KENYA: Performance Contract for Judges
As the country grapples with inefficiency and chronic challenge of case backlog, there is a move towards the introduction of performance contract for all the judges. The newly appointed Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Ann Amadi has announced that a Performance Management Directorate has been established in the judiciary to help the judiciary to appraise its productivity by among other measures, assigning every judge a caseload and their performance gauged against a set target. This is expected to be launched before end of the year.
ZAMBIA: The fight against corruption boosted
In a bid to fight corruption in Zambia, President Michael Sata has sacked Ms Sylvia Masebo as the Minister for Tourism and Arts. Ms Masebo is under investigations for allegations of abuse of office regarding the management of the country’s wildlife department. There are fears across the continent regarding the safety of the wildlife with increasing cases of poaching threatening this African heritage. The rising incidences of poaching have often been attributed to malfunctioning or corrupt wildlife management agencies in the various countries. In East Africa and Kenya in particular, poaching has been cited as one of the factors behind the heightened terrorism activities in the region.
BURUNDI: Human rights under attack ahead of 2015 elections
Just weeks after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay denounced the increasing restrictions on civil and political rights in Burundi following a series of violent acts by the ruling party’s youth wing and the disruption of public meetings organized by opposition parties, in another bizarre move, Burundi authorities in Bujumbura has banned jogging groups alleging that they are being used to organise uprisings in Bujumbura. Therefore marching or jogging in the streets has been banned if it is being done by more than one person.