Day: August 30, 2023

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday pledged peaceful and credible Governorship election in Kogi come Nov. 11.

Kogi INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Gabriel Longpet, and Kogi Police Command’s Spokesman, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, gave the assurance during a workshop organised by the International Press Centre (IPC) for 26 journalists in Abuja.

Longpet said that the Commission has made adequate preparations to consolidate on the last Feb. 25 and March 18 polls, to ensure that Nov. 11 Governorship election is peaceful, hitch free, fair and credible.

“We hope to ensure that all results of the governorship election in the 3,508 polling units in 239 wards across the state are transmit electronically to do away with any attempt at tampering with manual results on transfer to collation centres.

“We are in synergy with all stakeholders, including the security operatives, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the media to ensure we get it right come Nov. 11,” he said.

The REC called on all the 18 political parties and candidates participating in the election to educate and sensitise their members and supporters about the need to conduct themselves orderly for a peaceful conduct of the election.

Also, Ovye-Aya said the Police were prepared to ensure tight security during the Kogi guber election to checkmate activities of criminal elements from disrupting the process.

The command’s image maker said, “security operatives in Kogi are not going to leave anything to chance and will protect all electorates before, during and after the election.

“All trouble makers, especially political thugs, should know that we shall deal with them in accordance with the law,” he warned.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the IPC Media Workshop is aimed at enlightening practitioners in Kogi on their significant roles in the peaceful and successful conduct of the Nov. 11 guber election.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Vice President Nangolo Mbumba on Wednesday officially opened the 10th Mining Expo in Windhoek.

Mbumba, delivering the official statement on behalf of President Hage Geingob, stressed that exploration and mining are the most significant contributors to the economy.

He said Cabinet, in addition to the Minerals Beneficiation Strategy which was launched in 2021, recently imposed a ban on the export of unprocessed crushed lithium ore, cobalt, manganese, graphite, and rare earth minerals in order to ensure local beneficiation.

“We have learned valuable lessons from history that nations which export their products in unprocessed form at cheaper prices and that buy back finished products at higher prices are not able to develop their economies to the extent required for shared wealth and development among their citizens,” Mbumba said.

He stated that the ban is expected to spur investment in the establishment of local processing facilities by private entities or private-public partnerships.

The expo is organised by the Chamber of Mines and this year hosts 268 exhibitors.

Chamber of Mines president Zebra Kasete revealed that 16 exhibitors from across southern Africa, one from Germany and three local oil and gas companies are also in attendance.

The two-day expo ends Thursday.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

The Kavango–Zambezi Trans-frontier Conservation Area (KAZATFCA) Consultative Research Collaboration Forum is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting in October to endorse the recommendations put forth by the recently concluded forum.

The approval process will be initiated subsequent to the sharing of recommendations with the current Chair state of KAZATFCA, Zambia.

The idea was proposed by University of Namibia (Unam) Vice Chancellor Professor Kenneth Matengu during the forum’s closing session at Katima Mulilo on Wednesday.

Matengu recommended that a small working group be established to consolidate the recommended draft and formulate a final research framework. He also recommended that Unam take on the role of secretariat in the process.

The consultative collaboration forum discussed how tertiary institutions within KAZA can contribute collectively to KAZA’s goals and foster research collaborations.

Among the nine themes of recommendations from the consultative meeting were research topics related to community-based management, land use, natural resources, wildlife and human conflict and health.

Professor Martha Nickanor, a member of the drafting committee and Unam’s Executive Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Engineering and Natural Science, said the theme of health as research topic has become essential as wildlife like elephants and fish can carry diseases across regions.

She stressed the importance of creating a strategy to address such risks and highlighted the potential for resource sharing by member states.

KAZATFCA’s vision is to establish a world-class trans-frontier conservation area and tourism destination in the Okavango and Zambezi River basin regions within the context of sustainable development.

It is the second-largest nature and landscape conservation area in the world, spanning the international borders of five southern African countries.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Deputy Minister of Education, Arts and Culture, Faustina Caley, has indicated that the lack of data on the local arts and culture sector makes it difficult to develop initiatives to support the sector.

Speaking at a public discussion on social protection for artists and cultural professionals in Windhoek on Tuesday, Caley said an economic stimulus and relief package of N.dollars 8 billion was introduced by the government to mitigate the economic conditions during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While there were interventions for numerous sectors, the relief package “did not clearly provide how they supported the cultural and creative industries and its practitioners” and it can be deducted that many creative businesses did not benefit from the stimulus package.

The deputy minister said according to Unesco, cultural and creative industries contribute US.dollars 2.25 trillion to the global economy and generate 30 million jobs worldwide.

“In Namibia, limited statistics exist to show the employment levels in both the formal and informal markets, income levels and the contribution of employees to household income, in both urban and rural areas. The decline in profit levels and the impact of the sustainability of wages are circumstances that required a response that could have cushioned the terrible impact on artists and cultural practitioners and their businesses,” she said.

She noted that to circumvent the issue of lack of data, the ministry is working to ensure the continued capturing of data going forward.

“This will include the establishing of a formalised Integrated Information Management System for the arts, culture and heritage sector… to provide for continuous data collection and record on the sector, so as to enable us to identify gaps and create appropriate initiatives to support the growth of the sector and be enabled to measure its contribution to the larger Namibian economy,” she said.

The discussion was organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and amongst others discussed the status of social protection for artists and cultural professionals in Namibia, the gaps and responses in the provision thereof and artistic freedom in Namibia.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

This year’s Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair (OATF) has attracted 15 international exhibitors.

This was announced by Ongwediva Trade Society Chairperson, Rebekka Hidulika, during a media conference on Wednesday.

Hidulika indicated that the international exhibitors are from Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya and Indonesia.

“The international exhibitors are essential for networking to ensure they access the market not only during the trade fair, but beyond,” she said.

Moreover, she said they have a total of 455 local and international exhibitiors, an increase from 450 exhibitors last year.

The number of visitors to the trade fair has also increased, with over 50 000 people having visited the trade fair over the last five days.

The OATF started on 25 August and ends this Saturday.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency