Africa

Shelling in Mogadishu Kills 20

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – At least 20 people have been killed and more than 35 others wounded in north of the Somali capital Mogadishu, just as heavy shelling landed into several areas in the capital on Thursday afternoon.

The bombardment started after rebel fighters launched mortar attacks on the Somali presidential Palace, which was hosting a meeting between Somali president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and traditional elders. African Union troops, which guard the palace, responded to the attack with heavy artillery shells that landed in Mogadishu’s northern neighbourhoods of Yaqshid and Shibi.

Mostly civilians were confirmed as casualties by the Mogadishu ambulance workers, who had hard time evading the shelling themselves in order to reach the wounded.

Reports say that most of the areas where the mortar shells affected were: Tokyo neighborhood, Sukba’ad, the second largest market in Mogadishu and Yakshid police station, all in the north of the capital.

Ali Muse, head of the emergency ambulance said that they took 19 wounded civilians including all parts of the people and added that they saw 11 dead bodies in the area as well.

The Somali PM called on international community not to organize another national reconciliation talks but instead to help his fragile government. The Somali government, which only control few blocks of Mogadishu, has been faced with daunting task of restoring peace and order in a country. The country has been marred by years of civil strife.

For more information, please see:

Garrowe Online- Shelling Rocks Mogadishu, 20 Dead – 7 January 2010

Shabelle Media Network – Heavy Shelling Kills 20, Wounds More Than 35 Others in North Mogadishu – 8 January 2010

Shabelle Media Network – Mortars Murder 1, Injuries 3 Others in Mogadishu – 8 January 2010

Deadly Floods in Kenya Carries Concern of Disease

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya — Some 30,000 people are in urgent need of shelter, water, food and healthcare after heavy rainfall caused massive flooding killing at least 21 people over parts of Kenya in the past two weeks and displacing thousands more.

The Kenya Red Cross (KRCS) on Tuesday called for help on behalf of families flooded out of their homes and in danger of waterborne disease. More than 70,000 people countrywide are at risk as they are said to reside in areas earmarked to suffer heavy rains.

Roads and bridges have been either destroyed or severely damaged, cutting off villagers and leaving them without food or potable water, putting them at risk of cholera and other waterborne diseases. The KRCS has begun trucking non-food items to Turkana and Nakuru in the northwest, where about 30,000 people have been affected in the past few days. The consignment includes blankets, jerry cans, mosquito nets, kitchen sets, soap and water treatment tablets.

These types of emergency activities are very expensive, said Abbas Gullet, KRCS Secretary-General. So far, the search and rescue activities have cost KRCS about KSh30 million (US$400,000), an amount sufficient to respond to the current needs but not if prolonged rains cause future damage, he added. “This has the potential of becoming an environmental disaster. We managed to address the immediate needs, but we need support to help our brothers and sisters,” Gullet told IRIN.

According to National Disaster Operation Centre (NDOC), the area most badly affected by the floods is the North Rift Valley region. In one district, Turkana East, five people died, five bridges were destroyed, many farms and households were damaged, while hundreds of head of livestock perished.

Megan Gilgan, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) chief of emergency, told IRIN: “We are concerned about recurrences of watery diarrhea and cholera in Lokori, East Turkana. The area already faced an unprecedented outbreak in the month of December and the situation could worsen now. We have emergency health kits available and water purification tablets for 30,000 people, enough supplies for a month.”

Floods are not common this time of year in Kenya. Meteorologists have blamed the unusual heavy rains on El Nino. El Nino is a periodic warming of the water in the tropical Pacific Ocean accompanied by changes in air pressure and winds that can affect weather worldwide.

For more information, please see:

IRIN – Disease Threat Follows Floods – 6 January 2010
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001060840.html

Capital News – After floods, disease stalks Kenyans – 5 January 2010
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/After-floods,-disease-stalks-Kenyans-6999.html

All Africa – Aid Appeal for Flood Victims Sent Out as Heavy Rains Forecast to Continue – 5 January 2010
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001050968.html

New York Times – 21 Drown in Floods in Kenya – 5 January 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/05/world/AP-AF-Kenya-Floods.html

Zimbabwe Working On New Constitution Representative of The People

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

HARARE, Zimbabwe-On Monday a week-long parliamentary caucus was started to begin Zimbabwe’s process of creating a new constitution.  It was revealed today by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change Party Publication that foreign donors had agreed to fund the process of making a new constitution, which would likely lead to “real” multiparty elections. The estimated costs for the entire process are around 3.6 million dollars a month.

Much of today’s time during the caucus was spent on how much money would be distributed to senators and others involved in the process. It is expected that the government will hire around 800 people for high-paying temporary jobs as field officers. These field officer’s jobs would be to ask Zimbabweans what they would like to see in the new constitution.

The goal has been to make this constitution representative of the Zimbabwean people. The actual process of consulting the Zimbabwean people on a new constitution is to begin next week. Many different civic groups have spent weeks training activists to educate communities about the new charter and provide new ideas for it, to ensure the goal of the constitution is met.

Olivia Gumbo, a coordinator for the Zimbabwean Human Rights Association emphasized that her group wants a “people driven document.” “We are talking about the right to participate in the governance issues, the right to vote, the right to speak out your view and also, the freedom of association,” she said.

This new constitution is part of a power-sharing agreement between President Robert Mugabe’s party and Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s party. The new constitution is hoped to end months of confrontation and controversial elections, and lead to “fresh” and fair ones within two years.

For more information please see:

Reuters –South Africa Sees Progress In Slow Zimbabwe Talks – 5 January 2010

Time – Zim MP’s Scramble for Seats On Gravy Train – 5 January 2010

VOA – Drafting Of New Constitution To Begin In Zimbabwe – 5 January 2010

Ugandan Troops Kill LRA Leader in CAR

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda – A Senior Commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army militant group in the Central African Republic (CAR) has been killed.

On Friday, along with one of his fighters, Bok Abudema was killed.  According to military and intelligence officials, he was effectively the militant group’s second-in-command, since the wounding of Deputy Commander Okot Odhiambo about a year ago.

“After Odhiambo sustained serious injuries, Abudema took over as the overall commander and deputy to Kony,” said an unnamed intelligence officer.  “[The captured rebel fighters] know him as the most senior after Kony until we got him.”

He added, “To us at the moment [Odhiambo] is immaterial because he is no longer a threat.”

Two women were found with the men and were freed, according to an army spokesman.

In a campaign to destroy the LRA, the Ugandan army is operating outside of its own borders.  The LRA was once largely concentrated in northern Uganda until a successful campaign by the army drove the group out.  The Ugandan army has since deployed to northern Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan, and the CAR, where the LRA moved.

The LRA is scattered across dense forests and swamps, savannah, and deserts in a remote area, ideal locations for guerilla operations.

Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Felix Kulayigye reported that LRA Leader Joseph Kony was moving between the CAR and Sudan’s Darfur region in order to escape Ugandan army patrols.

“This was a New Year’s gift to Uganda,” said Lt. Col. Kulayigye.  “He was a notorious commander but his life has come to an end.”

A number of senior commanders in the LRA have been killed.  In November, Okello Kutti, another senior commander of the LRA, was killed.  In September, a top bodyguard to Kony was captured.

Last month, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay demanded the capture of LRA leaders for crimes against humanity, including killings, torture, rape of hundreds of civilians, and abducting women and children for use as sex slaves and porters.

“[The carefully synchronized attacks on villages], and systematic and widespread human rights violations carried out by the LRA…may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said Pillay’s report.  “The international community, including governments in the region, should cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to search for, arrest, and surrender the LRA leaders accused of crimes against humanity.”

Kony and two other LRA leaders are wanted by the ICC on 33 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

A peace agreement was reached by rebel leaders and the Ugandan government in April 2008 but Kony has repeatedly failed to appear to sign the deal.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Ugandan Rebel Leader Killed in Cent.Africa Republic – 02 January 2010

BBC – Uganda Reports Killing LRA Commander Abudema in CAR – 02 January 2010

NY Times – Uganda Troops Kill a Rebel Leader – 02 January 2010

Gay Couple Arrested in Malawi

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Journal, Africa Desk

BLANTYRE, Malawi-Today, two men, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, were arrested and jailed after participating in Malawi’s first same-sex public wedding ceremony over the weekend.  The ceremony took place on Saturday.  The two men are set to appear in court soon, to face charges of gross indecency. Homosexuality is banned in the conservative southern African country where discussions involving sexual orientation are still very taboo. The country’s penal code outlaws homosexuality and sodomy, which are both punishable by a maximum of fourteen years in jail.

Hundreds of people attended the ceremony. It was held at a guesthouse in Blantyre, which included traditional and hip-hop music and consisted of the two men wearing traditional robes. “I went there to see for myself a gay couple, “Finiasi Chikaoneka, one of the hundreds of people who attended the ceremony told, AFP.  “There were many people who were just curious about the whole affair because this was the first time that gays have come out openly,” he added.

The Malawi law society, composed of around 150 lawyers in Malawi, has condemned the wedding, saying it was illegal and “against the order of nature.” Gift Trapenze, who is in charge of the centre for the Development of People (“CEDEP”), which is in an advocate for gays, prostitutes, and prisoners, defended the couple, saying “they were expressing their legal rights.” Trapenze claims the wedding was aimed at challenging the Malawi laws which were silent on these issues. “the two individuals were expressing their sexual orientation as human beings. The police should not interefere in this matter,” he told AFP.

For more information please see:

AFP – Malawi Arrests Newly-Wed Gays For Gross Indecency – 29 December 2009

BBC – Malawi Gay Couple To Face Court After Engagement – 29 Decemeber 2009

NY Times – Malawi Police Arrest 2 Men for Engagement Ceremony – 29 December 2009