Press Release: NAU activists remanded in Luzira prison (21.1.2015)

Another exhibition of misuse of the law to persecute unemployed Ugandans who are peacefully trying to alert the govt about the level of unemployment situation.
Back ground to this story is yesterday NAU members peacefully set off to deliver a letter to the police HQ in accordance to to the legal regime, however they were brutally intercepted and bundled in to police pick up trucks.
Today to our dismay the state charged them with a case of unlawful assembly, the six are namely:

Prince Kahemba Babi
Busigye Phionah
Awangi Bethwell
Buhembo Habib
Serungogi Rashid
We consider this as a flagrant abuse of the law by the Nakawa magistrate to remand the activist for delivering a letter.
Wabulembo Robin also a NAU activist who appeared in Mwanga court was granted a cash bail of 200,000sh. We condemn the habit of granting cash bail to the unemployed youth.

(From the NAU Sources)

Thembo Kash on the Kinshasa protests (19.1.2015)

Thembo Kash

Press Statement by FAWU on the Campaign for Privatization-by-a-back Door (16.1.2015)

16 January 2015

The Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) notes with disgust, the suggestions and proposals; made by some representatives of Big Business and Capital, such as Barclays Bank, and by some political parties, such as the Democratic Alliance (DA); for our Government to consider embarking on Privatization of State-owned Enterprises, at the back of ESKOM’s electricity delivery challenges as a justification.

We wish to reject such suggestions and proposals with contempt they deserve and regard those as nothing but blackmailing program to the Government to privatize those critical assets to the highest or even lowest bidder from the ranks of private sector.

We call on our Government to employ a professionally-based yet development-mandate program to get ESKOM and, certainly several more of the State-owned Enterprises (SOEs), back into shape for a continued role as an enabler and catalyst for economic development and delivery of basic needs to the people.

Therefore, FAWU will not accept any attempt, even an inch of such a move, to privatise those SOEs and doing so will be regarded as a sell-out policy offensive against the clarion call of a radical phase of the transition and to the agenda of a radical socio-economic transformation in eradicating poverty, substantially reducing inequalities and creating full employment with decent jobs.

If anything, FAWU will mobilize for a, or be part of any, rolling mass action that is likely to unfold from the working class formations and communities.

The R86 billion could easily be achieved through a re-introduction of a progressive taxation system and the increased taxes to the rich than through sale of shares in companies owned by the State.

We hope our government will ignore such calls and, instead, embark on fiscal expansionism by raising taxes for the rich individuals and to the corporates so as to mobilise resources needed to support SOEs, to roll-out both social and economic infrastructure and to deliver basic services to and/or meet basic needs of the people.

For more information feel free to contact the FAWU General Secretary, Katishi Masemola at 082 467 2509

Issued by
KATISHI MASEMOLA
FAWU General Secretary

– See more at: http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=9915#sthash.5fyskRXf.dpuf

WHO Press release: Ebola in West Africa: 12 months on (15.1.2015)

Note for the media
15 January 2015

One year after the first Ebola cases started to surface in Guinea, WHO is publishing this series of 14 papers that take an in-depth look at West Africa’s first epidemic of Ebola virus disease.

The papers explore reasons why the disease evaded detection for several months and the factors, many specific to West Africa, that fuelled its subsequent spread.

The most extensive papers trace events in each of the 3 most severely affected countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. These countries shared many common challenges, shaped by geography, culture, and poverty, but each also faced, addressed and sometimes solved some unique problems.

Key events are set out chronologically, starting with the child who is believed to be the index case of this epidemic through to the Director-General’s commitment to steadfastly support affected countries until they reach zero cases.

The report also looks back at WHO’s response over the past 12 months, including the 9 August declaration of an international health emergency. It documents the many challenges faced by countries and the international community in dealing with the largest, longest, most severe, and most complex Ebola outbreak in history.

Throughout the report, the contributions of national governments and their many partners weave in, as does the great human misery caused by a terrible and terrifying disease.

Other papers provide insight into:

  • how the fast-track development of Ebola vaccines, treatments and rapid diagnostic tests is progressing, with no compromise of safety and efficacy standards;
  • how Senegal, Nigeria and likely Mali managed to contain imported cases and bring their own outbreaks under control;
  • the state of worldwide vigilance and preparedness, especially in countries targeted by WHO as being at greatest risk of an imported case.

The report also looks ahead. Based on what was learned during the previous year, what critical strategies and interventions will give countries and their partners the best chance of bringing the outbreaks under control?

WHO media contacts:

Gregory Hartl
Communications Officer
Telephone: +41 22 791 4458
Mobile: +41 79 203 6715
Email: hartlg@who.int

Tarik Jasarevic
Communications Officer
Telephone: +41 22 791 50 99
Mobile: +41 79 367 62 14
E-mail: jasarevict@who.int

Press Release 2015-009: NATO Secretary General statement on closer cooperation with Serbia

Issued on 16 Jan. 2015.

I welcome the Individual Partnership Action Plan agreed between NATO and the Republic of Serbia. This important step will allow us to further strengthen dialogue, understanding and cooperation between us.

The Republic of Serbia has been a valued member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme since 2006.  NATO fully respects the Republic of Serbia’s policy of military neutrality and works closely with many countries on such a basis.

The new agreement concluded on 15 January will allow us to enhance our cooperation on issues of common interest and to our mutual benefit.  For instance, in working together to promote stability and security, in addressing the security challenges that we face today, and through NATO’s provision of defence and security sector reform expertise.

Press Statement: First Cabinet Meeting Held on 15th January 2015 (Kenya)

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MDC-T Press statement on the Opening of the 2015 Judicial Year (12.01.2015)

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Statement by Karim A. A. Khan QC, Lead Counsel for H.E. William Ruto, regarding the reported abduction and murder of Mr. Meshak Yebei (13.01.2015)

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DSG/SM/836-SC/11735-PBC/103: Addressing Security Council, Deputy Secretary-General Calls upon Solid Commitment from All Sides to Fulfil ‘Original Vision’ for Peacekeeping Structures

14 JANUARY 2015

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General’s Jan Eliasson’s remarks to the Security Council on post-conflict peacebuilding, in New York today:

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to brief the Council on the Secretary-General’s report on Peacebuilding in the Aftermath of Conflict.

This report reminds us that peacebuilding is at the core of the United Nations’ aims and ambitions.  The challenges and responses described in the report will directly affect the future of individuals, communities and societies and their chances of living in peace.

I would like to highlight five key features of the report.

First, peacebuilding is most effective when political, security and development actors support a common, comprehensive and clear strategy for consolidating peace.

We have seen examples of this in Guinea and Burundi.

In Guinea, the United Nations country team supported an inter-party agreement on parliamentary elections that was facilitated by the then-SRSG [Special Representative of the Secretary-General] for West Africa, Said Djinnit.  The team held public meetings with local political leaders and helped train election monitors.

In Burundi, the Peacebuilding Commission and the country team supported the efforts of the UN Office in pursuit of a more inclusive political environment.  They did this by facilitating broad consultations with political parties and civil society.  This led to the adoption of a new electoral code and a code of conduct for the upcoming elections.

Second, strong and well-functioning institutions that are central to peacebuilding must be based on effective and inclusive political agreements.

Such agreements provide legitimacy and support for institutional development and reform.  Without inclusive agreements, political divisions may persist and control of the State may indeed remain contested.  Under such circumstances, nationally led peacebuilding strategies have a limited potential.  Let’s admit that we have seen this in South Sudan, where extensive investments in institution-building were lost when weak and unstable political agreements between different factions resulted in a tragic relapse of conflict.

Third, peacebuilding requires sustained international political, technical and financial support.

Regretfully, we are seeing such gaps in several places, particularly where the establishment of basic Government functions and the provision of social services are required to sustain peace.

The Peacebuilding Fund can partially address the financial gaps in the short term.  But, it remains problematic to ensure the necessary larger-scale and longer-term assistance and support.

I encourage the Peacebuilding Commission to continue its efforts to mobilize the support of Member States for the UN’s missions and mandates.  Groups of Friends and Contact Groups can play an important role.  Also, compacts between post-conflict States and key international partners can align international support with national priorities — as they did in Sierra Leone and Somalia.

Fourth, regional actors and neighbouring countries, working together with the United Nations, can play a critical role in creating an environment conducive to sustainable peace.

The Peacebuilding Commission can help support such efforts, as it has done recently in the Central African Republic and Guinea-Bissau, by convening meetings with regional organizations, neighbouring States and international partners.

This underlines how conflicts in today’s world more and more take on a regional dimension, which I am sure you in the Council have noted in your deliberations on so many issues.  This regional dimension, in my view, should be better reflected in how we in the future deal generally with both conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding.

Fifthly, and lastly, at this part of my presentation — promoting inclusion means that we must ensure women’s equal participation in post-conflict political and development processes.

The Secretary-General’s report details innovative approaches from Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan and Liberia, including an initiative in Guinea called the Women’s Situation Room.  This provided support to a network of local women’s organizations, enabling women to play a crucial role as election monitors.  It also facilitated inter-party trust and strengthened women’s political participation.  We need more initiatives like this, and I particularly would like to say that this could be very valuable this year when we mark the 20 years after the important Beijing conference.

I would on this occasion like to present the Council with some reflections and thoughts on the important review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture that was launched by the General Assembly and the Security Council last month.

It was my privilege, as President of the General Assembly 10 years ago, to be part of the creation of the peacebuilding structures — the Peacebuilding Commission, the Peacebuilding Fund and the Peacebuilding Support Office.  You may recall that this work was in response to the troubling phenomenon at the time of frequent relapses into conflict.

Since then, we can see that peacebuilding efforts are more necessary than ever.  In the recent past, the Central African Republic and South Sudan have tragically fallen back into conflict.

The three Ebola-affected countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, are all on the Peacebuilding Commission’s agenda.  In addition to the large and tragic loss of life, the epidemic has also had a dramatic impact on social cohesion and State institutions.  As the Peacebuilding Commission noted in its early meetings on the epidemic, there is a need for comprehensive support that will ensure the resilience of State institutions and of course rapid recovery.

The United Nations’ involvement in peacebuilding has evolved considerably since 2005, with broader mandates and more actors, working in ever more difficult environments.  Our peacekeepers and special political missions are often in these situations called upon to support inclusive political processes and to build effective rule of law and security institutions, together with UN agencies, funds and programmes.

The Peacebuilding Commission was intended to be a diverse, flexible and dynamic political forum, which would focus sustained international attention on the challenges for countries at risk of relapse into violence.  Although the Commission has made some important progress, many now agree that its structure and working methods need review, improvement and adaptation to a rapidly changing environment.  Here, I would like to commend the efforts of the Permanent Representative of Brazil, Antonio [de Aguiar] Patriota, who has been Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission and set the direction in a very positive way, as also the new Head of the Peacebuilding Support office, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, who is behind me, and his predecessor.  So, we are on the right track and I think we need to go with an open mind into this work.

We need a forum that can act quickly to mobilize the collective support of Member States for the UN’s mandates and missions.  We also need to consider the circumstances in which the Peacebuilding Commission can be particularly useful.  A more flexible, more dynamic and strategically oriented Commission could be more relevant to a broader range of situations in today’s world.

These and other ideas are included in the UN system’s input to the review.  I hope you will give them your serious consideration.  The UN system is committed to increase its support to and engagement with a dynamic, flexible and focused Peacebuilding Commission.

Your review will coincide with the Secretary-General’s review of peace operations and the Global Study to assess progress in implementing resolution 1325 (2000).  The work and outcomes of these three reviews, and their follow-up, should be complementary, and in my view, mutually reinforcing.

These reviews come at a time of complex threats to peace, security and development.  They provide us with an important opportunity to sharpen and re-shape our thinking and our actions.

We owe it to the people we serve to ensure that we are bold, ambitious, and above all, effective in our approach to modern-day peacebuilding.  I urge Member States to be open, candid and constructive in their assessment of the peacebuilding challenges and potentials.

I would just like to add that, when we look at a conflict, the life of a conflict, we have a tendency to focus on the middle section of that life of a conflict — when you are at the “CNN stage” — when you are at the stage of suffering and taking urgent decisions on missions — peacebuilding and peacekeeping operations.  I think we need all to think of extending that attention to the pre-stage and the post-stage.  The life of a conflict which is discovered at the first vibrations on the ground — that is when we should start to act.  And then, like the convalescence of a patient, at the end of a conflict with ceasefires and so forth, we need to know that there is post-conflict work to be done, so that we don’t get back to the vicious cycle of conflict.

We need a solid commitment from all sides to fulfil the original vision for the peacebuilding structures and to improve the UN system’s support for countries emerging from conflict.

This could make the difference, the crucial difference, between peace or continuing conflict for millions of people around the world.  This is an opportunity the United Nations and its Member States should not miss.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNEMPLOYED (NAU) Press Statement 12 January 2015

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Dear fellow Country Men and Women, happy New Year.

2014 was at all not an easy journey to travel. The climb was steep but we climbed to the top, the journey was long but we managed to get to our destination, the task seemed mountainous but we got to the peak. As NAU we can only say that was the end of the start.

National Association of the unemployed would like to take this opportunity to salute all of you, fellow Ugandans especially those who braved all the bad conditions prevailing in our country in form of unemployment and all its associated economic resultants, intransigence of government, arbitrary arrests of activists, brutality in the hands of the state to mention but a few.

In a special way NAU takes this opportunity to mention that we stand by and will continue to stand with our brothers and sisters from Kisekka market who were recently rendered unemployed by the actions and policies of the NRM regime. We will support you in any way we can and in all actions you chose to undertake to defend your rights.  We want to tell you, that the demolition of this market was not driven by development need but the need by the regime to disperse these organised pro-democracy comrades who worked there. These hasty actions were not out of the need that you become better rather that you are isolated- dividing your effort is the point here. These are actions of a regime that is afraid of the citizens.

We take this opportunity to inform the world about the NAU nationwide rallies that will commence on 22nd Jan 2015. NAU registration was very successful and the achievements were way above our own expectation despite the brutal response from police. We know they wanted us to fail but they instead failed because we achieved. And we want to congratulate all the gallant members of NAU who refused to be intimidated and got registered both manually and online.

We want to disappoint this manuscript minded members of this government who thought by arresting our enumerators was to stop the registration and therefore cause the death of NAU. Our message to you is that this is the twenty first century. The online registration is still going on and in big numbers.

As the online registration is going on, the rallies that are intended to explain to Ugandans our side of the story. It must be noted that government propagandist tried in vain to link NAU to all illegal activities including armed rebellion intentionally ignoring the issues we raised in our concept paper. We left them to finish their side of the story and now we want to also explain our side of the story so that the common man can be able to judge who was truthful.

The other reason why we opt to begin public rallies is because government failure to give an ear to the documented suggestions we made as NAU. We therefore want to take this same issues to the common man so that we seek a possibility where these issues can be turned into a campaign issue and we intend to make it extremely risky for any candidate to simply ignore them. This should comfort NRM that NAU doesn’t exclusively target them but wants ears of all those who can be of help to the condition that has befallen the youth of this country. The NRM regime only finds itself in the firing line because they are in government and are duty bound to handle such issues.

In conclusion, we want to request every Ugandan to put making Uganda a country where we all feel part of as one of their New Year’s resolution. These 12 months are another opportunity God has given you to be recorded by history as part of those who stood firm in the face of extreme threat to make your country better.

You must get tired of government policies which perpetuate unemployment, you must get tired of anti-people KCCA actions, you must get tired of sectarianism, you must get tired of impunity, you must get tired of corruption, and you must get real tired and make your anger known to the appropriate authorities. We are aware that many may fear to engage now for fear of ruthless response by government. But I tell you if your only fear is that you may be shoot dead, poisoned to death or killed by any way. You must remember that the cost of inaction is always higher than that of action.

For my Baganda brothers and sisters, the proverb that “ekilya atabaala kyekilya nasigadde ewaka.” Must be always in your heads.

God Bless you,

For God and My Country

Contact; 0705856562 and 0701756756