Month: June 2024

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) has urged African countries to adhere to the agreement on the nuclear weapon testing ban to ensure safety and security in the continent.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral agreement which opened for signature in September 1996 and has since been signed by 187 nations and ratified by 178 to prohibit any nuclear weapon test anywhere in the world by anyone.

The Executive Secretary of CTBTO, Dr Robert Floyd, spoke at the opening of the two-day regional workshop organised by CTBTO for African States Signatories in Banjul, The Gambia.

The workshop held from May 31 to June 1.

He said although 52 States in Africa signed the Treaty and enjoy CTBTO membership, 50 ratified it.

Floyd, therefore, implored countries yet to ratify the CTBT to do so in order to achieve desired goals.

‘Two of them, Somalia and South Sudan are very close.’

He said that prior to 1996, there were more than 2,000 confirmed nuclear tests; some wer
e conducted in Africa but none was conducted by an African country.

‘Radioactive traces shown from all nuclear tests, particularly atmospheric tests, carried out some decades ago impacted the world negatively and are still traced in African elephants’ tusks.

‘Right now, Africa’s 35 International Monitoring System (IMS) stations are listening to the earth’s crust rumbling and groaning, as well as streaming their data to Vienna.

‘The signing of the CTBT just under 28 years ago has yielded landmark achievement: Africa played vital role to build consensus and get the Treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly in New York.

‘Therefore, the complete adherence by African countries to the CTBT will ensure the full realisation of a nuclear- weapon-free zone in Africa,’ he said.

Mr Dawda Jallow, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice of The Gambia, commended CTBTO for the organisation of the workshop at a time of global tension and conflicts.

According to him, the meeting brings together CTBTO stakeholders from
Africa to discuss and advance the nuclear testing ban policy objective within the region.

‘The challenges we face today require collective efforts through dialogue and diplomacy with relevant support to the CTBT.

‘The CTBT’s primarily aim is not just to prevent nuclear testing, but to benefit civil and scientific applications as well.

‘The verification regime established by the CTBT offers valuable data and tools that can be utilised for purposes, such as climate change research, disaster prevention, including Tsunami warning.

‘These capabilities provide additional benefits to countries like The Gambia and also have the potential of generating positive outcomes across various sectors of economy,’ he said.

Dr Oumar Touray, President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), described the workshop as apt, coming at a time Africans needed to partner to tackle the security situation.

Touray, represented by Mr Claude Kondor, Political Advisor to the Resident Representative of the ECOWAS Comm
ission in The Gambia, said the workshop had become important to unite African countries towards achieving a shared future.

‘This is to advance the CTBT and reinforce our collective resolve; to prevent nuclear proliferation and promote global security.

‘Today, we are gathered to contribute to a cause that not only affects our continents, but the entire world.

‘This workshop is a testament to our shared dedication towards achieving sustainable peace and cooperation in Africa and beyond,’ he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Electoral Commission (IEC) Chairperson Mosotho Moepya says the commission has received 579 objections.

At a media briefing at the national Results Operations Centre (ROC) in Midrand late on Saturday evening, the Chairperson said he had promised to keep the media and citizens updated on the processing of results in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.

He said South Africans were anxious for the commission to complete its work and announce the final outcomes.

Moepya said there were 579 objections which the commission was dealing with and that this might increase.

He explained that the leaderboard at the ROC will ‘go back and forth’ as the commission considers these objections.

‘As we consider objections before us, there will be those that require or will implicate the reopening of edit windows for results to be corrected. An edit window is a facility that allows the commission to effect corrections where there are discrepancies.’

There are 10 window edits that have been authorised, which are opport
unities to be able to align slips with captured results. Moepya said these had been dealt with.

The general themes of objections considered thus far include:

– Where results processes were not completed when objections were filed with the IEC.

– Where third parties report being informed by individuals that they voted for a specific party but this is not reflecting.

– Allegations under oath that the complainants’ vote did not reflect at a particular station but the IEC found that there was basis to investigate.

– People asking about seat allocations and what are the considerations.

– People raising matters of the conduct of a party, party agents, party supporters during the special votes and on Voting Day itself.

‘We will work through everything before us carefully and thoroughly,’ said Moepya.

The Chairperson reassured citizens that it will act without fear and without favour.

‘We have a long night ahead of us as we seek to bring finality to these matters.’

He was confident that the IEC would be rea
dy to announce the results on Sunday.

The Constitution provides that the IEC declare the outcome of an election as soon as possible after elections. ‘We have to abide by that provision, among others,’ said Moepya.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Some traders in Niger have decried the closure of the roadside market located in Madalla, along Abuja/Kaduna expressway, as ordered Gov. Umaru Bago.

The traders conveyed their displeasure in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Madalla.

NAN reports that the closure followed reports of frequent accidents on the road that always led to loss of lives.

Policemen were seen chasing marketers and preventing them from displaying their wares for business.

Mr Solomon Eze, a trader, told NAN that the notice given to them was short and too sudden for government to chase the traders away.

‘I came to the market to display my okrika (thrift) for sale only to see Police officers chasing people around,’ he said.

Another trader, who preferred to be identified as Mama Amina, decried the decision by the government to relocate them to where she described as a ‘bushy surrounding.”

She said that the new place (market) was not conducive and spacious enough for the traders; hence the reluctan
ce to relocate from the express market.

‘In actual sense, government is supposed to build a modern market within this area, knowing quite well that the population is growing and the environment is attracting more people everyday.

‘The new place that government is asking us to go needed to be cleared, ‘ Amina added.

Meanwhile, Hajiya Maijidda Nuhu, a trader on food stuff, said she was delighted over the decision by the governor to close the market, saying it was a welcome idea.

‘The decision is a timely intervention by the government; because the space is now too small for the traders that were growing in number by the day.

‘The traders have taken over the roads; making it difficult for free movement of vehicles with leads to frequent accidents.

‘It has always been a terrible situation whenever drivers loss control within the market.

‘We have had severe cases of accident and we should be happy for the government’s decision to relocate us from here, ‘she said.

Nuhu said she lost her husband 20 years ag
o as a result of an accident that occurred within the market.

‘I would have also lost my life alongside my husband if not for God.

‘As you can see, my face and hand are with scars; this is an unforgettable scar for me; it always reminded me of my late husband.

‘I am happy with the government for relocating the market to a safer place; the marketers don’t understand that the government’s decision is for our own good.

‘More so, the government has provided a place which is a better space behind, just few steps away from here,’ she added.

Nuhu made an appeal to the state government to ensure that the new location was developed to be standard and conducive enough for the traders.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

President Cyril Ramaphosa will participate in the Electoral Commission’s (IEC) announcement ceremony of the final results of the 2024 National and Provincial Elections on Sunday.

According to a statement issued by the Presidency, proceedings will start at 05:20pm at the National Results Operations Centre (ROC) at Gallagher Estate, Midrand.

South Africans cast their votes on Wednesday, 29 May 2024, in the seventh democratic National and Provincial Elections since the attainment of the right of all citizens to elect a government of their choice.

The elections were preceded by special voting days on 27 and 28 May 2024, as well as voting abroad.

The elections implemented the Electoral Amendment Act, which became law in June 2023, expanding the pool of contest for the National and Provincial Elections to independent candidates.

‘President Ramaphosa will deliver an address as part of the results ceremony,’ the Presidency said.

Meanwhile, the commission will at 8:30pm hold a media briefing on the finalisation
of results and updates on objections received.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Association of Investment Promotion Agencies of West African States (IPAWAS) says ECOWAS’ facilitation of the resuscitation of its hitherto moribund statute will engender sub-regional investment promotion and drive economic growth.

Members of the technical committee of the association made this known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the end of a collaborative meeting on Saturday, in Abuja.

Abayomi Salami, Chairman of the Technical Committee and Deputy Director, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), explained that the meeting was essentially for the member states to align their efforts, streamline regulations, and promote cross-border investments.

He said that the event was basically informed by the need for member states to be united to maximize their potentials and opportunities to promote and facilitate foreign direct investment into the West African region.

‘That was the main objective of setting up these high powers, having realized that it was actually se
t up in the year 2008, and for one reason or the other, it could no longer function.

‘So, for this, we had the mandate of ECOWAS because the ECOWAS Commission mandated IPAWAS and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission to resuscitate and institutionalize the body,’ he said.

Also speaking, Liberia’s Margaret Kawala, described the outcome of the deliberations as a win-win situation for the association and participants, who had spent days toiling to craft out something that they could call their own.

‘It is like a win for all of us, who have participated in this process, because all the past few days, we have been engaging, networking in crafting something that we can take ownership of.

‘So it’s a sense of pride. It comes to a sense of ownership for us. So it’s a win for us,’ she said.

Mr Bruno Jauad, Director of Investments, Republic of Guinea-Bissau, said: ‘This is a very important process because we are trying to attract more investments to our region.’

Edward Ashong-Lartey and Eugenia Okyere, Dir
ector, Ghana Investor Services, and Head of Research, respectively, were upbeat about the positive outcome of the meeting and its recommendations.

‘You know, we’ve just concluded the AfCTA protocol on investments, and as investment promotion agencies, we’ve taken note of the provisions and aligned it to our investment promotion efforts, as well as our regulatory regime for high powers.

‘I’m very happy because I was there in the beginning and then somehow it became dormant. So this meeting which has revived it is very heartwarming.

‘And I can confirm that whatever we are going to do as an association, and as independent investment promotion agencies, are totally aligned with the provisions of the AfCFTA protocol,’ Ashong-Lartey said.

On her part, Okyere said: ‘Where we are now, I think that combining it with what AfCFTA holds, we would make great impact if the high powers come to stay.’

Gambia’s investment and export promotion agency boss, Ousainou Senghore, said that the activation of the high powers was
in sync with the AfCFTA protocol, adding that when members promoted their individual countries, they would take ECOWAS as a market.

‘We really need to thank ECOWAS for taking the initiative and bringing us together.

‘This will definitely harmonize our laws, including creating a conducive business environment and also build an informal bond among ourselves,’ he said.

Also speaking, ECOWAS Head of Investment Promotion, Peter Oluonye, explained that by this development, each member state was preparing its own environment to participate in the AfCFTA.

‘For us, our focus in this segment is on investment attraction, preparing the ECOWAS community to work together as a bloc and to leverage the common market to achieve scale and synergy in AfCFTA and in the global market.

‘So it is very much in sync with the goals of the AfCFTA. We are to prepare our people, we are to strengthen our integration and we are also to align our member states together,’ he said.

ECOWAS Director, Private Sector, Anthony Elumelu, said
the work had just started, adding that as a young region, ECOWAS was looking at the future, where it would like to be, for instance, by 2050.

‘We are looking at the continental free trade, which is also to attract investment to the region and, whether we like it or not, the better you keep your region in terms of enabling the environment for others to invest, to bring in foreign direct investments, the better for you,’ he said.

Elumelu had earlier in his opening address, explained that the meeting was organized to enable the stakeholders to deliberate on the draft statute that would govern IPAWAS, shape the framework for cooperation, and engender sustainable subregional development.

He stressed that the continuous collaboration of the member states’ investment promotion agencies with the ECOWAS Commission would enable investors to accept the subregion as the most favored destination for investment drive.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Members of the Border Management Authority (BMA) on Thursday arrested a man at the Ramatlabama border post between South Africa and Botswana for alleged COVID-19 Temporary Employer/ Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) fraud.

Tokelo Winston Frederick Modiboa, who has been on the run since November 2022, joins 20 other accused implicated in the COVID-19 TERS fraudulent claims which occurred between the years 2020 and 2021.

According to a statement by the police, the 59-year-old appeared in the Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court on Friday and is facing charges of fraud.

An investigation by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation revealed that Modiboa received payments from three main accused – Kegomoditswe Parisian Moselane (36), Irving Ikgopoleng Mongale (46) and Khotjwe Goodwin Motsei (50) – who submitted fraudulent claims for their alleged employees.

The police said Moselane allegedly submitted fraudulent claims in the amount of R271 000 from the Department of Employment and Labour for 47 individuals who hav
e never worked for her company.

The investigation further uncovered that Moselane transferred money into the bank accounts of seven other accused, including Modiboa who received R27 000.

Seven suspects were arrested in November 2022 by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit in collaboration with the Tactical Operations Management Section (TOMS).

Further investigation revealed that Modiboa received R34 000 from Mongale, who had claimed R970 000 from the department for 150 individuals who were never employees at his company.

The money was transferred to 13 other accused who have since been arrested and are out on bail.

Modiboa further received R89 500 from Khotjwe Goodwin Motsei who fraudulently claimed over R1 million for 133 individuals whom he alleged to be his employees. The funds were transferred to 11 other suspects who were arrested in November 2022 and are also out on bail.

‘This brings the total number of suspects arrested for COVID-19 TERS fraudulent claims to 21. All the accused
have been charged with fraud. Modiboa was remanded in custody and will appear in court on 5 June 2024,’ said the police.

Source: South African Government News Agency