Kenya government is now in a dilemma. They are unable to get rid of the cleric and the US does not want him in their country. The Gambia, as reported, has returned him to Kenya. What happens now? (API)

By Cyrus Ombati

The saga surrounding controversial Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal took a new twist after he was deported back from Nigeria.

The cleric was transiting through Nigeria to the Gambia where he would have been put on an onward flight to his country Jamaica.

Al-Faisal was deported on Thursday morning to Gambia through Nigeria but on reaching Lagos, a flight that was supposed to fly him to Banjul declined to take him.

His lawyer in Nairobi Mbugua Mureithi who was on Sunday accompanied by Muslim human rights leaders said he was deported back to Kenya on Saturday morning.

Al-Faisal spoke to the leaders on the phone from Industrial Area Prisons remand on Sunday evening.

Being held

Commissioner of Prisons Isaiah Osugo said Al-Faisal was being held in one of the prisons facilities and explained that the Minister of Immigration has powers to commute to jail anyone who has been denied entry to any country, like the case of Faisal.

Other sources said Al-Faisal was taken to Industrial Area on Saturday evening after Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang� ordered so.

Al-Faisal confirmed he had agreed to go to Gambia where he was supposed to make his way to Jamaica. He said he had been questioned by immigration and police officers regarding his presence in Kenya.

Kajwang� told the media last Thursday that Al-Faisal had been deported to Gambia. “As I speak now he is in Banjul. He requested to be taken there and after authorities in Gambia agreed to receive him we did what was required,” said Kajwang�.

The minister said Kenya decided to arrest and deport Al-Faisal after his name appeared on the international terror watch list. It was after negotiations that Kenya Airways agreed to fly him to Nigeria.

Al-Faisal who has called for Americans, Hindus and Jews to be killed, traveled from Nigeria through Angola, Malawi, Swaziland, Mozambique, and Tanzania by road before coming to Kenya. He served four years in Britain for inciting murder and stirring racial hatred.

source.standard.ke

by Kepher Otieno

Millennium development projects (MVP) in Africa need fresh capital injection of $30 billion (Sh2.2 trillion) for expansion to cover more areas, the UN has disclosed.

Special advisor to UN Secretary General Jeffrey Sachs said the MVP projects were bound to stimulate economic growth in rural areas in Africa.

“We need to pump in more money to MVP to boost income support schemes that protect the vulnerable and poor households,” he said.

Prof Sachs spoke while on a tour of Bar Sauri millennium village in Gem District, on Sunday.

Scope

Sachs who is also the Director of Earth Institute at Columbia University, for sustainable development, said since the MVP projects covered a few districts, it was vital to expand their scope.

Sachs noted that the MVP projects were progressing well and with sustained funding livestock, fish, and horticulture, among others would triple food production and reduce poverty levels.

He said over 500 million people still live in the rural areas, which is why it was important to develop villages.

“We encourage governments to scale up efforts to market and take MVP programmes seriously even as we scout for more funding to expand and sustain the projects,” Sachs said.

Currently, the programmes run in 12 African countries but cover a few districts in each country.

Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Eritrea, Rwanda, Malawi, Mozambique, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, and Liberia are some of the countries that have reaped from the project.

Sachs said plans were at an advanced stage to bring Cameroon and Benin on board as part of the expansion plans to cover as many areas as possible.

The programme is expected to run until 2015, before the funding levels are renewed even as the project implementers embark on a fresh mission to push for increased funding.

Currently, the project receives $30 billion annually and targets about 5,000 households who get at least Sh4,500 for MVP activities, he explained.

The local MVP project leader, Patrick Mutuo, UNAids Country Director Erasmus Morah, and Executive Director Michel Sidibe accompanied the envoy.

The Kenyan delegation was led by the National Aids Control Council Director, Prof Alloyce Orago, and Nyanza Provincial Medical officer of Health, Dr Ojwang Lusi among a host of other leaders.

source.standard.ke

Hizbu Islam leaders were reacting to AU decision on Friday to extend the mandate of Amisom peacekeepers to support the struggling government in Somalia.

source.nation.ke

�Harry Reid called me today and apologised for an unfortunate comment reported today. I accepted Harry�s apology without question because I�ve known him for years, I�ve seen the passionate leadership he�s shown on issues of social justice and I know what�s in his heart,� Mr Obama said. (Reuters)

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