22 WORLD
AsianVoiceNews
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5 - 11 January 2019
in brief
AFRICA-SRI LANKA
Kenya leaders rev up plan to choose Uhuru's successor NAIROBI: As politicians eyeing the presidency in 2022 continue touring various parts of the country to cement their prospects, at least seven Kenya politicians are jostling for the running mate position. The move, however, has left the region exposed for lack of an automatic successor unlike it has been the case in previous leadership successions. Of concern is the fact that President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is the region’s political kingpin and de-facto leader, is constitutionally expected to vacate the State House at the end of 2022. The position currently held by the President in the Agikuyu community has also attracted great attention, as there is fear of a vacuum upon his exit. So far, among the more than 100 elected leaders in the region, only Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has declared he would gun for the Presidency. Kuria has in the recent past reduced his participation in Deputy President William Ruto's political camp forums - popularly known as Tangatanga. To position himself as the next possible de-facto leader in the central region, Kuria
Uhuru Kenyatta
has been attending major music concerts organised by both gospel and secular artists in the region to support their talents, he has become the patron of Mt Kenya Football Club and is said to have established his own vernacular television station, apparently to advance his agenda. Commonly referred as Jamba ya Ruriri (Community hero), the slim towering former accountant who rose to fame due to negative ethnic remarks, is also fighting for reforms in coffee sub-sector. Coffee farming is one of the main economic activities in Mt Kenya.
On the other hand, among those said to be eyeing running mates position, mostly to deputise Ruto, is Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria. He is serving his second and last term in office. The two have severally hosted each other in Nairobi and Murang'a. Since his re-election as the Deputy President, Ruto has visited the Mt Kenya region for more than 40 times, besides holding boardroom meetings with the regional leaders at his Karen office and in hotels Others touted to be jostling for the seat are Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki, Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and Cabinet secretaries Mwangi Kiunjuri (Agriculture) and Peter Munya (Trade). Former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo and former assistant Minister Peter Kenneth, though they have kept a low political profile after losing in last year's General Election, are also among those positioning themselves to be the community’s leaders. However, as President Kenyatta’s succession hots up, Governor Wa Iria appears to be already preparing his political path.
Jacob Zuma to release new struggle songs album Pretoria: Former South African president Jacob Zuma has struck a recording deal and will release a full-length album of liberation struggle songs in April. Zuma, who was forced to step down in February 2018 over multiple graft scandals, was in the habit of singing and dancing at rallies during his tenure. The City of eThekwini, the capital of his home province KwaZulu-Natal, announced that it would fund the recording. Head of recreation and culture Thembinkosi Ngcobo said the idea was conceptualised three years ago in Durban. "We were looking at artistes and trying to revive these types of songs. It was very difficult. We tried to find any archived material that had video clips or any voice clips. But we could not find anything in the museums," Ngcobo said. It was then that they recognised that Zuma had been singing many of these
Jacob Zuma
unrecorded songs, he added. The project will be part of the eThekwini’s integrated development plan to stimulate economic growth through music, sports or cultural activities. Ngcobo said the former president will record live, either on April 10 or 11, during the Articulate Africa project, which celebrates the expression of culture and ideas.
"He has the talent and understands the history and emotion behind the music. He was singing the songs in the 80s and 90s and even before. Most of the young people in the ANC [ruling African National Congress] do not even know then," he said. Zuma, who joined popular social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and Instagram last month, is yet to speak about the deal. In December, the ex-president who is thought to have little personal wealth, was ordered to foot his own legal bill and to pay back State funds used to defend him as he fights graft charges. He could be liable for a R32 million ($2.3 million) legal bill. He is being charged with 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering. The charges were first brought against him in 2005 but dropped by prosecutors in 2009 shortly before he became president, before being reinstated in 2016.
Politics of defiance won't be tolerated in 2019: Yoweri Museveni KAMPALA: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said that politicians must be clear on where they stand. He used Luganda and Runyankore words to contextualise acceptable and unacceptable politics, during his New Year’s message. "Our languages are more precise when it comes to describing actions (verbs). In Luganda, for instance, there are the following words: Okuvuganya [contest], okulwaana [fighting], okulemesa [sabotage], okutabula [disorganize], okuseketerera, okusanyaawo [obliterate] or okutemula [kill]," Museveni said. Okuvuganya is what he called a peaceful way of putting forward alternative ideas about running society. "If A has built 100 schools in the area, B can, without telling lies, truthfully say that, with better discipline and more frugality, he could have built 150," he argued. Museveni argued that the politics of fighting (okulwaana), defiance (okulemesa) or disorganization (okutabula), is not good for the country. Okulemesa a singular verb for tubalemese which has been a vocal antigovernment catchphrase of Forum for
Yoweri Museveni
Democratic Change (FDC) since 2016 contested presidential election. Tubalemese was equally evoked during the 2017 age limit constitution amendment that led to deletion of the 75 year age cap for presidential candidates. Fingers were pointed at Museveni who will turn 75 years in 2019 as the sole beneficiary of the amendment. When he
referred to politics of okulwaana and okutabula, Museveni could have been indirectly talking about firebrand youthful People Power politicians led by Kyadondo East legislator, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine. Bobi Wine and his colleagues clashed with security forces in August on the last day of campaign for Arua Municipality byelection. A number of MPs were arrested and tortured for allegedly stoning Museveni's car. The incident which attracted international denunciation will leave an indelible mark on Uganda's political scene for years. Museveni said there are double-faced opposition politicians with a leg in constitutional politics and another in unconstitutional politics which will not be allowed. No politicians, Museveni warned, should expect to be allowed go around promoting acts of political indiscipline. But 2019 is expected to be a year of intensified politicking ahead of 2021 general elections. Opposition politician Kizza Besigye has already declared 2019 'a year of action'
PEDIATRICIAN KILLED WHILE SAVING SON FROM FALLING TREE
A woman from Texas was killed while shielding her son from a tree knocked down by high winds in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee last week, according to her family. Pediatrician Laila Jiwani, 42, was hiking with her husband and three children on Porter Creek Trail when the tree fell, park spokesman Mike Litterst said. Litterst said one of her children was also injured. The spokesman said the 6year-old was airlifted to a hospital with nonlife threatening injuries. Jiwani’s husband Taufiq wrote that their son suffered a broken leg and superficial head injuries during a “simple/safe” hike, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. Jiwani said doctors told him his wife took most of the impact and saved her son.
INDIAN-AMERICAN WINS CORNELL UNIVERSITY HACKATHON
An Indian-American teenager has won the inaugural "Digital Transformation Hackathon" at Cornell University for designing a device to detect the actual pain level of a patient during a diagnosis. The device designed by 17-year-old Mahum Siddiqi and her team uses neurological activity occurring in one's brain to help doctors more efficiently determine someone's pain levels. "It's incredibly upsetting and problematic how hypothetical the concept of pain diagnostics is. Doctors have no way of knowing how little or how much pain someone is truly experiencing when they go in to be diagnosed," Siddiqi said in a statement. A Class 12 student at Vestal High School in New York, Siddiqi was the only non-graduate student competing at the hackathon held earlier in December. She and her team won the first prize at the competition, and are now working with representatives from companies such as Microsoft to produce a prototype of their pain-detecting device, the statement added.
3 TEENAGE INDIAN SIBLINGS KILLED IN US HOUSE FIRE
Three teenaged Indian siblings were among four people killed in a fire during Christmas celebrations at a house in the US state of Tennessee, according to media reports. The fire killed a woman and the three Indian teens from Telangana who were staying with her family for Christmas. The parents of the siblings have been identified as one Srinivas Naik and Sujatha and are residents of Nalgonda district of Telangana. According to a report, Srinivas, who worked as a pastor in the US, returned last year. The children, however, stayed back to complete their studies. The siblings were holidaying at the Coudriet home on December 23 when the fire started. The Coudriet family was hosting the three teenagers, who were attending the French Camp Academy in Mississippi. When the school closed for winter break, the students could not return to India, so the Coudriets invited them to stay in their home.
INDIAN COMMITS SUICIDE IN UAE
A 35-year-old Indian man was found hanging at his accommodation in Ras Al Khaimah city in the UAE and a suicide note found from his phone said he took the drastic step due to several health issues, authorities said. The deceased, Rinoj Raveendran, hailed from Kerala and had been working in Al Ghail industrial area as an accountant. "The deceased, who has a son studying in Kerala, left a note on his mobile phone saying no one (should) be held responsible for his death and that he was taking the extreme step due to health issues. I don't understand why people fail to seek help instead of ending their lives and leaving their family devastated," said social worker Sreedharan.