Kenya Stockholm Blog

Passport Renewal Through Embassy Taking More Than 6 Months

If you are a Kenyan citizen and you deposit your old Passport at the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm for a new one, expect to wait for more than half a year. Mrs Anna Okoth, a Kenyan citizen, deposited her passport at the Embassy in March. After she fulfilled all requirements, she was informed by Embassy staff that the Passport would take a maximum of six weeks to process. It is now more than 30 weeks and her Passport is nowhere to be seen.

Several contacts with the Kenyan Embassy have not yielded any progress. When she first phoned the Embassy after three months of waiting, she spoke to a white Swedish woman who refused to give her name. The lady had no explanations as to why her passport had delayed. She promised that she would write a letter to Nairobi to find out what had happened. She never communicated again.

The next time Ann took contact with the Embassy, she was told that the Passport “is coming next week” with the diplomatic baggage. The kabaggage normally comes on a Thursday or Friday and she was told that she would be notified by phone so that she could pick up the Passport immediately. Nothing happened and the Official she spoke to has never made a single contact  for an update.

Ann then started getting worried so she got in touch with KSB for help. That was in June. KSB is interested in exposing irregularities at the Embassy especially corruption, land grabbing at the residence, mistreatment of supportive staff, negative attitude of the Ambassador towards Kenyans, corruption, human smuggling or anything that could lead to a bashing of the Kenyan Embassy. This is because the Embassy has a long history of “Non delivery” so we took up the matter.

I called the Embassy and spoke to Mr. George Kinyua, the First secretary. He said that the Embassy had no explanations as to why the Passport had delayed but promised to get in touch with Nairobi to find out what may have happened. Nothing happened.

Two days ago, KSB made a fresh contact with the Embassy to follow up the matter. I spoke to Jenipher Awuor, a senior lady at the Embassy who also promised that she would get in touch with Nairobi to find out what may have happened. She promised to write a letter. The waiting continues.

It looks like there is a standard procedure at the Embassy when questions regarding delays of Passports come up and talking to Nairobi to find out what may have happened or promising to write a letter to Nairobi “to remind them” are the weapons of choice. Then there is talk about the diplomatic bag coming “next week”. Since March, that bag has now come and gone more than 30 times and the Embassy needs to say clearly the number of diplomatic bags that are still expected before the Passport arrives.

Embassy staff may not share the blame completely and they may argue that once they dispatch a Passport to Nairobi for a new one, they simply have to wait. Unfortunately, Passports have been disappearing on their way back to the Embassy. There is the case of Grace whose Passport “got lost” on its way back from Kenya and she had to begin the whole process once again. What exactly happens to Passports dispatched to Kenya and why do they delay or get lost altogether?

A simple extension of a Passport is normally done at the Embassy almost immediately and you don’t have to wait. When your Passport is forwarded to Nairobi for a new one, make sure you don’t need to travel immediately.

The latest Permanent Resident Permits (PUT) issued by the Swedish government is valid for an indefinite period of time. Once your Passport arrives in Nairobi with the Permit on one of its pages, investigations from Nairobi has revealed that the Passport begins to undergo a unique transformation to make it possible for the document to be used for human smuggling. For a Passport brought in before it expires completely (sometimes it could have 3-4 months to go), the experts in Nairobi simply change the picture and its ready for use. This is not done in some back street workshop but at the department of Immigration.

AMBASSADOR PURITY HAS FAILED AT THE EMBASSY
As you wait for your Passport to be processed, it is in fact being used to transport human beings across boarders. Once the Passport expires, the next task is to try and transfer the Permit on it to a new Passport (with the details of the owner except the picture) so that it could be used further. We were told that this is a much more difficult task because of the “high-tech” adhesive normally used to paste the Permit on the Passport.

“There are guys who know how to do it using a special chemical”, said the contact in Nairobi.  Our contact said that it is partly for this reason that the United States has been working with the idea of “Biological Passports” to beat this kind of fraud. When asked why the Passports have to disappear, he said that sometimes, the old passport which had not expired has too many stamps which might bring questions in case it is returned to the owner and the same case applies to any new Passport which has already been used.

Anybody who can change a picture on a Passport without leaving traces that the Passport has been tampered with could make that Passport available for use by second or third parties. Corruption at the Department of Immigration is so rife that we were told that changing pictures on Kenyan “Passports of value” is almost routine. They are called “Chambele” Passports.  Kenyans are paying as much as half a million Kenyan shillings to be smuggled out of Kenya. For this reason, any Passport that could be used to make money has to be delayed as long as possible.   

In a developing scandal, the Kenyan Embassy has been in crisis because it has been bringing in people from all walks of life as “Diplomatic staff” and once they go through the process and enter Sweden, they are “sacked” from their diplomatic positions to pave way for new “recruits”. The process, which involves a huge amount of cash as “smuggling fees” (one Kenyan paid 430.000), has been going on with the very knowledge of H.E Plenipotentiary.

A victim who was “sacked” after arriving in Sweden and told to look for his own ways into the Swedish society nearly blew up the scandal in the Swedish media before he was prevailed upon by temporarily being taken care of.

When asked why he did not have a “Diplomatic Passport”, he said that he is not a diplomat. “There are house maids working for diplomatic staff without status but they passed through Jomo Kenyatta (International Airport)”, he said. “The difference between me and them is that they have a house they are living in”, he added, hardening his face as if thinking of shooting someone.

He was referring to maids permanently locked in villas and threatened with deportation in case they open their mouths about their condition. They are normally paid 1000 kr per month or less and told to shut up because that amount is an equivalent of Ksh 10.000 which no maid can dream of earning in Kenya.  In the meantime, the boss informs Nairobi that he/she has a maid being paid a salary according to Swedish labour laws ie 15.000 kr per month. By keeping the maid locked ina de house, the boss is making 14.000 kr. For Kenyan diplomats in Sweden, the practice of employing maids is a lucrative business although you might call it corruption if you like!

There is more than meets the eye with more than 6 month delays with Kenyan Passports presented for renewal through the Embassy. This is not to say that Embassy staff are involved in human smuggling. There are a few “Top brass” who are in the know and the matter is a well guided secret. If you are a Swedish citizen and you need a Passport, you get it in an hour whether you are in Sweden or abroad. What is wrong with our country?

The Ambassador Mrs Purity Muhindi, has been nonchalant and opaque to criticism because she knows that she will be packing her belongings and probably taking the first flight to Nairobi once Kibaki loses power. Her attitude, we were told, is to exploit her position as much as possible because as a Political scientist, the 47 year old has done her analysis so whether Osewe writes in the blog or not, she is focused.

It is also for this reason that she does not care about Wakenya in Stockholm. It is only recently that Wakenya began to accept the fact that Ambassador Michael Sergon and Mukiri Kinyanjui were better off because regardless of criticisms, they maintained a link with Wakenya. With Passports taking more than six months to process without Purity being able to intervene, the Kenyan Embassy should as well be closed down.

As a woman at the helm at the Embassy, Purity is showing a very bad example because she is promoting the perception that Women Ambassadors are bogus because they cannot put pressure even in situations in which they are in control. The last two Ambassadors  had their own weaknesses but they were much better than Purity who has cut off herself from Wakenya. If President Kibaki has failed in Kenya, Ambassador Purity has failed at the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm.

Okoth Osewe
 

August 30, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

Brother Of Jailed Kenyan Speaks To KSB

An elder brother of a Kenyan who was recently jailed for allegedly infecting a Swedish girl with HIV virus has questioned the validity of the sentence. Speaking to KSB, the brother said that he was in court and that according to evidence adduced, the girl cheated his brother about her real age before the couple went to bed.

The brother told KSB that the lady has a big body and that although she is currently sixteen, it is not possible for someone to believe that she is under age. “She looks big and mature”, he said.

The brother, who chose to remain anonymous for the sake of protecting his younger brother’s identity, told KSB that he was surprised that the Judge ignored evidence that was given by a Swedish virologist who confirmed to the court that it could not be ascertained that the strain of the virus the lady was carrying was the same strain his brother was infected with.

According to the brother, the Swedish Professor told the court that HIV virus contracted through blood transfusion behaves differently from that transmitted through sexual intercourse. The brother is disappointed that the court did not take further steps to compare the strains of viruses that were in the blood of both his brother and his accuser. He believes that if this test had been conducted, his brother could probably have been freed.

The brother concurred that circumstances surrounding the case were vague and that further investigations should have been conducted not just to clear the air but also to challenge the very foundation of the charge. He pointed out that his brother had not been found guilty of rape charges and that this was evidence that his accusers had not been truthful.

He told KSB that he did not support people transmitting HIV knowingly and hoped that members of the Kenyan community will take advantage of the case to test themselves. He also thanked Wakenya who have been praying for his brother together with a group of Kenyan Christians who recently gave his brother a bible.

“It will soon be possible for people to visit my brother in jail. What Kenyans and friends need to do is simply to book time with the prison authorities”, he said.

He said that his brother is open for visits as soon as this is possible and asked Wakenya to keep a high standard of morality despite the tragedy that had struck his family.

The HIV positive Kenyan was arrested more than a month ago and charged with raping and infecting two Swedish women with HIV virus. He was jailed for three years and ordered to pay a fine of Ksh 8 million in compensation to a 16 year old Swedish girl he allegedly infected with the HIV virus. The Kenyan’s lawyer has said that he will file an appeal against the sentence.

Okoth Osewe
 

August 29, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

Who Is Next In The Swedish “System Of Injustice?”

I am just creeping back into activity after a brief lull. I spent the whole of last week “gathering information” from KSB reporters and it is unfortunate that there are some news items which have been overtaken by events and might have to be ditched. KSB is just beginning to catch up so keep yourself tuned to the channel.

The HIV positive Kenyan who was charged with raping two Swedish women and allegedly infecting them with HIV was eventually jailed for three years. According to the judgment, the Kenyan will be deported immediately after he completes his sentence after which he will be banned from entering Sweden for life. That is on top of an Ksh 8 million compensation package to a woman he allegedly infected with the HIV virus. The Kenyan was found “not guilty” on the rape charges he was facing.

This is how the Swedish justice system fools the public. Under normal circumstances, a rape charge normally carries a prison term of at least two years while the fine (compensation) normally begins at 70.000 kr (around Ksh 700.000). The Kenyan was freed of the rape charges but the sentence he was handed far much exceeds the average period in cases of rape while the fine is more than ten times the average in known rape cases which manage to attract a conviction. Observers could be relieved that he was freed of the rape charges but the big point is that the “not guilty” verdict was surpassed by the heavy penalty in terms of the jail term and the fine.

The point which the prosecution ignored completely is the question of “who might have infected who” under the shady circumstances that came up in court. The Kenyan admitted that when he arrived in Sweden, he was HIV positive, having contracted the virus after a blood transfusion in Kenya. The accused was an asylum seeker and this means that he might have tested positive when he arrived in Sweden since it is routine that all asylum seekers have to be tested for HIV and those found positive exposed to counseling where they are normally told to inform any potential sexual contact about their HIV status. They are normally advised to use condoms during any articulation and warned of serious legal consequences if they infect a Swede or anybody with the virus. When the Kenyan was charged, he could not deny his HIV status because the Swedish state already had his data.

A major weakness which was exploited by the prosecution is the fact that there was no telling whether it is the Kenyan who actually infected the Swedish woman with HIV. This is a crime which was committed two years ago but never reported immediately and what was not clear is whether the Kenyan is the only person who went to bed with the then 14 year old Swede between the time she had sex with the Kenyan and the time she tested positive.

There was no serious investigation as to whether the Swedish woman had any sexual contacts with anybody else after she spread her legs to the Kenyan because the Swedish authorities bought her version of the story – that she had no contact. It took her two good years to report the crime and it should be interesting that although she willingly accepted to strip her pants down for the Kenyan brother to consume the goods, she “closed the door” thereafter only to emerge in court with a case of “HIV infection”. Could this have been possible in the real world?

Another disturbing aspect of the case is that the Swedish woman claimed that the Kenyan had raped her at the time she was allegedly infected with HIV virus. The rape charge was dismissed by the court. By dismissing the rape aspect of the case, a logical conclusion is that the Swede lied to the Court, a very serious crime that should have raised credibility questions and reliability of evidence. How then did the court trust her when it came to transmission of the virus because the assumption was that prior to her discovery that she was HIV positive, she had only been laid by the Kenyan.

A virologist who testified at the trial told the court that it could not be ascertained that the strain of the virus the lady was carrying is the same strain the Kenyan was carrying so how did the court conclude that the Kenyan was responsible for the transmission. A Swedish girl who goes around spreading her legs at 14 years could easily fall under the bracket of a “sexmaniac”, a whore or a related category. It is therefore unlikely that for a whole 24 months before she reported the crime, she managed to keep her legs together. Could she have climaxed during another articulation where she could have absorbed the virus? These curious questions might never be answered unless something dramatic happens at the appeal level.

Surely. How could a 14 year old white Swedish girl have been raped by a dark Nigger direct from Africa then this serious crime fails to be reported to police immediately by minders or the next of kin? Where were the parents of this underage kid and in case they knew about the rape, what were they thinking about for two good years? Following the anti-African Swedish media propaganda, a rape case by a Nigger of a minor is even more serious because of the high “HIV profile” of Africans on Swedish TV screens so how comes that this crime went unreported?

The fact of the matter is that this kid was hooked in a pub. How comes that a 14 year old was zonking in a pub when the law in Sweden (and many countries) is clear that under 18s are to keep off pubs and other drinking environments?

DELIVERY OF JUSTICE IN SWEDEN IS PROPORTIONAL TO SKIN COLOUR
I have scanned through the Swedish media which reported the story but, as usual, there was no analysis. For the Swedish media, the center of interest in the story was that another Nigger who might have been infecting white Swedish girls was eventually found guilty and given the right treatment – 3 years in jail, 800.000 kr fine and deportation “For life” – good riddance!

For the Swedish public which believes the Media hype, it is time to increase “security” when it comes to romantic or sexual contacts with Africans because “look at what has happened. Another one has infected our daughter with HIV”. For the community of racists and Neo-nazi groups, it is time to push for that political agenda of expelling Africans from Sweden because they are infecting our underage girls with the lethal virus. They have no mercy. The media ensured that they mentioned that the culprit is a Kenyan. We hope that Wakenya nestling with “just seduced” Swedish women did not have to go through any HIV test or lose the bird altogether in a moment of real panic.

When a Kenyan announced through the media some years back that he was HIV positive, some Kenyan-Swedish romantic relationships entered into deep crisis while others simply collapsed. The few and lucky Kenyans who had just began the process of smooching white partners found themselves in the HIV testing line-ups to save their relationships as the impact of the revelations also took root.  The damage is that the media hype about this latest unproven case might have drastically reduced the “romantic marketability” of Kenyan males in ways that cannot yet be quantified. In fact, even Kenyan girls who might have landed a whitie might discover that the new catch could be under threat because of the tension associated with the case playing itself in the media. This is the truth of the matter (Ukweli wa mambo).

The image which remains behind in the Swedish psyche with this kind of conviction is that Niggers are actually the main carriers of HIV in Sweden and that they are doing everything possible to infect innocent white Swedish girls whom they manage to dupe. Don’t worry that the girl in question was not the official girlfriend of the Kenyan ie it could have been a one night stand. The fact that she was picked up from a pub and catapulted right to the bedroom where she quickly downloaded her pants, toe off her bra and what have you should speak volumes about the character herself.

Was this Kenyan the first to have pulled this kind of move or was the girl in the pub as part of her routine pastime to look for muscles that could make her scream? It might sound like a joke but these kind of girls are known to exist in this country if only you know where to look.  Was this conviction based on serious police investigations or was it based on a pre-set line of State thinking which had to end with a jail term and a huge fine to rekindle the “Africans have Aids” debate in Sweden?

It should be remembered that even before the trial began, the Swedish police were parroting on “many Swedish girls” who might have been infected by the Kenyan. These girls never came to be because the police was speculating at a time when they were supposed to have been conducting meticulous investigations.

From the start, there was something “kinky” about the whole case. The Kenyan had been married to a Swedish woman at the time of his arrest. Many Kenyans do not know him as a womanizer who could have been cruising left, right and center with his Kanta-cruise Kenyan missile, firing into every available target he could capture on his highly seductive radar screen. He had his own personal problems but he did not fit into the profile of a reckless maniac out to destroy the lives of Swedish women with the HIV virus simply because he carried the virus.

Although he was convicted and found guilty, KSB believes that there are aspects of the case which could have rendered it “untenable” if they were pursued. If you are an African taken to a Swedish court and you hear the prosecutor arguing that “we believe” what the Swede is saying, you should understand that you are going to jail.

Billy Boy, a Kenyan Rapper, was sent to jail for one year some times back for allegedly assaulting a Swedish woman. The crime was reported two years later. We were in court. The Swede alleged that she had “blue marks” on her face out of a beating but police told the court that they never saw any such marks when they arrived at the scene. The marks were never documented by a doctor either, a procedure which should have been routine especially in a case of brutality by a Nigger and in which marks had been inflicted. In the end, the court “believed the Swede” and Billy went to jail. The case of this Kenyan should be seen in a similar light.

Nobody should protect any renegade infected with HIV and transmitting it because any deliberate transmission of HIV is equal to murder. In the same token, nobody should be sent to jail on allegations which cannot be substantiated especially on the question of HIV transmission. We might be wrong. But the case of this Kenyan national deserved a closer examination because the signal it is sending to Kenyans and the wider African community is that the delivery of Justice in Sweden is proportional to the color of the skin.

Juliet Kavinga was murdered in Sweden but despite the availability of “hard evidence” to support a conviction, the Swedish suspect was set free. We have a weak case of alleged HIV transmission and the suspect has been sent to jail without critical aspects of the case getting a comprehensive examination. The question now is not why the Kenyan was sent to jail without ample evidence but who is next in the “Swedish System Of Injustice”.

Okoth Osewe    

August 27, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

In Memory Of The August 1st 1982 Coup Leaders In Kenya

August 1st 2007 was a day when the memory of the 1982 August coup in Kenya was observed by those concerned. During this period of reminisce, the Kenya People’s Democratic Movement (KESDEMO) joins other Kenyans in remembering more than 2000 Kenyans who were killed during the coup attempt on August 1st 1982, a coup whose main objective was to topple the former dictatorship of Daniel arap Moi. At that time, Kenya was under a corrupt and ruthless one Party dictatorship which tortured, killed and maimed numerous innocent citizens especially those who were opposed to the regime.
 
KESDEMO is aware that the attempted coup has often come under attack by bourgeoisie media commentators who have notoriously portrayed it as a criminal act that should not have been organized in the first place. Courageous coup leaders like Hezekiah Ochuka have, at times, been portrayed in a negative light while shortly before the commemoration last year, Kenyans witnessed a hysterical call by demented critics in both the Church and the corrupt Kibaki administration that Raila Odinga be prosecuted after he admitted his involvement in the coup in his biography.
 
The official view of KESDEMO is that at the time of the coup, the Moi dictatorship had closed down all possible avenues for democratic change and under the difficult circumstances, those who organized the coup simply did what was necessary to try and bring about change in our country. The second option could have been a bloody and protracted armed struggle to overthrow the Moi dictatorship or mobilization for a mass insurrection especially after Moi started managing Kenya like a private company. 
 
That said, KESDEMO takes this opportunity to remember coup leaders who were executed by former dictator Moi between 9th and 10th July 1985 after a conspiracy that resulted in their deportation from Tanzania where they had been granted asylum. A very important chapter of Kenya’s history will probably never be written because Moi’s thirst for the blood of the coup leaders led him to execute them at Kamiti maximum security prison.  The body of Hezekiah Ochuka, the coup leader, has never been buried by his family.
 
KESDEMO shares in the pain of families who lost their loved ones at the hands of pro-Moi forces who returned him to power after the former dictator was successfully overthrown and an announcement to that effect made over the then Voice of Kenya (VOK).
 
Specifically, KESDEMO remembers Hezekiah Ochuka, Pancras Oteyo Okumu, Charles Oriwa Hongo, Robert Odhiambo Ndege, Bramwell Injeni Njeremani, Fenwicks Chesoli Obuon, Joseph Ogidi Obuon, Charles Mirasi Odawa, Walter Odira Ojode, Edward Adel Omollo, James Odemba Otieno and George Akoth Otila whose execution orders were signed by Moi himself.
 
Obviously, the coup leaders might not have had a revolutionary Program for change or a clear anti-capitalist agenda currently necessary in our country. However, these heroic Kenyans deserve to be recognized for their courage and the extra-ordinary steps they took to try and free Kenya from the tight grip of a marauding autocrat who had become totally drunk with power.
 
Through the Kenya People’s Redemption Council (KPRC) under which the coup was organized, the coup leaders were struggling against corruption, tribalism, nepotism, cronyism, political opportunism, looting of public resources, dictatorship, poverty, underdevelopment, starvation wages at the barracks, external dependencies, internal exploitation and political marginalization of different ethnic groups.
 
These are problems that continue to plague Kenya more than two decades after the coup and even Narc government (led by the aging Kibaki) has been unable to address these problems since the Party took power in January 2002 because of ideological bankruptcy, narrow self interest and political opportunism.
 
Although some Kenyans have disagreed with the coup leaders especially on their main method of seizing power, KESDEMO believes that the Ochukas and everybody who paid with their lives in the struggle to remove Moi from power needs to be duly recognized because they were forward thinking Kenyans yearning to liberate that country. Barely four years after Moi took power, Ochuka and other coup leaders understood that it would be impossible to remove him from power through “democratic elections” and this is the perspective that ignited them to plan and execute the coup. Kenyans celebrated for a moment after announcement over the then Voice of Kenya.
 
Twenty years after the coup, Moi did rig himself back to power in four subsequent elections thereby confirming the thesis of Ochuka and his compatriots who tried to use force. In fact, Moi quit in 2002 only after he was forced to open the democratic space to allow for more parties and when he noticed that possibilities of rigging another election was impossible because of mass pressure. In any case, the former dictator was growing old and he understood that he had to go soone rather than later.
 
In the middle of Nairobi, a monument was erected to remember Kenyans who died in the second world war, an imperialist war that had nothing to do with the liberation of our country. In almost every region in Kenya where there is a military barrack, there is a British War Cemetery devoted to British soldiers who died during both the second world war and the Mau Mau war of liberation.
 
Every year in our country, the British Embassy in Nairobi organizes celebrations to remember and honor “Fallen British heroes” who killed our own people during British colonial occupation. What is pathetic is that at these celebrations, top Kenyan military personnel (Rank of Major and above) are normally incorporated to “salute” at grave yards in memory of fallen soldiers who took away the lives of hundreds of fellow Kenyans during one of history’s darkest hour in our country.
 
KESDEMO believes that the use of Kenyan military personnel during these rituals should stop while the Movement also thinks that monuments should be built to honor Kenyan heroes who paid with their lives during the Mau Mau war of liberation and the August 1982 coup attempt. Numerous Kenyans lost their lives during the struggle for political pluralism but now, they have all been forgotten.
 
The view of KESDEMO is that a government worth its salt should address the issue of compensation to suffering families of the fallen, anti-colonial, anti Moi heroes in our country and this will not happen if a government that recognizes these heroes is not put into place. The Kibaki government is not such government and that is why KESDEMO has joined hands with ODM-K to remove this corrupt government from power.  
 
Today, if President Mwai Kibaki abolishes all avenues for political change by banning political parties, KESDEMO will be the first to support the idea of another coup against the regime without any apologies.

Martin Ngatia
Chairperson
Kenya Scandinavia Democratic Movement (KESDEMO)

August 2, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

African Union – Diaspora Meeting In Stockholm

The Africa Union Sunmit of January 2006 held in Khartoum, Sudan, endorsed South Africa as the host of the African Diaspora Summit to be held during the first quarter of 2008. This includes the preceding Ministerial Conference, Senior Officials Meeting, a National Consultative Conference and an AU Consultative Conference. Pursuant to this decision, Paris, United Kingdom, Latin America, North America and the Caribbean have been designated as the nodal points that would host Regional Consultative Conferences in preparation for the aforesaid Summit.

Following extensive discussions, it was decided that the Africa – African Diaspora in Europe Consultative Conference will be held in Paris on 11 – 12 September 2007.
 
The purpose of the 2008 Summit in South Africa will be to create sustainable partnerships between the African Diaspora and the continent through a realizable programme of action and creating sustainable dialogue, partnerships and strengthening Pan-Africim Solidarity for a better Africa and its Diaspora;
 
The principal partners in the organisation of the Summit are the African Union Commission and the South African Government. Participants will include ministers, parliamentarians, business people, academics, civil society and NGOs from the various African Union regions of the Diaspora.
 
In Paris, the event will involve the co-operation of South African Embassies based in the European Union, with the exception of London, which is a separate nodal point.
 
In order to assist and support the endeavours of the South African Government and specifically the South African Embassies in Paris and Sweden, organisations representing the African Diaspora in Sweden are kindly requested to urgently identify a maximum of two representatives to discuss how the Africa Diaspora in Sweden can contribute to theprocess. The intention is for the South African Embassy to host such meeting and obtain inputs from as many representatives of the major African Diaspora groups in Sweden.
 
The meeting will be held in Stockholm on 3 August 2007. The venue and exact time will be made known.
 
We would thus appreciate if the names and detail of the representatives could be supplied as soon as possible.
 
Yours sincerely
 
SR MAKGETLA AMBASSADOR

August 2, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment