By�REUTERS

News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kericho Town.

THE Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga last week end came face to face with his fiercest opponents and critics in the South Rift.

It is understood Raila had moved top the South Rift with intention of quelling the growing� opposition and discontent about his party the ODM.

The PM, according to those privy with the information about the South Rift current politics came to Kericho with intention� to patch up cordial relationship with the ever increasing opposition from members of the Kipsigis community

Raila has in the recent past come under severe criticism by the Kipsigis people, a sub-tribe of the larger Kalenjin ethnic group. This is the community which had given the ODM the largest number of votes during last year�s general election. It gave the ODM a total of nine MPs out of a total 30 MPs which ODM harvested in the entire Rift Valley Province.

The meeting was held at the Tea Research Institute, which is located about 12 km east of Kericho town and situated right in the middle of the controversy ridden Mau Forest Complex.

Some of the contentious issues about the 400,000 hectares multibillion dollar Mau Forest Complex is Kenya�s biggest forest block and East Africa�s block of closed canopy indigenous forest.

It is home to more than 45 different bird species and close 20,000 families live there. It is also the source of survival of thousands of Game animals in the famous Maasai Mara Game Park in Kenyan and the Serengeti National Park in the neighbouring Tanzania. s

The encroach has put to risk an asset worth more than Kshs 20 billion and is threatening the survival of several important rivers that empty waters into Lake Victoria.

According to informed source, the meeting was supposed to have been attended by all cabinet members from the Rift Valley Province, but none was in attendance except two Ministers, James Orengo (Lands} and Chris M. Obure{Works} all from Nyanza Province. The latter being the one who is currently acting as the Roads Minister in place of the late Ki[kalya Kones who perished in an aircraft accident in June together with the former Assistant Minister for Home Affairs Ms Lorna Laboso.

But we have been informed by those who are privy to the current Kalenjin politics of survival that the PM was tricked into a trap by none other than his cabinet colleague William Ruto {Agriculture} as part of the wider scheme to clip Raila�s wings in the South Rift region ahead of the next general election.

After the retired PRESIDENT Daniel Arap Mo, the Eldoret North MP William Ruto has since taken over the mantle of political leadership as the new political king ping of the Kalenjin community in particular and the� entire Rift Valley Province in general. Ruto, according to the same source is not �very� comfortable with the enormous support the PM is currently enjoying in the region as he said to bge scheming himself to contest the Premiership or presidency comes 2012.

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At the same time die-hard Raila supporter in the South Rift region have trashed the Kericho meeting saying it was hurriedly organized with intention of causing some embarrassment and ridiculing� with ill-motive of making him seen as an enemy of the Kiopsigis who is out to marginalize the community in favour of the Kikuyus.

One of Raila staunch supporters is Lt. Gen {rtd}John Koech who claimed that Raila genuine supporters in Kipsigis region were kept in darkness and were not invited. Agwambo is still commanding� big support in the region. But who invited to the weekend Kericho meeting were agents of Moi , Ruto axis.

Those in attendance were �MPs Franklin Bett{Buret}, Charles Keter {Belgut}, Magerer Lang�s {Kipkellion}, Isaac Ruto{Chepalungu} Zakayo K. Cheruiyot {Kuresoi}, Benjamin Lang�at{Ainamoi}, Julius Kones {Konoin}. Also in attendance were two former MPs who lost their seats during last year�s general election. They include Nick Salat former Bomet MP and Pal K.M Sang the former MinIster for Hleath who had previously served as the MP for Buret.

Raila was served with a petition whose contents were not made public. But insiders said the petition was merely expressing the community�s displeasure about the contentious Mau Forest eviction and� poor division of cabinet slots, the dismissal of Kipsigis people holding� key jobs� in the civil service, armed forces and parastatal� organizations.

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The leaders had threatened to withdraw their support for Raila and ODM in the next general election if he did not address their concerns.The leaders had alleged that the grand coalition government was biased towards the Kipsigis people over the division of the cabinet slots and the sacking en masse of their people from civil service and other quasi-government organizations and their alleged replacement by Kikuyus and Luos.

Apart from the Mau Forest Complex, the South Rift residents were also not happy with the power sharing arrangement in the grand coalition, the thorny issue of suspects of the post-election violence.

Although the PM promised to address those issues, the present at the meeting were not satisfied and left the venue very disappointed.

South Rift region has been one of Mr. Oding�as political stronghold, and given that he is the one who called the weekend meeting to explain the government position on a number of issues affecting the region, it was not lost on anybody that the PM is keen to maintain the status quo by way of reconciling himself with the people of the region. This is at this particular time when the region is facing two crucially important parliamentary by-elections to fill the two vacant seats left by Kones and Laboso

The observers and political pundits were not amused, but accurately predicted that Raila�s mission was a quiet diplomatic and political manoeuvres to drum up the support for his ODM in the forthcoming by-elections scheduled for September 24^th, 2008. Preliminaries will be held on August 24 in order to give the4 aspirants one month of intensive campaign for votes.

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Speaker after speaker told Raila in his face that the residents of the South Rift region were not happy with his leadership.

�We supported you fully in the last general election and even voted out some of our best MPs because of you, but you are now being used by those who denied you victory to harass our people� retorted Mzee Bartany Arap Milgo, a highly respected Kipsigis elder.

Mzee Milgo was wildly cheered when he told the PM that the previous KANU and Narc regimes had the knowledge of the people�s settlement and were responsible for issuance� of land title deeds to the settlers, and the community was now wondering why, it is Raila their favourite son who is being ill-advised to remove the settlers from their legally acquired farms.�

Mzee Milgo warned Agwambo to his face saying �We shall mobilize our people not to support you in any future election if you allow our people to be harassed and removed from their legally acquired farms. We are closely monitoring your moves and intention,� said Mzee Milgo amid prolonged applause.

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The elderly Mzee Milgo told Raila that the Kipsigis community which had previously made him {Raila} a Kipsigis elder and named him Arap Mibei {which is loosely translated as the son of the lake} will withdraw his eldership�and stop calling Arap Mibei if he executed the eviction.� �There will be no need to regard Raila as one of their on sons if he betrays them over Mau Forest issue.

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Raila Odinga who looked shaken and embarrassed sat pensively between the Buret MP Franklin Bett and MP Benjamin Lang�at.

The name Arap Mibei is a moran�s name which was given to Raila by the community elders in the run up to last December�s general election to symbolize that he was he was one of their own. It servers the ODM perfectly well when the slogan became the rallying point of massive support for the party which scouped all the eight parliamentary seats in the Kipsigis land.

On complaints about the division of cabinet slots, Raila told the legislator who have petitioned the government over the cabinet posts that Obure was acting in place of the late Kones because there is nobody who has the title of a full cabinet Minister in the region. Charles Keter who is an Assistant Minister could not be made acting the Minister. The regulation requires� only� serving full cabinet member ot act in a vacant ministerial positions. But it will be rectified soon after the by-elections.

He said squatters have to be moved from the Mau complex, assuring his audience that they will be given alternative land to settle, and that there will be no police harassment.

Ends

Leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

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Published by API

TOGOLESE MINISTER FOR FINANCE AYASSOR (LEFT) AND EBID PRESIDENT ADOVELANDE� (RIGHT)

Togo�s search for self-sufficiency in its energy supplies and distribution scored a major break-through when the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development, EBID, came to the rescue with a loan agreement valued at 13 million US Dollars.
This� represents 89 per cent of the total financial resources required by the Togo government to improve its energy distribution network throughout the country.
TOGOLESE MINISTER FOR FINANCE AYASSOR EXCHANGING DOCUMENT WITH EBID PRESIDENT ADOVELANDE AFTER LOAN SIGNATORY

The loan agreement was signed between EBID and the Togo government on Thursday in Lom�.In a short address, Mr. Christian Adovelande , President of EBID said � there is no need to minimise the importance of energy especially electricity in the economic and social development� of a nation as its place in the wheel of activities creating wealth helps to� improve the standard of living of the people �.
�In the energy sector any delays in undertaking appropriate investments in the right direction or any attempt to improvise by making the wrong choices could be costly or lead to insufficiencies in the delivery of good quality service�, he declared.
He said that any lopsided approach to investment in the energy sector could pose obstacles to the pace of development as well as the disruption of social peace.
Mr Adovelande said �far from being a luxury , access to sufficient and high quality energy supplies has become a matter of national security�.
Mr Adovelande praised the Togo government for taking this imperative measure by this loan agreement to engage in the project of rehabilitation and extension of the distribution network of the Togo Electric Company, CEET.
He said the viability of the project played a major role in influencing� EBID to be associated with its financing at the cost of 13 million US Dollars, about 89 per cent of the total cost of the projects.
On his part , the Togolese Minister for Economy and Finance ,Adji� Otteh Ayassor� explained that �� the project of rehabilitation and extension of the network of supply of electric energy in 60 important towns and the rural communities of Togo constitute the second phase of� the five-year investment programme of the Togolese Electric Energy Company, CEET�.
Minister Ayassor also explained that the finance of the project will be complemented by the Togolese government with 1,6 million US Dollars.
He said that when completed the project will restore a satisfactory supply of electricity to all existent clients by reducing the low voltage of electric energy by 30 to 15 per cent in all the towns of the northern parts of the country and also assure high quality supply for clients.
�The project will link up the numerous potential clients and existing ones while complementing electric networks in order to increase the access rate of the households to the public electric services� the Togolese Minister for Economy and Finance said.
According to Mr Ayassor this project is aimed at increasing the actual electric energy access rate from 13 to 16 per cent in the next decade as well as improving the quality of life of the urban and rural populations in Togo.
�This project will also assure a qualitative and rational exploitation of the energy supply network by the Togolese Electric Energy Company by reducing the persistent incidents of electric power shortages and cuts�, he added.
According to the Togolese Minister for Energy and Mines, Damipi Noukoukpo �The project when completed will supply electric energy to about 50 communities in Togo�.
Present at the loan signing ceremony were, the Togolese Minister for Cooperation , Development and Rural administration Gilbert Bawara, and the Togolese Minister for Agriculture Ewovor Mensah.
The loan agreement brings the total investment portfolio between the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development in Togo to 62 million US Dollars.
In� the West African sub-region EBID has so far invested a total amount of 561 million US Dollars to finance various projects.

By Ekoue Blame ,lome

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Published by African Press International – api

It was good news that came across from the Prime Minister of Kenya Mr Raila Odinga. My support for his leadership has been rekindled now that he has recognised the importance of circumciscion in connection with health improvement within the male circles.

For the PM to call for uncircumscised men to get closer to the knife for a good cut that will give them better health will not go unsupported by me and those who have all along known this fact. Now the PM gets my full support on this subject and due to this, I have no more hesitation in giving him my support in politics of vision.

The public should now stop being divided any longer and give the PM the necessary support so that he may lead unthwarted and continue to preach development for all Kenyans and through good behaviour of being circumscised observe healthy habits so that Kenya reduces the spread of HIV/AIDs.

When the PM took over the chair to lead the Kenyans in his present role, I had my doubts, just as there were many others who did the same. The PM has moved forward slowly and carefully in his efforts to show that he is able to lead the country. However, it has not been easy to understand everything he does and yet recently, starting with Mau Forest, going on to The Mombasa Ports issuing correct directives, and the fact that he went to the Kipsigis land and faced the leaders there in a discussion aimed at correcting and balancing things, finally now telling the public the importance of being circumscised – the PM has proved his case beyond reasonable doubt, that he can be relied upon to develop Kenya for the interest of uplifting the living standards for�the Kenyans and those who wish to be associated with Kenya.

By Korir, Chief Editor – African Press International – API

By L.K. Regan, RealJock.com | Article Date: 8/17/2008 6:00 AM

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Male circumcision should be actively encouraged to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, a non-profit group urged the XVIIth annual International AIDS Conference this past week. The conference, which took place in Mexico City, focused on current trends in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

The non-profit organization Population Services International, which investigates and advocates on behalf of the health needs of low-income populations in the developing world, presented new evidence in favor of circumcision programs, particularly for sub-Saharan Africa, where two-thirds of the world’s 33 million HIV+ people live. The information once again puts the focus on a controversial and emotional area of HIV/AIDS prevention.

Circumcision is a controversial procedure even in the U.S., where roughly 60 percent of newborns are circumcised. In Africa, rates are much lower. Web sites like the Circumcision Resource Center have sprung up to voice a growing chorus of concerns that the practice of circumcision constitutes unnecessary genital mutilation; that it traumatizes infants; and that it reduces sexual pleasure for adult men. Over time, even American rates of circumcision, though still high, have fallen off somewhat as parents see less need for the procedure.

Yet for some time, it has also been clear that circumcision substantially lowers the risk of HIV infection. The World Health Organization asserts that, “There is now strong evidence from three randomized controlled trials undertaken in Kisumu, Kenya, Rakai District, Uganda and Orange Farm, South Africa that male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men by approximately 60%.” Yet with regard to Africa, the list of concerns about circumcision broaden beyond the medical to the cultural and logistical, including questions about identifying safe practitioners to perform the procedure, the potentially subordinate social status of circumcised men, and the suspicious reactions of governments that see no purpose in the procedure. Last month, for example, the Elders of Kenya’s Luo community chose to reject a Kenyan Ministry of Health program to encourage male circumcisions, citing doubt about the procedure’s effectiveness and an unwillingness to disturb their traditional cultural practices, which did not include male circumcision.

PSI’s presentation at the AIDS Conference attempted to overwhelmingly counter these concerns. Citing evidence amassed from several different studies, Dvora Joseph, Acting Director of PSI’s HIV Department, and Dr. Robert Bailey of the University of Illinois, Chicago, who co-authored some of the relevant research, offered a host of reasons to press governments and communities�like the Luo of Kenya�to join circumcision programs. One major concern involves access to safe circumcisions. A program initiated by PSI in Zambia has, according to Joseph, had overwhelming success training low-level health workers to perform male circumcisions as part of a comprehensive prevention and education program. The idea is to create a broad base of qualified practitioners for the procedure, without putting strain on the existing medical system.

“As news gets out about the efficacy of male circumcision, we need to meet that demand with quality services and a comprehensive HIV prevention approach, and scale up male circumcision as an ethical, human rights issue,” Joseph said, pointing out that in Zambia there are waiting lists of up to two months for the procedure. This can lead to potentially dangerous procedures�a problem that will grow as the demand increases. “Just by word of mouth, the demand is so great that already men are going to unqualified practitioners and experiencing serious complications,” Joseph said. “We must scale up our response rapidly to meet the demand for safe circumcision services.”

Dr. Bailey, a researcher at the University of Illinois, Chicago, presented research related to the physical and social effects of circumcision. His research group in Kenya is presenting a report to the conference demonstrating the results of a study of 2,784 participants, comparing sexual function between circumcised and uncircumcised men over a two-year period. His conclusions are likely to be controversial. The research reports that, “Circumcision status was not associated with any sexual dysfunction or with specific sexual dysfunctions (premature ejaculation, pain during intercourse, erectile dysfunction) at follow-up visits.”

As Dr. Bailey elaborated at a press conference, “And in fact, circumcised men did report greater penile sensitivity after circumcision,” countering the oft-reported decrease in sensitivity on the part of circumcised men. Bailey’s research on sexual function post-circumcision comes on the heels of his research, reiterated at the PSI event, demonstrating that there is no increase in sexual risk-taking by men who have been circumcised. In a study published in the Public Library of Science, Bailey and his colleagues found that, after intensive counseling to warn them that they were still able to contract HIV, there was no increase in risk-taking among 1,319 recently circumcised men. When circumcision is accompanied by education and other forms of support, Bailey said, “the results of this study suggest that HIV risk behaviors are unlikely to increase. They may even decline as we saw in our study.”

PSI emphasizes that circumcision should be part of a broad-based prevention program, and should be encouraged in the hardest-hit parts of the world. “Based on the existing body of evidence, and our experience implementing male circumcision to strengthen our prevention efforts, we are asking the international community to help national governments and their partners to introduce male circumcision wherever HIV prevalence is greatest and circumcision rates are lowest�in the nations of eastern and southern Africa,” said Joseph. Widespread use of male circumcision in sub-Saharan Africa could, the researchers estimate, prevent two million infections in the next 10 years and save as many as four million lives over the next 20 years.

The implications of the circumcision discussion for gay men and the West remain unclear. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, “Studies to date have demonstrated efficacy only for penile-vaginal sex, the predominant mode of HIV transmission in Africa, whereas the predominant mode of sexual HIV transmission in the United States is by penile-anal sex among MSM [men who have sex with men].”

The American Foundation for AIDS Research complained about a gay-straight HIV information gap at the conference this week, pointing out that 44 percent of countries worldwide have failed to provide any statistical data on AIDS and gay men, despite the fact that gay men are 19 times more likely to contract HIV than their heterosexual counterparts. For gay men, the current research indicates that the efficacy of circumcision will depend in part on the sex practices each man engages in.

According to the CDC, “Receptive anal sex is associated with a substantially greater risk of HIV acquisition than is insertive anal sex. It is more biologically plausible that male circumcision would reduce HIV acquisition risk for the insertive partner rather than for the receptive partner, but few MSM engage solely in insertive anal sex.” Given the lower infection rates in the U.S., and the demographic concentration of infections in the gay community, calls for widespread circumcisions are likely to continue to focus on Africa for the time being.

Article coutesy of RealJock.com

Related story:

Raila roots for male circumcision – The PM wants uncircumcised groups in Kenya to face the cut for health�reasons

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Published by Korir, Chief Editor African Press International – API

By Edward Robert

JOHANNESBURG -� Zambia has joined Botswana in condemning the recent one-man presidential election in Zimbabwe.
Zambia�s Foreign Minister, Mr Kabinga Mpande, said his country regretted the circumstances under which Zimbabweans found themselves in.
Addressing the SADC summit on behalf of the ailing Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, Mr Mpande said his country was against the spiral of violence that preceded the recent Zimbabwean poll.
Such a situation, he said, augured ill� for the promotion of a democratic culture in the SADC region.
Mr Mpande however expressed hope that ongoing power-sharing talks would produce desired results.� This situation, he said, threatened to dent the positive image following such happenings as �the peaceful transfer of power from former president Festus Mogae to General Khama in Botswana.�
Other good development he cited were the political progress made in the Democratic Republic og Congo, Lesotho and Malawi.
He expressed optimism that parliamentary elections to be held in Angola next month would be held under a peaceful atmosphere.
Zambia is the only other country that had been vocal on the Zimbabwean issue with its president Mr Levy Mwanawasa� at some point comparing the country to �a sinking titanic�.
Botswana has not accepted the outcome of the elections, eventually refusing to acknowledge the presidency of Mr Robert Mugabe. It is this stance that led to Botswana boycotting the summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that ended in South Africa yesterday.
South African President Mr Thabo Mbeki, now the chairman of the regional bloc, told the summit that Zimbabweans were expecting a lot from the meeting in relation to a solution of the problems in their country.
He urged SADC leaders to rise to the expectation, taking leaf from the founding fathers of the then Frontline States �who confronted problems of their times head-on�.
�As a family of nations, Mr Mbeki, said SADC member states needed to stand together �and help Zimbabwe to recover.�
The Zimbabwe issues has been the main focus of the summit, with reports that Mr Mbeki, who is SADC-appointed peace broker was hoping to seal a deal among Zimbabwe�s warring factions in that country before the close of the summit.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, and Arthur Mutambara, leader of the smaller MDC formation attended the SADC summit.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr� Phandu Skelemani, said Botswana�s non-attendance at the regional meeting was not meant �to spoil SADC� but a principled position, saying by treating Mr Mugabe as president, SADC was sending conflicting messages to its own people. He said Mr Mugabe flaunted the principles of SADC governing elections.
South African minister for foreign Affairs, Dr Nkosasana Dlamini-Zuma said SADC respected the decision President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama to stay away from the meeting of the regional bloc. This is in protest over the invitation of ZANU-PF leader, Mr Robert Mugabe, to attend the summit as president of Zimbabwe.
Dr Dlamini-Zuma who is also chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers told a press briefing on the eve of the summit that �Botswana is a sovereign state and has the right to make sovereign decisions such as the one they have made regarding their participation at this summit.�
She said it was in the nature of multilateral organisations that members participate at whatever level they want �but the work continues and decisions will be made which are binding to the members.�
Asked whether Botswana�s non-attendance has not embarrassed the host country, South Africa�s chief diplomat said President Khama was not coming for bilateral talks with South Africa but for a SADC meeting.
�This is all about SADC, not us as a country,� she said.
Dr Dlamini-Zuma said SADC was approaching the crisis in Zimbabwe �in a way agreed upon by SADC,� and was optimistic a breakthrough was eminent.
�The talks are still going on,� she added. �Until finalised, it is work in progress. There is no power sharing now, but the talks are going on until we find the solution.�
She Mr Mugabe, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC and Mr Author Mutambara of an MDC breakaway faction could not be invited to the summit as equals because � SADC is an inter-government-organization and not an inter political party organization�
However, Mr Skelemani said he did not� think there would be any decisions made on behalf of Botswana that would not be in the country�s best interest.
�Our officials have been attending meetings here and most of the issues they discussed have been agreed upon by the political leadership, except the protocol on gender,� he said in an interview on Saturday. �Therefore there is not going to be any new thing that will be agreed on that we do not know.�
Mr Skelemani said Botswana was not protesting against SADC but was �making a statement of principle�.
�We have nothing against SADC,� he explained. �They have a right to treat Mugabe the way they want although they appear to be saying despite the fact that this man has failed to gain popular vote, we will still regard him as a president.�
He emphasised Botswana�s position that the negotiating parties in the Zimbabwean political crisis be treated as equals. This is until they agreed on the leadership of their country.
The political crisis in Zimbabwe reached greater heights in March� when MDC failed to secure the required majority in the presidential elections.
This led to a run-off which MDC boycotted citing violence and intimidation of its members and supporters by� ZANU-PF functionaries. Mr Mugabe�s party went on with the one-party, one-man election , with Mr Mugabe subsequently declared the winner. BOPA

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API/Source.dailyNews

The Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir is taking great risks with his plans to travel to Turkey early next week in what represents his first overseas trip since the International Criminal Court (ICC) clamped indictment on him for genocide in Darfur, diplomatic sources warned Friday.

Official sources in London state Friday that Bashir would head Sudan�s delegation to the Turkish-African summit, being attended by several heads of state, which will be held through August 19-20 in Istanbul.

Turkey is a NATO-member state, but the country has not ratified the treaty forming the ICC despite being put under pressure to become a member as part of negotiations to join the European Union.

One diplomat has commented on Bashir�s Turkey trip as �very risky� coinciding with the resumption of the court, currently in recess until August 18.

�The whole world knows al-Bashir as a risk-taker. But travelling to Turkey in the face of ongoing ICC arrest warrant being issued while he is in Istanbul, could be one of the greatest risks he has ever taken in life�, a European diplomat commented.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had earlier prevailed on the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir on charges of genocide, war crimes and other atrocities against humanity in Darfur, arguing his state apparatus had killed several people in Darfur.

Though Sudanese and regional players have raised concerns that the ICC mission could derail the peace process in Africa�s largest country, human rights groups were united in their approval, hailing the move as a blow to impunity.

The UN statistics estimate some 200,000 people have died with another 2.5 million driven from their homes since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing the central government in Khartoum of neglect and abuse.

But the authorities in Khartoum have consistently blamed the western media for exaggerating the conflict and puts the death toll at not more than 10,000.

Khartoum signed the Rome treaty forming the ICC but never ratified it.

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API/Source.apa

Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Senator Barack Obama.

By�KEVIN J. KELLEY, Saturday Nation Correspondent, New York

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has been thrust into the thick of the American presidential campaign in a new book being used to attack Democratic candidate Barack Obama.