This piece was done last week before the referendum of Liberia was held. The National Elections Commision will sometime today release (If they have not yet) the final tally of August 23rd’s Referendum.
Three of the four propositions, including amendment 1, which seeks to reduce the residency requirement for presidential candidates from 10 to 5 years, may not get the two-thirds majority needed to pass. That however is according to speculation.
Please feel free, to leave a comment, though or suggestion that may arise as you read this. Looking Forward to your feedback.
Vielen Dank.
A referendum to amend the Constitution of Liberia is scheduled to be held on 23 August 2011. This is going to be held ahead of the 2011 Presidential and legislative elections that will be held in October.
There are 4 parts of the constitution that are up for change: they are Article 72(b), 83(a), 83 (b), and 52 (c). These we will try and explain in our questions to Mr Alex Vines. He is the Research Director, Regional and Security Studies; and Head, Africa Programme at the Chatham House
One of the reasons as to why there is going to be a referendum in Liberia is the Article 83(b) that provides for a two-round voting system for both the presidency and the National Assembly. Now they want that to change: to maintain the two round system for only the presidency: Why do you think so?
This is the cut down on costs; it’s a cost issue I think. The Liberian government is looking at ways of cost saving and efficiency and so I think that this proposal comes out of that idea. Of how to make this process more cost effective given Liberia’s struggle to get money onto front lines services and so that is how I read it.
Okay: so you think that the whole process I mean the amendments that are being made are in general you know: going to foster democracy: we do not have any issues that could deter democracy in any way?
I mean opposition politicians and parliamentarians are arguing you ´know that that is anti democratic, that they are going to vote no on this referendum, I don’t see it that way, I can see arguments both ways in terms of the age of judges particularly in terms of residency and the kind of the round of voting I can see that doesn’t really impact on Liberian democracy.
I a very curious to know why Liberians are even thinking of changing the mandatory retirement age for justices and judges to 75 years from 70 years, Why is it so?
The proposal to increase the age of judges, there has been some debate on that in Liberia, the proposal is to move the retirement age to 75, that issue I think is reflective of that there aren’t enough judges and so the need to maintain them in post until more trained people come up although people like the former wife of Charles Taylor’s Wife Joe Taylor has argued that what Liberia needs is new blood and to encourage new people not maintaining people that are already in position.
There is also a vote needed to change one of the requirements for the presidential and vice presidential candidates: they want to change that they should have been a resident for 5 from 5years: Why is it so?
Well I think the idea is to try and be more inclusive: That means it is more accessible I think as I say to people from the Diaspora and others who return to be able to consider to running for those positions if they so wish.
[Alex Vines has Expertise in Politics in sub-Saharan Africa, Private security and political risk in Africa, Proliferation of light weapons and landmines in Africa and from 2001 to 2003 was a member of the UN Panel of Experts on Liberia.]
This is was on of the most amazing Interviews ever. Prof Margot Light in her sunset days agreed to an interview at 9:00am while on holiday in Serbia. I was HUMBLED. She was eloquent precise and to the point. Great Example of what a woman in this era should be: Know your stuff: Work hard. It saves you alot of trouble: I say.
Take a Read.
18 August 2011 marked the 20th Anniversary of the collapse of theSoviet Union. It came about after it lost the arms race to the West. The Soviet Union had interests in Africa: What impact did the Collapse of the Soviet Union have onAfrica? And what relationship doesRussia today have with this continent?
I spoke to Professor Margot Light. She is a Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the Department of International Relations of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
1. Q: What are the countries in Africa that the Soviet Union had very strong relations with, before its collapse?
A: It had friendship treaties with a number of countries and it was particularly close to what was going on inSouth Africaand the war inAngola: It had a friendship treaty withAngola. And it was involved inMozambiqueand it was involved inNorth Africa.
2. Q: What did these African states benefit from the Soviet Union?
A: They benefitted because they got Aid. They got traded very favourable and in very favourable terms: and they got a lot of political support.
3. Q: What impact did the collapse of the Soviet Union have on its’ African partners?
A: Well the collapse of the Soviet economy meant that the aid and trade began to dry up even before theSoviet Unionitself collapsed. The reduction of hostility between the two super powers meant again, as I said, they could not play off one super power against the other. There were of course some great benefits: for example it was the collapse of the Soviet Union that forced the two sides inSouth Africainto negotiating with one another and that brought about the end of Apartheid and the introduction of the majority rule inSouth Africa. It also brought the conflict inAngolato an end and it gaveNamibiaindependence.
4. Q: What relationship does Russia have today with all its’ former African allies?
A: I think that there was an interruption whenRussiatook many of the roles of theSoviet Union. That there was an interruption in its’ relationship with African countries partly due to the extreme weakness of Russia, but also due to the policy that was adapted in the 1990’s which concentrated almost entirely on becoming a good partner of western countries, however at the beginning of the century when Putin became president he instituted a formal independent foreign policy and tried to re-establish relations with a number of African Countries. I don’t think it’s been widely successful and certainlyRussiacannot offer African countries anything like the Aid and development that is coming fromChinaat the moment.
5. Q: So what is your take on the socialist way of governance upheld by the Soviet Union on African States? Do you think that it was a success?
A: No, I think that it was a terrible failure: mostly because it was called “socialist orientation”. But it was applied to countries that were really extremely poor, so economically they did very badly and that just served to be a very bad advertisement for socialism. So socialism itself lost out and so did the countries that tried to follow socialist orientation.
Professor Margot Light is an expert on post-Soviet politics, and is a regular commentator and featured expert on both radio and television. Her research interests include east-west relations; Soviet Union, CIS and Russian defence, foreign and domestic policy; and eastern European foreign relations.
This piece almost drove me mad: One of the Interview Partners was I think high on something all the time. So he always forgot that I called him and made appointments. In the end, I never got a hold of him. But as a journalist I guess one of the important lessons learned is PATIENCE: Patience with people, patience the systems we work with, Patience with Computers, Patience with nature: lest we run mad. But one thing is for sure I love representing my country in any I can.
And Please note: that what I post here are usually the original scripts: Lots of editing has been done espectially to this but obviously the original message remains. The editing is just about removing extra bits of words just to make it look trimmer, nice and precise:)
Enjoy the Read:
Uganda is now an oil producer. According to the Presidency there could be about 6 billion barrels of oil all untapped. This was discovered in 2006.The oil lies in the Albert region which lies in the centre of Africa betweenUganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This has been the biggest discovery of oil so far in the last two decades according to AfricaNews.com’s Degse Wamanu[1]u: And as a result, this could place it among the world’s top 50 oil producers.
The Concern forUgandaas one of the newest carriers of one of the world’s most wanted commodities has been: Will it be the next Niger Delta? The history of Africa unfortunately offers very little hope. Nigeria, Sudan , Democratic Republic of Congo are examples of Countries in Africa that posses very precious minerals, but have long forgotten peace and economic stability in some parts of their countries.
It is the concern of everyone then that these Oil resources are handled in a way that will foster not only the desired development but also unity, equality in the sharing of resources and transparency.
The civil society in Uganda has been in the fore front of ensuring that the oil process inUgandais a clear and clean one. Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) has come up with a framework that helps in that regard. Godbar Tumushabe managed to speak to us about the initiative and what they have been able to do.
Godbar
We were able to work on the oil policy and mainly providing input in the process but also opening it up for Public concentration. The framework is actually to monitor all aspects of oil governance, how are the institutions working? How they accountable, which kinds of companies are engaged in Oil Exploration in Uganda? What is their Cooperate Social Responsibility? How is government using revenue from Oil?
He goes on to say that they are working in Partnership with NGO partners under the Civil Society Coalition to push for the quick enactment of legislation for Oil.Ugandahas got no Oil Law. And as a result there is no information on the accountability of the Firms involved in the Oil Drilling. The are no clear guidelines as to how the Petroleum Institutions that have been created should act. For-example: The Petroleum Authority, The National Oil Company and The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development have all been newly created. There is however a draft petroleum bill that was released in May 2010. This draft bill according to ACODE has got many flaws, which include structural limitations.
The Oil Drilling has got its disadvantages also. The Oil inUgandawas found in an area that has a lot of wildlife.
The National Environmental Management Authority in Uganda (NEMA) is responsible for Assessing and monitoring all environmental phenomena with a view of making an assessment of any possible changes in environment and their possible impact.
According to the Public Relations Officer of NEMA, Naomi Karekaho oil deposits were discovered in environmentally sensitive areas inUgandawhich host National parks, breeding ground for many animals and habitat for endangered species. However the Government made a decision to accept oil exploration because they say the returns from the oil resource would help improve education, infrastructure development, boost the general economy and some of the proceeds would be put to environment protection.
Therefore licenses were given to oil exploration companies to do their work with consultation and guidance from the concerned environment bodies like the National Environmental Management Authority and Uganda Wildlife Authority.
That said: environment organizations must work with oil companies to achieve a balance in terms of oil exploration and environment management.
However there is another concern that NEMA is trying to address: the disposal of waste from the Drilling exercise:
Naomi
We are mainly concerned with the waste that is going to be generated: What we have guided the Oil companies to do: is collect the waste, containerize it for this moment before Production starts: then studies will be done to establish what is the content of the waste that has been collected: and once that is done , a way of disposing shall be determined and how to manage the waste shall be determined under the guidance of the National Environmental Authority.
In Uganda: Tullow Oil is the biggest company involved with the drilling of Oil. It has interests in three licences inUgandain theLake AlbertRiftBasin. These it gained with the acquisition of Energy Africa in 2004 and the subsequent acquisition of Hardman Resources in 2007. Efforts to reach the Corporate Affairs Manager of the company were futile. We wanted to know from Tullow OilUganda: under what mandate the Company is operating. We also wanted to know what their plan is as far as Corporate responsibility is concerned: What they are doing or intend to do in preserving the Environment that is around the Oil fields.
The Oil process inUgandais just getting started:. Whether or not it will be a success is a story that we yet eagerly await.
[1] http://www.africanews.com/site/Uganda_Oil_at_the_cost_of_environment/list_messages/38079
Here is what I am working on at the DW-Radio. This is definitely an amazing oppurtunity. One that I am proud to be associated with. Hopefully, it will yeild great results..
This was my First Story : DW-Radio broadcasts in 30 languages. The Africa Programme that I work for at the moment, resarches and puts together stories that can be used by either of these languages. It is a great experience I must say: one whose knowledge, nothing can ever take away.
My First Report:
Take A read.
HUNGER IN UGANDA
Over the past few weeks, we have seen and heard of the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa. The Horn of Africa is made up of Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Kenya. This region is one of the most food insecure regions in the world, characterised by frequent droughts and conflict. This year’s drought has been the worst in more than 60 years. Uganda in East Africa has not been left out of this: Slowly the signs are creeping in: With the high food prices and high inflation rates that have hit the region in the past few months: Poor households have been adversely affected.
LINK
The most vulnerable parts of Uganda are the North East and the Eastern part of the region. Places where the Teso and Karamajong people live. They are part of the larger Nilotics Group of people who are mainly nomadic pastoralists. They move from place to place in search of pasture for their animals. However with the lack of rains, the animals soon die and these people are left hungry.
The United Nations Food Agency: Food and Agricultural Organisation ( FAO ) on the 2nd of August warned that Uganda could be the next country to fall victim of the severe food shortages seen in other Horn of Africa States. Pockets of food insecurity have already been detected in drought-hit northern areas of Uganda, east Africa’s third largest economy according to FAO.
In Uganda though, the story is different. While the International Media is awash with this possibility: the Ugandan media is quiet. And also, people within the Civil society believe that there is no crisis as is being reported.
Tony Otoa a researcher with Advocates Coalition on Education and Environment (ACODE) a non-Governmental Organisation based in Kampala re-echoes these sentiments. Having been in the region two weeks ago: this is what he had to say:
Cue in for Tony:
The meteorological department is giving wrong impressions of what is happening or what could possibly be happening, the fake alarms about the drought, that never came, where you have rain that has gone through from March continuously: there does not seem to be a hunger crisis as it is being reported. When you are on the ground, it is totally different.
Hakan Tongul is the Deputy Country Director for the World Food Programme in Uganda. He says that the organisation has been stationed in Karamoja for the last 10 years with 5 sub-offices and over 80 members of staff. Mr Hakan Tongul takes time to clarify the report released by FAO saying that it was not for this season.
Cue in for Hakan
We don’t have any indication that the crops in the Karamoja currently, is going to be any abnormal production, we expect a normal harvest, the rain fall pattern was sufficient and will still carry the crops through, so currently there are no drought conditions. These reports that are coming about what may be happening in Uganda is not related to the current season. They were more predictions about rainfall patterns coming in September October for the second season.
John Abimanya, a journalist with The Daily Monitor Uganda, sees it different. He says that: It hasn’t been as bad as it’s been in North Kenya and Somalia or Ethiopia. But the signs of hunger are starting to show up in the Eastern part of the country:
According to him, the Ugandan media has largely been diverted by proceedings in Kampala. Some media houses have only raised the alarm, saying famine may invade the region soon.
So what could be the reason as to why most of the Ugandan Media has not covered this potential threat? Abimanya assumes:
Cue in for John
Well I think it’s because there have been other pressing issues especially to do with economy Inflation and the cost of living and a lot of our unrest especially in professional group, talking of teachers on one side, talking of the shilling crumbling against the dollar, that has captured the media’s attention.
Uganda has gone through a series of protest since May this year when President Yoweri Museveni was elected for another term in office. Since then there has been a lot of disgruntled people channelling their frustration through strikes and protests. The Opposition began the trend with walk to work, walk to pray protests, and then most recently were the traders and teachers.
All these coupled with rising food prices and inflation are what seem to have kept the Ugandan media busy and not reporting about the Hunger in the Teso and Karamajong regions: For now though, they must face their plight, and hope to live another day, with as little food and basic necessities as is available.
