Misa Tanzania Calls for Kabendera’s Immediate Release (30.07.2019)

The crazy and mandatory exercise called the Huduma Bill of 2019!

Here we are, at this moment and time, where the Jubilee government, where the Kenyatta administration has no issues to launch a bill so draconian. That the state are forgetting their role for the citizens in their drive to pursuit the registration of all with Huduma Numba.

As the bill states: “AN ACT of Parliament to establish the National Integrated Identity Management System; to promote efficient delivery of public services; to consolidate and harmonise the law on registration of persons;to facilitate assigning of Huduma Namba and issuance of identity documents;to facilitate registration of births and deaths;and for connected purposes” (The Huduma Bill, 2019).

This sounds legit, but at the same time, the registration for these reasons should already be in other parts of the legislation. Not for a NIMS or Huduma Namba but for a commercial ideal, which is an agreement between Mastercard and the Government of Kenya.

As explained here: “Nairobi, Kenya – February 7, 2017 – Mastercard commits to supporting the roll-out of the Huduma Card in Kenya as the technology partner of choice for the local government organisation. The secure payment solution supports Kenya’s Vision 2030 that calls for reforms in public services to enhance accountability, transparency and efficient service delivery, with focus on developing a cashless economy. The Huduma Card is a prepaid card with chip and PIN technology that will connect all Kenyans to the formal financial sector by providing a secure, reliable and flexible payment option. The Huduma Card, powered by Mastercard, is currently being issued by Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), Diamond Trust Bank (DTB), Equity Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), with no bank charges being allocated to citizens when registering for the smart card” (Mastercard, 2017).

Clearly, this should be a voluntary exercise, as the commercial aspect of this shouldn’t make this mandatory. However, with this law, they are really showing no regard for the public. As they are not asking people to accept a commercial agreement with Mastercard, but doing it mandatory.

As stated in the law here:

“8.(1) Every resident individual shall have a mandatory obligation to present theHudumaNambain order to—

(a)be issued with a passport;

(b)apply for a driving licence;

(c)register a mobile phone number;

(d)register as a voter;

(e)pay taxes;

(f)transaction the financial markets;

(g)open a bank account;

(h)register a company or a public benefit organisation;

(i)transfer or make any dealings in land;

(j)register for electricity connection;

(k)access universal health care services;

(l)benefit from the government housing scheme;

(m)register a marriage;

(n)enrol into a public educational facility;

(o)access social protection services;

(p)register or transfer a motor vehicle; or

(q)any other specified public service” (The Huduma Bill, 2019).

As you see from this, most of the state services are bound by having the Huduma Numba and the Mastercard connected to it. If you don’t have it, you are not getting access to government services. They have even more of them too, even passports:

“(2)The requirements for applying or replacing a Passport are—

(a) Huduma Namba;and

(b)prescribed fee” (The Huduma Bill, 2019)

So, by this state, even passing by a road-block, the Police Officers needs to see your Huduma Numba to let you pass by. To prove that your not a felon, but an innocent citizen.

To top this off, the legislators plans to sanctions the ones who doesn’t want to comply to this: “48.A person who carries out or permits the carrying out of any transaction specified in section 8 without a Huduma Namba commits an offence” (The Huduma Bill, 2019).

It is actually an felony to not comply with previous part of law. They are not only stopping people from getting government services if they don’t have the Huduma Numba and Card made by the Mastercard, but also making it a felony not to register it properly.

The giant lie of this bill, is this sentence in the ending of it:

“The Bill does not limit any fundamental right or freedoms” (The Huduma Bill, 2019).

Well, if you cannot access any of the government functions or get the needed services because of not having the Huduma Namba and Huduma Card, than your kind of limiting the fundamental rights or freedoms. The liberty of the person is taken away, as they got to do this. This is taking away people’s freedom, to put them into a government scheme, as they have signed off together with Mastercard. They could have done this with VISA and it would have been the same issue, even for Gods sake, American Express.

So, when CS Fred Matiang’i wrote that this bill doesn’t limit any fundamental righ or freedoms of its citizens. I believe he was high or drunk, because he couldn’t write that with a clear mind. Unless, his heartless and doesn’t understand the basic components of the bill. You don’t need to be a legal scholar to get the gist here. Peace.

WHO marks one year since the beginning of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (31.07.2019)

As of 29 July 2019, the Ministry of Health of the DRC has reported 2687 cases (2593 confirmed and 94 probable) with 1803 deaths and over 770 survivors.

BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (Republic of the), July 31, 2019 – This week marks one year since the start of the 10th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Following the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 17 July, the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the government of the DRC, other United Nations (UN) agencies, partners and communities, is working on further scaling up response and preparedness measures.

As of 29 July 2019, the Ministry of Health of the DRC has reported 2687 cases (2593 confirmed and 94 probable) with 1803 deaths and over 770 survivors.

Since the first Ebola cases were confirmed in Mangina, in the North Kivu province of eastern DRC, on 1st August 2018, 175 000 people in the DRC and over 10 000 in neighbouring countries have been vaccinated against the Ebola virus. Fourteen treatment and transit centres have been set up and more than 140 000 contacts have been identified and monitored. Furthermore, 77 million people have been screened for Ebola at hundreds of screening points set up at official and unofficial crossing points along the DRC’s borders. In addition, tens of thousands of alerts have been received and investigated.

These responses have been achieved despite the difficult conditions in which WHO and partners are operating. Since the beginning of the outbreak, WHO’s response has continually evolved to adapt to the situation as it unfolds on the ground. Preparedness and vigilance are still key as WHO and partners redouble efforts as the outbreak enters its second year.

“I am immensely proud of the commitment and courage of everyone working in the field and what we have achieved together,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, “We have learnt a lot of lessons during the past year. We learn from our own experience, and from discussions with our partners. We also engage communities, listen to what they have to say and adapt our approaches. This is the only way we will end this outbreak.”

Violence and insecurity have plagued this region of the DRC for two decades. A weak health system and humanitarian crisis, including internal displacement, as well as security issues have complicated the Ebola response. Safely accessing those in need and gaining acceptance by communities, some of whom are distrustful of outsiders after years of conflict, have been the major challenges in this response.

WHO continues to lead the public health response to the Ebola outbreak and is calling for a more united approach where under the leadership of the DRC government, the UN and other partners take greater responsibility for areas of the response in which they have expertise. WHO is also providing technical leadership in the areas of surveillance, vaccination and case management. WHO has mobilised and deployed more than 700 international experts -71% of whom are from the African region – as part of the surge capacity needed to respond to the outbreak.

Opinion: There are two type of leaders in government I never trust… the warlords and the gangsters!

I feel there is two type of leaders in government, that I can never trust. They might never see themselves as this, but their act are like this. These leaders are fitted in other fashions, than of statesmen. They are leaders who could really be part of the Costra Nostra or even some armed militia. The only difference is that they have the power as head of states and is “elected” officials.

The two types I have to pin-point is the warlords and the gangsters. There are plenty of these in our time. They use the time in power, either to steal, kill or undermine the citizens while being in power. They are not serving the public, no, they are eating and destroying the state, bit by bit.

The warlords are military leaders, who has taken over the civil government, they are using the military for all sorts of actions, instead of building institutions. They are misusing the force, the intelligence and all parts of the security organizations of the state. All done to spread fear and control the public. If the public interfere or question the authority, these sort of government uses the army to arrest, detain and sentence the ones challenging them. This is what they do and the army can solve all trouble in society. That is what the warlords do, other than creating conflicts elsewhere, to be consistent warfare and using their skills in the military field. Instead of really generating peace.

The gangsters are the parties and groups of politicians, who uses the government as a racket. They are racketeering. Meaning, they are eating of the plate of the public, they are overtaxing them and not giving them services. They are expecting to be men-of-honour and deserve honour, even if they are emptying the reserves, creating fake problems and making laws, which takes away opportunities of the citizens, as they are expected to blindly follow the Don and his mafia. There will be extra-judicial killings, corruption scandals and continuously embezzlement. Therefore, the gangsters are working and earning of the plate of others. But don’t expect them to give you anything. If they do, they expect to get returns.

However, if they don’t, you will get in trouble for making deals with them. You should have known better, but maybe you had no other choice. Because, they run the government and they supply the tenders, so you had to deal with them. Expect to be extorted or taken advantage off, they are gangsters for a reason. Men for every season.

So, surely, if you follow the news, you will see these characters. They are maybe in the headlines, maybe making pledges and greeting you on the screen. Remember, that you cannot trust them. They are warlords and gangsters, there for self-serving and only there to misuse their power. If you don’t follow their codes, you will get got. If you don’t listen or try to fight these men. Than, your their prey and they intend to use your citizenship as a pawn in their game for ill-gotten wealth.

This is the way it is. Not that its right, but we let it happen. Time to make it right. Peace.

RDC: Repartition des ministeres entre le FCC et CACH (31.07.2019)

Opinion: New strict campaign finance limits in the new Electoral Reforms…

I got to go at this law one more time, as there is one more consequential thing in it, that cannot be understated. This is real worry, because, this really limits the reach for the candidates, as they have to prepare in advance all the funds and everything before the elections. They have only two weeks to declare how they have raised funds, by whom and also the amount to able to campaign.

That is vital information, as this limits indirectly, the reach of the opposition and their campaigns. This should also stop the National Resistance Movement (NRM) from finding new funds, new money to suddenly have gifts, voter tourism and whatnot, which they didn’t announce two weeks after the nomination.

Take a look!

Section 22:

“(1b) candidate shall declare to the commission, within fourteen days after nomination day, the source of funds for financing his or her election.

“(4) (a) A candidate or candidate’s agent shall not- obtain, solicit or receive any financial or other assistance from any foreign Government, institution, body or person which or who has demonstrated an intention to overthrow the lawfully established Government of Uganda, or to endanger the security of Uganda;

(b) obtain, solicit or receive any financial or other assistance from an organisation which has been declared a terrorist organisation under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2002” (Presidential Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2019).

The law is also scary vague on key components like the issue of financial or other assistance from foreign government, institution, body or person, whose intention is to overthrow a legal established Government of Uganda. This means, any sort of organization, whose funding is foreign and who works with governance could get into trouble to finance NGOs and others, which implies in a Multi-Party Democracy, that someone else than the incumbents should actually have the possibility to win. Alas, we know, in an Ugandan election that is impossible. Because, the House always WINS, sort of like the rigged Casinos.

This amendment is clearly stifling the ideas like we saw in the previous election, where the citizens gave gifts and donations all along, as Kizza Besigye travelled across the Republic to give small donations here and there. Clearly, because, the NRM and their allies want to underscore and know how much they have on the books and verify their sources. Since, we know, they will not tell how much of the State House budget, the OPM or others goes directly to the President and his team of associates. No, they will make a way to be the smooth operator, but this law is get more strings attached to the opposition.

By all means, no political party or candidate should be used a foreign party to intervene or to overthrow an government, neither should money or funding play into it. That is fine, but that the Electoral Commission needs to know 14 days after the nomination, are really limiting the scope for fundraising, especially with all the conditions put into play.

The rest of the law is straight forward and understandable by all accounts, it is a measure to secure where the funding is from and not laundering money from unsolicited sources, which can be connected to terrorism and other illegal activity, which is fine. That shouldn’t be the case anyway.

But it’s the rest that put real strains on a campaign and ensures, that the candidates have to have a vault of funds to able to campaign and be running in 2021. That is if this goes through parliament and becomes actual law. Peace.

UNICEF must triple budget to combat Ebola outbreak in DR Congo; complex crisis impacting unprecedented number of children (31.07.2019)

The UNICEF expert said there were 2,671 confirmed cases of Ebola as of 28 July including more than 700 children.

NEW YORK, United States of America, July 31, 2019 -With an unprecedented number of children affected by the Ebola virus outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday said it would need to triple its budget to tackle the complex crisis, which included intensifying the overall public health response and launching measles vaccinations.

“This Ebola response is far more complex because it is in an active conflict zone,” Jerome Pfaffmann, a UNICEF health specialist, told reporters in Geneva, just back from his third visit to the country.

He underscored that “people in the (eastern Congolese) provinces of North Kivu and Ituri are facing humanitarian and public health crises,” and in addition, half the health facilities in Ituri had been damaged or destroyed over the last two years.

The UNICEF expert said there were 2,671 confirmed cases of Ebola as of 28 July, including more than 700 children, more than half of whom – some 57 per cent – were under five years of age.

“When I left, there were 12 new confirmed cases, five were alive and will have the chance to access treatment, but seven had died in the community. This is bad. Having this number of community deaths means we are not ahead of the epidemic,” he said.

“It is unprecedented to have such a [high] proportion of affected children,” Mr. Pfaffmann continued, adding that both provinces were also facing a measles outbreak.

So far, UNICEF has vaccinated more than 40,000 children against measles, but a massive scale-up was needed to protect them from various health risks.

With all this in mind, UNICEF planned to carry out a new strategic response plan to address acute humanitarian and social needs.

“UNICEF will need to triple its budget to respond to this crisis,” said Mr. Pfaffmann, stressing that “we need desperately the international community to back us up.” 

This budget would include about $70 million for epidemic control activities, $30 million to build community capacities in at-risk areas, and another $70 million to deliver essential services.

Meanwhile, the UN agency was continuing operations with “colleagues and communities on the ground who are fighting the outbreak tirelessly.” 

Just two days away from the one-year milestone of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in the DRC, the UNICEF expert said it was critical to make the investment to keep the epidemic under control.

“This is a wake-up call. There must not be a second-year milestone,” Mr. Pfaffmann declared, stressing that community mobilization was critical to curbing the spread of the disease because “they are capable of best doing the things that matter.” 

Nigeria: INEC – Press Release (30.07.2019)

Opinion: Are the electoral amendments a way of outlawing NRM’s own “Independent” MPs?

Well, the first initial reports of the Presidential Elections (Amendment) Bill of 2019 wasn’t accurate, the rumours and speculations wasn’t all truthful. Who knows who leaked it like that and for what reason. That is up to TVO to conspire and show the paperwork off. That is his dish to serve and he does it with such skills.

Alas, this piece will be about independents candidates and their eligibility as candidates. Because, that was also important in the leaks and also the associations between organizations/pressure groups and party members. There are still legal boundaries to this, but now more restrictions, than in the past. Just take a look.

“9A. Eligibility to stand as independent candidate.

(1) A person is eligible to stand for election as an independent if that person is not a member of a registered political party or organisation having ceased to be a member of a political party or organisation twelve months before nomination day; or having never been registered as a member of a political party or organisation.

(2) An independent candidate shall be taken to have ceased to be a member of a political party or organisation under subsection (1) (a), if that person has complied with the constitution, rules and regulations of the political party or organisation to which he or she belonged, that relate to cessation of membership of that political party or organisation and was discharged by the political party or organisation.” (Presidential Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2019).

Well, this is straight forward, but this outlawing a practice, which has been done in most parties of late. Most notably in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) where the incumbent loser in any given district or county, have re-run as independent candidates, even while being members of the party. There was even meetings with about 20 Incumbent MPs who lost their Primaries in 2015 at the State House mid-December 2015 ahead of the 2016. Surely, there was also some more who ran on their own accord after losing their primaries earlier in the year. There was also a rise in the amount of Independent MPs in the 10^th Parliament. This means, that this method will not be allowed from neither the UPC, DP, FDC or the NRM for that matter. Especially,as the NRM as they have had the most these type of candidates in the previous election.

What this also does, limits and restricts the Independents, meaning if they are Independent. They are not even running under an organization. This means, that possibly, running as independent while being part of People Power. Would be impossible, that is if I understand it correctly. That means, someone running for People Power or for Go-Forward in the previous election. Would have to be registered as member and therefore, not really independent. But aligned to the organization or the party. That would limit the ability for certain individuals.

The original law from 2005 stated only this for any candidate:

“9. Sponsorship of candidates by political organisation or political party

Under the multiparty political system, nomination of candidates may be made by a registered political organisation or political party sponsoring a candidate or by a candidate standing for election as an independent candidate without being sponsored by a political organisation or political party” (Presidential Election Act 2005).

Clearly, that law was more liberal, more free and gave way to more various of ways into parliament or into public office. However, this is now showing that the NRM wants stop their own practice and also make the road to the 11^th Parliament harder. Even for the guy himself inflicting this law. Who did use this method, the Minister of Justice Gen. Kahinda Otafiire ran as an Independent Candidate after losing the NRM Primaries. He lost twice, but got the Ministry still, because his one of the loyal subjects of the President.

Nevertheless, expect this to have ramifications. As this law is limiting the people running for Parliament. Unless, the NRM Primaries and others are held 13 months ahead of the up-coming elections. Also, that is if the Electoral Commission allows the parties to hold the Primaries early. Because something got to give. Peace.

Cameroon: Sisiku Julius Ayutabe letter to Minister of Justice and Keeper of Seals – ‘Declaration of Hunger Strike by Sisiku Ayutabe and other Ambazonian in ‘Prison Principale’ Kondengui Yaounde’ (30.07.2019)