Corona Voice Angola. The tok show with Sofonie Dala. Don't miss it! Day 4

 Our coronavirus show is ongoing. Day 4

Coronavirus has further exposed inequalities within societies. Often it is those at the bottom of the economic ladder who are suffering the most.

Hello, my name is Mariete!

Mariete why are you in this situation?

Right now I'm here looking for help. I hope to get anything because I have a 5 year old son to support. I have nothing to give him to eat.

Before the emergence of the coronavirus and now, how has your life been?

My life is very difficult, especially when it comes to food. In the beginning of the pandemic, I spent a long time without eating properly, sometimes the neighbors of good faith feel sorry for me and bring a plate of food to eat.

Right now I'm on the street asking for alms from people who pass by.

Where is your child's father?

The child's father did not take responsibility, he did not accept because of my disability, and his family also interfered negatively, saying that I am not a woman for him.

I heard rumors that he already married someone else.

Right now I am raising my son on my own, fighting so that there is no lack of food at home to feed him.

How has the coronavirus affected you?

It hit me very, very much. Before coronavirus appeared, every time I went out, I always got something. But nowadays everything is more difficult, sometimes when I go out I come back with nothing, from time to time I can get 500 or 1000 kwanzas but it’s not enough, I must separate the money for transport because I live far away from this place, the change is insufficient to buy enough food for my son. With the coronavirus, life has become very difficult.

The negative societal effects COVID-19 has wrought all over the world have, in many cases, been even more profound when viewed through the lens of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities living in poor countries already deal with increased health challenges, exacerbated threats to their security, and societal marginalization that negatively impacts nearly every facet of their lives.

This is the first and the only Coronavirus show in Angola where the most ordinary citizens show their brilliant talents.

The heroes of the program are the most ordinary citizens - they share with the audience their songs, poems and real stories of how the Coronavirus pandemic affected their lives.

Click here to watch free full webisodes: https://coronavoice-angola.blogspot.com/

Dance, water and prayers: Celebrating the goddess Yemoja

 During the annual festival to celebrate Yemoja, the goddess of the river, the day begins with music, dance and prayers. There are 400 gods – called òrìsà in the Yoruba language – each representing a force of nature. Yemoja is considered the mother of them all, such is the importance of water to life.

These days, most Nigerians belong to one of the two main religions, Christianity and Islam, while traditional religions, much derided during colonial times, have fallen by the wayside in many places.But in Ibadan, where faith in all orisa – the Yoruba gods – remains joyful and strong, celebrations of the old religion continue. The 17-day-long Yemoja festival in October is as old as the Yoruba people. It has been celebrated since “time immemorial”, according to the priestess, Ifawemimo Omitonade.

October 31 is the grand finale of the Yemoja Festival in Ibadan, when different groups of orisa devotees dance to the rhythm of thrumming drums in front of the Yemoja Temple.

Inside sits Ogunleki, a 400-year-old statue of Yemoja, a woman breastfeeding a baby, 3 feet (about 1 metre) high. Devotees, young and old, sing Yoruba songs, giving thanks to the òrìsà for keeping them healthy since the previous year, and for allowing them to see another festival.

A Yemoja worshipper kneels in front of Ogunleki, a more than 400-year-old artistic portrayal of Yemoja [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

They also sing songs of prayers, trusting that they will return the following year more prosperous, and later they will proceed to the river to make their offerings and more prayers.

Chief Akinola Olaosun – ‘the river is inhabited by spirits’

Inside the temple, Chief Akinola Olaosun prepares the items to be presented to Yemoja at the river. Chief Akinola is also known as “Aare Adimula fun Odo Babalawo Ilu Ibadan”, which translates as “President of the young herbalists of Ibadan”.

Chief Akinola Olaosun during the preparation of Yemoja’s food at the temple [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

In front of him, next to the statue of Ogunleki, is an array of calabashes – large, melon-like fruit which have been hollowed out – into which he drops sacred items as offerings to the goddess. Among these are dried kola nuts into which people have spoken words of prayer to Yemoja.After these preparations are complete at the temple, prayers are said by Chief Egbelade Omikunmi, who is the Baale Yemoja – the chief priest to Yemoja – his hands outstretched to the devotees, who respond with “Ase”, the Yoruba ending to a prayer. Then the procession to the river begins.

Baale Yemoja of Ibadan land prays for the celebrants at in front of Yemoja’s temple [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

Accompanied by music, women dressed in white carry calabashes on their heads. In each calabash, there are different items – corn and beans cooked together, yam porridge and fruits – prepared for the òrìsà. Attendees follow the procession of arugba – the calabash carriers. Their destination: the nearby river. Their purpose: propitiation and prayers to Yemoja.

Chief Akinola Olaosun takes one of the calabashes containing food to Baale Yemoja for propitiation [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

“The river is inhabited by spirits that we converse with,” says Chief Akinola. “We also make pledges to them yearly. So, during the festival, we redeem our pledges by giving them what is due to them.” By so doing, he explains, devotees express their gratitude for the past year and pray for a better year ahead.

Some of the attendees and devotees offer prayers to the deity as the propitiation continues in the river [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

Because of initial fears about the spread of COVID-19 and this year’s unrest over police brutality in Nigeria, the crowd at the festival is more modest than it might have been, but more than 300 have come along nonetheless.

Ifawemimo Omitonade – Priestess

“It is good to know that people actually came and demonstrated their faith in our mother,” says Ifawemimo Omitonade, the priestess to Yemoja. As for the chief priest, the priestess is chosen by worshippers who have “consulted” with the orisa, Yemoji, through divination and prayer. Once a person has been chosen for this rank, they undergo a nine-day initiation process of rigorous self-examination to bring them closer to their chosen orisa, known as ita. Once chosen, a priest or priestess keeps his or her title for life.

Iyalorisa Omitonade uses ‘Aja’, an instrument used in invoking Yemoja’s spirit, during the propitiation process [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

Iyalorisa Omitonade guides one of the calabash carriers during a procession to the river [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

Ifawemimo, who is in her 30s, is one of those devotees dedicated to keeping the old traditions alive in this part of Nigeria. She shares the beauty of the traditional religion on social media.

Friends of the Yemoja priestess who came to celebrate with her pose for a picture just before the procession to the river [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

“People are always of the opinion that traditionalists are fetishists … and other kinds of negativity,” she laments. She is glad, however, that young people are developing an interest in traditional religions and are demystifying them.When the prayers at the river, at the end of the celebration, are over, Ifawemimo takes some of the water from the river in a bucket and sprinkles it on her fellow devotees. In addition to the sprinkling, some of the devotees collect some of the river water in bottles. This sacred water is considered medicinal – mixed with the water people drink or added to a bath to heal ailments.

Omintonade sprinkles water from the river on some of the attendees after the propitiation. ‘This is some form of rejuvenation and blessings from the Orisha,’ she says [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

“The water is for rejuvenation and blessings from Yemoja,” Ifawemimo explains.

Foluke Akinyemi – ‘a most beautiful inheritance’

Yoruba culture enthusiast Foluke Akinyemi, who hosts the local Yoruba radio talk show, Awa Ewe which means “We, the Youth”, has come along to this year’s festival. She has been invited by Omitonade who she met through social media. Raised a Christian, she says the festival is an opportunity to reconnect with her Yoruba roots by worshipping the deities her ancestors prayed to.

‘I am happy I am part of this year’s festival … I will continue to let other this the beauty in this tradition,’ says Foluke, a culture enthusiast and radio host [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

“Yoruba culture is the most beautiful inheritance,” she says. “I personally value the role Yemoja plays in the Yoruba pantheon and mythical histories. At this year’s festival, I feel connected, I feel fulfilled. I am so glad to get to know more about orisa worship and I will continue to make people see that too,” she says.

Efunleye Orisatarada – carrier of calabashes

Women play an integral part in the worship of Yemoja, from preparing the offerings and carrying the calabashes, to carrying out duties as priestesses.

One of the calabash carriers, Efuleye collects food to be taken to the river from the fire minutes before the procession begins [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

This year, Efunleye is part of the arugba, a special group of women selected by worshippers through prayer and consultation with Yemoja herself to carry the calabashes to the river.

Efuleye Orisatara on her way to the river with the calabash containing the food for the Orisha [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

“All the women carrying the calabashes have designated roles, given to them by Yemoja,” she explains.“She says specifically what she wants each person to carry. If you carry what you have not been called for, the person will become unfortunate.”

The calabashes used in carrying the food of the deity. Yemoja chooses whoever she wants to carry the calabash each new year [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

The selection may be different the following year. “By next year, the orisa may say ‘I want a completely new set of people to champion my celebration this year or she may decide that these people continue’.”

Toluwani ‘Omisegun’ Johnson – new initiate

Each year, new initiates undertake religious rites.

Johnson Omisegun, one of the new initiates, says she ‘feels comfortable,’ in her newfound religion [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

For the final day of the festival, the new initiates cut their hair short and wear special beads. For Toluwani Johnson it is a very special event.“I first got to know about Yemoja through my mother, after we moved from Lagos to Ibadan. After some years, I decided to take things further by getting initiated fully. That is why this particular festival is special to me. That is what is responsible for my haircut and these beads I wear,” she explains.

She points to the three-layered, choker-like, blue-and-red collection of beads around her neck. “Once it is a month from now, I will cut one of the layers off; two months, the second one goes off and then the third one.” At that point, Toluwani will be entitled to wear the transparent, long, white beads worn by Yemoja devotees.

Toluwani now has a new name – Omisegun, which means “water conquers” – and says she considers that Yemoja is her personal orisa.

Toluwani Johnson alongside other new initiates on their way to the river [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

Jelili Atiku – ‘as the fish eat, the water rejoices’

Atiku Jelili, a Yemoja devotee, says ‘civilisation has made us lose some of our core values and traditions’ [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

The procession comes to an end with the presentation of the contents of the calabashes to Yemoja at the river. One by one, the items are opened and put into the river: a yam is cut into smaller pieces; the head of a pigeon is cut off and left to be carried off by the water; the yam porridge is emptied into the river.

One of the devotees of the Orisha takes tubers of yam to Baale of Yemoja during the propitiation process in the water [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

Baale Yemoja alongside other devotees cut the new yam into sizeable portion before offering them to the deity [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

A pigeon, offered to Yemoja as sacrifice, slowly gets taken away by the river [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

Baale Yemoja alongside other devotees prepares to offer porridge, one of Yemoja’s preferred delicacies, to her [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

“People have a lot of misconceptions about what we take to Yemoja,” says Jelili, one of the devotees in the gathering at the river. “They are basically things that fish eat: honey, soft corn, and other things. Once the fish begin to eat, the water where they live begins to rejoice, as seen in its movement.“The breeze from the river is cooling and whoever has anything to ask of Yeye [another name for Yemoja] goes ahead to ask. If by the next year you do not have answers to such requests, please check yourself and ask yourself why.”

Chief Egbelade Omikunmi – Baale Yemoja, chief priest

Chief Egbelade Omikunmi, “Baale Yemoja” – or Chief Priest to the orisa – also serves as the leader of all traditional Yoruba worshippers in Oyo state. After the singing and dancing at the temple – before the devotees go to the river – he prays for everyone, his hands stretched forward.

After the procession to the river, Chief Egbelade is assisted by other male devotees. He sits by the water and communes with Yemoja. One by one, he drops the offerings from the calabashes into the river. As he does, murmured prayers rise from the watching crowd, many hands pointing towards the river.

Baale Yemoja waits for the next batch of offerings to be brought by one of Yemoja’s devotees [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

Year in, year out, the festival proceedings have remained the same, says Chief Egbelade.“People come with different prayers. Last year, if someone came with a prayer and had their wish granted, the next year, they will come with more friends. Whenever prayers are answered, more people will come,” he says.

Some of the attendees look from the bridge into the water below as the propitiation process continues [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]

Chief Egbelade says he has no fears that the practice of worshipping Yemoja will die out just yet.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA

Cameroon holds first regional election amid opposition boycott

 Cameroon is holding its first-ever regional election, which the government says hands more power to the provinces but the opposition boycotts as a sham.

In Sunday’s indirect polls, a 24,000-strong electoral college made up of regional delegates and traditional chiefs will vote to fill the posts of 900 regional councillors – 90 for each of the country’s 10 regions – putting into action a 1996 law that promised a decentralised government but was never enacted.

The municipal councils will have a say over development, including infrastructure such as roads, but they will not be able to alter laws enacted by the national assembly and the senate in the country’s capital, Yaounde.

President Paul Biya’s government sees the polls as a step towards greater regional autonomy, hoping they will appease critics who say he has long neglected the country’s regions and help end a four-year separatist conflict in the English-speaking western region.

But the two main opposition parties, Maurice Kamto’s Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) and the Social Democratic Front (SDF), are both boycotting the polls, arguing they are not about local issues but a way for the 87-year-old head of state to tighten his grip on power.

Opponents say the vote offers only a semblance of regional autonomy and comes too late to fix the conflict, which has become the greatest threat in Biya’s near 40-year rule. They also say officials voting in the election are overwhelmingly Biya supporters and will help enforce his will on the regions.

“With most political opponents in prison, the opposition is boycotting the vote saying it will not be credible with the governing party likely to win most of the votes,” said Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque.

“In the English speaking regions of Cameroon, separatists have warned people to stay indoors, until their grievances for greater autonomy are addressed.”

Separatist fighters have promised to disrupt the vote in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions. They also said they will arrest anyone participating.

There were no early reports of disruptions at the time of publication. However, gunfire was heard around the city of Kumbo, according to a local official quoted by the Reuters news agency.

In 2016, lawyers, teachers and others in Cameroon’s largely Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions took to the streets to protest against the dominance of French in the education and legal systems, echoing long-running grievances among the country’s English-speaking minority over their region’s perceived marginalisation by the Francophone-dominated central government.

The government’s heavy-handed response to the protests was followed by the emergence of several separatist armed groups seeking to form a breakaway state.

Human rights groups have accused both sides of committing atrocities in a conflict that has killed at least 3,000 people.

Amid a wave of arbitrary arrests and kidnappings, as well as extrajudicial killings and wanton destruction of homes and public facilities, the crisis has forced hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians to flee their homes in search of safety, with almost 60,000 crossing the border to Nigeria.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Black Pete: Is time up for the Netherlands’ blackface tradition?

 It seems that the winds of social change may have finally reached the shores of the Netherlands.

Following years of demonstrations against Black Pete, and amid the recent Black Lives Matter protests, the controversial blackface Sinterklaas tradition has largely faded from view this year.

And with COVID-19 cancelling parades, Sinterklaas’s arrival by boat this year, with his helper Black Pete, was a much-muted event.

“This year has definitely been the year of change,” said Jerry Afriyie, one of the founders of the Dutch anti-racist organisation Kick Out Black Pete.

“We used to be called terrorists, we are now mainstream. The fight today is about whether the change is going to be done right.”

Black Pete, or Zwarte Piet as he is known in the Netherlands, is a holiday tradition dating back to the 19th century that depicts a helper of Saint Nicholas dressed in blackface with an Afro wig, large red lips and golden hoop earrings. Many see Black Pete as a racist symbol harkening back to the minstrel shows in the United States, and the Netherlands’ participation in the slave trade.

After the death of George Floyd in the US, a moment which prompted a global anti-racist movement, Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who himself has defended Black Pete and dressed in blackface, said: “I expect in a few years there will be no more Black Petes,” as he acknowledged “systemic problems” with racism in Holland.

“The politicians, they want to be on the right side of history,” said Afriyie, adding officials are now contacting him and others in the movement.

“I welcome that the prime minister has finally come to the conclusion that we have a racism problem in the Netherlands, but it has been years and he has not taken a stand, and that has been dangerous.”

According to recent polls, national support for Black Pete is diminishing, particularly in large cities, where Black Pete appears in multicolours, or as Chimney Pete with dark smudges on his face, a compromise narrative that envisions Sinterklaas’s helper as covered in soot because he came down the chimney.

“Nine out of 10 schools have changed their Black Pete decorations to Chimney Pete and have changed the songs as well.”

While Afriyie welcomed the moves, he warned Chimney Pete is racist as well.

“We seeing them stepping away from racism to racism lite,” he said. “They say of the darker Chimney Petes that he has gone through the chimney more times.”

‘Every Black person will tell you that they were called Black Pete in their childhood’

Changing the tradition of Black Pete is a difficult conversation for Dutch citizens.

Myrco Benschop, a Black student who works part-time in a shop in Amsterdam Southeast, a largely Black and immigrant neighbourhood, hates being asked if any Black Pete items are being sold this year.

“I think that every Black person you ask will tell you that they were called Black Pete a few times in their childhood,” he said.

“I said I’m on the fence on the matter first because the argument of ‘It’s our Dutch culture’ is so ingrained in me.

“It’s not hard to come up with an alternative for Black Pete. You know, if you can convince a child that Sinterklaas exists, you can also convince him Pete took a shower and is no longer Black.”

Margaret Kwidama was born on Curaçao and has lived in Amsterdam for 25 years.

“On our island Zwarte Piet is normal,” she said. “The children are used to him, they get so excited when you mention Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet. That’s why I think the Zwarte Piet tradition should stay. I also dress up as Zwarte Piet for the children. Things such as slavery are in the past. You have to let go and move on. What’s in the past is in the past.”

Recently there was a flurry of reporting that Dutch libraries had removed books featuring Black Pete from their shelves. But the Association of Public Libraries of the Netherlands later released a statement clarifying that there was no national policy on Black Pete.

“Some libraries choose to keep books in which Zwarte Piet plays a role in the collection, some libraries remove it from the collection and others include them in the warehouse, from which they remain available on request,” the statement read. “Each library chooses its own pace. In addition, anyone who is a member of a library can access the collections of other libraries.”

And there are plenty on the far right who are not content to watch the Black Pete tradition go gently into the night.

Geert Wilders, the far-right politician who has been charged with inciting hatred and discrimination, tweeted: “Only one is the real one. Throughout NL. It is not grey or white and it does not have a soot smear but it is black. That is our tradition and culture and has nothing to do with racism! Long live Zwarte Piet!!”

“Zwarte Piet” (Black Pete), who is Saint Nicholas’s assistant, is seen during a traditional parade in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on November 18, 2018 [Eva Plevier / Reuters]

Afriyie was planning anti-Black Pete protests in Eindhoven last week, but the rally was cancelled because the right-wing, anti-immigration and anti-Islamist group Pegida also sought a licence to demonstrate in support of Black Pete.“It was very unsafe. We were attacked in the last two years, last year with fireworks,” he said, claiming authorities previously wanted to put them in the same square at the same time, “like, ‘You fight it out’.”

While declining support for Black Pete is heartening, he warned: “People supporting Black Pete have been radicalised and are supported by extremists and hooligans.”

Assistants of Saint Nicholas called ‘Zwarte Piet’ (Black Pete) or ‘Roetpiet’ (Soot Pete) arrive by boat at a harbour in the Netherlands [File:Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters]

Pegida spokesman: ‘When I dress up as Zwarte Piet most people like it’

On Thursday, Mitchell Esajas, a co-founder of The Black Archives, which documents Dutch Black history and culture, was in parliament to discuss policies around discrimination and racism in the Netherlands, when his phone buzzed.

“I received pictures from my colleague, who had just arrived at the archive.”

A mural they had commissioned on the wall of the building of Black resistance fighters and heroes from the Surinamese community, including anti-colonialist author Anton de Kom, had been vandalised with white paint painted over the faces.

“They also put stickers on our door and the mural that said ‘Chimney Pete is white genocide’,” said Esajas.

“Chimney Pete is a compromise. It does not include the racist elements, but there are a lot of Dutch people who think changing the tradition is an attack on their culture. Because there is change, the extreme right is getting more radicalised and they are prone to use violence. A lot of politicians are underestimating the radicalisation of the extreme right.”

Esajas said right-wing social media accounts have been doxing – researching and posting private information on – peaceful protesters, including putting their names and personal information online.

“The stickers they put on our door, we have only seen them once before when a group of white extremists, the Zwarte Pieten Actiegroep, went to the home of the Dutch rapper, Akwasi, who gave a speech at the Black Lives Matter protest, and they went in blackface and left behind exactly these stickers.”

Edwin Wagensveld, a member and spokesperson of Pegida who organised the Eindoven pro-Black Pete counter-protest this year, acknowledged that “football hooligans” show up to anti-Pete protests, but claims his group is against violence, adding intimidation comes from both sides.

He said he welcomes dialogue but said the Kick Out Black Pete movement is not just about Black Pete, it’s “like the Black Panther movement”.

“Kick Out Black Pete says Zwarte Piet is a symbol of something bigger, he said. “No one would deny that racism exists on the grounds of skin colour or religion. But this organisation is also against Chimney Pete. So we basically have to give up a children’s festivity for way more than just the figure of Zwarte Piet.”

Wagensveld disagrees with the prime minister’s statement that Black Pete will disappear, and disputes the idea that people want the tradition to end.

“Rutte has said that there is change happening in the Netherlands, but I think this change is not voluntary. We (as Pegida) see there is forceful pressure. There is fear, especially among entrepreneurs. Shopkeepers are afraid to be linked to Black Pete. People don’t want to see change by force, so we see resistance growing and we are getting more and more support.”

Wagensveld does not believe there is systemic racism.

“Eighty to 90 percent of the Dutch population see Zwarte Piet as non-racist,” he claimed. “When I dress up as Zwarte Piet most people like it … Black Pete is absolutely not racist.”

For Afriyie, “the problem is white people are deciding what is racist, and it is not up to them to decide, it is up to Black people to say what is racist.”

Building on the success of the Kick Out Black Pete movement, Afriyie will help launch a new movement on December 10, International Human Rights Day, a coalition of 15-20 groups focused on the broader goal of Dutch civil rights and ending systemic racism.

“We have drafted a Manifesto for Black Emancipation that will be presented on December 10,” said Esajas, also a member of Kick Out Black Pete, “and this Sunday there will be an anti-racism protest in the Hague.”

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA

Old rivals square up again in Ghana’s tight presidential election

 Voters in Ghana will head to the polls on Monday to pick the country’s next president, in what is expected to be a tight race between incumbent Nana Akufo-Addo and his predecessor, John Mahama.

The two longtime rivals, who are squaring off for the third straight time as they seek a second and final term, are widely seen as the two frontrunners in a crowded field of 12 candidates.

Campaigning has largely focused on the economy, infrastructure development and the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fight against corruption has also featured prominently in the lead-up to the election during which the political rivalry that has for the last decade defined the campaigns of both Akufo-Addo, of the centrist New Patriotic Party (NPP), and Mahama, of the left-leaning National Democratic Congress (NDC), was largely on display.

“The candidates have spent more time exchanging words rather than focusing on the challenges facing the people,” said Michael Opoku, a 54-year-old trader in Kumasi, Ghana’s second city.

“I want a better Ghana that will guarantee my future. I am not concerned so much about voting for a political party but my vote will be for those who are out to make a difference when elected into office,” he added.

Despite the heightened political tensions, the two leading candidates on Friday signed a pact for good conduct and peaceful elections at a ceremony in the capital, Accra, that was attended by traditional and religious leaders, as well as international observers.

Monday’s vote will be the eighth since Ghana’s first step towards multiparty democracy in 1992. The country has a strong record of smooth transitions of power and Ghanaians are hoping it will build on its reputation as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.

The NPP and the NDC have peacefully exchanged power several times during the past decades but friction is high this year amid opposition allegations over the independence of the electoral commission. Last month, Mahama alleged that the body set out to organise “a flawed election” and threatened to reject the results.

“Recent events under the current administration have given many anxious moments of doubt about this administration’s ability to deliver a peaceful, violence-free election,” Mahama, 62, said at his speech during Friday’s peace pact-signing ceremony.

Electoral officials have dismissed the opposition’s accusations of attempting to rig the elections.

Nana Akufo-Addo greets supporters during his final campaign rally on Saturday [Francis Kokoroko/Reuters]

“There is already so much tension on the ground, especially from the opposition, about the likely outcome of the election. The Electoral Commission should be fair to all,” said Cynthia Ekow, a 29-year-old student in Accra.

For his part, Akufo-Addo, 76, promised that the will of the electorate will be respected.

“We believe in elections, and I am happy to give my word that we shall accept the verdict of the people of Ghana,” he said at the ceremony. “Above all, I pledge that the peace, unity and safety of Ghana will be our primary consideration.”

Professor Kwesi Aning, who is the director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, said concerns about the period after the election were real.

“Though a peace pact has been signed to deal, especially with the fallouts from the results, work needs to be done to sensitive grassroots supporters about the law and the need to respond to disputes legal,” he said.

“The onus is on party leaders and structures. From history, there is a wide chasm between the flowery words of peace and the speed with which war drums are beaten when there are electoral disputes.”

Some 63,000 military and paramilitary officers have been deployed across the country to maintain peace during the electoral process and respond to any potential unrest.

Ghana is a major cocoa, gold and oil producer. But its fast-growing economy took a hit during the coronavirus pandemic, deepening analysts’ concerns about high public debt levels.

In April, the country received $1bn in emergency funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address the impact of the pandemic, and the economy is now projected to grow by as much as 1 percent.

Both Akufo-Addo and Mahama have promised to improve infrastructure despite the country’s rising debt profile.

In recent weeks, Akufo-Addo has emphasised his government’s record on education and access to electricity and pledged to build a new airport in the country’s central region.

Mahama has underlined the public works completed during his four years in office (2012-2016) and promised to increase infrastructure spending if re-elected. He has also promised to provide free laptops to university students.

John Mahama picked former Education Minister Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate [Francis Kokoroko/Reuters]

The winner of the election will be decided by a simple majority for a candidate who secures more than 50 percent of votes. A runoff election will be held within 21 days if no candidate meets the threshold of votes cast.In contrast to previous elections, results could be announced by the electoral commission within 24 hours after voting at about 39,000 polling stations spread across the country ends.

“We are promoting some efficiency into the system. We have worked with our numbers and we have a duration within which the results should be transmitted,” electoral commission chairwoman Jean Mensa recently told journalists in the capital, Accra. “Because of the efficiency we have introduced into the processes, we should be able to declare results within 24 hours,” she said.

“When results are announced on time, it reduces speculation about the outcome of the elections,” Ekow, the student, believed.

Among the dozen candidates vying for the presidency are three women, including Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, the widow of former President Jerry Rawlings.

A total of 275 parliamentary seats will also be for grabs in Monday’s polls.

Still, observers do not expect power to shift from either the NPP or the NDC anytime soon.

Anning said Ghanaians will be voting “primarily for peace”.

“The narrative is that change has not come and if change in terms of improvements in people’s lives is difficult to attain, then they prefer peace at all cost.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA

ANGOLA DEFENDS PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF CONFLICTS IN AFRICA

 

Foreign Minister Téte António said Sunday in Luanda that the African Union should opt for the principle of peaceful resolution of conflicts to silence the weapons on the continent.

The head of Angolan diplomacy expressed this standing when speaking on behalf of the Angolan statesman, João Lourenço, at the 14th Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and of the Government of the African Union (AU), which is taking place under the theme "Silencing Arms in Africa", by video-conference from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Regarding the conflict in Western Sahara, the Angolan minister defended the negotiating way at seeking a mutually acceptable solution.

The diplomat reaffirmed that Angola is firmly engaged in the fight against all scourges which affect peace, stability and development of the African continent.

In this area, he stressed that the fight against terrorism must be one of the priorities of the collective action by Heads of State.

On the other hand, Téte António reiterated the proposal of President João Lourenço on the holding of an Extraordinary Summit of the African Union on terrorism.

He justified that the issue of Peace and Security in Africa posed challenges that required increasing engagement and consultation of States at AU level to address the causes of the continuing conflicts on the continent and to identify the means and the appropriate ways of resolving them.

COVID-19: ANGOLA REPORTS 55 NEW CASES, THREE RECOVERIES

 The country registered 55 new infections and three patients recovered this Sunday.

According to the Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, who presented the usual update session, 21 cases in Luanda, 30 in Lunda Sul, two in Namibe, Huila and Zaire each registered one case.

The list is made up of 41 male and 14 female patients in the age group from seven to 77 years old.

The recoveries, Franco Mufinda said, were registered in Luanda, at ages that range from 63 to 65 years.

The country has 15,591 positive cases, with 354 deaths, 8,338 recovered and 6,899 active people. From active cases, three are in critical condition, eight severe, 101 moderate, 159 with mild symptoms and 6,628 asymptomatic.

ANGOLA CRUSH BOTSWANA AT COSAFA

 The national under-20 football team beat Botswana 4-0 this Sunday in the second round of the Cosafa Cup, taking place in South Africa.

Played at Isaac Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth, for the conclusion of the first round, the goals of the national team were scored by Zine, twice, and Gladilson, also in on two occasions.

Angola lost their opening match 0-1 to Eswatini, so this victory opens up good prospects of qualifying for the semi-finals on the 11th December.

After the dispute this weekend of the Afrocups, the national squad will be joined by players Benarfa (FC Bravos do Maquis), Picas, Pedro and Dos Santos (Petro de Luanda).

In South Africa are Natah, Vicente, Gegê, Afonso, Aladair, Telson, Porfírio, Domingos, Beni, Maestro, Benvindo, Abdul, Bito, Manlele, Gladilson and Zine Salvador.

The team is led by coach Kito Ribeiro, with Mário Catala as assistant, Jorge Tomaz (goalkeeper coach), Sebastião Ngola (scouting), Agostinho Costa (doctor) and Felisberto Direito (physiotherapist).