With the first round of Mali's presidential elections scheduled for Sunday, the United Nations refugee agency is calling on Malian authorities to quickly make public voters' lists and speed up distribution of electoral cards in neighbouring States for out-of-country voters.
"This is especially important as refugee camps and sites are located in remote areas, where access may become difficult with the rainy season now settling in," UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva.
He added that the Malian authorities have said they are considering alternatives to allow refugees to vote in case of further delays.
Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger host some 173,000 refugees who fled Mali in the wake of a northern rebellion of ethnic Tuareg groups and a violent insurgency of Islamist extremists which displaced hundreds of thousands over the past year.
UNHCR's role in the elections is to facilitate their participation and ensure the voluntary nature of the electoral process in a safe environment.
"Our role is humanitarian and non-political only," Mr. Edwards stressed, adding that the refugee agency in June conducted formal and informal surveys in major refugee areas through discussion groups and to explain the UN agency's neutrality in the process.
"The surveys found that refugees were generally in favour of being included in the elections, that they have good awareness of the situation in Mali, and that some believe the elections will help peace and stability - a fundamental condition for many refugees in deciding whether to return to their country," he said.
In total, 19,020 refugees have voluntarily registered to take part, out of 73,277 refugees aged 18 and above.
Names were then verified against the biometric civil registry, which was last updated in 2011 and used to establish the electoral lists.
"UNHCR is concerned that only a low number of names of refugees interested in voting were found in the registry," Mr. Edwards said.
In Burkina Faso, and according to Malian registration teams, 876 out of the 3,504 registered refugees were found in the civil registry; 8,409 out of 11,355 registered refugees in Mauritania, and 932 out 4,161 registered refugees in Niger.
"In other words, only around half the refugees who have volunteered to take part in the election have so far been found in the registry," summarized Mr. Edwards.
In addition, there are reports that Malian authorities have only provided a few Numéro d'Identification national (NINA) voting to refugees in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger representation, UNHCR said.
Mr Mbowe was summoned on Tuesday but failed to turn up because of party commitments.
His lawyer also was having other responsibilities thus informing the police that he would report Wednesday. Yesterday, Mr Mbowe reported at the police headquarters at around 2pm.
He was accompanied by the party lawyer Peter Kibatala and other senior party officials, according to the opposition party’s director of information, Mr John Mnyika.
Police sources told The Citizen that Mr Mbowe was asked to submit a video that implicates the police in the June 15 Arusha bomb blast that claimed lives of four people injuring several others.
Contacted, police spokesperson Advera Senso did not want to divulge details, and instead blamed the social networks for circulating rumours, saying they were meddling into the normal duties of the law enforcers.
“This is not a big deal because anyone can be summoned to appear before the police. But I want to warn people that the police force does not work depending on anyone’s interest,” she said.
Mr Mbowe declared that the bombing had been planned and carried out by the police. He further claimed that high-resolution video footage and photographs were available, which clearly showed the perpetrator, who was wearing police uniform. The opposition party leader vowed to make the footages public and assured people that they had been deposited at a secure location.
However, Chadema officials have been giving pronouncements on different occasions that they would not hand over the video because the law enforcers were the ones accused.
Yesterday, Chadema secretary general Willibroad Slaa and Mr Mnyika told The Citizen that Mr Mbowe stuck to his guns and told the police he would not release the video until an independent body to investigate the matter was formed.
“This is the party’s Central Committee’s stance that we cannot handover our evidence to people who are accused and who we are no longer trusting,’’ said Dr Slaa.
His sentiments were echoed by Mr Mnyika who said the party had written to President Jakaya Kikwete asking him to form an independent team to investigate the incident.
“Although Mr Kikwete has not responded to our letter yet, we urge the police not to rush into this matter. Let them be patient and wait for an independent tribunal which is yet to be formed by the head of state’’ said Mr Mnyika, who is also the Ubungo MP.
Although Mr Mbowe was allowed to leave the police premises, the party’s lawyer Peter Kibatala was asked to submit in writing on Friday the reasons as to why the party was not ready to release evidence of the video.
MORE than 13 per cent of people with HIV who are on antiretroviral (ARV) medication are not attending clinics.
The patients who are about 8,889 are not honouring their clinics in Mwanza Region. The Co-ordinator of the antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme , Dr Moses Ringo, said they are now working out on a strategy to bring them back to attend the clinics.
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in an attempt to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle.
The use of multiple drugs that act on different viral targets is known as antiretroviral therapy (ART) and in other countries highly active antiretroviral therapy(HAART) . HAART decreases the patient's total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system and prevents opportunistic infections that often lead to death.
He said the problem of dodging clincs was serious in Mwanza Region, where the patients are boycotting the clinics without notice, thus leaving the project administrators in suspense.
He said about 1,601 under 12 and 15 children who are on ARV treatment, are also not taken to the hospital according to schedule. He said the project faces a number of challenges as the majority of patients were shying away from attending clinics.
"Annually we are supposed to serve 55 per cent of people living with HIV but so far only 27 per cent attend, " he said.
Dr Ringo said the campaign to call back to clinics people on ARV medication will start in Magu, Nyamagana and Geita districts where majority of them has chosen not to go on with medication.
The patients who are about 8,889 are not honouring their clinics in Mwanza Region. The Co-ordinator of the antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme , Dr Moses Ringo, said they are now working out on a strategy to bring them back to attend the clinics.
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in an attempt to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle.
The use of multiple drugs that act on different viral targets is known as antiretroviral therapy (ART) and in other countries highly active antiretroviral therapy(HAART) . HAART decreases the patient's total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system and prevents opportunistic infections that often lead to death.
He said the problem of dodging clincs was serious in Mwanza Region, where the patients are boycotting the clinics without notice, thus leaving the project administrators in suspense.
He said about 1,601 under 12 and 15 children who are on ARV treatment, are also not taken to the hospital according to schedule. He said the project faces a number of challenges as the majority of patients were shying away from attending clinics.
"Annually we are supposed to serve 55 per cent of people living with HIV but so far only 27 per cent attend, " he said.
Dr Ringo said the campaign to call back to clinics people on ARV medication will start in Magu, Nyamagana and Geita districts where majority of them has chosen not to go on with medication.
In an exclusive interview with The Citizen, the envoy said Israel has the right technology that could be deployed to help Tanzania achieve economic gains from the sector.
Without the technology and expertise of its own, Tanzania will depend on major foreign oil and gas firms for the exploration and exploitation of the huge reserves, experts say.
But Mr Haskel said the success of Israel -- which helped Tanzania to set up its National Service (JKT) 50 years ago -- in the gas sector could be replicated in the country.
“Israel is further ahead on gas exploration. Israel has been dealing with gas issues for decades now and I, therefore, believe that we have something to offer to Tanzania in case we are requested to do so,” said Mr Haskel.
He said Israeli firms have enough experience and skills to share in the area, but this can only happen if the two states were to agree on the matter.
“I think it is something that could be discussed between the government of Tanzania and the State of Israel,” he said.
The envoy who was in the country to attend the commemoration of 50 years of the National Service, said Israel has been exploring off shore gas in the Mediterranean Sea.
Commenting on the commemoration of 50 years of the National Service, he said Israel was honoured to initiate the programme in July, 1963 and that the first batch included only 11 recruits from different regions in the country.
He said 50 years of the National Service also marks more than 50 years of good and close relationship between Tanzania and Israel.
“I am here in the country to mark the fruits of good relations between Israel and Tanzania, and I am happy that we are the ones who initiated the National Service programme in the country,” said
Vice President Mohamed Gharib Bilal chats with food vendors Coletha Jerome (Left) and Siwazuri Kimbachi in Mbagala, Dar es Salaam.
The National Environment management Council (NEMC) has ordered the demolition of a hotel owned by a former Mwanza City director.
NEMC issued the order after it was found that Royal Sunset Beach Hotel was built less than 60 metres from Lake Victoria, contrary to environmental conservation regulations.
NEMC legal officer Machare Suguta said the council also fined the proprietor, Mr Wilson Kabwe, Sh10,000,000.
But Mr Kabwe said from Dar es Salaam that the hotel was built according to regulations.
“The laws permit one to construct temporary infrastructure within that distance from the lake shore. None of the structures is permanent,” he said.
Two NGOs have also been fined $10,000 (Sh16 million) each for using forged stamps and other documents and issuing fake environmental impact certificates (EICs) to four prominent companies.
Suguta said Mwanza Environment and Conservation of Nature (MEC) and Mwanza Region Environment Conservation charged customers Sh5 million for a certificate.
“Only the minister responsible for environmental conservation is empowered to issue EICs. We have established that these officials from the NGOs have been conducting illegal inspections of industries and hotels built along the lake shores, claiming they were NEMC officers,” said Suguta.
In Dar es Salaam, Vice President Mohamed Gharib Bilal , yesterday began a two-day tour of the city to assess the cleanliness and sanitation situations.
He said city authorities needed to put in place comprehensive waste management strategies. “Dar es Salaam produces at least 4,000 tonnes of solid waste daily, but only 50 to 52 per cent of the amount is collected and taken to dump sites,” Dr Bilal said. “Urban populations are increasing rapidly, and our cities and towns will be too dangerous to live in unless massive improvement of waste water management is undertaken,” he added
Earlier, Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Said Meck Sadick said Temeke, Ilala and K
The Minister of State (Vice-President’s Office, Environment), Dr Terezya Huvisa, said Tanzania needed to take urgent measures to improve waste disposal.
“City authorities need to put in place comprehensive waste management strategies that promote effective and responsible water use, treatment, and disposal, instead of relying on the 1960s stabilisation ponds,” she said.
inondoni municipalities generated 1,138, 1,188 and 2,226 tonnes of solid waste daily.“Out of the amount produced, Temeke collects only 550 tonnes of garbage, Ilala 474 tonnes and Kinondoni 1,054 tonnes. This explains why a lot of garbage remains on the streets,” he said.
The industry’s contribution to the national economy currently stands at 3.7 per cent.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says in a new report that big mining companies worldwide have this year decreased their capital expenditure by 21 per cent. This had led to projects being deferred or scaled back.
The top 40 mining companies by market capitalisation last year spent $140 billion on capital projects, but the figure has dropped to $110 billion this year.
Mr David Tarimo, PwC Partner, Tax Services, told The Citizen in an exclusive interview that Tanzania was likely to see few or no new projects in 2013, and existing ones could be scaled back or scrapped altogether, adding that this could have a great impact on the economy.
He said resource nationalism continues to pose a big threat to mining as governments seek greater shares of profits.
“Governments are now looking at different strategies to extract a greater share from mining operations. These strategies range from increasing taxes and royalties to restricting foreign ownership,” Mr Tarimo said.
This could increase the cost of minerals which could, in turn, reduce economic growth in the jurisdictions that are driving demand for minerals.
The impact of reduced spending had in recent months been seen through the industry’s value chain after many suppliers announced lower than expected profits, Mr Tarimo said.
The future is also not very rosy for smaller miners, who are struggling to raise capital. Even those who are prepared to pay high interest rates on loans cannot get credit.
“If funding does not improve soon, this will have a dramatic impact on new reserves,” Mr Tarimo said.
The PWC report titled Mine: A Confidence Crisis says being tough with mining companies might look good to stakeholders at home in the short run, but governments should consider a broader view of returns from natural resource development.
“Mining activities provide jobs, both direct and indirect, taxes, infrastructure and promote overall economic development,” the report says.
Continued resource nationalism by governments makes countries less attractive for mining investment, it warns.
“To attract mining investment governments, should provide long-term assurance to companies, for example through robust stability clauses in mining agreements.”
Regaining confidence depends on how the mining industry responds to its rising costs, increasingly volatile commodity prices and other challenges such as resource nationalism. Despite this drop in confidence, it’s not all bad news.
The report says production volumes and dividend yields are up and while prices have fallen, they have not crashed. China continues to be the industry’s most important customer.
While Chinese growth rates are slowing down, they are coming from a bigger base, so future demand for commodities still looks healthy.
Miners are trying to rebuild the market’s confidence - capital expenditures have been scaled back, hurdle rates are being increased and non-core assets are being disposed of.
Across the board, there is a shift from maximising value by increasing production volumes, to a renewed focus on maximising returns from existing operations through 
The EAC Social Development Framework; the EAC Youth Policy and the Report on Participatory Gender Audit for EAC Organs and Institutions were adopted during a meeting of Sectoral Council on Gender, Youth, Children, Social Protection and Community Development which ended on Friday.
The meeting also adopted the EAC framework for gender sensitive outcomes and indicators for the 4th EAC Development Strategy (2011-2016); the EAC Gender Mainstreaming Strategy; the EAC Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines and Checklists; and Guidelines for the establishment of National Youth Councils.
Addressing delegates, the chairperson of the Sectoral Council, Mr Mwesigwa Rukutana, Uganda’s minister of State in charge of Gender, Labour and Social Development, commended the EAC secretary general and the team of experts from the Arusha-based Secretariat for the good work of driving the social sector forward.
“A lot of progress has been registered in developing the social sector component of the EAC,” he said.
“Various documents such as the EAC Strategic Plan on Gender, Youth, Social Protection and Community Development, the Consultative Dialogue Framework for Civil Society Organisations and Private Sector, the EAC Policy on Persons with Disability, among others, have been developed,” he added.
Agents say tourists should be taken to national parks in Tanzanian-registered vehicles
Some local tour operators fear they could be driven out of business if Kenyan-registered tour vehicles are allowed to operate in Tanzania, particularly in the northern zone.
“They (Kenyan tour companies) are a threat. We will be rendered jobless because the majority of tourists come to Tanzania via Kenya,” said Mr Andrew Malalika, the director of Arusha-based Jackpot Tours and Safaris.
He said there was no legal prohibition of Kenyan-registered tourist vans taking visitors to Tanzania’s northern tourism circuit.
However, he argued, that a deliberate arrangement was made to have the Kenyan vehicles take tourists to their border where they would board local tour vans in order to safeguard Tanzanian firms.
He said Kenya was easily connected with the rest of the world with many direct flights landing in Nairobi daily with thousands of tourists, making it a preferred transit even for visitors heading to Tanzania.
He added that the decision by the Tanzania government to press for the exchange of the visitors at the border had enabled local tour firms to remain in business which would have been taken over or monopolised by Kenyans.
Mr Malalika said the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (Tato), a body of licensed tour operators based in Arusha, would continue to support the government in the row over the Kenyan tour operators.
He said consequences of opening the border for the Kenyan tour vans would be devastating for their business, although he and other tour operators welcomed “amicable consultations between the two countries to sort out the issue”.
He added that the re-opening of the Bolongoja border post to the tourists from the neighbouring country would be a further blow to Tanzania, an argument supported by Tato executive director Mustapha Akunaay, who said: “Even under the East African Community Common Market Protocol, the partner states have not agreed on the vehicles carrying tourists across the borders.”
However, Mr Akunaay, who is also a member of the EAC Sectoral Council on Tourism and Wildlife, admitted the matter was confusing apparently because Kenya and Tanzania have at times made short-lived decisions on the issue.
He said at one time, Kenya allowed tourist vans from Tanzania to take tourists there in order to impress upon the latter to reciprocate by allowing vans from Nairobi to make rounds in the tourist sites in northern Tanzania.
Consultations between the two countries and also within the EAC framework later nullified this, he explained, noting that despite the pressure from Kenya, Tanzanian park regulations demanded that tourists must be taken there in locally registered vans.
“For us, Bologonja is a foregone issue. It is an ecologically sensitive area which should not be allowed to have a high traffic of tourists and vehicles. That is why we have opposed the construction of a highway across the Serengeti,” he said.
He reiterated that the bilateral agreement between Tanzania and Kenya since the 1980s when the border was re-opened was to off-load tourists crossing borders.
The EAC has remained largely quiet on the matter. But one senior official of the Secretariat wondered last week that if the bilateral agreement between the two countries was the cause of the row.
“If that is the case, then it will take sometime for the EAC protocols to override bilateral agreements between the partner states or those involving them with other countries”, he said, declining further comments.
Recently, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for EAC Affairs Phyllis Kandie said she will raise the alleged harassment of Kenyan tour operators bringing tourists to Tanzania at the regional level because the EAC Common Market Protocol guarantees free movement of people.
President Jakaya Kikwete and his wife Salma pay their last respects in Dar es Salaam yesterday to the seven Tanzanian soldiers killed while on a peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan. The ceremony took place at the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces headquarters.President Jakaya Kikwete led thousands of mourners in paying their last respects to the seven Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) soldiers who were killed while on a peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan.
There were sorrowful scenes at TPDF headquarters in Upanga, Dar es Salaam, when the coffins bearing the soldiers’ bodies arrived for the solemn ceremony. Some relatives were inconsolable upon seeing the caskets for the first time. Tears flowed freely among the fallen soldiers’ relatives and colleagues as the coffins draped in the national flag were carried out of military vehicles.
President Kikwete, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, led senior government officials and top army officers in bidding farewell to Sergeant Shaibu Othman, Corporal Oswald Chaula, Corporal Mohammed Juma Ali, Corporal Mohammed Chokizo, Private Rodney Ndunguru, Private Fortunatus Msofe and Private Peter Muhiri Werema.
The soldiers were killed when gunmen ambushed a convoy of African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (Unamid) peacekeepers in southern Darfur on July 13. Seventeen others were wounded in the worst attack in Unamid’s five-year history.
President Kikwete described the soldiers as true patriots who died while serving their country diligently and selflessly.
He said it was time peacekeeping rules were reviewed to allow peacekeepers to use heavy weapons to defend themselves when under attack, adding that Tanzania would take up the issue with the United Nations and the African Union.
President Kikwete said he had asked his Sudanese counterpart, Mr Omar al-Bashir, to launch thorough investigations into the incident and bring those responsible to justice.
Dressed in a dark suit, President Kikwete, accompanied by his wife Salma, was the first to bid farewell to the fallen heroes. He was followed by Vice President Mohamed Gharib Bilal and other top government officials.
Other speakers at the ceremony included Defence and National Service minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha and the Chief of Defence Forces, General Davis Mwamunyange.
Mr Nahodha said the attack was part of a wider plot by criminal gangs to undermine peacekeeping efforts by the UN and AU.
He said the government would meet the cost of burying the soldiers and taking care of their families, adding that the government was also closely monitoring the Tanzanian soldiers who were wounded in the attack and who were still in Sudan receiving treatment.
Narrating the incident, Gen Mwamunyange said Tanzanian soldiers were escorting military observers and police advisers at around 9am on July 13 when they were ambushed by heavily armed assailants after slowing down in an area that had been made slippery by heavy rain. Seven soldiers died instantly.
Tanzanian soldiers returned fire, but were outgunned by the attackers in a two-hour shootout. The gunmen fled when Unamid reinforcements arrived at the scene.
Other high-profile figures who attended yesterday’s ceremony included Zanzibar Second Vice President Seif Ali Idd, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Bernard Membe, Home Affairs minister Emmanuel Nchimbi and CCM Secretary-General Abdulrahman Kinana.
The no-show patients, numbering over 100,000, were among 180,000 receiving ARVs in Mwanza Region, the medical experts said here over the weekend.
Most of the HIV/Aids patients prefer receiving treatment in total secrecy for fear of stigmatisation, say medical doctors.
“We have noted that some of them travel a whole 164km to Shinyanga Region to get their life-saving medication since they don’t want their friends and associates here in Mwanza to know that they are HIV-positive,” said Dr Pius Masele of Bugando Referral Hospital.
His observations were echoed by Dr Moses Ringo and Dr Benjamin Bendera from the Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC).
They dismissed claims that the 100,000 were among those who went for the purported miracle cure administered by retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), the Reverend Ambilikile Masapila at Samunge in Loliondo District, Arusha Region, in 2011.
Speaking ahead of the official launch of a five-year Back to Care (B2C) initiative, the regional coordinator of HIV/Aids treatment programme, the experts rejected claims that the 100,000 patients who absconded the therapy were part of millions who had opted for the mugariga “magic cure”.
“The massive rush to Samunge for a purported cure might have played just a minimal role, that doesn’t justify its sole responsibility on making them neglect the vital therapy,” noted Dr Masele.
The doctor said getting accurate figure on the HIV-positives; the number of those who mare attending ARV therapy and number of deaths, had been a “mission impossible” to the officials and organisations that are engaged in the anti-Aids campaign.
He noted that once fully implemented, the Back to Care initiative would get all information about what happened to over 100,000 patients and where they attend anti-retroviral therapy and related services.
“The B2C project, as it is officially known, targets to track down the over 100,000 HIV-positive men and women and encourage them to resume the ARV therapy. The project would then be able know why they had not reported for the therapy,” said Dr Masele.
Back to Care project, according to Dr Masele, would focus on Nyamagana, Sengerema and Rorya districts, which are said to have the highest Aids prevalence in the Lake Zone.
In retrospect, Mwanza Region has established 89 clinics to conduct the revived ARV therapy and other scientifically approved methods of preventing the killer scourge, according to Dr Bendera, an official from CSSC and the coordinator of the project.
“These clinics have so far done a commendable job in reducing the HIV prevalence by offering effective treatment of Aids-related complications, such as STI, tuberculosis while doing well in prevention of mother-to-child infections,” explained Dr Bendera.
He said studies show that early treatment of venereal diseases helps to reduce Aids infection by 40 per cent while men’s circumcision has proven to offer s a 60per cent-protection to both a man and a woman.
Dr Bendera said at the moment, 86,613 people were enrolled for care and treatment clinics all over the region as of March 2013.
He added that there were 34, 422 clients (patients) receiving the therapy between January and March this year.
“The number of people who take anti-retroviral therapy in the region by March this year, reached 27,656 which is 59 per cent of 46,740 people who were started the therapy,” noted Dr Ringo.
Established in 1992, the Christian Social Service Commission of Tanzania (CSSC) has been supporting delivery of social services to improve communities’ quality of life and reduce poverty.
“CSSC aims to improve quality, accessibility, and availability of health services in Tanzania through public private partnerships and institutional development, capacity building, and lobbying and advocacy,” added Dr Ringo.
In collaboration with various government and non-governmental partners, CCSC coordinates the implementation of various health and education projects such as HIV/Aids and tuberculosis programmes with the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and Malaria.
For the first time since 1987, succession is being openly discussed in Burkina Faso.
Under the current constitution, President Blaise Compaoré, in power for more than a quarter century, is not allowed to contest the presidency in 2015. Any attempt to amend the constitution for a fifth-term bid could provoke a repeat of the 2011 popular uprisings.
However, even if Compaoré abides by the constitution and leaves power in 2015, his succession may still prove challenging as he has dominated the political scene for decades, placing severe restrictions on political space. International partners must encourage him to uphold the constitution and prepare for a smooth, democratic transition.
Preserving Burkina Faso's stability is all the more important given that the country is located at the centre of an increasingly troubled region, with the political and military crisis in neighbouring Mali possibly spilling over into Niger, another border country. Burkina Faso has been spared similar upheaval so far thanks to its internal stability and robust security apparatus, but deterioration of the political climate in the run-up to 2015 could make the country more vulnerable. A presidential election is also due in 2015 in Côte d'Ivoire, a country with which Burkina Faso has very close ties. This special relationship and the presence of a significant Burkinabe community in the country mean that a political crisis in Ouagadougou could have a negative impact on a still fragile Côte d'Ivoire.
Burkina Faso also holds significant diplomatic influence in West Africa. Over the past two decades under Blaise Compaoré's rule, the country has become a key player in the resolution of regional crises. The president and his men have succeeded, with much ingenuity, in positioning themselves as indispensable mediators or as "watchdogs" helping Western countries monitor the security situation in the Sahel and the Sahara. A crisis in Burkina Faso would not only mean the loss of a key ally and a strategic base for France and the U.S., it would also reduce the capacity of an African country in dealing with regional conflicts. The collapse of the Burkinabe diplomatic apparatus would also mean the loss of an important reference point for West Africa that, despite limitations, has played an essential role as a regulatory authority.
There is real risk of socio-political crisis in Burkina Faso. Since coming to power in 1987, Blaise Compaoré has put in place a semi-authoritarian regime, combining democratisation with repression, to ensure political stability - something his predecessors have never achieved. This complex, flawed system is unlikely to be sustained, however. It revolves around one man who has dominated political life for over two decades and has left little room for a smooth transition. In fact, there are few alternatives for democratic succession. The opposition is divided and lacks financial capacity and charismatic, experienced leaders; and none of the key figures in the ruling party has emerged as a credible successor. If Compaoré fails to manage his departure effectively, the country could face political upheaval similar to that which rocked Côte d'Ivoire in the 1990s following the death of Félix Houphouët-Boigny.
Another threat to Burkina Faso's stability is social explosion. The society has modernised faster than the political system, and urbanisation and globalisation have created high expectations for change from an increasingly young population. Despite strong economic growth, inequalities are widespread and the country is one of the poorest in the world. Repeated promises of change have never been fulfilled, and this has led to broken relations between the state and its citizens as well as a loss of authority at all levels of the administration. Public distrust sparked violent protests in the first half of 2011 that involved various segments of the society, including rank-and-file soldiers in several cities.
For the first time, the army appeared divided between the elites and the rank and file, and somewhat hostile to the president, who has sought to control the defence and security apparatus from which he had emerged. The crisis was only partially resolved, and local conflicts over land, traditional leadership and workers' rights increased in 2012. Such tensions are especially worrying given the country's history of social struggle and revolutionary tendencies since the 1983 Marxist-inspired revolution.
Blaise Compaoré's long reign is showing the usual signs of erosion that characterises semi-autocratic rule. Several key figures of his regime have retired, including the mayor of Ouagadougou, Simon Compaoré - not a relative of the president - who managed the country's capital for seventeen years; and billionaire Oumarou Kanazoé, who until his death was a moderate voice among the Muslim community. In addition, the death of Libya's Muammar Qadhafi, a major financial partner, was a blow to Compaoré's regime.
President Compaoré has responded to these challenges with reforms that have not met popular expectations and have only scratched the surface. Further, he has remained silent on whether he will actually leave office in 2015. He has concentrated power, in the country and within his Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party, in the hands of a small circle of very close allies and family members, including his younger brother François Compaoré, who was elected to parliament for the first time on 2 December 2012. The president's silence and his brother's political ascent continue to fuel uncertainty.
President Compaoré has less than three years left to prepare his departure and prevent a succession battle or a new popular uprising. He is the only actor capable of facilitating a smooth transition. By upholding the constitution and resisting the temptation of dynastic succession, he could preserve stability, the main accomplishment of his long rule. Any other scenario would pave the way for a troubled future. Similarly, the opposition and civil society organisations should act responsibly and work to create conditions for a democratic process that would preserve peace and stability. International partners, in particular Western allies, should no longer focus exclusively on Compaoré's mediation role and the monitoring of security risks in West Africa; they should also pay close attention to domestic politics and the promotion of democracy in Burkina Faso.
Under the current constitution, President Blaise Compaoré, in power for more than a quarter century, is not allowed to contest the presidency in 2015. Any attempt to amend the constitution for a fifth-term bid could provoke a repeat of the 2011 popular uprisings.
However, even if Compaoré abides by the constitution and leaves power in 2015, his succession may still prove challenging as he has dominated the political scene for decades, placing severe restrictions on political space. International partners must encourage him to uphold the constitution and prepare for a smooth, democratic transition.
Preserving Burkina Faso's stability is all the more important given that the country is located at the centre of an increasingly troubled region, with the political and military crisis in neighbouring Mali possibly spilling over into Niger, another border country. Burkina Faso has been spared similar upheaval so far thanks to its internal stability and robust security apparatus, but deterioration of the political climate in the run-up to 2015 could make the country more vulnerable. A presidential election is also due in 2015 in Côte d'Ivoire, a country with which Burkina Faso has very close ties. This special relationship and the presence of a significant Burkinabe community in the country mean that a political crisis in Ouagadougou could have a negative impact on a still fragile Côte d'Ivoire.
Burkina Faso also holds significant diplomatic influence in West Africa. Over the past two decades under Blaise Compaoré's rule, the country has become a key player in the resolution of regional crises. The president and his men have succeeded, with much ingenuity, in positioning themselves as indispensable mediators or as "watchdogs" helping Western countries monitor the security situation in the Sahel and the Sahara. A crisis in Burkina Faso would not only mean the loss of a key ally and a strategic base for France and the U.S., it would also reduce the capacity of an African country in dealing with regional conflicts. The collapse of the Burkinabe diplomatic apparatus would also mean the loss of an important reference point for West Africa that, despite limitations, has played an essential role as a regulatory authority.
There is real risk of socio-political crisis in Burkina Faso. Since coming to power in 1987, Blaise Compaoré has put in place a semi-authoritarian regime, combining democratisation with repression, to ensure political stability - something his predecessors have never achieved. This complex, flawed system is unlikely to be sustained, however. It revolves around one man who has dominated political life for over two decades and has left little room for a smooth transition. In fact, there are few alternatives for democratic succession. The opposition is divided and lacks financial capacity and charismatic, experienced leaders; and none of the key figures in the ruling party has emerged as a credible successor. If Compaoré fails to manage his departure effectively, the country could face political upheaval similar to that which rocked Côte d'Ivoire in the 1990s following the death of Félix Houphouët-Boigny.
Another threat to Burkina Faso's stability is social explosion. The society has modernised faster than the political system, and urbanisation and globalisation have created high expectations for change from an increasingly young population. Despite strong economic growth, inequalities are widespread and the country is one of the poorest in the world. Repeated promises of change have never been fulfilled, and this has led to broken relations between the state and its citizens as well as a loss of authority at all levels of the administration. Public distrust sparked violent protests in the first half of 2011 that involved various segments of the society, including rank-and-file soldiers in several cities.
For the first time, the army appeared divided between the elites and the rank and file, and somewhat hostile to the president, who has sought to control the defence and security apparatus from which he had emerged. The crisis was only partially resolved, and local conflicts over land, traditional leadership and workers' rights increased in 2012. Such tensions are especially worrying given the country's history of social struggle and revolutionary tendencies since the 1983 Marxist-inspired revolution.
Blaise Compaoré's long reign is showing the usual signs of erosion that characterises semi-autocratic rule. Several key figures of his regime have retired, including the mayor of Ouagadougou, Simon Compaoré - not a relative of the president - who managed the country's capital for seventeen years; and billionaire Oumarou Kanazoé, who until his death was a moderate voice among the Muslim community. In addition, the death of Libya's Muammar Qadhafi, a major financial partner, was a blow to Compaoré's regime.
President Compaoré has responded to these challenges with reforms that have not met popular expectations and have only scratched the surface. Further, he has remained silent on whether he will actually leave office in 2015. He has concentrated power, in the country and within his Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party, in the hands of a small circle of very close allies and family members, including his younger brother François Compaoré, who was elected to parliament for the first time on 2 December 2012. The president's silence and his brother's political ascent continue to fuel uncertainty.
President Compaoré has less than three years left to prepare his departure and prevent a succession battle or a new popular uprising. He is the only actor capable of facilitating a smooth transition. By upholding the constitution and resisting the temptation of dynastic succession, he could preserve stability, the main accomplishment of his long rule. Any other scenario would pave the way for a troubled future. Similarly, the opposition and civil society organisations should act responsibly and work to create conditions for a democratic process that would preserve peace and stability. International partners, in particular Western allies, should no longer focus exclusively on Compaoré's mediation role and the monitoring of security risks in West Africa; they should also pay close attention to domestic politics and the promotion of democracy in Burkina Faso.
President Barack Obama recently stated the United States was not taking sides as Egypt's crisis came to a head with the military overthrow of the democratically elected president.
But a review of dozens of US federal government documents shows Washington has quietly funded senior Egyptian opposition figures who called for toppling of the country's now-deposed president Mohamed Morsi.
Documents obtained by the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley show the US channeled funding through a State Department programme to promote democracy in the Middle East region. This programme vigorously supported activists and politicians who have fomented unrest in Egypt, after autocratic president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising in February 2011.
The State Department's programme, dubbed by US officials as a "democracy assistance" initiative, is part of a wider Obama administration effort to try to stop the retreat of pro-Washington secularists, and to win back influence in Arab Spring countries that saw the rise of Islamists, who largely oppose US interests in the Middle East.
Activists bankrolled by the programme include an exiled Egyptian police officer who plotted the violent overthrow of the Morsi government, an anti-Islamist politician who advocated closing mosques and dragging preachers out by force, as well as a coterie of opposition politicians who pushed for the ouster of the country's first democratically elected leader, government documents show.
Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, interviews, and public records reveal Washington's "democracy assistance" may have violated Egyptian law, which prohibits foreign political funding.
It may also have broken US government regulations that ban the use of taxpayers' money to fund foreign politicians, or finance subversive activities that target democratically elected governments.
'Bureau for Democracy'
Washington's democracy assistance programme for the Middle East is filtered through a pyramid of agencies within the State Department. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars is channeled through the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), USAID, as well as the Washington-based, quasi-governmental organisation the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
In turn, those groups re-route money to other organisations such as the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and Freedom House, among others. Federal documents show these groups have sent funds to certain organisations in Egypt, mostly run by senior members of anti-Morsi political parties who double as NGO activists.
The Middle East Partnership Initiative - launched by the George W Bush administration in 2002 in a bid to influence politics in the Middle East in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks - has spent close to $900m on democracy projects across the region, a federal grants database shows.
USAID manages about $1.4bn annually in the Middle East, with nearly $390m designated for democracy promotion, according to the Washington-based Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED).
The US government doesn't issue figures on democracy spending per country, but Stephen McInerney, POMED's executive director, estimated that Washington spent some $65m in 2011 and $25m in 2012. He said he expects a similar amount paid out this year.
A main conduit for channeling the State Department's democracy funds to Egypt has been the National Endowment for Democracy. Federal documents show NED, which in 2011 was authorised an annual budget of $118m by Congress, funneled at least $120,000 over several years to an exiled Egyptian police officer who has for years incited violence in his native country.
This appears to be in direct contradiction to its Congressional mandate, which clearly states NED is to engage only in "peaceful" political change overseas.
Exiled policeman
Colonel Omar Afifi Soliman - who served in Egypt's elite investigative police unit, notorious for human rights abuses - began receiving NED funds in 2008 for at least four years.
During that time he and his followers targeted Mubarak's government, and Soliman later followed the same tactics against the military rulers who briefly replaced him. Most recently Soliman set his sights on Morsi's government.
Soliman, who has refugee status in the US, was sentenced in absentia last year for five years imprisonment by a Cairo court for his role in inciting violence in 2011 against the embassies of Israel and Saudi Arabia, two US allies.
He also used social media to encourage violent attacks against Egyptian officials, according to court documents and a review of his social media posts.
US Internal Revenue Service documents reveal thatNED paid tens of thousands of dollars to Soliman through an organisation he created called Hukuk Al-Nas (People's Rights), based in Falls Church, Virginia. Federal forms show he is the only employee.
After he was awarded a 2008 human rights fellowship at NED and moved to the US, Soliman received a second $50,000 NED grant in 2009 for Hukuk Al-Nas. In 2010, he received $60,000 and another $10,000 in 2011.
In an interview with the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley, Soliman reluctantly admitted he received US government funding from the National Endowment for Democracy, but complained it wasn't enough. "It is like $2000 or $2,500 a month," he said. "Do you think this is too much? Obama wants to give us peanuts. We will not accept that."
NED has removed public access to its Egyptian grant recipients in 2011 and 2012 from its website. NED officials didn't respond to repeated interview requests.
'Pro bono advice'
NED's website says Soliman spreads only nonviolent literature, and his group was set up to provide "immediate, pro bono legal advice through a telephone hotline, instant messaging, and other social networking tools".
However, in Egyptian media interviews, social media posts and YouTube videos, Soliman encouraged the violent overthrow of Egypt's government, then led by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party.
"Incapacitate them by smashing their knee bones first," he instructed followers on Facebook in late June, as Morsi's opponents prepared massive street rallies against the government. Egypt's US-funded and trainedmilitary later used those demonstrations to justify its coup on July 3.
"Make a road bump with a broken palm tree to stop the buses going into Cairo, and drench the road around it with gas and diesel. When the bus slows down for the bump, set it all ablaze so it will burn down with all the passengers inside ... God bless," Soliman's post read.
In late May he instructed, "Behead those who control power, water and gas utilities."
Soliman removed several older social media posts after authorities in Egypt took notice of his subversive instructions, court documents show.
Egyptian women supporters of ousted president Morsi [EPA]
More recent Facebook instructions to his 83,000 followers range from guidelines on spraying roads with a mix of auto oil and gas - "20 liters of oil to 4 liters of gas"- to how to thwart cars giving chase.
On a YouTube video, Soliman took credit for a failed attempt in December to storm the Egyptian presidentialpalace with handguns and Molotov cocktails to oust Morsi.
"We know he gets support from some groups in the US, but we do not know he is getting support from the US government. This would be news to us," said an Egyptian embassy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Funding other Morsi opponents
Other beneficiaries of US government funding are also opponents of the now-deposed president, some who had called for Morsi's removal by force.
The Salvation Front main opposition bloc, of which some members received US funding, has backedstreet protest campaigns that turned violent against the elected government, in contradiction of many of the State Department's own guidelines.
A longtime grantee of the National Endowment for Democracy and other US democracy groups is a 34-year old Egyptian woman, Esraa Abdel-Fatah, who sprang to notoriety during the country's pitched battle over the new constitution in December 2012.
She exhorted activists to lay siege to mosques and drag from pulpits all Muslim preachers and religious figures who supported the country's the proposed constitution, just before it went to a public referendum.
The act of besieging mosques has continued ever since, and several people have died in clashes defending them.
Federal records show Abdel-Fatah's NGO, the Egyptian Democratic Academy, received support from NED, MEPI and NDI, among other State Department-funded groups "assisting democracy". Records show NED gave her organisation a one-year $75,000 grant in 2011.
Abdel-Fatah is politically active, crisscrossing Egypt to rally support for her Al-Dostor Party, which is led by former UN nuclear chief Mohamed El-Baradei, the most prominent figure in the Salvation Front. She lent full support to the military takeover, and urged the West not call it a "coup".
"June 30 will be the last day of Morsi's term," she told the press a few weeks before the coup took place.
US taxpayer money has also been sent to groups set up by some of Egypt's richest people, raising questions about waste in the democracy programme.
Michael Meunier is a frequent guest on TV channels that opposed Morsi. Head of the Al-Haya Party, Meunier - a dual US-Egyptian citizen - has quietly collected US funding through his NGO, Hand In Hand for Egypt Association.
Meunier's organisation was founded by some of the most vehement opposition figures, including Egypt's richest man and well-known Coptic Christian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, Tarek Heggy, an oil industry executive, Salah Diab, Halliburton's partner in Egypt, and Usama Ghazali Harb, a politician with roots in the Mubarak regime and a frequent US embassy contact.
Meunier has denied receiving US assistance, but government documents show USAID in 2011 granted his Cairo-based organisation $873,355. Since 2009, it has taken in $1.3 million from the US agency.
Meunier helped rally the country's five million Christian Orthodox Coptic minority, who oppose Morsi's Islamist agenda, to take to the streets against the president on June 30.
Reform and Development Party member Mohammed Essmat al-Sadat received US financial support through his Sadat Association for Social Development, a grantee of The Middle East Partnership Initiative.
The federal grants records and database show in 2011 Sadat collected $84,445 from MEPI "to work with youth in the post-revolutionary Egypt".
Sadat was a member of the coordination committee, the main organising body for the June 30 anti-Morsi protest. Since 2008, he has collected $265,176 in US funding. Sadat announced he will be running for office again in upcoming parliamentary elections.
After soldiers and police killed more than 50 Morsi supporters on Monday, Sadat defended the use of force and blamed the Muslim Brotherhood, saying it used women and children as shields.
Some US-backed politicians have said Washington tacitly encouraged them to incite protests.
"We were told by the Americans that if we see big street protests that sustain themselves for a week, they will reconsider all current US policies towards the Muslim Brotherhood regime," said Saaddin Ibrahim, an Egyptian-American politician opposed Morsi.
Ibrahim's Ibn Khaldoun Center in Cairo receives US funding, one of the largest recipients of democracy promotion money in fact.
His comments followed statements by other Egyptian opposition politicians claiming they had been prodded by US officials to whip up public sentiment against Morsi before Washington could publicly weigh in.
Democracy programme defence
The practice of funding politicians and anti-government activists through NGOs was vehemently defended by the State Department and by a group of Washington-based Middle East experts close to the programme.
"The line between politics and activism is very blurred in this country," said David Linfield, spokesman for the US Embassy in Cairo.
Others said the United States cannot be held responsible for activities by groups it doesn't control.
"It's a very hot and dynamic political scene," said Michelle Dunne, an expert at the Atlantic Council think-tank. Her husband, Michael Dunne, was given a five-year jail sentence in absentia by a Cairo court for his role in political funding in Egypt.
"Just because you give someone some money, you cannot take away their freedom or the position they want to take," said Dunne.
Elliot Abrams, a former official in the administration of George W. Bush and a member of the Working Group on Egypt that includes Dunne, denied in an email message that the US has paid politicians in Egypt, or elsewhere in the Middle East.
"The US does not provide funding for parties or 'local politicians' in Egypt or anywhere else," said Abrams. "That is prohibited by law and the law is scrupulously obeyed by all US agencies, under careful Congressional oversight."
But a State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, said American support for foreign political activists was in line with American principles.
"The US government provides support to civil society, democracy and human rights activists around the world, in line with our long-held values, such as respecting the fundamental human rights of free speech, peaceful assembly, and human dignity," the official wrote in an email. "US outreach in Egypt is consistent with these principles."
A Cairo court convicted 43 local and foreign NGO workers last month on charges of illegally using foreign funds to stir unrest in Egypt. The US and UN expressed concern over the move.
Out of line
Some Middle East observers suggested the US' democracy push in Egypt may be more about buying influence than spreading human rights and good governance.
Egyptians celebrate in Tahrir Square after Morsi's removal [AFP]
"Funding of politicians is a problem," said Robert Springborg, who evaluated democracy programmes for the State Department in Egypt, and is now a professor at the National Security Department of the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California.
"If you run a programme for electoral observation, or for developing media capacity for political parties, I am not against that. But providing lots of money to politicians - I think that raises lots of questions," Springborg said.
Some Egyptians, meanwhile, said the US was out of line by sending cash through its democracy programme in the Middle East to organisations run by political operators.
"Instead of being sincere about backing democracy and reaching out to the Egyptian people, the US has chosen an unethical path," said Esam Neizamy, an independent researcher into foreign funding in Egypt, and a member of the country's Revolutionary Trustees, a group set up to protect the 2011 revolution.
"The Americans think they can outsmart lots of people in the Middle East. They are being very hostile against the Egyptian people who have nothing but goodwill for them - so far," Neizamy said.
Emad Mekay is a journalist with the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley, which conducted this investigation.
First published in Aljazeera English, this investigation was done by Emad Mekay, a journalist with the Investigative Reporting Program (IRP) at the University of California, Berkeley. We have IRP's permission to republish.
But a review of dozens of US federal government documents shows Washington has quietly funded senior Egyptian opposition figures who called for toppling of the country's now-deposed president Mohamed Morsi.
Documents obtained by the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley show the US channeled funding through a State Department programme to promote democracy in the Middle East region. This programme vigorously supported activists and politicians who have fomented unrest in Egypt, after autocratic president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising in February 2011.
The State Department's programme, dubbed by US officials as a "democracy assistance" initiative, is part of a wider Obama administration effort to try to stop the retreat of pro-Washington secularists, and to win back influence in Arab Spring countries that saw the rise of Islamists, who largely oppose US interests in the Middle East.
Activists bankrolled by the programme include an exiled Egyptian police officer who plotted the violent overthrow of the Morsi government, an anti-Islamist politician who advocated closing mosques and dragging preachers out by force, as well as a coterie of opposition politicians who pushed for the ouster of the country's first democratically elected leader, government documents show.
Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, interviews, and public records reveal Washington's "democracy assistance" may have violated Egyptian law, which prohibits foreign political funding.
It may also have broken US government regulations that ban the use of taxpayers' money to fund foreign politicians, or finance subversive activities that target democratically elected governments.
'Bureau for Democracy'
Washington's democracy assistance programme for the Middle East is filtered through a pyramid of agencies within the State Department. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars is channeled through the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), USAID, as well as the Washington-based, quasi-governmental organisation the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
In turn, those groups re-route money to other organisations such as the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and Freedom House, among others. Federal documents show these groups have sent funds to certain organisations in Egypt, mostly run by senior members of anti-Morsi political parties who double as NGO activists.
The Middle East Partnership Initiative - launched by the George W Bush administration in 2002 in a bid to influence politics in the Middle East in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks - has spent close to $900m on democracy projects across the region, a federal grants database shows.
USAID manages about $1.4bn annually in the Middle East, with nearly $390m designated for democracy promotion, according to the Washington-based Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED).
The US government doesn't issue figures on democracy spending per country, but Stephen McInerney, POMED's executive director, estimated that Washington spent some $65m in 2011 and $25m in 2012. He said he expects a similar amount paid out this year.
A main conduit for channeling the State Department's democracy funds to Egypt has been the National Endowment for Democracy. Federal documents show NED, which in 2011 was authorised an annual budget of $118m by Congress, funneled at least $120,000 over several years to an exiled Egyptian police officer who has for years incited violence in his native country.
This appears to be in direct contradiction to its Congressional mandate, which clearly states NED is to engage only in "peaceful" political change overseas.
Exiled policeman
Colonel Omar Afifi Soliman - who served in Egypt's elite investigative police unit, notorious for human rights abuses - began receiving NED funds in 2008 for at least four years.
During that time he and his followers targeted Mubarak's government, and Soliman later followed the same tactics against the military rulers who briefly replaced him. Most recently Soliman set his sights on Morsi's government.
Soliman, who has refugee status in the US, was sentenced in absentia last year for five years imprisonment by a Cairo court for his role in inciting violence in 2011 against the embassies of Israel and Saudi Arabia, two US allies.
He also used social media to encourage violent attacks against Egyptian officials, according to court documents and a review of his social media posts.
US Internal Revenue Service documents reveal thatNED paid tens of thousands of dollars to Soliman through an organisation he created called Hukuk Al-Nas (People's Rights), based in Falls Church, Virginia. Federal forms show he is the only employee.
After he was awarded a 2008 human rights fellowship at NED and moved to the US, Soliman received a second $50,000 NED grant in 2009 for Hukuk Al-Nas. In 2010, he received $60,000 and another $10,000 in 2011.
In an interview with the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley, Soliman reluctantly admitted he received US government funding from the National Endowment for Democracy, but complained it wasn't enough. "It is like $2000 or $2,500 a month," he said. "Do you think this is too much? Obama wants to give us peanuts. We will not accept that."
NED has removed public access to its Egyptian grant recipients in 2011 and 2012 from its website. NED officials didn't respond to repeated interview requests.
'Pro bono advice'
NED's website says Soliman spreads only nonviolent literature, and his group was set up to provide "immediate, pro bono legal advice through a telephone hotline, instant messaging, and other social networking tools".
However, in Egyptian media interviews, social media posts and YouTube videos, Soliman encouraged the violent overthrow of Egypt's government, then led by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party.
"Incapacitate them by smashing their knee bones first," he instructed followers on Facebook in late June, as Morsi's opponents prepared massive street rallies against the government. Egypt's US-funded and trainedmilitary later used those demonstrations to justify its coup on July 3.
"Make a road bump with a broken palm tree to stop the buses going into Cairo, and drench the road around it with gas and diesel. When the bus slows down for the bump, set it all ablaze so it will burn down with all the passengers inside ... God bless," Soliman's post read.
In late May he instructed, "Behead those who control power, water and gas utilities."
Soliman removed several older social media posts after authorities in Egypt took notice of his subversive instructions, court documents show.
Egyptian women supporters of ousted president Morsi [EPA]
More recent Facebook instructions to his 83,000 followers range from guidelines on spraying roads with a mix of auto oil and gas - "20 liters of oil to 4 liters of gas"- to how to thwart cars giving chase.
On a YouTube video, Soliman took credit for a failed attempt in December to storm the Egyptian presidentialpalace with handguns and Molotov cocktails to oust Morsi.
"We know he gets support from some groups in the US, but we do not know he is getting support from the US government. This would be news to us," said an Egyptian embassy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Funding other Morsi opponents
Other beneficiaries of US government funding are also opponents of the now-deposed president, some who had called for Morsi's removal by force.
The Salvation Front main opposition bloc, of which some members received US funding, has backedstreet protest campaigns that turned violent against the elected government, in contradiction of many of the State Department's own guidelines.
A longtime grantee of the National Endowment for Democracy and other US democracy groups is a 34-year old Egyptian woman, Esraa Abdel-Fatah, who sprang to notoriety during the country's pitched battle over the new constitution in December 2012.
She exhorted activists to lay siege to mosques and drag from pulpits all Muslim preachers and religious figures who supported the country's the proposed constitution, just before it went to a public referendum.
The act of besieging mosques has continued ever since, and several people have died in clashes defending them.
Federal records show Abdel-Fatah's NGO, the Egyptian Democratic Academy, received support from NED, MEPI and NDI, among other State Department-funded groups "assisting democracy". Records show NED gave her organisation a one-year $75,000 grant in 2011.
Abdel-Fatah is politically active, crisscrossing Egypt to rally support for her Al-Dostor Party, which is led by former UN nuclear chief Mohamed El-Baradei, the most prominent figure in the Salvation Front. She lent full support to the military takeover, and urged the West not call it a "coup".
"June 30 will be the last day of Morsi's term," she told the press a few weeks before the coup took place.
US taxpayer money has also been sent to groups set up by some of Egypt's richest people, raising questions about waste in the democracy programme.
Michael Meunier is a frequent guest on TV channels that opposed Morsi. Head of the Al-Haya Party, Meunier - a dual US-Egyptian citizen - has quietly collected US funding through his NGO, Hand In Hand for Egypt Association.
Meunier's organisation was founded by some of the most vehement opposition figures, including Egypt's richest man and well-known Coptic Christian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, Tarek Heggy, an oil industry executive, Salah Diab, Halliburton's partner in Egypt, and Usama Ghazali Harb, a politician with roots in the Mubarak regime and a frequent US embassy contact.
Meunier has denied receiving US assistance, but government documents show USAID in 2011 granted his Cairo-based organisation $873,355. Since 2009, it has taken in $1.3 million from the US agency.
Meunier helped rally the country's five million Christian Orthodox Coptic minority, who oppose Morsi's Islamist agenda, to take to the streets against the president on June 30.
Reform and Development Party member Mohammed Essmat al-Sadat received US financial support through his Sadat Association for Social Development, a grantee of The Middle East Partnership Initiative.
The federal grants records and database show in 2011 Sadat collected $84,445 from MEPI "to work with youth in the post-revolutionary Egypt".
Sadat was a member of the coordination committee, the main organising body for the June 30 anti-Morsi protest. Since 2008, he has collected $265,176 in US funding. Sadat announced he will be running for office again in upcoming parliamentary elections.
After soldiers and police killed more than 50 Morsi supporters on Monday, Sadat defended the use of force and blamed the Muslim Brotherhood, saying it used women and children as shields.
Some US-backed politicians have said Washington tacitly encouraged them to incite protests.
"We were told by the Americans that if we see big street protests that sustain themselves for a week, they will reconsider all current US policies towards the Muslim Brotherhood regime," said Saaddin Ibrahim, an Egyptian-American politician opposed Morsi.
Ibrahim's Ibn Khaldoun Center in Cairo receives US funding, one of the largest recipients of democracy promotion money in fact.
His comments followed statements by other Egyptian opposition politicians claiming they had been prodded by US officials to whip up public sentiment against Morsi before Washington could publicly weigh in.
Democracy programme defence
The practice of funding politicians and anti-government activists through NGOs was vehemently defended by the State Department and by a group of Washington-based Middle East experts close to the programme.
"The line between politics and activism is very blurred in this country," said David Linfield, spokesman for the US Embassy in Cairo.
Others said the United States cannot be held responsible for activities by groups it doesn't control.
"It's a very hot and dynamic political scene," said Michelle Dunne, an expert at the Atlantic Council think-tank. Her husband, Michael Dunne, was given a five-year jail sentence in absentia by a Cairo court for his role in political funding in Egypt.
"Just because you give someone some money, you cannot take away their freedom or the position they want to take," said Dunne.
Elliot Abrams, a former official in the administration of George W. Bush and a member of the Working Group on Egypt that includes Dunne, denied in an email message that the US has paid politicians in Egypt, or elsewhere in the Middle East.
"The US does not provide funding for parties or 'local politicians' in Egypt or anywhere else," said Abrams. "That is prohibited by law and the law is scrupulously obeyed by all US agencies, under careful Congressional oversight."
But a State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, said American support for foreign political activists was in line with American principles.
"The US government provides support to civil society, democracy and human rights activists around the world, in line with our long-held values, such as respecting the fundamental human rights of free speech, peaceful assembly, and human dignity," the official wrote in an email. "US outreach in Egypt is consistent with these principles."
A Cairo court convicted 43 local and foreign NGO workers last month on charges of illegally using foreign funds to stir unrest in Egypt. The US and UN expressed concern over the move.
Out of line
Some Middle East observers suggested the US' democracy push in Egypt may be more about buying influence than spreading human rights and good governance.
Egyptians celebrate in Tahrir Square after Morsi's removal [AFP]
"Funding of politicians is a problem," said Robert Springborg, who evaluated democracy programmes for the State Department in Egypt, and is now a professor at the National Security Department of the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California.
"If you run a programme for electoral observation, or for developing media capacity for political parties, I am not against that. But providing lots of money to politicians - I think that raises lots of questions," Springborg said.
Some Egyptians, meanwhile, said the US was out of line by sending cash through its democracy programme in the Middle East to organisations run by political operators.
"Instead of being sincere about backing democracy and reaching out to the Egyptian people, the US has chosen an unethical path," said Esam Neizamy, an independent researcher into foreign funding in Egypt, and a member of the country's Revolutionary Trustees, a group set up to protect the 2011 revolution.
"The Americans think they can outsmart lots of people in the Middle East. They are being very hostile against the Egyptian people who have nothing but goodwill for them - so far," Neizamy said.
Emad Mekay is a journalist with the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley, which conducted this investigation.
First published in Aljazeera English, this investigation was done by Emad Mekay, a journalist with the Investigative Reporting Program (IRP) at the University of California, Berkeley. We have IRP's permission to republish.
A Senior Economist at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr. Joseph Kwakye, has waded into the debate on the health of the Ghanaian economy, describing it as a cash-strapped economy.
He explained that since the 2012 general elections some public sector workers had been on the streets and in board rooms demanding their unpaid salaries and other allowances. Coupled with this, contractors and other government creditors are also demanding to be paid their arrears.
So are the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), and Road Fund. All these have really put stress on the Ghanaian economy.
The economy was dealt a fatal blow in 2012 through the fiscal window. And we are currently suffering the fallouts of this cyclical, politically-driven indiscretion. As a result of excessive expenditure, the budget deficit ballooned to 12% of GDP, along with the carry-over of a substantial level of arrears.
He was quick to say: "Currently, the economy is cash-strapped. Not enough revenue is being collected. Donor disbursements are lagging. The slack is being made up by borrowing. Arrears to contractors and other government creditors remain unpaid. The statutory funds are not being funded."
Saying that the expenditure level of the government was too high, he called on the managers of the economy, as a matter of urgency, to reduce and prioritise it. "The wage bill has to be contained. This has to be done by cleaning up the payroll system and downsizing the public sector."
Dr. Kwakye told journalists in Accra yesterday, when he presented the IEA version of the 'State of the Ghanaian economy,' that within the seven months of this year, there was little money in circulation, compounded by the freeze on new contracts.
The woes of the Mahama-led government are further aggravated by the erratic power and water supply situation in the country, while sanitation is out of control in Accra and other big cities in the West African country.
Touching on the middle-income status of the nation, the renowned Economist noted: "After the rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010, Ghana's per capita GDP rose to within the bracket of middle-income countries (MICs) -World Bank criterion."
Based on this criterion, Dr. Kwakye added that the MIC status should be retrospectively dated to 2007, saying the current GDP of the country was about $40 billion, equivalent to GH¢80 billion, while her per capita GDP is about $1,500.
However, he observed that the country still had some of the weakest socio-economic indicators among the MIC countries.
These key indicators, the Senior Economist mentioned, include the government spending of 35 percent of GDP being too high, high aid dependence, huge infrastructural deficit, power deficit, and huge water supply deficit. "This means that Ghana has a long way to go to become a 'true' MIC," Dr. Kwakye told the journalists.
On real economy, he stated: "Ghana has achieved fairly high rates of growth for several years. Recent oil production has given further boost to growth. However, growth has not been generating as many jobs as expected, and unemployment is high."
Dr. Kwakye, whose analysis on the state of the economy comes at the back of two other analyses on the state of the Ghanaian economy by the ruling government and New Patriotic Party (NPP), indicated that the problem of jobless growth was probably best understood by looking at the sources of growth.
According to him, the services sector had been growing the most rapidly in recent years and has become the lead contributor to GDP (50%), with industry, including oil in second place (27% of GDP), and then agricultural recording 23% GDP in 2012.
Furthermore, the public sector is already over-bloated, and employment in the sector is virtually stagnant, to the extent that the private sector is not able to make up for the slack in public sector employment, and overall job creation has been constrained, Dr. Kwakye said at the press conference.
On the side of supply of labour, population growth and rising numbers of school leavers are joining the labour market yearly. The question, the renowned Economist asked, is whether the entrants have the relevant employable skills?
Dr. Kwakye lamented: "Businesses and industries complain about the mismatch between available jobs and skills, which exacerbates the unemployment problem in the country."
He explained that since the 2012 general elections some public sector workers had been on the streets and in board rooms demanding their unpaid salaries and other allowances. Coupled with this, contractors and other government creditors are also demanding to be paid their arrears.
So are the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), and Road Fund. All these have really put stress on the Ghanaian economy.
The economy was dealt a fatal blow in 2012 through the fiscal window. And we are currently suffering the fallouts of this cyclical, politically-driven indiscretion. As a result of excessive expenditure, the budget deficit ballooned to 12% of GDP, along with the carry-over of a substantial level of arrears.
He was quick to say: "Currently, the economy is cash-strapped. Not enough revenue is being collected. Donor disbursements are lagging. The slack is being made up by borrowing. Arrears to contractors and other government creditors remain unpaid. The statutory funds are not being funded."
Saying that the expenditure level of the government was too high, he called on the managers of the economy, as a matter of urgency, to reduce and prioritise it. "The wage bill has to be contained. This has to be done by cleaning up the payroll system and downsizing the public sector."
Dr. Kwakye told journalists in Accra yesterday, when he presented the IEA version of the 'State of the Ghanaian economy,' that within the seven months of this year, there was little money in circulation, compounded by the freeze on new contracts.
The woes of the Mahama-led government are further aggravated by the erratic power and water supply situation in the country, while sanitation is out of control in Accra and other big cities in the West African country.
Touching on the middle-income status of the nation, the renowned Economist noted: "After the rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010, Ghana's per capita GDP rose to within the bracket of middle-income countries (MICs) -World Bank criterion."
Based on this criterion, Dr. Kwakye added that the MIC status should be retrospectively dated to 2007, saying the current GDP of the country was about $40 billion, equivalent to GH¢80 billion, while her per capita GDP is about $1,500.
However, he observed that the country still had some of the weakest socio-economic indicators among the MIC countries.
These key indicators, the Senior Economist mentioned, include the government spending of 35 percent of GDP being too high, high aid dependence, huge infrastructural deficit, power deficit, and huge water supply deficit. "This means that Ghana has a long way to go to become a 'true' MIC," Dr. Kwakye told the journalists.
On real economy, he stated: "Ghana has achieved fairly high rates of growth for several years. Recent oil production has given further boost to growth. However, growth has not been generating as many jobs as expected, and unemployment is high."
Dr. Kwakye, whose analysis on the state of the economy comes at the back of two other analyses on the state of the Ghanaian economy by the ruling government and New Patriotic Party (NPP), indicated that the problem of jobless growth was probably best understood by looking at the sources of growth.
According to him, the services sector had been growing the most rapidly in recent years and has become the lead contributor to GDP (50%), with industry, including oil in second place (27% of GDP), and then agricultural recording 23% GDP in 2012.
Furthermore, the public sector is already over-bloated, and employment in the sector is virtually stagnant, to the extent that the private sector is not able to make up for the slack in public sector employment, and overall job creation has been constrained, Dr. Kwakye said at the press conference.
On the side of supply of labour, population growth and rising numbers of school leavers are joining the labour market yearly. The question, the renowned Economist asked, is whether the entrants have the relevant employable skills?
Dr. Kwakye lamented: "Businesses and industries complain about the mismatch between available jobs and skills, which exacerbates the unemployment problem in the country."
Goma — With fighting between the Congolese army and M23 heating up, the Goma rumour mill is causing trouble for the UN and President Kabila.
The conflict between the M23 rebel group and the Congolese army (FARDC) near Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in the country's troubled east, has intensified since 14 July.
The struggle is being fought on two battlefields: with heavy weaponry around the deserted town of Kanyarucina, 14 km north of Goma, and in North Kivu's rumour mills. The heavy fire of the FARDC in the former is troubling the M23, whilst barbed words and unsubstantiated claims are putting the UN Stabilization Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in the firing line.
Yesterday, Thursday 18 July, protests in Goma against MONUSCO led police to use tear gas and fire warning shots. Foreign NGOs advised their staff to stay inside their compounds and MONUSCO's Pakistani contingent prepared to increase patrols or even intervene.
Rumour chasing
Colonel Ndala Mamadou, the operational commander of the FARDC's latest campaign, paraded through Goma as a hero on Thursday morning. Passers-by and motorbike taxi drivers (so called motards) escorted his camouflaged Land Cruiser pick-up with mounted machine gun through the centre of the town. Crowds cheered Mamadou's name as he inspected a lorry being filled with fuel for the troops at the front and visited the Command Centre of the 802nd Infantry Regiment in Goma.
Four days into the renewed fighting, in which over 100 rebels have reportedly been killed, Mamadou is clearly adored by the citizens of Goma. Friendly, with a big toothy smile, he is a likeable character and on Thursday he was elevated to quasi-sainthood in the popular imagination of this lava-covered city. His popularity was explained by a woman in the crowd making menacing throat cutting gestures. The Colonel, she thinks, is the man to cut the M23's throat.
Support for Mamadou only appears to be matched by deep hostility towards MONUSCO. When following the Colonel around town for an interview, this was made clear.
First, outside a hospital, the aggression towards MONUSCO hit me on the leg in the form of a stone thrown by a soldier's wife. Then, my ears were buffeted with insults in Swahili and Lingala - two of DRC's four national languages.
My motorbike driver, in Swahili, and I, in poor Lingala, were forced to protest to an advancing mass of angry women and children that I was not from MONUSCO. Eventually, the woman who threw the stone smiled at me apologetically and the hatred was converted into a desire to help my reporting.
Radio trottoire
Back on the trail of the Colonel, following him out of town on the road to the airport, we discovered what the rumour of the day was: The colonel had been called to Kinshasa and was to be redeployed to Kisangani.
Rumours are rife in the DRC. In 2010, Kinshasa Chegues (street kids) proudly mocked my smartphone and explained that radio trottoire (the pavement radio that spreads gossip and rumour by word of mouth) was "faster than the internet".
In Goma, eager-eyed adolescents recounted Elvis-style rumours about Michael Jackson's death, implicating the CIA and claiming that the King of Pop was living in Lubumbashi and about to release a new single. Recent rumours, however, have had more serious implications.
As this new rumour spread, chants of "don't go!" and "he won't go!" wafted through billowing clouds of dust as the Land Cruiser and its cavalcade sped along the unfinished road towards the airport...and then continued past it. Rumours are that easily disproven. Mamadou wasn't off to Kinshasa and that should have been the end of it.
But it wasn't. The very idea that the central government might block FARDC's victory under Mamadou was enough to sustain anger - one banner read "Mamadou reste et Kabila part. RIP Kabila" (Mamadou stays [in Goma] and Kabila leaves. RIP Kabila). The chanting continued and became a carnival protest as the motards could no longer follow Mamadou as he sped through police barriers towards the front line.
The atmosphere and language used by people in Goma is of battle and all out victory. For many, it is MONUSCO that stands in the way. One young man protesting told Think Africa Press that "If Colonel Mamdaou leaves, we will attack all MONUSCO property". Other angry protesters insisted that their man could defeat the M23 but MONUSCO won't let him.
Fighting talk
The motard's party at the barrier was broken up by the need to get back to earning a living and the calming words of National Police Commander of the District of Nyragonga, Jean-Marie Malosa.
Having successfully cooled the motards off and shifted them from his patch, he said that he was pleased to see that "the population is behind the army". An obvious lesson from this episode is precisely that: the population supports the army and morale is high. As I bumped around in the back of a military truck on its way to the front line through the eerily silent town of Kanyaruchina to meet the Colonel, the motards were busy on another patch.
News of the protests had reached the forward base where soldiers were taking a rest from front line duties and eating. The population's reaction to the rumours seemed to flatter the Colonel.
With a smile, he told Think Africa Press that they were not true. His mobile phone rang incessantly and between negotiating with the representatives of a private company in Goma to supply rations and water to troops, he gave orders to spread the word that he had not been called to Kinshasa.
Over-paid, over-sexed and over here
There are many frustrations with the UN in Goma. In November 2012, MONUSCO did not protect the city from the M23 who went on to hold it for ten days. Residents remember MONUSCO soldiers standing by as the M23 rolled into the provincial capital and then looted government offices and a hospital.
Not only do locals feel MONUSCO does not protect them, but there is a perception that members of MONUSCO are over-paid, over-sexed and over here. Whilst controversy in the past has led to tougher rules to reduce sex scandals, MONUSCO staff are still widely considered to be over-paid.
Speaking to motards over the last week, the perception is that Goma is awash with money. Not just from international humanitarian aid agencies, UN staff salaries and the service economy that springs up around these, but also in the supply of goods and services by local businesses to the charity sector. However, residents believe that this money fails to trickle down to them. "Expats are here to make money and take it back home", said one street vendor.
The UN hopes this mistrust will decrease once the newly formed Intervention Brigade comes to full strength next month. Formed by South Africans, Malawians, and Tanzanians, the Brigade - which is explicitly mandated to use force in combating destabilising militia - is currently deployed in Sake in North Kivu. Logistics equipment arrived in Goma on Monday and proceeded to Sake overnight.
Winning the street round
Rumours spread like wildfire and Goma is a tinderbox. Once a rumour takes hold it is hard to shake it off. The dispersed motards, despite Colonel Mamadou heading towards the front and not to the airport, still clung to the idea that their saviour was being sent away. And somehow MONUSCO was to blame.
On Thursday afternoon, Mamadou together with Lambert Mende, the government's spokesperson in Kinshasa, and Colonel Amuli, FARDC's spokesperson in Goma, called for calm and a stop to the protests against the MONUSCO on Radio Okapi. All three claimed that the rumours are a tactic by the M23 to destabilise the city.
However, the battle to dominate the discourse is not only taking place through radio trottoire. There are constant skirmishes occurring online too. From twitter to blogs, information and misinformation is playing an important role in manipulating perceptions of the state of play in North Kivu.
Blatant inventions on Twitter abound from the various accounts peddling false reports of the position of M23 fighters which have appeared every day since Monday alongside other rumours. With the situation so volatile and unreliable information so prevalent, perhaps it is a blessing that so few people have access to the internet in DRC.
Even when the Intervention Brigade arrive and alleviate some of the hatred towards MONUSCO, the motards will not be entirely satisfied. They will still have their own particular gripe because UN staff and aid workers are not allowed to use their service on security grounds. In the future, winning over the influential radio trottoire will remain as tough a challenge, as taking on the M23.
The conflict between the M23 rebel group and the Congolese army (FARDC) near Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in the country's troubled east, has intensified since 14 July.
The struggle is being fought on two battlefields: with heavy weaponry around the deserted town of Kanyarucina, 14 km north of Goma, and in North Kivu's rumour mills. The heavy fire of the FARDC in the former is troubling the M23, whilst barbed words and unsubstantiated claims are putting the UN Stabilization Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in the firing line.
Yesterday, Thursday 18 July, protests in Goma against MONUSCO led police to use tear gas and fire warning shots. Foreign NGOs advised their staff to stay inside their compounds and MONUSCO's Pakistani contingent prepared to increase patrols or even intervene.
Rumour chasing
Colonel Ndala Mamadou, the operational commander of the FARDC's latest campaign, paraded through Goma as a hero on Thursday morning. Passers-by and motorbike taxi drivers (so called motards) escorted his camouflaged Land Cruiser pick-up with mounted machine gun through the centre of the town. Crowds cheered Mamadou's name as he inspected a lorry being filled with fuel for the troops at the front and visited the Command Centre of the 802nd Infantry Regiment in Goma.
Four days into the renewed fighting, in which over 100 rebels have reportedly been killed, Mamadou is clearly adored by the citizens of Goma. Friendly, with a big toothy smile, he is a likeable character and on Thursday he was elevated to quasi-sainthood in the popular imagination of this lava-covered city. His popularity was explained by a woman in the crowd making menacing throat cutting gestures. The Colonel, she thinks, is the man to cut the M23's throat.
Support for Mamadou only appears to be matched by deep hostility towards MONUSCO. When following the Colonel around town for an interview, this was made clear.
First, outside a hospital, the aggression towards MONUSCO hit me on the leg in the form of a stone thrown by a soldier's wife. Then, my ears were buffeted with insults in Swahili and Lingala - two of DRC's four national languages.
My motorbike driver, in Swahili, and I, in poor Lingala, were forced to protest to an advancing mass of angry women and children that I was not from MONUSCO. Eventually, the woman who threw the stone smiled at me apologetically and the hatred was converted into a desire to help my reporting.
Radio trottoire
Back on the trail of the Colonel, following him out of town on the road to the airport, we discovered what the rumour of the day was: The colonel had been called to Kinshasa and was to be redeployed to Kisangani.
Rumours are rife in the DRC. In 2010, Kinshasa Chegues (street kids) proudly mocked my smartphone and explained that radio trottoire (the pavement radio that spreads gossip and rumour by word of mouth) was "faster than the internet".
In Goma, eager-eyed adolescents recounted Elvis-style rumours about Michael Jackson's death, implicating the CIA and claiming that the King of Pop was living in Lubumbashi and about to release a new single. Recent rumours, however, have had more serious implications.
As this new rumour spread, chants of "don't go!" and "he won't go!" wafted through billowing clouds of dust as the Land Cruiser and its cavalcade sped along the unfinished road towards the airport...and then continued past it. Rumours are that easily disproven. Mamadou wasn't off to Kinshasa and that should have been the end of it.
But it wasn't. The very idea that the central government might block FARDC's victory under Mamadou was enough to sustain anger - one banner read "Mamadou reste et Kabila part. RIP Kabila" (Mamadou stays [in Goma] and Kabila leaves. RIP Kabila). The chanting continued and became a carnival protest as the motards could no longer follow Mamadou as he sped through police barriers towards the front line.
The atmosphere and language used by people in Goma is of battle and all out victory. For many, it is MONUSCO that stands in the way. One young man protesting told Think Africa Press that "If Colonel Mamdaou leaves, we will attack all MONUSCO property". Other angry protesters insisted that their man could defeat the M23 but MONUSCO won't let him.
Fighting talk
The motard's party at the barrier was broken up by the need to get back to earning a living and the calming words of National Police Commander of the District of Nyragonga, Jean-Marie Malosa.
Having successfully cooled the motards off and shifted them from his patch, he said that he was pleased to see that "the population is behind the army". An obvious lesson from this episode is precisely that: the population supports the army and morale is high. As I bumped around in the back of a military truck on its way to the front line through the eerily silent town of Kanyaruchina to meet the Colonel, the motards were busy on another patch.
News of the protests had reached the forward base where soldiers were taking a rest from front line duties and eating. The population's reaction to the rumours seemed to flatter the Colonel.
With a smile, he told Think Africa Press that they were not true. His mobile phone rang incessantly and between negotiating with the representatives of a private company in Goma to supply rations and water to troops, he gave orders to spread the word that he had not been called to Kinshasa.
Over-paid, over-sexed and over here
There are many frustrations with the UN in Goma. In November 2012, MONUSCO did not protect the city from the M23 who went on to hold it for ten days. Residents remember MONUSCO soldiers standing by as the M23 rolled into the provincial capital and then looted government offices and a hospital.
Not only do locals feel MONUSCO does not protect them, but there is a perception that members of MONUSCO are over-paid, over-sexed and over here. Whilst controversy in the past has led to tougher rules to reduce sex scandals, MONUSCO staff are still widely considered to be over-paid.
Speaking to motards over the last week, the perception is that Goma is awash with money. Not just from international humanitarian aid agencies, UN staff salaries and the service economy that springs up around these, but also in the supply of goods and services by local businesses to the charity sector. However, residents believe that this money fails to trickle down to them. "Expats are here to make money and take it back home", said one street vendor.
The UN hopes this mistrust will decrease once the newly formed Intervention Brigade comes to full strength next month. Formed by South Africans, Malawians, and Tanzanians, the Brigade - which is explicitly mandated to use force in combating destabilising militia - is currently deployed in Sake in North Kivu. Logistics equipment arrived in Goma on Monday and proceeded to Sake overnight.
Winning the street round
Rumours spread like wildfire and Goma is a tinderbox. Once a rumour takes hold it is hard to shake it off. The dispersed motards, despite Colonel Mamadou heading towards the front and not to the airport, still clung to the idea that their saviour was being sent away. And somehow MONUSCO was to blame.
On Thursday afternoon, Mamadou together with Lambert Mende, the government's spokesperson in Kinshasa, and Colonel Amuli, FARDC's spokesperson in Goma, called for calm and a stop to the protests against the MONUSCO on Radio Okapi. All three claimed that the rumours are a tactic by the M23 to destabilise the city.
However, the battle to dominate the discourse is not only taking place through radio trottoire. There are constant skirmishes occurring online too. From twitter to blogs, information and misinformation is playing an important role in manipulating perceptions of the state of play in North Kivu.
Blatant inventions on Twitter abound from the various accounts peddling false reports of the position of M23 fighters which have appeared every day since Monday alongside other rumours. With the situation so volatile and unreliable information so prevalent, perhaps it is a blessing that so few people have access to the internet in DRC.
Even when the Intervention Brigade arrive and alleviate some of the hatred towards MONUSCO, the motards will not be entirely satisfied. They will still have their own particular gripe because UN staff and aid workers are not allowed to use their service on security grounds. In the future, winning over the influential radio trottoire will remain as tough a challenge, as taking on the M23.
Yaounde — At the Garoua Regional Hospital's Paediatric Feeding Centre in northern Cameroon, Aicha Ahidjo* is relieved to hear that her one-year-old son will survive. The child was suffering from chronic malnutrition, and other children have died of it.
It has cost Ahidjo a lot to get her son Ahmadou here. Ahmadou showed symptoms of swollen feet and dry and thinning hair. The 30-year-old mother was forced to defy her husband and bring their son to hospital. The child had developed Kwashiorkor as a result of severe protein deficiency.
"Some months after the birth of the child, I fell pregnant again," Ahidjo, who is six months pregnant, tells IPS.
"Infant malnutrition is also due to the fact that very few infants are breastfed exclusively for the first six months after birth,." -- Director of Health Promotion in the Ministry of Health Dr. Sa'a
"I had to wean him, but his father didn't want me to give him infant formula. He discouraged me from continuing to breastfeed the child and told me to feed him maize porridge and rock salt." She was powerless to refuse her husband.
"I gave in, but after some time I noticed that the child was tired and his skin was thinning. I spoke to my mother who told me that these were signs of malnutrition," she explains.
"Against my husband's advice, I brought the child to hospital. The doctors here told me that I arrived just in time. Thank God."
Ahmadou is not the only child at the hospital suffering from malnutrition.
In June, the centre's medical staff registered 31 malnourished children. Six died, one recovered and 21 were transferred to other hospitals. The remaining three children, including Ahmadou, stayed at the hospital for treatment.
Six-year-old Haouwa Aboui* was the last child to die at this centre in June. Her 60-year-old grandmother, Maimouna Aboui*, sits in front of their home, fatigued and despondent.
"There are 16 of us living in this hut and there is not enough food. The little one could not bear the starvation," Aboui tells IPS. "I was advised to give her water with sugar to give her energy. Her mother and I did that for two weeks. She died the day after we arrived at the hospital."
According to the most recent study by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), published in October 2011, 33 percent of under-fives in Cameroon suffer from chronic malnutrition and 14 percent of them are severely malnourished.
The community health division in the Ministry of Public Health believes that malnutrition is closely linked to Cameroon's complex climate. In parts of the Adamawa, North and Far North Regions - a dry and semi-arid zone - nutritional deterioration is present among a large proportion of Cameroonian children and refugees, according to the ministry.
In addition, the massive displacement of Chadian and Central African Republic refugees has added to the growing number of people unable to access food.
The Far North and North Regions have the highest rate of infant malnutrition in the country because of a lack of food during the lean season, which lasts from mid-June to the end of August. Another contributing factor is the poor variety of foods consumed by the population, such as millet and sorghum.
However, malnutrition is prevalent throughout the country, says Ines Lezama, a nutrition specialist at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Cameroon.
Celine Essengue, a member of local NGO Enfants Cameroun, gave IPS her assessment of the situation: "Cameroon is known to be a food-sufficient country. This means that the country doesn't need to import food as it produces enough to feed its population. Poverty is preventing the Cameroonian people from having access to a varied and balanced diet."
According to NIS, 44 percent of children suffering from chronic malnutrition in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community live in Cameroon.
UNICEF estimates that 57,616 children under the age of five are at risk of severe acute malnutrition in the North and Far North regions of the country, and that 145,000 children under the age of five will have stunted growth.
Director of health promotion in the Ministry of Health, known only as Dr. Sa'a, told journalists at a recent briefing that "obesity is also a sign of malnutrition. Infant malnutrition is also due to the fact that very few infants are breastfed exclusively for the first six months after birth."
UNICEF, in conjunction with the government, works in 19 feeding centres in order to prevent complications.
Dr. Joel Ekobena, a paediatrician at the Garoua district hospital, explains to IPS that they are increasingly working on prevention.
"We educate mothers to recognise the first signs of malnutrition and to take their children as soon as possible for a check-up."
But access to healthcare also poses a problem: 23 out of 43 health districts in the North and Far North of the country are short of qualified personnel. According to NIS, the two regions have 92 doctors for an overall population of 5.5 million inhabitants.
It has cost Ahidjo a lot to get her son Ahmadou here. Ahmadou showed symptoms of swollen feet and dry and thinning hair. The 30-year-old mother was forced to defy her husband and bring their son to hospital. The child had developed Kwashiorkor as a result of severe protein deficiency.
"Some months after the birth of the child, I fell pregnant again," Ahidjo, who is six months pregnant, tells IPS.
"Infant malnutrition is also due to the fact that very few infants are breastfed exclusively for the first six months after birth,." -- Director of Health Promotion in the Ministry of Health Dr. Sa'a
"I had to wean him, but his father didn't want me to give him infant formula. He discouraged me from continuing to breastfeed the child and told me to feed him maize porridge and rock salt." She was powerless to refuse her husband.
"I gave in, but after some time I noticed that the child was tired and his skin was thinning. I spoke to my mother who told me that these were signs of malnutrition," she explains.
"Against my husband's advice, I brought the child to hospital. The doctors here told me that I arrived just in time. Thank God."
Ahmadou is not the only child at the hospital suffering from malnutrition.
In June, the centre's medical staff registered 31 malnourished children. Six died, one recovered and 21 were transferred to other hospitals. The remaining three children, including Ahmadou, stayed at the hospital for treatment.
Six-year-old Haouwa Aboui* was the last child to die at this centre in June. Her 60-year-old grandmother, Maimouna Aboui*, sits in front of their home, fatigued and despondent.
"There are 16 of us living in this hut and there is not enough food. The little one could not bear the starvation," Aboui tells IPS. "I was advised to give her water with sugar to give her energy. Her mother and I did that for two weeks. She died the day after we arrived at the hospital."
According to the most recent study by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), published in October 2011, 33 percent of under-fives in Cameroon suffer from chronic malnutrition and 14 percent of them are severely malnourished.
The community health division in the Ministry of Public Health believes that malnutrition is closely linked to Cameroon's complex climate. In parts of the Adamawa, North and Far North Regions - a dry and semi-arid zone - nutritional deterioration is present among a large proportion of Cameroonian children and refugees, according to the ministry.
In addition, the massive displacement of Chadian and Central African Republic refugees has added to the growing number of people unable to access food.
The Far North and North Regions have the highest rate of infant malnutrition in the country because of a lack of food during the lean season, which lasts from mid-June to the end of August. Another contributing factor is the poor variety of foods consumed by the population, such as millet and sorghum.
However, malnutrition is prevalent throughout the country, says Ines Lezama, a nutrition specialist at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Cameroon.
Celine Essengue, a member of local NGO Enfants Cameroun, gave IPS her assessment of the situation: "Cameroon is known to be a food-sufficient country. This means that the country doesn't need to import food as it produces enough to feed its population. Poverty is preventing the Cameroonian people from having access to a varied and balanced diet."
According to NIS, 44 percent of children suffering from chronic malnutrition in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community live in Cameroon.
UNICEF estimates that 57,616 children under the age of five are at risk of severe acute malnutrition in the North and Far North regions of the country, and that 145,000 children under the age of five will have stunted growth.
Director of health promotion in the Ministry of Health, known only as Dr. Sa'a, told journalists at a recent briefing that "obesity is also a sign of malnutrition. Infant malnutrition is also due to the fact that very few infants are breastfed exclusively for the first six months after birth."
UNICEF, in conjunction with the government, works in 19 feeding centres in order to prevent complications.
Dr. Joel Ekobena, a paediatrician at the Garoua district hospital, explains to IPS that they are increasingly working on prevention.
"We educate mothers to recognise the first signs of malnutrition and to take their children as soon as possible for a check-up."
But access to healthcare also poses a problem: 23 out of 43 health districts in the North and Far North of the country are short of qualified personnel. According to NIS, the two regions have 92 doctors for an overall population of 5.5 million inhabitants.
Deputy President William Ruto now claims that he has strong evidence to show that local and international NGOs have a scheme to fabricate evidence against him at the ICC.
Ruto has now applied to the Trial Chamber V(a) to compel Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda put eight witnesses, whom he accuses of being coached to lie against him on the witness stand immediately after the opening statements at the onset of the trial.
"By calling these witnesses first, the Chamber will be able to chart the proper and just course of this trial from its outset and help prevent a miscarriage of justice," Ruto argued.
The Deputy President also wants the Prosecution's lead investigator put on the witness stand, as the ninth witness, for overseeing the selection process of the eight witnesses.
"This scheme links all eight witnesses. It has been years in the making and has been, or still is, supported by various international and domestic Kenyan organisations," Ruto's lawyer Karim Khan told the judges on Friday.
Khan added that the witnesses were part of a scheme to cook evidence against Ruto saying they must testify first so that the alleged scam can be unmasked at the earliest opportunity.
"To use a Kenyan colloquialism, based on witness statements and documents, the Defence has substantial grounds to believe that these eight key prosecution witnesses have been part of a deliberate and concerted scheme to "cook" evidence against Mr. Ruto," Khan said.
Ruto's defense lawyers also argued that the trial was likely to take a lot of time and that it would therefore be necessary to test the core of the case from the onset.
Khan added that the order that Ruto is proposing will protect the integrity of these proceedings and, thus, better assist the Trial Chamber to discharge its truth finding mandate.
"Defence investigations have revealed that these eight witnesses are engaged in a concerted process to contaminate Prosecution investigations to a significant extent through the deliberate and organised fabrication of evidence," Khan said.
The Deputy President further observed that it would be unfair to wait for a minimum of 160 hours as prosecution witnesses testify before even one defense principal witness is heard.
"The Prosecution case is scheduled to take approximately 726 hours, which, if the Court sits for five hours per day, amounts to 145.2 days. Accordingly, the Defence submits the core of the Prosecution case should be tested at the outset of trial particularly when the Defence has sound reasons to believe that this core is rotten," Ruto said.
Ruto and former journalist Joshua Sang trial is due to open on September 10 at the Hague while that of President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to kick off on November 12.
The prosecution has already dropped some of its witnesses due to inconsistencies in their testimonies with some coming out to say that they lied in their initial statements.
Last week, Bensouda notified the judges of the withdrawal of three witnesses in the case against Uhuru with the ICC saying that the prosecutor may have to look for new witnesses in the future.
"The prosecutor might seek to add other witnesses in the future if suitable replacements for these witnesses are forthcoming," ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said.
Ruto has now applied to the Trial Chamber V(a) to compel Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda put eight witnesses, whom he accuses of being coached to lie against him on the witness stand immediately after the opening statements at the onset of the trial.
"By calling these witnesses first, the Chamber will be able to chart the proper and just course of this trial from its outset and help prevent a miscarriage of justice," Ruto argued.
The Deputy President also wants the Prosecution's lead investigator put on the witness stand, as the ninth witness, for overseeing the selection process of the eight witnesses.
"This scheme links all eight witnesses. It has been years in the making and has been, or still is, supported by various international and domestic Kenyan organisations," Ruto's lawyer Karim Khan told the judges on Friday.
Khan added that the witnesses were part of a scheme to cook evidence against Ruto saying they must testify first so that the alleged scam can be unmasked at the earliest opportunity.
"To use a Kenyan colloquialism, based on witness statements and documents, the Defence has substantial grounds to believe that these eight key prosecution witnesses have been part of a deliberate and concerted scheme to "cook" evidence against Mr. Ruto," Khan said.
Ruto's defense lawyers also argued that the trial was likely to take a lot of time and that it would therefore be necessary to test the core of the case from the onset.
Khan added that the order that Ruto is proposing will protect the integrity of these proceedings and, thus, better assist the Trial Chamber to discharge its truth finding mandate.
"Defence investigations have revealed that these eight witnesses are engaged in a concerted process to contaminate Prosecution investigations to a significant extent through the deliberate and organised fabrication of evidence," Khan said.
The Deputy President further observed that it would be unfair to wait for a minimum of 160 hours as prosecution witnesses testify before even one defense principal witness is heard.
"The Prosecution case is scheduled to take approximately 726 hours, which, if the Court sits for five hours per day, amounts to 145.2 days. Accordingly, the Defence submits the core of the Prosecution case should be tested at the outset of trial particularly when the Defence has sound reasons to believe that this core is rotten," Ruto said.
Ruto and former journalist Joshua Sang trial is due to open on September 10 at the Hague while that of President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to kick off on November 12.
The prosecution has already dropped some of its witnesses due to inconsistencies in their testimonies with some coming out to say that they lied in their initial statements.
Last week, Bensouda notified the judges of the withdrawal of three witnesses in the case against Uhuru with the ICC saying that the prosecutor may have to look for new witnesses in the future.
"The prosecutor might seek to add other witnesses in the future if suitable replacements for these witnesses are forthcoming," ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said.
Four people have been confirmed dead and others injured in Kampala after a part of Nice Times building next to Magoba Arcade caved in.
The building is believed to have collapsed when food vendors were working in the basement.
Some of the residents wondered why KCCA has not taken initiative to remove such an old building or supervise it's renovation before putting the residents in danger.
According to the area chairperson, the building in question belongs to city mogul Sudhir Ruperalia.
The Inspector General of Police Kale Kaihura visited the scene shortly after the accident.
Nakivubo mews remains closed as Fire Brigade officers dig through the debris for any people that might have been trapped.
The building is believed to have collapsed when food vendors were working in the basement.
Some of the residents wondered why KCCA has not taken initiative to remove such an old building or supervise it's renovation before putting the residents in danger.
According to the area chairperson, the building in question belongs to city mogul Sudhir Ruperalia.
The Inspector General of Police Kale Kaihura visited the scene shortly after the accident.
Nakivubo mews remains closed as Fire Brigade officers dig through the debris for any people that might have been trapped.
Mohammed Morsi's family has vowed to take legal action against Egypt's army for "kidnapping" the former president.
The army has held Morsi since it overthrew him on July 3 following mass anti-government protests.
Several countries, including the United States and Germany, have called for Morsi's release. However, Egypt's interim authorities have rejected those calls, claiming that they have kept him in a "safe place" since his overthrow earlier this month (pictured).
"We are taking local and international legal measures against [army chief] Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the leader of the bloody military coup, and his putschist group," the president's daughter, Shaimaa Morsi told reporters.
Concerns over Sinai becoming new terrorist base
The situation in Sinai has been escalating: Militants are attacking on a daily basis and new extremist groups emerging. Security experts can only speculate about how strong these groups are, and how they're linked.
"We hold the leader of the military group and the whole of his putschist group responsible for the health and safety of president Morsi," she added at the family's press conference in Cairo.
The statement represents the first public communication from Morsi's family since the military overthrew the president on July 3. Morsi himself has been held incommunicado and at an undisclosed location for that entire stretch. Officials in the interim government have said the measures mean to protect Morsi.
The army has held Morsi since it overthrew him on July 3 following mass anti-government protests.
Several countries, including the United States and Germany, have called for Morsi's release. However, Egypt's interim authorities have rejected those calls, claiming that they have kept him in a "safe place" since his overthrow earlier this month (pictured).
"We are taking local and international legal measures against [army chief] Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the leader of the bloody military coup, and his putschist group," the president's daughter, Shaimaa Morsi told reporters.
Concerns over Sinai becoming new terrorist base
The situation in Sinai has been escalating: Militants are attacking on a daily basis and new extremist groups emerging. Security experts can only speculate about how strong these groups are, and how they're linked.
"We hold the leader of the military group and the whole of his putschist group responsible for the health and safety of president Morsi," she added at the family's press conference in Cairo.
The statement represents the first public communication from Morsi's family since the military overthrew the president on July 3. Morsi himself has been held incommunicado and at an undisclosed location for that entire stretch. Officials in the interim government have said the measures mean to protect Morsi.
The federal government has overhauled security system in Nigerian prisons to curb recurring incidence of jail breaks and attacks on the facilities by gunmen suspected to be insurgents.
Unlike the past where only prison officials kept vigil in and around the prisons, the government has set joint military and police task forces to shield the prisons from invasion by gunmen and jailbreaks by inmates and their collaborators outside the prison.
At the two prisons in Yola and Jimeta, Adamawa State, LEADERSHIP Sunday observed water-tight security around the formations. It was gathered that the measure was informed by the incessant attacks on prisons formations in some states in the North East geo-political zones of the country.
In the serial attacks on the prison formations in the state, many people including prison officials and inmates have been killed while several others have escaped.
LEADERSHIP Sunday also learnt that the new arrangement is aimed at strengthening the emergency rule imposed on the state by the federal government.
The prison authorities have also adopted other measures including blocking of roads that lead to prison formations with the assistance of military and police personnel.
During a visit to the area, men of the task force were seen to have blocked the road that connects the Jimeta Prison. This affected traffic flow from the two ends of the town.
Another joint patrol teamwas seen manning the YolaPrison although it did not bar motorists from plying the road due to what an insider source said was the close proximity of the prison formation to the palace of the Lamido Adamawa.
In Ondo State, the June 30, 2013 jail break at the Olokuta Minimum Security Prisons in Akure, has also forced the government to beef up security in the facility.
About 175 inmates escaped from the prison located on the Ondo/AkureRoad in in the state capital.It was learned that men of the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other security agencies have moved to secure the prison.
The Nigerian Army, 32 Artillery, Owena Barracks, Akure had also deployed men to the premises immediately after the incident to support armed policemen who were drafted to the place.
Since the incident, visitors to the prison have been made to pass through rigorous screening before being allowed access to their relatives who are inmates of the prison.
Two road blocks have also been mounted on the Ondo-AkureRoad by the Nigerian Army. One is at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) before the prison and the other at Olokuta village after the prison.
The state command police public relations officer (PRO), Mr WoleOgodo,confirmed that various steps have been taken to secure the prison
He said that, "What I can say now is that necessary security mechanism has been put in place which is not for public consumption".
In Katsina State, prison warden still man the 10 prisons with capacity for about 1,543 inmates, which however host more than 2,000 inmates.
In spite of all the challenges, it is observed that the prisons in the state has not witnessed incidence of jail breaks. This may not be unconnected with the tightened security within and around the prisons.
In all the formations, heavy presence of prison wardens was noticedwiththe entrances and exit routes barricaded.
A top officer of the state prisons command who sought anonymity attributed the frequent cases of jail breaks and attacks to the worsening insecurity situation, but quickly added that the state has not experience any jail break in recent time.
Unlike the past where only prison officials kept vigil in and around the prisons, the government has set joint military and police task forces to shield the prisons from invasion by gunmen and jailbreaks by inmates and their collaborators outside the prison.
At the two prisons in Yola and Jimeta, Adamawa State, LEADERSHIP Sunday observed water-tight security around the formations. It was gathered that the measure was informed by the incessant attacks on prisons formations in some states in the North East geo-political zones of the country.
In the serial attacks on the prison formations in the state, many people including prison officials and inmates have been killed while several others have escaped.
LEADERSHIP Sunday also learnt that the new arrangement is aimed at strengthening the emergency rule imposed on the state by the federal government.
The prison authorities have also adopted other measures including blocking of roads that lead to prison formations with the assistance of military and police personnel.
During a visit to the area, men of the task force were seen to have blocked the road that connects the Jimeta Prison. This affected traffic flow from the two ends of the town.
Another joint patrol teamwas seen manning the YolaPrison although it did not bar motorists from plying the road due to what an insider source said was the close proximity of the prison formation to the palace of the Lamido Adamawa.
In Ondo State, the June 30, 2013 jail break at the Olokuta Minimum Security Prisons in Akure, has also forced the government to beef up security in the facility.
About 175 inmates escaped from the prison located on the Ondo/AkureRoad in in the state capital.It was learned that men of the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other security agencies have moved to secure the prison.
The Nigerian Army, 32 Artillery, Owena Barracks, Akure had also deployed men to the premises immediately after the incident to support armed policemen who were drafted to the place.
Since the incident, visitors to the prison have been made to pass through rigorous screening before being allowed access to their relatives who are inmates of the prison.
Two road blocks have also been mounted on the Ondo-AkureRoad by the Nigerian Army. One is at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) before the prison and the other at Olokuta village after the prison.
The state command police public relations officer (PRO), Mr WoleOgodo,confirmed that various steps have been taken to secure the prison
He said that, "What I can say now is that necessary security mechanism has been put in place which is not for public consumption".
In Katsina State, prison warden still man the 10 prisons with capacity for about 1,543 inmates, which however host more than 2,000 inmates.
In spite of all the challenges, it is observed that the prisons in the state has not witnessed incidence of jail breaks. This may not be unconnected with the tightened security within and around the prisons.
In all the formations, heavy presence of prison wardens was noticedwiththe entrances and exit routes barricaded.
A top officer of the state prisons command who sought anonymity attributed the frequent cases of jail breaks and attacks to the worsening insecurity situation, but quickly added that the state has not experience any jail break in recent time.
Officials in northern Mali say gunmen have abducted five people, including four election officials, a week before a presidential poll aimed at restoring democracy, peace and unity in the country.
A Malian official said the gunmen are suspected to be members of the MNLA ethnic Tuareg separatist group, which signed a cease-fire with the government last month.
Saturday's kidnappings took place in the town of Tessalit.
The French news agency reports Sunday that two of the polling officials have been released unharmed, with no word on the other three. The reports have not been confirmed.
The MNLA launched its fight for an independent Tuareg state in northern Mali in January 2012. When disgruntled soldiers overthrew Mali's central government that March, it allowed the MNLA and al-Qaida-linked Islamist militants to take control of the north.
The Islamist rebels pushed aside the MNLA a few months later, before French and African forces drove the Islamists out of the region earlier this year.
A Malian official said the gunmen are suspected to be members of the MNLA ethnic Tuareg separatist group, which signed a cease-fire with the government last month.
Saturday's kidnappings took place in the town of Tessalit.
The French news agency reports Sunday that two of the polling officials have been released unharmed, with no word on the other three. The reports have not been confirmed.
The MNLA launched its fight for an independent Tuareg state in northern Mali in January 2012. When disgruntled soldiers overthrew Mali's central government that March, it allowed the MNLA and al-Qaida-linked Islamist militants to take control of the north.
The Islamist rebels pushed aside the MNLA a few months later, before French and African forces drove the Islamists out of the region earlier this year.
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Mr Akunaay, who is also the Mbulu MP, said Tato, which boats over 300 members, fully supported the government in the closure of the Bologonja border post despite consistent pressure from the Kenyans.