Daily Archives: May 4, 2017

This years Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa) is a symbolic event meant to bridge social differences that have widened among Zimbabwean citizens over the years, organisers have said.

By Kennedy Nyavaya

Tafadzwa Simba

Regarded as the biggest arts festival in the country, the six-day event came to life yesterday, defying the socio-economic collapse, which has threatened to take the festival down with it.

Speaking at a Press briefing yesterday, Hifa executive, director Maria Wilson said locals, although faced with a gloomy reality, should embrace the healing role of arts by attending the shows.

The festival is much of a statement about this country and its people, [so] lets embrace each other, she said.

Its time, as Zimbabweans, that we did this and we stopped this division between us and move forward.

Wilson urged festival-goers to embrace the artists and their work.

It is our job as the imbibers of their hearts to open our minds to challenge ourselves to start communicating with each other just to start realising that these barriers that seem to be between us are created falsely, she said.

This is something where we can literally just say enough, its time to be together, time to open our minds.

Tafadzwa Simba, the executive associate, weighed in, highlighting that the spirit of the festival has been reverberating, inspite of its uninspiring build-up.

It has been a wonderful miracle moment for us to get to this point, I think, now with everything setup, it is easier for everybody to believe so, do go, enjoy it and see it, he said.

Read more here:

Hifa presents peace and love - NewsDay Zimbabwe - NewsDay

Coordinators of the nightly protests that have taken place in Serbia ever since Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic won the presidential election have split into two main groups, one of which focuses on Vucics policies and the other on the socio-economic reality in Serbia.

The group running the protesters original Facebook page Against the Dictatorship has released a statement expressing regret that the two groups had split and adding that they hope to cooperate in future in the struggle against dictatorship, which is the reason for these protests.

The other group insists that while they continue to back the fight against the current regime led by Aleksandar Vucic, the raison detre for the protests must be bigger than just getting rid of Vucic.

After the wars of the 1990s, the [NATO] bombing, failed expectations [since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic], privatisation, deindustrialisation, collapse of education, welfare and healthcare, we saw the political elites change but the policy remained the same, the second group said in a statement.

This group has assumed the name Seven Demands, referring to the original demands adopted at the height of the protests. They intend to further define those demands and organise their own activities.

The list of demands was issued on April 10, one week into the protests. The demands are broad and general, including the removal of the political elite headed by Vucic, but also a shift in economic and social policies and protection of living standards.

Some are purely political, such as the dismissal of parliament speaker Maja Gojkovic, and removal of the management of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media, REM, and of the State Electoral Commission, RIK.

Others include changing the labour laws, scrapping pension and wage cuts, increasing the minimum wage and other social issues.

Besides the two main groups, a smaller third one, Culture Against Dictatorship, has also stepped out independently. They told the Serbian news portal Insajder that they will formulate more concrete demands because the existing ones are unattainable.

Points of contention

Marko Stricevic, from Seven Demands, says that his group wanted to fight for all the demands agreed on during the first weeks of the protests, but the other group did not want to push for the socio-economic part.

He said the demand to change the Labour law was agreed at a joint meeting, but the Against the Dictatorship activists did not want to implement the decision. This moment was decisive, but not the only reason for the split, Stricevic told BIRN.

At a meeting in late April, one group sought changes to the elections laws, while the other wanted to push for changes to the labour law.

According to BIRNs findings, the latter group was outvoted by a slim margin, and propositions to put forth one political and one socio-economic demand were also defeated.

Seven Demands also did not want to continue staging protests every day, which was another point of contention with the other group.

We wished to dedicate more time to making connections with protesters in other cities and fleshing out the demands, Stricevic said.

After the split, Against the Dictatorship has kept on organising daily protests, although the numbers of people attending keeps dwindling.

The group says it also wanted to discontinue the daily protests but the people in the streets wanted to carry on.

Against the Dictatorship did not answer BIRNs questions regarding their future activities sent by email by the time of publication.

While neither group has publicly endorsed a political party or leader, contacts were established with some opposition figures even before the coordinators split.

Before the schism, some members of the group held meetings with opposition figures, which heightened tension between the two streams.

Seven Demands opposes all collaboration with opposition politicians, insisting that all the parties that were in power over the last three decades created the living conditions that exist today.

Against the Dictatorship maintains that it has no intention to lend support to any one politician or party.

Groups set out future plans

Both groups are meanwhile adapting their strategies to the new reality in which the protests are drawing less and less people.

Against the Dictatorship has changed the concept of their protests, gathering in front of institutions and media organisations to express their discontent or support independent reporting.

The group has issued a statement saying that they want to continue fighting the system that enables [Vucics] dictatorship.

The ultimate goal is to achieve our demands so that one man cannot keep holding all power in his hands, the group said on Facebook.

Both groups also intend to fight for other causes, announcing their support for a rally on Thursday to prevent the forced eviction of an elderly woman and her disabled son.

Seven Demands announced that it would also show up at a rally in Belgrade against the displacement of refugees from the park near the Faculty of Economy, scheduled on the same day.

Stricevic says they will also support workers causes and labour rights, with a focus on changing the labour law. Further protests will be coordinated with protesters in other cities, he added.

Seven Demands has received an endorsement from the Students Movement, which has been organising the protests in the northern city of Novi Sad since the beginning.

As the protests subside, neither group is able to draw crowds of thousands that marched in the first two weeks of April, between election day and Easter. The number of people protesting has shrunk to around a hundred.

Read more here:

Serbia's Fading Protest Movement Splits - Balkan Insight

A very interesting debate is raging on in Kenya about people who have seemingly gotten rich through ill-gotten gains; a skill President Uhuru Kenyatta says most Kenyans are experts in. (the other skill, also according to Mr. Kenyatta, is their penchant for abusing one another).

The trigger for the debate was a Facebook post by someone known for braggadocio and gratuitous displays, oftentimes, of garish ostentation. The FB post in turn prompted an article by Prof. Makau Mutua titled Debate on wealth of Kenya's oligarchs raises key issues and like the (FB) post, focused on questions surrounding the probity and the source of wealth owned by one of the countrys most prominent business personalities Chris Kirubi.

The debate appears to continue a trend that started shortly after independence when the land transfer program meant to re-settle landless/displaced Kenyans was corrupted by the countrys first president - Jomo Kenyatta - for personal and political gains. Daniel Branch offers that accumulation of wealth through nefarious means eventually extended beyond simple personal acquisitiveness and greed into a fundamental part of Kenyas political system..providing the cement that bonded the post-colonial political elites..... Charles Hornsby adds that along with a handful of favored sons from other communities, Mr. Kirubi parlayed proceeds from the suspiciously acquired personal wealth and questionable dealings into viable business ventures effectively blurring, if not erasing completely, the line between ill-gotten wealth and legitimate wealth.

In writing that most wealthy Kenyans trace their money to the plunder of the State by the elites in the Kenyatta regime from 1964 to 1978, Mr. Mutua simultaneously underscores and reaffirms the scope, role and impact of grand corruption in Kenya while illuminating the conundrum facing a society trying to confront the issue. He also makes no bones about the current state of affairs re: grand corruption - that (connected Kenyans) are now making a killing under (Uhuru) Kenyattas (government).

The debate is thus happening in a society where the relationship between wealth, courtesy of suspected grand corruption and political connection, is immutable and total. It is a relationship that makes the idea of holding accountable the likes of Chris Kirubi, frankly most wealthy Kenyans, an absolute non-starter - protestation from various quarters and eloquent speechifying and ultimatums notwithstanding.

Just as discussions about the historical trajectory of Americas economic (and political) development continue to have detractors and supporters alike, the current debate regarding the role played by Chris Kirubi (and others like him) in Kenyas economic development is coalescing into two camps:

One camp hails his role in the countrys development and is willing to forgive the tycoon/industrialist who has supposedly used his ill-gotten gains to do good, itself a fluid construction. Contrastingly, the other camp is unforgiving and wants to see such people stripped of their (ill-gotten) wealth, forced to pay restitution and thrown in jail, their philanthropy and alleged contribution to the countrys economic development aside.

Specific to Mr. Kirubi, he has been linked to at least four companies - KENATCO, ICDC, Uchumi, and Kenya Airways - that have variously been on the brink of collapse or have collapsed, completely, only to arise, in some cases under different names, thanks to the intervention by the Government of Kenya.

His supporters argue that what he has contributed to the society/economy, outweigh, by a magnitude, any negatives the allegations surrounding him may have wrought i.e. the end justifies the means. They go on to list ventures such as the Two Rivers Mall and the rather trumpian claim that the project has created thousands of jobs for Kenyans in all phases of the mega-project and beyond. This sounds reasonable, at first glance. It however fails to offer an accounting of the potential damage and negative impact Chris Kirubis alleged misdeeds may have wrought on the various communities and businesses left in their wake. This include employees of Kenya National Transportation Company (KENATCO), of Uchumi and recently, of Kenyas national carrier Kenya Airways.

Aside from the jobs lost when the companies were either under receivership or restructuring due to mismanagement, pilferage, greed and myopic leadership, also lost or affected by Kirubis suspected malfeasance were related socio-economic activities in the companies respective supply chain. When these lost socio-economic activities are taken into consideration, then the claim that Mr. Kirubis ill-gotten gains or philanthropy benefit/ted the society become tenuous at best.

Back in November 2015, I wrote a piece titled Drawing The Line on Corruption in Kenya: Give Amnesty to Tenderpreneurs, Industrialists and Entrepreneurs where I suggested some form of amnesty for individuals accused or suspected of grand corruption as a way of drawing a line and allowing Kenya and Kenyans to warp their arms around the vice and formulate a way forward. I said then and remain convinced now that the country cannot take a firm and definitive stand against corruption because of the point Prof. Makau and historians Daniel Branch and Charles Hornsby make: That

most wealthy Kenyans trace their money to the plunder of the State by the elites in the Kenyatta regime from 1964 to 1978.

I would also add to the foregoing observation, its always-ever present ethnic dimension as pointedly noted during a spirited exchange on social media when someone characterized the series of articles questioning the probity of Chris Kirubis wealth as kimnadho i.e. a jealousy-motivated veiled narrative to portray.....(him and his tribe)..as thieves, corrupted and tribalist. While this was not my contribution to thread, it was not the first time the two issues corruption and ethnicity had intersected. This is yet another truism that renders any discussions about decisive and punitive (legal) actions against the likes of Chris Kirubi highly unlikely and more of an intellectual exercise; one that does not even touch on the moral implications surrounding the issue.

The perspective offered by Prof. Makau and others, combined with the camps that either vilify or deify, certainly mollify Mr. Kirubis record, underscore the mutability of corruption in Kenya and bring to mind a variant of FDRs characterization of Anastasio Somoza:

"He may be a crook but at least he is OUR crook.

All told, the wildly dichotomous views on Chris Kirubis wealth effeminate and render impotent, any credible and sustained war against corruption while emboldening others to emulate someone they hold up as a role model and seek a piece of the action by any means necessary.

See the original post here:

Corruption in Kenya: At Least They Are Our Crooks. - Huffington Post

By Roderick L. Abad

THE private sector is encouraged to always be prepared and cooperative for the Big One, following the 5.5-magnitude tectonic earthquake early last month that jolted Batangas City and other areas of Luzon.

Let me emphasize certain things, which are very important for our national survival. [To guarantee the] earthquake resiliency of our national systems, both government and business should be strengthened, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary Rene Solidum said during the 2nd Business and the Big One Forum organized recently by the Corporate Network For Disaster Response and the American Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Ironically, a day after he made this call for the business communitys cooperation with the government, not only to prevent damages and casualties, but also to ensure business continuity, a strong tremor measuring 7.2-magnitude struck off the coast of Mindanao.

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It was reported that several buildings were reported damaged; cracks were spotted in a hospital, two government buildings and a port; and at least one house had collapsedsome of the many destructions that could be avoided if only theyre properly designed and built to withstand such a strong earthquake.

For government and business organizations, implement backup systems and backup sites. And for national organizations, we need to decongest our operations and transfer critical operations, [or] have nearer offices in some parts of the Philippines. We need to strengthen our residential structures, office and buildings, and retrofit critical facilities right away. In the long term, either condemn or retrofit houses or buildings, he added.

The country sits atop the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area thats prone to natural catastrophes like earthquake, volcanic eruptions, and others. The most active faultthe West Valleyis seen to affect the capital region once it moves.

Hence, the popularity of the term the Big One, or the nickname of Metro Manila quake, which like all other earthquakes is feared the most. It cannot be predicted or forecasted, but based on historical data, is due to happen over within the century.

Because of this, a whole of society participation is required to reduce its potential impacts and those of eventual events like the tsunami, according to the DOST official.

Preparedness for extreme hazards needs an understanding of the extent of the hazards and the riskphysical and socio-economic, Solidum said. Science-based scenarios should be used for regional to national coordination of a whole of society approach to mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery prior to the occurrence of extreme events.

The DOST undersecretary, likewise, noted the importance of development of Business (Service) Continuity Plans in both the public and private sectors.

He warned though the business sector looking for a place to guarantee continuity of operation that Cebu, being a top preferred destination, also has its fault line like Metro Manila, so they need a backup place for their offices where their trade still proceeds despite an earthquake or any national emergencies.

Structural integrity for Big One

THERE will be a worst-case damage scenario if ever the Big One hits the country, cautioned Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines-Continuing Professional Development Chairperson Engr. Adam C. Abinales.

This is more destructive than some of the strong earthquakes recorded over the last two decades ago, such as those in Luzon (July 16, 1990) at 7.8 magnitude; Negros Oriental (February 6, 2012), 6.9 magnitude; Bohol (October 15, 2013), 7.2 magnitude; Surigao del Norte (February 10, 2017), 6.7 magnitude; and Batangas (April 4 and 8, 2017), 5.5 magnitude.

Citing the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study (MMEIRS) in 2004, he said that the foreseen scenario has a timeline of one week, introducing a dynamic damage situation from the period of the earthquake.

For residential, 168,000 would be heavily damaged or collapsed (13 percent of total buildings) as 340,000 moderately damaged (26 percent of total buildings). Around 10,000 affected buildings alongside Manila Bay, riversides and Laguna lakeshore would be prone to liquefaction.

As to human casualties, 34,000 would be dead, of which 90 percent from pressure from collapsed buildings.

The number of dead would be small in squatter areas, Abinales noted. Those trapped in damaged buildings may be burned to death, especially those living in squatter area. Building collapse causing further death may ensue due to aftershocks.

Meanwhile, the report estimates that close to 114,000 will be heavily injured, trauma and bone fractures would be prevalent because of structural damages and falling debris, and people may fall from mid- and high-rise buildings.

Public facilities will not be spared also to destruction, including 177 hospitals, 1,412 schools, 124 firefighting stations, 43 police headquarters and 53 Metro Manila RRMC-Organization and local government unit city hall buildings. About eight percent to 10 percent of public utilities would be heavily damaged and collapsed as 20 percent to 25 percent partly destructed.

Utilities would be destroyed, including water pipeline breakage at 954 points along 4,600 km, cut of 32 km of electricity cables along length of 4,900 km, and cut of 97 km of PLDT telephone cable along 13,300 km long. Of the 213 bridges in the country, seven have high possibility of collapse, including 80 flyovers in the metropolis.

Regarding all structures, MMEIRS 2004 reveals that of the 1,000 structures built in the country, around 11 percent of the 10 to 30 stories building would be heavily damaged or collapsed, as 27 percent would be moderately destructed. From a hundred of 31- to 60-floor high towers, only two percent and 12 percent would be heavily destroyed or collapsed and slightly damaged, respectively.

Considering that the report was done 13 years ago, the structural impacts of the Big One hitting Metro Manila on businesses may be worse than projected, according to him.

So we really need to be prepared for the Big One, he suggested. But we can do something about these damages in the report by following the 10 indicators of vulnerable structure and what do we need to mitigate the effects of the hazards of earthquake, Abinales said.

The signs that buildings are at risk include: over 50 year olds, or built before 1990, with damaged structural members and that are not retrofitted based on latest code of the National Structural Code of the Philippines in 2001, 2010 and 2015; located very near fault, which may not have been designed and constructed properly; put up along coastal regions, likely hit by tsunami; built at the foot of mountain, where avalanche of rocks or landslide may occur; erected along cliffs or ravine and rivers; still undergoing construction, which are not yet structurally stable; with glass panels not anchored well, as well as other attached architectural elements; damaged by fire that are not retrofitted; and with distinctive changes in structure like vertical alignment of columns, sagging of beams, cracks at the joints and walls, doors and windows that are hard to close or open, uneven floor level, and with preexisting irregularities in plan and elevation.

The action points to reduce the effects of earthquake hazards include knowing where the dangers are(I.e. active faults and splays, weak soil, dangerous slopes and establish no build zones minimizing or eliminating falling hazards; avoiding overloading of areas on any floor in a building; conducting regular structural inspection of critical structural elements and checking for damages; and performing as necessary the pre-earthquake evaluation of building using Tier-1 Evaluation Process, whenever applicable.

Most importantly, enforce the building code, particularly the National Structural Code of the Philippines. The Big One is not yet happening, but we must act now and have all these buildings evaluated. said Abinales. These are some things that most of the companies would like to know about, especially on the integrity of existing buildings and, of course, future structures that theyre going to build.

Image Credits: en.wikipedia.org, Noodhulp

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Private sector urged to brace for the 'Big One' | BusinessMirror - Business Mirror

Says party has displayed ignorance & has exposed its collusion with Jindal, Adani and Vedanta in their plans to make Goa a coal hub

Team Herald

VASCO: Goa Against Coal(GAC) convenor Custodio D'Souza slammed Goa Forward for its U-turn on nationalisation of rivers, and for its false and misleading public statements endorsing multi-fold increase in coal handling at Vasco and the rest of Goa.

Addressing reporters in Vasco on Monday, D'Souza said, "Goa Forward has displayed its ignorance regarding the policies of the country, how electricity is generated in the country or why coal is considered dirty cargo by the Government itself, and has also exposed its collusion with Jindal, Adani and Vedanta in their devious plans to make Goa a coal hub" he said

"As stated in the Report of the Working Group for the Port Sector for the 12th Five Year Plan 2012-17, coal is the dirtiest cargo and is responsible for a large number of deaths and large-scale diseases. The report recommends that all dirty and hazardous operations have to be taken away from port cities. The said Report envisages Ports at or near cities to be used for local communities, tourism, recreation and green cargo, and also states that MPT is best suited for cruise tourism. Goa Forward has exposed its gross ignorance about how electricity is generated in the country, and the policy of the Ministry of Coal not to use imported coal for power generation. The statement of Goa Forward has cleverly tried to protect the greedy, profit-seeking corporations by implying that this coal is for power generation for Goa, a big lie. As verified during the Public Hearings and from their EIA studies, there is no public interest behind these coal imports through Goa (better facilities exist on the East Coast), only to save freight charges for three corporations! By ignoring the destruction of fisheries, rivers, villages and the Western Ghats, Goa Forward has shown total disregard for our future generations, whose only wealth is the environment we leave behind," he said.

He further added that, "The five rivers and one canal which are proposed to be dredged, are almost 410 km in length and are the lifeline of scores of villages and lakhs of people. These rivers are common lands of the residents of these villages having fundamental and inalienable rights over the entire rivers. If these rivers are diverted for the use of rich corporations by declaring them nationalised, we will have a socio-economic disaster of unprecedented scale. If these rivers are dredged, it will completely destroy the ecology of our rivers, as several million lakhs cubic metres of silt will be dredged annually to maintain the draft in the navigational channel across 410 km rivers of Goa. All existing river bunds will collapse and our villages will be inundated. There will be no fish in Goan waters at all, if this coal project is not stopped. Even if the lives of fisher folk did not matter, this coal will not spare other Goans either air pollution across the State, displacement and pollution along coal corridors (both rail and road), and the future threat of rising sea levels and failed monsoons due to climate change will get us all, and others across the globe unless we stop coal".

Goa Against Coal further demanded that in accordance with their international commitments, with due regard for the lives and livelihoods of Goans and humanity at large, keeping in mind their fundamental duty towards the environment and the future generations, and in compliance with the policies and laws of the land, all projects for dredging (estuaries, bays, sea or rivers), expansion of dirty cargo/ hazardous cargo through Goa, nationalization of the common land and rivers and related road and rail connectivity projects be stopped immediately. "We also demand that MPT be used for infrastructure for local fishing and city communities, for cruise tourism and for green cargo only," GAC concluded.

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GAC slams GF for U-turn on river nationalisation, coal issue - Oherald