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Uhuru Kenyata will win in round one by simply wining huge in Central and Rift valley. So the ICC wants to indict UK and Mr Muthaura on tainted evidence.

Feb 15, 13 10:22 PM

kenyaFolks:

The five bench High Court has dismissed the kiwani case against UhuRuto . The Five bench court ruled :”The presumption of innocence serves not only to protect the rights of the accused but to maintain public confidence in courts,”.

It added “We cannot exercise the rights of citizens to choose leaders of their choice,” the judges said”. Well said. It was unnecessary burden on the 5 justices.
Well you never know but the judges acquitted themselves well. Justice Nyamweya’s father was minister in the Kenyatta regime. I am not saying that swayed her reasoning but these are establishment figures. Funny thing I knew two of the judges, then law students at the Kenya school of law where I occasionally hang out visiting a Ugandan who taught there.

The Kenyan judiciary has now attracted competent lawyers many of whom from private practice. For example Mrs. Murgor wife of lawyer Murgor the former DPP and daughter of the late AG Justice Muli is now a judge of the court of appeal. Other prominent lawyers on court of apppeal include Professor Otieno Odyek-classmate of current AG at Nairobi law school where they finished, 2, 1 in that order.

Then the brainy Mr. Kathurima Inoti who is the immediate former chairperson of the Kenya law reform commission, and before that a senior partner at Kamau Kuria and Kiraitu Murungi advocates.

Actually the Court of appeal has more brain power than the Supreme Court. Right now they are embroiled in a fight with the CJ whom they accuse of trying to influence the election of the President of the Court of appeal from among the judges. Notice that senior lawyers and former chairperson of LSK were appointed to the Court of appeal and not High Court.

Other notables on the High Court include Justice Maureen Odero, daughter of the late Mr. Tom Mboya, and Justice Kihara Kariuki-now of Court of appeal-nephew of the late powerful minister Mbiyu Koinange.

Ms Racychele Omamo daughter of the late Minister Odongo Omamo is among the 5 women lawyers shortlisted for the post of Deputy CJ to replace Ms. Nancy Barasa

I bring these up to show you that it is mostly the children of the elite eating. That is path dependency for you.
The Kenyan court knew that it was not its territory. They did not want to take blame let alone cause any tensions. I bet you the security was tight.
BTW, they also know that the evidence against UK is tainted. Did you read what the president of the ICC said? That the Kenyan cases are proving hard to prosecute. Why? He did not say but here is why. The key witness the ICC relied on to indict UK and Muthaura turned out to have lied. You know better. If your KEY witness lies the noble thing to do is to withdraw charges. Is that not the standard?
A prosecutor cannot and should not use tainted evidence or evidence she or he knows to be tainted. Have you heard of the project run out of Cardoso law school in NYC by Barry Scheck one of OJ’s Simpson’s lawyers? It is dedicated towards fighting tainted evidence. Mark you EVEN DNA can be tainted to show or convict when in many cases there was no match. If you doubt my claim visit any federal prison in America to see who many Blacks are in jail on trumped charges. You know what I am talking about to be true.
How many black folks are rotting in USA jails due to tainted evidence? You know that many. Some are on death row like Mumia because of the same.
To refresh your memory the witness in question told the ICC that he attended the meeting where UK(Uhuru Kenyata) and Mr. Muthauraa met Mungiki supporters at a Nairobi Hotel. The ICC believed him and went on to base their indictment on his lies. Now they have discovered it and no longer wish to present that witness. In law when the key evidence is tainted, the case generally collapses.

So the ICC wants to indict UK and Mr Muthaura on tainted evidence. On LIES? Yes LIES?
For me who is against the ICC, I welcome such self-inflicted wounds. Sooner or later African peoples will wake up and exercise their sovereignty and undo those ICC agreements. The ICC is a CREATION of the former Imperial powers to continue dominating African peoples. That may be acceptable to you but not me. Hell No.

QN: do you think the EU and western warnings are achieving their intended purpose of scaring the Wanjikus against Jubilee’s UhuRUto?
From what I have heard and been told, the warnings have managed to do the exact opposite? Emboldened the Wanjikus to give the wabeberu the finger. They are ready to vote and be damned. Ndiyo.
Hon Karua and MM wanted UhuRuto out for obvious reasons. I liked Mr Muite’s take on the whole ICC thing. He basically called out the ICC for selective persecution.

Let us be honest, the West and puppets of the West are scared to hell that UK will win. That is their problem. Let Wanjiku do her part and hopefully the West can respect, I repeat respect the verdict by the Wanjikus. Is that asking too much?

Civil societies have tried to abuse the court process. They have lost and will lose big on March 4.
Bear in mind that they duped wabeberu to give them more money. Yes civil society in Africa is involved in what Cameroonian scholar Mbembe calls extraversion. Accountability is to wabeberu and not the Wanjikus.

There are no more pretences from President Kibaki. He has gone to Othaya twice to present Mr. Mugambi to the voters. Yesterday he actually endorsed him at Othaya Boys School where Wambui was locked dout of the gates. She was dressed in valentine colors but there was no love. She left with her convoy. I think Wambui erred in taking on the first family so directly with the likes of Shebesh.
It is true that RAO/Cord may be leading in more states, but think again. Is it not true that the Republican loser carried more states than the democratic winner in the USA? In Kenya some of those provinces are the equivalent of Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, etc.

What is the equivalent of California, Florida or Texas in Kenya? What I am demonstrating is that Jubilee will win handily even though RAO may win more provinces. I invite readers to ponder this. How many parliamentary seats are in Meru and Embu combined? Then figure out how many seats they are in Coast and North Eastern.

I believe Jubilee will carry Nairobi –the equivalent of Ohio-contrary to what those polls show. So I am putting it to you that Jubilee will win 50 plus one in round one by win overwhelmingly in Rift valley, Central and upper Eastern in Meru and Embu. They will top up with more than 25 percent of the votes in Kisii, North Eastern and Coast.

Actually RAO/Cord has no equivalent of Central or Rift valley where Jubilee will win big and I mean huge. CORD will carry Nyanza but not with huge margins as Jubilee will do in Central and Rift valley. Cord could also carry Eastern but barely.

And let us suppose that CORD wins 60 percent of the vote in Coast and 60 percent in north Eastern. It will still be short of anything close to Jubilee. Ok, think about it, what is larger in numbers: 80 percent of 200, 000 or 60 percent of 500, 000? I bring this example to caution people about percentages?

BTW, I am not arguing for the sake of it. A political commentator by the name of Mutahi Ngunyi has courted controversy with his thesis of the “tyranny of numbers”.

So here is the truth. UK will win in round one by simply wining huge in Central and Rift valley. He will top up with votes in Nairobi, Upper Eastern, Coast and North Eastern. The province Jubilee will be shut out is Western. And my friend who is there told me Amani is doing much better than is being given credit for.

QN: why or what makes some people think that the Luhyas are the only group in Kenya to defy tribal voting? Hint: AFC vs Gor Mahia games are hotly contested to the point where violence is the norm and not the exception. There are very few Luhya players who play for Gor Mahia and vice Versa. Football is divided but not politics. Listen, no great Luhya player opts for Gor Mahia over Ingwe; similarly, no great Luo player opts for Ingwe over Gor Biro. So what makes you think otherwise when it comes to politics?

On March 4, Amani will win most of the votes in Kakamega and Bungoma and substantial votes in Busia. You and others are hoping that the Luhyas will defy tribal voting. Wapi.
Let me share with you a story from a Kenyan Bukusu friend who left to go and run for a seat in Bungoma. He wanted to be Governor. I remember telling him that it is not possible for someone to live that long in the West and go home and expect to win. He thought otherwise.

He wrote me an email yesterday that things are not going well for CORD in Bungoma. I am sure you may have heard that the CORD/ODM candidate for Governor threatened to quit claiming that CORD/ODM was not helping him out.

According to my friend who is associated with the Wetangula Ford Kenya, Bungoma is a hard sale for CORD because it is pro Wamalwa/AMANI. Bottom line AMANI is doing much better than is being reported or captured in those so called polls.

So the chap is there campaigning to become an MP fully aware that he has a job waiting for him back here. He told me he took a 6 month leave.

I am actually confident that Jubilee will win 50 plus one on the first ballot. There is rebellion in Kitui where Mrs Ngilu is now poised to do well.

Jubilee is mobilizing its members to turn up in large numbers and end the election in round one proper for the same reason you allude too. Mrs. Karua has not votes to deliver.

Next week Jubilee will go to Luo Nyanza proper, not to win votes but to show that it is ready for the entire country.

Western warning and interference was a God send to Jubilee. They made a blunder to assume that Wanjikus will or still revere wabeberu. Kenya is not like Mali or for that matter any Francophone country.

So let the campaigns go on. The court has spoken clearly, although these behind the groups trying to abuse the court process will pour in more money to try and appeal.

To those of you in Africa if you want to eat money, play wabeberu kabisa. Be with them. Generally they are dupable.

WBK

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A trivia question comes to mind as Besigye starts playing the ICC politics

Feb 3, 13 5:05 PM

ttA trivia question comes to mind as Besigye starts playing the ICC politics. What did Saddam use for Kurdish Genocide? Chanel #5 or WMD? The answer is, let me give you a hint…..Saddam Hussein carried out mass killings on the scale of Holocaust which took the lives of more than 2,150,000 mostly women, children, and elders as most of these areas were only inhabited by civilians. He destroyed 4,000 villages. Halabja and the surrounding cities were bombarded with chemical agents such as: mustard gas; nerve agents sarin, tabun, and VX as well as blood agent hydrogen cyanide; or more commonly known as Weapons of Mass Destruction. But what did the west do then when he was still their friend as Museveni is?tt2

We are not stupid? We know Saddam used “a” Chemical weapon against Kurds supplied by the WEST – Bush and Blair his lapdog – Gave out lies about massive hoards of WMD that would threaten WEST and their allies Saudis. Evidence was manufactured including Plagiarizing thesis of an Iraqi – Phd – Lies and lies – Because they wanted to take over control of Oil fields – BUSH, BLAIR and Saddam Hussain Should have been hauled over to ICC. But it did not happen and the west found a way to kill Saddam before he presents any evidence of anything to the international courts.tt3

If you are going to have Bush face charges, please also include the entire US Congress and United Nation for the unanimous(almost) vote as an accomplice. Saddam Hussein repeatedly violated sixteen United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) designed to ensure that Iraq did not pose a threat to international peace and security. In addition to these repeated violations, he had tried to circumvent UN economic sanctions against Iraq. These are reflected in a number of other resolutions. As noted in the resolutions, Saddam Hussein was required to fulfill numerous obligations beyond the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.tt5

Specifically, Saddam Hussein was required to, among other things: allow international weapons inspectors to oversee the destruction of his weapons of mass destruction; not develop new weapons of mass destruction; destroy all of his ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 kilometers; stop support for terrorism and prevent terrorist organizations from operating within Iraq; help account for missing Kuwaitis and other individuals; return stolen Kuwaiti property and bear financial liability for damage from the Gulf War; and he was required to end his repression of the Iraqi people. Does this remind you of someone named Assad.
Assad has repeatedly violated each of the following resolutions. ….UNSCR 6686, 687, 688, 707, 715, 949, 1051, 1060, 1115, 1137, 1154, 1194, 1205, and 1284.tt6

The other trivia question is, if you own a gun, does it give you a right to shoot and kill innocent people? Does it not matter who the supplier is……………..? Do you only charge the shooter and leave out the supplier? Why can’t Ugandans sue Russia, China and other countries that supply these deadly weapons to M7 to use them to kill others?

ICC is funded by European Governments – Its primary aim is to serve the interest of its founders and funder’s – Western Countries. It has failed to haul Bush, Blair, Saddam Hussain, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Assad ( so far 60,000 dead). In case of Saddam – politically it would not have been expedient as dirty deals of Western countries with him would have been laid bare. Check out the article below:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/kenya/9373188/The-International-Criminal-Court-is-hurting-Africa.html

ICC will cause considerable damage in Kenya – Uhuru has the Kikuyu vote and now purportedly Klengin vote via Ruto. Both have to appear before ICC – If he wins and refuses to attend( so he should) then these western nations will impose sanctions and hurt the common man.tt7

tt8

As the Telegraph article shows, Britain is meddling in the politics of Kenya through the witness protection program of the ICC and what’s more they are supporting the wrong man – Raila Odinga instead of Uhuru who is very popular in Kenya and will act as conciliatory figure in a country where conciliation is much needed. The irony of all this is that Raila had recommended Uhuru to succeed him during the days of the Orange alliance and Kanu politics. ICC will cause immense damage in Kenya. ICC is a political court. Uhuru is immensely popular in Kenya. He has the majority vote in Kenya.

H.O

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EASTERN DRC AND SOUTH SUDAN: OPPPOSITE BUT SIMILARLY JUSTIFIABL​E SITUATIONS

Dec 24, 12 5:43 AM

In her retort to mine regarding the DRC Crisis, Virginie Kandolo rightly argues that Eastern DRC and the Congo Crisis in general is different from the case of South Sudan, The East African Dec 22-28, 2012. True. South Sudan was a case of oppressive, dictatorial government, thus the struggle for self-determination. Granted. The DRC case, is the extreme opposite: lack of government, or at best, an absentee government, thus the anarchy. Both situations are not tenable. Kinshasa has proved it is incapable of effectively governing Kivu.

This makes the Kivu people, who vehemently stick to being Congolese despite their language, vulnerable to foreign vultures, thanks to their resources. These people need to live a dignified life, as citizens. The 1998 chaos in Lubumbashi and Kinshasa against perceived ‘Banyarwanda’ has great lessons for Ms Kandolo, which she ignores. I have met victims of this, who still insist they are Congolese: twebwe tur’Abakongomani, ntagbo tur’ Abanyarwanda… ( we are Congolese, not Rwandese), spiced with their favorite jargons of being Lushois ( from Lubumbashi) or Kinois( from Kinshasa).

One strange fact about the DRC Crisis is that virtually all Congolese in the Diaspora( western capitals or working with international bodies), have narrowed the whole thing to Rwanda, nay, Batutsi. Listen to any of them, or read their writings as is the case with Ms Kandolo in this article, or those I have watched on Shaka Ssali’s Straight Talk Africa, on Voice of America. No one wants to face the bitter realities of the country’s colonial history, and intricate foreign interests that have refused to go away. No one talks of why UN SG Dag Hammarskjold had to die the way he did. No one talks of Lumumba’s fate, that parallels well with that of Rwagasore in Burundi across the Rusizi; the rise of resistance in form of the Maji Maji or Kimbangu and his religion, Kimbanguism.

From whichever East African country Ms Kandolo is writing, she needs to reflect on these realities and their link to the present DRC Crisis. Playing the ostrich will not take the truth away. As stakeholders in the region, we need to face the reality, forget the wild ‘reports’ of armchair ‘experts’, who are essentially paid by the wealth looters to escalate the crisis and divert attention from the truth in the Kivus. The people of eastern DRC are no bigger sinners than the rest of humanity, to lead a wretched life. Just as South Sudan suffered because it was pegged to a different polity to create Sudan by the British and their Egyptian agents, the various nationalities in DRC were patched together by a greedy Belgian monarch, and their plight was not eased even after the territory ceased to be his private property. Independence and its aftermath were even a worse farce!!

Whereas I appreciate Ms Kandolo’s sentiments, she loses it all when she falls into the standard Western trap of diverting all matters DRC to Batutsi in Rwanda and Burundi. This is very petty and wont solve anything. Being Congolese, she must be privy to the truth. Unless she is blinded by the trappings of the ‘diaspora’ that leads to such narrow analysis and repetition of ‘expert’ reports on the Great Lakes

Sandra Birungi
Kampala

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Uganda is virtually a militarized and tutsified nation and is likely to remain so for a long time

Dec 13, 12 8:11 AM

MUNTUUganda is virtually a militarized and tutsified nation and is likely to remain so for a long time unless we act quickly. Any Uganda patriot must be concerned about what is happening to the Pearl of Africa. Uganda was designed to be a country by, for and of Ugandans and participate in the development of the world. Because Ugandans are afraid of the military and of being branded genocidaire if they complain about what Tutsi are doing to our country, they are unable to express their discomfort and discuss a way out. But some voices of dissent are beginning to be heard and are getting louder for all to hear. If Museveni is trying to find a place for his people we also have a right to stop him from doing it at the expense of the people of Uganda. And we shouldn’t feel guilty about it provided it is done peacefully and transparently.

Museveni and his Batutsi kith and kin resolved to establish hegemony over Uganda by militarizing all aspects of Uganda society since they couldn’t do so democratically because of demographic handicap. So under Museveni leadership, Batutsi are methodically, silently and incrementally penetrating all aspects in Uganda but are being betrayed by a poor record of performance, rampant corruption, sectarianism, cronyism and above all an outstanding different lifestyle – they have become the richest kids on the block and are acquiring assets especially land at breakneck speed. Consequently, Uganda and the majority of Ugandans is in bad shape economically, socially and environmentally, raising questions about where Uganda will end up under military and tutsified leadership that is spreading tentacles in all directions particularly in the Great Lakes region where they plan to create a Tutsi Empire with some tacit external support. But first, let us understand how the military got into Uganda politics.

Uganda got independence in 1962 under conditions that were not conducive to political sustainability. The political parties were young especially UPC and KY and leaders unknown and inexperienced. Britain was in a hurry to hand over power because of the political volatility in surrounding countries of Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan and the refugees and cattle that were crossing into Uganda in large numbers with possibility of epidemics. Uganda politicians were more concerned about who gets power first than laying a strong foundation for independent Uganda. The leaders that eventually emerged were relatively new to the political scene. Experienced politicians like Ignatius Musazi, William Rwetsiba and Ben Kiwanuka were replaced or marginalized by relatively inexperienced leaders like Milton Obote and Grace Ibingira with conflicting ideologies and social backgrounds. They chose to sweep under the carpet delicate issues like head of state, lost counties, regional integration and Amin criminal record that would have delayed independence. Because of a split among those in favor of a unitary or federal system of government Uganda came to independence not as a monarchy or republic but as the “Sovereign State of Uganda” with the Queen as head of state.

Because Obote and Ibingira were scared of John Kakonge who was popular and a successful organizer as UPC Secretary General, they conspired to get rid of him and his youth wing. First, he wasn’t nominated to parliament and so couldn’t be a minister and lost his post of secretary general to Ibingira at the 1964 UPC Gulu conference.

Ibingira, a distant monarchist from Ankole wasn’t going to accept the leadership of Obote, a commoner from Lango. As soon as Kakonge was out of the way, Obote and Ibingira fought for the leadership post, through Ibingira and Obote groups. As the struggle proceeded it became necessary to seek military backing. Opolot the army commander from Teso joined the Ibingira group, leaving Obote no choice but to ally himself with Amin, deputy army commander from West Nile. So, it was civilian politicians that invited the military into politics. Eventually, Obote group with Amin support trounced Ibingira group with Opolot support because the former struck first.

The precedent was set that politicians would only survive with military backing. When there was a rumor of arms cache at Mengo, the matter was resolved by military rather than political and/or diplomatic means. So the military became an integral part of solving political problems. From 1966 to January 1971, Obote was sustained in power by the military. Amin felt important and eyed the presidency itself. If he could keep Obote there, he could grab it and sustain himself there. When Obote tried to remove Amin on various allegations including the disappearance of $5 million from the defense department and the death of brigadier Okoya and his wife, Amin struck first against Obote like Obote had done earlier to Ibingira using Amin. So, Amin knew the trick but he had some external guidance and local support.

After Amin captured power he promised his was a temporary caretaker government and he would return to the barracks after a civilian government had been elected. He confessed he was a professional soldier to defend the nation and not govern the country. But he never returned to the barracks. Instead he declared himself president for life. The civilians couldn’t do anything about it because opposition was crushed. He was removed by Tanzanian troops and Uganda rebels in April 1979 and fled into exile first to Libya and then to Saudi Arabia where he later died.

At the Moshi conference in 1979, it was decided to return Uganda to civilian rule. Lule was elected head of state and a National Consultative Council of thirty members was elected. For security purposes, a military commission was also formed chaired by Muwanga with Museveni as the deputy. Sadly political quarrelling among Council members and between them and the executive resulted in the removal of Lule within 68 days upon assumption of office.

Binaisa, another civilian leader was elected to replace Lule with instruction to organize elections and return the country to civilian rule. However, differences developed over his ideas, one being the exclusion of old political parties from participation in the elections. The military stepped in and Binaisa was removed from the presidency opening the door once again for the military. The government was taken over by the military commission under the chairmanship of Paul Muwanga with Museveni as deputy. Once again it was civilian political fighting that opened the gate for the military into Uganda politics.

The military set the date for elections, allowed Obote to return and lead his UPC in the campaign which with military support won but the opposition called the exercise fraudulent although the Commonwealth observer team described it as generally fair, honest and valid exercise. Obote nominated ten members and the army returned 10 officers to parliament (Dennis Austin 1984). Obote also appointed Muwanga vice president and minister for defense. Thus, the military set foot into parliament and has stayed there since.

The military was increasingly being seen as the tool for resolving political problems. So, the solution to Obote challenge was the military and not to wait for the next election. Museveni and the opposition launched a guerrilla war against a civilian government led by Obote. In July 1985, Obote was overthrown by a section of his national army that conspired with Museveni’s National Resistance Army on the understanding that the two would form a government of national unity. But they soon fell apart. As Yash Tandon observed:“But, being militaristic and undemocratic, they were unlikely to agree to share power. For them the issue could only be decided by who was stronger militarily on the ground” (Azzam Mahjoub 1990). Museveni won.

Since he came to power in 1986, Museveni has carefully tried to achieve two major goals with tacit foreign backing: militarization and tutsification of Uganda. Museveni has made it clear many times that he didn’t kill a beast to then handover the carcass to others to enjoy the meat. The animal he killed is Uganda by defeating the national army. So Uganda is his and he will enjoy it with his fellow fighters. And who are his fellow fighters? The majority who planned and commanded the guerilla war were Tutsi mercenaries.

Upon capturing power, Rwigyema a Tutsi refugee was made deputy army commander and deputy minister of defense and Kagame was made deputy head of intelligence and counter-intelligence. Since they came to Uganda as political refugees in 1959, many Tutsi have adopted local names and local languages to disguise themselves as Ugandans – such as Banyankole, Bakiga, Baganda etc. Most of them fought in the guerilla war and therefore are soldiers employed or working in all sectors of Uganda including Uganda embassies and international organizations.

Museveni took a decision that in order to penetrate Uganda society with Batutsi and soldiers prevented educated and experienced Ugandans in the diaspora from going home and retrenched or marginalized Ugandans already at home. So wherever you go in the military, police, intelligence, prisons, private sector and civil service, in parliament and district councils you will find that many heads are Tutsi or tutsified Ugandans that have pledged to serve Tutsi interests instead of their own people in return for favors as a job. Tutsi and soldiers have also dominated political parties. The two major ones of NRM and FDC have been dominated by Tutsi since their establishment. Currently General Museveni a Tutsi heads NRM and General Muntu a Tutsi heads FDC. The Inspector General of Police is also a General and Mutusi so is the army commander. Thus, Uganda is being militarized and tutsified. This is a fact and there is no sectarianism or genocide about it. Furthermore, Uganda is being used as a staging post in pursuit of Tutsi Empire. This is real. The M23 has been directly supported by Tutsi leaders in Rwanda and Uganda.

Museveni and Kagame plan initially is to take Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DRC as the nucleus of Tutsi Empire. Then grab Angola, Namibia, Congo, Gabon and Cameroon and Kenya and Tanzania: the idea is to have access from Indian Ocean to Atlantic Ocean, so middle Africa will become Tutsi Empire first. In 1997 Museveni spelt out his mission that is to create a federation of states into one nation stretching from the Horn of Africa to the Great Lakes region. But that isn’t end of the story.

If you have noticed Museveni has placed himself strategically by being Chairman of many regional organizations: soon he will add on AU. As chairman of these organizations he hopes to influence policy that will discreetly prepare a path for the realization of Tutsi Empire. Museveni wants to dominate the continent, now that Wade and Qaddafi are out of the way through politics, military and diplomatic means.

In one of the early interviews Museveni stated he would quit Uganda politics and focus on pan-African issues. This appears to be the moment because it is difficult to see how he can chair so many organizations and have sufficient time to devote to mushrooming challenges in Uganda.

This is the time that we should also re-establish civilian government starting with a transitional one of all stakeholders to prepare a level playing field for free and fair multi-party elections hinged on an independent electoral commission, term limits for president and MPs and standardized campaign finance so the wealthy don’t buy votes.

Second, to avoid taking advantage of incumbency, those who serve in the transitional government should not contest in the next elections.

To conclude, it has become clear that by and large whether educated or not, soldiers aren’t trained to run national governments and it shouldn’t be seen as disrespect. It means that they are trained to do something else. Imagine a chemist or economist asked to command a national army – just like that. That is what soldiers do when they overthrow a civilian government. They take over without tools to govern a country even if they stay for a long time they don’t do well. General Porfirio Diaz of Mexico was president for over 30 years but could not tackle many problems including poverty and illiteracy and was eventually overthrown in the Mexican Revolution in 1911, fled the country and died in exile. Museveni has been in power for a long time with all the external support in money and experts but Uganda is retrogressing because Museveni has ruled the country the wrong way including insisting that he is the only person in Uganda with a vision for Uganda’s development.

Let us bring civilian government back for the good of the country which should by now have become an upper middle income nation. Instead Uganda is drifting backwards. This is an indisputable fact and the donors who praised Uganda sky high have now recognized that there is something wrong because one can’t explain what over $30 billion of grant money has done.

When the Generals in Latin America realized their shortcomings they returned the business of running governments to civilians. And the countries and citizens are doing much better. Uganda should be next.


ERIC KASHAMBUZI
UAH FORUMIST IN NEW YORK

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Folorunsho Alakija: The Richest Black Woman In the World

Dec 8, 12 8:00 PM

Folorunso-AlakijaMove over, Oprah – there is a new richest Black woman in the world. And she’s Nigerian. Meet Folorunsho Alakija, a Nigerian billionaire oil tycoon, Fashion designer and philanthropist who is worth at least $3.3 billion- contrary to a recent Forbes Magazine ranking which pegs her net worth at only $600 million.

Folorunsho Alakija, 61, was born into a wealthy Nigerian family. She started out her professional career in the mid 70s as a secretary at the now defunct International Merchant Bank of Nigeria, one of the country’s earliest investment banks. In the early 80s, Alakija quit her job and went on to study Fashion design in England, returning to Nigeria shortly afterwards to start Supreme Stitches, a premium Nigerian fashion label which catered exclusively to upscale clientele.

The business thrived, and Alakija quickly made a tidy fortune selling high-end Nigerian clothing to fashionable wives of military bigwigs and society women.
Oil Prospecting License

In May 1993 Folorunsho Alakija applied for an allocation of an Oil Prospecting License (OPL). The license to explore for oil on a 617,000 acre block – (now referred to as OPL 216) was granted to Alakija’s company, Famfa Limited. The block is located approximately 220 miles South East of Lagos and 70 miles offshore Nigeria in the central Niger Delta.

This was in 1993. Many wealthy Nigerian businessmen and military bigwigs who had been allocated oil blocs by the military administration at the time had no clue as to the technicalities in operating an oil block, so many of them typically acquired OPLs, and then flipped them off to international oil companies for substantial profits.

But Folorunsho Alakija was intelligent. She had no expertise or experience in running an oil field, but she decided not to sell off her license. In September 1996, she entered into a joint venture agreement with Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Texaco) and appointed the company as a technical adviser for the exploration of the license, transferring 40 percent of her 100 percent stake to Star Deep. Subsequently, Star Deep sold off 8 percent of its stake in OPL 216 to Petrobas, a Brazilian company. Folorunsho Alakija and her family owned 60 percent.
Nigerian Government Forcefully Acquires Stake In The Block

Star Deep Petroleum carried on with exploitation of the oil field. In 2000, the first appraisal well was confirmed to have recoverable reserves in excess of 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent. When this was discovered, the Nigerian government, led by Olusegun Obasanjo immediately ordered that a 40 percent interest in OPL 216 be allocated to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) under the Back-in-Right Regulation of 2003 which gives the Nigerian government participatory rights in any OPL or OML.

This would leave Famfa Oil with a 20 percent stake. This was in 2000, and the government did not pay Famfa a dime for the stake. In 2003, Famfa applied for a conversion from an OPL to an OML, and in 2004 the request was granted. OPL 216 became OML 127.

But the Nigerian government was not content with its 40 percent stake in Famfa. In 2005, the government led by General Olusegun Obasanjo forcefully acquired a further 10 percent stake in OML 127.

Folorunsho Alakija immediately went to the courts to challenge the government’s forceful acquisition take a 50% in the license. It was a lengthy court battle which lasted for several years, but in May 2012, the Supreme Court voided the government’s acquisition of a 50 percent stake in OML 127 and subsequently transferred the 50 percent stake back to Famfa Oil.

The Nigerian government tried to appeal the Supreme’s court decision, but the case has been dismissed- a victory for Famfa Oil which sees the little-known oil company owning a 60 percent in OML 127, which is one of Nigeria’s most prolific oil blocks.
Valuation Of OML 127

Daily production at OML 127 currently stands at 200,000 barrels per day. When the Nigerian government, through its wholly-owned petroleum company, NNPC, was trying to justify its forceful acquisition of a 50 percent stake in OML 127 at the Supreme court, the Government admitted that if Famfa Oil owned a 60 percent stake in the OML, the company stood to earn $10 million on a daily basis (after taxes and other exploration costs have been settled). The government’s argument at the Supreme Court can be found through this link, (item number 23).

So how much is a 60 percent stake in OML 127 worth?

Comparator: In July 2012, Royal Dutch Shell agreed to sell its 45 percent stake in OML 30 for $850 million to Heritage Oil and Shoreline Energy.

According to Fool.co.uk, OML 30 currently produces 35,000 barrels of oil per day.

So, if 45 percent of a 35,000 bpd-producing oil bloc is $850 million, 100 percent of the same bloc = $1.88 billion i.e 100/45 x $850 million

If a 100 percent stake in a 35,000 bpd-producing oil bloc is $1.88 billion, by the same logic, a 100 percent stake in 200,000 bpd-producing oil bloc is worth $10.74 billion i.e 200,000 bpd/35,000 bpd X $1.88 billion

Folorunsho Alakija’s 60 percent stake in a $10.74 billion oil well is worth $6.44 billion.

Technically, her 60 percent stake in OML 127 is worth $6.44 billion.

Another comparator: In November 2012, French oil group Total announced that it was selling a 20 percent stake in its Nigerian offshore oil field to China’s Sinopec in a $2.5 billion deal. The block in question, OML 138 is a 180,000 bpd facility.

So, if a 20 percent stake in an 180,000 bpd facility offshore block is worth $2.5 billion, the entire block is worth $12.5 billion i.e 100/20 x $2.5 billion. Since a 180,000 bpd-producing facility is worth $12.5 billion, a 200,000 bpd-producing facility is worth $13.8 billion because 200,000/180,000 x $12.5 billion.

Using the Total-Sinopec deal as the yardstick, we could also value OML 127 at $13.8 billion. In that case, her 60 percent stake would be worth $8.3 billion.

But to be conservative, we prefer to go with the lower valuation of $6.44 billion.

On Debt

After reaching out to Famfa Limited to comment the company declined to divulge any information regarding any long-term or short-term debt. We have no idea on how much debt (if any, the company has), but even if we take the high side, and subtract 50 percent of the value of her stake for debt, that still gives her 60 percent stake in OML 127 a market value of $3.2 billion, which makes her richer than the $2.7 billion Oprah Winfrey is worth according to Forbes Magazine’s last rankings.
Folorunsho Alakija’s Real Estate: $100 million

Folorunsho Alakija also has a real estate portfolio worth over $100 million. Earlier this year, Nigerian and British media announced that Alakija acquired a property at One Hyde Park for $102 million. See media coverage here and here

A source at Famfa Oil who asked for anonymity indeed confirmed that Mrs. Alakija actually acquired the property at One Hyde Park.

Private Jet

Folorunsho Alakija owns a Bombardier Global Express 6000 which she bought earlier this year for a reported $46 million.

PHILANTHROPY

Folorunsho Alakija is the founder of the Rose of Sharon foundation, a Christian-based charity which gives out small grants to widows.

PERSONAL

Folorunsho Alakija is married to Modupe Alakija and they have four grown-up sons together. She also has a grandchild from her first son. Modupe Alakija, her husband is the Chairman of Famfa Oil. Her sons run the company.

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H.E the President Museveni’s speech at COMESA

Nov 23, 12 2:52 PM

Village life in Uganda

Village life in Uganda

Your Excellencies,

Heads of State and Government,

Heads of delegations,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I greet you and I welcome you to Uganda for this 16th COMESA Summit.

The greatest disadvantage Africa faced at independence, ever since 1957, when Ghana got independence, was political balkanization of this continent. The North American Continent has got only three countries ― USA, Canada and Mexico. The South American continent has got 15 countries including the Central American Isthmus and the three dependencies of Falkland Islands, French Guiana, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The Australian continent has got one country, Australia. The Indian sub-continent has got only six countries which are: Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. The huge Euro-Asian landmass, stretching from the border of Poland to the Pacific, until 1990, had only six countries which were: the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, China, Korea, Mongolia and Iran, if you excluded the Balkans and the Middle East. This was a land area of about 12 million square miles, bigger than the whole of Africa. When the Soviet Union broke up, there are now more countries in that zone of the globe. When, however, it comes to Africa, there are now 54 countries. None of them is more than one million square miles or 200 million people. About 36 of them, even today, have got a population less than 15 million. At independence, some had as few people as less than one million.

This balkanization posed the following problems to the newly independent Africa:

Small economies on account of, not only the purchasing power of the population because of under-development and small incomes, but also on account of the small numbers of consumers even in absolute terms. Without consumers and adequate purchasing power, enterprises (businesses) cannot thrive. Profitability of these enterprises is undermined. If the profitability is affected, then, few enterprises (e.g. Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) will be attracted to these economies and few new ones will emerge. Without enough number of enterprises emerging or being attracted in an economy, jobs will not be created, goods and services will not be available (or will have to be imported), technology will not grow, the tax base will not expand and, therefore, funding social services (health, education, etc.) and infrastructure (roads, electricity, etc.) will be very difficult, etc. The best example is to compare China with East Africa. Since 1978 when China started its open-door policy, US$ 1.232 trillion have been attracted into that country from outside as FDI. Yet they are communists and do not have the fashion of multi-party democracy Africa has been engaged in ― they have a different system of governance which has served them well. East Africa, on the other hand, has only been able to attract US$ 19.1 billion in the same period in FDI. Yet we have been running free markets, running multi-party democracy, etc. China now is the 2nd biggest economy in the whole world, having overtaken the small but highly developed economies of UK, France, Germany and Japan. What were the stimulus factors for this phenomenal growth and transformation of the Chinese economy and society? The stimulus factors were the size of the Chinese population (1.3 billion people), the size of their land area (3 million square miles) and, of course, the dynamism as well as a rich culture of their society. In other words, it was the absence of political balkanization of the Chinese race ― both political and geographical.

Of course, political balkanization has got implications for defence and strategic security or otherwise of the concerned peoples. China has now joined USA, Russia, and India as a space science country. This enhances her capacity of strategic security. Africa is totally lacking in that area. The war technology gap that was pioneered in 1337, when Edward III of England first used gun-powder against Scots, between Europe on the one hand and Africa, Asia, the Americans as well as Austro-Asia on the other hand, has been widening ever more and more, particularly for the Africans that have remained stagnant.

Therefore, the foresight by the Lagos Action Plan, which pointed out the need to be organized in the building blocs for trade for different zones of Africa in order to tackle this balkanization, was correct. Integration is one of the major therapies for Africa which has been in decline since 1785 BC when the Hyksos first invaded and conquered Egypt, the African cradle of human civilization. Integration should have two dimensions – economic and, where possible, also political integration. In East Africa, we are aiming at both – political and economic integration.

The people of East Africa have, for decades, been yearning for an East African Federation that would deal with both political and economic integration. This is the ultimate goal of EAC. There are those who ask the question: “Why EAC and COMESA? This is the answer. EAC intends to travel further because the peoples are either similar or very compatible and are aiming at also the political integration, leading to the Federation of EA. COMESA, on the other hand, right from the beginning, aimed at economic integration because political integration at the continental level is quite unrealistic. Trade, however, is not only realistic, but necessary. This is why Uganda never joined SADC when it was formed by our fellow freedom fighters that had been active in the anti-colonial struggle. We only saw those two dimensions – the political and the economic. Since SADC did not make the political integration dimension explicit, we did not see the need to duplicate the trading arrangement mechanism. I am glad that now COMESA, EAC and SADC are engaged with one another under the tripartite efforts.

COMESA has done well and will even do better. As you heard, the trade volumes among COMESA members are of the magnitude of US$ 18.8 billion. This will grow if we could deal with infrastructure – the roads and the railways. I want to see a rail link with South Sudan, a rail link with Kisangani in Congo, a rail link with Gisenyi in Rwanda and the up-grading of the East African Railway system to a standard gauge. We need railway links with Ethiopia and Somalia from Kenya.

In the end, we need to conclude the agreement on the African Common market. In 2077, the population of Africa will be three billion. We should create that unified trading space for our grand children and great-grand children. A big market is not only good for giving our producers greater markets for their products (goods and services). It is also good to enable us to negotiate with others (USA, EU, China, Russia, India, South America, Japan, ASEAN, etc) for access to their markets.

The Ugandans (Banyankore) say: “Ija turye kumwe biri aine eki akurebireho” ― the one who invites you for a meal does so because he/she knows that you have got capacity to reciprocate. Indeed, from the Bible, in the Gospel of St. Luke 8:18, it says: “…For whoever has, more will be given to him; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him…”

The one who has something will get more benefits. In this case, the stronger you are, the more you get. We are, therefore, on the right road.

I thank you very much.

23rd November 2012
Munyonyo Speke Resort.

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Al Alshabaab Senior commander killed, 16 captured alive in Somalia

Nov 23, 12 12:28 PM

UGANDA CONTINGENT HQS
African Union Mission in Somalia

Mobile: 0699306044 Mogadishu Somali

November 23, 2012: Brig Ondoga Commends Somali security Forces

The Ugandan Contingent Commander and sector one commander in Somalia, Brig Michael Ondoga has commended the Somali security forces for excellence in their operations.

He made the comment on Friday morning while speaking to Ugandan contingent officers following a November 22, night raid by the Somali Army, Intelligence, and Police conducted at Sokohola on the home of overall Al shabaab commander for Gupta, Sokohola, and Huluwai areas, identified by residents as Guludupu. The Al Shabaab put up a fight and their commander was killed on spot as 16 terrorists were captured alive and 16 Sub-machineguns plus 04 pistols seized from them.

Brig Ondoga said:“The Somali National security forces are doing a commendable job in the pacification process of Somalia. As AMISOM, we are committed in giving them support in restoring calm in Somalia. We congratulate them in this successful operation which will bring more peace in Mogadishu.”

Brig Ondoga added that this was a manifestation of the ever improving capability of the Somali Forces, adding that he is confident that one day, the Somali themselves will be able to take full charge of their own security.

This incident comes three days after Ugandan and Somali Forces captured from Sokohola 11 high explosive bombs meant for terrorism. The Thursday night operation now adds to over 30 explosives, 16 submachine guns and 14 pistols captured from Sokohola by AU and Somali forces in two months. Sokohola, a Mogadishu suburb has been a concentration of Al Shabaab cells terrorizing civilians around Mogadishu town.

AMISOM is among others mandated by the UN security council to monitor the security situation in areas of operation and to provide technical assistance to stabilization efforts including helping to build capabilities of the Somali Security forces who will form the core of a rejuvenated Somali security Forces.

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Struggle to control riches of DRC and suffering of Gt. Lakes people

Nov 21, 12 5:18 PM

The people of DRC especially those in the east need more of our prayers at this hour of intense human suffering. The three K leaders (Kaguta, Kagame and Kabila) with military background and their domestic and foreign backers need to come to their senses and end the suffering of the people. The United Nations too needs to move faster and end the war before it loses its credibility as an institution that was created in 1945 to maintain or restore peace and security in all parts of the world.

The fall of Goma town may sharpen the appetite of victors to want to capture the rest of DRC, Angola, Namibia, Congo and Gabon and then Kenya and Tanzania. Mark my words: if concerted and collective action is not taken that is what will happen. Rwanda and Uganda, the two countries alleged to be causing this instability are too poor to be acting alone. So those supporting them should stop.

The suffering of DRC and neighboring countries including Uganda goes back to the Berlin conference of 1884/85 which handed DRC to the king of Belgium as his private estate and the end of WWI which handed over Burundi and Rwanda to Belgium. The exploitation of Congo resources by the Belgian king and the human cost involved alarmed the international community and transferred control of Congo to the Belgian government but human suffering continued with many millions losing their lives.

The Belgian authoritarian regime and economic hardship pushed Barundi and Banyarwanda into neighboring countries in search of work. Uganda has been receiving workers from Burundi and Rwanda since the 1920s. Since the 1959 Social Revolution in Rwanda and chaotic Congolese independence in 1960, Uganda has been home to so many refugees with considerable demographic impact on numbers and composition.

The Cold War confrontation between capitalist and communist forces and the geopolitical conflict between Anglophone and Francophone countries have caused too much suffering in the Great Lakes region. The death of Lumumba and the subsequent civil war resulted in too much instability that affected neighboring countries including Uganda that degenerated into serious conflicts within the government, arrest and detention of cabinet members and contributed to the 1966/67 political and constitutional crisis.

The coming to power of Museveni and Kagame that have terrorized the region is connected with control of the resources of DRC. Keith Harmon Snow has reported that:

“War for the control of the Democratic Republic of Congo – what should be the richest country in the world – began in Uganda in the 1980s, when now Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni shot his way to power…

“Paul Kagame, now president of Rwanda served as Museveni’s Director of Military Intelligence. Kagame …. [and] the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) … invaded Rwanda. The RPF destabilized and then secured Rwanda. This coup d’etat is today misunderstood as the ‘Rwanda Genocide’….

“In 1996, Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni … launched their covert war against Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko …. A decade later, there are 6 or 7 million dead, at the very least, and the war in Congo (Zaire) continues” (Peter Phillips 2006).

While Kagame and Museveni are being used in the scramble to control the resources of DRC, they are also using western countries and corporations to implement their Tutsi Empire project.

ERIC KASHAMBUZI

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{UAH} To be black, to be African

Nov 21, 12 9:14 AM

By SABELLA ABIDDE

Since 1619 at least, Americans of sub-Saharan African ancestry have had different racial classifications. The first was “negars.” Other classifications have included African, Afro-American, Black, and Black American. According to Collier-Thomas and Turner, in “Race, Class and Colour: The African American Discourse on Identity,” published in 1994, “From the 1830s to the middle of the 1890s, Coloured American and the more commonly used derivation Coloured were the most popular terms. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Negro gained considerable support as a generic term, becoming by 1920 the most commonly used expression of race. Increasing dissatisfaction with the term, Negro, most noted in the late 1930s culminated with the Black Power movement of the 1960s.”

But by 1988, all these changed when Rev. Jesse Jackson reclassified the group: “To be called African-American has cultural integrity. It puts us in our proper historical context. Every ethnic group in this country has a reference to some land base, some historical cultural base. African-Americans have hit that level of cultural maturity. There are Armenian-Americans and Jewish-Americans and Arab-Americans and Italian-Americans; and with a degree of accepted and reasonable pride, they connect their heritage to their mother country and where they are now.” In the years since, the majority of Black Americans have embraced this categorisation; while many others have rejected it: they want to be known simply as American, or Black.

The most common argument many who reject the African-American label have made is that they do not have any kind of physical or mental affinity with the continent. For such individuals, slavery was a historical fact – a fact they nonetheless do not want to identify with. The fact that sub-Saharan Africa is their ancestral home is a non-issue. America and being American is all that matter. Perhaps, it is this line of thinking and attitude and expression that prevent many Blacks — outside of the African continent – from identifying with the Pan-African ideal and movement. In one’s everyday life, it is not uncommon to meet or hear of Blacks who, either out of ignorance, sour experience, or indifference, do not want to associate with the continent and or its people. Africa is an afterthought for many of them.

It should be noted that Black Americans are not the only ones with marked indifference and distance to the continent. Many Blacks from the Caribbean Islands, Asia, Latin America, and Europe, also feel and behave this way. Perhaps, the saddest part of this narrative is the fact that many Africans – especially Nigerians – who came to the US as toddlers or as teenagers, also tend to deny their African heritage. Many have gone on to anglicise their African names. It is also not uncommon to find those, whose parents and grandparents are Nigerians, say “my parents are Nigerians, but I am an American.” It is as if to be a Nigerian is a sin. To prefer the Black or American classification is one thing; but to deny one’s heritage is quite another. One rarely finds Americans of Asian, Latin America, or European origins deny their blood line.

Why do many Blacks, across the world, shy away from Africa and its people? Why do many non-Blacks across the world have contempt for the continent and its varied people? And why do many White Americans not think highly of Black Americans or blacks from other parts of the world who call America home? The answers are not as simple as one might think. And in fact, it may require a broader treatise to convincingly answer these questions. In general, however, one could posit that 500 years of slavery and 100 years of colonialism remind many of the weakness and impotency of the continent. After all these years, many have yet to overcome the residual effects of these inhumanities. And many more have not forgotten the agony and its misery. Why visit or revisit a place that caused so much pain?

In the last 50 years, at least, there has been significant improvement in race relations and racial equality in the US. Even so, America still has a long way to go (just as Europe has a million miles to travel in terms of racial equality and its goal of multiracialism). To be Black in the US is to be thought of as having a low IQ; of not capable of complex tasks; and of needing constant direction and supervision. In many cases, to be African is to be patronised and looked at with pity. It is as if the non-Blacks feel sorry for you; as if to be black is to be less human. Although one must admit that not all Whites, Asians and Hispanics are guilty of such disdainful attitude, still, the aforesaid mind-set is routine. At almost 15 per cent of the 309 million people in the US, Blacks are at the lower rung of every positive ladder.

At home and abroad, Africans are hired hands. In some African countries, the Indians and the Lebanese run the economy. The Lebanese especially are in charge of some of the most sensitive sectors of the economy. They hire and fire. In other African countries, the French and the Americans are in charge and they also hire and fire. The Chinese are beginning to make an inroad. It is also a fact that in many African countries, the elected or imposed presidents can’t make important decisions without seeking permission from Paris, Washington DC, or London. And lastly, Africans themselves do not make the continent attractive.

Images from Africa can be ghastly and disheartening. The images one see is of a continent and a people who are incapable of governing themselves, incapable of self-sustenance, and incapable of providing the most basic of all human needs. When the western media speak of war and excesses, they mostly speak of Africa. When they speak of dastardly acts, they mostly speak of Africa. And since 1980, there have been some 28 intra and interstate wars. There seems to be no end in sight to the rubbish that pervades the continent. But really, this needs not be our destiny; it need not be our collective fate.

http://economicconfidential.net/new/features/1144-to-be-black-to-be-african

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Israel Attacks the Yarmouk Munitions Factory in Sudan

Oct 25, 12 4:20 PM

Today, 24th October 2012, the Sudanese Minister of Culture and Information declared that the Yarmouk munitions factory has been attacked by four Israeli war planes. This was not the first attack. Israeli aggression began with the military support for the first rebellion in Southern Sudan that erupted in 1955 (before the Sudan’s independence). Joseph Lago, the leader of that rebellion has documented in his 2006 memoirs his visits to Israel and the meetings he held there. Throughout the second rebellion, (1983-2005) Sudanese rebels received military training and equipment through neighbouring countries as the US investigative journalist Rebecca Hamilton has documented in her Atlantic articles.

In 2009, Israeli planes killed 119 East African migrants, alleging that the target was weapons smuggled through the Sudan across Egypt to Hamas. At least one Israeli analyst questioned that and suggested that the attack was a moral boasting exercise for the Israeli air force(after the Lebanese humiliation). Hosni Mubarak, Israel’s ally, was in power and his intelligence minions could have been alerted to wait with TV cameras for the convoy in order to catch the Sudan red-handed and expose the weapons’ smuggling route if Israel was sure of the contents of the convoy. In April 2011, another air raid against the Sudan killed two citizens.

Israeli aggression against the Sudan took the form of support for the Darfur’s rebels. Save Darfur Coalition was formed in the US by arms of the Israeli settlers’ lobby. It failed in its attempt to persuade the US to attack the Sudan militarily; but succeeded (through the ICC) in raising allegations against president Bashir. It is quite logical that the World Jewish Service is going to honour the ICC’s former prosecutor L.M. Occampo on the 7th of November 2012.

The Darfur rebels who have got offices in Tel Aviv are the only ones who refuse even to negotiate with the Government of the Sudan, or consider the Doha Peace Initiative behind which the international community including the UN, AU as well as the US and her allies stand. Israeli linked leaders of the SPLA/N in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States are being manipulated to reignite the conflict between Khartoum and Juba. Behind them are Israeli front organizations that hosted them in Washington DC recently. The US and her allies have, to their credit, distanced themselves from the goal of ‘regime change by force’.

Only Israel stands behind the SPLA/N proxy atrocities against civilians as well as UN facilities in Kadugli, South Kordofan. Significantly, these rebels are never called terrorists by the main Western news sources.

The legitimate question is: why does Israel target the Sudan? After All, the Sudan has accepted the 2002 Saudi Arabia- Arab League Peace Initiative that evolves upon the principle of full recognition conditional on the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.

The expansionist, far-right Israeli establishment and Governments pursue a policy of naked aggression because of the appeasement and even complicity of Israel’s strategic partners.

This attack against the Sudan was carried out by the Netanyahu-Lieberman government that was described by the UK-based Israeli professor Avi Shlaim as ‘the most right wing, chauvinistic and racist’ in Israeli history. The word racist is key here, because a Likud MP has called the Africans in Israel ‘cancer’, after they were initially manipulated to replace Palestinian workers in Israel in the aftermath of the second Intifada.

Will the international community condemn today’s Israeli attack on the Yarmouk factory? We won’t hold our breath. Israel has time and again been rewarded with more lethal weapons, more preferential economic treatment and OECD membership and more UN vetoes for her settlers’ land grab policies. This encourages Israel to continue its recalcitrance and even bullying leaders of Western democracies, as A. Lieberman did with Catherine Ashton of the EU and as Netanyahu tried to do with president Obama. Last night, the US president and his Republican challenger were competing in making promises of future appeasements and more reward for Israel.

The Sudan will not be shaken by this latest attack. The Arab Spring has demonstrated that the region’s subservient rulers and governments were swept away by the people. Like Israel’s previous aggressions since the 1955 rebellion, this latest attack will only strengthen the resolve of the Sudanese people and cement their national unity behind the broad-based government led by their democratically elected president Omer Al- Bashir.

Media Office
24th October 2012

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