ICC prosecutor seeks postponement of Kenyan president's trial

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta

By Thomas Escritt

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court said on Thursday they did not have enough evidence to proceed with their case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, and asked judges to postpone it indefinitely.

The development is a major setback to the court, which has seen a string of high-profile cases collapse, but it could help defuse tensions with Kenya and its African Union allies, who have long called for the charges to be dropped.

In a statement, chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she could not proceed with the case after one witness asked to withdraw and another admitted to lying.

"Currently the case against Mr Kenyatta does not satisfy the high evidentiary standards required at trial," she said.

Kenyatta, whose trial had been due to start on February 5, is accused of stoking ethnic violence after Kenya's 2007 elections, orchestrating clashes in which some 1,200 people died. His deputy and former rival William Ruto, who faces similar charges, went on trial in The Hague this year.

Kenya's Attorney General Githu Muigai said the decision vindicated his belief that there was no case against Kenyatta.

"There was never any evidence to refer the matter ... in the first place and there was no evidence to confirm the charges in the second place and there was no evidence to commence trial in the third place," he told Reuters by telephone.

"I stand by that position I have held consistently."

Bensouda said she would continue to attempt to gather evidence to shore up the case against Kenyatta and would later decide if any new evidence was strong enough to merit a trial.

Since being elected president in March, Kenyatta has worked hard to rally African allies around a lobbying effort to have the charges against him dropped or his trial deferred.

The Kenyan government says the ICC's charges risk destabilizing East Africa's economic powerhouse and the wider region at a time when it faces a growing threat from Islamist militants in neighboring Somalia.
The ICC has scored just one conviction in its first decade, with weaknesses in witnesses' testimony often to blame for cases collapsing even before they came to trial.
Other high-profile suspects the court is attempting to try, including Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the late Libyan leader, are beyond its reach as their countries refuse to hand them over.

Bensouda said investigations in Kenya had posed "many challenges". She has in the past alleged that prosecution witnesses were intimidated or bribed into dropping their testimony against Kenyatta.

In an apparent admission that over-reliance on witness testimony has too often proven an Achilles' heel in the court's cases, prosecutors earlier this year requested extra funding to acquire forensic expertise.

(Additional Reporting by Humphrey Malalo in Nairobi; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Jada PINKETH -Smith: How Degradation of Women has resulted in problem for both sexes

Ms. Jada Pinkett-Smith speaking about degradation of women

As we look at societies where the women are lost, struggling for education and otherwise disregarded, versus those who consider women the center of their communities, Jada‘s words ring all the more truer. Read what she has to say below:

How is man to recognize his full self, his full power through the eye’s of an incomplete woman? The woman who has been stripped of Goddess recognition and diminished to a big ass and full breast for physical comfort only.
The woman who has been silenced so she may forget her spiritual essence because her words stir too much thought outside of the pleasure space. The woman who has been diminished to covering all that rots inside of her with weaves and red bottom shoes.
I am sure the men, who restructured our societies from cultures that honored woman, had no idea of the outcome. They had no idea that eventually, even men would render themselves empty and longing for meaning, depth and connection.
There is a deep sadness when I witness a man that can’t recognize the emptiness he feels when he objectifies himself as a bank and truly believes he can buy love with things and status. It is painful to witness the betrayal when a woman takes him up on that offer.
He doesn’t recognize that the [creation] of a half woman has contributed to his repressed anger and frustration of feeling he is not enough. He then may love no woman or keep many half women as his prize.
He doesn’t recognize that it’s his submersion in the imbalanced warrior culture, where violence is the means of getting respect and power, as the reason he can break the face of the woman who bore him four children.
When woman is lost, so is man. The truth is, woman is the window to a man’s heart and a man’s heart is the gateway to his soul.
Power and control will NEVER out weigh love.
May we all find our way.
J

Living on the Edge A Livelihood Status Report on Urban Refugees Living in Nairobi, Kenya

A Report by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees & Danish Refugee Council.

Asylum seekers and refugees in Kayole, Eastleigh and Kitengela have made great strides integrating into the social and economic life of Nairobi. The livelihoods baseline illustrates that the socio-economic profile of the urban asylum seeker or refugee is not that of desperation and dependence. Rather it is one of incredible resilience in the face of significant odds. The majority are engaged in economic activities in the informal sector, and have made modest gains with limited support from the Government of Kenya or the humanitarian community. A minority are successful entrepreneurs providing much social and economic benefit to the communities they reside in. This minority provide a picture of what asylum seekers and refugees can achieve if they are explicitly conferred the right to work and reside in Nairobi, and with that, access to the necessary services and opportunities.
The majority of the urban poor, including asylum seekers and refugees, find livelihood opportunities in the highly competitive informal sector. Poor regulation, poor physical infrastructure and limited access to institutionalised business support services limit the viability of the informal sector. Those without specialised skills or capital to start a business earn daily wages as casual labourers or as low-level employees. For asylum seekers and refugees the odds are worse, encumbered by a lengthy asylum seeking process, limited engagement with local administrative authorities which deprives them of critical protection and support, and a business community hesitant to engage them as a potential market. Without ownership of fixed assets those seeking to start or grow a business fail to meet the collateral requirements for business loans.
The March 2012 livelihoods baseline indicates that food alone comprises between 45-55% of monthly costs for the very poor. Food and rent together account for between 70-80% of monthly costs. These households consume an average 95% of the minimum food requirements measured against 2,100 kilocalories per person per day. They afford accommodation in one roomed iron sheet housing for an average household of four, with irregular water supply and no sanitation facilities. After spending on food and housing, very little remains for other essentials. Additional expenditure on limited health care, hygiene, energy and water deplete the modest monthly wage. On the high end of the wealth spectrum are the middle and better off households, who separate themselves from the poor through skills and access to capital. These assets facilitate entry into highly profitable business enterprises that earn upwards of 100,000 Kshs per month.
Community based organisations (CBOs) established by refugees and at times in collaboration with the Kenyan community, provide much needed social support. CBOs assist with food and temporary accommodation on arrival, provide Kiswahili lessons and life skills, and facilitate links to labour opportunities. Better established CBOs receive external funding and organisational support to initiate income generating projects targeting asylum seekers, refugees and Kenyans.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the urban refugees’ livelihoods working group, with limited funding and experience, are implementing a range of livelihood projects . To improve the effectiveness of current livelihoods programmes, resources are required to build partner technical capacity in designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions, institutionalising the use of best practices, and scaling up. The urban refugee’s livelihoods strategy seeks to promote asylum seeker and refugee community self-reliance through short-term consumption support, complemented by institutional capacity building and income generation to address the underlying causes of livelihood
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insecurity. An advocacy component will accompany the strategy to promote policies that recognise the rights of asylum seekers and refugees to reside and be economically productive in Nairobi with the protection and support of the Government of Kenya (GoK) and the international community. Integrating Kenyan host community concerns in all interventions to build community understanding and combat xenophobia is a key component of the strategy.

East African Food security update July Novermber 2013

Suspending the Implementation Matrix could reduce food security in Sudan and South Sudan


KEY MESSAGES
• Food security outcomes have improved in many countries in East Africa although 12.9 million people remain in Stressed (IPC Phase 2), Crisis (IPC Phase 3), and Emergency (IPC Phase 4) in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Rwanda (Figure 1). The main reason for the improved food security outcomes is average to above average agricultural and livestock production in many parts of the region. Further improvements in food security are anticipated with upcoming harvests in June/July.
• Food security is expected to deteriorate through September in the conflict-affected parts of Sudan, the border areas of Sudan and South Sudan, and areas affected by conflict within South Sudan. Food security is also expected to deteriorate in the Belg producing areas of the northeastern highlands of Ethiopia. In the areas relying on the June to September rains and harvest between October and January in Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan, food security is expected to seasonally deteriorate with the start of the May/June to September lean seasons.
• The IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) consensus climate outlook for the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) region for June to September indicates increased likelihood of average to below average total rainfall over much of the region. Increased likelihood of near average to above average rainfall is indicated over central parts of the northern sector as well as the coastal and extreme western parts of the equatorial sector for more information please visit .http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/east-africa-food-security-outlook-update-june-2013

Help train women in Eastern Kenya on Home-made sanitary pads

About 65% of women and girls in Kenya cannot afford sanitary pads. Evidence suggests that the period around puberty is one in which many girls drop out of school or are absent from school for significant periods of time. Over 850,000 girls miss 6 weeks of school every year and women miss valuable work hours. Menstruation causes Kenyan adolescent girls to lose an average of 3.5 million learning days per month. Limited access to safe, affordable, convenient and appropriate methods for dealing with menstruation has far reaching implications for the rights, physical, social and mental well-being of many adolescent girls in Kenya and other developing countries as well.
The main problems faced by women and girls are:
• The expense of commercial sanitary pads;
• absenteeism where girls stay at home rather than attending school when menstruating;
• unhygienic ways to dry menstrual materials;
• inadequate waste disposal facilities;
• lack of privacy for changing menstrual materials;
• leakage from poor-quality protection materials;
• the lack of resources for washing such as soap;
• limited education about the facts of menstruation;
• limited access to counseling and guidance;
• fear caused by cultural myths;
• embarrassment and low self-esteem;
• and the unsupportive attitudes of some men.

For more information, video campaign donation Visit   http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-train-pastoralist-women-on-home-made-sanitary-pad-and-soap-making/x/5617567 

Acute food insecurity declines, but parts of region continue to be in crisis

• Significant improvements in food security have been noted since the start of harvests in October 2012 in most countries in East Africa. Despite the improvements, an estimated 14.9 million people in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Rwanda continue to face Stressed (IPC Phase 2) to Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of food insecurity.


• October to December rains have been well above normal over surplus-producing cropping areas in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and western Kenya while some localized areas faced significant cumulative rainfall deficits, including parts of the southeastern lowlands, the Northeast, and the southern coastal marginal agricultural areas in Kenya, southern parts of Somali, Oromia, and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) in Ethiopia, neighboring agropastoral areas in southern Somalia, and the northern coastal lowlands in Tanzania

For more detail information please read http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/East_FSOU_01_2013_en.pdf

We must find the will to keep going

Adapted from Pro. Anyang' Nyon'o Blog! Posted by Opinion Leaders on January 21, 2013 ANYANG’ NYONG’O I have two stories to tell today. One about a farmer and his donkey and the other one about Jesus and the storm. You may already know about them but they are worth re-reading at this time. One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realised what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off! MORAL OF THE STORY Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up. Remember the five simple rules to be happy: 1. Free your heart from hatred – forgive 2. Free your mind from worries – most never happens 3. Live simply and appreciate what you have 4. Give more 5. Expect less from people but more from God One day Jesus and his disciples were at sea, sailing from one shore to the other after a hard day of preaching and heeling the sick. Tired, Jesus fell deep asleep while the disciples were discussing the events of the day, wondering how their teacher was capable of accomplishing such wonders. Suddenly a storm struck and they felt the fear of drowning. Reaching out to Jesus in his sleep, Simon Peter pleaded with him to wake up, with the words: “Master, we are drowning!” On waking up, Jesus quietly looked at the sea, observed the storm and politely but firmly commanded it: “you storm; peace, be still.” And the storm suddenly subsided and the sea was as still as a well water. Jesus reclined to his bed and got lost in his thoughts. But it was not too long before he realized that time to sleep had gone. His disciples needed his attention. Realizing that the disciples were now hurdled together quietly perplexed and asking who he actually was, he stood up and wondered aloud: “why do you have so little faith in me after you have seen the many miracles that I have already performed?” In other words, how long was it going to take the disciples to believe in his leadership in the direction he was taking them, in the salvation from the storms of life? MORAL OF THE STORY Very often God gives us the power and gift to do many things for his people but even the closest people to us may not believe the great gifts that we have. We have to always be ready to reassure them and help them in renewing the faith and trust through the storms of life from which we have to emerge with strength if we are really strong. As the popular saying goes, when the going is tough the tough get going. Is it really possible to stand the smell of dirt and its weight for very long as ordinary human beings; or are we, in the many responsibilities that we take, mere donkeys that must survive through our instinct and wit for survival? I remember that when we were at Makerere as students we used to call our vice chancellor the late Frank Kalimuzo as the donkey. Frank was a workaholic, and a man of great wit and courage. He decided to lead Makerere even during the Amin regime, determined to serve his people even in the thickest of all the storms in his life. In 1973 Idi Amin killed him. It took Jesus to calm the storm; how many of us have that kind of moral authority to survive the many storms of life that face us from time to time? And they are not easy storms, nor can we tell when they are coming. So suddenly. At times too frequently. And even when they are far between one is just as frightening as the other, seeming just too close to what we have been through. Yet the tough must keep going. (Nyong’o is the Medical Services Minister)