The Norwegian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ms Tone Skogen, who is on a four-day official visit to Tanzania, yesterday visited the EAC headquarters in a bid to show support towards the EAC integration agenda and gain insight on the status of the integration process.

Mr Richard Owora Othieno, who welcomed the Minister and her delegation to the EAC Headquarters, on behalf of the Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, commended the Norwegian government’s support to the regional integration process.

Mr. Othieno, the Head of the Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Department, briefed the Norwegian envoy on the current status of the EAC integration process and the milestones achieved so far. Among the key highlights of the latest achievements included the establishment of the Single Customs Territory, implementation of the Common Market Protocol and progress made towards a single currency by 2024.

Mr. Othieno made reference to the 17^th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State which was held last week in Arusha, culminating in the admission of the Republic South Sudan as the sixth EAC Partner State.

“In addition, the Heads of State officially launched the new generation International East African e-passport; a regional travel document that will fast-track clearance of East Africans within and outside EAC borders,” said Mr Othieno.

He informed the Minister that the positive developments taking place within the region were indicative of the right path the EAC was pursuing, adding that in the period ahead, emphasis will be on full implementation of the Single Customs Territory, the Common Market Protocol, Monetary Union Protocol, regional infrastructure development, and movement towards the Political Federation.

On her part, Minister Skogen was keen to learn more about the regional infrastructure projects and the level of engagement of Public-Private Partnerships in the EAC integration process.

The Minister commended the efforts of the political leadership in mobilizing consistent forums with representatives from the Private Sector in order to address stumbling blocks that affect business and trade within the region

Stories Continues after ad

Agencies

President Robert Mugabe has fired Macro-Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Deputy Minister Monica Mutsvangwa from Government.

This followed her three-year suspension from Zanu-PF by the revolutionary party’s Politburo last week for gross misconduct and indiscipline.

Acting Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Mr Regis Chikowore confirmed the development, saying Ms Mutsavangwa had been served with a letter relieving her of her duties in Government at the weekend.

Ms Mutsvangwa was relieved of her duties at about the same time with her husband, Christopher Mutsvangwa, who last Thursday lost his job as Minister for the Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Re- strictees.

Mr Mutsvangwa, who is the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association chairman, was suspended for gross misconduct and disloyalty and also given a three-year suspension by the Zanu-PF Politburo last Thursday.

The couple will not hold any positions in the party during their suspension, but will continue holding their parliamentary seats.

Mr Mutsvangwa is the Norton National Assembly representative while his wife is Senator for Manicaland.

The Zanu-PF Women’s League passed a vote of no confidence on Ms Mutsvangwa as the league’s spokesperson last year for indiscipline.

This was after she participated in an illegal meeting that tried to overturn the ousting of Manicaland chairlady Happiness Nyakuedzwa, who was herself was kicked out for disrespecting the First Lady, Amai Grace Mugabe.

Amai Mugabe is also the Zanu-PF Secretary for Women Affairs.

On the other hand, Mr Mutsvangwa was suspended after the Mashonaland West provincial executive last year recommended his expulsion, accusing him of insulting the First Family and undermining the authority of the President.

This followed his utterances in the media where he was quoted as saying: “We will always respect the institution of marriage and he (Cde Saviour Kasukuwere) is confused and conflating the institution of marriage and that of the State.”

His woes mounted when he tried to convene a meeting of war veterans without notifying the relevant authorities, including getting police clearance.

The freedom fighters, who gathered for the unsanctioned meeting, were dispersed by police using teargas and water cannons.

The development irked the patron of the war veterans, President Mugabe, who had no kind words for Mr Mutsvangwa.

Also suspended for three years was the Women’s League secretary for administration Esphina Nhari, who had a vote of no confidence passed against her by the wing for chanting the slogan “Pasi NeG40” at a rally in Gutu last year.

Seven former youth provincial chairpersons were also expelled after some of them issued a press statement insulting and denigrating the First Lady.

These are Godfrey Tsenengamu (Mashonaland Central), Godwin Gomwe (Harare), Vengai Musengi (Mashonaland West), Washington Nkomo (Matabeleland South), Khumbulani Mpofu (Bulawayo), Edmore Samambwa (Midlands) and Tamuka Nyoni (Matabeleland North).

Another seven youths leaders from associations aligned to Zanu-PF were also expelled from the party.

Stories Continues after ad

Agencies

One of the few opposition leaders who has not fled Burundi, experiencing a deep crisis for more than ten months, was arrested by police in a protest district of Bujumbura.

Hugo Haramategeko, president of the party New Alliance for the Development of Burundi (Nadebu), was arrested ‘while he was still at home’ in the district of Mutakura, in the northeast of the capital, according to a family member who spoke on the basis of anonymity

“The police arrested him shortly after 6:00 am as he was taking a shower, and did not even give him time to get dressed properly,” said Charles Ditije, president of the majority wing of UPRONA, belonging to the opposition.

“We learned that he was taken to an unknown destination after passing through the dungeons of the area near Cibitoke,” he added. He denounced ‘arbitrary arrest of a party president whose only crime is to have demonstrated against the third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza’.

Police spokesperson, Pierre Nkurikiye, could not be reached for comment on this case.

Haramategeko, 47, and senior official at the Burundian Ministry of Health, is one of the few leaders of the opposition parties to have not fled Burundi since the beginning of the crisis.

The arrest took place after an eight-day visit to Burundi of three independent experts sent by the Council of Human Rights of the UN to investigate violations of human rights committed during the ten months crisis in the country.

Stories Continues after ad

Agencies

Nigeria and Switzerland recently announced an agreement to return $321m in public funds stolen by the former military ruler Sani Abacha.

The agreement came after a meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, between Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and a Swiss delegation including the country’s foreign minister and ambassador. Both countries said the ‘letter of intent’ to return the money provided a framework to help recover other looted funds by corrupt officials and to determine how it would be spent once repatriated.

“We guarantee that recovered assets would be put to uses for which they have been intended,” Osinbajo said in an emailed statement.

He added: “The framework will guarantee that returned assets will be used in the interest of the people of this country.”

Abacha, in power from 1993 until his death in 1998, is suspected of having siphoned off $2.2bn from Nigeria’s central bank in what the United States has called ‘brazen acts of kleptocracy’.

The head of Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Didier Burkhalter, said Switzerland was the first country to have returned a share of Abacha’s ill-gotten wealth.

Ten years ago, some $720m was returned to Nigeria, he said in a statement on the Swiss foreign affairs website.

The $321m was initially deposited in Luxembourg but confiscated by a court in Geneva in December 2014.

Burkhalter said the fight against corruption was ‘one of Switzerland’s priorities’ and the letter of intent ‘confirmed the principle of returning stolen assets monitored by the World Bank.

“This monitoring is a legal requirement to ensure that the funds can indeed be returned to Nigeria and used, as set out in the agreement, to support social programmes to assist the people of Nigeria,” he added.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has begun a purge of corruption since taking office last year and vowed to recover what he said were ‘mind-boggling’ sums of money stolen over decades.

Stories Continues after ad