Djibouti, Africa’s Military Strategic Zone!

Djibouti, a sun-bathed and tiny agriculturally-barren Central African nation lying next to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden is the continent’s lucrative destination for global military superpowers, both for protecting trade and military interests.

China, Asia’s military top-dog has its first overseas naval base on a 90-acre piece of land in the country. The camp is a weapons storage facility, ship and helicopter maintenance facilities and hosts Special Forces, at an annual rent of $20 million in a ten-year deal.

The Chinese base is just miles away from Camp Lemonnier, the biggest US foreign military base and operations centre for the US Africa Command, which has about 4,000 personnel joint and allied forces personnel.

The camp served as launching base for major attacks in the Obama-counterterrorism wars in the horn of   Africa and the restive Middle East, where Al-Qaeda has blossomed with several affiliates, notably Islamic State of Libya (ISIL) and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Arabian Peninsula.

Al-Qaeda cells in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan have largely borne the brunt of the drones and military nous from Camp Lemonnier.

France, one of Europe’s military powers has three bases in Africa, with the largest in Djibouti. The strong force of about 1,500 Special Forces personnel continues to take part in operations in sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel region.

Japan, the second-powerful Asian military has a Special Forces camp in the nation, while Saudi Arabia is setting up a camp for terrestrial, marine and aerial operations. 

But why are the powers rushing to have the share in a desert nation, that has no mineral resources and agriculture cannot blossom?

Djibouti is strategically located and offers vantage point for both trade and military interests.

China’s move points to Beijing’s growing military and trade influence globally, slowly seeking to curtail America’s military influence in the region.

The Asian giant downplayed the concerns but analysts consider the base to be part of the American-Chinese military-supremacy battle.

Camp Lemonnier is arguably one of America’s most important foreign military installations and China’s decision to set up its base just miles away, goes a long way in showing the silent yet viciously competitive military supremacy battle between the two powers.

Djibouti is located at the gate of one of the world’s busiest trading sea-routes; Bab el-Mandeb, a transit point for millions of oil barrels and shipping containers en-route to the American and European markets.

The need to protect the route was best exemplified when the US sent three war-ships to the Yemen coast after Houthi rebels attacked a United Arab Emirates-trade ship in October 2016.

Djibouti sits next to the Gulf of Aden, where about 20,000 ships pass yearly carrying about 30 percent of Europe’s oil and other commodities between Asia, Europe and America.

This makes it a must for global powers to join hands and combat the insecurity challenge posed by pirates in the high seas.

The US Navy has in the past used the Camp Lemonnier base to launch attacks and aerial surveillance on the militants.

China also used Djibouti as a rescue point for hundreds of its nationals trapped in Yemen, in April 2015.

Saudi Arabia is leading a military offensive against the Houthi militants in neighboring Yemen. The nation considers the Iran-backed Shiite and Houthi militants as a major threat to the region’s stability and economic growth.

It is leading the coalition of nations, which has been fighting to restore the Yemen government back to power for the past three years.

Djibouti’s proximity to Yemen offers Saudi Arabia a strategic launching-base for attacks against militants in Arab world’s poorest nation.

By destroying the militants and restoring the Yemen government back to power, Saudi Arabia stands to deal a decisive blow on its rival, Iran.

The two military rivals are locked in a battle to control the region, and Saudi Arabia’s onslaught against the rebels is key in ensuring that Islamic militants do not wreak havoc in the region.  

Ten Things to know about Jacob Zuma

Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, South Africa’s fourth president since independence in 1994, resigned on Wednesday last week, succumbing to sustained pressure by his ruling party, African National Congress (ANC) and the opposition to quit office over corruption allegations and scandals.

His deputy and the ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded him as the fifth president.

Below are ten things to know about the deposed leader. 

Sources; BBC , South African History Online, news24, The South African, Al Jazeera, 

Gedleyihlekisa

Zuma’s second name means, ‘One who laughs at you while physically hurting you’.

His critics severally accused him of embodying the name, pointing to his arrogance and numbness when security forces brutally man-handled legislators from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party inside parliament in February 2015. 

Teen sentenced to jail

In August 1963, Zuma was sentenced to ten years in jail for conspiracy to overthrow the then apartheid regime, alongside other members of the military faction of ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation).

He was 21 years old and member of the faction that was instrumental in ending apartheid rule in 1993.

Sporting background

Zuma captained the Robben Island Prison team, Rangers during his jail-term.  He also played table tennis, chess and other athletics disciplines on the island.

Eight political lives

Zuma survived eight votes of no-confidence before his resignation. The first vote of no-confidence in his presidency was while the eighth was in August 2017, as corruption allegations against him raged.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

Zuma married her in 1972, but divorced in 1998. They have four children.

Nkosazana Dlamini served as the Chair of the African Union Commission from October 2015 to January 2017.

In December 2017, she contested the ANC presidency but lost to Cyril Ramaphosa.

Influential family

Zuma second term was synonymous with allegations of corrupt relationship with Indian-born Gupta family, who influenced ministerial appointments.

In March 2016, the then deputy Finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas said a member of the Guptas offered to promote him to the minister’s position in 2015.

The family was linked to the sacking of respected Finance minister, Pravin Gordhan in March 2017.

In 2013, a family plane carrying guests during Vega Gupta’s wedding, landed at the Waterkloof Air Base near Pretoria. The military base is reserved for visiting heads of state and diplomatic delegations.

Sex scandal

Fezekile Ntsukela, an HIV/AIDS activist, accused Zuma of raping her on Wednesday November 2, 2005, when he was the ANC deputy president.

At the time of the alleged ordeal, Ntsukela known to the South African company as Khwezi was HIV-positive.

The court acquitted Zuma of the charges in 2006, after claiming the sex was consensual.

Khwezi died in 2015.

Outrageous remedy to HIV/AIDS

After the sex with the then HIV-positive Khwezi, Zuma told the court during his trial that he showered in a bid to reduce the risk of contracting the disease.

Sexual allegations 

Vytjie Mentor, a former ANC legislator in her book, No Holy Cows alleged that Zuma twice made sexual advance son her while he was the country’s deputy president.

Mentor claimed the incidents took place in early 1990s and the other in mid-2000s, adding that the first one occurred during an ANC conference in Durban Westville when Zuma invited her to his hotel room.

An un-named journalist claimed Zuma invited her to his Forest Town home, where he requested her to accompany him to another room where he ‘wanted to show her something’.

She alleged that Zuma then pressed himself against her and planted a long kiss on her before she managed to pull away.

The allegations are contained in a book written by Redi Tlhabi, a former radio host.

Nkandla Scandal

Zuma improperly spent $23 million of state funds to upgrade his rural residence in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal province.

He later publicly apologized in April 2016 and accepted a court ruling that ordered him to repay the money.

Kenyan soccer facing uncertain days ahead

The Kenya Premier League (KPL) 2018 season kicked off two weeks ago yet the scary issue of financial struggles hangs over the clubs after SuperSport and SportPesa withdrew their lucrative sponsorships.

SportPesa, the leading gaming company in Kenya terminated its sponsorship on January 1, three years after taking over from East African Breweries, following the government’s decision to increase taxation from 7.5 to 35 percent on gambling revenues.

The move spells dark days ahead for the local league and Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, whom it also sponsored. 

The millions granted to the clubs enabled them to competitively pay their players and technical benches besides catering for all the financial logistics such as travelling for away matches and securing insurance services.

It will be challenging for the league to run without the SportPesa support unless another sponsor comes on board, a move that seems unlikely for now, a week to the start of the league.

The lucrative sponsorships enabled clubs to acquire players from outside the country, with KPL defending champions, Gor Mahia notably benefitting from their Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda imports to dominate the league since 2013.

Salaries and allowances for the players and technical benches is about to become KPL’s thorny issue, especially to self-supporting clubs unless something happens sooner than later.

AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia will be strained further because of continental assignments and unless the government or a new sponsor comes on board, honoring the expensive Confederations of African Football (CAF) matches in the Confederations Cup and Champions League will take a financial toll on them.

South African broadcaster, SuperSport who aired KPL matches live for the last ten years terminated the deal in April last year, following a court ruling that declared that KPL was not the bonafide body mandated to run the local league, handing over the reins to Football Kenya Federation (FKF).

The league matches will continue to be played in the ‘dark’, where potential clubs across Africa and the world will no longer spot local talents, making it difficult to market local players beyond the region.

SuperSport stopped its financial grants to local clubs that came with the broadcasting rights and this further hits hard on the pockets already struggling to breathe after SportPesa exited.  

The gains that Kenyan soccer had made courtesy of SuperSport and SportPesa will be lost and local football may find itself back in the early 2000s when it was a chaotic, shameful and shambolic affair punctuated by non-payment of player salaries, hooliganism and clubs unable to honour matches due to financial strains. 

Government should call SportPesa to the table, because the financial effects will be harsh on local soccer, with trickle down effects down to the families that depended on the money.

KPL and FKF should engage in dialogue, resolve the thorny supremacy battle and ultimately convince SuperSport to re-consider its decision. 

The absence of SportPesa and SuperSport will force clubs to walk with the beggar’s bowl or risk players going hungry ahead of crunch ties.

Local footballers may soon lose their smiles!

Kenyan soccer does not need these disruptions, not now when local football shows promising signs and the nation once again, dreams of seeing Harambee Stars back in the African Cup of Nations and ultimately the 2020 World Cup in Qatar.

The ball is in FKF’s, KPL’s and government’s court to do the best and bring back SuperSport and SportPesa, two of the greatest things that happened in Kenyan soccer in a long time.

Kenyan soccer is the ultimate loser!

Kenyatta National Hospital turned tormentor to its Patients?

Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the country’s biggest referral hospital is every breastfeeding mother’s nightmare, following last week’s rape and robbery allegations within the facility’s corridors. 

New mothers, yet to physically and psychologically heal from giving birth, told of the harrowing ordeals faced at night as they went to breastfeed their new-borns, claims the KNH chief executive officer, Lily Koross came out denying.

Mildred Owiso, broke the story on the Facebook group ‘Buyer Beware’ about a lady who barely recovered from the caesarian section that gave birth to her twins was nearly raped at 3 am as she went downstairs to breastfeed her twins, in the nurseries on the ground floor. 

The poor mother’s plight is the tip of the iceberg going by the public outrage and allegations that greeted Owiso’s expose, on social media. 

Predictably, the hospital management came out to defend the facility’s reputation, brushing off the allegations as fabrications, a decision that drew public ire on social media, setting the stage for demonstrations on Tuesday.

Caution, care and sobriety should be exercised by all parties involved in the latest scandal facing the national hospital. 

The public court should not admonish the leading hospital in Kenya, but should give it every chance to air its story.

The management made a wrong decision to come out guns blazing, to rubbish the claims, instead of seeking to hear from the alleged victims and seek ways of handling the matter. 

The scary truth is that what should be a heaven for sick people has turned into hell, where pain and anguish are only exacerbated, but where is the government? What has the management been doing all along? For how long have these evil practices persisted? How many innocent and weak mothers have silently suffered at Kenyatta National Hospital?

 

As the government seeks to find answers to these uncomfortable truths, the biggest referral hospital in the region should be brought into sharper focus.

Those responsible must be held to account. Those who have overseen the criminal activities either through commission or omission must face the law. All mothers who have suffered at the hands of these savage staff at night should get justice.

Kenyans, the media, government and the hospital management should join forces and make sure that the facility serves its rightful purpose; giving hope and healthcare to the millions of Kenyans who flock its corridors.

Investigations into the horrors experienced by female patients in the hospital are also timely and a test for the new director of Criminal Investigations Department, George Kinoti.  

Independent and transparent investigations by the CID are the first step in entrenching a patient-friendly environment at the hospital. 

As investigations get underway, Kenyans should also give the hospital staff a fair chance to tell its story. They should not be admonished before they are given affair hearing and not subjected to the public court. 

An escalated war of words, suspicion and lack of honesty between the hospital and Kenyans will only serve to pile more misery on the millions of poor Kenyans who flock the hospital in search of better health-care that they cannot afford in the costly private hospitals.

 

Somalia Shattered By deadliest Terrorist Attack

Somalia, one the most unstable countries in the world, is mourning the death of at least 300 people, after a truck bombing in the capital, Mogadishu on Saturday.

Below are nine things to know about the terrorist attack that hit the Horn of Africa nation.

Sources; The Guardian,  Azvision.az, Military.com, new24,  Newsweek,  Business Insider,

               Daily Sabah, Associated Press

Worst ever attack

Saturday’s bomb is so far the single deadliest terrorist attack in Somalia’s history. It killed at least 300 civilians, leaving hundreds of other critically injured.

Protector turned attacker

One of the attackers, who drove the truck that set off the main blast served in the country’s military before leaving in 2010 to join the Al-Shabab militant group.

Revenge mission

The former soldier may have been on a revenge mission, after a US-led military operation in Bariire, his home town in August, 2017.

The operation led to the deaths of several civilians, including children.

Missed target

Intelligence reports said the attackers had targeted a busy airport in the capital, which hosts international organizations, including the United Nations and African Union peace-keeping contingents.

The attackers however, detonated the bombs on a busy road after security guards stopped them at a check-point before they could enter the compound.

Turkey intervenes

Turkey is leading the efforts to assist Somalia following the devastating attack. On Sunday, a day after the attack, Ahmet Demircan, Turkey’s Health Minister flew into the country to oversee the efforts.

Turkish military planes evacuated the critically injured to Ankara for further treatment. 

Eiffel Tower shows solidarity

Eiffel Tower, the iconic building in the French capital, Paris has led several leading cities in the world in showing solidarity with Somalia.

On Monday night, it turned off its lights to pay tribute to the victims. Toronto, a leading city in Canada was also lit in the colors of the Somali flag.

President leads the way

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed led top government officials in donating blood to the victims.

Source of explosives

It is suspected that the military-grade explosives used in the attack were stolen from the African Mission in Somali (Amisom)-led peace-keeping mission in the country.

Gruesome scenes

According to hospital reports, at least 130 bodies were burnt beyond recognition.

Some hospital staff also said they saw ‘unspeakable horrors’ and the smell of blood was strong inside the hospitals.