day and the pc recorded a stament about the threats on his life and family with PPO western province on march 8.

Potential witnesses in the post election violence have alleged increased torment and threats by potential suspects, forcing many of them� into hiding for lack of state protection.

Kaunya was also the commandant of the Ap training school, where it is alleged the disputed results of the presidential poll were manipulated.

Its widely believed the planners and financiers of post election chaos fear the deputy PC is a vital source of information International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requires to build up a firm case against the post election violence suspects.

Its interesting also to know that Kaunya was sent to Thailand when the Waki Commission was going round the country collecting information on post election violence.

Upon return he was sent on study leave at the national defence college (NDC) in Karen, Nairobi before he was redeployed in Kisumu as deputy Pc even before graduating at the NDC.

But yesterday the goverment appeared caught offguard and even though its senior officers were dispatched to adress the media,it was clear that something unusual was going on that has indeed compromised the security of one of its senior officer and all that it should, move swiftly to do was to comprehensively probe the matter.

END.