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[Monitor] Finance minister Matia Kasaija was last night on the defensive following accusations that he irregularly dangled a top government job to secure the exit of his opponent in a parliamentary contest.
Many people have been killed since clashes began on Monday. Scores too had been killed in the run up to the vote as protestors marched against Conde's bid for a third term.
[Monitor] On June 13, President Museveni appointed Ms Dorothy Kisaka as the new executive director (ED) of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to replace Ms Jennifer Musisi who resigned in October 2018.
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Confirmed cases = 18,630
\t
\t\tActive cases = 4,467
\t\tRecoveries = 14,046
\t\tNumber of deaths = 117
Ghana Health Service stats valid as of July 1, 2020
June 25: 15,473 cases; mask arrests, apex court ruling
\tCase load as of today hit a total of 15,473 cases with 11,431 recoveries and 950 deaths, according to stats released Friday evening by the Ghana Health Service.
Confirmed cases = 15,473
\t\tActive cases = 3,947
\t\tRecoveries = 11,431
\t\tNumber of deaths = 95
John Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 12, 2020
June 22: 14,154 cases; how recoveries jumped
\tGhana recorded a boom in recoveries over the weekend as over 6,000 patients were added to the tally which now stands at 10,473 according to authorities.
Confirmed cases = 14,154
\t\tActive cases = 3,596
\t\tRecoveries = 10,473
\t\tNumber of deaths = 85
John Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 21, 2020
June 15: 13,203 cases; law enacted to penalize mask flouters
\tCase load hit a total of 13,203 cases with 4,548 recoveries and 70 deaths, according to stats released Friday evening by the Ghana Health Service.
Total confirmed cases = 12,193
Total recoveries = 4,326
Total deaths = 58
Active cases = 7,809
\tFigures valid as of close of day June 16, 2020
June 15: 11,964 cases; schools reopen, masks obligatory etc.
Confirmed cases = 11,964
\t\tNumber of deaths = 54
\t\tRecoveries = 4,258
\t\tActive cases = 7,652
\tJohn Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 14, 2020
June 13: 11,118 cases, NDC advocates mass testing
\tGhana’s case load as of this morning stood at 11,118 cases with the disclosure of 262 new cases.
Sand mining has resumed on the shores of Lake Victoria despite the recent presidential directive to the Minister of Water and Environment to clear all wetlands, riverbanks and lakeshores of encroachers.
The mining site, at Buwaya-Nakiwogo in Wakiso District, is said to be owned by a businesswoman in Bugolobi, Kampala.
Mr Matia Lwanga Bwanika, the district chairperson, said his engagement with the executive director of the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema), Dr Tom Okurut, revealed that he was aware of the mining.
Mr Bwanika said they had sought the intervention of Mr Noah Njuki, the Resident District Commissioner of Entebbe.
Other mining activities around Lake Victoria in Wakiso have been halted following the intervention of Mr Matia Lwanga Bwanika, the district chairperson.
I maintain that Public Servants have nothing to worry about and nothing to fear from a PPP/C Government.
However, the “political appointees” in the Ministries and Agencies who have recently renewed contracts (some, days after the recount confirmed a PPP/C victory) should be put on notice that this is improper, unconstitutional and unlawful.
I reiterate that it is wrong to tie a new Government down with clauses in new contracts to pay tax dollars to political operatives whose services would have concluded.
Public servants, who professionally execute their functions and mandate, will continue to do so freely.
That is to say, public servants irrespective of race, age, gender, ethnicity, class and political affiliation will work and benefit under a PPP/C Government.
BY KENNETH NYANGANI DANIEL Molokela, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology, has urged citizens to lobby legislators to ensure passage of laws instead of wasting time on constitutional amendments. He made the remarks in Mutare on Tuesday during a public hearing on the Manpower Planning and Development Bill. He said citizens should push for the re-alignment of the laws for effective governance. “In 2013, we adopted a new constitutional order. All laws in Parliament are supposed to be aligned with the new Constitution of the country. In this regard, we are talking about the Manpower Planning and Development Act,” he said “It is not enough to push for the amendment of Bills which are passed and not aligned,” he said. “The Act decides in terms of the skills resources and database of the country, we want to make sure that our education is relevant to our economy and that it is relevant to the development of our country. We have a lot of youths who are unemployed, so these are the things which we seek to address,” he said. “Colleges were different from universities, so now, they are going to be aligned, they are now going to be shifted from Public Service Commission, there is going to be a tertiary education services body which is going to administer institutions for higher learning, this will address the issue of brain drain,” he said “We are losing most of our students to colleges that are outside the country because of the poor conditions in our colleges, however, the Manpower Planning and Development Bill will address the matter,” he said.
[Monitor] Members of Parliament (MPs) sitting on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee yesterday rejected the Electoral Commission's (EC) decision banning open public rallies ahead of the 2021 General Elections.
The Electoral Commission (EC) yesterday conducted a pilot voters' registration exercise at the Accra Ridge Church to test its Biometric Verification Systems for the upcoming December polls.
The pilot was to ascertain the durability of the equipment towards a successful registration exercise scheduled for June 30.
The prospective voters spent about five minutes to go through the electoral processes at either of the two registration centres mounted at the premises, with a maximum of 20 voters observing COVID-19 precautionary measures and hygienic protocols.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times, the Public Relations Officer of the Commission, Sylvia Annoh said the exercise was smooth and was to ensure the commission identified any challenges that might occur during the actual registration and find ways of addressing them before and during the exercise.
She explained that the registration officers did not encounter any challenges during the processes or the equipment breaking down, saying, \"We are adhering to the protocols to ensure no one got infected with the virus.\"
[Monitor] State minister for Planning David Bahati yesterday came under fire from Parliament over failure to compensate traders who lost property during the 2013-2015 insurgency in South Sudan.
Our plan is to distribute between 2 million and 3 million kilograms of additional maize seed targeting districts in Eastern, Northern and parts of central regions whose rainy season goes up to July.
So with our efforts to provide additional seeds to farmers, we believe that the country will be food secure during and after Covid-19 pandemic.
Could this pandemic be a blessing in disguise in terms of emphasis on food production and household income or its disruption in normal flow of work?
We want to see farmers earning more income, households living quality lives and food security becoming part and parcel of the routine fixture.
We have also selected some 17 districts which are tea growing areas in regions across the country and working with Uganda Developed Corporation tea factories will be established there.
[Monitor] Presidential hopeful Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine will launch his manifesto a day later \"in light of the untimely death of senior leader Sheikh Anas Kaliisa.\"
Benin was the seat of one of the great medieval African kingdoms called Dahomey. Europeans began arriving in the area in the 18th century, as the kingdom of Dahomey was expanding its territory. The Portuguese, the French, and the Dutch established trading posts along the coast (Porto-Novo, Ouidah, Cotonou), and traded weapons for slaves. Slave trade ended in 1848. Then, the French signed treaties with Kings of Abomey (Guézo, Toffa, Glèlè) to establish French protectorates in the main cities and ports.
However, King Behanzin fought the French influence, which cost him deportation to Martinique.
From a Colony of France to Independence:
In 1892 Dahomey became a French protectorate and part of French West Africa in 1904. Expansion continued to the North (kingdoms of Parakou, Nikki, Kandi), up to the border with former Upper Volta. On 4 December 1958, it became the République du Dahomey, self-governing within the French community, and on 1 August 1960, the Republic of Dahomey gained full independence from France. T he country was renamed Benin in 1975
Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of military coups brought about many changes of government. The last of these brought to power Major Mathieu Kérékou as the head of a regime professing strict Marxist-Leninist principles. The Parti de la Révolution Populaire Béninoise (Revolutionary Party of the People of Benin, PRPB) remained in complete power until the beginning of the 1990s.
Kérékou, encouraged by France and other democratic powers, convened a national conference that introduced a new democratic constitution and held presidential and legislative elections. Kérékous principal opponent at the presidential poll, and the ultimate victor, was Prime Minister Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo.
Supporters of Soglo also secured a majority in the National Assembly.
Benin was thus the first African country to effect successfully the transition from dictatorship to a pluralistic political system. In the second round of National Assembly elections held in March 1995, Soglos
He was responsible for the deaths of many of our fighters in the bush.
\"Succession talk is useless and the moment he [President Museveni] comes up with his son as a successor, he has got problems with Kasirye Ggwanga.
I left Kampala because of dust and noise; I am at peace at Camp David [his tent house] with my antelopes, snakes and monkeys.
\"You are the young ones we have made and you are asking President Museveni to leave power.
As a veteran of many wars, you have to instil a bit of fear because if you don't do that, people can trample on you.
[Monitor] The government is proposing to test all teachers for Covid-19 ahead of school reopening.
Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga resigned in September 2008, citing health reasons. He was succeeded by Adolphe Muzito.
Presidential elections were held in November 2011. Incumbent Kabila faced opposition leader and former prime minister Étienne Tshisekedi. The International Crisis Group deemed the election unruly and chaotic and other international observers said the vote was irregular and flawed. Nearly 20 people were killed in election-related violence. Nevertheless, Congos election commission ruled in December that Kabila prevailed, 49% to 32%. In the run-up to the election, Kabila—perhaps sensing a threat from the opposition and popular dissatisfaction with his rule—amended the constitution to do away with a second round of voting and stacked the electoral commission.
In March 2012, Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito resigned. His resignation came a little over three months after the violent presidential elections. Deputy Prime Minister Louis Koyagialo was appointed to temporarily replace Muzito. On April 18, 2012, former Minister of Finance Augustin Matata Ponyo Mapon was named prime minister.
Violence rocked Guinea's capital Conakry on Friday as supporters of opposition leader Cellou Diallo clashed with security forces who tried to disperse them.
They threw stones and blocked roads. Police responded with teargas and bullets. The clashes erupted as soon as provisional results released by the electoral commission showed president Alpha Conde winning with a big margin.
Conde, 82, won twice as many votes as his nearest rival, opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo, with 37 of 38 districts counted, according to preliminary results from the commission.
Opposition supporters accuse the electoral authorities of rigging the vote for incumbent president Alpha Conde.
Sekou Koundouno, head of mobilisation for the opposition coalition FNDC said Conde had committed 'high treason'.
\"He is an illegal and illegitimate candidate who is stubbornly pursuing his obsession to turn Guin ea into a monarchy in which, by the way, he will dictate orders to his subjects,\" said Kounduno.
Diallo maintains that he won with a landslide despite irregularities, according to his own tally. He remains barricaded in his home which security forces have besieged since Monday.
ICC warning
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned on Friday that warring factions in Guinea could be prosecuted after fighting erupted.
“I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages and contributes in any other way to crimes … is liable to prosecution either by the Guinean courts or the ICC,” she said.
#ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda: "I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes, in any other way, to the commission of #RomeStatute crimes, is liable to prosecution either by #Guinean courts or by the #ICC."
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) October 23, 2020
The Electoral Court has granted the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) permission to postpone by-elections in the country due to the continuous effects of the coronavirus.
This after the commission approached the court seeking a postponement.
\"As required in law, the municipal elections will be proclaimed by Cogta Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma after her consultations with the Electoral Commission.
\"In this regard, the Electoral Commission has begun consultations with the minister.
These matters are not a prerogative of the Electoral Commission, but require a collaborative effort and national consensus,\" she said.
All planned Election Commission (EC) activities between March and May 2020, including elections for Special Interest Groups (SIG), have been suspended until further notice.
The EC secretary, Mr Sam Rwakoojo, on Tuesday said the Covid-19 lockdown affected many programmes on the elections roadmap and that discussions with different stakeholders are on-going to see how to readjust.
At the time government issued the directives, the EC was completing the public display of the national voters' register for the elections scheduled for April 2020.
The activities which have been affected according to the roadmap include display of tribunal recommendations for deletion or inclusion on the National Voters Register (NVR), gazetting and publishing of candidates' nomination dates and venues, Elections of Special Interest Groups (SIGs), including older persons, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and youth at village and parish levels and internal political party candidates identification processes.
Former coordinator of Citizen Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, Mr Crispy Kaheru, said the way out is to suspend the planned 2021 electoral programmes to fit between the months of July and October or have the elections of SIG after the General Election.
[Monitor] By Job Bwire
[Nation] The government has released Sh6.3 billion to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to provide a comprehensive medical scheme for all public servants, including healthcare workers.
It was supposed to be an iconic flawless structure and symbol of pride for Kayunga District, but the administration block is falling apart.
These visible defects in the structure have raised concerns from the staff and residents who visit the district headquarters.
Mr Robert Drate, the district water engineer, who was the acting district engineer then and oversaw the construction work, acknowledges that the structure is in a \"sorry state\".
Some of the district staff, who declined to be named, complain that in some cases, their documents are destroyed by water from the leaking roof.
Mr Tom Sserwanga, the Kayunga District chairperson, blames the problem on the original design of the building which he says does not favour proper water drainage.
Finance minister, Matia Kasaija has said the government has introduced some taxes to raise revenue and announced that the import duty on agricultural products have been increased to 60 per cent and other products to 35 per cent.
The minister further said modest adjustments to tax rates that have been made include the excise duty rate on fuel; and adjustments to improve competitiveness in the region, support compliance, remove ambiguities in the legislations as well as close loopholes that may lead to revenue leakage.
\"The modest adjustments to tax rates that have been made include the excise duty rate on fuel; and adjustments to improve competitiveness in the region, support compliance, remove ambiguities in the legislations as well as close loopholes that may lead to revenue leakage,\" he said.
Mr Kasaija appealed to Ugandans not to look at paying tax as a burden before explaining that tax administration will be strengthened to improve efficiency in revenue collection, pointing out that the capacity of local governments, including the roll-out of the digital collection of fees and rates, will also be enhanced to improve local revenue generation.
Mr Kasaija said digital stamps will also ensure that goods on the market meet the required health and safety standards; Widen the scope of the income tax withholding agents across all sectors in order to broaden the tax base; Enhance rental income tax collection and compliance by implementing a digital collection solution, as well as gazette rental income tax chargeable in different geographical areas for taxpayers who do not voluntarily declare their rental income.
Amid a global pandemic, it has gone by largely unnoticed - not least because the crisis also kept out election observers from the East African Community (EAC), the only foreign group the government accredited.
The ruling party has grown increasingly isolationist since the last election in 2015 when outgoing President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to stand for a third term, sparking months of protests.
The results - announced by the electoral commission three days after the vote - give the CNDD-FDD's candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye 68% of the vote.
Ndayishimiye's balancing act
One of the new president's key challenges on taking office will be to balance the various interests within the ruling party.
Ndayishimiye is new in the job and has made subtle overtures to international bodies in recent months, meeting with the AU Chairperson Moussa Faki and EAC officials.
[Daily News] Zanzibar -- ZANZIBAR Electoral Commission (ZEC) has announced September 11, the official day for commencing election campaigns, which are scheduled to last after 46 days.
\"As we are going through the Covid-19 pandemic, my sources are all blocked and I have to take 70 students who are Finalists in Candidate classes back to school.
It require need about Shs35m for the 70 Candidate students to be back to school,\" Mr Wanyama wrote on his Facebook page last week.
In March this year, Daily Monitorpublished Mr Wanyama's story and his charity which was taking care of about 850 vulnerable students from different schools around the country which using his personal savings from his farming business and other various sources including well-wishers, as well as the MoU's he gets into with the different school heads to have Subsidies on the Fees.
Mr Wanyama said that he has not received any feedback from the ministry to which the letter was addressed and yet it is getting late for the students in candidate classes.
President Museveni on Monday said opening of schools for candidate classes had been postponed for another one month as government plans whether to provide private television sets for all the villages in the country.
[Ghanaian Times] The Electoral Commission (EC), yesterday inaugurated a 16-member Adjudication Committee to clean the new voters register to ensure a credible 2020 polls come December 7.
Other countries scheduled to hold elections are Egypt, Guinea, Seychelles and Tanzania.
For countries that do hold elections, there may be special voting arrangements that can allow polls to go ahead but reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
In South Korea's elections in mid-April, the electoral commission encouraged people to vote before election day at any of the 3,500 polling stations throughout the country.
This not only decongested polling stations on election day but contributed to the highest turnout in the country for nearly 30 years.
This means that countries planning to hold elections in 2020 or early-2021 need to start discussing these arrangements - across party lines and among multiple relevant agencies - as soon as possible.
Eight new cases of Covid-19 have been registered by the Ministry of Health pushing Uganda's tally to 665.
Additionally, 31 foreign truck drivers (16 Kenyans, 8 Tanzanias, 5 Eritreans, 1 Burundian and 1 South Sudanese) were handed over to their respective countries of origin after testing positive for the virus.
In his Heroes' Day speech on Tuesday, President Museveni warned of tough times ahead if Ugandans are not keen on adhering to the given guidelines to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
He said having done his best in guiding the country, Ugandans should not blame him in case of any deaths.
Mr Museveni's remarks come in the wake of a rise in the virus spread, which has now reached community level.
Malawi's governing party has called for a third presidential election, citing irregularities and intimidation in this week's re-run vote as unofficial tallies show incumbent President Peter Mutharika losing to the opposition leader.
