As part of the activities marking the inauguration of the Kenya national anti-corruption plan, the agency in charge launched its first corruption perception survey.
The report was detailed – certainly, the result of hard work – even if the contents were quite predictable.
It lists the usual suspects in Government ministries and departments, seen by the public as the most corrupt, generally confirming what has been well documented by independent researchers.
At the ceremony itself, almost everybody who spoke spent a great deal of time bemoaning the fact that corruption in Kenya remains rampant and that efforts to reduce or stamp it out have thus far been ineffective.
Such sentiments are interesting coming at a time when the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) is under scrutiny, accused of having achieved little despite all the resources at its disposal.
Perhaps part of the reason that KACC has been ineffective is that too much time, energy and other resources have been diverted into research, studies, seminars and workshops at the neglect of investigation, prosecution and asset recovery.
It is true the anti-corruption body's mandate includes areas such as research, education, sensitisation, and so on. But the fact remains that no amount of activity in those areas, however impressive, will compensate for the failure to put behind bars those who continue to make Kenya head the league table of corrupt nations.
Perhaps it is time the peripheral activities were farmed out to other agencies, such as the national anti-corruption steering committee, the universities or private research companies, leaving KACC to concentrate on its key roles – jailing the corrupt.
Kenyans know that corruption is rife. And they know that KACC was formed to arrest the sad situation. This can be achieved only when those who want to dip their hands into the till know that the chances of being deprived of stolen property are high.
Studies confirming the extent of corruption are not a deterrent. What will deter the corrupt is to jail as many of them as possible.
THE Lord's Resistance Army rebels have rejected President Yoweri Museveni's amnesty offer to their leader Joseph Kony.
KAMPALA
The rebels say the offer is “redundant” and “irrelevant.”
“When we go for negotiations, we negotiate as equal persons on the table so it is... redundant for the President of Uganda to come out and say 'we are offering amnesty to the LRA leaders,” Mr Olweny Obonyo, LRA's spokesman told Reuters in Juba on Wednesday.
The LRA negotiators and the government team are in Juba, the Southern Sudan capital, waiting for peace talks expected to kick off on July 12.
The Southern Sudan government will mediate the talks.
Obonyo told the Uganda Radio Network in a separate interview that, “We are not considering President Museveni's amnesty at all. We reject it. It is beside the point, it is really not significant.”
On Tuesday, Museveni announced amnesty for Kony who has fought his government for the past 20 years.
But the International Criminal Court (ICC), which indicted Kony and his four top commanders a year ago, dismissed Museveni’s offer as illegal.
In a new twist, the US government and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan have disapproved Museveni's amnesty offer to Kony.
In a statement issued yesterday, the US Embassy Public Affairs Officer in Kampala, Ms Alyson Grunder, said while the United States appreciated that the initiative of the government of Southern Sudan to broker peace talks between the LRA and Kampala was based on the hope that these talks would put an end to the insurgency, the US government expected Museveni to co-operate with the ICC in apprehending Kony to answer charges of crimes against humanity.
“President Museveni announced that he is willing to extend amnesty to Kony - and potentially the rest of the LRA leadership as well,” the statement said.
“The United States respects Uganda's decision on this matter, but we believe those who have committed atrocities in this long-standing insurgency should be held accountable for their deeds.”
In a new report to the United Nations Security Council, Annan commended the Southern Sudan government's recent contacts with Kony and Otti with the apparent knowledge of the Ugandan government, which he said would suggest the “possibility of a negotiated solution.” But he warned: “However, such contacts also raise the issues of impunity and the responsibility of the Southern Sudanese authorities to apprehend the individuals indicted by the ICC.” Media Center Director Robert Kabushenga defended Museveni's amnesty offer.
“The President has made a major undertaking by granting Joseph Kony full amnesty, in other words he will not be arrested in case he abandoned his rebellion,” he said.
“If Kony has rejected it, its entirely up to him: the ball is in [his] court.”
Olweny said the ICC arrest warrants would be discussed in the talks with the team from Kampala.
The small and dusty town of Juba is increasingly becoming a centre of attention as journalists and observers gather for the much-anticipated talks.
Kabushenga said the first round was a three-party peace negotiation exercise involving Uganda, Southern Sudan, and the LRA. “It is an issue between the two administrations of Southern Sudan and Uganda. There are no observers. So whoever is there, is there on their own,” Kabushenga said.
Annan's report, which is a response to the March 2006 Security Council Resolution 1653 requesting him for proposals, urged Uganda, Sudan and the DR Congo to coordinate the activities of their security forces to deal with the “lingering threat” from the LRA.
“It should be emphasised that the regional countries have an overwhelming capacity to address the LRA threat,” the report said.
“If a mutually agreeable way is found by the governments in the region to strengthen cooperation on the ground among its security forces, it could create a solid basis to deal more effectively with the lingering threat from the LRA.”
By Special Correspondent, Dar Es Salaam
Millions of Tanzanian children affected by HIV/AIDS are due to benefit from a global campaign aimed at accelerating their access to treatment and social support, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.
In a statement issued in Dar es Salaam, UNICEF Country Representative Rodney Phillips said an estimated two million Tanzanian children had lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, and that the agency would work with its partners to increase efforts in reaching those affected.
"Although Tanzania has made progress in improving health services for people affected by HIV/AIDS, services available for children are limited," he said.
"In Tanzania, every year about 72,000 newborn babies are infected with HIV during delivery or soon afterwards," he said.
He said under the global initiative, "Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS", help would reach at least 10 million children affected by HIV/AIDS by 2010.
Phillips said the focus in Tanzania would be on prevention of mother-to-child transmission; paediatric treatment; prevention and protection; and support of children affected by HIV/AIDS.
"Currently less than 10 percent of women have access to prevention of mother-to-child HIV infection services, while less than 5 percent of HIV positive children in need of HIV treatment get it.
"Only 1 percent of children born of infected mothers have access to cotrimoxazole, a low cost antibiotic that can nearly halve child deaths from AIDS by fighting the deadly infections.
"The campaign aims by 2010 to provide antiretroviral treatment and cotrimoxazole to 80 percent of children in need," UNICEF said in the statement.
This May 3rd, is World Press Freedom Day. This year, World Press Freedom Day is dedicated to the theme “Media and Good Governance”.
UNESCO, as the intergovernmental organization with a constitutional mandate to “promote the free flow of ideas by word and image”, observes World Press Freedom Day to highlight the importance of press freedom and the fundamental human right of freedom of expression. UNESCO’s offices are organizing seminars and other events to mark the Day in all parts of the world, from the Caribbean and Latin America to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Southern Africa.
In a message for the Day, the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, explains that without freedom of expression and media freedom, “democracy cannot prevail and development remains unattainable. Independent, free and pluralistic media have a crucial role to play in the good governance of democratic societies, by ensuring transparency and accountability, promoting participation and the rule of law, and contributing to the fight against poverty.”
Not only do free and independent media act as guardians of human rights and watchdogs against abuses by authority, they also provide citizens with the information they require to exercise their democratic rights, notably in times of election. The media also disseminate information that is crucial for the life and development of communities. They have an essential contribution to make to the achievement, scheduled for 2015, of the United Nations’ Millennium Goals, including the eradication of extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and combating HIV-AIDS.
UNESCO has long supported independent and pluralistic media in developing countries, countries in transition, and post conflict areas around the world and in Africa. This support has taken different forms: assistance in preparing legislation that is favorable to freedom of expression and capacity building (professional training and the development of infrastructure).
In Africa, UNESCO has helped set up a large number of community radio stations and multi-media centers and provided legislative support to countries emerging from conflict such as Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. UNESCO has channeled more than $40 million to Africa newspapers, news agencies, and broadcasters, both public and private, through its Intergovernmental Programme for the Development of Communication, IPDC.
The celebration of World Press Freedom Day was first proposed by participants at the Seminar on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press, which UNESCO organized in Windhoek, Namibia, in 1991. UNESCO celebrated the Day in Windhoek in 2001, the first time the international celebration of the event was held in Africa.
| By Special Correspondent, Nairobi Kenya | ||||
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