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Authorities say the miners are able to come out and are refusing, but that has been disputed by rights groups and activists, who have fiercely criticized police tactics in cutting off the miners' food and water supplies from the surface last year in an attempt to get them to leave.
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.
Minister Solomon Seay Sr., was often referred to as the 'spiritual father' of the civil rights movement by Martin Luther King Jr. Seay played key roles in several early grassroots civil rights movement efforts in Alabama's Black Belt region and beyond. In the late 1940s, Seay became an active member in Montgomery's Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance […]
Fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group, which was driven out of Uganda in the late 1990s, attacked Samboko village, about 100km (60 miles) southwest of the city of Bunia, Omar Kavota from rights group CEPADHO said on Wednesday.
A day after killing at least 17 in the nearby village of Makutano, ADF members killed at least 40 people with machetes and looted food and valuables early on Tuesday, Kavota added
On the ground, some people have fled and others have given themselves the courage to stay for the moment.
More than 400 people have been killed in attacks attributed to the ADF since the army began an offensive to oust the group from its bases last year, according to the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a research initiative that maps unrest in the region.
About 200,000 people have fled their homes in Ituri province, where the two villages are located, in the past two months because of the widespread violence by a variety of armed groups.
Last month, 22 people from the Hema community were killed in attacks in the village of Koli in Ituri province, which were blamed on the Cooperative for the Development of Congo – an armed political-religious sect drawn from the Lendu ethnic group.
DEFENCE deputy minister and Zanu PF national commissar Victor Matemadanda has claimed that the planned July 31 protests against government were being funded by the West with the intention of spreading the deadly COVID-19 in the country. BY EVERSON MUSHAVA Civic groups and opposition political parties have pegged the day to protest against corruption and the deteriorating economic situation in the country under President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mnangagwa’s Zanu PF party has admitted that the protests threatened its hegemony, and vowed to unleash the security forces to thwart any dissent after awarding salary increments to army and police personnel. The Zanu PF leader yesterday said he would intensify COVID-19 lockdown in Harare and Bulawayo because of growing COVID-19 infections, but critics say the lockdown would enable the State to clamp down on the planned protests. On Wednesday, Matemadanda told State media that the protests were a Western project, being bankrolled to the tune of US$300 000 by the hostile governments so that they have an opportunity to use COVID-19 laced canisters to spread the virus in the country. “We know that they (opposition) have been given more than US$300 000 to sustain the planned demonstration and obviously they are being encouraged to break the law against COVID-19 regulations,” he said. “Why this is being done, it is not because people are concerned about the ordinary people, but they are trying to bring a narrative first to see how the government is going to react to the demonstrators and obviously cry about the disregard of human rights.” Matemadanda, who is also secretary-general for war veterans, said the West was not happy that the country had recorded few COVID-19-related deaths. “Zimbabweans should know that those who are funding these demonstrations are worried about why COVID-19 has not killed people in Zimbabwe,” he said. “And the information that we have got is that they are trying to get firing of tear gas and we are reliably informed that they also have some canisters containing COVID-19 active material they hope to spread to the Zimbabweans. We are reliably informed that they have got a mechanism of spreading coronavirus which has been brought in by those funding the protests.” He added: “So, this is what they are trying to do, to spread coronavirus and then blame the government for not being proactive.”
A 19-year-old Bartica miner died on Tuesday, days after he allegedly sustained injuries during a football game at Armu Backdam, Cuyuni Backdam in Region Seven.
The article Bartica miner succumbs to spine fracture appeared first on Stabroek News.
I can only hope that this piece inspires us all to follow the lead of our esteemed ex-Excellency — Is that out of Òwu? I don’t know any equivalent in Ìbàdàn — and get on with the business not only of rethinking all the stuff that the evil Westerners have saddled us with but, more […]
The post Before we rethink western liberal democracy in Africa, By Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.
Three people were burnt beyond recognition while a fourth was flung on to the roof of a house after a vehicle crashed into a vibracrete wall in Cape Town.
[VOA] Residents of Nairobi's Mathare slum marched Monday to protest police brutality in the enforcement of a curfew that is part of the effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Small scale gold miners are set to receive 100 percent of their deliveries to Fidelity Printers and Refineries in foreign currency as government seek to curb gold leakages into the black market.
Previously, the state was offering small scale producers up to 55 percent of their earnings in foreign currency with the remaining 45 percent paid in local currency at a fixed exchange rate.
This has led to most artisanal miners opting to sell their gold produce on the black market where they get their earnings wholly in foreign currency.
Gold sector players have for a long time been calling on government to review the foreign currency retention policy to at least 75/25 percent in order to ensure producers are able to meet high operational costs in most cases requiring foreign currency.
However due to the foreign currency retention policy, Artisanal miners deliveries to Fidelity dropped 19 percent to 17 tonnes against 22 tonnes delivered in 2018.
Concerns surrounding cobalt mainly relate to governance and labour conditions, including child labour, rather than to the kind observed in some conflict areas in the east.
As international and Congolese researchers stated in an open letter, \"in demanding that companies prove the origin of minerals sourced in the Eastern DRC or neighbouring countries before systems able to provide such proof have been put in place, conflict minerals activists and resultant legislation - in particular Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act - inadvertently incentivize buyers on the international market to pull out of the region altogether and source their minerals elsewhere.\"
For its part, the Congolese government has pledged to eliminate child labour and hazardous labour conditions in artisanal and small scale cobalt mines by 2025.
President Felix Tshisekedi has been working on fostering national institutions and improving good governance including in the mining sector where cobalt has become a \"strategic mineral\".
By viewing cobalt as a strategic rather than conflict mineral, and if miners, the Congolese government and international companies can work together, a win-win-win scenario for cobalt supply chains is possible.
Since Magufuli was elected in 2015, Lissu has made it his job to fearlessly challenge the autocratic leader - and more than a dozen bullet wounds were not enough to shut him up.
Almost three years ago, Lissu, the former president of the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), was en route to his home in Tanzania's capital Dodoma at around 11am for a lunch break during a parliamentary session.
The changes to Tanzanian society were \"immediate\" following Magufuli's election win almost five years ago, Lissu says.
According to Lissu, Magufuli, quite simply, needs the money to implement dozens of national megaprojects he has spearheaded, while Magufuli's fledgling attempts at revamping Air Tanzania, the country's flag carrier, have alone cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
What's unique under Magufuli, according to Lissu, is that the arrests are being made solely for criticising the president.
The City of Cape Town is appealing to the public to donate essential items to the Masiphumelele community after a fire tore through roughly 1 000 dwellings.
Burundi did not go through with its initial application in 2015 to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and is now keen to try again. The country has significant reserves of gold,
Burundi's longtime President Pierre Nkurunziza has congratulated the governing party's hand-picked successor on a \"large victory\" in the country's presidential election, though the main opposition has pledged to contest the result in court.
The election commission on Monday declared Evariste Ndayishimiye, a former army general chosen by the CNDD-FDD party as heir to Nkurunziza, the winner of the May 20 poll with 68.72 percent vote.
\"I warmly congratulate the President-elect General Major Evariste Ndayishimiye for his large victory which confirms that the great majority of Burundians adhere to the projects and the values he embodies,\" Nkurunziza, who chose not to run after 15 years in power, posted on Twitter.
On May 8, 12 days to the polls and before the scheduled arrival of an East African Community mission to the country, the government said the regional bloc's observers would have to be in quarantine for 14 days, effectively ruling them out of the election process.
Nkurunziza was this year elevated by Burundi's parliament to the rank of \"supreme guide for patriotism\" and he will continue to be chairman of the governing party's powerful council of elders.
After rescuing a puppy from a sewerage line, City of Cape Town firefighters have returned to the scene to fix the homeowner's damaged infrastructure.
The bodies of two maintenance workers have been discovered in a sewerage pit near well-known Cape Town hotel.
Ahead of Uganda's January 14 election, President Yoweri Museveni's government continues to limit the opposition's voices by blocking campaigning, enabling an environment that cannot facilitate a fair and free vote, according to rights groups.
Arthur E. Johnson was Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategic Development for Lockheed Martin Corporation. Johnson contributed over 20 years of senior leadership experience in the information technology and defense industry. Prior to Lockheed Martin, Johnson served as President and Chief Operating Officer of IBM Federal Systems prior to the sale of the company to Loral and subsequent merger with Lockheed Martin.
Johnson served in leadership roles in a number of professional and civic organizations. Johnson’s industry involvement included having served as the founding Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). Johnson was named as one of the 2003 “50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology” by Blackmoney.com and U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology Magazine.
Johnson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College. Also, Johnson is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
[New Dawn] The Unity Party (UP) is seeking a new date for the certification of Liberia's President-elect Amb. Joseph Nyumah Boakai and his Vice President-elect Jeremiah Koung due to their absence from the ceremony.
LOTTO Results edit post Daily Lotto results for Sunday, 28 February 2021 2021-02-28 edit post Lotto and Lotto Plus results for Saturday, 27 February 2021
Zimbabwe's investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was released from prison on Wednesday.
He was arrested six weeks ago for inciting public violence for tweeting his support for an anti-government protest.
He had reported on alleged COVID-19 procurement fraud- which led to the health minister being sacked and charged with corruption.
\"I was convinced that I was arrested for exposing corruption and the president's office ordered my arrest. When we go to trial we shall prove that,\" Chin’ono said.
He denounced the conditions in Chikuribi prison, saying that most prisoners don't have soap and water and that a cell meant for 16 people holds up to 45 prisoners.
He says his detention has made him all the more eager to continue his work.
\"I remain strong. In fact, it's amazing and I was talking to my friend here Jacob (Ngarivhume) some time that if these guys knew the mistake they made by taking us there, because we have seen things that we only used to hear about and we were not sure about, but now we know and we can write authoritatively about those things.\"
Opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, an organiser of the foiled protest, was arrested, charged and released at the same time as Chin'ono.
He has also been barred from posting on his Twitter account until his case is decided.
Rights groups say he was arrested for exposing corruption.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected in 2018, but despite his promises to reinforce democracy Reporters Without Borders says the page is not turned on his predecessor Robert Mugabe.
The group says extremely harsh media laws are still in effect and, when new laws have been adopted, their provisions are just as draconian as those they replaced.
Zimbabwe ranks 126 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
[Capital FM] Nairobi -- Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has assured foreign investors of favorable policies in the country that will ease the constraints in the investment sector.
Pastor Dr. Ephraim Williams has led the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Oak Park since 1971.
On June 30, 2019 Dr. Williams announced his retirement as the Senior Pastor of the St. Paul Baptist Church.
Last fall, the church hosted an anniversary-retirement banquet to celebrate the 49 years of impeccable service and leadership that Dr. Williams has provided not only to St. Paul but the Sacramento community as a whole.
On Sept. 18, 2019, the church held a special business meeting and voted to elect Pastor Kenneth Reece as Assistant Pastor and successor to Dr. Ephraim Williams as Senior Pastor of St. Paul.
He was ordained to the ministry in 1994 at St. Paul Baptist Church of Sacramento under Dr. Williams.
BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is disconnecting water supplies to government departments over outstanding bills running into several millions of dollars. By NQOBANI NDLOVU Recently, the local authority switched off water supplies at Tredgold Building which houses the magistrates court, Labour Court, Department of Surveyor General, Social Services, Registrar-General’s Office, Local Government ministry and Umguza district co-ordinator's office. As of October, the local authority was owed $477 million by residents, government departments, industry and commerce. In the past, residents would bear the brunt of water cuts over unpaid bills with council sparing government departments. A latest report of the finance and development committee showed that an arrangement that saw council sparing government departments the inconvenience of water cuts had since been revoked. “Councillor Rodney Jele enquired about water disconnections for non-payments. There was rumour that council had disconnected water supplies in most government institutions which include Tredgold Building,” the council report read in part. “In response, councillor Silas Chigora confirmed that council was disconnecting water supplies at government institutions with outstanding amounts. Previously, council had a set-off arrangement with the central government, but this arrangement had since been stopped. Each ministry was paying its council bills directly.” Council argues that failure by its debtors to clear their outstanding bills was affecting its ability to provide services and owner its obligations. At one time, council having been frustrated by failure of ratepayers to pay bills, opted to name and shame defaulters. The council compiled a list of 29 wards, detailing payment patterns by residents. The local authority is also planning to introduce flow-limiter devices restricting households who fail to pay rates to five kilolitres of water per day as opposed to water disconnection to avoid litigation. In February, council unveiled a credit control and debt collection policy that sought to maintain predictable cashflows and allow for improved management of debts, among others. The policy provides for procedures and mechanisms for credit control and debt collection. It does not spare even BCC staff and councillors as the policy insists on forced deductions on their salaries if they have outstanding bills. Follow Nqobani on Twitter @NqobaniNdlovu
The quarrel is over the rate at which Ethiopia fills the reservoir behind the dam and its effect on water supplies downstream in Sudan and Egypt—for who the Nile is the primary water source.
On and off since construction started, Egypt has threatened to go to war to secure continued access to the Nile waters.
If Egypt attacked Ethiopia, the antiquated idea that the Nile is a common good to which all have natural rights would collapse.
The Nile has two major tributaries—the White Nile is the headwaters and primary stream of the river, and the Blue Nile, containing 80 per cent of the water and originates in Ethiopia.
For now, Uganda should be able to collect custodian’s fees from South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt, and invest it in protecting the polluted Lake Nalubaale from which the Nile flows, and the real estate of the river that sits on its territory as it flows north.
[Thomson Reuters Foundation] Johannesburg -- In the worst-case scenario, extreme droughts could be about 100 times more likely than they were early last century
Black Lives Won’t Matter Until Black Politics Do. Black centered policies developed by Black people that will change the daily lives of all Black people are necessary now more than ever.
The group of firefighters will assist in the combat of wild fires as temperatures continue to rise during the summer season.
The South African is an English-language South African online news publication and a leading source for news, sport, lifestyle, finance, opinion content in South Africa.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government has allocated fresh diamond mining claims to Anjin Investments in Chiadzwa, in Manicaland province, four years after the company was evicted from the mineral-rich area alongside other miners on allegations of under-declaring proceeds, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal.
The decision to parcel out lucrative claims to Anjin Investments follows spirited lobbying by the Chinese government, which placed Mnangagwa under immense pressure to allow the miner back in Chiadzwa after a four-year hiatus.
In reality, Anjin Investments never left the diamond-rich Chiadzwa area, but only discontinued operations after the government terminated the miner's operating licence in 2016.
A senior official privy to the protracted negotiations which led to the restoration of Anjin's operating licence told the Independent this week that the government had finally caved in to Chinese demands, but went a step further by allocating the company fresh mining claims.
Although finer details pertaining to the size of the diamond concession remain hazy, a source this week hinted that the government \"carefully identified a lucrative claim\" to ensure that Anjin Investments would quickly return to profitability.
