Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will hold make-or-break talks in Harare on Sunday aimed at finalising a power-sharing deal, a South African newspaper has said.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka witnesses the ceremony alongside Chinese host Hu Jintao, US President George W. Bush and about 100 world leaders and government representatives.

By Isaac Ongiri

She was the most memorable casualty of the August 7, 1998 bomb blast that shook Nairobi to its core.

Ms Rose Wanjiku touched the hearts of both local and Israeli rescuers who painstakingly tried to remove her from the rubbles of then US embassy. She, however, died on the fourth day. Rose’s painful death shook the entire nation.

Before then, she had become the symbol of the brave fight which victims of the blast had put up prior to being fished out of the rubble, or gave up the struggle. Despite the horrible scenes, Rose held on for four days, with the Israeli commandos convinced they could reach her alive.

Dwindled hopes

Ms Diana Wangari lays a wreath. Her mother died in the 1998 bomb attack on the US embassy.

Stories of Rose splashed across the world held the nation in shock, as rescuers tried in vain to pull her out. When she finally gave up on her life, hopes of retrieving any other victims alive instantly dwindled.

Diana Wangari, the then nine-year-old daughter of the gallant single mother was too young to understand the misfortune that snapped life out of a woman she knew too shortly as her mum.

Ten years down the line and now 17, Diana is yet to heal and forever close the tragic chapter of her mother’s death.

“What I now know is that she is dead, but what I have never understood is what she did to deserve such a painful death,” she toldThe Standard.

Memories of her mother perishing under the rubble send shivers down her spine. She has never recovered from the day a story was told of how her mother died.

Now a Form Three student at Kambaa High School, Diana has been living with relatives after her two brothers, Philip Macharia and James Mwangi were awarded scholarships to study in the US.

Hope Africa, a non-governmental organisation headed by Mrs Sheila Kibuka, helped the two brothers out as relatives took charge of the young Diana.

Mwangi got a job in California where he has been living after completing his education, while Macharia has joined the British military.

When she visited the scene where her mother spent three days under the debris of the collapsed Ufundi Co-operative house, she could not hide the rage in her.

“I can forgive, but I can never forget,” she told The Standard.

Macharia and Mwangi had joined other relatives in the rubble, where the rescuers would facilitate communication between them and their mother.

For three days, the two boys spoke to their mother, whose condition deteriorated by the day. On the fourth day, the two could not speak to her anymore. They knew the worst had finally happened — Rose was dead.

Breadwinner

They could not imagine life without their mother, who was the family’s sole breadwinner. She worked as a messenger with Merchant Co-operative Bank.

Hope Africa now intends to acquire a scholarship for Diana, who expects to write her final examinations next year.

“We are dedicated to helping her. We want to turn the pain in her story into life, that there must be hope even after that deadly attack,” Kibuka adds.

She is now calling on the US Government to support orphans of the August 7 bomb blast.

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API/Source.standard.ke

By Beatrice Obwocha

Josephat Kabutiei is 42-years-old and a bachelor.

Being a bachelor is not by choice and he vows to remain so until he is cleared of allegations made against him by a woman 14 years ago.

The bespectacled soft-spoken biology and agriculture teacher at Athinai Secondary School in Mogotio, says he is a devoted Christian and a member of the African Inland Church (AIC).

He claims in 1994, a woman, Ms Mary Baimet alleged that they were engaged in a sexual relationship that led to a break up with her fiancÈ.

“I have not been able to worship in any church since or settle, get into a relationship with a woman, and marry. This issue has weighed heavily on my heart,” he says.

Kabutiei says he was a member of AIC Koiserat in Kabarnet, Baringo District and the allegations against him spread among the congregation and village like bushfire.

“Since then I have never been the same again because I was mocked by villagers and became a laughing stock,” he says.

He says he reported the matter to the church so he could be cleared, but did not get the desirable feedback.

Kabutiei’s quest to clear his name has seen him write to the church’s highest office, the Attorney General, former President Moi, and even filed a suit in court to achieve the goal, but he has not been successful.

The case was referred to the Church Council Youth Leaders and adjudicated by the Reverend Zachariah Chirchir.

He says Chirchir presided over the dispute and Baimet admitted she was in the wrong and asked for forgiveness.

Kabutiei said he wanted his name to be cleared before the church because he felt that way, doubts about him as a committed Christian would be eliminated.

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API/Source.standard.ke

The Immigration Directorate (UDI) reacts strongly to accusations made in the press on Friday. Siri Rustad says that the UDI has never intended to make women asylum-seekers responsible for their own safety.

Violence at facilties for asylum-seekers may lead to better manning. PHOTO: KYRRE LIEN / SCANPIX

“We deeply deplore the fact that a rape has taken place at one of our reception centres. However, I have never talked about women being responsible for avoiding rape, says UDI department chief, Siri Rustad to news bureau NTB.

VG Nett writes on Friday, that the UDI says that women asylum-seekers have as much responsibility for protecting themselves from rape, as women living in any other type of accommodation. The story relates to the assault and rape of a 20 year-old women from Rwanda two weeks ago at a centre in Telemark.

Security at Norwegian reception centres for asylum-seekers has been criticised from several quarters recently.

“The attacker is responsible for rape. We have to protect women from unwanted attention, harassment and violence and the Police have a duty to ensure the safety of those living at the centres. However ordinary reception centres are not like a secure facility. We try to make them as similar to ordinary housing as possible, says Rustad.

Those who run reception centres have to ensure that men and women have separate bathroom and toilet facilities and that the tenants have locks on the door to their rooms. An annual review by the UDI, is supposed to ensure that these regulations are upheld. After the incident in Telemark, the UDI will look into whether more people need to be hired at the reception centres.

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API/Source.aftenposteneng

A large scale sell-off of government-owned stocks is likely to follow if the Progress Party (Frp) and the Conservatives (H) come to power after next year’s general election.

Progress Party leader Siv Jensen (left) and Conservative leader Erna Solberg, will reduce government shareholdings if they can form a government next year. PHOTO: LISE ÅSERUD / SCANPIX

The Progress Party, which favours a smaller role for the government in society, is ready to sell NOK 300 billion (USD 60 billion) of government stocks.

The value of government-owned stocks on the Oslo stock exchange totalled NOK 570 billion, according to figures for 2007.

A Frp-H coalition in 2009, would propose selling state-owned shares on a large scale. This is confirmed by both Torbjørn Hansen (H) and Øyvind Korsberg (FrP).

“One of our aims is to sell NOK 288 billions worth of the Government’s holdings in the 2009 – 2013 period,” says Korsberg.

Both parties think it will be possible to sell the shares in an acceptable manner, over a four year period, assuming there is a majority for it.

“The Conservatives aren’t planning quick sale, but there are several industries where the state has little or no reason to be involved,” says Hansen. He wants to continue the sell-off started by the first Stoltenberg government, which was continued by the second Bondevik administration.

The Progress Party wants to go further. It wants to sell the government holding in Scandinavian Airlines. The Conservatives aren’t ready for this yet. Both want the state to reduce its ownership in major companies like StatoilHydro, Telenor and Yara. The Conservatives want to maintain absolute majorities in StatoilHydro and Telenor, while the Progress Party wants to settle on 34 percent ownership.

“We want to maintain enough shares to ensure that company headquarters and research and development divisions stay in Norway,” says Korsberg to financial news website E24.

Consensus between the Parties breaks down after the sale. Frp want to put the money straight into a government infrastructure fund, whereas H want to reinvest the money through the Government Global Pension Fund.

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API/Source.aftenposteneng