The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kenya

  • Kenya: Police foils planned Somali militants attack

    Kenya: Police foils planned Somali militants attack

    The Kenyan police said it arrested six men suspected of planning an attack sponsored by the al Shabaab militant group from neighboring Somalia.

    In recent weeks, the East African nation has lost 20 officers in various attacks, mostly on deserted roads in the vast northern region bordering Somalia, in which the militants used Improvised Explosive Devices.

    Joseph Boinnet, the Inspector-General Police, said in a statement that two of the suspects were Kenyans and the others were Somali nationals.

    Police also seized assembled explosives, four suicide vests and bomb-making materials such as TNT.

    “The six had been dispatched from Burhanche in Somalia by their commanders to launch attacks in Kenya,” Boinnet said.

    Kenyan security forces worked with their counterparts in Somalia to foil the attack and to capture the suspects.

    The captured men were being interrogated to establish the extent of the entire network, Boinnet said.

    Kenya has faced a constant security challenge from across the border ever since it sent its troops into Somalia in late 2011, to help defeat the al Shabaab militants and restore order.

  • UNDP pledges support for Peace Commission Bill passage

    UNDP pledges support for Peace Commission Bill passage

    The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has pledged its support to the passage of the National Commission for Peace Reconciliation and Mediation Bill currently before the National Assembly.

    A statement by Dr. Godwin Ichimi, Program Officer to Sen. Shehu Sani, sponsor of the Bill, in Abuja on Wednesday said Senate Committee of Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters would organize a workshop with UNDP on the bill.

    The bill has passed second reading and has been slated for public hearing.

    According to statement, the workshop will be organised to ensure that the bill enjoyed the confidence and support of citizens through useful inputs by way of position papers, memoranda and presentations.

    It said that workshop had been slated for Monday and Tuesday and was intended to strengthen civic participation.

    It also stated that the workshop would provide opportunity for deepening the scope for conflict prevention, peace building and post-conflict reconstruction and provide framework for a more coordinated approach for promoting peace.

    “The specific objectives of the workshop are to galvanize the perspectives of various key stakeholders in Nigeria on what should be in the contents of the draft bill.

    “This will be done through position papers, memoranda and presentations at the workshop and public hearing.

    “The workshop will also help to collate and analyse the position papers and memoranda presented by key stakeholders in Nigeria.

    “It will also help to organise a forum to share experience on best practice, benefits, and challenges of similar commissions in Africa.

    “It will equally provide an opportunity for the stakeholders to interact with the members of Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters and aggregate key issues, concerns, challenges about the Bill.

    “It will further elucidate the benefits of establishing a National Commission for Peace, Reconciliation and Mediation in Nigeria and make useful recommendations to improve on the draft bill.

    “The workshop will include presentations, plenary sessions and syndicate sessions where participants will consider sections of the bill vis-a-vis related Acts of Parliament in other countries particularly Ghana, Kenya and South Africa,” it stated.

    The statement noted that the bill, when passed, would be a bold and pragmatic step towards proffering sustainable and predictable responses to issues that result into conflict and violence in Nigeria.

    It further stated that participants would be drawn from socio-political groups, experts on Peace and Conflict Resolutions, civil society organizations, traditional rulers as well as federal and state governments.

  • Areximbank named African Banker of the Year

    Areximbank named African Banker of the Year

     Dr Benedict Oramah, the President of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has been named African Banker of the Year at the African Banker Awards 2017 ceremony in India.

    A statement by Afreximbank in Lagos on Wednesday said that the award was presented on Tuesday at a ceremony on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of African Development Bank.

    The bank said that the award was given to a banker who, through leadership and vision, had overseen strong financial performance within his or her organisation.

    “Such a banker would also have successfully guided that institution to new heights in the industry”.

    In his acceptance speech, Oramah, a Nigerian, said that he was able to win the award as a result of the dedicated work of the staff of Afreximbank.

    He said the staff had put in sustained efforts and made sacrifices to enable the bank continue performing in order to meet the challenges confronting Africa in the area of trade.

    Other nominees for the award included Segun Agbaje of GTB in Nigeria, Jeremy Awori of Barclays Bank in Kenya, Dr Charles Kimei of CRDB Bank in Tanzania, James Mwangi of Equity Bank in Kenya and Joshua Nyamweya Olgara of KCB in Kenya.

    Also at the ceremony, Guaranty Trust Bank of Nigeria was named African Bank of the Year, Rameswurlall Basant Roi, Governor of Central Bank of Mauritius, was named Central Bank Governor of the Year, while Rand Merchant Bank in South Africa was named Investment Bank of the Year.

    Other winners included Equity Bank of Kenya as the Best Retail Bank, MasterCard and Ecobank were named for Innovation in Banking.

    Waheed Olagunju of Bank of Industry in Nigeria was named African Banker Icon, while Amadou Ba, Minister of Finance of Senegal was named the Finance Minister of the Year.

    According to Afreximbank, the African Banker Awards were introduced to recognise reforms, rapid modernisation and expansion of banking and finance in Africa.

    “The awards reward the outstanding achievements of companies and individuals that have changed the perception of Africa’s potentials in domestic and international markets”.

     

  • Association urges FG to formulate artists’ policies

    The African Arts and Cultural Heritage Association (AACHA), has called on the Federal Government to formulate policies that would guide the operation of artists in Nigeria.

    Mr Kennedy Eguakun, the Public Relations Officer of AACHA told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that such policies would improve the country’s economic growth.

    Eguakun also called on the government to provide a conducive environment that would make artworks thrive in the country.

    He noted that the art sector in Nigeria had not been fully developed due to the concentration on the oil sector by the government.

    “The art sector of the nation’s economy has not been tapped into even up to 20 per cent.

    “Look at Ghana and Kenya for instance, these countries depend much on tourism, they don’t really have many natural resources like Nigeria.

    “But they are doing well with the tourism sector because tourism works hand in hand with art and craft,” he said.

    He added that fusing the art and craft industry with tourism would improve the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

    He, however, called for a policy that would assist to boost the sector using art and crafts.

    “Aside oil, art and craft will also be generating money for Nigeria.

    “It is a known fact that oil will one day dry up but art and craft will never dry up because it has something to do with the human instinct” he said.

     

  • WHO unveils new malaria vaccine to be piloted in three African countries

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday unveiled a new malaria vaccine called RTS,S that will be piloted in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi next year to gauge its efficacy and safety.

    The WHO Regional Director for Africa,  Matshidiso Moeti, said the launch of the malaria vaccine, developed after years of painstaking research, marked a critical milestone in the fight against the tropical disease.

    The director added that “the prospect of a malaria vaccine is great news. Information gathered in the pilot programme will help us make decisions on the wider use of this vaccine.

    “Combined with existing malaria interventions, such a vaccine would have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa.”

    Moeti explained that developed through a public-private partnership, RTS,S malaria vaccine was recommended by a scientific panel appointed by the WHO to gauge its efficacy.

    The selection of Kenya, Ghana and Malawi to participate in the malaria vaccine pilot programme was based on their well-laid structures to fight the disease alongside high prevalence levels.

    The WHO director noted that RTS,S vaccine would complement existing interventions like drugs, indoor spraying and treated nets to vanquish the malaria-causing parasite that transmitted by mosquitoes.

    “We require new diagnostics, more effective anti-malarial drugs and new chemical formulations to prevent insecticide resistance to win the war against malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Moeti said.

    She said the UN Health agency had mobilised funds to support implementation of the initial phase of the malaria vaccine pilot programme that covers 2017-2020.

    She said “the vaccine would be assessed as a complementary intervention in Africa that could be added to our existing toolbox of proven preventive, diagnostic and treatment measures.”

    She added that the Sub-Saharan African region prevented an estimated 6.8 million malaria deaths between 2001 and 2015, thanks to political goodwill and robust financing toward prevention and treatment tools.

    WHO statistics show that in 2015, 13 out of 15 countries accounting for 80 per cent of global malaria burden were in Africa.

    The Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme, Pedro Alonso, urged African governments to scale up investments in proven interventions like insecticide treated nets, indoor spraying and medicines to reduce malaria infections and deaths.

    “We have highly efficacious prevention and treatment options that should be scaled up to eliminate malaria in high endemic African countries,” said Alonso.

    He said the initial pilot programme of the RTS,S malaria vaccine would target 700,000 African children.

    Kenya’s cabinet Secretary for Health, Cleopa Mailu, hailed the launch of the malaria vaccine, saying it would accelerate progress toward eliminating the disease.

  • IAAF World Relays: U.S., Jamaica, Australia top table, Nigeria 16th

    To consolidate on their position as the strongest relay nation in the world, the U.S. collected their third successive Golden Baton honour at the IAAF/BTC World Relays, “Bahamas 2017’’.

    The U.S. won five of the nine events over the two-day programme, took silver in a pair and third in another to tally 60 points, 21 ahead of Jamaica which had 39 in total.

    The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said on its website on Monday that the Golden Baton was awarded to the team who accrues the most points.

    It said the points were based on the simple scoring system of eight points for first place down to one point for finishing eighth.

    Australia was third with 24, edging Poland by just one point.

    The U.S. won the men’s 4x800m and men’s and women’s 4x400m on the final day but for the vociferous crowd that gathered in Nassau’s Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

    It said that the highlight was the resounding victory by a Bahamian quartet in the mixed 4x400m relay that capped the thoroughly entertaining evening.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kenya placed sixth with 16 points, Botswana placed 11th with 10 points and Nigeria placed 16th on the table with six points.

    The competition held from April 22 to April 23 at Nassau, Bahamas and Nigeria featured only the women’s team in the 4x100m, 4x200m and 4x400m.

    Nigeria’s 4x200m women’s squad, the winner of the 2015 edition failed to retain its title by clinching a distant fifth position. (NAN)
    MJO/PDE

  • Ghana, Kenya, Malawi to pilot world’s first malaria vaccine in 2018 – WHO

    Ghana, Kenya and Malawi will pilot the world’s first malaria vaccine from 2018, offering it for babies and children in high-risk areas as part of real-life trials.

    The World Health Organisation said in a staatement on Monday that the injectable vaccine is called “Mosquirix”.

    The WHO said the vaccines was developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to protect children from the most deadly form of malaria in Africa.

    In clinical trials it proved only partially effective, and it needs to be given in a four-dose schedule, but is the first regulator-approved vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease.

    The WHO, which is in the process of assessing whether to add the shot to core package of WHO-recommended measures for malaria prevention, has said it first wants to see the results of on-the-ground testing in a pilot programme.

    “Information gathered in the pilot will help us make decisions on the wider use of this vaccine,” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO African regional director, said in a statement as the three pilot countries were announced.

    “Combined with existing malaria interventions, such a vaccine would have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa.”

    Malaria kills around 430,000 people a year, the vast majority of them babies and young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Global efforts in the last 15 years cut the malaria death toll by 62 per cent between 2000 and 2015.

    The WHO pilot programme will assess whether the Mosquirix’s protective effect in children aged five to 17 months can be replicated in real-life.

    It will also assess the feasibility of delivering the four doses needed, and explore the vaccine’s potential role in reducing the number of children killed by the disease.

    The WHO said Malawi, Kenya and Ghana were chosen for the pilot due to several factors, including having high rates of malaria as well as good malaria programmes, wide use of bed-nets, and well-functioning immunisation programmes.

    The UN organisation said each of the three countries will decide on the districts and regions to be included in the pilots.

    It also said high malaria areas will get priority since these are where experts expect to see most benefit from the use of the vaccine.

    “Mosquirix” was developed by GSK in partnership with the non-profit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and part-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    The WHO said in November it had secured full funding for the first phase of the drugs pilots.

    The organisation said the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis would provide 15 million dollars and up to 27.5 million dollars and 9.6 million dollars respectively from the Global Vaccine Alliance and UN global health initiative for the first four years of the programme.

  • Ambode calls for political reformation in Africa

    Ambode calls for political reformation in Africa

     

    Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Wednesday called for collaboration among political leaders in Africa to reform political process for development and economic transformation of the continent.

    Ambode, represented by his deputy, Dr Idiat Adebule, made the call at the 2nd African Political Summit organised by the Association of Political Consultants in Africa (APCA) in Lagos.

    The theme of the summit is: “Democracy and Political Consultancy.’’

    “The nature of politics in Africa has for long been a source of grave concern to those who are genuinely interested in taking Africa to its rightful position in the mainstream global system.

    “It is in our best interest and in the interest of our democracy to reform our political process and enhance the engagement of the electorate in the democratic process for credibility and transparency.

    “The resultant effect will be effective leadership for transformative growth and development,’’ Ambode said.

    Also, Mr Benjamin Eisenberg, a Political Consultant based in U.S, said that professionalising politics was the only way for democracy to succeed in Africa.

    Eisenberg said that the recent elections in Ghana and Gambia showed that democracy was growing and political processes in Africa were becoming encouraging and there was need to intensify the reformation.

    “This conference will avail us the opportunity to discuss better ways of training campaign managers to organise voters and help the people to get a better understanding of politics.

    “Professionalising  politics in Africa will enhance moving to issue-based campaign instead of ethnic or tribal politics,’’ he said.

    In a goodwill message, Mr Kipngeno Dunchi, a representative from Kenya, said that there was the need for African countries to reform their political practices for the growth of democracy.

    “We shall be exchanging ideas on how we can really democratise Africa and ensure that our political system has a stronger ballot which will decide the leadership.

    “When we make politics a profession in Africa, we will likely see more people with genuine interest engaging in politics and political affairs will be properly managed,’’ he said.

    In his remarks, Mr Kehinde Bamgbetan, the Chairman of APCA, said that the way politics was practised in Africa, with poor campaign processes, poor financing, poor mobilisation, violence, fear and anxiety called for concern.

    Bamgbetan said that politics in Nigeria and Africa was negatively affecting the growth of democracy.

    “APCA seeks to redefine the way politics is played in Africa.

    “We need to emulate advanced countries where politics is characterised with healthy rivalry and scientific approach.

    “We can achieve such in Nigeria and Africa by following scientific pattern of politics to enhance political practice with healthy competition and reduce corruption in politics for the good of the people,’’ he said

     

  • Kenya to become hub for Muslim tourism, banking

    The majority Christian nation Kenya wants to become a hub for Islamic tourism, banking and other services, experts said at an East African Islamic Economy Summit held in Nairobi on Tuesday.

    The meeting which was organized by the private sector was attended by bankers, investors and other experts.

    It was organized to explore how the region can best target a market of 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide by offering goods and services in line with Islamic principles.

    The Islamic economy encompasses not only a food industry with dietary requirements, but also sectors such as tourism, banking, insurance and capital markets.

    Kenyan tourism official Najib Balala said the Tourism Ministry planned to publish guidelines for hotels and lodges that would seek to comply with Islamic law, or Sharia.

    Balala said that was in order to attract Muslim travelers, whose spending is expected to reach 230 billion dollars in 2020 worldwide.

    Paul Muthaura, Chief Eexecutive of Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority said that Kenya had also created a team of experts to identify policies that would make the country’s capital markets compliant with Sharia banking laws.

    Some participants at the meeting, however, warned that catering to the Muslim market also implied challenges.

    “It is very difficult to develop concepts that are acceptable to the governments in countries with liberal populations such as Italy,” Anna Tiozzo, President of the Italian organisation World Halal Development said.

    Tiozzo said her organisation needed 10 years to push through the certification of Halal food products, with governments wary of being seen as favouring any particular religion.

     

  • Expert advice artisans to embrace micro pension scheme

    A financial expert, Mr Mufutau Oyegunle, on Wednesday advised Nigerians in the informal sector to embrace the micro pension contributory scheme being developed by National Pension Commission (PenCom).

    Oyegunle told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the scheme, which would begin in 2017, would enable them develop saving culture and live better at old age.

    He urged artisans such as tailors, plumbers, vulcanisers, mechanics, hairdressers and others to key into the scheme.

    The expert said that the scheme was not particularly new as it was being successfully practised in India, Kenya, Ghana and other countries.

    “Those who think they are unable to save due to low income will still find it difficult to save when they have more because saving requires discipline.
    “If you can’t save N10, you can’t save a billion.

    “If you think your fund is too small to save, you may not save when you have it increased by 10 million folds.

    “This is the fundamental principle when it comes to money. So, no amount is too small to be saved,” he said.

    Oyegunle, who is the Managing Director of LAKEG Insurance, said PenCom had targeted over 50 million workers in the informal sector for the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) using the Micro Pension initiative.

    “The commission expects to get at least 20 million savers in the informal sector into the scheme in the next four years,” he said