RULING PARTY REITERATES SUPPORT FOR GRAFT CRACKDOWN

Luanda - The ruling MPLA party encouraged Wednesday the Angolan head of State João Lourenço to continue leading the fight against corruption, impunity and nepotism, aimed at raising the morale of the society.

The party’s position is expressed in a final statement released at 10th Ordinary Meeting of the Secretariat of its Politburo, held on Wednesday in Luanda.

According to the communiqué, the participants praised the President for showing courage and conviction in the way he managed the most sensible process, involving staff and officers belonging to Security Affairs Office to the President of Republic.

 

The participants at the meeting, chaired by the Vice President of MPLA, Luísa Damião, also hailed the Statesman for his Address to Nation delivered on 26 May, showing solidarity with its content.

 

The statement reiterated the militants’ availability to do their best to make the national reconciliation effective and everyone develops heart forgiveness.

 

The meeting discussed the party’s issues, such as the Project of Information of Politburo Secretariat on the Activity Performed in first four months of 2021 and the Programme project of Activities of the Secretariat of Information for June.

 

The event also analysed the Resolution Project on the percentages to apply in the representatives of Social and Associated Organizations in the composition of the intermediate and national collegiate bodies of MPLA, as well as the proposal for the systematisation and structuring of the report project of the Central Committee to the 8th Ordinary Congress.     

 

The participants also analysed the information about the preparation of the Interprovincial Meetings of the Intermediate Bodies of MPLA in the country’s North, Center and North-west, East and South regions.

 

On the table, there were also various projects of Discipline Commission and Audit of the Central Committee, such as the information on the Developed Activity during the 1st four-months of 2021, the Plan of Activities for the 2nd four-month period of 2021.

 

The members hailed the 1st of June, child world day, and encouraged the Executive to pursue the policies aimed to ensure the protection of the children rights.

PRESIDENT LOURENÇO LEAVES FOR CONGO

Luanda – Angolan President João Louernço left this Friday morning for the Republic of Congo, where he is to attend a summit of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) on the political and security situation in the Republic of Chad, a member state of this regional bloc.

At Luanda’s 4 de Fevereiro International Airport, the Angolan Head of State was bid farewell by the Vice President of the Republic, Bornito de Sousa, and other government officials.   

 

In Brazzaville, where he scheduled to stay until this Friday evening, João Lourenço is to discuss with other regional leaders issues relating to the present situation of instability in the Republic of Chad, which has been worsening since the death of its former President, Idriss Déby Itno, last April 20.

 

A Military Council has taken power in Chad and set up a transitional government that has to prepare new elections in a period of eighteen months.

 

An Angolan delegation – that includes Foreign minister Téte António and the Armed Forces’ Staff Chief, Egídio Santos - is already in Brazzaville engaged in works related to the preparation of the summit.

Global food prices surge again, stoking inflation fears

Concerns are growing over surging food prices, which climbed for the 12th month straight in May, according to a United Nations gauge.

Global food prices extended their rally to the highest in almost a decade, heightening concerns over bulging grocery bills as economies struggle to exit the Covid-19 crisis.

A United Nations gauge of world food costs climbed for a 12th straight month in May, its longest stretch in a decade. The continued advance risks accelerating broader inflation, complicating central banks efforts to provide more stimulus.

Drought in key Brazilian growing regions is crippling crops from corn to coffee, and vegetable oil production growth has slowed in Southeast Asia. That’s boosting costs for livestock producers and risks further straining global grain stockpiles that have been depleted by soaring Chinese demand. The surge has stirred memories of 2008 and 2011, when price spikes led to food riots in more than 30 nations.

“We have very little room for any production shock. We have very little room for any unexpected surge in demand in any country,” Abdolreza Abbassian, senior economist at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, said by phone. “Any of those things could push prices up further than they are now, and then we could start getting worried.”

The prolonged gains across the staple commodities are trickling through to store shelves, with countries from Kenya to Mexico reporting higher food costs. The pain could be particularly pronounced in some of the poorest import-dependent nations, which have limited purchasing power and social safety nets as they grapple with the pandemic.

The UN’s index is treading at its highest since September 2011, with last month’s gain of 4.8% being the biggest in more than 10 years. All five components of the index rose during the month, with the advance led by pricier vegetable oils, grain and sugar.

The world’s hunger problem has already reached its worst in years as the pandemic exacerbates food inequalities, compounding extreme weather and political conflicts.

There were other elements that exacerbated skyrocketing food costs a decade ago. For example, oil prices neared $150 a barrel — double current levels — and there was a wave of trade restrictions by major grain shippers. Costs for rice, one of the world’s food staples, have remained relatively subdued during the current agricultural price surge.

Gains in the past year have been fueled by China’s “unpredictably huge” purchases of foreign grain, and world reserves could hold relatively flat in the coming season, Abbassian said. Summer weather across the Northern Hemisphere will be crucial to determine if U.S. and European harvests can make up for crop shortfalls elsewhere.

“We are not in the situation we were back in 2008-10 when inventories were really low and a lot of things were going on,” Abbassian said. “However, we are in sort of a borderline. It’s a borderline that needs to be monitored very closely over the next few weeks, because weather is either going to really make it or create really big problems.”

(Updates with comment from FAO economist in fourth paragraph)
–With assistance from Agnieszka de Sousa.

 

 

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG

African Court elects new President

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights at its 61st Ordinary Session have elected Lady Justice Imani Daud Aboud from the United Republic of Tanzania as President for a two-year term.

She takes over from Justice Sylvain Oré from Côte d’Ivoire who has completed his tour of duty.

A brief profile of Justice Aboud obtained by the Ghana News Agency at Tema indicated he was elected as Judge of the African Court in July 2018. She holds Master of Laws (Malta) and Bachelor of Laws (University of Dar es Salaam). Justice Aboud is Judge of the High Court of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam.

She has held several key positions, including; the post of the Assistant Director in the President’s Office (Public Service Management) and the State Attorney.

She has represented the Government in various international human rights conferences, seminars and workshops and was also involved in making periodic reports on Human Rights to UN and other monitoring bodies such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Justice Aboud is a Member of important regional bodies such as the Board of Directors of the International Association of Women Judges, Advisory Board of Southern African Development Community, and Citizen for Justice based in Malawi.

Others include: Member of the Monitoring Team assigned by the United Nations Mechanism for the International Criminal Tribunal, Arusha, Tanzania, on 1994 Rwandan genocide cases.

Justice Aboud has also served as a Vice Chairperson in the Independent Review Electoral Commission (IREC or Krigler Commission) in Kenya. The Commission was formed to facilitate the work of the Panel of Eminent Personalities under the leadership of the late Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General.

The Commission’s responsibility was to review the 2007 election process in Kenya. Justice Aboud has extensively participated as an expert in various local judicial and human rights committees and institutions.

The African Court also elected Justice Blaise Tchikaya from the Republic of Congo as the Vice-President; who takes over from Justice Ben Kioko from Kenya, this was made known to the Ghana News Agency at Tema.

Justice Tchikaya’s brief profile available to the Ghana News Agency shows that he was elected Judge of the African Court in July 2018 for a six-year term.

He is a Professor and Senior Lecturer in international public law, international litigation procedures and human rights in the Inter-American system and in African Union laws in various European, Caribbean and African Universities.

He studied at the Marien N’Gouabi University of Brazzaville and later pursued further studies in France and obtained the Advanced Studies Diploma (DEA) in Public Law.

In 1992 he obtained ‘’First Class Honors’’ for his Doctorate in International Public Law at Paris X-Nanterre University supervised by Professor Alain Pellet.

In 2005, he received Pro Facultate Jurisprudentia Medal of Miskolc University (Hungary). After receiving his CAPA (Certificat d ’Aptitude de la Profession d’Avocat) in Paris, he practised from 2000 to 2006.

Justice Tchikaya is registered by Organisation Pour l’ harmonisation en afrique du droit des affaires (OHADA) since 2002 and holds a “Habilitation to direct research, HDR”.

Justice Tchikaya was elected member of the African Union Commission on International Law (AUCIL) at the Assembly of the African Union in 2009. In the same year, he became the first President of AUCIL.

He was also the Special Rapporteur on the “Misdeeds of the Trans-Atlantic Slavery against Africa from the perspective of International law” (les méfaits de l’esclavage transatlantique sur l’Afrique du point de vue du droit international”).

Justice Tchikaya is author of many articles in international public law and published many books, including; International Law Jurisprudence 1922 – 2015, which is currently in its seventh edition.

He also published in 2004 a reference book on the African Union titled “African Union Law: Principles, Institutions and Jurisprudence”.

GNA

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Nine confirmed dead in Gbane mining calamity

Nine persons have been confirmed dead, while search is still ongoing after a downpour flooded mining pits at Gbane, a gold mining community in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.

The deceased aged between 21 and 53 who were said to be among some small scale miners in the mining pits, were trapped after Monday, May 31, 2021, heavy rains in some parts of the Upper East Region.

A rescue operation team comprised the Ghana Police Service, the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), the Small Scale Miners Association and the Shaanxi Mining Company Limited spent about 48 hours on the site and were able to retrieve the nine persons who were all confirmed dead.

Assistant Superintended of Police (ASP), Mr David Fianko-Okyere, the Public Relations Officer of the Upper East Regional Police Command who confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency noted that efforts were still underway to rescue the rest of the people trapped underground.

According to the PRO, the initial information gathered from the small scale miners indicated 13 persons had initially gone underground, however, six who had information about the heavy rain and windstorm were able to retreat and got out of the pit before it got flooded.

ASP Fianko-Okyere noted that it was possible that the survivors had the number wrong as nine persons were already retrieved and added that the rescue operation was still ongoing to be certain.

“In fact, out of the 13, six were able to come out alive themselves when they heard that the wind and rain was heavy because at that time they had not gone deep.

“They said they shouted for their colleagues who were down to come out but they could not hear and so per their information seven persons would have remained in the pit but when we got there, we were able to retrieve nine, meaning that they did not have the right number of people and that is why the search is still ongoing,” he said.

The PRO explained that information gathered from the small scale miners attributed the disaster to the downpour coupled with windstorm.

He also identified the place as a low lying area which could have caused the place especially the pits to flood so easily.

Meanwhile, Mr Stephen Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Minister, who visited the site said a Committee would be formed to investigate the cause of the accident.

GNA

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