All Africans to Enter Kenya Without Visa

All Africans to Enter Kenya Without Visa

President William Ruto has said he will lift visa requirements for all Africans entering Kenya before the end of the year.

“By the end of this year, no African will need a visa to enter Kenya. The time has come to understand the importance of doing trade between us,” said Ruto.

The Kenyan leader announced from the capital Brazzaville, Republic of Congo where he is attending a summit of the world’s three major forest basins namely; Amazon, Congo, and Borneo-Mekong Forest Basins.

“It is time we realize the importance of trading among ourselves and allowing goods, services, people and ideas to move freely across the continent,” he said.

President Ruto observed that trade among East African Community countries had grown significantly due to the removal of visa requirements and tariffs.

Ruto said that acknowledging and providing incentives to countries in tropical forest basins for forest protection is a smart climate action.

The Amazon basin in South America, the Congo basin in Central Africa, and the Borneo-Mekong basin in Southeast Asia collectively constitute 80 percent of the world’s rainforests and contain approximately two-thirds of its biodiversity.

These rainforests are not only vital for their local ecosystems but also play a global role in regulating the planet’s climate and sustaining life on Earth.

UN Sanctions Bernard Byamungu M23’s Chief Spy

The United Nations Security Council announced international sanctions against Bernard Maheshe Byamungu the deputy commander of operations and intelligence of the M23 rebel movement in DRC.

Byamungu is accused of distracting the operations of UN stabilisation mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (monusco).

“Byamungu is one of those who obstruct the participation of Monusco in the operations of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration,” according to UN Security council.

The M23 spy chief is also accused of participating in promoting and supporting the activities of the armed group.

Byamungu described by UN as right-hand man to M23 rebel leader Gen. Sultani Makenga is accused of perpetrating serious crimes in part of the North Kivu province.

In January 2023, Byamungu was promoted to Brigadier General of the Congolese Revolutionary Army, the armed wing of the M23. He was then appointed chief of staff of Sultani Makenga and has since validated the planning of all operations carried out by the M23 in the DRC.

Belonging to the political or military leadership of Congolese militias, including those which receive support from outside the DRC, the UN affirms that Bernard Maheshe Byamungu is one of those who obstruct the participation of Monusco fighters in the operations of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.

A Brief of Bernard Maheshe Byamungu

In April 2012, Bernard Maheshe Byamungu, then commander of the ninth sector of the FARDC in Uvira in South Kivu and who had defected a few months earlier to join the M23, fell into the net of FARDC elements in the Itombwe mountains, after having spent more than 72 hours on the run.

Accused of participation in an insurrectional movement and sentenced to double the penalty of his dismissal from the Congolese Armed Forces, Bernard Maheshe Byamungu, also a former AFDL rebel, was arrested and detained at the Kinshasa Penitentiary and Reeducation Center (CPRK) the same year, before being released in 2019 by presidential pardon from the Head of State, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi.

Awaiting his reintegration into the FARDC and to everyone’s surprise, Bernard Maheshe Byamungu exfiltrated from the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, in September 2022 to once again join the M23 terrorist movement, while any exit from the city had been prohibited.

He is currently the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Congolese authorities.

Byamungu sanctioned by EU and USA

At the end of last July, Brig. Gen Byamungu was also included in the European Union sanctions list, which accused him of being responsible for serious violations of human rights.

“Due to his leadership functions within the M23|ARC, Bernard Byamungu therefore contributes, by planning, directing or committing, to acts constituting serious violations of human rights or attacks on these rights in the DRC. He is also responsible for supporting the armed conflict, instability and insecurity in the DRC,” the European Union said in its communication.

After the European Union, the United States Treasury Department announced on August 24 of the same year, a series of targeted sanctions against six people accused of contributing to the worsening of the conflict and instability in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Among the individuals on the American blacklist was the former colonel of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), Bernard Maheshe Byamungu, 49, currently deputy commander of operations and intelligence of the M23.

Sanctions imposed by the UN result in a travel ban for sanctioned individuals, thereby limiting their mobility and ability to act freely and also lead to the freezing of these individuals’ assets, which can cause a major blow to their means of financing and deprive them of the resources necessary for their activities.

According to UN, these measures aim to limit the influence and capabilities of those sanctioned, while sending a strong message that human rights violations will not be tolerated.

President Tshisekedi Revives Plan to Build Wall On Border With Rwanda

President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo has said he is left with no option but building a wall fence on the long border with neighbouring Rwanda.

The relationship between Rwanda and the DRC has deteriorated as both countries blame each other for supporting armed groups that are a threat to their security.

He made the remarks during a Summit of the world’s three great forest basins on Saturday October 28 in Brazzaville bringing together counterparts, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo Republic and Brazilian, Lula Da Silva.

Tshisekedi consistently blames Rwanda for the M23 rebellion which Kigali considers it an internal matter of DRC. The battle hardened M23 fighters currently control vast territories in the Eastern region of the mineral rich nation.

Kinshasa has also repeatedly rejected demand by M23 movement for dialogue, effectively paralysing the Nairobi peace process which should have seen the rebels laying down their arms at a former military base.

“I am sorry as President of the Democratic Republic of Congo when faced with this kind of thing, I am not tempted to build bridges but rather walls to protect our population,” he told the summit on Saturday, adding, “We cannot call each other brothers and stab each other in the back.”

Launching an appeal for peace between different African nations, the President of the Republic explained that it will necessarily be necessary to banish “hypocrisy” among Africans and to have the courage among Africans to “look each other in the eyec, to say that it is abnormal to call each other brothers and stab each other in the back, at the same time.

While welcoming this initiative of the three large forest massifs which between them bring together 80% of the global biodiversity necessary for climate regulation, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi also highlighted the theft of the country’s natural resources by armed groups.

Development of investment programs

For Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi, this summit is a form of prelude to discussions on the climate issue at the big mess of COP 28 which will be held in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

The objective of the summit, according to Tshisekedi, is in particular to “establish a synergy of actions and cooperation strategies to better preserve our forests, restore ecosystems and fight effectively against poverty with a view to well-being of our populations. And to achieve it, he insisted on the acceleration and intensification of more technical and scientific cooperation, with a view to strengthening the capacities of States in the fight against this phenomenon.”

As part of the new economic perspectives at the global level, States have been called upon to develop better structured investment programs aimed not only at the valorization of natural resources, but also at strengthening the resilience of socio-economic systems in the face of the climatic crisis.

“The DRC calls for the diversification of sources of climate financing, including the development of a fair and equitable carbon market, as a mechanism for sustainable management of both the three tropical forest basins and other forest areas around the world” , he said, while affirming that the strategic role played by his country in the fight against climate change “no longer needs to be demonstrated”.

With more than 62% of the Congo Basin’s forests and approximately 70% of its peatlands, more than 52% of Africa’s fresh water reserves, its mega biodiversity ranked 5th in the world, the DRC which has taken all the measure of its natural and historical responsibility intends to assume its natural environmental and climatic leadership, together with its peers from all basins.

Mobondo Rebels Feared Near Kinshasa, Heading to Kongo-central

DRC’s Defense Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba has warned that the Mobondo militia have reactivated and killed 18 civilians and burning an entire village.

According to Bemba, the Mobondo rebels are active in the provinces of Kwilu, Kwango, Maï-Ndombe and on the outskirts of Kinshasa, the Mobondo rebels are trying to expand into Kongo-central, in the west of the country. The rebels have been accused of mayhem and are accused of killing civilians in several localities.

On September 11, these attackers carried out attacks against a village in the Lulalumene sector, in Kimvula territory.

According to members of local civil society, 18 people were killed and the entire village was burned.

This assessment was confirmed on Friday by the Congolese government during the Council of Ministers.

The Minister of National Defense and Veterans Affairs, Bemba told the council that security forces are tracking these rebels in the region.

Bemba informed the Council, “the Mobondo phenomenon, formerly localized in the provinces of Kwango, Kwilu, Mai-Ndombe and Kinshasa, tends to be exported in the Kongo-Central province.”

One of the houses burnt by the Mobondo rebels are active in the provinces of Kwilu, Kwango, Maï-Ndombe and on the outskirts of Kinshasa.

“The latest incident was on September 11, 2023, with the incursion of these attackers into the Final village, located 10 kilometers from the limit with the commune of Maluku, Lulalumene sector, Kimvula territory, where a death toll was recorded. 18 civilians and 1 soldier killed, 1 soldier missing and the entire village burned,” he said.

Faced with this situation, the head of Defense affirmed that the defense and security forces continue to hunt down these Mobondo attackers.

In this same vein, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense and Veterans Affairs took stock of the situation marked, according to him, by the continuation of military operations in the face of “the continued strengthening of the M23 rebels and the the persistence of attacks by armed groups, causing loss of life and destruction.”

At the same time, the FARDC-UPDF joint forces continue to hunt down ADF/MTM terrorists and dismantle collaboration networks, explained the head of National Defense.

Gen. al-Burhan of Sudan Wants Help From Gen. Museveni

Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan the Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council of Sudan on Saturday made an impromptu trip to Entebbe, Uganda where he held discussions with President Yoweri Museveni.

According to reports from Khartoum, Gen. al-Burhan was accompanied to Uganda by his Foreign Affairs minister, Ali Al-Sadiq, and the Director of the General Intelligence Service, Ahmed Ibrahim Mufaddal.

The Ugandan State House said, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was in the East African country for a one-day state visit. Officials described the trip as a one-day working visit.

Sudan has been at war since violent clashes broke out in the capital between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

There have been attempts to bring the warring sides to a negotiation table but suspicion has been rising concerning composition of mediation team.

For example in July, Gen Yasir Alatta, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) ordered President Williams Ruto of Kenya to quit the mediation talks because he was allegedly playing a mercenary role.

Gen Yasir Alatta accused President Ruto, of “being a mercenary for another country”—which he did not name. He claimed that the unnamed country that supports Ruto is also a major backer of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Lt.Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan told President Ruto that he is ready to halt hositilities on condition that the RSF soldiers are removed from the capital Khartoum.

President Ruto is said to have told Lt.Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to cooperate with IGAD and consider ceasfire.

Ruto also proposed parallel mediation talks under the Jeddah Imitative fronted by the US and SAaudi Arabia should work hand in hand with IGAD to avoid duplicity.

The Sudanese Sovereign Council noted that Lt.Gen. al-Burhan’s visit to Uganda was also aimed at discussing the Sudanese position from the IGAD mediation group.

Sudan rejects the chairmanship of Kenyan President William Ruto of the IGAD Quartet Group casting doubts about his neutrality in the conflict with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Joint FARDC-UPDF Force Launch ADF Surrender Campaign in Beni

The notorious Ugandan rebels of the Allied Democratic Allied Forces (ADF) operating in the jungles of neighbouring DRC are being requested through a new campaign to willingly surrender.

The campaign launched August 10 by the joint force of Uganda and DRC armies targets surrender of the ADF rebels specifically in Beni territory of the vast mineral rich East African country.

Lieutenant-Colonel Mak Hazukay the spokesperson for these operations said the campaign involves pooling of FARDC-UPDF forces and the American expert organization called “Bridgeway” in the Mwalika Valley and the butsif of Rwenzori, territory of Beni.

Lt.Col.Hazukay noted that the objective is to give the ADF rebels the opportunity to surrender to be treated in accordance with international law.

“Whatever pressure we are exerting on the enemy, it is important that we can also respect the customs and habits of war. That is why some time ago we have announced that despite our superiority over the enemy, we are going to launch an awareness campaign of surrender,” said Lt.Col.Hazukay.

This campaign, which also gives the opportunity to ADF dependents who are in the forest to go to the police and defense forces, is done by dropping messages addressed to them.

Lt.Col.Hazukay has urged the congolese population to welcome those who are going to surrender and not to indulge in mob justice.

Understanding the American Bridgeway Firm

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) few know or understand about the American Bridgeway Firm. Few know what its real mission is.

Between intelligence and the fight against terrorism, the American Bridgeway fund has established itself over time in the DRC.

Officially, the Bridgeway fund is a branch of the financial conglomerate of American billionaire John Montgomery.

In addition to the lucrative activities of the group, made up of investment funds or pension management and mainly based in the south of the United States, Montgomery has made its Bridgeway fund a “charitable foundation”.

But in fact, since its creation in 2000, the Bridgeway fund has only appeared in Africa, more precisely in Uganda, in 2010. Through its CEO Shannon Sedgwick Davis, Bridgeway has funded another American NGO, Invisible Children, created by Laren Poole.

Invisible Children is known for fueling a propaganda campaign to dismantle the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda and offering rewards for the arrest of its leaders, including Joseph Kony, who is still at large from elsewhere.

According to an Africa Intelligence survey, the Bridgeway fund works closely with the Ugandan authorities, who know that this fund has financed Invisible Children and two other NGOs with the same objectives, Aegis Trust and Resolve Uganda.

The money was used, in particular, to gather information which led to the arrest of several LRA leaders and the defection of a majority of the fighters of the terrorist group.

Often referred to as too close to Ugandan power, the Bridgeway fund has used external partners to enter the DRC.

First,it enlisted Human Rights Watch DRC specialist Ida Sawyer, with whom it had collaborated during the Invisible Children operation.

Next, Bridgeway began funding the Congo Study Group (GEC), a project attached to the Center for International Cooperation at New York University.

The CEG and Ida Sawyer, in turn, launched the Kivu Security Barometer – Kivu Security Tracker (KST) – in 2017.

Today, this “network of specialists and researchers” provides all the information on terrorist attacks in eastern DRC. His analyzes are also taken up by the majority of the international media.

Where this network, whose legality is highly questionable, exceeds its prerogatives, it is by providing the only two public reports to date which detail the activity of the armed group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

And since the first report, dating from 2018, KST has described the ADF as “Islamist terrorists”.

In February 2021, KST’s second report on the armed group even accused the ADF of being affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist organization.

Uhuru Kenyatta In Kampala For Talks With Museveni

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda this Saturday evening hosted former Kenyan leader Uhuru Kenyatta at Statehouse Entebbe for private talks.

Kenyatta is currently the facilitator of the peace talks in eastern DR Congo. It should be remembered that Uganda has troops in the DRC pursuing ADF rebels and also has a contingent deployed under the EAC force.

Last month Kenyatta was in DRC where he called for a “peaceful resolution” of the crisis in the Eastern part of the DRC.

The M23 rebel movement which recently had captured large swathes of territory are demanding for peace talks with the Kinshasa government as a prerequisite for their surrender.

However, the Kinshasa authorities have rejected any negotiations with the rebels accusing them of working for interests of other countries. Kinshasa demands for the disarmament and cantonment of its troops without conditions.

Uhuru Kenyatta has called for the various regional peace initiatives to be pursued, so that “the Congolese are able to talk to each other to resolve the problems of this great nation”.

His trip to Kampala could also bring on table the security and humanitarian situation in neighbouring DRC. About 2 million people have been displaced by the armed conflict in the East.

‘I received former President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E Uhuru Kenyatta, in his capacity as the facilitator of the Democratic Republic of Congo Peace Process. We had meaningful discussions and I thank him for coming,’ Uganda Presidency said after the meeting.

President Félix Tshisekedi has recently accused the EAC force, which includes Kenyan, Ugandan, Burundian, and South Sudanese contingents of cohabiting with the M23 and suggested that it would have to leave the country at the end of June if its “mandate is not fulfilled”.

The presence of the EAC force has been extended until September.

President Ruto Accused of Playing Mercenary in Sudan Mediation

Gen Yasir Alatta, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) has ordered President William Ruto of Kenya to quit the mediation talks because he is allegedly playing a mercenary role.

Gen Yasir Alatta accused President Ruto, of “being a mercenary for another country”—which he did not name. The General made the accusation on Sunday while addressing the media.

While inspecting a special Engineering Division in Khartoum, claimed that the unnamed country that supports Ruto is also a major backer of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Since the June 15 IGAD summit in Addis Ababa, has consistently rejected Kenyan Leadership accusing President Ruto of bias, ostentibly due to past business links with Lt.Gen. Daglo.

However, on July 15, President Ruto is said to have spoken to the Sudan Junta Leader, Lt.Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan by phone to persuade him to cooperate with the IGAD quartet which Ruto leads, and consider ceasfire that would allow humanitarian agencies to reach the more than 2.5 million people that have been displaced and trapped internally by the conflict that started on April 15.

Lt.Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan told President Ruto that he is ready to halt hositilities on condition that the RSF soldiers are removed from the capital Khartoum.

Ruto also proposed parallel mediation talks under the Jeddah Imitative fronted by the US and SAaudi Arabia should work hand in hand with IGAD to avoid duplicity.

Kenya’s Opposition Leader Odinga Vows More Demonstrations

Kenya is expected to suffer more countrywide demonstraions as called by the main opposition political alliance and party Azimio la Umoja headed by Raila Odinga.

Opiyo Wandayi the National Assembly Minority Leader says the government has failed to recognize the sufferings of its people.

He noted that the determination is still intact among Kenyans of good will who are out to push for reforms in the wake of hard economic life.

“Our determination to see to it that this government is driven out of town remains intact,” he said.

Wandayi called for more demonstrations during a visit to victims of demonstrations at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral hospital in Kisumu.

Wandayi led a number of MPs to visit victims at the facility.

Wandayi noted that the upcoming demonstrations that were announced yesterday must be successful as part of the interventions to push the government to listen to the cries of Kenyans.

“I want to call upon our supporters in this region to come out next week, for Wednesday, Thursday and Frida demonstrations,” he said.

He promised that the next week’s demonstrations must be effective.

Member of parliament Dr James Nyikal who said the bullet wounds on the victims were not meant to deter them from demonstrations.

Nyikal says all the victims with bullet wounds were shot with the intent to kill.

“The pattern of the wounds that we have seen, they were not deterrent actions but were intended to kill,” he said.

The MP said the wounds were on the hands, upper arms, chest noting that above the arms there are vital organs.

Burundi’s Opposition Leader Agathon Rwasa Suspended From Party

Details reaching Taarifa Political desk indicate the Agathon Rwasa the main opposition leader in neighbouring Burundi, has been kicked out of his own party after 8 months of internal party disputes.

Rwasa is accused of serious violations especially embezzlement of party funds and property; selfishnes, sowing divisionism among party members, breaking party rules among others.

According to their decision of July 4, 2023, suspending Agathon Rwasa from the office of president and legal representative of the CNL party, the ten deputies and members of the political bureau of 2019 add the absence of statutory meetings of the organs and his silence in the face of incessant requests for meetings through internal communication platforms and correspondence addressed to him.

These deputies accuse him of plotting against the organs of the party.

“He invented and conveyed the conspiracy against the organs he leads by accusing certain officials without proof of wanting to overthrow the party organs, of wanting to create a CNL Nyakuri party and attack his security”.

According to them, Rwasa maintains continual accusations tending to victimize himself, and has circumvented the official organs of the party, especially in terms of communication by creating phantom accounts on social networks. “And this, in order to propagate divisive, hateful and dehumanizing remarks towards his adversaries”.

Regarding the violation of the legal texts, these ten deputies who still claim to be members of the Political Bureau accuse Rwasa of giving himself the prerogative to modify alone the statutes and the Internal Rules of the party; to want to destroy the party by decapitating its supreme organ; to organize illegal congresses and to have proclaimed himself president of the party through an illegal congress.

According to them, Rwasa refused to obey the decisions of the public authority by suspending the ten deputies members of the Political Bureau while the party is suspended from its activities.

Meanwhile, his suspension at the head of the party has been badly received in the provinces.