African Press Review 07 October 2014 South Africas new Reserve Bank governor, Kenyas president and the International Criminal Tribunal and sharing Nile water - all in todays African papers ... No prizes for guessing that the main story in South Africa this morning centres on the nomination of Lesetja Kganyago as the new governor of the Reserve Bank. According to financial paper BusinessDay, the markets welcomed the appointment, seen as a guarantee of stability and continuity. Kganyago, an economist who was director-general of the Treasury before he joined the South African central bank as a deputy governor in 2011, and fellow deputy governor Daniel Mminele were the two candidates favoured by the market to take over from Gill Marcus. The rand was buoyed by the news of Kganyagos appointment, gaining nearly one percent against the dollar. The BusinessDay editorial says President Jacob Zuma has done the right thing in appointing Lesetja Kganyago. Now Zuma and his government should follow through by putting more competent professionals in charge of key state institutions, and by making such appointments promptly and transparently. Further down the BusinessDay front page, theres bad news for Kganyago and the South African economy generally. The country has slipped from 89th last year to 93rd in the 2014 Economic Freedom Index. In 1995, South Africa ranked 42nd on the list. The index tracks 152 countries, ranking how supportive their laws and institutions are with regard to economic freedoms such as personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete and security of private property. This years top five places go to: Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland and Mauritius (thats the first time an African country has appeared in the top five). At the bottom of the rankings are Venezuela, Congo Brazzaville, Argentina, Zimbabwe and Algeria. On its African pages, BusinessDay reports that Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta confirmed yesterday that he will go to the International Criminal Court, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity. He will become the first sitting president to appear before the ICC. Hes due in The Hague courtroom on Wednesday. He faces five charges over his alleged role in masterminding post-election violence in 2007 and 2008 that left 1,200 people dead and 600,000 displaced. Kenyatta has appeared at the ICC before but not since being elected president in March last year. He is due to attend a status conference hearing, after prosecutors asked for an indefinite delay in his trial because Nairobi has refused to hand over documents. In Kenya itself, the main story in the Nairobi-based Standard looks at the implications of Kenyattas formal handing over of his authority and functions to his deputy, William Ruto, for the duration of his absence in The Hague. The acting president enjoys wide-ranging powers and authority accorded to his boss by the Constitution. However, says the Standard, the law spells out specific functions that the acting president cannot perform. He cannot, for example, appoint judges or any other public officers who are normally appointed by the president; the deputy cannot appoint or dismiss Cabinet Secretaries or other State officers; he cannot appoint or dismiss high commissioners, ambassadors, diplomatic or consular representatives. Likewise, he cannot exercise the power of mercy which is a preserve of the President and cannot confer honours on individuals in the name of the republic. Over at sister paper the Daily Nation, theres a warning of a regional war unless a new treaty on the use of Nile water is drawn up. Yesterday, participants gathered at Nairobis InterContinental Hotel for the Fourth Nile Basin Development Forum warning of conflicts over water if a new agreement is not reached. There are 11 countries in the Nile Basin Initiative, established in 1999 to negotiate a treaty on the use of the river. Egypt is no longer willing to take part in negotiations, and was represented at yesterdays forum by its ambassador to Nairobi. In Uganda, the Daily Monitor gives pride of place to yesterdays official hand-over of power from former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi to Ruhakana Rugunda. Mbabazi, sacked in a reshuffle last month, refused to comment on his supposed presidential ambitions, but said he would continue to execute his duties as secretary general of the ruling National Resistance Movement. (RFI)
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 17:18:36 +0000
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