President I. Afwerki and Y. Museveni

On arrival at Entebe International Airport, he was accorded warm welcome by President Museveni, senior Ugandan government officials and Army commanders, as well as Ambassadors and Eritrean nationals residing in Uganda.

During the warm welcome accompanied by the national anthems of Eritrea and Uganda, a 21-gun salute featured and the residents of Kampala city staged songs and dances.

Following the welcoming ceremony, Presidents Isaias and Museveni held extensive discussion focusing on bilateral relations and regional issues of mutual interest.

In the course of the visit, President Isaias would conduct meetings, in addition to visiting various economic and trade institutions.

In a statement it issued in connection with President Isaias’ visit, the Government of Uganda pointed out that the visit would play significant role in promoting peace and security both at the regional and continental level.

By Amanuel Biedemariam

Note: this article is a repost. The original was posted on Nov 27/2009. The revelation by Wikileaks on the role of Uganda’s Museveni and Dr. Jendayi Frazer played to hatch the ILLEGAL sanctions on Eritrea confirms what Eritreans have been saying all along. It is a travesty to see the one of the greatest nations to resort to this low! President Obama needs to repeal the ILLEGAL sanctions NOW!

For centuries, African leaders have done tremendous harm to Africans equal to that of the European colonizers by selling Africans to Western slave masters and by allowing foreigners to exploit Africa for their selfish interests. The exploitation of Africa using African leaders is pervasive. African resources are exploited by the West and other powers using African leaders who work for the interest foreign powers. These include leaders such as Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya and the notorious Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia amongst others.

These leaders do not represent African interest, but worse, everything that they pursue is at the expense of the people they are supposed to lead. In the process, they are destroying the harmony, cultural heritage, the economies, health, agriculture and customs of the people in Africa. They are standing on the way of traditional cross-border trade amongst neighborly countries by igniting wars in an effort to fulfill the interests of their masters.

Over the years this tactic was used by many international actors. Since World War II, US governments have empowered and employed African strong Men to do their bidding in Africa extensively. During George W Bush´s administration however, the roles of these surrogates have expanded into many areas to achieve different geopolitical interests. They are being used as advocates for African related matters at the UN, as peacekeepers in sensitive areas where direct Western military involvement could conjure up anti-Western backlash and for PR purposes around the world. They are providing cover for Western powers to pursue questionable strategic interests and provide unfettered access into the countries of interest. The sole purpose is to exploit resources; and always at the expense of the lives and livelihoods of the people.

The human rights records of these surrogate African leaders are abysmal and should put them in jail for crimes against humanity. Their grade for governance is, Fail. The futures of the countries they lead are bleak. They are looting the resources and have neglected the infrastructures; health, agriculture, education and business opportunities are limited to the privileged few and foreigners. Their countries are ready to disintegrate from religious, ethnic and regional strife. We saw this in Kenya during the 2007 election-violence that paralyzed the country and in Ethiopia, during the May of 2005 sham election, with Ethiopians taking to the streets to protest against the criminal Meles regime, which responded by massacring innocent students by sharp shooters while the world witnessed in horror. The recent ethnic violence in Uganda that threatened to destabilize the country was quelled by violent Ugandan army that butchered people on the streets.

That is the hallmark of these leaders .But the irony is that they have the green light from the West to do as they wish in order to quell any popular uprising that could rise up against the interest of the West. The atrocities Museveni commits in Uganda and throughout the region is a shameful reminder of the warped justice Africans are subjected to. The West is making a mockery of justice as they employ it at will based on their geopolitical economic interests. Those on the payroll of the West can commit any crime ala Yoweri Museveni, Meles Zenawi, Mwai Kibaki and others while The International Criminal Court (ICC) looks the other way. But if you fail to tow to the whims of the West you are certain to face the fury of justice, or threat of it, as we have seen attempted on Sudan´s Omar Al Bashir.

Yoweri Museveni has constitutionally outlawed all other political parties and is ruling Uganda using his militarized one party dictatorship. He disbanded the presidential terms for him to rule indefinitely. Yoweri Museveni is one of the key US operatives in Africa and he doesn´t even care to hide it. When the ICC came out with Omar al Bashir´s indictment, he was the first to come out and express his intention to put President Bashir in jail while the rest of Africa unanimously denounced the process and stood by Bashir. The irony is Uganda and Sudan share common borders. Sudan is a huge country with untapped potential that could create opportunities for Ugandans. Instead, Museveni chose to aggravate the situation instead of inviting cooperation between the two countries.

It is evident Yoweri Museveni cannot keep peace and stability in his own country but at on behalf of his masters, he sent Ugandan forces into Somalia as peace keeping forces with disastrous results. Ugandan troops are mowing civilian populations from behind their barracks in Mogadishu using heavy artillery. He does that because that is how he makes money. The Somalis are unfortunately surrounded by leaders that entirely depend on Western support and as a result they are suffering mightily with no one to speak on their behalf. That is why Somalia cannot free itself from perpetual misery.

The geopolitical games at play are bearing deadly consequences for the people in the Horn of Africa in particular and Africa in general. The conflicts are widening and the international actors are desperate to assume full control using any means at their disposal. They use political, economic and military pressure to achieve their objectives. They are imposing leaders on the people of Africa and the weaker the leader the easier for them to control, exploit and impose their will. Therefore the main idea is to place a “leadership core” however possible. That is the West´s modus operandi. This means, third world nations will not be allowed the opportunity to create their indigenous governance policies. Instead, they will be subjected to leaders imposed by the West in contradiction to their own history which allowed them go through political strife to establish systems of their choice as in the case of the American Civil War. During the French revolution the US deliberately remained neutral.

The problem with this approach is that it is impossible to achieve. It is a fool´s dream certain to create human calamity much worse than the holocaust. It´s already created tremendous loss of life and resources with dire ramification for future generations. It is certain to fail for many reasons:

Firstly, the problems are overlapping and the issues interlock creating chains across borders and throughout the region. Unlike the Middle East, the situation and actors in the Greater Horn region remains unsettled. It is impossible for any imposed leader to be effective because of the complicated ethnic makeup of the region. Kenya and Ethiopia have Oromo ethnic population, Ethiopia and Somalia share Ogaden while Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia share the Afar and/or Issas´ and on and on. These overlap is multiplied across borders throughout the entire region. Many of these nationalities are fighting for some form of recognition, and in some cases they are fighting for total independence as in the case of the Ogaden. There are border issues, ungovernable and ungoverned areas. There are regions that claim to be independent and operate independently as in the case of Somaliland and Puntland.

These countries have competing economic and geopolitical interests making it impossible to create harmonious trading and political partnerships. For example: Ethiopia depends on Djibouti to access the sea. Djibouti needs Ethiopia because Ethiopia is the main source of income. Therefore, the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia serves Djibouti well because if Ethiopia utilizes much bigger ports in Eritrea Port Djibouti will be out of service. Moreover, the situation in the region is complicated by competing security interests, suspicion and history based-on-bloodshed.

Secondly, some international actors have always played and continue to play negative roles. All the problems in Somalia are byproducts of colonial and cold war legacies. And unfortunately, Somalia and the region are beset by foreigners with means and resources determined to their own interest at any cost to the detriment of the lives of the people.

At the height of the Bush era war-of-terror, Chinese oil explorers were killed in the Ogaden while under the protection and guidance of Ethiopian army. US oil companies´ have had licenses to explore oil in the Ogaden since 1945. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is claiming to have controlled sizeable territories from Ethiopian forces, which is a major development! While at the same time, the US operatives like David Shinn, in a complete change of tone, is accusing Ethiopia of human rights violation in the Ogaden. This is taking place in the backdrop of what is taking place in Somalia, a country that once claimed Ogaden as her own and went to war for it in 1976-1978. Consecutively, the US is trying to assert control in Somalia by putting in place a transitional government hatched by the failed diplomat Dr. Jendayie Frazer in Djibouti at the waning hours of the Bush Administration. Furthermore, in the same period, to satisfy foreign interest, Djibouti started unprovoked conflict against Eritrea and on and on…

Thirdly, the leaders in the region are susceptible to the very conflicts hatched by the West. Since they are surrogates and dependent on Western direct support, they have to parrot any agenda being pushed. It is to be recalled Dr. Jendayie Frazer threatened to place Eritrea on the List of States that Sponsor Terror. To satisfy Dr. Frazer, from the offices of African Union in Addis Ababa, the surrogates led by Meles Zenawi went on full gear to blame Eritrea for the problems plaguing Somalia. The Irony is these countries are key-parties to the conflict in Somalia.

Fast Forward
Uganda is a TEMPORARY member of the Security Council. And instead of using that time on a useful agenda that can foster development in the region and Africa they are using it to undercut and weaken Eritrea. Uganda is circulating a draft resolution at the UNSC to slap sanctions on Eritrea for alleged support of Al Shabab. These are Somalis fighting to rid Somalia from outside forces like the Ugandan-army responsible for the death of thousands of Somalis.

The regional organization that sponsored the draft includes Kenya a country that is admittedly arming and training Somalis. Djibouti is a country that has turned into a Trojan-horse for the region and has become a major nuisance at the behest of US and France. Somalia; the transitional government is a government in exile with no legitimacy on the ground. Ethiopia is a country at the center of the problem and responsible for the displacement and death of millions of Somalis. Meles Zenawi should be put in jailed for crimes against humanity he committed in Somalia, Ogaden and other places in the region.

The question here is who gave Ethiopia the right to invade and occupy a sovereign nation against UN resolutions with impunity and without consequences at the cost of millions of Somali lives displaced, dead and wounded. Who is the international arbiter to decide who is guilty? Why not sanction Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya for arming, training Somalia flouting international law? Why is the US exonerated? Is the US interest more important than that of the interest of the people in the region? Who makes the US above the law? Does it mean that a Superpower can use international law and mechanism to punish others and accord themselves immunity from justice regardless of the crimes? What does this mean for the future of the region? Do the people in the region have to be subjected to hardship that surpasses the holocaust in volume and impact until US interests are fulfilled? How is justice going to be served on the true crime that is being committed by Museveni? The questions are endless.

What this shows is a broken international system and, if allowed to continue, it can threaten international stability and disrupt world trade because the area is a major international waterway. And the people in the region will suffer endless conflict cycles.

The UNSC has diminished its stature by allowing its permanent members to use dictators that are unaccountable to their own people and region in order to fulfill ill conceived agendas. Yoweri Museveni is a dictator with criminal human rights and poor governance record. He is alms dependent and beset by civil strife. In other words, a criminal is playing a prosecutor for one month because of a broken international system.

This also shows the hypocrisy of the international organizations that claim to represent the interest of justice, human rights, freedom of speech and the like. Organizations like Enough Project, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters without Borders and individuals who claim to care about humanity. But what these organizations are Faucets that can be turned on and off on queue based on the interests and the whim of their respective governments. They are PR tools. They use justice as a tool in places where they can help the powers in subjugating these nations.

Conclusion
If the mercenary, Yoweri Museveni, is seeking stability in Somalia, he needs to get out of Somalia and give the Somalis a chance to solve their own problems. The money he earns for providing soldiers is not worth the destructions he is causing. Using Eritrea as a scapegoat is not going to change the situation in Somalia. Nor, will it exonerate or absolve Uganda and Ethiopia from the crimes they have committed. The Somali people have a legitimate right to cast their path and must be allowed.

As history shows all the attempts by foreign powers to control the resources in the region failed because it doesn´t belong to them. It belongs to the people and they should be allowed respite to gather their nation. The Somalis must be allowed to go through the process of re-forming their nation and become responsible international citizens capable to exploit their wealth while satisfying international appetite based on market dictates. Furthermore, it is incumbent upon all and particularly the people in the region to stand for the rights of the people of the region!

In 2010 football was the name of the game on the African continent and history in the making with the first FIFA Football World Cup held in South Africa.

Football has become a “world religion” bringing nations together on the pitch and off the pitch. Who would have thought that alone supermarket giant Sainsbury’s would sell an African instrument, “Vuvuzela”, once used to summon distant villagers to attend community gatherings, over 50.000 times in the UK.

Africa is not only made out of South Africa and so football history continued to be written also in Eritrea, a small African state on the red sea, where the young nation hosted the CECAFA under-20 tournament. The CECAFA theme was Development and Friendship and took place in Eritrea’s capital Asmara from the August 14 to August 28.

Teams from nine African nations, including Eritrea, received a warm welcome by  Mr Tesfay Gebreyesas president of the Eritrean National Football Federation. Eritrea, the hosting country delivered a successful cup with organizers squeezing the best out of resources available, it proved again Eritrea can make it even during difficult times.

President of CECAFA Mr Leodegar Tenga praised the Government, Football Federation and the people of Eritrea for their hospitality. He continued on by saying

“This tournament will not only stimulate the development of football in this region, but it will also renovate social, economic development of our people and foster friendship”.

The tournament was overall packed and tickets for matches sold out, hotels were full with African nation’s contestants and streets were decorated with banners all over the place.

Eritrean fans were on the streets chanting “Eritrea, Eritrea Eritrea” full of excitement and roads packed with cars sounding there horn. Although, Eritrea came second behind cup winner Uganda and 4 players of the national team of Zanzibar had to be disqualified because of overage the cup was a major achievement for the team and Eritrea.

Shabait, Asmara, 28 August 2010 – The 5th CECAFA Cup under 20 tournament that was conducted here in Asmara concluded today with the Ugandan national soccer team as winner.

In the final matches that took place today between the Eritrean and Ugandan national teams, the two teams drew 1-1 in both the regular and additional time. In the subsequent penalty kicks, the Ugandan team beat the Eritrean team 5-3, thus emerging as the champion.

Also in the matches conducted earlier between the Kenyan and Rwandan national teams for ranking, the Kenyan team defeated its counterpart 1-0 and assumed the 3rd position.

In the course of the two-week tournament under the theme: “Development and Friendship”, the national soccer teams of Eritrea, Tanzania, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda and Zanzibar, as well as the invited Yemeni team took part.

The European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) has raised a red flag over the worsening food security situation in the Horn of Africa.

Karel De Gucht, European Commissioner in charge of development and humanitarian aid, attributes the disastrous situation to the terrible potential of climate change.

“Large parts of the Horn of Africa have had less than 75 percent of normal rainfall this year, having already endured a series of severe droughts. The population can no longer cope with such extreme and protracted hardship which often comes on top of conflict situation. As a result, more than 16 million people desperately need help,” he said in a statement released by ECHO.

Initial optimism occasioned by forecasts of El Niño rains were thwarted when November proved largely dry. El Niño refers to a periodic warming of temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, far from East Africa’s shores but with impacts on the country’s rainfall and weather patterns.

Samuel Mwangi, acting assistant director of Kenya’s national weather forecasting services explains that El Niño has been linked with greater rainfall during the annual “short rains” in East Africa, between October and December.

ECHO warns that if the December rains are below average, parts of Kenya may suffer irreparable damage.

ECHO regional information officer Daniel Dickinson told IPS, “In the face of the unfolding drought situation, ECHO is providing 50 million euros in humanitarian aid to vulnerable drought-affected people in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. The rains have failed and people have exhausted the coping mechanisms which they had and urgently need help.”

Kenya’s minister for special programmes, Naomi Shaban, issued a similar warning in mid- December over the worsening food security situation across the country.

Speaking as she flagged off relief food worth $80,000 donated by Telkom Kenya and World Vision Kenya, Shaban said ten districts across the country are facing an imminent crisis in relation to food insecurity.

“Unfortunately, the country has experienced another season of failed rains which is expected to increase the current levels of food insecurity. Although Kenya’s food security is still on the borderline, many districts are at risk of sliding into an acute food and livelihood crisis. This situation is made worse by high food prices,” Shaban explained.

In Kenya, Dickinson says it is estimated 3.8 million people currently rely on humanitarian aid and the situation is worsening. with acute malnutrition above 20 percent in five districts.

The government of Kenya has increased its monthly spending on relief food to $1.3 million per month to assist those facing starvation. In early 2009, the government declared the unfolding food security situation a national disaster, stating that 10 million Kenyans were unable to access food.

In Ethiopia, ECHO reports indicate with several consecutive crop failures, the nutritional situation in that country has deteriorated badly and is expected to worsen further.

The story unfolding in Somalia is similar, with the situation aggravated by ongoing conflict. In Uganda, ECHO indicates 2.2 million people in northern Acholi and Karamoja regions face food insecurity.

According to Famine Early Warning Systems Network (which issues alerts on food insecurity) poor rains in November have revised prospects for widespread food security improvements that were expected to manifest toward the end of December in Kenya.

Those set to be adversely affected include pastoral households who already face unrelenting prices for food, an outbreak of cholera and heightened conflict over limited pasture and water in drought conditions.

However, Mwangi says sections of the country have experienced increased rainfall as predicted, which means good harvests will be recorded in certain areas.

“It must be pointed out that the poor performance of rainfall is not widespread across the country. There are areas that will still record good harvests from the rainfall received during the season.

In Coast, Northeastern, Eastern and Central Provinces, the rainfall was characterised by heavy storms in the second half of the month. This significantly enhanced the total rainfall amounts recorded in these provinces,” Mwangi says.

It is not clear whether good harvests in these areas will cover the predicted shortfalls in the rest of the country. Source: (IPS)

Listen to the American National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast on the bill by the Ugandan Parliament to increase penalties for homosexuality, in some cases making it punishable by death. Host Michel Martin talks to NPR’s East Africa Correspondent Gwen Thompkins about reaction to the anti-gay bill, what its passage could mean for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in Uganda and the contested role a group of American Evangelical pastors have played in drumming up support for the bill.

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Horn of Africa

London based think tank Chatham House published a briefing paper on economic drivers of conflict and cooperation in the Horn of Africa.

According to the research agency, economic relations between nations in the Horn of Africa could play a vital role in bringing peaceful cooperation to the region. However, disagreement over territorial integrity, cultural nationalism and internal factionalism have economic elements which fuel conflict or are critical to its outcome.

Further, it states the Horn of Africa remains highly violent and conflict driven within and across national borders. The fact that the region is linked together through colonial occurrences, common ecological zones and cultural interdependence, explains why disputes in one country can have political and economic significance beyond its borders.

The termination of trade between Eritrea and Ethiopia after the 1998-2000 war represents an economic driver of conflict, the report states. The border closure between Eritrea and Ethiopia caused all Ethiopian trade to be redirected via Djibouti.

The growth of trade volumes via Djibouti went up from 1.7 million tonnes in 1997 to 3.1 million tonnes in 1998 and 4.2 million tonnes in 2002. Before the conflict the port of Assab was handling 80 – 85% of Ethiopia’s international trade, with only 15 – 20% passing through Djibouti.

According to the think tank a possible return of trade between Ethiopia and Eritrea will depend on a number of factors;

• The degree of development in the economic infrastructure of  Tigray
• The availability of finance to upgrade the ports of Massawa and Assab
• The degree of competitive measures applied from Djibouti
• Low cost operation costs at ports in Somalia (Berbera port fees 40% lower than those in Djibouti)
• The development of relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia
• The alternative of road supply routes with Sudan (cheap import and exports- only 45km from Tessenei)

For  more: plesae visit the Chatham House Web page

Summary points:

• Among the drivers of conflict in the Horn of Africa economic motivations have been ubiquitous and pervasive in prompting and sustaining conflict. At other times economic drivers have exhibited a potential for peaceful cooperation. An understanding of their role and relationship with other forces of change is essential.
• Conflict in the Horn frequently has economic impacts across national borders. This paper identifies four major zones of borderland insecurity in which informal trade as much as formal relationships can both sustain conflict and offer potential for post conflict cooperation.
• Underlying the various sub-regional conflicts are a number of recurrent economic themes, including access to sea ports, livestock as a basis for livelihoods, energy related issues, the wider impact of localized conflict, drought, land rights and remittances.
• The establishment of permanent peace can only be built upon a common set of values reflecting equity, tolerance and an acknowledgment of the potential of traditional institutions in entrenching community cohesion. Only on such a foundation will specific programmes be assured of harnessing those economic drivers necessary for their success.

Uganda

By Olad Hassan

The Cranes of Uganda, defending Cecafa Champions, have again retained their regional tittle and 11th cecafa Senior challenge after beating Rwanda in the final of the tournament on sunday.

Dam Wagaluka opened the scoring deadlock of the final for Uganda 4 minuts before the half time and Emmanuel Okwi scored an other fantastic goal for uganda in the 73rd minuts, to give the win of cecafa in their consecutive two years.

Less than 5,000 fans have attended to watch the regional final, that looked poor attendence of a such high profile game of the region,this came after the hosts Harambee stars eleminated from the competition in the quarter final stage.

Uganda are considered to be the best team in the region, cranes have reached 15 finals of the Cecafa cup winning 11 of them.

Ugandan Scotish coach Bobby Williamson told the media after the game, that his player played their best and he that he was already expecting to win the cup.

Earlier Zanzibar defeated mainland Tanzania 1-nil to finish third in the regional competition.

Uganda scored in each half to beat Eritrea 2-0 in the final of the Cecafa Under-17 Youth Championship, at the Stade Khartoum late Monday night. Ceaser Mulumba netted in the 26 minute and Andrew Waswa sealed the victory in added time.

Earlier, both Tanzania strikers scored late in the match to give their team the bronze medal after a 2-0 win over hosts Sudan. Thomas Emmanuel (84′) and Simon Msuva (89′) closed the domination by the Tanzanians, in the third place play-off which preceded the final under the floodlights of the stadium.

Eleven countries took part in the championship and the only Cecafa absentee was Djibouti. Malawi, a guest team that is headed for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria was eliminated 2-0 by Uganda in the quarter-finals.

In the semi-finals, Uganda edged Tanzania 5-3 on post-match penalties after a 1-1 score in normal time. Eritrea knocked out Sudan 2-0 in extra time at the same stage. Cecafa secretary general Nicholas Musonye confirmed that henceforth the championship will be an annual event.

“Because of its importance in shaping the future of our national teams, sponsors have understood the worth of this competition and we are not likely to lack money to stage it in the future. The Government of Sudan financed this edition and they did a fantastic job,” Musonye was quoted as saying on Kenyapremierleague.com. Source: (Goal)

According to the Basketball Association of Uganda (FUBA), Eritrea is going to take part in this year’s Africa Zone 5 Club Basketball Championship. The cup will be in Kampala from the 27th July to the 2nd of August. Other participating countries are Burundi, Egypt, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Rwanda. Each country will be represented with a men’s and women’s team. Read more: Daily Monitor.