PARFAIT ANYANGA

The UN Special Envoy

Melinda French Gates: Innovation the right dose for Africa’s health and poverty

Saturday June 25 2022

Co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates, in Paris on July 1, 2021, where she spoke at the Generation Equality Forum. PHOTO | AFP

By JACKSON MUTINDA

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The co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates, spoke to Jackson Mutinda about solutions for the continent’s development problems on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali.

You are in Africa at a time the continent is hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. What message did you bring to this meeting?

My message was that there's incredible innovation going on on the continent, with a young generation that's up and coming with a lot of ingenuity. And, you know, so much progress has been made on the continent in the past 20 years.

Childhood deaths are down, immunisation rates are up … all of that progress. We need to maintain the momentum because some of those things went backwards because of Covid-19. Now, malaria deaths are up, immunisation rates are down. And so my message is, let's keep what we call in the US the pedal to the metal -- let's keep pushing forward all this progress and change that’s happening.

When we invest in the health system, people grow up healthy, they don't deal with much malaria and then they can go on to get a great education and the job that they want and fulfil their dreams. And so my message is, let's make sure we keep focusing on health so that this amazing young population can live its dreams.

You were there when the Kigali Declaration on eradicating malaria and neglected tropical diseases was adopted. Now, looking at what is happening globally – with pandemics like Covid-19, wars and disruption of global supply chains – don’t you think it's too ambitious to achieve by 2030?

We have innovation on our side. Ten years ago we didn't have a malaria vaccine, we didn't have any vaccine for a parasitic disease. Now we have one, and it's being delivered in Africa. Now, it's only 50 percent efficacious, but we have another vaccine coming very soon that should be more efficacious.

Again, 15 years ago it was difficult for mum to get a bed net. And then we started delivering bed nets. Now, people regularly use bed nets and, well, a next-generation bed net with a better insecticide is coming. So we have all this innovation. And we have people used to doing the right things like detecting malaria in the health system, detecting it quickly and getting on top of it quickly. We have families that are now sleeping under bed nets. So it's possible.

It certainly is an ambitious agenda, and a lot will hang in the balance with this war in Ukraine that's causing all kinds of problems in countries, including the continent of Africa. But we need to keep fighting because we're seeing many more people being healthy and not dying of malaria as in the past.

Also read: Europe gives $12m funding for malaria vaccine

Do you see more political will in the implementation of health and development programmes you've helped finance?

Definitely. I mean, we're sitting here in Rwanda. They have invested in their primary health care system. I've just come from the telemedicine project, which is run by Babyl (an organisation using an app that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning with live health workers for consultation).

They’re taking the patient load off doctors and making sure that patients can call into a call centre, where there are nurses and doctors, and they go through their symptoms, and then they triage. Some of those patients need to go to the health clinic, but some can be treated over the phone, or sent straight to the laboratory to get a test, then decide if they need to see a doctor, and so taking that load off the system so that the doctors can deal with the most serious issues.

Boy, that's a fabulous innovation! And they're doing it using feature phones, which are predominantly used in Rwanda and many countries in Africa. But when you think of how that's changing the health system, wow!

Just like M-Pesa when it was first created in Kenya, you could do a bit with it. But now when I see so many countries doing digital money and doing digital ID, people are able to save and transact. If people save, if there's a health shock or something they want to invest in -- like a business or their kids’ education – they have the money. I'm seeing a lot of good change across the continent. You see a case like Rwanda, and you think, wow, this is really possible.

You have placed women at the centre of your programmes and that seems to be paying good dividends…

Put women at the centre and it starts to change things: They change their family, they change their community, they change a whole country. Rwanda is a great example. Now, over 60 percent of parliamentarians are women. And when you go into the banking sector -- you see a woman at the helm at the Bank of Kigali -- and it's not, as some women have pointed out to me, unusual anymore.

Read: Women pressing on for progress in East Africa

The policies, the laws have been changed, and now it's got where the social norm is: you expect to see women in lots of high roles. I think that kind of change is possible when you empower women. I also know in the development community we have to do specific programming. So we can't assume that if there's one phone in the family, it's a woman who has it, you have to assume the man has it.

So what's the extra mile we need to go to make sure the woman has an account on that phone, because the man will get the phone, he'll get a digital account, but she needs one too? Again, at Babyl they found that as soon as they got women signed up with a national ID, more women were calling into the call centre. So I know that empowering women makes a difference.

You have had messaging around reproductive health. How has that gone?

It's gone actually well, and we're seeing more places across the continent where women are asking for contraceptives, whether you're in Niger, Senegal, Kenya, or Rwanda, women are saying this is a tool I need and want to use.

I think the message has been well received, but we still need to do more to have more supply of contraceptives. One thing they do here in Rwanda, which is what countries that are farther along on this journey do, is to offer a basket of contraceptives, you know, long-term and short-term; long-term being an IUD (intrauterine device) or an implant, short-term being the pill or condoms. When you offer that basket, women are more likely to use and stay on a contraceptive. And then you add something like telemedicine, where there's no bias, they feel it's private, they can get counselling.

Let's say they're using a method and they feel like oh gosh, I'm having these side effects… they can call in and so they're likely to continue using the method. That really helps because when women can time and space their births, they're healthier, their children are healthier, and the family is wealthier.

Health and poverty are closely related, so which one do we need to eradicate first?

You have to have good health to have a chance to honestly lift yourself out of poverty. So if you have a family that is constantly dealing with bouts of malaria, they're depleting any savings they have, whereas if you can help contain malaria in their region, or make sure if they get it they can get diagnosed and get medicine quickly, then they are not spending much of their family savings or income on that. The mum and dad and older kids can go to work, and the younger kids can go to school. So you have to invest in health to help a country and its citizenry lift themselves out of poverty.

There has been a discussion around equity in terms of access and supply of medicines and vaccines between rich countries and poor countries. How can this be resolved?

Covid exposed the inequities and injustice in health. The fact that the high-income countries were in line first for medications, vaccines, that's not okay. And so, the countries that couldn't get them were outraged and they should be.

Read: Vaccine deserts: The poor nations trailing in the fight against Covid-19

But I think one of the silver linings coming out of Covid was making sure that more vaccines are created in more places. On the continent of Africa, there should be probably three regional hubs.

Before coming to Kigali I visited the Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Senegal, where the Foundation has been investing since 2012. They've been around almost 100 years, they make yellow fever vaccines of very high quality. Well, guess what? There's still a shortage of yellow fever vaccines, so they're ramping up production. And Russia has just dropped out of the equation. So Institut Pasteur de Dakar is going to create much more capacity.

They are also readying to create the measles and rubella vaccine. So it doesn't have to be created somewhere else; it can be created on the continent. Other vaccines with this mRNA technology are coming along. If we invest now, which you just saw BioNTech do here in Rwanda, then as mRNA comes along, it may eventually help us deal with malaria and tuberculosis. And Institut Pasteur in West Africa will also move to mRNA vaccines over time, and then I think we’ll probably have one other hub on the continent, likely in the south. That’s going to make sense for Africans.

We’ve seen a move from grants to partnerships. What next? Do we foresee in the near future sub-Saharan Africa financing its own health programmes?

Yes, the goal should always be helping low-income countries become middle-income countries and middle-income countries become high-income countries. That’s where everybody would like to progress. So our job is to have deep partnerships, understand what's needed and what our partners want, and then we do a mix of grants and investments.

We are all about trying to make sure there is innovation, but that the innovation is shared equally. Some 95 percent of malaria cases are on the continent of Africa and 96 percent of the deaths happen here. So we felt that there needed to be more innovations. That meant having to put in a whole bunch of scientific grants to incentivise scientists to do it. And it means investing in things like mRNA. So when it comes along, we can use it for malaria.

I think African governments want to be self-sustaining, right? So we try to be in deep partnerships to make sure governments are on that path. We're trying to connect the dots and help people see all the innovations that are going on so that they can be shared. So as I mentioned, Babyl in Rwanda, we made a grant to help them get up and running. Today it is run by Rwandans and they don't need continued grants from us; they're on a path where they will break even in a couple of years.

What makes you lose sleep about global health?

Let’s just take Covid as an example. I was outraged to see that there were healthcare workers in Africa who couldn't get a vaccine when we were giving it in the West, you know, essentially to everybody. That didn't make any sense. So that kept me up at night.

I've been in and out of lots of health clinics in Africa and I know how tough those environments are. And those are the people doing the hard work -- the frontline work. So that certainly kept me up. I did a little better, personally, when I started to see the women going out and the health care workers giving the right messages, making sure people hand-wash, making sure they wore masks, I was like, okay, they're doing the real work until they get a vaccine.

But what keeps me up at night is just knowing there are still needless maternal deaths, just because we haven't helped fix health care clinics in the right way and children are dying. I've been in situations where I've seen babies sucking on oxygen, with pneumonia, where there's not enough oxygen to go around, you know, a little premature baby. That’s tough. And so it still keeps me up at night that we haven't got further. We’ve done well on infant and child mortality, but we need to do better. We really do.

Also read: Why a newborn is more likely to die in Nairobi than in rural areas

What needs to be done by the countries affected before organisations like the Gates Foundation come in?

Well, you have to have a peaceful and steady government. It’s almost impossible to work in war-torn countries or during conflict. So you need a peaceful government. And then you need a committed government that is there for the people and that wants to make the right investments in healthcare, in education, in helping their citizens lift themselves up.

Are there other areas that you consider important in your programmes?

Many people in Africa are farmers, right? They farm a small plot of land and so making sure they get pest-resistant seeds that are specific to their area; drought-resistant seeds, flood-resistant seeds… making sure that people get the right seeds, have access to fertiliser -- which is very tricky with the whole Russia situation in Ukraine -- that people can grow what they want, put some on the market and have enough to eat for nutrition... That is incredibly important because, again, countries want to be self-sustaining in terms of food systems. And that is a key piece we work on and in Africa, we work with the African institution, Agra (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa).

Read: How food and milk will bring peace to conflicts in Africa

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

Zimbabwe lobbies to rejoin Commonwealth

Saturday June 25 2022

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa. FILE PHOTO | AFP

By KITSEPILE NYATHI

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Zimbabwe at the ongoing Commonwealth summit in Rwanda continued with lobbying for readmission 18 years after it was thrown out of the body over allegations of human rights abuses.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government submitted an application on May 15, 2018 to re-join the grouping of 54 countries, a year after the ouster of strongman Robert Mugabe in a military coup.

The late Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe between 1980 and 2017 with an iron fist, was at the loggerheads with the Commonwealth over alleged human rights abuses and electoral fraud.

Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Rwanda Charity Manyeruke , who is attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Kigali as an observer alongside other top government officials, told local media that the southern African country’s participation at the summit was a “positive development.”

“Zimbabwe is excited to be participating in Commonwealth forums as this presents opportunities to network with the international community taking into account the government of Zimbabwe’s policy of engagement and reengagement,” Ms Manyeruke said.

“The Commonwealth meeting in Kigali has provided opportunities for our Zimbabwean diaspora across the globe, who are participating as panellists, facilitators and as delegates in the forums.

“I have met with the Zimbabwe diaspora, media, private sector, academia, civil society, those in finance and banking, arts and students, “They have had an opportunity to engage.”

Three Zimbabwean ministers have been attending side events at the summit such as the Commonwealth Women Forum and the Commonwealth Business Forum.

The Zimbabwean mission in Rwanda is also holding an exhibition to showcase products from the southern African country.

Harare has been lobbying countries such as Rwanda to support its efforts to be readmitted into the Commonwealth.

Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs deputy minister David Musabayana said he had held meetings with influential people to discuss the country’s potential readmission.

“We are humbled to be invited to attend as observers,” Mr Musabayana said.

“There is a lot of interest in Zimbabwe from Commonwealth member countries, who are keen to do business and invest in Zimbabwe,” he added.

After the coup, countries such as the United Kingdom appeared ready to support Zimbabwe’s return to the Commonwealth, but the stance has since changed owing to President Mnangagwa’s reluctance to implement promised electoral reforms.

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

President Paul Kagame takes up reins of Commonwealth club

Saturday June 25 2022

Rwanda President Paul Kagame speaks during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Kigali on June 24, 2022. PHOTO | CHOGM

By BERNA NAMATA

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As Rwandan President Paul Kagame takes charge of the Commonwealth for the next two years, he faces a daunting task of reviving an association that faces an existential threat due to its colonial history.

President Kagame took over chairmanship from Britain under PM Boris Johnson at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Kigali.

As chair, he is expected to oversee the work of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the implementing organ of the 56-nation club, whose memberships is drawn from those predominantly with colonial ties to the then imperial British Empire. In recent years, the club has admitted countries with no such historical ties including Rwanda, Mozambique and most recently Togo and Gabon.

“Countries join the Commonwealth because it has many meetings at Heads and Ministerial level and is thus a forum that provides political legitimacy. These French colonies, as are some Caribbean Commonwealth countries, are also Francophonie members. All this strengthens their political legitimacy, deepens the impression that they are recognised and accepted by the global community,” a diplomat told The EastAfrican.

The Commonwealth values enshrined in its charter include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism and world peace.

Read: Is Commonwealth membership still relevant to countries today?

Crown vs sovereignty debate

Critics argue that despite the increasing membership, the club has failed to live up to its values as member countries continue to violate these principles without being held to account partly because it has no binding framework to impose sanctions.

The Commonwealth, which is headed by Queen Elizabeth II, 96, is under pressure as more countries seek sovereignty and break ties with the British monarchy.

In 2020, Barbados became the fourth Caribbean country to replace the Queen as its Head of State, joining Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Dominica who did soon after gaining independence in the 1970s. Eight other former British colonies in the region, however, still pledge allegiance to the Crown.

But, most recently, in March, Jamaica formally expressed its intention to become independent amid protests calling on the monarchy to pay reparations for slavery during a visit to the country by Prince William, second-in-line to the British throne and his wife Kate Middleton.

Now, speculation is rife that Britain is attempting to persuade Jamaica to shelve the plans by endorsing Kamina Johnson Smith, their candidate for the position of Commonwealth Secretary-General.

But Ms Smith’s candidature has also created a rift between members in particular with the Caribbean, which had previously endorsed the current Secretary-General, Baroness Patricia Scotland who has had a controversial and extended tenure.

Read: Scotland retains Commonwealth SG seat in rare contest

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

Chogm in Kigali: Colonies’ triumph over the British empire

Saturday June 25 2022

Delegates at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda. PHOTO | AFP

By Charles Onyango-Obbo

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As the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) closed in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, questions about its relevance, and criticism about it being a colonial relic, were as loud as ever.

It was the 26th biannual Chogm of the Commonwealth’s modern era, and the second held in the East African Community zone, after it met in Kampala, Uganda, in 2007. Chogm was due to take place in June 2020, but was postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Commonwealth has been remade by forces as disruptive as the pandemic, though less dramatic, and the Kigali venue for its 26th meeting is revealing. Rwanda entered the Commonwealth in 2009, the first expansion of the bloc in the 21st century. It came 14 years after Mozambique joined in 1995, the Commonwealth’s last expansion of the 20th century.

In Kigali, Gabon and Togo officially became members of the Commonwealth at the heads of state summit. Diplomats in East Africa have suggested that Burundi is also knocking on the Commonwealth door. It all looks like the wasteful pursuit of a dodo. Perhaps it isn’t.

Mozambique’s and Rwanda’s entrances, like Gabon’s and Togo’s, were unusual — they had never had previous structural or colonial link with the UK. Mozambique had been a Portuguese colony, and fought a bitter war of liberation to win its independence in 1975. Rwanda had been a Belgian colony, and a few years after Independence in 1962, fell firmly under France’s “sphere in influence” in Africa. It is for these reasons that their Commonwealth is telling.

British-French political grudge

Mozambique’s entrance had some of its roots in the global movement against apartheid in South Africa. It also picked up the causes in Mozambique and Angola against Portuguese occupation.

As South African History Online notes: “The reaction of the outside world to the development of apartheid was widespread, and by the 1980s posed a sustained challenge to the South African regime.

“While countries throughout the world took various measures to weaken and topple apartheid, it was the anti-apartheid movements in the United Kingdom (UK), Holland and the United States of America (USA) that mounted the most serious of these challenges to the apartheid state, the UK’s perhaps being the most effective of all such organisations throughout the world.”

These movements, especially in the US and UK, moreover functioned in a context where the governments were the staunchest supporters of apartheid.

In Rwanda’s case, it was the Rwanda Patriotic Front/Army-led war, which started in October 1990, against the Juvenal Habyarimana government of the time, that did it. It ended in victory for the RPF/A, but only after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, in which nearly one million Tutsi, and many Hutu, were slaughtered in one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.

The RPF/A was formed by Ugandan-based Rwandan refugees and exiles, and launched its return-to-the-motherland campaign from there. Several of its rank and file, and mid-level leadership, were also drawn from other Anglophone (and Commonwealth) countries like Tanzania, Kenya, Canada, Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UK diplomatic support for the RPF after it took power was both controversial and decisive in the context in which the new Kigali government had to fight for international legitimacy.

France didn’t help its cause, and its real and perceived dalliance with extremist killer Interahamwe militia and arming of the military left it hobbled with the image of an enabler of the Genocide. With the RPF’s rise to power, the French sphere of influence in Rwanda all but collapsed. Where once French was the official language, now it was English — and Kinyarwanda.

It was a coincidence, of course, yet Rwanda’s accession to the Commonwealth seemed like the settlement of a 220-year-old British grudge against the French. France was a significant and decisive contributor toward the US’s eventual victory against the British crown and independence in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783. France wasn’t done, rubbing it in Britain’s face, by gifting the American people the colossal Statue of Liberty, in New York, commemorating the alliance of France and the US during the American Revolution.

Britain’s loss in America British began to shake the empire, and paying for the war effort led to a sharp rise in national debt. Britain was to survive another century of relative global dominion, but the seeds of the Commonwealth were sown; of British influence through historical ties, “shared values”, and use of the English language was born. It came formally to fruition as the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1926 in the post-World War I period as the anti-colonial movement gathered steam around the world.

Revenge of the colonised

Fast forward to nearly 100 years later, and while parts of it could be anachronistic, the other parts tell a story of a Commonwealth that is a triumph of the colonised against their old colonial master. The Commonwealth is becoming what the empire looks like when the colonies take their revenge — and keep the trophy.

If you sit before a TV station in London these days, the signs are all there. There are a slew of programmes on how the Caribbean, South Asian, and other people from former colonies helped make modern Britain. A disproportionate number of faces in TV advertisements and British popular culture are people of colour.

On both the left and right of British politics, politicians of colour have risen to notable prominence. Among several, there is Chancellor of the Exchequer (minister of Finance) Rishi Sunak, who was touted as a possible successor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Mr Sunak’s parents are emigrants of East African South Asian descent.

His father Yashvir, a doctor, and mother Usha Sunak, a pharmacist, were born in Kenya and Tanzania respectively.

Perhaps the second most controversial UK minister after Mr Johnson, Home Secretary Priti Patel is also of South Asian descent. Born in London, her paternal grandparents were from Gujarat, India, before emigrating to Uganda, and running a convenience store in Kampala. In the 1960s, her parents emigrated to the UK.

Chogm in 2100

So, looking ahead to what this Commonwealth and Chogm will look like in 80 years, or earlier, the UK prime minister who will arrive then for Chogm in some African capital in the next 25 years will not look like Mr Johnson, but Mr Sunak, Ms Patel, or Chuka Harrison Umunna, the former Labour Party Shadow Cabinet member, who was dubbed “Britain's Barack Obama”. He was born to a Nigerian father and English-Irish mother.

One rather optimistic (or bleak) research projected that white Britons will have become a minority by 2051 due to immigration and growth in the population of settled ethnic minorities from the Indian sub-continent and other non-European Union countries. This “tanning” (to borrow the idea from Steve Stoute and Mim Eichler Rivas’s The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy) will affect other large Commonwealth countries, including Canada and Australia.

Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth, but with age and poor health weighing her down, Prince Charles has effectively taken over the role. Prince Charles represented the queen in Kigali, and became the first British royal to visit Rwanda. But even with that, and Prince Harry and his mixed heritage wife Meghan Markle stepping down as senior working royals, the British monarchy, if it survives to end of the century, is unlikely to remain untouched by the great demographic shifts changing the times.

And, contradictorily, the Commonwealth may need to decline, or completely die out as a political force, for it to thrive. Its present quirk, as the only such organisation that has a mini-Olympics in the form of the Commonwealth Games, could well be the reason for its existence in the decades to come. Organising sports, for those who are otherwise denied glory in the Olympics to shine; a steward of English, the universal language of the world, being the source of its relevance.

With Britain a minor power, there will be less nationalist resentment toward the Commonwealth.

In Rwanda, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial to honour victims.

Even just 15 years ago, not even the most fanciful mind would have imagined that the story of the Commonwealth would be touched by the tragedy that was unleashed on the surrounding hills and valleys.

The strangeness of it is that had none of the horrors happened, Chogm wouldn’t have gone there this week, and Prince Charles wouldn’t have been in Kigali.

The author is a journalist, writer, and curator of the “Wall of Great Africans”. Twitter @cobbo3

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

Commonwealth’s rich nations take heat for failing to help small states

Saturday June 25 2022

Heads of state and government at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda. PHOTO | CHOGM

By BERNA NAMATA

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Rich and influential Commonwealth countries — including the UK, Canada and Australia — have been put on the spot for failing to help low-income and small member states in their hour of need at the height of the global pandemic.

They also happen to be members of the elite G7 or G20 in the case of Australia, while on the other end of the spectrum, the Commonwealth has 13 Least Developed Countries and 32 small states.

The Commonwealth is supposed to be an important “collective voice” and a vehicle to potentially provide leverage for global positions but influential and rich members remain lukewarm and pursue national interests, to the detriment of the majority of Club members who happen to be developing countries.

Read: Is Commonwealth membership still relevant to countries today?

Voiceless members

“There is undoubtedly value in a Commonwealth advocacy and consensus-building role. The global stage is a crowded one and voice and influence are at a premium. It is crucial though that Commonwealth voice and advocacy add real value: It must be able to recognise and respond to the differences among members and be used assertively on behalf of the majority of voiceless Commonwealth members in fora such as the Bretton-Woods institutions, the G20 and the G7,” said Ransford Smith, former deputy secretary-general of the Commonwealth.

Ahead of his arrival for the summit in Kigali on Tuesday, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau tweeted, pledging to “work with leaders at the meeting to address the shared crises that many countries are facing like the impact of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and Climate Change, and the rising cost of living.”

But at the Commonwealth Business Forum on the same day whose theme was A Global Reset: Leveraging the Commonwealth for a Global Recovery, a panel of experts pointed out the lack of solidarity in tackling global issues facing the developing world.

There is the need to address the underlying inequality that exists between Commonwealth members as rich countries continue to trade with each other and have done little to support developing countries still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

The conversation on inequality in the Commonwealth was started by President Paul Kagame, the incoming chair of the bloc, who challenged leaders to tackle inequality in his speech.

“We need to keep making sure that when we talk about the Commonwealth, we actually mean the Commonwealth. Not just that being ‘common’ to a few of the many 54 countries.

“This is why I said, it keeps being a work in progress. We keep having to engage one another, finding out what we can do to bring that balance to the extent that everyone in the Commonwealth, the family of nations, feels they are part of it, no one is left behind…” said the president, calling for more efforts to ensure that small, developing nations within the Commonwealth are not left behind.”

A panel raised concerns about the lack of solidarity despite the shared crises.

And, as the coronavirus pandemic recedes, there is concern over a global rise of fuel prices, the cost of living, and food insecurity partly linked to the war in Ukraine. This is in addition to existing challenges of climate change and debt sustainability in the developing world.

Donald Kaberuka, the managing partner, SouthBridge, and a former president of the African Development Bank said the current response to the crises by the international community including within the Commonwealth has been “insufficient” as the global South remains sidelined, citing limited access to Covid-19 vaccines in the developing world.

“We should begin to consider the crisis we are living through as the new normal. There are many more crises to come... and each time the response has been unequal between the global North and South. I’m not blaming the global North, I’m only saying what happened…” Mr Kaberuka said, referencing the support Ukraine has received including the recent $9 billion financial package by the EU, with favourable payment terms of a 10-year grace period, and repayment period of 25 years.

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

Uganda government stops threats, calls for talks to end arts teachers' strike

Tuesday June 28 2022

A teacher briefs pupils of Mpigi UMEA PS on June 21, 2022 after Unatu officials and the school management agreed to close the school in an on-going nationwide teachers' strike. PHOTO | BRIAN A. KESIIME | NMG

By JULIUS BARIGABA

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Just days after threatening to sack all arts teachers involved in the industrial action, the Uganda government has backed down and invited the leaders of the tutors’ union for negotiations to end the ongoing strike that has paralysed learning in public schools for two weeks now.

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union (Unatu) called a discriminatory salary raise.

The government allocated an over 300 percent pay increment for science teachers in the budget for the 2022/23 financial year, which starts in July.

The Ush95 billion ($25.6 million) allocation did not include arts and humanities teachers.

Read: Uganda arts teachers on strike to protest unfair pay raise

Last week, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Public Services, Catherine Bitarakwate, warned the striking teachers that they would be deemed to have resigned and struck off the payroll if they failed to return to class by Thursday, June 30.

But after coming under heavy criticism, Ms Bitarakwate beat a hasty retreat and on Monday invited Unatu officials for talks on July 1.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education PS Alex Kakooza also invited Unatu for a meeting to be chaired by Vice President Jessica Alupo on Wednesday, June 29, to “discuss ways of ending the ongoing strike by the teachers”.

“For us we laid down our issues before them. Our position remains the same. We will go and listen to them since they say they are willing to address these issues,” said Unatu Secretary-General Filbert Baguma.

On June 18, President Museveni called a meeting with the executive council of Unatu, and the ministers of Education and Public Service, during which he told teachers’ leaders to call off the strike and resume work since the government’s priority was on science teachers.

After the meeting, Unatu leaders declined to end the industrial action, prompting a flurry of threats from government officials, who termed the strike illegal.

Read: Museveni: Pay rise only for science teachers, not arts

A primary school teacher currently earns Ush568,000 ($153.4) per month, while a diploma holder and graduate teacher at secondary school take home Ush745,000 ($199.8) and Ush1.1 million ($297.1), respectively.

After the new budget allocation, science teachers will earn Ush3 million ($798) for diploma holders and Ush4 million ($1,078) for graduate teachers.

The teachers’ strike, coming just five months after Uganda reopened schools following a two-year closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has already caused outrage as more than eight million children in public schools miss out on learning.

In the headlines

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

Tuesday June 28 2022

Airbnb website. The rental platform has banned permanently parties in homes listed on its app. PHOTO | FILE

By AFP

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Airbnb has made permanent its pandemic-era prohibition of parties at the properties rented out globally through its app, saying Tuesday the rules have been effective against problematic events.

The rental platform has gradually tightened its policies on parties after complaints and some high-profile trouble, including a 2019 shooting that killed five in California.

Airbnb provisionally barred events in 2020 as a measure against the spread of Covid, but it turned out to also be effective against large or disruptive gatherings.

"Over time, the party ban became much more than a public health measure. It developed into a bedrock community policy," the company said.

In the past, property owners were given the room to use their best judgment on whether to allow parties, but rules tightened to bar "party houses" as well as large events advertised on social media.

After the pandemic hit, bringing the closure of many nightlife venues, people in some cases turned to hosting events at places rented through Airbnb, which in turn became a problem.

But Airbnb argued the tighter rules have been effective in reducing the rate of rowdiness complaints it has received. The company announced seeing a 44 percent year-after-year drop in the rate of party reports since implementing the policy.

Under the new policy Airbnb will also lift its 16-person cap at rental properties, a rule enacted against Covid but which will now take into account that certain larger or outdoor sites are OK for bigger groups.

The company said people breaking the rules face consequences from account suspension to full removal from the platform, adding that in 2021, over 6,600 guests were suspended over the party ban.

In May 2022, the company reported revenue was up 70 percent from the previous year bringing in $1.5 billion in the first quarter of 2022. The company also projected revenue to be above market estimates for the second quarter of the year, expecting to bring in between $2.03 billion and $2.13 billion.

- Additional reporting by Reuters

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

Clean lungs, decongested streets, and goodies from Ukraine invasion

Tuesday June 28 2022

Have our engineers ever checked, for example, whether gravitational force cannot run trams on cables connecting places in this city which is a series of hills and valleys? ILLUSTRATION | JOHN NYAGAH | NMG

By JOACHIM BUWEMBO

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There is an old saying in Uganda about the beauty of a storm that fells a huge tree that you have been trying to figure out how to cut.

The tree has not only been an obstacle to your plans but it was also harbouring nasty pests including monkeys that destroy your crops. But every time you looked at your small axe, you estimated it would take you months to cut the damn tree down. Then one morning you wake up when the night storm brought the tree down without damaging anything, leaving you with a couple of years’ supply of firewood.

The Ukraine crisis looks like it is going to be the storm that will solve Kampala’s sickening traffic jam. Literally sickening, for the dirty vehicular exhausts that enter the lungs like the coronavirus are believed by public health experts to be behind 20 times more deaths in Uganda in a year than Covid-19 caused in two years.

Anyway, since the Ukraine affair started some four months back, the fuel pump price has almost doubled, now at Ush6,000 ($1.6) a litre. And for the first time since the oldest Ugandan (wo)man can remember, diesel costs more than petrol.

And thanks to the Ukraine storm, there are signs, still weak but apparently promising, that the jammed streets of Kampala are easing up. Yes, you heard me right, there is a slight but steady decline in the jamming of our roads as the price of fuel rises. And we are told it is because of Ukraine.

Mind you there are some roadworks going on in the city with several lanes blocked, which should have made the remaining lanes further congested. But believe you me, the madding jam is easing. If it isn’t due to the rising fuel prices, then maybe some supernatural power is telling Ugandans to drive cars less and walk more, or stay in one place.

There is also the possibility that since the Covid-induced lockdown, many of the people who learnt to work from home using digital tools generally called Zoom even if it is Google- or Microsoft-based, have continued staying home and no longer drive in the rush hour.

Finally, now there is a glimmer of hope. The merciful gods have sent the fuel prices rising and the congestion that had proved beyond our planners’ intellectual capacity to remove is being sorted out by fate.

It could have been the divine inspiration that stopped us from the invasion of Ukraine. Now as the invasion donates to us the high, unprecedented fuel prices, there is a real hope that our respiratory health is set to be restored. In effect, the skyrocketing fuel prices are imposing a second lockdown on the economy.

But even if we get clean lungs, being social animals, we shall still have to move when the fuel price hits Ush10,000 ($2.7) a litre. Since we have wonderful climate and soils, maybe we shall produce hay and rear horses to ride around Kampala. We can get more rational and reduce the school days from five to three per week, and then promote home learning exercises.

Inevitably, we might start using alternative means of powering our movement around dusty but soon-to-be-smokeless Kampala.

If we start thinking outside the box and stop borrowing to pay others to think for us, we shall start seeing the possibilities.

Have our engineers ever checked, for example, whether gravitational force cannot run trams on cables connecting places in this city which is a series of hills and valleys?

Have they established by what ration the downward trams should outweigh the upward one for movement with such pulleys?

Ancient Egyptians used the shadoof to deliver irrigation water over a distance. Can we transport people across the city using the electricity which we generate but half of which we do not consume even as we keep paying the loans that were used to install the generation capacity?

Answers will come more easily when the fuel prices reach Ush10,000 a litre.

Joachim Buwembo is a Kampala-based journalist. E-mail:[email protected]

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

AfDB to set up pharmaceutical hub in Rwanda

Tuesday June 28 2022

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank Group, speaks at the AfDB's annual meeting in Accra, Ghana, on May 23, 2022. PHOTO | AFP

By VINCENT OWINO

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Rwanda will host the new African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, a venture by the African Development Bank (AfDB) that is expected to boost the continent’s access to technology in manufacturing medicines and vaccines.

AfDB said the foundation is crucial to help African pharmaceutical companies better scout for technologies and negotiate with global pharma to facilitate local production of the fundamental health products that take up to $14 billion of Africa’s income annually.

Read: Rwanda breaks ground on first mRNA vaccine plant in Africa

AfDB President Dr Akinwumi Adesina said the project includes “revamping Africa’s pharmaceutical industry, building Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacity, and building Africa’s quality healthcare infrastructure.”

The continent is currently home to about 375 pharmaceutical firms, which produce less than 25 percent of the needed products annually, forcing the countries to import vastly to meet demand.

AfDB says the foundation will now support the “direct implementation of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) on non-exclusive or exclusive licensing of proprietary technologies, know-how and processes,” which should boost the pharma’s production capacity.

Read: Covid vaccines patent deal below expectation

“Even with the decision of the Trips waiver at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), millions are dying -and will most likely continue to die - from lack of vaccines and effective protection,” Dr Adesina said.

According to WTO Director-General Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the undertaking “provides part of the infrastructure needed to assure an emergent pharmaceutical industry in Africa.”

Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation, said the foundation is “a game-changer on accelerating the access of African pharmaceutical companies to IP-protected technologies and know-how in Africa.”

Also read: Big pharma tried to scuttle Africa bid to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines locally

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

African Union sends polls observers to Kenya

Tuesday June 28 2022

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission officials led by chairman Wafula Chebukati (seated second right) and Kenyan editors during a recent briefing in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE

By Onyango K’onyango

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The African Union (AU) has deployed observers to monitor the August 9 General Election in Kenya.

“Following an invitation from the Government of the Republic of Kenya to the African Union to observe the forthcoming General Election scheduled for August 9, 2022, the African Union Commission is deploying an international election expert mission to Kenya comprising eight teams’ experts,” said a statement dated June 27.

The teams are supposed to assess Kenya's election preparations, political dynamics and fairness of the electoral campaigns.

“The core team will follow up on the electoral preparations, assess the political dynamics and genuine competitiveness and fairness of the electoral campaign, and maintain regular contact with national and international stakeholders before, during and after the elections,” the AU said.

The AU will also send another team of observers a few weeks to the polls, and later another lot of short-term observers a week before election day.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the East African Community earlier in May sent a joint high-level pre-election assessment mission to ensure violence-free, fair and credible elections that will strengthen Kenya’s democratic process.

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

Crypto market meltdown rattles 12 million East African investors

Tuesday June 28 2022

Cryptocurrency-based crimes hit a record high in 2021, with illicit transactions rising 79.4 percent to $14 billion, from $7.8 billion in 2020. PHOTO | FILE

By VINCENT OWINO

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A painful financial journey has ensued for at least 12 million East Africans who are now counting, in billions of dollars, losses both from the cryptocurrency market crash and a series of related Ponzi ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes that have unfolded in the wake of the crisis.

As extreme market conditions force legitimate crypto-exchanges to close shop with many laying off employees, reports of some crypto-investment schemes disappearing with investors’ funds have started to surface. This raises questions about the future of unconventional assets.

Bitcoin, the world’s oldest and largest cryptocurrency, worth $67,566 in November last year, has shed at least 70 percent of its value, and is now struggling to stay above the $20,000 benchmark.

Fraudulent schemes

In general, total global market value for all crypto assets has fallen to about $890 billion from $2.8 trillion last November, which has plunged several East Africans holding cryptocurrencies into financial turmoil.

Also, there are growing cases of fraudulent schemes around cryptocurrency investments, which, according to American consumer protection agency Federal Trade Commission, led some 26,000 people to lose over $1 billion since 2021 in the US alone.

Just two weeks ago, some cryptocurrency founders disappeared after defrauding Kenyan would-be investors of at least $8.5 million, barely six months after it surfaced on the internet, and this week, four young men were brutally murdered over alleged crypto-scamming.

Read: Crypto market meltdown linked to sell-offs triggered by inflation

In Uganda, over 5,000 victims of a crypto pyramid scheme recently lodged a petition demanding that the government should refund them about $2.7 million they lost to a firm allegedly licensed by the state.

Kenyan blockchain expert Prof Bitange Ndemo told The EastAfrican that this season marks the beginning of the waning success of Ponzi schemes clothed in crypto assets investment garb as people have started to learn their anatomy and will avoid them.

Read: 4 million Kenyans suffer crypto crash losses

Hope springs eternal

Prof Ndemo, who is a former Principal Secretary at the ICT Ministry and chairperson of the Taskforce on Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence, said many people are gullible to crypto-scamming because of lack of knowledge, coupled with a parlous appetite for fast income.

“By now, many have learnt to be wary of any schemes that promise guaranteed huge returns,” Prof Ndemo said.

“Any scamming, thrives on lack of knowledge. The more people learn about emerging blockchain technology, the less these pyramid schemes will exist,” said George Mwakisha, East Africa’s country representative for Binance, a global crypto exchange.

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

Uganda U-turn on car imports upsets Kenya vehicle dealers

Tuesday June 28 2022

Imported second-hand vehicles. EAC ministers adopted new car importation and valuation rules aimed at curtailing dumping of used cars into the East African frontier. PHOTO | FILE

By OTIATO GUGUYU

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Uganda has made an about-turn and relaxed the tough import conditions it has set for vehicles aged over nine years entering its market from July, dealing a setback to Kenyan dealers who had hoped to benefit from curbs on the sale of such automobiles.

The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) had in April issued a directive that imports of vehicles older than nine years be cleared under the East Africa Community’s Single Customs Territory (SCT)-- which allows members of the bloc to jointly collect customs taxes-- from July 1, 2022.

“Pursuant to section 64 (k) of the East African Customs Management Regulations 2010, the Uganda Revenue Authority wishes to inform the general public that effective July 1, 2022 motor vehicles of nine years old or more from the date of manufacture shall no longer be cleared under the warehousing regime,” URA said in a notice in April.

“The customs clearance of such motor vehicles shall be facilitated under the Single Customs Territory arrangement where taxes will be paid upon arrival at the port of entry into the East African Community,” the Ugandan taxman added.

This had raised hope of improved fortunes for Kenyan dealerships long inconvenienced by smuggled units from the neighbouring country.

Read: EAC locks out duty-free car imports from SA

But in a twist that dims the hope of car dealers in Kenya, URA backtracked on its earlier directive saying the rule will now apply to vehicles aged more than 13 years.

“The general public is hereby informed that effective July 1, 2022, motor vehicles that are 13 years and above from the date of manufacture shall no longer be cleared under the warehousing system,” URA said in a June 2022 notice seen by Smart Business.

“The public notice shall apply to motor vehicles categorized under part(b) of the fourth schedule of the Traffic and Road Safety Act, 1998 (Amendment) Act (TRSA) in accordance with Section 14B of the TRSA. Consequently, motor vehicles that are nine to twelve years old shall be warehoused for a period not exceeding six months in accordance with Section 57 of the East Africa Community Customs Management Act,2004” it added.

The latest directive hands Uganda dealers a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market— effectively distorting business.

“The earlier directive by URA had given us some hope of progressively ending the smuggling menace, especially of models such as Toyota Spacio, Toyota Wish, Toyota Premio, and Toyota Alphard. The new directive kills our hope,” Phillip Mulei, a motor vehicle dealer in Nairobi told Smart Business.

Currently, importers of vehicles destined for the Uganda market are allowed to store their units in holding units approved by tax authorities—commonly referred to as bonded warehouses-- pending payment of customs duties.

This has been popular with many Ugandan importers because it eases liquidity pressure on them and encourages them to import more units some of which are later dumped in the more lucrative Kenyan market by crafty dealers.

Read: Uganda tightens rules for used-car importation

Most of the used cars sourced from Uganda, though cheaper, are much older than those in the Kenyan used vehicles market because Kampala had not put an age limit on imported second-hand automobiles.

This implies that one can ship in a much older car through Uganda, declare low custom value and pay much lower taxes compared to direct importation into Kenya where the maximum age limit on used cars has been set at eight years—meaning that the car market in Kenya has newer and pricier vehicles.

Under the SCT system, however, conditions will be tougher for Ugandan importers. In this regional scheme, importers in each of the EAC partner States are required to lodge import declaration forms in their respective home countries and pay relevant taxes upfront to facilitate the export process.

Respective revenue agencies would then issue a road manifest against the import documents submitted electronically by tax officials of the importing country to allow cross-border movement.

This is expected to have an impact on the cash flow of many auto dealers in Uganda, and discourage them from importing large numbers of the cheaper, older, and low-quality vehicles which are popular with buyers in the black market, especially in western Kenya.

In Kenya, only new vehicles are kept in bonded warehouses while second-hand vehicles have to pay duty within 21 days or start attracting extra charges.

Kenya is also the only East African country with strict age limits on car imports making vehicles in the country expensive and lucrative for the black market trade of selling cars meant for export locally.

EAC member-states have failed to enforce proposals to lower the age limit for imported used cars to five years by 2021.

Uganda’s reversed import directive had been seen as a measure to bring the country’s car age limit closer to the EAC resolution that had recommended the slashing of the age limit for imported cars to five years by 2021.

It was only in 2018 that Uganda passed a law limiting the importation of vehicles manufactured more than 15 years ago.

Kenya has been pushing regional countries towards adopting the EAC recommendation and has already announced plans to limit the age of used vehicles with engine capacity above 1500cc imported to five instead of the current eight years.

Tanzania allows imports of cars as old as 10 years while Burundi, Rwanda, and South Sudan, on the other hand, have no formal age limits for used cars. The different set of age limits within the region has fuelled tax and regulatory arbitrage to ship in cheaper and older cars.

Many Kenyans are reportedly involved in a tax and regulatory arbitrage to ship in cheaper and older cars.

Recent raises in car import duties have made the Kenyan black market attractive for dealers in the region.

Car traders in Kenya are currently caught in a legal fight with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) which had in July 2020, published a new Current Retail Selling Price (CRSP) -- a database of prices of new vehicles in the country that forms the basis of taxing second-hand units after taking into account depreciation.

Car Importers Association of Kenya, which represents 80 dealers of used vehicles, moved to court and got orders suspending the implementation of the new catalogue.

The dealers argue that the new CRSP is inflated and has the potential to increase the final prices of some car models by hundreds of thousands of shillings.

This story was first published by Nation.Africa.

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

7-man team to hold peace talks with Tigray

Addis names team for Nairobi peace talks with Tigray leaders

Tuesday June 28 2022

Demeke Mekonnen, Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. PHOTO | FILE

Summary

Deputy Premier Demeke to lead government side
Rebels say they are ready for Nairobi meetings
President Kenyatta expected to lead the talks

By TESFA-ALEM TEKLE

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The Ethiopian government has named seven negotiators for peace with Tigray rebels.

The team was announced on June 27 after the Central and Executive committees of the ruling Prosperity Party held meetings on the crisis in the northern part of the country.

State-run Ethiopian Press Agency said the team would be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen. The other members are Minister of Justice Gedion Timothewos, Director General of the National Intelligence and Security Service Temesgen Tiruneh, Ambassador Redwan Hussine, security adviser of the Prime Minister Lt-Gen Berhanu Bekele, Ambassador Hassan Abdulkadir and Dr Getachew Jember.

Dr Gedion said the party will pursue peace" in a manner that respects the constitution and national interest," facilitated by the African Union.

There was no any immediate comment from Tigray leaders over the announcement.

Read: Hope as Addis, Tigray opt for dialogue in Nairobi

During a parliamentary session on June 14, Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed announced that his government had set up a team to negotiate with the Tigray rebels in a bid to end the 18-month-old bloody conflict in the north.

In response, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) said it was ready for a “credible, impartial and principled peace process that engages with the parties in a serious, inclusive and considered manner."

Tigray regional President and TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said they would dispatch a high-level delegation to the talks to be convened and hosted by the government of Kenya.

Since conflict erupted in Tigray in November 2020, it has claimed the lives of thousands of people and resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis, subjecting to 90 percent of Tigrayans to famine-like conditions.

Mr Debretsion, in an open letter to regional and international peace partners recently, said: "The Government and People of Kenya have demonstrated, over the years, their impartiality, honesty and solidarity towards Ethiopia, and their commitment to the norms and principles of the African Union. On this basis we hold firm to the existing agreement among the parties to meet in Nairobi for negotiations hosted and facilitated by the President of Kenya."

The agreement by the warring sides to hold direct talks has opened a window of hope for an end to the civil war.

Read: Ethiopia wants end to war: official

But contentious issues like the disputed land in West Tigray and whether the Tigray Defence Force remains armed could stand in the way of a quick resolution.

Tigrayan leaders have stressed that any lasting resolution must be predicated on the reestablishment of the pre-war status quo.

"The status of Western Tigray is not up for negotiation," TPLF said recently. "Western Tigray remains a non-negotiable. Any suggestion that our position has changed has no merit. The Government of Tigray remains committed to liberating it, peacefully or otherwise."

TPLF has also demanded a referendum and refused to disarm.

In the headlines

Teachers strike: Uganda stops threats, calls for talks

More than 100,000 arts teachers downed their tools on June 15 over what the Uganda National Teachers Union called a discriminatory salary raise.

Uganda U-turn jerks Kenya car market

The latest directive hands traders in Uganda a window to import old cars that often end up in the Kenyan market.

Party's over: Airbnb bans events permanently

AU election observers in Kenya

AfDB to set up pharma hub in Rwanda

Kenya flags off first cohort of nurses to UK

Ethiopia denies Sudan claims of execution of soldiers, civilian

Tuesday June 28 2022

Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Demeke Mekonnen. FILE PHOTO | REUTERS

By TESFA-ALEM TEKLE

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Ethiopia says it regrets the loss of life near its border with Sudan but denied claims that its soldiers were involved, blaming a local militia instead.

The government on Monday said the deadly incident followed skirmishes between Sudanese soldiers and a local militia on Ethiopian territory.

Sudan had accused the Ethiopian army of capturing seven of its soldiers and a civilian and later executing them.

Read: Sudan accuses Ethiopia of killing 7 soldiers, civilian

But Ethiopia claims a Sudanese unit, supported by Tigray rebels, had staged an incursion into its territory, resulting in the skirmishes.

Farmers and pastoralists often clash in the fertile porous border region of al-Fashqa, claimed by the two neighbouring countries.

Addis Ababa said Sudan misrepresented the facts and “unjustly put the blame on Ethiopia,” the Foreign Affairs ministry said in a statement it issued Monday afternoon.

Ethiopia says it will investigate the incident.

Khartoum is reported to have filed a formal complaint with the UN Security Council.

Sudan’s military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visited the area and said its “response would be felt on the ground” and that “no new movements or trespasses into Sudanese land would be allowed.”

Ethiopia said it “hopes that the Sudanese Government would restrain itself from any escalation of the incident and would take measures that could de-escalate the situation.”