Africabeat

Uganda: Andrew Mwenda arrested (again)

Controversial Ugandan journalist (and TEDster), Andrew Mwenda has been arrested along with two other staffers at the Independent, where Mwenda is managing editor.

According to the newspaper spokesman quoted in the Reuters story, Bob Kasango, "We think the government is not happy with a story The Independence published in a recent issue exposing atrocities committed by government forces during the war."

From The Independent's website:

In a two-pronged operation, police and operatives from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT) and the Black Mamba squad raided The Independent again, exactly a month after the first raid.    

 

 

It is 9.30am on Saturday April 26 and The Independent’s Managing Editor Andrew Mwenda is driving from his home along Golf Course Road in Kololo for the Capital Gang programme on Capital FM radio. As he climbs up Coral Crescent Rise towards Lower Kololo Terrace, two suspicious cars come from in front of him, the front one towards him at breakneck speed. Thinking that perhaps the driver had lost control, he stops and tries to reverse when suddenly three other cars appear from behind, one knocking his rear bumper.

Read more at the TED blog

(Thanks for alerting me to this, Juliana)

Violence in Kenya Causing Regional Fuel Crisis

The post-election violence in Kenya is having devastating effects throughout East Africa as fuel shipments from Mombasa, the region's largest port, ground to a halt. 

Enter the Ugandan army.

Joseph Karoki writes that Ugandan troops have entered Nyanza Province in Western Kenya to help secure safe passage of oil trucks bound for Kampala:

Last night I recieved news that there were reports of Ugandan militia in or around Nyanza Province and Western Province. I waited utill I got confirmation from the ground. After several late night phone calls, I did confirm that Ugandan Forces were indeed within Kenyan borders. Just within the last hour Ugandan Army Spokesman, Major Felix Kulayigye, confirmed the deployment of the troops on Tuesday, saying “it is to forestall possible spill over of violence in Kenya”...

...So if we do have Ugandan militia in Nyanza province, many of you might ask why? Well, here is a simple answer. Uganda is a landlocked country that relies heavily on the political stability of Kenya for imports and exports through the Mombasa Port on the Indian Ocean and is dependent on the the safe passage of goods through Kenya.The political instability has had devastating effects on Uganda’s economy.  Uganda, fuel prices have risen from USh2,400 (Sh100) to USh5,000 (Sh225). Most oil importing companies have reported that they have not replenished their stocks after their reservoirs dried up. So there is motive as to why Uganda would get involved.

His Kenyan readers are not too happy.

The Monitor newspaper says Uganda was woefully unprepared:

[Energy Minister Daudi Migereko] had a hard time explaining to the media how the country could suffer crippling scarcities almost immediately after the Kenyan turmoil began, and why the nation's reserves could not even last days.

Both the Monitor and New Vision report price gouging and long lines at the few stations in Kampala that haven't run out of petrol.  The Ugandans are trying to redirect shipments through Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania), but are facing major logistical problems, i.e., ships to carry fuel across Lake Victoria.  Moreover, because of the higher transport costs associated with that route, importing via Dar would not normalize prices.

Continuing west, government officials say Rwanda, which (surprise surprise) still has several days of reserves, may be facing its own crisis unless it can start importing fuel again.

I can't imagine what the situation must be like in Eastern Congo.

There's been a lot of coverage of Western pressure on Kibaki (well, minus the Americans of course, who found in him a staunch "War on Terror" ally).  But I imagine that today, it's Museveni and Kagame who are really giving him hell.

Uganda: African Governments Should Study Communist China

From an opinion piece from the Ugandan newspaper New Vision:

Due to Africa's lack of understanding of the character and real intentions of China, its relationship with the emerging Asian giant remains largely unbalanced and unfavourable to the interests of the African people

*  *  *

Uganda: African Governments Should Study Communist China

Dr. Kiggundu Amin Tamale
Kampala

MUCH has been- written about China's burgeoning global influence and pervasiveness as well as its seemingly insatiable desire to establish and maintain strong economic ties with several African countries. Some top-notch analysts have also described Beijing as a new Mecca for global trotting- cap in hand African leaders.

However, before declaring China as a close and dependable friend, African policymakers need to ask themselves one important and valid question, that is, does Africa understand communist China well? If the answer is no, then, Africans need to find a way of understanding this hitherto insular emerging Asian economic giant.

Continue reading this piece on allAfrica.com

Uganda: India-Africa trade

(I am kicking myself for missing this since I happen to be in Kampala now):

KAMPALA, June 29 (Reuters) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called on rich and middle-income nations on Friday to stop wasting Africa's time with aid pledges and instead open their markets to African products.

Fair trade campaigners say rich nations such as the United States and European Union countries give aid with one hand whilst refusing to cut subsidies and tariffs with the other, making it impossible for poor countries to compete. "The Europeans waste a lot of our time coming here talking about aid," he said. "We told them: if you talk about aid, I go to sleep. What we need is market access -- open your markets to our products." Billions of dollars of aid pumped into Africa in the past 30 years has sparked debate over whether money was wasted.

Museveni was speaking at a meeting on India-Africa trade in Kampala, hosting delegates from African countries and 30 Indian multinationals investing on the continent.

Read more at Reuters AlertNet

TED Global, Africa: The Next Chapter

I tried putting it out of my mind for as long as possible. That what you're supposed to do with birthdays, Christmas, and trips to Tanzania.  Otherwise, anticipation throws you into permanent reverie about all the wonderful and exciting things to come or, even more frightening, makes you suddenly erupt in fits of squeals and laughter when you think no one is looking.  Not that I would know from personal experience of course; this is just what I've heard from friends.  Living through either of these common side effects is not a particularly desirable way to spend your time if the party is, say, six months away.

So I tried putting it off for as long as possible.

But there comes a point when the you just can't keep putting off the inevitable.

I'm going to Tanzania!!!!!!

Let me explain.

Uganda update: new military court charges and a media ban

Since my last post, "The facade of democracy slipping in Uganda," Museveni's unraveling has continued. Kizza Besigye, a major political rival who was set to appear before the High Court on charges of treason and rape, has now been charged by Uganda's military court. Even if the civilian High Court grants Besigye bail, he may still be held indefinitely on military charges.

In addition to banning pro-Besigye demonstrations in Kampala, the government has threatened to shut down any news organization discussing Besigye or the case before a decision is made.

Related news articles:

"Museveni rival in military court" BBC News
"Museveni defends rival's arrest" BBC News
"Blair attacks arrest of Ugandan opposition leader" Mail & Guardian

Tags

Uganda, Museveni, Besigye, Africa, media, law, democracy

The facade of democracy slipping in Uganda

On Wednesday, Museveni announced a ban all public demonstrations in the capital, Kampala.

Supporters of Kizza Besigye, President Yoweri Museveni's opponent in the 2001 presidential election, have been staging protests against Besigye's recent arrest and imprisonment. After returning from four years in exile, Besigye was charged with treason and rape. If found guilty of treason, Besigye could face the death penalty.

The ban on demonstrations, as part of a larger pattern of tightening political controls, raises some serious questions about the future of democracy in Uganda.

Museveni to run fo reelection

Just in case there was any doubt, Museveni has announced his intention to stand for reelection in March. Up until now, Museveni's leadership has made Uganda one of the region's success stories. His refusal to step down threatens to tear all that apart.

News articles:

"Uganda's president to stand again" BBC News

Tags:

africa, politics, Uganda, Museveni, election

Liberia and Uganda's fragile democracies

Upcoming elections in Liberia and Uganda show how fragile democracy in Africa can be.

The economist v. the footballer

When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won Liberia's first post-conflict presidential election I had two reactions: One, hooray for an African nation for choosing capability over celebrity, a World Bank Economist over a footballer, a woman over a man. Two, how many European countries and countries where women enjoy a lower social status than we apparently enjoy in the U.S. have to elect women as heads of state before we can elect a non-Christian, let alone a woman, to the Presidency?

Her opponent, George Weah, continues to protest the election results (59% to 41% in favor of Ms. Johnson Sirleaf - a 130,000 vote margin), even though many prominent African heads of state and the international community at large have declared the election free and fair. Weah's supporters refuse to be deterred and have continued to protest in the streets of Monrovia as an election fraud inquiry begins. So far they have not been able to provide evidence of fraudulent votes numbering anything close to enough to narrow the gap between Weah and Johnson Sirleaf.

In well-institutionalized democracies, such a broad mandate would likely silence any questioning about the election's validity. Even when the vote is much closer (as it was in the United States in 2000 and in 2004), there is a sense that if a loser contests the results, he is crying over spilled milk. Losing parties quickly regroup so as to maximize their influence as an opposition party and attempt to gain ground in the next election.