Harrasment of media practitioners still rife in Africa.

South Sudan TV editor says security agent threatened him with gun

The head of South Sudan's only private television station said he was threatened at gunpoint by a national security agent who was attempting to censor its news programs.
Nhial Bol, managing editor of Citizen TV in Juba, said the official showed up at his office late on Thursday and demanded that he hand over the broadcast schedule as well as all news materials relating Vice President Riak Machar.
"He pulled out his pistol and said he was ready to shoot anybody who didn't show him respect," Bol told Reuters.
"He said he would shut down the station if we didn't cooperate. This is censorship," said Bol who also heads the Citizen daily newspaper.
The ministries of national security and information were not immediately available for comment on the accusation.
Rights groups say the harassment of journalists by state security officers has already eroded press freedom and led to self-censorship in Africa's youngest nation, just two years after it gained independence from its long-time foe Sudan.
Bol said senior security officers apologized to the station on Friday but that agents would be deployed to all media houses to monitor and censor news from now on.
Last month, the New York-based advocacy group Committee to Protect Journalists sent a letter to President Salva Kiir urging him to prosecute security agents responsible for repeated harassing, intimidating and detaining journalists.
In April, Kiir, who heads the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), halted a reconciliation initiative launched by Machar to end tribal and rebel violence, which had been viewed as an attempt by his deputy to raise his profile ahead of an anticipated contest for the party leadership.
The two men were on opposing sides of a split within the SPLM during much of the 1983-2005 civil war that ended after the two factions reunited.
"The whole thing is related to the (ruling party) and contesting for the 2015 elections," Bol said.
This year, South Sudan slipped 13 places to 124 out of 179 countries on the world press freedom index compiled by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
(Editing by Ulf Laessing and Sonya Hepinstall)

Culled from reuters

Zimbabwean Politics full of up and downs

It was reported that Mr Tsvangirai was attempting to lure Dr Dabengwa and in the not so distant past, Dr Dabengwa was reported to have berated the securocrates for not respecting Tsvangirai and threatening not to respect the will of the people if Tsvangirai wins.

Some people were livid at Dr Dabengwa's defence of Tsvangirai and were quick to remind Tsvangirai that he can not trust Dabengwa as Dr Dabengwa has in the past made it clear that his support for MAVAMBO was an attempt to thwart Tsvangirai's chances in the last general elections.

The same people who accused Dabengwa acted like jilted wives, they wanted Prof Welshman Ncube and his MDC to be the ones in negotiations with Tsvangirai.

Someone in Tsvangirai's camp is a political genius, but I will expose his or her plans right here. Tsvangirai's approach is like a double edged sword, it cuts on both sides,  their aims are very clear, their goal are to recapture the constituency of Matebeleland and Midlands which they have lost through negligence, they will use whatever means, fair or foul. In endeavours to recapture, they want to do it in a number of ways, first, which is their major aim is to form an alliance with the MDC led by Prof Ncube, however, they are aware that straight negotiations will not work because the MDC led by Ncube has gained so much support in Matebeleland, Midlands and Mashonaland East.

This support base makes it hard for MDC to be persuaded to form an alliance with Tsvangirai. The MDC won quite a sizeable number of seats in the last general elections when it was weaker than what it is today and therefore by extrapolation it is clear that if things stand as they are the MDC will sweep the whole of Matebeleland, sweep the whole of Midlands and win a hand full of seats in Masvingo and Mashonaland East. The MDCT wants to destroy this support base, or to shake it to a stage when the MDC will start doubting its chances. Secondly, they want to destroy the MDC led by Welshman Ncube.

The negotiations with Dr Dabengwa's ZAPU is one of those efforts of destabilising the MDC support base and to send a clear message that the NDCT will stop at nothing in its efforts to destabilise and destroy the MDC if the MDC does not want to succumb to its bully tactics
.
 Tsvangirai is not intending the end result to be an MDCT-ZAPU alliance, but what what he really want or envisaging is to scare the MDC, so that when they approach it, the MDC will be weakened and willing to negotiate.

However, if the MDC does not move from its principled stand, Tsvangirai will be prepared to go all the way and form an alliance with ZAPU. Tsvangirai is aware that even though ZAPU is not that strong at the moment, however, it has a lot of good will in Matebeleland and Midlands and if ZAPU is supported financially to mount proper campaign, the MDC will be dwarfed within a very short period of time and the MDCT-ZAPU team will surely win the whole of Matebeleland and Midlands.

The danger for Tsvangirai is here, it is most likely that Dr Dabengwa will accept all the campaign support but at the last minute he will jump ship and join hands with his homeboy- Ncube. The DD-Ncube alliance will be a formidable force in Matebeleland and it can not be defeated.

The danger for DD is that Tsvangirai will dump him at the 11th hour and go with Ncube's MDC, but worse still; the MDCT may opt to go with Zanu-PF.

These are interesting political times, we will wait and see who out smart all of them as it stand right now, the Ncube led MDC has an uphill task to climb, all odds are against them, but they are known for their fortitude and foresight, we shall see.
Culled from Bulawayo 24 news

New president of kenya already faced wth challenges with his ministers,so early to encounter such problems

(Reuters) - Kenyan members of parliament, already among the world's best-paid lawmakers, voted on Tuesday to increase their salaries to more than 130 times the minimum wage in defiance of government plans to cut them as part of spending reforms.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who won a closely fought March 4 election on an economic growth agenda, has implored lawmakers to accept pay cuts and help rein in public sector salaries to free up cash to create jobs.
Many Kenyans view members of parliament as symbols of a greedy political culture, seeking public office as an opportunity for personal gain at the expense of a country mired in poverty and where the unemployment rate stands at 40 percent.
Lawmakers on both sides of the house voted overwhelmingly for higher pay.
"They have taken away our dignity and we must reclaim it," member of parliament Jimmy Angwenyi told the assembly, backing a motion to overturn a legal notice slashing their pay and to increase it to an average of 851,000 shillings ($10,000) a month, up from 532,000.
The average monthly wage in Kenya is 6,498 shillings ($76).
Many Kenyans expressed outrage at the pay increase.
"Did we vote in the wrong guys? This is nonsense! What work have they done in the last two months to deserve this?" prominent businessman Chris Kirubi said on Twitter.
The president has no direct power to determine MP salaries, and the legislators' decision is expected to be challenged in court by civic rights groups.
The lawmakers' move to overturn a reduction in their pay decided by the state Salaries and Remuneration Commission before the election has caused anger that has led to street protests.
But lawmakers said the pay cut was imposed illegally. They argued they needed high wages because constituents expected them to provide charitable support. Some also said that MPs could be vulnerable to bribes if their salaries were set too low.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) said it would go to court seeking to challenge whether the MPs can set the new salaries.
"The supreme law (Constitution) ended the era when elected leaders could use their muscle to illegally determine their remuneration," LSK chairman Eric Mutua said in a statement.
Kenyans are worried that by increasing their pay, the lawmakers could provoke demands for higher wages from local officials in the country's newly-demarcated counties, as well as teachers, police and doctors.
Kenyatta, who made an election pledge to achieve double-digit economic growth in his five-year term, wants a slimmer government as part of efforts to make savings. He has proposed a cabinet of 18 members instead of the maximum 22 granted by law.
Officials say the economy will grow 6 percent in 2013, up from 4.6 percent last year.
Kenya's public sector wage bill stands at 50 percent of annual government tax revenue. The International Monetary Fund puts the global benchmark at about 35 percent.
Kenyatta's Jubilee coalition has promised to deliver free maternity care, laptops to primary school children, better roads and a million new jobs a year.
($1 = 85.0000 Kenyan shillings)

History repeating its self in many african countries

history repeating its self in many africaj coujtries

Malema’s case taken off the roll

The contempt of court case against Julius Malema has been taken off the roll on.

The former African National Congress Youth League leader was expected to appear in the Pretoria High Court. Details on why the case was removed from the court roll were not immediately available.

The curators of Malema's estate brought the application against him for allegedly failing to declare his assets.

Cloete Murray from Sechaba Trust and Aviwe Ndyamara from the Tshwane Trust Company were appointed curators of Malema’s estate at the beginning of March.

They were tasked with ensuring Malema declared all his assets following a court order, and despite Malema agreeing to do so, he allegedly did not.

Malema's lawyer Tumi Mokwena previously told the Sunday Independent that her client intended to oppose the contempt of court application.

If found guilty, Malema could face a R500 000 fine, a jail term or a suspended sentence.