African press review 14 January 2014

Egypt votes on a new constitution, Kenya counts the cost of a new railway and ups the price of tourism and Museveni tells his enemies to go to Hell.

The Egypt Independent reports that the Strong Egypt Party is boycotting today's referendum on the constitution.

The April 6 Movement, also boycotting the vote and banned from polling stations, says its members will participate in monitoring the referendum from outside the stations.
The group says that it will list any violations that may take place outside polling stations during the voting days. The movement will also issue periodic reports to assess the referendum process.

A source from the Muslim Brotherhood told the Cairo-based Independent that the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy has prepared “surprises” to disrupt the referendum and also plans to stage a sit-in in Tahrir Square.

The Independent also reports that Egypt's state TV company has barred employees from watching the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera channel while at work.

Egypt ordered the closure of Al-Jazeera's Egypt service and recently detained members of its English service. Egypt accuses the channel of biased coverage of the political scene since the removal of former president Mohamed Morsi last July.

There's trouble brewing in the Kenyan transport sector, according to the front page of this morning's Nairobi-based Standard newspaper.

The proposed Standard Gauge Railway from Mombasa through Nairobi to the Kenya-Uganda border will need to charge six times the current road or rail rates or be given billions of shillings in taxpayer subsidies every year if it is to be profitable, according to a study of the 12-billion-euro project to be presented to parliament.

The report, which will form part of the evidence of those against the project, dismisses as “government propaganda” claims of the commercial viability of the proposed rail link.

The transport ministry has dismissed the report, maintaining that the cost of transport will be reduced by 60 per cent once the new link is in place. The ministry insists that the new railway will not require any government subsidies.

Across Nairobi at the Daily Nation there's a report that the Kenya Wildlife Service has increased fees for tourists visiting national parks, game reserves and other wildlife sanctuaries, sparking an outcry from key players in the tourism sector.

The new fees are to take account of new VAT rates agreed last September.

Foreign visitors to Amboseli Reserve will now have to pay $88, up from $80.

Tour companies say Kenya is already losing potential tourists to Tanzania where game parks charge lower fees.

There's nothing subtle about the main headline in this morning's Kampala-based Daily Monitor: "Go to Hell, Museveni tells city protestors."

According to the story, individuals or groups who insist on holding demonstrations in busy business areas were advised to go to Hell by President Yoweri Museveni.

The president’s comments at a conference of regional police chiefs also included fresh praise for Uganda’s police forces whose response to protests has been criticised as high-handed, brutal and extreme.

The conference was convened in light of the Arab Spring revolutions across north Africa and the Middle East.

Another story in the same Monitor suggests the president's determination to keep the capital free of protests could be tested as early as this morning.

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago plans to force his way back into his office at City Hall today, despite opposition from the government.

Lukwago said he will set off from his home in Rubaga at 10.00am this morning, together with his supporters, and head to City Hall to reenter his office.

Lukwago has been refused access to his office since a meeting of the Kampala Capital City Authority voted to impeach him on 25 November last, in defiance of a court order stopping the impeachment process.