TIME FOR THE AU TO WALK THE TALK

Time for the AU to walk the talk
Thursday, 22nd July, 2010	E-mail article Print article
EDITOR—Africa tops the world in all the negative indices of development, although some are exaggerated by the imperial world. Somalia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo take the cake. If you draw a line on the African map linking Mogadishu, Khartoum and Kinshasa, you will get a perfect parallelogram of conflicts. It is no coincidence, therefore, that there are three cities on the continent in which the only functioning stimulus for development is piracy and banditry! What concrete measures will the African Union (AU) SUMMIT in Kampala put across to address these? The non-interference clAUse to sovereign states was removed from the OAU Charter as it became the Constitutive Act of African Union. In other words, states can now intervene in other countries’ affairs to stem these conflicts. Is it possible therefore, for African leaders to meet in Darfur or Somalia to stem these crises and accelerate the continental union? Since the coming into effect of the Constitutive Act of African Union, the OAUtransformed into the AU which was lAUnched in July 2002. South Africa volunteered to provide the home for the New Partnership for African development (NEPAD), but as I write this, NEPAD has never constructed even a toilet on this continent! It is not enough to just criticise and do nothing. Instead, we should try and light the candle to make the darkness disappear. But our leaders are the ones hesitant to light the candles they hold, so darkness continues. The AU agreed to deploy troops in Somalia, but up to now it is only Uganda and Burundi in Somalia. The al-Shabaab operating in lawless Somalia are now claiming to have planted bombs that killed 76 people and injured many others in Kampala. Why can’t we as a united Africa finish them off? I will not be surprised when we start debating first-tracking the AU as opposed to the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) like ECOWAS, EAC, and SADC. In 2007, Ethiopia due to increased pressure withdrew its troops from Somalia. Subsequent to this, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa promised to send troops under the AUspices of the African Union Mission (AMISOM) in Somalia, but up to now nothing has materialized. The 15th African Union SUMMIT in Kampala, like the previous ones on the continent, crafted a good theme and leaders will have to debate issues about maternal and infant mortality rates but what we need is to turn these millennium development “dreams” into reality. We can never develop any part of this continent without security. It is like dreaming of going to heaven before you die. Africa should stop being a lame duck or a crime child of the world. We must walk the talk. We can never afford to be backward any more. Most of the reports in the media and commentaries about Africa from the profitable multi-billion industry of pessimism forecast that nothing good comes out of the “dark continent”. We Africans are constantly reminded that we should take charge of our destiny and stop blaming slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism, decolonisation or globalisation for our conditions. Yet whenever any initiative emanates from us to face these challenges they are dismissed by the West as either unrealistic or having a hidden agenda of someone who is out to “manipulate” ignorant Africans. African leaders have to be more relevant on specific questions otherwise we will continue to be the lAUghing stock of the world. African leaders should concentrate on resolving the Darfur crisis, Somalia insurgency and other areas that are threatened by insecurity or disorder. As Kwame Nkrumah put it, “Backwards never forward forever”. Amen. Stephen Asiimwe. Kampala

VOICES FROM KAMPALA: THE AU BREAKS ITS SILENCE ON CHILD DEATHS

From New Vision and Internet Sources

Compiled by Africa News Online

1. “The African Union SUMMIT in Kampala last week focused on the health of mothers and children, a development that has a chance to transform into hope for the African Child and Safe Motherhood.

“When we invest in mothers, whole societies benefit,

When we care for children,

We raise a new generation of leaders.

This is the doctrine at the United Nations.

“In Sudan, 16-year-old Awatif Altayib

Lost her baby following two days of difficult labour,

She emerged from the ordeal herself injured with obstetric fistula.
Her future with this debilitating condition looked bleak

Until she recovered with assistance from the UN Population Fund

Now Altayib is a working midwife, helping other women to survive.

“Southern Sierra Leone has one gynecologist

Serving an area home to 2.5million people

That is why recently when Hawa Barrie suffered complications in pregnancy; She and her family feared the worst
But the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

Is working with the Government and other partners

To improve health services there

Thanks to these efforts, Hawa survived,

Her newborn son received his shots,

Both are on their way to a healthy life

“Abiodun Titi of Niger is another thriving African mother.

Although she is HIV-positive,

She was able to conceive with her HIV-negative husband safely

Thanks to a method involving the female condom

With help from the UN and its partners,

She now teaches others this life-saving approach.
Unfortunately, millions African women

Do not have the same opportunities.

Maternal mortality rates on the continent

Are among the highest in the world

Progress in reaching the Millennium Development Goal

Of drastically reducing these deaths has been abysmally slow.

“Fortunately, African leaders are squarely facing the issue.

The scale and seriousness of the problem demand no less.

It is especially fitting that the AU SUMMIT

Focused on maternal and child health

“Africans place great cultural value on mothers

Not only those who give birth,

But all women,

Since in a meaningful social sense

All are helping to raise children.

“The UN is ready to work with Africa

To make good on its proud traditions

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Recently launched a Joint Action Plan

To accelerate progress on safe motherhood,

Calling for 2010 to be a turning point for women’s health

“Africa’s leaders must also do their part

By pledging the resources we need

To honor past promises and open the way to a better future

We have a blueprint in the Maputo Plan of Action

On Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights,

Which has clear objectives and detailed cost estimates

For how to reach them

As Africa leaders commit to doing their part,

So should their development partners.

“The AU SUMMIT should join its voice

To the rising chorus of partners

Supporting the Joint Action Plan

That means expanding national health plans

That put priority on women and children’s health

“It requires increasing the proportion

Of the budget resources for this purpose

Countries must commit to a full continuum of care,

So that women are not just seen when an emergency strikes,

And so that clinics and caregivers address

All of their reproductive health needs,

Whether pregnancy-related or not

And we must reach even the most remote

And poverty-stricken areas

“By taking a strong stance backed by concrete pledges of funds, The SUMMIT can unleash a wave of progress within countries,

Across the region and around the world

“I know the value of a declaration from the continent’s leaders.

During my years as Tanzania’s minister

For Community Development, Gender and Children,

I saw how a signal from the AU SUMMIT could serve as a rallying point

For our work countrywide,

Spur action throughout the region and benefit the continent

And from my view at the UN,

I see how Africa’s bold actions

Can inspire other continents to advance

“There will naturally be many other issues

Requiring the SUMMIT’s attention,

Including conflicts, poverty and other blights

That are causing so many girls and women to suffer

But by putting their health at the top of the agenda,

The SUMMIT will do more than benefit individual females —

It will set the stage for resolving these broader problems

And creating a better world for all”
Asha Rose Migiro,

United Nations deputy Secretary-General

2. “The G8 leaders have committed $10m annually

To fund maternal and child health in Africa

And other developing nations
The funds will be used to improve

The welfare of infants and mothers

And also prevent their deaths.

The theme for the AU SUMMIT was

“Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa”

President Mutharika suggested that African leaders invest in food security

To reverse the high maternal and infant mortality in the continent
According to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities,

About 240,000 mothers die annually in Africa while giving birth.
President Yoweri Museveni called on Africa to address social-economic transformation to attain maternal and child health.

Museveni said Uganda had over 1,600 health centers,

Noting that the units had reduced maternal mortality

From about 600 deaths per 100,000 live births in the 1990s

To about 435 deaths per 100,000 live births currently.

He added that infant mortality had reduced

From 130 deaths per 100,000 live births in the 1990s

To about 76 deaths per 100,000 live births currently.

“Investing in women pays.

It is one of the best investments we can make

For this and future generations,” said Migiro.

Migiro noted that progress on maternal and child health

In Africa had been lagging behind.

She urged the AU to build on the Maputo Plan

For Sexual and Reproductive Health,

The CARMMA Campaign

For Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa

And the Abuja Call for Accelerated Action

Towards Universal Access to HIV/AIDS,

TB and Malaria services

3. “Leaders meeting for the 4th African Union Summit in Kampala should address the long-term health situation in their countries, in addition to increasing health budgets to 15%. “Although some states have made progress in addressing maternal and child health by increasing their budgets, they are still far below the 40% allocation recommended by the World Health Organization. “Allocating 15% to health is not adequate. It also requires investment in other social determinants such as a skilled workforce, access to water and a better environment,” The reports also show that absence of skilled workers at birth is the leading cause of maternal death. African leaders criticized for being complacent about meeting the 15% health budget target due to lack of political will. African governments should adopt innovative health financing systems to increase access to health services. Community insurance schemes, levies on products, charity events and outreaches are some of the creative ways of raising funds to support healthcare. Over 95% of all illnesses are lifestyle-related and people should observe better personal health. We should recognize that when people die, it is not God who has called them or that their time has come. We should blame our weaknesses and our health system. The public should be proactive and demand quality health services from their leaders. “The key role of any government is to ensure that its people are healthy and governments should have retention schemes to ensure that health workers are motivated to work in rural areas.

AU ASKED TO FOCUS ON LONG TERM HEALTH PLAN

Friday, 23rd July, 2010
Participants at the forum on strengthening gender equality in the AU at Hotel Africana on Wednesday By Taddeo Bwambale Leaders meeting for the 4th African Union SUMMIT in Kampala should address the long-term health situation in their countries, in addition to increasing health budgets to 15%. Rotimi Sankore of the African Public Health Alliance observed that although some states have made progress in addressing maternal and child health by increasing their budgets, they are still far below the 40% allocation recommended by the World Health Organisation. “Allocating 15% to health is not adequate. It also requires investment in other social determinants such as a skilled workforce, access to water and a better environment,” he said. He was speaking at the pre-AU SUMMIT media briefing on health and social development in Africa, held at Hotel Triangle on Thursday. He cited the 2010 Africa Maternal Health Scorecard and the 2010 Africa Health Financing Scorecard, both of which indicate that African states are slow in achieving three of the Millennium Development Goals — Goal 4, which seeks to reduce child mortality, Goal 5 to improve maternal health, and Goal 6 of combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The reports also show that absence of skilled workers at birth is the leading cAUse of maternal death. Sankore criticised leaders for being complacent about meeting the 15% health budget target, which he blamed on lack of political will. Prof Francis Omaswa, the executive director of the African Center for Global Health and Social Transformation, asked governments to adopt innovative health financing systems to increase access to health services. He proposed the establishment of community insurance schemes, levies on products, charity events and outreaches as ways of raising funds to support healthcare. He observed that over 95% of all illnesses were lifestyle-related and urged people to observe better personal health. “We should recognise that when people die, it is not God who has called them or that their time has come. We should blame our weaknesses and our health system,” he said. He asked the public to be proactive and demand quality health services from their leaders. “The key role of any government is to ensure that its people are healthy,” he said, adding that governments should have retention schemes to ensure that health workers are motivated to work in rural areas.

G8 LEADERS GIVE MATERNAL HEALTH $ 10M

Sunday, 25th July, 2010
By Vision reporters The G8 leaders have committed $10m annually to fund maternal and child health in Africa and other developing nations, the AU chairman, Malawi president Prof. Bingu Wa Mutharika, has said. He told the AU SUMMIT yesterday that the G8 leaders made the pledge at theirSUMMIT in Canada. The G8 comprises the eight most industrialised nations in the world. They are Canada, Germany, Italy, France, the US, Japan, the UK and Russia. The funds will be used to improve the welfare of infants and mothers and also prevent their deaths. The theme for the AU SUMMIT is “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa”. Mutharika suggested that African leaders invest in food security to reverse the high maternal and infant mortality in the continent. According to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, about 240,000 mothers die annually in Africa while giving birth. President Yoweri Museveni called on Africa to address social-economic transformation to attain maternal and child health. “How can we talk about maternal health without talking about development in general? In order to buy drugs, equipment and fund heath care, we need to collect taxes and in order to collect taxes, our economies must develop and our economies cannot grow without applying the right stimuli,” he explained. Museveni said Uganda had over 1,600 health centres, noting that the units had reduced maternal mortality from an average of about 600 deaths per 100,000 live births in the 1990s to about 435 deaths per 100,000 live births currently. He added that infant mortality had reduced from about 130 deaths per 100,000 live births in the 1990s to about 76 deaths per 100,000 live births currently. The deputy UN Secretary General, Asha-Rose Migiro, lAUded the AU for choosing the theme for the SUMMIT. “Investing in women pays. It is one of the best investments we can make for this and future generations,” she said. Migiro noted that progress on maternal and child health in Africa had been lagging behind. She urged the AU to build on the Maputo Plan for Sexual and Reproductive Health, the CARMMA Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa and the Abuja Call for Accelerated Action Towards Universal Access to HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria services. Nigerian leader Jonathan Goodluck, who attended the SUMMIT for the first time as president, promised to work with fellow leaders to achieve the ideals of theAU.

AFRICA PREGNANT WITH POSSIBILITY

Sunday, 25th July, 2010
By Asha-Rose Migiro THE news of a pregnancy should ideally be met with joy — but all too often there is justifiable fear. The African Union SUMMIT this week, set to focus on the health of mothers and children, has a chance to transform this fear into hope. Ten years into the Millennium Development Goals, we know what African leaders have always appreciated: when you invest in mothers, whole societies benefit, and when you care for children, you raise a new generation of leaders. This is not a theory; at the United Nations (UN) we see it happen in reality. In Sudan, 16-year-old Awatif Altayib lost her baby following two days of difficult labour, and emerged from the ordeal herself injured with obstetric fistula. Her future with this debilitating condition looked bleak — until she recovered with assistance from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and its partners. Now Altayib is a working midwife, helping other women to survive. Southern Sierra Leone has one gynecologist serving an area home to two and a half-million people. That is why recently when Hawa Barrie suffered complications in pregnancy, she and her family feared the worst. But the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is working with the Government and other partners to improve health services there. Thanks to these efforts, Hawa survived, her newborn son received his shots, and both are on their way to a healthy life. Abiodun Titi of Niger is another thriving African mother. Although she is HIV-positive, she was able to conceive with her HIV-negative husband safely thanks to a method involving the female condom. With help from the UN and its partners, she now teaches others this life-saving approach. Unfortunately, millions African women do not have the same opportunities. Maternal mortality rates on the continent are among the highest in the world. And progress in reaching the Millennium Development Goal of drastically reducing these deaths has been abysmally slow. Fortunately, African leaders are squarely facing the issue. The scale and seriousness of the problem demand no less. And it is especially fitting that the AUSUMMIT will focus on maternal and child health. Africans, place great cultural value on mothers — not only those who give birth, but all women, since in a meaningful social sense all are helping to raise children. The UN is ready to work with Africa to make good on its proud traditions. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently lAUnched a Joint Action Plan to accelerate progress on safe motherhood, calling for 2010 to be a turning point for women’s health. Africa’s leaders must also do their part by pledging the resources we need to honor past promises and open the way to a better future. We have a blueprint in the Maputo Plan of Action on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, which has clear objectives and detailed cost estimates for how to reach them. And as Africa leaders commit to doing their part, so should their development partners. The AU SUMMIT should join its voice to the rising chorus of partners supporting the Joint Action Plan. That means expanding national health plans that put priority on women and children’s health. It requires increasing the proportion of the budget resources for this purpose. Countries must commit to a full continuum of care, so that women are not just seen when an emergency strikes, and so that clinics and caregivers address all of their reproductive health needs, whether pregnancy-related or not. And we must reach even the most remote and poverty-stricken areas. By taking a strong stance backed by concrete pledges of funds, the SUMMIT can unleash a wave of progress within countries, across the region and around the world. I know the value of a declaration from the continent’s leaders. During my years as Tanzania’s minister for community development, gender and children, I saw how a signal from the AU SUMMIT could serve as a rallying point for our work countrywide, spur action throughout the region and benefit the continent. And from my view at the UN, I see how Africa’s bold actions can inspire other continents to advance. There will naturally be many other issues requiring the SUMMIT’s attention, including conflicts, poverty and other blights that are cAUsing so many girls and women to suffer. But by putting their health at the top of the agenda, the SUMMITwill do more than benefit individual females — it will set the stage for resolving these broader problems and creating a better world for all. The writer is a United Nations deputy secretary-genera

WE HAVE A RIGHT TO SELF0DEFENCE, MUSEVENI

President Museveni

By President Museveni

Posted Sunday, July 25 2010 at 00:00

Somalia seems to be suffering on account of a confluence of three factors:

A failed government under Siad Barre that could not defeat or keep under check the various rebel groups; incapable resistance groups to that government of Siad Barre; and, more recently, the infiltration into the area of reactionary ideology from the Middle East (what some people call “extremism”, “fundamentalism” etc). The Siad Barre government collapsed in January 1991. I do not have time to go into why it collapsed. I have not even done enough research into that subject. However, collapse it did. This was factor number one in the Somali problem.

l Factor number two was that the armed opposition groups that were fighting Siad Barre seemed to have been having ideological problems and had also problems in grasping strategy. I visited General Aideed and Al-Mahdi in Mogadishu in 1992. One of the questions I asked General Aideed was: “Why did you attack the city (Mogadishu) if you did not have the capacity to control it?”

Aideed’s mistake
It was clearly a mistake to shift from rural guerrilla operations to attacking the city and attempting to seize power there if Aideed did not have the fire-power and the accompanying organisational capacity to capture it quickly and retain the control. Those Somali groups seem to have been suffering from the mentality of “putschism” – wanting to seize control even when you do not have the capacity.

This is apart from the more fundamental ideological issues of those groups basing themselves on clanism as a base of political organisation. This created a proliferation of warlords based on clans. These warlords disintegrated the unity of the country and turned it into fiefdoms.
At some stage, former President of Kenya, Mzee Arap Moi, started mediating among the Somali groups. After a long time, they agreed to share power in the transitional government that was supposed to last some years and, then, go for elections.

This formula has worked in both Congo-DRC and Burundi. The IGAD countries supported this formula. If any Somali group was interested in helping, this was the easiest way out of the problem. Such a group or groups should have prepared for elections so that legitimacy is re-established.

This, however, was not to be. Some Somali groups, supported by reactionaries from the Middle East and Central Asia, now introduced a new problem. Somalia had to become what they call a fundamentalist Islamic state governed by Sharia.

Women had to cover themselves from head to toe, otherwise they will tempt men into immorality; people must not watch television because that is some form of atheism etc. etc. All this must be achieved by coercion. Besides, this model should be exported to the rest of Africa.
You all remember the problems we had with the tabliques who were being supported by elements from the Sudan. Since fighting is not an easy enterprise, the leaders of these reactionary groups use manipulation and drugs to induce young disadvantaged youth and, sometimes even children, to undertake suicide missions.

You saw one of the children that was on television telling the world how he had been injected with drugs to be “fearless” – attack under intoxication. Apparently, these poor children are told that they will go to heaven if they die as suicide bombers.

Sucide bombing
If suicide bombing is such a good investment, why don’t the leaders of these reactionary groups set the example of blowing themselves up instead of sending children and vulnerable youth? We have seen these so-called “jihadists” on our border and have dealt with them decisively in the past.

The UPDF got involved after the Somali clan factions agreed to form a transitional government. The African Union (AU), the IGAD and the UN gave the mandate to us to help the Transitional Government by doing two things:- Guarding some strategic points (Port, Airport and State House) as well as help in training the Somali Army, along with others from the rest of the world.
It is, therefore, sacrilege for anybody to fire at, let alone assault, an AU Force on a capacity building mission in Africa. Who are these who dare to fire at an AU Force? They can only be agents of external, non-African forces trying to impose a new colonialism on Africa.

We defeated European colonialism and we are going to defeat this new form of colonialism. The Somalis are part of the ancient African peoples, such as the ancient Egyptians – the ones that built the Pyramids. They are a Cushitic people – part of Nilo-Saharan group of languages. Some of their words are even to be found in the Bantu dialects.

Africans believe in a philosophy of live and let live. They never try to impose anything on anybody if they are really acting in the African traditions. There are many symbiotic groups in Africa, living side by side. Some of the groups from outside Africa talk of “haram” – abominable items. They do not know (and they do not bother to find out) that among the indigenous African people, there are even longer lists of haram (ebihagaro).
In part of my community, for instance, we do not eat pork, chicken, sheep, fish etc. Many of our neighbouring communities, however, eat many of these foods, especially fish. The Banyankore, for instance, would not eat chicken. They would keep the chicken only for divination (kuraguza).

A Munyankore, therefore, would be happy to surrender one of his chicken to a visiting Muganda or Mukooki. That is how the Africans lived. Even today, you can see the sort of freedom we enjoy – trans-night dances etc. I am a tee-totaller, but I further most vigorously the interests of our drunkards by exceeding all previous records of beer production. Africans, therefore, reject chauvinism. We want freedom.

Somali reactionaries
If the Somali reactionaries want to implement Sharia law in Somalia, let them stop disturbing the peace of their country so that the Transitional Government organises elections and they can put their agenda to the people. If the people decide to impose Sharia law on themselves, that will be their choice.
Anyway, in the immediate, the main issue is our mandate to the AU Force to assist the Transitional Government by guarding the State House, the Airport and the Port. Guarding them well, we have done. The Somali reactionary groups, supported by their foreign leaders, have attacked us many times and we have defeated them.

The cowardly act of attacking our merry-making non-combatants on July 11, 2010, will make their situation worse. In the past, we were only guarding the three (3) installations as per the AU Force mandate. These reactionary groups have now committed aggression against our country. We have a right of self-defence.
We shall now go for them. These agents of mindless, cowardly Middle-Eastern terrorism will discover that Africa has got its defenders if their failures when they attacked us in the past, have not shown them that already.

Anti-colonial wars
In Africa we fought anti-colonial wars. Here in Uganda, we fought some wars for extended periods. Why do we not use terrorism - attacking non-combatants? Infiltrating into Uganda to plant bombs will not be easy now that we are aroused. However, it will also not be easy for the Somali reactionary groups to stay in Somalia. It is part of the African soil. What we need is World Solidarity.

The Somali people, however, are the ones with the key for the solution to this problem. We can only play a supportive role. Many of the Somali people have voted with their feet by running away from the oppressor. They need to be organised so as to defeat the reactionaries.

The neighbouring countries and the AU, however, also have a responsibility to the people of Somalia when dealing with these murderous groups. If the internal forces are still in formation, it is the duty of Africa to stand with the Somali people. This is the experience of Africa in the last 50 years.

Mwalimu Nyerere stood with us in order to cope with the horrors of Idi Amin. That is how we, the Ugandans, got a new chance to rebuild our country. How can we leave the people of Somalia to adventurers from the Middle East and Asia?

Finally, the people of Uganda in particular and Africa in general need to know that there are heroic fighters in Somalia. These heroic fighters have already avenged the deaths of their innocent loved ones by punishing the killers in Mogadishu who came to attack the TFG and our forces on the 21st of July, a few days ago.

Attackers killed
Scores of the attackers were killed and many were injured. The dead included white-skinned people. Africa should interest itself in knowing where those white-skinned people are coming from. The UPDF will continue to punish these agents of foreign interests if they dare again to attack the positions of the AU Forces, flying the flag of Africa.

I congratulate the heroic fighters of the UPDF and, particularly, their commanders on the ground: Maj. Gen. Nathan Mugisha, Col. Ondoga, Lt. Col. Chemo, etc. I also salute our Barundi compatriots for their courage and Pan-Africanism.
I thank you.

Yoweri K. Museveni
President of the Republic of Uganda
24th July 2010

THE MORNING AFTER THE REFERENDUM

By Jerry Okungu

Nairobi, Kenya

July 30, 2010

Kenyans are going through a period of uncertainty that only their forefathers experienced half a century ago. It is a feeling that can only be compared to a couple preparing to get married or better still, preparing to get their first baby.

In strictly conservative societies, young people preparing to get married can go through mental torture r. Their families exert so much pressure on them. It heightens their desire to come out of the whole event with a measure of public approval. Among the Muslim or Asian communities, the bride is expected to be a virgin on that night. Anything short of that can be an abomination.

Is this the kind of mental anguish Kenyans must be experiencing as they wait to vote for their second constitution in 50 years?

Let us face it; the time it has taken Kenyans to write their constitution is not a short period by any standards. Time and resources have been sunk into this project in quantities beyond imagination. Children born when the constitution struggle started will vote in this referendum. Others are already mothers and fathers.

In terms of resources, US $ 200 million have gone down the drain during the same period. Many people have died, been tortured, maimed or their rights violated with impunity. Yes, this is the prize that Kenyans have had to pay in the search for this elusive document in over two decades.

Now that Kenya is about to give birth to a new constitution, what are our fears, anxieties and expectations?

What will become of the Reds and Greens if either side loses or wins the crucial vote? Will Kenya remain the same on August 5? Will the sun still rise in the East and set in the West the same day?

Will the losers accept defeat with grace? Will the winners embrace losers and accommodate them?

What of the big players in this debate? Will the Coalition partners forgive those in the cabinet that campaigned against them whether they lose or win? Will William Ruto and fellow ministers in the No camp face the same wrath the Narc ministers that campaigned against the government in 2005 faced?

Whichever way one looks at it, the results of the impending referendum will change Kenya fundamentally. One of those ways will be the political realignment. Many new alliances may emerge in readiness for the 2012 elections.

If the No side carries the day, there will be despondency, apathy and despair in many parts of the country. Politically, it will be business as usual. It will be a bold statement that Kenyans have no interest in reforms. A No verdict will be a slap on the face of all those reformists that have campaigned for change in the last 30 years.

Impunity will continue unabated. Agenda Four commissions will have been grossly undermined. Such a scenario may even call for the resignation of this government. It will be a return to the pre-2007 type of government.

Through the window will go any hopes of a devolved the government. Provinces and districts will remain intact. Police brutality will continue unabated. Land grabbing will reach new levels. Negative ethnicity will reach new highs.

Nationally, Kenyans that had hoped that devolution would offer them alternative political platforms will be disappointed. There will be no new elective positions.

As for the electorate, their hopes of recalling their MPs will be dashed forever because Parliament will never again entertain another constitution that would threaten its supremacy. The Mau Forest too will be a casualty.

However, if the Greens win, it will be a new dawn for Kenya. Mau Forest rehabilitation will go on.

Agenda Four commissions will have renewed impetus. The Kenya Anti Corruption Commission is likely to deliver following a purge in the judicial system. Several political offices will have their wings clipped.

MPs will no longer be everything to everybody. They will be restricted to making laws in Parliament. Their desire to fly the flag will be a thing of the past. Interestingly, they will not be the only elected leaders worthy of note. They will share front row seats at funerals, weddings and national days with senators and regional governors. They will lose the power to increase their salaries at will as they will be subject to a recall clause for nonperformance.

The President will not have it easier either. He will have no power to appoint or fire his deputy as that one will have been elected directly by the people. He will lose the power to appoint his cronies and relatives to the cabinet or any other public office.

With the new law coming into force, chances of enforcing Public Officers Ethics Act may just find a new impetus. Kenyans will have a chance to scrutinize their leaders before they elect them to public office.

Will Kenya be a better place to live after August 4^th if the Greens have their say?

The jury is still out there.

jerry@jerryokungu.com

TERRORISM: BLAME IT ON RELIGION - THE UNQUESTIONABLE CAUSE!

Hassan Higenyi

Take it or leave it, terrorism is a religious global threat to humanity, irrespective of race and nationality. Reportedly, Uganda is the latest (and so far the 33rd) country to get hit by terrorists, that's if indeed the 7/11 Kampala bombings were carried out by the Al-Shabaab - an Islamist militant group - that expressed delight and claimed responsibility saying it’s a message to the Ugandan government to withdraw its troops from Mogadishu, Somalia. The bomb blasts killed at least 76 people and injured many others that were at Kyadondo rugby ground and the Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kabalagala, on the unfortunate night when virtually everyone’s attention was on the 2010 World Cup final match between Spain and Netherlands or Paul the octopus!

Now the country is on a high security alert because the Al-shabaab threatened to carry on with more attacks on Kampala and Bujumbura (Burundi) if the respective governments do not heed the message. Understandably, in the wake of the attack, Uganda’s President Gen.Yoweri Kaguta Museveni took time off his countrywide assessment tour of the Prosperity-For-All program in Ntungamo district and convened an emergence press conference to address the country on the security threat. Predictably, being the soldier he is (‘once a soldier, always a soldier’), Museveni vowed to deal with (“crush”) the Al-shabaab in the biblical Moses’ an-eye-for-an-eye style by deploying more 20,000 troops in addition to the ones already in Somalia.

While addressing the AU summit in Kampala, Museveni again urged his fellow African leaders to join hands in getting rid of terrorists in Somalia and Africa, and so they agreed to deploy more 2000 troops. At the risk of sounding unpatriotically cynical, the war agains terrorism is a tricky one that i reasonably doubt can be defeated through conventional warfare, especially in Africa. The USA, with all its military might and resources, tried this approach and failed, though they can’t admit it. That poor Africa may succeed with the same costly approach is simply unrealistic. Question is, Which approach or counterterrorism idea is more effective than an-eye-for-an-eye?
Well, to get a solution to a problem, one ought to understand its cause. And, let’s face it; blind belief/faith is the root and breeding ground of terrorism, of which Africa is pretty vulnerable with plenty of potential terrorists (a.k.a conservative believers).

Because, according to the holy scriptures (both the Bible and Qur’an), a true believer in the supernatural Almighty-God of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) will do whatever it takes, including (and not limited to) killing or dying to appease God or prove his/her strong belief in Him (Yahweh or Allah), like Abraham ("the great grandfather of all believers") who was willing to sacrifice his own son; after all he/she would be abundantly rewarded for it in the hereafter (heaven). That explains a lot about the terrorists’ spirit and actions such as suicide bombings. So terrorists believe they’re fighting a holy war (jihad) in the name of God, the God of Abraham or Ibrahim of the Bible and Qur’an!
It’s such shared and unquestioned beliefs that sustain evils like terrorism because terrorists use them to recruit other gullible believers, and Africa is full of believers of the kind.

Unfortunately, religion enjoys worldwide untouchable privilege or "undeserved respect" as Richard Dawkins calls it in his conscious-raising (indeed!) book 'The God Delusion'. An extract of the brilliant late Douglas Adam’s impromptu speech at Cambridge puts it well: “Religion… has certain ideas at the heart of which we call sacred or holy or whatever. What it means is, ‘Here is an idea or a notion that you’re not allowed to say anything bad about; you’re just not. Why not? – because you’re not!’…Yet when you look at it rationally there is no reason why those ideas shouldn’t be as open to debate as any other,” that’s what makes terrorism even more tricky!
Otherwise, in a nutshell, since prevention is better than cure, the most viable approach for curbing terrorism would be ensuring safety of the citizenry through security alert measures and mass sensitization against the deadly blind faith or beliefs that encourage it. That is, religion should be subjected to questioning so as to curb possible recruitment of the ignorant or gullible and vulnerable believers; for all we know, the Al-shabaabs and Al-qaeda may have already recruited many Ugandans and Africans.

The one and only invincible Osama bin Laden, a man of God of the religion of peace!

Some of the Al-shabaab Islamist militant group wariors (janjawids, if you asked me!)

Some of the Kyadondo A-lshabaab Bombing images

Twin Tower Bombing

Images of the Twin Tower Bombing

President Museveni