Day: June 3, 2023

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced that the country will hold its presidential and parliamentary elections on August 23 as the southern African country grapples with economic instability and allegations of Western interference in its internal affairs.

October 2 has been set as the date for a potential presidential runoff vote, according to the president’s announcement on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Zimbabwe’s government summoned the US ambassador to Harare, Elaine French, over Washington’s alleged meddling in the upcoming elections following a series of tweets addressing the poll.

Mnangagwa, 80, has been the country’s president since 2017. He is seeking a second term in office after taking over from Robert Mugabe, who ruled the country for over 30 years. His main rival is Nelson Chamisa, 45, who leads the newly formed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s opposition parties are calling for access to the election process, an audit of the voter roll, and public media access, insisting this would help level the playing field ahead of the elections, local correspondent Keith Baptist reports.

Fadzai Mahere, the CCC spokesperson, told RT that “it’s an absolute scandal that the Zimbabwe electoral commission is yet to release the voter roll in a searchable, analyzable format required by the constitution.”

Source: Russia Today

Deputy Director General of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Advocate Erna Van Der Merwe, said the lack of sufficient funding and human resource capacity for the ACC is hampering its operations.

Van der Merwe was responding to questions posed by this agency during the ninth annual media briefing session held at Swakopmund on Friday.

“The commission, as well as the Namibian Police Force, require more funding and human resources capacity in order to ensure timely and adequate investigations on the ongoing cases, as well as to take on newly reported cases.

If you look at the newly established Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) for example, they have already appointed about 53 auditors at their head office alone, and in comparison, the ACC only has 36 investigating officers serving the entire country, which is not enough,” she said.

Additionally, Van der Merwe noted that the commission only has 21 Public Education Corruption Prevention officials appointed for the whole country.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

The Alliance of Christian Churches Namibia (ACCN) on Friday called on the National Assembly to use its power to repeal the judgement made by the Supreme Court on 16 May, recognising same-sex marriage conducted outside Namibia.

In a letter addressed to the Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security (MoHAISS), Albert Kawana, ACCN Board of Trustees’ Executive Chairperson, Dolly Nengushe, said the Supreme Court did not take into consideration the interest of the public when making its decision, saying that the National Assembly should use its legislative power to pass laws in Namibia to revoke this judgement.

The ACCN, along with other Namibians against the Supreme Court’s ruling, gathered in front of the MoHAISS on Friday for a demonstration.

She also stated that the ACCN legal team concluded that the principles of common law referenced in the full court report is from a foreign judiciary and claimed that it undermines the sovereignty of the Namibian judicial system.

“The ruling is an infringement on the sovereignty of the Republic of Namibia and does not carry out the support of the majority electorate,” said Nengushe.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Deputy Director General of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Advocate Erna Van Der Merwe, said the lack of sufficient funding and human resource capacity for the ACC is hampering its operations.

Van der Merwe was responding to questions posed by this agency during the ninth annual media briefing session held at Swakopmund on Friday.

“The commission, as well as the Namibian Police Force, require more funding and human resources capacity in order to ensure timely and adequate investigations on the ongoing cases, as well as to take on newly reported cases.

If you look at the newly established Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) for example, they have already appointed about 53 auditors at their head office alone, and in comparison to that, the ACC only has 36 investigating officers serving the entire country, which is not enough,” she said.

Additionally, Van der Merwe noted that the commission only has 21 Public Education Corruption Prevention officials appointed for the whole country.

“If you think of the importance of our work and the impact that it has on the country if corruption is rife, a message needs to be put across that we urgently need to be capacitated,” she stressed.

There are currently 82 active cases including matters not finalised, either in court, waiting for Prosecutor General’s further instructions and or ongoing investigations, in the Erongo ACC office, which also covers the Kunene Region.

The office only has 3 investigating officers and one position vacant as well as one police officer seconded, who assists in various duties.

Chief Investigating Officer at the Erongo Office, Willem Olivier, said the office is faced with challenges of hostile witnesses, collecting evidence, recording statements and the distances between the regions as well delays of trials for various reasons.

Olivier has recommended that increased public awareness on corruption, reporting of corruption and the improvement and strengthening of controls in the systems and processes in organisations will assist tackle the challenges.

“Filling of vacant investigations position and creating and appointing another investigating officer position will also assist in the speedy investigations and gathering of investigations to complete trials on time,” Olivier noted.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

As part of their annual project, 'Help a Sister Out Sanitary Pad Donation Drive,' maidens of the Church of Christ Vertical Centre Tema have donated sanitary pads to young girls at Christian Vertical School. The donation which also coincided with the 2023 World Menstrual Day celebration was to help the young ladies deal with their menstrual cycle. Dr Josephine E. Owusu Appiah, a Physician Assistant at Tulaku Health Centre, addressed the young girls on personal cleanliness and diseases like Chlamydia and Candidiasis that are likely to affect them if they do not maintain hygiene throughout their period. She also interacted with the students and answered their questions about menstruation. 'Taking painkillers during your menstruation is advisable and is of no harm to the individual; it rather helps reduce cramps and related pains during the flow, however, too much of everything is bad,' she said. Madam Lois Foli, the leader of the Maidens donation organisation, told the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office that it is a yearly effort to ensure good menstrual practices among young girls. She said they will contact other government schools to ensure that schoolgirls are given sanitary pads for their academics to function smoothly. Mrs Foli encouraged the government to reduce sanitary pad tariffs so that schoolgirls can use them during their menstruation to safeguard their safety and attend class throughout their menstrual cycle. Some recipients of the donation expressed their happiness to GNA. Miss Agnes Afia Asantewaa Annor, the prefect of the girls' school, noted that they have received an education and would spread it to other young ladies so that everyone can benefit from the education and sensitization. The Compound Prefect, Miss Paulina Nana Yaa Tetteh, also implores other Non-Governmental Organizations to assist girls with sanitary pads so they would not skip class while they are menstruating.

Source: Ghana News Agency