When it finally commenced its work in 1997 after years of inaction, the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was hailed as a giant step in putting resolutions of the global body to practice. For the survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, it was a sign that justice was going to be done and for perpetrators of the horrendous massacres it meant that the end had come. The Tribunal succeeded in sentencing some of the chief architects of the genocide like the former Premier Jean Kambanda who was sent in for life. Notable this was, but this month's release of Jean Bosco Barayagwiza, a prime genocide suspect has cast a dark shadow on the credibility of the Tribunal. Barayagwiza was a senior official in the regime that effected the 1994 killings.
He had been indicted by the Tribunal and was arrested and detained in Cameroon before being extradited to Arusha, Tanzania where the Tribunal sits. But the Appeals Court of the Tribunal has now freed him because the prosecutor's office had failed to inform him of charges against him, had not insisted on his prompt transfer from a jail in Cameroon, and had not presented him before the Tribunal within the specified time period. The Court has now ordered Barayagwiza to be returned to Cameroon. As our correspondent Mary Kimani reports, the decision has not only enraged the Rwandan government which has now withdrawn any co-operation with the Tribunal, but also threatens to erase all past achievements of the Tribunal.
Last month's death of the founding Father of Tanzania Julius Kambarage Nyerere has elicited commentaries about his life. Much more will without doubt be said for generations to come concerning his long career as one of Africa's greatest statesmen. Our Correspondent, Laurenti Magesa looks at Nyerere's life from an ethical point of view. He states that all that Nyerere did was guided by moral considerations.
Despite efforts by the government to hush the issue, higher education in Ghana is in crisis. Rising costs have made it impossible for the ordinary people to send their children to university. The high fees, low staff salaries have elicited the ire of the students who have demonstrated in the streets leading to the closure of many of the universities. Amos Safo reports these developments seriously threaten the future of tertiary education in Ghana. Oil has been discovered in Sudan. The windfall expected from the oil exports have fuelled speculation that the regime in Khartoum might use them to purchase more weapons, Writes Charles Omondi.
Other Stories are on Violence in coffee growing areas in Kenya. In Malawi a woman who marries a foreigner runs the risk of loosing her citizenship. This is unlike her male counterpart who can marry any woman from anywhere without any worry.
