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Uganda’s inter-religious council called off the eagerly awaited presidential candidates’ debate.
The council said the debate, that was due on Thursday 03 was cancelled due to limited resources.
Local media reported that a total of ten presidential candidates were expected to grace the occasion.
This comes amid numerous complaints majorly from the opposition who have constantly blamed the security apparatus for rights violations.
Uganda opposition have in most cases face wrath of the police especially the renowned musician-turned politician, Bobi Wine.
Two weeks ago, 54 people died in protests after Wines supporters called for his release following a brief arrest at campaign rally.
They have defended themselves by claiming that they were only implementing Covid-19 guidelines to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
Bobi Wine was later charged with violating pandemic restrictions on gathering of crowds and granted bail.
The embattled singer later met the electoral commission and asked them to ensure that there should be equitable campaigns and police should be stopped from intimidating the opposition leaders and their members.
\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.
Forty-three days before the November election, President Donald Trump spoke at a campaign rally just outside of Toledo, Ohio, where... View Article
The post Crowd chants 'fill that seat' at Ohio rally as Trump reaffirms court plans appeared first on TheGrio.
By Dalvin Brown - President Donald Trump has signed off on a business proposal between TikTok, Walmart and Oracle that would allow the social networking app to continue to operate in the U.S. One of Trump's [...]
Zimbabwe's health minister Obadiah Moyo was arrested on Friday for alleged corruption related to the supply of medical materials to combat the coronavirus pandemic, the anti-graft agency said.
The government did not immediately comment on the arrest, which came a day after the country's main opposition condemned alleged state corruption following suspicions over a $2-million-dollar payment to a medical company contracted to provide anti-coronavirus equipment.
Harare has come under fire for granting two-month-old company Drax Consult SAGL a contract to supply $20 million worth of drugs, personal protective equipment and Covid-19 test kits.
In March, authorities in Hungary - where Drax Consult SAGL is registered - flagged a suspicious $2 million deposit into the company's accounts, drawing anger from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
Government last week ordered the cancellation of all contracts for the supply of medicines and sundries by Drax, according to the state-run Herald newspaper.
[Monitor] Kampala -- The Criminal Investigations Directorate has said they are not investigating former Bank of Uganda deputy governor, Dr Louis Kasekende and former director of banks supervision, Justine Bagyenda, over missing land titles of clients of closed commercial banks as earlier media reports had suggested.
In an assertion that’s somehow as bold as it is clueless, President Donald Trump is congratulating himself for spreading awareness of Juneteenth, the day celebrating the end of slavery in America.
Trump made the claim in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, responding to a question about his having planned a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma ― where a horrific racist massacre took place in 1921 ― on Juneteenth.
Here’s the Journal’s retelling of that portion of the interview:
Mr. Trump said he polled many people around him, none of whom had heard of Juneteenth.
Mr. Trump paused the interview to ask an aide if she had heard of Juneteenth, and she pointed out that the White House had issued a statement last year commemorating the day.
Mr. Trump’s White House has put out statements on Juneteenth during each of his first three years.
As polls suggest the opposition alliance will win on 23 June, President Mutharika has been trying to forcibly remove the country's chief justice.
When Peter Mutharika was declared the official winner of Malawi's hard-fought presidential elections in May 2019, he would not have expected - or wanted - to be doing it all again just one year later.
Moreover, in his 5 June State of National Address, Mutharika asked parliament to reverse the court ruling that demanded Malawi switch from its first-past-the-post system to one that requires the victor to garner a 50+1 majority.
In the annulled 2019 elections, President Mutharika of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was declared the winner with 38.6% of the vote.
Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) garnered 35.4%; Saulos Chilima of UTM came third with 20.2%; and Atupele Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF) received 4.7%.
President Donald Trump addressed an enthusiastic — though smaller than expected — crowd of supporters at a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday night as some protesters gathered outside to call for an end to systemic racism and police brutality.
We had some very bad people outside,” Trump told the crowd inside the BOK Center, later referring to protesters as “thugs.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, advised in an interview earlier this month that large events of any kind, including Trump’s rally, remain “risky,” and he urged people to avoid such gatherings.
On Saturday afternoon, a peaceful protester wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirt was arrested by Tulsa police outside the BOK Center at the behest of Trump’s campaign staff.
Trump lambasted protesters, calling them “thugs” and “bad people,” but did not respond their calls to end racial injustice or police brutality in the wake of Floyd’s death.
A year after becoming the first black African woman to scale the world’s highest mountain, Saray Khumalo seems to have set a Guinness World Record for the most money raised during an eight-hour stationary cycling fundraiser, a report by VOA said. The award-winning mountaineer and entrepreneur raised nearly $44,000 after eight hours of spinning to support an...
The post The first Black African woman to scale Mount Everest just broke a Guinness World Record appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
Recalling a major security incident that took place on Friday, 12th October 2012 – a month before elections were held in Sierra Leone, right in the heart of the business district of Freetown, involving the heavily armed motorcade of president Ernest Bai Koroma and the convoy of the then opposition SLPP presidential candidate – Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, which could have led to catastrophic loss of life on both sides and another bloody civil war.
Thanks to the foresight, fortitude and cool-headedness of president Ernest Bai Koroma, and his quick decision to avert a bloody and catastrophic shoot-out between the heavily armed State security personnel and Maada Bio’s personal guards, the police successfully negotiated the traffic, bringing the standoff to a satisfactory end without a single shot fired, nor was Maada Bio arrested.
Palo Conteh (Photo) walked into State House with his shoulder bag carrying his gun, wrongfully bypassing the security scanner at the entrance, just as Maada Bio in 2012 wrongfully – and some may say foolishly, drove his convoy straight into the direction of the oncoming motorcade of the sitting president – Ernest Bai Koroma.
Maada Bio may have been able in 2012 to plead mitigating circumstances or ignorance of the president’s route of travel, but there is no doubt he made the wrong decision, just as Palo Conteh did on the 19th of March 2020 – carrying his gun into State House.
If found guilty by a justice system that is polarised by politics, he will face the gallows where he will be hanged until he draws his last breath – just for mistakenly and foolishly walking into State House with a gun which he handed over to security for safe keeping before his meeting with president Julius Maada Bio on the second floor.
Uganda’s two key opposition figures, Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and People Power leader MP Robert Sentamu Kyagulanyi (aka Bobi Wine) on June 15 announced a strategy for joint political activities under the United Forces of Change.
Bobi Wine and Dr Besigye have branded their partnership a political pressure group meant to push back against President Yoweri Museveni’s government.
Before he joined mainstream politics in 2017 as a member of parliament for Kyadondo East, Bobi Wine was a Dr Besigye supporter.
At some point, the seeming popularity of Bobi Wine’s People Power created suspicion and hostility with the FDC, the largest opposition party in Uganda.
Our strategies may differ at some point but our objective is the same,” said Bobi Wine at the launch.
[Nation] True to the saying \"east, west, home is best\", there is a near-stampede of Kenyan jihadists returning home from Al-Shabaab terrorist cells as never witnessed before.
Uganda's top opposition leaders — Robert Kyagulanyi of the People Power Movement and Kizza Besigye of the People's Government — announced Monday they are joining forces to demonstrate against President Yoweri Museveni’s administration.
The singer-turned-legislator and longtime opposition leader Kizza Besigye are urging Ugandans to take part in a peaceful protest Tuesday against the government and its response to COVID-19.
Wine and Besigye’s cooperation comes less than eight months before Uganda’s general elections.
Colonel Shaban Bantariza, the deputy government spokesman, said Besigye and Wine should not tempt the population to protest, saying these activities are against law and order.
The opposition want an independent body established to guide the country into a recovery process from damages caused by COVID-19 and audit the government response and use of COVID-19 funds.
Ethiopia's parliament has approved allowing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to stay in office beyond his mandate after elections planned for August were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The vote on Wednesday - 114 in favour, four against and one abstention - came two days after a leading opposition politician resigned as speaker in an apparent protest against the decision to delay the election.
Ethiopia's election board announced in March that it would be impossible to organise the vote on time because of the pandemic, in which 2,506 infections have been confirmed in the country with 35 deaths.
Some opposition leaders have called for a caretaker or transitional government to guide the country to elections, a suggestion Abiy dismissed as unworkable during a question-and-answer session on Monday with legislators.
On Wednesday night, two major opposition parties with power bases in Abiy's home Oromia region issued a joint statement rejecting Wednesday's vote as \"an illegal and illegitimate act\".
The selection of Tulsa as the place where Trump returns to the stump and the date on which he is choosing to do it both suggest that Trump’s long-whispered-about race speech — in the wake of ongoing protests and unrest following the death of George Floyd — will happen next Friday, and at a campaign rally no less.
While Oklahoma has no set limit on group gatherings, it’s not a swing state, so there’s no other obvious reason — other than to address racial issues — that Trump would stage his first rally in the state (and Tulsa particularly).
“The African American community is very near and dear to his heart,” said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Thursday of Trump’s planned Tulsa rally on Juneteenth.
Now, it’s possible that the intended audience for this Tulsa rally isn’t actually African Americans but rather white women, particularly those who live in the suburbs, who have badly soured on Trump — and who see his handling of the Floyd protests as a sort of final straw.
Because of everything he has said and done in his life on race and racial issues, Trump lacks credibility to give a speech like the one he appears ready to deliver next Friday night.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The next few weeks are critical to tamping down a disturbing coronavirus surge, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress on Tuesday — issuing a plea for people to avoid crowds and wear masks just hours before mask-shunning President Donald Trump was set to hold a campaign rally in one hot spot.
Fauci and other top health officials also said they have not been asked to slow down virus testing, in contrast to Trump’s claim last weekend that he had ordered fewer tests be performed because they were uncovering too many infections.
Troubling surges worsened Tuesday in several states, with Arizona, Texas and Nevada setting single-day records for new coronavirus cases, and some governors saying they’ll consider reinstating restrictions or delaying plans to ease up in order to help slow the spread of the virus.
Scientists eventually recommended the general public use cloth masks, after they better understood that people with no symptoms could be spreading the virus — even though they don’t offer as much protection as the sophisticated masks reserved for health workers and aren’t a substitute for staying 6 feet away from other people.
Trump, meanwhile, doubled down on testing claims that have public health experts appalled, tweeting Tuesday:
“Cases are going up in the U.S. because we are testing far more than any other country, and ever expanding.
Officials and experts are sounding the alarm as Malawi shifts to top campaign gear with giant rallies for an unprecedented presidential re-run despite the coronavirus pandemic.
He said Malawians “will only fully understand the impact once we start to see burial teams and mass graves” because the disease is “deceptively undramatic until it is too late”.
Malawians will only fully understand the impact once we start to see burial teams and mass graves\" because the disease is \"deceptively undramatic until it is too late
\tPolitical scientist Michael Jana said the bitter power struggle has seen the country throw caution to the wind.
The southern African country will hold polls in just under two months after the Constitutional Court overturned the results of last year’s controversial election, which handed President Peter Mutharika a second term.
Mutharika garnered just 38.5 percent of the May 21 vote but the Constitutional Court annulled the result, citing “grave” and “widespread” irregularities, including the use of correction fluid on ballot papers.
Foreign Currency Account holders with Zimbabwean banks – among them units of Standard Bank, Standard Chartered and Nedbank – have expressed apprehension about what they fear could be a run on their funds by the government, as the central bank kicks in new monetary measures.
Chiedza Madzima, the head of operational risk for Fitch Solutions, said Zimbabwe's foreign currency accounts were facing pressure as depositors rushed to withdraw US dollar funds \"amid much lower market confidence.\"
Standard Chartered Zimbabwe last month told local media that \"the Covid-19 induced lockdown has resulted in some constraints in cash importation\", while some bank chiefs say they have been asked by the central bank to prioritise foreign currency allocations.
They are prioritising those accounts which have cash deposits, and now I am stuck because I cannot access my funds and at the same time I cannot convert into local currency at the official rate, which is much lower,\" said an FCA account holder at foreign-owned bank in Harare.
Banks such as Stanbic Zimbabwe and Standard Chartered have been touting alternatives to cash withdrawals such as internal transfers, online and mobile application payments for FCA accounts.
Zimbabwe has come under international scrutiny after President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government launched a crackdown against its critics that include opposition leaders, lawyers and journalists.
\"A pattern of intimidation and arbitrary arrest and detention of lawyers and journalists and indeed legitimate political opponents has distinctly emerged in Zimbabwe during the Covid-19 era,\" said Martin Okumu-Masiga, the AJJF secretary-general.
\"We urge the government of Zimbabwe to respect the rule of law and the right to freedom of expression and the right to fair trial as well as to respect the independence of judges and lawyers as is guaranteed by domestic and international obligations that the country is party to\" said Okumu-Masiga.
\"I draw the Zimbabwe government's attention to principle 16 of the UN basic principles on the role of lawyers, which requires surety from governments that lawyers are afforded the space to perform all of their professional functions free from intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; nor may lawyers suffer or be threatened with prosecution, or administrative, economic or any other sanction for any action taken in light of the recognised professional duties, standards and ethics.\"
\"We are concerned about the shrinking democratic space evidenced by abductions, arrests, persecution by the prosecution of civil society, lawyers and political opponents is inconsistent with (the government's) assertion that Zimbabwe is stable and peaceful.
Virtual event takes place on Oct. 20 With just weeks to go before Election Day on Nov. 3, now is the time to make sure everyone’s vote counts. That’s why ten publishers of the leading Black newspapers in America will come together for a live event to discuss voting with purpose in the upcoming … Continued
The post 10 leading Black newspapers join forces to host ‘Voting With Purpose’ live event appeared first on New Pittsburgh Courier.
The three, who include the Deputy Officer Commanding Olenguruone Police Station in Nakuru county, are linked to the brutal assault on Mercy Cherono in Kuresoi South.
Speaking to local media on Wednesday, Rift Valley Regional Police Commander Marcus Ochola condemned the incident and ordered a probe into the conduct of the officers.
IPOA chairperson Ann Makori said the agency learnt of the incident on Wednesday morning and opened investigations with a view of establishing allegations of assault, injury and any other misconduct by the police officers.
\"This morning (IPOA) learnt of an incident in which members of the National Police Service allegedly tied a woman to a motorcycle, drove the bike while dragging and whipping the woman,\" Makori said.
\"Consequently, IPOA on its own motion this afternoon launched investigations into the allegations of assault, injury and any other misconduct against the police officers,\" she said.
The two Zimbabwean journalists arrested last week as they were investigating the abduction of three opposition party members have been released on bail, a lawyers' association said on Tuesday.
The pair were \"ordered not to interfere with witnesses and continue to reside at the addresses they gave the police until the matter comes to an end\", he said outside the Mbare magistrate's court in the capital.
Chikowore and Takawira were arrested on Friday at a private hospital where they were conducting interviews with an opposition lawmaker and two party officials.
Accused of not maintaining adequate social distancing between themselves and interviewees, the journalists were arrested by a police officer guarding the hospital and charged with breaching regulations to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Last month a Zimbabwean high court ordered police to desist from arresting, detaining or interfering with the work of journalists providing coverage during the Covid-19 lockdown which began March 30 in the southern African country.
By JOSEPH WILSON and JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization on Sunday reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases by its count, at more than 183,000 new cases in the latest 24 hours.
At a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump said Saturday the U.S. has tested 25 million people, but the “bad part” is that it found more cases.
The number of confirmed virus cases is still growing rapidly not only in the U.S. but in Brazil, South Africa and other countries, especially in Latin America.
South Africa reported a one-day high of almost 5,000 new cases on Saturday and 46 deaths.
In Asia, China and South Korea reported new coronavirus cases Sunday in outbreaks that threatened to set back their recoveries.
There are no riots in Minneapolis in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder by the police.
Police fire tear gas at protestors on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, during the second day of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
White men with guns threatening state legislators in Michigan are called protesters against the coronavirus quarantine, but Black men and women protesting with masks and decrying state-sponsored violence by the Minneapolis police are called rioters.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
They will try to conflate peaceful protests and rebellion with riots, thus putting Black people men and women in politics, media and social organizations on the rhetorical defensive for the next 48 hours.
The next time a news anchor, reporter, co-worker or person on social media asks you the question:
What’s the difference between Black protests and Black riots?
At least 812 health workers have, so far, tested positive for COVID-19 in Nigeria, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said.
Mr Ehanire explained that only health care workers with training in infectious diseases control are eligible to handle COVID-19 patients.
The federal government had earlier barred private hospitals from treating COVID-19 cases, saying many of the health workers there are not trained to handle such a disease.
\"A special COVID-19 hazard and inducement allowance of 50 per cent of Consolidated Basic Salary will also be paid to all health workers in Nigerian Teaching Hospitals, Federal Medical Centres (FMCs), and designated COVID-19 centres for the first three months in the first instance.
\"40 cent of the Consolidated Basic Salary would be paid as special COVlD-19 Hazard and Inducement Allowance to health workers at special Non-Public Hospitals and clinics in the Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for same three months' period,\" the minister of state for health, Olurunnimbe Mamora, said
He also said 20 per cent of the Consolidated Basic Salary will be paid to all health workers directly managing COVlD-19 at the Infectious Diseases Hospitals (IDH) isolation and treatment centres.
On June 19, Americans around the country will celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation in the USA. This year, the annual celebration of freedom comes as the country grapples with its long-standing history of systemic racism, as well as the fate of its Confederate monuments, flags and symbols amid nationwide protests against police... [Read More]
He served as a minister for Home Affairs in President John Magufuli's cabinet for five months, from December 2015.
Legislator for Muleba North constituency since 2010, he served as the Minister of Industries, Trade and Investment in the fifth phase government, but on November 10, 2018, he was dismissed by President Magufuli on grounds of underperformance.
President Magufuli on July 2018 appointed him as Home Affairs Minister, but later on 23 January 2020 he kicked him out for occasioning the country a loss of 1tril/- in a dubious deal between the Fire and Rescue Brigade and a Romanian firm.
However, all was not lost to some of them, and as an old adage states, time and chance happens to all, and this has been evident in the past four and half years of President John Magufuli's administration, where we have witnessed some of the dismissed ministers bouncing back.
Mr George Simbachawene resigned as the Minister of State in the President's Office (Regional Administration and Local government) in 2017 after he was adversely mentioned in reports compiled by a committee appointed by National Assembly Speaker, Job Ndugai to investigate the trade in diamonds and Tanzanite.
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.
Journalists in Cameroon have taken to the streets of Buea in the South west region to protest and demand an account of their missing colleague, Samuel Wazizi, after local media reported he had died in military custody.
Wazizi, was arrested in August 2019.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) confirmed his death in a statement on Wednesday evening, after a privately-owned Cameroonian TV station and then the National Union of Cameroonian Journalists (SNJC) announced his death on Tuesday.
Neither the government nor the army had yet confirmed the journalist’s death, or reacted to requests on his whereabouts.
Now, what really happened to Samuel Wazizi?
