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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.
T...
An acknowledgement by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, on Thursday, makes as clear as crystal the reason behind the Government’s conviction that now is the time to reopen the country’s borders to international travel.
At the same time, COVID-19 is estimated to cost the Government J$38.4 billion between April 2020 and March 2021, and the estimated overall loss to the economy from visitor expenditure from stopover arrivals is J$107.6 billion, according to Ministry of Tourism estimates, he said.
Since Jamaica and other Caribbean countries closed their international borders in mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak, hotels, shops and restaurants have gone unnervingly quiet, and large swathes of beaches normally occupied by tourists in lounge chairs have become acres of desolation.
However, while most of the Caribbean won’t reopen until next month at the earliest, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda and St Lucia have decided that they could not wait any longer, with Antigua’s information minister, Melford Nicholas, explaining that despite the continued high rate of infections and deaths in the United States, St John’s simply had to take the “calculated risk” for the economy’s sake.
Over 90 per cent of the hotels in the region are still closed, with two-thirds of them expected to reopen partially by the end of July, Frank Comito, the chief executive officer of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, told The Sunday Gleaner.
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\".
An Angolan trade union on Tuesday accused the police of shooting dead one of their senior officials and his neighbour in front of his home in the capital, Luanda.
The police removed the body from the scene and launched an investigation, interior ministry spokesperson Waldemar Jose told local media.
The Sinptenu teaching union named the dead man as Lazarino Dos Santos, their national secretary.
He was \"shot dead at the door of his house on Monday evening by two police officers on a motorcycle, without justification\", union president Avelino Calunga told AFP.
Angolan security forces have long been criticised for using excessive force.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the BOK Center on June 20, 2020 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
– Hundreds of supporters lined up early for Donald Trump’s first political rally in months, saying the risk of contracting COVID-19 in a big, packed arena would not keep them from hearing the president’s campaign message.
(Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Hours before the rally that was marred with controversy from its onset, the Trump campaign, media outlets, and attendees could tell that the projected numbers given for crowd size were grossly overestimated.
Trump campaign manager Brad Pascale tweeted on Saturday night, “Radical protestors, fueled by a week of apocalyptic media coverage, interfered with @realDonaldTrump supporters at the rally.
TOPICS: News Politics Nancy Pelosi Nancy Pelosi vs. Trump Tulsa campaign rally
Rabat - Morocco reported on Friday its highest number of confirmed novel coronavirus infections in a single day since recording its first case in March, according to the health ministry.
Over 450 of the infections were recorded in the western Rabat-Kenitra region, the health ministry said, noting the cases were \"asymptomatic\".
Morocco, with a population of 34 million, has until now recorded on average fewer than 100 new COVID-19 cases daily.
In total, it has reported fewer than 10 000 cases and 213 deaths from the respiratory illness.
On June 9, authorities announced a gradual lifting of lockdown measures, though restrictions remain in force in major cities and a public health state of emergency has been extended until July 10.
Community residents found two missing Black girls in Milwaukee after police delayed its response despite suspicions that the children were victims of a sex trafficking ring.
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.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Jane Frances Abodo has said her office was reluctant to sanction charges of being a nuisance against former Makerere University Research Fellow, Dr Stella Nyanzi last recently.
Counsel Walubiri had argued that it was high time the office of the DPP withdrew cases that have over stayed in the justice system like the treason case against Dr Kizza Besigye.
\"Perhaps, this is the time for the office of the DPP to weed out some files that have been pending in the criminal justice system for long as the same are clogging the system for no good reason,\" Mr Walubiri said.
DPP Abodo said she is determined to weed out undeserving cases from the justice system starting with those arrested during the ongoing lockdown.
Ms Winfred Adukule, the executive director of Freechild Uganda, urged the office of the DPP and the Judiciary not to forget about the juvenile justice in this Covid-19 lockdown.
More than 3,200 Ivorians have fled the ongoing post-election violence in their country to Liberia, Ghana and Togo, the U.N. refugee agency says. Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara won a controversial third term in office in an election on Saturday that was marred by violence, intimidation and electoral malpractice. Opposition leaders who boycotted the election...
The post In Ivory Coast, thousands have fled ongoing post-election violence to Liberia, Ghana and Togo appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
[Shabelle] Somalia on Tuesday missed a deadline to hold its parliamentary elections on Dec. 1 as agreed by the federal government and six regional states earlier this year.
Vote counting is underway following Ivory Coast's tense presidential election on Saturday.
President Alassane Ouattara is trying his luck for a contested third term, leading to two opposition candidates calling for a boycott and labelling the vote as a \"failure\" of power.
Official numbers on voter turnout have not been released but according to media reports, it was low.
But the ruling Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) said voters come out \"massively\".
\"October 31 was not the day of the flood as predicted by all the opposition leaders, but better, Ivorians have appropriated this election by going to vote massively this morning,\" said Adama Bictogo, executive director of ruling RHDP.
The Electoral Commission President Ibrahime Kuibiert-Coulibaly said there were some local problems at polling stations but that only 30 or 40 of them had been ransacked out of 22,000 nationwide.
He did not say the number of polling stations that were not opened.
Electoral authorities by law have up to five days to announce the results.
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?
Supporters listen as U.S. President Donald Trump speaksat a campaign rally at the BOK Center, June 20, 2020 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump was expecting a capacity crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma for his first campaign rally since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the country.
A supporter sits in the upper seats during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump at the BOK Center, June 20, 2020 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Brad Parscale, the president’s reelection campaign chairman, touted the fact that 1 million people requested tickets to the MAGA rally.
Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump react as he concludes speaking at a campaign rally at the BOK Center, June 20, 2020 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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]
One of the Louisville Metro Police officers who killed Breonna Taylor is being fired, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said Friday.
The police chief “is initiating termination procedures against Officer Brett Hankison,” Fischer due to a provision in state law that I would very much like to see changed, both the chief and I are precluded from talking about what brought us to this moment or even the timing of this decision,” Fischer said.
Police Chief Robert Schroeder sent Hankison a letter Friday, according to local media, in which he informed the officer of “my current intention to terminate your employment with the Louisville Metro Police Department,” citing a review of the investigation.
I cannot tolerate this type of conduct by any member of the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Taylor’s death — along with several other recent incidents of police brutality against Black people, including a white Minneapolis police officer killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck — have sparked massive protests and reckonings around the country in recent all HuffPost superfans!
May 18 : South Sudan VP, Defense Minister infected
\tSouth Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar has contracted coronavirus, his office confirmed on Monday, May 18.
April 1 : Virus-free South Sudan reports paltry tests
\tSouth Sudan, one of five virus-free African countries, says it has carried out 18 tests for the COVID-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic.
A March 31, 2020 statement from the office of the first vice-president confirmed that the country had no case of coronavirus.
The same day that Burundi confirmed an index case leaving South Sudan as the only East African country uninfected.
Previously, some experts had expressed doubts about South Sudan’s prolonged no case citing that the country could have failed to detect cases due to lack of capacity.
Monrovia — The Government of Liberia has debunked speculations on social media that it intends to use nearly US$10 million of the US$30 million apportioned for the COVID-19 food distribution on \"unexplained administrative costs\".
Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon (Liberty Party) posted to Facebook on Saturday \"Out of the $30mil for \"Free Food\", nearly US$10mil (1/3 or 33%) to be used for unexplained administrative costs\".
Commenting on the social media post from the Senator, Information Minister Eugene Nagbe told FrontPagAfrica that the fund would be in the total control of the World Food Program which would spearhead the food distribution.
\"The fact of the matter is that the government has transferred USD25 Million from the GOL Consolidated accounts at the Central Bank of Liberia to the World Food Program to implement the food support program.
Senator Dillon has held the opinion that using US$25 million distribution of free food to citizens across the country to compensate for the lockdown imposed by the government as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 would be more impactful if it were redirected towards paying the tuition for all grade school students across the country.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
Electric buses made by students of the Makerere University in Uganda have now hit the road with improved health guidelines as the country battles Covid-19.
According to local media, the EVS bus has an onboard Wi-Fi to ensure the travelers stay connected, USB charging ports to enable charging of traveler’s display boards for timely and accurate information dissemination.
Kiira Motors, who assembled the buses, have equity partners made up of the Government of the Republic of Uganda represented by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (96%) and Makerere University (4%).
The company, which is made up of students from the Makerere University has also produced the Kiira EV, Kiira EV SMACK – the first electric hybrid vehicle to be designed and built in Africa, as well as, the Kayoola which is Africa’s first solar powered bus.
According to the company, the production of the bus, “provides an unprecedented opportunity for participation of a wide range of local manufacturers making components to feed the production line at the Kiira vehicle plant addressing the key aspects of Supply Chain Localization and engendering import substitution.”
Dear Editor,
I commend the good citizens who put private voices in public papers to share their thinking.
The article Not optimistic about national dialogue on electoral reform appeared first on Stabroek News.
“I am urging people with the disease symptoms to come to the medical facility and avoid infecting other Muslims,” Sheikh Mohamed Bali, a senior al-Shabab official and a member of the group’s ad hoc COVID-19 response committee, said in a speech broadcast by the group’s radio arm Andalus.
For months, Somali health officials have warned that areas controlled by al-Shabab in central and southern Somalia could be at high risk for the virus’ spread.
Confirmed cases = 2,513
\t\tNumber of deaths = 85
\t\tRecoveries = 532
\t\tActive cases = 1,896
\t
\tJohn Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 12, 2020
May 15: Somalis outraged over ‘fleeing compatriots, officials’
\tA local radio station in the country reported that a number of Somalis including government officials had left the country in the wake of COVID-19 spread especially in the capital Mogadishu.
Total confirmed cases = 1,284
Total recoveries = 135
Total deaths = 53
Active cases = 1,096
\tFigures valid as of close of day May 15, 2020 10:00 GMT
May 5: Probe into mishap involving Kenya coronavirus jet
\tSomalia case stats as of May 5, 2020: Total confirmed cases: 835, Total recoveries: 75, Total deaths: 38.
Officially, however, Somalia has recorded 601 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 28 deaths and 31 recoveries according to John Hopkins University tallies valid as of May 2, 2020 at 9:30 GMT.
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.
By Russ Bynum and Ed White
The Associated Press
Anti-racism protesters on June 13 sought to call attention to the deaths of two more Black men — one who was found hanging from a tree in California and another who was fatally shot by police outside an Atlanta restaurant.
In Palmdale, Calif., hundreds of people marched to demand an investigation into the death of 24-year-old Robert Fuller, who was found hanging from a tree early June 10 near city hall.
Fuller’s death has brought to light the death of another Black man found hanging from a tree on May 31 in Victorville, a desert city 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of Palmdale.
Meanwhile in Europe, far-right activists scuffled with police in London and Paris as more Black Lives Matter demonstrations unfolded nearly three weeks after George Floyd, another Black man, died at the hands of a White Minneapolis police officer who pressed a knee to his neck.
In Paris, police stopped protesters from confronting far-right activists who unfurled a huge banner from a building denouncing “anti-white racism.”
The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has declined to halt enforcement of disputed provisions of the Tanzania Political Parties (Amendment) Act, 2019, as petitioned by leaders of opposition parties.
Five opposition party leaders wanted the regional court to stop the Tanzania government from implementing disputed provisions of the Act, pending determination on their compliance with the East African Community Treaty.
The court agrees with counsel representing the Tanzanian government that halting the Act would hold back civic education for political parties.
The opposition leaders in their temporary Application No 3 of 2019 seeking the regional court’s orders to stop enforcing provisions of the Act pending decision of their main Application No 2 of 2019.
In the main Application, the opposition leaders maintain that the Act violates human rights contrary to the Tanzania Constitution, the EAC Treaty, Leadership Ethics, the Universal Human Rights Declaration and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
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.
Three new laws that the Indian government claims will boost growth in the agriculture sector and make it easier to sell produce has sparked protests from farmers themselves and from opposition parties. 'For decades, the [...]
[Monitor] By Derick Kissa
