A road project with Uganda showed a USD $300 thousand difference in the per kilometre costs, much to the Ugandan officials chagrin.
Now Kagame’s methods have spawned a nickname – Kagamercracy. The recently elected Tanzania president, John Pombe Maqufuli, has taken a page from Kagame and has paid surprise visits to institutions and begun to get a handle on questionable spending by government employees. In order to bring Rwanda into the 21st electronic community, he instituted a law that requires new city buildings to be wired for fibre optics. The following is an excerpt from News of Rwanda that shows how far the country has come since the dark days of 1994. In Rwanda, people take so many things for granted because they feel entitled to anything. The latest craze; pedestrian sidewalks and cycling lanes are being dug out of road pavements. Kigalians now want space to ride their bikes! Not all is easy in the much changed country. They are coping with about 80 thousand refugees that have fled Burundi after their president flouted the two term presidential rule. Sources: Al Jazeera News of Rwanda
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A group of former government workers has organized an opposition to Nkurunziza.
The capital city, Bujumbura, has seen much gunfire and grenade explosions are a common occurrence. Every morning people wake to the sight of bodies of the murdered left in the dirt. While police and army claim they have no connections to the extrajudicial killings many of the deceased were in opposition to the current president. The son of a prominent civil rights worker was apprehended and died while in custody. Others have told of harsh torture at the hands of the authorities. A failed coup attempt in July has split the ranks of the army. Some have fled to neighbouring countries. Currently at least 100 thousand people have left their homes to find uncertain safety in neighbouring countries. As the violence continues to escalate, a further 100 to 250 thousand people are expected to flee. The cost to provide for the refugees is estimated at $39 million. Sources: Afrika Reporter All Africa FBI forensic investigators were asked by the president of the Maldives after an explosion on his yacht in September injured his wife, an aide and a bodyguard. The president, Yameen Abdal Gayoon Gayoon, immediately declared that it was an assassination attempt. Subsequently the vice-president, Amed Adeeb, and three soldiers were arrests charged with an attempted coup. The VP was out of the country at the time of the explosion. They remain in jail. The FBI said “submitted specimens were determined to be components from the boat and not the components of an improvised explosive device”. Guardian The Maldives look like paradise to outsiders with luxury villas built over coral reefs. Appearances can be deceptive however. The island country has been a democracy since 2008 after ousting the half-brother of the current president. Plots and counterplots have found many politicians arrested and incarcerated. The country’s first democratically elected president is locked up currently. Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has visited him in jail. Former president Mohamed Nasheed had ordered the arrest of a judge and instead was arrested and sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges. Gayoom’s former defense minister is in jail with an eleven year sentence for firearm possession. There is little doubt that those in power in the Maldives are seeking to surveil any that they suspect of terrorist leanings. Legislation was signed October 29th by the current president to allow the installation of cameras inside the homes of any that were suspected of terrorism. The definition of terrorism is a broad one and includes such broad categories as vandalism. Tensions are likely to get worse as the island nation copes with ongoing sea level rise. The country is made up of coral atolls. The highest ground in less than four metres above sea level and most of it is much lower. The country depends heavily on the tourist industry. The number of visitors has steadily climbed to about 800 000 each year. While they provide much needed foreign currency they also stress the country’s capacity to provide fresh water, dispose of garbage and safe treatment of sewage. Sources: The Guardian The Guardian Hindustan Times Union of Concerned Scientists Iran is being wooed by German Industrialists. There is a large potential to make money in the country if the world sanctions against it are lifted in early 2016. Since the agreements were signed in July of this year in which Iran agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme, there is widespread anticipation of the money to be made as barriers are lifted. A large group of men from Lower Saxony travelled to Tehran in July to establish friendly trading talks with business people. One group of business hopefuls that was required to skip the trip were representatives from Volkswagen because of their corporate crisis. The German enterprisers are not alone in their quest for new opportunities. They’ve noticed the presence of French, Croats, Italians and Britons in the capital, all looking to find ways to exploit the potential markets. While the economy of Iran suffered with the sanctions in place, it was not entirely isolated. Some countries quietly ignored the ban on trade and others – India, S. Korea and China took full advantage of the goods gap to gain a foothold in the markets. While China observed some of the sanctions, they continued to import oil from that country. In 2011 they were importing an estimated half million barrels per day from Iran. China will likely supply the billions needed to build the proposed Iran/Pakistan natural gas pipeline which will facilitate moving LNG to China’s factories. China has supplied consumer goods to Iran as well as established working relationships in the construction. Supplying military hardware and expertise in cybernetics are two more areas that China is ready to exploit. While the Chinese are ready to step in to tighten relations with Iran, it is not all smooth going for them. The state controlled Iranian TV has commented on the difficulties and expenses that Iran has incurred in its oil exploitation efforts. "Chinese firms may have squandered some of the best opportunities during the worst sanction days by not being a friend in need," an unnamed CNPC official was quoted as saying in Beijing Press TV For its part, Iran seems to be emerging as an important player in the turbulent Middle East. They are supporting the Assad regime in Syria with weapons and troops. They have been invited to join the high level talks in Austria to try to achieve a plan to bring about a political solution to the vicious civil war in Syria. CNPC – China National Petroleum Corporation Sources: Der Spiegel National Interest Press TV |
Barbara McPherson
Blogger, gardener, farmer. Working toward food security and a 30 foot
diet. Addicted to reading. Love this planet, especially my little corner
on Vancouver Island, Canada Archives
October 2016
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