Category: Government

Wearing sky blue T-shirts and holding the Cameroon flag, at the last minute when associations and political parties were to march, the Secretary-General at the North West Governor’s office stopped the FRANKISTS from marching without any explanation.

The MCFM is a movement created and made up of members who support and want the president’s son, Emmanuel Paul Biya, to succeed his father as president of the Republic.

Police officers are reported to have blocked the FRANKISTS MOVEMENT at the commercial avenue and asked them not to proceed with the marchpast because they have been given instructions by the Secretary-General to the North West governor’s office, Basiliken George Emmanuel, not to allow them to march.

In reaction, the SG of the Frankists movement ( MCFP ) Fungwe Elvis said, he was embarrassed with the decision of the North West governor’s office to stop the movement from marching on 20th May in Bamenda, whereas the movement marched in Wum, Nkambe, Babessi and in Ndu.

“It is a kind of hatred which I think the governor’s office will have to look over it again. We deposited an application to march on 20th May with the SG at the governor’s office, we all discussed and made him understand that, (MCFP) wasn’t yet a political party, but a movement that want to partake in the national day under associations. He saw that with us and we showed him documents showing the movements papers were at the office of territorial Administration pending recognition as a political party. He even encouraged us to meet other groups at commercial avenue doing rehearsals prelude to 20th May, which we did, but I was surprised again that after mobilizing our members and spending to have them at commercial avenue, the North West governor’s office had to stop us from marching. This is wickedness. The movement marched in Buea, Bafousam, Doula, and other towns in Cameroon, why stop us in Bamenda?” he said.

The movement now has executive bureaus in all the ten regions of Cameroon, and it’s gradually having bureaus in all divisions and sub-divisions of Cameroon.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Consul General of Ethiopia in Bahrain, Ambassador Shiferaw Geneti met with the CEO of Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), Nouf Abdulrahman Jamsheer.

The two sides have exchanged views about protection of the rights of Ethiopians in Bahrain.

Ambassador expressed gratitude to LMRA for its services and support of Ethiopian citizens.

He stressed the importance of cooperating in the fight against illegal human trafficking and ensuring timely payment of wages to Ethiopian workers.

Moreover, he urged the authority to provide assistance to Ethiopian citizens who are victims of forced labour and human trafficking.

CEO of LMRA, Nouf Abdulrahman Jamsheer, on her part said workers who had been subjected to forced labour or illegal human trafficking would be allowed to stay in shelters and receive the necessary assistance.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The third LAPSSET Corridor Program Ministerial Meeting concluded today with the adoption of the Juba Commitments and the road map for the implementation of the LAPSSET project.

The Lamu Port–South Sudan–Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor Program is Eastern Africa’s largest and most ambitious infrastructure project bringing together Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

The third LAPSSET) Corridor Program Ministerial Meeting was held in South Sudan, Juba under the theme “Fast-tracking LAPSSET Implementation for Peace, Growth, Sustainable Development and Regional Integration” in Juba, South Sudan for the last three days.

The high-level representatives of the footprint countries made their closing remarks commending the host country, South Sudan for the warm hospitality accorded to their respective delegations as well as UNECA for taking on the key role of coordination for realizing this meeting.

During the closing ceremony, Dhenge Boru, State Minister of Transport of Ethiopia, made remarks where he emphasized the pertinence of the LAPSSET project in boosting economic cooperation and regional integration.

He also called on member states to take their respective leading roles in expediting the implementation of the project and stressed Ethiopia’s relentless commitment in this regard.

The state minister, as part of expediting the LAPSSET, also mentioned a historic contractual agreement signed between Ethiopia and South Sudan for the highway construction in the presence of President Salva Kiir Mayardit.

In his closing speech, General Madut Biar Yel, Minister of Transport, highlighted South Sudan’s priority projects for the LAPSSET corridor development and affirmed his country’s commitment to work towards its realization.

The closing ceremony was graced by high representatives from the Republic of South Sudan, the Republic of Kenya, and UNECA in the presence of Bacha Debele, Ethiopian Ambassador to the Republic of Kenya, and Nebil Mahadi, Ethiopian Ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan.

The LAPSSET corridor development 4th Ministerial Meeting will be held in Kenya next year, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, is leading a delegation to the Kumawu Constituency to campaign for the party’s parliamentary candidate in the upcoming by-election.

Slated for May 23, 2023, the by-election follows the death of the MP for the constituency who will be buried on Saturday.

A statement signed by Joyce Bawah Mogtari and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the leadership of the NDC has been in the constituency supporting the candidate, Akwasi Amankwa, and his executives in the campaign.

‘President Mahama is joining the national chairman and others already on the ground to lend his support to the campaign’.

The statement said Mr. Mahama was expected to call on the chief of Kumawu, before meeting various groupings to campaign.

Source: Ghana News Agency

President Sahlework Zewde has held talks with Colombia’s Vice President Francia Márquez in her office today.

VP Francia Márquez arrived in Addis Ababa yesterday for a two-day official visit to Ethiopia.

Sahlework and Márquez discussed about ways of strengthening the relationship between the two countries.

During the discussion, President Sahlework said that there are many areas where Ethiopia and Colombia can work together.

Vice President Francia Márquez stated on her part that Colombia is interested in consolidating its relations with Ethiopia on cultural, economic, political, and social affairs.

According to her, the two countries have similar history and both are working for better peace.

Recall that the vice president had discussions with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonon yesterday.

Ethiopia and Colombia established diplomatic relations in 1947.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Professor Kingsley Nyarko, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, has cut the sod for the construction of an ultra-modern Astroturf to promote sporting activities, especially football in his area. The project, which is the initiative of the MP is being sponsored by Ghana Gas Company Limited as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility. It is expected to provide space for recreational and sporting activities in the community and its environs. Britz Engineering Solutions and Trading Limited (BEST) is the contractor executing the project which is expected to be completed in six months. Prof. Nyarko, speaking at the ceremony, noted that the construction of the ultra-modern pitch formed part of his efforts to expand sports infrastructure in the constituency. According to him, the project site, which is an existing football park, located within the Beposo M/A School, had been a training ground for many prominent footballers some of whom played in the Ghana Premier League (GPL). He said sports, particularly football, played a vital role in youth development and expressed optimism that the project would enhance the development of football talents in the Constituency and the country as a whole. ‘Kwadaso has produced a lot of football talents including Sammy Gyamfi, and through this intervention, more talents could be discovered to help their development,’ he said. He added, ‘Vibrant sporting life has positive effects on society, it opens up opportunities for commercial success and serves the community as well.’ The MP commended Ghana Gas Company and government for the project adding that it would help promote sporting activities in the area. Nana Yaw Antwi, the Project Manager of Britz Engineering Solutions and Trading, said the project comes with facilities such as an artificial turf, flood light, changing room as well as a sitting area with a sitting capacity of 500 to 1000 spectators. Mr. Richmond Agyenim Boateng, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Kwadaso, commended the MP for his lobbying skills which earned the Municipality such an important facility. He called on the youth to have patience with the contractor as they performed their duties to enable him to complete the project on schedule. The people of Kwadaso must also rally behind the MP to bring more development projects to the Municipality.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The monetisation of politics in Africa is impeding the effective participation of women in political and electoral processes, Ayisha Osori, a democracy and governance expert, has said.

Madam Osori, who is the Director of Open Society Foundations, a civil society organisation, observed that many women on the continent did not have the ability to raise the needed capital to fund their political activities.

Speaking to journalists at the opening of a conference on Increasing Women’s Political Presence in West Africa at the University of Ghana (UG), Legon on Tuesday, she said bankrollers of political parties and activists were mainly men and thus, made it difficult for women to overcome the monetary barriers.

The two-day conference was organised by the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa at the University of Ghana.

The Conference sought to offer insights into understanding political presence, power, and representation in different contexts and how political practice could be expressed in those contexts in different ways.

Madam Osori said there was the need to remove all forms of barriers that discouraged women from actively participating in political activities.

‘Generally, women are at the bottom of the economic pyramid…As long as politics is about money, then how can women who are politically disadvantaged suddenly become politicians where you need money to win in politics,’ she said.

Madam Osori encouraged women to join political parties and become delegates, not necessarily to take political positions, but be involved in the democratic processes.

She said women should not feel tainted by politics and that their involvement in the political environment would present an opportunity for them to demonstrate a good example of their values and principles.

‘We can make politics attractive to women by holding people accountable.

‘The more we hold people accountable for maybe abusing people trust of funds, then we find that it is good place for people to come in,’ Madam Osori said.

Professor Daniel Frimpong Ofori, the Provost of College of Humanities, UG, said in formal political spaces, women in West Africa were very poorly represented as compared to those in other parts of the sub-region.

‘Data from the Inter- Parliamentary Union for example shows that while Rwanda tops not just Africa but globally in terms of women in parliaments with 54.8 per cent of its parliamentarians being women in 2021, Ghana’s rate is 14.5 per cent; Burkina Faso at 6.3 per cent, and Liberia at an even lower 3.3 per cent,’ he said.

Prof. Ofori said women were more visible in traditional political spaces where chiefs ruled alongside Queen mothers.

A study by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development in 2022 found that it cost about US$100 million to effectively fund a presidential campaign in Ghana.

The study, which was conducted in four out of the 16 regions, also found that an amount of US$693,000, the equivalent of GHS4 million, was required to prosecute a parliamentary campaign.

Source: Ghana News Agency

China’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan recommended that Chinese business people invest in Ethiopia’s rewarding manufacturing sector.

The ambassador told ENA that Ethiopia has great potential for Chinese investors to engage in the rewarding manufacturing sector.

Noting that Ethiopia has great potentials in every area, mentioning the industry and agriculture sectors, Zhao pointed out that especially the manufacturing sector is favorable and rewarding for Chinese investors.

“Ethiopia has great potential in every area; in agriculture, in industry and in other areas,” Zhao observed.

For him, the country’s huge youth population is a great potential for rewarding investment in manufacturing industries.

“Ethiopia is the great country with the huge population , especially with the very young people—this is your great potential,” he said, adding that the improving policy and services towards industrialization are also crucial for investment in manufacturing.

“The industrialization is the path to modernization,” the ambassador underlined. “So in the manufacturing sector, I encourage more Chinese companies to come here to do more work with our Ethiopian friends. I think this is a great potential,” he said.

“The youth group is very important to the manufacturing sector and good service and policy are also very important to this sector.”

Chinese investors could, for example, engage in food processing, pharmaceutical and agricultural productions in Ethiopia, he pointed out.

According to him, the general Chinese investment in Ethiopia is increasing from time to time.

“Now we are designing several very important projects with local governments and federal government ministries to promote and establish some special zones in the industrial parks,” the ambassador said.

Stating that Trade is also the basis of the Ethio-China economic relations, the ambassador noted that the Chinese Government is implementing policies that encourage the entry of high-quality Ethiopian agricultural and industrial products to the Chinese markets to boost trade exchange.

He pointed out that China has recently allowed zero-tariff entry of several thousands of Ethiopian products to its markets.

The ambassador also stressed the need to study the way how to make high-quality Ethiopian agricultural and industrial products go to China.

“We should study the way how to make the high-quality Ethiopia’s agricultural and industrial products go to China.”

The political, economic and people-to-people relationships are growing and expanding under the current leaderships of the two countries, according to the ambassador, and the relationship and ties in every area of cooperation will improve better in the future.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Hon. Jean Michel Nincheu, one of the dismissed militants of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, the party of Ni John Fru Ndi, chaired a meeting in Douala on Saturday, May 13, 2023, dubbed “SDF ORIGINEL”, understood in English as ORIGINAL SDF.

This is a group that illegally met and discuss ways to eject the national chairman from power. Now referred to as G27. They were axed from the party through Article 8.2.

“This meeting grouped SDF executives who are working for the return to the fundamentals of the original SDF and change in Cameroon. This meeting was therefore held on Saturday, May 13 in Douala at the initiative of the Honorable Nintcheu Jean Michel.” A member of the G27 disclosed.

This meeting of the dismissed executives under the umbrella of “Original SDF” ended with some declarations

“Several objectives were targeted by the holding of this almost extraordinary meeting. The need to maintain cohesion and the militant base. But above all consider other avenues in addition to legal action before the courts. It was decided to organize very soon a congress of foundation to change the name of the SDF.” They stated in a final declaration.

This acronym today according to them is tainted by the acts of compromise and betrayal of the National Chairman, Ni John Fru Ndi and his stance is no longer able to carry the fight for change.

” This is a strong symbol that aims to give credibility to the struggle that the Cameroonian people are waiting for. With the persistence of the Anglophone crisis in the country, all the militants of the original SDF are called upon not to take part in the May 20 parade. It is for the protagonists of all stripes to be put before their historical responsibilities in the face of the killings which continue to be perpetrated on the ground.” The declaration reads.

The need to structure the G27 was also discussed in the meeting of the so-called “Original SDF”.

“It was decided to maintain the current structures in place, until the announced foundation congress which will see the adoption of new texts to lead to the destinies of the party, which will be born from the ashes of the current SDF” the statement read.

Faced with the ethno-tribal drift which is gaining more momentum in the public space and given the complicit silence of the government, the dismissed executives, asked the media to no longer give voice to individuals carrying this hateful message.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Dr John Kofi Halm has been elected the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary candidate for the Trobu Constituency.

He swept 889 out of 1,917 total votes cast.

His opponents, Emanuel Kojo Mensah and Apostle Elijah Authur polled 776 and 206 votes respectively, while Mr Kwame Olympio returned 46 votes.

The total votes cast were 1,923. Six votes were rejected.

Dr Halm thanked delegates for the confidence reposed in him and assured them that he would lead a united front to win the seat for the NDC in the 2024 parliamentary elections.

‘Trobu Constituency has been known to be a very porous constituency and we noticed it during our campaigns. It, therefore, behoves on me to unite all of us, and I believe with wisdom from God above, I’ll be able to accomplish that,’ he said.

Mr Kwame Olympio congratulated Dr Halm and thanked delegates for demonstrating love towards the party and coming out in their numbers to vote.

He said Dr Halm was a worthy candidate to win the parliamentary seat for the NDC and pledged to support him in any capacity to make that a reality.

Mr Olympio said the NDC could win the 2024 General elections if the party remained united and urged members to put aside their parochial interests and join forces for victory in 2024.

Source: Ghana News Agency