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[Monitor] Finance minister Matia Kasaija was last night on the defensive following accusations that he irregularly dangled a top government job to secure the exit of his opponent in a parliamentary contest.
\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.
I maintain that Public Servants have nothing to worry about and nothing to fear from a PPP/C Government.
However, the “political appointees” in the Ministries and Agencies who have recently renewed contracts (some, days after the recount confirmed a PPP/C victory) should be put on notice that this is improper, unconstitutional and unlawful.
I reiterate that it is wrong to tie a new Government down with clauses in new contracts to pay tax dollars to political operatives whose services would have concluded.
Public servants, who professionally execute their functions and mandate, will continue to do so freely.
That is to say, public servants irrespective of race, age, gender, ethnicity, class and political affiliation will work and benefit under a PPP/C Government.
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.
Social grant fraud has been reported the most between the financial years 2017/18 and 2020/21, according to the Public Service Commission's quarterly bulletin.
Preparations for next year's general elections got off to a bumpy start yesterday after authorities at the Electoral Commission (EC), rejected Opposition demand for a new 2021 roadmap, born out of a meticulous consultative process.
But the Commission maintained that the elections would go on as planned and asked Opposition parties to either accept the new roadmap announced on Tuesday or push for last-minute constitutional amendments to the current electoral laws.
Under the revised EC roadmap, political parties were given one month to organise their internal elections (primaries).
\"As an electoral management body that is interested in holding free and fair general elections, you ought to have sufficient consultation with all key stakeholder before you roll out this \"scientific\" revised roadmap...\" the letter to EC reads in part.
\"In the most ridiculous fashion, the Commission has released a revised roadmap for the 2021 General Election; which roadmap violates every aspect of a free and fair election, envisaged under Article 1(4) of the Constitution of Uganda,\" Mr Kyagulanyi said in a Facebook post yesterday.
[Monitor] President Museveni yesterday warned the youth to stay away from poor leaders and listed four priority areas in the fight against the rampant youth unemployment in the country.
Agathon Rwasa, Burundi's opposition leader and deputy speaker of Parliament has filed a petition at the country's constitutional court disputing the win of the ruling CNDD-FDD party's Evariste Ndayishimiye.
Mr Ndayishimiye won the May 20 presidential election with 68 per cent of the vote against Mr Rwasa's 24 per cent.
\"If the constitutional court rules in their favour I will move to the African Court because all the results that were announced by the electoral commission were wrong,\" said Mr Rwasa.
The country's Catholic Church deployed 2,716 observers countrywide, and has also expressed misgivings on the election process and its outcome.
However the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Pierre Claver Kazihise, said that members of the Catholic church observer mission weren't well educated and informed about the electoral process.
Malawi’s electoral commission appealed for “peace and calm” on Wednesday as it counted 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.
Results from the May 2019 election sparked countrywide protest that lasted months, a rare occurrence in the impoverished southern African country.
It took the top court six months to sift through the evidence before concluding that Mutharika was not duly elected and ordered fresh elections.
The chairman of the Malawi Electoral Commission, Chifundo Kachale, said tallying of the votes from 5,002 polling stations was underway.
“We appeal to Malawians to maintain peace and calm as the vote-counting continues,” Kachale told a news conference in Blantyre.
Mutharika has accused the opposition of inciting violence following isolated incidents which the police and electoral commission said had not affected the election.
“It’s obvious that the opposition is doing this,” he told reporters after voting in Blantyre, claiming some of his party monitors were “chased away, some were beaten”.
“It’s obviously people that are afraid of the will of the people that are engaging in these barbaric acts,” he alleged.
Mutharika, 79, did not take the decision of the constitutional court lightly when it overturned last year’s poll.
He accused judges of working with the opposition to steal the election through what he dubbed a “judicial coup d’etat”.
He had narrowly won the now-discredited election with 38.5 percent of the ballots, beating his closest rival Lazarus Chakwera, 65, by just 159,000 votes .
Victory in the rerun will be determined by whoever garners more than 50 percent of the votes — a new threshold set by the top court.
Some 6.8 million people were asked to vote between Mutharika, Chakwera and an underdog candidate, Peter Dominico Kuwani.
The electoral commission has until July 3 to unveil the results, although the announcement is widely thought likely to come this week.
Kachale says the commission will only announce results after dealing with all the complaints.
AFP
Despite seeming to have softened his stance on the Ush10 billion ($2.6 million) that Ugandan legislators allocated themselves as part of the Covid-19 supplementary budget, President Yoweri Museveni is said to have ordered an audit of the expenditure.
In a letter dated April 28 to the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, President Museveni said he instructed the Auditor-General to go over how the funds were used.
In a recent televised address on coronavirus, President Museveni described the Covid-19 cash as a trap that the MPs had laid for themselves and \"morally reprehensible.\"
Despite Speaker Kadaga's efforts to explain that MPs were to use this money to sensitise their constituents about the pandemic and for maintenance of ambulances in their constituencies, President Museveni and the Cabinet insisted the allocation was illegal and inappropriate.
As at April 12, the number of MPs that had returned the money stood at 101 out of a total of 458 legislators.
Since the government announced first a partial and subsequently a total lockdown to enforce the sets of measures under the Public Health Act of 1935, security personnel have used excessive force to commit gross human rights violations.
Mr Jacob Mumbya, a lawyer, said the violations registered during the Covid-19 lockdown were exacerbated by the wide knowledge gap about human rights awareness on both the side of the public and security personnel.
\"The pandemic caught all of us by surprise, and regardless of the conditions, I would want to think the justice institutions have tried,\" she said, adding that she has met the top management of police and the courts and \"agreed on a holistic approach\" of administering justice in the usual times, including through, among others, weeding out low priority cases such was breaking curfew time, and creation of lean mobile courts which will be allowed inside prisons to for bail hearings or plea bargain in the bid to decongest prisons.
In his last televised address on Covid-19 on June 1, President Museveni said he had consulted with both the Attorney General, Mr William Byaruhanga, and Justice Abodo about releasing more than 4,000 people in prison in relation to violating the measures put in place.
The police spokesperson, Mr Fred Enanga, during the several briefings of security agencies on the lockdown has admitted that police have recorded a number of cases of rights violations against its officers, although it remains unclear how many officers are being prosecuted.
[Monitor] President Museveni on Sunday congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden, expressing hopes of unity and cooperation following four years of explosive Donald Trump diplomacy.
Benin was the seat of one of the great medieval African kingdoms called Dahomey. Europeans began arriving in the area in the 18th century, as the kingdom of Dahomey was expanding its territory. The Portuguese, the French, and the Dutch established trading posts along the coast (Porto-Novo, Ouidah, Cotonou), and traded weapons for slaves. Slave trade ended in 1848. Then, the French signed treaties with Kings of Abomey (Guézo, Toffa, Glèlè) to establish French protectorates in the main cities and ports.
However, King Behanzin fought the French influence, which cost him deportation to Martinique.
From a Colony of France to Independence:
In 1892 Dahomey became a French protectorate and part of French West Africa in 1904. Expansion continued to the North (kingdoms of Parakou, Nikki, Kandi), up to the border with former Upper Volta. On 4 December 1958, it became the République du Dahomey, self-governing within the French community, and on 1 August 1960, the Republic of Dahomey gained full independence from France. T he country was renamed Benin in 1975
Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of military coups brought about many changes of government. The last of these brought to power Major Mathieu Kérékou as the head of a regime professing strict Marxist-Leninist principles. The Parti de la Révolution Populaire Béninoise (Revolutionary Party of the People of Benin, PRPB) remained in complete power until the beginning of the 1990s.
Kérékou, encouraged by France and other democratic powers, convened a national conference that introduced a new democratic constitution and held presidential and legislative elections. Kérékous principal opponent at the presidential poll, and the ultimate victor, was Prime Minister Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo.
Supporters of Soglo also secured a majority in the National Assembly.
Benin was thus the first African country to effect successfully the transition from dictatorship to a pluralistic political system. In the second round of National Assembly elections held in March 1995, Soglos
Polling station closed across Burundi on Wednesday in a largely incident free process in keenly watched general elections.
Burundians stood in long lines outside polling stations, which opened shortly after six am, most centers had hand washing points for people arriving to vote and election officials had some protective equipments in some instances.
Meanwhile, main opposition candidate, Agathon Rwasa, has protested what he says is fraud in Wednesday’s general election.
He said his party’s election observers were chased away from some polling stations.
In the presidential vote, 5.1 million registered voters are to choose between Nkurunziza’s handpicked heir and frontrunner, 52-year-old general Evariste Ndayishimiye, main opposition competitor Agathon Rwasa, and five other candidates.
Malawi's opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera won last week's presidential election re-run with 58.57 per cent of the vote, the electoral commission said Saturday.
And on Saturday, electoral commission chairman Chifundo Kachale told journalists: \"The commission declares that Lazarus Chakwera, having attained 58.57 percent of the vote, has been duly elected as the president of Malawi.\"
In February, Malawi's top court found the first election had been marred by widespread irregularities, including the use of correction fluid to tamper with result sheets.
The landmark ruling made Malawi just the second African country south of the Sahara to have presidential poll results set aside, after Kenya in 2017.
The outgoing president's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had on Friday called on Malawi's Electoral Commission (MEC) to annul the results of the second vote and declare a third election.
[Nation] Hundreds of people appointed as chairpersons and members of boards of State corporations between March and July 2016 were in office illegally, the High Court said on Friday.
[Monitor] State minister for Planning David Bahati yesterday came under fire from Parliament over failure to compensate traders who lost property during the 2013-2015 insurgency in South Sudan.
[Monitor] By Simon Peter Emwamu
Vice-President Saulos Chilima has returned to court Tuesday to press President Peter Mutharika to sack Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson, Jane Ansah and her fellow commissioners after Parliament, the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court of Appeal found them incompetent and their positions untenable.
Chilima has been accusing the head of the electoral body of misconduct and is backed by electoral stakeholders that Ansah should not preside over the fresh presidential elections.
But Ansah, a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, has defiantly refused to step down.
This month Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the ruling of the High Court sitting as the Constitutional Court which found Ansah and MEC incompetent.
On April 1 2020 MEC chief elections officer Sam Alfandika told Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee that the commission wrote President Peter Mutharika to consider hiring new commissioners as the current ones' tenure is expiring on June 5.
[Monitor] On June 13, President Museveni appointed Ms Dorothy Kisaka as the new executive director (ED) of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to replace Ms Jennifer Musisi who resigned in October 2018.
There are also unconfirmed reports that the MPs in the deal will sooner or later receive another Shs60m each as a token for last week's resolution in which Parliament appreciated Mr Museveni for fighting Covid-19.
Many of the MPs had not followed Mr Museveni's directive, which the High Court reinforced, to refund the Shs20m each got in that appropriation until the Clerk to Parliament, Ms Jane Kibirige, gave them a deadline of May 27 to file accountability for the cash.
Addressing a press conference at Parliament on Friday, Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo and Kumi Municipality MP Monica Amoding, said they had been informed by their friends that money was being dished out but that they had failed to access the venues where the distribution was taking place.
Some of the NRM party MPs from Busoga Sub-region about two weeks ago accused the President of fighting Ms Kadaga when he castigated Parliament over the Shs20m.
During the press conference, Mr Ssewungu said the President aims to destroy the institution of Parliament by fighting the Speaker and the MPs.
In a bid to get the Ugandan economy moving again after nearly three months of lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, the government on June 11 presented a budget offering a host of tax waivers and funding for the business community.
The plan to boost economic recovery seeks to support the agriculture sector for food security and export, make credit accessible to small businesses, give tax holidays to firms and put money directly into people’s pockets.
According to Finance Minister Matia Kasaija, the county’s Ush45 trillion ($12 billion) budget for the 2020/2021 financial year is aimed at “stimulating the economy to safeguard livelihoods, jobs, businesses and industrial recovery in the wake of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.”
According to Mr Kasaija, the government will roll out interventions to increase agricultural production to ensure food security and expand regional food exports, a move it hopes will restore demand for agricultural produce which will in turn restore jobs and other non-farm incomes.
To further address the short-term liquidity requirements of businesses in the tourism, manufacturing, horticulture and floriculture sectors, the government will defer payment of Corporate Income Tax or presumptive tax for tax compliant corporations and SMEs with a turnover of less than Ush500 million ($133 million) per annum with no accumulation of interests and penalties.
President Museveni has rejected a proposal to split oversight over the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), saying it should be placed wholly under the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
However, in a separate letter that Daily Monitor has seen and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, President Museveni indicates that the full control of NSSF must be transferred to the Finance ministry.
Ms Margaret Rwabushaija, the Workers MP, said NSSF is a fund for workers and cannot be managed by the Ministry of Finance.
Mr Kenneth Lubogo, the Bulamogi County MP in Kaliro District, said the Ministry of Gender should not be completely locked out of NSSF because NSSF funds are private funds contributed by workers and not appropriated by Parliament.
Meanwhile, Mr Patrick Isiagi, the vice chairperson of the Finance Committee, said he okayed the proposal of President Museveni having the Ministry of Finance control the fund since it has more knowledge as far as financial modeling is concerned.
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 on 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.
CHIVHU district development coordinator (DDC) Michael Mariga yesterday stripped two MDC Alliance councillors of their posts and barred them from attending council meetings after they defied orders to resign from the civil service following their victory in the 2018 harmonised elections. BY MIRIAM MANGWAYA Edwin Maseva (ward 11) and Emmanuel Punungwe (ward 10), who are both primary school teachers, were stripped of their titles just before the beginning of the Chikomba Rural District full council meeting. Addressing other councillors during the meeting, Mariga said Maseva and Punungwe had failed to comply with a directive from the Public Service Commission (PSC), which ordered them to resign from the civil service 30 days following 2018 their electoral victory or stop serving as councillors. According to a letter dated April 15, 2020, written by the PSC secretary Jonathan Wutawunashe, which Mariga read out to councillors, civil servants serving as councillors would be violating the Constitution and the Public Service Regulations Statutory Instrument 1 of 2000 as stated in Circular 10 of November 2018. “Given the fact that it is a misconduct to engage in any other employment or service for remuneration without the written consent of the commission, it is advisable that you act immediately to correct the situation,” the letter read. “For avoidance of doubt, the commission hereby directs that as a civil servant, you should cease to serve as a councillor with immediate effect. Failure to comply with this directive will result in disciplinary action taken against you.” Maseva said Mariga had misdirected himself by relying on an old prohibition order which had been overtaken by events. “We are still in talks with the PSC on this issue and we have also engaged lawyers. As it is right now, the DDC’s dismissal is null,” Maseva said. Punungwe described the decision by PSC to dismiss them from council as part of political persecution of opposition officials. “This is a selective application of the law aimed at pushing certain agendas. I wonder why PSC decided to fire us from council instead of the civil service,” he said. Following the PSC directive, three Zanu PF councillors in Buhera Rural District Council who were also teachers, resigned recently from the civil service to continue serving in council. Follow Florence on Twitter @FloMangwaya
[Nation] The government has released Sh6.3 billion to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to provide a comprehensive medical scheme for all public servants, including healthcare workers.
