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Chipata-based ZNBC Reporter Christopher Miti, who knew Justin Shonga from childhood, shares some of his reflections on the player

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Chipata-based ZNBC Reporter Christopher Miti, who knew Justin Shonga from childhood, shares some of his reflections on the player.

He writes:

Justin Shonga, Chipata’s Soccer Jewelry:

Justin was the pride of Eastern Province having attained the status of Zambia’s celebrated football star.

Justin Shonga was one of the few indigenous footballers from Chipata to have played in the Zambia National Soccer team.

He joins the likes of Sandrous Kumwenda, Billy Mwanza, Fashion Sakala among others, to have donned national colours.

Justin, a cut from a footballing family started his career at St Anne’s Primary School, Chipata Day Secondary School and later on at Smiling Kids before joining Young Stars.

His elder brothers Teddy, Philemon, John, Mathews or Zola and Lazarus were all good footballers during their prime but none played professional football.

Baya as he was fondly known in Eastern Province, left remarkable footprints in all the teams he played for.

His last club in Eastern Province was then FAZ division one side Young Stars before joining the Zambia Police Service outfit Nkhwazi FC.

He was not only a footballer but also a police officer under the Zambia Police Service.

Justin’s father, an ardent soccer fan, used to watch his son play at David Kaunda Stadium.

It is an indisputable fact that the people of Hollywood township where the Shonga family resides and the country in general will greatly miss Justin.

He was not only a good footballer but also a social and good person off the field of play.

“If I score in the next game, you will have no option but to publish my picture in The Post Newspaper,” Shonga remarked to this reporter during an interview in 2011 whilst playing for Smiling Kids.

While at Orlando Pirates, Shonga would come to my inbox to remind me not to miss the Soweto derby between his side and Kaizer Chiefs.

The cold hand of death has taken away our jewelry, our hero who took Zambian football by storm.

Justin could be gone but his indelible football memories will remain forever.

It is incontestable that Shonga’s mesmerizing football antics were a marvel to watch.

Status of the Tanzania -Zambia Power Connector-Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

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Status of the Tanzania -Zambia Power Connector

Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba wrote;

At the Press conference held by President Hakainde Hichilema at State House, new ZANIS reporter, Kalani Muchima asked a brilliant question on the status of the powet inter-connector between Zambia and Tanzania.

But he appeared misguided or directed emphasis on the false information about a loan that was obtained and the project was never delivered.

Of course those assertions are things that excite President Hakainde Hichilema who looks for faults in the previous government and loves to characterize it as an irresponsible and thieving borrower.

Here are the brief irrefutable facts about the project.

In 2013, the Patriotic Front Government started the ambitious project to connect both the Southern Africa Power Pool ( SAPP) that feeds Southern African countries and the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP), the network that feeds East African countries.

Phase 1

To this effect, Government constructed an upgraded 341- kilometers, 330kv Kafue-Livingstone transmission line with a loan from from European Investment Bank (EIB). This was to connect to the SAPP.

Further, Zambia constructed the US $334 million ZESCO 330 kV high voltage transmission lines from Pensulo, Serenje to Mpika and Kasama.

The project also involved a similar constructiom from Pensulo-Serenje to Chimsoro and Chipata West.

Both projects, funded by China, were completed.

2nd Phase

The second phase was largely dependent on Tanzania to upgrade its transmission lines to 330KV from Iringa to Mbeya and Sumbawanga towns while Zambia needed to upgrade and complete the transmission line from Kasama to Mbala to connect to Tanzania.

Feasibility studies were completed and by the year 2020, financing was almost completed for both the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited ( TANESCO) and ZESCO.

Construction work on Tanzania–Zambia Transmission Interconnection Project (TAZA) was expected to begin in 2021/2022 and was expected to be completed by January 2025.

The TAZA is part of the larger Zambia–Tanzania–Kenya project, which aims to link the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) with the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP).

And, partnering with the World Bank and the EU, 15 million pounds will contribute to the Zambian side of the Zambia-Tanzania Inter-connector, which is part of a 300 million
dollar project that will link the Southern and East African Power Pools.

Zambia has largely done it’s part. The projects are on-going.

No one has stolen any money as seen by the attached project implementation plan despite the unhealthy obsession by President Hichilema and his lackeys that monies were stolen.

Below is are the full details of Progress update on the Inter-connectors:

  1. The Zambia/ Mozambique Interconnector transmission line is currently on feasibility study.
  2. The Solwezi/Kolwezi in Congo (DRC) transmission line is on feasibility study.
  3. The Zambia/ Tanzania/ Kenya through Nakonde transmission line is in phase one construction stage.
  4. The Zambia/ Malawi transmission line is currently at inter governmental and inter utility memorandum of understanding stage.
  5. The Zimbabwe, Zambia, Bostwana, Namibia project (ZIZABONA) is currently at financial mobilization stage.
  6. All these lines are in line with our vision to be the hub for electricity trading in the region by 2025.

We don’t have capacity to store maize for 3yrs – Nalumango

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We don’t have capacity to store maize for 3yrs – Nalumango

By Margaret Malenga

ZAMBIA today doesn’t have capacity to store maize even for two to three years so where did you store, Vice-President Mutale Nalumango has asked Shiwang’andu PF member of parliament Stephen Kampyongo.

During the Vice-President’s Question Time in parliament on Friday, Kampyongo asked Vice-President Nalumango if it was wise for the new dawn administration to sell all the maize reserves they found, which has resulted in the current food deficit.

“Your honour the Vice-President, do you still think it was wise for the two colleagues to deplete the maize stocks which they inherited by exporting the subsidised maize from our farmers when we didn’t know how the weather patterns were going to unfold? Madam Speaker, on the floor of this august House we lamented, we advised government, Your honour the Vice-President not to entertain the thought of exporting the maize stocks which were in storage for a period of about three years because of the partial drought that we had experienced in the past,” said Kampyongo. “We certainly agree with the President that indeed hunger can be biblical. But, your honour the Vice-President, we were assured by our colleagues in the Ministry of Agriculture and [Ministry of] Commerce, [Trade and Industry] that we were food secure. And the challenges we are going through now could have been avoided if indeed this House performed its role of ensuring that people’s food security is guaranteed. We don’t even know where you are going to get grain to distribute under the Disaster Management [and Mitigation Unit].”

In her response, Vice-President Nalumango counter questioned Kampyongo where the maize he referred to was, arguing that Zambia does not have the capacity to store that much.

“… Number one, you have said ‘this government sold maize in stock’. I think that is the first point the honourable member made. You don’t call something yours when you have not paid for it. That is true, honourable members here this is honourable member that was once a minister knows that you speak from what you know. If the honourable knows something else, maybe you need to bring out that. What I know is that when we came in, Madam, there was maize that was never paid for and the farmers were complaining even through members of this august House. So how do you call that maize yours? You were storing other people’s maize and therefore this government which found no money in the coffers had no option,” Vice-President Nalumango explained. “Honourble member, this is on record as far as I am informed, that the maize that we had stored had not been paid for and there was therefore need to pay. We were not going to punish our peasant farmers without paying them so the sale was not out of being deliberate and not wanting to acquire money but because the farmers had not been paid. What else could we have done? That three years there was no, as far as I know, there was no maize stored which could have lasted for three years. That is true colleagues and you don’t even have the storage in the first place. This is reality. And that is why if you look at our resilience in terms of the drought response, we have had to put in an amount to be able to construct storage, warehouses. Zambia today doesn’t have capacity to store maize even for two-three years. So where did you store? This is reality colleagues. If you were not aware, find out. Now if we don’t have, where did we store the maize for three years? This is what I know. Any other information would be made available.”

She challenged Kampyongo to state where the maize reserves he referred to were since the country had no capacity.

Vice-President Nalumango said the government needed the wisdom of Joseph in the Bible who presided over a seven-year famine in Egypt and managed to provide sufficient food until it rained again.

“These people have hammers, Madam. I don’t have hammers to hammer people. I give them what I know as facts. If my facts are felt they are not truth, people can come and say this is exactly what we know. Tell us where this maize was sitting which was going to be for three years because as far as we know we have realised, in fact as the entire SADC, I can speak for SADC that we don’t have storage for so many years. It can be a crisis,” she said. “In case God gives us rain, which He will because He is faithful, and we grow, we must find space to store for enough time. Enough years so that when we have a situation like we do now at least there would be enough that we would have stored. We need the wisdom of Joseph here. Let us look at that.”

Vice-President Nalumango added that the government is working on finding enough resources to construct storage sheds to store maize grain for longer periods.

“So the issue that the minister said, we were food secure, colleagues like I said in the begging all things being equal, the way we plan every year; remember we always have what we keep aside as strategic plan which is normally 500,000 metric tonnes and that is what we do. We offload, we put new stock all the time so that we are prepared. But we have never prepared for another full year and up to now we are still eating. What are we eating? It is not the new maize – that means there was enough plan to have enough stock for this time,” explained Vice-President Nalumango. “By now we should be harvesting and we should be restocking, unfortunately the drought has come. So to say was it wise, for the moment, because we don’t have the wisdom of God who knows yesterday, today and forever. From what we knew, this was wisdom so that we can continue to have enough food for the people and stock. But we are working on finding enough resource to construct storage so that when we have food we can store for a little longer than just demands.”

ZAMBIA HERE LEARN SOMETHING, STOP POLITICKING AND BLAMING GOD FOR YOUR INCOMPETENCE AND LACK OF FORESIGHT

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ZAMBIA HERE LEARN SOMETHING, STOP POLITICKING AND BLAMING GOD FOR YOUR INCOMPETENCE AND LACK OF FORESIGHT

The five men who improved Eskom and stopped load-shedding

Five men played a big role in improving Eskom’s performance and helped stop load-shedding for three months.

These men are Electricity Minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa, Eskom chairman Mteto Nyati, CFO Calib Cassim, CEO Dan Marokane, and generation executive Bheki Nxumalo.

Over the last three months, South Africans have experienced something they have not seen since 2021—three months of uninterrupted power supply.

Load-shedding has been suspended for over three months. The last time it happened was between 23 July 2021 and 06 October 2021.

Eskom explained that the improved performance results from effectively executing its Generation Operational Recovery Plan.

This plan was implemented to improve the reliability of the Eskom generation fleet to limit load-shedding this winter.

The plan included increased planned maintenance during the summer months of 2023 and 2024 to an average of 8,000 MW.

Eskom said between December 2023 and January 2024, it reached an average of 18% of the generation capacity under maintenance.
The power utility said this strategy achieved the desired results, which allowed it to suspend load-shedding for over three months.

Although there is still a high likelihood of load-shedding this winter, it will not reach the same high levels as previous years.

Eskom’s Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) decreased to 27.4% in this financial year, and its energy availability factor (EAF) increased to 61.2%.

“Our generation’s performance continues to surpass this year’s winter forecast. The current unplanned outages remain at an average of 12,000 MW,” Eskom said.

The weekly EAF has moved from 57.0% at the beginning of the financial year to 62.2% from 17 June to 20 June 2024.

“The EAF improvement is primarily due to a drop in the unplanned outages of the generation units, averaging 11,800 MW during the past seven days,” Eskom said.

The weekly EAF has moved from 57.0% at the beginning of the financial year to 62.2% from 17 June to 20 June 2024.

“The EAF improvement is primarily due to a drop in the unplanned outages of the generation units, averaging 11,800 MW during the past seven days,” Eskom said.

Many people speculated that load-shedding would return after the election and that Eskom kept the lights on by burning diesel. These rumours were false.

From 1 April 2024 to 20 June 2024, Eskom spent R2.71 billion on OCGTs, producing 390 GWh to meet demand.

This is 67% less than the R8.26 billion spent from 1 April 2023 to 20 June 2023 to produce 1,354 GWh.

The reality is that load-shedding was suspended because of lower demand and increased reliability of Eskom’s generation fleet.

Eskom chairperson Mteto Nyati said Eskom’s performance improvement was made possible by leadership changes, its maintenance plan, and great execution.

One of the key management changes at Eskom was the appointment of Bheki Nxumalo as the power utility’s generation executive.

After he was appointed, Nxumalo reviewed Eskom’s plant managers and other senior employees at its power stations.

This has resulted in extensive changes to the leadership at some of the utility’s worst-performing power stations.

Another big change was how Eskom performed maintenance. The new plan, approved in March 2023, used original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Previously, maintenance was performed by companies with little knowledge of Eskom’s generation units. Breakdowns soon after maintenance was completed were common.

Original equipment manufacturers, in comparison, have extensive knowledge about the equipment used at Eskom’s power plants.

Nyati said that maintenance, in partnership with OEMs, ensured that generating units returned to service were reliable and would not break down quickly.

One should also not discount Ramokgopa’s impact. He provided the political support needed to improve Eskom’s performance.

Since being appointed Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity in March 2023, he has regularly visited power stations to support Eskom employees.

He also provided regular updates about the progress of South Africa’s Energy Action Plan (EAP), which aims to end load-shedding and achieve energy security.

Here is a look at the five men who significantly improved Eskom’s performance and helped to stop load-shedding for three months.

Source Business Tech

InfinityMediaHub

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NEW DAWN GOVERNMENT IN 2 YEARS 9 MONTHS OF OFFICE.

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Kitwe District Commissioner Lawrence Mwanza writes…

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NEW DAWN GOVERNMENT IN 2 YEARS 9 MONTHS OF OFFICE.

Happy new month Fellow Kitwe residents and Citizens of Zambia at large. What are your goals for the remaining half of the year 2024?

The new dawn government under the able leadership of his excellency the President of Zambia Mr Hakainde Hichilema has delivered some of its promises timely, even through the worst drought crisis ever experienced in our country.

These include;

  1. Meal Allowances in Universities✅
  2. Paid retirees✅
  3. Endless fight of corruption ✅ (You can now even get a job without paying ka something)
  4. Indeni workers paid✅
  5. Increased CDF to more than 1 million dollars which is addressing many issues✅
  6. Put a stop to lawlessness. Bushe ba Kitwe are you still harassed by cadres?✅
  7. Abolished death penalty ✅
  8. Made amendments to the laws such that court proceedings that took years will now be concluded in not more than 6 months✅
  9. Unlocked Mopani which has now started employing steadily✅
  10. Reopening of Luanshya new mine, shaft 28✅
  11. Creation of Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises to help small businesses grow
  12. Normalized operation of DC’s office to attend to anyone regardless of political affiliation.✅
  13. Introduction of free education✅
  14. Improved health sector by building a Level 1 standard health facility in every district✅
  15. Building the first ever cancer hospital✅
  16. Building an oxygen plant here on the Copperbelt at KTH✅
  17. The rehabilitation of KTH✅
  18. Freedom to information✅
  19. Freedom of speech✅
  20. All health facilities fully stocked with medicines here in Kitwe✅
  21. Recruitment of 3,237 Zambia Army Soldiers plus ZAF and all other security wings bringing it to a total of 7,000+ employed citizens✅
  22. Unlocked KCM✅
  23. First ever production of Fertilizer locally for Zambia✅

As we continue to tirelessly fight the high cost of living in our nation, we urge everyone to keep their faith as the fight to arrest economic hardships requires everyone’s input and not just government. There’s time for everything, time to work and time for politics, but now is the time to work for the betterment of our country. Because the impact of hardships is felt by everyone.

Together we stand, divided we fall and together we shall emerge stronger than ever before.

Lawrence Mwanza
Kitwe District Commissioner

UTH PATIENT SURVIVES BRAIN SURGERY, GOES BACK TO SCHOOL

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UTH PATIENT SURVIVES BRAIN SURGERY, GOES BACK TO SCHOOL

28 year old Martha Sakala has been a University Teaching Hospital (UTH) patient for 20 years now having been diagnosed with migraine headache at the tender age of eight.

At age 15, Sakala and mother decided to give up on hospital trips as they thought nothing would ever change.

“I felt a bit frustrated, I felt like I wasn’t living a normal way of life. I told mum let’s give this a break and see what God does,” stated Sakala.

However, this decision didn’t end up well as seven years later, complications resurfaced which were believed to have been generated from the effects of shunning the hospital.

The patient was only in her second year at the University of Zambia pursuing a bachelors in Educational Administration and Management with Religious Studies.

At this point, Martha developed severe changes in her way of life.

“So I slowly began to experience changes, my aunt noticed that there was some strange things in me I became clumsy, I used to drop things,” she revealed.

“I started experiencing symptoms that were quite unusual, climbing stairs became hard, lifting things became hard, I was getting tired at a short period.”

After these signs she decided to visit the clinic and got referred to UTH.

“Doctors did a scan and went for review It was revealed that I had Chiari Malformation with Syringomyelia.

According to health experts, Chiari is a neurological condition which affects the back of the brain and Syringomyelia is a condition in which fluid filled cavities form within the spinal cord and leads to pain and loss of function (weakness and numbness).

This was the beginning of a nightmare that saw her undergoing brain surgery as the symptoms got worse.

“I was told the only way to help alleviate these symptoms was for me to undergo brain surgery. When I received the news, my eyes were teary. I continued with my studies and in June 2019, the operation happened.”

Martha, now had to choose between school and her life as she was forced to withdraw from school in order to nurse her wound.

After a few months, she went back to school and continued in third year.

But the challenge was that she couldn’t catch up as much as she used to.

“After the surgery I stopped understanding things, I became a slow learner, it was really difficult and I couldn’t function like I used to – even typing and writing became slow and my assignments would always be submitted late,” shared Sakala.

Despite all these challenges, Martha Sakala managed to pull through and got her degree defying the odds and demonstrating that one setback should not hinder one from achieving their goals to become better.

By Catherine Pule
Kalemba

The Malawi music icon who became a ‘soldier for the poor’

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As a child, Lucius Chiccio Banda had little interest in music – he spent his days playing football instead.

But Banda’s older brother coaxed him to join a church band, setting him on a path to become a Malawian musical legend, political activist and “soldier” for the poor.

Banda, who died in South Africa on Sunday night after battling a kidney-related illness for close to five years, enjoyed huge popularity across Malawi.

Tributes for the 53-year-old have poured in from all sectors of Malawi society.

Following his death he has been honoured by artists, politicians, religious leaders and prominent sportspeople.

President Lazarus Chakwera said: “It is with deep sorrow that the First Lady and

I mourn the passing of Hon Lucius Banda, who was the Presidential Advisor on Youth and Arts.

“His political activism through music that captured our hopes and dreams, especially during the fight for democracy has profoundly shaped our nation, giving voice to the voiceless and challenging injustices.”

Banda hailed from the Malawian town of Balaka, located around 200 km (124 miles) south-east of the capital, Lilongwe.

The most notable feature of this town is a huge, influential Catholic church, one of the biggest in the whole of Southern Africa.

Banda’s mother, Maria Jeremiah, was just 14 when she got married. She got divorced in her mid-twenties after having seven children, two of whom died.
In interviews Banda often spoke about how he did not have any recollection of his father as he was very young when his parents got divorced.

His mother raised the children alone and the family lived in dire poverty. Banda walked to school barefoot, wore torn clothes and slept in a leaky, grass-thatched hut.

“I first had a pair of shoes at the age of 16,” Banda once said. When he travelled to the town centre, he would carry his shoes in a plastic bag and only put them on once he had almost arrived.

“I did not know when next I was going to have another pair of shoes, so I need to take care them so that I could have them for a long time,” he explained.

Banda’s elder brother, Paul, was a leader of a church group called Alleluya Band. He persuaded Banda to abandon football for music and taught his seven-year-old brother how to play the keyboard.

By the age of 13 Banda joined Alleluya Band and two years later he was on stage for the first time, performing at a wedding.

For the church, Alleluya Band was a way of keeping young boys busy and out of trouble. For Banda, it helped him fall in love with music and pushed his musical talents to the fore.

In the early 1990s, when Malawi was transitioning from single-party authoritarian rule to a multi-party democracy, Banda decided to quit Alleluya and go solo.

He found singing in the band limiting, as practically all its songs were about religion.

He wanted to make music that held powerful messages about freedom and the fight against social injustice.

As a solo artist, he recorded his first album titled Son of a Poor Man in 1993. It became an instant hit.

One of the most popular songs on the album was Mabala, which means “wounds” in the Chichewa language.

Mabala criticised the poor human rights record of the president at the time, Hastings Banda (no relation) – a risky move. However, the musician didn’t receive much blowback from the authorities, possibly because by that point the president was under pressure from all sides and was months away from being voted out.

Banda went on to release several more albums, becoming one of the biggest musicians in the country. In Malawi, he is best known by the moniker “soldier” after he called himself “a soldier for the poor”.

He also became an ally of President Bakili Muluzi, who deafeated Hastings Banda in the country’s historic 1994 elections. The “soldier” sang political songs praising Mr Muluzi’s leadership and his political party, the UDF.
In 2010, after Mr Muluzi left power, the state-owned Malawi Broadcasting

Corporation (MBC) banned some of Banda’s music on its two radio stations.
It is thought the music, which criticised the administration of then-president Bingu wa Mutharika, was prohibited for political reasons.

But the ban only increased the musician’s fame and sales of his records soared.
Beyond music, Banda served as a MP for the UDF between 2004 and 2006 and 2014 and 2019.

His first stint in parliament did not end in glory. He was arrested and later convicted for faking his academic credentials. At the time, Banda told the BBC the government was “punishing” him for putting forward a motion proposing procedures to impeach the president.

He lost his parliamentary seat after a Magistrate’s Court found him guilty and sentenced him to 21 months in prison.

The episode damaged his political career but did very little to dampen his musical one. He continued to compose and play music, putting on shows that drew huge crowds.

In 2018, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement accolade by a local music charity, the Urban Music People (UMP).

UMP called Banda “the epitome of music in Malawi and probably the biggest musical act Malawi has ever produced”.

Banda returned to politics in 2014, and managed to reclaim his parliamentary seat.

In 2019 he lost the seat again. He joined the opposition UTM Party, headed by the late Vice-President Saulos Chilima, who died in a plane crash last month.

He failed to become an MP again while with the UTM, but with his party going into government as coalition partners with President Chakwera’s Malawi Congress

Party (MCP), Banda was given a position of advisor to the president on youth and arts, a position he held until his death.
Banda is survived by his wife, Sunganani and three children.

Eight boys have been accused of gang-r@ping a disabled classmate in the girls’ bathroom of a Spanish school

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Eight boys have been accused of gang-r@ping a disabled classmate in the girls’ bathroom of a Spanish school.

The sex attack on the 12-year-old girl occurred in a Peñaflor, Seville school in May, according to a police report filed by the child’s family.

The police document said that the girl was ‘removed from the sight of students and teachers and taken to the girl’s bathroom’ during a break, where the gang rape allegedly occurred

Speaking to Spanish television program ‘Y Ahora Sonsoles’ the girl’s distressed grandmother, whose identity was not shared, detailed the horrifying incident.

‘They grabbed my hands and they opened my legs and they made love to me’, the girl reportedly told her grandmother, to which she responded: ‘No my dear, that’s not making love’.

Her grandmother also described the ‘hell’ the young girl endured the days after, as she did not open up about her assault for several days.

She did not want to go to school, would not eat, and would not sleep, her grandmother told a separate outlet, Telemadrid.

She would also repeatedly pull her own hair and throw herself on the ground before she finally opened up to her grandmother.

She was then taken to the hospital for an examination.

The forensic medical team confirmed that the girl had been penetrated, the grandmother said.

But since all children involved in the horrific attack were born between 2011 and 2012, making them 12 and 13 years old, means that the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office cannot carry out any kind of investigation.

According to Spanish Juvenile Law, when a perpetrator of rape is under the age of 14, he or she won’t be held liable.

The case has been transferred to Child Protection Services as a result.

But Andalusia’s Councillor for Social Inclusion, Youth, Families and Equality, said in a press conference last week that the Andalusian government is in contact with the prosecutor’s office.

‘From now on what we are going to do is put in place all the mechanisms for the protection of the girl, obviously, to fund the origin of this conduct, and based on that, adopt the appropriate measures’.

This comes a month after a Spanish court acquitted a man who raped a 12-year-old girl and left her pregnant with twins after it ruled that their relations were just part of the gypsy culture.

Stat shows nearly 80% of Black Doctors in the U.S. are Nigerians. Here is why that could be true

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Reports have surfaced online claiming that 77% of Black doctors in the U.S. are Nigerians. While this figure may be somewhat exaggerated, the achievements of individuals like Dr. Foyekemi Ikyaator, a Nigerian physician and Medical Director of Life Savers ER in Houston, Texas, who opened her own emergency room at just 32, remind us that it is not entirely removed from reality.

The significant presence of Nigerian doctors among Black physicians in the United States is a phenomenon that warrants deeper exploration. This statistic is not just a numerical oddity but a reflection of various social, cultural, and historical factors pertaining to Nigerians. To understand its prevalence, we take a look at the educational priorities, migration patterns, cultural values, and systemic factors that contribute to this trend.

The Educational Emphasis in Nigerian Culture
One of the primary reasons for the high number of Nigerian doctors is the strong emphasis on education within Nigerian culture. Education is often viewed as the primary means of upward social mobility and economic stability. Many Nigerian families prioritize education and instill the value of academic excellence from a young age.

Nigerian parents often have high expectations for their children, emphasizing careers in medicine, engineering, law, and other professional fields. According to a 2017 report by the Migration Policy Institute, 61% of Nigerian immigrants in the U.S. hold at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 31% of the overall foreign-born population .

In many Nigerian communities, achieving a high level of education is not only a personal achievement but also a source of pride for the family and community. The cultural emphasis on education is deeply rooted in Nigerian society, where success is often measured by academic and professional achievements.

Historical Migration Patterns
The migration of Nigerians to the United States has a significant history that dates back to the mid-20th century. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which eliminated national-origin quotas, allowed for a new wave of immigrants from Africa, including Nigeria. Many of these immigrants were students who came to the U.S. for higher education.

The availability of student visas and scholarships facilitated the migration of Nigerians to the U.S. for educational purposes. The presence of Nigerians in U.S. universities increased significantly in the decades following the 1965 Act .

While some students returned to Nigeria after their studies, many stayed on, contributing to the skilled workforce in the U.S., particularly in medicine. This trend is supported by the fact that Nigerians in the U.S. are highly educated, with a substantial number holding advanced degrees.

The Nigerian Education System and Medical Training
Nigeria has a robust education system with several universities offering medical degrees. However, the challenges within the Nigerian healthcare system—such as inadequate infrastructure and limited opportunities for specialization—drive many Nigerian medical graduates to seek further training and practice opportunities abroad.

Many Nigerian doctors are well-trained and highly skilled, making them competitive candidates for medical residency programs in the U.S. The rigorous medical training in Nigeria equips these doctors with a strong foundation, enabling them to excel in the U.S. healthcare system.

The U.S. offers extensive opportunities for specialization and advanced medical training that may not be readily available in Nigeria. For instance, Nigerian doctors often pursue specializations in areas like cardiology, neurology, and oncology, which require advanced facilities and training that are more accessible in the U.S.

Systemic and Institutional Support
The success of Nigerian doctors in the U.S. is also supported by systemic and institutional frameworks that recognize and reward excellence in medicine. Medical institutions in the U.S. value diversity and often seek to include doctors from various backgrounds.

Many hospitals and medical schools have diversity initiatives aimed at increasing the representation of minority doctors. These programs often provide scholarships, mentorship, and other forms of support to minority medical students, including those from Nigeria.

Nigerian doctors often benefit from strong professional networks and associations that provide support and mentorship, facilitating their career advancement. Organizations like the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) play a crucial role in connecting Nigerian doctors and providing them with resources and opportunities.

Cultural Adaptability and Resilience
Nigerians are known for their resilience and adaptability, traits that are essential for success in the demanding field of medicine. The ability to navigate and thrive in different cultural and professional environments is a significant factor in the success of Nigerian doctors in the U.S.

The ability to adapt to the U.S. healthcare system, while maintaining strong ties to Nigerian cultural values, gives Nigerian doctors a unique advantage. This adaptability is often reflected in their ability to work effectively in diverse healthcare settings.

Overcoming the challenges of migration and integration into a new country builds resilience, which is crucial for the medical profession. Nigerian doctors often face and overcome significant obstacles, including cultural adjustments and the rigorous demands of medical training, which further strengthens their resolve and dedication.

Conclusion

According to a CNN Report, only 5.7% of US doctors are Black, and experts warn the shortage harms public health. By recognizing and supporting the contributions of Nigerian doctors, the U.S. can benefit immensely from their skills and perspectives on making the healthcare system more inclusive and representative of the country’s diversity. Nigerian doctors bring unique insights and experiences that can help address health disparities and improve outcomes for minority populations. Their presence in the medical field not only enhances the quality of care but also fosters a more culturally competent healthcare environment.

Additionally, embracing the contributions of Nigerian doctors can be a significant step toward addressing health equity. By ensuring that the medical workforce reflects the diverse populations it serves, the healthcare system can better understand and meet the needs of all patients. This inclusivity can lead to more effective communication, increased patient trust, and ultimately, better health outcomes.

The success of Nigerian doctors in the U.S. also highlights the importance of creating pathways for other underrepresented groups to enter and thrive in the medical profession. By implementing policies and initiatives that support diversity in medical education and practice, the U.S. can build a more equitable and effective healthcare system. Recognizing the achievements of Nigerian doctors is not just about celebrating their success but also about learning from their experiences to create a more just and inclusive healthcare system for everyone.

New York student makes history graduating high school at 12: ‘He’s really a prodigy’

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Twelve-year-old Suborno Isaac Bari has graduated from Malverne High School in Malverne, New York, marking him the youngest scholar to ever graduate in the history of Nassau County’s Malverne Union Free School District.

Suborno expressed excitement about his accomplishment during an interview with “Good Morning America”, describing his academic journey as “long” despite bypassing the 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th grades. He successfully completed the necessary coursework and passed the New York State Regents examinations to graduate.

“It’s been an absolutely wonderful experience,” Suborno said of his high school career. “I met so many great people and I’ve learned a lot in both math and science and other disciplines. But I think I’m ready to move on and pursue my higher education to the best of my ability,” Suborno added.

Rebecca Gottesman, the director of K-12 school counseling at Malverne Union Free School District, who has been in education for 25 years, first met Suborno when he was a fourth grader. She praised the twelve-year-old as a “prodigy.”

“Every year, school counselors are asked on behalf of the students that are applying to these colleges to answer the question, ‘Is this one of your most exceptional students that you’ve ever seen in your career?’ … and I can say without any doubt that Suborno is the most exceptional student I’ve ever met academically,” Gottesman said. “He’s really a prodigy.”

Gottesman explained that the district collaborated with the Bari family to create a tailored plan for Bari. This plan allowed him to take higher-level classes while ensuring he remained integrated with his peers for balanced social and emotional development.

“We entered into an agreement where we would allow him to take high school-level courses but take them at our middle school. So he would come into our middle school as [an] eighth-grader [and take core classes] … and then after he took his morning classes, we would put him on the bus and he would take a bus to our elementary school where he would reintegrate with his fifth-grade peers, which were his same-age peers and participate in fifth-grade electives and after-school activities,” Gottesman explained.

Despite accelerating through grades and managing a split schedule, Bari said that his teachers and fellow students embraced him and provided the space he needed to pursue his interests.

“They treated me just like any other high school student … and that’s how I really wanted to be treated by the community,” the young whiz said.

Gottesman indicated that Bari, who achieved 1500 on the SAT, 34 on the ACT, and completed five AP classes, has significantly impacted the Malverne community as an academic leader. She assured that the young genius was fully prepared for college.

Bari is now heading to New York University on a scholarship to study for a bachelor’s degree in math and physics.

Euro 2024: Police arrest man who climbed onto Dortmund’s stadium roof

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France captain Kylian Mbappe expressed his frustration with playing while wearing a mask, describing the experience as “absolutely horrible.”

The 25-year-old striker sustained a broken nose following a collision during France’s 1-0 victory against Austria in their opening game of Euro 2024. After missing the subsequent goalless draw with the Netherlands, Mbappe returned to the field, scoring in the 1-1 draw with Poland.

Despite his return to form, he found wearing the protective mask uncomfortable. As he prepares to lead his team in the Euro 2024 last-16 match against Belgium on Monday, Mbappe’s discomfort with the mask remains a challenge.

“I didn’t think it would be, but playing with a mask is absolutely horrible,” Mbappe said before the Belgium game in Dusseldorf.

“I have changed [the mask] because every time there was something that wasn’t right.

“It is really difficult. It limits your vision and the sweat gets blocked up so you have to take it off to let it run away.

“As soon as I can take it off I will do, but I don’t have a choice. That is how my tournament is going to be. I can only play like that.

“It is really annoying, but I have to just say thanks to the mask.

Mbappe’s goal against Poland was a penalty, meaning France are yet to score from open play at the tournament.

“It’s not the group matches anymore,” boss Didier Deschamps said. “It’s a new competition within the competition.

“You have to be efficient. To win matches, you have to score. That’s not done by snapping your fingers, but you need to move the cursor [closer to goal].”

In the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, France secured a 1-0 victory en route to claiming the championship.

Similarly, Belgium secured their spot in the next round by drawing 0-0 against Ukraine after finishing second in their group.

Despite both teams’ slow starts, Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco is optimistic, pointing to the chances they are creating as signs that their fortunes will soon change.

“The quality and quantity of chances we made in the first three games was unbelievable,” he said.

“It is unbelievable that we scored only two goals in three games, and France too, but this is football.”

Belgium were booed after the goalless draw with Ukraine, but midfielder Orel Mangala believes the fans will be behind them on Monday.

“I believe that has been cleared up,” he said.

“I can understand that [reaction]. We we were all frustrated. Now we are facing a new match and I hope that all the fans stand with us and we’ll play with a lot of imagination.”

Sam Jonah: How this Ghanaian businessman broke rocks to become one of the richest in the country

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Sam Jonah is a Ghanaian statesman, corporate governance expert, and businessman. He is globally known for his leadership as the then-CEO of Ashanti Goldfields Corporation.

Born in a military camp in Kibi, Ghana, his journey in the mining field started when his father, a sergeant major and World War II veteran, set up a construction company and moved the family to Obuasi in Ghana’s Ashanti Region.

Jonah started his education in Obuasi, and after high school, he decided to work underground at Ashanti Goldfields Corporation’s (Ashanti) Obuasi mine while his friends were going into law and medicine, according to Forbes.

His involvement in mining opened his eyes to the fact that whites dominated the sector, and he was determined to change the narrative to make Blacks key players in the mining sector, even if it meant going to the bottom to survive.

“You learn quickly how to get what you want from people who are better equipped, who are better skilled, who are better experienced, who are much older than you are,” he said to Forbes.

He would win a scholarship to study mining engineering at the Cambridge School of Mines, in England, which later awarded him an honorary doctorate. Upon his return to Ashanti Goldfields, he moved up the ranks.

After a brief period in his new position, he returned to London to study business at Imperial College, now the University of London. The mining company appointed Jonah as its vice president in 1979.

In 1986, Tiny Rowland, the founder of Lonrho, which owned Ashanti, appointed Jonah as managing director. He assumed the position at the time the company’s single mine had deteriorated and the mining industry had yet to see a black man leading.

It was in his new position that he implemented his long-held vision to “Africanize the mine.” He changed the trajectory of the company from being white-led. Unpopular among expatriates, he was unfazed and led the mine to the path of growth.

He led the mine into a $1.48 billion merger between Ashanti and AngloGold. At the time, Ashanti was the seventh-largest gold producer, and AngloGold was the second-largest. The merger resulted in Jonah becoming the merged entity’s executive president.

He eventually retired from AngloGold Ashanti at the age of 58 and went on to sit on at least 18 company boards. He is a former member of the board of Ashesi University in Ghana. He previously served as Chairman of Equinox Limited (Australian and Canadian listed), Moto Gold Mines (Australian and Canadian listed), and Uramin (London and Canadian listed). He was previously chairman of Mauritius-based Bayport Financial Services. He served on the board of Vodafone UK from 2009 up to July 2019.

In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Head of the Commonwealth conferred on him an Honorary Knighthood as Knight Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE). In 2006, he received Ghana’s highest national award, the Companion of the Order of the Star.

What is more, CNN and Time Magazine ranked him as one of the world’s top 25 most influential business people, and he was also the recipient of five Lifetime Achievement awards, with the most recent being in 2019 by the Albert Nelson Marquis.

Meanwhile, Jonah is the founder and chairman of Jonah Capital, a private investment holding company, based in South Africa. The company has interests in mineral resources, real estate, agriculture, construction materials, financial services and oil and gas services.

Jonah has been an Advisor to many African Heads of State including Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria).

Although there is little detail about his actual net worth, Ghanaian media and tabloids list him among the top 10 richest individuals in the West African country with a net worth of between $500 and $600 million.

Jonah, born on November 19, 1949, and educated at Adisadel College in Ghana, is the Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast Ghana. In December 2005, Ashesi University College awarded Jonah the Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

Megan Thee Stallion describes her deceased mother as the ‘coldest rapper ever’

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Megan Thee Stallion had nothing but praise for her deceased mother’s rapping prowess when she appeared on the July 1 episode of Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast. The Grammy winner, born Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, touched on her deceased mother Holly Thomas’ rap skills when talking about the source of her rap talent.

“Me and my mama used to be going back and forth,” Megan, 29, revealed, per PEOPLE. “She was really the one, and I just wanted to beat her, and I wanted to impress her and I thought she was just the coldest rapper ever.”

Megan’s late mother went by the stage name Holly-Wood during her rap career from 2001 to 2007. She eventually became her daughter’s manager before she succumbed to brain cancer in March 2019.

During the interview, the Cobra rapper also touched on her relationship with her late mother, saying she was her best friend. “It used to really just be me, her and my dad before he passed,” Megan said. The rapper was just 15 when her father died.

“I ain’t care about having a bunch of friends and stuff because — and I was a very friendly kid — but I was the only child. So I just loved being around my mom,” she added.

Megan in the interview also reiterated her late mother was her favorite when she was asked which female rappers she listened to during her childhood. She said her mother being a rapper was why she wanted to pursue that same career path, adding that Thomas’ “favorite female rapper” was Lil’ Kim, PEOPLE reported. Megan also revealed her late mother introduced her to Lil’ Kim’s music.

“She put me on Biggie before she put me on Lil’ Kim, and I used to love Biggie so much. I still love Biggie,” the Savage rapper said. “But she was like, ‘If you like Biggie, I got something for you that’s gonna f— you up.’”

Megan continued: “So then she started playing me Kim, and I was like, what is this? So I definitely was on Kim early, but definitely my mama was my favorite.”

Joe Biden has described the Supreme Court’s immunity decision as ‘dangerous’

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US President, Joe Biden has described the Supreme Court’s immunity decision as ‘dangerous’ and said it would embolden former President Donald Trump if the Republican is reelected.

Biden made the statement at the White House’s Cross Hall on Monday night.

US president Joe Biden slams Supreme Court for
He warned that the conservative-leaning court ‘fundamentally changed’ a bedrock principle of the nation and pushed the American people to reject Trump in November at the ballot box.

‘This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America,’ Biden said.

‘Today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a president can do,’ he continued. ‘This is a fundamentally new principle and it’s a dangerous precedent.’

‘The only limits will be self-imposed by the president alone,’ he warned.

The Court’s 6-3 ruling practically insured that Trump wouldn’t face another trial before the November election after being convicted in New York on 34 counts of business fraud related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.

The sentencing for that case comes next week.

The decision grants Trump partial criminal immunity on actions he took as president while attempting to overturn the 2020 result – including on January 6, putting in peril Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case.

Additionally, the election interference case in Georgia has been paused, as has the federal classified documents case based in Florida, also being handled by Smith.

Biden called the Supreme Court’s decision a continued ‘attack’ on ‘wide range of long established legal principles,’ pointing to the reversal of Roe v. Wade and controversial decisions on civil and voting rights.

‘Only four years ago, my predecessor sent a violent mob to the U.S. Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power. We all saw it with our own eyes. We sat there and watched it happen that day,’ Biden said.

‘Attack on the police. The ransacking of the capitol. The mob hunting down House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Gallows erected to hang the vice president, Mike Pence,’ he continued. ‘I think it’s fair to say it was one of the darkest days in the history of America.’

Biden pointed to Trump’s federal election interference court case.
‘The American people deserve to have an answer in the courts before the upcoming election,’ he argued. ‘Now because of today’s decision that is highly, highly unlikely.’

‘It’s a terrible disservice for the people of this nation,’ he said. ‘So now, now the American people will have to do what the courts should have been willing to do, but will not – the American people will have to render a judgment about Donald Trump’s behavior.’

‘The American people must decide whether Donald Trump’s assault on our democracy on January 6 makes him unfit for public office – the highest office in the land. The American people must decide if Trump’s embrace of violence to preserve his power is acceptable,’ Biden said.

‘Perhaps, most importantly, the American people must decide if they want to entrust the president – the presidency to Donald Trump, now knowing he’ll be more emboldened to do whatever he pleases, whenever he wants to do it,’ the Democrat warned.

The 81-year-old president pointed to the example set by the nation’s first president – George Washington.

‘He believed power was limited, not absolute. And that power always resides with the people, always,’ Biden said. ‘Now we’re 200 years later, today’s Supreme Court decision, once again it will depend on the character of the men and women who hold that presidency that are going to define the limits of the power of the presidency, because the law will no longer do it.’

‘I know I will respect the limits of the presidential powers I have for three and a half years,’ Biden said. ‘But any president including Donald Trump will now be free to ignore the law.’

Biden said he agreed with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor. ‘In every use of official power, the president is now a king above law. With fear for our democracy, I dissent,’ he said, quoting Sotomayor.

‘So should the American people dissent,’ Biden said. ‘I dissent.’

The decision marks a big win for Trump, who’s already been taking a victory lap after Thursday night’s CNN debate.

Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit against Fox News, alleging that the network aired explicit images of him

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Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit against Fox News, alleging that the network aired explicit images of him in an act he describes as “revenge p0rn.”

The controversy centres on Fox Nation’s 2022 series, “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which consisted of six episodes. Fox Nation is the online platform of the conservative broadcaster owned by Rupert Murdoch’s family. The series, a dramatized version of a criminal trial, included a disclaimer stating that the proceedings were fictional. It depicted Hunter Biden being prosecuted for corruption, accusations that have been frequently levelled by supporters of Donald Trump due to Biden’s past business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, these accusations have never resulted in legal action.

The lawsuit claims that the series used real images of Biden, “depicting him in the nude, with exposed intimate parts, and engaged in sexual acts.” According to the complaint, “Fox published and disseminated these intimate images to its vast audience of millions as part of an entertainment program to humiliate, harass, annoy, and alarm Mr. Biden and to tarnish his reputation.”

The explicit images reportedly originated from a laptop that Hunter Biden left at a computer repair shop and never retrieved. The contents of the laptop have since been widely circulated, becoming the basis for numerous conspiracy theories and a source of political embarrassment for Biden.

Joe Biden

Fox News however said in a statement;

“This entirely politically motivated lawsuit is devoid of merit.

“Mr Biden did not complain about [it] until sending a letter in late April 2024. The programme was removed within days of the letter, in an abundance of caution.

“Consistent with the First Amendment, Fox News has accurately covered the newsworthy events of Mr Biden’s own making, and we look forward to vindicating our rights in court.”

Joe Biden

Hunter Biden was convicted by a jury in June of illegal possession of a firearm in a federal trial that again brought to light his years of addiction to alcohol, cocaine and crack cocaine, apparent in many of the images discovered on the laptop.

In September he will face a separate tax fraud case, a trial that is likely to distract from his father’s presidential campaign.

Russia has told Donald Trump that he can’t end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day

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Russia has told US presidential candidate, Donald Trump that he can’t end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day.

Trump has said repeatedly he could settle the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day if he’s elected president again.

At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours.” He said that would happen after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he keeps repeating the claim on the campaign trail.

During last week’s debate with President Joe Biden, Trump claimed, “If we had a real president, a president that knew — that was respected by Putin … he would have never invaded Ukraine.”

But Russia’s United Nations ambassador says he can’t end the war in one day.

Vassily Nebenzia told reporters Monday that “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day.”

Nebenzia said the war could have ended in April 2022 in Istanbul when Russia and Ukraine were “very close” to an agreement. Moscow invaded its neighbour two months earlier on Feb. 24, 2022, though Russia insists its “special military operation” began in 2014 after clashes in Ukraine’s east resulted in Moscow seizing the Crimea Peninsula.

The Russian ambassador blamed Ukraine’s Western backers for blocking the April 2022 peace deal and telling Kyiv to keep fighting Russia.

“Zelenskyy is running around with his so-called peace plan which, of course, is not a peace plan but a joke.”

Nebenzia called Zelenskyy’s peace formula “a nonstarter” and said he needs to be “realistic” and take into account what’s happened since April.

The more difficult the situation becomes for Ukraine on the ground, he warned, the more difficult diplomacy will become to end the war.

While meeting in Switzerland last month, nearly 80 countries called for the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end the war. But some key developing nations did not join in and Russia did not attend the conference.

Nebenzia pointed to Putin’s offer on June 14 to “immediately” order a cease-fire in Ukraine and start negotiations if Kyiv begins withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounces plans to join NATO.

Zelenskyy has vowed not to give up any territory, rejecting what he calls an ultimatum by Putin to surrender more land.

Newly released transcript show US prosecutors knew Jeffrey Epstein raped teenage girls

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US prosecutors in Florida knew the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted teenage girls two years before they cut a plea deal with him, and ten years before he was imprisoned, according to transcripts released Monday, July 1.

The transcripts show that the grand jury heard testimony that Epstein, who was then in his 40s, had raped teenage girls as young as 14 at his Palm Beach mansion, often paying them so he could commit statutory rape or assault.

The teenagers testified and told police they were also paid cash or rented cars if they found him more girls.

The 2006 grand jury investigation was the first of many by law enforcement over the past two decades into Epstein’s rape and sex trafficking of teenagers.

The investigation also looked at his relationship with the rich and the powerful people in government and society which allowed him to avoid prison or a serious jail term for over a decade.

The investigations uncovered Epstein’s close ties to former President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew, as well as his once friendly relationship with former US President Donald Trump.

Florida Circuit Judge Luis Delgado’s release of approximately 150 pages Monday came as a surprise, since there was a scheduled hearing next week over unsealing the graphic testimony.

The release comes after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill in February allowing the release on Monday or any time thereafter that Delgado ordered. Florida grand jury transcripts are usually kept secret forever, but the bill created an exemption for cases like Epstein’s.

According to the transcripts, Palm Beach Police Detective Joe Recarey testified in July 2006 that the initial investigation began when a woman reported in March 2005 that her stepdaughter who was in high school at the time said she received $300 in exchange for “sexual activity with a man in Palm Beach,” Recarey testified.

Another teenager, whose name was redacted in the transcript, told detectives that she was 17 years old when she was approached by a friend who said she could make $200 by providing a massage at Epstein’s home.

At the house, when Epstein tried touching her, she told him she was uncomfortable. He then told her that he would pay her $200 if she brought “girls” to the house. “And he told her, ‘The younger, the better,’” Recarey said.

As time passed, she brought six friends to Epstein’s house, including a 14-year-old, and likened herself to Hollywood Madame Heidi Fleiss in October 2005 interviews, Recarey recounted.

When she brought over a 23-year-old friend, Epstein told her that the friend was too old.

“The more you did, the more money you made,” the detective said the teen told him.

“She explained that there was going to be a massage or some possible touching, and you would have to provide the massage either topless or naked.”

Newly released transcript show US prosecutors knew Jeffrey Epstein raped teenage girls and paid them 10 years before he was imprisoned

Newly released transcript show US prosecutors knew Jeffrey Epstein raped teenage girls and paid them 10 years before he was imprisoned

Another teenager testified she visited Epstein’s house hundreds of times in the early 2000s, starting when she was 16. She testified that Epstein paid her $200 each time she gave him a massage while naked, rented her a car and gave her $1,000 the time he raped her.

“The details in the record will be outrageous to decent people,” Delgado wrote in his order. “The testimony taken by the Grand Jury concerns activity ranging from grossly unacceptable to rape — all of the conduct at issue is sexually deviant, disgusting, and criminal.”

In 2008, Epstein cut a deal with South Florida federal prosecutors that allowed him to escape more severe federal charges and instead plead guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution.

He was sentenced to 1.5 years in the Palm Beach County jail system, during which he was allowed to go to his office almost daily as part of a work-release program, followed by a year of house arrest. He was required to register as a sex offender.

Brad Edwards, an attorney for many of the victims, said in a statement that the transcripts show that Krischer’s office “took the case to the Grand Jury with an agenda — to return minimal if any, criminal charges against Jeffrey Epstein.”

“A fraction of the evidence was presented, in a misleading way, and the Office portrayed the victims as criminals,” he said. “It is so sad, the number of victims Epstein was able to abuse because the State carried water for him when they had a chance to put him away.”

Epstein’s estate is paying $155 million in restitution to more than 125 victims.

Moment paedophile headteacher who abused four girls is arrested at school

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A video has been released showing the moment a headteacher who sexually abused four girls was arrested at the secondary school where he worked.

Neil Foden, who was the head of Ysgol Friars in North Wales when he committed shocking 19 offences over a four-year period between 2019 and 2023, was convicted following a trial in May.

The court heard how the 66-year-old had a “sexual obsession with young teenage girls” and had been “determined” to satisfy his “perverted desires,” which included a urination fetish.

A police officer’s bodycam captured Foden’s arrest inside a room at the school in September 2023.

Footage shows him standing with his hands in his pockets as the officer tells him: “Mr Foden, unfortunately, I need to arrest you on suspicion of sexual touching of a child and sexual communications with a child.”

He replies “Right” before being read his rights, to which he just says: “Okay.”

He would later be found guilty.

On Monday, July 1, he was sentenced to 17 years behind bars at Mold Crown Court.

Judge Rhys Rowlands described Foden as a domineering and bombastic character who was looked up to by many, but “managed to hide a dreadful secret”.

Judge Rowlands told him: “Your behaviour was born out of your arrogant sense of your self-worth, such that you believed no-one would stand up to you.

“It is clear that you have no remorse. You have not shown an ounce of contrition for what you did and you have no insight into the undoubted very serious harm you have caused both to individual victims and to their families.”

“He exploited both my body and mind and I feel tired and constantly sick as a result,” one victim, who appeared in court to read a statement, said.

Another victim, who attended his sentencing in person, said: “I feel that when he made me go to court to give my evidence he wanted to hurt me for reporting him and, instead of justice, he wanted revenge.”

A statement made by a third girl abused by Foden was read to the court, in which she said: “I believed him when he said he loved me and I was the only one he wanted.

“What Mr Foden has done is evil. It’s hit me hard and I’ll never forgive him.”

During Foden’s trial, the court was shown a video of him holding hands with one of the girls, child A, as she sat in the back of his car, while he was in the driver’s seat.

Foden was arrested after child A showed an adult a photo of them together and screenshots of messages about oral sex.

The court heard he would pick her up in his car and drive them to secluded areas.

He encouraged child A to hug and kiss him, telling her she must “take it to the grave and not tell anyone”.

They exchanged messages on WhatsApp, with Foden telling the girl to delete the messages daily.

The messaging and contact soon became sexualised, with Foden sexually assaulting her several times, persisting even when she tried to stop him.

Another complainant, child E, told police she referred to Foden as “Mr P”, for perfect, while he called her “his little sex toy”.

She also described meeting him in his BMW car, which had personalised number plates, and driving to remote lay-bys and country lanes “for him to have a play with me”.

He sexually assaulted her many times in his car and also in hotels when she accompanied him on trips away overnight.

After Foden was arrested at the school in September 2023, police later found a pair of purple and black lace handcuffs in the boot of his car which had DNA present matching Foden and the youngster.

Foden was convicted of pinching the thigh of child B and putting his hand under her clothing and of placing his hands at the top of child C’s inner thighs.

He was cleared of one count of sexual activity with a child, where he was alleged to have touched the bottom of child D.

Watch the video of his arrest below.

South African woman has narrated how her Ugandan boyfriend vanished with her R510,000 four months

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A South African woman, Jabu Nxumalo, has narrated how her Ugandan boyfriend, Joseph Ssekasi, vanished with her R510,000 four months after they met on dating app, Tinder last year.

Nxumalo said she was innocently hoping to get an honest, loving boyfriend when she joined the dating app, and soon she had Ssekasi courting her.

“At the time, he called himself Deron Mundari, and claimed to be from South Sudan. Honestly, there was nothing amiss about the guy,” Nxumalo said in an interview with IOL News as part of an ongoing series on romance scams in South Africa.

“He seemed like a down to earth and a respectful person. Little did I know that he was in this relationship for a paycheck in the name of love.”

According to Nxumalo, part of the fraud involved a purported “ancestor’s voice” which instructed her to approach different banks and raise R500,000 which she handed over to him at his place in Brakpan.

This money, Nxumalo was told, was her contribution in a mysterious scheme which involved “ancestors” and prayers

Ssekasi also claimed that the Brakpan house, where Nxumalo visited, was his but she later found that the house was rented

As the newfound love was blossoming, and Nxumalo had handed over her R510,000, the loving Ssekasi also appeared to hand over over R700,000 as his contribution into the investment.

Days later, Ssekasi notified Nxumalo that a business outing had come up and he would be out of Gauteng for days.

Ssekasi bid farewell to Jabu on May 1, 2023, claiming to be travelling to Limpopo.

While he was supposedly in Limpopo, the lovebirds continued to communicate via calls and text messages.

Days later, Nxumalo realised that her messages to Ssekasi had abruptly stopped going through, and she then suspected it could be a network issue

At this stage, Nxumalo kept dismissing her natural instinct which kept telling her to go and check out Ssekasi’s house in Brakpan, where she had parted ways with her R510,000

“Honestly, my intuition was telling me to go to his place but I stopped myself several times. I was asking myself, who will open for me, when I get there? On May 11, 2023, the date he had said he would be travelling back from Limpopo, I decided to drive to his place during lunch time. That is when I found a ‘house to let’ sign on the house,” she said.

“I was shocked and devastated. I then realised instantly that I had been scammed.

The following day, Jabu went to open a case at Boksburg police station.

“When I got to the front desk, I waited for my turn and asked to speak to the constable in a private space,” Nxumalo said.

“The constable treatment me with respect, he took me to private boardroom and took my statement. He was empathetic and promised me that the police will do the best to assist me. I left the station with so much hope.”

A day after, Nxumalo was to be admitted in a psychiatric hospital as she had become suicidal.

“I had not slept for two nights. Just a day before I was discharged, I was called by a detective Khumalo from Boksburg police station who wanted us to meet the day after I leave the hospital. I then went with my brother to meet the detective,” Nxumalo said

“While I was narrating my story, she stopped me and told me that as police, they can only arrest people they know their whereabouts, and that with cases of this nature, there is a low likelihood that a criminal can be sentenced,” she said.

“During our conversation, I showed her the picture of Ssekasi, the person who scammed me. Detective Khumalo did not event take the photo, and to-date she does not have a photo of my scammer, the person SAPS is hoping to catch one day.

“That engagement with the police detective actually depressed me more. I ended up asking detective Khumalo, if she was trying to tell me that there is nothing the police can do to help me,” said Nxumalo

Nxumalo told IOL that while still in conversation with the detective, a woman sergeant joined them in the office.

“The sergeant came in and asked her colleague: Khumalo, how much did this one lose? and Khumalo told her I had lost R500,000. The sergeant remarked that instead of giving the money to the scammer, I should have given her the money instead,” she said.

“At that point, I was so broken and shattered. It was on that day, after that engagement with the police that I started planning how I was going to end my life. But by God’s grace, I’m here to tell my story.”

More than a year later, the bubbly Nxumalo has not allowed the scam to bring her life down, but she is now actively involved in campaigns to raise awareness on the rampant love scams which are spiraling across South Africa

IOL this week approached the South African Police Service in Gauteng, and it confirmed that the docket in Jabu’s case was “temporarily closed”, pending the resurgence of new evidence or information on the alleged swindler.

Gauteng provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo told IOL that if new evidence emerges regarding the whereabouts of the alleged swindler, the docket will be re-opened

“This is a case of fraud and the case will be re-opened once there is new evidence or once we can get the suspect,” he said.

Masondo said the SAPS requests Ssekasi to contact the nearest police station. Community members who recognise Ssekasi should alert the police.

“Anyone who sees him is requested to call the nearest police station. He is required to help police with the investigation,” said Masondo

Meanwhile, Nxumalo appealed to women to be vigilant in love relationships — a trait which would have saved her R500,000.

“Red flags include a new boyfriend who is very interested in where you work and what you do. They will ask random questions, like are you renting or is it your house. The scammer will ‘love bomb’ their victims, which means attempting to influence you as a woman through over-the-top displays of attention and affection,” said Nxumalo.

“The scammers claim to be deeply in love within a few weeks of meeting for the first time. Within days or weeks, he will want to introduce the unsuspecting victim to his ‘family’. But most of all, if the new boyfriend wants to borrow some money from you … run for your life.”

couple’s wedding night turned into a nightmare after masked gunmen stormed into their backyard reception and shot the groom

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A Missouri couple’s wedding night turned into a nightmare after masked gunmen stormed into their backyard reception and shot the groom in the head in front of his bride and guests during a failed armed robbery.

Manuel and Dulce Gonzalez had been together for over a decade and were already the parents of two small children when they held an intimate wedding ceremony for about 50 of their close friends and family in the backyard of their St. Louis home on Friday, June 28, Fox 2 Now reported Monday, July 1.

However, while celebrating the couple’s love, two gunmen wearing ski masks stormed into the backyard, shouting at the guest not to move and demanding money as the night came to a close at around 1 a.m. Saturday, June 29, police told the outlet.

As one of the cold-hearted criminals began rummaging through the guests’ pockets, the other stood behind the groom and held him at gunpoint.

Then, without any warning, the thug shot Manuel Gonzalez in the head in front of his tight-knit family and friends, according to Fox 2 Now.

Groom shot in the head at wedding reception in front of family during attempted robbery

After the shots rang out, both men fled on foot without stealing a single dollar or item from guests.

“They took nothing, yet they took everything from us,” The bride’s sister, Yaribeth Peña, told the outlet.

The 32-year-old groom was rushed to the hospital and was listed in critical condition.

Peña, who ran into the house when the men stormed into the backyard, said the situation unfolded in about 30 seconds before her brother-in-law was shot.

“I didn’t witness when he got shot. I heard the gunshot when I was running through the house,” she told KSDK.

She added that she suspects the armed thieves shot her brother-in-law while he was “going for his wallet.”

“Maybe they thought he was going for a weapon,” Peña said.

She believes the suspects are two teenagers, describing one as being shorter than the other.

Ring Doorbell footage obtained by KSDK from the couple’s home shows the two suspects approaching the house before the attempted robbery and then taking off down the road after shooting Manuel Gonzalez.

No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Manuel Gonzalez’s father-in-law said on Monday, July 1, that his son-in-law had made some hand movements since being admitted to the hospital but remains in critical condition.

Peña shared that her sister is “distraught” about what happened to her husband.

“She’s depressed, she’s heartbroken,” Peña said.

“He’s fighting for his life. We are hoping he pulls through.”

The sister-in-law described Manuel Gonzalez as a “good father” who treats her sister with respect and is known as a hard-working family man.

“He’s just an all-around good person that, I don’t know, he didn’t deserve this,” Peña told Fox 2 Now of her brother-in-law.

Peña, who lives next door to her sister and brother-in-law’s home, shared she now worries about her family’s safety with the violent criminals still on the loose.

The family is also asking anyone with information or a Ring door video that may have caught a glimpse of the suspects to come forward.

Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred in New York

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Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and one-time celebrated prosecutor, has been disbarred in New York after being found guilty of making repeated false statements regarding the 2020 election.

The New York Appellate Court issued the decision on Tuesday, marking a significant fall from grace for Giuliani, who was once revered as a formidable U.S. prosecutor and later praised for his leadership in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks.

As the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Giuliani earned a reputation as a tough prosecutor who took on the mob. His prominence grew, culminating in being named Time’s Person of the Year in 2001.

The 31-page ruling partly read;

“Giuliani is disbarred from the practice of law, effective immediately, and until the further order of this Court, and his name stricken from the roll of attorneys and counselors-at-law in the State of New York.

“The disciplinary charges stem from the allegations that respondent communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020.

“These false statements were made to improperly bolster respondent’s narrative that due to widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client.”

Giuliani’s New York law license had already been suspended in June 2021 after the division determined that his claims of a stolen election from Donald Trump constituted a serious violation. This latest decision by the New York Appellate Court on Tuesday, July 2, cements his disbarment.

This disbarment marks a dramatic downfall for Giuliani, who was once hailed as a tough prosecutor against organized crime and lauded for his leadership in New York City following the 9/11 terror attacks.

Giuliani has arguably faced much wider repercussions for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election than Trump himself. He also faces disbarment in Washington, where the D.C. Bar’s Board of Professional Responsibility recently recommended that Giuliani be disbarred.

In May, Giuliani was suspended by WABC radio and had his show cancelled for continuing to make false statements about the 2020 election, which could have potentially opened the station up to legal liability.

Two Georgia poll workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, were awarded $148 million by a jury after a federal judge found Guiliani liable for falsely accusing them of election fraud, allegations which had zero factual basis. Because of surveillance video that had spurred conspiracy theorists online, Giuliani had falsely accused the mother-daughter duo of passing around USB drives “like vials of heroin or cocaine,” when, in fact, they were passing a ginger mint. The allegations set off a wave of racist attacks and threats against the pair.

Donald Trump’s 11 July sentencing in his hush-money case is expected to be delayed

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Former US President, Donald Trump’s 11 July sentencing in his hush-money case is expected to be delayed after his lawyers asked the judge to set aside his conviction in the wake of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.

In a letter to Justice Juan Merchan, Manhattan prosecutors said that while they believed Trump’s motion to overturn his conviction to be “without merit”, they did not object to his request to delay the sentencing.

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for “official actions” they take while in office.

In May, Trump’s conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records was based in part on evidence of meetings and communications that occurred while he was president.

A letter sent by Trump’s lawyers to the judge cites Monday’s ruling that granted the former president immunity from prosecution for “official actions” he took while in office.

Manhattan prosecutors have asked that the judge respond to Trump’s motion by 24 July.

Judge Merchan must now rule on whether to formally adjourn the sentencing.

Trump’s team points out that the former president signed off on the records in the hush money case while in office in 2017, but one lawyer suggested this was unlikely to be considered an official act.

His lawyers also argued that during his Manhattan trial, prosecutors shared “highly prejudicial” evidence that should have never been presented to the jury because it was from during his time in the White House, including Trump’s 2017 social media posts and testimony about events in the Oval Office.

“The verdicts in this case violate the presidential immunity doctrine and create grave risks of ‘an Executive Branch that cannibalizes itself,'” Trump’s lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the letter to Justice Merchan.

Last year, Trump’s lawyers similarly argued that the allegations in the case involved that were within the scope of his official presidential duties.

However, a federal judge wrote that Trump had failed to show that his conduct was “for or relating to any act performed by or for the President under [scope] of the official acts of a president”.

Monday’s ruling by the Supreme Court was hailed by Trump as a “big win” for democracy.

The justices ruled that a president had immunity for “official acts” but was not immune for “unofficial acts”.

That ruling related to a separate case against Trump: he is suspected of trying to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election result that gave victory to Joe Biden.

Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, President Biden described it as a “dangerous precedent” that undermined the “rule of law” in America.

Infamous British nurse, Lucy Letby has been found guilty of the attempted murder of a baby girl

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Infamous British nurse, Lucy Letby has been found guilty of the attempted murder of a baby girl.

The 34-year-old convicted child killer has been found guilty of the murder of Baby K, much to the relief of the baby’s parents after a jury failed to reach a verdict previously in August.

Letby was previously given 14 whole-life orders in prison at Manchester Crown Court for the murder of seven young babies and trying to murder six others, when she was working at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

The jury found Letby guilty on Tuesday July 2 of trying to murder the ‘very premature’ baby by dislodging her breathing tube 90 minutes after her birth.

It took the jury almost four hours to deliver their verdict following the four-week retrial.

As the guilty verdict was read out, Letby reportedly sat in the dock and showed no emotion on her face.

Baby K was targeted by Letby after she was moved from the delivery room to the neo-natal unit after her premature birth.

The prosecution said Letby interfered with Baby K’s breathing tube on two more occasions during the same shift to create the impression that Baby K was displacing her own tube.

The court heard how consultant paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram caught Letby ‘virtually red-handed’ when he entered the neo-natal unit at 3.45am on February 17 2016.

He said he saw ‘no evidence’ that Letby was doing anything to try and help Baby K as she stood by her incubator.

When Baby K’s oxygen levels dropped, he told the court he heard no call for help from Letby or alarms sounding.

The victim, Baby K was moved to a specialist hospital afterwards because of her premature birth but died three days later.

The baby’s cause of death was certified as extreme prematurity and severe respiratory distress syndrome but a post-mortem examination was not carried out.

Letby told the jury that she had no recollection of this event and denied the offences she had been convicted of.

But almost two years later Letby searched Baby K’s surname on Facebook in April 2018.

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said this behaviour by Letby became a pattern.

Johnson told the court: ‘The truth is that Lucy Letby had a fascination with the babies she had murdered and attempted to murder, and with their families. She took pleasure in her murderous handiwork.’

Senior Crown Prosecutor Nicola Wyn Williams said: ‘Lucy Letby has continually denied that she tried to kill this baby or any of the babies that she has been convicted of murdering or attempting to murder. The jury has heard all of the detailed evidence including from her in her own defence and formed its own view.

‘Our case included direct evidence from a doctor who walked into the nursery to find a very premature baby desaturating with Letby standing by, taking no action to help or to raise the alarm. She had deliberately dislodged the breathing tube in an attempt to kill her.

‘Staff at the unit had to think the unthinkable – that one of their own was deliberately harming and killing babies in their care.

‘Letby dislodged the tube a further two times over the following few hours in an attempt to cover her tracks and suggest that the first dislodgment was accidental. These were the actions of a cold-blooded, calculated killer.

‘The grief that the family of Baby K have felt is unimaginable. Our thoughts remain with them and all those affected by this case at this time.’

Letby will be sentenced for the attempted murder of Baby K on July 5 at Manchester Crown Court.

In September, a public inquiry is set to be launched as to how Letby was able to commit her crimes.

diabetic woman died after a therapeutic evangelist persuaded her to stop taking insulin, a court has heard

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A diabetic woman died after a therapeutic evangelist persuaded her to stop taking insulin, a court has heard.

Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71, looked for other treatments for her Diabetes condition due to her fear of needles.

She flew from her home in East Sussex, UK to Bulgaria in July 2026 after hearing about Hongchi Xiao

After the visit, she stopped taking her insulin, making her seriously unwell.

She also started vomiting and refused to listen to her loved ones who had to beg her to start taking insulin again before she recovered.

Diabetic Woman dies after “messenger sent by God

However, in October of that year, she went to a retreat hosted in Seend, Wiltshire, by Xiao, 61, who was described in the programme for the event as ‘Master Xiao’. There he evangelized his “Paida Lajin therapy” as a replacement for insulin, and Danielle described him as a ‘messenger sent by God’.

She stopped taking insulin again and became ill again. She died on the fourth day of the retreat after Xiao failed to call for help.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said: ‘It is said to be a method of self-healing in which “poisonous waste” is expelled from the body through patting and slapping parts of the body.’

‘He knew that Mrs Carr-Gomm was risking death, and he knew that he had an influence over her decision.

‘In short, therefore he chose to congratulate a diabetic who stopped injecting, rather than to persuade them not to take so grievous a risk to their life.’

Mr Atkinson told the jury that Xiao had already been prosecuted for manslaughter after a six-year-old boy died in 2015.

The boy had stopped taking insulin after his parents took him to the ‘alternative therapy’.

Xiao denies manslaughter, claiming he had no influence over the students at all and no more responsibility than anyone else at the retreat.

Charles Row KC, defending Xiao, told the jury that the defendant denied caring for Danielle who he had made ‘absolutely clear’ to that he was not medically trained. He also said Xiao told her not to suddenly stop taking her insulin.

The trial continues.

Tyla wins big as South African artists triumph at BET Awards

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South African singer Tyla was one of the big winners at this year’s BET Awards, dubbed “culture’s biggest night”, as she was named Best New Artist and Best International Act.

“This is such a gift to be here. I want to dedicate this one to Africa,” she said during her acceptance speech for Best New Artist, wearing a slinky black dress.
“I want to dedicate this one to all the African superstars before me. Africa to the world!”

She went on to give an electrifying performance of her hit song Jump featuring US rapper Gunna and Jamaican dancehall DJ Skillibeng.

Dancers wearing tiger print bodysuits – a nod to her fanbase she affectionately calls Tygers – opened her act, which also included a gigantic elephant statue and performers on stilts.

The BET Awards is an American award show founded in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate and honour black and underrepresented people in the entertainment industry.

This year’s ceremony was held at the Peacock Theatre in California.

Tyla was not the only South Africa winner, as Makhadzi a Limpopo-born artist, won the Viewer’s Choice: Best New International Act.

“I started music from the streets and today I’m here. My dream just came true. I’m just speechless. This is the best birthday ever,” she said.

She stunned in a fun pink ensemble for the red carpet.

Newly appointed Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie congratulated the two home-grown stars on X.

“Things are happening already, congratulations to both ladies, we wanna assure South Africans that we will not be a Ministry that will be content with congratulating artist and creatives only but will go out and unearth more Tyla’s & Makhadzi’s, help us find more future superstars,” he said.
It was also a chance to see great fashion.

South African rapper Focalistic, who was nominated for Best International Act looked dapper in a red suit, while Senegalese-American singer Akon got the colour same memo.

Nigerian singer Tems won Best Gospel/Inspirational Award, beating Kirk Franklin and Little Mermaid actress Halle Bailey, with her song Me & U.

But she wasn’t in attendance as she was performing at the UK’s Glastonbury festival.

She was also nominated for Video Director of the Year, but didn’t win.

Ayra Starr and Asake were also nominated for Best International Act but lost to Tyla.

ECL and God’s Favor for National Leadership: 12 Reasons Why PF must welcome, forgive and celebrate Miles Sampa their Prodigal Son- Chris Zumani

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ECL and God’s Favor for National Leadership: 12 Reasons Why PF must welcome, forgive and celebrate Miles Sampa their Prodigal Son

By Dr. Chris Zumani Zimba

1. Jesus Christ guided his disciples on the secret behind divine favour and leadership in Mathew 20:26-27 when he said : “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave”

2. In 2011 when PF formed government, Lungu was not among the to cabinet ministers President Sata assembled. He only started as a deputy minister-he took the posture of lower servants under King Cobra. Later, Sata himself promoted him higher.

3. By the time President Sata was dying, Lungu was acting Republican President, Defence Minister, acting Defense Minister and PF Secretary General. Between 2015 to 2021, despite many obstacles and challenges, Heaven favored Lungu to rule as the Sixth President of this Christian Nation. This was the doing of God!

4. In August 2021, HH with the help of the West became President and ECL graciously and peacefully handed over power to him. Out of evil intentions, in October, 2023, HH schemed to overthrow Lungu from his party and kill PF by dividing it. We know that Miles Sampa was sponsored to get PF from Lungu so that he has no political platform for 2026.

5. Bally did his “mingalato politics” to silence Lungu and burry PF everywhere including registrar of societies and in parliament. Miles Sampa became the darling of HH and Nevers Mumba as they celebrated “stealing PF” from ECL. We saw smiles at Bally’s face as Sampa was even given official state security. King Nebuchadnezzar was very happy!

6. As expected, HH’s “presidential envoy” but practically “his Chola boy or chief praise singer”, Nevers Mumba was also seen many times mocking Lungu and dinning with Miles Sampa to kiss and applaud Bally’s good efforts in punishing and finishing ECL. HH’s second term was being cooked as per plan!

7. But God was still speaking the same message to Lungu of 2015 from Jeremiah 1:5-“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations”. National Leadership especially in the land of praying Christians can not come from man or America but from God above.

8. On 30th June, 2024, Lungu and Miles Sampa met after 3 years and conferred in the middle of the night while Bally and Nevers Mumba were dreaming and snoring! When they woke up, they found social media dancing and celebrating the “political reunion” of ECL and Bally’s project-Miles Sampa in stylish pictures everywhere.

9. This unexpected meeting between Lungu and Sampa speaks of God’s favour on LUNGU’S national leadership. This meeting is confirmed in Zechariah 4:6, the Bible says “ This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.

10. Miles Sampa is LUNGU’S prodigal son who had gone astray and very far. Now that he has realized his wrongs and decided to comeback to his political father in humility and apology, the PF family must embrace him with love, grace, forgiveness and compassion as their own brother.

11. If Lungu who was most humiliated and politically injured has forgiven and embraced his prodigal son, there should be no reason for anyone in PF to hate or shun Miles Sampa. Bitterness, vengeance and anger is the political spirit that controls UPND and rules Community House. PF must always do the opposite!

12. We surely expect President Lungu, when the storm is over and PF is back to its original formats as one political family, to throw “a big feast” to toast and celebrate the coming back of his lost son, Miles Sampa. This is important because President Sata and Lungu have built PF on the wheels of forgiveness and human love.

Dr Chris ZUMANI Zimba is a Political Scientist, Researcher, Author & Consultant specialized in Comparative Global Governance and Democratic Theories. He holds a PhD, MA, BA and Cert in Political Science. Zimba was President Lungu’s Political Advisor from December 2019 to August 2021. By philosophical approach, Dr. Zimba is a Pan Africanist as well as Afro-Christian by religion.
Email:chriszumaniZimba.cz@gmail.com

1.6 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS TO BENEFIT FROM US$207.6 WORLD BANK GRANT

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1.6 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS TO BENEFIT FROM US$207.6 GRANT

Lusaka, Tuesday, 2nd July, 2024 –

The World Bank has approved $207.6 million grant as the second additional financing for the Scaling-Up Shock Responsive Social Protection Project. The development has been confirmed in a letter addressed to Finance and National Planning Minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, MP, by the World Bank Executive Director for Africa Group 1 Constituency, Dr Floribert Ngaruko.

The funds, made up of US$200 million from the International Development Association (IDA) and US$7.6 million from the Zambia Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood (GEWEL) Multi-Donor Trust Fund, are meant to help the Government to effectively respond to the impact of drought through the provision of a temporal increase in the transfer value (vertical expansion) to existing social cash transfer beneficiaries, and recruitment of additional beneficiaries (horizontal expansion) in the affected districts identified under the emergency drought response strategy.

Dr Ngaruko, World Bank Executive Director for Africa Group 1 Constituency, wrote:

“I am pleased to inform you that the Board of Executive Directors of the World Banks International Development Association on July 1, 2024, approved (on an absence-of-objection basis) a second additional GRANT in the amount of US$200 million from the IDA Crisis Response Window to the Republic of Zambia for the Scaling-up Shock Responsive Social Protection Project. The additional financing will be co-financed by a GRANT in the amount of US$7.6 million from the Zambia Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood Multi-Donor Trust Fund.

“The project development objective is to protect poor and vulnerable households’ consumption in response to shocks in Zambia. The Social Cash Transfer Program for emergency assistance will be scaled-up to address the escalating impacts of the ongoing drought on poor and vulnerable households. Specifically, it will support at least over 1.6 million households across 84 drought-impacted districts with emergency cash assistance over a 12-month period, including 904,635 current Social Cash Transfer beneficiary households and 726,361 new households.”

With gratitude to the World Bank, Dr Musokotwane has said, “the Zambian Government applauds the World Bank for approving funds from the International Development Association’s Crisis Response Window for the Scaling-up Shock Responsive Social Protection Project.

“We are delighted that the World Bank continues to hold our hand in challenging times such as now when Zambia is facing a confluence of crises, including a severe cholera outbreak in the first quarter of the year, compounded by the worst drought on record in the 2023/2024 season which has been declared as a national disaster and emergency, leaving about 6.6 million people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

“The World Bank funds will complement our drought response plan by scaling-up the Social Cash Transfer Programme to help meet the shortfalls and ensure regular cash transfers. The expansion of the Social Cash Transfer Program will entail the temporal increase in the number of beneficiary households and an increase the cash transfer values to K400 from K200 per month.”

The World Bank’s approval of the second additional financing will fortify existing social protection programmes and mitigate against the adverse effects of the extensive drought that Zambia is experiencing, amidst constrained domestic resources. The provision of funds is a clear demonstration of the confidence that the World Bank has in Zambia’s economic reforms, and in the country’s public financial governance, in general. The US $207.6 million GRANT by the World Bank comes barely after the IMF Executive Board approved the third assessment of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme, that came with an immediate disbursement of approximately US $569.6 million.

Once again, states the Minister, we take this opportunity to pay tribute to all local and international development partners who have extended their helping hands to assist the country in responding to the drought crisis, and he concluded that, “we are putting in place grain deficiency mitigation measures through the winter and early maize production initiatives, involving as many Zambian farmers as possible. Through strong collaboration with fellow citizens and other development partners, we will overcome the challenges we are facing this year and become a net food supplier for the region, in the medium-term. We are confident that we will succeed.”

Issued by:

(Original Signed)

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY

JOHN GENERAL ASKED FOR GUN, COURT HEARS

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JOHN GENERAL ASKED FOR GUN, COURT HEARS

After allegedly being caught having sex with a married woman at her residence, Miracle Impact International overseer John Nundwe, alias John General, is said to have asked for a gun so that he could shoot the woman’s husband.

This was heard in court, Friday, during opening of trial in a case Nundwe, 52, is charged with rape.It is alleged that on November 22 last year, the cleric allegedly raped a 26-year-old woman, to be called Jessy.Nundwe pleaded not guilty to the charge and the first witness to testify was a headman from Kahare village in Lusaka’s Balarstone, who will be called Mr Chisha.

The headman told Lusaka magistrate Amy Masoja-Chilangwa that on the material day, Jessy’s husband, pseudonym Mr Tamba, confided in him that he caught his wife having sex with Nundwe.Mr Chisha said he was later taken to Mr Tamba’s house to see the evidence left behind by Nundwe, who is also a bishop.The witness narrated that Mr Tamba informed him that he caught Nundwe and Jessy in the bedroom having sex before the accused fled, leaving behind his clothes and a car.

The court also heard that after the incident, Nundwe sent an apostle to meet Mr Chisha and Mr Tamba for possible reconciliation.Mr Chisha said Nundwe’s lawyers were not comfortable to convene the planned meeting in Kahare village as they felt that it was unsafe for their client.“Mr Nundwe’s lawyers felt that my place was not safe. They were told that no-one would attack them.

That is how the meeting failed to take place,” he said.During cross-examination, defence lawyer Yokonia Daka asked Mr Chisha to tell court from which room the voices of two people heard by Mr Tamba emanated. “From the spare bedroom. He [Mr Tamba] found the man [Nundwe] on top of the woman and asked what was happening.

In response, John General shouted and asked his friend he came with, who was in the sitting room, to bring a gun to shoot Mr Tamba,” he said. “In response, Mr Tamba said that he was also going to get a gun.”Mr Chisha explained that at this point, Mr Tamba went outside to lock the gate to prevent Nundwe and his friend from fleeing.“While this happened, had my client disembarked from the top of Mr Tamba’s wife?” Mr Daka asked.“If caught, can you remain on top?” Mr Chisha responded, as the gallery burst into laughter.“Silence in court!” magistrate Masoja-Chilangwa ordered before guiding Mr Daka to avoid asking questions that solicit an opinion from the witness.

Mr Daka then asked if the witness ever interacted with Jessy on that day, and Mr Chisha said ‘no’.“If you never interacted or met her, we can’t know if this [alleged rape] really happened?” the lawyer asked, as Mr Chisha said the incident happened “because the woman was brought and she was even facing down”.

Another defence lawyer, Elijah Siatwaambo, asked Mr Chisha to confirm that he never saw Nundwe sleeping with Mr Tamba’s wife as alleged, to which he said no. The matter comes up on Aug 1 and 2 for continued trial.

STORY CREDIT Zambia Daily Mail

UPND DIVISIONS IN LIVINGTONE DEEPEN

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UPND DIVISIONS IN L/STONE DEEPEN

By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone

CRACKS in the ruling party in Livingstone have deepened with ward chairpersons attacking some members of the district executive for fighting mayor Constance Muleabai.

On Friday, the district executive held a press briefing distancing itself from Muleabai over an alleged bribe involving K180,000 linked to council land rates.

However, on Saturday a group of UPND ward leaders led by Akapelwa ward chairlady Dorothy Kakwisa held a press briefing in solidarity with the mayor.

Kakwisa in reference to calls for Muleabai to resign as demanded by some UPND members said “we don’t want a by-election”.

“These people who held a press briefing yesterday (Friday) are group of people who were not there when we formed the UPND. They are now the ones benefiting even from CDF (Constituency Development Fund). They are the ones who have also peddled the propaganda against the mayor,” Kakwisa said.

She added that the wards have been writing to senior party officials warning that the party is disintegrating.

Kakwisa said the UPND members against the Muleabai are interested in 2026 elections and want the mayor out of the way.

“This person they are fighting is the one who has made the party to be known,” said Kakwisa.

And Steward Kazoka, who is Namatama ward youth chairperson, said the youths in Livingstone are against using the party to fight the mayor saying her mandate is up to 2026.

“Let the law enforcement agencies investigate the mayor. She is facing personal issues and we should not join in these. We are, as UPND, demanding that these people should resign,” said Kazoka.

Mosi-oa-Tunya ward chairlady Grain Siakapongo accused some UPND members of working against Muleabai.

She said the eight UPND members she did not name are the ones benefiting from CDF.

“Mayor muntuwesu (the mayor is ours). We voted for her and she is not going anywhere,” said Siakapongo.

On Friday, Livingstone UPND secretary Renny Shindelele said Muleabai is on her own over alleged corruption involving K180,000 which was meant for land rates.

Addressing the press at the party office at Victoria Hall Livingstone, district vice chairperson Sikobela Sikobela strongly insisted that there should be no questions after Shindelele read out a press release and refused to answer a question from ZNBC’s Mercy Ngoma over party divisions.

“There shall be no questions. This is the end of this press briefing,” said Sikobela.

A farmer has reported Muleabai to Drug Enforcement Commission over a transaction involving K180,000 meant for property rates payment.

Muleabai however, denies ever being given the money by Mark Gabrites, the director of Zam Nuka Farm.

On June 4, Gabrites wrote to ACC saying he met Muleabai over property rates allegedly to which she suggested he pays her K180,000 so as to set up a team to have a (full) council meeting where they would grant him remission for part of or full rates that were owed.”

“We paid the K180,000 in cash to the Mayor and did not receive a receipt,” Gabrites said.

He added that later he received a letter from the Town Clerk (Timothy Mambalakata) stating that full remission was declined and that the council would offer remission for 2023 full year of K90,000.

“As of October 2023 our outstanding rates were at K338,753.20, we then paid K180,000 cash and our 2023 rates were reduced by K90,000 due to the remission for 2023,” he noted.

Gabrites said he then left Zambia and returned in December and then met Muleabai in January 2024 to ask why there was no reduction to the rates owed since “we had paid K189,000”.

Gabrites said he wants to pay what he owes the council but won’t until justice is served.

A letter from Mambalakata dated October 30, 2023, indicated that Gabrites’ request for remission on property rates was denied but added that at its sitting of October 19, 2023 the council decided to grant him remission 100 per cent on the amount payable 2023, “but for the arrears you are required to pay the debt in full.”

When contacted for a comment, Muleabai told The Mast that “let them prove who they paid the K180,000.”

She explained that a lot of people and business institutions approach the council to ask for remissions which are sometimes given.

“We have assisted Protea and others before to have part of their rates waived and the rest entered into a payment plan. With regards to the issue in question is that they did (Gabrites and his partner Monde Sumbwa) came here to ask for assistance and I called the TC (Town Clerk) who asked that they pay half of the bill and the other we can enter into a payment plan,” she said. “K180,000 is a lot of money. If it was brought to me I was going to ask them to sign for it. He asked for assistance and he is dealing with Monde who is a friend of mine. However, I know where this is all coming from because I have a lot of political enemies.”

Muleabai said despite having political enemies she also has friends and supporters. “Some are asking me to seek for second term as mayor in 2026 and others are saying I go for member of parliament,” she said.

Muleabai said she has been asking Gabrites to bring Monde who works at Livingstone University Hospital to her office to explain the movements of the K180,000 which he has not done.

She also took an exception over Gabrites recording of her conversations at her office which has gone viral on social media.

But Shindelele said the ruling party in the district has continued receiving complaints from the public regarding Muleabai’s alleged bribe.

“This briefing this morning borders on the alleged corruption against her worship the Mayor of Livingstone. Recently, the republican President and the Vice-President have strongly spoken against corruption because of its adverse effects on national development.Further, His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema is committed to fighting corruption of the past, present and the future,” he said. “It is therefore the party’s position in Livingstone district that the party does not support corruption and we distance the party from the alleged corruption against the mayor. Any member who is corrupt, they are on their own. So the mayor is on her own over this alleged corruption.”

Shindelele urged the law enforcement agencies to keep the public informed over Muleabai’s alleged bribe through the press.

RESOLVE ILLEGALITIES BEFORE YOU LET MILES SAMPA EXERCISE POWERS…You risk legitimizing his illegal position- Sensio Banda

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RESOLVE ILLEGALITIES BEFORE YOU LET MILES SAMPA EXERCISE POWERS

…You risk legitimizing his illegal position…

“PF MUST CAREFULLY NAVIGATE RELATED LEGAL ISSUES TO ENSURING COMPLIANCE DURING PARTY RECONCILIATION PROCESSES”

Illegalities should never be condoned, regardless of the individual or organization involved, whether it is the UPND, PF, or any other group. As Zambia functions as a constitutional democracy with a multi-party system, it is essential to adhere to the rule of law to ensure all party activities are conducted within legal boundaries. Upholding these principles fosters accountability and fairness in the political system.

The PF party has been openly known to be embroiled in internal disputes, leading to the formation of two factions aligned with Former President ECL and Matero Member of Parliament MBS, respectively.

The faction aligned with the Matero lawmaker held a conference and elected a supposed leader. Questions were raised regarding the validity of the conference according to the PF constitution. Subsequently, when the installed faction leader made appointments of the Leader of the Opposition and related Whips in Parliament, stakeholders pointed out the violation of relevant constitutional provisions and parliamentary standing orders. However, Speaker of the House recognized the appointments made by the faction leader as legitimate. This sparked further debate on the adherence to constitutional and parliamentary procedures regarding political appointments.

By validating these appointments, the government inadvertently allowed internal disputes within the PF party to influence parliamentary affairs, prompting questions about transparency and integrity in the democratic process in parliament.

Recently, there has been an interesting development in the PF party, as a communique on social media suggests that the two factions have come to a compromise. This is a promising step for democracy, especially since the PF is the largest opposition party in Zambia. However, there has been a new development as the faction leader, who is also the member of parliament for Matero, has made changes to the office bearers of Secretary General and Deputy. Furthermore, new appointments have been made for Leader of the Opposition and related Whips in parliament, which goes against the previous stance on illegalities.

The other faction’s acceptance of these appointments raises concerns about the consistency and integrity of the PF in upholding the rule of law within internal politics. How does the PF justify the appointment of parliamentary office bearers by a member deemed illegitimate as PF President, especially when the constitutional court has ruled that Hon. Brian Mundubile remains a substantive office bearer?

While the reconciliation initiative is appreciated, it is important to ensure that personal agendas and illegal actions do not disrupt the process. Doing so could lead to unintended consequences and lengthen the reconciliation timeline. The PF party should have prioritized resolving legal and internal obstacles to reconciliation, rather than making insignificant appointments. By accepting appointments that are reportedly unlawful, the PF is jeopardizing its credibility when it comes to addressing constitutional and human rights violations by the UPND. The PF must navigate this situation carefully to maintain integrity and effectiveness in their efforts for reconciliation.

When striving for justice and upholding democratic values, it is imperative to avoid partaking in illegal actions to achieve political goals. Adhering to the principles of law is critical in promoting transparency, accountability, and political equality. It is important to always differentiate between right and wrong, without any exceptions or justifications.

The Struggle Continues

Sensio Banda
Former Member Of Parliament
Kasenengwa Constituency
Eastern Province

Release MP Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda from detention and drop the fake charges: an open letter to Hakainde Hichilema

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Release MP Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda from detention and drop the fake charges: an open letter to Hakainde Hichilema

By Azwell Banda

Dear President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema,

It is my great wish that you and your entire family are well. I write to you, about Petauke Central member of parliament Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda. I believe you know him very well, far too well, as I shall make clear in this letter.

May I ask? It must be good to be President of Zambia, isn’t it, especially during these tough times when the majority of Zambians sleep hungry, are tortured by lack of electricity and critical water shortages as they struggle to find money to pay rent and buy extremely expensive food, medicines, diesel, petrol, paraffin, electricity and pay for transport, among many hardships, all which have sharply risen since you became President of Zambia? Imagine knowing all this depressing stuff but still going ahead to enjoy the luxurious privilege at the expense of these same poor Zambian tax payers, to travel all the way to Europe, to the United Kingdom actually, just to go and personally receive an honorary degree bestowed on you under clearly, very false pretences!

I wonder what was going on in your mind, as you stood there, with the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, King Charles III, in the posh palatial halls of the United Kingdom adorned also with wealth stolen from former British colonies and some of this wealth actually bought from proceeds of the abominable trade in African slaves? But then, you are a kind that finds much pleasure in White adulation and adoration, and has made it a habit to disparage us, Africans, for the many weaknesses you see in us. Do you care to know that the full cost of your trip could have paid the Zesco bills for half a year, of the average poor town in Zambia? Sorry, I forget: with the on-going severe electricity blackouts, your trip alone probably cost more than the electricity bills of all the electrified houses in Matero for a whole year and more. You are a genius, my dear President Hichilema: you have succeeded to export lies to a European university! Congratulations.

Principal and vice-chancellor Professor Richard Williams of Scottish University, Heriot Watt, waxed lyrical last Thursday, when he conferred you with an honorary Doctorate of the University. According to Professor Richard Williams your “transformative stewardship exemplifies the virtues of dedication, resilience and foresight.” This could possibly have been the only truth this professor uttered, about you: for yourself, your family, friends and your foreign business associates, it is true that your “transformative stewardship exemplifies the virtues of dedication, resilience and foresight.” For the majority of Zambians you are a pathological liar and your presidency will be forever remembered as one in which millions of Zambians suffered untold poverty, hunger and the highest ever cost of living Zambians have ever suffered!

Now, principal and vice-chancellor Professor Richard Williams leads Scottish University, Heriot Watt. The minimum I expect before anyone in his profession and holding the office he does, before he can say this, about anyone who is a current president of any country as he showers them with an unearned honorary doctorate: “His leadership in all these roles has been characterised by his creation of strategic growth initiative and robust ethical management practices. His pathway to the presidency was neither direct nor devoid of hardship. His resolve was tested through trials of imprisonment on allegations of treason and being subjected to torture,” must first check the facts for correctness and accuracy.

You know very well, my dear President, that in your whole life you have never been imprisoned, and as yet, there is no proof that you were tortured, anywhere. Invaded in your homestead, yes, roughed up by the police and prison warders, yes, but tortured, not yet proven. Imprisoned, definitely not. Detained yes, absolutely. You Sir, know these simple and basic truths very well, and yet there you were, with a wide grin on your round face, smiling proudly and taking it all in as if it was all true. You are an artistic performer Hollywood would do well to invite you too.

Obviously with great joy in his heart, principal and vice-chancellor Professor Richard Williams of Scottish University, Heriot Watt finally declared, at the ceremony: “It is now my pleasure to present to you, in the name of the university and by the authority of Senate, in recognition for services to the economic advancement of Zambia and its citizens, enabling citizens’ access to education and to the revitalisation of international trade, I will confer the honorary degree of Doctor of the University on Hakainde Hichilema, President of Zambia.”

Now, dear President Hichilema, I am very angry with this Professor Richard Williams of Scottish University (I honestly feel like insulting him, in my best Bemba), Heriot Watt: half of Zambia’s population and more is acutely hungry with 6.6 million living in near famine conditions because you, Hakainde Hichilema sold most of the maize in our strategic reserves in order to “revitalise international trade” in maize! Now drought has worsened the scarcity and ever rising prices of both maize and mealie meal. All Richard Williams needed to do before handing you that worthless piece of paper was to check Zambia’s social media pages and he would have learnt just how disastrous your presidency has turned out to be, barely three years into your only term of office.

You, my dear President, know and understand very well whose economic advancement in Zambia you have secured, and at whose great expense: the majority of the people of Zambia who for a long time to come will bear the deadly brunt of your “strategic growth initiative and robust ethical management practices”, “revitalisation of international trade” and ultimately, the “economic advancement of Zambia.” To millions of Zambians right now, struggling with hunger, poverty, electricity, water and so much more, and the ever rising high cost of living, may I politely remind you that you remain “a gift from hell”, for them.

I have digressed. And yet the matters are related. Because both speak to your character and attitude to other human beings, and the truth. What exactly has MP Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda done to you and your UPND party and government to deserve the extremely cruel treatment you are meting out to him? Please do tell me, dear President Hakainde Hichilema, what the sins and actual crimes Jay Jay Banda has committed against you, perhaps your family, and friends in the UPND, are. You have personally, publicly at a press conference, instructed the police to arrest him, charge him, and lock him up for unbailable offences knowing full well Jay Jay has fingered some of your officials at State House to be behind his abduction, torture and disappearance. Why have the policed not yet arrested these suspected criminals and thugs, at State House? Your incompetent government is quick to arrest your opposition for the flimsiest, trivial, suspected offence.

Your police have abducted Jay Jay several times. Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda has named the people behind his abduction. You, President Hichilema, have called MP Jay Jay Banda a thug, knowing very well he is an MP, sick, in your government custody, and you were going to charge him with unbailable offenses. You know very well that your actions and utterances throughout Jay Jay’s ordeal have permanently injured and damaged his chances of a fair trial, in any court, in Zambia. Tell, me, what exactly has Jay Jay done to you, your family, your UPND or any of your friends to deserve the suffering he is currently enduring at your government’s hands?

I do not know Petauke Central member of parliament (MP) Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda, nor have I ever met him, “in person”, as they say these days. What I know about him comes from media stories about him. This, too, was the extent of my knowledge of you, now President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, when I, together with others, organised international protests for your release from detention when you were illegally and quite frankly, idiotically detained by Edgar Chagwa Lungu’s Patriotic Front (PF) government in April 2017 for “treason”. You know very well, Hakainde, that you indeed foolishly and very dangerously endangered then president Edgar Chagwa Lungu’s life and others when your motorcade refused to give way to the one transporting Edgar Chagwa Lungu. But this was not “treason”, it was clearly a traffic offence!

I come from a tradition several centuries old: an injury to one human being is an injury to humanity. No human being is safe if any human being anywhere is not safe, suffering injustices such as MP Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda is going through. The sickening savage ordeal you are putting Jay Jay through comes nowhere near the treatment of the thugs in your party and government you are protecting from arrests, charges, trials and being locked away for a long time, for some of them.

I demand, by copy of this letter, as a bona fide citizen of Zambia, that you immediately release Jay Jay from detention, and let him walk free, again, as is his right. Your unconstitutional and clearly criminal persecution of MP Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda will haunt you for your entire life, and follow you to your grave. This much I can promise you; unless of course your conscience has completely deserted you.

Send comments to: banda.azwell@gmail.com

If you’re praised by everyone know your leadership is questionable – Sinda UPND

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If you’re praised by everyone know your leadership is questionable – Sinda UPND

By Richard Luo in Sinda( The Mast)

SINDA UPND chairlady Roster Chulu says there are thorns in every good leadership.

Speaking during a Catholic choir festival at Chassa Parish recently organised by a Kapoche resident Eric Mwale, Chulu encouraged leaders to remain focused as it is normal for every leadership to receive criticism.

“Allow me to urge you this, I know you are leaders as choirs and while you sing you can be insulted that look at him, look at her as if they are the only ones. But listen, every good leader will receive throwing stones (insults) just like we see stones and trees in a fruitful mango tree. You will be criticised that you are not doing a good job. If it’s on a group you will be pointed that “mwaciona”(look at it). Just know your leadership is good. Don’t relax for there are thorns in good leadership but if you are praised by everyone just know your leadership is questionable,” she said.

Chulu also challenged women married to husbands who are not doing well financially to support them.

She said there is need for a woman to ensure her husband’s name is supported and protected.

“Let me talk to women. If you are doing well financially than your husband, let that success be seen through your husband and not yourself so that the name of your family is recognised because every family is recognised by a man who is the head of the house,” Chulu said. “When there is a contribution needed in an area and your husband doesn’t have money, give him and let him present it as doing so you are fortifying your home. And the respect given to your husband will overflow to you unlike when you show you can do it and your husband can’t do it, the family name receives shame.”

Chulu noted that before gender programmes came in, husbands were very hard working.

She said the gender agenda has made men relax and pave way for women when in God’s plan it is they who should lead.

“Gender has destroyed us. But let’s bear in mind that God created a man first and He has a direct contact with him. And we were created from a man and that we should be submissive to a man who is our husbands…” said Chulu. “Ngati mwamuna sakwanisa ise tikwanisa, tiyeni tibapase mphambvu ndipo dzina ya banja izaoneka. Lekani mphambvu yathu ikaonekere kwa mwamuna (If a man cannot manage and we are managing, let’s give them power and the name of our family will be recognised. Let our power be manifested in our husbands). Women, the UPND government has increased the CDF and there are a lot of programmes that have been introduced like loans, grants, empowerments of which if we take part our lives will change. Let’s not fold hands as those monies are meant for us, but because we don’t utilise them, they are sitting idle in local authority bank accounts.”

And Mwale, who plans to contest for the Kapoche parliamentary seat on the UPND ticket in 2026, said the government has the desire to alleviate poverty among citizens.

“UPND increased CDF so that our problems are reduced in our families and communities. But there are people who have been tasked to create a way for you to benefit by showing you what to do but they don’t, which is not good,” he said.

Mwale, who was represented by his coordinator Gibson Mvula, said he will continue to highlight to people what the UPND government is doing and plans to do so that residents of Kapoche can be part and parcel of beneficiaries from the national cake.

Mwale, who is also Eastern Province presidential mobilisation chairperson, assured the church that he would continue to cooperate with them as one of the stakeholders in good governance.

“We value the advice and services the church renders and this is the reason why even President Hakainde Hichilema respects the church because they mean well to the governance of this country,” said Mwale.

Meanwhile, parish chairperson Hapson Phiri

told the party that the church works with the government of the day and that they collaborate very well.

“We want to thank your coming and may you continue what you are doing. You need to be people who love God and the people themselves, and government and the church we work together,” said Phiri.

About six choir groups took part in the festival and each one received an appreciation in monetary terms from position one to six.

The curse of inferiority complex,WE NOW STAND FOR NOTHING…anything goes, brace forthe worst Zambia – Ng’uni

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The curse of inferiority complex,
WE NOW STAND FOR NOTHING
…anything goes, brace for
the worst Zambia – Ng’uni

By Larry Moonze

BRACE for the worst Zambia, warns former deputy finance minister Newton Ng’uni

He says slavery has come back full time in Zambia.

“Zambia we now stand for nothing and therefore, we are falling for anything.

Our leaders don’t have a clear roadmap to end poverty in Zambia. And they don’t want to be advised. So anything goes,” Ng’uni noted. “The pain of the curse of inferiority complex in a nation’s leaders – Zambia. The fact that the Vietnamese joker could offer himself ridiculous terms for his purported six million hectares project, the ZDA cleared it to enable VietZam to even start making presentations, cleared by line ministries and provincial ministers, allowed to go ahead to meet chiefs and a permanent secretary was in attendance in Luapula Province confirms who we have become as a nation. The UPND leaders are determined to sell to foreigners anything valuable in this land in the name of promoting foreign investment.”

Ng’uni said getting six million hectares is good enough for VietZam to raise the capital needed.

He said that feat can even attract the Vietnamese government to support the project.

“So saying an individual cannot finance a $72 billion project because his country’s GDP (gross domestic product) is only $408 billion is being naive. It shows our lack of understanding of the intricacies of international finance. The real finance here is the six million hectares we want to give plus our naivety (which we have shown so clearly in dealing with our mineral resources),” Ng’uni argued. “Our naivety is simply legendary. We knew Vedanta was broke. Its stock had been classified as junk prior to giving KCM back to them. But recently, investors oversubscribed to its stock after being given back KCM. Why? It is not Vedanta here which is important but our mineral deposits that KCM sits on. Look at Mopani, we were busy protesting that Delta had no experience because it was just recently incorporated. Again that is not important. It is the mineral deposits that Mopani sits on which is so important as to even attract the involvement of the world’s biggest company by the quantum of assets it manages (Black Rock – over $3 trillion including Bitcoins. This could be higher than Africa’s total GDP!).”

He wondered why Zambia was doing “all these naive things”.

“Our leaders are fixated on one man- ECL (Edgar Chagwa Lungu). They consider fixing ECL as the most important thing for them to accomplish, not fixing the economy. Our leaders don’t have a clear roadmap to end poverty in Zambia. And they don’t want to be advised. So anything goes. This is why even a joker like VietZam can come and take our ministers’ time presenting a joke to them and they are happy with it. This is why in the mining industry we are fixated on reaching production of three million tonnes of copper per annum without considering where that wealth will end up, who will benefit from it,” wrote Ng’uni on his Facebook wall. “We are giving up every control including voting rights in copper mining companies at the time when copper is being predicted to touch $40,000 in the near future. Zambia we now stand for nothing and therefore, we are falling for anything. This is why I am surprised that Zambians are surprised that these investment jokes are going on. We have no cogent plans to enhance human development that as a developmental State we ought to have. Zambia, slavery has come back full time. But instead of being sent to the Americas, our oppressors have come here under the protection of our State to keep us in perpetual slavery. Neo-colonialism is more rapacious and pernicious than direct colonialism. Brace for the worst Zambia.”

MINISTER OF JUSTICE ASSURES LAZ COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENT’S SUPPORT

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MINISTER OF JUSTICE ASSURES LAZ COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENT’S SUPPORT

Minister of Justice, Hon. Princess Kasune, has assured the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) Council of Government’s continued support and collaboration in furthering the legal profession in the country.

The Minister of Justice expressed confidence that the relationship between LAZ and Government will grow to greater heights.

The Minister of Justice further, reiterated Government’s commitment to constitutional reforms and enhancing democracy in the country. She called on the civil society organizations, the church and other stakeholders to keep voicing their concerns on national issues.

The Minister was speaking when the LAZ Council paid a courtesy call on her to congratulate her on her appointment as Minister of Justice and also to introduce the new LAZ Council.

And LAZ president, Lungisani Zulu, observed that the Ministry of Justice is a key stakeholder in achieving LAZ’s mandate and expressed the association’s readiness to work and support the new Minister.

Here are some of the highlights:

 The Minister of Justice informed LAZ Council Members that she operates on an Open Door Policy. And LAZ president, welcomed the idea for an open-door policy to ensure easy access and better communication between the Ministry and LAZ.


 LAZ called on Government to come up with a roadmap for constitutional reforms.
 The need to increase the number of judges and reform the Judges Act to raise the number of High Court judges to not less than 100 judges, as the current provision of 60 judges is insufficient.


 LAZ proposed to introduce a Legal Profession Bill, aimed at modernizing the legal profession and enabling it to contribute more effectively to the growth and development of the country’s economy.


 LAZ President, Mr. Zulu, expressed concern about the employment crisis for lawyers, and called on the Minister of Justice to consider creating more opportunities within government and other sectors to allow lawyers to serve and contribute to national development.
 Mr. Zulu also requested Government to consider engaging local and Zambian lawyers in government contracts.

ECONOMISTS’ BODY PREDICTS BRIGHT FUTURE UNDER IMF PROGRAM

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ECONOMISTS’ BODY PREDICTS BRIGHT FUTURE UNDER IMF PROGRAM

Lusaka, Monday (July 1, 2024)

The Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) has forecasted a positive outlook for Zambia under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Program.

While acknowledging short-term challenges, the EAZ emphasizes that the future is promising.

EAZ President Oswald Mungule encourages stakeholders to closely monitor how the IMF supports Zambia in overcoming its debt burden, ensuring the country’s sustainability.

Dr Mungule said during the 2024 Economic Summit scheduled for July 25th and 26th at Ciela Resort in Chongwe District, Lusaka (organized by the EAZ), the IMF will provide a comprehensive statement on Zambia’s debt distress resolution.

He also anticipates an economic outlook for Africa during the summit.

The IMF’s assessment will Dr Mungule said the IMF will cover various sectors, offering insights and guidance for both the continent and Zambia’s trajectory.

The Economics Guru said during the summit, stakeholders will analyze strategies to navigate the disaster and foster economic resilience.

He said the Economic Summit serves as a vital platform for collaboration between the government, industry players, and other stakeholders, demonstrating their commitment to overcoming economic challenges.

“We aim to drive economic recovery through partnerships and innovative strategies,” he said.

The EAZ President said the theme of this year’s summit is “Pioneering Zambia’s Sustainable Economic Transformation through Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Financing Mechanisms after Debt Restructuring.”

“Be part of the conversation that will shape Zambia’s future by joining us at this summit,” he said.

Dr Mungule said the Summit will delve into the crucial topics of sustainable development, climate change adaptation, and innovative financing mechanisms.

“Discover strategies to ensure a resilient and thriving economy for Zambia at this summit, with a special focus on post-debt restructuring. Don’t miss this opportunity to contribute to Zambia’s sustainable economic transformation. Join us as we navigate Zambia’s path towards a prosperous future,” he said.

The Economic Guru said the summit will address the challenges of climate change and explore sustainable solutions, while also discussing innovative financing mechanisms.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) Acting Chief Executive Officer Tendai Posiana.

Edgar Lungu and Miles Sampa have  put aside their differences and reconciled

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Lungu, Miles reconcile

RIVAL presidents of the Patriotic Front (PF), Edgar Lungu and Miles Sampa, have reportedly put aside their differences and reconciled.

The two met yesterday and even shared photos from their meeting on their social media accounts.

Lungu, the former republican president, shared four photos on social media, showing him meeting with Sampa who is also Matero Constituency lawmaker.

The photos showed the two engaging in conversation, with friendly smiles and gestures.

Lungu’s caption simply stated: “Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to meet with the Matero Constituency MP, Hon. Miles Bwalya Sampa,” without divulging any details about their discussion.

The former president further stated; “We had a fruitful discussion on matters of both party and national interest”.

Sampa had also posted one of the photos from the meeting with the caption; “This afternoon I went to check on how the former Republican President Edgar C. Lungu is doing. We had a good laugh catching up the past 3 years since we last met”.

The meeting of the two may just be the start of a compromise over the leadership of the former ruling party that has been embroiled in squabbles in the last two years.

On October 24, Sampa convened what his colleagues termed an illegal extraordinary general conference where he got himself elected as party president.

The PF party has been plagued by a rift, triggered by a leadership struggle between Sampa and Lungu.

On October 24, 2023, Sampa was elected PF president at a disputed extraordinary general assembly but just four days later, Lungu declared himself the rightful PF president, precipitating a party split.

The legitimacy of Sampa’s election has been challenged in court and the matter is still ongoing.

In the meantime, the PF party is currently divided, with factions loyal to either Sampa or Lungu.

Kalemba July 1, 2024

VIET-ZAMBIA OBTAINS 250 HECTARES OF LAND IN KANCHIBIYA

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UPDATE; VIET-ZAMBIA OBTAINS 250 HECTARES OF LAND IN KANCHIBIYA

..as Super Glory Investment, Ministry of Mines has granted them a Trading Permit for Gold, Silver and Platinum, while the firm has obtained 250 hectares of land in Kanchibiya, and has also obtained construction and mining permits from the NCC as a citizen-owned company…

Viet-Zambia Diversified Development Corporation which also operates as Super Glory Investment, had obtained various licences and permits across many government ministries.

Super Glory Investment has been offered 250 hectares of land in Kanchibiya Constituency.

In a letter of offer dated 18 November 2023, Senior Chief Kopa of the Bisa people offered farmland of 250 hectares of land to Super Glory Investment.

Super Glory is also operating trading shops in Lusaka.

And operating as Super Glory, the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development has granted a Trading Licence for Gold, Silva and Platinum.

And not to be outdone,the National Council for Construction (NCC) a Grade 5 category certificates mining and civil engineering services. Strangely, the firm has been granted the licence as citizens of Zambia.

Viet-Zambia Diversified Development Corporation was recently in the news when the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) hosted a status conference over the agro firm’s offer to bring $72 billion investment in the country.

In its unsolicited proposal, Viet-Zambia wants six million hectares of land, visa free and tax free incentives during the period of the project and permanent citizenship for its Chairperson, Van Trong Tuy.

Viet-Zambia has also obtained large-scale exploration mining licences in Eastern and Central Provinces to mine Copper, Gold, Silver, Iron Ore, Manganese, Nickel and rare earth metals.

Malawi Mourns the Loss of Musical Icon Lucius Banda

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Malawi is in mourning following the passing of the legendary musician and social activist Lucius Banda, affectionately known as Soldier Lucius Banda.

The news of his death has left a profound impact on the nation, as fans and admirers reflect on his immense contributions to Malawian music and society.

Lucius Banda, renowned for his powerful voice and poignant lyrics, was not only a musician but also a voice for the voiceless. Throughout his career, he used his platform to address social issues, advocate for justice, and inspire change.

His songs resonated deeply with audiences, addressing topics ranging from poverty and injustice to love and resilience.

Lucius Banda, widely recognized by his stage name Soldier Lucius Banda, was a pivotal figure in Malawi’s music scene, profoundly influencing its development and inspiring countless artists. He began his musical journey with Aleluya Band alongside his brother Paul Banda, stepping onto the stage at the age of 14 in 1984.

He rose to prominence in the Malawian music scene during the 1990s. He captivated audiences with his unique blend of Afro-pop, reggae, and traditional Malawian rhythms, earning a loyal following both locally and internationally.

Lucius’s solo career took off with his own band, Zembani, which became a breeding ground for emerging talent. His debut album, Son of the Poor Man, released in 1993, was a politically charged work that challenged Malawi’s then one-party regime and is regarded as a classic.

Over his illustrious career, Lucius Banda released several albums including “Down Babylon,” “Cease Fire,” “Takeover,” “Yahweh,” “Unity,” “How Long,” “Not Easy Road,” and “Money and Power,” collaborating with numerous artists along the way.

In 2003, he ventured into politics, bringing his passion for social issues to a new arena.

Born on August 17, 1970, in Sosola Village, Balaka District, Lucius’s legacy as both an artist and a politician continues to resonate across Malawi and beyond.

In his later years, Lucius Banda faced significant health challenges that tested his resilience and showcased his vulnerability. Initially hospitalized in January 2021 for high blood pressure, he was released after three days. A few months later, in May 2021, it was revealed that he was suffering from kidney failure. Despite these health issues, Lucius continued his involvement in music and politics, demonstrating remarkable strength and commitment.

Earlier this year, Lucius confirmed that he was in South Africa for a medical procedure related to his kidney condition. He shared in a video posted on his Facebook page that he was undergoing a procedure to create an arteriovenous fistula, necessary for his dialysis treatment. The family has not yet shared details about the cause of his death, leaving many to reflect on his courage and the impact he made throughout his life.

The news of Soldier Lucius Banda’s passing has prompted an outpouring of tributes from fans, fellow musicians, and political figures across Malawi.

Many remember him not only for his musical talents but also for his unwavering dedication to advocating for social change and uplifting the lives of ordinary Malawians.

As Malawians come to terms with the loss of one of their most beloved musical icons, thoughts and condolences pour out to Lucius Banda’s family and loved ones.

His legacy as a trailblazer in Malawian music and a champion of social justice will continue to inspire future generations. May his soul rest in peace, knowing that his music and impact on society will be remembered for years to come.

Lucius Banda, not just a musical pioneer but also a devoted member of the United Transformation Party (UTM), leaves behind a legacy marked by passion for both the arts and political change.

Founded by Vice President Saulos Chilima, who tragically passed away in an accident on June 10, 2024, UTM was a political platform that Lucius believed could foster significant transformation in Malawi. His commitment to his music and his party reflected his deep dedication to uplifting and inspiring the people around him.

Lucius’s enduring impact on the music industry and his contributions to Malawi’s political landscape will be remembered and cherished.

Mzima Wa Soldier Ugone Mu Mtendere

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA ANNOUNCES NEW CABINET, JOHN STEENHUISEN IS MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE

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CYRIL RAMAPHOSA ANNOUNCES NEW CABINET, JOHN STEENHUISEN IS MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE

…..After much anticipation, and two weeks of intense negotiations, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his new cabinet on Sunday night.

By IOL Reporter

President Cyril Ramaphosa, re-elected for a second term after the ANC lost its outright majority, on Sunday night unveiled his new Cabinet that consists of members of the Democratic Alliance and various other political parties who have signed on to be part of the Government of National Unity.

Despite a last minute push by Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to be part of the Government of National Unity – with a condition that it must not include the DA and Freedom Front Plus – Ramaphosa struck a deal with DA leader John Steenhuisen that will see the DA lead six ministries.

The DA was also given six deputy ministries.

Ramaphosa announced that the deputy president will be Paul Mashatile while the leader of the DA, John Steenhuisen was given the position of Minister of Agriculture.

Ramaphosa said that the establishment of the Government of National Unity in its current form is unprecedented in the history of the country’s democracy.

“We have had to consider how to form the new government in a manner that advances the national interest, that gives due consideration to the outcome of the election and that makes use of the respective capabilities within each of the parties,” Ramaphosa said.

Other positions given to the DA include:

Minister Basic Education: Siviwe Gwarube

Minister of Communications: Solly Malatsi

Minister of Public Works: Dean MacPherson

Minister Home Affairs: Leon Schreiber

Minister of Environmental Affairs: Dion George

Ramaphosa said it was necessary to separate certain portfolios to ensure that there is sufficient focus on key issues.

He revealed that the ministries of Electricity and Energy will be merged, there will be a separate ministry of Mineral and Petroleum Resources.

The ministry of Agriculture will be separated from the ministry of Land Reform and Rural Development while the ministry of Higher Education will be separated from the ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development will be separated from the ministry of Correctional Services and there will no longer be a Ministry of Public Enterprises.

The Minister of Water and Sanitation is Pemmy Majodina.

The Deputy Ministers of Water and Sanitation are David Mahlobo and Isaac Seitlholo.

The Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities is Sindisiwe Chikunga.

The Deputy Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities is Mmapaseka Steve Letsike.

The Minister of Correctional Services is Pieter Groenewald.

The Deputy Minister of Correctional Services is Lindiwe Ntshalintshali.

This after weeks of negotiations, leaked letters and public spats, that culminated in the DA and the ANC reaching a breakthrough on Saturday after crisis talks around cabinet positions were ironed out.

After not getting more than 50% of the votes in the May 29, General Elections, the ANC under Ramaphosa has been forced into co-governing South Africa with other parties.

The establishment of the seventh administration began with the signing of a statement of intent which has been signed by ANC, DA, Patriotic Alliance, GOOD, Al Jama-ah, Rise Mzansi, PAC, UDM, IFP, the FF Plus, NFP and the UAT.

IOL Politics

African unity key to socio-economic transformation – Liberian President Boakai

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African unity and cooperation is crucial to achieving irreversible socio-economic transformation, the President of Liberia Mr Joseph Nyuma Boakai SR. has said.

Speaking as the Special Guest of Honour at the 18th Congregation of the Regional Maritime University (RMU) held in Accra on Saturday, the Liberian President said Africa has the potential of leading global economy if leaders embraced the spirit of unity and cooperation to effectively harness the continent’s abundant resources.

”It is important to remain united and collectively utilise the abundant resources to advance socio-economic development,” he stated.

Just like the RMU governed by five member states including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, the Gambia and Ghana, he said it was possible to replicate such collaborations to support other aspects of the economy.

“The idea of the establishment was visionary and the collaborative efforts of founding fathers is in line with the aspiration of the African Union. It is important to recognise the unity and cooperation among member states in maintaining RMU for over four decades,” he added.

Mr Nyuma Boakai pledged the country’s commitment to the university considering the importance of maritime education and training to Liberia’s economic development.

“With the commitment to maintaining high standards in the maritime industry, we will continue to support and increase the number of students from Liberia enrolled at the RMU,” he stressed.

He said, they were proud of the significant progress and transformation the RMU had achieved over the years as Africa’s leading maritime university.

“Knowing that shipping will ultimately be the primary source of international trade and commerce, it is therefore important for the region leverage on training and education at RMU,” he added.

He urged the graduates to keep working hard towards the attaining their dreams with high levels of discipline, determination and dedication.

The RMU also conferred on the President, Honorary Doctorate Degree and a citation in recognition of his efforts towards the promotion of democracy, rule of law, honesty and integrity, social justice and respect for human rights among others.

Also receiving a Honorary Degree was the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Dr Fatima Maada Bio for distinguishing herself as a renowned actress, screenwriter, film producer and gender advocate of Sierra Leone.

The Ag. Vice Chancellor of the university, Dr Jethro W. Brooks in his address, stressed the need for member states to pay their contributions in order for the RMU to effectively run its activities.

“A major challenge to the university’s quest to expand its facilities has been the delay and in some instances the non-payment of some member states contributions which is earmarked towards meeting capital expenditures,” he stated.

He expressed appreciation to the government for paving all of the inner roads of the university while pleading for timely intervention in addressing their land encroachment challenges.

In all, 379 students graduated with Master’s and bachelor’s degrees and diplomas in various fields. There were special awards for staff and students who distinguished themselves in various programmes.

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