Ethiopian rebels free two German tourists

Ethiopian rebels said Tuesday they had released two Germans held hostage since January 18 after a gun battle that killed five other adventure tourists in the remote Afar desert region. The two were handed over to German embassy officials and local elders in the desolate northern Ethiopian region on Monday, the Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (ARDUF) said in a statement. They were seized in a bloody attack on the slopes of the famed Erta Ale volcano. Two other Germans, two Austrians and a Hungarian were killed in a gun battle between the rebels and government forces escorting the tourist group.

Since then, the Germans have been held in the harsh desert environment, one of the hottest places in the world. In their statement, the rebels apologised to the unnamed pair and wished them a safe return home. Ethiopian officials were not immediately available for comment. The rebels said the Ethiopian government had frustrated their earlier plans to free the Germans by making movement in the area "impossible".

The Germans were among 22 tourists trekking on the slopes of Erta Ale volcano when the shootout erupted. The incident dealt a blow to regional tourism, after tourists were were kidnapped in Kenyan resorts months earlier by Somali pirates. Ethiopia says the rebels attacked the tourist convoy, but the ARDUF said fighting broke out when Ethiopian troops protecting the tourist party fired on one of its patrols and blamed Addis Ababa for the deaths. "The five innocent European tourists were killed by Ethiopian fire," added the statement.

Erta Ale -- or "Smoking Mountain" -- sits in the Afar depression, also known as the Danakil depression, which lies below sea level and features as the dramatic backdrop to scenes in Hollywood's 2010 epic fantasy Clash of the Titans. Access to the region is limited and foreigners need official approval to get there but it attracts a steady stream of volcano buffs and adventure backpackers who often plan group trips on Internet forums to share the high travel costs.

Ethiopia has blamed arch-rival Eritrea for backing the rebels and claimed the tourists were held across the border in remote desert areas of Eritrea -- charges Asmara fiercely denied. Last month, ARDUF rebels said they supported the hostages' safe release, but warned that "any military engagement with ARDUF would... endanger the lives of the two German citizens." In 2007, ARDUF rebels seized five European tourists and eight Ethiopians. The Europeans were released after 12 days to the Eritrean government, while the Ethiopians were freed almost two months later.

Bad Black’s saga unmasks sex tourism in Uganda

At any given time, there is always a little secret dying to burst and spill its froth into the open. And out on the many hills of Kampala’s entertainment district, is a subtle industry that quietly brews with activity as much as it does with dollars and all manner of foreign currency. It is sex tourism.

And in the now all-too-famous case of a 22-year-old young woman popularly known as “Bad Black” and her British lover, the workings of Uganda’s sex tourism are completely laid bare, offering an opening into the nature of people that are involved, how and why it thrives.

The 2010 night when Shanita Namuyimbwa, also known as Bad Black, met David Greenhlagh at Rock Gardens bar on Speke Road, an area crawling with tribes of prostitutes, should forever remain boldly imprinted in her memory, as probably the night when she finally hit it big.

You have a young semi-literate albeit street-wise girl, who runs into a millionaire Briton, and from then, proceeds to make as much hay as she can while the sun still shines. It is an archetypal story of how this industry works.

David Greenhlagh will easily fall into the category of Uganda’s expatriate class, a bunch of foreigners who come to Uganda, sent on either official errands, or pursuing personal business interests, stealing away a little time for sexual pleasure in the process. And there are many of that kind. An internet sex tourism site maintained by updates of many a globe trotting expatriates, reveals how they share tips amongst each other on how to get sex quicker, and cheaper, in whichever city one may be headed to Speke Road is the market where most of this industry’s action happens in Uganda. It has a prime location, right in the middle of high-end hotels, Grand Imperial, Speke Hotel and Sheraton Hotel-Kampala, where many expatriates spend their time while in Uganda. Kabalagala makes up for a lot of the rest.

World of surprises

The perception from most such tourists is that they do not think highly of the girls at the red-light districts. Comments made on the forum suggest that Ugandan pick-up girls are perceived as base, simpletons who can easily be manipulated into sex, at times even without any material inducements. “Promise her a visa to your own home country and she will give you a treat for all the time you are in town,” one commented. Another said, “Some of them just want to get the feeling inside the lavish hotel you will be staying in.”

Mr Greenhlagh told court recently that he came to Uganda to do business and make investments. He is a 53-year-old graduate of Electrical Engineering and Marketing, who by the sum of his wealth and assets would give the impression that he is an intelligent fellow who would not have made it to where he is if he were otherwise. It is thus surprising that he would find it fit to have unprotected sex with a stranger who he had met only a few hours earlier

What’s more, it should be surprising that he would deem it fit to pay Namuyimbwa $1m (about Shs2.3b), simply because he had anal sex with her. And that was not all. He set up a business in Uganda, pumped $3.7m (about Shs8.5b) into it, and then made the 19-year-old girl he had just met in a bar, a 25-per-cent shareholder and lone signatory to its bank accounts.

This was all for a girl whose education he found suspect and whose written English he described as “poor”, in a country where the ability to speak and write English is the foremost test of literacy.

But there is more to Greenhlagh the man. They are revelations into struggles that befall many of his kind, and which, may better explain why he acted the way he did. The Briton has been married to his wife for 25 years and she has bore him three children. He is still married. However, therein could be part of the problem. “I had not been having sex for several years (when I met Namuyimbwa),” he told court. And when asked whether he was sexually starved by the time, he replied to the affirmative, a confession that he was not a happily married man. In fact, he told court that he lived as “husband and wife” with Namuyimbwa after they met.

It is alleged that many of the sex tourists who micro-blog about their escapades are indeed married men who leave their wives behind for sex outside marriage. Comments about their wives do not paint a rosy picture of the marriages. “Will have to keep this away from my wife, who does not match anything here,” commented one, of a Ugandan girl he had picked at a bar. This could explain why a rich British man would spend eight hours in the air, flying to a third world country where he would then settle with a young woman who does not fit his social, academic or economic class, and then lavish her with all the money she desires. It’s thus no surprise that even as Namuyimbwa was under state prosecution, Greenhlagh showed up at a courtroom in a Jeep Cherokee, with another lewd mistress by his side.

More drama

Shanita Namuyimbwa, and the entire collection of the company she keeps, strikes you as a rogue vulgar bunch. A mini slum-setting co-wife-fight took centre stage at of all places, the courtroom, when Namuyimbwa ran into Janet Apuyo, the new girl Greenhlagh is seeing. The two exchanged insults, taking cheap shots at each other’s beauty and social class in an act that demeaned the court’s ground where they stood. Namuyimbwa’s entourage also includes a heavily built woman, only identified as Nanziri, who upon arriving at the courtroom, proceeds to sprinkle a mixture of herbs around the courtroom, an act that is allegedly hoped to charm the judge so she delivers a favourable judgement for her mates Namuyibwa’s rise to fame has been fast, and her climb down, maybe equally fast, if not faster. She is definitely enjoying her moment of fame. She straddles around the court’s premises in a catwalk, even though she is visibly pregnant. She turns around and smiles for the camera while at times, rudely turning down attempts for an interview. She at times comes to court in the company of equally party-dressed girls.

Her naiveté, inexperience, lack of exposure and desire for fame could explain why upon landing big money, she chose to throw it in the faces of party revellers in nightclubs and at entertainment pundits.

She was withdrawing amounts to the tune of Shs100m and more in 48-hour intervals from her bank account. Some of that money found itself on Meddie Sentongo’s bank accounts. Sentongo is Namuyimbwa’s new lover and is accused of defrauding Mr Greenhlagh’s Daveshan Development Company Ltd (which was meant to develop real estate) together with Namuyimbwa.

Sentongo too has been a staple on entertainment newspaper pages, portrayed as a rich young man who owns fancy luxury cars, who even has the pockets to donate cars to both musicians and cash to the ruling political party. Now however, he and Namuyimbwa are answering corruption charges in court, and face possible jail time.

And it has all happened before; a rich white man meets a comparably poor Ugandan girl – love blossoms – a business is born out of the relationship for the girl (may be a bar, saloon, publication) – trouble hits the relationship – girl turns back to Ugandan men on whom she lavishes money.

When the sun finally sets on the phenomenon that has been Bad Black, it will draw a curtain on a chapter of the real-life drama of Uganda’s sex tourism, and it will leave us with a face to act as its poster child

Regretful Amazing Race Producer praises Ugandan generosity

A South African television co-producer, Kathryne Fuller, who escaped a deadly drug consumption that claimed the life of her mate, has blamed herself for the incident and acquisition of items whose content is not known. In a twist of events to dispel earlier reports of attack at the hotel, Ms Fuller said consuming the drug was a mistake. “It was just a bad choice to take drugs and very unfortunate for the death of Rice, there was no attack because we purchased the drugs ourselves,” she said. “We came in the country healthy but on arrival we bought drugs whose content we did not know. We used the drugs; it was the first time for me to use drugs. Unfortunately he (Rice) passed on,” Ms Fuller added while commending Serena Hotel administration and employees as well as the entire Ugandan community for what she described as a “generous heart to save her life.”

Ms Fuller, who was last week convicted and sentenced to a fine of Shs1 million after pleading guilty to using illicit drugs, was found unconscious in a hotel room with American freelance television producer Jeff Rice two weeks ago.

The duo has been filming the Amazing Race. While Rice was found dead, Ms Fuller battled for her life at the Surgery, a medical facility in Kololo in uptown Kampala. She was discharged on Friday, emerging with half her body paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, and flown to South Africa for further treatment. The 29-year-old was driven to the Kampala Serena Hotel to spend her last night of the tragic visit to the country. She was accompagned by her father and a South African medical consultant Brad Nathanson.

On February 17, Ms Fuller was found unconscious beside the body of Rice who, according to prosecution, overdosed with cocaine suspected to have been laced with other deadly substance(s).

The tragic incident got world news aflame, with Britain’s Daily Mail reporting that a gang that tried to rob the visiting pair and failed was enraged and fed them on poison. While appearing before Buganda Road Court, the State said the duo came to Uganda on February 15 and booked into Lake Victoria Serena Hotel in Entebbe, Wakiso District. Ms Kathryne was jointly charged with “special hire” driver Moses Kalanzi, who is facing charges of manslaughter and supplying and dispensing restricted drugs (cocaine) to the duo. They were part of a team that was set to film a documentary in Uganda in conjunction with Hope Medical Clinics, an affiliate of Sterley Hearing Foundation based in Minnesota, USA.

CELEBRATING WOMANHOOD FESTIVAL AND FESTIVAL ITALIANO IN AFRICA

The Italian Cooperation with the program COMUNICARE LO SVILUPPO in partnership with NATIVE TRAVEL FESTIVAL organizes 5 days of events at National Theatre starting on March 5^th. 

Program

Tuesday 6th March: Karamoja: Gender, culture and development women

 4.00 p.m. - Traditional Dances from Karamoja Region with Ksda

 Open Debate on women and culture with David Pulkol.

 7.30 p.m. Documentary: We died a long time ago - Chris Dolan, 2009 - Changing the Lens” through which we view Karamoja region.

 Live performance with Percussion Discussion Africa.

 9.00 p.m. Documentary: Ekisil (Peace) - Giovanni Dall’Oglio and Salvatore Braca, 2004

 Wednesday 7th March: Stopping violence against women

 2.30 p.m. Open debate about domestic violence with FIDA, Police Family Protection Unit, MIFUMI

 Live Music with Tshila and Bonfire Uganda

 7.00 p.m. Movie: Sisters in law - Florence Ayisi and Kim Longinotto, 2005 – In India Sampat Pal founded the Pink gang, or the Gulabi Gang. Today thousand of women now fight together for the basic human rights of women in rural India.

 8.45 p.m. Movie: Pink Gang - Enrico Bisi, 2010

 10.00 p.m. Movie: Moolaadè - Ousmane Sembene, 2004 - When a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female circumcision, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart in Burkina Faso.

 Thursday 8th March: Celebrating Milestones for women’s emancipation

 4.00 p.m. Live music with Jamal, Irene Ntale and Jackie Akello

 UNHC’S Meddie Kagwa on women’s rights Milestones

 7.00 p.m. Italian Development Cooperation Health Program: Mobiles Clinics in Karamoja  Documentary: Breaking the silent suffering - presented by UNFPA. A Documentary on Obstetric Fistula in Uganda.

 8.30 p.m. Documentary: Death Road - Sarah Nsigaye, 2012

 9.30 p.m. Movie: We want sex (Made in Dagenham) - Nigel Cole, 2010 - A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination.

 Friday 9th March: Italian Scientific and Cultural Cooperation in Uganda

 2.30 p.m. Research experiences within a framework of collaboration Italy- Uganda with:

 Makerere University, Gulu-Nap, Italian Ethnological Mission, National Museum

 Live Music with Suzan Kerune

 8.00 p.m. Documentary: Kampala Babel - Cecilia Pennacini, 2008. Ugandan writer Moses Isegawa takes us on a personal tour of the secret pockets of alternate religious faith found throughout Kampala and environs.

 9.15 p.m. Movie: Galileo, Joseph Losey, 1975. Film version of the Bertolt Brecht play The Life of Galileo.

 Saturday 10th March: Italian culture day

 4.00 p.m. Live Music with Rachel Magoola, Stella and Giacinta

 Italian Business expositions and networking

 7.30 p.m. Movie: La vita è bella (Life is Beatiful)- Roberto Benigni, 1997. A Jewish man has a wonderful romance with the help of his humour, but must use that same quality to protect his son in a Nazi death camp.

 9.15 p.m. Movie: La vita facile - Lucio Pellegrini, 2011. A successful physician goes to Africa to assist temporarily with his former fellow student Luke, volunteer in Africa.

Daily Activities

 Live performances

 Outdoor film projections

 Discussions and debates

 Poetry sessions with Femrite

 Photos Exhibitions

 Expositions

 Pizza corner and UG kwokya corner

PRINCE WILLIAM URGES CONSERVATIONIST TO PUT AN END TO POACHING.

Prince William was saddened by the death of his friend’s rhino which was slaughtered by poachers just to get it horn which horns are on high demand especially in Asian countries. This white rhinoceros called Max was shot 17 times and later had it horn chopped off in Kenya. In spite of the fact that the rangers had most of its horn as a way of protecting it from these illegal hunters, it was still killed for just a small piece of its horn that was still remaining on its head.

At a young age, Max was an element in the documentary called the Last Chance To See ad had been looked after by Ian Craig who is the father of Prince William’s former girlfriend Jecca. According to the information that was got, Mr. Craig is the owner of the Lewa wildlife reserve in Kenya although at the time the rhino had been transferred to the Ol Pejeta sanctuary because he had aged and could not look after it very well and it was at Ol Pejeta sanctuary that it was killed from.  In 2001 prince Williams spent six weeks volunteering at Mr. Craig’s conservation project and while there he often met Max on his trips to Africa.

After seeing and appreciating the work done by Mr. Craig with rhinos, Prince William then became a patron of the Tusk Trust and organization responsible for protecting animals. at the same time, A St James‘s Palace spokesman also mentioned that the Prince was horrified to learn about the death of Max which is why he still encourages all the responsible bodies to protect and conserve rhinos  and elephants and has  also asked Tusk Trust to inform him of the latest news  from Africa.

In Asia, a kilo of rhino horns cost £40, 00 which is why poachers constantly slaughter rhinos to sell the horns where they believe are a source of medicine especially for cancer.  However Charlie Mayhew, a co-founder of the Tusk Trust, mentioned that the death of Max is an example of what is happening else where in many African countries due to a high demands for the horns more in China and Vietnam.

The Prince is very much interested in seeing the number of rhinos and elephants increasing and having illegal hunting stamped out and this is something he just loves doing and help see up to it that the progression of illegal trade is stopped. Mr. Mayhew also added that  this vice of rhino-poaching is at the moment   pan-African and said that Zimbabwe lost six rhinos  in just one year and that was something he got know while at one of the reserve in Zimbabwe. Just last year in South Africa, there was a rhino being killed in every 20 hrs on average by poachers and this year, South Africa has so far lost 70 and more rhinos to poachers. This therefore demands that the conservations come up with tough measures to curb down the vice in Africa.

Trade in Wildlife; Ivory worth 400,000 Dollars handed over to Uganda Wild Life Authority by URA

Uganda Revenue Authority has today handed over 176 pieces of Ivory weighing 162 kilograms, 189 pieces of Warthog and Hippo teeth weighing 38 kilograms, 19 Monitor Lizard skin weighing three kilograms and three animal bones totaling three kilograms. Recovered in separate incidents, the items were yesterday handed over to Uganda wildlife Authority (UWA) personnel at the URA head office in Nakawa, Kampala.

Specifics

On  November 23, 2011, a suspect only identified as Nicholas was intercepted in Pakwach while trying to dispatch 10 pieces of Ivory weighing 27 Kilograms, Warthog and Hippo teeth. Wrapped in small packages, he handed them over to his in-law, a charcoal transporter for delivery to Kampala. One Okello was to receive them in Kampala. Despite being concealed in the charcoal, the enforcement personnel recovered the items in addition to arresting Nicholas. He was handed over the UWA Personnel. And on, January 27, 2012 URA enforcement personnel recovered 10 Kilograms of Monitor Lizard skin, which were being ferried out of Uganda via Lake Victoria. However, the person, who was exporting them, disappeared. The other items including 99 pieces of polished Ivory, were recovered in recent incidents and have since been in the URA warehouse pending hand over to UWA.

PREVIOUS INCIDENTS

On 4 April 2009, 100 pieces of ivory weighing 35 Kilograms were recovered from a Kampala bound bus along the Mbarara-Masaka highway. On 21st December, 2010, a Chinese National, Li Wejian was arrested at Entebbe International Airport while trying to export jewelry and other pieces made out of Ivory. The items were confiscated and he was immediately deported to China. On 15, July, 2011 enforcement personnel at Katuna, South Western Uganda recovered 54 Kilograms of Ivory, which one Keita Mousa had smuggled from Bujumbura to Kenya via Kampala. On 9, January, 2011, enforcement personnel at Mpondwe at the Uganda-DRC boarder recovered 250 parrots, which were smuggled to Uganda. They were handed over to the Uganda Wildlife Education Center.

USAID STAR DONATES MOUNTAIN RESCUE EQUIPMENT TO UWA

As part of UWA rescue program, USAID STAR through USFS International Program is donating mountain rescue equipment to UWA. UWA will offer this equipment to Rwenzori Mountaineering Services (RMS), a nongovernmental organization entrusted with a concession to provide trekking tourism services/support on the central circuit trail within the Rwenzori Mountains. This equipment will be used to help support and integrate the Rwenzori Former Hunters in mountain rescue activities hence supporting community participation in wildlife conservation initiatives.

UWA is mandated to conserve resources in the protected areas in Uganda and also make these resources available for to visitors utilize. Mt Rwenzori is a great World Heritage Site UNESCO, where people can enjoy good scenery, hiking, birding, forest walks. It’s the only place in the world where you find ice and snow at the equator which is such a beautiful experience. “We work with communities and people around the parks, in this case we have our partners Rwenzori Mountaineering Services, and Rwenzori Tourist Services, who offer employment to people in the surrounding communities and market the Rwenzori’s.” said UWA Ag. ED Elly Musinguzi

USAID-STAR through the US Forest Service International Program (USFS) provided technical assistance to UWA to improve trails and recreational facilities in three national parks, Mgahinga, Queen Elizabeth, and Rwenzori Mountains. USFS International Programme consultant John Near, a Protected Area Manager from the Tongass National Forest in Alaska with extensive experience in trail and facility management surveyed 48Km of trails. Trail surveys were carried out with the help of UWA guides and ranger trainees. Having UWA guides and community workers accompany John Neary provided excellent training opportunities for sustainable trail techniques that include both simple solutions such as constructing switch-back turns to eliminate overly steep, eroding sections, to more complex solutions such as improved bridge and trail designs. Two new trails were also created by community laborers under supervision of UWA and USFS International Program.

In addition, USFS International Program has collaborated with a local Ugandan engineering firm to design facilities such as bridges, stairways, and rest areas which will be functional, durable and blend with the environment. Following up on the survey, USFS International Program team is currently in the field carrying out two course trainings with the UWA and RMS rangers and guides. Trainings include Trail Planning, Construction and Maintenance which involves topics like planning, design/layout and construction and also Mountain Search and Rescue training which involves basics skills of mountain rescue, accidents and use of equipment, low and high angle rescue techniques in Queen Elizabeth and Rwenzori Mountains National Parks respectively.

We are grateful to USAID STAR for they have provided support to UWA through various projects namely: Pearls of Uganda program, Visitor Information Centre survey and design project, Training guides, Queen Elizabeth marketing and experiential tourism promotions, UWA website development, Development of trails in the Rwenzori, Batwa trail initiatives to name but a few. We look forward to continued support in other areas like the: Construction of the Visitor Information centre in Buhoma Bwindi, Development of products, Accommodation facilities; Safety equipment in the Rwenzori’s and Building capacity of our guides in Rwenzori.