Good report coming from Ole Lenku with that of Salva Kiir and Riek Machar
comming to terms to avoid more blood-shed in South Sudan.
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
Salva Kiir, Riek Machar effort to restore peace in South Sudan encouraging, says DP William Ruto
By DPPS
Updated Tuesday, June 10th 2014 at 17:28 GMT +3 Share this story:
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Kenya is encouraged by the commitment of the South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar to engage in dialogue aimed at achieving peace and a better system of governance in the war torn South Sudan.
Deputy President William Ruto said Kenya will continue to cooperate with all partners and stakeholders to the South Sudan peace process.
Speaking Tuesday, during the 26th extraordinary summit of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Ruto who represented President Uhuru Kenyatta said the South Sudan leaders have committed themselves to dialogue under a framework, which facilitates a concerted quest for peace and stability in the country.
"A commitment to peace is a huge step of courage. The true soldier is afraid of war, but is also a devout seeker of peace. This is why I applaud my brothers President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar for the courage they have shown in pulling South Sudan from the brink of total anarchy," said Ruto.
He expressed concern that the conflict in South Sudan has once again exposed the dire vulnerability of civilian populations during war.
The Deputy President noted that more than a million people have been displaced from their homes, while over ten thousand have been killed and many more wounded while others were fleeing to neighbouring countries for refuge.
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"This humanitarian crisis is worsened by the threat of famine that millions in South Sudan face," said Ruto.
He said it was saddening that since the conflict began in December 2013, many have been unable to grow food saying the rains have been erratic in the region recently and farmers are finding it difficult to raise a decent crop.
"How much more difficult it is for the people of South Sudan!" posed the Deputy President.
He urged the parties to expend more effort to see the agreement through, especially as regards the cessation of hostilities.
Ruto said leadership must work harder to relieve the people of South Sudan from more suffering, and to enable them resume normal life as soon as possible.
"If you have ceased for a month, then you can cease for a year; and if you can cease for a year, you can cease for centuries," he said.
He said the Agreement calls for the cessation of all military actions aimed at either party or, indeed, any other actions that may undermine the peace process.
"Further, the Agreement is aimed at the protection of civilians and the opening up of humanitarian access throughout affected areas.
To reassure every stakeholder to this process, the Deputy President said the agreement also institutes strong Monitoring and Verification Mechanisms (MVM).
He said over the last six months, there were suspicions which rose to tensions escalating to conflict which finally broke out into violence and in the process inflicting unspeakable suffering to millions of people.
"Our hearts must go out in sympathy and commiseration with the people of South Sudan who have borne the brunt of instability and violence," he said.
The Deputy President commended the parties to the conflict in South Sudan for the conclusion of the Peace Agreement on May 9, 2014.
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"It is this understanding of the context of the situation in South Sudan and our empathy with the plight of its people, as well as the assurance we draw from our esteemed brothers' decision to embark on a peace-building journey that gives us cause to hope today," said Mr. Ruto.
"I gratefully note that the Agreement entails the immediate cessation of hostilities," he said adding that it will create a proper environment for negotiation in respect of a transitional government of national unity through an all-inclusive IGAD process.
He praised the role played by Ethiopian government for working so tirelessly and selflessly in bringing the parties to the conflict to negotiations.
Present were Uganda President Yoweri Museveni, South Sudan President Salva Kiir, Ethiopia Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Somalia Prime Minister Sheik Ahmed, 1st Vice President of Sudan Hassan Swalleh and chairperson of AU Nkosazana Zuma among others.
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Ole Lenku kicks out Chinese firm's top executives
By CYRUS OMBATI and GEOFFREY MOSOKU
Updated Monday, June 9th 2014 at 22:38 GMT +3 Share this story:
Kenya: Two executives of a Chinese telecoms firm, ZTE, battling to retain a multi-billion-shilling tender to supply police with communication and surveillance equipment have been kicked out of the country.
ZTE is owned by the Government of China and its winning of the tender was challenged in court by Huawei Technologies Company. The latter, a privately owned firm, is also Chinese.
The deportation of the two ZTE executives adds a fresh twist to the controversy stalking lucrative national security tenders. Just two days before the two ZTE executives were bundled out of the country, Parliament put the brakes on a Sh12.3 billion contract awarded to mobile communications giant Safaricom by the Government to manage the national security communications system.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has been featuring in adverts on print and electronic media for the same.
The two officials, Mr Yang Yong alias Thomas and Zou Lingying alias Eileen, directors in charge of government enterprises and marketing respectively, were picked up at dawn on Saturday, and held for over 12 hours before being deported around 10pm.
Chinese nationals working in Kenya often adopt English nicknames for the benefit of locals.
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Authorities declined to comment on the reasons for their deportation.
CID officers reportedly arrested the three at 3am on Saturday from their residence at Mimosa Court, off Ngong Road.
They were taken to Kenya Ports Authority's (KPA's) inland depot police post along Mombasa Road in Nairobi where they were held to await deportation.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku reportedly signed the deportation orders on Saturday at 6pm and they were taken away aboard a Qatar Airways to China.
Not informed
Their lawyers, Mr C.N Kihara and Mr Assa Nyakundi, said they were not informed of the deportation and were yet to receive an explanation from the State on the reasons for the action.
Yesterday, ZTE Chief Executive Officer Liu Sen refused to comment on the matter saying their lawyers were handling it.
"I will not comment for now since we have left it to lawyers. Thank you," Liu told The Standard on phone.
Lenku declined to comment when reached on phone. "No comment," he replied when asked why the two were kicked out of the country.
It is unclear whether the deportation has anything to do with recent developments.
"These people are suspected of sponsoring individuals who have petitioned Parliament over the same and some guys up in government are not happy," a source claimed.
The initial Sh17 billion tender was floated in 2011 and was to be funded by the Chinese government on condition that only Chinese firms were awarded the projects.
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There have been protracted legal battles between the two Chinese firms, Huawei and ZTE, after Huawei moved to court to contest the decision to award ZTE the tender.
Recently, the Kenya Government awarded Safaricom a tender for the so-called Integrated Public Safety Communication and Surveillance System. The new security system will be linked to the National Command Centre that has already been set up.
The agreement with Safaricom also allows Government to deploy around 2,000 CCTV cameras in locations around Nairobi and Mombasa – the two towns that have been hardest hit by the terrorists.
A day after Parliament suspended the contract for the Sh12.3 billion project, President Kenyatta publicly complained at State House over the integrity of the decision by the legislature on a project whose virtues he has been extolling on mass media.
Members of the National Assembly's Committee on National Security said the procurement was not above board, the choice of Safaricom was unclear, and the details of how the project would be executed "not convincing".
The chairman of the committee Mr Asman Kamama (Tiaty) said his team was not convinced with the explanation they had received from the Interior Cabinet Secretary.
"We have instructed the CS to suspend any signing of this contract until this committee approves it and the House also approves it," said Kamama.
"We have confirmed that they have awarded the contract, but it has not been signed. That's why we are saying that the signing has to be suspended forthwith. There's no signing that is going to be done," he added.
Shed light
Lenku, his Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo and National Police Service Inspector General David Kimaiyo had appeared before the committee to shed light on the project, but there were many queries they failed to answer to the satisfaction of the lawmakers.
Last Friday, Safaricom welcomed the parliamentary probe into the contract.
The statement from the Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore stated: "The cutting edge system will run on an independent LTE security communications network using designated International Telecommunications Union standards. It will therefore not run on Safaricom's commercial network."
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Collymore added: "The management and control of the new system will however be the sole prerogative of the National Police Service."
Three MPs from the Energy and Communications Committee had also raised questions about the project, arguing that giving Safaricom the national security project could expose the country's security.
The MPs questions linger over the ability of Safaricom to deliver and whether it would be right to allow them access to such a sensitive national project.
The project will, in the first phase, focus on Nairobi and Mombasa cities. It will thereafter be extended to the rest of Kenya in accordance. Safaricom will spend Sh12.3 billion and recover the money from the Government later.
http://standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000124176/lenku-kicks-out-chinese-firm-s-top-executives
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