NDUGU, Jamaa na amrafiki wa washitakiwa wa kesi ya EPA wameonekana wakimwaga machozi mara baada ya kutolewa kwa hukumu hiyo leo katika Mahakama ya Hakimu Mkazi Kisutu ya jijini Dar es Salaam
Washitakiwa hao Rajabu Maranda na binamu yake Farijala Hussein wamehukumiwa kifungo cha mika mitano jela kila mmoja kwa kupatikana na hatia baada ya ushahidi kusikilizwa kwa upande wa Jamuhuri na utetezi
Washitakiwa hao walipatikana na kosa la wizi wa fedha kutoka katika akaunti ya Madeni ya Njekutoka Benki Kuu ya Tanzania [EPA]
Kelele za Gesti Zawachanganya Wanafunzi, Wataka Gesti Ifungwe
Wanafunzi hao ambao mwishoni mwa juma walionekana kufanya fujo shuleni hapo kupinga uwepo wa nyumba hiyo bubu iliyopo katika maeneo ya shule hiyo iondolewe kwa kudai inawachanganya katika masomo yao ya kila siku.
Nyumba hiyo ya kulala wageni ipo pembezoni mwa madarasa ya shule hiyo ya kata ambapo wanafunzi hao wamedai kuchanganywa kutokana na miziki na pilikapilika za watu za kila siku zinazofanywa katika nyumba hiyo jambo ambalo linaenda kinyume na na sheria za haki elimu na kudai kuwapotezea usikivu wawapo darasani ikiwemo na kuwafunza maadili mabovu wawapo shuleni
Hata hivyo wanafunzi hao walishafika ngazi za chini kuripoti tukio hilo lakini imeonekana taratibu za kisheria zinakwenda taratibu na kuonekana watendaji kushindwa kuifungia nyumba hiyo.
Hivyo wanafunzi hao wameadhimia kufanya maandamano ya amani kwenda kwa Rais Kikwete kumweleza kero hiyo ili aweze kuwasaidia.
Wakilalama wanafunzi wamedai “makelele ya wateja wa gesti yanatusumbua wakati wa masomo, mana ni vurugu badala tumsikilize mwalimu wakati mwingine wateja wanagombana vyumbani na kutupigia makelele, mara nyingine mavazi yanayovaliwa na baadhi ya wateja si stahili yanatuletea maadili mabovu.
Kwa kuwa madirisha ya gesti yanatizamana na madirisha ya shule mara nyingine ni rahisi kuona yanayotendeka ndani ya vyumba kwa kuwa madirisha hayana pazia, walilalama wanafunzi hao kwa jazba
Vilevile walilalamikia tabia ya kuona wasichana wenye umri mdogo wakiwa wanaingia na watu wenye rika kubwa mithili ya baba zao ni hali ambayo wanadai kuwaumiza kisaikolojia.
Hata hivyo wanafunzi hao wameadhimia kufika kwenye kituo wanachoshughulikia haki za watoto ili kupata msaada zaidi wa suala hilo
Nyumba hiyo ya kulala wageni ’Gesti bubu’ iliyopo ndani ya eneo la shule hiyo imedaiwa na mmoja wa wahusika kuwa hulipiwa kodi kihalali na imesajiliwa kwa mujibu wa sheria zote za Serikali ya Tanzania kwa jina la The Queen Guest House.
Mafisadi wa EPA waenda miaka 5 jela
MAHAKAMA ya Hakimu Mkazi Kisutu leo imewahukumu kwenda jela miaka mitano kila mmoja na kurudisha kiasi cha fedha walichochukua watuhumiwa waliokuwa wakikabiliwa na kesi ya wizi wa fedha kutoka katika akaunti ya Madeni ya Nje ya Benki Kuu [EPA]
Kesi hiyo ilikuwa ikiwakabili wafanyabiasha Rajabu Maranda na binamu yake Farijala Husssein ambao walikuwa wakikabiliwa na wizi wa shilingi billion 1.8 kupitia akaunti hiyo mali ya Benki Kuu ya Tanzania (BOT).
Kesi hiyo ilifunguliwa Novemba 4, 2008 ambapo washitakiwa hao wanadaiwa kula njama, kughushi na kufanya wizi kwa kuwasilisha hati za uongo na kujipatia ingizo la fedha hizo kutoka BOT kwa njia ya udanganyifu kwa kuonyesha kampuni yao iliyotambulika kwa jina la Kiloloma and Brothers imepewa idhini ya kukusanya deni la kampuni ya BC Cars Export ya Mumbai India
Wanafunzi waliokufa kwa ajali Wanne wa familia moja
AJALI iliyosababisha watu saba kupoteza maisha papohapo na wengine 20 kujeruhiwa imegundulika wanne walikuwa ni wa familia moja.
Mei 21 mwaka huu majira ya 6 mchana, eneo la Majumba Sita gari aina ya Toyota Canter lililokuwa na namba ya usajili T869 ABL lilisababihsa vifo hivyo ambapo gari hilo lilikuwa likisafisha wanafunzi hao kutoka katika mchezo wa mpira wa miguu eneo la Kinyerezi
Wanafunzi hao ambao imedaiwa walikuwa wakitoka katika michezo hiyo walijumuika shule tatu tofauti ambapo timu hizo zilitambulika kwa majina ya Top Kids na Kinyerezi United.
Ajali hiyo ilitokea wakati gari hilo likiwa linateremka mteremko mkali na gari hilo lilikuwa katika mwendo kasi kidogo na kusababisha gari hilo kukita katika daraja na gari lingine lilikuwa likija kwa nyuma yao kupoteza muelekeo na kusababisha ajali kubwa iliyosababisha vifo hivyo papo hapo kwa kuwa wanafunzi wengi walikuwa wakining’inia kwenye machuma ya gari hilo.
Katika ajali hiyo wanafunzi wanne ni wa familia moja ambapo watatu walifariki na mmoja alijeruhiwa anaendelea na matibabu katika hospitali ya Amana.
Wakati huohuo Rais Jakaya Kikwete ameguswa na msiba huo na ametoa salamu za rambirambi kufutiwa vifo hivyo na kuwataka wafiwa kuwa na moyo wa subira katika kipindi hiki kigumu na kukiri yuko pamoja nao.
Salamu hizo za pole amezitoa kupitia Kaimu Mkuu wa Mkoa wa Dar es salaam, Meck Sadick.
“Nimepokea kwa masikitiko taarifa hizi za msiba wa wanafunzi naendelea kusikitika kupoteza wanafunzi ambao ni bado ni wa wachanga ambao wangekuwa nguvu kazi ya Taifa” amesema JK
Mapenzi yawaweka pabaya wanafunzi
WANAFUNZI watano wa shule ya Sekondari Mbagala ya jijini Dar es Salaam wanashikiliwa na jeshi la polisi kwa kuwafanyia fujo wanafunzi wenzao wa shule ya Sekondari Nzasa kwa sababu za kimapenzi.
Mwishoni mwa juma lililopita wanafunzi hao waliwavamia wanafunzi wenzao wakiwa na silaha za ugomvi yakiwemo mawe, misumari kwa madai na kuchukuliwa mpenzi wao kwa madai kuna mwanafunzi wa kiume wa shule hiyo alikuwa na mahusiano ya kimapenzi na mwanafunzi wa kike ambae alikuwa na mpenzi wake katika shule hiyo
Kamanda wa Polisi Mkoa wa Temeke, David Missime, amesema kuwa chanzo cha vurugu hizo zilisababishwa na mwanafunzi mmoja wa shule ya Mbagala alikuwa na mahusiano ya kimapenzi na msichana mmoja wa shule hiyo na baadae mwanafunzi huyo alibaini kuwa mpenzi wake huyo ana mahusiano na mwanafunzi mwingine anayesoma Nzasa.
Kamanda Misime amesema kuwa, kutokana na ugunduzi huo mwanafunzi huyo aliamua kwenda na kundi lake shuleni hapo kwenda kumfanyia vurugu mwanafunzi huyo.
Waliokamatwa kwa kusababisha vurugu hizo ni Said Muhibu wa kidato cha tatu, Reuben Hosea wa kidato cha tatu, Shana Reagan wa kidato cha nne wa shule ya Mbagala na Twahir Sultan wa shule ya Nzasa
Hivyo kamanda huyo alivifafanulia vyombo vya habari kuwa upelelezi utakapokamilika wanafunzi hao watafikishwa Mahakamani.
Msaada wa chakula ni haba Somalia
Shirika la Chakula Duniani, WFP, linasema linabidi kupunguza posho inazogawa nchini Somalia, na inawaacha maelfu bila ya chakula kwa sababu halina fedha za kutosha.
Wanawake wa Somalia wanapiga foleni mtaa wa Shangani, Mogadishu kuomba msaada wa chakula
Shirika hilo linasema akiba ya chakula ni thuluthi tu ya kile kinachohitajika kuwalisha Wasomali milioni moja wanaohitaji msaada kwa sababu ya ukame na vita vya mika mingi.
WFP inasema inahitaji dola milioni 53, kugharimia mahitaji ya Somalia hadi mwisho wa mwaka, na itakutana na wafadhili katika wiki chache zijazo.
Hatua mpya ya kupambana na uharamia
Shirika la Umoja wa Mataifa linaloshughulika na safari za meli duniani, IMO, kwa mara ya kwanza limetoa idhini kwa makampuni ya ulinzi ya kibinafsi, kuzikinga meli na uharamia.
Mlinzi wa pwani ya Jamhuri ya Somaliland anarudi baada ya zamu
Baada ya kukutana kwa siku tisa mjini London, IMO imetoa mwongozo kuhusu namna makampuni na walinzi binafsi wenye silaha, wanavoweza kuendesha shughuli zao ndani ya meli katika maeneo ya hatari, pamoja na kando ya mwambao wa Somalia.
Asili mia 10 ya meli katika eneo hilo zinakuwa na walinzi wao binafsi wenye silaha, lakini wadadisi wanasema idadi hiyo inaweza kuzidi baada ya Umoja wa Mataifa kutoa idhini.
Msemaji wa IMO, Peter Cook, ameiambia BBC kuwa ulinzi unaotolewa na manuwari za kimataifa hautoshi:
"Majeshi ya wanamaji ya kimataifa hayawezi kutoa ulinzi wa kutosha kwa sababu hayana tena vifaa.
Kwa hivo ni wazi kuwa lazima ichukuliwe hatua ili kufanya biashara huru iendelee.
Kwa sababu hivi sasa, imefika hadi kuwa uharamia unaanza kutishia bidhaa kupita katika Bahari ya Hindi na Mfereji wa Suez."
New guidance on AIS use in pirate risk areas
Regulation V/19 of the SOLAS Convention sets out navigational equipment to be carried on board ships, according to ship type. Under the regulation, ships fitted with AIS shall maintain AIS in operation at all times except where international agreements, rules or standards provide for the protection of navigational information, MarineLog reports.
IMO Resolution A.917(22), Guidelines for the onboard operational use of shipborne automatic identification systems (AIS), states that “if the master believes that the continual operation of AIS might compromise the safety or security of his/her ship, the AIS may be switched off. This might be the case in sea areas where pirates and armed robbers are known to operate. Actions of this nature should always be recorded in the ship’s logbook together with the reason for doing so.”
The advice from EUNAVFOR and NATO in accordance with IMO Resolution A.917(22) and as articulated in BMP3 paragraph 7.5 states “the Master has the discretion to switch off the AIS if he believes its use increases the ship’s vulnerability” and until now it has been recommended that AIS transmission within the Gulf of Aden be left on with restrictions, and outside the Gulf of Aden in other parts of the High Risk Area be turned off completely.
In order that Counter Piracy Naval Operations have the required data from AIS transmissions to track real time positions of merchant ships, thus enabling them to mitigate risk of piracy to merchant shipping, the advice has been revised.
The NEW recommendation is to leave AIS transmitting across the entire High Risk Area as set out in BMP3. AIS transmission should continue to be restricted to ship’s identity, position, course, speed, navigational status and safety-related information. As noted, this is a change to the previous guidance which recommended that AIS be left on only in the Gulf of Aden. The decision on AIS policy remains at the discretion of the Master, however, if it is switched off during transit, it should be activated immediately at the time of an attack.
Source: Port News
Rais mpya wa Ivory Coast ameapishwa
Miezi sita baada ya uchaguzi uliokuwa na mzozo, rais mpya wa Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, ameapishwa.
Alassane Ouattara akiapishwa
Sherehe zilizofanywa mji mkuu, Yamoussoukro, zilihudhuriwa na viongozi wengi wa Afrika pamoja na Rais Sarkozy wa Ufaransa na Katibu Mkuu wa Umoja wa Mataifa, Ban Ki-Moon.
Bwana Uottara aliushukuru ulimwengu kwa kumuunga mkono , na alisema kwamba kauli ya wananchi wa Ivory Coast imeshinda.
Piya alitoa wito kwa watu kuonesha udugu na mapatano, na aliahidi kuwa ataongoza kwa niaba ya taifa zima.
Mwandishi wa BBC mjini Abidjan anasema, kazi kubwa inayomkabili Bwana Outtara ni usalama na uchumi.
Gbagbo sworn in as Cote d'Ivoire president despite poll dispute
Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo has been sworn in for a new term, defying an international outcry over last Sunday's run-off poll.
The US, UN and France say the election was won by Mr Gbagbo's rival - opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara.
He was declared the winner by the nation's electoral body, but this was overturned by the Constitutional Council in favour of Mr Gbagbo.
Mr Ouattara is also planning to hold his own swearing-in ceremony.
The presidential run-off was intended to reunify the world's largest cocoa producer after a civil war in 2002, but could now leave the nation with two rival presidents.
Jina lililofichwa laanikwa hadharani
Hatimaye jina la mcheza soka ambaye lilizuiwa na mahakama kutajwa na vyombo vya habari nchini Uingereza, sasa limetajwa hadharani.
Giggs
Mchezaji huyo ambaye ameoa na kudaiwa kuwa na uhusiano wa kimapenzi nje ya ndoa ametajwa kuwa ni Ryan Giggs wa Manchester United.
Jina hilo lilitajwa na mbunge John Hemming
kupitia kifungu cha bunge kinachoruhusu kuvunja amri ya mahakama.
Ancelotti atimuliwa umeneja wa Chelsea
Chelsea imemtimua meneja wake Carlo Ancelotti baada ya kumaliza msimu wake wa pili bila kombe lolote.
Alitimuliwa baada ya Chelsea kumaliza Ligi msimu huu kwa kuchapwa bao 1-0 na Everton na klabu hiyo ikimaliza kwa kushika nafasi ya pili ya msimamo wa Ligi Kuu ya Soka ya England.
Ancelotti mwenye umri wa miaka 51 mkataba wake ulikuwa umalizike mwakani katika klabu ya Chelsea.
Taarifa ya klabu hiyo imesema: "Matumaini yetu kwa msimu huu yamekuwa mabaya kutokana na matokeo tuliyopata tofauti na tulivyotarajia na klabu inaona ni sawa kabisa kufanya mabadiliko haya kwa ajili ya maandalizi mazuri ya msimu ujao."
Wameshindwa kubeba kombe la Ubingwa wa Ligi na kuikodolea macho Manchester United ikichukua kombe hilo kwa mara ya 19 wiki moja iliyopita, pia Chelsea wakatolewa katika mbio za kuwania Ubingwa wa Vilabu kwa nchi za Ulaya, wakatupwa nje kombe la FA na vilevile kuwania Kombe la Carling msimu huu.
Chelsea ambao walikuwa mabingwa watetezi wa Ligi Kuu na Kombe la FA msimu huu uliopita, wamemaliza pointi tisa nyuma ya Manchester United na wamewatangulia Manchester City walioshika nafasi ya tatu kwa tofauti ya mabao tu.
Meneja wa zamani wa klabu hiyo Avram Grant naye alikumbana na hali kama hiyo wakati Chelsea ilipomaliza nafasi ya pili katika Ligi Kuu ya England na ikashindwa katika fainali ya Ubingwa wa Ulaya mwaka 2008 kwa mikwaju ya penalti.
Na mmiliki wa klabu hiyo Roman Abramovich, aliyemsajili Fernando Torres kwa kitita cha paundi milioni 50 wakati wa usajili mdogo mwezi wa Januari, sasa ataanza hekaheka za kumpata meneja mwengine mwenye uwezo wa kuchukua ubingwa wa Ligi Kuu kutoka kwa Manchester United na pia tamaa kubwa ya klabu hiyo ya kubeba kombe la klabu bingwa ya Ulaya.
Birmingham na Blackpool nazo zashuka
Birmingham imeteremka daraja na msimu ujao itacheza ligi daraja la kwanza maarufu Championship, baada ya Roman Pavlyuchenko kufunga bao la pili dakika ya mwisho ya mchezo na kuipatia Tottenham, nafasi ya tano.
Ligi Kuu ya Soka ya England msimu wa 2010/2011 yamalizika
Wakati hali ya mambo ilipoonekana kuwaendea vizuri, Birmingham walionekana kuwa katika hali salama baada ya Craig Gardner kusawazisha bao la kwanza la Tottenham lililofungwa pia na Pavlyuchenko.
Lakini bao la pili la Wolves katika mechi yao dhidi ya Blackburn walipofungwa 3-2 nyumbani kwao, liliisukuma Birmingham katika timu tatu za mwisho za kushuka daraja.
Na bao la pili la Pavlyuchenko katika dakika ya mwisho ya mchezo liliihakikishia Birmingham kuteremka daraja msimu huu.
Nao Blackpool wamemaliza ligi ya msimu huu kwa hali ya unyonge baada ya kufungwa mabao 4-2 na mabingwa Manchester United, hali iliyowafanya nao waungane na Birmingham pamoja na West Ham kushuka daraja katika ligi kuu ya soka ya England msimu huu.
Park Ji-sung aliipatia bao la kuongoza Manchester United kabla ya mkwaju wa free-kick uliopigwa na Charlie Adam kuipatia Blackpool bao la kusawazisha.
Gary Taylor-Fletcher aliweza kuipatia Blackpool bao la pili na ubao wa mabao ukasomeka 2-1 kabla ya Anderson kusawazisha na kufanya matokeo 2-2.
Ian Evatt alijifunga mwenyewe na kuipatia Manchester United bao la tatu na Michael Owen akamalizia kazi kwa kufunga bao la nne lililozidi kuizamisha katika nafasi ya kushuka daraja Blackpool.
Baada ya mchezo huo Manchester United walikabidhiwa kombe lao la ubingwa wa Ligi ya England kwa msimu wa 2010/2011.
Ferguson akishangilia baada ya mchezo
Nao mabingwa wa msimu uliopita Chelsea walimaliza ligi kwa kufungwa bao 1-0 na Everton, bao lililofungwa na Jermaine Beckford. Katika mchezo huo Everton walicheza wakiwa pungufu ya mchezaji mmoja baada ya Seamus Coleman kuoneshwa kadi nyekundu kwa kumchezea rafu John Obi Mikel.
Manchester City wamekamilisha msimu wa ligi kwa kushika nafasi ya tau baada ya ushindi wa mabao 2-0 dhidi ya Bolton na moja kwa moja watacheza Ligi ya Mabingwa wa Ulaya msimu ujao ikiwa ni nafasi ya juu kumaliza tangu mwaka 1977.
Baada ya kupoteza nafasi nyingi za kufunga hatimaye Joleon Lescott alifunga bao la kwanza kwa kichwa muda mfupi kabla ya mapumziko.
Bolton walijitahidi kupigana kiume kusawazisha lakini hali haikuwa njema upande wao kwani katika dakika ya 62 Edin Dzeko alifunga bao la pili.
Na bao la kusawaisha lililofungwa na Theo Walcott dakika za mwisho za mchezo, liliiwezesha Arsenal kutoka sare ya mabao 2-2 na Fulham na kuiokoa timu hiyo isiadhiriwe katika mchezo wa kufunga dimba.
Walcot aliyeingia kipindi cha pili alifanya juhudi binafsi za kupiga chenga na kukimbia na mpira kabla ya kuachia mkwaju uliojaa wavuni na kuisawazishia timu yake iliyokuwa imeshalala mabao 2-1 dhidi ya Fulham waliokuwa wakicheza kumi baada ya Zoltan Gera kutolewa nje kwa kadi nyekundu ya moja kwa moja kwa kumchezea rafu mbaya Thomas Vermaelean.
Steve Sidwell ndiye aliiyeipatia bao la kwanza Fulham baada ya kazi nzuri ya Bobby Zamora ya kuchonga majaro ya pembeni kabla Robin van Persie kusawazisha.
Zamora aliifungia Fulham bao la pili kwa kichwa na kuifanya Fulham iongoze kwa mabao 2-1 to Fulham, kabla ya Walcott kusawazisha zikiwa zimesalia dakika chache kabla mchezo haujamalizika.
Matokeo hayo maana yake timu hizo mbili hazikumaliza msimu wa ligi kama zilivyokuwa zikitarajia - Arsenal ilikuwa na matumaini ya kumaliza nafasi ya tatu hali ingewawezesha kucheza Ligi ya Mabingwa wa Ulaya moja kwa moja, wakati Fulham walikuwa na lengo la kumaliza katika timu nafasi ya saba hali iliyowafanya wamalize nafasi ya nane.
Matokeo mengine ya mechi za kumalizia msimu wa Ligi msimu wa 2010/2011 ni kama jedwali linavyoonesha.
IN SOMALIA, DEATH DANCES, AND LIFE RUINS
Despite the old crimes of human being such as murder, and cattle raid, there are new crimes which were unknown only a few years ago to the dying people, some of them are political violence, drugs related crimes or armed robbery phenomenon, money laundering, suicide-bombing, and terror fund given in the name of aiding Muslim individuals instead of state-to-state basis to mention a few. All these put together have dangerous impact upon Somalia’ life.
Somali Mother and ChildCivil war along with jihadist’s dogma devastated Mogadishu, once a beautiful resort and tourist attraction with moderate climate throughout the year; had turned itself a minefield; a ghost city full of corpses; replete with demolished or partially damaged houses, and dilapidated cars, in other words, as a result of the image appearing above, Somalia was referred as “ the walking dead” or “ the death city” by many media outlets.
The capital’s seaport once as busy as bee became an idle; however, the only rations that go through are ammunition, and veils, an old-fashion Arab dress code. leaving their kids in cozy caves, aged Jihadists rushed from their hideouts in Afghanistan; Pakistan to Mogadishu like swaps of locusts to take advantage of the security vacuum in southern Somalia; to marry the young underage girls whom circumstances compelled to scavenge maggots in her hometown, Mogadishu , the spicy odor of south East Asians is everywhere, political inability of Mogadishu inhabitants to figure out their problems tempted the thugs to intrude the country and thus fog of criminality blanketed the city, they rule with iron hand, now mullahs park their shallow sermons to unfortunate youth to allure the false martyrdom and after-sought Huuris( booties of divine beauty believed to live in heaven), their ugly voice through public speaker invades everyone.
Due to free export of leaflets( known as Risaalad) to Somalia by radical religious scholars, a new repulsive subculture of Islam was created, it reveres anarchy ,murder, and piracy, furthermore, butchers or Jihadist as they like call themselves get more attention than philanthropists, many teenagers as well as naïve blokes admired the sect, then listening western music, going to school, leading a peaceful life, and reading English all become not only against the mainstream tastes but also outlaws ; consequently, the good days of merry-go-round of childhood was destroyed. Sword rules every aspect of life. Liberating x country from Kafirs (infidels) is the talk of the town. So many humanitarian aid workers were either kidnapped or killed in Somalia, it is clear message that Somalis bite the hand that feeds them. This recently exported cult deprived Somali suffering people of their basic right to live in harmony with themselves and with their neighbors.
According to Herman J. Cohen, a former diplomat as well as Assistant Secretary for African Affairs:
Herman J. CohenOver the years, it was conventional wisdom in the press , even in academic circles, to describe the US operation in Somalia a failure because of the tragic events of October 3 1993. However , the is not the case President Bush’s objective of bringing a halt to massive starvation caused by warlords’ interference in food distribution was fully successful. ( Race and History News & Views, January 21..) , of course the massive hunger dramatically declined due to US intervention in Somalia.
The Bakara Market which is the biggest marketplace in Mogadishu are always storm by both sides in the fighting and thus casualties of its civilians are daily realities, Amison, a peacekeeping force in Somalia,
was frequently accused of the bombardments.
While massive rape in Congo prompted UN offices across the world to make inquiry; drew waves of criticism from human rights organizations, the killing of Mogadishu dwellers gone unnoticed never mind independent investigation! It is always like that when the victim is a fellow Somali; of course, it is heartbreaking to be Somali. My people are viewed as terrorists and troublemakers in the eyes of international community due to few bad apples; it is unfair to lump them together.
Banadari, Somali tribe with European ancestry or Asian origin, who were mainly well-off families before the war broke out, they lived in gated community and look slightly less darker than the rest of Somalis, therefore, are called whitish or Cadcad in vernacular language because Somalis are racist by nature. As soon as the rule and regulation evaporated; tanks rolled everywhere, the Banadari ethnicity born the brunt , besides the general mayhem they share with other tribes, they were targeted specifically because they were vulnerable ; therefore, their girls are gang raped in Mosques, and Churches, no one , be mullah or Bishop came to their rescue, some as young as thirteen were abused, they fled the country.
Education in SomaliaThree or more generations lost their formal education; nobody has high school certificate or genuine driving license, so the future of millions of Somalis is gloomy. Whole generations of ignorant people are knocking the door of the richer nations only to add burden of the welfare system of the industrial countries, in addition, none of them qualified to drive a bicycle let alone trains! Bleakness is compounded by terrorism of medieval century style; hungry girls are beaten to death because of the claims that a monsters, more specifically Jin are in the spirits of the poor girls! Many teenagers were stoned to death for alleged fornication, where is the male fornicator? Maybe he is semi-god mullah and hence the Kangaroo court scared of him to put him in trial, such inhuman code of punishment like beheadings and cross-legged amputations are applied only to the vulnerable sector of the society including minorities as well as unarmed clans, the powerful ones are above the law like royal family!
This is how Kangaroo court works in the twenty first century in full of view of the civilized world! Mogadishu’s unending story of catastrophe forced many people to flee, many youth who had taken refugee in Alshabab, the ruthless bearded beasts of unknown cult, are forcibly enlisted for exploitation or beheaded for their refusal to work under Allah’s command according to the naïve leaders of the organization.
Wardhiiglay, a killing field in Mogadishu, which means lake blood, thousands of innocent folks of Banaadaris and other tribes were massacred in cold –bloodily, dusty roads are filthy and foul-smelling due to corpses lie everywhere. Whereas Palestinians are expecting to go back to their villages in Israel after sixty years in the Diaspora, all available evidence shows that Banadaris are totally afraid of setting a foot in this horrific quarter of Mogadishu, they do not want to go back there. Its sign of evil human power for destruction; if calm restores the place would an epitaph of racial annihilation, but people get used to it, human bones towering all sides during the rainy season, kids usually take them to makeshift shelters to play as they have never seen toys since birthday. Most of their playgrounds are mass graves of their parents whom were brutally murdered; these little ones have very few choices, they just born; grown here. They do not imagine a life which different from theirs exists, radios are seen sophisticated devices only possessed by the privileged ones never mind TV sets.
Why God created Somalis? All they knew was suffering. Till to this day Somalis face daily humiliation done by the brutes such as Al shababs, more over, warlords striped of their humanity, striped of their faith in God, hence they become cynical about everyone, cursed theocracy subjugated already struggling Somalis to draconian laws, there is no point worse than where they reached now, they prayed for two decades, but no answer, all they see are the twin enemies: death and destruction. Somalia is confluence of starvation, fear, and debacle.
K'naan in SomaliaDuring American forces in Mogadishu, a capital synonymous with fatality, a life improved dramatically, Somali police force become one of the highest paid police officers in Africa, they receive about five hundred US dollars a month, as soon as the withdrawal is heard, the well-off families moved either to Nairobi or Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), the rest trapped inside, impoverished folks vied to take the trash left behind by US forces, many people died as result, but those who survived got leftover pancakes, others got toilet papers, and etc. “…struggling fighting to eat…” K'naan Warsame’s song “waving flag” is a reflection of bitter realities on the ground back in his country, some people were fighting to eat, but some others are battling for their dogma. Somalis are absolutely exhausted, not only did they compromise everything ranging from faith in God to abstract notion of Halal food, but also all they want is to do every thing they could to survive, war for survival begun when the world left the country to rotten.
I watched a Motel Family, a Canadian movie about my country, Somalia, the co-actor Ayan Roble is Canadian but originally from Somaliland region or so, though she seems to live in Canada for so long because her English was so excellent according to the judgment of the movie critics, but she still carries a vivid memories of the war throughout her stay in Canada with her, what happened to her and many of her ilk is yet resonating in their minds wherever they go. When I think of loss of lives, I think of my beloved father.
When the world get tired of their tragedy, Somali suffering masses feel utterly abandoned by everyone, , the US military intervention in 1993 to help starving multitudes was the last golden opportunity to Somalia as whole, in that period Somalia came again under spotlight, more than thirty thousands troops from over twenty countries arrived Somalia to keep peace there, but Mogadishu dwellers rejected to cooperate with the peacekeepers, then both the Restore Hope Operation of America, and Operation Solace of Australia failed, a barbarians in the name of Islam chanted “ infidel, infidel” when US marines arrived Mogadishu ,then US led forces realized they are unwanted here; as a result, the US retreated, the world followed, US peace task Marines’ pullout thunderstruck intellectuals , and ordinary folks alike; the skeletal folks were left in the company of mass starvation, as Somali crisis deepens ,the world attention turns either to Pakistan or Haiti crisis, after two decades of worthless bickering by the so-called politicians, the entire issue of Somalia
were thrown into the dustbin of history, but hope springs internal, ultimately, people are asking why the famine is everlasting, what causes hunger, when terminator will come , and whether massive starvation will ever go away? The poor is at loss what to do next?
Les questions soulevées sur le Congo d'abattage
FILE - In this May 19, 1997 file photo, a Hutu refugee with his hands bound begs for his life while being jabbed with a machete and punched by two Alliance soldiers, who the photographer identified as Rwandan Tutsis, 47 kilometers south of Kisangani, Congo, then Zaire. According to the photographer, the soldiers killed him seconds later. The discovery of mass graves prompted investigations that led to a controversial U.N. report published on Oct. 1, 2010 which accuses invading Rwandan troops of killing tens of thousands of Hutus 1996 and 1997. (AP Photo, FIle)
AP Enterprise: Questions raised on Congo slaughter
By MICHELLE FAUL (AP) – 5 hours ago
MUSEKERA, Congo — The mass graves are hidden in the darkening shade of a hard-to-reach banana plantation, high up a mountain above the cloud line, at the end of a treacherous dirt track slippery with mud and animal dung.
Those who survived say they did not go to the meeting called by Rwandan soldiers.
The Congolese Hutu peasants who did were brought out of the thatched-roof meeting house two by two, to be bludgeoned to death with their own hoes, picks and axes. Some 300 villagers died that morning of Oct. 20, 1996, according to the local Observation Center for Human Rights and Social Assistance.
The story of the 1994 genocide of more than a half million Tutsis slaughtered by Hutus in Rwanda has been told in the world's press, in books and in movies such as "Hotel Rwanda." But the subsequent slaughter of Hutus in neighboring Congo is little known, and its perpetrators never have been brought to justice. The discovery of mass graves prompted investigations that led to a controversial U.N. report published on Oct. 1, which accuses invading Rwandan troops of killing tens of thousands of Hutus in 1996 and 1997.
"There are many, many such mass graves. We've identified 30 just in this Rutshuru district, but our research indicates that this was the first massacre committed by Rwandan troops," the center's coordinator, Herve Nsabimana, said beside the banana trees.
Many victims told their wives to take the youngest children and hide in the fields. Today, Musekera is a village of widows. The only man over 50 was at a nearby health center during the massacre.
Matata Ihigihugo has relatives in three mass graves: her husband and two sons in the one reserved for males, a sister in the women's grave, and her 8-year-old daughter in the one where children's small bodies were buried.
"They killed all my people. I have no life left," said Ihigihugo, who thinks she is 40 but looks many years older.
She objected to being asked to name her massacred family. "Why do you ask me to call out the names of those who are dead?" she demanded. "There can be no peace for me until they are properly buried."
It was the Rwandan Tutsi soldiers, led by now-president Paul Kagame, who as rebels ended Rwanda's 1994 genocide. But they now are accused of vengeful massacres of Hutus when they took the war into Congo.
Roberto Garreton, a Chilean lawyer who for eight years was the U.N. special rapporteur in Congo, told The Associated Press that his first report detailing massacres by Kagame's troops involved Hutus killed in Rwanda in 1994. He said the United Nations suppressed that report, apparently because of embarrassment and guilt that it did nothing to stop the genocide. The United Nations initially denied the existence of the report, which later was leaked.
After the Tutsi rebels triumphed and took over Rwanda's government, Kagame became vice president and defense minister. He sent troops into Congo in 1996 - although he denied it at the time - in an invasion that led to the ouster of Congo's longtime dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko.
U.N. reports in 1997 and 1998, including one by Garreton, blamed a coalition of Congolese rebel forces that Kagame later admitted were commanded by Rwandan officers for massacres of Hutus, and said they were on a scale to suggest a possible genocide. Then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan responded by asking Congo and Rwanda to investigate the allegations - basically to investigate themselves.
The evidence later became too big to sweep under the carpet. In 2005, U.N. peacekeepers uncovered mass graves in east Congo of hundreds of civilians believed to have been executed by Rwandan soldiers. The discovery prompted renewed investigations that culminated in the latest U.N. report, which said the killings in Congo were so systematic that a court could consider it genocide.
The report recommends that those responsible be punished but doesn't name names. Congo has said it is willing to establish a transnational court to punish those responsible. After months of denials that Rwandan troops were in Congo, Kagame took ownership of the invasion, admitting he had planned and ordered it. Among officers commanding the coalition forces was Joseph Kabila, now president of Congo.
Last month, 40 Congolese police officers and a few army military investigators completed a course in forensic science that trained them to find evidence in mass graves. It was paid for by the U.S. State Department and organized by the American Bar Association. The training was led by Peruvian forensic anthropologist Jose Pablo Baraybari, who has investigated massacres in Bosnia.
The trainees worked on dummies set up on mock graves, Elysee Sindayigaya said from the bar association's office in Goma, eastern Congo. "We're making representations to the government of Congo to try to get access to real mass graves, but it's very sensitive."
Kagame, whose reputation is pegged to the moral high ground of having stopped Rwanda's Hutu-led genocide while U.N. peacekeepers and the international community did nothing, tried to get the latest report quashed by threatening to withdraw Rwandan troops from U.N. peacekeeping operations in several countries, including the commander of the forces in Darfur, Sudan. The report was published with some language moderated, but the reference to possible genocide remained. Its publication was delayed to include lengthy rebuttals from Rwanda and Congo.
Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo calls the report "an attempt to rewrite history" and "flawed and dangerous."
Kagame has succeeded in the past in stifling similar accusations.
"The question now is the same question there was then: Is there the political will to identify the killers and bring them to justice?" asked Reed Brody, a former deputy U.N. investigator who helped write the 1998 report.
Human rights activists say Kagame's allies in the U.S. and British governments, which pour aid into Rwanda and have used it as a platform to dilute French influence in the region, don't want him investigated. Many fear digging further could destabilize the already volatile Central African region.
Kagame was trained at the U.S. Army Command and Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1990. Once he came into power, the U.S. Special Forces trained Rwandan troops before, during and after the invasion of Congo - even as U.N. and other investigators reported their alarm at alleged atrocities by the government soldiers.
Kagame has said his invasion of Congo was aimed at dismantling massive refugee camps
that sheltered both Rwandan Hutu refugees and perpetrators of the genocide. At the time, reporters documented how the camps were being militarized by genocide perpetrators who used them as launch pads for cross-border raids into Rwanda.
Many times, Kagame urged the United Nations to separate the armed men from the refugees and dismantle the camps. Kagame has said that in 1996 he warned the United States and the United Nations that if they would not do it, he would.
A 1997 Human Rights Watch report that sought to identify commanders of the massacres said James Kabarebe, who became Rwanda's defense minister in April, was the most senior Rwandan officer in Congo during the invasion. Messages left at Rwanda's Ministry of Defense got no response to requests for a comment.
Kagame has said most of those who died were genocide perpetrators. But the new U.N. report says Rwandan troops routinely invited refugees or villagers to meetings and then slaughtered them.
"The extensive use of edged weapons (primarily hammers) and the apparently systematic nature of the massacres of survivors after the camps had been taken suggests that the numerous deaths cannot be attributed to the hazards of war or seen as equating to collateral damage," the report says, adding that most victims were "children, women, elderly people and the sick."
Like the report, Brody noted that the impunity established then has helped fuel violence in Congo that persists to this day.
"The fact that these killings of tens of thousands, if not more, went utterly unpunished, the fact that there was clearly not the political will to identify the authors of these massacres and to bring them to justice, has facilitated the cycle of violence," he said.
Brody said his own investigation in 1997 and 1998 was obstructed by Congo's government and by the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital.
"We were asking the U.S. for information, for satellite photos we knew existed of the refugee camps. We never got a thing," he said. Requests for interviews about the role the United States military and its diplomats played during Rwanda's invasion of Congo all were referred to the U.S. State Department,
which did not respond to questions. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, who was assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 1997, refused a request for an interview.
Brody said that while Washington probably felt tremendous guilt for not doing anything to stop the 1994 genocide and was glad that Rwanda helped rid Congo of Mobutu, "at the same time there were these thousands of cold-blooded unforgivable murders of, for the most part, unarmed people."
Uncovering the graves, proving how people were killed and even perhaps identifying them could bring closure for people like Ihigihugo, one of the widows of Musekera.
"There can be no rest for people buried like that," she said of the mass graves. "Giving a proper burial to my family also would put my heart at rest.
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