ZIMBABWE PARLIAMENT TO RECONVENE
Zimbabwe's parliament will open next week, officials say, despite no deal being reached on power-sharing. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which won a majority in March's parliamentary election, says it is not opposed to the opening of parliament. But it said it would oppose any move by President Robert Mugabe, leader of the Zanu-PF party, to appoint a cabinet.
The two parties have been trying to thrash out a deal to share power, but have so far failed to agree terms.
Parliamentary clerk Austin Zvoma told state TV that parliament would be convened on Monday or Tuesday.
"The preparations for the swearing in of members of the seventh parliament [since independence] are at an advanced stage," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
The Zanu-PF party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1980 - taking 97 seats to the MDC's 109.
But the main MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, will rely on the backing of an MDC breakaway faction to preserve its majority.
A cabinet is usually formed shortly after parliament reopens, but the MDC is adamant Mr Mugabe should not be allowed to form a government.
MDC spokesman Tapiwa Mashakada told Reuters such a move would be "against the letter and spirit" of an agreement both sides had signed to hold power-sharing talks. Mr Tsvangirai finished ahead of Mr Mugabe in the first round of presidential elections, which were also held in March. But he pulled out of the run-off vote in June, citing a campaign of violence against his supporters.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Mr Mugabe went on to win the vote unopposed, with critics and the MDC accusing him of stealing the election.
The two leaders have been holding power-sharing talks since mid-July, but have so far failed to reach a deal.
The negotiations appear to have stalled on the issue of who should hold executive power.
Correspondents say Mr Tsvangirai agreed to take on a beefed-up prime minister's post, with Mr Mugabe in a ceremonial role as president.
But Mr Mugabe is believed to have rejected the proposal.
Cathy Buckle's Letter From Zimbabwe !
Just out of reach!
Sunday 17th August 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
The will of the people. It is impossible to believe that 140 days after Zimbabwe voted for an MDC Parliament and an MDC President the will of the people has yet to be accepted or implemented. After nearly five months we remain locked in a truly horrible state without sworn in legislators, without a parliament and without legitimacy. Everything around us is falling apart so fast now and yet the people and party in power for the last twenty eight years simply refuse to go.
The electricity is now off more than on - in my area its only been on twice during daytime working hours in the last week. Urban water supply seems to have virtually collapsed and in my home area taps are dry for at least 20 hours a day. Massive environmental devastation is being done as people have no choice but to cut trees down for fuel wood. Shops remain barren of virtually all goods and banks have become nightmare places where hundreds of people queue for hours at a time to withdraw the maximum daily allowance which is now handed out as a small bag of coins. At some banks the situation is so bad that the doors stay closed and locked all the time and people are only allowed to enter in small batches.
Much as the old leadership would have us believe, we are not a country at war, no one is trying to invade us or take us over and the future is waiting, just out of our reach. It is very hard, however, to stay sane, healthy and focussed on the Zimbabwe that the majority voted for on the 29th March 2008.
One afternoon this week I went with a friend to a small environmental education centre and game park at a local school and the magnificence of the Zimbabwean bush helped revive flagging spirits. The Msasa trees are coming into new leaf and putting on a spectacular display of copper, caramel, burgundy, port and hot red. The wild oranges are starting to turn yellow and they hang heavily from branches of leafless trees. On rocks and kopjes there are unexpected and vivid scatterings of lime green and bright orange lichen. In between trees and rocks, superbly camouflaged, there were giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and impala. This small environmental education centre, a vision from the past, giving knowledge and understanding to our children in such troubled times and promising hope for the future of our beleaguered, broken Zimbabwe.
Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.
KENYAN LESSONS FOR ZIMBABWE CRISIS !
As political parties in Zimbabwe try to negotiate on power-sharing, Kenya's Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula tells the BBC what lessons Zimbabwe can learn from Kenya. Mr Wetangula was on the negotiating team that led to the formation of a grand coalition between President Mwai Kibaki and then opposition leader Raila Odinga earlier this year after violent post-poll clashes.
Mr Wetangula says former foes must sacrifice alot to marry their manifestos. I think the Zimbabwe situation is quite a tough one because unlike Kenya where President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga have had a history of working together, here you have situation where President Robert Mugabe and [opposition leader] Morgan Tsvangirai are persons who have been displaying public enmity.
So they start from a very difficult positions. However, one of the critical components of these negotiations is that they must be predicated on trust. You do not like each other politically but fate has brought you together. So they must proceed on laying the interests of the country above any individual. You cannot underestimate the role of the army They should go for the process not to create positions for individuals but to create peace and stability to the extent like Kenya, they may come up with a cabinet larger than expected.
President Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai must sacrifice a great deal and marry their manifestos and this can be tricky because as they agree, their lieutenants still have the hangover as vicious opponents so they have to thaw the mistrust that is deep rooted so that they can work as a team.
Whoever gets an opportunity to serve in the cabinet must be selfless; it is such that the onus on our colleagues to bring Zimbabwe back to the economic rails is so great. South Africa's leader Thabo Mbeki has been brokering the talks One hopes that they come up with a team of men and women whose patriotic credentials are impeccable, who are ready not to be hostages of history but are keen to look to the future, so the choice of cabinet is as important as the agreement they sign.
And as Zimbabwe goes into this agreement, which is imminent, the role of the security organs in the country must be addressed by both leaders. In the run-up to the elections the chiefs said they would not salute anyone other than President Mugabe. So if Mr Tsvangirai is coming into the coalition as an equal partner it is obvious that these gentlemen will be in a very awkward position, how do you deal with this?
This is an agenda for the two of them, they should either look for born-again chiefs who will respect the new arrangement or start on a clean sheet, because you cannot underestimate the role of the army in Africa and third world countries.
President Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai must de-politicise the army and the veterans who now act as a paramilitary wing, this scenario must be contained or these forces will turn round and become an antithesis to what they are doing.
Even as they talk, we must note that this situation is retrogressive to democracy but it also brings into question whether the usual winner-takes-it-all situation in Africa is the right way to go. President Mugabe should take advantage of this situation, at 84 years old, he is not a spring chicken
In Kenya, we are soul searching on which way forward, so in Zimbabwe they should do the same. But unlike Kenya, where we had free and fair elections that were only disputed at the tallying, in Zimbabwe violence was a characteristic all through the electoral process. And even the second round of elections was a sham.
Therefore, the right way to go in Zimbabwe is to go for a transitional government which will first ensure they reconstitute the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and have credible people who can organise an international accepted election. I suggest that this transitional government should last for between 24 to 36 months.
And President Mugabe should take advantage of this situation, at 84 years old, he is not a spring chicken, and if I had an opportunity to advise him, I would ask him to look for a sunset programme. It will be the right time for him to prepare the country for a proper and acceptable election process and he would leave a better legacy.
And am sure, if he takes the step to say, "I have done my beat and let someone else take over," all players in Zimbabwe and even in the continent will be happy to confine all what he has done to history and instead look to the future and allow him his stature as an African statesman.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
SUMMIT ENDS IN ZIMBABWE STALEMATE !
Mr Tsvangirai says he is prepared to compromise on a deal, but only so far. Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition have been unable to reach a power-sharing agreement at a regional summit of Southern African leaders. Asked if a deal had been reached in Johannesburg, a spokesman for the main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said: "No, not at all".
However, South African President Thabo Mbeki said after the official summit closed that talks would continue. Hours earlier, Mr Tsvangirai said the talks had been going "very well". Mr Mbeki is the regionally appointed mediator for Zimbabwe, and the latest talks took place at a summit of leaders of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (Sadc).
As the summit formally ended, Mr Tsvangirai's spokesman, George Sibotshiwe, told reporters: "There is no deal yet." Mr Tsvangirai is said to have agreed in principle for Mr Mugabe to retain the title of president, while he takes on a beefed-up prime ministerial role.
The key sticking-points are reported to be over the exact balance of power. In other business at the summit, the Sadc agreed to launch a regional trade zone aimed at eliminating import tariffs, with plans for a common currency by 2018.
Zimbabwe is among a majority of Sadc countries who will participate in the trade zone. Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo did not join up immediately. Mr Mbeki said that some Sadc leaders would continue to discuss Zimbabwe after the close of the summit.
Mr Tsvangirai finished ahead of Mr Mugabe in the first round of Zimbabwe's presidential election in March and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) also won a majority in parliamentary elections. But Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the second round of the presidential election, citing a campaign of violence against his supporters. Mr Mugabe went on to win the vote unopposed.
Mr Tsvangirai told the New York Times that the most basic issue of how he and Mr Mugabe would share power remained unsettled, and there were limits to the compromises he could make. “It's better not to have a deal than to have a bad deal,” Mr Tsvangirai told the newspaper.
Sticking-points in the power-sharing talks are reported to include
the balance of power between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai
the make-up of any coalition cabinet
control of Zimbabwe's security forces
the possibility of an amnesty over post-election violence
Mr Tsvangirai had a seat at the summit with other invited guests on the floor while President Mugabe joined other regional leaders at the head table.
Arthur Mutambara, head of a breakaway MDC faction, also attended.
Some critics believe regional leaders' handling of the Zimbabwe crisis has reflected badly on them. Events in Zimbabwe were a "blot on the culture of democracy", Zambia said. The rare public criticism, attributed to Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, comes after Botswana's president decided to boycott the summit in protest.
Zambia's Foreign Minister Kabinga Pande said the "regrettable events" in Zimbabwe had "no doubt left a serious blot on the culture of democracy in our sub region.
"These events... brought into question Sadc as an institution capable of promoting the rule of law and democratic governance," he said, speaking on behalf of President Mwanawasa, who is in hospital after suffering a stroke.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ALGERIA CITY HIT BY SUICIDE BOMB !
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Eight people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in northern Algeria, reports say.
Another 19 people were injured in the blast, which happened overnight in the northern city of Zemmouri, about 50km (31 miles) east of the capital Algiers.
Explosives packed into a vehicle detonated outside a police station in the city. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The seaside city is a popular holiday destination, especially in the summer.
The attack came a week after more than 20 people were injured when a police station in Tizi Ouzou, another northern city, was targeted by a suicide car bomber.
Al-Qaeda's North Africa wing claimed responsibility for that attack.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
"SAYINGS "
"THE ONLY SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE IS
EXPERIENCE " !
______
Cathy Buckle's Letter from Zimbabwe !
Dear Family and Friends,
Coming into Zimbabwe by road from South Africa is an experience not to be
missed - for all the right and all the wrong reasons!
As you approach Musina, the last South African town before the border with
Zimbabwe, you are struck with a feeling of being in a place of great
majesty and ancient history. Giant Baobab trees stand dramatically in the
dry, scratchy scrub land. It's hard to take in their massive and strangely
upside down appearance. They are leafless as summer approaches and you are
left wondering if some great hand from above pulled them up and then
plunged them head first back into the hard African ground. In Musina town
itself, on a dusty roadside, a glorious blaze of pink flowers crowd the
swollen, grey stems of a Sabi Star shrub. Their pink-ness seems ironic and
out of place amidst the dust and the heat and this, together with the
Baobabs, sets the scene for the approaching insanity that has become life
in Zimbabwe.
Musina town is crowded with Zimbabwean vehicles. Cars, trucks and minibuses
are filled to overflowing with food and household goods. The images remind
you of the place you are going to: the land of nothing. There are piles of
bread crammed against car windows, huge blocks of toilet paper stuffed onto
roof racks; women with 10 kilo bags of flour, sugar and mealie meal on
their heads; gaudy carrier bags bursting at the seams filled with all the
essentials of every day - essentials robbed us by economic collapse due to
gross mismanagement and leadership incompetence.
The border control entry point at Beitbridge is Zimbabwe at its worst: a
grim nightmare and disgraceful window into our country. The officials are
sour, surly and downright rude. You stagger from one filthy counter to the
next with no volunteered information on what to do, where to go and which
bits of paper need stamps on. There are more touts, con men and wheeler
dealers than you can cope with and they operate openly, brazenly and
untouched, in full view of police, security guards and officials. For
American dollars or South African Rand they force their way to the front of
the one and only counter for returning residents and there they get your
papers stamped, pay your road access tax, your Bridge toll fees or your
customs duties. Appealing to the man with the legend: "Modern Security"
enscribed on his navy uniform incurs a disgusting display of rudeness,
temper and heavy handed physical pushing, not of the bad guys but of
innocent members of the public. Question Mr Modern Security and he rubs his
thumb against his fingers indicating clearly that if you want help you must
pay. If you don't pay the bribes you wait, and wait, and wait. I was 12th
in line but was there three and half hours.
Once back in Zimbabwe you plummet from 1st world to 4th in less than 10
minutes. Fuel stations are dry, food shops are empty, mobile phones have no
signal. Women wash clothes and naked children bathe in the pools of the
Bubye River and one lady dressed all in white kneels in the dust, her hands
clasped in prayer, under a leafless thorn tree in the middle of nowhere.
Donkey drawn carts become more commonplace than cars, goats dawdle across
the road, fences along the highway are gone and its not worth your mental
or physical health to look for or use a public toilet. Huge farms stand
empty and derelict, fields unploughed, no sign of preparation for the
season now just weeks away.
As night draws in you pass towns and cities engulfed in the darkness of
power cuts and an uncountable number of road blocks loom out of the
blackness, manned by Policemen who look younger than my teenage son.
Its hard to believe that Zimbabwe is in the same place in time as the rest
of the world. Perhaps not for much longer is our fervent hope. Until next
time, thanks for reading, love cathy.
Copyright cathy buckle 9th August 2008. www.cathybuckle.com .
MASKED MILITIA RAID SOMALI TOWN !
More than 100 masked Islamic militiamen have taken control of a strategic town in the south-west of Somalia.
The BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan in the capital says the fighters occupied Hudur town without any resistance. They told inhabitants they were al-Shabab militants, who are opposed to Ethiopian troops in the country.
Meanwhile, insurgents have attacked a camp in the capital, Mogadishu, housing government troops and those of their allies, the Ethiopians. There are no indications of casualties. On Thursday, there was an attack on the presidential palace in the central town of Baidoa, where parliament sits, as well as at the airport.
Al-Shabab, a radical wing of the Islamists who controlled much of Somalia in 2006 before being ousted by Ethiopian forcesa and Somali government troops. The group has refused to recognise a ceasefire signed in June between the government and one Islamist leader.
Our correspondent says al-Shabab has recently carried out brazen raids in towns and villages in south and central Somalia. "There was not a single gunshot," Dahir Ahmed, a businessman in Hudur told the BBC. Reports say the militia have set up a base at the town's central police station and taken over the local administration offices.
Government forces reportedly fled Hudur, which lies along the main road to Ethiopia, to Baidoa. The fighting comes as MPs gather in Baidoa to discuss the political differences between President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein in recent weeks.
Last weekend, more than half the Somali cabinet resigned, angered that Mr Hussein had sacked Mogadishu's mayor, Mohammed Dhere, a close ally of the president. Somalia has experienced almost constant civil conflict since the collapse of Mohamed Siad Barre's regime in January 1991.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
MBEKI SET FOR NEW ZIMBABWE TALKS !
South Africa's leader Thabo Mbeki is to travel to Zimbabwe for weekend talks with President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
South African newspapers are reporting that a power-sharing deal is close, with Mr Tsvangirai becoming PM. The news comes as an investigation into mass rapes allegedly committed by militia loyal to Mr Mugabe during the election campaign was launched.
Aids-Free World wants to collect the evidence to be used in future trials. It says that in the run-up to June's polls, women were subjected to a wide range of sexual violence as part of a campaign against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Mr Mugabe won the presidential run-off in June after Mr Tsvangirai pulled out, saying there was a campaign of violence against his supporters.
South Africa's department of foreign affairs confirmed that Mr Mbeki would be travelling to Zimbabwe on Saturday afternoon and returning on Sunday afternoon amid reports that a power-sharing deal was close.
He has been mediating between the country's ruling party and opposition. Last month, the two rivals agreed to hold crisis talks after meeting for the first time in a decade. The talks have been held at a secret location in South Africa and are subject to a media blackout.
South African newspapers are reporting that the power-sharing deal would see Mr Mugabe retaining the presidency and Mr Tsvangirai becoming prime minister with executive powers. There has been no official comment on these reports, apart from statements from all sides that the talks have been progressing well.
Stephen Lewis, co-director of Aids-Free World, said that the group already had 53 cases of women prepared to come forward and testify and the true number of those affected could be in the hundreds or thousands. He told the BBC's Network Africa programme there was a "horrific series" of abuses.
Aid-Free World intends to preserve the evidence to be used at a later date by those seeking justice, he said. "We have no doubt that the people at the top were involved in unleashing the militia - it is a command situation." Mr Lewis said he knew there were concerns that the investigation could affect the power-sharing talks. "There are always risks when you pursue people - we have not said that we are pursuing Mugabe, we are seeking justice for the women.
"I think that justice and peace are inextricable and that you don't have one without the other and that it is a piece of sophistry to pretend that they are somehow separate."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NIGERIAN ADVISES AGAINST 86 WIVES !
By Andrew Walker - BBC News, Bida, Nigeria.
Mr Bello Abubakar says he does not go and find women, they come to him.Nigerian Mohammed Bello Abubakar, 84, has advised other men not to follow his example and marry 86 women. The former teacher and Muslim preacher, who lives in Niger State with his wives and at least 170 children, says he is able to cope only with the help of God. "A man with 10 wives would collapse and die, but my own power is given by Allah. That is why I have been able to control 86 of them," he told the BBC.
He says his wives have sought him out because of his reputation as a healer. "I don't go looking for them, they come to me. I will consider the fact that God has asked me to do it and I will just marry them."
But such claims have alienated the Islamic authorities in Nigeria, who have branded his family a cult. Most Muslim scholars agree that a man is allowed to have four wives, as long as he can treat them equally.
But Mr Bello Abubakar says there is no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives. "To my understanding the Koran does not place a limit and it is up to what your own power, your own endowment and ability allows," he says. "God did not say what the punishment should be for a man who has more than four wives, but he was specific about the punishment for fornication and adultery."
As Mr Bello Abubakar emerged from his compound to speak to the BBC, his wives and children broke out into a praise song. Some of Mr Bello Abubakar's wives are younger than some of his children Most of his wives are less than a quarter of his age - and many are younger than some of his own children. The wives the BBC spoke to say they met Mr Bello Abubakar when they went to him to seek help for various illnesses, which they say he cured.
"As soon as I met him the headache was gone," says Sharifat Bello Abubakar, who was 25 at the time and Mr Bello Abubakar 74. "God told me it was time to be his wife. Praise be to God I am his wife now."
Ganiat Mohammed Bello has been married to the man everyone calls "Baba" for 20 years. When she was in secondary school her mother took her for a consultation with Mr Bello Abubakar and he proposed afterwards. "I said I couldn't marry an older man, but he said it was directly an order from God," she says. She married another man but they divorced and she returned to Mr Bello Abubakar. "I am now the happiest woman on earth. When you marry a man with 86 wives you know he knows how to look after them," she said.
Mr Bello Abubakar and his wives do not work and he has no visible means of supporting such a large family. Many of the wives live three to a room, some have seven children. He refuses to say how he makes enough money to pay for the huge cost of feeding and clothing so many people. Every mealtime they cook three 12kg bags of rice which costs $915 (£457) every day. "It's all from God," he says.
Other residents of Bida, the village where he lives in the northern Nigerian state, say they do not know how he supports the family. According to one of his wives, Mr Bello Abubakar sometimes asks his children to go and beg for 200 naira ($1.69, £0.87), which if they all did so would bring in about $290 (£149).
Most of his wives live in a squalid, unfinished house in Bida; others live in his house in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital. He refuses to allow any of his family or other devotees to take medicine and says he does not believe that malaria exists. "As you sit here if you have any illness I can see it and just remove it," he says. But not everyone can be cured and one of his wives, Hafsat Bello Mohammed, says two of her children have died. "They were sick and we told God and God said their time has come." She says that most of the wives see Mr Bello Abubakar as next in line from the Prophet Muhammad.
Indeed, he claims the Prophet Muhammad speaks to him personally and gives detailed descriptions of his experiences. It is a serious claim for a Muslim to make. "This is heresy, he is a heretic," says Ustaz Abubakar Siddique, an imam of Abuja's Central Mosque.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
DARFUR CAMEL AMBUSH 'KILLS SIX'
The Janjaweed are accused of trying to "cleanse" black Africans in Darfur.
Six people have been killed and 28 wounded after men on camels attacked a civilian convoy in the Sudanese region of Darfur, the UN has said.
The convoy was travelling between Nyala and Fasher in northern Darfur, according to Unamid, a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission.
It said the attackers were suspected members of the Janjaweed militia.
The UN estimates that the Darfur conflict has left 300,000 dead and more than two million homeless.
The violence there began in 2003 when rebel groups complaining of discrimination against black Africans began attacking government targets.
The government mobilised what it called "self-defence militias" in response, but denies any links to the Janjaweed, accused of trying to "cleanse" black Africans from Darfur.
The Janjaweed are accused of terrorising local populations in Darfur, attacking villages on horses or camels.
Unamid said it had evacuated some of the wounded by helicopter, taking them to a hospital in Fasher.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE TALKS 'MAKING PROGRESS' !
Zimbabwe's power-sharing talks are making significant progress, says South Africa, which has been mediating the crisis negotiations.
South African President Thabo Mbeki has been mediating between the country's ruling and opposition parties after Robert Mugabe was re-elected in June.
Senior members of Zimbabwe's security forces have travelled to South Africa to meet the mediators, reports say.
On Wednesday, the two parties issued a call for an end to post-poll violence. A deadline to complete the talks passed on Monday without any news of a deal. "The government as the mediator will not be giving any details about details of the talks except to say that they are progressing extremely well," South African government spokesman Themba Maseko said at a news conference.
But sources close to Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), were sceptical, saying many obstacles remained, they told the BBC. Members of Zimbabwe's Joint Operations Command, a body that includes Mr Mugabe's top security chiefs, met with two South African government officials mediating the talks, South Africa's Star newspaper reported.
The meetings occurred this week, the paper said, citing unnamed sources, but did not say which members of the command travelled to South Africa.
On Wednesday, the Star said a draft agreement was being circulated under which opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai would run Zimbabwe as prime minister and Mr Mugabe would serve as a ceremonial president. The South African talks have been held at a secret location and are subject to a media blackout.
Mr Mugabe won a run-off presidential election in June after Mr Tsvangirai pulled out because of a campaign of violence against his supporters. Last month, the two rivals agreed to hold crisis talks after meeting for the first time in a decade.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
KENYA'S TERROR SCARS YET TO HEAL !
By Anne Mawathe - BBC News, Nairobi.
At 1037 on 7 August 1998, a powerful explosion rocked the US embassy in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Three minutes later a second bomb ripped through the US embassy in Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salaam. The co-ordinated attacks killed more than 200 people and maimed at least 4,000.
That was the day the face of East Africa changed forever, scarred by the ugly acts of terror so mercilessly unleashed on innocent civilians. In Nairobi, two buildings adjacent to the US embassy - Ufundi House and the Cooperative Bank - were reduced to rubble.
As rescue efforts got under way, Catherine Bwire was trapped in the rubble at the Cooperative Bank building, where she worked as an accounts clerk. "My eyes were destroyed on the spot by the glass, so I lost my sight. I also had deep cuts all over my body and I lost a lot of blood," Ms Bwire says.
She spent three months in hospital. Later, she enrolled at the Machakos School for the blind, where she undertook life skills training. Her baby Zawadi - Swahili for Gift - was born months after the bomb attack that left her mother blind. Catherine Bwire now works as a phone operator. Ms Bwire's resilience has helped her to move on and today she works as a telephone operator at a government-run institution.
Other survivors have also struggled to move on with their lives, but the past is still a painful reminder of what they lost. For some, there is lingering bitterness over what they feel was a lack of support from the US and Kenyan governments in rebuilding their lives.
Calls for compensation from the US may have faded, but many of the survivors still feel they were abandoned during their hour of need. "Nobody ever came to me and said sorry. Not the Americans, not al-Qaeda," says one survivor, David Ohingo.
For the country's security forces, the 1998 bombing was a wake up call. "This was a very new phenomenon in terms of terrorism... it really took the security forces by surprise," says Francis Sang, who was the assistant police commissioner at the time of the blast. "It really made the security forces reassess themselves and see what could be done."
However, critics point out that Kenya still lacks anti-terrorism legislation - a proposed law was shot down by parliament in 2003 over claims that it would violate constitutional and human rights. Opponents also saw the hand of the US on the bill and argued that, if enacted into law, it would infringe on Kenya's sovereignty.
The Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (APTU) was set up in 2003 to bolster anti-terrorism efforts. But the special police unit has come under criticism from various quarters, most recently in the week before the anniversary of the bombing.
A key suspect in the 1998 attacks, al-Qaeda operative Faizul Abdullah, narrowly escaped a police dragnet, and there is evidence that Mr Abdullah has repeatedly been in and out of Kenya. Police found two Kenyan passports issued to Mr Abdullah under different aliases - one issued in 1999, the other just five months ago.
This has once again raised questions about whether the Kenyan government is doing enough to protect its citizens from the threat of terrorism. Following the 9/11 attacks seven years ago, the US government stepped up efforts to work with African countries, including Kenya, to implement steps to curb terrorism. A joint force known as Operation Enduring Freedom focuses its efforts on detecting and stopping terrorist activities in the region.
However, some groups have condemned the tactics used in the "war on terror", arguing that they infringe on human rights. Leaders from the sizeable Muslim community complain that the "war on terror" is being used to victimise Muslims. Sheikh Amir Ali Banda, chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK), says he has been a victim of arbitrary arrest. "They think that a faithful Muslim is a terrorist," he says.
The Kenyan government says there are about 17 Kenyans being held in Ethiopia on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. The family of Shaban Mwazumi, one of the suspects, is still holding on to the hope that their son will return one day. "If my son has done something wrong, then he should be arraigned in court and if he's guilty, then he should serve his jail term. If he's not, they should set him free," his father says.
Human rights groups, political and religious leaders continue to put pressure on the government to end what they say is unwarranted harassment of innocent people by the security forces. It is a thorny issue in a country that is struggling to do the right thing. But Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula defends the alliances formed to tackle terrorism.
"We must double and re-dedicate our efforts to fight terror but equally, as we fight terrorism, we must make sure that people's human rights are not violated without just cause," Mr Wetangula says. After the bombing, the US embassy was relocated away from the city centre to the outskirts of the capital, and in its place, a memorial garden was built, a reminder of that day's tragic events.
Ten years on, Kenya still bears physical and psychological scars of the attacks that sent the first signals that terrorism was becoming truly global.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
EAST AFRICA MARKS TERROR ATTACKS !
Kenya and Tanzania are marking the 10th anniversary of the US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam. More than 220 people were killed and 5,000 injured in the first major attack by al-Qaeda on US targets.
Relatives and survivors have gathered at the site of the attack in Nairobi, which is now a memorial garden. The ceremonies come days after Kenyan police narrowly failed to arrest the suspected mastermind of the bombings, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed.
The BBC's Peter Greste in Nairobi says many of those survivors and the families of the victims there will gather at the memorial garden on the site where the US embassy used to stand. At about 1030 local time on 7 August 1998, a suicide bomber threw a grenade at the guardhouse outside the US embassy in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, and tried to ram his way through the barricades.
He then detonated the explosives packed inside the vehicle, severely damaging the embassy and bringing down a seven-story building near by, killing 218 people and wounding 500. A simultaneous attack on the embassy in Dar-es-Salaam killed 11 people, and wounded 72. The bombings were al-Qaeda's first major strike in its conflict with the United States, and they fundamentally changed both the US and Kenya.
Among those who remember the day in Nairobi is Catherine Bwire, who was a 24-year-old accounts clerk at the time. Like so many, she heard a small explosion - a grenade - go off outside the embassy just by her office. She went to the window to see what the trouble was and as she watched, the attackers detonated their main charge which shattered surrounding windows. The glass tore out Catherine's eyes, blinding her instantly, it was a tragically common injury.
Our correspondent says the blast changed the lives of so many victims, but it also created a kind of bond among them. It did much the same for Kenya and the United States. The two countries are now firm allies in the fight against terrorism, both countries still struggling to come to terms with its consequences.
But the botched operation on Sunday has raised questions in Kenya about whether the government is doing enough to protect its citizens from the threat of terrorism. The police have intensified their manhunt for the fugitive in the coastal city of Mombasa, and security along the country's borders has been tightened.
The country's sizeable Muslim community also says the "war on terror" is being used to victimise Muslims. At least 17 Kenyan Muslims are being held in Ethiopia on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.
The survivors and families of those who died in the attacks have called for compensation from the US and Kenyan governments to help them cope with the effects of the blasts.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
S. AFRICA UNIONS STAGE MASS STRIKE !
South African trade unions are holding a one-day strike, which has caused widespread disruption and brought much of the economy to a standstill. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is mobilising its two million members to protest against the high cost of living.
The public transport network has been severely disrupted, with a knock-on effect on schools, mines and carmakers. Some of the country's biggest mining companies say they have been badly hit. Unionists are mobilising in all of South Africa's nine provinces. Public transport was affected across the country, unions said, with long queues forming for buses and taxis in Johannesburg. Many workers and students stayed at home as a result of the disruption.
The union movement has significant political influence in South Africa Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside Pretoria's city hall, waving sticks and singing, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher, in the South African capital.
Though the march was meant to focus on the cost of electricity, the banners and chants show that for most, this is a chance for the poor to vent their anger at steep rises in the cost of food and fuel, our correspondent says.
"Food is at a higher price than petrol. Everything is high. We cannot live life like this. We are sick and tired... The government must make a plan," one woman said. "I've got a house, but what about the people who are staying on the street? People are dying, especially in the wintertime," a man said.
Similar rallies are being held at 17 other locations across South Africa. Patrick Craven, of Cosatu, told the BBC that the strike was over rising costs across the board. "It has to be seen in the context of all the other increases in prices which clearly make the electricity tariff that much more difficult to bear, particularly the food price increases, the fuel price going up and the rise in interest rates," he said.
There is particular concern about job cuts in the mining sector, where output and earnings have been slashed. Mining company Anglogold Ashanti says no underground work was going on at the firm's mines.
Anglo Platinum - the world's top producer of the precious metal - said some of its mines and a smelter had been affected, Reuters news agency reported.
Cosatu, an ally of the governing African National Congress (ANC), said the strike would be a warning to employers who may want to sack workers because of a downturn in profits due to a power supply crisis. A five-day power cut in January and the rationing of electricity to mines cut output and earnings.
"We hope to also send a strong message to the government that, as the working people in this country, we are not going to be taking on the burden when it comes to financing power," National Union of Mineworkers spokesman Lesiba Seshoka told the BBC's Network Africa programme. He also said the union hoped that South Africa's government would punish companies that fix prices by giving them "very serious fines".
Cosatu has urged the government to subsidise essential commodities and demands higher wages for workers.
With President Thabo Mbeki due to leave office next year, South Africa's workers are determined to put their concerns at the heart of the next government, our correspondent says.
Another strike is planned for next month.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ANGOLA LEADER PROMISES MORE POLLS !
Jose Edwardo dos Santos has been president for 29 years.
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has said parliamentary elections will be held every four years, ahead of his country's first polls in 16 years. He made the comments in a rare radio address on the eve of campaigning. He called on Angolans to respect the democratic process and make the country an example to Africa and the world.
Elections have been expected and repeatedly delayed since 2002, when the government ended a 27-year conflict with the Unita rebel movement.
The ruling MPLA narrowly won the 1992 polls, which were part of a peace plan, but war resumed as Unita rejected the results. Ten parties and four coalitions are competing for parliamentary votes, but Mr Dos Santos' MPLA is expected to retain its majority in parliament.
"Angola can be an example to the African continent and to the world in general on how to hold democratic, free and transparent elections," the president said.
Mr Dos Santos came to power in 1979 aged just 37, in the wake of the unexpected death from medical complications of Angola's first President, Agostinho Neto. He is expected to stand in presidential elections in 2009.
Sub-Saharan Africa's second largest oil producer after Nigeria, Angola has one of the worst infant mortality rates in Africa and millions of its citizens continue to live in shantytowns and slums.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZUMA FATE DELAYED TILL SEPTEMBER !
A South African judge says he will rule next month on whether the corruption trial of the leader of South Africa's ruling party, Jacob Zuma, can go ahead. Judge Chris Nicholson also set 8 December as a provisional date for a criminal trial.
Mr Zuma, who is favourite to become president next year, denies charges of corruption linked to an arms deal. His legal team have argued that delays in bringing the case to court mean he would not get a fair trial.
For the second day running, a large crowd of Mr Zuma's supporters has gathered outside the High Court where Judge Nicholson set 12 September as the date he would give his ruling. The BBC's Peter Biles says Mr Zuma's supporters are waiting for him to address them, as he did on Monday night, in what was a colourful and high-spirited event.
Mr Zuma's colleagues in the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) are standing firmly by him. They say he is been the victim of a political conspiracy intended to prevent him becoming South Africa's president in elections due to be held before July 2009. Mr Zuma has said he will stand down as ANC leader only if he is found guilty of the charges - corruption, fraud, racketeering and money-laundering.
Critics say he is just trying to delay proceedings until after he is elected president. The shadow of corruption has been hanging over Mr Zuma for several years. In 2005 he was sacked as South Africa's deputy president when his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was found guilty of soliciting a bribe on behalf of Mr Zuma and jailed for 15 years in connection with an arms deal.
Mr Zuma then went on trial, but the case collapsed in 2006 when the prosecution said it was not ready to proceed. He was charged again last December shortly after winning a bitter campaign against President Thabo Mbeki to become ANC leader. Mr Zuma suffered a setback last week when he lost a legal bid to stop documents seized from his home and other locations being used as evidence in a trial.
The ANC says it expects Mr Zuma, a former deputy president, to be its candidate for president in next year's election, when Mr Mbeki steps down. In February 2006, Mr Zuma was acquitted of rape in a separate case, though he was widely criticised for comments about sex and HIV/Aids.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
GUINEAN SACKED TWICE IN FOUR DAYS !
A minister in Guinea has been sacked for the second time in four days.
Mamady Sam Soumah was fired as secretary-general for the presidency on Friday, but reinstated on Sunday before being sacked again the following day.
A BBC correspondent says the dismissals are believed to be linked to disagreements over a mining contract with international firm Rio Tinto.
They are also thought to reveal a broader power struggle surrounding ailing President Lansana Conte.
The BBC's Alhassan Sillah reports from Guinea that the president and his one-time powerful ally, Mr Soumah, are believed not to see eye to eye on the mining contract.
Mr Soumah reportedly played a central role in questioning the legality of a huge iron ore concession being given to Rio Tinto in Guinea.
Political analysts say there is a power-struggle going on around the president - who has been in poor health - with people positioning themselves for a possible succession.
President Conte recently sacked the prime minister who had been appointed last year as part of a deal to end deadly anti-government protests across the country.
Shortly afterwards, troops mutinied, demanding back pay and better conditions.
When they were granted concessions, police staged similar protests.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
RIVALS RESUME ZIMBABWE DEAL TALKS !
Talks have resumed between Zimbabwe's ruling party and the main opposition on a possible power-sharing deal. The discussions, between President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), broke up for several days last week.
Officials said the delay was so that delegates could consult their leaders on possible next steps. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he is "fairly satisfied" with the progress of the talks so far.
A spokesman for South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating the discussions, confirmed that the power-sharing talks had resumed. He has suggested that the initial two-week deadline for the talks - which expires on Monday - is flexible, in part because of the adjournment.
Mr Tsvangirai has said he is satisfied with the progress of talks so far. Mr Tsvangirai's supporters say the MDC leader should succeed Mr Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe, because he won the popular vote in the first round of the country's recent presidential election.
Mr Mugabe won the second round run-off in a poll that was widely criticised as flawed and was boycotted by the MDC.
The talks began again the day after a bomb exploded at the main police station in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. A police spokesman said Saturday's blast caused some damage to the building but nobody was injured. Correspondents say bomb attacks are rare in Zimbabwe but last year the government accused opposition activists of throwing petrol bombs at several police stations.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
KENYA MANHUNT FOR AL-QAEDA WANTED !
There is a manhunt under way in Kenya for an al-Qaeda operative wanted for the attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania 10 years ago. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed allegedly evaded a police raid at the weekend in the coastal town of Malindi, where he was being hosted by friends.
Earlier this year the suspect, who is from the Comoros Islands, survived a US missile attack on a hideout in Somalia The United States has offered a reward of up to $5m (£2.5m) for his arrest.
Three people arrested over the weekend - reportedly relatives of Mr Mohammed - pleaded not guilty on Monday to accusations they had harboured him. A judge ordered that they be held for four more days while prosecutors gather information.
Meanwhile, the man who led the investigation into the Kenya bombing, Maj Marsden Madoka, has told the BBC's African Perspective programme that Kenyan intelligence passed on information to the US embassy ahead of the attack in 1998, but it was not acted on.
Is terrorism a threat in Africa?
The failure may have been due to a lack of communication between the embassy and US intelligence agencies, he said. More than 250 people were killed in the bomb attacks 10 years ago that Mr Mohammed allegedly planned.
The BBC's Odhiambo Joseph in Mombasa says police and naval patrols have been intensified at the coast after the failed arrest bid at the weekend.
In neighbouring Uganda, the US embassy has warned that Americans in East Africa may be at heightened risk from attack ahead of Thursday's tenth anniversary of the bombings.
Reports say Mr Mohammed gained entry to Kenya through Lamu Island which borders Somalia to seek treatment for a kidney ailment, our correspondent says.
Mr Mohammed allegedly leads the al-Qaeda cell in East Africa from a base in lawless Somalia.
The US accused the Islamist group that ruled much of southern Somalia in 2006 of harbouring al-Qaeda suspects - charges they denied.
Mr Mohammed joined al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and trained there with Osama bin Laden, the terror network's leader, according to the transcript of an FBI interrogation of a known associate.
As well as the embassy bombings, he is also suspected of planning the car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and a near simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli aircraft in 2002.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
