RISING FINANCIAL CRIMES SOON KILLING KENYANS AND THEIR ECONOMY

 Money flows as fast as the champagne in the chic bars opening across Nairobi.

At the hand-carved bar in Sankara Hotel, listed as one of the world's coolest destinations by Conde Nast Traveller, bottles of Armand De Brignac cost $800 - a year's salary for the average Kenyan.

In the leafy suburbs, five-bedroom villas with servants' quarters sell easily for $1 million in cash, real estate agents say.

High-end residential property prices have shot up 37 percent since 2010 and the Nairobi market was a top performer in Africa last year, according to Knight Frank's Wealth Report.

Four-wheel drive Range Rovers are a must-have for the glamour set. Sales of the luxury Vogue model, with a starting price of $200,000, have quadrupled in the past two years, said John Odingi, senior salesman at CMC Motors in Nairobi.

The middle class is growing fast as the economy expands steadily and Kenya's government moves ahead with bold plans to turn Nairobi into an international financial centre by 2025 - part of its goal to pull East Africa's largest economy into the ranks of newly industrialised nations by 2030.

But there is a seamy side to all the glitz.

New data calculated for Thomson Reuters Foundation by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based financial watchdog, show the amount of illicit money entering Kenya from faulty trade invoicing, crime, corruption and shady business activities has increased more than five-fold in a decade to equal roughly 8 percent of Kenya's economy - and in recent years the pace of dirty money inflows has been accelerating.

Development groups and international policymakers are particularly concerned about this trend because the Kenyan government - despite long-standing problems with money laundering, drugs, corruption and terrorism in bordering states - is moving ahead with plans to strike a deal with the City of London to build Nairobi into a major international financial hub.

"There is nothing wrong with that goal, but you have to understand that there is a high price of entry," said Daniel Glaser, Assistant U.S. Treasury Secretary for terrorist financing.

"One of the prices of entry is having a well-functioning anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulatory and legal regime. They have not had this in the past, and they are in a dangerous neighbourhood," he said.

Already Nairobi is a regional banking centre. Adding a tax-free zone and financial trading desks would make it attractive as a capital-raising centre for business in the region and worldwide.

But doing so when global financial policymakers already have flagged Kenya for laxity on the money laundering front and it has shaky legal and regulatory foundations would risk deepening already serious problems, said Alex Cobham, a research fellow on illicit finance at the Center for Global Developement.


"Typically, countries that have gone down this path have ended up bending much of their legislation to service a relatively small sector of the economy, and a smaller section yet of the population - so it's no surprise that we often see very serious governance and inequality problems in the typical 'tax haven' jurisdictions," said Cobham.

"In this case, you'd be mapping that onto a situation in Kenya where there are very serious concerns already about governance and growing risks related to inequality," he added.
Put simply, Kenya could turn itself into a major money laundering centre.

Kenya borders politically unstable Somalia and South Sudan to its north. Problems spill over from violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo to its west; proceeds from piracy in the Arabian Sea enter Kenya; al Qaeda branches operate in Somalia, using it as a base for attacks on Kenya and Uganda; and international drug traffickers from Asia and wildlife traffickers throughout sub-Saharan Africa use Kenya as a transit point, according to reports from the United Nations, the global regulatory group the Financial Action Task Force and the U.S State Department.


Financial regulators are sufficiently concerned about illicit flows in the region that the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities has asked the World Bank Institute to study how money from crime and corruption washes through Kenya.

Its preliminary findings, obtained by Thomson Reuters Foundation, painted a picture of a thriving underworld aided by political corruption and a large informal money transfer sector, known as hawalas, that regulations barely touch.

Bankers and business people told researchers that bulk cash was a common way to move illicit money across Kenya's porous borders and they describe a permissive culture where anti-money laundering laws are frequently ignored.

"Lack of resources contribute to this, but exacerbating Kenya's performance in curbing financial and trafficking crimes are the corruption levels in the country," it said.

A separate study in 2012 showed how easy it is to launder money in Kenya using untraceable shell companies, which are widely used to move dirty money internationally.

Out of 182 countries tested, researchers at the University of Texas, Griffith University and Brigham Young University found that Kenya - in violation of international rules - was least likely to ask people for identity documents when they tried to open a shell company.

SAFE HOUSE

Many longstanding factors help explain why Nairobi is an alluring place for illicit funds. Even shady money needs a safe place to reside, and Kenya's sophisticated financial services, business and legal sectors and relative political stability make it a safe house in a bad neighbourhood.

Decades of civil war have led to a massive inflow of refugees to Kenya from Somalia and the Sudans.
Wealthier families also see Kenya as a safe haven for their money, buying prime property and sending their children to top private schools.

The Somali diaspora has come under international scrutiny for its use of hawalas, which provide an easy route for criminal money because they are not tracked by governments.

American and British banks have closed the accounts of money transfer companies like Dahabshiil, whose services they say could be used to fund terrorists.

The U.S. State Department has estimated that the Somali diaspora alone transfers millions of dollars every day from Europe to relatives in Nairobi's Somali-dominated Eastleigh, dubbed Little Mogadishu.
Estate agents suspect some of the surge in property prices is from sales to Somali maritime pirates.

But a recent study by the World Bank and U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found no such evidence and that the sums involved are too small to be significant.

In 2011, Somali piracy was worth $150 million, the study said, but successful hijackings have declined thanks to tougher security aboard ships and increased Western naval patrols.

Kenya's weak criminal justice system and lax border controls also have allowed international drug trafficking  to thrive, turning the country into a major transit point for heroin from Afghanistan, Pakistan and other parts of Asia, and cocaine from Latin America headed for Europe and North America, according to the UNODC.

Inside Kenya, politics and grand corruption have gone hand in hand for many years.
Government officials looted at least $1 billion from the central bank for bogus gold and diamond exports prior to the 1992 election.

A decade later, the Anglo-Leasing scandal exposed hundreds of millions of dollars stolen when inflated government contracts were awarded to fictitious firms to deliver services ranging from forgery-proof passports to naval ships and forensic laboratories - which never materialised.

In 2006, Charterhouse Bank was closed after a $1.5 billion money laundering and tax evasion scam.
The bank had close ties to Kenya's largest supermarket chain, Nakumatt, part-owned by a leading politician, John Harun Mwau, according to a Kenyan investigation.

The U.S government has named Mwau, an assistant minister in the last government, as one of the world's top drug kingpins.

Kenyan anti-corruption activists say the problem has become deeply embedded throughout the political class as a culture of impunity has taken hold.

"Once you have corruption at the top and it seems to get accepted, even the most corrupt people get elected, get appointed to positions of authority and it spreads down very quickly.
And it becomes much more difficult to deal with," said John Githongo, who worked under former President Mwai Kibaki but fled the country in 2005 in fear for his life when he unearthed the Anglo-Leasing scandal touching top ministers.

Kenya scores 27 on Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index out of a possible score of 100, putting it in 136th place out of 177 countries, on a par with Bangladesh, Ivory Coast and Guyana.

LIGHT TOUCH, DIRTY MONEY

Despite these problems, Kenya applies a light regulatory touch to its banking, finance and legal sectors.

It is a signatory of all the major international anti-corruption conventions and in 2009 passed a comprehensive law called the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act to crack down on financial wrongdoing.

Yet it has barely applied the law. Kenya waited three years before appointing an interim head to lead its new Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), which is responsible for issuing anti-money laundering regulations in line with global standards and to conduct investigations.

In its March report, the U.S. State Department said that banks file reports on suspicious money transactions only sporadically and most banks ignore rules on reporting currency transfers over $10,000. The government has no prosecutions under way for financial crimes.

The Financial Action Task Force, the official global watchdog, decided in October to keep Kenya on its "grey list" of countries it considers high risk for money laundering and terrorist finance activities.

However, Kenyan government officials said they are working hard to prevent dirty money crossing their borders.

"Money laundering can destabilise the financial sector so we have taken systematic actions to prevent it," Kenya's Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich said.

"We are members of a coalition of countries fighting money laundering on a global scale, so it is mischievous to refer to Kenya as a haven."

Jackson Kitili, interim director of the FRC, said he has an annual budget of $2.4 million and plans to more than double the intelligence unit's staff to 26 members from 12.

The centre has received 73 reports from financial institutions of suspicious transactions so far, 14 of which have been forwarded to the police for further investigation, he said.

He expressed confidence that Kenya can adequately regulate an international financial centre: "In short, having an institution like this one is enough to say that we are prepared to handle that," Kitili said.

There is no precise way to measure how much illicit money flows though any economy since its purpose is to evade detection, so global policymakers and academics rely on a range of indicators from government data to crime reports and anecdotal information.

Global Financial Integrity (GFI) uses government trade and balance of payments data to estimate illicit finance, and experts say its method provides a useful indication of the scale of the problem.

In Kenya's case, GFI found that in the decade ended 2011, $16.2 billion flowed into Kenya through trade mispricing and hot money that was not officially counted in its balance of payments reports - a more than five-fold increase over the period.

These illicit inflows peaked at $3.2 billion in 2010. In 2011, the latest period for which data is available, they stood at $2.7 billion for the year.

Kenya is far from alone when it comes to large inflows of dirty money and a lax regulatory environment. Nigeria, Liberia, Zambia and Ghana are among the other Africa countries that GFI calculates have large illicit inflows.

What makes Kenya stand apart, however, is its importance as a regional banking centre, its talks with the City of London to grow its footprint as an international financial centre and its strategic location in a dangerous neighborhood, GFI and other financial experts said.

By no means is its growing wealth all suspect. Africa has prospered greatly from the boom in commodities, riding China's rise as a global manufacturing powerhouse.

It is developing its own industries and service sectors, and as education, healthcare and governance have improved, wealth has spread through an expanding urban middle class, Mckinsey Global Institute said in a recent study.

It estimates that African consumers, keen to enjoy the good life and buy new homes, will have more than $1 trillion in spending power this year.

Kenya is no different. One in five of its citizens today lives in a city, has some tertiary education and draws a salary.

Moreover, job opportunities are expanding as improved tax collection is swelling government coffers, and Kenya is spending big on infrastructure projects, a trend likely to continue as it starts exploiting offshore oil and gas discoveries.

Tax revenues have risen from 229 billion Kenyan shillings ($2.6 billion) in 2003/04 to 800 billion shillings ($9.2 billion) in 2012/13.

In this fiscal year, the government plans to spend a record 1.6 trillion shillings ($18.4 billion) to fund an expanded government and development projects.

TOXIC BREW

However, anti-corruption experts say this economic vibrancy cannot entirely explain the property boom, fast cars and flashy cash in Nairobi, which sit incongruously alongside the grinding poverty of the majority of the city's population.

Millions of Kenyans live in overcrowded slums with reeking open sewers, earning barely enough money from odd jobs to eat one meal a day. 

The boom in public spending has offered more opportunities for public graft, but more worrying, experts say, is a toxic brew that is developing of more criminal money entering Kenya - from drug cartels linked to organised crime, ivory poaching, arms trade and human trafficking - mixing in a political culture that accepts high levels of corruption, as long as it gets its slice.

These problems could deepen if Kenya moves ahead with building an international financial centre before it has a functioning system in place to stop money laundering, whereby regulators can check bank records and currency sales carefully, investigate suspicious activities and bring prosecutions.

"The Kenyans need to approach these risks with a seriousness of purpose and understand that given all the risk factors that they face, they really need a state-of-the-art system, especially if their goal is to be attractive to money coming in from around the world," said the U.S. Treasury's Glaser.

Samuel Kimeu, executive director of Transparency International Kenya, fears that criminal cartels already have gained such a hold on corrupt politicians that they risk turning Kenya into a vassal state.

"If illicit money is used to capture state power, then there has to be returns from that investment, and that return would be more impunity for those involved in these kinds of crimes," he said.

"You can actually end up losing a country."

Court Stops Tribunal to Probe JSC

 

SIX members of the Judicial Service Commission suspended by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday were reinstated by the High Court yesterday. High Court judge George Odunga further blocked the tribunal appointed by the President from commencing any investigations against the six JSC members pending the hearing and determination of their case challenging the probe.

The six JSC members are Ahmednassir Abdullahi, Florence Mwangangi, Prof Christine Mango, magistrate Emily Ominde, appeal judge Mohammed Warsame and Rev Samuel Kobia. "The court takes judicial notice of the central role played by the petitioner (JSC) in ensuring that there is smooth administration of justice in this country and that the suspension of the said six commissioners may impact negatively on the smooth operation of the petitioner," said Justice Odunga.

In a short ruling the judge said that the appointment of the tribunal by the President was in breach of court orders and therefore the action was null and with no effect. To permit the tribunal to start work before all parties in the case are heard would be a waste of public funds as well as amount to disobedience of court order.

The JSC had applied to Judge Odunga challenging the decision by the JSC suspension by the president. The JSC questioned the legality of Uhuru's decision as it disobeyed a court order. The president suspended the JSC members last Friday after he received a recommendation from the National Assembly for their removal.

However a court order was issued last month barring Parliament from debating or initiating of removal of the six JSC members.

The High Court court twice issued orders that were served on both Attorney General Githu Muigai and Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi. The first order barred the parliamentary Committee on the Administration of Justice from tabling its report on the six JSC members to parliament.

The second court order on November 6 barred Parliament from discussing the report and initiating the removal of the six. Yesterday Judge Odunga directed that the matter be placed before Chief Justice Willy Mutunga for constitution of a three judge bench.

"It is my considered view that the issues raised in this petition are substantial questions of law with respect to interpretation of the constitution more particularly with regard to the relationship between the three arms of government and separation of powers between them," said the judge.

After the ruling, lawyer Paul Muite defended the JSC saying its members had not refused to appear before the parliamentary committee as claimed. He said the JSC had instead asked on October 20 for more time to organize itself before appearing before the committee.

He added that the parliamentary committee went ahead to prepare its report while the JSC was preparing to appear before them.

In August a petition was filed seeking the removal of six JSC members.

The parliamentary committee then summoned the JSC on August 20 after disciplinary proceedings were initiated against now sacked Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Gladys Boss Shollei.

Kenya

Corruption is the thief of economic and social developement

   
 Mr. Yuri Fedotov giving his speech at the openning of the conference in PANAMA

LLI-PANAMA, "Corruption is the thief of economic and social development; stealing the opportunities of ordinary people to progress and to prosper," said UNODC Chief, Yury Fedotov, at the opening of the Fifth Session of the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption in Panama City - COSP5.

Emphasizing connections between corruption and sustainable development Mr. Fedotov said that corruption was not simply a crime, it was the instigator of other criminal activities such as transnational organized crime and drug trafficking.

"Without corruption and bribery," Mr. Fedotov said, "millions of women, children and men cannot be trafficked as slaves; thousands of small arms cannot reach their violent destinations; and tons of illicit drugs cannot reach their consumers." The rule of law is also increasingly being recognized as the foundation for transparency and accountability, and the enabler of sustainable development he said.

Corruption has a devastating impact across the world. It is estimated by the World Bank that, every year,  between US$20 to US$40 billion dollars are lost from developing countries due to corruption and bribery.

The environment also suffers: Costs of water infrastructure are increased by corruption by as much as 40 per cent which equates to an additional US$12 billion a year needed to provide worldwide safe drinking water and sanitation

The UN Convention against Corruption is the bedrock for the fight back against corruption. Only UNCAC has the broad sweep to confront corruption in all its varieties and to ensure that national anti-corruption laws are fully in line with the Convention; that a willingness to cooperate and share information across borders exists; and that there is a strong commitment to confront corruption.

But Mr. Fedotov stressed that it would take everyone's voice raised against corruption to bring true success. "We need a robust and strong coalition of governments, business community, civil society, academia and media to resist corruption, and build a culture of prevention and integrity," he said.

President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, in his own opening speech, emphasized the importance of confronting corruption. He said: "The UN Convention against Corruption allows us to work together to confront one of the greatest challenges we face as a global community."

Held in Panama City, the week-long COSP5 is the world's largest biennial anti-corruption event drawing together over 1,500 participants from Member States, civil society, private sector academia and the media to discuss best practices and successes in the fight against corruption under the umbrella of UNCAC.

The convention now has 168 states parties and has gone further than any other UN Convention through its unique Review Mechanism that, after four years, has trained more than 1,400 anti-corruption experts and provided assistance to 35 States to amend their legislation.

President MUSEVENI Accused of Subverting East African Community

The newly-formed Freedom and Unity Front (FUF) of Uganda says President Yoweri Museveni is out to destroy the East African Community, which comprises Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

In its latest "Situation Analysis Report," the group said Museveni's scheme is manifested in his attempt to isolate Tanzania and Burundi by not inviting their leaders to recent regional summits.

Museveni, chairperson of the International  Conference for the Great Lakes Region, has been mediating peace talks in Kampala between the Congolese government M23 rebels.

David Sejusa, one of the leaders of the FUF, said Museveni has also been a sponsor of the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as part of his efforts to further destabilize the region.

"He started that rebellion. He gave them arms, he gave them financial support, he gave them equipment, and he gave them uniforms. So, it's not like I'm talking out of the blue. But, then, the chameleon he is, he turns around and then he postures as if he's the one who wants to bring peace," he said.

Museveni, chairperson of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region, has been mediating peace talks in Kampala between the Congolese government M23 rebels.

The M23 earlier this month announced it was ending its rebellion, but a peace deal that was supposed to have been signed November 10th was delayed after the Congolese government said it wanted the document to be called a 'declaration' and not a 'peace agreement.'

Sejusa said Museveni is not a genuine peace broker since he helped start the Congo war.
"This is always his power game. You create the problem, then twist it in a different way for two reasons: one, manage the international community to remain relevant, but also manage the political process, which may come out of that instability," Sejusa said.

The FUF said in its latest "Situation Analysis Report" that Museveni was trying to undermine the East African Community.

"You must have heard his machinations of breaking the East African Community treaty and to subvert the process by trying to eliminate Tanzania and Burundi. You have heard about the bad mouthing President [Jakaya] Kikwete when Tanzania has been a credible and longtime and trusted ally of the East African Community," he said.

Sejusa says what Museveni's actions are reminiscent of the reign of the late Ugandan dictator Idi Ami, which led to the collapse of the East African Community.

"So, this is a biggest betrayal of Mr. Museveni against the African people because he is betraying the greatest post-independence dream of empowerment and the emancipation of our people, which is centered into a broader political entity to enhance trade, enhance cooperation and development, but also to minimize wars in these areas so that we can concentrate on investment instead of buying arms," Sejusa said.

Tanzanian President Kikwete was not invited to an ECA meeting held last August in Mombasa and attended by Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Museveni (Uganda) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda). The meeting was called to discuss cross-border infrastructure projects.

ECA officials reportedly said Tanzania and Burundi were not been invited because the projects under discussion, including an oil pipeline and a standard gauge railway, involved only the three countries present.

The FUF describes itself as a "new liberation platform to unite different liberation forces, political organizations and individuals to free Uganda from Yoweri Museveni."

Corruption Report Fingers Museveni

LLI, Kampala — A new report on corruption in Uganda names President Yoweri Museveni as one of those responsible for what it calls widespread "bribery, nepotism, and misuse of official positions and resources" in the country.

The report, published in Kampala on Monday, says that since Museveni came to power in 1986, "waves of scandals" have hit his administration.

"Members of his inner circle—from both military and cabinet—have been accused of theft and improper procurement of state resources by the media, civil society, the auditor general, and parliament," the report says.

But despite "many plans and relentless promises... corruption in Uganda remains pervasive at both low and high levels of public administration... Only one minister has ever been convicted of a corruption-related offense, a verdict that was overturned on appeal just after the president publicly offered to pay the defendant's legal costs."

The report is based on research by the New York-based advocacy group, Human Rights Watch, and the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic of Yale University earlier this year.
It notes that media attention often concentrates on the "big fish who got away" but that the solutions proposed rely on "technical responses."

"Those responses overlook what, based on past actions, can be described as the government's deep-rooted lack of political will to address corruption at the highest levels and importantly, to set an example- starting from the top - that graft will not be tolerated," the report goes on to say.

Among issues highlighted by the report:

• The president and Parliament "have failed to empower key institutions, either by failing to fill key vacancies or by failing to establish institutions..."
•  
• High-ranking officials whose offices have been implicated in corruption often remain in their positions while individuals under them have faced prosecution and, in some cases, jail.
•  
• Lack of protection for witnesses and prosecutors has resulted in a focus on "low-level corruption involving small sums of money, while the 'big fish' have continued to accumulate wealth and power."

The report adds: "In some Anti-Corruption Court cases involving well-connected individuals, senior officials have directed prosecutors to delay prosecution or prematurely try a case with incomplete or weak evidence.

"Investigators, prosecutors, and witnesses involved in such cases have been the targets of threats and requests for bribes.In some Anti-Corruption Court cases involving well-connected individuals, senior officials have directed prosecutors to delay prosecution or prematurely try a case with incomplete or weak evidence. Investigators, prosecutors, and witnesses involved in such cases have been the targets of threats and requests for bribes."

In a press release accompanying the report, Human Rights Watch said it was based on interviews with 48 people "with substantive knowledge of anti-corruption efforts in Uganda" and on reports from local activists, foreign development partners and the World Bank.

Corruption, financial crime and asset recovery focus of INTERPOL meeting in Nigeria-LLI

Legal link International,ABUJA, Nigeria – Senior investigators and prosecutors from West, East and Central Africa have come together in Nigeria to discuss ways to successfully identify, investigate and prosecute cases of corruption and related financial crimes at the 6th INTERPOL Global Programme on Anti-Corruption, Financial Crimes and Asset Recovery.

Organized by INTERPOL’s Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes unit in coordination with the INTERPOL Regional Bureau in Abidjan and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria, the five-day (7-11 October) meeting gathered some 60 participants from 16 countries to examine the latest tools and techniques for investigating different forms of corruption.

Topics covered included fraud, financial crimes, abuse of authority, corruption in procurement and contracting, corruption in the financial sector, abuse of public office, money laundering, auditing and computer forensics, asset recovery and the effective use of mutual legal assistance in international investigations.

Ibrahim Lamorde, Executive Director of the EFCC, highlighted the critical role of international police cooperation in successfully tackling corruption in Africa and beyond.
“Corruption on the scale in which we confront it today is hardly a simplistic, one-man criminal endeavour.

That is why we are devoting enormous resources to set up operational institutions, build legal architectures and drive through reform programmes. But these efforts will always come up short against determined criminals if they are not backed by inter-agency cooperation,” warned Mr Lamorde.

Presentations during the meeting – the first of its kind held in West Africa – focused on case studies, challenges to successful investigations, prosecutions of corruption cases and information specifically relevant to the African region, with practical exercises to assist participants in enhancing their skills and abilities.

“Corruption and financial crimes are growing security threats to our societies. Investigating corruption and financial crime requires better understanding of the crime,” said Inspector General of the Nigerian Police, Mohammed Abubakar.

“To stay ahead of the criminals, the law enforcement community needs to have the necessary resources, knowledge and well-developed partnerships with all stakeholders,” he concluded.

Delegates were also updated on an innovative new tool to enhance the fight against corruption: the INTERPOL Secure E-mail Capability – Asset Recovery (SECOM). For the first time within the anti-corruption community, SECOM will enable the instant and secure exchange of information and technical knowledge on corruption and related asset recovery.

In the field of asset recovery, INTERPOL works closely with the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative, run jointly by the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The objectives of the INTERPOL-StAR partnership for the coming years in international asset recovery will be examined during the meeting.

Head of INTERPOL’s Anti-Corruption unit, Jaganathan Saravanasamy acknowledged “the prominent role played by the EFCC in the fight against corruption.”

“Corruption is a universal phenomenon; no country, no society is immune to it. The challenges to tackling corruption are immense and investigations into cases of corruption are often complex, therefore it is critical that law enforcement worldwide is equipped with the knowledge and skills to bring an end to this harmful crime,” said Mr Saravanasamy

INTERPOL’s Global Focal Point Platform connects registered anti-corruption practitioners worldwide and provides them access to a range of investigative tools and services, including contact details of their counterparts around the globe, legislative and judicial frameworks concerning asset recovery, all valid INTERPOL notices issued for corruption-related cases, and an ‘initial action checklist’ to assist with the first stages of an investigation. Some 170 national investigators and prosecutors from nearly 100 countries have been nominated as Focal Points

  

POSTED BY KIGGUNDU HENRY, THE DIRECTOR, LEGAL LINK INTERNATIONAL

Kenya: Fears of Graft As Kenya Govt Unable to Account for U.S.$3.6 Billion in Spending - Report

 

Kenya Revenue Authority Offices at the Times Tower Building is responsible for collecting income, customs, and excise tax.

 A third of the Kenya government's expenditures for the last financial year - some $3.6 billion - cannot be accounted for, local media reported, pointing to loopholes for the theft of public funds.

In the 2011/12 financial year report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, auditor general Edward Ouko said accounting officers did not properly explain how 33 percent of the government's 920 billion Kenya shilling ($10.8 billion) expenditure was used.

"I was not able to establish whether expenditures reflected in these statements were incurred lawfully," he said in a report from Business Daily.

"We were very frustrated by their deliberate efforts to deny us information," our source quoted him as saying, referring to accounting officers' failure to provide documents to support their expenses.

Only 6 percent of financial statements were clean. Most had problems with unsupported expenditures, unauthorized spending, excess expenditures and failure by civil servants to surrender loans.

In September, the government came under fire for introducing a 16 percent value added tax (VAT) on basic foodstuffs, like milk, when millions of its citizens struggle to eat more than once a day.

The treasury is trying to raise cash to help plug a budget deficit of about $3.8 billion.

The International Monetary Fund has said that raising revenues is not enough. The quality and efficiency of public spending must also improve.

"We hope that the leakages will be investigated by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to ensure taxpayers start getting value," Michael Otieno of the National Taxpayers Association submitted.

Liberia: 'Democratic Freedom' Tested

Freedom, it is said, is not cheap and no nation achieved it without a price. In order for Liberia to get to this point of a seemingly enviable environment of freedom, others had to lay down their lives (peace be to their ashes). Since then, anxiety, paranoia remains high as to whether Liberia has fully reached the acme of understanding the quintessence of freedom and is therefore creating the environment for its exercise. That Liberians take advantage of radio talk shows to express their supports and opposition to the government is enough reasons for the existence of freedom of speech. Amidst the high tension of polarizations, the worst has happened: the reported arrest of pro- Ellen resign campaign. Isn't that a test of the hard-earned freedom? The New Republic looks ahead.

As other moments in the history of the country, yesterday, October 9, 2013 will be remembered as the day the freedom so hardly labored for by Liberians, was put to test maybe for the worst, when four officials from the Movement of Ellen Step-Down Campaign were reportedly picked up by men said to be government security agents.

As news of the arrest of these men inundated and this paper meandered to confirm same, an official of the group, Vendalark Patrick phoned in and explained that four members of the Movement, Mulbah Morlu, Julius Jensen, Pastor Mark Anderson, the spokesman of the group including another member had been arrested allegedly by some officers of the Liberia National Police (LNP) and the National Security Agency (NSA).

The information could not independently be verified as police spokesman, Sam Collins, dodged inquiries from this paper on the issue. But Power TV News quoted Mr. Sam Collins as saying that he is not aware of the alleged arrest of Mr. Morlue and others.

Without stating reasons for the reported arrest of Morlu and others, he said they were arrested around the Samoa's Bar vicinity in the Sinkor belt, which is located several miles away from the Roberts International Airport RIA in Margibi County, where President Sirleaf expected to touch down.

But a member of the Ellen Step-Down Movement, Emmanuel Gonquoi was quoted on Power TV news as saying that Mr. Morlu along with three other members of the Movement were allegedly arrested by some members of the Liberian National Police at the Samoa's Bar where they had gone to entertain themselves.

International newswire quoted Police Director Chris Massaquoi as mentioning the arrests while appearing on a Wednesday morning radio program.

He was quoted saying the suspects had been caught driving around Monrovia the day before, falsely announcing that Sirleaf had resigned.

He did not say how many were arrested, and police spokesman Sam Collins said the number was "not available to me."

Over the past months, the Movement for Ellen Step-Down Campaign has been campaigning, mobilizing and rallying Liberians to the cause of seeking the resignation of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on accounts of her "failure to fulfill her promises, to improve the livelihood of Liberians, massive corruption and other negative vices."

Days after the official launch of the "Ellen Step -Down Campaign" in the New Kru Community, a pro government group, Liberia for the Protection of Peace and Democracy (LPPD) was immediately introduced and launched in Monrovia.

The establishment of the LPPD also followed the dwindling of another pro-President still-on group, "Ellen Step Up Campaign," whose sole aim was to counteract the anti group.

Most Liberians denounced the formation of an organization comprised of government officials and hardcore supporters of the president when there is a peace initiative of which politician
George Weah is the head.

The LPPD has not responded to the criticisms coming from Liberians over the timing of it coming to being, rather it joined the bandwagon of mobilizing resources to welcome President Sirleaf back to Liberia.

According to information gathered by our source, while members of the Ellen Come Down Campaign were being hunted, pro-president groupings filled government owned and charted buses and sped to the RIA.

Our source who was at the RIA said employees from government ministries and agencies as well as ministers flocked the airport to receive the president.

Government's maneuvers

Since the announcement was made by the group, the Liberian government has been on the edge, maneuvering to restrain the anti-President from scoring any major victory.

Besides the facilitation of two counter-groupings, the government through the Liberia National two days ago announced series of stern security measures intended to curtail or control the movement of people to and fro the RIA.

More than that, police authorities stuttered on the issue of giving permit to either grouping to facilitate their movement.

Police chief Chris Massaquoi earlier told a local radio station that the Justice Ministry had forwarded a permit to the police for the pro-Ellen group, but his deputy discounted his claims minutes later, saying they did not receive any permit from the ministry.

Massaquoi said the roads to the airport would be closed "because of national security implications."

Who's Mulbah Morlu

He is a Liberian, who grew political knowledge in exile in Ghana. Upon his return to Liberia, Morlu embarked on a campaign that is yet to be materialized "the Establishment of a War Crimes Court in Liberia."

Morlu was arrested by National Security Agency ( NSA) officers for using invectives against the presidency but was later released reportedly on orders of the president.

Since them, he had been treading what many called controversial lines, taking up issues with the government and calling for public actions.

Vandalark Patrick

He is a newcomer on the activism scene, having made his name during the aborted April 12, anti government protest.

He and others had planned a major demonstration on April 12, 2013 but were swayed by government insiders.

Libya: Despite Government Efforts, Torture Widespread in Libya's Detention Centres - UN Report

                                                                                                       Photo: Lason Athanasiadis/UNSMIL

Torture continues to be widespread in Libya's detention centres, according to a United Nations report released today, which noted that some 27 people have died in custody in the past two years, with physical abuse cited as the cause.

The report, 'Torture and Deaths in Detention in Libya,' said that abuse of detainees persists despite the Government's efforts, and recommends swift action to transfer detainees held by armed brigades to State control, as well as renewed efforts to build the capacity of the criminal justice system.

"Torture is illegal, under any circumstance, with no exceptions," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. "The situation of detainees in Libya is alarming and while there has been some progress, there is an urgent need to renew efforts to prevent torture, investigate allegations of torture and prosecute those responsible."

Ms. Pillay added that torture was a key tool of the previous repressive regime in Libya and called for full accountability for the crimes of the past and for ongoing abuses.


Torture is most frequent immediately after arrest and during the first days of interrogation to extract confessions and other information, according to the report. Detainees are usually held without access to lawyers and with only occasional, if any, access to families. The vast majority of the estimated 8,000 conflict-related detainees are also being held without due process.

Released jointly by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the report recorded 27 cases of death in custody, where significant information suggests that torture was the cause of death, since late 2011.

Eleven deaths in custody detailed in the report took place in 2013 in detention centres that are under the nominal authority of the Government but, in effect, are run by armed brigades which emerged during the 2011 revolution. In some cases, members of the armed brigades freely admitted, and even tried to justify, the physical abuse of detainees.

Since 2012, the Government has sought to bring armed brigades involved in detentions under the official authority of the State by affiliating them to specific ministries, even though in many cases the armed brigades have retained actual control of the detention centres.


In April, Libya also adopted a law criminalizing torture, enforced disappearances and discrimination, providing for terms of imprisonment ranging from five years to life, and in September this year, it adopted a new law on transitional justice which requires conflict-related detainees to be screened within 90 days.
The UN recommends that Libyan authorities and the armed brigades accelerate the process of handing over detainees to the control of State authorities, and in the meantime take measures to protect detainees against torture or other ill-treatment.

The report further recommends that Libyan authorities adopt a strategy to screen and, where appropriate, release or charge and prosecute conflict-related detainees, in implementation of the Law on Transitional Justice.

The report is based on information gathered first-hand during UNSMIL's visits to nearly 30 detention centres over two years, including information from detainees, family members, officials and civil society, as well as documentation such as medical reports.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and head of UNSMIL, Tarek Mitri, said that the prevailing situation of arbitrary detention and torture "runs against the very goals of the 17th of February Revolution of making a clean break with the systematic human rights violations of the former regime. In accordance with Libya's national priorities, all Libyans should unite to put an end to the abuse of detainees and contribute to establishing the rule of law in the country."

Museveni and Kagame stay warned-TANZANIA

Tanzania has warned that any efforts to sideline it while fast-tracking the East African federation could fail the whole regional integration project.

President Yoweri Museveni, Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta and Rwanda's Paul Kagame have lately appeared to operate in trilateral 'coalition' zealous about faster integration, with Tanzania and Burundi not invited to meetings in June and August.

But speaking on Monday, Tanzania's High Commissioner to Uganda, Dr Ladislaus Komba, predicted doom for the East Africa Community if the above trend continued.

"This may cause disturbance and may lead to problems which we had earlier. We have to learn from the past by appreciating what led to the 1970s experience so that we avoid making the same mistakes," he said.

In 1977, the first EAC collapsed, following disagreements between Ugandan and Tanzania and Kenya and Tanzania. In June and August, Museveni, Kenyatta and Kagame agreed on ambitious infrastructure developments and strategies for fast-tracking the federation.

Museveni was tasked to spearhead railway development and fast-tracking the federation. Kenyatta was assigned to spearhead electricity generation and distribution, as well as oil pipeline development.

Kagame, on the other hand, was tasked with issues of customs, a single tourist visa, and an East African Community e-identity card. Museveni has since appointed Gen Aronda Nyakairima to head a committee to draft a constitution for any eventual political federation.

Aronda's committee includes Ambassador Emmanuel Hatega, Col Francis Kasula, Ambassador Alex Mukuba and an official from the ministry of East African Community Affairs and the Attorney General's office. The committee is expected to report by April 2014.

Whereas the three partner states have said their trilateral arrangement is within the EAC framework, Tanzania argues otherwise.

"The decision that involves the isolation of us (Tanzania/Burundi) has not been done under the EAC framework because the meetings have not been organised by the EAC secretariat, which is mandated to do so," Komba said.

Concerns:

Komba accepts that the EAC treaty allows any three countries to form a quorum and reach a trilateral arrangement while other members catch up, but "the only concern we have is them making decisions that affect the other member states," Komba said.

He cited the resolutions made by the three to establish a single customs territory and the resolution to fast-track the political federation, which he said had been handled without following procedure.

"Any decision you make on the customs territory will have an impact on the other member states. I know that the summit at some stage has pronounced itself about this matter but before we monitor its progress, they have established something different, why?" Komba said.

On the issue of political federation, Komba argues that it is prudent to have in line with Article 5(2) of the EAC Treaty, after getting the customs union, common market and monetary union working.

EALA MP reacts:

According Fred Mukasa Mbidde, one of Uganda's representatives in the East Africa Legislative Assembly, Tanzania has a point.

"It is good to move as others catch up with you but it is also important to have consensus as you move because failure to do so can create a misunderstanding," Mbidde said this week.

He also questioned the Aronda committee: "Why is the line minister not on the team? Why have Aronda whose authority is currently questioned in the Constitutional court?"

However, Lawrence Mujuni, the director of the East African Community Affairs at the Uganda's ministry of East African Community Affairs, insists that the trilateral arrangement is within the mandate and the resolutions provided for by the treaty, arguing that Komba may not have all the facts.

His view was echoed by Shem Bageine, the state minister for the East African Community Affairs: "What is done is consultation on the matters. And, I can repeat this that no one is going to make a decision that affects the other partner states."

Bageine told us that other members would be briefed during the next EAC summit, due in November in Kampala.

Cautious, not reluctant:

In President Museveni's letter to Aronda, he refers to 2004 when the idea of fast-tracking the federation was first mooted and put to East Africans in a survey. According to the results, Tanzanians supported the federation of East Africa by 74.45 per cent but when it came to the issue of fast tracking, it was only 25.4 per cent.

In comparison, Uganda supported the federation by 77.6 per cent and fast-tracking by 56.3 per cent. Kenya supported the federation by 69.9 per cent and fast-tracking by 64.9 per cent. Rwanda supported the federation by 91.2 per cent and fast-tracking by 87per cent. Burundi supported the federation by 63 per cent and fast-tracking by 63.4 per cent.

It was widely reported then that the little enthusiasm for fast-tracking the federation in Tanzania was borne out of concerns about the country's land and minerals. Tanzania has more land and minerals than any other EAC member state.

According to Museveni, instead of being held hostage by one member (Tanzania), other members should proceed to draft a constitution since they have all expressed support for fast-tracking. However, Komba argues that Tanzania is not dragging its feet, only cautious.

"We need to first appreciate whether the first initiatives are yielding some results... before we move to a federation," Komba said. "We need to know each other. We need to trust each step, it is like a marriage, you cannot just marry someone you have just met, you have to know each other.".

Uganda's Controversial Marriage and Divorce Bill Is Left On the Shelf

ANALYSIS

Uganda's Marriage and Divorce Bill, which would make marital rape illegal, has been shelved again after public consultations.

A bill that would update Uganda's laws on marriage and divorce, including making rape within marriage explicitly illegal, has stalled once again in parliament.

The Marriage and Divorce Bill, which covers a wide range of marriage, divorce and gender issues, including bride wealth, female circumcision and the rights of cohabitating couples, has been in the pipeline since 1964.The bill caused controversy from the beginning, with some objecting to the very naming of the proposal which places marriage and divorce in the same breath.
One of the more controversial elements of the bill is Clause 114, which refers to marital rape. While confirming conjugal rights in marriage, the clause states that a spouse may refuse to have sex 'on reasonable grounds', including poor health, surgery, childbirth or a reasonable fear of physical or psychological injury or harm.

Whether marital rape is illegal or not is a grey area in Ugandan law. Some believe it to be covered already under the 2010 Domestic Violence Act, which has contributed to slowly changing attitudes towards violence in the home.

For Peter Magelah, Ugandan lawyer and researcher with the Advocates Coalition on Development and Environment (ACODE), Clause 114 is necessary to close a legal loophole. "Clause 114 is very important and to me it is the core of the Bill, since other laws do not cater for it," he says. "Uganda inherited its marriage laws from the UK, where they have since moved on and made marital rape a crime [in 1991]. Uganda still sticks to it, yet many women suffer marital rape."

Magelah argues that the current penal code, which makes a man guilty of rape if he 'unlawfully had carnal knowledge of a woman without consent', implies that it is possible to have lawful sex without consent. "This is interpreted by many to mean when the parties are married," he explains.

It is believed that there is widespread rape within marriage in Uganda. Doctors have reported that it is a major cause of health problems among married women, including women who have died as a result of coerced sex soon after giving birth. Statistics from the Uganda Law and Reform commission say 78% of women have experienced some form of domestic abuse.

Public consultations

The Speaker of the House, Rebecca Kadaga, had promised that the Marriage and Divorce Bill would be passed by Easter, but extensive debate among MPs and the wider population has meant that the bill is going nowhere fast.

Although President Museveni has backed the new law, most male MPs - who make up the majority in Parliament - opposed what was perceived as a 'women's bill'. On 13 March, 13 male MPs stormedout of the session, demanding an immediate suspension of the proposed legislation.

As the debate floundered, Kadaga called for an impromptu two-week recess at the beginning of March to allow MPs to consult their constituents. The results were mixed, although the majority of MPs reported that their constituents were opposed to the bill.

A common objection was that the Bill undermined traditional and religious understandings of marriage and property relations. Also worrying to some was an apparent importation and imposition of Western values. Wafula Ogutta, MP for Bukhooli Central, held 31 rallies and claimed that at each one his constituents rejected the Bill.

"Everywhere, I have been told to return to Parliament and oppose the bill instead of wasting their time with useless and dangerous bazangu [white] ideas of rich educated women in Kampala," he said.

For some who had previously supported the Bill, the public consultations led to a U-turn. Rose Lilly Akello, the Woman Representative for Kaabong District, stated after the consultations: "They are against the bill and they have told me that if they hear that I am pro the bill, that will be the end of my political career."

However, there are concerns that the consultation process was flawed, particularly the use of public meetings where women may have felt unable to speak freely. Sylvia Tamale, the dean of the Law Faculty at Makerere University, does not believe the public consultations were a true signal of democratic participation.

"The issue of 'public consultations' is a political tool used to kill bills and stall reform," she argues. "Women's rights are so fundamental that they should not be subjected to any form of referendum or public bidding and certainly not to a patriarchal sexist public."

The 'marital rape bill'

Some blame the media for failing to make clear the true content of the bill. Grace Natabaalo, social media commentator and program associate with the African Centre for Media Excellence in Kampala, argues that
 "The media in Uganda unfortunately kept focusing on a few controversial issues in the bill like marital rape, bride price, cohabitation and property sharing without going into details about the real issues...leading to the distortion and rejection of the bill." Some reports referred to a 'marital rape bill', despite the fact that only a single clause refers to the issue.

Magelah also argues that it was distorted perceptions which led to the rejection of the bill. "The bill was perceived as a women's bill and an attempt by women activities to undermine 'African culture'," he explains. Revealing this attitude, an interviewee speaking to Muslim Community Report said that "in African culture there is no marital rape", with marriage presumed to imply consent.

Magelah argues that the marital rape clause was rejected due to a lack of understanding of the wording of the clause. Far from granting the right to refuse sex, in fact, marital rape is defined only in reference to extreme circumstances, such as immediately after childbirth or in the case of sickness.

Betty Amongi, chairperson of the Uganda Women's Parliamentary Association (UWOPA), has said that the proponents of the bill would agree with government to water down the clause even further, to remove psychological injury or harm from the 'reasonable grounds' for refusing sex, and to clearly define what constitutes poor health.

Gender politics in Uganda

Equality legislation in Uganda has been, in recent years, simultaneously shocking and contradictory.
The infamous anti-homosexual bill in 2012 - which Kadaga had promised as a "Christmas gift" and, again, failed to deliver - was followed by an anti-pornography bill, which could have seen women being arrested for wearing miniskirts.

But despite these high-profile cases, small moves towards the improvement of gender relation have been noticeable. This year, the government introduced free sanitary pads in schools and made sex education in schools compulsory.

Traditional attitudes nonetheless remain entrenched. Jackie Asiimwe, lawyer and member of the Association of Women Lawyers in Uganda, argues that Uganda remains a very patriarchal society. "Many times, women, especially in public and political life, are reminded that they can be all they want outside the home, but when they get home, they must remember that they are a wife," she says. "At home a woman has a boss called a husband, and what the husband says goes."

The bill has provisions for equalising the rights of men and women in marriage and divorce, currently often defined by patriarchal customs. If passed, it would give women rights to property and child custody following divorce and grant legal recognition to cohabiting couples - an issue of contention for religious groups in particular.

For Asiimwe, "Liberating marriage is the most basic but also the most powerful thing for women. True liberation for women begins with equality in the home."

Tamale agrees that the law is a critical first step towards the transformation of women's position in Ugandan society. But, she argues, structural changes in attitude are also needed: "Enhancing gender awareness in formal education and grassroot communities as well as building the political will and commitment to tackle the structural and institutional impediments responsible for women's oppression and subordination will go a long way on the road to emancipation."

Where next?

The bill currently remains in limbo, shelved and with no clear indication of when it will return to Parliament or in what form promised further consultations will materialise.

Women activists, including Jackie Asiimwe, are still lobbying parliament to pass the bill. Lobbying efforts have also been directed towards the church, media and male politicians.

For Asiimwe, it is necessary to bring the issue of marital rape out into the open. Dismissing it as a private 'bedroom matter' is insufficient and dangerous for potential victims.

"We must come to a place where we are unafraid to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly in the sexual relations that go on in our homes, behind closed doors," she says. "Through our domestic violence struggles, we broke the silence on the vice. It's still hard, but many Ugandans will agree that domestic violence is bad.

We must now do the same for marital rape. If we don't break the silence on this one, more people will continue to suffer."

Somalia: Naming and Shaming - Latest UN Report On Somalia Singles Out Central Bank Governor As Corruption Kingpin - By KIGGUNDU HENRY

analysis

The French were right. As their adage goes, "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme change," (The more things change, the more they stay the same).

Three weeks ago, the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea released an exhaustive report that was reviled by some and lionized by others. The main theme of the report is simple: Not much has changed in the way Somalia is governed.

The arms flow to Somalia continues as usual and is facilitated by almost everybody, from rogue states to countries in good standing with the UN. Corruption is rampant, piracy is a lesser threat but former pirates have made a career change, radicalism is still a threat to the country but the menace is not exclusively from ideology, charcoal is black gold and illegally exported despite an international ban, and, of course, "spoilers" always erect obstacles to the pursuit of peace and stability.

President Hassan S. Mohamoud came to power last autumn promising change, stability, and accountability. Many Somalis and the international community were relieved that finally the country had a new leadership that would, skillfully and honestly, tackle the plethora of the problems they faced. President Mohamoud's government gained international recognition and many countries promised to help in his efforts. The president persistently talked about the need for foreign donors to fund his government directly instead of having the United Nations administer aid.

Corruption

The UN Monitoring Group report begins with a stark indictment of the new Somali government. "Despite the change in leadership in Mogadishu," it says, "the misappropriation of public resources continues in line with past practices." Some of the manifestations of this corruption are the following:

a) On average, about 80 percent of the withdrawals from the country's Central Bank (CB) are made--not to run the government--but for private purposes. The CB has become, in a way, an ATM for certain public officials, or as the report calls it a "slush fund." A case in point, of $16.9 million transferred to the CB for government use, $12 million cannot be accounted for.

b) The monthly revenue from the port of Mogadishu is about $3.8 million; however, from August 2012 to March 2013, only $2.7 million was deposited in the bank. The report further explains that "at present, at least 33 percent of the monthly port revenues cannot be accounted for."

c) The immigration services charge a lot of money to issue passports and visas, but rarely are all the proceeds deposited in the bank. There is a great deal of fraud and embezzlement. Needless to say, an individual may never know if his traveling documents are authentic or fraudulent.

The UN report blames the country's leaders for the widespread corruption, but it singles out Abdusalam Omer, the Somali-American governor of the Central Bank, for being "the key" to the bank's irregularities. Omer, oddly, runs the bank without the benefit of a board.

 The report even adds a zinger when it brings up Omer's checkered past. Once upon a time, Omer was the chief of staff of the mayor's office in Washington, D.C.

The report claims that Omer was forced out from this high profile position. The Central Bank has issued a preliminary response to these allegations.

Piracy

Somalia, once a bastion for piracy, has experienced a decline in ship hijackings. You might wonder what happened to most of the pirate leaders. The UN report has the answer: "To date, neither Mogadishu nor Puntland has seriously prosecuted and jailed any senior pirate leaders, financiers, negotiators, or facilitators."

Some former pirates have become security guards for the unlicensed foreign ships illegally fishing on Somali waters. Pirates have always blamed these foreign ships for their own criminal acts of piracy. Now, the pirates have undergone a career change and are joining their arch enemies. Security protection in the high seas has become a booming business in Puntland validating the notion, "if you can't beat them, join them."

Al-Shabaab

"At present," the report states, "Al-Shabaab remains the principal threat to peace and security in Somalia."

The group has been weakened by internal discord among its leaders, but is still a force to be reckoned with.

The terror group has not engaged in a direct battle with the forces of the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and, hence, has retained its core fighters. This enables the group to easily recapture the towns that Ethiopian forces had withdrawn from or abandoned. "These takeovers," the report argues, "illustrates not only the inability of the Federal Government of Somalia and its associated militias to control any ground without international support, but also the capacity of Al-Shabaab to readily recover lost territory."

Moreover, the terror group has infiltrated the government and especially the intelligence services. Warlords and politicians enable the militant group to wreak havoc in Mogadishu. These enablers are not necessarily religious figures but instead are either persons tribally tied to Al-Shabaab leaders or pure mercenaries.
A good example is what happened in Mogadishu last week when Al-Shabaab suicide bombers attacked the Turkish embassy annex. The Turkish ambassador to Somalia said that the attack was "outsourced" to Al-Shabaab. "The Al-Shabaab organization may have been used as 'subcontractor' in this attack," he told the Turkish news agency Anadolu.

Mogadishu Mayor, Mohamed Ahmed Nur "Tarzan" also railed about "some politicians" for aiding and abetting the radical group in the commission of its heinous crimes. At times, in Somalia, it is difficult to tell where religious radicalism begins and clan loyalty ends.

Al-Shabaab is not, however, the only entity responsible for political assassinations in Mogadishu. The UN report said that some warlords and even senior government officials like General Gaafow--head of the immigration services--run hit squads. The going rate is $200 per head and $25 for conducting surveillance.

This explains why these crimes are never prosecuted. At least Al-Shabaab takes full responsibility for its killings. But then, how does one know if the job was "outsourced" to the terror group or not?

Charcoal

The UN Security Council had banned the export of charcoal from Somalia primarily because Al-Shabaab was then in control of Kismayo, Somalia's third largest port city, and was profiting from its sale. No one cared about the devastating impact the related deforestation was having on the country. In 2012, Kenyan forces captured Kismayo with the assistance of a Somali militia group.

However, the transport of charcoal not only continued but increased 147 percent. Al-Shabaab, which controls the port city of Barawe, is also exporting the black gold. "About 1 million sacks of charcoal are exported from Kismayo each month," the report says.

If the current rate continues, warns the report, "charcoal exports in 2012-2013 will consume some 10.5 million trees and the area of deforestation will cover 1,750 square kilometers, which is larger than the city of Houston, Texas, in the United States."

Criticism of the report

For the record, the Somali government has denounced the UN Monitoring Group report as being based on rumors and innuendos. "It is clear that the report is increasingly dependent upon gossip, guilty-by-association, and hearsay," declared the government spokesman.

The most biting critique of the report, so far, has come from the maligned Governor of the Central Bank, Abdusalam Omer, who called the allegations, "completely unfounded, unsubstantiated, defamatory, and reckless." Omer questioned the methodology on which the report was based and the expertise of some members of its panel. Despite the fact that Omer's name was mentioned 27 times in the report, no one, he claimed, interviewed him or asked him to see the books. In addition, Omer argued that the two designated as "financial experts" on the panel held degrees in anything but finance or economics. One was a police officer in Minneapolis and the other a foreign affairs journalist with Reuters. In essence, none of them has "any relevant training or experience in forensic accounting."

In a nutshell, the UN Monitoring group makes numerous allegations. It might be a gargantuan task to collect reliable data from Somalia and especially Mogadishu because the city has its share of double-dealing and back-stabbing, not to mention, a vortex of gossip. For instance, several years ago, the UN Monitoring Group made a harebrained allegation that Al-Shabaab, a Sunni jihadist group, had sent 720 fighters to Hezbollah, a Shiite jihadi group in Lebanon, to fight Israel.

The current report does have some merit, rampant corruption in the country has been well-documented previously. For instance, a World Bank report in May 2012 found $131 million unaccounted for in then the
 Transitional Federal Government (TFG) revenues in 2009-2010.

 If history is a reliable guide, this is a case of attitudinal and cultural perversions. "Somalis did not consider looting national assets in customary law terms as stealing," the report says and, hence, among many officials, the "pursuit of power and profit became indistinguishable."

Mogadishu is unique because power interfaces with corruption, religion with clan, jihadism with opportunism, warlordism with legitimacy, and public service with personal enrichment. It is, indeed, a wild and dizzying world.

Kiggundu HENRY, Lgal Link International. FORUMS AND RESEARCH DESK.

Nigerians in FULL Support Anti Same-Sex Bill - Poll

A new weekly poll has revealed that 92 per cent of Nigerians are in support of the proposed Anti Same-Sex Bill. The weekly poll conducted by NOI Polls Limited from June 4 - 6 in Nigeria also revealed that the reason behind their support revolve around morality and religion.

According to results of the poll, most Nigerians are of the opinion that the proposed bill is not an infringement on the human rights of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) community because homosexuality is not in their culture as Nigerians. These are two of the key findings from the recent Fundamental Human Rights Poll.

The House of Representatives had on May 30th 2013, passed the Anti Same Sex Marriage Bill that makes same-sex unions in Nigeria a criminal offence punishable by a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. The bill also criminalises public displays of affection by same-gender partners.

The bill also states that "any person who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisations directly or indirectly, makes a public show of a same-sex amorous relationship commits an offence and shall be liable to a term of 10 years imprisonment."

Under the existing Nigerian Federal Law, sodomy is punishable by jail, but this bill legislates for a much broader crackdown on homosexuals and lesbians, who already live largely in an underground existence.

But according to Rashidi Williams, the Director of Nigeria's Queer Alliance Rights Group, "The Bill takes away the fundamental rights accorded Nigerians under the constitution. This is really, not a pressing national issue."

However, to explore the views of Nigerians regarding homosexuality and level of ratification, NOI Polls conducted its latest poll on Fundamental Human Rights with the expectation that the results from the poll will contribute to the on-going discussion, and particularly highlight the perceptions of Nigerians regarding rights of the LGBT community in Nigeria.

Respondents to the poll were asked five specific questions. First, in order to ascertain the level of awareness of the new proposed law to make same-sex marriage punishable by imprisonment, respondents were asked: "Are you aware of the recent legislative vote by the House of Representative banning same sex marriages in Nigeria? Why do you think it is an infringement/not an infringement on the human rights of LGBT community?

To what extent do you support or oppose the bill recently passed by the House of Representatives? To what extent do you support or oppose the bill recently passed by the House of Representatives?" To what extent do you agree or disagree with the claim that homosexuality is not part of the culture of Nigerians? Overall, 69 percent of the respondents were aware of the legislative vote banning same sex marriage.

The results showed that the North-central, North East and South-South have the highest level of awareness with 75 percent. Ninety- two percent (92%) of the respondents supported the Bill, 5 percent oppose the bill and 3 percent were neutral. Also, 85 percent of the respondents strongly agree that homosexuality was not part of the Nigerian culture.

On if the proposed law was an infringement on the human rights of LGBT community, majority of respondents were of the opinion that the proposed law is not an infringement on their rights. The poll in conclusion, revealed that Nigerians generally support the proposed bill and mostly agree that homosexuality is not a part of the Nigerian culture and majority do not think that the proposed bill is an infringement on the human rights of the people in the LGBT community

Law,Lukwago and KCCA

Justice Vincent Zehurikize of the High Court in Kampala is today expected to hear a petition filed by Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago seeking to block the tribunal instituted to review a petition by city councillors calling for his sacking.

Lukwago filed the petition on Monday through his law firm.

The tribunal is scheduled to start seating tomorrow at Metropole Hotel in the upscale city suburb of Kololo.
 Government chief legal adviser, the Attorney General (AG) and the Tribunal are listed as respondents.

The tribunal chairperson is Anti-Corruption Court judge Catherine Bamugemereire. It includes Alfred Okello-Oryem, an expert in public service and civil litigation, and Ocaya Lakidi, a former secretary to the Judiciary.

On May 17, a group of 17 KCCA councillors petitioned Tumwebaze demanding the removal of Lukwago from office. They accuse him of misconduct, abuse of office and incompetence. Lukwago is also faulted for intentionally and willfully engaging in acts of public incitement against payment of city dues, and impeding KCCA revenue collection efforts.

The tribunal was instituted by Kampala Capital City Authority affairs minister Frank Tumwebaze on June 5.
It is expected to determine whether the contents of the petition hold sufficient grounds for the removal of the Lord Mayor from office.

On June 14 during the pre-hearing meeting at Metropole, three more members Robert Kirunda (legal secretary), Daniel Rutiba (lead counsel), and Titus Kamya (deputy lead counsel), were added to the tribunal.
But Lukwago is questioning the tribunal's guidelines and composition, saying the additional members were irregularly put on board, and that it acted in excess of its powers to appoint the trio.

"The tribunal went ahead to make and issue rules without mandate to do so, yet the said rules deny the applicant (Lukwago) the right to effective legal representation. The rules issued by the tribunal are not only unfair, unreasonable, and illegal but were neither signed, dated nor gazetted," Lukwago contends.

Lukwago laments that if the tribunal is not restrained, he is likely to suffer irreparable damage.
There is also a similar pending Constitutional petition at the Constitutional Court filed recently by Lukwago, challenging Tumwebaze's move to institute the tribunal. Hearing is fixed for June 25.