Login to BlackFacts.com using your favorite Social Media Login. Click the appropriate button below and you will be redirected to your Social Media Website for confirmation and then back to Blackfacts.com once successful.
Enter the email address and password you used to join BlackFacts.com. If you cannot remember your login information, click the “Forgot Password” link to reset your password.
Uganda’s inter-religious council called off the eagerly awaited presidential candidates’ debate.
The council said the debate, that was due on Thursday 03 was cancelled due to limited resources.
Local media reported that a total of ten presidential candidates were expected to grace the occasion.
This comes amid numerous complaints majorly from the opposition who have constantly blamed the security apparatus for rights violations.
Uganda opposition have in most cases face wrath of the police especially the renowned musician-turned politician, Bobi Wine.
Two weeks ago, 54 people died in protests after Wines supporters called for his release following a brief arrest at campaign rally.
They have defended themselves by claiming that they were only implementing Covid-19 guidelines to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
Bobi Wine was later charged with violating pandemic restrictions on gathering of crowds and granted bail.
The embattled singer later met the electoral commission and asked them to ensure that there should be equitable campaigns and police should be stopped from intimidating the opposition leaders and their members.
\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.
Tanzania's main opposition party Chadema says its leaders are subject to politically motivated attacks.
It is a continuation of violence against top opposition officials in Tanzania,\" Tumaini Makene, the Chadema party's spokesperson, told DW.
Freeman Mbowe, Tanzania's leader of the main opposition party, was attacked by unknown assailants late Monday in the capital Dodoma.
\"My immediate reaction after hearing the news [of Mbowe's attack] was to tie it to the president of Tanzania and his security apparatus,\" Lissu told DW from his exiled home in Belgium.
\"The leader of the opposition is now not able to hold rallies as planned, he is now not able to speak on the budget proposal which is going to be tabled by the government next week,\" Daniel El-Noshokaty, Resident Representative for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Tanzania office, told DW.
Despite history’s efforts, Donald J. Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal this week that it was he who made the day so popular.
“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” Trump said, referring to the news headlines that followed his decision to hold a campaign rally on Juneteenth in the place known for one of the greatest attacks on Black lives.
But according to Trump, he polled a number of people within his administration who had never heard of the day.
Trump’s commitment to remaining ardently obtuse to the history of Black America appears to be renewed in the wake of heightened racial tensions across the United States.
(Photo by Justin Merriman/Getty Images)
Trump’s attempt at co-opting the efforts of Black activists by suggesting his whiteness made the day relevant, did not go over well.
Nigerian health authorities said they were battling a suspected outbreak of yellow fever in two southern areas that local media said might have left dozens dead.
Jayasekara, also known as Chokka Malli, was found guilty by the High Court of Ratnapura on July 31 of murdering activist Sunil Perera, popularly known as Shantha Dodamgoda, ahead of presidential elections in 2015. He was sentenced to death along with two others convicted of the same crime. Nonetheless, he took the oath as a […]
The post Murderer on Death Row Sworn In as Member of Sri Lanka’s Parliament appeared first on L.A. Focus Newspaper.
Journalists in Cameroon have taken to the streets of Buea in the South west region to protest and demand an account of their missing colleague, Samuel Wazizi, after local media reported he had died in military custody.
Wazizi, was arrested in August 2019.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) confirmed his death in a statement on Wednesday evening, after a privately-owned Cameroonian TV station and then the National Union of Cameroonian Journalists (SNJC) announced his death on Tuesday.
Neither the government nor the army had yet confirmed the journalist’s death, or reacted to requests on his whereabouts.
Now, what really happened to Samuel Wazizi?
At least 22 people died as the fiercest cyclone to hit parts of Bangladesh and eastern India this century sent trees flying and flattened houses, with millions crammed into shelters despite the risk of coronavirus.
Millions were left without power after Cyclone Amphan, packing winds of around 150 kilometres per hour (95 miles), carried away electricity pylons, walls and roofs, officials said Thursday as they began to assess the damage.
Bangladesh officials said at least 10 people had died, including a five-year-old boy and a 75-year-old man both hit by falling trees and a cyclone emergency volunteer who drowned.
Cyclones are an annual and growing hazard along the Bay of Bengal coast, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in recent decades.
Anwar Hossain Howlader, an official in the Khulna coastal district of Bangladesh, said a three-metre (10-feet) surge had destroyed embankments protecting villages despite locals toiling through the night.
President Donald Trump gestures as he leaves the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, to attend a campaign rally in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump received much backlash for planning his next campaign rally on what is considered sacred ground and a sacred day to Black America.
Trump announced on Wednesday that he would hold a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 19th, the Juneteenth holiday observing the end of slavery in America.
On Friday, June 12, the president announced that he rescheduled the rally one day later after being contacted by Black friends and constituents.
“Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out of respect for this Holiday,” the president tweeted, “and in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents.”
#APeoplesJourney #ANationsStory 📸: Grace Murray Stephenson and family, Juneteenth Emancipation Day Celebration, June 19, 1900, Texas, Courtesy Austin History Center.
(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaica’s first track and field star, Isis Clarke-Reid, died at her Port St Lucie, Florida, home on Monday, June 8, after a brief illness.
Reports in the local media around the time the former track star celebrated her 100th birthday on November 18, 2019, stated that the family’s only wish was that she be recognised publicly by the Jamaican Government before she passed.
SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECOGNISED SOONER
Nonetheless, the friend believes that with the family emphasising Clarke-Reid’s frail health in November, greater effort should have been made much earlier to recognise her place in history.
“(Clarke-Reid) and Gertrude Messam were the first women to represent Jamaica in track and field,” said David last November when he spoke with the media ahead of his sister’s birthday.
Last November, as she reflected on her time on the track eight decades earlier, Clarke-Reid said: “It was great.
Dear Editor,
I commend the good citizens who put private voices in public papers to share their thinking.
The article Not optimistic about national dialogue on electoral reform appeared first on Stabroek News.
The observers recognise that an electoral system governed by a whole series of constantly changing pieces of legislation \"responds to the outcome of political dialogue between the main parties, Renamo and Frelimo, rather than taking a holistic review of the electoral framework.\"
Stop the inclusion of fraudulent results: Under Renamo pressure, the parties agreed an electoral court system which could intervene to redress misconduct and errors by election commissions, STAEs, and polling stations.
Civil society members to be non-partisan
Members of the National Elections Commission (CNE) \"do not represent the public or private institutions or political or social institutions they come from, and defend the national interest\", says the electoral law.
For the 2008-9 elections, parliament (AR) agreed a dramatic change - a majority of CNE members, including the chair (presidente) were nominated by Civil Society Organisations (CSO) to try to force some independence and neutrality.
But this agreement between Frelimo and Renamo to select party aligned CSO members is not specified in the electoral law and clearly goes against the spirit of the law.
The Rwanda Biomedical Center, RBC; tweeted that the tests at the Kigali Amahoro National Stadium is expected to serve 5000 people in all districts of the city and at all its entry points.
Confirmed cases = 1,042
\t\tActive cases = 559
\t\tRecoveries = 480
\t\tNumber of deaths = 3
\t\tTotal number of tests = 147,904
\t
Rwanda MOH stats valid as of July 1, 2020
June 30: Cases pass 1,000 mark
\tOn the 25th of June, authorities in Rwanda introduced total lockdowns in parts of the capital Kigali citing surge in COVID-19 cases.
In a space of four days, the country has recorded over 150 cases taking the tally of confirmed cases as of yesterday (June 29) past the 1,000 mark according to the Ministry of Health tallies.
Confirmed cases = 1,001
\t\tActive cases = 556
\t\tRecoveries = 443
\t\tNumber of deaths = 2
Rwanda MOH stats valid as of June 29, 2020
VIDEO
June 1: Rwanda records first virus death, govt ‘rethinks’ easing restrictions
\t“After reassessment, transportation between provinces and the City of Kigali, as well as passenger motor services, will remain closed until further notice in the interest of public health.
On the last day of May 2020, Rwanda recorded 11 new cases on the same day the first casualty was buried in the outskirts of Kigali.
By JOSEPH WILSON and JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization on Sunday reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases by its count, at more than 183,000 new cases in the latest 24 hours.
At a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump said Saturday the U.S. has tested 25 million people, but the “bad part” is that it found more cases.
The number of confirmed virus cases is still growing rapidly not only in the U.S. but in Brazil, South Africa and other countries, especially in Latin America.
South Africa reported a one-day high of almost 5,000 new cases on Saturday and 46 deaths.
In Asia, China and South Korea reported new coronavirus cases Sunday in outbreaks that threatened to set back their recoveries.
Agathon Rwasa, Burundi's opposition leader and deputy speaker of Parliament has filed a petition at the country's constitutional court disputing the win of the ruling CNDD-FDD party's Evariste Ndayishimiye.
Mr Ndayishimiye won the May 20 presidential election with 68 per cent of the vote against Mr Rwasa's 24 per cent.
\"If the constitutional court rules in their favour I will move to the African Court because all the results that were announced by the electoral commission were wrong,\" said Mr Rwasa.
The country's Catholic Church deployed 2,716 observers countrywide, and has also expressed misgivings on the election process and its outcome.
However the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Pierre Claver Kazihise, said that members of the Catholic church observer mission weren't well educated and informed about the electoral process.
The Electoral Court has granted the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) permission to postpone by-elections in the country due to the continuous effects of the coronavirus.
This after the commission approached the court seeking a postponement.
\"As required in law, the municipal elections will be proclaimed by Cogta Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma after her consultations with the Electoral Commission.
\"In this regard, the Electoral Commission has begun consultations with the minister.
These matters are not a prerogative of the Electoral Commission, but require a collaborative effort and national consensus,\" she said.
Stevante Clark was booked into Sacramento County main jail on felony battery charges this week, after he was apprehend by the Sacramento Police Department’s Career Criminal Unit on May 18, Sacramento police said.
Clark is scheduled to be arraigned in a Sacramento County court on May 27.
Clark is the older brother of Stephon Clark, who was shot and killed by two Sacramento police officers in the back of his grandparent’s South Sacramento home on March 18, 2018.
After a few public outbursts related to the death of his brother, Stevante Clark has been a model citizen by supporting other families that suffered similar consequences.
Clark recently helped a family bring attention to a video of a Sacramento County Sheriff beating a defenseless 14-year-old boy late last month.
Prominent dissident Guillaume Soro, a former prime minister who was blocked from running in Ivory Coast’s presidential election, called Wednesday on the country’s military to disobey President Alassane Ouattara after he was allowed to win a controversial third term.
Soro’s comments via his Facebook account put him on a direct crash course with his former mentor, and align him more closely with two other opposition leaders still in Ivory Coast who have pledged to push ahead with a transitional government of their own after Saturday’s election.
“I ask you to disobey the illegal orders and join the National Council of Transition. To the defense and security forces, I ask you to look in the mirror, in soul and conscience, and act to stop the killings. You must act to restore our constitution to its former glory,” Soro said.
“Alassane Ouattara is no longer the President of the Republic of Ivory Coast. Put an end to the specter of civil war that threatens our country, you know me,” Soro said, directly addressing defense and security forces.
Soro, a former rebel leader who went on to become the president of the National Assembly, was unable to return to Ivory Coast from France earlier this year when criminal charges were brought against him that his supporters say were politically motivated to derail his candidacy.
He was later sentenced to 20 years in absentia on embezzling public funds and money laundering charges.
Several opposition leaders in Abidjan have had their homes surrounded by security forces since Tuesday when the electoral commission issued results showing Ouattara had won another term with 94.3% of the vote after an opposition boycott.
Ouattara has been in power for nearly a decade. He initially said he would not run again this year but changed his mind after his party’s candidate died suddenly in July. He maintains that the country’s two-term limit for presidents does not apply to him because of a constitutional referendum passed in 2016.
The 78-year-old president, who is popular with international donors, has said he was motivated to run again because of his love for his country. He also has said it’s unlikely he would seek reelection again in 2025.
There have been widespread fears of post-election violence erupting in Ivory Coast, where more than 3,000 people were killed following a disputed vote a decade ago.
Soro said Wednesday that a “nascent tyranny” was forming in the country and he called on opposition activists to continue civil disobedience efforts.
“We must stand up and block the former president, Alassane Ouattara, who has taken the country hostage,” Soro said. “Let’s stand up to say no to the dictatorship.”
In January 2016, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), through the Uganda Voucher Plus Activity, launched a free health programme whereby vulnerable poor women in rural areas could access free maternal and newborn health care services in private facilities.
The project which has been running for five years has been able to cover 35 districts in northern and eastern Uganda operating in over 140 private health facilities in these areas and it operates on the basis of women purchasing vouchers at only Shs 4,000 from the village health teams and volunteers which they can use to access quality maternal health care services from private hospitals at no additional costs.
This Covid-19 period has obviously posed a challenge to the project especially due to restriction of movement and curfew which has made it very difficult for expectant mothers to move from their rural areas to health centres in time but Dr Dennis Buluma, the deputy chief of party of the Uganda Voucher Plus Activity said that they have put in place some measures to ensure that women still access health care easily.
He noted that even though some districts where the project was being implemented had health IIIs and IVs which offer maternal services, many women still chose to be part of the project where they would some little money to access health services because even in public facilities where services are meant to be for free they end up paying.
They have also linked the project to other long term financing mechanisms like the Results Based Financing Mechanism where the ministry of Health will work closely with USAID to ensure that the voucher service providers are able to continue providing health services to women through those financing mechanisms.
On June 19, Americans around the country will celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation in the USA. This year, the annual celebration of freedom comes as the country grapples with its long-standing history of systemic racism, as well as the fate of its Confederate monuments, flags and symbols amid nationwide protests against police... [Read More]
The by-elections for Kahawa Wendani ward in Kiambu county, Dabaso ward in Kilifi county, Kisumu North ward in Kisumu county, Wundanyi Mbale ward in Taita Taveta county and Msambweni constituency in Kilifi county were postponed after the government imposed restrictions on gatherings in measures to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Chebukati noted the electoral commission was working on a program which will see the elections conducted once the current COVID-19 containment measures including the dusk-to-dawn curfew and cessation of movement in five counties are scaled down.
Chebukati said IEBC will liaise with the Ministry of Health to identify best ways to conduct the elections in a COVID-19 environment which minimizes human to human contact.
\"When curfew and other activities are scaled down, we shall embark on this program and set new dates for this by-elections,\" Chebukati added.
Dabaso Ward MCA Emmanuel Changawa's lost his seat after the Court of Appeal nullified his election in November 2019 while in Kisumu, Elisha Araro resigned his seat as Kisumu North MCA to vie for County Assembly Speaker.
Ethiopia's parliament has approved allowing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to stay in office beyond his mandate after elections planned for August were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The vote on Wednesday - 114 in favour, four against and one abstention - came two days after a leading opposition politician resigned as speaker in an apparent protest against the decision to delay the election.
Ethiopia's election board announced in March that it would be impossible to organise the vote on time because of the pandemic, in which 2,506 infections have been confirmed in the country with 35 deaths.
Some opposition leaders have called for a caretaker or transitional government to guide the country to elections, a suggestion Abiy dismissed as unworkable during a question-and-answer session on Monday with legislators.
On Wednesday night, two major opposition parties with power bases in Abiy's home Oromia region issued a joint statement rejecting Wednesday's vote as \"an illegal and illegitimate act\".
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press There are many unanswered questions surrounding President Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said he only had mild symptoms, and his doctor said Trump was fatigued. But the president was being flown to Walter Reed Medical Center, where he was expected to stay a […]
The post What We Know, and What We Don't, About Trump's Coronavirus appeared first on Voice and Viewpoint.
Government will have to purchase over 137,000 television sets if they are to facilitate distance learning as proposed by President Museveni.
In his televised address on Monday, Mr Museveni postponed the partial reopening of schools for another one month but said \"children must continue studying under the distance learning programme\" on televisions and radios.
He made a number of proposals to facilitate the programme, among them; provision of two television sets to each village and a radio set to each home.
Mr Museveni says much as there are fears that the TV sets could bring about congregation, thereby undermining social distancing of the children, he is optimistic that it is easy to identify any child who has the virus since they are from one village.
\"Children from the same village, if they have sickness it would have already shown up,\" added Mr Museveni.
