KENYA

Raila Odinga’s grip on Coast weakened as William Ruto’s poll strategy pays off

Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party presidential candidate Raila Odinga may have won the vote battle in Coast, but President-elect William Ruto made significant inroads in the region the former considers his stronghold.

Dr Ruto and his campaign team systematically executed an elaborate strategy to get 336,478 votes in the region’s six counties of Mombasa, Lamu, Tana River, Kwale, Kilifi and Taita Taveta.

The tally was an increase from the 287,606 Jubilee Party—under which President Kenyatta and DP Ruto won the presidency — got from the region in 2017, as well as the 158,083 votes the two garnered in the 2013 poll.

The plan involved winning over key regional leaders to Dr Ruto’s side and planting his allies in strategic positions to checkmate the traditional kingpins.

He also rolled out ground operations that included so-called economic forums and allowing nascent affiliate parties to sprout without the demand that they merge with his United Democratic Movement (UDA).

(Source: The Daily Nation)

TANZANIA

Bolt drivers ask government to intervene

Drivers and commuters using ride-hailing firms have asked the government to intervene as Bolt announced operational changes that were likely to pause vehicle availability for retail and cash passengers.

Bolt released a notice that indicated that starting yesterday (August 17, 2022), the service would only be available to corporate passengers.

The company said the change was a strategy to cope with the regulatory environment in which the government doubled fares and cut commissions collected by the ride-hailing operators.

The development also came after Uber suspended Tanzanian operations since April, protesting the new rules.

Association for Drivers Network chairman Khalifan Juma said the changes by Bolt were not realistic, claiming that most of their customers were individuals in the cash basis category.

“I guess most ride-hailing firms will collapse or exit the country just like Uber did,” he said.

Some drivers of ride-hailing taxis including Bolt, Ping and Little Ride and Paisha stressed that if the government would not intervene, the business would be more difficult to run and almost impossible to sustain on the market as the sector was still facing a lot of challenges including fares.

(Source: The Citizen)

UGANDA

Govt employs new strategy to promote conservation

The government has  embarked on using an enterprise-based approach to conserve the environment in northern and eastern Uganda.

With funding from the World Bank, this intervention is expected to generate colossal return on investment while at the same time promoting environmental protection and restoration.

Components of the programme include soil and water conservation, eco-system protection and restoration.

The implementation of the integrated water management and development project (IWMDP) is fully integrated within the government structure.

Thus, the water resources management component of the project is implemented by the Directorate of Water Resources Management through its various departments and the relevant Water Management Zones.

Mr Robert Bogere, a senior water officer at the Ministry of Water and Environment, told Daily Monitor at the project inception meeting in Lira City on Tuesday: “The project is looking at restoring the degraded ecosystems, including wetlands, river banks and deforested landscapes.”

Mr Bogere said each sub-catchment will have roughly 500 hectares of degraded wetlands and about 480km of river banks on both sides restored.

Degraded farmland will also be restored.

(Source: The Monitor)

RWANDA

Enumerators begin door-to-door exercise as national census begins

Different enumerators deployed by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) are collecting information from Rwandans across the country as part of the ongoing national population and housing census.

Among the initial families to be enumerated on Tuesday, August 16, included the First Family, where President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame received in their enumerators and answered a set of questions that have been designed for the census.

The enumerators of the First Family were led by Yusuf Murangwa, the Director General of the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), which is spearheading the process.

The census which will run until August 30 is the fifth to be conducted in Rwanda since the first one was conducted in 1978.

The government usually conducts this kind of census every decade to update demographic, social, economic and cultural characteristics of the population.

(Source: The New Times)

ETHIOPIA

Fed Gov’t Proposal Demonstrates Commitment to Peaceful Resolution of Conflict in North

The peace proposal made by the federal government of Ethiopia is another demonstration of its continued commitment to the peaceful resolution of the conflict in the northern part of the country, Press Secretary for the Office of the Prime Minister said.

It is to be recalled that the Main Peace Committee has adopted a peace proposal that would lead to a ceasefire and lay the foundation for future political dialogue.

Press Secretary Bilene Seyoum told foreign media correspondents today that the proposal requests the peace talks to happen in the coming weeks and move towards an agreed ceasefire.

It also proposes an in-depth political dialogue that leads towards settlement between the parties.

Any other pending issues should be addressed through the National Dialogue, the proposal states.  

According to the press secretary, the proposal is another demonstration of the government’s continued commitment to peace and peaceful resolution to the conflict.

The proposal puts into perspective the people of Tigray and affected communities in Afar and Amhara regional states as the consequences of the devastation need respite at this moment, she added.

The talks must be held without any preconditions because Ethiopians in Tigray region need not continue being prisoners of TPLF’s own political agenda, the peace proposal establishes.

(Source: Ethiopian News Agency)

SUDAN

Trilateral Mechanism holds meetings with FFC-CC and Sudan People’s Call initiative ‘to achieve political consensus’

The Trilateral Mechanism held two separate meetings with the mainstream Forces for Freedom and Change and Central Council faction (FFC-CC), and the Sudan People’s Call initiative, backed by coup-leader and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) commander Abdelfattah El Burhan, headed by renowned Sufi leader, El Tayeb El Jad.

According to Mohamed Zakaria, one of the FFC-CC’s official spokespeople, the FFC faction proposed that the AU-IGAD-UN mechanism should work on assembling initiatives in the Sudanese arena and called for an agreed-upon Sudanese dialogue platform.

The meetings were reportedly clear, transparent, and productive in their efforts to achieve a desired political consensus.

Sudan People’s Call initiative calls for army to be ‘supreme authority’ in Sudan

Last week, a conference took place with a round table dialogue and resulting recommendations. The conference recommended that the High Council of the Armed Forces, as proposed by Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan on July 4, be given broad authority, including sovereign powers, so that it will be the supreme authority in the country.

El Wasig El Bereir, Secretary-General of the National Umma Party (NUP) and spokesperson for the FFC-CC, said that the initiative is “an attempt to turn back the clock and tame the revolutionary political forces that believe in democratic transformation by a force that defends the military coup. The military will work from behind the curtain to guide them in the directions they want”.

El Bereir noted that the Sudan People’s Call initiative, from the beginning, defined the crisis in Sudan as a conflict between groups of civilians. While the real crisis, he said, is caused by the October coup “which blocks the path to a genuine civilian-led democratic transformation”.

(Source: Radio Dabanga) 

SOMALIA

Somalia and UK discuss strengthening of cooperation between the two countries

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Government of Somalia, Abshir Omar Jama, received in Mogadishu, the United Kingdom (UK) Ambassador in charge of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Mrs. Kate Foster OBE.

The British ambassador congratulated the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, wishing him success in the tasks entrusted to him, and emphasized the role of the UK as a friend, ally, supporter and supporter of the Somali government and people.

During the meeting, friendly and cooperative relations between Somalia and the UK were reviewed and ways to strengthen and develop each side, including mutual interests.

On the other hand, the Minister met with the Deputy Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Somalia and the Officer in charge of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), Mrs. Anita Kiki Gbeho.

In the meeting, a number of views were exchanged, including the facilitation of humanitarian assistance to the poor, and the development of the political and security situation was also discussed.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said that the Federal Government of Somalia is working hard to provide aid to the needy people living in the areas affected by the drought.

(Source: Radio Dalsan)