Login to BlackFacts.com using your favorite Social Media Login. Click the appropriate button below and you will be redirected to your Social Media Website for confirmation and then back to Blackfacts.com once successful.
Enter the email address and password you used to join BlackFacts.com. If you cannot remember your login information, click the “Forgot Password” link to reset your password.
Zipani zotsutsa boma m’dziko muno zati mayi Annabel Mtalimanja atule pansi udindo wawo ngati mkulu wa Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) kaamba koti alephera kugwira bwino ntchito. Zipanizi zidanena izi pa msokhano wa atolankhani omwe zipani monga Alliance For Democracy (AFORD), United Transformation Movement (UTM), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) anachititsa ku Lilongwe. Zipanizi zinati ndizokaikitsa ngati […]
The post Mtalimanja atule pansi udindo – Zipani zotsutsa appeared first on Malawi 24.
\t On Friday, internet and international calls were cut off across the West African nation in anticipation of the election results, according to locals and international observers in the capital, Conakry.
\t This was the third time that Conde matched-up against Diallo. Before the election, observers raised concerns that an electoral dispute could reignite ethnic tensions between Guinea's largest ethnic groups.
\"When farmers use technology, they can save up to 30 percent on water, increase their yields by 30 percent and reduce their costs by up to 20 percent. That's why new technologies are so important to farmers today, and why our expertise can help them make better decisions.\" Imen Hbiri, founder of the
[Monitor] The newly revised roadmap for 2021 General Election that authorised virtual campaigning has been challenged in the High Court for violating various fundamental constitutional rights and freedom.
Chairperson of Malawi’s electoral body resigned her position in what is the latest twist of an upcoming election rerun in the southern African country.
Jane Ansah’s Malawi Electoral Commission, MEC; suffered credibility crisis earlier this year when a court annulled May 2019 elections that won incumbent Peter Mutharika re-election.
The Constitutional Court ruled that opposition petitioners had proven that there were widespread irregularities in the poll.
Malawi currently has to sort out the processing of ballots and setting of an election date all within 42 days to the final countdown set by the court to hold fresh polls.
A parliamentary committee had asked the president to fire Ansah and the MEC top brass but Mutharika refused with the reason that he had not seen any grave breach on their parts.
Malawi's electoral commission appealed for \"peace and calm\" on Wednesday as it tallied ballots following a historic poll to re-elect a president after Peter Mutharika's victory was overturned.
Voters in Malawi went to the polls on Tuesday for the second time in just over a year after the Constitutional Court dramatically ruled that last year's polls were fraught with \"grave and widespread\" irregularities.
The cancellation of Mutharika's victory was historic as it made Malawi just the second country south of the Sahara to have presidential poll results set aside, after Kenya in 2017.
The chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission, Chifundo Kachale, said votes from 5 002 polling stations were being tallied on Wednesday.
Mutharika has accused the opposition of inciting violence following isolated incidents which the police and electoral commission said had not affected the election.
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
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.
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.
Malawi's parliament has endorsed June 23 as the date for the presidential election re-run after a court annulled last year's vote over irregularities, a lawmaker said.
The election had handed President Peter Mutharika a second term, but with just 38.5% of the vote.
Legally parliament had to validate the new polling date.
He said the court ruling \"clearly states that parliament must set a date for the elections\".
Meantime, a new electoral commission was sworn-in on Tuesday to organise the new vote, after the top court also ordered an investigation into the conduct of the previous one.
The Gauteng Department of Health has partnered with Rebosis Property Fund and Faith Care Medicals to set up Covid-19 testing stations at malls owned by the company in the Pretoria area.
On Tuesday, the first mall-based testing station in Gauteng was officially opened by Health MEC Bandile Masuku, the CEO of Rebosis Sisa Ngebulana and the founder of Faith Care Medicals Faith Mabuza at Forest Hill City shopping centre in Centurion.
\"This partnership will benefit various communities in Pretoria and surrounding areas, especially those that have been identified as Covid-19 hotspots and are also densely populated, thus posing a health risk,\" the department said in a statement.
According to the department, the testing stations will be rolled out in phases at the demarcated areas outside malls owned by Rebosis, where phase two of the project will see the opening of a testing station at Bloedstreet Mall in the Pretoria CBD.
The MEC also called on other mall owners and businesses to come on board to ensure the project was implemented throughout the province, so that as many people as possible are able to access testing stations and are given the necessary care if found to be positive.
[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.
[African Arguments] I was arrested and beaten last week for daring to contest the presidential election. This is not a fair fight, but I have no option but to be strong.
VocoVision, a leading provider of teletherapy jobs and telepractice services for school professionals, and their Director of Clinical Services, Dr. Kathryn Steele, Ph. D., have revealed strategies parents can use to instill healthy screen use [...]
The post Experts Reveal Healthy Screen Time Tips for Parents appeared first on Free Press of Jacksonville.
In 1996, Avel Louise Gordly became the first African American woman to be elected to the Oregon State Senate. Gordly was born in Portland on February 13, 1947. Her father, Fay Gordly, was a railroad worker active with the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids; her mother, Beatrice Bernice Coleman Gordly, was a long-time […]
The post Avel Louise Gordly: First African-American Woman Elected to the Oregon State Senate appeared first on Black Then.
The resumption of the sale of alcohol has seen Gauteng recording 18 deaths since June 1.
These statistics were presented by Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko at the weekly Gauteng Provincial Command Council update on Friday.
She added that about 124 people were admitted to various hospitals after sustaining injuries in brawls related to alcohol consumption.
Mazibuko said during Levels 4 and 5, they were dealing with home brewed alcohol sales and consumption, but during Level 3 they have to deal with legal alcohol.
Police are not going to negotiate with you, they are going to take you for carrying alcohol between Friday and Sunday,\" said Mazibuko.
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.
Voters in the southern African country went to the polls on Tuesday for the second time in 13 months after the Constitutional Court scrapped the initial May 2019 presidential election over mass fraud.
The governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) called Friday on the electoral commission to annul the results collated so far of the second vote and declare a third poll.
DPP administrative secretary Francis Mphepo said in a statement: \"We wish to highlight several incidents that may potentially affect the integrity and credibility of the presidential election results.\"
In February, Malawi's top court found the election was marred by widespread irregularities, including the use of correction fluid to tamper with result sheets.
Major opposition parties have lukewarmly welcomed the resignation of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Jane Ansah, saying it is ill timed as Malawians are expected to go into polls on June 23 to select a new State president in the fresh elections.
Mkaka: Not only Ansah but the whole commission must go
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka said the party is not at all excited with the resignation.
UTM publicist Joseph Chidanti Malunga questioned the timing of the resignation, saying it could be a sabotage to derail the Constitutional Court sanctioned presidential election.
Ansah's resignation has come after the Malawi constitutional court in February upheld the opposition leaders' petition and nullified the May 2019 presidential election results on grounds of irregularities including manual alterations and use of tippex on the results sheets to change the figures.
Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal this month upheld the lower court's decision and faulted the commissioners for mismanaging the 2019 presidential election.
Candidates seeking electoral positions in Uganda's general election due early next year will have to conduct their campaigns without physical contact as dictated by Covid-19 social and physical distancing, the Electoral Commission has announced.
The commission, which released a new roadmap of electoral activities, has set November 2 and 3, 2020 as nomination dates for Presidential candidates.
NO POSTPONING ELECTION
Article 61(2) of the Constitution provides that the \"Electoral Commission shall hold general presidential, parliamentary and local government council elections within the first thirty days of the last ninety days before the expiration of the term of the President.\"
Responding to questions about calls for postponing the election to give all candidates a fair chance in light of the Covid-19 disruption, Mr Byabakama said, \"The option of postponing the election has not even occurred to us as a commission because it is not in our mandate.
Mr Byabakama added that the commission's mandate is limited only to state (public) media which is required to give equal space to all presidential candidates.
Other ministers, however, rejected Mr Kutesa's suggestion and asked Mr Matia Kasaija of Finance to look for funds in the 2020/21 budget for buying radios and TV sets for the 15 million learners.
While the planned distribution of free radios and TV sets was never intended to assist virtual political campaigns but ease access to distance learning and teaching across Uganda, sources in Cabinet talked of \"killing two birds with one stone\".
She, however, said the distribution of radio sets and TV had nothing to do with the anticipated virtual political campaigns.
Dr Arthur Bainomugisha, the executive director of Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (Acode), and other analysts have questioned the rationale of buying radios and TV sets for households without access to electricity, money for buying batteries and struggling to feed themselves in the face of the pandemic.
According to another Cabinet source, the President also told Cabinet that since Education requires only two senses - listening and seeing, the planned distribution of free government TV sets and radios will boost distance learning infrastructure, a teaching strategy needed to combat the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal perfected judgment on the elections case has given a deadline on the swearing-in of president-elect in the Constitution Court sanctioned presidential poll.
The panel of judges of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal who made the ruling included Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda, Justice Rezine Mzikamanda, Justice Edward Twea, Justice Anaclet Chipeta, Justice Lovemore Chikopa, Justice Frank Edgar Kapanda and Justice Anthony Kamanga
In the perfected judgment, the case gives July 3, 2020 as the deadline for the swearing in of the president-elect.
The 151st day of the 150 days ordered by the Constitutional Court within which to hold the election falls on July 3 as the Constitutional Court ruling was made on February 3, 2020.
By the terms of the order of the Court below that there be a fresh election for the office of the President within 150 days, it is a legal requirement that a President must be elected and duly returned and sworn in by the commencement of the 151st day from the date of the judgement of the Court below [Constitution Court],\" the unanimous decision of seven-judges panel of the Supreme Court ruled.
There was no immediate comment from the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) on the perfected ruling but this week its chairperson Jane Ansah suggested that the election be held on June 23 so that the counting of votes and the swearing in of the president elect falls under the court's prescribed 150 days.
The electoral commission last week told the nation to prepare for an unusual election where campaigning will be done digitally, as the destabilizing effects of the coronavirus continue.
Justifying scientific elections
\tUganda which currently has over 700 confirmed cases of the coronavirus has been slowly easing restrictions and emphasizing measures of social distancing for all activities in the country.
The commission says it is bound by Article 61 (2) of Uganda’s constitution which tasks it to organize elections within 120 days before the expiry of the term of president, parliament or local government.
In conducting a scientific election, the commission hopes to exercise its duty to facilitate Ugandans’ right to choose their leaders in a healthy and safe environment.
The opposition politicians accuse the electoral commission of not consulting them as it drafted the revised election roadmap.
Malawi held an investiture for President Lazarus Chakwera and Vice President Saulos Chilima on Sunday, hours after the elections body declared Chakwera winner of the June 23 polls.
In his inaugural speech, Chakwera struck a conciliatory tone, promising to be president for all Malawians whether they voted for him or not.
The new president is a philosopher, theologian and clergyman by training and studied in Malawi, South Africa and the United States.
Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) late Saturday declared Chakwera as the winner of the June 23 election.
Making the declaration, commission chair Justice Chifundo Kachale announced that Chakwera, leader of the Tonse Alliance, bagged 2,604,043 votes, representing 58.5 percent of the total votes cast.
(The Center Square) – The Washington State Board of Natural Resources on Tuesday approved the $55 million purchase of more than 9,000 acres of forestland in Wahkiakum County using mostly funding from the state's carbon auctions. It's the state's largest land acquisition in more than a decade and revenue from anticipated timber harvests are expected […]
The post WA uses carbon auction funds to make largest land purchase in more than a decade appeared first on The Black Chronicle.
Ugandans are engaged in heated debates over the merits, possibilities and effectiveness of participating in what is being popularly referred to as a ‘scientific election’.
The East African country is scheduled to hold presidential, parliamentary and local government elections next year.
Uganda which currently has over 700 confirmed cases of the coronavirus has been slowly easing restrictions and emphasizing measures of social distancing for all activities in the country.
How it will be conducted
Aspirants at all levels will only be able to conduct campaigns electronically via television, radio and social media, since open-air public rallies have been banned.
“This is because electoral activities involve public gatherings and hence pose high COVID-19 risk of person-to-person and object-to-person transmissions,” the commission explained in a statement.
The three months of a lockdown imposed since March across the country also means that some activities will have to be accomplished in a much shorter time.
With hardly six months to the elections scheduled to be held between January and February next year, political parties are yet to nominate flag-bearers for the different offices that will be contested.
Voting itself is to be conducted normally, with president Yoweri Museveni telling the nation on Monday that government can effectively ensure social distancing and other precautionary measures at polling stations.
“… the gathering for the elections themselves, can be safely managed with hand-washing, social-distancing or leaving gaps of the necessary metres between voters in line,” Museveni said.
“This would remove the uncertainty that would be created by the postponement of the elections but also ensure that elections are held safely. I call upon Ugandans to support this option.”
Ugandans react
Key stakeholders in the electoral process including leaders of political parties and the voters themselves have shared mixed reactions to the electoral commission’s proposal.
While the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has welcomed the proposal and says it will adjust its programme accordingly, many in the opposition say the commission is playing into the hands of incumbent Museveni and other powerful NRM politicians.
The opposition politicians accuse the electoral commission of not consulting them as it drafted the revised election roadmap. According to the popular legislator and presidential hopef
