New comment on your post #3197 “The Kikuyus pay more taxes than any other community in Kenya”
Author : Anthony (IP: 213.147.70.6 , 213.147.70.6)

Commentary:
The comparison of Kikuyus to the Jews may sound like a mere joke; however, a closer look into the migratory myths of the Kikuyus to their current location may actually confound many.

History has it that the Kikuyus like other Bantu groups migrated from the West Africa. However, the history is not very clear how the Kikuyu people eventually settled on the area around Mount Kenya. More so, history suggest that the Kikuyus followed the same migratory route that other Bantu groups followed, that is along the great lakes via mount Kilimanjaro down to the coast. That route does not make sense of how actually Kikuyus eventually settled on the foot of Mt. Kenya.

However, some Kikuyu migratory tales as narrated by the earlier generations seams to indicate that the Kikuyus may actually have migrated to their current location from a place called Axum in Ethiopia.

it is said that after the break up of Axum, the kikuyus migrated southwards together with the covenant and hid it on Mt. Kenya, that is why they normally regarded Mt. Kenya as a seat for their God.It is a well known fact that the ancient Axum Empire was occupied by group of communities which had blood relationship with the Jews through the famous queen of Sheba. More so, the southward migration from Axum to the eventual current settlement at the foot of Mt. Kenya appears to make more sense than the West, Southwards and then Northward kind of movement.

Kikuyus thirst for Business and investment is not only restricted to the Kenyan Borders, their business acumen stretches across the world. Including, far flung places such as USA, S.Africa, United Kingdom etc.

Kikuyus have no raw desire for power the only reason why they wish to control political happenings is to ensure that the entrepreneur spirit in them is not dampened by careless and un -favorable policies or poor governance.

Published by API africanpress@getmail.no

<(By Mohammed Legally-Cole)

Jayzik Azikiwe, Jayz as she was fondly called was born in London on the 12^th May 1958 by a British Mother and did you know that she was the daughter of the father of Independent and former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Nnandi Azikiwe? Well, it is not a surprise at all, she was. Jayzik was a lifetime poet and was known as the ‘phenomenal woman’, attributed from one of Maya Angelou’s poetic expressions.

She lived at full speed, in full colour, full of energy and always brought joy into many peoples’ lives. Whether you know her or not, she was most likely to all. She was a philanthropist and marvelous designer with fierce dreadlocks decorated with silver rings and seashells and always dazzling with her vibrant colour – Greens, Oranges, Yellows and Black or Red, Gold and Green. She was very much known for her broad cheek smiling that always made her look like a perpetual sixteen year old.

She sponsor a basic School in her locality (Kololi area) with many pupils, she provided uniforms and fees for some of the pupils and even pay some teachers. If, by some chance, her smile didn’t grab your attention then her voice would, a lively and sweet, East London accent calling out loud and boisterous greetings, as she flew by in her open top jeep. ‘Hi, (never hello) and ‘Nanga def? (In wolloff- meaning how are you?’  Jayzik made a point of knowing people and even those who didn’t have the chance to meet her personally, most likely have heard her voice on the radio, singing the song that she wrote and performed, and that became her trademark, ‘Everyone Loves The Gambia’.In her professional career, Jayzik was a performance poet, songstress and song writer. 

She worked closely with ‘The Mad Professor’ and his Ariwa sound system and performed internationally with the Reggae Collective Sistas, and in support of various internationally renowned artists including Beenie Man, Luciano, Soul II Soul, Chaka Khan, Levi Roots, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, Sizzla, Lucky Dube, Maxi Priest, Yammie Bolo and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.  She loved touring and performed in many countries, too many to list.  Particular highlights included appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in San Francisco, Geel in Belgium, Summer Jam in Germany, Reggae on the River of California USA. Jayzik Azikiwe, the UK’s simple poet was featured in a Levi Roots soundtrack ‘Imagination’ which was nominated for MOBO for the Reggae Performer.

On stage, Jayzik called herself ‘The Simple Poet’.  In many ways, this is exactly what she was, with her broad cheek smiles beautifully simple.  Jayzik enjoyed the simple life, took simple pleasures, had no need for expensive things and whatever she did have, she used to help and bring happiness to others.  She wasn’t interested in status and could sit with simple people as easily as she could the big stars with whom she performed. 

 Jayzik’s artistry speaks for itself.  She was a prolific poet.  Not only the dub poems she recorded, ‘Problem Child’, ‘Burn Down the Teachings’, ‘Snowman in Winter’, ‘No Hello’, but also the constant flow of rhyme and wisdom that was her everyday life.  She loved language and words and had, before she died, been developing her own ‘translation song’ drawing from the Fula, Mandinka, Wolloff, Serehule, Jola, Serre and Manjago people she knew, whose language she was always learning and weaving into inspirational and educational poetry.

How I Come to know Jayzik Azikiwe? It was at the time she was about to do the song she wrote for The Gambia Tourist Authority, ‘Everybody Loves The Gambia, the haven in Africa’.

We met at the house of Abass Deen, a prolific professional guitarist, who did the strings in that music. I started off by asking her about her surname which everyone would guess it would be. I also told her about mine, also with that type of background from Nigeria.    She wasn’t interested in status and could sit with simple people as easily as she could with the big stars with whom she performed. That was why she didn’t like talking about her fatherly background though she had to explain that to me one day at her restaurant at the Senegambia roundabout. I can recalled when I made several attempts to get the Nigerian Embassy in The Gambia and booked an appointment with the Deputy High Commissioner concerning her death, we both went to pay the usual condolence to the bereaved family at Luigi’s Complex.

After obtaining her information from the daughter Joleene, the Deputy High Commissioner said ‘we have great respect for our leaders and been a daughter of our first President, we have to give her the respect.

 Jayzik had much to say about many things and could be relied upon to deliver a line or two for any occasion.  If ever anyone made the mistake of greeting her with the word ‘hello’; ‘Hello? Don’t you know that hell is low? How low can you go?’  If you said you were depressed; ‘Depressed? Get more depressed.  Get really depressed.  Get so depressed that you can’t get depressed any more. Then take a look at yourself in the mirror and see how ugly you look – that’ll make you laugh.’

On people giving her stress; this was what she had to say:

‘No one lives rent free in my brain’. On Humpty Dumpty; ‘He didn’t fall – he was pushed!’ Jayzik loved to laugh and to have people laugh with her.  Making people laugh and making music were two things for which she had a special talent.  She surrounded herself with music and where there was none, she would create it herself. She loved listening and watching musicals on TV, because, she said, whenever anything happened, however trivial, to the people in the story, they’d sing about it.  That was how she wanted to live and like many of the things she wanted out of life, Jayzik made it happen.  She could and did, sing about anything and everything, anytime and anywhere.

  Off stage (if there ever was such things for a natural born entertainer like Jayzik) she was a loving and much loved, mother, daughter, sister, aunty and friend.  Many of her family and friends are here now, having traveled to The Gambia to pay their last respects and see her laid to rest.  Family members suspect that she is watching and smiling, happy that they have come, some of them for the first time.  

The Gambia was home to Jayzik, a place that she loved, and where she chose to live and raise her children, up until her death.  Looking back on some of her poetry we might say that Africa had always been her destiny.  In the poem, ‘Snowmen in winter’, she wants to;

‘Run free in the fields lush with green and I’d rest in the shade of the palms. Love to swim in the deep blue ocean, Lie back on gold warm sand, Drink coconut milk and eat fresh fruit, Whilst stepping the Motherland’. Jayzik was very proud to be able to write a song celebrating The Gambia – the country and people that she held as her own. 

Life is tough sometimes.  Jayzik, having faced many challenges in her own life,  She did what she could to help, sponsoring a school in her local area in Kololi in The Gambia, helping to promote various Gambian artists and organising various networking events for those people of African heritage, like herself, who came from the diaspora to reconnect with their African roots.  Over and above these efforts, during hard times, she herself was a unique medicine.  Whatever the weather, no matter how bad the situation; Jayzik was always the same; guaranteed sunshine.

 “It’s the unofficial national anthem” she said of ‘Everyone Loves The Gambia’.  The song that she wrote and performed to publicise The Gambia worldwide as the ideal holiday destination.  She was thrilled with the song’s success and delighted by the fact that it was, and still is, played regularly, not only in the private and government radio stations within The Gambia, but also in Europe and America via CNN. 

Everyone loves The Gambia.  Jayzik loved The Gambia.  The Gambia, like all of us, loved Jayzik.  She was phenomenal, definitely one of a kind, and she will be deeply missed. Jayzik Azikiwe died in The Gambia on January 31^st January 2008 and she was survived by her eldest daughter Joleene (30), son (26) and her twins – male and female (7), her mother, younger sister, Mr. and Mrs. Luigi Maio of Luigi’s Complex and Restaurant, Madam Marina of Baobab Real Estate Ltd. Mrs. Rita Cole and family, The Department of State for Tourism and Culture, National Council for Arts and Culture and the Gambia Tourism Authority.  May her soul rest in perfect peace and harmony. She was buried on Saturday 9^th February 2008 in Banjul, The Gambia.

Published by API africanpress@getmail.no

The Great Lakes region is bowing under the pressure of broken distribution lines, with analysts now estimating that 100 million people have been affected by the blockade of the Northern Corridor — the road that runs from Mombasa to Eastern African hinterland.

Mombasa port feeds sea freight to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Southern Sudan. The blockade has thrown Uganda into its deepest economic crisis in recent times. Some 70 per cent of Mombasa’s transit cargo is for Uganda. Yet even as the port reports improved collection, importers in Kampala say that little of what is leaving Mombasa is arriving in Uganda. “These days the probability of your freight arriving safely in Kampala is a half and sometimes zero,” said a Kampala car importer on Friday.

The port’s enthusiasm to clear its own docks has even brought accusations from some in Uganda that clearing agents are offering misleading advice.Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) spokesperson, Mr Isah Sekito, said on Friday that traders were getting a raw deal from clearing agents. Some containers were getting through, he said, but the situation remained far from good. The post-election violence saw the port build up a peak of 19,000 uncollected containers, compared with a capacity of 7,000. By Friday last week, that had fallen to 11,000 docked containers, according to a Kenya Ports Authority official.

Trains are now running, although 24-hour schedules have been abandoned in favour of daylight operations only.  Truck pick-ups have also climbed. After a visit from Uganda’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Eriya Kategaya, the Kenyan Government agreed on January 31 to provide military escorts to trucks travelling from Nairobi to the Ugandan border. The first convoy saw 400 trucks arrive safely on February 1 under the protection of the Kenya army helicopters, jeeps and lorries. But despite its scale, the exercise amounted to only a third of the transit for a normal working day. The Northern Corridor is normally used by 1,250 trucks a day, carrying more than 10 million tonnes of cargo a year.

Importers have since struggled to get more containers through. “On February 5, we lost three vehicles, burnt in the Rift Valley region,” said Mr Sekito from Kampala. Many traders have now taken matters into their own hands, hiring security convoys from Kenyan security firms but the costs are high. “We have estimated that for a truck moving from Mombasa to the entry points of Malaba or Busia, the owner of the goods will pay $500, no matter whether it is carrying one container or two,” Mr Sekito said.

“For trucks moving from Nairobi to Busia or Malaba, the owner of the freight will pay $254 per truck. We are trying to see how we can help the traders”. The traders themselves are just as concerned. “If the Kenyan situation doesn’t normalise, we shall have no option but to look for other alternative means of income because you can’t do business with all these costs that are uncalled for,” said an importer specialising on construction materials.

Uganda also gets its fuel from Kenya. Refined in Mombasa, oil is piped to Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu, from where it is trucked to Uganda. The country needs 35 truckloads a day to meet its daily consumption of 1.75 million litres of diesel and petrol. Severe shortfalls in arrivals saw pump prices rise to $5 a litre in January. Local oil prices remain inflated, driving up Ugandan inflation, to 6.5 per cent in January from five per cent last year, and also affecting producers’ capacity to stay in business. With electricity supplies often unavailable, most producers use fuel-powered generators. They are also suffering from other raw material shortages.

Mr Andrew Luzze, a Ugandan researcher and policy analyst, contends that industries that depend on raw materials may be forced to cease production if supply lines don’t reopen fully. “You end up paying for labour, which is doing nothing,” he says. Agricultural exports, mainly coffee, but also tea and fish, account for 30 per cent of Uganda’s GDP. Hardly any of these perishable products has left the country this year, with insurers refusing to provide cover for transporters going into Kenya.

Also suffering are the seven million people in the region receiving food aid. The World Food Programme moves more than 1,000 tonnes of food a day out of Mombasa, according to Alistair Cook, WFP’s logistics co-ordinator. “WFP has to keep the (Northern) corridor in operation or else we will lose hundreds of thousands of refugees through starvation,” he told the UN’s information service, Irin. Other agencies have now opted to reroute in the face of the risks. The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has redirected through Tanzania steel imports from Dubai for a bridge it is constructing in Ajumani in northern Uganda.

The steel will arrive in East Africa via Mombasa, but the UNHCR is trucking it down to Tanzania, and to Uganda along the southern Corridor. The agency says the rerouting will add 20 per cent to transport costs.
UNHCR’s southern Sudan programme has also been heavily reliant on Kenya for supplies and as a transport route. The agency reports that it is now looking for Ugandan suppliers to replace the Kenyan ones, in order that it can deliver supplies without depending on Kenyan routes.

Uganda has also seen Government calls to stem the crisis by producing more locally. Commentators say there are few alternatives open to the country if the Northern Corridor route is not fully restored. Early hopes that Dar es Salaam Port might provide an alternative entry point have now faded. Ugandan importers describe this as a possible long-term solution. But the port is suffering from severe congestion, and while Tanzania has announced emergency measures to help get more containers docked, its capacity rests on expansion plans that are likely to take years to effect.

Published by Korir, API africanpress@getmail.no source.businessDaily.ke

Harare – Some of President Robert Mugabe’s most senior allies including his first deputy Joseph Msika are the brains behind former finance minister Simba Makoni’s dramatic rebellion last week, sources close to the mutiny told ZimOnline at the weekend.

They said Makoni, who shook Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU PF party to the core when he announced last Tuesday that he would challenge Mugabe in next month’s presidential poll, was also working with party politburo members John Nkomo, Solomon Mujuru, Vitalis Zvinavashe and Dumiso Dabengwa among other heavyweights.  Nkomo is ZANU PF chairman, while Mujuru, Zvinavashe and Dabengwa are former commanders of the ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrilla armies that fought for Zimbabwe’s independence under the leadership of Mugabe and the late Joshua Nkomo.

Mujuru and Zvinavashe are former commanders of Zimbabwe’s army and together with Dabengwa are believed to wield substantial influence within the country’s security forces that still comprise significant numbers of former guerillas especially in higher echelons.  Makoni, who commands considerable respect across the political divide and in business circles, enjoys the support of eight out of ZANU PF’s 10 provincial executives, according to our sources, who are all active members of ZANU PF and spoke on condition they were not named.

Mugabe’s home province of Mashonaland West and Midlands province, which is controlled by presidential aspirant Emmerson Mnangagwa, are the two provinces that do not support Makoni.  ZimOnline was unable to get immediate comment from Nkomo and the other top ZANU PF leaders, who were all said to be busy with the party’s internal exercise to select candidates for the March 29 elections that is expected to be completed today.  When contacted for comment, Makoni declined to deny or confirm whether he had the support of the top ZANU PF leaders insisting, as he has done all of last week that, he is “working with other progressive Zimbabweans.”

ZANU PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira dismissed as mere speculation suggestions that some top leaders of the party were backing Makoni, insisting the ruling party remained solidly behind Mugabe – its leader since the 70s.  Shamuyarira said: “The party is only aware of Makoni’s decision to leave the party and contest the March presidential election as an independent candidate. President Mugabe has the support of the whole presidium and other members of the politburo are solidly behind him.

“As far as the party is concerned, there is speculation that some members of the politburo were behind Makoni and we cannot waste time on speculation when elections are around the corner.”  However, our sources said the ZANU PF bigwigs led by Mujuru began plotting in earnest the move to oust Mugabe since a party conference in December 2006 when it became clear that the octogenarian leader would not quit power voluntarily.  The Mujuru group – that adopted Makoni as its front man – successfully blocked Mugabe’s bid at the December conference to extend his rule to 2010 without going to the ballot but the cunning President made an about turn and offered himself to stand as ZANU PF’s candidate in next month’s election.

The sources said the ZANU PF heavyweights have since last year held several meetings in Harare, Bulawayo and South Africa to perfect their plan as well as weigh the risks of taking on Mugabe, a wily and combative politician even as he turns 84 this month.  When the ZANU PF central committee met in March 2007 to adopt the resolutions passed at the Goromonzi conference, Msika openly challenged a resolution proposed by the party’s women’s league to declare Mugabe president for life.

“Msika was backed by Dabengwa and Makoni. This did not go down well with Mugabe who voiced his concern,” one of the sources said. The resolution was promptly dropped.  According to sources, subsequent meetings of the central committee or politburo saw Dabengwa, Mujuru and Zvinavashe taking turns to question and challenge Mugabe’s decisions both in the party and in the government.  During a politburo meeting last October, the four openly confronted Mugabe after he unilaterally re-admitted expelled war veterans leader Jabulani Sibanda into ZANU PF.   “The four men reminded Mugabe that Sibanda was expelled from the party and should not be involved in party affairs but he apparently ignored them,” another source said.

Sibanda has since his readmission helped mobilised support for Mugabe and last November organised a “million-man” march which saw several tens of thousands of party supporters march across Harare in solidarity with the veteran leader and his candidature in the presidential poll.  During another politburo meeting on November 25 last year, Dabengwa questioned Mnangagwa – who according to sources is fighting in Mugabe’s corner –why he wanted last December’s extra-ordinary congress to confirm and endorse Mugabe when it should elect a new leadership.

Makoni and Mujuru backed Dabengwa, but Mugabe with the support of Mnangagwa prevailed and the congress was convened to endorse the ageing leader as ZANU PF’s candidate for president.  “From then on, Mujuru and his group began moving to block what they saw as Mugabe’s imposition of himself as party candidate,” the source said.  Various options were considered including trying to use a politburo meeting that was held last month to reverse Mugabe’s endorsement as candidate while another option was to simply form a new party with Makoni as leader.  “Various options were looked at, but none were viable except for Makoni to make a public pronouncement and hope there will be a rebellion in the party,” said pour source.

While ZANU PF and nearly every Zimbabwean have been stunned by Makoni’s dramatic announcement last week, there has been no popular revolt within the ruling party against Mugabe.  It remains to be seen how Makoni and company will proceed, while all eyes are watching Mugabe to see how he will react to the biggest ever rebellion against his rule.

Published by Korir, API africanpress@getmail.no source.Zimoline

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday all but ruled out any alliance with former Finance Minister Simba Makoni whom he equated to “old wine in a new bottle.”

Tsvangirai said his party would not work together with Makoni since he is still a Zanu PF member. The founding MDC leader will contest President Robert Mugabe in yet another election on March 29 as the main opposition party’s candidate. “Dr Makoni has been part of the establishment for the past thirty years. He is equally accountable for the actions of Zanu PF,” said Tsvangirai, who, however, praised Makoni for being a patriot.
 
Makoni last week announced and declared that he would be challenging President Robert Mugabe in next month’s presidential elections scheduled for the end of March.
Tsvangirai described people calling for him to step aside and back Makoni for the presidential challenge as arrogant. “I am not going to betray anyone on that particular agenda. It (calls to back Makoni) is arrogance of the highest order. I am the leader of the MDC. I am not a leader of Zanu PF,” Tsvangirai said at a press conference where he also unveiled the opposition’s aspiring candidates for the March parliamentary and senatorial elections.
 
Asked what his party would do in the event that President Mugabe rigs the watershed elections, Tsvangirai said his party would decide what action to take after the elections but ruled out taking any court action this time “Experience is the best teacher. We will not go to court. We are going to win this election. Mugabe may rig it or steal it but we woud have won. What we will do afterwards (after elections) – ask me afterwards. Ask me when we cross the bridge,” Tsvangirai said.

Published by Korir, API africanpress@getmail.no source.Association of Zimbabwean Journalists 

There was no long list of the government’s achievements, nor was it full of the usual literary allusions. Friday’s state of the nation address was very different from most of President Thabo Mbeki’s previous efforts, raising the question of whether he was bowing to pressure from the ANC’s new leaders — or was trying to fend off precisely those pressures.

For what was different about this address was that this seemed to be Mbeki the listener, not Mbeki the arrogant. Not only did he seem at pains to listen to, and address, popular concerns — from the power crisis to crime to poverty — but he also seemed to be responsive to shifts in the balance of power.

Some of it was in the nuances: unusually, for example, he made a point of acknowledging the United Democratic Front and its role in the struggle. He also promised to intensify the national plan against HIV and AIDS, though he then quickly changed the subject to tuberculosis.

It was those ambivalent nuances that made it difficult to judge from the address just what it is Mbeki is up to. He did start by recognising explicitly that many South Africans were deeply uneasy about where their country was headed. He recognised concerns about the national electricity emergency, as well as about high inflation and interest rates and their effect especially on the poor. He conceded that people were worried about democracy and the constitution, in the wake of the suspensions of the heads of the police and of the national prosecuting authority. He acknowledged South Africans were concerned about crime and about what was going on in the ANC. It would be irresponsible, he said, to dismiss these as concerns of “the prophets of doom”. And he went on to talk at length about the electricity crisis, apologising on government’s and Eskom’s behalf, as well as addressing some of the other concerns.

It was, in that sense, a highly encouraging speech, one that suggests Mbeki is no longer quite as out of touch as he used to be, that he has learned the lessons that were driven home so forcibly at Polokwane, about listening and responding to what people actually think, not what he wants them to think. Had he gone ahead with an address that failed to recognise public sentiment and dodged issues such as electricity and the Scorpions, Mbeki would indeed have risked a Rubicon-type outcome, akin to the market battering that followed then-president PW Botha’s notorious 1985 speech. Mbeki didn’t do that. The ANC was clearly happy. Markets seemed satisfied too, even though there was almost nothing in the speech that was new.

For all that, it wasn’t entirely clear whether this was a repentant Mbeki who was in the mood to take account of the mood of the nation — or one who was simply using this as a tactic to regain lost ground. In vintage style, he never quite conceded that the concerns of “many in our society” were also his own concerns, referring to “they” not to “we”. His comments on the Scorpions were so carefully guarded that they have resulted in a fever of speculation on what he actually meant. And he tended to gloss over some of the more serious challenges.

So whether the conciliatory tone was real or simply a facade, we don’t know. What we do need to know at this point is whether the president is able to put aside his party’s internal turf battle and govern SA effectively for the next 18 months. There are political battles we need him to fight: to keep the Scorpions for example. But beyond that, we need him to focus on being a president, one who can knock some heads together and ensure that his government uses its remaining time in office to do a much better job of implementing its policies than it has done to date. If he can’t do that, no number of carefully crafted speeches will make him look good.

Published by Korir, API africanpress@getmail.no source.BusinessDay.SouthAfrica

Cape Town (South Africa) – A police raid on a Methodist church which provides shelter to hundreds of refugees in the South African financial centre of Johannesburg is continuing to draw angry responses.

Displaying banners and wearing T-shirts with the slogan ‘Refugee Rights Are Human Rights’, Zimbabwean migrants took to the streets of the coastal city of Cape Town Thursday to demonstrate against the raid, conducted last week. Officials have been accused of engaging in physical and verbal abuse during the late night raid, during which more than a thousand people — many of them Zimbabweans — were arrested on suspicion of being in South Africa illegally or of involvement in criminal activity.

“We condemn police brutality at the Methodist church; they should respect refugee rights in this country. In fact, the raid is reminiscent of the apartheid era,” said Braam Hanekom, co-ordinator of People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty, an immigrant and refugee rights group in South Africa which helped organise the protest. The Treatment Action Campaign, which lobbies for HIV-positive people to have access to anti-retroviral drugs, also assisted with holding the demonstration. “Our interest in this protest is that many of the people arrested last week were denied access to medication while in custody, and as a movement we condemn that in the strongest terms,” said Regis Mtutu, projects officer for the Cape Town-based organisation.

Methodist representatives have denied that the church was sheltering criminals. “We are just helping desperate people here. As you might know, most of them are running away from serious situations, like Zimbabwe. The fact that the court did not find any case against these people clearly shows that the police overstepped by harassing these people,” said Thembi Sibanda, a senior official in the Methodist Church.

According to a recent survey, up to a million Zimbabweans are residing in South Africa; most have fled the political and economic crisis in their country. The study was conducted by the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum, based in Johannesburg, the Mass Public Opinion Institute — a non-profit in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare — and the Institute for Democracy in South Africa. Along with migrants from other states, Zimbabwean refugees may experience discrimination at the hands of South Africans — in part because of fears that they take jobs in a country already beset by high unemployment.

“I don’t have problems with these makwerekweres, but they cause crime and take all our jobs here,” said Kuselo Tini, a minibus taxi driver in Cape Town. “Makwerekwere” is a derogatory term for foreigners. Noted Killion Moyo, a Zimbabwean residing in Cape Town, “We now live in fear They always threaten us with death, especially in high density areas like Khayelitsha.” However, the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum claims the accusations of South Africans are unfounded.

“It’s not factual that foreigners take all the jobs here. The truth is, South Africa is experiencing a skills shortage; and on the other end, foreigners (take) menial jobs that are shunned by South Africans,” said Gabriel Shumba, executive director of the forum — a non-profit headquartered in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.

Zimbabwe is scheduled to hold general elections Mar. 29, a poll in which 83-year-old President Robert Mugabe — head of state since independence in 1980 — will seek a sixth term. The vote will take place amidst ongoing rights abuses in South Africa’s northern neighbour, and economic decline that has brought about hyper-inflation, unemployment reported to be at about 80 percent, and shortages of basic goods. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, an estimated 4.1 million Zimbabweans currently require food aid.

In his annual state of the nation address Friday, South African President Thabo Mbeki said the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and the country’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had addressed major differences concerning next month’s ballot — this in talks that he has been mediating at the request of the Southern African Development Community.

“These include issues relating to the constitution, security, media and electoral laws, and other matters that have been in contention for many years,” he noted. “The relevant laws in this regard have already been approved by parliament, including the necessary constitutional amendments.” However, the MDC has reportedly been far less optimistic about the results of the negotiations, and expressed anger at Harare’s decision to hold the elections on Mar. 29. The party wants a new constitution passed before the polls.

“We have said it again and again: the elections will be flawed without a people-driven new constitution,” noted spokesman Nelson Chamisa. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network has also expressed concern at the move to hold the ballot next month, saying hurried preparations will undermine the credibility of the vote. These fears have been echoed by Zimbabwean political analyst John Makumbe: “The March elections are only academic. The ruling party will obviously win and the situation in the country will further deteriorate, and more people will leave the country even after the elections.”

Published by Korir, API africanpress@getmail.no source.IPS

Cairo (Egypt) – There are ongoing efforts in Egypt being undertaken by Arab League officials, who are planning to host face-to-face talks between representatives from the Somali government and the opposition, sources said.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the chairman of the Somali opposition alliance (ARS), led a delegation to the Egyptian capital Cairo on Sunday. Sheikh Sharif: Chairman, Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS)
His delegation includes Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, former Speaker of the Somali parliament. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the Islamic Courts’ supreme leader, is already in Cairo. The senior ARS officials in Cairo were invited by the Egyptian government and the Arab League to prepare for talks with the Somali government.

Currently, Prof. Mohamed Omar Dalha, the deputy Speaker of parliament, is in Cairo, where he represented Somalia at the recently concluded Arab League and Organization of Islamic Conference parliaments.
Unconfirmed reports said Prof. Dalha would meet with the ARS officials, including Sheikh Sharif, in talks organized by the Arab League. Several regional countries and organizations have attempted in vain to host meaningful peace talks between the Somali government and opposition.

But prior talks were repeatedly hampered by pre-conditions to talks issued by both sides, such as the Islamists’ demand for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops and the government’s call for Islamist fighters to disarm.
Nur “Adde” Hassan Hussein, the new Somali Prime Minister, has called for the Eritrea-based ARS opposition alliance to negotiate with the government and end Somalia’s 17-year conflict. Independent sources said there are diplomatic efforts aimed at striking a peace deal between the government and the ARS, especially since such a deal would isolate al Shabaab guerrillas responsible for most attacks against the government and its a llies.

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf told a German news agency this week that the government would meet “only with moderate members” of the opposition, while categorically ruling out talks with armed groups.
In related news, a group of 49 fighters were presented to the media today in the capital Mogadishu in a ceremony attended by Mayor Mohamed “Dheere” Omar and national police chief Gen. Abdi Qeybdiid. A spokesman for the 49 fighters told reporters that they used to fight for the Islamic Courts, but have now switched sides and joined the government. This claim could not be independently verified.

Published by Korir, API africanpress@getmail.no source.GaroweOnline/Somalia