The International War Crimes Division of the High Court in Kololo, Kampala has ordered for the release of Dr Stella Nyanzi from Luzira Prison where she has been for months.

Dr Nyanzi was last year convicted and sentenced to 18 months for harassing President Museveni. She however, appealed against the conviction and sentence citing unfairness and that the trial court erred in law.

On Thursday, Justice Henry Peter Adonyo who heard her appeal ordered for her “immediate release” from prison.

The judge noted that Buganda Road trial magistrate, Gladys Kamasanyu had no jurisdiction to convict Dr Nyanzi of cyber harassment.

In addition, Justice Adonyo said no evidence was adduced by prosecution showing the location- of the device- where the offence was committed; either Uganda or out of the country.

“Prosecution did not as well ascertain the kind of device which was used to send as the digital prints were not presented before Buganda road,” the judge observed.

Court also observed that Dr Nyanzi and her lawyers were not allowed enough time to prepare their defence thus amounting to unfairness.

The first prosecution witness did not provide a forensic report on his findings indicating which mobile data was used after he asserted that Dr Nyanzi might have used a phone.

The judge also said that in criminal offences, it is the duty of court to ensure that defense witnesses appear by providing the defendant the favorable avenues like issuing arrest warrants for defence witnesses who are not compliant which the magistrate never did.

The judge’s orders forced the fully packed court to explode in excitement as Dr Nyanzi’s supporters, friends and relatives jostled to congratulate her.

Dr Nyanzi was in August 2019 been given an 18-month sentence but had already served nine months in Luzira Women’s Prison after publishing the verse that magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu said should never have been put in the public domain, describing it as “obscene” and “indecent” including suggestions which “could only be made by an immoral person.”

Source -The Monitor

Angélique Kidjo, Beninese singer emerges winner of the Best World Music Album, recently at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards 2020. Her emergence is hinged on her album ‘Celia,’ a music genre invented in New York by Caribbean immigrants, which pays tribute to the late Afro-Cuban singer Celia Cruz who became the “Queen” of salsa.

Other nominees of the category are; Altin Gün (Gece), Bokanté & Metropole Orkest Conducted By Jules Buckley (What Heat), Burna Boy (African Giant) and Nathalie Joachim With Spektral Quartet (Fanm D’Ayiti). 

During her acceptance speech, Kidjo took some time to praise the wealth of new talent coming from the African continent. “The new generation of artists coming from Africa are going to take you by storm and the time has come,” she says.

During the 62nd GRAMMYs Premiere Ceremony she also gave an audience-rousing performance of “Afrika”.

 The award marks Kidjo’s fourth win in the category and fourth GRAMMY win.

Brigid Kosgei, Women’s marathon world record holder will return to defend her championship at the 2020 London Marathon, organizers said on Monday.

Kosgei of Kenya set the women’s world record last October in two hours, 14 minutes and four seconds marathon, shattering Paula Radcliffe’s world marathon record, which no woman had come close to in the past 16 years. 

Six months before the Chicago record-breaking run the 25-year-old won the London Marathon for the first time and she is not hesitant about coming back to defend her championship with other elite lineup of Kenyan runners.

“I am very much looking forward to returning to the London Marathon,” Kosgei said in a statement.

“Last year was an incredible year for me and it started by winning in London. Coming back will be very special and I hope it can be the start of another memorable year.”

Fellow Kenyan and world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, who broke the two-hour mark in an unofficial event last October, has already confirmed that he will be defending his London title.

Other elite Kenyan runners to grace the field this season includes 2018 London Marathon winner Vivian Cheruiyot, three-time Berlin marathon champion, Gladys Cherono and current world champion, Ruth Chepngetich.

Joyciline Jepkosgei, the 2019 New York City Marathon champion, will also feature on the start line in London.

Jepkosgei and Kosgei are currently joint top of the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series XIII with 25 points apiece.

To this end, everyone looks forward to the 2020 London Marathon which has been slated for coming April  26.

Small-scale fishers of the Western Cape have for the first time been granted access to fishing during the 2019/20 west coast rock lobster season as part of the transition to the new small-scale fishing sector.

This was announced by the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Barbara Creecy, following a series of stakeholder workshops with fishing communities in the Western Cape.

“There was a general call for interim relief fishers to continue fishing for the next season and for fishers on the declared small-scale fishers list to be granted access to fish,” said the Minister adding that, in considering the requests from communities, the Department had been instructed to fast-track the roll-out of the small-scale fisheries sector in the province.

The Department was also directed to provide a transition from the current interim relief arrangement to a permanent and more structured small-scale fisheries sector in the Western Cape.

Minister Creecy says that it is imperative for small-scale fishers to be granted access to fishing while they are waiting on their 15-year fishing rights to be allocated. These 2 749 fishers were declared for the first time in 2018 as small-scale fishers as part of the roll-out of small-scale fishing sector in Western Cape. Minister Creecy also noted that the current interim relief dispensation will continue taking into account that some interim relief fishers have already signed contracts for the West Coast rock lobster 2019/20 fishing season. As a form of transition, the department has amended the interim relief lists to include fishers who have been declared small-scale fishers to be part of this last interim relief dispensation. Interim relief fishers and small-scale fishers will equally share the west coast rock lobster allocation allocated to them for the West Coast rock lobster 2019/20 fishing season.

During the Minister’s engagements, concerns were also raised about caretakers in the interim relief dispensation exploiting fishers.

“It is for this reason that in preparation for the West Coast rock lobster 2019/20 fishing season there will be no caretakers,” said the Minister.

All fishers will be required to sign a letter of authorisation drafted by the Department on the amended interim relief list for 2019/2020 fishing season. Interim relief fishers are to nominate an individual who will execute specific and spelled-out tasks on behalf of Interim Relief (IR) fishers. On signing, each fisher is given an opportunity to indicate which marketer they have signed with. This will also allow fishers who have not signed a contract to choose who they want to market their products without being influenced on the choice of marketer.

The person authorised by the majority of fishers in a community to assist interim relief fishers will be able to assist in the completion of permit and license application forms, collating all the

necessary supporting documents required by the Department, and ensuring that fishers do not sign more than one contract at a time. Among other responsibilities, the authorized person will also have to ensure that each fisher is able to exercise their right to enter into a contract with a marketer of their choice, submit completed permit and vessel application forms to the Department; sign landing slips and, if necessary, nominate additional fishers to assist with signing of landing slips against IR community’s permit; and assist any fisher with any information relating to the permit such as total of fish landed, information about export permits, and the like.

One of the many challenges raised by fishers was that the Western Cape small-scale fishers list did not include all small-scale fishers in the province and in that the process was not fair. As a result of the unhappiness among fishers about the final list of the declared small-scale fisher in the Western Cape Province, Minister Creecy appointed BDO auditors and advisory firm to conduct an investigation of the small-scale fisheries registration and verification process, as well as the final list of small-scale fishers for Western Cape Province.

Following the receipt of the preliminary findings of the probe, the Minister is considering the appointment of an independent panel to review the appeals of all unsuccessful applicants, and for it to provide a revised list of fishers who can be declared as additional small-scale fishers to the Minister for a decision.

Source: All Africa