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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
Many people have been killed since clashes began on Monday. Scores too had been killed in the run up to the vote as protestors marched against Conde's bid for a third term.
The National Assembly and the Senate have differed over the number of persons to be appointed to a panel that will fill four vacancies at the electoral agency.
Tunis/Tunisia — The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) rejects the cut of wages for the public sector and civil service employees as part of the austerity policy adopted by the government, UGTT Deputy Secretary-General Hfaiedh Hfaiedh said on Monday.
Hfaiedh said the economic situation requires a debate between the government and its social partners, noting that discussions have already started about three weeks ago.
He said that the UGTT, which is betting on dialogue, is convinced of the need to combat tax evasion and adopt measures to revive the economy, reiterating its rejection of any unilateral government policy that could undermine the rights of workers.
The trade union leader recalled the UGTT's commitments, including the payment on August 1 of the third tranche of wage increases for civil servants and the launch of a new round of social negotiations which has been postponed due to the exceptional situation facing the country following the spread of the Coronavirus.
Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh, said in a TV interview that was broadcast yesterday Sunday on the channel \"Attasiâa\", that all issues are on the negotiating table with the UGTT including the situation of public finances and state institutions, not excluding a reduction in the salaries of civil servants and pensions if the crisis facing the country continues.
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.
TOMORROW, the Sadc region in an extraordinary solidarity and for the second year running will be demanding that Western economic sanctions against Zimbabwe be unconditionally lifted. Stir The Pot: Paidamoyo Muzulu This is a huge statement and gesture from the region, but Zimbabweans remain split on the issue and are still worlds apart despite the economic and social havoc the sanctions have wrought on the country. At the turn of the century, Zimbabwe embarked on revolutionary land reform programme — a programme that saw a massive seven million hectares expropriated from white commercial farmers for resettlement of landless blacks. The land question was one of the unfulfilled agreements reached at the 1979 Lancaster House independence conference. The United Kingdom (UK) had undertaken to fund the land reform programme and was supported by the United States. However, the Lancaster House agreement had sunset clauses — clauses that controlled how long the transfer of land should take and that whites for the first seven years of independence had reserved 20 seats in the National Assembly. Land was to be bought on a willing seller, willing buyer basis. The process was slow and frustrating, enraging many who had fought in the armed liberation struggle who started accusing their leaders of selling out or getting closer to the former colonisers. The Zimbabwean government acquired about three million hectares of land in the first decade of independence with financial support from the UK. The restless peasants and veterans of the struggle in 1998 started invading white-owned commercial farms and resettling themselves. Seeing an opportunity to revive its waning popularity among the electorate, the Zanu PF administration endorsed the invasions which were chaotic and, in many instances, violent. Zimbabwe became headline news across the world, inviting the wrath of the UK and the US who immediately started imposing economic sanctions and travel restrictions, accusing the Zanu PF administration of violating citizens’ human, property and political rights. Economic sanctions have been a punishment of choice for Americans against governments that upset the global economic structures. Cuba has suffered an economic embargo since 1960 solely because of its communism and nationalisation of land and industries after Fidel Castro assumed power through a war. Iran, too, has suffered the same fate after its 1979 revolution. More recently, socialist administrations of Bolivia (Eva Morales), Venezuela (Hugo Chavez) and Greece (Alexis Tsipiraz) have faced the same fate. Zimbabwe, in a rare diplomatic feat, has gained the support of Sadc and the African Union to have sanctions against the country condemned. Members of Sadc and AU at the 2020 United Nations General Assembly called for the removal of sanctions against Zimbabwe. Among the countries that openly called for the lifting of sanctions were South Africa, Namibia and Kenya. The sanctions against Zimbabwe, like South Africa’s African National Congress’s former leader Nelson Mandela listing as
With novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases continuing to rapidly increase in Kwebanna, the Region One community’s Village Council has decided to impose a two-week lockdown in an attempt to curb infections.
The article Kwebanna going into lockdown as COVID-19 cases surge appeared first on Stabroek News.
Zimbabwe's security forces sealed the country's major cities without notice amid claims of plots to topple President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government.
Government buses - the only mode of public transport allowed under a lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19- were being forced to drop off passengers at the check points.
The government has issued conflicting statements on the heightened security clampdown, but President Mnangagwa's spokesman George Charamba said it was meant to stop an uprising.
Unions representing other government workers also threatened to roll out protests in the coming days.
President Mnangagwa's government is under increasing pressure to deal with a worsening economic situation characterised by raging inflation.
THE NO. 43 Jamaica Omnibus Service (JOS) bus that plied the route from Red Hills Road to downtown Kingston was filled with schoolchildren and civil servants on Tuesday, May 20, 1980.
Students heading to Wolmer’s, St Andrew Technical, Kingston Senior School (now Kingston High), and Gaynstead high schools were among the passengers waiting to disembark.
The bus was heading for the usual Slipe Pen Road bus stop that is still about 30 metres across the entrance of the Eventide Home.
He, along with students from Wolmer’s Boys’ and Girls’ schools and Kingston Senior, would disembark at the Slipe Pen Road bus stop.
It was some time later that the death count was tallied and more than 140 destitute and physically challenged women who resided at the state-run Eventide Home perished in the early-morning fire that spread rapidly through the board structures housing them.
By Michael Sznajderman Alabama Newscenter For nearly a decade, the Ballard House in Birmingham’s civil rights district has been a center for community-engaged discussions and learning about the rich tapestry and history of the city’s Black community. Now, the nonprofit that preserved the historic house has embarked on a capital campaign that will fund a […]
Image: Toby Melville, Reuters
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to reduce Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies’ involvement in Britain’s 5G network in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.
Johnson has asked officials to make plans to reduce China’s involvement in British infrastructure to zero by 2023, the newspaper reported late on Friday.
Johnson is expected to use less reliance on China as a means to boost trade talks with US President Donald Trump in the aftermath of Britain’s departure from the European Union, according to the newspaper.
Officials have been instructed to come up with a plan to reduce Huawei’s involvement as quickly as possible,” a source was quoted by the Telegraph as saying.
Britain decided in January to allow Huawei into what the government said were non-sensitive parts of the network, capping its involvement at 35%.
[Nation] The Public Service Commission (PSC) has scaled down operations to minimise the spread of coronavirus after 10 employees tested positive.
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.
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (CMC) – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says it has joined with a number of firms, including Microsoft, to provide governments in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with immediate digital solutions, helping to ensure the continuity of administrative procedures during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
It said that the Digi/Gob platform, which is also being developed with the assistance of everis NTT Data, and Microsoft have joined forces to provide governments in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in providing governments with a turnkey digital solution, free of charge, and will be sharing technical expertise, while the IDB works with governments on the ground to achieve rapid implementation.
Thus, the Digi/Gob platform can help governments continue providing public services in the short term, while paving the way for a more ambitious agenda on public sector digital transformation in the long term.”
“This collaboration with everis NTT Data and Microsoft allows us to help our region's governments serve citizens and businesses as they navigate the pandemic, while accelerating the digital transformation of our public institutions in the long term,” said Moreno.
“This partnership with the IDB and everis will help us enable one such solution for governments in Latin America, responding to a key need for the current situation and also contributing to the future digital transformation of government agencies and institutions,” said Cernuda.
Trinidad and Tobago lie in the Caribbean Sea off the northeast coast of Venezuela. Trinidad, the larger at 1,864 sq mi (4,828 sq km), is mainly flat and rolling, with mountains in the north that reach a height of 3,085 ft (940 m) at Mount Aripo. Tobago, at just 116 sq mi (300 sq km), is heavily forested with hardwood trees.
Parliamentary democracy.
When Trinidad was explored by Columbus in 1498, it was inhabited by the Arawaks; Carib Indians inhabited Tobago. Trinidad remained in Spanish possession, despite raids by other European nations, until it was ceded to Britain in 1802. Tobago passed between Britain and France several times, but it was ultimately given to Britain in 1814. Slavery was abolished in 1834. Between 1845 and 1917, thousands of indentured workers were brought from India to work on sugarcane plantations. In 1889 Trinidad and Tobago were made a single colony.
Partial self-government was instituted in 1925, and from 1958 to 1962 the nation was part of the West Indies Federation. On Aug. 31, 1962, it gained independence and on Aug. 1, 1976, Trinidad and Tobago became a republic, remaining within the Commonwealth. While the country is a stable democracy and enjoys the highest living standards in the Caribbean thanks to oil revenue, tension between East Indians and blacks has underlined much of political life. In 1970 the tension was the underlying cause of riots, protests, and an army mutiny for the end of foreign influence over the economy. These events prompted a state of emergency which lasted for two years.
Eric Williams, “Father of the Nation” and leader of the Peoples National Movement (PNM), which is largely supported by blacks, governed from 1956 until his death in 1981. In Dec. 1986 the multiracial National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), based in Tobago, won a parliamentary majority, promising to sell most state-owned companies, reorganize the civil service, and reduce dependence on oil.
In 1990, to protest the NAR government, some 100 radical black Muslims blew up the police station
The prominent SA actor who was arrested with four others in Limpopo for illicit cigarette trade has been revealed as a Skeem Saam actor.
It also focused on the non-payment of invoices by state departments, service delivery during the Covid-19 lockdown and grievances brought before the organisation which investigates, monitors and evaluates how public service is administered.
Seloane added the public works and infrastructure and water and sanitation departments continued to default with 173 and 137 invoices, respectively, which were older than 30 days.
Seloane said the commission noted the government, like others across the globe, was under severe pressure because of the Covid-19 pandemic and welcomed efforts by the government to establish the Solidarity Fund which would assist with relief efforts during the crisis.
Seloane said the pandemic also challenged the behaviour of public servants, raising concerns over incidents of ill-treatment meted to citizens by law enforcement officials along with reports of maladministration, ill-treatment or lack of care of particular patients at some medical facilities and poor service delivery.
READ HERE | Alexandra residents say they are losing faith in law enforcement after Collins Khosa death
\"The value of human dignity as well as the principle of high standards of professional ethics should at all times guide the behaviour of government officials when delivering government services.\"
LOS ANGELES — City Councilman Jose Huizar was not present via teleconference at the May 19 Los Angeles City Council meeting, the first since he was asked to reduce his activity amid an FBI probe.
Responding to a request by the council president, Huizar, who represents Boyle of Heights, parts of downtown and other Eastside communities, said last week he will “limit my participation” in council activities amid a continuing federal corruption probe into alleged bribery of city officials by well-heeled developers.
The request came two days after federal prosecutors announced a plea agreement with a development consultant in connection with the federal probe, which involves an unnamed council member.
Although federal prosecutors have not named the council member alleged to be involved in the probe, details in court documents point to Huizar as a central figure in the investigation.
On May 13, federal prosecutors announced a plea agreement with real estate development consultant George Chiang, who is expected to admit his role in a “pay-to-play” bribery scheme involving an unnamed council member with the goal of advancing large-scale development projects.
An unreleased Biggie freestyle has surfaced 23 years after the rapper's death — and in a Pepsi commercial, no less. Tune in here.
Many took as much as two hours to get into the city centre from suburbs that are within a mere 25km radius of the capital.
And finally, on Wednesday the lockdown was in Mnangagwa’s home city of Kwekwe.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube announced a 50% salary review of all civil servants and a US$75 COVID-19 allowance.
“Pursuant to government’s commitment to continuously review and improve the remuneration framework for civil servants, taking into account the transitory economic challenges being currently experienced in the country, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, government makes the following announcement:
Many among the citizens celebrated, believing the regime had finally given in to re-dollarisation.
Citizens started discussing the impact of the policy on the local currency and would prices of goods slide down to reflect the reality of a working-class country that takes home a measly less than US$100 home?
At least six children were killed when gunmen raided a school in Koumba, southwest Cameroon on Saturday.
Fransisca International Bi-lingual Academy was the victim of the attack.
TV pictures showed a blood stained floor in a room littered with classroom furniture.
An eyewitness, a student at the school - told africanews that he had gunshots before running to hide.
\"We were having the French language lesson when we heard gunshots. The teacher was the first to escape and I heard people shouting. When I came back to check, I saw dead bodies in the primary [school] section,\" said the student whose identity we're keeping for his own safety.
Schools in Cameroon's English-speaking regions reopned two weeks after a lengthy disruption by armed violence and the pandemic - with government promising to give protection to education institutions.
Civilian installations as well as military ones have been targeted in Cameroon's conflict. Rights groups have accused government forces and militia fighters of committing atrocities.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack but authorities put the blame on Ambazonia rebels, a loose militia fighting for the independence of northwest and south Cameroon.
\"... I ask the people to stand up to fight these terrorists today in Kumba, we must put an end to this; our children must go to school, they must not be targets because they demand their education,\" said Ali Aonougu, the administrative head of Koumba sub-division.
Hundreds have been killed in the violence which broke out in 2017 and tens of thousands have been displaced.
By CALVIN WOODWARD and HOPE YEN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A more measured President Donald Trump does not necessarily mean a more truthful one. In the final debate of the presidential campaign, he was loose with facts on the crisis of the time — the pandemic — and much else. Trump did, though, exploit confusion sowed by Joe Biden during the primaries, when the Democrat occasionally made his position on energy sound more to the left than it actually is. Trump accurately called out Biden when Biden denied he had ever vowed to ban fracking. That was never Biden's […]
The post AP FACT CHECK: Trump and Biden in their last clash on stage appeared first on Black News Channel.
Refusing to accept the Zim dollar and bond notes as payment for goods has landed 102 Zimbabwean business owners and retail employees in trouble, with 28 of these appearing in court as the government enforces acceptance of the fast-falling local unit amid increased dollarisation of the economy.
As Zimbabwe’s economy re-dollarises, some retail outlets are no-longer accepting payment for goods and services in the form of bond notes.
However, John Mangudya, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, has reiterated that Zim dollar and bond notes and coins \"are still legal tender\".
\"Traders and business entities who continue to refuse to accept Zimbabwe currency bond notes and coins as a legal tender in business transactions risk being arrested and taken to court for the law to take its course,\" said the ZRP in a statement on Wednesday.
Denford Mutashu, president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries told Fin24 that retailers have to accept the Zim dollar and bond notes to smoothen transactions and payment for goods and services.
Electoral authorities in Guinea on Saturday declared President Alpha Conde winner of Sunday's election with 59.49% of the vote, defeating his main rival Cellou Diallo.
\t Some people went to the streets to protest immediately after the announcement. Such demonstrations have occurred for months after the government changed the constitution through a national referendum, allowing Conde to extend his decade in power.
\t Opposition candidate Cellou Diallo received 33.50% of the vote, the electoral commission said. Voter turnout was almost 80%.
\t Political tensions in the West African nation turned violent in recent days after Diallo claimed victory ahead of the official results. Celebrations by his supporters were suppressed when security forces fired tear gas to disperse them.
They accuse the electoral authorities of rigging the vote for incumbent president Alpha Conde.
\t At least nine people have been killed since the election, according to the government. The violence sparked international condemnation by the U.S. and others.
\t ``Today is a sad day for African democracy,'' said Sally Bilaly Sow, a Guinean blogger and activist living abroad. The government should take into account the will of the people who have a desire for change, he said.
ICC warning
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned on Friday that warring factions in Guinea could be prosecuted after fighting erupted.
“I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages and contributes in any other way to crimes … is liable to prosecution either by the Guinean courts or the ICC,” she said.
#ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda: "I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes, in any other way, to the commission of #RomeStatute crimes, is liable to prosecution either by #Guinean courts or by the #ICC."
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) October 23, 2020
\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.
AN increase in the number of novel coronavirus cases has prompted the Government to place the areas of Rae Town in Kingston and Cornwall Courts in St James under 'special area curfew', the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) announced yesterday.The curfew, which took effect at 6:00 pm yesterday, will remain in effect until 5:00 am on November 6, 2020, the OPM said in a release.
