Heavy rains causing floods in Ethiopia has rescinded cholera out-break that has killed at least 182 people in the last few months.

BBC has reported that, “some 20,000 people have been infected since the outbreak erupted in June.”

The situation has worried the United Nations. Recently some cases were reported in Arusha, Tanzania. The UN is afraid the situation could get worse and spread to many other countries in Africa.

“The United Nations is warning that the disease could even spread across the border to Kenya. Ethiopia’s health authorities are calling it acute watery diarrhoea and are still trying to establish whether the epidemic is in fact cholera. The outbreak has swept through Ethiopia over the last few months and has now spread to the capital, Addis Ababa, where two treatment centres have been set up.”

Accordning to BBC’s report, cholera is normally caused and spread quickly when “lack of access to clean drinking water is a major factor in the spread of diarrhoea as people turn to water sources that are often highly contaminated by sewage.”

By Korir, African Press in Norway (APN)

africanpress@chello.no

Source: BBC/19/11

The Mauritanians have staged historic voting. Last year the country experienced a bloodless coup.

The BBC has reported that the “turn-out was high. Nearly one million people were eligible to vote in the national parliament and municipal polls.”

The military junta that had taken power, ”after the ousting of President Maaouiya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya had promised an early return to civilian government.”

They have kept their promise and returned the country to civilian rule through this historic election. 

The former president ousted by the junta was accused of his autoritarianism. The country had experienced autoritarian rule for 20 years before the juntas took over.

According to BBC, “After casting his vote, the junta leader Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall said he was “satisfied to see Mauritanians embark on the road to democracy and consequently on the way to economic development and political stability.”

Results are expected on Monday.

By Korir, African press in Norway, (APN)

africanpress@chello.no

Source: BBC/19/11

Kenyan media has reported of teargassing of ODM-K supporters today.

In Nairobi today Sunday, the police teargassed ODM-K supporters who thronged the Kamukunji grounds for a planned prayer meeting according to the Kenyan media.

The government knows that party prayer meetings always turn political instead of doing what the day’s agenda was to be – prayers only.

Politicians from most parties in Kenya turn every opportunity they get, to talk politics and attack one another.

Even funerals attended by politicians get political instead of mourning the dead. It is a very sad trend that politicians who do so, turning funeral events to be political, are only thinking of how to retain their seats in parliament.

For them, the dead person they go to mourn is not of any value to them in future politics, so they turn the funeral function into a campaign to build their political kingdom.

By Korir, A frican Press in Norway (APN)

africanpress@chello.no

Source: Kenya media reports/20/11

<President Kibaki�(left photo)�and the opponent Raila Odinga�(right photo>)

(Published earlier / Republished now due to�huge interest�in the story by our readers. This is happening due to the coming Presidential elections where the two men will battle out in hope to take over State House. ODM-K�almost fell apart when it split into two factions one led by Raila (ODM) and the other Kalonzo Musyoka (ODM-K).�Chances for the two men in a split position to defeat Kibaki’s PANU is getting slim unless they join forces one way or another.�

Raila Odinga, when he was the Minister for Roads in�Mwai Kibaki’s government, pulled down many expensive houses in Kenya telling Kenyans that he was doing so, “in the name of roads expansion.”

Many of the houses pulled down belonged to the Kikuyus and�non-Luo�communities who, on loosing their properties,�were denied compensation by the Roads ministry then headed by Raila.

Those who lost their properties had nowhere to go. When the president discovered the infliction�Raila was causing to�the Kikuyu and other communities, he sacked him from the position of the minister in-charge of roads.

When reports were released on the houses Raila ordered pulled down, there was none on the list downed�in�Nyanza Province, Raila’s home province.

Now, Raila has continued his campaign to take over power in Kenya and many question what will happen to the�landlords should Raila become the President.

Will he use his prerogative as “president” to order road expansions that will cause the pulling down of houses without compensation like he did when he was the Roads Minister? Every landlord should have a reason to worry!

A vote for president, may turn into a vote to demolish their houses!

According to the present constitution, the president is above the law. He can order the pulling down of houses without compensation, without risking to be prosecuted.

Kenya should not forget that when Jomo Kenyatta was president, �Raila’s father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was vice-president. A man who wanted so much to become president. His�political ambition saw�him leave KANU, the�ruling party at the time, to form his own party, the KPU, and got the help�from Russia in order to distabilise Kenyatta’s government.

When Oginga did not manage to take power from Kenyatta, he waited eyeing for the post from the side-lines. Daniel Arap Moi took over from Kenyatta and Oginga’s frustrations could no longer be hidden.

He became very desperate and decided to engineer the attempted coup in 1982, a coup against Moi which almost succeeded. Oginga was at the time in house arrest in Kisumu, but still managed to communicate with the coup plotters.

Raila is now trying to take over the Nyanza torch eyeing for presidency, hoping to dislodge Kibaki by all means possible.

Recently, we reported on two ODM-K leaders who are planning a coup before the 2007 general elections. We also revealed a secret list distributed abroad by ODM-K on power sharing that could see Raila take over the presidency if ODM-K wins the elections.

The Luo community leaders have been quoted in the past saying that it is time for the Luo people to rule Kenya. It now remains to be seen what methods will be used to make to the presidency by all those aspiring to lead Kenya.

By API

This story was published earlier:�Now edited

Koigi wa Wamwere, formerly a refugee in Norway during former President Moi’s rule, and now an assistant minister for information in Kibaki’s government has advised his constituents, asking them to scrutinise the manifestos of political parties before joining or giving them support.

Saying that the General Elections was around the corner, the Subukia MP warned the electorate to be wary of political parties that may divide people on tribal lines.

He wants his constituents to be focused and

development conscious.

“Wamwere was addressing patients and medical staff during a free medical camp at Dundori health centre in his constituency yesterday. The one-day camp was sponsored by the legislator and the ministry of Health. During the exercise, over 1,000 patients were treated;” reports the Times.

In Kenya some leaders are thinking along tribal lines. They seek support from their tribes in their efforts to be elected to parliament.

ODM-K has been strongly criticised by many including the former president Daniel Arap Moi. The critics accuse the party leaders including, Raila Odinga of thinking “tribal”.

President Kibaki recently warned politicians who are preaching conflicts, causing fear in the country, telling them that they are being watched and will be dealt with accordingly.

By Korir, African Press in Norway (APN)

africanpress@chello.no

Source: The Times/Kenya/20.11

The Daily Nation (Kenya) has reported that the best known Judge in South Africa Justice Edwin Cameron is better known for fighting against HIV/Aids. It is reported that he became the first high-ranking “official to go public with his HIV-positive status in a country where the reality of Aids is still denied in some official circles.”

The judge is quoted saying, “I hope that my public speaking, lectures and my book have helped people realise that HIV is not an unclean contamination, nor a moral judgement, nor a divine condemnation, but a simple viral infection – one that can now be medically managed. I hope, also, that my criticism of international drug companies (for extorting profits) will help in bringing down the prices of drugs and that my criticism of the government’s denialism in the late 1990s led to a change in policy and opinion.”

He was quoted saying so, “during an editors’ seminar on HIV/Aids in Johannesburg recently. The seminar was organised by the International Institute for Journalism and attracted newspaper editors from various African countries.”

HIV/aids is still a stigmatiser in many countries and talking about it is “tabu.”  Many countries lack medicine because of the high costing on the drugs. Those infected in developing countries suffer the most.

By Korir, African Press in Norway, (APN)

africanpress@chello.no

Source: Daily Nation -Kenya/19/11 

The question in the mind of intellectuals and governments in Africa is how to develop the continent if Africans are not “eating local”, what they produce.

Now they are being encouraged to think globally but eat local in order to promote their own products instead of importing goods that they have in Africa.

African countries should be encouraged to import from one another.

According to a repot by IPS, ”it’s certainly a logical suggestion: in an effort to make cocoa-producing countries in Africa less dependent on consumers abroad, why not increase domestic consumption of cocoa products?”

It is reported that Africa produces more than 75 per cent of the world’s cocoa, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, and yet the continent consumes about two percent of this produce. The rest is shipped to European countries and the United States. These countries are importing and also have a have too big a say on pricing and as a result, “prices that are set without much consideration for production costs.” To get cheaper prices on cocoa the Europeans have tied lower prices to bad quality cocoa beans from Africa.

“The most pragmatic way for Africa to control what goes to the international market in order to influence the cocoa price, is to significantly increase local consumption within Africa,” says Abiodun Falusi, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Ibadan in south-western Nigeria;” reports IPS.

The failure by African countries to determine the prices curtails development in the region. “African countries, though the largest producers, cannot influence prices (of cocoa) due to bulk export of raw cocoa beans, low level of domestic consumption…and weak demand in the major consuming countries — which calls for the development of a sustainable policy framework for African cocoa in the world market;” reports IPS.

The largest producing countries in Africa met in May in Abuja, Nigeria to discus the matter.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Togo and Uganda.

The report says, “The countries agreed that this should be achieved through development of cocoa consumption habits, raising awareness amongst citizens of the nutritional and health benefits of cocoa products — and encouraging research, development and commercialisation of new cocoa products.”

The participants have realised the importance of encouraging the African to think globally but promote their products by eating local products.

 ”We all agreed at the Abuja summit that we will encourage the local consumption of a higher proportion of cocoa…because when we consume a lot of it locally, we will be in a position to reduce what goes out to the international market, and by this we can control prices,” Akinwale Ojo, executive secretary of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), told IPS in an interview from Akure, in south-west Nigeria.”

(CAN = an umbrella organisation for cocoa farmers, processors, buyers and exporters.)

By Korir, African Press in Norway, (APN)

africanpress@chello.no

Source: IPS/30/10

In solidarity with under-developed nations, South African has said it is against brain drain in the health sector.

Employing expatriates from developed countries to work in South African health system does not promote development in other African countries of Africa.

“As concerns continue to be expressed about the departure of African medical professionals for wealthy countries, South Africa says it is not recruiting health workers from developing nations, something that also reflects the country’s own experience of the medical “brain drain”.IPS reports that according to Sibani Mngabi, a spokesman for the Department of Health, ”Many of our doctors are, for example, moving to Canada. Health workers typically find work abroad through recruitment agencies. But, “If there is a movement of health professionals, it should be structured between the Canadian and South African governments”.South Africa is doing the right thing. Allowing brain drain in any sector affects the economy of developing countries.

In the spirit of helping other African countries, South Africa does not encourage employment by any sector that would like to get people from developed countries to work in South Africa. Speaking to IPS,  the South African is reported saying, ”In the same breath, South Africa should not be seen as recruiting from African countries. It will disadvantage countries which do not have enough health professionals. Also noting that exceptions could be made: “We can consider looking at specific cases such as family reunions. If, for example, a spouse is working here, his or her partner can be considered for recruitment.”
Some developed countries like Britai has taken this matter seriously and “in August this year, Britain announced a similar plan to stop recruiting nurses from developing countries.”South Africa has taken the lead in Africa to restrict the practice. IPS quotes Mngabi saying, “We also signed an agreement with the United Kingdom in 2003 (for it) not to recruit health professionals from South Africa. As a result, we have experienced a 50 percent decrease in the number of nurses going to the United Kingdom.”

If many countries do the same, African countries will not loose professionals to developed countries. That will help Africa to develope. The problem, however, is the low pay to professionals in developing countries.

When a professional from a developing country gets an offer in a developed country, where he or she knows will pay probably 4 times what he or she earns in the home country, the first thing to think is the personal gain and not the development of the country.

By Korir, African Press in Norway (APN)

africanpress@chello.no

Source: IPS/14/11