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Le choix du colistier de Hillary Clinton et particulièrement son engagement contre les effets d'une loi sur la fiscalité sont salués.

L'ancien premier ministre et ancien candidat à la présidentielle de 2016, Lionel Zinsou est revenu, sur la radio française France culture, sur son aventure présidentielle au Bénin. Interrogé sur les raisons qui ont fondé son désir présidentiel, M. Zinsou a rappelé qu'il n'avait pas, au départ l'ambition de se présenter aux élections présidentielles lorsqu'il a été nommé premier ministre.

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Lionel Zinsou, l’ancien premier ministre du gouvernement du président Boni yayi n’a pas fini de digérer son échec à la présidentielle de mars dernier.  Invité en effet sur Radio France culture ce dimanche 24 juillet 2016 pour parler de développement économique de l’Afrique, l’ancien patron de la banque des Rothschild est revenu sur sa participation à la présidentielle notamment son échec semblable à une « tragédie grecque ».

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Selon Europe 1, l'interlocuteur de Sandra Bertin pour son rapport sur le dispositif du 14 Juillet n'est pas lié au cabinet du ministre de l'Intérieur.

« C’est la justice » qui doit établir la vérité et « personne d’autre », a affirmé le chef de l’Etat.

CHISINAU, 25 July 2016 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will visit Moldova on 26 July.

In Chisinau, Steinmeier will meet with Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu, Prime Minister Pavel Filip, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Andrei Galbur, and Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration and Moldovan Political Representative Gheorghe Balan.

In Tiraspol, the Chairperson-in-Office will meet with representatives of the Transdniestrian leadership, Pavel Prokudin and Vadim Krasnoselsky, as well as the Transdniestrian Political Representative, Vitaly Ignatiev.

Media representatives are invited to a press briefing with the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Steinmeier and Prime Minister Filip on Tuesday, 26 July, at 10:00 at the Government Building in Chisinau, (entrance from Mitropolit G. Banulescu-Bodoni Street); and to a press opportunity with Steinmeier in Tiraspol, on Tuesday, at approximately 16:00 at the Tiraspol Office of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, 1 Furmanov Street.

For more information, please contact the OSCE Mission to Moldova Press Office at + 373 22 887846 (landline), or e-mail: MtMpress@osce.org.

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(B2) La Haute représentante de l'UE a finalement annoncé, avec un peu de retard, la première vague de la rotation 2016 des ambassadeurs de l'Union européenne, qui devraient prendre leurs fonctions dans l'été, d'ici août ou septembre. Une seconde partie devrait être annoncée dans les jours qui viennent. Une liste revue à la lumière du […]

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Le Royaume du Maroc s'apprête à reprendre sa place au sein de l'Union africaine (UA), après 32 ans d'absence. L'annonce a été faite le 17 juillet 2016 par le Roi Mohammed VI, en marge du 27ème sommet des Chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement de l'UA. Plusieurs raisons militent en faveur de ce retour vivement attendu par les Africains.
« Cela fait longtemps que nos amis nous demandent de revenir parmi eux, pour que le Maroc retrouve sa place naturelle au sein de sa famille institutionnelle. Ce moment est donc arrivé », a déclaré le roi dans un message adressé au sommet de l'UA qui s'est déroulé à Kigali (Rwanda).
« Par cet acte historique et responsable de retour, le Maroc compte œuvrer au sein de l'UA en vue de transcender les divisions », a déclaré Mohammed VI.
Le souverain a rappelé les conditions dans lesquelles le Maroc avait décidé en 1984 de quitter l'Organisation de l'union africaine (OUA) - qui a précédé l'Union africaine - à la suite de l'admission en son sein de la République arabe sahraouie démocratique (RASD).
« La reconnaissance d'un pseudo-Etat était dure à accepter par le peuple marocain », a déclaré Mohammed VI dans son message. A l'époque, « ce fait accompli immoral, ce coup d'Etat contre la légalité internationale, ont amené le Royaume du Maroc à éviter la division de l'Afrique au prix d'une douloureuse décision, celle de quitter sa famille institutionnelle ».
A présent, poursuit le roi, « le temps est venu d'écarter les manipulations, le financement des séparatismes ». Pour lui, « sur la question du Sahara, l'Afrique institutionnelle ne peut supporter plus longtemps les fardeaux d'une erreur historique et d'un legs encombrant ». Le Maroc « est confiant dans la sagesse de l'UA pour rétablir la légalité et corriger les erreurs de parcours », déclare Mohammed VI.
Le départ du Royaume chérifien de l'OUA a laissé un grand vide au sein de l'organisation panafricaine. Le rôle que joue le Maroc depuis quelques années, de par sa position régionale et internationale n'est plus à démontrer. Malgré son absence au sein de l'organisation panafricaine, le Maroc s'est imposé par sa diplomatie et le renforcement de sa coopération avec les pays africains.
Par ailleurs, le royaume chérifien fait partie des pays les plus stables du continent et est à l'avant-garde de la lutte contre le terrorisme.
Selon des sources diplomatiques, sur les 54 pays que compte l'UA, à peine une dizaine soutiennent encore le Sahara occidental, qui réclame son indépendance du Maroc.
Le royaume chérifien veut retrouver sa place au sein de l'UA, mais souhaite rentrer par la grande porte, probablement en chassant le Sahara occidental de l'Union.
Le retour du Maroc au sein de l'organisation panafricaine est vivement attendu, mais peut prendre du temps. Il sera validé par un vote au sein de la Commission de l'UA.

Ignace FANOU

By Michael Krepon
Jul 25 2016 (Dawn, Pakistan)

Members of Congress have embarrassed themselves, this time by a joint subcommittee hearing on whether Pakistan is a friend or foe. Framing a congressional hearing in this binary way reflects the sad state of political discourse on Capitol Hill, where complex issues are boiled down to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. Members of Congress dress themselves in righteous indignation and confuse leadership with generating headlines.

The United States, like Pakistan, is prisoner to a repetitive news cycle loop filled with hot air, loose talk and the constant drip of poisonous insinuation. The demise of civic culture continues apace. Echo chambers are not conducive to learning. Capitol Hill has devolved into competing echo chambers.

Without learning, we repeat mistakes. This is true on a personal level and on a national level. Some in the US repeat the mistake of insisting that other countries are implacable enemies, disregarding common interests. Taking refuge in this default position has cost America dearly. To repeat it again with Pakistan would be an act of pure folly. India reliably repeats its painful mistakes in Indian Kashmir. Pakistan has its own costly repetitive behaviours.

The US has been insensitive in its dealings with Pakistan.

Pakistan’s national security interests are defined mostly by men in uniform who jealously defend this prerogative from civilian prime ministers and the foreign ministry. Pakistan’s prime minister — a man not known for his attention to detail and zealous work habits — has made these circumstances worse by not having a foreign minister.

Some within Pakistan argue for a greater sense of urgency and energy on the civilian side to reverse the drift in Pakistan’s relations with the US and its neighbours. More energy would be welcome, but it will come to naught unless Pakistan sheds talking points that have long ago lost their persuasiveness. The ‘trust deficit’ argument has no weight when the reasons for the deficit are papered over. The promise that violent extremist groups that have ruined Pakistan’s reputation will be tackled in due course has worn thin because it has been repeated for so long.

The US has been heavy-handed and insensitive in its dealings with Pakistan. It’s easy for the US embassy to lose touch when it operates behind walls and razor wire. Members of Congress have short memories. They forget that Pakistan played a central role in the US diplomatic opening to China and in expelling Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

Bilateral ties will always be complicated. The US and Pakistan are on the same side of some issues but not others. Pakistan would like a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, but it wants to retain influence there. Pakistan is concerned about violent extremist groups that carry out explosions in India, but not enough to clamp down on them. These straddles have left Pakistan on a tightrope without the means to engineer outcomes in Afghanistan or to ramp up economic growth, which depends on normal ties with neighbours.

Washington’s mix of carrots and sticks hasn’t helped Pakistan down from its tightrope, and now US incentives are diminishing. If Pakistan changes course, more help will come, but the relationship is no longer transactional. Pakistan will do what it thinks it must.

Perceptions of Pakistan are now deeply grooved. They won’t change unless Islamabad is able to take steps that clarify new thinking towards India and Afghanistan. Mikhail Gorbachev called this strategy one of destroying the ‘enemy image’. Gorbachev destroyed the Soviet Union’s enemy image in the US, but the Soviet economy was also destroyed because it was incapable of reform. Pakistan can change its enemy image and grow its economy by improving ties with neighbours. In doing so, Pakistan can maintain decent relations with the United States as it improves ties with China. Islama¬bad achieved this significant feat in the past; it can do so again.

On Capitol Hill, it would be helpful if serious legislators convened serious hearings on how best to stabilise and improve US-Pakistan relations. The easy way for legislators to weigh in is to get on soapboxes — an old American colloquialism recalling a time when men with megaphones gained elevation on street corners. Television is the new soapbox. Denunciations make cheap headlines while making hard problems worse. Congressional hearings where learning takes place have become rare on Capitol Hill. Pakistan deserves better treatment, but the same policies will produce the same results.

US-Pakistan relations are worth salvaging. Both countries have been through hard times together, and have accomplished much together. Pakistan has a long list of grievances towards the US. The US has a long list of grievances towards Pakistan. Grievances don’t solve problems; they make problems worse.

This relationship can no longer rest on the resupply of US troops in Afghanistan, or on Pakistan’s role as a selective bulwark against violent extremist groups. A new relationship has to be forged; otherwise, enemy images will only harden.

The writer is the co-founder of the Stimson Centre.
Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2016

This story was originally published by Dawn, Pakistan

The Syrian who blew himself up near a music festival in Ansbach on Sunday had been facing deportation to Bulgaria, according to the German authorities.

Representatives from 20 EU Member States gathered last week (20/21 July) in Bratislava for a two-day Cyber Security Cooperation Conference co-organized by the current Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Defence Agency (EDA).

The event was centred around three panels in which participants discussed different aspects of cooperation on cyber defence, starting with the political aspects of cooperation, moving onto public-private sector cooperation, and finishing with the challenges for military-to-military cooperation.

In his speech at the conference, EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq stressed the importance of European cooperation in the cyber defence field. The EDA, he said, is involved in this domain since more than four years when it established a platform for Member States to speak with each other about their requirements in cyber defence and cooperation. “And we can proudly say that within that relatively short time, we have significantly influenced the development of the cyber defence domain in Europe”. “Despite the sensitivities surrounding cyber defence, there is enormous scope for cooperation”, Mr Domecq continued, stressing that the EDA was ready to move forward its role in fostering cooperation on cyber security and defence in all dimensions, even beyond the traditional understanding of military to military cooperation. “Admittedly, we are in many cases in ‘uncharted waters’ but that should not prevent us from starting to navigate those waters. Cyber and Hybrid Threats require comprehensive responses”, he said.

Cyber threats are among the main risks and perils of the last decade, stated Ivan Máčovský, State Secretary at the Slovak Ministry of Defence. Therefore, the priorities of the Slovak EU Presidency are also geared towards consolidating the EU's unity and coherence in this field, he stressed. “It was acknowledged over the course of this conference that cooperation among the EU Member States in this field is of crucial importance, be it at the political or civil-military level. It is equally needed between the public and private sectors,” Mr Máčovský said at the conclusion of the event.

 

More information:

• Cyber Defence - EDA project page
• Communication and Information Systems - EDA project page

 

Chantier monstre dans le quartier du château, projet de Bois des musées à Pest, grattes-ciel au nord de la ville… Les grues ne sont pas prêtes de disparaître du paysage budapestois. Viktor Orbán entend poursuivre sa politique de grands travaux en s’attaquant cette fois à l’emblème de la capitale : la Citadelle.

Le gouvernement a publié le 15 juillet dernier un appel à idées portant sur «l’utilisation future du mont Gellért et de la Citadelle, ainsi que le renouvellement de sa fonction et de sa vocation». En s’enregistrant sur un site Internet dédié, chaque Hongrois, qu’il soit professionnel ou simple citoyen, est ainsi invité à faire des propositions quant à l’avenir de cette ancienne forteresse défensive, de sa statue et de son parc, véritable poumon vert en plein cœur de la capitale. Jusqu’à hier, chaque postulant pouvait envoyer ses questions, lesquelles devraient recevoir une réponse le 1er août prochain. S’ouvrira ensuite jusqu’au 3 octobre la phase de dépôt des projets, avec une publication des résultats prévue le 10 novembre. Un budget de 40 millions de forints a été alloué pour dédommager les candidats, sachant que le premier d’entre eux ne pourra pas recevoir au-delà de huit millions. Le comité d’évaluation est composé de 13 membres, majoritairement des architectes et des historiens de l’art. Le gouvernement est représenté par quatre membres du Cabinet du Premier ministre, preuve s’il en est du pilotage politique du projet par Viktor Orbán en personne.

Alors que l’État a lancé de nombreux grands chantiers depuis le début du second mandat Orbán, ce projet a reçu un accueil mitigé dans la presse. « Après l’appropriation et la déstructuration de Kossuth tér, József nádor tér, Orczy-kert, Madách tér, le Bois de la ville et le Château, après le déracinement des plantes et l’abattage des arbres, le tapis de bombes est arrivé au seuil de sa prochaine étape : le mont Gellért, point culminant de la ville, visible de partout » écrit ainsi Beáta Markó, du site 168 óra, proche de la gauche. Du côté du journal conservateur Magyar Nemzet, l’on met en garde contre la tentation du « c’était mieux avant », rappelant ainsi les lugubres anecdotes qui entouraient la colline au début du XXe siècle. « Drogue, magie, prostitution : est-ce vraiment ce dont on a besoin dans le monde actuel ? Il n’y a que la Citadelle qu’il faudrait réussir à intégrer dans tout ça » écrit ainsi Miklós Ugró.

Au-delà de la seule dimension urbanistique, les chroniqueurs et éditorialistes critiquent surtout le goût du chef du gouvernement pour le gigantisme et la démesure. Sur 168 óra, l’auteure suggère de sculpter sur les flancs du Gellért le visage de Viktor Orbán himself, « père de notre démocratie illibérale », sur le modèle des portraits de présidents du Mount Rushmore, aux Etats-Unis. Dans la même veine ironique, elle propose également d’édifier au sommet un stade de football, en clin d’œil à la « stadomanie » qui anime le leader conservateur depuis son retour au pouvoir en 2010. Trois ont été déjà été construits dans le pays en six ans, tandis que quatre sont en projet.

Du côté des architectes et urbanistes, l’on déplore une « formulation problématique » de l’appel à idées. La Chambre des architectes hongrois (MEK) regrette notamment que le texte officiel ne distingue pas les professionnels des amateurs dans le processus d’évaluation, et critique aussi le flou autour de l’attribution des prix. István Eltér, le président de l’organisation, estime néanmoins que l’initiative gouvernementale va dans le bon sens, car « le mont Gellért ne peut pas rester dans cet état ». Dans la mesure où de nombreux appels à projet ont été abandonnés ces dernières années – le dernier en date étant la rénovation du siège du MTESZ à côté du Parlement -, le risque d’une faible participation d’architectes de qualité est néanmoins réel.

Selon Magyar Idők, média le plus proche du gouvernement et partisan du projet, l’enjeu de l’appel à idées est surtout de « valoriser et rendre attractif » un site qui fait partie du patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco. La rénovation de la Citadelle permettrait, dans la droite lignée des projets actuellement en chantier dans la capitale, d’augmenter le potentiel touristique de Budapest ainsi que son rayonnement culturel. Le blog Falanszter, spécialiste de l’histoire de la ville, préfère quant à lui relativiser cette énième tentative de rénovation, rappelant ainsi la très longue liste de projets qui s’accumulent depuis les années 1870 pour soulager la silhouette de la ville de la forteresse construite au milieu du XIXe siècle par les Habsbourg pour défendre la ville contre les insurgés. Parmi les plus spectaculaires figure sans doute le projet d’un Panthéon « à la hongroise », qui avait bénéficié de propositions signées des plus grands architectes de l’époque.

Source : Falanszter.

Plus récemment, Imre Makovecz, architecte très proche du Fidesz, avait proposé avant sa mort que la Citadelle soit surmontée d’une réplique géante de la sainte Couronne hongroise. Si le projet retenu implique de détruire la Statue de la Liberté construite pour célébrer la libération de la ville du joug allemand par les Soviétiques, le logo de la candidature budapestoise aux Jeux Olympiques devra se trouver un nouvel emblème…

Logo officiel de la candidature de Budapest aux Jeux Olympiques de 2024.

 

L’armée de Terre organise régulièrement des stages de quelques jours durant lesquels des étudiants revêtent le treillis. Un engagement ponctuel en accéléré pour des élèves qui, au quotidien, sont bien loin du milieu militaire. Immersion avec les étudiants en 3e année de l’IDRAC de Lyon, encadrés par des réservistes opérationnels et des soldats du camp de la Valbonne. 

By M. Adil Khan
Jul 25 2016 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

The ‘coup’ of July 15 in Turkey failed within hours of its start, and given that it enlisted very limited support within the army itself, some called it not a coup but a ‘mutiny’.

In recent times, there have been many reports, mainly in the West, of unhappiness with Erdogan’s Islamism and authoritarian style of governing, but no one thought that this would translate into a coup. After all, it was not that long ago when the world cheered “The Rise of Turkey”. Under Erdogan’s leadership and with a mix of liberal democracy and neoliberal economic policy, Turkey marched ahead economically. Turkey looked like the poster boy of the Muslim world – modern, progressing and yet Muslim.

However, while the economy was growing, Islamist nationalism also surged unnoticed in the beginning. Islamist nationalism was hailed as Islam’s democratic answer to ‘terrorism’ that in recent times has become the scourge of most Muslim majority nations.

But all of a sudden, the scene changed and the tone became very different – to some, Turkey is now a “failed model” and this is because Erdogan “changed the Constitution for his own benefit and restarted his wicked conflict with the Kurds” (Independent, July 16, 2016) , and yet others argue that “the successful liberalisation in Turkey during the last three decades itself paved the way for Islam’s later authoritarian and conservative incarnations” (The Fall of the Turkish Model: How the Arab Uprisings Brought Down Islamic Liberalism, Cihan Tugal).

So which one of these views is correct?

It is not easy to answer that, but one thing is clear: the way millions poured into the streets at the call of Erdogan to repel the ‘mutiny’, the answer is not the disapproval of Erdogan by his people as their leader nor does it seem to be his governance style, not at this stage at least. Notwithstanding, the fact that there has been a ‘mutiny’ (not coup) indicates that not everything is hunky dory in Turkey these days.

Since its inception as a ‘modern’ state in 1923 under Kemal Ataturk, a post-colonial invention of the West which was built on the ashes of the defeated, humiliated and dismantled Ottoman monarchy, Turkey has rotated between booms and busts, democracy and coups, secularism and Islamism, and this largely depended on the not-so-apparent changing mood of its benefactors. It is no surprise that any effort by Turkey – regardless of whether this is done through a democratic or an authoritarian polity – that pursues nationalistic aspirations at the cost of the hegemon’s agenda in the region is to invite trouble. Like many previous coups, the July 15, 2016 ‘mutiny ‘is no exception and thus, needed to be seen in this context.

Indeed, this ‘mutiny’ is nothing but a culmination of several policy clashes that manifested themselves through Turkey’s resurgent sovereign Islamist nationalist identity that challenged the diktats of geopolitics at different levels, and on many occasions has put Erdogan at odds with the West’s idea of ‘modern’ Tukey – a secularised, de-cultured, de-Islamised ‘lackey’.

In the context of these complex and conflated dynamics, it is difficult to say which of the factors, Erdogan’s authoritarianism or the West’s diminishing control over Turkey, has prompted the mutiny but the picture that emerges – and given that millions poured on the street at the call of Erdogan to foil the mutiny – is that the West’s script that the mutiny has been caused by deficits of democracy is anything but true. The answer lies somewhere else.

Erdogan blames his nemesis, the US based self-exiled cleric Gulen for the mutiny and accordingly, asked the US government to extradite him to face trial in Turkey. In response, the Obama administration asked for evidence of Gulen’s involvement in the mutiny.

Erdogan’s woes started with a number of policy shifts, some good and some terrible, that he initiated lately. Firstly, his move to severe diplomatic ties with Israel in 2013, in the aftermath of the latter’s attack on a Turkish Gaza peace ship, a principled decision, earned him the wrath of a powerful and dangerous foe that many believe to be behind the numerous political and economic unrests that have been plaguing Turkey lately. Secondly, his clash with Russia was unnecessary and proved costly. Most importantly, his government’s alleged patronisation of ISIS has proved to be a grave mistake, and Erdogan has been paying for it since. Thirdly, encouraged by NATO and inspired by his reported personal hatred, Erdogan’s dogged determination to evict Assad in Syria cost Turkey dearly.

However, it is his recent reversals of some of these policies, especially cementing of relationships with Russia and peace overtures to Syria, that have put him at extreme odds with the Zionist/NATO conglomerate, Turkey’s post-colonial ‘nurturer’. Indeed, a delayed and somewhat less-than-strong disapproval of the coup by the NATO is instructive and has prompted speculations that they might have expected a different outcome.

Nevertheless, Erdogan be warned, his adversaries have noted one thing quite clearly that more than the support or non-participation of the loyal faction of his army, it is the people who have foiled the mutiny. They are his main strength and therefore, to ensure that the next coup or ‘revolution’ does not fail, many believe that is quite possible that the hegemon’s nexus will make sure to weaken Erdogan’s support base, the people, by alienating them through the engineering of a false economic crisis (remember Iran’s Mosaddek, Chilli’s Allende!).

Therefore, for Erdogan, the journey ahead is fraught and as he has found out already, a stricter form of authoritarianism and purging of critics is not the solution. The people are his answer and thus the way forward is not to shrink that base but expand it by engaging people to build a Turkey that is economically progressive, politically inclusive and spiritually nourishing.

The writer is a former senior policy manager of the United Nations.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

Jovia, who died on Apr. 29, 2016, suffered from both HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer, a deadly combination affecting thousands of women in Uganda. Credit: Amy Fallon/IPS

By Amy Fallon
KAMPALA, Uganda, Jul 25 2016 (IPS)

Lying on a dirty bed in a crowded, squalid hostel in Kampala, emaciated Jovia, 29, managed a weak smile as a doctor delivered her a small green bottle containing a liquid.

“I’m so happy they’ve brought the morphine,” the mother told IPS, just about the only words she could get out during what would be the last weeks of her life. “It controls my pain and makes my life more bearable.”“As long as radiotherapy is not available in Uganda many more patients will die.” -- Dr. Anne Merriman

Jovia was suffering from both HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer, a deadly combination affecting thousands of women in Uganda. While the east African country had huge success in the battle against the HIV virus in the 1990s, cervical and other cancers are the new health crises gripping the developing nation. One in 500 Ugandans suffers from cancer. But only five per cent of patients will get any form of treatment, facing an often tortuous death.

Thanks to Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU), founded 23 years ago by the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, British-born Dr. Anne Merriman, patients like Jovia are given not only affordable pain-controlling oral liquid morphine, but comfort, hope and dignity in their last days.

At 81, Dr. Merriman is credited with introducing palliative care to Africa. HAU has cared for a total of 27,000 seriously ill and dying people since 1993, the vast majority with the morphine made at its Kampala headquarters for just two dollars a bottle, with government funding.

In Uganda, cancer is usually diagnosed quite late, due to poor screening and lack of health services. According to the country’s Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI), 80 per cent of sufferers die because of late diagnosis.

For patients like Jovia, who passed away peacefully on Apr. 29, leaving a daughter, 14, radiotherapy can cure or extend life when treated in early stages.

A tray of morphine at Hospice Africa Uganda. Credit: Amy Fallon/IPS

But in early April, Uganda’s only radiotherapy machine broke beyond repair. It was used by about 30,000 cancer patients annually. Since then, thousands in need of radiotherapy to cure their cancer, or extend their lives, have been left without vital treatment.

The Ugandan government had purchased a new machine, worth a reported 500,000 dollars, three years ago, but it could not be delivered as special bunkers needed to house the machine had to be built.

Facing an uproar from within Uganda at the lack of radiotherapy services, the government promised a new bunker would be built within six months. Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, offered free treatment for 400 Ugandan cancer patients. The plan was that they would be sent there by the Ugandan government through the UCI.

But more than three months later there is still huge confusion and contradictory reports and statements about the delivery of this promise, and controversy over the delay in getting desperate patients. Despite repeated requests for clarification the UCI nor Uganda’s ministry of health are able to state exactly how many patients – if indeed any – have yet been sent to Kenya for treatment.

Christine Namulindwa, UCI’s public relations officer, pointed out patients going to Nairobi have to go through an “evaluation”, and be approved by a board.

“So far we’ve submitted 15 names to the ministry of health and more are yet to be submitted,” she said last month. The pledge for free treatment from Aga Khan did not cover the cost of transporting patients and upkeep while in Nairobi, she said.

She said there were “patients who are still waiting” and referred IPS to the health ministry for further questions.

On July 1, Professor Anthony Mbonye, Acting Director General of Health services, told IPS via email the ministry of health had “received a budget for supporting patients to Aga Khan and will provide transport and funds for maintenance”.

A lawyer had “cleared a memorandum of understanding between Aga Khan and UCI,” he said.

“The radiotherapy machine was bought, but the bunker is yet to be rehabilitated. In two months’ time the machine will be installed and services will resume.”

Stories in East African papers in early July reported that the “long wait” was “over” for patients, after Aga Khan signed an MOU with UCI, allowing 400 out of 17,000 patients to “receive treatment”. But they did not give a date for when they would go to Kenya.

Another report said only tumour patients with chances of survival, but including those suffering breast and cervical cancer, would be transported to Kenya using government vans. It said accommodation and other support services were being organised by Uganda’s High Commission in Nairobi, and 20 patients have been approved to go. But again it gave no specific date for their transportation.

Two of seven patients have been treated at Aga Khan not through the UCI and the Ugandan government, but through a partnership with HAU and Road to Care, a programme developed by Canadian doctor Joda Kuk. He set up scheme in 2011 after he witnessed women with cervical cancer in rural areas of Uganda needing desperate assistance to get to Kampala for radiotherapy.

Mary Birungi and Mary Gahoire, a mother of three, both from western Uganda, returned home the week of July 21 after travelling to Kenya by road, being housed by Road to Care and completing radiotherapy treatment there. They are now back with their families.

Two more patients are in the middle of treatment this week and and two more will travel to Kenya. The seventh patient is due to go there in the first week of August.

Dr. Anne Merriman pleaded with the Ugandan government to do all in its power to complete the building of the new bunkers so the new radiotherapy machine can be commissioned as soon as possible.

“We are so happy that under Road to Care seven of our patients will be treated in Kenya, but this is just a drop in the ocean,” she said. “The need is huge. There has been so much confusion since the machine broke down, causing huge stress to patients and families. “

“As long as radiotherapy is not available in Uganda many more patients will die.”

On July 23, Professor Mbyonye told IPS that “some” patients have gone to Kenya and had already come back through the agreement between the health ministry and Aga Khan, but couldn’t give more details.

For many though, it’s too late.

Vesta Kefeza, 49, a mother of seven, has advanced cervical cancer. Lying on a mattress on the ground of her one-room home in Namugongo slum, Kampala, she is immobile, as her leg has ballooned due to a complication from the cancer.

She has been on HAU’s programme since 2011 and is administered morphine by their nurses. Uganda became the first country in the world to allow nurses to prescribe the drug in 2004. The hospice team also provides food and spiritual support.

In June, thanks to a donation from Ireland, Kefeza received a wheelchair, allowing her to get out into the fresh air and go to church.

“Until then I lay in bed all day,” she said. “I thank God for my blessings. I am lucky to have HAU caring for me.”

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Commission de l'environnement, de la santé publique et de la sécurité alimentaire

Source : © Union européenne, 2016 - PE

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