Category: Politics

Advocate for Christ Ghana, a Christian movement, has urged the citizenry to vote in the 2024 General Election on knowledge and truth and not on political values and ideologies. It noted that over the years, elections in the country had been a money-making game, characterised by corruption and self-centred political system, and charged the populace, especially Christians to change the narrative. The movement said this at the fourth National Christian Forum 2023, on the theme: 'Election 2024: Accessing The Impact Of Political Parties And How Christians Should Vote'. Mr Edem Senanu, Chairman of Advocate for Christ Ghana, said not only should the voices of Christians count, but their values of integrity, honesty, respect for others' opinions and the use of decent words before, during and after the polls. He said it was unfortunate that political leaders were more focused on their own interests than the welfare of the citizens and encouraged all to be active participants in making Ghana a better country. Mr Bernard Joe Appeah, Manager at Frimpong Manso Institute, asked Christians in the media to set standards in their reportage and avoid slangs, biases, and slants. He said Christian politicians and leaders must also demonstrate Christian lifestyles as worthy ambassadors of God and charged the Electoral Commission and National Peace Council to demonstrate integrity before and after the elections. Mr Appeah urged all to avoid utterances and speeches that created tension, division, and acrimony and promote peace and decency. He advised the youth to exhibit discipline, honour, respect, patience and concern for the nation. Advocates for Christ Ghana is a growing movement of professionals, parents, pastors and of all Christians seeking to provide a permanent and proactive voice on national issues in Ghana. Source: Ghana News Agency

President Kais Saied stressed the need to apply the law equally to all during his meeting with Justice Minister Leila Jaffal at Carthage Palace on Monday afternoon. The Head of State also called for many cases that have been pending for many years to be decided within a reasonable time and for all files to be opened without hesitation, according to a statement from the Presidency. He also called on the judges to assume their historic responsibility to punish all those who have sinned against the people. Source: EN - Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Authors from Africa, Europe and the United States have explored the intricate dynamics of coercion and peacebuilding approaches in Africa at a workshop in Accra, Ghana. The workshop was a collaboration between three institutions, the Peace Research Institute in Frankfurt (PRIF), the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), and the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As part of the workshop, some broad chapters were developed and revised based on themes around coercion and peacebuilding to be put together into a collective volume in the middle of 2024 and published for policy makers, Scholars and the general populace. Held at the KAIPTC, the workshop attracted 30 authors, scholars, researchers, and practitioners who discussed their respective roles in coercion and peacebuilding in the West African sub-region and the Horn of Africa. Participants engaged in interactive sessions, exploring case studies and real-world scenarios to better understand the complexities of coercion and its impact on peace initiatives. The group of researchers studied the role of coercion in peacebuilding, specifically the role of different actors (new and emerging) involved in building Peace, including countries like Brazil, China, India, Brazil who have become important peacebuilders on the African Continent. They discussed among other topics, the 'Coercive Approaches in Peacebuilding: ECOWAS Foray into Sub-Regional Interventions', 'Coercive and Regional Peacebuilding in the Horn of Africa/IGAD Region' and 'Physical and Structural Violence: Shifting Notions of Coercion in Peacebuilding Across Time and Geopolitical Space'. Dr Antonia Witt, Senior Researcher and Head of Research Group, PRIF, said the Authors had been working on the project for the past two years with a series of workshops, adding that the current workshop was to consolidate their work and come out with a joint publication. She said in recent times, there were a plethora of actors in peacebuilding which raised the question of the best approaches in peacebuilding but importantly the role of cohesion. Dr Witt said, hitherto, there was the assumption that peacebuilding went without coercion and was a naturally noncoercion endeavour. She explained that 'Now we increasingly realise that maybe that assumption is wrong. On the one hand, we do see peacebuilding that is very close to coercive practices. We see the difference between peacebuilding, and it increasingly blurs. We see military components as part of peacebuilding, but we also recognise that maybe a certain measure of coercion is also necessary so that the peace that is built holds.' That, the PRIF Senior Researcher said, necessitated the questions, 'how much cohesion is necessary for peace to hold, how much coercion is good and is there a flip side where coercion turns into something that produces more conflict and violence and does not move away from the initial agenda of building peace.' On the potential spread of violent extremism to coastal states like Ghana, Dr Witt, also a Fellow at the University of Ghana, told the Ghana News Agency that there was a lot of attention being paid to the issue currently. She said, as a matter of urgency, it was important to study how local conflicts drove vulnerability as a step to address those conflicts sustainably to avoid marginalisation and stigmatisation since those were ingredients that made radicalisation flourish. Major General Richard Addo Gyane, Commandant, KAIPTC, whose speech was read on his behalf by Air Commodore David Anetey Akrong, Deputy Commandant, said the thorough examination of the central role coercion assumed in influencing the strategies employed by regional and emerging actors in the context of peacebuilding was key. He said the KAIPTC, being one of the Training Centres of Excellence within ECOWAS, consistently served as a pivotal entity in the provision of comprehensive training programmes for military, police, and civilian personnel on a global scale. The Commandant said its academic prog rammes had a primary focus on the intricate dynamics of gender, conflict, and peace and security. 'Your dedication to furthering the dialogue on peacebuilding is sincerely commendable,' Maj Gen Gyane applauded PRIF and IPSS for the sustained effort at ensuring peace and security on the African continent. Source: Ghana News Agency

The steering committee in charge of conducting a thorough audit of recruitment and integration in the public sector, as well as in state-owned enterprises and public institutions and agencies from January 14, 2011 to July 25, 2021, met on Monday evening at the Government Palace in the Kasbah. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani. The Prime Minister was briefed on the progress of the review process and the results achieved. He stressed the need to speed up the pace of work and meet the deadlines set for the task, a statement from the Prime Ministry said. The committee previously held a meeting on October 9, in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 591 of 2023, dated September 21, 2023. During a meeting at the Carthage Palace on October 5, President Kais Saied stressed the importance of the recently established committees to carry out a comprehensive audit of the recruitment and integration processes as soon as possible. The aim is to "cleanse the administration of those recruited outside the legal framework", President Saied was quoted as saying, describing the ongoing fight against corruption in the country as an "uncompromising war". In addition, the president and prime minister met on October 23 to discuss the preliminary results of an audit of more than 10 years' worth of recruitments, which showed that a significant proportion of them did not comply with legal standards. Source: EN - Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Members of the Assembly of People's Representatives (ARP) passed at a plenary session on Monday afternoon the draft budget of the Prime Ministry for the year 2024. The bill received 132 votes in favour, one abstention and three votes against. In figures, the commitment appropriations in the 2024 budget for the Prime Ministry amount to 270 million and 432 thousand dinars, while the payment appropriations are estimated at 272 million and 302 thousand dinars. The remaining part, that of the Special Treasury Funds, amounts to 3 million and 500 thousand dinars. Faced with questions and comments from ARP members, Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister, Samia Charfi Gaddour, was invited to defend her department's budget. A brief overview of the speeches made by the MPs at the evening plenary session reveals a number of issues that were raised. MPs stressed the urgent need to speed up the process of digitalisation and governance of the Tunisian administration, which is so eagerly awaited by citizens. They also stressed the need to create a legislative and regulatory arsenal capable of streamlining government action. After the vote, the Speaker of the ARP adjourned the plenary session, which will resume, Tuesday, at 9 a.m., to examine the 2024 State budget. Source: EN - Agence Tunis Afrique Presse