Andrew Stegmann

Kenya: We Will Not Admit Foreign Students, Kenya School of Law Says

Beginning next year no foreign students will be admitted at the Kenya School of Law, a directive that has evoked flak from one of the affected countries.

Kenya School of Law Chief Executive Officer Patrick Lumumba said postgraduate students from Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda will no longer be accepted beginning January 2017.

Prof Lumumba, in an internal memo dated November 17, said the decision was made following a directive from the Council of Legal Education (CLE).

“We have received a letter dated October 25 from the Council of Legal Education informing us that non-Kenyans are not eligible for admission to the Advocates Training Programme (ATP) at the Kenya School of Law,” the memo reads.

“In light of the contents of the letter, non-Kenyans should stand informed that the admission committee has not considered their applications.”

CLE Chief Executive Officer Kulundu Bitonye said the decision was arrived at after noting an error in the procedure of admitting foreigners to the institution.

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Andrew Stegmann

Uganda: Qatar Offers Ugandans 40,000 Jobs

The government of the State of Qatar has offered 40,000 jobs to Ugandans beginning 2017, to participate in the 2022 World Cup preparations as well as raise the Ugandan population working there.

According to a press release issued by Uganda’s embassy in Saudi Arabia, the Qatar government announced the offer on Friday after a meeting between its minister of administrative development, labor and social affairs Dr. Eisa Saad Aljafali Al-Naimi and Hajjat Janat Balunzi Mukwaya, the minister of gender, labor and social development, at Qatar’s capital Doha.

“The ministers held preliminary discussions about the Uganda-Qatar bilateral labor framework and exchanged drafts of the proposed agreement for review before the signing ceremony expected in early 2017,” the release reads in part.

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Andrew Stegmann

Home affairs a corrupt hell for refugees

“[The department…] also rejected the recommendations contained in a memorandum proposing practical solutions to the problem,” said the not-for-profit organisation.

As a result of investigations into allegations of extortion, threats and bribery by government officials, Corruption Watch last week opened criminal cases at the Johannesburg Central Police station against three individuals implicated at Marabastad Refugee Reception office.

According to a 2015 UN High Commission for Refugees report, there are currently 3.2 million individuals awaiting decisions on asylum claims globally. And of these, South Africa has the highest number of pending asylum claims, with an astonishing 1 096 100 individuals waiting for their claims to be processed, the report said.

“This points to the lack of efficiency at the DHA in processing such claims. Since 2012, Corruption Watch has received 314 complaints of corruption relating to applications for asylum or refugee status and other immigration-related processes,” the report said.

The findings of the report show that 80% of these complaints involved refugee reception offices (RROs), which implicates home affairs officials, security guards, administrators and interpreters.

“About 17% [of complaints] implicated metro police and other SA Police Service officials, and 74% involved bribes demanded for issuing asylum and refugee permits,” the report states.

The NGO’s executive director, David Lewis, said: “The gatekeepers vary from the security guard who extracts R100 for allowing the refugee to literally enter the gate of the documentation centre, to the department of home affairs official who is custodian of that vital final stamp and whose fee is often measured in thousands of rands.”

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Andrew Stegmann

HOME AFFAIRS VOWS TO CRACKDOWN ON CORRUPTION

A report on asylum seekers in South Africa revealed widespread dodgy dealings at the Home Affairs Department.

JOHANNESBURG – The Home Affairs Department says it’s aware of officials who are trying to undermine its system and has warned they’ll be “dealt with” accordingly.

The department says the initiatives taken to curb corruption within the sector are starting to bear fruit, with over 80 of its officials being arrested so far.

Corruption Watch released a report on asylum seekers in South Africa this week, which revealed widespread dodgy dealings at Home Affairs.

The watchdog found the department failed to respond to a number of allegations of extortion, bribery and threats leveled against its officials by foreign nationals.

Spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete says, “We are aware that there are officials who go to the department and betray the trust that is bestowed upon us as a public office that is supposed to protect the most vulnerable in society. Those people who are engaging in that activity, whether they are officials or members of the public, will be dealt with.”

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