Longtime personal chef to Obama weds MSNBC host

 

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE 12 hours ago

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This photo taken Aug. 30, 2010, shows then Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass weighing sweet potatoes …

POCANTICO HILLS, N.Y. (AP) — President Barack Obama on Saturday temporarily set aside the pressures of trying to calm the world's trouble spots and assumed the role of spectator for something more joyous: the wedding of the Obama family's longtime chef and friend.

Uncoordinated data hampering tourism growth, says minister

 

Ms Maria Mutagamba, the minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage. She said Uganda Tourism Association should be the sole source of data. FILE Photo  

By Abdulaziizi K. Tumusiime

In Summary

Tasked. Uganda Tourism Association asked to gather and release information.

Kampala.
The absence of standard information about the tourism industry in Uganda is frustrating progress, the Minister for Tourism has said.

Construction industry wants rates reduced to build affordable houses

Green Top Villas, a housing estate in Lubowa along Entebbe Road. Construction industry players want a flat rate that will enable them develop low-cost houses. PHOTO BY FAISWAL KASIRYE 

By ISMAIL MUSA LADU

Posted  Monday, August 25  2014 at  01:00

In Summary

Still expensive. Most lowly priced houses range between Shs80 million and Shs300 million.

Kampala.

UN advises on need for increased investment in labour market

UNDP Resident Representative, Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onochie, cuts a ribbon to launch the 2014 Global Human Development Report in Kampala last week. Photo by RACHEAL AJWANG. 

By MARTIN LUTHER OKETCH

In Summary

Experts say there ought to be a policy in place to address unemployment.

Kampala

The United Nations has advised Uganda to invest heavily in finding labour market for her citizens in outside countries saying the move will lead to reduction in unemployment and increase in capital

Museveni assures tea farmers, processors about price stability

President Museveni (2nd L) looks at processed and packed Kyamuhunga tea in Bushenyi District. Left is the factory managing director, Mr Sotti Bomukama. PHOTO BY ALFRED TUMUSHABE 

By ALFRED TUMUSHABE & ZADOCK AMANYISA

In Summary

The factory employs about 140 workers most of whom are from Bushenyi

BUSHENYI

President Yoweri Museveni has assured tea farmers and processors of access to market and price stability.

I’m rich and pay debts, says Museveni

President Museveni. File PHOTO 

By ISMAIL MUSA LADU

In Summary

Appeal. President says it is good practice for anybody to pay up debts irrespective of social status in the society.

Kampala.

President Museveni has said he is one rich man who promptly pays his debts.

Govt rotates corrupt officials, says Lokodo

Ethics minister Simon Lokodo says the corrupt are covered up by ‘god fathers”.  

By CHRIS OBORE

In Summary

Accusations. The Ethics minister claims corrupt bureaucrats are privileged to determine which ministry or government agency they want to work in.

KAMPALA.
Most corrupt officials in government are usually rotated in “juicy” ministries with the help of “god fathers”, Ethics minister Simon Lokodo has said.

From left Presidents Yoweri Museveni, Jakaya Kikwete, Uhuru Kenyatta, Paul Kagame and Pierre Nkurunziza. The East African leaders returned from the August 4-6 US-Africa Summit with a mixed bag of pledges. FILE PHOTOS 

By SCOLA KAMAU Special Correspondent

In Summary

• Coca-Cola is investing more funds in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania as it seeks to diversify its business to caffeinated products and fresh juices in Africa, while offsetting the slowing growth of soda sales in other markets.

Essar says in binding pact to sell Kenya telecoms business

Corporate News

Mobile phone firms Safaricom and Airtel are set to pay billions to acquire yuMobile. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

By Reuters

In Summary

• The deals received conditional approval from Kenya's telecoms regulator in March.

Coca Cola to invest $5bn in Africa

From left Presidents Yoweri Museveni, Jakaya Kikwete, Uhuru Kenyatta, Paul Kagame and Pierre Nkurunziza. The East African leaders returned from the August 4-6 US-Africa Summit with a mixed bag of pledges. FILE PHOTOS 

By SCOLA KAMAU Special Correspondent

In Summary

• Coca-Cola is investing more funds in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania as it seeks to diversify its business to caffeinated products and fresh juices in Africa, while offsetting the slowing growth of soda sales in other markets.

Investor-friendly energy laws in EA key to success of power project

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde speaking in the concluding roundtable at the Africa Rising Conference on May 30, 2014 at the Chiasson Conference Center in Maputo, Mozambique. AFP PHOTO/IMF/STEPHEN JAFFE 

By SCOLA KAMAU Special Correspondent

In Summary

• Africa needs $300 billion funding for power projects but the beneficiaries may have to review laws governing the sector if they hope to compete favourably for the money with Nigeria and South Africa, which have standardised terms for investors in power projects.

What’s with all these international sovereign bonds being issued by African governments?

Kenya's Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau and the economic and commercial consul of the Chinese embassy Han Chunlin at the Standard Gauge Railway Symposium at Railway Training Institute, Nairobi, on June 16, 2014. Infrastructure projects have usually seen a key element of the activities to be funded by Eurobonds due to their multiplier effects on the economy and the fact that African infrastructure needs are dire. Photo/SALATON NJAU 

By ANZETSE WERE Special Correspondent

In Summary

• It seems as though African government are courting this new-found attention and perhaps entering into more agreements than advisable. Eurobonding seems to be trendy in Africa.
• Africa risks becoming overleveraged.
• Despite immense optimism about Africa, it is still a poorly understood market, considered a high-risk venture and, therefore, vulnerable to negative hype. That can push it back to being the investment pariah.

S&P sees Africa eurobond issuers paying more as cheap-money era ends

African nations planning to issue Eurobonds are set to pay higher rates and face more scrutiny from buyers as the Federal Reserve cuts back on cheap money that drove record bond sales in 2013. FILE 

By Bloomberg News

In Summary

• Reductions in the Fed’s monetary stimulus that pumped cheaper cash into developing-nation assets is changing the conditions of issuance for countries with struggling economies.
• Periods of “oversubscribed bond offerings and very narrow, very tight spreads are over.”
• Rising African yields may be a reflection of more realistic risk pricing.

IMF boss expresses concern that Africa’s sovereign debt is rising

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde speaking in the concluding roundtable at the Africa Rising Conference on May 30, 2014 at the Chiasson Conference Center in Maputo, Mozambique. AFP PHOTO/IMF/STEPHEN JAFFE 

By Bloomberg News

In Summary

• Sovereign debt issuances in sub-Saharan countries may reach $6 billion this year.

Uganda rules out use of ‘risky’ Eurobonds

Reconstruction of the Kampala-Masaka road. Uganda says it will use concessional loans for its development, and stay out of the sovereign bond market. PHOTO | MORGAN MBABAZI 

By HALIMA ABDALLAH Special Correspondent

In Summary

• Bank of Uganda governor Emmanuel Mutebile said Uganda will use concessional loans for its development because the lending rates are lower and the loans are usually accompanied by grants of up to a quarter of the borrowed amount.
• Economists warned that Africa, which has enormous resources but lacks money to invest, risks being mortgaged like Argentina to specialist debt merchants referred to as vulture funds through commercial debt.

Dar port the most expensive for EAC importers — report

Cars and containers at the Dar es Salaam port. A new report says that the port charges the highest wharfage in East Africa. PHOTO | FILE 

By CHRISTABEL LIGAMI Special Correspondent

In Summary

• But transporting goods from the port of Mombasa through Kenya is more expensive than freight through Tanzania, the report finds.
• Report urges East African governments to invest in infrastructure and provide incentives for the private sector to provide more efficient transport and logistics services.

Tax capital gains only after discovery, says oil, gas industry

An oil rig. Kenya’s ability to attract investments in oil and gas exploration could be affected by a plan by the government to impose capital gains tax (CGT) on profits made from selling exploration blocks. PHOTO | FILE 

By KENNEDY SENELWA Special Correspondent

In Summary

• The government expects to earn Ksh9 billion ($102 million) annually from the CGT, which had been abolished 36 years ago in 1978.
• This is likely to make prospecting blocks less attractive as CGT on transfer of shares before discovery of oil or gas increases the risk profile. The amendments will also see the withholding tax on dividends from mining operations rise from 10 per cent to 20 per cent.

President Uhuru’s dilemma in dealing with Somalia and South Sudan crises

(From left to right) Zanzibar second Vice Resident Ambassador Seif Iddi; Rwanda Prime Minister Pierre Habumuremyi; Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete; Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta; Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni; Burundi First Vice President Burundi Prosper Bazombanza unveil the East African Court of Justice guide books. They were in Arusha, Tanzania at the 12th extra-ordinary EAC Summit of Heads of State. Photo/FILBERT RWEYEMAMU 

 By JOINT REPORT The EastAfrican

 

 

President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) with Prime Minister Li Keqiang in Nairobi, when the Chinese leader visited recently. Photo/FIL

In Summary

• Kenya and Somalia are at loggerheads over how to govern southern Somalia, currently controlled by Kenyan troops belatedly brought under the aegis of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
• Kenya has little leverage over South Sudan’s leaders, many of whom have assets in Kenya

EDITORIAL: Constitutionalism in EA at the crossroads

   

(From left to right) Zanzibar second Vice Resident Ambassador Seif Iddi; Rwanda Prime Minister Pierre Habumuremyi; Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete; Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta; Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni; Burundi First Vice President Burundi Prosper Bazombanza unveil the East African Court of Justice guide book

By The EastAfrican

The East African Community has earned praise as the most progressive of all the five economic blocs on the continent, but unfortunately member states don’t seem to get it right when reforming institutions of governance.

Referendum gives Kenyans the ultimate sovereign authority

Sekou Owino  

By Sekou Owino

In Summary

• The people of Kenya at a referendum have become the ultimate sovereign authority of this country. That is a privilege that cannot be denied. The question then, is, to what use that innate arm of government, the people at referendum, will be used

Kenya’s supreme law at a crossroads amid clamour for review

Cord leaders, from left, Moses Wetang’ula, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka at Ufungamano House in Nairobi on August 13 where they launched the Opposition’s collection of five million signatures for a referendum on the Constitution. FILE PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By FRED OLUOCH Special Correspondent

In Summary

• Four years after promulgation, Kenya’s Constitution is at a crossroads with calls for a referendum pitting the opposition and a section of Governors against the government in a political context.
• At the centre of the demands for a referendum is the implementation of devolution, a key pillar of the Constitution that came into effect on August 27, 2010.
• Insufficient understanding of the Constitution by a cross-section of actors has led to some institutions failing to adhere to or respect their roles and functions and therefore interfering with the roles of others.

Uganda’s new oil law is silent on transparency

 

A worker at an oil rig. Photo/FILE  Nation Media Group

By GOPAL RATNAM Special Correspondent

In Summary

• While the law streamlines the running of the burgeoning industry, analysts have raised concerns over transparency

Oil law takes Uganda closer to regulation

A worker at an oil rig. Photo/FILE  Nation Media Group

By JOINT REPORT The EastAfrican

In Summary

• The Petroleum (Refining, Gas Processing and Conversion, Transportation and Storage) Bill 2012 is the second of three new laws to be passed by parliament.
• The new law gives power to the Minister of Energy to grant, suspend and revoke oil and gas licenses.
• However, observers said the new laws do not promote transparency but rather confidentiality, the environmental protection aspect is weak, and that they will not promote investment in the oil sector.

Oil extraction will ruin Uganda’s environment

 

By HALIMA ABDALLAH

The excitement over vast oil and gas discoveries in Uganda has just began; but it may not climax as yet, as serious environmental concerns arise — the same areas that have the minerals beneath, provides for over 70 per cent of the country’s conservation areas for wildlife and natural forest resources at the top.

Time bomb in the Albertine as oil firms lack waste disposal plan

Even before Uganda gets the first barrel of oil out of the ground, it has emerged that the country’s environment watchdog is struggling to regulate and monitor the disposal of hazardous waste from the drilling activity in the Albertine region. PHOTO | FILE 

By JULIUS BARIGABA The EastAfrican

In Summary

• Auditor-General blows the lid off the National Environment Management Authority’s failure to regulate oil firms, noting that the manner in which oil waste is currently disposed of may lead to an ecological disaster in the region.
• All Uganda’s oil fields are located in the richly varied Albertine Graben, a good section of which is a protected area and habitat for wildlife, with five game parks, several lakes and forest reserves.
• The audit, covering the period from 2006, when Uganda discovered oil till June 2013, says while drilling activity is ongoing, Nema has delayed coming up with adequate environmental regulations and guidelines, the risk of posing both environmental and economic harm.

Kikwete pours cold water on Warioba draft, law process at stake

Tanzania's Constituent Assembly member Khamis Kigwangalah contributes to a debate on standing order. Photo/Emmanuel Herman 

By JENERALI ULIMWENGU

In Summary

• President Kikwete’s remarks have provoked debate from all sides. Those who oppose the three-tier government, especially within the ruling CCM, have praised his stance, while those supporting the creation of a government for Tanganyika have rejected his remarks.

Tanzania’s Katiba process dogged by lack of trust, boycotts, wrangling and deceit

 

Former chair of the Presidential Constitution Review Commission Joseph Warioba. PHOTO | EMMANUEL HERMAN 

By Jenerali Ulimwengu

• Warioba gets the ball rolling in CA after a month of ugly scenes
• Leaders pour cold water on Lumumba entry into constitution review fray

Most of the opposition members have walked out of meetings and have vowed never to return. Committees are failing to meet because of quorum deficits. Individuals and groups are seeking court injunctions to stop Tanzania’s Katiba process.

Will Kikwete’s intervention save Katiba talks?

Members of Constituent Assembly consult after a session in Dodoma. FILE PHOTO 

By CHRISTOPHER KIDANKA The EastAfrican

In Summary

• With exception of UDP, CCM and TLP, the opposition form a coalition dubbed Ukawa, which has boycotted the CA sittings since April this year, citing violation of the law governing its activities.
• A proposal by the opposition to postpone the review until after the 2015 elections has received support from a cross section of experts who say the available time is inadequate.
• Observers say the process is doomed to fail because of the involvement of too many politicians in the Assembly.

African Union’s progress in pushing continental integration agenda

 

US President Barack Obama speaks during the Summit of the Washington Fellowship for the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in Washington, DC on July 28, 2014. The US is trying to organise a mini-summit on South Sudan on the sidelines of the US Africa Summit this week. AFP 

While trade blocs in Africa have been emerging, the continent is yet to trade as a single entity with other regions. Carole Kimutai spoke to the deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission Erastus Mwencha on future trade prospects for the continent.

EA traders to access bigger market

 

Tanzania has edged past Uganda as Kenya’s largest export market in East Africa as a result of the ongoing elimination of non-tariff barriers and increasing local production in Uganda of goods that were previously imported. TEA GRAPHIC |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By CHRISTABEL LIGAMI, Special Correspondent
inShare

East African traders stand to benefit from an expanded market outside the EAC after the region opened its tariff offers as required by the Tripartite Free Trade Area.

Kenya eyes funding from private investors for various mega projects

Kenya’s Cabinet has given the nod to 56 projects, while eight more are awaiting approval. TEA Graphic 

By JOINT REPORT The EastAfrican

In Summary

• The government has approved 56 projects for the PPP initiative, while eight more are awaiting Cabinet approval before they are opened up to investors.
• The government is struggling to maintain its infrastructure upgrading and expansion programme amid spending pressures occasioned by devolution and growing wage demands from the country’s public sector.
• Over the next five years, the country intends to spend over $40 billion — or three times its annual budget — in building new infrastructure and upgrading existing facilities, with investment in energy and transport expected to take up the bulk of the projected spending.

East Africa plans united front in search of $25b Lapsset funding

President Uhuru Kenyatta (second left) hosts presidents Salva Kiir of South Sudan (right), Yoweri Museveni of Uganda (second right), and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn at State House, Nairobi for a consultative meeting on the Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor project. PHOTO|PSCU 

By Muthoki Mumo

Posted  Friday, August 1  2014 at  11:31

In Summary

• Presidents from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan, said “a joint approach” to the Lapsset corridor was essential for the quick implementation of the project.
• In seeking funding for the Lapsset project, the countries may emulate the African Development Bank’s Africa50 Infrastructure Fund model.
• The Lapsset project will include a new railway line, an oil pipeline, an airport in Isiolo and a port in Lamu as well as resort cities.

EAC losing billions in trade to Comesa, SADC

President Uhuru Kenyatta (second left) hosts presidents Salva Kiir of South Sudan (right), Yoweri Museveni of Uganda (second right), and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn at State House, Nairobi for a consultative meeting on the Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor project. PHOTO|PSCU 

 

By ADAM IHUCHA Special Correspondent

In Summary

• EAC partner states apply different external trade tariffs because of their membership to different trade blocs.
• Experts say the preferential treatment granted to third parties reduces the expanded market that the EAC is supposed to offer regional industries.

Trade between EAC countries at new highs, but numbers still low

Tanzania has edged past Uganda as Kenya’s largest export market in East Africa as a result of the ongoing elimination of non-tariff barriers and increasing local production in Uganda of goods that were previously imported. TEA GRAPHIC |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By JEFF OTIENO The EastAfrican

In Summary

• EAC countries traded more with each other than with any other trading blocs on the continent between 2000 and 2012.

Tanzania becomes Kenya’s largest East Africa market

Tanzania has edged past Uganda as Kenya’s largest export market in East Africa as a result of the ongoing elimination of non-tariff barriers and increasing local production in Uganda of goods that were previously imported. TEA GRAPHIC |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By JOINT REPORT The EastAfrican

In Summary

• Kenyan officials attributed the change in trade volumes to increased monitoring of non-tariff barriers after the EAC became a Single Customs Territory.
• Uganda has over the past two decades attracted substantial foreign direct investment in key sectors like manufacturing and services, reducing its reliance on imports.
• Trend, if maintained, presents Kenyan manufacturers with a bigger and more diversified market.

Former TBS boss jailed for abuse of office

Former Tanzania Bureau of Standards Director General at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday before he was sentenced to a total of three years in jail for abuse of office. PHOTO | RAFAEL LUBAVA      

By Rosina John, The Citizen Correspondent

In Summary

The Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court convicted Ekelege on three counts, each of which carried a one-year jail sentence.

Dar es Salaam. Former Tanzania Bureau of Standard (TBS) director general Charles Ekelege was yesterday jailed for three years for abuse of office.

US traders arrive to lobby govt

Should the chicken imports be allowed, small-scale poultry farming might collapse. Hundreds of thousands of poultry farmers in Dar es Salaam and those from upcountry, who rear mostly exotic breeds, are at risk of being pushed out of business. PHOTO/FILE 

By The Citizen Reporter

In Summary

• Reliable sources in the ministry of Livestock Development said the American businessmen arrived on Tuesday on a mission to convince the government to lift its ban on cheap imported chicken from Brazil

Uda eyes over Sh200bn in listing at DSE

Simon Group CEO Robert Kisena receives a symbolic key from Mr Shiraz Rashid, managing director of vehicle dealer Africarriers, during the handing over of 40 new buses for Uda in Dar es Salaam last year. PHOTO | FILE      

By Samuel Kamndaya, The Citizen Reporter

In Summary

Mr Robert Kisena, chairman and CEO of Simon Group, which has a controlling stake in Uda, told The Citizen in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday that the money would help the company with preparations for the second and third phases of the Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (Dart) project.

SA court convicts Tanzanians over Rwanda’s ex-general murder plot

South African court finds three Tanzanians and one Rwandan "guilty of attempted murder" on Friday, after acquitting two others, including the alleged mastermind and Mr. Nyamwasa's former driver. PHOTO | AFP 

In Summary

• Rwandan national Amani Uriwane, together with Tanzanians Hassan Mohammedi Nduli, Sady Abdou and Hemedi Dengengo Sefu, will be sentenced on September 10

Krugersdorp, South Africa. A South African court yesterday convicted four men of attempting to murder former Rwandan general who had fled after falling out with the East African country’s strongman Paul Kagame.

Eala monitors implementation of Single Customs Territory in TZ

TICTS executive director Paul Wallace (right) explains to members of the East African Legislative Assembly how a new container lifting machine works. The Eala members visited the Dar es Salaam Port yesterday. PHOTO | SAID KHAMIS 

By Katare Mbashiri,The Citizen Reporter

In Summary

• The commissioners are mobilising public awareness since the promulgation of SCT at the regional Heads of State summit last year.

Dar es Salaam. Five commissioners from the East African Community (EAC) member states are in the country to monitor and evaluate progress on the implementation of the Single Customs Territory (SCT).

Kenya, Somalia border row threatens oil exploration

Politics and policy

A worker at the Ngamia 1 oil rig in Turkana County. A row between Kenya and Somalia over their maritime border may deter multinational oil companies from exploring for oil and gas offshore east Africa, and a Somali official warned that the argument could escalate. File 

By Reuters

In Summary

• Neighbours at odds over where boundary sits in Indian Ocean
• Total, Anadarko have licensed blocks in the region
• East, Horn of Africa hot spots for oil, gas exploration

Somalia takes Kenya to UN court in oil rights row

Politics and policy

Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (left) and President Uhuru Kenyatta at a past function in Nairobi. Somalia filed a suit against Kenya at the United Nation's highest court, seeking to resolve a long-running dispute over lucrative oil reserves in the Indian Ocean. FILE PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

By Reuters

In Summary

• Somalia has said the row risks deterring multinational oil companies from exploring for oil and gas offshore east Africa.

East Africa move to cleaner fuels to soak up new low-sulphur supplies

Politics and policy

An attendant fuels a car at a petrol station. East African Community's plan to adopt cleaner fuel standards in 2015 is likely to help absorb excess low-sulphur oil products coming out of Middle East and Indian refineries, where new capacity is being added. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

By Jessica Jaganathan

In Summary

• Sulphur in diesel to be lowered to 50 ppm; gasoline to 150 ppm
• New standards could absorb low-sulphur glut next year -traders

Sh1.3bn heroin ship blown up 10 miles off Mombasa

Politics and policy 

The ship that brought in close to 373.8kg of heroin worth about Sh1.3 billion was destroyed August 29, 2014 together with its deadly cargo 10 miles off Mombasa. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• Military helicopters circled around the Kenya Navy war ship KNS Jasiri from where navy officers coordinated the operation.
• Smoke billowed from the explosion that died within a minute. The area of the detonation is about 10 miles to the nearest point of land.

National Development Corporation Signs MoU In Tanzania Coal Gasification Project

Australian-based Linc Energy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Tanzania National Development Corporation (NDC) and Olympic Exploration Ltd. to work towards the development of a 400 MW underground coal gasification (UCG) to power operation in Tanzania.