Day: April 22, 2023

An unidentified woman’s body was on Friday afternoon found hanging on a tree in the bushes of the Camp Five at Otjiwarongo.

Camp Five is situated approximately 10 kilometres southeast of town.

Namibian Police Force (NamPol) Unit Commander for Community Affairs in the Otjozondjupa Region, Inspector Maureen Mbeha, in an interview with Nampa on Saturday said the body, which was hanging on the tree with a rope around its neck, was discovered by a cattle herder on Friday at about 14h10.

‘The herder informed his employer, who then also alerted the police officers who removed the body,’ Mbeha said.

The identity of the deceased could not be determined as no documents were found on her body.

No foul play is suspected and police investigations continue.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Prime Minister (PM), Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, said public private partnerships (PPP) are encouraged at all levels of government, including regional and local authority levels to improve quality service rendered to the public.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila made the statement at the eighth annual Opuwo Trade Fair gala dinner held on Friday.

She said trade fair was a key platform to any given economy, since it encourages PPP’s on which government leverages on the existing private sector for the benefit of the economy’s growth.

“With this understanding, regional and local authority are strategically located in such a way that they engage in PPP projects such as this one. This makes them the first point of interaction between the state and our business community and the citizen at large,” the premier stated.

She said regional and local authorities play a pivotal role in service delivery, therefore funding from both government and private sector is key to foster sustainable development.

She said government has intentionally adopted the public service innovation policy, which is intended to trigger new ways of thinking, which is expected to result in new ways of working to meet the current demands of service delivery.

“I must state here that this policy is calling for collaboration across sectors of the economy while paying attention on the key role played by government. In this modern world, no institution will propel to greater levels while operating in isolation,” she added.

According to her, innovation is a culture that should be adopted at all levels of society in order to fast-track the reality of Vision 2030, as well as achieve sustainable development goals and Agenda 2063.

She said innovation calls for the regional and local authorities to learn from each other and improve annually.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Government has been asked to repeal ‘repressive’ sections of the Electronic Communications Act and the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) being ‘weaponised to muzzle free speech.’ Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), speaking at a press conference in Accra, said Ghana’s press freedom environment was deteriorating and the ‘abuse of the two controversial laws had contributed massively to the deterioration.’ ‘It is our view therefore that efforts to bring a positive change should begin with a reconsideration of those laws,’ he added. The press conference was jointly organised by the GJA, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), and the Private Newspaper Publishers Association (PRINPAG) in Accra to address the Criminalisation of Free Speech, particularly against Journalists. It follows the recent detention for seven days of Mr Noah Nartey Dameh of Radio Ada on false publication charges in connection with a critical Facebook post. The GJA President said Mr Dameh posted on his Facebook wall that the Police had abused one Benjamin Anim, a citizen of Ada and a patient at a hospital, by chaining him to his hospital bed, accompanied by a picture of the chained Anim alongside a picture of businessman Daniel McCorley (McDan) whom the journalist accused of instigating the police action. He said following this post, which was made in May 2022, the Police summoned Mr Dameh, claiming that one Bernard Korley, a cousin of McDan, had filed a defamation complaint against him (Dameh). Mr Dwumfour said the journalist was briefly detained and granted bail and after reporting to the Police several times together with a couple of court appearances, he was in December 2022, freed by the Tema Magistrate Court which dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction. However, he said the Police re-arrested the journalist immediately after he stepped out of the courtroom and charged him with publishing false news under section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), before granting him bail. The GJA President said on March 30, 2023, the court remanded Mr Dameh for two weeks at the request of the prosecutor who said his surety had failed to produce him in court on three previous occasions, meanwhile, the journalist had received no notification regarding the said previous sittings. The journalist was released on bail on April 7, 2023, after spending a week in detention. Mr Dwumfour said this obvious ‘persecution’ of Mr Dameh was but one of many crucial and disturbing issues relating to press freedom and safety of journalists in Ghana which needed to be addressed. He said since the beginning of 2022, a number of journalists and one civil society activist had been prosecuted in Ghana using the Electronic Communications Act and the Criminal Code, specifically Section 208 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). ‘It may be argued that the arrests and persecutions have been in accordance with the law. It is equally true that the victims of the ex-while criminal libel law were also dealt with in line with the law. Indeed, many of the world’s intolerant and autocratic governments typically deal with dissent and press offenses by exploiting the law, hence our call for a repeal of the two laws.’ The GJA President said such incidences were the cause of Ghana losing its position as the country with the freest media environment in Africa in 2018 to 13th in the 2022 global press freedom ranking by Reporters without Borders. On the global stage, Ghana also dropped from 30th position in 2021 to 60th in 2022, the worst ranking in 20 years. He said the violations that had been recorded in Ghana over the past year gave cause for pessimism regarding the country’s performance in the next ranking. Mr Dwumfour said as key stakeholders in the media sector, the GJA, MFWA, GIBA, PRINPAG and GCRN were equally concerned about the use of the Electronic Communications Act and the Criminal and Other Offences Act to arrest citizens and journalists and prefer criminal charges against them for press and speech offences which were merely defamatory and for which civil remedies were available. He said they also found it ironic that a Government presided by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who was much vaunted as a human rights and press freedom champion, was ‘supervising the surreptitious reintroduction of criminal libel through the use of the above-mentioned criminal laws.’ ‘Indeed, the repression of freedom of expression using the law on false publication likely to cause fear and panic undercuts the publicly expressed view of President Akufo-Addo. Speaking on the topic ‘Outlawing Criminal Libel Laws’ during a conference at the University of Pretoria in August 2011, Nana Akufo-Addo lamented that such laws are susceptible to broad and abusive interpretation.’ ‘In the face of the increasing use of this law to target critical journalists under President Akufo-Addo’s regime, we may well ask the question ‘What has changed?,’ he said. The GJA President said the media and journalists can sometimes be reckless and unprofessional to the extent of publishing false and defamatory stories but fortunately, the Ghana’s laws provided aggrieved entities with remedies for civil actions against citizens, journalists and media organisations. He called on Government to adequately resource the National Media Commission to effectively carry out its mandate of monitoring and regulating media content in a proactive manner, adding that, such steps would discourage Police involvement in the media regulatory space. Mr Dwumfour said the GJA and other stakeholders in the media industry were committed to promoting professional standards in the media and urged all journalists and media houses to uphold the highest level of integrity and professionalism.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The ‘Together’ bicycle ride, in support of people with hemophilia, started from the National Palace of Culture (NPC) in Sofia on Saturday. The event was organized by the Bulgarian Hemophilia Association (BAH). Cycling, together with swimming, is a particularly suitable sport for people with haemophilia, said association chairman Viktor Paskalev. The aim of the bike ride is to see that people with haemophilia are equal to other people, he added. According to Paskalev, one of the biggest problems patients with the disease face is the lack of medication. This year’s awareness campaign around World Hemophilia Day is under the moto ‘For a world without hemorrhages!’. Every year, BAH celebrates World Haemophilia Day on April 17 with an awareness campaign and various public events aimed at promoting initiatives to ensure that people with inherited bleeding disorders get the treatment they need. Another key initiative in the World Hemophilia Day awareness campaign is the lighting of buildings and landmarks around the world – ‘Light It Up Red!’ Among the buildings that have been coloured red this year are the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, as well as the Sydney Opera House and the Colosseum in Rome, BAH said. Haemophilia is an inherited genetic disease that lowers the body’s ability to clot blood and leads to prolonged bleeding when injured, bruising and an increased risk of internal bleeding in the joints or brain, the association explained. Treatment consists of infusing the missing clotting factor. Drugs containing the missing clotting factors are produced based on human blood plasma or by recombinant methods. About 20% of people develop antibodies to clotting factors, making treatment more difficult, the BAH added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Some 1, 894 students’ needy students in Universities, Colleges and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) from Manyatta Constituency, Embu, have received bursaries amounting to Sh. 14 million under the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF). Under the program dubbed ‘Masomo Bila Stress’ total orphans received Sh10, 000 each, partial orphans Sh8,000, single parents’ students Sh7,000, students from very needy families Sh6,000 while those from needy families Sh. 4,000. While issuing the cheques that will be sent directly to the beneficiaries’ institutions at Embu University grounds, MP Gitonga Mukunji said the program was aimed at ensuring needy students realize their career goals. ‘We want to ensure that learners from needy families are able to pursue their education to the highest level possible without worrying about fees,’ the MP said. He at the same time decried marginalization of Mt. Kenya Region in sharing of Government resources, saying the current formula of allocating constituencies same amount was discriminative to areas with high population. ‘Some MPs from sparsely populated constituencies are able to offer full scholarship to learners whereas like here I am struggling to give a student Sh. 10, 000,’ he said. He said the onus was on the 13th parliament to ensure fairness in distribution of government resources as he pushed for ‘One Man One Shilling’ formula. ‘ ‘The number of people should determine the amount of money that a constituency or county gets because it is the people that need and use the money,’ Mukunji said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

About 9300 trees will be planted in Tharaka Nithi county to boost forest cover in the region and address climate change challenges. Speaking on behalf of State Department for Livestock(SDL) Principal Secretary (PS) Harry Kimtai during national tree planting day at Shin Hyun primary school in Tharaka constituency SDL secretary administration. Joshua Chepchieng said that they were conducting a tree growing initiative to boost forest cover in the region. The state department launched the twende project in partnership with Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI), National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) among others and will collaborate with the county government in an aim to end drought emergencies. Dr Chepchieng revealed that they will be planting and nurturing around 9300 trees in Tharaka Nithi county which aims to restore 500,000 hectares of degraded land. He noted that about 1000 trees were planted during the ceremony to kick start the exercise and work towards achieving the 30 per cent forest cover as directed by the President William Samoei Ruto. The secretary administrator added that the government aims to plant 15 billion trees by 2032 to ensure rehabilitation of degraded rangeland for healthy ecosystems and improved livelihood. ‘Climate change is here and devastating effects are felt more adversely in the rangeland. The government is keen in solving the climatic challenges,’ he said. The government is committed to land restoration, he noted, adding that it has made several regional, national and international commitments such as the United Nations framework on pension for climate change and ecosystem restoration 2021/2030. Dr Chepchieng further expressed that the country has committed to restore 5.1m hectares of degraded land by 2030 under the African forest restoration initiatives. Tharaka Nithi County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for public administration, intergovernmental coordination and devolution affairs Samuel Mutheni Karagi said that the county government is committed to partnering with the national government to achieve the 30 percent forest cover. ‘The county government has rejected charcoal revenue in order to achieve the 30 per cent forest coverage,’ he said He urged residents to take the initiatives to plant trees for future generations. Karagi revealed that the county assembly is planning to pass the environmental bill to partner with the national government and KFS to ensure good forest cover. The CECM disclosed that the climate change bill has already been approved to facilitate an eco-friendly environment as well as improve on climate change and global warming. He added that the county government is working on implementing laws that benefit residents while maintaining a healthy environment.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The president of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) political party, Maurice Kamto has urged President Paul Biya to clarify the public on his son’s role in state and public affairs when he takes steps to defend his private interests under an official flag.

This is contained in a release signed by the official on April 22nd.

Chad announced on April 20, 2023, that it had recalled its Ambassador to Cameroon for consultations. In its statement, the Chadian presidency claims to have written several times to Yaounde to deplore the “unfriendly actions” of Cameroonian representatives within Cotco and the interference of Cameroonian personalities “brewing” around the Savannah Energy.

According to a statement from Savannah Energy PLC, the company has signed a sales agreement with Cameroon’s National Hydrocarbons (SNH) to hand over 10% of the capital of Cameroon Oil Transportation Company S.A. (COTCo). The transaction is subject to certain conditions and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023.

Kamto stated that he learned Franck Emmanuel Biya went to N’Djamena in September 2022, as part of this case to intervene in favor of this company. He outlined that the trip, with no official functions within the state, was followed by that of Elung Paul Che, Deputy Secretary General number 1 of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, from November 21 to 30 2022.

“It is urgent that he clarifies the situation and explains the role of his son in public affairs where he takes steps to defend private interests under an official flag. If not, national and international public opinion will be justified in suspecting him of being personally involved in this other scandal of our republic,“ he explained.

He noted that Chad is the only country in Central Africa that has stood by Cameroon in its fight against the Boko Haram cult since 2014 and a country where Cameroonian citizens suffer the least harassment.

“It is a brotherly and friendly country, which has historically always had very good relations with our country. As proof, it is the country in the sub-region where Cameroonian citizens suffer the least harassment and humiliation of all kinds from the authorities of the host country,” he stated.

He calls on the Parliament to open a parliamentary inquiry into this scandal.

Source: Cameroon News Agency