African press review 16 July 2014

SA’s engineering strike looks set to spread, Kenya’s opposition want troops pulled out of Somalia, auditors find most Kenyan counties misuse public money and Uganda charges 97 in relation to this month’s Rwenzori attacks.

According to BusinessDay, the Steel and Engineering Industry Federation of South Africa yesterday withdrew its latest wage offer to striking workers, a move that could result in the expansion of the strike in a critical part of the economy.

The offer involved wage increases of 10 per cent this year, 9.5 per cent next year and 9.0 per cent in 2016.

The striking National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa rejected the offer, insisting on a one-year agreement with a 10 per cent increase or a three-year agreement with a 10 per cent rise each year.

The effect of the strike on the South African economy is a major concern, particularly in the wake of the five-month dispute in the platinum-mining sector.

The union held a strike committee meeting yesterday at which ways of intensifying the strike were discussed. It is understood that, among the options being explored, the union wants to widen the dispute to other sectors where the National Union of Metalworkers is established.

The dispute entered its third week on Tuesday with car assemblers Ford and Toyota announcing the closure of plants in Durban and Pretoria. The motor industry is not directly involved in the wage dispute but depends on components from striking firms.

The employers say the strike is costing the rand equivalent of 20 million euros every day. This includes salaries and wages, profits and allowances for the depreciation of capital equipment and other assets.

Despite that strike, the feeling among South African businesses regarding current trading conditions improved slightly in June as sales volumes and new orders held up despite the weak economic growth environment.

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s trade activity index, released yesterday, rose two points to 52 in June.

The index, which is calculated on the basis of sales volumes, new orders, supplier deliveries, inventory levels and employment, can vary between zero and 100.

In Kenya the front page of the Daily Nation reports that the leader of the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy, Raila Odinga, has asked the government to disclose the number of Kenyan soldiers killed since the beginning of the military

campaign against al-Shebab in Somalia three years ago.

Odinga and other opposition leaders want the government to recall Kenyan soldiers in the wake of attacks in parts of the Coast, Nairobi and northern Kenya.

Odinga has also dared the government to arrest him and other opposition politicians if it has evidence linking them to the recent Lamu and Tana River attacks in which 87 people died.

Across the city at the Standard there's a report on the auditor general's pursuit of billions allocated to county governments and allegedly squandered in wasteful expenditure and even outright diversion to individual pockets. Specifically, the audit identifies misuse of public funds in 33 of Kenya's 47 counties.

In Kiambu, for example, the County Assembly and the Council of Ministers are among the institutions cited for financial malpractices by the Office of the Auditor General.

The auditor found various financial anomalies ranging from the payment of ghost attendants to a conference and the alleged recruitment of under-age workers. Kiambu allegedly hired 10 workers whose ages are indicated as "between zero and one year".

In Uganda the Monitor reports that a general court martial yesterday arraigned and charged 97 of 131 suspects believed to be behind the Rwenzori attacks earlier this month.

Most of the suspects were charged with murder, attempted murder and the illegal possession of fire arms.

Attacks in Bundibugyo, Kasese and Ntoroko, all in the region bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, left more than 90 people dead. Several Rwenzururu kingdom officials, including the prime minister, are among the suspects.