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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
\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.
The ANC has called on Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula not to be distracted by the gossip of a group of \"faceless\" ANC members in the transport department.
Land complaints review office in the pipeline
Thursday, June 4, 2020 0:01
By EDWIN MUTAI |
National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale.
The Land Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2020, sponsored by National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale establishes the office of a Complaints Reviewer at the Land Registry and the Survey of Kenya.
The office shall be responsible for providing “free, effective and impartial complaints review mechanism” by reviewing and determining complaints regarding land registration and survey services.
“This is geared towards ensuring the effective delivery of land registration and survey services by giving the public an avenue for lodging complaints and having their complaints resolved effectively,” Mr Duale says in the Bill’s memorandum of objects and reasons.
The reviewer shall only consider complaints that have been fully considered within the internal complaints procedures at the Land Registry and Survey of Kenya,” the bill states.
The Law Society of Kenya has filed a case challenging the legality of an Executive order issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta that allegedly sought to place the Judiciary, commissions as well as independent offices under ministries and government departments.
Through lawyers Manwa Hosea and Arnold Ochieng, the LSK terms the move as unconstitutional since the executive arm of government cannot restructure or assign functions to other arms and independent commissions.
The LSK claims the disputed Executive order No. 1 of 2020 offends the principles of the constitution, doctrine of separation of powers, democracy and independence of constitutional offices.
According to the LSK, the May 11 Executive Order titled 'The Organisation of Government' can impair the independence of the Judiciary, commissions and independent offices.
The order, the LSK argues, places the various tribunals, constitutional commissions and independent agencies under the control and direction of the respective departments.
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) - Their final debate behind them, President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden are packaging their divergent personal styles and policy prescriptions into closing messages for the final sprint to election day.The novel coronavirus was a central topic for both candidates yesterday as Trump headed to Florida and Biden prepared to address the topic in Delaware.
CUSTOMS and excise officers at Beitbridge border post and other stations yesterday briefly downed tools and later opted to go slow to register disgruntlement over poor wages, although the tax agency denied that such a development had occurred. BY REX MPHISA The development could cripple imports of food in the entire Sadc region, which is handling the bulk of basic food imports into the region. In an unsolicited Press statement, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) spokesman Francis Chimanda dismissed reports that customs and excise officers at Beitbridge were on strike. “There have been misleading reports that Zimra employees at Beitbridge border post have engaged in a strike. Employees have reported to duty as normal. There is no strike,” Chimanda said in the statement. “We would want to assure the transacting public that (Zimra) continues to provide uninterrupted service as the borders.” Shipping agents at Beitbridge, however, said at one time yesterday morning, senior managers manned work stations ordinarily manned by junior staff. “At the box office, we submit and collect documents. The deputy regional manager, a Mr Mutembu, was receiving and releasing commercial declarations, otherwise called bills of entry. Junior employees were gathered elsewhere,” a shipping agent said. “It has never happened that a senior man is seen in that office and something was brewing, but some few hours later, the juniors were back behind their desks. The pace was, however, extremely slow.” A Zimbabwe Revenue Authority Workers Trade Union (Zimratu) official, Lovemore Ngwarati, told NewsDay Weekender that the workers were, indeed, disgruntled about their salaries and general welfare. “We have been observing this in the last two days and serious welfare issues have been raised by Zimra workers. They have not communicated official labour action, but we expect them to submit that to us soon,” he said. Like all civil servants, Zimra workers, who raise the bulk of government revenue, complain about salaries that do not correspond with the cost of living.
UNDERFIRE opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa has lost legal battle for control of the party headquarters, Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House, popularly known as Harvest House, after the High Court ruled in his rival Thokozani Khupe’s favour.
High Court judge Justice David Mangota yesterday dismissed two applications by Chamisa’s party trying to regain control of the party headquarters after it was grabbed by the Khupe-led MDC-T early this month with the help of the police and soldiers.
Buoyed by a March 30 Supreme Court ruling recognising her as the legitimate MDC-T acting president ahead of Chamisa, Khupe went on a warpath recalling MDC Alliance legislators and taking over the party headquarters in central Harare — generally regarded as the citadel of opposition politics.
Before the judgment, Chamisa went on social media platforms urging his supporters to rise against President Emmerson Mnangagwa, saying the social contract between citizens and government had irretrievably broken.
“There is a liquidity crunch, coupled with food insecurity, high unemployment and high incapacitation across people, workers, government, business and absence of external support, the economy is heading for total collapse.”
Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. was born on August 9, 1905 in Orangeburg, South Carolina, where his father, Nelson, was dean of South Carolina State College. Nix graduated from Townsend Harris High School in New York City, and then from Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1921. In 1924, he received his law degree from University of Pennsylvania and began practice in Philadelphia the following year. Nix became active in Democratic politics and was elected a committeeman from the Forty-fourth Ward in 1932. From 1934 to 1938 he held a series of positions in a private law firm, in the Pennsylvania State Department of Revenue as special deputy attorney general, and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as special assistant deputy attorney general. In 1956 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
After Representative Earl Chudoff resigned his Fourth Congressional District seat to become a Philadelphia judge, Nix defeated two opponents in a special election to fill the vacancy and was sworn on May 20, 1958. Nix was the first African American to represent Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives.
During his years in the House Nix served on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. In 1977, he became chairman of the Committee of the Post Office and Civil Service. He sponsored bills to keep open the Philadelphia Navy Yard and to establish a “senior service corps” that would employ people over sixty years of age. He worked for passage of several pieces of landmark civil rights legislation in the 1960s including the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
In 1975 Nix became chairman of the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and led an investigation of the use of funds by defense contractors to pay foreign consultants, agents, governmental officials and political parties. Nix later introduced an amendment to the Foreign Military Sales Act requiring the Defense Department to provide Congress
Government re-introduction of the forex auction system -- as Zimbabwe effectively re-dollarises - could have disastrous consequences because the country does not have adequate sources of foreign currency, economic commentators have warned.
However, most companies cannot afford the forex auction system and are likely to source forex on the parallel market, fuelling the exchange rate.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance announced the US dollar allowance, while the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya introduced a forex auction system and also directed shops to display prices in both local and foreign currency.
The forex trading system has previously failed and was abandoned in 2005 when then central bank governor Gideon Gono replaced it with the exchange rate float.
Last year, the government introduced a mono-currency system, but self-dollarisation was set in motion because the local currency fast lost value, culminating in the government caving in.
By Associated Press Undefined ROME (AP) — In much of Europe, city squares and streets, be they wide, elegant boulevards like in Paris or cobblestoned alleys in Rome, serve as animated evening extensions of living rooms, places to gather and be seen, areas to laugh, chat and drink with friends. Yet with the continent hit hard by a surge of record new daily infections, European governments have once again put limitations on how residents live and socialize. In response, AP photographers across Europe delivered a snapshot of how Friday evening — the gateway to the weekend — looks and feels […]
The post AP PHOTOS: Virus makes Friday nights empty, quiet in Europe appeared first on Black News Channel.
Diamond's Back: LisaRaye Announces She's Joined OnlyFans
In a statement, Garcetti said, “I’m sickened by the bribery and corruption described in federal indictments, and I support Council President Nury Martinez’s call for Jose Huizar to step down from Los Angeles City Council.
Responding to the request by the council president, Huizar said week he would “limit my participation” in council activities amid the federal probe, which is focused on alleged bribery of city officials by well-heeled developers.
Prosecutors allege in the court papers that the developer took Esparza and the unnamed council member on more than a dozen trips to Las Vegas between 2014 and 2017 and provided them with “flights on private jets, hotel rooms, spa services, meals, alcohol, prostitution/escort services and casino gambling chips.”
In his plea agreement, Esparza admitted to participating in a criminal enterprise led by his one-time boss, described as a former chairman of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee and only named in court records as Council Member A. Esparza worked for Huizar, former chair of the PLUM committee, until he left the councilman’s office in January 2018.
The charge against Esparza came nearly two weeks after federal prosecutors entered into a plea agreement with real estate development consultant George Chiang, who admitted his role in a bribery scheme allegedly involving a council member thought to be Huizar, with the goal of advancing large-scale development projects.
WHEN COVID-19 broke out, we all thought it was going to be another manageable ailment, until everything came to a halt. SUCCESS LIFE:Jonah Nyoni Now, we are slowly going back to business, but it seems life will not go back to normal any time soon. As highlighted in previous articles, occupational safety and health is now a central point in the corporate space. Time is ticking and we should now be thinking of what we will do whether COVID-19 goes away or stays longer. Governments across the globe are easing restrictions and we need to be thinking of ways of being effective in the “new normal”. As we think about how to strategise, the PWL Global Insurance says there are five priorities that we should consider as we craft our strategies: Realign your cost structure and sharpen productivity Supercharge digital transformation to create a digital enterprise Carve out new revenue streams Prepare your workforce for the new world Strengthen capital efficiency. Flexibility Most institutes have the same way of doing specific things and it’s hard to tell them that their year-to-year template is no longer relevant. In some institutes, you take a report that was written three years back, there are still clauses that are still being used, but with little success. Piloting Generally as we plan, we usually have short, medium and long-term plans. Before anyone takes on a long-term plan, it would be ideal to test it before they commit to it entirely. Make a short-term action plan as a pilot programme or experimental way so as to see the possible benefits or losses. This test run tells us what works and what does not work. Involvement Having tabled your strategic plan as a company, you need a progressive and a probing debate on the same document. It’s unfortunate that some leaders draft a document somewhere and shove it into the throat of employees to swallow without expecting to be questioned how realistic the plan is. Is it SMART enough? Does it bring solutions to specificities? Corporate audit Ask yourself: Where am I? At times we tend to think of ourselves as what we are really not. As a company, make both an internal and external audit. What did we lose? What kept us afloat? What do we need to stay relevant? This gives you a picture of how you are perceived in the minds of people against what you think of yourself. This helps to make necessary adjustments. Adopt a post-COVID-19 mentality The strategic plan becomes futile, especially with leaders that are hinged on maintaining and managing systems. Life has changed. COVID-19 has redefined rules of operation. Besides, life has its sharp turns, twists and changes and the leader should know what to do. As others ask the question: What? The leader asks: Why? That gives the proper answer it could to a current issue or for future encounters. “Why” gives purpose to the programmes you are doing. Is it significant? how is it positively affecting humanity? The “why factor” liberates leaders from just doing a project because it’s their work requirement. They do it because it’s relevant an
Last night’s final presidential debate was filled with some facts, a little policy, and plenty of lies and tall tales. A more subdued Trump was on the defense most of the evening, hurling personal attacks and lies that sent fact-checkers into a tailspin. Very rarely was he clear on his policy or vision for America … Continued
The post “Nobody has done more for the Black community than Donald Trump … with the exception of Abraham Lincoln” and other tall tales from the last Presidential Debate. appeared first on Chicago Defender.
Dear Editor,
A few persons are saying that the Police should not investigate the fraud and attempts to steal the last Elections by some GECOM and other electoral officers.
The article There are very good reasons why the elections riggers should be brought to justice appeared first on Stabroek News.
THE Westmoreland Health Department is embarking on targeted interventions aimed at influencing behaviour change as part of the fight against the novel coronavirus. Health Promotion and Education Officer Gerald Miller told JIS News that the move comes out of the recent findings of a Knowledge and Attitude Survey conducted among operators of public passenger vehicles (PPV).
I WANT to share a Bible verse with you today and then tell you why I believe it should mean something to you. MOTIVATION:Ashley Thaba “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favour is better than silver or gold. The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all.” Proverbs 22:1-2 Growing up, my parents taught and more importantly modelled that your name is to be highly valued and protected. My mother was a highly respected child psychologist and my father considered a lawyer as a person who operated with utmost integrity (there is a tall order! Ha!). Even if it meant they were cheated, they did everything they could to honour their name and reputation. One motivation was the fact that they also were Christians and wanted to make sure that they were not “preaching” one thing and living another — hypocrites. But it was more than that. They genuinely loved others and took literally the advice in Philippians 2:3, which states, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” They thought about how their actions would affect others and treated others the way they wanted to be treated. This has stuck with me combined with the fact the same Holy Spirit within them that motivated them towards selfless love now lives and convicts me in a similar way. In today’s article, I want to encourage you why this is so important in a world where corruption reigns and customer service can feel nearly nonexistent! Corruption is the very opposite of what I am advocating because the only way to knowingly buy someone off means you are choosing to not think of the implications your illegal actions have on someone else. If you get the tender because you know someone or you pay someone, that means the playing field is not level. You are choosing to elevate yourself over others who are just as worthy but now will not even be considered. You know you wouldn’t want someone to do that to you! Customer service stinks because people don’t care about the business. If they are tired, they will not get up and go that extra mile to make a customer want to buy and support that shop. Why would you do this? Because at the end of the month, you are going to get your paycheck regardless, so why put in the effort? If it were your shop and your efforts directly impacted your paycheck, you wouldn’t do that. My point is we pick and choose when we want to operate our “best” because ultimately we pick and choose who matters to be treated fairly and kindly. Here is the result that I want you to pay close attention to. Over time of treating people like this, your name gets sullied. You don’t mean to. If you knew that same person you cheated would one day be in a position to cheat you, you wouldn’t do it. If you knew that same customer you ignored or were rude to would one day be in a po
