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Shorter Time in Office for Liberian Lawmakers?
Long queues at polling stations in Monrovia — suggesting a high turn out as Liberians voted Tuesday on a referendum by President George Weah to shorten office terms for the president and lower-house lawmakers to five years instead of six. President George Weah shared a few words, "I asked all Liberians to be peaceful, to come to the polling centre, exercise their franchise, select their candidate and leave with peace. And at the end of the day, the results will come and those that were elected, those that you voted for, will win. But this country needs to be peaceful. We don't need to tear our country down."
Hundreds of thousands of Liberians are thought to reside overseas, having fled war and poverty. Upon acquiring another nationality, they lose their Liberian citizen and are thus barred from owning property at home — among other restrictions.
Dual Nationality for Liberians in the Diaspora
In a move that some hope could be an economic boost for the West African nation of 4.8 million people, voters are also choosing whether to repeal a 1973 ban on dual nationality as Patience Teegbeh, a local who came out to vote, shares her contentment with the voting process, "It’s free and fair and transparent. I love the way it is going on and it's okay for us."
Opposition politicians in Liberia suspect that Weah - elected in 2018 and still in his first term, could use the office-occupation length constitutional change to cling to power. The 54-year-old president has denied the claim.
Liberia’s constitution sets a maximum of two terms — as is also the case in two other nations in West Africa whose electoral process saw the maximum term limit be side-stepped.
Regional Track Record
In Guinea, 82-year-old President Alpha Conde won a controversial third term in October after pushing through a new constitution that allowed him to bypass a two-term limit. The same month, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, 78, was elected for an equally contentious third term, after having revised the country's constitution.
Nationwide protests have taken place since October 7 despite the disbanding of the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit.
The demonstrators have been accused of attacking police stations and personnel.
The rallies which are mostly attended by young people have become avenues to vent against corruption and unemployment.
Rights groups say at least 15 people have been killed the demonstrations began in early October.
In the U.S, only 43 percent ofAfrican Americansreport living in homes of their own compared to nearly 73 percent of Whites. Homeownership attainment in the U.S. remains deeply stratified by race and ethnicity which reflects the challenges that nonwhite households encounter in their pursuit of ownership. A study by theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)found that...
The post This black-owned organization is buying homes to increase black homeownership appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
East Lansing, Mich. (AP) – Merritt Norvell Jr., the first Black athletic director at Michigan State, has died. He was 79. A spokesman at the ...
Written by Stacy M. Brown By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia With record early voting numbers heavily pointing to a potential landslide by Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden, President Donald Trump is working behind the scenes to undermine a new administration and further divide the country. The President this week quietly signed […]
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Rescue workers in the Turkish port city of Izmir are continuing to search for the survivors of Friday's deadly earthquake, as officials said the death toll has increased to at least 64.
The powerful 6.6-magnitude earthquake has claimed at least 62 lives in Turkey and two teenagers died on the Greek island of Samos.
Nearly 900 people were injured, two-thirds of them have now been discharged from the hospital.
The quake triggered tidal waves that hit the Turkish and Greek islands.
Over a dozen buildings in Izmir were severely damaged or destroyed by the initial quakes and the hundreds of aftershocks that ensued. Parts of the city were also flooded by seawater.
'Never lose hope'
Rescue teams are scouring through the rubble of collapsed buildings for a third day looking for survivors.
Shortly after midnight, Ahmet Citim, 70, was pulled from the rubble of a building in Izmir. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a Tweet: \"I never lost my hope.\"
It is unclear how many people remain trapped under the rubble. Turkish media reported three more people were pulled out Sunday from one collapsed apartment building but their conditions were not known.
Turkey is prone to earthquakes. In 1999, two powerful quakes killed some 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey. Earthquakes are frequent in Greece as well.
In a rare show of unity amid months of tense bilateral relations, Greek and Turkish government officials issued mutual messages of solidarity over the quake toll.
The quake occurred as Turkey was already struggling with an economic downturn and the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 10,000 people in Turkey have died from COVID-19.
[Ghanaian Times] The government will hold a two-day National Conference in Accra from Tuesday, October 20 to 21, 2020 on the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
Anand Parekh, chief medical advisor for the Bipartisan Policy Center, lists eight things that federal, state and local governments need to prioritize to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
After Guinea's opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo's self-proclaimed victory in the first round of the presidential vote, his supporters flooded the streets of the capital Conakry
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, a day after the vote, Diallo said he had emerged \"victorious\" despite \"anomalies which marred the ballot\".
\"I invite all my fellow citizens who love peace and justice to stay vigilant and committed to defend this democratic victory,\" he said.
Soon after, his supporters chanted \"president\", despite no official result being published and the electoral body saying his claim was \"void\".
\"It is a great joy, we are proud that our president has been elected. All the people of Guinea are behind him,\" said Fatoumata Bineta Diallo, member of the UFDG executive board.
\"It was many citizens, outraged by the misgovernance, who joined us to give the final victory. We are very proud of him.\"
\"I think that the Ceni (electoral body) will only publish the results coming out of the ballot boxes... and the results coming out of the ballot boxes will give Cellou Dalein Diallo victory,\" said Amadou Diallo, UFDG activist.
But for all the scenes of jubilation, there were also tense moments in the city with security forces firing tear gas canisters at crowds of supporters.
