Monthly Archives: January 2012

Rwanda and downing of Habyalimana’s plane

Posted on January 28, 2012 by

By Gerald Kaplan Two seemingly unrelated Rwandan stories made both history and the headlines this week. One was the dramatic finding by a French inquiry that members of the pre-genocide Hutu government and military must have shot down the plane carrying their President Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6, 1994, launching their planned genocide only hours later. (The President of Burundi was also a passenger on the ill-fated plane, as were other senior Rwandan officials.) The second was the decision of the Canadian government to deport to Rwanda at long last a man named Leon Mugesera, accused of inciting his fellow Hutu to massacre Tutsi about one-and-half years before the plane … Continue reading →

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Buganda History – Part 52: Bishop James Hannington’s troubles

Posted on January 28, 2012 by

By Robert Asketill From our last part we have seen Bishop Hannington arriving within Chief Luba’s enclosure and seemingly not accepting the advice that he had let his caravan march into a dangerous area where there were forces stationed to see that the Eastern border of the Buganda Kingdom was safe from any hostile force crossing the Nile. From the diaries we are told that Hannington, immediately on camping within the Chiefs compound, set off to climb Kiando Hill. He wrote: “I climbed a neighbouring hill, and to my joy, saw a splendid view of the Nile, only about half an hour’s distance, country being beautiful; deep creeks of the … Continue reading →

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Kenya: The impact of the ICC process

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

After post-election violence gripped Kenya in 2007-08, the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched an investigation into top politicians allegedly implicated in the crisis. Crisis Group’s analyst Abdullahi Boru Halakhe looks at the effect the ICC proceedings may have on this year’s presidential and legislative elections. Welcome to this podcast with the International Crisis Group. I’m Ben Dalton, Communications & IT Officer. In 2012, Kenya will hold presidential elections for the first time since polls in late 2007 led to widespread violence. I am speaking today with Abdullahi Halakhe, Crisis Group’s Horn of Africa analyst, about how changes implemented after the last crisis, including an investigation by the International Criminal Court, … Continue reading →

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History of Buganda – Part 48: A look at events and personalties that formed the Buganda Kingdom

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

Due to an unforeseen error, this part in the Buganda Kingdom history was inadvertently left out of the series. We now reproduce it. By Robert Asketill We shall eventually be presenting the introduction of the then recently invented Hotchkiss machine gun. It was said at the time to be tested in Africa and what better place than within the kingdom of Buganda. Indeed history has shown us that it made its reputation on Lake Victoria at the time when Kabaka Mwanga was endeavouring to unite the kingdom, really an impossible task with so much weaponry now in the hands of his people. We have to ask ourselves which events and … Continue reading →

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Life is a paradise in Oliver’s Camp, Tanzania

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

The more things change the more they stay the same. By Sarah Hermitage Oliver’s Camp is a truly delightful tented camp situated in a tranquil and remote area of the Tarangeri National Park’s unspoilt Wilderness Zone in Northern Tanzania. To those in search of a real African adventure, Oliver’s Camp will not disappoint in providing a unique and truly memorable experience.  The Camp was incepted with the vision of Paul Oliver who, in 1985, fell in love with this remote and unspoilt area of Tanzania. Paul had a desire to help stop the terrible Elephant poaching taking place at this time and improve the lives of those living in the … Continue reading →

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Buganda History Part 51 – How Hannington came to die in Buganda

Posted on January 17, 2012 by

By Robert Asketill Kabaka Mwanga is mainly, if not only, seen by Europeans as responsible for having a Bishop put to death. Little if any background information has been given concerning this tragedy, and research by scholars has shown it indeed to have been a tragedy, as we have shown in our writings, but little is known of the journey of the Bishop when he took the hitherto banned eastern route into Buganda and it was not until the 29th October 1939, the fifty-fourth anniversary of his death, that the Protectorate government dedicated a bronze tablet and monument erected close to the scene of the tragedy: the tablet that, like … Continue reading →

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How the Mormons are matching to the White House

Posted on January 15, 2012 by

On the streets of Salt lake City, the epicentre  of the Mormon movement of which Mitt Romney, standing he hopes as the next President of America was a serving Bishop, once known as the Church of Jesus Christ but today  commonly known as Mormons has in his political life seen them growing in numbers, confidence and influence. Now it is increasingly likely that one of its number, Mitt Romney, will compete against Barack Obama for the ultimate power prize: the American presidency. Mr Romney’s tilt at the White House is emerging as a high point in a Mormon purple patch. There are already 15 Mormons in Congress. Suddenly a religion … Continue reading →

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Buganda History Part 50: The imperial scramble for East Africa

Posted on January 12, 2012 by

By Robert Asketill We are now seeing Kabaka Mwanga fighting like a lion to keep his kingdom safe from colonisation by the foreign powers. He knew that there were sinister moves, although apart from the “bogus” treaties that had been signed with various mini nations on the trade route from the coast to his own kingdom, he was unable to make a pointed allegation of real colonisation threatening Buganda. Certainly the British trade company IBA was seemingly becoming a threat and then there were the Germans, ably assisted by the former catholic missionary Charles Stokes who was by now a highly professional trader in elephant tusks and guns led by … Continue reading →

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It is getting messier in Southern Sudan

Posted on January 10, 2012 by

By Robert Asketill Although generally ignored by the world media we are still hearing from South Sudan authorities of Pertet, Likuangole and Pibor that they continue to find dead bodies in the bush from recent clashes and most reliable reports give the number as over 3000, a figure agreed by Medecins Sans Frontieres in Pibor, the medical charity whose clinic was overrun and looted by armed Lou Nuer youth last week, leaving the town without any medical facilities. America was influential in creating this new Sudan, without giving enough thought to the size of the country and its several mini nations with centuries- old life styles that they would fight … Continue reading →

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Nigeria on edge as Boko Haram threatens country’s democracy

Posted on January 8, 2012 by

By Mustapha Muhammed and Fr James Ngahy Africa’s top oil producer is on edge, poised to deter possible sectarian clashes between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south, while Christians are becoming more vulnerable to attacks from Islamist militants. Boko Haram, Nigerian Islamists inspired by the Afghan Taliban, have claimed responsibility for a spate of suicide bombings and attacks on United Nations buildings, police targets and churches over the last year. In its latest report on the casualty figures for Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria, dated Nov. 8, Human Rights Watch said 425 people have been killed. Though there are no newer statistics from the human rights group, … Continue reading →

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