Day: July 28, 2024

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law amendments to the Companies Act of 2008 that promotes the ease of doing business and imposes greater corporate transparency on the earnings gap between the highest and lowest paid persons in a company.

The Companies Amendment Bill and Companies Second Amendment Bill referred to the President for assent jointly constitute initiatives by government to make the conduct of business less burdensome, to tighten the pursuit of delinquent directors or prescribed officers for wrongdoing, including state capture and addresses disparities in earnings.

The Companies Amendment Act as signed by the President streamlines company law to be clear, user-friendly and less burdensome on the conduct of business. This reform is important for the efficient and effective conduct of the domestic economy as well as the attraction of foreign investment.

The Act is also aimed at achieving equity between directors and senior management on the one hand and shareholders and workers on the ot
her hand.

‘In addition, the law addresses public concerns regarding high levels of inequalities in society by introducing better disclosure of senior executive remuneration and the reasonableness of the remuneration.The law requires the preparation of a remuneration report by all public and State-owned companies in respect of the previous financial year,’ said the Presidency in a statement.

This remuneration report must be accompanied by the company’s remuneration policy and an implementation report that must set out detail on the total remuneration received by each director and prescribed officer as well as the total remuneration for the employee with the highest and lowest total remuneration.

Among other indicators, companies must report the average and median total remuneration of all employees, and disclose the remuneration gap between the total remuneration of the top 5% highest paid employees and the total remuneration of the bottom 5% lowest paid employees of the company.

Public and State-owned com
panies are now required to prepare and present a remuneration policy for shareholder approval.

Other provisions include the empowerment of a court to validate the creation, allotment or issue of shares, which would otherwise be invalid, upon application before the court by a company or any person who holds an interest in the company.

The law also requires paid shares to be transferred to a stakeholder and held in terms of stakeholder agreement, until fully paid.

These measures are directed at preventing unethical, reckless and criminal conduct in businesses that will impact negatively on shareholders, workers, clients and customers and the economy as a whole.

Companies Second Amendment Act

The Companies Second Amendment Act signed by President Ramaphosa contains a response by Government to one of the recommendations of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector, including Organs of State (State Capture Commission).

This law amends the
Companies Act to extend the period during which proceedings may be launched to recover any loss, damages or costs for which a person may be held liable under the law.

The State Capture Commission recommended that Section 162 of the Companies Act be amended so as to ensure that an application for a declaration of delinquency may be brought even after two years on good cause shown.

While the recommendations applied to specific cases, the new law extends the time bar for declaring a director of a company a delinquent director, from 24 months to 60 months. It also gives the court the power to extend the period on good cause shown.

This provision ensures that directors and prescribed officers in companies can be held accountable for a significant period after they have committed alleged offences.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Sport, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister, Peace Mabe has emphasised the importance of exercise in the overall wellbeing of the nation.

‘We are a winning nation and as a winning nation we need to be healthy. So encouraging our people to be involved in being active and exercising is part of us moving forward as a healthy country.

‘Being active in sport is not about having money, this kind of activity of bringing people together to walk as nation is one of the indicators that it is possible for people to organise themselves as communities [to take up walking],’ said the Deputy Minister in an interview with Radio 702.

This as the radio station hosted the Walk the Talk event in Tshwane on Sunday in celebration of 30 years of democracy following the historic elections of April 1994 where South Africans of all races went to the polls for the first time. The 1994 elections ushered in a new democratic dispensation.

The walk started from the Freedom Park Heritage Site and finished at the southern lawns of the Union
Buildings.

The Deputy Minister also encouraged South Africans to support Team South Africa as it participates in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France. The opening ceremony of the games took place on Friday.

‘We are expecting more medals… they never disappoint. Let us tweet and send messages of support to encourage them [as they] represent the country. Let us rally behind the team,’ she told the station.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has wished Team South Africa the best success for the games.

READ | Well wishes for Team South Africa at Paris Olympics

In a post on X, President Ramaphosa congratulated the Springboks Sevens on obtaining South Africa’s first medal at the games on Saturday.

‘Well done to our Springbok Sevens on your bronze-winning 29-16 victory over Australia to open #TeamSA’s medal harvest at #Paris 2024. This is a great start to our Games,’ said the President.

Mabe as well as Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, were
among the many South Africans who participated in the walk.

‘Eight kilometre walk done (1h25) and the route was magnificent,’ said Minister Ntshavheni in a post on social media platform, X.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Igwe Samuel Asadu, Chairman South East Council of Traditional Rulers, at the News Agency of the Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja

By Kingsley Okoye and Emmanuel Jonathan

Igwe Samuel Asadu, Chairman, South-East Council of Traditional rulers, says the council is not in support of the planned nationwide protest slated for Aug. 1 to Aug. 10.

Asadu is the traditional ruler of Edem-Ani Ogwugwu kingdom, Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state.

At the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja on Sunday, he said that the council would not support any agitation organised by some faceless people.

He urged those behind the protest to find other ways of ventilating their anger to avoid causing chaos across the country.

Asadu said that peaceful protest could be infiltrated by miscreants who would take laws into their hands to cause anarchy.

‘It is easier to destroy than to build, so all we are asking is for calm, we are asking for dialogue,’he said.

He urged the Federal Government to engage the people behind the m
ove in a dialogue as they may have their reasons for the protest.

The traditional ruler said that times are hard with the current economic situation in the country, coupled with the fuel subsidy removal.

‘I am feeling it in my community because the people come to me every day for assistance. We are not in any way supporting the protest at all.

See also Enugu Govt. to revamp 85 abandoned tourist sites

‘But I still want the government to see a way of engaging them in dialogue, the President is the Father of the nation,’ he said.

Asadu encouraged traditional rulers in the country to find a way to engage their people by organising festive activities periodically.

‘Find a way to engage the people, everything is not about government alone, insist on what you can do for your people and not what they can do for you as their leader,’he said.

NAN reports that several groups have announced their withdrawal from the planned nationwide protests against economic hardship.

A group from the South East, under the aegi
s of Enugu Innovative Youths, said they were opting out of the exercise to avoid exacerbating the security situation in the state and the country.

They recalled what transpired during the #ENDSARS protest, adding that the tendency to hijack the protest was too high and called for patience.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Council of South-East Traditional Rulers has appealed to the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu, and expressed optimism that his freedom would reduce tension in that geopolitical zone.

The Chairman of the Council, Igwe Samuel Asadu, made the call when he featured at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja on Sunday.

Asadu said that the council was in support of stakeholders’ call for Kanu’s release.

‘Governors in the five states of the South-East have called for his release. Our lawmakers have done same. That is the position of everyone in the South-East,’ he said.

Asadu spoke further: ‘He is our son. He has been there for a long time.

‘Of course, we back the Governors Forum and other stakeholders’ call for his release so that tension will be reduced.

‘Before that, the government will do its due diligence to guarantee that his release won’t cause anything unexpected. There should be some form of measures, a deal to be made.’

Asadu said that the eventual release of Kanu would, to a la
rge extent, usher in relative calmness and evoke joy to the people of the zone.

‘If the president looks into that and gives him a pardon, we will be excited. It is affecting our area because some of the people are his die hard fans.

‘Who will want to have his son locked up for a long time? We are praying every day, all the traditional rulers are praying for Nnamdi Kanu to be released.

See also IWD: Foundation wants accessible education for women

‘We feel his pains and the pain of his family. It will be a gift, if the President does that. We will come back to thank him in a big way.’

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Council of Traditional Rulers in the South East has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to consider the request for creation of additional two states in the zone.

Speaking at the Forum of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Chairman of the Council, Igwe Samuel Asadu, said the request was part of decision reached by the council at its last meeting.

According to him, the request for additional two states is to address the imbalance in state creation, as the south east zone had only five states.

He said: ‘at a meeting, which was well attended by the traditional rulers in the zone, we agreed that we will accept any state creation from any part of the eastern states.

‘We are united in this struggle. We have five states in south east, so we need to have two more states to be even.

‘But whatever we get, we thank the president. We are at his mercy and God bless him for that.

‘So when the state is given to us, we will endorse it. It does not matter where it comes from, it does not matter whose lawmaker spon
sored the bill.’

On the clamour for constitutional roles for the traditional institutions, Asadu said: ‘we want to have some constitutional relevance, some constitutional powers.

‘ Our monthly release of five per cent of the local government allocation to traditional rulers in the state have not been given by state governments.

See also NRC sacks, demotes staff for ticket racketeering

‘Traditional rulers play an important role in communicating government policies and programmes to members of the community,,’ he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Igwe Samuel Asadu, Chairman, South-East Traditional Rulers Council, says the South-East Development Commission (SEDC) is a game changer for the development of the zone.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Bola Tinubu signed the bill seeking the creation of the commission into law on July 24.

Asadu, who said this at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja on Sunday, said the council was excited over the establishment of the commission.

Asadu, who is also the traditional ruler of Edem-Ani Ogwugwu Kingdom, Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, said that the establishment of SEDC after several failed attempts, validates the policy of the three ‘Rs’ as conceived after the civil war.

The three Rs – Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction – were conceived as a deliberate policy to shore up development after the 1967 to 1970 civil war ravaged most parts of the South-East.

‘We are excited. It is a game changer, we love the president for that. It is kind of him.

‘Every
one knew that after the civil war, we felt alienated from the country for political reasons. The SEDC has been delayed for long.

‘With the SEDC, we can do better; this President saw the value, the benefit in it and the development coming with it.

‘So, we thank Tinubu, all the Senators and members of the House of Representatives led by the Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu.

‘We give kudos to them for the astute support they gave to the passage of the bill into law,’ he said.

See also Rail connectivity key to dry port development – Stakeholder

He said the entire south-east zone was so excited over the commission, saying that it would further serve as a veritable platform for productive engagement of youths in the zone.

‘We are happy and loyal to president Tinubu; we have never had it better than this, so we are in support of those policies that have an impact on people,’ he said.

He emphasised the need to ensure the appointment of persons of integrity to drive activities of the commission to enable it realise
its full mandate

Asadu also urged a background check on the team to pilot the commission, adding that they should be people with proven character and integrity.

‘We have been through a lot, so I am sure that the government would be very wise enough to pick the right people to run the affairs of the commission,’ he said.

NAN reports that SEDC is expected to manage funds allocated from the Federation Account for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads and other infrastructural deficits suffered by the region due to age-long neglect.

It will also tackle ecological problems and related environmental challenges that had devastated the South-East for decades.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria