Security beefed ahead of Africa Athletics Championships
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairman Isaiah Kiplagat said the recent bomb attacks in Kampala, Uganda which targeted fans watching the finals of the football World Cup had forced the government to raise the security level status.
Teams from neighbouring Uganda, Burundi and Ethiopia, nations that have sent peacekeepers to Somalia, are said to be targeted by a Somali militant group that claimed responsibility for the twin blasts in Kampala. The Al Qaeda-inspired group Al-Shabab who claimed the attacks, the region's worst in 12 years, said they were in retaliation for Uganda's leading role in the AU's mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The LOC has appointed an Assistant Commissioner of Police Alfred Ombaba to head the security team which has already moved in to secure the teams in the country covering their training and stay in hotels. Already teams from Mali, Nigeria, Algeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Senegal, Namibia and Botswana are in the country. The Botswana team was the first to touch down in Nairobi amid high hopes of a medal haul.
While it is widely acknowledged that Khama holds the title of Kgosi, the government’s failure to properly gazette his recognition has raised serious concerns about adherence to legal procedures and the credibility of traditional leadership. (See a story elsewhere in this newspaper.) Recent court documents by the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Kgotla Autlwetse, shed light on the intricacies of Khama’s recognition process....