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IEC VICE CHAIRMAN RETIRES
The vice chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission in the Gambia has retired from the job, according to The Standard.
Malleh Sallah, has been working with the electoral body for about 20 years, he submitted his letter requesting to be retired since on 24 June, according to Standard.
Mr Sallah is still waiting for official response to his decision.
The Standard last night contacted Mr Sallah, who confirmed his decision to retire. “I have retired after 20 years or more with the Commission since when it was called PIEC. I strongly believe that I have done enough and it is time for the young ones to take over,” he said.
Asked by the Standard if his decision has anything to do with not agreeing with his colleagues over principles and conduct, as The Standard was tipped, Mr Sallah replied in the negative.
For now, according to various political parties quoting the law governing the IEC both Mr Sallah and his boss, Alieu Momarr Njai are due for retirement from the commission after serving two terms in office.
Their retirement is due next month. The Standard tried contacting the IEC’s director of communications on these issues without success.
Source___Standard Newspaper
President Buhari Mourns ‘Longtime Friend’ Isa Funtua
President Muhammadu Buhari has put forward his sadness over the death of his longtime friend Malam Isa Funtua.
Malam Isa Funtua passed away on Monday, aged 78 with President Buhari in a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu, saying the development has created a huge gap in his life.
“President Muhammadu Buhari received with deep sadness on Monday evening information on passing of his longtime friend and associate, Malam Isma’ila Isa Funtua, who was Life Patron of International Press Institute and Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN),” a tweet from Buhari’s aide read.
“President Buhari believes the demise of the publisher and businessman has created a huge gap as Malam Funtua consistently stood by him in his political journey.”
Source___Channels TV
Nigeria’s COVID-19 Death Toll surpass 800
More than 800 Nigerians have now died from the novel Corona Virus, the latest data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control showed.
In a tweet late yesterday, the NCDC put Nigeria’s death toll at 801, reflecting 12 more deaths from the dreaded pandemic. Nigeria’s death toll had stood at 789 on Sunday.
In addition to the 12 deaths recorded on Monday, 562 fresh infections were confirmed in 20 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The FCT had 102 of the cases; Lagos reported 100; Plateau, 52; Kwara, 50; Abia, 47; Kaduna, 35 and Benue, 35.
Other states were infections were confirmed on Monday are Oyo (26), Ebonyi (24), Kano (16), Niger (15), Anambra (14), Gombe (12), Edo (11), Rivers (6), Nasarawa (5), Delta (5), Borno (3), Enugu (2), Bauchi (2) and Kebbi (1).
Source___Channels TV
Only 1,000 people will be able to take part in the pilgrimage and will need to be quarantined after the event.
This year’s Hajj, which has been set back to include only about 1,000 Muslim pilgrims because of the coronavirus pandemic, will begin on July 29, Saudi authorities said on Monday.
Some 2.5 million people usually participate in the ritual of several days, which is centred on the holy city of Mecca.
“The stand of pilgrims on Mount Arafat, the peak of the Hajj ritual, falls on Thursday,” the official Saudi Press Agency cited the Supreme Court as saying, indicating that Wednesday would be the first day of the annual event.
The timing of the Hajj is determined by the position of the moon, in accordance with the Islamic lunar calendar.
Last month, Saudi Arabia announced it would hold a “very limited” Hajj, a decision fraught with political and economic peril as it battles a surge in coronavirus cases that now exceed more than 250,000.
Source___Aljazeera
The Muslim leader has emerged as the leader of an opposition movement seeking the Malian president’s departure.
A longing campaign of dozens of protests in Mali has presented the most formidable challenge to the presidency of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita since he came to power in 2013.
The discontentment has stemmed from economic woes and perceived government corruption, as well as from the government’s drastic failure to contain a worsening security situation that has seen various armed groups jockey for power and has rendered vast swathes of the country ungovernable.
The multilayered conflict broke out in 2012 and has since killed tens of thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands, while an increasingly unpopular French military intervention and 15,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force have failed to stop the violence from spilling out to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.
Leading the calls is not a seasoned politician but an imam – Mahmoud Dicko.
Mali protesters wants Keita to stop down despite winning the election.
Source___Aljazeera
Sudan’s Bashir on trial over 1989 coup that brought him to power
Sudan’s ex President Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown last year by the military in the face of mass protests against his rule, is about to undergo trial over his role in a coup that brought him to power more than 30 years ago.
If convicted, the 76-year-old, who is already in prison for corruption, could face the death penalty.
Al-Bashir came to power in 1989 after he led a military coup against democratically elected Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi
Al-Bashir, 76, is scheduled to appear in court in the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday to face charges of undermining the constitution, violating the Armed Forces Act and fomenting a coup in 1989 against the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.
Al-Bashir, who has been jailed in Khartoum since his overthrow, will be in the dock with 10 military personnel and six civilians, including his former vice presidents, Ali Osman Taha and Bakri Hassan Saleh, as well as former ministers and governors.
Source___Aljazeera
Trump threatens to send officers to more US cities
President Donald Trump of US has threatened to send more law enforcement officers to more US cities to control ongoing protests of black killings.
Mr Trump on Monday also criticised a number of cities run by “liberal Democrats”, including Chicago and New York, saying their leaders were afraid to act.
Democrats accuse Mr Trump of trying to rally his Conservative base.
Trump also said officers sent to Oregon had done a “fantastic job” restoring order amid days of protests in Portland.
President Trump, a Republican, has been trailing in opinion polls behind his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, ahead of November’s election.
Just the past month, Mr Trump declared himself the “president of law and order” in the wake of widespread protests over the death in police custody of African-American man George Floyd.
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Mr Trump reiterated his call for law and order.
Source___BBC
US to forfeit former president Jammeh’s $3.5 million mansion in Maryland
The Department of Justice in US filed a civil forfeiture complaint asking for the forfeiture of a Maryland property acquired with a sum of $3,500,000 in corruption proceeds by the ex-president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, through a trust set up by his wife, Zineb Jammeh.
As per the complaint, Yahya Jammeh undemocraticly gained millions of dollars through the misused of public funds and the solicitation of bribes from businesses seeking to obtain monopoly rights over various sectors of the Gambian economy.
The complaint further accused that Yahya Jammeh conspired with his family members and friends corruptly make talks to utilize a host of shell companies and overseas trusts to launder his corrupt proceeds throughout the world, including through the purchase of a multimillion-dollar mansion in Potomac, Maryland, which the United States seeks to forfeit through the filing of the civil forfeiture complaint.
“Yahya Jammeh is a former president of The Gambia who allegedly plundered hundreds of millions of dollars from his country and laundered part of those funds to corruptly acquire real estate in the United States,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt. “Our action today highlights the tireless work of the Criminal Division’s Kleptocracy Initiative and their global law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system and recover the ill-gotten gains of corrupt officials.”
“Ex-Gambian President Yahya Jammeh and his wife thought that they could hide funds stolen from the Gambian people by buying a mansion in Potomac, Maryland,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur for the District of Maryland. “This action demonstrates that the United States will not allow criminals to profit from their crimes and will seek justice for crime victims both here and abroad.”
Source___Standard Newspaper
Mali opposition insists President Keita must resign
Mali’s protest movement has kneeled on with a demand for embattled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to quit, as international peace keepers tried to defuse the crisis in the conflict-riven country.
At a news conference in the capital Bamako on Friday, the June 5 Movement also insisted that the West African state’s parliament be dissolved, and called for a “republican transition” from the current government.
The movement came during soaring political tensions in Mali, which a delegation from the 15-nation West African regional bloc ECOWAS is trying to calm.
The June 5 Movement has outrage a showdown with the government with relentless demands that Keita resign for his perceived failures in tackling the dire economy and Mali’s eight-year conflict with armed fighters.
Three days of violence between protesters and security forces ensued, leaving 11 dead and 158 injured, according to an official tally, in the bloodiest bout of political unrest in years.
The June 5 Movement – a disparate alliance of political, social and civil-society leaders – has stuck to its core demand and rejected conciliatory gestures from the president.
Source___Aljazeera
Lagos Street Sweepers Get Insurance Cover from Lagos State Government
The Lagos State Government has insured street sweepers in the state owing to the risks they face while discharging their daily duties.
This was disclosed by the Lagos Waste Management Authority in a statement issued yesterday.
Lagos Waste Management Authority noted that the development is to help that the welfare of the sweepers in the state is being taken care of.
While describing the workers as front liners in the management of waste in the state, the agency praised them for their efforts in ensuring that the megacity remains squeaky clean
Under the LAWMA CEO programme, the insurance policy will cover amongst others: death while in active service, permanent disability and medical expenses.
The waste agency explained that its acting “Managing Director, Ibrahim Odumboni, has made a resolve and unequivocally so, that the primary focus and the mandate of the Authority in managing and regulation of waste will not be compromised, deploying the best global practices in achieving same, in line with the “THEMES” agenda of Mr.Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in achieving a cleaner and healthier environment and the general well-being of Lagosians.”
Source___Channels TV
D5 Creation