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BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA Chitungwiza Resident Trust (Chitrest) yesterday moved in to block Chitungwiza Council from executing random demolition of houses through their lawyers who demanded a report on the regularisation of the stands which they claimed had been done by the affected individuals. This was after a leaked memorandum dated January 12, 2021 announced that there were plans to demolish over 11 000 illegal structures in the dormitory town, subject to a court order. Chitungwiza Municipality has over the years threatened to demolish thousands of houses built on spaces reserved for clinics, churches, schools, cemeteries, recreational activities, roads and under high-voltage electricity pylons. Chitrest, through its lawyers Tinashe Chinopfukutwa and Idirashe Chikomba yesterday wrote to council demanding a list of the stand numbers to be demolished instead of the demolitions being executed as a random exercise. The lawyers noted that council’s director of works acknowledged the need for council to obtain valid court orders authorising the demolitions. However, last year the council demolished houses without obtaining a court order. “In terms of section 74 of the Constitution, Chitungwiza Municipality is enjoined to obtain court orders authorising the demolition of all the houses specified in the Chitungwiza demolition report of 12 January 2020. “We note that the report which specifies areas to be demolished does not identify the individual stand numbers and properties targeted for demolitions. The demolition report merely makes globular identification of sites to be demolished without identifying the individual stand numbers or properties,” read the letter from Chitrest. “Our clients also advise us that several residents, whose houses are located in the various sites targeted for demolitions, were invited by the Chitungwiza Municipality to pay regularisation penalties and paid for the purchase of the properties.” The lawyers argued that the residents duly paid the regularisation penalties and the purchase prices in terms of the offer extended to them by council. “Should council proceed to demolish the houses in terms of a report of 12 January 2021, then residents, who paid regularisation penalties, risk their houses being unlawfully demolished as the identification of sites targeted for demolitions does not specify which individual property is being targeted for demolition,” they said. The lawyers added: “In any event, council cannot reprobate and approbate by requesting and receiving regularisation penalties and stand purchase price in one breadth and in another breadth move in to demolish the same properties in respect of which regularisation penalties were paid.” The lawyers said should the demolition report not be revised, they would institute legal proceedings for the same to be set aside. Follow Harriet on Twitter @harrietchikand1
The court enjoys global jurisdiction.
Investigators will now need the authorization of the court’s judges to open a probe. Bensouda appealed for support from Nigeria’s government.
She said the army has dismissed accusations against government troops after examining them.
Boko Haram strictly opposes formal education. In 2015, Nigeria enlisted the support of neighbors Chad, Cameroon and Niger to try and defeat the group.
While the joint operations made the group lose considerable territory, they have not been able to wipe it out.
The ICC has conducted investigations in several African countries. In Sudan, Libya and Ivory Coast, former leaders were indicted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity after the investigations.
An Economic Crisis
2020 sees Tunisia's budget deficit reaching record levels at around 14% of GDP - as announced by Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi on Tuesday calling on the Central Bank to finance it so as to limit the national crisis. At a press conference in Tunis, the Prime Minister addressed the nation, \"The economic situation is very complicated. It must be said that our country has never experienced such a deep economic and social crisis like the one it is currently experiencing. We have closed the financial statements in accordance with the draft finance law and noted that the budget deficit would be around 14%. We will continue to hold meetings with the Central Bank. And we are convinced that the Central Bank is aware that it has an important role to play in limiting the crisis that the country is currently undergoing.\"
The Situation is Complex
The current situation can be attributed to the accumulation of several years of economic, social and political instability compounded by the effects of the covid-19 pandemic. The International Monetary Fund has already said it expects a historic decline in Tunisia's GDP to -7% by 2020, due in particular to the consequences of the covid-19 pandemic.
The IMF's four-year financing plan came to an end in the spring, with no prospects for the future, while Tunis, which has relied heavily on international donors in recent years, is struggling to complete its budget for 2020.
The Central Bank of Tunisia had last week criticized a deficit deemed excessive and a too heavy recourse to domestic financing in the supplementary budget law.
Set to premiere Friday, 'Put A Ring On It' brings a romantic social experiment to the OWN lineup. Introduced as... View Article
The post Will Packer encourages couples to watch new series 'Put A Ring On It' together appeared first on TheGrio.
Despite restrictions due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, many persons living in Region Nine are continuing to travel illegally between Guyana and Brazil, prompting a crackdown by the regional authorities, who are moving to impose penalties for violations.
The article Region Nine imposing penalties to curb illegal travel between Guyana and Brazil appeared first on Stabroek News.
THE National Broadband Initiative which is expected to cost US$237 million for its execution as Government seeks to create universal Internet access is to be owned and managed by the private sector through a publicly listed special purpose vehicle (SPV), chair of the task force Michael Lee-Chin has divulged.
… wake of the death of black Americans Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and … the best unemployment numbers for African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Asian-Americans … been for decades. Thousands more African-Americans are victims of violent crime …
1. It’s Primary Votin’ Day in the states of Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington What You Need To Know: Primary elections are taking place in five states today: Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington. 2. New Changes at U.S. Postal Service Could Affect Mail-In Voting What You Need To Know: The battle over mail-in […]
When it Rains it ¨Pours
Heavy seasonal rainfall causing devastating floods since June have impacted over 700,000 people across South Sudan — already in a precarious situation due to food shortages from an overwhelming locust infestation and a health crisis from the global Covid-19 pandemic.
A large part of the country is under water with the Nile River at its highest level in 50 years. Adol Kur Akuei, a mother of 7 children who has been displaced by floods, is overwhelmed by the catastrophe, \"In the village I come from, called Mathiang, the floods were devastating. They destroyed everything. They destroyed our houses, killed our cattle, our crops and our source of livelihood.\"
The World Food Programme has been providing food assistance to more than 500,000 people in flood-affected areas of South Sudan as the threat of famine climbs within the country.
Peter Smerdon, a spokesperson for WFP, shared his concerns, \"We were already under pressure in South Sudan because of conflict and because of the high levels of displacement and now with the added burden from flooding, donors need to step forward. But donors themselves, of course, are struggling in their own countries with the pandemic COVID-19. So it is difficult for them to give at this very difficult time.\"
With the floods compounding the rise in food prices that have resulted from coronavirus related restrictions and the earlier loss of crops to locusts, the WFP seeks to raise 58 million US dollars to continue providing relief.
