ELSIE EYAKUZE

Elsie Eyakuze is an independent consultant and blogger for The Mikocheni Report.

Kenya rules out GMO maize imports to tame cost of animal feeds

Thursday September 23 2021

A worker carries a bag of animal feeds. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Summary

Livestock Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai said that decision can only be made by a committee that is looking at the current food situation in the country.
Association of Kenya Feed Manufacturers petitioned government last month to allow duty-free importation of GMO yellow maize and soya to ease the current deficit.

By GERALD ANDAE

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The government has ruled out the importation of GMO yellow maize following a request by millers to have them allowed to ship in the produce to address the current high cost of animal feeds.

Livestock Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai said that decision can only be made by a committee that is looking at the current food situation in the country adding that the ban on GMO is still in place hence ruling out importation of these biotech crops.

Association of Kenya Feed Manufacturers petitioned government last month to allow duty-free importation of GMO yellow maize and soya to ease the current deficit that has seen prices hit historic highs.

Mr Kimtai said the committee will make a decision on whether there is a need for importation of GMO yellow maize as requested by feed manufacturers only after all the safety measures have been considered.

“There is still a ban in place ... and until that is addressed, then it is impossible to allow the shipping at the moment,” said Mr Kimtai.

The ban on GMO products in the country was put in place in 2012 by then Health Cabinet Minister Beth Mugo and has remained despite requests by scientists to have it lifted after a journal that formed the basis of the current ban was retracted.

In the headlines

Burundi accuses opposition leader of 'terrorist acts'

The president of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), Sinduhije lives in exile in Belgium.

Kenya export earnings from Uganda up 57pc on tax deal

President Yoweri Museveni commits to remove 13 percent duty that had been imposed on Kenya’s juices.

Uganda opens worship centres, keeps schools shut

Safaricom to launch commercial 5G network in 2022

Kiir asks Sudan’s Hamdok to hold to account coup plotters

Sudan official faults politicians for coup attempt

Covid-19: Rwanda opens bars, allows social gatherings

Outlook shows need to intensify energy production and consumption in Africa

Thursday September 23 2021

Steam venting at a geothermal power generation plant in Olkaria, Kenya. PHOTO | MINISTRY OF ENERGY

Summary

The continent’s ambition to accelerate an industrial expansion continues to be hampered in many countries by unreliable energy supply.
It is estimated that the global population without access to energy will become increasingly concentrated, and that 90 percent of populations without access to electricity and almost 50 percent without access to clean cooking in 2040, will be in Africa.
Initiatives such as the development of regional power system interconnection projects can make some difference in some parts of the region.

By MINISTRY OF ENERGY

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East African nations should work to end poverty energy, majorly experienced in rural areas. They should also promote energy consumption, especially for industrial purposes, to spur rapid economic development.

Intensified energy production and consumption triggers proportionate economic development. These two generally walk together. Higher consumption leads to faster development, which in turn creates greater demand for energy, thus forming a virtuous cycle.

“As Africa’s population rapidly expands and urbanises, its need for reliable and sustainable energy supply will become greater than ever,” says Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA).

In her foreword to the Africa Energy Outlook 2019 report, she explains that this energy “is needed not only to drive the continent’s economic development but also to provide modern energy services to the large numbers of Africans currently living without them.”

“Growing urban populations mean rapid growth in energy demand for industrial production, cooling and mobility,” states the report.

It urges policy makers to address the persistent lack of access to electricity and clean cooking – and the unreliability of electricity supply. These have acted as brakes on the continent’s development. Nearly half of Africans (600 million people) lacked access to electricity in 2018, while about 80 per cent of sub-Saharan African firms suffered frequent electricity disruptions, leading to economic losses.

The continent’s ambition to accelerate an industrial expansion continues to be hampered in many countries by unreliable energy supply. Only a handful of countries – including South Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Senegal – are expected to succeed in reaching full access to electricity by 2030.

Despite such progress, current and planned efforts to provide access to modern energy services barely outpace population growth. It is estimated that the global population without access to energy will become increasingly concentrated, and that 90 percent of populations without access to electricity and almost 50 percent without access to clean cooking in 2040, will be in Africa.

Initiatives such as the development of regional power system interconnection projects can make some difference in some parts of the region. This is important for most East African countries because they have smaller generation capacities to fit the economies of scale.

This explains the establishment of the East African Power Pool (EAPP) in 2005 to coordinate and harmonise electrical power generation and transmission among member countries.

The pool is supposed to facilitate provision of reliable, affordable and sustainable electrical energy for all in East Africa through coordinated actions.

The pool comprises Burundi, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Libya.

Generally though, sub-Saharan Africa needs to significantly scale-up electricity sector investment in generation and grids. Africa currently ranks among the lowest in the world. As it were, despite being home to 17 per cent of the world’s population, the continent currently accounts for a mere four per cent of global power supply investment.

In the headlines

Burundi accuses opposition leader of 'terrorist acts'

The president of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), Sinduhije lives in exile in Belgium.

Kenya export earnings from Uganda up 57pc on tax deal

President Yoweri Museveni commits to remove 13 percent duty that had been imposed on Kenya’s juices.

Uganda opens worship centres, keeps schools shut

Safaricom to launch commercial 5G network in 2022

Kiir asks Sudan’s Hamdok to hold to account coup plotters

Sudan official faults politicians for coup attempt

Covid-19: Rwanda opens bars, allows social gatherings

Burundi accuses opposition leader Alexis Sinduhije of 'terrorist acts'

Thursday September 23 2021

Alexis Sinduhije, Burundi's exiled opposition politician, is pictured at a rally in Bujumbura in 2010. PHOTO | ESDRAS NDIKUMANA | AFP

Summary

But the warrant relates to earlier attacks, including grenade explosions and ambushes that have killed dozens and injured several since the beginning of 2020, the attorney general said.
RED-Tabara has a rear base in South Kivu in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and is estimated to number between 500 and 800 men.
In 2020, the group said it was behind a series of attacks that killed more than 40 people from the security forces and the youth league of the ruling CNDD-FDD party.

By AFP

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Burundi has issued an international arrest warrant against exiled opposition politician Alexis Sinduhije, accusing him of leading a group responsible for multiple "terrorist acts", the country's attorney general said.

The announcement by Sylvestre Nyandwi late Wednesday followed a string of attacks in the troubled East African nation in recent days that have left at least six dead and more than a hundred wounded.

But the warrant relates to earlier attacks, including grenade explosions and ambushes that have killed dozens and injured several since the beginning of 2020, the attorney general said.

"The investigations already carried out have revealed that these acts are committed by a band of terrorists led by (...) Alexis Sinduhije", he alleged.

"Under national and international law, these acts constitute acts of terrorism, as well as crimes against humanity."

The president of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), Sinduhije lives in exile in Belgium.

He has long been suspected by the Burundian government of being at the helm of RED-Tabara, the most active rebel group in the country -- a claim he has always denied.

Years of attacks

RED-Tabara has a rear base in South Kivu in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and is estimated to number between 500 and 800 men.

The group emerged 10 years ago and is accused of being behind many deadly attacks or ambushes in Burundi since 2015.

In 2020, the group said it was behind a series of attacks that killed more than 40 people from the security forces and the youth league of the ruling CNDD-FDD party.

It claimed responsibility for a series of mortar blasts targeting the airport in Burundi's financial capital Bujumbura on Saturday night. No damage or casualties occurred.

Deadly grenade attacks also struck the capital Gitega on Sunday evening and Bujumbura on Monday night. The group has not commented on these.

However, the attorney general said those blasts were "linked" to the earlier attacks that Sinduhije is accused of carrying out. He did not provide further details and it was not possible to verify his claims.

The MSD on Thursday said it rejected "the unfounded accusations of a government incapable of ensuring the safety of its citizens."

"Neither our leaders, nor our members are oriented towards violence against our fellow citizens," it added.

In addition to Sinduhije, arrest warrants have also been issued against Francois Nyamoya, the MSD's secretary general based in Rwanda, and Marguerite (Maggy) Brankitse, founder of the Maison Shalom home for orphans, who lives between Rwanda and Europe.

"We ask the countries where these criminals are based to offer us their collaboration so that they are arrested and do not continue to shed the blood of their fellow citizens," Nyandwi said.

In the headlines

Kenya export earnings from Uganda up 57pc on tax deal

President Yoweri Museveni commits to remove 13 percent duty that had been imposed on Kenya’s juices.

Uganda opens worship centres, keeps schools shut

Safaricom to launch commercial 5G network in 2022

Kiir asks Sudan’s Hamdok to hold to account coup plotters

Sudan official faults politicians for coup attempt

Covid-19: Rwanda opens bars, allows social gatherings

Kabila ICC trouble? Victims file complaint against ex-President at The Hague

Thursday September 23 2021

Former DRC President Joseph Kabila sits in a garden at his personal ranch in Kinshasa in 2018. FILE | AFP

Summary

The group first lodged a complaint in 2019 with the Congolese army via the higher military auditorate of Kasai but was unsuccessful.
Among those accused is Kalev Mutond, head of the intelligence services in Kabila’s regime, who is now on the run.

By PATRICK ILUNGA

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Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila could be in trouble after victims of his alleged misdeeds lodged a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing him of killing or torturing their relatives.

The complaint, filed on September 16, also targeted senior government officials in his regime, including Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a presidential candidate he supported in 2019 but who lost the election to Felix Tshisekedi.

Mr Shadary was minister for interior and security.

The complainants are relatives of victims of the 2016-2017 clashes between civilians and Congolese police and army officers in Kasai Central and Kasai provinces.

The victims of what is commonly referred to as the Kamuina Nsapu rebellion, which started in 2016, have asked the ICC prosecutor to investigate in order to convict "executioners and accomplices, but also to recognise the victims' right to compensation".

They say Kasai was the scene of war crimes and crimes against humanity for two years.

They allege that Kabila did not investigate the atrocities despite calls made to political and judicial authorities.

The group first lodged a complaint in 2019 with the Congolese army via the higher military auditorate of Kasai but was unsuccessful.

“Our association decided and filed this complaint against Joseph Kabila with the office of the prosecutor of the ICC in The Hague on behalf of 20,000 victims of the said crimes,” said Mhyrhand Mulumba, head of the association.

Families of victims of Kamuina Nsapu particularly fault Kabila for "not having taken substantial measures to stop the aforementioned crimes in time, protect the victims and bring the perpetrators and accomplices to justice ".

Among those accused is Kalev Mutond, head of the intelligence services in Kabila’s regime, who is now on the run.

Kabila’s allies, however, have denounced the move to file a complaint with the ICC.

“Before you go to the ICC, you have to prove that the state did not want to take any action against the perpetrators," said Ferdinand Kambere, deputy permanent secretary of the PPRD, the party of the former head of state.

The rebellion began in 2016 as a local dispute over the nomination of a customary chief in Kasaï Central, before the agenda morphed into a bid to replace the Kabila regime.

But with time, spurred by the Congolese military’s heavy-handed response to the rebellion, this escalated into an all-out uprising against the government led by Nsumbu Katende.

Katende was later convicted of committing war crimes.

The Kamuina Nsapu rebellion eventually died down in 2019 after President Felix Tshisekedi came to power. He is considered a “son of the Kasaï”, and many of the rebels decided to lay down their arms.

In the headlines

Burundi accuses opposition leader of 'terrorist acts'

The president of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), Sinduhije lives in exile in Belgium.

Kenya export earnings from Uganda up 57pc on tax deal

President Yoweri Museveni commits to remove 13 percent duty that had been imposed on Kenya’s juices.

Uganda opens worship centres, keeps schools shut

Safaricom to launch commercial 5G network in 2022

Kiir asks Sudan’s Hamdok to hold to account coup plotters

Sudan official faults politicians for coup attempt

Covid-19: Rwanda opens bars, allows social gatherings

Kenya export earnings from Uganda up 57pc on tax deal

Thursday September 23 2021

East African Community minister Adan Mohamed and EALA MP Simon Mbugua address journalists at English Point Marina in Mombasa, January 14, 2019. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Summary

Trade data collated by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics show value of exports between April and July amounted to Sh25.97 billion, a 56.64 percent climb.
Trade secretary Betty Maina early April led a Kenyan delegation to Kampala to find a long-lasting solution to the on-and-off disputes.

By CONSTANT MUNDA

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Kenya’s earnings from exports to Uganda jumped more than half after last April’s deal which cleared tax hurdles for goods such as pharmaceuticals, confectionery, juice and spirits.

Trade data collated by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics show value of exports between April and July amounted to Sh25.97 billion, a 56.64 percent climb compared with average value for the same period in the previous three years.

Trade secretary Betty Maina early April led a Kenyan delegation to Kampala to find a long-lasting solution to the on-and-off disputes that had seen both countries impose duty and restrict importation of some goods against East African Community (EAC) Customs Union Protocol.

The Kenyan delegation, which also met President Yoweri Museveni, reached a deal which saw Uganda commit to remove 13 percent duty that it had imposed on Kenya’s juices, malted beer and spirits, as well as a 12 percent verification fee on pharmaceuticals.

Kenya, on the other hand, agreed to scrap the 35 percent duty it had slapped on gas cylinders from Uganda and increase quota of sugar imports to 90,000 from 11,000 metric tonnes, among other concessions.

“There is a lot of positive vibes within EAC that’s developing and we want to ride on that as a way of bringing back EAC that used to be,” Adan Mohamed, the EAC Affairs Cabinet Secretary told the Business Daily.

“Ultimately, as government, we try and make sure that the environment is suitable for the private sector to do business.”

The exports in the review period were 63.13 percent higher than Sh15.92 billion last year when flow of goods was hit by Covid-19 protocols, according to the KNBS statistics as captured by the Kenya Revenue Authority.

The earnings were also 49.54 percent more than Sh17.36 billion in 2019 and 57.88 percent higher than Sh16.45 billion the year before.

In the headlines

Burundi accuses opposition leader of 'terrorist acts'

The president of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), Sinduhije lives in exile in Belgium.

Uganda opens worship centres, keeps schools shut

Safaricom to launch commercial 5G network in 2022

Kiir asks Sudan’s Hamdok to hold to account coup plotters

Sudan official faults politicians for coup attempt

Covid-19: Rwanda opens bars, allows social gatherings

Leaders must champion ‘self-care’ in bid to improve African women’s health

Thursday September 23 2021

Self-care is here to stay as a model of sexual and reproductive healthcare and a way to promote gender equality. ILLUSTRATION | JOHN NYAGA

Summary

In July this year, global leaders, activists and government ministers from around the world met in Paris for the second Summit of the Generation Equality Forum, a global process focused on advancing gender equality for Africa and the world.
‘Self-care’ refers to health services and products that are user-initiated or controlled, often with health provider support, but often outside of a formal healthcare setting.
African leaders can sustain our progress towards gender equality by recognising self-care as a global priority for sexual and reproductive healthcare.

By DR RAFFAELA SCHIAVON

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By APARAJITA GOGO, PhD

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By MILLY NANYOMBI KAGGWA , MBBS

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By MILES KEMPLAY, MPH

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“For me, self-care is summed up by three things: having agency, access to accurate information, and resources to preserve my health and rights,” says Olaoluwa Abagun, a feminist and advocate for girls’ rights from Nigeria. For thousands of women like Olaoluwa, self-care represents an opportunity to manage and control their own sexual health and fertility. This translates to greater bodily autonomy and increased power over their lives.

In July this year, global leaders, activists and government ministers from around the world met in Paris for the second Summit of the Generation Equality Forum, a global process focused on advancing gender equality for Africa and the world. One of the solutions critical to achieving gender equality, bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights is self-care. Self-care has been around for millennia, but its promise and power have been championed by advocates like Olaoluwa all around the world.

Now, African leaders can sustain our progress towards gender equality by recognising self-care as a global priority for sexual and reproductive healthcare.

‘Self-care’ refers to health services and products that are user-initiated or controlled, often with health provider support, but often outside of a formal healthcare setting. Self-care encompasses a wide spectrum of initiatives, including education and awareness-raising approaches, apps that enable digital access to medical information, and innovative products like self-injectable contraception and HIV self-tests.

Expanding and strengthening self-care availability is a vital component in extending reproductive choice to more women, enabling them to exert more control over their lives and livelihoods.

Tools such as easy-to-use pregnancy test strips, on-demand contraceptive services, including emergency contraceptive pills, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are revolutionising the way individuals access sexual and reproductive healthcare. At the same time, self-care can and should be supported by the formal healthcare system, without discrimination or delay.

One of the greatest advantages of self-care is that it challenges norms about the role of women and girls in healthcare provision. Women’s and girls’ voices and participation are central to a self-care framework, enabling them to act as informed agents of their own health. In practical terms, self-care improves health equity by removing obstacles to care for some of the most vulnerable people in society.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 270 million women and girls of reproductive age had an unmet need for contraception, even though they wanted to avoid pregnancy. Curfews, loss of income, reduced clinic hours, and contraceptive stockouts have compounded this situation. Women and girls who cannot access contraception have reduced access to education, income, and professional opportunities, as well as overall poorer health outcomes.

Yet trailblazers are demonstrating that self-care can play a valuable role in restoring sexual and reproductive healthcare provision in the wake of the pandemic and they are seeing results.

In Uganda, national self-care guidelines introduced by the Ministry of Health in 2020 support women to access interventions like self-injectable contraception, helping them to obtain family planning where they want, when they want and reducing disparities in access to contraception. Women in Uganda expressed relief about no longer having to spend time at crowded clinics to get contraception. Instead, they can now use their mobile phones to connect with pharmacies and purchase their chosen contraceptive method that is then delivered to their homes.

In Kenya, organisations in the reproductive health space are working tirelessly to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to affordable quality sexual and reproductive health methods. HIV self-test kits allow health services to reach patients who would not usually attend services in person due to the stigma still associated with HIV.

Elsewhere in the world, pilot self-care programmes have demonstrated the potential of self-care to improve infant health and reduce maternal mortality. In India, birth preparedness work has resulted in safer pregnancies, with women reporting increased knowledge about danger signs during the pregnancy and postpartum period. Couples who participated were also more likely to save for childbirth expenses.

Gender equality

Self-care is here to stay as a model of sexual and reproductive healthcare and a way to promote gender equality. Creating a world where women and girls are better able to manage their sexual and reproductive health and rights will translate to women and girls being able to fully participate in all areas of society with benefits to all.

Each one of us has seen the power that self-care has in transforming lives. We are calling on African nations and global leaders in the coming years to continue to champion self-care as an essential part of their country’s health systems.

By elevating the potential of self-care, removing legal and systemic barriers for women and girls to access services, and investing in critical tools that puts women in control of their reproductive health, we can sow the seeds for broad, constructive change. It is time to put women and girls at the centre of their own healthcare.

Aparajita Gogoi, PhD, is the executive director of Centre for Catalyzing Change and the National Coordinator of the White Ribbon Alliance, India.

Milly Nanyombi Kaggwa, MBBS, is the Senior Clinical Advisor for Africa at Population Services International.

Miles Kemplay, MPH, is the Executive Director of Adolescence at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.

Dr Raffaela Schiavon is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with an extensive work in clinical, research and advocacy to protect and expand sexual and reproductive health and rights, particularly for children and adolescents.

In the headlines

Burundi accuses opposition leader of 'terrorist acts'

The president of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), Sinduhije lives in exile in Belgium.

Kenya export earnings from Uganda up 57pc on tax deal

President Yoweri Museveni commits to remove 13 percent duty that had been imposed on Kenya’s juices.

Uganda opens worship centres, keeps schools shut

Safaricom to launch commercial 5G network in 2022

Kiir asks Sudan’s Hamdok to hold to account coup plotters

Sudan official faults politicians for coup attempt

Covid-19: Rwanda opens bars, allows social gatherings

Kiir asks Sudan’s Hamdok to hold to account coup plotters

Thursday September 23 2021

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir. PHOTO | FILE | NMG

Summary

The government of South Sudan received unfortunate news on Tuesday morning of a military attempt orchestrated by rogue elements in the Sudanese military against the Transitional Government of Sudan.
Sudan is currently ruled by a transitional government composed of both civilian and military representatives that was installed in the aftermath of Bashir's April 2019 overthrow.
Sudan is currently ruled by a transitional government composed of both civilian and military representatives that was installed in the aftermath of Bashir's April 2019 overthrow

By Garang Malak

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Juba

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has condemned the recent coup attempt in Sudan’s Capital Khartoum.

In a press statement seen by The EastAfrican on Thursday, President Kiir asked Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to hold to account those behind the overthrow strategy.

“The government of South Sudan received unfortunate news on Tuesday morning of a military attempt orchestrated by rogue elements in the Sudanese military against the Transitional Government of Sudan.

“We consider this as a blatant attack on the process of consolidating peace in our sisterly country and in strongly condemned the failed attempt” reads the statement

President Kiir went on to call on Sudan’s authorities to hold to account those involved.

“We emphasize our firm position in rejecting the use of military means to undermine the power of people and the leadership of the Transitional Government.

“Such shortcuts aimed at blackmailing the democratic political transition in Sudan shouldn’t be allowed to derail the efforts of the Sudanese people” Kiir added.

This statement comes following the failed attempted coup in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Tuesday this week.

At least forty army officers have been arrested, according to Sudan’s military spokesperson Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman.

Sudan is currently ruled by a transitional government composed of both civilian and military representatives that was installed in the aftermath of Bashir's April 2019 overthrow and is tasked with overseeing a return to full civilian rule.

Deep political divisions and chronic economic problems inherited from the Bashir regime have overshadowed the fragile transition.

In recent months, the government has undertaken a series of tough economic reforms to qualify for debt relief from the International Monetary Fund.

The steps, which included slashing subsidies and a managed float of the Sudanese pound, were seen by many Sudanese as too harsh.

Sporadic protests have broken out against the IMF-backed reforms and the rising cost of living.

In the headlines

Burundi accuses opposition leader of 'terrorist acts'

The president of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), Sinduhije lives in exile in Belgium.

Kenya export earnings from Uganda up 57pc on tax deal

President Yoweri Museveni commits to remove 13 percent duty that had been imposed on Kenya’s juices.

Uganda opens worship centres, keeps schools shut

Safaricom to launch commercial 5G network in 2022

Sudan official faults politicians for coup attempt

Covid-19: Rwanda opens bars, allows social gatherings

Uganda opens places of worship, keeps schools shut

Thursday September 23 2021

A Ugandan prison officer receives the first injection of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Mulago Referral Hospital in Kampala, on March 10, 2021. PHOTO | AFP

Summary

The number of people attending weddings and other social events was also increased to 200, while casinos, gaming, betting shops, and gyms were allowed to operate during the day and close by 6pm.
Mr Museveni also allowed weekly and monthly markets to open with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols.
He, however, kept other sectors closed, reasoning that the number of people already vaccinated is still too low and therefore cannot risk reopening fully.

By DAILY MONITOR

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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday ordered the reopening of worship centres, but with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols to avoid further spread of the coronavirus.

“Places of worship can now open under strict guidelines like, limiting the number to 200 people and adhering to all other Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs )in place,” he said.

The number of people attending weddings and other social events was also increased to 200, while casinos, gaming, betting shops, and gyms were allowed to operate during the day and close by 6pm.

Mr Museveni also allowed weekly and monthly markets to open with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols.

Mr Museveni, however, kept other sectors closed, reasoning that the number of people already vaccinated is still too low and therefore cannot risk reopening fully.

“The 4.8 million priority population, including teachers, should first get vaccinated before we can open schools. Post-secondary institutions to open with effect from November 1, 2021, on the condition that all teachers and non-teaching staff are vaccinated. The rest of the learning institutions will open in January 2022,” he said.

To date, out of the targeted 550,000 teachers, 269,945 have already received the first dose of the vaccine while 96,653 have received the second dose.

“I, therefore, direct responsible leaders at the district level (Resident District Commissioners, Chief Administrative Officers, District Health Officers, and others) to carry out mobilisation for all eligible groups to go for vaccination. If medicines get expired in your area, I will deal with you,” Mr Museveni said.

The Ugandan president maintained curfew time between 7pm and 5am.

In the headlines

Burundi accuses opposition leader of 'terrorist acts'

The president of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), Sinduhije lives in exile in Belgium.

Kenya export earnings from Uganda up 57pc on tax deal

President Yoweri Museveni commits to remove 13 percent duty that had been imposed on Kenya’s juices.

Safaricom to launch commercial 5G network in 2022

Kiir asks Sudan’s Hamdok to hold to account coup plotters

Sudan official faults politicians for coup attempt

Covid-19: Rwanda opens bars, allows social gatherings

'Eternal' chancellor: Germany's Merkel prepares to leave the stage

Thursday September 23 2021

German chancellor Angela Merkel, the outgoing German Chancellor was the first woman, the first East German to hold the office. PHOTO | POOL | NMG

Summary

Dubbed Germany's "eternal chancellor", Merkel, 67, leaves with her popularity so resilient she would likely have won a record fifth term had she sought it.
Instead, Merkel will pass the baton as the first German chancellor to step down entirely by choice, with a whole generation of voters never knowing another person at the top.
Merkel became Europe's go-to leader during the eurozone crisis when Berlin championed swingeing spending cuts in return for international bailout loans for debt-mired countries.

By AFP

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She was called "the leader of the free world" as authoritarian populists were on the march in Europe and the United States, but Angela Merkel is wrapping up a historic 16 years in power with an uncertain legacy at home and abroad.

In office so long she was dubbed Germany's "eternal chancellor", Merkel, 67, leaves with her popularity so resilient she would likely have won a record fifth term had she sought it.

Instead, Merkel will pass the baton as the first German chancellor to step down entirely by choice, with a whole generation of voters never knowing another person at the top.

Her supporters say she provided steady, pragmatic leadership through countless global crises as a moderate and unifying figure.

Yet critics argue a muddle-through style of leadership, pegged to the broadest possible consensus, lacked the bold vision to prepare Europe and its top economy for the coming decades.

What is certain is that she leaves behind a fractured political landscape. It is also because of the long shadow she casts that her party's candidate, Armin Laschet, has struggled to sharpen his own profile.

His Social Democratic opponent, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, has actively -- and perhaps successfully -- sold himself as the real continuity candidate.

Assuming she stays on to hand over power, Merkel will tie or exceed Helmut Kohl's longevity record for a post-war leader, depending on how long the upcoming coalition negotiations drag on.

'Do the right thing'

The unflappable Merkel has served for many in recent years as a welcome counter-balance to the big, brash men of global politics, from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin.

A Pew Research Center poll this week showed large majorities in most democracies around the globe having "confidence in Merkel to do the right thing in world affairs".

However, the last days of her tenure have also been marred by what Merkel called the "bitter, dramatic and terrible" return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan -- a debacle in which she shares the blame as Germany completed its evacuation.

A trained quantum chemist raised behind the Iron Curtain, Merkel has long been in sync with her change-averse electorate as a guarantor of stability.

Her major policy shifts reflected the wishes of large German majorities -- among them phasing out nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster -- and attracted a broad new coalition of women and urban voters to the once arch-conservative CDU.

'Austerity queen'

Before the coronavirus pandemic, her boldest move -- keeping open German borders in 2015 to more than one million asylum seekers -- seemed set to determine her legacy.

But while many Germans rallied to Merkel's "We can do it" cry, the move also emboldened an anti-migrant party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), ushering a far-right bloc into parliament for the first time since World War II.

At the same time, hardline leaders such as Hungary's Viktor Orban accused her of "moral imperialism" with her welcoming stance.

Six years on, she lamented this month, the European Union appears no closer to a unified policy on migration.

The woman once known as the "climate chancellor" for pushing renewables also faces a mass movement of young activists arguing she has failed to face up to the climate emergency, with Germany not even meeting its own emissions-reduction commitments.

Merkel became Europe's go-to leader during the eurozone crisis when Berlin championed swingeing spending cuts in return for international bailout loans for debt-mired countries.

Angry protesters dubbed her Europe's "austerity queen" and caricatured her in Nazi garb while defenders credit her with holding the currency union together.

More recently, despite admitted missteps in the coronavirus pandemic including a sluggish vaccine roll-out, Germany's death toll has remained lower than those of many European partners relative to population.

Kohl's 'girl' to 'Mummy'

Merkel, the EU's and G7's most senior leader, started as a contemporary of George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac when she became Germany's youngest and first female chancellor in 2005.

She was born Angela Dorothea Kasner on July 17, 1954 in the port city of Hamburg, the daughter of a Lutheran clergyman and a school teacher.

Her father moved the family to a small-town parish in the communist East at a time when tens of thousands were headed the other way.

She excelled in mathematics and Russian, which has helped her maintain the dialogue with the other veteran on the world stage, Russia's Putin, who was a KGB officer in Dresden when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

Merkel kept the name of her first husband, whom she married in 1977 and divorced five years later.

After the fall of the wall, Merkel, who was working in a chemistry lab, joined a pro-democracy group that would merge with Kohl's Christian Democrats.

The Protestant from the East whom Kohl nicknamed his "girl" would later be elected leader of a party until then dominated by western Catholic patriarchs.

As she rose to power, party rivals sneeringly called her "Mutti" (Mummy) behind her back but she deftly -- some said ruthlessly -- eliminated potential challengers.

Although her name has come up on wish lists for key EU or United Nations posts, Merkel has said she will leave politics altogether.

Asked on her final trip to Washington in June what she looked forward to most, she replied "not having to constantly make decisions".

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