DJIBOUTI, – Hundreds of thousands of Somalis are either refugees in neighbouring countries or internally displaced due to more than a decade of conflict. Journalists are joining their ranks after receiving death threats; nine have been killed since 2007 and dozens more have fled. Jaffer Kukay, 29, now living in Djibouti, was director of Radio Shabelle, one of the leading radio stations in Mogadishu. He talked to IRIN about his experiences:

I fled Mogadishu on 15 November 2007 after numerous threats, intimidation and harassment from all quarters. I was detained by government forces three times. The main reason was always because of a story we published that someone did not like.

On 14 September 2007, security agents arrived at the station and took the entire staff on duty at the time, 22 employees, effectively shutting it down.

“All the time we were under their control, we were threatened with death.

“When they finally brought us in front of their commander, he asked me my name and when I told him, he looked at the guy who brought us there and said, �You should not have brought this man alive. You should have killed him and then shown me his body. That truly scared me. But then, on 16 September 2007, the station was attacked by government forces.

“A day later, I was walking around Bakara market when I was confronted by three young men. One of them was armed. He pointed his pistol at me and pulled the trigger. Fortunately, the gun did not go off and then he tried again but it failed. People tried to wrestle the gun from him but he escaped.

“That was one of the main reasons why I was forced to seek refuge in Djibouti. It was exactly how many of my colleagues had met their deaths. To this day, I am surprised I actually survived that incident.

“On 19 October 2007, the deputy chairman of the radio station was killed by a man with a pistol in the same area I was attacked.

“On 13 November 2007, the station was raided again by the security agents led by the guy who said they should have killed me. He said: �We let you go but now you’ve asked for this by covering all this nonsense about suffering in the city and the displacement of the population and killings.

“He took me and the editor to the deputy commander of the security forces. But the deputy told me I was free to go. That scared me more than being arrested. I was worried that now they knew my face, they would follow me and kill me. It was not the first time someone was released only to be killed later.

“It was at that moment that I decided to leave the city. Thankfully, I made it out without incident. I am now a refugee in Djibouti.

“It is a completely different place. I walk in the middle of the night without any worries. I am getting used to being able to go wherever I want, whenever I want, without fear.”

ah/mw
source.www.irinnews.org

By Otuma Ongalo

Is President Kibaki a good driver let down by bad conductors who have failed to alert him that there is mischief on his bus?

This analogy featured prominently this week as the storm raised by corruption scandals gained momentum.

A good driver with a duly issued driving licence should keenly monitor activities on his bus. He cannot afford to see no evil and hear no evil even as the bus rattles across potholes and bumps.

With the benefit of rear-view mirror, he should be sensitive to any slight commotion among the passengers and ensure the conductor is not up to any mischief such as stealing passengers unga from the rack or siphoning oil from the fuel tank.

He can, without losing concentration, notice the passenger trying to pickpocket his neighbour and order the conductor to evict him or have him arrested.

Alternatively, he should ensure that he only works with a competent conductor to spare himself the worry of mischief in the bus.

A good driver cannot afford to sleep behind the wheel even for split seconds, regardless of the many years of excellent work.

He is in charge at all times and cannot pass the buck to the conductor when things go wrong. He should ensure slight mechanical defects are fixed before the damage becomes costly.

Two good drivers steering the wheel and engaging gears at the same time are a recipe for a major disaster. The main driver may, once in a while, delegate his task to an assistant but he still shoulders the ultimate responsibility.

These, and many other responsibilities, are the hallmarks of a good driver. Has Kibaki scored so well as Kenya’s driver but has been let down by his conductor(s)? I do not think so. He portrays the image of a driver who has lost track of his conductors’ activities and they have now become rogue.

Whether he has or doesn’t have a duly issued driving licence is no longer a major concern. What is not debatable is that he is in the driving seat, must ensure a smooth ride, and the buck stops with him.

Maize scandal

The President’s see-no-evil-hear-no-evil modus operandi is legendary. He keeps silent or takes no action during critical moments. As the nation reels under corruption baggage, he is yet to wield the big stick. Doesn’t it prick his conscience, for instance, to chair a Cabinet composed of individuals Kenyans are demanding must step aside because of improprieties in their docket?

It is not true that the President is oblivious of events in ministries. If he chooses to, he will be informed of what goes on in any village or household. He is the most informed person courtesy of daily intelligence briefs and other networks across the country. If he chooses to, he will be given a genuine list of all individuals who irregularly secured maize from the National Cereals and Produce Board and those plotting other scandals.

If the President has bad conductors in his bus, it is his fault. Unlike the conventional driver who does not choose his conductor, he in consultation with Prime Minister Raila Odinga chose Cabinet members he felt are the right people to steer the proverbial working nation ahead. The appointment is not cast in stone. The President and the Prime Minister can send packing any individual whose conduct is against national interests. Unfortunately, political expediency and personal relationships often override national interests. That is why Mr William Ruto and Mr Kiraitu Murungi sit pretty in Cabinet despite scandals in their ministries. Again, that is why Mr Amos Kimunya is back in the Cabinet despite Cockar Commission’s damming report over his role in the controversial sale of the Grand Regency Hotel.

Despite the myth of equal partnership in the running of Grand Coalition Government leadership, Kibaki is fully in charge. He is firmly in the driving seat and Raila can only offer petty navigation services while Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka relaxes in the backseat, praying for a miracle that would place him in the driver’s seat.

The writer (oongalo@eastandard.net) is The Standard’s Senior Editor, Production and Quality

source.standard.ke

Uganda President Museveni on Monday reshuffled his cabinet, dropping his brother, Gen Salim Saleh, and appointing his wife Janet.

First Lady Janet, a first-term Member of Parliament for Ruhaama County in Ntungamo District was appointed minister of state for Karamoja Affairs.

Gen Salim Saleh, also known as Caleb Akandwanaho, was dropped as state minister for Finance in charge of Microfinance after less than three years on the job. He has, however, been retained as a senior presidential adviser.

President Museveni announced the changes while in Arua, West Nile where he is on a working visit.

The biggest casualty was Finance Minister Dr Ezra Suruma whose sacking follows several scandals under his watch, most notably those in the Uganda’s National Social Security Fund which he supervises. Like Saleh, he was retained as a senior presidential adviser.

Dr Suruma’s sacking was not entirely unexpected after David Jamwa, the suspended managing director of the NSSF wrote to President Museveni detailing how the minister had put him under pressure to buy land in Temangalo from Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and businessman Amos Nzeyi.

It ends Dr Suruma’s 46-month tenure at Finance and comes before he could fully implement his pet project to roll out a rural micro-finance programme.

Also dropped from the Cabinet was Dr Ham Muliira, despite his PhD in Information Technology and having helped set up the new Information Technology ministry. He was named a senior presidential adviser.

Five state ministers

Also dropped were five state ministers: Ssemakula Kiwanuka (finance in charge of investment), Kasirivu Atwooki (lands), Maj. James Kinobe (youth and culture) and Kagimu Kiwanuka (Office of the President).

While Dr Suruma has paid a high political price for the Temangalo saga, Mr Mbabazi came off unscathed, retaining his Security ministry. Far from a narrow escape, Mr Mbabazi appears to have emerged stronger, with many of his supporters in his fight for his political life being rewarded with cabinet posts or promotions.

One of his most vocal supporters, Hope Mwesigye, has been promoted from state minister for local government to full minister in charge of agriculture, animal industry and fisheries.

MPs Jesca Alupo and James Kakooza, who were also strong Mbabazi defenders, were appointed state ministers for youth and children affairs and primary health care respectively. Ms Alupo is a former staff officer in the counter intelligence unit of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence which falls under Mr Mbabazi’s security docket.

Another Mbabazi supporter, MP Asuman Kiyingi, was appointed state minister for lands.

Pereza Ahabwe who went from being a strong Mbabazi critic to strident supporter, is the new state minister for local government.

Surprise entry

A surprising entry into cabinet is former Samia Bugwe North MP Aggrey Awori, a long-term member of the Uganda People’s Congress and one of Museveni’s opponents in the 2001 presidential elections. Mr Awori, who defected to Museveni’s ruling National Resistance Movement after losing his parliamentary seat in 2006, replaces Dr Mulira as ICT minister.

“It’s a pleasant surprise,” Mr Awori, who wasn’t aware of the appointment, told Daily Monitor last night when contacted for comment.

Related Stories

Museveni appoints wife to Cabinet
Other new faces include MP Henry Bagiire (state minister for agriculture), Kisira M. Mbeiza (state minister for economic monitoring in the Office of the President), and Rev. Fr. Simon Lokodo (state minister for industry). After several months on the dole, former army commander and state minister for environment Gen. Jeje Odongo bounces back as state minister for defence.

Mr Gabriel Opio has been promoted from state minister in charge of higher education to full minister for labour, gender and social affairs.

Transfers

Apart from the new faces, many ministers have swapped dockets in the new cabinet. The most prominent of all is Hajjat Syda Bumba who has overcome her challenges during her stint as Energy minister and her most-recent posting in Gender to bounce back as finance minister.

Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, has been transferred from Local Government to Trade and Industry. Gen. Otafiire has been replaced by Adolf Mwesigye, who has been switched from Office of the Prime Minister, as Minister for General Duties. Mr Mwesigye has been replaced by Janat Mukwaya, who was removed from trade and industry.

In other changes, Mr Daudi Migereko was removed from the powerful Energy and Minerals ministry and named Government Chief Whip, replacing Kabakumba Matsiko, who has been named Information and National Guidance Minister.

Ms Matsiko, replaces Al Hajji Kirunda Kivejinja, who remained third deputy prime minister, but has also been handed the all powerful internal affairs docket. Mr Kivejinja replaced Dr Ruhakana Rugunda who was posted to New York as Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, where the country has a two-year seat on the Security Council.

In other changes, Mr Museveni posted Mr Hilary Onek from Agriculture to Energy and Minerals while junior ministers switched included Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, who has been handed the finance planning docket; Mwesigwa Rukutana from Labour to Higher Education, Kamanda Bataringaya and Peter Lokeris were switched between Minerals and Primary Education respectively.

Mr Aston Kajara has been switched from Karamoja Affairs to Finance (investment), while Ms Ruth Nankabirwa moves from state for defence to state for micro-finance. Mr Emmanuel Otala was switched from Health to Labour, while Ms Isanga Lukia was retained in the same ministry but given a new docket of Gender and Culture, replacing Maj. Kinobe.

“It’s a pleasant surprise,” Mr Awori, who wasn’t aware of the appointment, told Daily Monitor last night when contacted for comment.

Museveni appoints wife to Cabinet
Other new faces include MP Henry Bagiire (state minister for agriculture), Kisira M. Mbeiza (state minister for economic monitoring in the Office of the President), and Rev. Fr. Simon Lokodo (state minister for industry). After several months on the dole, former army commander and state minister for environment Gen. Jeje Odongo bounces back as state minister for defence.

Mr Gabriel Opio has been promoted from state minister in charge of higher education to full minister for labour, gender and social affairs.

Transfers

Apart from the new faces, many ministers have swapped dockets in the new cabinet. The most prominent of all is Hajjat Syda Bumba who has overcome her challenges during her stint as Energy minister and her most-recent posting in Gender to bounce back as finance minister.

Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, has been transferred from Local Government to Trade and Industry. Gen. Otafiire has been replaced by Adolf Mwesigye, who has been switched from Office of the Prime Minister, as Minister for General Duties. Mr Mwesigye has been replaced by Janat Mukwaya, who was removed from trade and industry.

In other changes, Mr Daudi Migereko was removed from the powerful Energy and Minerals ministry and named Government Chief Whip, replacing Kabakumba Matsiko, who has been named Information and National Guidance Minister.

Ms Matsiko, replaces Al Hajji Kirunda Kivejinja, who remained third deputy prime minister, but has also been handed the all powerful internal affairs docket. Mr Kivejinja replaced Dr Ruhakana Rugunda who was posted to New York as Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, where the country has a two-year seat on the Security Council.

In other changes, Mr Museveni posted Mr Hilary Onek from Agriculture to Energy and Minerals while junior ministers switched included Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, who has been handed the finance planning docket; Mwesigwa Rukutana from Labour to Higher Education, Kamanda Bataringaya and Peter Lokeris were switched between Minerals and Primary Education respectively.

Mr Aston Kajara has been switched from Karamoja Affairs to Finance (investment), while Ms Ruth Nankabirwa moves from state for defence to state for micro-finance. Mr Emmanuel Otala was switched from Health to Labour, while Ms Isanga Lukia was retained in the same ministry but given a new docket of Gender and Culture, replacing Maj. Kinobe.

source.nation.ke

MALAWI: All about the price of maize

Few Malawians can afford the maize in the market

BLANTYRE, – “There are often several versions of the truth” is an adage that could apply to the possibility of food shortages in Malawi during the hungry season, which will end in another two months, as IRIN found out on a road trip through the country’s southern and central regions.

A study by the US-based Michigan State University (MSU) points to a serious hunger problem in Malawi in early 2009; the government has maintained that it has enough maize.

Prices for the staple food are at record levels: a 50kg bag, which would feed a family of four for a month and a half, costs at least US$32, “which is unaffordable in a country where the average income of an individual is about $160 for the year,” said Rafiq Hajat, executive director of the Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI), a think-tank based in the commercial capital, Blantyre.

“The real issue is the price of maize, since that is the most objective signal of scarcity and hunger,” said Thom Jayne, who led the MSU study. “This is the point that Amartya Sen [a Nobel Prize-winning economist] made 30 years ago that made most governments of the world realize that it was access to food rather than national food self-sufficiency that matters.”

High maize prices this season have put many households at risk of food insecurity, according to the last report from the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Network (FEWS-NET), while the last report by the multi-agency Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee said about 674,000 households were at risk of food insecurity and required food aid assistance. A new assessment is due in the next few weeks.

The real issue is the price of maize, since that is the most objective signal of scarcity and hunger
“Maize shortages are a big political issue. As you can see, there is no maize in our particular district, but we cannot say anything. It is all very sensitive – the election is only about two months away,” said an official, who did not want to be named, in one of the southern districts.

Allegations and counter accusations by the government and opposition parties about maize shortages have been dominating newspaper headlines ahead of national elections on 19 May, and President Bingu wa Mutharika holds the agriculture portfolio.

Malawians feel strongly about maize. “If we don’t eat nsima [maize-meal] we feel we have eaten nothing,” said a villager in the southern district of Nsanje. Few Malawians are drawn to other starch sources such as potatoes, which are plentiful in most markets.

At her takeaway off the highway between Blantyre and Nsanje, the country’s southernmost town, Thandi Chimono slapped a chambo, a fish from the tilapia family, into a hot pan and remarked: “There is not enough maize in the market, which is why it is so costly – the private traders are hoarding it.” But this is only one of several versions of the truth about food security circulating in Malawi.

The versions

Most ordinary Malawians believe there is not enough maize because many outlets of ADMARC, the state grain marketer, which controversially sell maize at a subsidized rate often runs out. A villager in the southern district of Chikwaza said the ADMARC outlet in his neighbourhood usually ran out within two days of new stock arriving.

FEWS-NET noted that high market prices have pushed up demand for maize at ADMARC outlets, which have been selling a 50kg bag at a subsidized rate of about $18.

Photo: Jaspreet Kindra/IRIN
Tubers from water lillies are a source of starch during the lean season in the southern district of Nsanje
ADMARC officials at an outlet 100km outside the capital, Lilongwe, admitted they did not have enough maize to last through the lean season, which runs from December to April. “We are rationing a 50kg bag between three to four families.”

There have been questions around government’s decision to grant ADMARC the monopoly over all maize purchases from farmers, in an effort to curb prices as they began to rise in 2008. In August 2008, Charles Mataya, the president of the Economics Association of Malawi was quoted as saying: “With ADMARC as the sole player in a market where it has a poor distribution network, we should expect food costs to rise further.”

When available, most rural poor Malawians settle for the cheaper ‘madeya’ or maize bran, or buy small quantities when they manage to find ganyu [piece-work], which brings them some income during the lean season.

Villagers in Nsanje have resorted to eating tubers from water lilies as a source of starch; there are people selling sacks of water lily tubers along the highway. At least 38 percent of households in Nsanje do not have food – up from 18 percent at the same time last year, according to an agriculture department report.

In Mchinji, a central district along the Zambian border, a villager said his family had been surviving on vegetables.

A few aid agencies and government officials agree with Chimono: “The traders have hoarded the maize to release it in the markets slowly during the lean season so they can fetch good prices.”

Aid officials believe the government is partly to blame for the hoarding. “There was a lot of speculation after the 2007 and 2008 harvests about whether the country had enough maize after the government sold more than 300,000 metric tonnes of maize to Zimbabwe in 2007,” said an aid official. “But the government always maintained the country had a bumper harvest in both the years, which was not true.”

Private traders deny selling hoarded maize and say there is none. In Liwonde, a town in the southeastern district of Machinga, along Malawi’s border with Mozambique, a trader said he had imported his maize from Zambia. On the highway between Liwonde and Blantyre a truck driver with a load of maize said he had brought it from Zambia.

“So if the country has enough maize, why are private traders bringing it in from Zambia?” asked the IPI’s Hajat.

According to Mutharika, “We have a lot of maize but the opposition is sending boys to buy it away so that they fulfill their evil agenda,” he was reported as saying at a public rally in Balaka, a southern district that faces shortages in early 2009.

Analysts and a group of aid workers believe there isn’t enough maize, but the government is too embarrassed to admit to shortages after having won accolades for its input subsidy programme.

What can be done?

Import cheaper maize, suggested the MSU study. Most rural households and almost all urban households in Malawi are net buyers of maize, and in many parts of the country maize costs $500 per ton, which is beyond the reach of Malawi’s poor.

Ironically, global maize prices have dropped since July 2008 and have been around $150 per ton for the past several months. Jayne commented: “It would have been possible to drive down maize prices in Malawi by importing maize from either SAFEX [South African Futures Exchange] or the world market. By injecting much more maize onto the market, either by ADMARC, traders, and/or NGOs, prices can be lowered during the lean season. The key is making the decision to import in a timely way. People are debating over whether Malawi has maize or not, but the lesson for the future is to keep food price within a tolerable range through effective management of buffer stocks and trade.”

Government officials would not comment.

jk/he/oa
source.www.irinnews.org