Day: April 27, 2023

Speaker of the Assembly of People's Representatives (ARP) Brahim Bouderbala decided to adjourn the plenary session for 15 minutes on Thursday in response to the rejection of several deputies to continue the examination of the Parliament's draft rules of procedure.

The decision was made in response to a request by the rapporteur of the Committee on the Rules of Procedure, following the rejection of Article 54 setting the number of parliamentary committee members.

The text of the rule got only 65 votes for, against 32 rejections and 10 abstentions.

Some MPs refused to discuss the remaining articles on the composition of parliamentary committees, considering that these articles are directly related to article 54 which has not been approved earlier.

Earlier in the morning, the plenary session approved the title of the second chapter of the draft ARP rules of procedure, on membership of parliamentary committees, as well as articles 52 and 53 in their original versions.

Approved by 93 votes, Article 52 provides that each deputy must belong to one of the ARP's standing committees.

Article 53, validated by 93 votes, grants the right to each deputy to stand for a position within the parliamentary committees.

This article also stipulates that each deputy can only be a member of one standing committee, except for the vote counting committee or the committee for the control of voting operations.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) North Africa-Tunisia office will launch the "Adopt a Beach MED" programme, a citizen initiative to monitor and collect data on marine litter and raise awareness about plastic pollution in the Mediterranean.

Launched in collaboration with WWF offices in Greece and Turkey, the youth-led programme aims to encourage volunteers, schools and organisations to "adopt" specific beaches in Tunisia, Greece and Turkey to monitor and collect data on marine litter, WWF Tunisia said in a statement Thursday.

The data collected will help set up a "pan-Mediterranean platform" to monitor marine litter in order to fight plastic pollution in the Mediterranean, the same source added.

By participating in this initiative, young people and volunteer groups from all over the Mediterranean can actively contribute to reducing plastic waste and protecting the planet's natural resources.

Launched in Greece in 2021, the Adopt a Beach MED programme has since expanded to Turkey and Tunisia. In just two years, volunteer groups have adopted 149 beaches and collected a total of 185,857 pieces of litter along some 14,900 metres of coastline.

The majority of litter found on Greek beaches was plastic (84%), with cigarette butts, small pieces of plastic, plastic straws, plastic bottle caps and small pieces of polystyrene accounting for over 50% of the total litter recorded.

Tunisia is one of the Mediterranean countries most affected by plastic pollution, according to WWF.

The Tunisian Ministry of the Environment said the country generates more than 2.5 million tonnes of waste per year, with plastic waste accounting for around 10% of the total.

Every year, 500,000 tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the sea, causing serious environmental damage to marine ecosystems and harming human health.

The Mediterranean is home to more than 150 million people and attracts more than 400 million tourists each year, according to WWF.

Despite its ecological importance, the Mediterranean is highly polluted, with pollution levels along its coastline significantly higher than in the Baltic and Black Seas.

Marine litter poses a serious threat to aquatic life, contaminating the marine food chain and killing marine life.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Dignity Coalition President and former deputy of the dissolved parliament Seifeddine Makhlouf has been released on Thursday morning after serving his sentence in what is known as the "airport case," member of the defence group lawyer Saber Abidi confirmed on Thursday.

He explained in a statement to TAP, that Makhlouf had initially spent four months in detention pending an investigation into this case, and then had been sentenced to seven months in prison. Taken to prison, he completed the remainder of the sentence.

Abidi indicated that his client will remain at liberty, at the disposal of the judiciary in other cases.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The self-proclaimed ‘prophet’ at Rundu, 32-year-old Jafet Johannes who was arrested by the police on Wednesday on numerous charges of fraud and money laundering, made his first appearance in the Rundu Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Cases were reportedly opened against him by several people whom he allegedly scammed.

Johannes appeared before Magistrate Sonia Sampofu who informed him that it is his right to engage a legal representative of his choice at his own cost to advise him on both points of law and facts during the trial before court.

Prosecutor Michael Munika said the State objects to bail as more charges are still being added to the accused’s case.

Further indicating reasons for denying bail, Munika said the State fears the accused might be a flight risk and that he will interfere with witnesses as well as with police investigations.

According to the charge sheet, the accused in 2020 allegedly wrongfully, unlawfully and falsely defrauded a woman by the name of Renilde Kudumo of N.dollars 289 000 by convincing her to invest in Trongrace cryptocurrency.

Kudumo who is one of the complainants who opened a case against the accused, allegedly never got her money back.

Meanwhile the accused remains in custody, while his case has been postponed to 11 May 2023.

He is represented by Kadhila Amoomo Legal Practitioners.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency