The Kenyan media has now reported that Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that he is not in a hurry to occupy state house. Being the Opposition leader, this means he is giving way to President Kibaki to get the second term.

Observers see this as a very intelligent move by Uhuru who is still seen as one of the ODM-K presidential aspirants opposed to Kibaki.

When we now look at things as they are, Uhuru pulling out of ODM-K soon, means those remaining are in ODM-K are actually LDP men only namely; Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka.

William Ruto is not winning and this is a Kanu man anyway. If he thinks he is going to move to state house this time, then his is a theoretical dream. It is difficult for him to climb at this time. The best for him is to strengthen Uhuru’s Kanu faction and ensure that he gets a parliamentary seat, otherwise he may find himself in the cold.

Musalia Mudavadi, Najib Balala and the other ODM-K presidential aspirants are no threat to President Kibaki. So the voters had better not waste time even considering their interest.

Now what will remain for the voters to choose from are the two LDP men Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka, both now bottled in ODM-Kenya and President Kibaki who will wave the Narc-Kenya flag.

So the next elections is in actual sense between Narc-Kenya, LDP, Kanu one of Uhuru, Kanu 2 of Biwott and other smaller parties

If LDP continues to call itself ODM-Kenya, then their members will have to make their mind between Raila and Kalonzo – they have to look at which one of them has the ability to defeat Kibaki. They have to look at their track record.

Both men were in Kanu. Later on they jumped to LDP and ODM-K. Now they plan a long jump into state house. It is only one of them who will meet Kibaki at the polls.

What will be tricky is how Uhuru of Kanu faction and Nicolas Biwott’s other Kanu fraction decide to proceed.

Uhuru will not let Raila go to state house. Neither will Biwott. So Kanu will want to fight it alone and if they do not succeed, it is definite that they will decide to be in a coalition government with Kibaki if Kibaki does not get the majority to make him rule alone.

When ODM-K remaining group – or call them the two LDP men – Raila and Kalonzo turn to their members one of them will become victorious. Raila or Kalonzo.

Kalonzo has more experience than Raila when it comes to foreign policy. He has served for many years in government than Raila.

But will that count when ODM-K members are choosing their man? We wait and see. It is not the media that decides but the voters!

The Kenyan politics is now beginning to be very interesting to watch.

By Korir, African Press in Norway, apn, africanpress@chello.no tel +47 932 99 739 or +47 6300 2525 source.standard.ke

AFP News brief

Eritrea bans female circumcision

by Peter Martell

Eritrea has banned the painful and risky practice of female circumcision, widely carried out by women in their homes in both Muslim and Christian communities of the Horn of Africa nation.

Anyone who requests, incites or promotes female genital mutilation (FGM) will be punished with a fine and imprisonment, said a government statement posted on the Internet late Wednesday.

“Female circumcision is a procedure that seriously endangers the health of women, causes them considerable pain and suffering besides threatening their lives,” it said.

Some two million Sub-Saharan African women are circumcised each year, and around 130 million women, mainly in Africa, have suffered such mutilation, according to the World Health Organisation, which adopted a resolution against the practice in 1993.

The Eritrean ban, which came into force on March 31, follows a campaign by the National Union of Eritrean Women, which says that 94 percent of Eritrean women have been circumcised.

“This ban is one of the most important issues the union has been working for,” said Belainesh Seyoum, NUEW’s head of international relations, adding that they had carried out workshops to alert people to the risks of the practice across the country.

Circumcision, which is already a health risk because many practitioners lack appropriate medical equipment, can range from the stitching up of young girls’ vaginas to the excision of the clitoris.

Among the long-term complications are cysts, painful sexual intercourse, urinary incontinence and difficulties with childbirth.

Supporters of female circumcision argue that it helps prevent promiscuous behaviour. Women carry out the surgery as part of an initiation rite to adulthood.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF, which works with the Eritrean authorities to halt FGM, said it welcomed the ban but warned that community-based work must continue.

“The proclamation needs to be complemented by a continued strong sensitization of communities leading to a behavior change,” UNICEF spokeswoman Sara Johansson told AFP in Asmara.

Several African countries have banned female circumcision, including Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Senegal, but bans do not always halt the practice.

Young Eritreans on the streets of Asmara said they hoped the law would help change traditional beliefs.

“A lot of work has gone into trying to change attitudes, but people still believe that a girl who has not been circumcised will be wild and promiscuous,” said a 23-year-old female student, declining to be named.

“Having a punishment will act as a real deterrent.”

A 20-year-old male doing his military service also welcomed the measure.

“It’s a good move,” he said, also asking to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the subject.

“It will still continue, but it will make people think twice, and it provides a reason to resist pressure from the community to do it.”

Posted to APN by Karuga wa Njuguna

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Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) So far, none of the eleven core member countries of the recently formed Great Lakes Group have ratified the protocol on the establishment of the International Conference on Great Lakes, APA has learnt.

The Executive Secretary of the Conference, Ms Liberata Mulamula, said in Dar es Salaam on Saturday in a press conference that the ratification of the protocol was critical to speed up implementation of the regional body’s aspirations.

She however said that Tanzania was finalizing procedures to ratify the protocol and that it will soon be tabled in parliament. Other countries forming the regional bloc are Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda, Central African Republic, Angola, Kenya and Sudan.

“Currently, the protocol ratification process is at the ministerial level, but we intend to take the pact for ratification under the certificate of urgency,” added Ambassador Begum Taj, the new national co-ordinator, who has replaced Ms Mulamula in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation’s Great Lakes desk.

Mrs Mulamula, who is in the country for consultative talks with the government on the proposed regional Council of Ministers conference scheduled for next month, said only Zambia and Burundi have so far paid their contributions to the Secretariat.

She said Tanzania has promised to settle immediately the outstanding contribution amounting to US$259,000.

Ms Mulamula said that the African Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to support the establishment of the Special Reconstruction and Development Fund, which will be used to fund the regional cross border development projects.

The pact to establish the Great Lakes countries grouping was sealed by the heads of the state and government summit held in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital last year.

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Nairobi (Kenya) The Kenya minister for foreign affairs has lauded the efforts of the member states of the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA) for their continued efforts in fighting the proliferation of small arms in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa.

Raphael Tuju commended the 10 member states of the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa for their commitment and the political goodwill they have given to the RECSA secretariat which is based in Nairobi.

“Kenya notes that the success of the achieved by RECSA in the implementation of the Nairobi Declaration and the Nairobi Protocol is largely due to existing commitment and dedication of the member states and the political goodwill they continue to give to the secretariat”, said Tuju.

Speaking during official opening of the RECSA’s new offices in Nairobi on Tuesday, the minister said the Kenyan government would continue to support RECSA in order to contain the proliferation and use of illicit small arms and light weapons.

“Kenya would like to assure her neighbours of her continued support to RECSA in order to contain the proliferation and the use of illicit small arms and light weapons,” he said.

Speaking at the same function, Isaac Musumba, Uganda’s minister for state and foreign affairs and who is also the chairman of RECSA, said that continued collaboration between governments and also the civil society through interaction with RECSA has eased out hostility.

“This collaboration has greatly assisted in easing out traditional suspicions and hostilities between civil society and governments,” Musumba said.

The Nairobi Declaration, setting up RECSA, was signed by the 10 member states in 2000 to contain the proliferation of arms.

Published by Korir, African Press in Norway, apn, africanpress@chello.no tel +47 932 99 739 or +47 6300 2525 source.apa

Nairobi (Kenya) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given 115,942 dollars to the National Olympic Committee of Kenya and other 18 federations in the country, towards the preparations for the forthcoming All Africa Games as well as the 2008 Olympic Games, APA has learnt.

Among the disciplines that benefited are athletics, swimming, handball, softball, tennis, lawn tennis, weightlifting, wrestling, boxing, volleyball and shooting.

Speaking at the ceremony, National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) chairman Kipchoge Keino, challenged the federations to use the money efficiently.

He also challenged the federation to improve on Kenya’s performances better than what was seen in Athens in the 2004 Olympics where it won only one gold medal.

Kenya will take part in the All African Games in Algiers in July as well as in next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing.

Published by Korir, African Press in Norway, apn, africanpress@chello.no tel +47 932 99 739 or +47 6300 2525 source.apa

Nairobi (Kenya) The Kenyan minister for East African Community (EAC), has announced that the three member states have signed a new strategic action plan that will regulate the use of Lake Victoria.

John Koech and his colleagues from the three East African partner states unveiled the plan as they signed the treaty on Friday in Kisumu, about 600 kilometres from Nairobi, according to a statement sent to APA on Saturday from the EAC offices in Nairobi.

The statement signed on Friday said that the treaty aims at reducing pollution and a myriad of other problems such as the water hyacinth (weed), among other things in the lake shared by Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

“As a shared resource, it is imperative that the lake be used in a manner that will benefit all the three East African countries” said the statement.

Koech said the effective utilization of the lake would translate into massive economic gain for the region.

He added that the community, through the Lake Victoria Basin Commission, had formulated both short and long-term measures to eradicate the water hyacinth from the lake and prevent similar future occurrences

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Accra (Ghana) Ghana’s medical director of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Dr. Fred Sarfo, Wednesday said hypertension was on the rise in the country and estimated that about 50 percent of the citizens were suffering from the disease, APA has learnt.

He observed that heart-related diseases were increasing in the country, and warned that if left unchecked, many people will die of the illness in greater proportions than the deadly HIV/AIDS virus.

Dr. Sarfo, who is the medical director of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana, located some 250 kilometers northeast of Accra, made the statement at the end of a two-day cardiothoracic and muscular workshop in Kumasi on Wednesday.

He therefore enticed Ghanaians to regularly visit hospitals for check-ups in order to help them to detect the disease earlier and prevent deaths.

The workshop deliberated on early detection of heart-related diseases.

A Ghanaian medical professor in Germany, Prof. Charles Yankah, said there was only 10 percent of survival rate among Ghanaian suffering from hypertension while was 60 percent in Europe and urged government to provide adequate resources for all regional hospitals to ensure early detection of the disease so as to minimize its infection.

The workshop was attended by experts from South Africa, Germany and Ghana.

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Accra (Ghana) The President of the Ghana Heart Foundation and Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s Cardiothoracic Centre at Korle -Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Tuesday disclosed that the centre has trained 27 heart surgeons from four African countries since its establishment in 1990 by former Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings, APA has learnt.

Prof. Frimpong Boateng made the disclosure during the launch of a book titled, “Deep Down My Heart” in the Western Regional capital of Sekondi-Takoradi some 200 kilometers southwest of Accra.

The renowned Ghanaian surgeon said heart surgery was very difficult to perform owing to the delicate nature of the heart coupled with its complex location and urged practising surgeons to step up commitment in their duties in Africa.

Professor Boateng said the Centre was committed to support and promote access to heart surgeons in Africa through the provision of quality and improved training for heart surgeons in Africa.

The training of the African surgeons indicated that Ghana’s Cardiothoracic Centre has assumed international dimension, he noted.

Those trained include 20 candidates from Nigeria, five Ghanaians, one Togolese and one Ethiopian.

Published by Korir, African Press in Norway, apn, africanpress@chello.no tel +47 932 99 739 or +47 6300 2525 source.apa