African press review 16 September 2013

Young voters in South Africa and more on the International Criminal Court in today's African papers....

A power failure has halted the Marikana inquiry in South Africa.

According to this morning's edition of the financial paper BusinessDay, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding 44 deaths during strike-related unrest at Marikana in 2012 has been postponed until Wednesday.

The head of one of the legal teams involved said on Sunday that his staff had not been able to examine the police evidence as a result of a power failure at the South African Police Services’ Centurion office.

Also in BusinessDay, a report that President Jacob Zuma on Sunday used the 69th anniversary celebrations of the African National Congress Youth League to mobilise the estimated 4-million young people who have yet to register to vote in the 2014 general election.

The ANC Youth League, which is regarded by many as a former shadow of itself, is expected to be a critical part of the party’s election machinery. At least 20% of the voting population in 2014 will be young people, many of them first-time voters.

Nearly 75% of South African young people aged between 20 and 29 - most of whom are seen to be leading-service delivery protests at local government level - did not vote in the 2011 municipal elections.

There's a remarkable human interest story in this morning's Kenyan Daily Standard.

Ninety-five year old Magdalene Kesumo has two loyal wives with whom she has 12 children and 20 grandchildren. Yes, you heard that correctly: Magdalene Kesumo is 95, and she's a woman.

According to The Standard, Kesumo is ‘husband’ to Flomena and Roseline Kogo, with whom she has lived happily for the last three decades.

The wives, married in 1972 and 1978, have seven and five grown up children respectively, and over 20 grandchildren.

Kesumo is among many Kalenjin women who have resorted to the age-old practice of woman-to-woman marriage.

This union is different from the same-sex relationships practised by lesbians, says The Standard. It is a custom designed by Nandi forefathers to care for barren women in the community, giving them a chance to have a family.

Elsewhere, The Standard is dominated by news from The Netherlands where the first witness at the International Criminal Court will testify later today against Deputy President William Ruto.

The 37-year-old witness, will give testimony about the events of 1 January, 2008, when a group of thirty mostly Kikuyu women and children took refuge at Kiambaa Church where they were burnt to death.

She will also testify about the alleged planning meetings attended by Ruto at a prominent politician’s home in the Rift Valley where she worked as a cook.

The Standard says that ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda appears to have suffered another setback with allegations that four other witnesses whose evidence linked the Deputy President to the Kiambaa fire incident have withdrawn from the process.

The second witness due to be heard is Herve Maupeu, an expert who will provide a history of the violence that rocked the country after the disputed December, 2007 presidential election.

A letter in the same paper from one Anderson Omoto, of Kakamega, concerns the Kenyan government attempts to withdraw from the International Criminal Court mechanism.

Anderson Omoto points out that the ICC was established to investigate, prosecute and try individuals (not states) accused of committing crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.

The court is, says Mr Omoto, a critical element in the process of civilisation. A civilised world is a world with less impunity and a reduced capacity to commit atrocities. The ICC was created to ensure this. Why is it being bashed by some African states?

For Kenya to agitate to pull out of a UN organ because of two cases involving powerful individuals is not only dishonest and short-sighted but also retrogressive, backwards and a dent to civilisation.

Sister paper The Daily Nation reports that Kenyans working and living in South Sudan have raised concerns about security.

On Sunday, the community accused the Kenyan Embassy in Juba of doing little to ensure their security.

More than 20 Kenyans have lost their lives in suspicious circumstances since the independence of South Sudan, raising concerns over the security of foreigners in Africa’s newest nation.