Day: March 10, 2024

2024 will be the first day of the month of Ramadan in the year 1445 of the Hegira, the Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Hichem Ben Mahmoud, announced in a TV address on Watania 1 channel on Sunday evening. On this occasion, the high religious authority sent his best wishes to the President of the Republic and to all Tunisians and Muslims throughout the world for the start of the holy month. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

2024 will be the first day of the month of Ramadan in the year 1445 of the Hegira, the Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Hichem Ben Mahmoud, announced in a TV address on Watania 1 channel on Sunday evening. On this occasion, the high religious authority sent his best wishes to the President of the Republic and to all Tunisians and Muslims throughout the world for the start of the holy month. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad on Sunday called on the Canadian authorities to "act with the necessary speed and within the framework of respect for human rights and the law to establish responsibility for the death of Tunisian citizen Marwan Chouk at the hands of two Canadian policemen last Sunday, March 3, 2024," describing the incident as "tragic". According to a statement by the ministry, Marwan Chouk died at the hands of two Canadian policemen in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, and initial unconfirmed information indicates that he was not in a dangerous position to be shot seven times by the two policemen. The Ministry expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased and reiterated its commitment to continue working to establish the truth and defend the rights of the deceased, noting that efforts are underway to repatriate his body as soon as possible. According to the Ministry, its central services are in constant contact with the diplomatic and consular missions in Canada and the Canadian Embassy in Tunis in order to follow this incident closely and to intensify contacts with the Canadian Foreign Ministry, the authorities of the province of Ontario and the Oakville police in order to quickly establish all the circumstances, uncover all the relevant facts and assign administrative and penal responsibilities swiftly and without delay. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Ramadan should not be an opportunity for monopolies and price hikes," stressed President Kais Saied as he addressed the Tunisian people on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan in a speech delivered on Sunday evening from the Zitouna mosque. The President called for a reduction in prices, a boycott of those who seek to speculate and monopolise, and help for the needy. He recalled the importance of fasting during the month of Ramadan, when the Holy Quran was revealed, noting that fasting is not only abstaining from food and drink, but also adhering to the goals of Islam by ensuring that behaviour and good deeds are upright. "He who does not forbid speaking and doing falsely, God has no need to forbid his eating and drinking," he said, adding, "O you who have believed, it is decreed for you to fast, as it was decreed for those before you, that you may become righteous. (Verse 183 of Surat Al-Baqarah). The essence of Islam is based on the concept of righteousness, "and righteousness has many meanings, in cluding refraining from sins, suspicions and excessive appetites," he said. The President quoted the words of God Almighty: "But whoever fears the position of his Lord and forbids the soul from indulgence, Paradise is the abode of the soul" (al-Nazu'at 40/41). He quoted the words of Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As when he was asked about Jihad and he replied, "Begin with yourself and strive for it, and begin with yourself and conquer it," for this month, glorified by Allah, is the month of self-struggle and self-purification. He concluded by praying "to Allah to accept our fasting and prayers and pray to the Almighty to grant our brothers in Palestine and us and them victory against the usurping Zionists until the liberation of all of Palestine and the establishment of their independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, the first of the two Qiblahs and the third of the Two Holy Mosques, and for the whole nation to unite around a common word to put an end to this crime and the war of annihilation and starvation.» He added: "Only on Saturday, dozens died of hunger and thirst in front of the eyes of the world, along with those who were martyred or injured by the barbaric shelling everywhere. God, O Lord, give them a clear victory, and if God gives you victory, there will be no victor for you". Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Parliament at the weekend held a two-day capacity building workshop on the new Standing Orders for the Parliamentary Press Corps at the Aqua Safari Resort of Ada in the Greater Accra Region. Standing Orders are the written rules, which regulate the proceedings of Parliament. The new Standing Orders, passed by the House on December 21, 2023, and came into effect on January 2, 2024, address the evolving needs of Ghana's dynamic and hybrid parliamentary democracy. Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, in a virtual message to the workshop, lauded the role of the media in enhancing Ghana's democracy. 'For Members of Parliament, together with the parliamentary community, the press is a critical partner in transacting Parliamentary Business, which is the business of the people,' the Speaker said. 'There is a yawning gap between the representatives and the people, and that gap can only be linked and closed by a very important group of people or a very important institution referred to as t he media, both traditional and new media.' A similar workshop had already been organised for Members of Parliament, Speaker Bagbin said, and that the final group to be taken through the new Standing Orders would be civil society. Mr Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, The Clerk to Parliament, said Parliaments of the Fourth Republic had, in consonance with the provisions of Article 110 of the 1992 Constitution, regulated procedures of the House by Standing Orders, which prescribe the rules and practices for the conduct of parliamentary business. After 23 years of adherence to the provisions of the previous Standing Orders of the House, with minimal amendments, it was prudent that Parliament refines its processes and procedures in accordance with emerging legislative trends across the Commonwealth. He said contemporary challenges, including demands for higher levels of transparency in the democratic process; inadequacy of manual work procedures in the effective discharge of the mandate of the Legislature; and the Co vid-19 pandemic revealed some gaps in the Orders of House. These require that the House adapts innovative techniques and strategies in order to deliver on the mandate of Parliament. Moreover, the hung nature of the Eighth Parliament, which was the first of its kind since the inception of the Fourth Republic, presented a number of novel situations and challenges that were not within the contemplation of the drafters of previous Orders of the House. Mr Nsiah said the revised Orders, adopted by a Resolution of the House on Thursday, 21st December, 2023, and took effect on 2nd January, 2024, introduced practices and procedures, including the recital of the National Pledge, the conduct of Parliamentary Business through virtual platforms, and clearly delineates the hierarchy of the Leadership of Parliament. Mr Stephen Odoi-Larbi, the Vice Dean of the Parliamentary Press Corps, on behalf of the Dean, expressed gratitude to the Speaker and Parliament for organising the workshop for the members of the Press Corps. 'As one of the custodians of our democracy, the media's role in the seamless functioning of the legislative arm of government cannot be overemphasised,' he said. Source: Ghana News Agency President Kais Saied and the Presidents of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and the Arab Republic of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, held phone calls on Sunday evening during which they exchanged congratulations on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, the Presidency of the Republic announced in separate statements. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse