The African Bulletin

From the African Perspective ISSN 1571-540X

Volume 15

Number 166

May 2016

SEXUAL ABUSE IN SCHOOLS (р. 10) GHANA’S NEW VISA PLAN (р. 15) EXPOSITING THE LIBYAN AGENDA (р. 19)

MADE IN NIGERIA WEARS (р. 8)

CAN BLACKS BE RACISTS? (р. 15)

NDIAYE DECLARES FOR NBA (р. 28)

HIGHEST PAID RETIRED ATHLETES (р. 29)

AGE OF TATTOOS

Pages 16 & 17 The African Bulletin is a publication of Media Blackberry since August 2002

PAGE

2

May 2016

The African Bulletin

The African Bulletin

May 2016

PAGE

3

AFRICA NEXT TO YOU

Asafo & Otumfuor products Asafo & Otumfuor always the best products

www.foreignshop.be always the best www.foreignshop.be

QUESTION:

QUESTION: A lawyer in Amsterdam has a brother in Antwerp who is also a lawyer, but the lawyer in Amsterdam does not have a brother in Antwerp, what is their relationship? Send your answer, name and telephone number to info@mediablackberry.com to win a bag of pounded yam.

Note: In case of correct multiple answers, a draw will be made for a winner!

REACHING OUT EFFECTIVELY...

Boost your business and let The African Bulletin give you the maximum reach!

Call +31 40 213 66 11 or e-mail us TODAY at advert@mediablackberry.com

www.mediablackberry.com

DESIGNED DESIGNED BY: dalbertcomputer@gmail.com BY: dalbertcomputer@gmail.com

Asafo Exotic

PAGE

4

May 2016

The African Bulletin

Commentary & Analysis The story of Ian Brennan and Malawi’s Zomba Prison Band

By Sitinga Kachipande* As a wealthy white westerner with power and access to resources, Brennan philanthropic mission to help Malawian prisoner-musicians feels too close to the archetype of the great white saviour who is also selling the story of ‘poor Africa’.

Just as the dust in Malawi is settling from the excitement of The Zomba Prison Bandearning the first ever Grammy nomination for the country, American producer Ian Brennan is promoting his new book, “How Music Dies (Or Lives): Field Recording and the Battle for Democracy in the Arts”. His book, which is based on his experience with “third world” music, highlights inequity in the way music is circulated and recognized in a world dominated by western standards.

Ironically, his own goal of finding an “authentic” Malawian sound and his role in producing “exotic” music for an international stage reproduces that inequality.

Brennan rose to fame as the creator of the hit singing show ‘Glee’, which aired its last episode in 2015. A few years back, he started a secondary career, discovering unknown artists from Africa. He has a stated interest in philanthropic work, and a desire to give a voice to underrepresented musicians around the world. As such, he often holds benefit concerts for charities, and expresses concern over the inequities in the world. It hardly comes as a surprise then that he has used the proceeds to secure the release of some of the prisoners. However,

Selling poverty to the West through music

as a wealthy white westerner with power and access to resources, his philanthropic mission to help (read: “save”) Malawian prisoner-musicians feel too close to the archetype of the great white savior who is also selling the story of ‘poor Africa’.

Brennan specifically went to Malawi to “discover” new talent.

The Zomba Prison Band was formed in 2008 in Zomba’s local prison, and by 2013 they would record a 20-song album with the Grammywinning producer. Their album was nominated in the category of Best World Music Album in the 2016 Grammys. While this was an exciting development for the Malawian music industry, one cannot help but notice some of the same old representation problems that plague collaborations between African and Western artists.

Recall the controversy around Paul Simon’s collaboration with Ladysmith Black Mambazo on his hit album, ‘Graceland’. At a time when Simon’s career was dwindling, he went in search of unknown talent in South Africa with the aim of reviving his Simon and Garfunkel era accolades. While Simon received acclaim for bringing international exposure to his South African collaborators, he was simultaneously criticized for culturally appropriating their music, underpaying them and capitalizing on their political situation for self-interest. The same interplay of power, privilege and representation are also part of Brennan’s work in Malawi.

Brennan seems to have found a knack for discovering exotic talent and manufacturing it for an international audience. Some of the artists that he has produced are from countries such as Rwanda, South Sudan,

Uganda and Mali - countries which have all captured Western headlines for tragic events. In Mali, he worked with Tinawiren, a group well known for their participation in the Tuareg uprisings. In the case of Uganda, he worked with musicians from the marginalized Acholi ethnic group of infamous Joseph Kony. Malawi recently came to the international spotlight when Madonna adopted her orphaned children there.

His initial excursion to Malawi led him to produce an album for the band he founded, Malawi Mouse Boys. The group’s name derives from the job the members had when Brennan met them - they were vendors that who grilled field mice. Although Brennan claims he suggested the name simply because of their former occupation, in reality, it is also predicated on marketing African otherness - their name identifies both their location and the exotic culinary tastes [6].

Equally frustrating is the inclusion of the word “boy” in the band’s name reminiscent of the colonial infantilization of grown men. Four members of the band were in their mid- to late 20s when Brennan recorded them.

When this “boys” band did not garner the desired international success it promised, Brennan seemingly set his sights on an even more marginalized population - prisoners.

Perhaps Brennan’s own expectations of privilege and power can be seen when he expresses deep frustration over his experiences in attempting to gain access to the prisoners due to the paperwork required from the authorities which should be expected for a maximum security prison. Finding participants was equally challenging for him. One

of the officers noted that they had no choice and only agreed to being recorded because they were instructed to by the prison authorities.

Brennan also admits that he faced obstacles gaining trust of the prisoners. They were admittedly suspicious about his intentions with their music.

These admissions raise concerns over Brennan’s knowledge of how consent was obtained and whether participation was ultimately out of choice. It is indicative of a typical situation where collaborative projects between Western and African artists are marred by unequal power relationships and where the true motivation behind the collaboration can be called into question.

In his attempt to draw bridges between cultures, Brennan could have collaborated with more accessible musicians. Popular artists such as Lucius Banda, The Black Missionaries, Lawi, Peter Mawanga and The Maravi Movement, or Giddes Chalamanda would have all been suitable fits, but it seems that working with an ostracized population may have been integral to his project - in one interview with WAMU, he expresses surprise over the soulful sound of one of the Malawi Mouse Boys who he claims had “never listened to recorded voice”, implying that this group was untainted by exposure to American music. Given that the group is based in the nation’s capital and music from all over the world plays on Malawi’s airwaves, the plausibility that the group’s sound is without external influences is unlikely. Music gains vibrancy and traction from interaction - it is not static. The expectation of finding “authenticity” is problematic and contributes to a

Books for Africa

Sects & Social Disorder:

Muslim Identities & Conflict in Northern Nigeria Edited by Abdul Raufu Mustapha Publisher: James Currey ISBN: 9781847011077 Nigerian society has long been perceived as divided along religious lines, between Muslims and Christians, but alongside this there is an equally important polarization within the Muslim population in beliefs, rituals and sectarian allegiance. This important book highlights the important issue of intra-Muslim pluralism and conflict in Nigeria. Conflicting interpretations of texts and contexts have led to fragmentation within northern Nigerian Islam, and different Islamic sects have often resorted to violence against each other in pursuit of ‘The right path’.

The doctrinal justification of violence was first perfected against other Muslim groups, before being extended to non-Muslims: conflict between Muslim groups

therefore preceded the violence between Muslims and Christians. It will be impossible to manage the relationship between the latter, without addressing the schisms within the Muslim community itself. This volume is an important corrective in the discourse about Boko Haram specifically and Islamic violence - indeed, all religious violence - generally, and it should be read by anyone who claims the authority to pronounce on any of these matters.

Yoruba Music in the Twentieth Century: Identity; Agency, and Performance Practice

By Bode Omojola Publisher: University of Rochester Press ISBN-13: 978-1580464932 From the primeval age of Ayànàgalú (the Yorùbá pioneer-drummer-turned-deity-of-drumming) to the modern era, Yorùbá musical traditions have been shaped by individual performers: drummers, dancers, singers, and chanters, who express self-mediated visions of their social and cultural environment. Yorùbá Music in the Twentieth Century explores the role of the performer and the performing group in creating these traditions, contributing to the ongoing reorientation of scholarship on African music toward individual creativity within a larger social network.

The author examines traditional Yorùbá genres such as bàtá and dùndún drumming as well as more contemporary genres such as Yorùbá popular music. It also address social issues, ranging

type of cultural suffocation that can ironically also lead to the death of music.

One has to ask, is privileging the human interest story a sure fire way of securing coveted awards and commercial success? Perhaps his search for the exotic speaks to his own aspirations for collecting Grammys by marketing a story of vulnerability and people rising out of the ashes. Brennan has previously won a Grammy for producing an album for Malian artist Tinariwen, and has been nominated in the Folk and World categories before.

The other question that lingers is whether or not the group itself will receive any direct benefit from the Grammy nomination, or what kind of remuneration they get from the project itself. It is true that Brennan’s involvement and the international accolades the project has received have brought some attention to grievances of the prisoners. However, the music, aimed at an international audience, hardly registers in Malawi’s vibrant burgeoning local music scene, receiving scant airtime on local radio.

While international prominence may be their greatest benefit, it is unclear how this may aid them while being incarcerated (albeit some of them have since managed to be released). And what structural impact this project would have for other collaborations between Malawian (or African) artists and western musicians. *Sitinga Kachipande is a Malawian blogger and PhD student in Sociology at Virginia Tech with a concentration in Africana Studies and Global Political Economy. Follow her on Twitter: @MsTingaK

The African Bulletin is published by: Office Address: Lijsterbesstraat 25 5616 LE Eindhoven Tel.: +31 40 213 66 11 info@mediablackberry.com www.mediablackberry.com / www.theafricanbulletin.com Advertisement: Tel.: +31 40 213 66 11 advert@mediablackberry.com Articles, comments and letters must include writer’s full name, address and telephone number, and may be edited for purposes of clarity and space. We pay tribute to every article in this newspaper; even when we disagree with them. All rights reserved. We are not responsible for any damage any article may cause.

from gender inequality to the impact of Christianity and Islam on Yorùbá musical practice. It emphasizes the interrelatedness of the different components of the Yorùbá musical landscape, as well as the role of specific individuals and groups of musicians, who have continued to draw from indigenous Yorùbá musical resources to create new musical forms in the process of engaging the social dynamics of a rapidly changing environment.

©Media Blackberry 2016

Mission Statement To be an advocate of peace and negotiations, especially in the African continent by providing objective and quality information to influence society and promote the dignity of mankind. Recognising that we cannot accomplish our noble objectives in isolation, The African Bulletin shall pay keen attention to the ‘positive values’ of our host nation and simultaneously share the rich ‘African values’, to cultivate spiritual balance, universal peace and diversity. It is hoped that this would certainly enable society to have realistic and informed appreciation of events.

The African Bulletin

May 2016

PAGE

5

PAGE

6

May 2016

HEALTH MATTERS

The African Bulletin

Health workers count: The backbone of global health goals

By Patricia Vermeulen*

L

ast month, the World Health Worker Week took place. It offered the opportunity to mobilize communities, partners, and policy makers in support of health workers around the world. During this week much effort has been put into raising awareness of the challenges health workers face every day. We all have to recognize the dedication of health workers around the world who give so much of their time, passion and lives to helping others. Therefore, we highlight the importance of health workers in this article, because health workers count!

From our experiences across Africa, we know the difference that health workers can make. For example, the presence of a trained midwife during child-birth can mean the difference between life or death of a mother or child. Over 71% of births were assisted by skilled health workers globally in 2014. In comparison, that is an increase from 59% in 1990. Community health workers (CHWs) have great impact in the daily life and health situation in local communities at grass root level. They include many people in the health system, who otherwise would not be reached. Community health workers are the most affordable and available category of human resources for health in Africa. Another example of health workers who make a great difference are frontline health workers. They work in areas where primary healthcare is most needed.

The World Health Worker Week is also a unique opportunity to put the spotlight on gaps that exist in the health workforce by calling on policymakers and influencers to ensure that health workers have the training, supplies and support they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.

Backbone of health systems Frontline health workers are the backbone of effective health systems. They are directly responsible for providing services in, for example remote and rural areas, or marginalised urban areas. Often working in under resourced areas, they are the primary contact for millions of people in the provision of basic healthcare. Frontline health workers are capable of carrying out many life-saving treatments, for example they provide immunizations

A community health worker at work in Kenya and treat common infections. They are on the frontlines of battling deadly diseases like Ebola and HIV. Many families rely on them as trusted sources of information for preventing, treating and managing a variety of leading killers including diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria and tuberculosis. Simply put, without frontline health workers, there would be no health care for millions of families in the developing world.

Economic value The value of health workers for protecting, promoting and sustaining human health is clear. However, people are often less aware of the economic value they add. Health workers help keeping people healthy. Therefore people can stay at work, so they can contribute to productivity. In many countries around the world, the health sector has created jobs at a faster rate than other sectors over the past 10 years, particularly for women. In turn, this creates more resilient economies and societies that are able to withstand shocks such as outbreaks and natural disasters. In Western Africa, the Ebola outbreak overwhelmed the underpaid, ill-prepared and under-equipped health workers. The World Bank has estimated economic losses of $2.2 billion, including an economic decline of 24% in Sierra Leone.

Shortage of health workers Although the number of employment in the health sector increases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) projects a shortage of the number of health workers required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

A shortage totalling 18 million health workers by 2030 across low and middle income countries. In

People testing a mosquito net for the prevention of malaria in Uganda

January WHO’s Executive Board recommended “Workforce 2030”, a global strategy on human resources for health, which will be considered by the World Health Assembly this month. The strategy aims to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals by giving countries policy options to ensure all people can access health workers when and where they need them.

Fighting malaria Milka Akinyi wakes up nauseous, feverish and too weak to walk to the nearest hospital, which is five kilometres away. She sends for Alice Aoko, the community health worker in her area.

Alice points at the data information board at a health centre. Milka’s

enhancing community access to health care by providing services at household and community levels. The CHWs carrying out this programme are selected by the local administration based on a set criteria and trained by the Ministry of Health in close collaboration with Community-Based Organisations with support from Global Fund for Malaria. They are trained to identify signs and symptoms of malaria and administer a basic malaria test using the Rapid Diagnostic Test kit.

Complicated cases are referred to the health centres.

Results The programme has not been without challenges. Some community members do not trust the community health workers’ ability to accurately test and treat them for malaria, since they view them as their neighbours and friends and not health workers. At the same time, they sometimes face hostility from health workers, for example when they go to collect drugs at the health facilities. Some of the health workers are unhappy about the increased responsibilities given to the community health workers. Global Fund Malaria Project Manager Jared Oule says that community campaigns and dialogue are organised to address misconceptions and to clarify the roles of the CHWs. So far, 720 community health workers have been trained in community case management of malaria and it is hoped that they will help to reduce the 90,000 cases of malaria

Rose Thomas: “The bike makes my job much easier, because I can visit more families in less time.” symptoms are similar to those of malaria. To confirm or rule this out, Alice performs a test using the Rapid Diagnostic Test Kit. She pricks Milka’s middle finger, draws blood and places it on a strip. The reading is positive for malaria and Alice administers the malarial drug that is recommended.

According to the National Malaria Indicator Survey 2010, malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Kenya. To increase effectiveness of malaria control activities in the country, the Ministry of Health, and development partners, like Amref Flying Doctors, came together. Recently, they introduced Community Case Management of Malaria (CCMM) which is being piloted in Nyanza and Western regions of the country. Community health workers are an integral part of Kenya’s health care delivery system,

experienced annually in Nyanza and Western regions. The programme has already successfully been rolled out in Malindi and Lamu Counties in the Coast Region. According to the Malaria Journal, prompt access to timely and effective treatment was 5.7 times higher when community health workers were the source of care. It is envisaged that Nyanza and Western regions will benefit in a similar manner from the programme.

Already, benefits of the programme are being felt in Sitabicha and Tamulega community units in Western Region. Mrs Philomena Sande, who is in charge of Tamulega Dispensary, supervises community health workers and provides them with the testing kits, medicines and reporting tools. “Since the two community units rolled out home malaria management in June 2013, I have noted that there has been a reduction in the workload at the facility,’’ says Sande. She also adds that more community members are coming to the facility to seek treatment. “With regular supply of test kits, home malaria management will help reduce malaria cases at the community level”, she says. “Looking at malaria trends in Tamulega dispensary, we see that before the rolling out of the Community Case Management of Malaria programme, the malaria cases were high, with nearly 1,000 patients treated. After the introduction of the programme in 2013, the cases reduced to 400 patients.

This shows that Community Case Management of Malaria has been a great success in this area.”

This is only one example of the impact that health workers, or in this case community health workers, have on local communities. These projects have an immediate result on the health situations and really make a change. The direct relation between reducing unemployment, greater economic growth, and improved social cohesion and stability are evident. Investing in health sector employment therefore offers the potential for a triple return for economies, for health and for women. *Patricia Vermeulen is the CEO of Amref Flying Doctors in the Netherlands.

The story of Rose Thomas

Every day, hundreds of trained voluntary community health workers go on their way. This often means walking miles to reach the families that they have to visit. Therefore the community requested for bicycles for the community health workers.

Many new bicycles were distributed in the Oloitokitok and Kibwezi districts. One of the trained community health workers who was attending this day was Rose Thomas. She is a volunteer from the Ngomano village in the Kibwezi district in Kenya. “An important part of my job as a volunteer is to make sure that the women and children from my community receive the professional health care they deserve, as well as knowing where they can get this care. For example, I refer pregnant women to the nearest

health clinic for examinations and the child-birth,” she says.

Unfortunately, in some cases Rose does not arrive on time.

“During one house visit, I discovered that the mother was already in labour. But something was wrong.

The mother was panicking and it was too late for her to go to a health clinic. I went to the nearest clinic as fast as I could to get help. Walking.

Only just in time, the midwife and I arrived back to help the pregnant woman to give birth to her baby.

In this case, a bicycle would have enabled me to bring her to the clinic, or to return with help sooner,” she adds. “Therefore, I want to thank everybody who has contributed to this new bicycles. With my own bicycle I can reach families much quicker and I can save more lives!”

The African Bulletin

May 2016

SAVER PLAN ct/min

ct/min

Landline

Mobile

ct/min

ct/min

Landline

35 39 ct/min

Guinea

Landline

Mobile

1

3

Landline

Mobile

ct/min

Nigeria

Mobile

12 17 ct/min

ct/min

Landline

Mobile

1 25

ct/min

Morocco

ct/min

ct/min

Landline

Ghana

Mobile

ct/min

9 12

ct/min

Egypt

15 19

Eritrea

7

(1)

15 39

Cameroon

PAGE

ct/min

Landline

Mobile

25 25 ct/min

ct/min

Somalia

Landline

Activate now: sms SAVER to 2525

Mobile

Connection charge 9ct

No roaming charges when you use your Lycamobile in any of our 19 countries(2) Australia

Belgium

Denmark

Germany

United Kingdom

France

Ireland

Italy

Hong Kong

Norway

Austria

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Spain

United States

Sweden Switzerland

Tunisia

Free calls & texts from Lycamobile to Lycamobile with each top-up(3)

For more information and rates please visit www.lycamobile.nl or call 020 754 3030 Available at:

R

.nl

R

.nl

(1) The Lycamobile SAVER PLAN is valid from 19-02-2016. Customers may switch from Standard Plan to Saver Plan at any time. However customers must stay on the Saver Plan for at least 30 days before they can switch back to the Standard Plan. The extra credit promotion (€5 = €10, €10 = €20 and €20 = €40) is only valid for the Lycamobile Standard Plan and is not applicable on the Saver Plan. After switching from Standard Plan to Saver Plan customers will lose their current promotional credit.

(2) Customers must buy a bundle or top-up for no roaming costs on calls and texts. Customers must buy a specific data bundle for no roaming costs on data. Free Lycamobile to Lycamobile calls when roaming are restricted to a total of 100 minutes (applicable to both inbound and outbound calls). No roaming costs are only available for a continuous period of 30 days. Offer is valid from 01.02.2016.

(3) Customers have to top-up during the month to enjoy the offer and it’s valid for 30 days only. Top-up with € 5 and receive 100 free minutes and texts from Lycamobile to Lycamobile. Top-up with € 10 and receive 300 free minutes and texts or top-up with € 20 and receive 2000 free Lyca to Lyca minutes and texts. Once the free minutes & texts are finished or expired: For standard plan customers calls from Lycamobile to Lycamobile will be charged at 0ct/min for the first 15 minutes with a start tariff of 23cts per call, and calls over 15 minutes will be charged at a rate of 25ct/min. Texts from Lycamobile to Lycamobile will charged at 21ct/text. For Saver Plan customers calls from Lycamobile to Lycamobile will be charged at 0ct/min for the first 15 minutes with a start tariff of 9cts per call, and calls over 15 minutes will be charged at a rate of 9ct/min. Lycamobile reserves the right to amend or vary terms and conditions and to withdraw this plan at any time on reasonable notice for New Customers. Promotion is valid from 01.02.2016.

LM_NL_263x385_JUNE_2015.indd 1

14/04/2016 16:57

PAGE

8

May 2016

Government kickstarts patronage of Made-in-Nigeria wears

T

he Nigerian federal government recently launched a campaign towards patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products, especially in the cotton and textile industry, as part of measures to revive the national economy.

Nigerian Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, kicked off the campaign at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, as part of his maiden meeting with industry stakeholders and members of the Implementation Committee on the National Cotton, Textile and Garment Policy.

According to Vice President Osinbajo, “Nigerians buying Nigerian products is very important and it goes beyond the symbolism of wearing Nigerian-made dresses. It is important for our economy and well-being.”

Members of the Implemen­ tation Committee, composed of both government officials and industry stakeholders, had earlier highlighted a number of strategies for the revival of the cotton, textile and garments industry including the promotion of Nigeria-made dresses.

Specifically, the committee is proposing a ‘Wear Naija Day’ concept to have public officials and employees of corporate organisations to wear locally made fabrics on particular days.

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment had articulated a new policy to revamp the industries by reducing smuggling by 15% next year; facilitating

access to funding for the sector; addressing the challenges of energy; lifting the ban on importation of finished products and using the duties and levies raised there-from to support the industries, among several other strategies.

Osinbajo noted that the challenge of smuggling of foreign textile materials into the country had to be tackled, adding that, overall “it is up to all of us to see that this particular initiative works, we have talked enough”.

Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Aisha Abubakar, who attended the meeting said that the ministry had initiated a Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) policy that would provide “a suit of interventions holistically across the value chain, including encouraging local patronage, controlling smuggling, production of improved seedling, cost of energy, cost of funds, training and upgrading and modernisation of infrastructure”.

She added that past attempts to revive the industries failed because they had addressed only the issue of funding.

I plan to travel to Accra, Ghana in July this year for 6 months or longer.

Does anyone have or know someone that has a one or two rooms to rent out there at a reasonable price?

If so, please contact me with the details at: jaapdebruijn@online.nl

May Independence Dates

A large chair does not make a king - Sudanese proverb The frowning of a goat does not prevent it from being priced in the market. – Nigeria

T

he African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) has announced the launch of a peer review process for Senegal, making it the 20th African country to be assessed for good and responsive governance.

its populace as well as the opportunity to build a national consensus on the way forward of its development agenda.

He said the peer review process in Senegal marked a watershed moment towards the country’s commitment to good governance.

“We believe this process will help Senegal achieve the kind of capable state that we need. The APRM process will assist us in making the kind of society that is essential for a thriving democracy. Our government therefore

reaffirms its commitment to work jointly with the APRM task force to ensure a successful Country Review Process,” Mr. Dionne added.

The country is hailed for its thriving democracy and political stability. It is the second African state in 2016, after Chad, to be reviewed by the African Peer Review Mechanism.

The Review team is expected to go on consultative meetings to every region in Senegal to ensure concerns and views of ordinary citizens are heard.

Tanzanians to work hard to end donor dependence

Looking for a one or two rooms to Rent in Accra, Ghana

African Proverb

The African Bulletin

APRM launches peer review process for Senegal

Officiating at the formal launch ceremony, Senegalese Prime Minister Mohammed Dionne said the process allowed the country to open itself up to criticism, provide space for dialogue on governance and socioeconomic indicators for

ADVERT

Eritrea South Africa

AFRICA NEWS

24, 1993 31, 1910

Did you know… ...that insects constitute one quarter of living things - more numerous than all kinds of other species put together?

T

anzanian President John Magufuli has reiterated his call to his compatriots to work hard and end the nation’s dependence on donor support, apparently after U.S. foreign aid agency Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) cancelled a US$472 million compact for the country.

“It is time for Tanzania to wean itself off foreign aid that comes with strings attached,” the president told a public rally in his home district of Chato on the shores of Lake Victoria, in northwestern Tanzania’s Geita Region.

According to the president the main task ahead of all Tanzanians at present is to collectively take charge of their own development

T

and make sure every individual’s productivity rises.

“We must do this on our own as a nation and by being accountable in our respective workplaces, whether we are peasants, employees, business people, livestock herders or fishermen so that Tanzania moves forward,” President Magufuli stated, but without referring to the MCC decision on suspension of partnership with Tanzania.

Meanwhile, Tanzania’s Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Philip Mpango, was quoted by the local media as saying that the MCC aid freeze was not likely to affect the national budget for this year.

At its quarterly meeting on 28 March in Washington, D.C., MCC’s Board of Directors voted to suspend partnership with Tanzania,

stating that the government “has engaged in a pattern of actions inconsistent with MCC’s eligibility criteria”. It earlier cited concern over the nullification of October 2015 election results in Zanzibar and the need for a prompt, fair, and peaceful conclusion of the electoral process.

On 20 March 2016, Tanzania moved forward with a fresh election in Zanzibar, which, according to the MCC Board, was “neither inclusive nor representative, despite the repeated concerns of the U.S. Government and the international community”.

In addition, the Board noted that the Government of Tanzania has not taken measures to ensure freedom of expression and association are respected in the implementation of the Cybercrimes Act.

Togo uses solar energy to illuminate all towns

ogo’s Ministry of Mines and Energy will have installed 13,000 public streetlights in the capitals of regions and prefectures throughout the country by the end of June 2016 on the instructions of the Head of State, Faure Gnassingbé, the ministry said.

The ministry said that the project, being financed with a loan of US$55 million from Exim Bank of China and coordinated by the Mines and Energy ministry, the solar street lights project took off in 2011 with feasibility studies and it is executed by the African

Society of Biofuels and Renewable Energy (SABER) in partnership with Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) Company Limited of China.

The project is focused on remote locations not connected to Togo’s electricity network. On its completion, street lights powered by solar energy will illuminate the capitals of regions, prefectures and townships. At the end of the first phase 7,042 streetlights were already installed.

Streetlights are primarily installed in schools, high schools, universities, clinics, health centres, markets and finally in public places.

“The life of the battery solar street lights is from 7 to 10 years,” said Abiyou Tcharabalo, Director General of Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mines. Equipment maintenance is provided by a local team formed by ZTE. With solar street lights, the electric charges of the local authorities will be reduced, thus allowing these communities to reallocate their spending to other social needs.

Togo authorities want to phase out light bulbs of 150 to 250 Watts used today for traditional street lighting.

The African Bulletin

Kenya inches closer to developed nation status

P

resident Uhuru Kenyatta has declared that Kenya was inching closer to becoming a developed nation with mobile telephone reaching almost every Kenyan and with every village almost connected to the national telecommunication system.

“We are a developing country steadily taking the shape of a developed nation,” President Kenyatta said in a State of the Nation speech, disrupted by the opposition Members of Parliament.

Impressed by the rise in the mobile telephone connections, reaching 37.7 million people in 2016 from 29 million while some 30 million people had access to the internet, he said more villages were also connected to the national cellular phone network, greatly improving connectivity while the national economy was showing resilience after a series of terrorism attacks.

“We are making bold investments in our national security.

Our economy has shown strong resilience. The severe setbacks we suffered as a result of the terrorist attacks have harmed the tourism business sector. We have provided incentives to enhance charter flights

which are now resuming,” President Kenyatta said.

He assured that the tourism sector was receiving more security support to revive from the impact of terrorism which affected the country over the last five years, leading to a slump.

On transport, the president said a national railway network was closer to completion while some 11,000 km roads were constructed in the last three years. The road network would be doubled within the next few months due to the government’s implementation of a national road transport strategy.

On education, President Kenyatta said a new national educational curriculum was being considered for implementation.

Reflecting on the dreams of better and decent jobs for the youth, he said they were dependent on the strength of the national economy, which performed much better than other economies worldwide.

New firms operating in Kenya have faced a skills shortage which, he said, would be addressed by training new graduates in middle-level skills in some 76 training institutes from the current 54. This would enable the sector to train 350,000 youth on new skills to drive industries.

AFRICA NEWS

May 2016

PAGE

9

Sudan vows to purse new environment roadmap

S

udanese authorities have agreed to pursue a new environment roadmap, focusing on reducing the use of oil-powered electricity generation, building of new environmentally-friendly dumpsites and a new set of laws to combat desertification across the country.

Sudanese Vice President Hassabo Mohammed AbdulRahman emphasised the country’s resolve to safeguard the environment in a speech at the conclusion of a major international conference held in Khartoum to

discuss emerging environmental challenges and a plan to counter them.

“The environment needs our attention and priority because it is life,” the Vice President said after receiving the recommendations of the four-day conference in March, to discuss a plan to combat desertification in Khartoum and other Sudanese states.

“The environment is not just a local issue. It is an international issue. The increases in temperature, the El Nino phenomena and the impact it has had on triggering international migration across borders is significant.

Khartoum State is gearing for the implementation of an ambitious plan to deal with environmental challenges, which include addressing dust pollution and desertification by investing in a plantation of some 5 million trees over the next four years to create a tree belt around the capital.

“We lie in between the poor savannah, the sand and the desert,” Sudanese Environmental Minister Hassan Abdul-Ghadir Hilal said.

“The environment has become a system of life. It is the future of our ecosystem and anything that destabilizes the ecosystem destabilizes humanity.”

Human rights groups demand end of opposition arrests in Congo

H

uman rights groups are calling on the authorities in the Republic of Congo to release political opponents detained for peaceful criticism of the recent elections, put an end to arbitrary arrests and detentions, and avoid any repression of peaceful protest.

This is contained in a joint statement issued by Amnesty International, Observatoire Congolais des Droits de l’Homme (OCDH), Association pour les Droits de l’Homme et l’Univers

Carceral (ADHUC), and Rencontre pour la Paix et les Droits de l’Homme (RPDH).

It said since the results of the 20 March Presidential election in Republic of Congo were rejected by the opposition, the Congolese authorities had conducted a series of arrests against leading opposition figures, including senior campaign officials of candidates Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and Okombi Salissa, accusing them of compromising national security.

“The arrest and detention of those involved in peaceful protest violates the rights to freedom of

expression and peaceful assembly.

Anyone imprisoned on this basis should be released immediately,” said Stephen Cockburn, Deputy Regional Director for Amnesty International in West and Central Africa.

All of those arrested are currently being held at the ‘Direction General de surveillance du territoire’ (DGST) in Brazzaville, and none have had access to their families or lawyers.

The rights groups said other activists and protestors had also been arrested and detained, including those arrested by

security forces when opposition candidates attempted to hold a press conference in Brazzaville on 25 March. In Pointe Noire at least 10 young activists have been arrested since the elections.

The human rights organisations have also called on authorities to respect the right to peaceful protest. In particular, they must ensure there is no repeat of excessive force against demonstrators, such as that seen in October 2015 when security forces killed at least 18 people involved in demonstrations against a referendum to change

the country’s constitution.

The rights groups noted that the elections were held on 20 March under a total communications blackout, with telephone and internet connections cut.

The statement said Amnesty International attempted to travel to Republic of Congo before the elections to monitor the human rights situation, but it was refused entry at the border, despite possessing the right visas and official invitations. The organization was told that its presence in the country was undesirable in the election context.

President Kagame inaugurates water project

R

wandan President Paul Kagame recently inaugurated a US$28-million water supply project located in Nzove, a suburb of Kigali city that will pump 25,000 cubic meters of water a day to customers.

The project, which is said to be the biggest in the country, was implemented jointly by the government of Rwanda and Culligan International, a US-based company in water treatment solutions.

The President of Culligan International, Laurence Bower, said that the new project would especially provide clean drinking water to thousands of people in villages scattered in Kigali city and its outskirts.

“We are doing this for the community. This partnership with

Culligan International has more to do with impact investment and partnership than money invested or made from it,” Kagame told the gathering at the inauguration ceremony.

Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC), the country’s water authority, expects to provide access to potable water to 100% of Rwanda residents by the year 2018.

Observers note that fresh water resources continue to diminish while demand is rising by the day, especially in Kigali city and its outskirts, putting added pressure on government to find ways to continue to provide for the population.

Northern Rwanda is a region described by health experts as having the highest number of hygiene-related diseases, which are strongly associated with poor water.

PAGE

DUTCH NEWS

10 May 2016

Va n A p p i a & Va n d e r L e e A D V O C AT E N

Law office Van Appia Van der Lee Advocaten. Six specialized lawyers, including mr. Joseph van Appia, the first African lawyer in the Netherlands. Legal aid on: immigration law criminal law family law

Adres: Overtoom 323, 1054 JL Amsterdam Tel: 020 – 53 12 999 / Fax: 020 – 53 12 990 Website: www.vanappiavanderlee.nl

Fewer Dutch teenagers become mothers

T

he Dutch national statistics bureau CBS reported that the number of teenage mothers in the country continue to drop and campaigns are having positive effects on girls from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Last year 1,574 teenage girls had a baby, about 3.2 girls in 1,000.

In 2014, it was 3.7 girls in 1,000.

It said about 80% of teenage mothers are ages 18 or 19 and just 8% were under the age of 16.

In 2005, 11 in 1,000 girls of

Turkish origin had a baby but this has now fallen to 1.7, below the national average. In those with Moroccan origin, it has fallen from 9.1 per 1,000 to 2.3. In the case of the Surinamese or Antillean origin, it has also dropped to 9 and 16 per thousand respectively.

CBS added that Dutch teenage pregnancy rate ranks third lowest in the world. First and second lowest rankings are Switzerland and Denmark. In Europe, Bulgaria and Poland have the highest teenage birth rates.

Black cars can be more expensive to insure than green

A

recent research by Consumentenbond, a Dutch consumers’ association revealed that owners of black cars pay more insurance premiums with some insurance companies than with others with other types of colours.

Consumentenbond said it found a big differences in what car owners pay when they compared insurance premiums on four different types of car (Volkswagen Gold, Toyota Aygo, BMX X3 and, Audu A6) in seven different colours.

The watchdog gave example of how red cars with an all-risk insurance policy pay cheaper premiums with these insurers: Reaal, Route Mobiel and Zelf. It said green cars were also cheaper in some cases.

Going further, it said a green Audi with no no-claims bonus cost €1,295 with Reaal but for a black car it was €1,423.

In some of the cases investigated, the difference in premiums between black and other coloured cars with third party insurance is as much as 9%.

Reaal, Route Mobiel and Zelf disclosed to consumentenbond that colour is a factor in their estimatimage of damage risks. It pointed out however these three companies said that they will stop using colour as a factor in calculating their premiums beginning from this month. Apart from these three companies, the watchdog said other car insurance companies do not use colour as a factor in estimating their premiums on cars.

The Netherlands to modernise emergency aid

T

Specialized Lawyers!

-

The African Bulletin

he government, the business world, aid organisations and knowledge institutions are joining forces to modernise emergency aid.

The Dutch Coalition for Humanitarian Innovation (DCHI) was recently launched with the goal of finding new ways of working together to assist people affected by war and disasters.

The key members of the partnership are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers ( VNO-NCW ), the Netherlands Red Cross, CARE Nederland, UNICEF, Capgemini Consulting and the municipality of The Hague.

‘This coalition is a breakthrough,’ said Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. ‘Companies working with aid organisations will be providing each other with knowledge and expertise on an unprecedented scale. This will lead

to innovative approaches to aid, but the question is, how can we reach more people in more effective ways?

In the last ten years the number of people affected by crises has doubled to 125 million, while costs have tripled. The present form of aid is proving inadequate and unsustainable. Too many people are deprived of aid, and the type of aid needed is changing; innovation is needed to respond adequately and to provide better support to people in need.

Sexual abuse at schools on the rise

T

here has been a sharp rise in cases of sexual abuse in schools in the Netherlands.

School inspectors received reports of 112 cases in the 2014/15 academic year, compared to the previous total of 86.

The report said one-third of cases are either on a teacher or someone in a position of responsibility at school. At least half of the cases related to sexual assault or rape. This figure is in addition another 254 cases of sexual

intimidation in schools on mostly of social media related.

School inspectors are worried about the rise and have urged schools to develop proper codes of conducts for both teachers and students.

MPs have also requested Junior Education Minister Sander Dekker to look into the matter. Labour MP Loes Ypma: ‘These figures are shocking. ‘A parent should be sure the child is safe at school, and teachers have a responsibility to ensure on and offline abuse is unacceptable.’

D66 MP and a former teacher Paul van Meenen: A teacher who abuse students should be sacked immediately. In addition, the teachers’ certificates of good behaviour must be renewed every few years.

VVD MP Karin Straus: ‘Any teacher who abuses children should be dealt with severely.’

The school inspectors received a total report of 2,000 cases of physical, mental and sexual abuse at schools (200 less than the previous academic year).

There was however an increase in racial discrimination reports.

Drugs & prostitution generate €2.7bn for Dutch economy

T

he Dutch economy earned €2.7bn a year through drugs, prostitution and other criminal activities, according to calculations by the Dutch national statistics bureau CBS for business broadcaster RTLZ. RTLZ TV reported that the CBS first calculated the size of the black economy in 2013, when it said that in 2010, crime, illegal gambling and illegal downloading had

A

generated €2.6bn.

The report said that ‘Criminal activities account for some 0.4% of the Dutch GDP.’ The CBS figures indicate a rise in the value of the drugs industry, which was said to account for 55% of the black economy in 2010.

Prostitution was responsible for about 21%, and gambling for 9%.

RTLZ said CBS is not expected to publish detailed figures until 2019.

13-year-old boy faces deportation

13-year-old boy born in the city of Arnhem and lived all his life in the Netherlands is to be deported to Vietnam with his parents.

A report by NOS tv said the Junior Justice Minister Klaas Dijkhoff told the Mayour of Wageningen about the decision to send Tri Pam to Vietnam. Efforts to have the court overturn the decision has so far failed.

The parents of the boy were denied asylum in 2008 but continued to fight the decision which concluded that Vietnam is a safe country to return to.

The report disclosed that Tri

Pam is not covered by the amnesty for child refugees because his parents refused to report weekly to the authorities as expected, although the city of Wageningen council knew he attends school regularly and his whereabouts at all time.

In defence of the boy, Wageningen mayor Geert van Rumund said that the boy had never been to Vietnam and does not know the people or its culture.

According to him, ‘His future in Vietnam is extremely gloomy if sent back there.’

In 2015, the Council of State ruled that before amnesty children can qualify, they must have been under the supervision of the central

refugee agency COA, immigration service, the foreign police or the Nidos guardianship institute.

It said just because children attend school or report to local councils is not enough to qualify for amnesty as these institutions play no part in immigration policies.

In the past, several city mayors in the Netherlands, including some opposition MPs and children refugee right agencies have protested the harsh ruling of the justice ministry on children refugees.

They have requested for fairness, especially the disparity in how children under supervision of local and national governments.

The African Bulletin

LEGAL MATTERS

May 2016

PAGE

11

New formula Nouvelle formule The bottle has changed. The volume is the same.

The powder colour and mixture colour may differ from the previous product, but the FINISHED HAIR COLOUR IS THE SAME. *New plastic bottle - The product is lighter and it appears that there is less powder, but the VOLUME IS THE SAME. Before

LA bouteille a été modifiée. Le volume reste le même.

La couleur de la poudre et la couleur du melange peuvent differer du produit précèdent mais la LA COULEUR DES CHEVEUX EST LA MEME. *Nouvelle bouteille en plastique - Le produit est plus leger et il semble contenir moins de poudre, mais le VOLUME EST LE MEME. New

Hoyu Cosmetics (Nederland) B. V. Kingsfordweg 151, 1043 GR Amsterdam, The Netherlands www.bigen.eu info@hoyu.nl +31 (0) 20 491 9934

New generation of irregular migrants

By A. G. Kleijweg* Dear Readers, This article is intended to make readers more aware of the fact that countries are not only ruled on the basis of national law, but that several sources of international law also can be relevant for the people living in that country. One of the most important sources of international law is the European Convention for Human Rights, hereafter referred to as ECHR. For more information just search the web and start with www.echr.coe.int.

The ECHR is applicable in many countries but certainly in the entire European Union, hereafter the Union.

It is also relevant for migrants, including irregular migrants.

For who is this article relevant?

This article is aimed at the irregular immigrants who are born into that situation or who are brought into the country at a very young age. Basically, a generation of irregular migrants emerged who are born and raised here. They are fully and often highly educated and integrated in the country where they reside and never left the country. All that is missing is the residence permit. The immigration authorities of the countries they live in reject any kind of status for them, telling them to go home.

Of course there is the necessary control and restriction of migration, but this goes too far. Home is where they were born and raised! My thought

is then, what to do in cases like these since doing nothing does not lead to a solution.

What is the situation in The Netherlands?

Immigration law in The Netherlands is restrictive and the Immigration Authority has the policy that the parents of the children are responsible for the existence of the situation because the parents brought the children into the situation. If the parents in any which manner would benefit from their irresponsible actions, that would encourage more of that kind of behaviour and the interest of the state requires that this should not happen. This is an acceptable and commonly followed policy so it is clear what the rules are. It sounds like a harsh policy, but ask yourself, who put this children in this position? It was not the state or the Immigration Authority, so much is clear.

Like I did before, I give a warning to those people who think that having children enhances their chances for a residential status. That is wrong, it is child abuse and it will not lead to a permit.

So the rule is, unless it is guaranteed that the parents will not benefit from it, a residence permit will not be granted to the young adult. Question is then when can the parents not benefit? It is certainly the case when they are dead, but is that the only possible option? Are there not several other situations where this “no possible benefit for parents” is applicable? Basically, in

each case where a strong argumentation is available why the parents cannot benefit from a permit granted to the young adult, it is arguable that the permit can be issued. When is that so?

For instance when the parents already have a residence permit but the child is still without a permit. When such an exception is applicable is hard to say, because there have not been much procedures about cases like these.

Are there changes?

Not really. In the past there was not even a consensus about the question whether a young adult that was born and raised here would have some kind of claim concerning a residential status. That seems to have changed because now the policy is that only if the parents cannot benefit, possibly a permit can be granted.

While I understand why the Immigration Authority sticks to its present policy, I also believe that it is often to quickly assumed that parents could benefit from the young adults permit and therefore that permit should be denied to the young adult. This is something that should be explored more because if that will not be done, the problem grows and lasts longer.

What to do then?

For those young adults, who are born or brought into irregular residence at a young age, it would be advisable to file an application for a residence permit on that basis.

Of course one must explain the situation very well, and also explain why

their parents cannot benefit from the requested permit and one must show ones integration. People that applied unsuccessfully for a permit as mentioned are advised to consider applying again.

My intuition is telling me that in the coming years there will be several judgements that will give more clarity about the question, when a permit like this must be issued and when it can be rejected. Be aware of the fact that it is just my personal intuition, not a legal fact or a certainty.

What can we do for you in matters like these?

Filing an application like this one does not really need a lawyer. People born or at least raised and schooled in The Netherlands, may expect that they can file the application themselves and know where to seek assistance. It is always best to be self reliant and inquisitive so this is a good opportunity.

You can gather information via internet www.ind.nl and www.juridischloket.nl. Maybe you can also get help from a social worker, friends and family. Since for an irregular migrant there is always a risk when one deals with the Immigration Authority it is required to seek a competent advice.

Of course a lawyer can help you with this application, but there is no subsidised legal aid available for filing such an application. However, a social lawyer will not charge too much for an experimental application like this so it should not cost too much.

Only by the time the application is

rejected do you really need a lawyer quickly, so contact your lawyer right away then. Good thing is that by then subsidised legal aid is available.

Want to visit our office?

Of course our office does not only practice immigration law, but also family law, criminal law labour law and so on. Since several lawyers work in our office with their own specialism, it is important to make clear what the problem is, so an appointment can be made with a lawyer that is qualified to handle your case.

Readers are therefore welcome to visit our office for FREE consultation and for support with the application.

Have a look at our website www. skv-advocatenkantoor.nl to learn more about our office.

For an appointment call 070 427 3215 and explain to our Secretary what your question is.

To learn more about our office, you can also take a look at our web-site: www.skv-advocatenkantoor.nl Do not hold information back because our Secretary will decide if and when an appointment is possible and which of our lawyers is best qualified for the specific problem.

When you come to the appointment, bring all information that is available. Only then can we judge the case and do make good use of the time. *A.G. Kleijweg. Balen van Andelplein 2e, 2273 KH Voorburg - 070.427.3215 - kleijweg@ skv-advocatenkantoor.nl / mail@skv-advocatenkantoor.nl

PAGE

BELGIUM NEWS

12 May 2016

T

Asylum numbers down again

he number of people applying for asylum continues to fall, with 1,374 people applying for asylum in Belgium in April. That is the lowest monthly figure in seven years.

The downward trend started at the beginning of the year. In January 2,842 people filed for asylum. By February the figure had fallen to 1,523. The figure for March 2016 is even lower. March’s figure is even lower than that of March 2015, before the start of the migrant crisis.

The number of asylum requests hasn’t been this low since 2009. The fall may have ramifications for the number of asylum places, but asylum secretary Francken is looking at reducing the number further.

“We created quite a few extra places and occupancy levels were up to 100%. Now that fewer applicants are arriving occupancy levels are falling. At the minute it’s under 86%. It’s good news for staff

L

A at asylum centres to make work more viable for them. If the figures continue to fall I will put a plan to the government to downsize the number of places.”

Experts suggest that the reason for the fall is clear: the closure of the Balkan route that saw Macedonia, Hungary and Slovenia all close their borders and kept migrants from reaching Western Europe. In addition the EU reached an accord with Turkey meaning that Greece

Eleven million confidential documents have been leaked from the offices of law firm Mossack Fonseca, one of the leading experts and mediators with regard to tax havens.

The list which includes 72 heads of state and government and 29 billionaires feature on the list of the world’s 500 richest people. The names of 732 Belgians and foreign nationals residing in the country also occur.

Some of those listed are members of the aristocracy,

The African Bulletin

+31 40 213 66 11 info@mediablackberry.com

captains of industry, doctors, diamond traders, academics and media personalities. No further details about their identity have yet emerged.

Flemish journalists Lars Bové of daily De Tijd and Kristof Clerix of weekly Knack, who took part in the investigation, say that in comparison with earlier investigations like SwissLeaks and Luxleaks this is far bigger: “The whole construction is fake. We’re talking about a small colourful office where hundreds of thousands of companies are based. There’s nobody there.”

One Belgium-linked name has emerged, that of Franco Dragone, who directed spectacles of Cirque du Soleil. “You can wonder why a guy from La Louvière heads for a place like that” the journalists say. Bové and Clerix add that in coming days more “surprising and less surprising names” will be divulged. - vrt

25 Sikhs found in hidden compartment

Antwerp judicial police earlier received a tip off in connection with organised people-trafficking.

T

will return migrants who now arrive following a quick check to see they are not in danger. - vrt

732 Belgians and expats on tax haven list

olice in Essen in Antwerp Province recently discovered 25 undocumented people in a secret compartment in a lorry at an industrial zone.

The migrants were aged between 2 and 88.

Growing number of companies quitting Brussels

n increasing number of companies are turning their backs on the Belgian capital in order to move to middle-sized cities in Flanders, Het Nieuwsblad reports. Poor accessibility due to traffic congestion is the main culprit, experts argue.

eaked documents suggest that thousands of wealthy people have established companies in tax havens including Panama with a view to either avoiding or evading tax in their home country. Belgians too are said to feature prominently on the list.

P

The African Bulletin

People-traffickers were thought to be intending to set off from a carwash in Essen around 3pm. In the event local police managed to stop a Romanian lorry shortly before 5pm.

Ken Witpas of the Antwerp prosecutor’s office: “Behind a whole load of onions in the hold we discovered a self-made cage. The cage was no bigger than 4 square

metres, but contained 25 people of Sikh origins, all squashed together.

The people could be freed from this hazardous condition and were taken care of by civil protection officers.”

The two Romanian drivers were detained as well as the manager of the car wash. They are suspected of people-trafficking with exacerbating circumstances. - vrt

“Brussels remains the biggest player in Belgium in terms of office buildings that are being sold or rented on the real estate market.

The figure for 2015 totalled 288,000 square metres. This means a big drop compared to 2014, which had 461,000 square metres”, explains Louis De Clercq of the real estate

company Hugo Ceusters-SCMS. “Many spin-offs and start-ups, but also older businesses are moving to a provincial cities like Mechelen, Ghent and Leuven.”

Flemish Brabant province is becoming hot in this section of the real estate market.

Voka, the organisation representing the network of Flemish businesses, confirms the trend: “In the past couple of years, there was a trend to move to the edge of the capital, but now we are seeing that a growing number of companies are spreading out even further, for example to Mechelen”, Voka director Jan Van Doren said. - vrt

4 Antwerp policemen facing serious charges

T

he judicial authorities have started an investigation into the behaviour of 4 police officers belonging to the Antwerp police force.

The 4 are facing charges of membership of a blackmail gang, violent robbery and assault and battery.

Labelling the allegations “very serious”, Mayor Bart De Wever issued a press statement saying: “If these facts can be proved, this would undoubtedly be a dark episode in the history of our police force.”

Serge Muyters, the head of the local Antwerp police force, spoke on a video message on the police website, saying: “We are taking the matter very seriously. The investigation has not been finished yet.”

Press reports are talking about blackmail of people in a vulnerable position, i.e. illegal immigrants and refugees. They allegedly committed the facts while on duty, which is an aggravating circumstance. The 4 are believed to have bullied their victims and there are talks of physical aggression.

The police officers worked in

the Antwerp districts of Noord and Borgerhout, where a lot of refugees and undocumented people are staying. They would systematically have focused on victims that couldn’t launch a complaint.

According to Het Nieuwsblad, the 4 held “raids” in little cafés and bars, taking their victims to a desolate place where they were threatened and robbed. Anyone showing resistance, was assaulted before being dumped in a different place. The police officers allegedly committed the offences wearing their uniform and while on duty.

Three of the police officers remain behind bars, while one is released under conditions, according reliable sources. The four have also been suspended by Bart De Wever. - vrt

Companies and big businesses would face a much higher tax rate.

The SP.A also says that “energy is a basic need” and therefore argues to put VAT on electricity back to 6 percent again, coming from 21.

The liberal Willem-Frederik Schiltz says that “we would like to do this, but it would cost 600 million.” The present centre-right right-leaning government decided to lift the VAT rate under the tax shift. - vrt

“VAT rate back from 21 to 6%”

he Flemish socialists (SP.A) have worked out a proposal to tax electricity consumption in a fairer way. It’s a new attack by the opposition party on the so-called “Turteltaks”, the extra tax introduced by the Energy Minister Annemie Turtelboom of the liberals. SP.A is also urging the majority to turn back their decision to lift VAT on electricity from 6 to 21 percent.

The low 6% rate had only just been introduced by the previous socialist-led government.

The energy tax, dubbed ‘Turteltaks’ by its opponents, was introduced by Annemie Turtelboom to pay for a huge accumulated debt in the past. Citizens installing solar panels could claim benefits from the government, but this turned out to be such a huge success that it created a gap in the budget.

Turtelboom prefers to call the tax “Freyafactuur” (the Freya bill) after the previous Energy Minister who introduced the system, the socialist Freya Vandenbossche.

The benefits and tax returns have meanwhile been abolished, but Turtelboom says the tax is really

necessary to wipe out a deficit from the past. However, her tax has been challenged by the independent consumers’ organisation TestAankoop and has been targeted various times by the opposition.

The tax is said to be unfair, as everyone has to pay the same amount via a flat rate: singles, small families, big families, small consumers, big consumers, or even big companies.

The SP.A suggests to determine the tax on how much someone consumes. Single persons or those making an effort to reduce their consumption, should pay less, and big consumers should pay more.

The African Bulletin

EUROPE/WORLD NEWS

May 2016

PAGE

13

Huge Cannabis factory opposite Police Station

T

wo men have been jailed after running a cannabis factory in a derelict nightclub - situated directly opposite a police station.

Elidon Leka and Blerim Daci had around 60 cannabis plants being cultivated within few metres of Sutton Police Station in South London.

But their haul was discovered when officers smashed their way

into Alley Cats and Basement night club through a barricaded door - and found the plants hanging over the ceiling, ready to be harvested.

Leka, 26, was jailed for 20 months, while Daci, 28, was handed a 24-month jail sentence at Croydon Crown Court. It’s believed that the men had been living rough in the nightclub, which closed two years ago, while they cultivated the stash - which had an estimated street

World’s busiest airports

A

tlanta Hartsfield Jackson International has again retained the title as the world’s busiest passenger airport.

According to preliminary traffic data released by Airports Council International (ACI), more than 100 million passengers passed though the airport in 2015, a rise of 5.5% over the previous year.

The report credits Atlanta’s strategic location as a major connecting hub and port of entry into North America for its continuing success, noting that it’s within a two-hour flight of 80% of the United States population.

Although the airport has been the top airport for 18 years, it was expected to finally lose its crown to Beijing airport in the Chinese capital, which remains in second place.

The report said, “A combination of a Chinese slowdown and capacity

constraints has meant lower growth levels at the airport. Beijing grew by 4.4% in total passenger traffic.”

However, Dubai handled most international traffic in 2015. It was the sixth busiest airport in 2014 but has moved to third position with total passenger traffic growing by 10.7%.

Dubai International Airport is also the world’s busiest in terms of international passengers, ahead of London Heathrow.

ACI has 592 member airport authorities, which operate 1,853 airports in 173 countries.

In terms of overall growth for 2015, the report says there was a 6.1% rise in total passengers over 2014. International passenger growth rose 6.4%, while cargo - including mail - rose 2.4%.

The world’s largest air cargo hub remains Hong Kong. Memphis took the second spot followed by Shanghai.

value of EUR 212,000. Describing the pair’s ‘audacity’, a local taxi driver said: ‘I’ll give them a ten out of ten for balls. It definitely took some for their audacity.

Leka and Daci both admitted cultivating Cannabis.

PC Paul Arnold said: ‘Officers worked well to gather the evidence from a building where the inside had been ripped out and left in a hazardous condition.’

A

Cow urine on sale in British shops

n investigation has discovered convenience stores in London are selling cow urine.

The yellow liquid, known as gau mutra, is used by worshippers in Hindu ceremonies and some Indians believe drinking fresh cow urine will protect them from cancer.

It is illegal to sell cow urine for human consumption in England, but shops are allowed to stock it for ritual purposes.

A

18, Bernard Moon was a charismatic high school honours student and athlete who had been accepted at elite universities.

His life was however cut short recently by the blast of a homemade rocket - a failed night-time science experiment on the tarmac of a Southern California elementary school. A homemade chemical rocket attached to a skateboard blew up, mortally injuring Moon, who later died at a hospital. His 17-year-old friend suffered minor injuries.

Ventura County sheriff’s Capt. Garo Kuredjian said, “The rocket wasn’t meant to go up into the sky, but meant to go horizontally to propel a skateboard.”

P A

25-year-old Indian woman went into labour despite being less than seven months pregnant, hoping to deliver one baby.

Instead, Manita Singh got a shock of her life when she discovered she was about to deliver a set of premature quintuplets. She was unaware she was carrying five babies because she and husband Mahesh were unable to afford an ultrasound.

The Inquisitr reported Mahesh as saying. “I believe God has compensated the loss” of the couple’s first child. The couple has named the girls Jiya, Jjanv, Jyoti, Jigayasa,

and Janya. A priest had advised them to start each name with the letter “J,” the Times of India reports.

It’s however not all good news for what doctors say are India’s “most premature” quintuplets ever. The babies were kept in intensive care because of their low birth weights, with four of the babies suffering from jaundice. One hospital executive warns the survival rate for such premature babies is “abysmally low.”

If they survive, the quintuplets will receive financial support from the government. Manita and Mahesh live in a single room and have the equivalent of $7.50 in their bank account.

for worshippers. Managing director Gauri Das said the temple had been selling cow urine since the early 70s for customers wanting to carry out ceremonies or purify things.

A Foods Standards Agency (FSA) spokesperson said although it is illegal to sell the urine for human consumption, when applied externally it would not be considered food. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health said: “We would strongly advise not to sell cow urine where food is present.”

Science experiment kills teenager The blast appeared to be a tragic accident, he said.

The experiment at Madrona Elementary School wasn’t sanctioned by any school, and the victims likely were using the courtyard because it’s an open space, Kuredjian said.

Investigators did not immediately confirm reports that Moon may have been working on a project for the 2016 Ventura County science fair. He had placed in the 2014 and 2015 fairs.

It wouldn’t have been out of character for Moon, a high school varsity tennis player and honours student who took advanced science classes. He had been accepted to both the University of California, Berkeley and Brown University, friends said.

Woman who lost over 272 kilo

hillips, 25, lost so much weight and still dead afraid to gain back the weight. To be sure, she gets on the scale “several times a day.”

Woman expecting 1 baby gives birth to 5

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health warned against its sale where food was present. However, this does not stop some shops in London from stocking them very close to their food. A shop staff in Greenwich said: “Hindus come in to buy it for religious reasons, if a baby is born it may be used during a religious ceremony in the house for good luck.”

A Hare Krishna temple in Watford, Bhaktivedanta Manor, has a dairy farm which also produces the urine

“Lately any time I see the scale go up, I tend to freak out and I stop eating for a couple days,” Phillips was reported to have said in a recenclip episode of My 600-lb Life:

Where Are They Now? As a result of her body image struggles, Phillips’ doctor asked her to see a therapist. “He thinks I’m pushing myself too hard to lose weight,” Phillips said. “I know I’m not 700 lbs. (318 kilo) anymore, but I still feel that way. And I don’t know how to change how I feel.”

“I still see myself as 700 or 800 lbs., and people staring at me - it

just makes me not want to leave the house at all,” Phillips said.

“In the beginning I had a lot of people doubt me. I was in a really abusive relationship. And that definitely, I think, has had a negative impact on me. It hurts. In my heart, in my head.”

Phillips is hoping that therapy will help her finally improve her body image.

PAGE

14 May 2016

The African Bulletin

Bandits in uniform or a country of anything goes

By Chido Onumah*

I

n Rivers State of Nigeria, four undergraduates are lynched for allegedly stealing laptops and cell phones; in Lagos a woman is beaten and sexually assaulted for stealing pepper; in Ondo State, a man is bludgeoned to death for being gay; and somewhere in Kano, a man is set free after more than two decades in prison for stealing a transistor radio. But there is no national outrage against high-profile thieves who have pocketed billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money.

I had a few sleepless nights. It had nothing to do with the searing heat in the country or the epileptic power supply by Nigeria’s eternally dysfunctional electricity company.

My discomfiture had to do with the report about the heist at the Nigerian Air Force. The dizzying allegations of sustained robbery by the officers in charge, though not completely surprising, left me breathless. I ruminated on the trial of Alex Badeh. I reflected on the figures, did the math, and was driven to despair.

I then asked myself the same question I asked a few years ago while researching grand corruption in Nigeria and the looting of the Nigeria Police Force by an ex-Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun. From all accounts, Mr. Balogun was a pathological criminal who rose to become the chief law officer of Nigeria. By the time he was forced to retire in January 2005, he had stolen billions of naira belonging to the Nigeria Police in what would go down as the most barefaced stealing spree by a public officer in Nigeria. The question I posed was: what kind of country or system makes it possible for public officers to loot their establishments so easily, ceaselessly and shamelessly? To understand the Badeh and Balogun syndrome, this is the question every sane Nigerian ought to be asking. I shall return to this.

Alex Sabundu Badeh, 58, until his retirement last year was a fourstar flag officer of the Nigerian Air Force who served as the 18th Chief of Air Staff (October 4th, 2012 - January 16th, 2014), the 15th Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (January 16, 2014 to July 13, 2015), and Commander of the Presidential fleet during Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency, according to a Wikipedia entry. He was born in Vimtim (a town sacked

by Boko Haram in October 2014) in Mubi Local Government Area of Adamawa State, North East Nigeria, into a family of peasant farmers.

Fast forward to March 16, 2016. The trial of Badeh began at a Federal High Court in Abuja where we were told that as Chief of Air Staff, Badeh made N558.2

million ($2.8 million at the official exchange rate of N197 to a dollar) monthly from the salary account of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), an account we were informed predated Badeh’s tenure. N558.2 multiplied by the 15 months that the diversion lasted (between September 2012 and December 2013) comes to N8.3 billion. As Chief of Air Staff, Badeh was a stupendously rich man. I don’t know any business, not even that run by Bill Gates or Warren Buffet that boasts of that kind of return on investment in 15 months.

Badeh’s loot, we understand, was the leftover after salaries and allowances of workers from NAF had been defrayed from the N4 billion received monthly and it was conveniently earmarked “for general administration for the office of the Chief of Air Staff”.

And he administered it in the interest of the Badeh clan. Badeh bought a retirement home for N1.1 billion, a deserving prize for his trouble in ending the war against Boko Haram. He bought a commercial plot of land for N650 million and paid N878 million for the construction of a shopping mall and another N304 million to complete the mall. When his sons wanted to own houses, he bought a house worth N260 million for his first son, renovated it with N60 million and furnished it with N90 million. And when his second son turned down a house worth N340 million, he ordered that a second house be bought for N330 million to compensate for the indiscretion of his man Friday.

“The amount in most cases was usually converted into US dollars thereafter, it is brought to his official residence of Chief of Air Staff at the Niger Barracks,” revealed a prosecution witness, Air Commodore Aliyu Yishau (retd.), who said he served as former Director of Finance and Account of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).

Badeh obviously had no business being in the Nigerian Air Force or building a career as a pilot trained at the expense of Nigerian taxpayers. But this is Nigeria, a country of anything goes, where perverse actions perpetually multiply and endure as instruments of governance. Badeh, of course, is not alone. The man who succeeded him as Chief (Thief?) of Air Staff, Adesola Nunayon Amosu, a retired Air Vice Marshal, has been indicted in the arms procurement scandal during his tenure. One of the criminal deals involved the procurement of two second-hand Mi24V helicopters instead of the recommended Mi-35M series at a cost of $136.9 million. The second-hand helicopters were allegedly not operationally airworthy at the time of delivery while a brand new unit of the same helicopters costs about $30 million. On November 13, 2014, two officers were killed when the

Air Force chief allegedly pressured them into flying one of the unserviceable helicopters, which crashed in the North-east region.

According to reports, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has seized houses and other properties belonging to Amosu, Air Vice Marshal J.B. Adigun, the immediate past Chief of Accounts and Budgeting of the Nigerian Air Force, and Air Commodore O. O. Gbadebo, who was the Director of Finance and Budget at NAF. When Amosu’s wife, Mrs. Omolara Amosu, was arrested

by EFCC operatives, the sum of N3 billion was allegedly traced to her bank accounts. She has voluntarily returned N381 million in three tranches of N180m, N101m, and N100m.

I am reliably informed that the rot in the military is far worse than what we have experienced with our politicians. And that is saying a lot considering the criminal proclivities of Nigerian politicians. We have seen a bit of the rot in the Air Force.

We await the revelations from the Army and the Navy.

If you want to understand why Nigeria is not working, why we are a fourth rate nation, look no further than the Dasukis, Badehs, and Amosus of Nigeria, their compatriots in agbada (the grand boubou) and their partners in wigs. People like our billionaire judges, like Olisah Metuh, Stella Oduah, and Bukola Saraki, the Teflon President of the Nigerian Senate who is currently standing trial for false asset declaration and for repaying his personal loans with state fund. There are others like Ikedi Ohakim who as governor of Imo State paid $2.29 million cash for a property in Abuja, Ahmed Sani Yerima, Mohammed Danjuma Goje, Abdullahi Adamu, George Akume, and Josuah Dariye - executive scoundrels who have found refuge in one of the most disreputable institutions in Nigeria - the Senate.

Not even the colonial masters could have damaged this country the way these men and women who claim to be Nigerians have done. Indeed, it’s a safe bet that the legendary unfeeling colonial chieftain, Lord Lugard, would weep no end if he were to return to the house he built in 1914.

Clearly, these thieving individuals like their alter ego, the fiendish late military dictator, Sani Abacha, have no concept of a nation of people. Their moral universe is

limited to family and friends. That is why their politics, to paraphrase radical scholar and activist, late Prof Eskor Toyo, is reduced to a grabbing game, a cake-sharing contest. So, for example, while Abacha was head of state, pretending to love Nigeria and working to uphold her honour and glory, he, his family, and accomplices were busy looting the country and stashing the loot where their hearts were: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, etc. In just one instance, in December 1999, the Swiss government announced the freezing of $550 million in different banks belonging to Abacha and his family, former National Security Adviser Ismaila Gwarzo, and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (current Governor of Kebbi State). It is simply impossible to know exactly how much Abacha and those around him stole from Nigeria in the five years of his tyrannical rule.

There are many Abachas, Dasukis, Badehs, Amosus and Sarakis in the system, people who “pledge to Nigeria my country, to be faithful, loyal and honest”, yet they will steal from the same country at every opportunity. But why are millions of Nigerians who bear the brunt of the licentiousness of our thieving public officers not outraged? There is no outrage because most of us will behave the same way if we found ourselves in the shoes of Abacha, Dasuki, Badeh, Amosu or Saraki.

And the reason is simple: “Much of what passes for corruption is not simply a matter of greed but rather the byproduct of legislators or public officials who feel more obligated to family, tribe, religion or ethnic group than to the national community and therefore divert money in that direction.” These bandits in uniform and agbada “are not necessarily immoral people, but their circle of moral obligation is smaller than that of the polity for which they work”.

Savagery rears its head when we believe something that belongs to us is stolen, when anyone comes into our small circle of moral obligation. So, somewhere in Aluu, Rivers State, four undergraduates are lynched and burnt by mortally offended fellow citizens for allegedly stealing laptops and cell phones; somewhere in Lagos a woman is beaten and sexually assaulted by an incredulous and bloodthirsty mob for stealing pepper; in Ondo State, a man is mercilessly bludgeoned to death by “irritated angry youth” for being gay; and somewhere in Kano, a man is set free after more than two decades in prison for allegedly stealing a transistor radio. Yet each time Dasuki, Badeh, or Saraki appears in court, oozing splendor, they are not tailed by “ordinary” Nigerians mocking and jeering but by a throng of well-heeled lawyers, friends, associates, and family members. These high-profile supporters know that it is not only

Dasuki, Badeh, or Saraki that is on trial.

What they seem to be saying is, “That is the way the system works.

Only a fool would want to be law abiding in a patently lawless society.” So, Dasuki, Badeh, Saraki, and company, can sleep comfortably at night knowing full well that there is a chance that in the end they will be free to enjoy their loot. As a people, we have imbibed the dictum that when evil is commonplace it becomes a tradition.

That is the case with corruption in Nigeria. Corruption is a national tradition. It has been with us since independence, got worse through many military regimes and became a directive principle of state policy in 1999 when the military again foisted one of their own, Olusegun Obasanjo, that exemplar of everything wrong with Nigeria, on a hapless nation.

It is for this reason that these indicted public officers, rather than going to court to prove their innocence, shout “persecution” and “political witch-hunt” at every opportunity. You can’t really blame them! Why should they be punished for upholding tradition? It is for the same reason that we have not heard a word from the military high command or from retired military officers, including ex-heads of state, on the revelations about our military.

Knowing how powerful the thieving class is in Nigeria, President Buhari should be praised - I can’t think of any politician who would have done this – for his courage and political will. Of course, the issue goes beyond President Buhari to the question posed at the beginning of this essay. As long as Nigeria remains the way it is, public office will be nothing but sinecure for self-serving individuals.

We need to create a country where there is no incentive for Nigerians to steal from Nigeria. No sane person steals from himself.

When people feel ownership of this country, we won’t see the high incidence of wanton pillage of public fund currently going on at all levels and in all sectors.

In the interim, let Nigerians who suffer the effect of corruption pick up the gauntlet and act. After all, the enfant terrible of Rivers State and now HONOURABLE (emphasis mine) Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, once remarked publicly that he and other thieving politicians get away with murder because Nigerians have not risen to defend their patrimony by stoning those who gratuitously steal from them. *Chido Onumah is Coordinator, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy, Abuja, Nigeria. This piece is an excerpt from an upcoming book: We are all ‘Biafrans - A ParticipantObserver’s Interventions in a Country Sleeping Walking to Disaster.’

The African Bulletin

May 2016

PAGE

15

Ghana’s new visa plan, pan-Africanism and African unity rhetoric

By Paul Ejime*

A

ny initiatives that seek to rekindle the dreams of Africa’s founding fathers and mothers must be welcomed by all. But it is a strong indictment on the continent’s post-independent leadership that almost 60 years after many of the countries gained political freedom, Africans are more divided than ever.

President John Dramani Mahama in a State of the Nation address to mark Ghana’s 59th independence anniversary on 6th March 2016 made two important pronouncements with foreign relations implications.

The first was his government’s plan to improve the knowledge and usage of French language in Anglophone Ghana, which is surrounded by French speaking nations. The advantages of this strategic initiative if effectively implemented are many.

The second policy statement of international import, but which almost escaped media attention is that, starting next July citizens of the other 53 Member States of the African Union (AU) can “obtain visas on arrival (in Ghana) with the option of staying for up to 30 days.” President Mahama expects this measure to stimulate air travel, trade, investment and tourism in Ghana which, like many other African countries, is going through a difficult economic patch.

Historically, this should not be a big deal in Africa that prides itself as the Land of Hospitality, where the people are their brother’s and sister’s keeper. In fact, Ghana’s independence President Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah had boasted on 6th March 1957 when the then Gold Coast became independent Ghana that“…our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up

with the total liberation of the African continent.”

To his credit, under Nkrumah and until his overthrow in the coup of 24 February 1966, Ghana granted visa exemptions to “persons of African descent” born in the neighbouring West African countries, and members of the Casablanca Group - Guinea, Tunisia, Mali, United Arab Republic, Morocco and Algeria - which along with the Liberia Group, formed the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, with the Pan-Africanist Ghanaian leader playing a leading role.

In his 1961 book, ‘I Speak of Freedom’, Nkrumah had also expressed the hope that: “…the African race, united under one federal government, will emerge not as just another world bloc to flaunt its wealth and strength, but as a Great Power whose greatness is indestructible because it is built not on fear, envy and suspicion, nor won at the expense of others, but founded on hope, trust, friendship and directed to the good of all mankind.”

But so much has happened with the concept of a United States of Africa, which took its origin from the 1924 poem “Hail, United States of Africa” by Marcus Garvey, American civil rights activist and great Pan-Africanist. The late Libyan leader Muoamar Gaddafi had romanced with the same idea in his relentless push for the formation of the AU, which succeeded the OAU in 2002, and many still talk with passion about the African Renaissance.

As expected the AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana DlaminiZuma has lauded Ghana’s visa-on-arrival plan, expressing the hope that “many other African countries will follow suit, in the interest of achieving an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.”

Modern Africa owes a debt of eternal gratitude to Pan-Africanists

and independent leaders such as Nkrumah, for their sacrificial struggles, so any initiative that seeks to rekindle the dreams of those founding fathers must be welcomed by all true Africans and friends of Africa. But it is a strong indictment on the continent’s post-independent leadership that almost 60 years after many of the countries gained political freedom, Africans are more divided than ever. Africa is not zero-poor, but with the mismanagement of its rich human and natural resources, bad governance, corruption and the vicious circle of social strife, poverty and unemployment, there are today more skilled Africans in Europe and the Americas than are in their home countries. And almost on a daily basis thousands of disillusioned, hopeless and desperate African youths risk their lives on perilous journeys to Europe.

It is no longer news that Africa and Africans are fast losing their unique identity, if they have not already done so, with Pan-Africanism now at best a slogan to the inattentive ears of the present generation of Africans. Not a few African leaders have proclaimed or still proclaim Africa as the centre-piece of their national foreign policy. But the reality today is that while they continue to pay lip service to African unity, most of these leaders, under the guise of solving domestic problems, many of which are self-inflicted any way, steal their countries dry to build personal castles at home and abroad.

Ghana’s visa-on-arrival plan for AU citizens may also be viewed against the deafening complaints by African citizens about the difficulties and humiliations they suffer to obtain visas for Europe and the US. But the truth is that the process for obtaining visas to African countries is no less laborious and frustrating. For many Africans, travelling in the continent whether by

road or by air is a nightmarish experience. In some cases air fares cost more than elsewhere while immigration and check points punctuate the transnational roads, some of which are in terrible conditions, with the attendant extortion of travellers by the border security personnel. The travel delays and the lack of deliberate pan-African national policies have ensured that intra-African trade hovers between 10% and 12% compared to 40% in North America and 60% in Western Europe.

Time was when Africans took refuge and were even provided the national passports of their host African countries during the independence struggles. Hundreds even received free education in their host countries during the anti-Apartheid era. But with globalization and world economic crisis African migrants who once constituted the bulwark of economic development on the continent, have become targets of violent xenophobic attacks by fellow Africans who accuse them of stealing their jobs.

If Europe is accused of erecting walls/fences to stop immigrants, African countries are no less guilty of the erection of invisible walls against fellow Africans even in their times of need.

With their ill-gotten wealth and multiple foreign visas, many African leaders and members of their families flaunt their ostentatious lifestyles abroad, while the majority of Africans are stranded and condemned to abject poverty at home. The same leaders bemoan capital flight and brain-drain from Africa but do very little or nothing to incentivise or create the enabling environment to retain local capital or manpower. Instead, they encourage the mass exodus of Africa’s best brains; discourage foreign investment and incite social crisis that cause death, destruction and

render citizens, refugees in their own countries. With their dual/multiple nationalities, these unpatriotic leaders easily disappear with their families to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth abroad.

And unsatisfied with presiding over comatose or non-existent local health systems, these selfish leaders are now promoting medical tourism at the expense of their own countries.

As things stand, every African must undertake a serious realty check to determine their Africanness and how they have derailed the lofty dreams of African founding fathers, for the purpose of damage control/limitation.

Symbolic as Ghana’s visa-on-arrival initiative may seem, it is a reminder to Africans in general about where they are coming from. The AU and various Pan-Africanist groups/institutions and policy think-tanks must wake up from their slumber. It is bad enough that through slavery, colonial and neo-colonial exploitations and plundering, Africa’s sweat, blood and wealth were used to lay the foundations for the industrialisation and transformation of many countries in Europe and the Americas. For Africans themselves to now become champions of Africa’s disunity/disintegration, and the continued siphoning of the continent’s resources, is an unpardonable crime against humanity.

According to Marcus Garvey: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” It is not enough for Africans to know their history and culture; or to continue to blame others for their woes, they must use that knowledge strategically to work for the good of present and future generations.

- it is personal. All races have strong people - who will stamp their way on fire to get what they want. All races have weak people - who will struggle with the smallest of life’s challenges that never even caught your attention when it crossed you path.

Finally (at least for now), while I understand what (mostly South) Africans have suffered in the hands of racists, using institutionalized mechanisms, I also strongly call for all

my fellow Africans to not allow those evil experiences to shape how we think of ourselves, how we think about others, how we think about our (inter-) relations with other races - and most importantly - how we think about our future.

*Paul Ejime is a Media/ Communications Consultant. This article previously appeared in Sahara Reporters

Can Blacks be racist?

By Mussa Billegeya*

I

t is not correct to say that racism is a problem affecting black people only. Regardless of whether or not they have the means and advantages of history to institutionalize racism, black people can be racist.

This piece is a reply to Sobantu Mzwakali who said: “Black people can never be racist - we never had the tools or power to institutionalize racial oppression....”and...”black people do not have the resources to impose socio–economic structures which enforce their superiority....”, etc.

That is like standing before the court accused of murder and saying, “I cannot be a killer because I cannot afford a gun!” Guns don’t kill, people do. If you, inside of you, are a killer, you can kill someone using any of the other “millions” of ways to kill someone.

You can strangle them, poison them, stab, bewitch them, etc.

At the end, it is NOT the means, tools, power, resources, systems, structures, etc, which you use that define who you are (or name what you do), but rather it is the result of what you do that does - regardless

how small scale/personal it was. Most important to understand is that, it is NOT YOU the doer who defines the meaning of what you to the recipient, but the recipient does. They do this by the means of how they perceive/feel affected/experience/ what you did to them.

That is why not all that you call racial discrimination or racism by whites is called by the same name by the whites who do them to you. Why? Because it is not for them to name what they do to you (because they do not know how it TRULY makes you feel or affects you). Only you, the recipient, can truly understand what it means to you - by means of how it affects you or makes you feel - and hence only you can name it.

Institutions don’t racially discriminate people, people do. Institutions NEVER institutionalize anything, people, who run the institutions, do.

So whatsoever is institutionalized, it is simply a reflection of the minds and intentions of the individual persons behind the institution who use the institution to “carry their image”.

Institutionalization is a level/ grade of an action at which it is done, but not a defining criteria for an action itself. Corruption done by an

individual person is corruption. When it is done by a system/institution - it is still corruption. As it is for any other action that someone can do to you and it will affect you - with or without institutionalization. If someone rapes you, it doesn’t have to be institutionalized for you to feel its effects. Same with a whipping, theft/robbery, etc.

Institutionalization increases the scale, intensity, effects and side effects but does not define the action.

Your argument is borne out of the inferiority complex that affects most of US black people (Note: I am a black person - and indeed an African - too), that we are “too small” to make an impact! So much that we think that even whatever evil we can do to a“superior” white person, it cannot affect them because they are too big to be affected by such too small a people like we are!

Which is wrong. Completely wrong. If you ever felt a certain way after something was done to you, an Indian will feel the same way, a Chinese, a white, an Aboriginal, etc.

All people are (created) equal, and they, from individual level, can be affected similarly by similar experiences. We only differ on our abilities to absorb/manage/handle the experiences. And this difference is not racial

*Mussa Billegeya is Programme Manager, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, East African Regional Office, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania msbillegeya@hotmail.com

PAGE

16 May 2016

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

T

The African Bulletin

New age of tattoos

attoos and other body arts have been around for hundreds of years, but took a backseat few decades back.

Not anymore. Sporting a tattoo today carries hardly any stigma. In fact, it has exploded with not only the regular Joes, but quite a number of lawyers, athletes, teachers, doctors and the famous, rich and powerful have it as their skin accessory.

Some tattoos are real cool and yes, some are a bit weird and naughty. You can say, it goes with individual taste and want, ranging from photos, quotes/excerpts or even line stories.

Everyone sporting a tattoo have their reasons and stories behind it all. Who are you to judge?

Nowadays, tattoo conventions are everywhere - Americas, Asia, Europe, Australia, U.S. etc. In the Netherlands, one was held in the city of Maastricht last February, Rotterdam in March with Amsterdam having one this month. They all come packaged with seminars, games, contests, live tattooing and piercing, art exhibits, and more!

Here are some samples that you probably have or have never seen!

The African Bulletin

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

May 2016

PAGE

17

18 May 2016

By Donna Page* The month is ushered in with the moon in Virgo, an earthy beginning to an eventful month. The full moon in Scorpio can dredge up jealousy and obsession; stay on the high side of the energy - which allows you feel passion for living and awakens intuitive wisdom. It can enable you to cut to the bottom of hidden issues and purge old and outdated ways of being that hold you back. Mercury shifts into Taurus on the 9th, the ability to think methodical and slower may appear unattractive in our fast talking society, yet this gift promises a well thought out plan you can stick with. Mother’s day is a conjunction of the Sun with Jupiter in Taurus. This conjunction is about expanding your consciousness to believe in your creative abilities on the earth plane. For each person it will be different, this is the time to connect with your creative power within and know deep in your heart of hearts that you have gifts to give that have yet to be excavated from the hidden caverns of your inner talent treasure chest.

Venus is retrograde on the 15th in Gemini. This is a rare retrograde as in this cycle Venus and the Sun will form an eclipse on June 5th. Therefore this cycle is more powerful than other Venus retrogrades. Get ready to reassess everything Venus, what you love; what is important to you, and most importantly your values.

Communication with friends and lovers will take priority. Sharing thoughts and ideas about what is most important to you as an individual and as a couple is paramount to ensure that relationships survive and thrive. The Sun moves into Gemini on Sunday the 20th, the day of the solar eclipse.

Pay attention to the presence behind the chatter of the mind. This solar eclipse can rattle the brain and stir up conflicting thoughts and ideas. Stay grounded and balance your chakras to achieve the most benefit from this eclipse energy.

■■ Questions

Horoscope May 2016 ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

March 21 - April 19

April 21 - May 21

May 22 - June 21

June 22 - July 22

Focus on developing your assets, the gifts and treasures you have to give to the world.

They are more than you realize, don’t get side tracked with shiny objects that take you away from what is truly meaningful. Venus retrograde in your solar house of communication will definitely put the pressure on to be forthright in your communications with others.

You may either fall in love or out of love with the area that you are living. It could be time to rethink your mode of transportation; an alternative method will bounce around in your mind; whether it is a new car, bike, scooter or walking.

Jupiter is still in your sign until the middle of June so soak in the good vibes. Take advantage of the last rays of Jupiter in Taurus and find the inner courage and fortitude to take on something you know you want, you know you can do, yet the challenge of action is uncomfortable. Venus is retrograde in your solar house of money. Time to rethink how and what you want to trade your time, effort and cash for. You may even come up with another way to earn a living that feels more at ease with how you want to live your life.

The few weeks before your birthday is the most powerful time of year for introspection.

Although with Venus slowing down to a crawl and retrograde in your sign, having time for self can be hard to come by. Venus retrograde in your sign is a blessing in many ways, even if initially it may come with uncomfortable changes. With Venus taking up residence in your sign and gifting you with a rare eclipse, in addition to the solar eclipse in Gemini surely this is a month to make any course direction changes your heart desires.

Find time to stretch out on your lawn chair with a refreshing drink and relax. Close friends stop by to keep you company and share in casual conversation.

Don’t be too surprised if a friend ask you to help them out with taking their four legged baby to the Vet; helping out friends of the two and four legged variety is part of the plan. Venus will be moving retrograde in your solar house of retreat, having time to think is good, yet make sure you feel you are the master of your mind and that your thoughts or worries do not dominate or control your emotional well-being.

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

July 23 -August 21

August 22 - September 23

September 24 - October 23

October 24 - November 22

The sun is moving through your solar tenth house of public appearances and career, soak in the lime light it is your time to show them what you got!

Remember to breathe deeply and if something needs to be corrected, don’t worry, you will still be loved. Venus is moving retrograde in your solar house of friendships, your life will be full with seeing friends from the past and reassessing who you want to spend more time with and how to make room for everyone. What may seem like caring conversation could appear as gossip to someone else, be aware of others feelings as you share and speak of others.

Venus is moving retrograde in your solar tenth house of career; it is your time to re-evaluate how you want to be known in the world. Does your career bring you the intellectual and emotional fulfilment you want? If your job can’t bring you that fulfilment do you have a passion about something that you want to put your energy into? This is the month to take action on putting time and effort into an area of life that you want to help or be known for.

This month is all about adjustment. You may be reassessing the role of education in your life, rethinking what you always believed would happen or what is true and adjusting to new financial plans. Venus is moving retrograde in your ninth house of travels, religion, and education. A course that will help you personally or professionally will present itself. Your soul is ready to grow to the next level of awareness, be conscious of the whispers from the universe that will take you down the right path for development.

May is the month that many of the planets are roaming through your house of partnerships. This is good to spice life up, enjoy the influence of Jupiter in this house bringing you opportunities to expand your connections with others who are business or romantic partners. Venus will be retrograde in your solar eighth house, the house that represents secrets, sex, and money held by others. The fun part can be more romance, the not so fun side is unneeded expenses can show up on your bank statements from mistakes, the lesson? Pay attention to the details especially around money that other people or institutions handle for you.

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

November 23 - December 22

December 23 - January 20

January 21 - February 19

February 20- March 20

Time to get charged up to take better care of self, including new or renewed excitement for exercise and health routines. The motivation can be inspired from a romantic interest as Venus is doing her retrograde dance through your seventh house of partners.

The fact that she is in Gemini, the sign of twins signifies that you can have a couple of friends to fill a special spot in the infinite variety of interests you hold.

Find time to play this month, get in touch with your creative side and enjoy. Art fairs or festivals find their way into your weekends. You might even splurge on a piece of artwork, or a concert ticket that you would normally rule out. The balance between enjoying life in the moment and preparing for the future is one of your life lessons. A growing awareness of movement of personal growth feels good as you secure yourself in your career.

You will be oh so ready to not be bothered by people anymore!

Little (or big) irritations have had their toll and surrounding yourself with fun light conversations will be a welcome respite. You may feel the need to argue for what is yours, whether it is a mistake from a store over charging you or an intangible from close partnerships such as spouse or family members.

Lighten up without being taken advantage of. Venus retrograde in your solar fifth house of romance, fun and children will bring good times your way.

Fill your month with time strolling through your favourite neighbourhoods enjoying the weather, landscapes and a meal or two on a patio. Venus moving retrograde in your solar house of home and family can stir up family decisions regarding a situation to be addressed. A family member in difficult times forces you to contemplate your role in helping them out. Follow your heart but understand the full consequences of what you are committing to.

*Donna Page is an Atlanta, Georgia, USA based astrologer. She may be contacted at: 1-404-892-8986 or donnazpage@gmail.com

TAB Quiz

Which country’s case is the last open file at the UN Decolonization Committee?

Which African country has the most population?

When is the best time to go whale-watching in South Africa?

Which bird is considered to be the fastest in the world?

What is the oldest road in the Netherlands?

What is a doppelganger?

The film “O21” (2014) is made under the banner of what country?

What sport do players in the Super League compete in?

In what island was Paul the Apostle shipwrecked?

How many copies of the Qur’an were compiled and where are they at present?

■■ Answers

Connect your creative power

The African Bulletin

Western Sahara Nigeria. A 2006 estimate shows 132 million From June/July to December to see Humpback whales and Southern Right whales The peregrine falcon which can clock 70 metres (229 feet) a second The Roman Limes, the border defences which roughly ran from Katwijk and then followed the Rhine; not paved, but packed with gravel and clay A lookalike Pakistan Rugby league Malta Only 2 copies; one in Tashkent and the other in Istanbul

PAGE

The African Bulletin

May 2016

Popular Imagination of Justice in Morocco: The Ritual of Cursing

By Dr. Mohammed Maarouf* Inside the shrine, visitors murmur their wishes and curses because they don’t want other people to overhear them. A popular religious saying goes that “people should make their wishes silently so that Allah lubricates their fulfilment.”

People do the same for their curses.

Still, I tried to listen to what some visitors said in private. One woman was so furious that she nearly cursed in a loud voice. She started circumambulating the coffin of Sidi ‘Abdelaziz, kissing its corners and saying: “O Mulay ‘Abdelaziz! O Mulay Sultan! I have come straight to you and destination is Allah! I call them to your trial! They have wronged me and it is dispersion I wish for them!” Then she said again: “O Mulay ‘Abdelaziz! I want them to be dispersed, particularly, ‘Abdelqader, his wife and daughter.”

As the reader may notice, the supplicant is careful in her curse and protests only about the social injustice she endures from particular people. What we can deduce from this example is that the woman’s belief in the saint’s fulfilment of her curse may alleviate her anger and deter her from taking the initiative herself in attempting to settle the conflict by inflicting injury on the wrongdoer. Her rancour and hostility are ritually discharged at the saint. Her faith (niya) in the

saint’s power is enough to let her wait and expect the miracle of revenge.

One of Ben Yeffu’s sons, Sid l-Bdawi fassal d‘awi (judge of complaints), is a centre where people go to make oaths. He is also well known for his immediate response to people’s curses and perjury. At his shrine situated in the fields, people perform their curses in a ritualised form. When wronged, they go to Sid l-Bdawi and sweep it over the wrongdoers. The process is literally called “sweeping the shrine over them” (kay shetbu ‘lihum siyyed). The wronged person takes off his coat or djellaba and starts sweeping the floor of the shrine and cursing the wrongdoer: He wishes that the wrongdoer’s household would be swept like the shrine. He will say: “You have wronged me! I complain about you to this saint! I hope that you come down with an illness for which there is no cure! I hope that you are scattered so that you can never return! Go, my Grandfather and Sid l-Bdawi are cursing you!”

Sid l-Bdawi is very well known for punishing those who voluntarily violate their oaths or vows by false swearing. Informants say: In the past, a man suspected his neighbour to have stolen his rooster. So, he told him that he would complain about it to the qaid. At the time the Makhzen was very oppressive. If one accused

someone and reported his allegations to the qaid, a makhzeni would go to the dwelling of the accused person and called him to court. The accused had to feed the makhzeni’s mule and give the makhzeni provisions before going to court.

At court he would be fined hard if found guilty. So anyone being accused would implore the plaintiff not to press charges because he knew that he would spend a lot of money. So, the neighbour accused of stealing the rooster was willing to do whatever the man told him.

He agreed to make an oath at Sid l-Bdawi. When they went there and the man swore, the rooster crowed in his stomach.

A number of myths are told about Sid l-Bdawi. His authority is established through the myth that jinn hold the trance dance at his shrine every night.

To elaborate on oath-making at shrines, I may cite examples from the past. Until the seventies, the court used to allow people to go to shrines to make oaths (if the plaintiff asked for it). In the region of El Jadida, oaths used to be given at Ben Yeffu or Moulay ‘Abdella.

Those who went to Ben Yeffu were sent there by the official court in Khmis Zmemra. Usually, an envoy would go with them to report the act of oath-making to the court.

The importance of that ritual was that Ben Yeffu was considered as a

mahkama where someone’s vow (‘had) was abiding, and in case of perjury the person under oath might incur the risk of the saint’s reprisal. So, the saint Ben Yeffu like other saints in the region (Mulay ‘Abdellah, for instance) have been used by people for making oaths.

The standard formula people would say was as follows: “By Allah the ever great I have not done or taken this thing; otherwise Ben Yeffu may divulge my breach of faith and punish me for it!”

Up to the eighties, the tradition of making oaths at shrines was a common practice. Even some political parties used the ritual as a strategy to secure more votes in their favor. They gave voters gifts before elections, gifts such as embroidered slippers (shrabel) - usually one slipper before and the other after the election results–as they loaded masses of voters - especially women–in trucks and took them to Mulay ‘Abdellah to swear that they would vote for them. That tradition is no longer practiced. But people still carry on swearing at shrines to solve their conflicts with each other, especially newly married couples or couples suffering from violation of confidence.

When we say that, in the past, official courts recognized the ritual of swearing at shrines to have been legitimate, we are not saying that the court deliberately

Exposing the Libyan agenda: A closer look at Hillary’s emails

By Ellen Brown*

Toppling the global financial scheme

Qaddafi’s threatened attempt to establish an independent African currency was not taken lightly by Western interests. In 2011, Sarkozy reportedly called the Libyan leader a threat to the financial security of the world. How could this tiny country of six million people pose such a threat? First some background.

It is banks, not governments that create most of the money in Western economies, as the Bank of England recently acknowledged.

This has been going on for centuries, through the process called “fractional reserve” lending. Originally, the reserves were in gold. In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt replaced gold domestically with central bank-created reserves, but gold remained the reserve currency internationally.

In 1944, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were created in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to unify this bank-created money system globally. An IMF ruling said that no paper money could have gold backing. A money supply created privately as debt at interest requires a continual supply of debtors; and over the next half-century, most

developing countries wound up in debt to the IMF. The loans came with strings attached, including “structural adjustment” policies involving austerity measures and privatization of public assets.

After 1944, the US dollar traded interchangeably with gold as global reserve currency. When the US was no longer able to maintain the dollar’s gold backing, in the 1970s it made a deal with OPEC to “back” the dollar with oil, creating the “petro-dollar.” Oil would be sold only in US dollars, which would be deposited in Wall Street and other international banks.

In 2001, dissatisfied with the shrinking value of the dollars that OPEC was getting for its oil, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein broke the pact and sold oil in euros. Regime change swiftly followed, accompanied by widespread destruction of the country.

In Libya, Qaddafi also broke the pact; but he did more than just sell his oil in another currency.

As these developments are detailed by blogger Denise Rhyne: “ For decades, Libya and other African countries had been attempting to create a pan-African gold standard.

Libya’s al-Qadhafi and other heads of African States had wanted an independent, pan-African, “hard currency.”

“Under al-Qadhafi’s leadership, African nations had convened at least twice for monetary unification.

The countries discussed the possibility of using the Libyan dinar and the silver dirham as the only possible money to buy African oil.”

Until the recent US/NATO invasion, the gold dinar was issued by the Central Bank of Libya (CBL). The Libyan bank was 100% state-owned and independent. Foreigners had to go through the CBL to do business with Libya. The Central Bank of Libya issued the dinar, using the country’s 143.8 tons of gold.

Libya’s Qadhafi (African Union 2009 Chair) conceived and financed a plan to unify the sovereign States of Africa with one gold currency (United States of Africa). In 2004, a pan-African Parliament (53 nations) laid plans for the African Economic Community – with a single gold currency by 2023.

African oil-producing nations were planning to abandon the petro-dollar, and demand gold payment for oil/gas.

Showing what is possible

Qaddafi had done more than organize an African monetary coup. He had demonstrated that financial independence could be achieved. His greatest infrastructure

PAGE

19

part 2 sent people to shrines, simply that courts allowed them to swear there if they asked to. From a judicial perspective, we understand the attitude of the court. It is obvious that it is looking for the most suitable solutions to solve people’s conflicts and settle their quarrels.

But the practice of swearing at shrines may have its ideological effect if acknowledged by the official court as legitimate. The power of the saint is institutionalized as true. The official court has the power to reinforce and sustain this truth. When it accepts people’s oath making at shrines, it legitimizes the whole practice and its ideological implication. In this way, the saint’s authority is legitimized, which implicitly encourages the healers to exert more pressure on their followers to submit to their commands.

*Dr. Mohammed Maarouf is with the Department of English Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida, Morocco

part 2

project, the Great Man-made River, was turning arid regions into a breadbasket for Libya; and the $33 billion project was being funded interest-free without foreign debt, through Libya’s own state-owned bank.

That could explain why this critical piece of infrastructure was destroyed in 2011. NATO not only bombed the pipeline but finished off the project by bombing the factory producing the pipes necessary to repair it. Crippling a civilian irrigation system serving up to 70% of the population hardly looks like humanitarian intervention. Rather, as Canadian Professor Maximilian Forte put it in his heavily researched book Slouching Towards Sirte: NATO’s War on Libya and Africa: “[T]he goal of US military intervention was to disrupt an emerging pattern of independence and a network of collaboration within Africa that would facilitate increased African self-reliance. This is at odds with the geostrategic and political economic ambitions of extra-continental European powers, namely the US.”

the rebels set up their own central bank? Robert Wenzel wrote in The Economic Policy Journal in 2011: “This suggests we have a bit more than a rag tag bunch of rebels running around and that there are some pretty sophisticated influences. I have never before heard of a central bank being created in just a matter of weeks out of a popular uprising.”

It was all highly suspicious, but as Alex Newman concluded in a November 2011 article: “Whether salvaging central banking and the corrupt global monetary system were truly among the reasons for Gadhafi’s overthrow . . . may never be known for certain – at least not publicly.”

There the matter would have remained - suspicious but unverified like so many stories of fraud and corruption - but for the publication of Hillary Clinton’s emails after an FBI probe. They add substantial weight to Newman’s suspicions: violent intervention was not chiefly about the security of the people. It was about the security of global banking, money and oil.

Mystery Solved

*Ellen Brown is an attorney, founder of the Public Banking Institute, and author of twelve books including the best-selling Web of Debt. This article previously appeared in CounterPunch.

Hilary Clinton’s emails shed light on another enigma remarked on by early commentators. Why, within weeks of initiating fighting, did

PAGE

20 May 2016

FRENCH NEWS

The African Bulletin

Inauguration du centre entrepreneurial des femmes d’affaires du Togo

L

e centre entrepreneurial des femmes d’affaires du Togo dénommé « Innov ‘Up » a été inauguré à Lomé, en présence du directeur région Afrique du Pnud, Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, en mission officielle à Lomé, et du commissaire de la Cedeao chargé du secteur privé.

Conçu comme un incubateur d’entreprises au Togo destiné à promouvoir l’entrepreneuriat féminin parce qu’elles ont des difficultés à entreprendre alors qu’elles ont des talents, « Innov’Up », selon Mme Candide Leguédé, présidente de la Fédération des femmes entrepreneures et femmes d’affaires du Togo et de la Cedeao, promotrice du Centre, veut « assurer la promotion durable de l’entrepreneuriat des femmes dans les secteurs formels et informels avec des start-up novatrices dans les zones urbaines et péri urbaines de Lomé ». « Les femmes togolaises compteraient pour 48% des entrepreneurs dans le secteur, cependant, elles ont du mal à faire progresser leurs activités du stade de micro au stade de petite et moyenne entreprise », a indiqué Léguédé.

D’où la création d’un centre au service de l’émergence d’un entrepreneuriat féminin compétitif, un dispositif d’accompagnement des

femmes dénommé « Innov’Up ».

Cette plateforme multi-services située au cœur de Lomé, non loin du grand marché de la capitale, centre d’affaires des femmes par excellence, va héberger des startup, une cinquantaine de femmes pour deux ans à qui sera inculquée la notion d’affaires.

Elles vont bénéficier d’encadrement d’experts et de praticiens du domaine des affaires pour le renforcement des compétences entrepreneuriales. « Innov’Up », qui a pour mission de « promouvoir et développer l’entrepreneuriat féminin par un soutien actif et intégré des initiatives économiques à fort potentiel de création de richesse et de génération d’emplois durables », vise, entre autres, « d’offrir

un accompagnement stratégique et technique aux femmes dans la consolidation et le développement de leurs entreprises ».

Elle a également pour objectif de « mobiliser les acteurs de promotion et de financement de l’entrepreneuriat ».

Ses actions reposent sur le mentorat, la formation, le réseautage, l’ingénierie financière et le conseil aux Pme/Pmi. La représentante résidente du Pnud au Togo, Me Khardiata Lo Ndiaye, qui considère la femme africaine comme la colonne vertébrale du développement du continent, appelle à permettre aux femmes d’exploiter leurs talents d’affaires et leur vision économique.

Quant au directeur région Afrique du Pnud, Abdoulaye Mar

Dieye, « l’entrepreneuriat féminin est la clé du succès » du développement en Afrique, interpellant les établissement financiers à les accompagner.

Au Togo, rappelle-t-on, les femmes animent la vie économique et commerciale. Elles contribuent dans les secteurs de l’agriculture, du commerce et de l’artisanat.

De 2009 à 2012, selon des chiffres fournis par le Feta, il y a eu, au cours de cette période, au moins 25% des entreprises, qui ont été formellement créées par des femmes.

Dans les années 60 et 70, elles ont eu le monopole du commerce de pagne et disposaient toutes de voitures de luxe, telle la MercedesBenz, leur conférant l’appellation de « Nana Benz ».

RD Congo: Formation des formateurs et renforcement des capacités des femmes au Nord-Kivu

L

a Mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en RD Congo (MONUSCO) a organisé, dans le territoire de Walikale, au Nord-Kivu (Est de la RD Congo), un atelier sur la formation des formateurs et le renforcement des capacités des femmes, notamment sur les processus de maintien de la paix, a indiqué, mercredi à Kinshasa, au cours de la conférence hebdomadaire de l’ONU, le porte-parole civil de la MONUSCO, Félix Prosper Basse.

Selon M. Basse, la section Genre de Goma, chef-lieu du Nord-Kivu a, dans sa présentation, mis l’accent sur l’importance de l’intégration d’une dimension

genre dans le processus de maintien de la paix et de la mise en œuvre de la Résolution 1325 des Nations Unies.

Selon lui, cela contribue à

l’amélioration de la protection et de la promotion des droits de la femme et à l’accroissement des effectifs de femmes dans les comités locaux de protection en RD Congo.

L’administrateur du territoire de Walikale, Mme Marie-Claire Bangwene, a pour sa part souligné que la majorité de la population ignore le rôle joué par les femmes dans le processus de maintien de la paix.

«Le rôle important que la

femme joue dans le processus de maintien de la paix reste ignoré de la grande majorité de la population et même des autorités locales et de certains services de sécurité», a-t-elle soutenu.

Les autorités de Walikale, de même que les participants, ont remercié la MONUSCO d’avoir organisé cette formation qui donne une meilleure compréhension du concept genre et de son importance dans tous les processus de maintien de la paix.

La Compagnie aérienne Ecair du Congo émet un emprunt obligataire de 60 milliards de FCFA

L

a directrice générale de la compagnie aérienne nationale du Congo, Equatorial Congo Airlines (Ecair), Fatima Beyina Moussa, a annoncé, à Brazzaville, au cours d’une conférence, l’émission, par sa société, d’un emprunt obligataire par appel public à l’épargne de 60 milliards de FCFA sur le marché financier d’Afrique centrale pour la période 20162021 avec un taux de 6%. ‘’L’objectif de cette opération est de faire d’Ecair un acteur majeur et définitif du ciel africain, notamment par la mise en valeur du hub de Brazzaville’’, a déclaré Mme Fatima Beyina-Moussa, précisant que: ‘’l’emprunt obligataire ‘’Ecair 6% brut 201620121’’, va nous donner une garantie pour asseoir l’assise de la compagnie. C’est pour cela que nous lançons cette opération sur le marché financer de notre sous-région’’.

Selon la directrice général d’Ecair, ‘’c’est un moyen approprié d’aller chercher de l’argent à un taux convenable et d’attirer vers nous les investisseurs d’Afrique centrale ou structures étatiques. L’utilisation du produit de cet emprunt nous permettra d’investir dans la flotte, d’agrandir notre réseau, d’ouvrir un centre de maintenance à l’aéroport international de MayaMaya de Brazzaville, de renforcer notre centre de formation d’Ecair à Kintélé, banlieue nord de la capitale’’, a indiqué Fatima Beyina-Moussa.

Cet emprunt obligatoire vise aussi l’expansion de son réseau et l’ouverture cette année de trois destinations, notamment Abidjan en Côte d’Ivoire, N’Djamena au Tchad et Bangui en République centrafricaine.

Bénéficiant de la garantie du gouvernement congolais, l’opération a reçu le visa de la Commission de surveillance du marché financier de l’Afrique centrale (Cosumaf ).

Créée en 2011, la société Ecair opère jusqu’à 136 vols hebdomadaires. Elle emploie près de 700 agents et dispose d’une flotte de sept avions.

FRENCH NEWS

The African Bulletin

May 2016

PAGE

21

Jour D’Indépendance De Mai 500 millions de FCFA d’un Programme Erythrée South Africa

La MFWA dénonce la fermeture de 9 chaines de TV par l’agence de régulation des télécommunications du Ghana

L

a Fondation pour les médias en Afrique de l’Ouest (Media Foundation for West Africa, MFWA) a annoncé la fermeture par l’agence de régulation des télécommunications du Ghana (Ghana’s National Communication Authority, NCA) de neuf chaines de télévision pour défaut d’autorisation d’exploitation.

Dans un communiqué, la MFWA a révélé que les chaines mises en cause sont Obinim TV, Kessben TV, ECN, Care TV, Amansan TV, Elijah TV, Zoe TV, BTA et Clive TV dont la plupart sont des chaines d’obédience religieuse.

L’organe de défense de la liberté de la presse a déclaré que la NCA avait publié un communiqué le 30 mars, indiquant que les chaines concernées violaient les principes de la Loi sur les communications électroniques de 2008 qui exigeaient des opérateurs une autorisation de l’autorité avant toute exploitation.

Les chaines concernées

américain et de la BOA-Mali pour soutenir les femmes malienneS

24, 1993 31, 1910

auraient utilisé un satellite d’un prestataire tiers pour diffuser leurs programmes via satellite sans autorisation préalable.

Selon la MFWA, les chaines ont été identifiées après une période de contrôle périodique mené par la NCA en 2015 pour veiller sur la conformité aux conditions nécessaires pour toute opération de ce genre dans le pays.

Après identification, la NCA l’avait notifié au prestataire tiers et à la société satellitaire concernée et leur a donné une période de grâce pour se conformer aux conditions d’une telle opération mais sans succès.

En attendant, la MFWA a affirmé que l’association des diffuseurs indépendants du Ghana (Ghana Independent Broadcasters’ Association, GIBA) soutient la mesure de la NCA et souligné que l’association ne cautionne pas la piraterie et le mépris des règlements.

Le président de la GIBA, Kwasi Agyeman, a exhorté la NCA à ‘’veiller à ce que tout le monde se conforme à ces dispositions’’.

L

e Programme d’entrepreunariat des femmes africaines (AWEP) et la Bank of Africa-Mali ont procédé, au Palais de la culture «Amadou Hampaté Bâ» à la signature d’une convention baptisée «Bo Nogola» d’un montant de 500 millions de FCFA destinés à soutenir les femmes dans leurs activités rémunératrices, a appris,.

Cette cérémonie de signature est l’aboutissement d’un travail entrepris par le gouvernement américain, le secteur privé malien et la société privé malienne, a expliqué l’ambassadeur des Etats-Unis au Mali, Paul Folmsbee présent à la cérémonie.

Le Programme d’entrepreunariat des femmes africaines a été créé en 2010 pour soutenir les Petites et

moyennes entreprises appartenant à des femmes. Les 180 bénéficiaires du programme AWEP dans 26 pays d’Afrique subsaharienne ont créé plus de 17.000 emplois et mis en place 22 associations professionnelles féminines.

Le directeur général-adjoint de la BOA-Mali, Seidina Oumar Waïgalo, a, pour sa part, souligné que cette convention privilégie une approche fondée sur le partenariat et la mutualité afin de lever les contraintes structurelles d’accès des femmes au crédit et d’assurer le financement de leurs activités rémunératrices.

Il a promis que la BOA-Mali ne ménagera aucun effort pour garantir le succès du projet. Les crédits seront accordés à des conditions tarifaires défiant toute concurrence avec un délai de traitement le plus

court possible, a-t-il ajouté.

La présidente du programme «AWEP», Mme Simpara Astan Keït,a envisage, de son côté, de contacter une assurance maladie pour les membres sociétaires du programme et de leur faire valoir une retraite.

Le programme AWEP est un programme créé par Mme Hilary Clinton, alors Secrétaire d’Etat américain pour aider les femmes entrepreneurs africaines.

Le programme offre l’assistance technique nécessaire au secteur agro-alimentaire, aux femmes chef d’entreprise et aux institutions financières en les préparant à la croissance et à la réussite dans une économie moderne et globale.

L’antenne AWEP du Mali concerne, rappelle-t-on, les femmes de tout le pays.

Les autorités somaliennes s’accordent sur l’organisation pratique des prochaines elections

L

es dirigeants somaliens sont parvenus, après deux jours de négociations, dans le cadre de la conférence consultative nationale, à un accord sur l’organisation pratique des prochaines élections.

La conférence consultative nationale, qui a pris fin ce mardi à Mogadiscio, a enregistré la participation des autorités de l’Etat fédéral et des présidents des territoires autonomes régionaux.

Selon le communiqué final publié à la fin de la conférence consultative, les participants ont décidé de la non-prolongation du mandat des institutions de l’Etat.

L’agence somalienne de presse a indiqué, à cet égard, que les autorités qui ont pris part à la conférence, ont convenu de la création de deux commissions chargées respectivement de l’exécution des élections au niveau national, et la gestion des scrutins au niveau des régions.

La commission nationale des élections est composée de 17 membres dont cinq sont désignés par le gouvernement fédéral, alors que les territoires autonomes régionaux choisissent chacun un membre.

La commission des élections régionales est composée de 11 membres dont trois sont nommés par le gouvernement fédéral, le

reste est désigné par les territoires autonomes régionaux.

Selon toujours l’accord issu de la conférence consultative, les membres de la Chambre haute fédérale seront élus par les Parlements régionaux avant la formation de la Chambre basse dont les membres sont choisis par les chefs des clans.

Les participants à la conférence ont insisté sur la nécessité d’accorder 30% des sièges du Parlement aux femmes.

Les participants ont aussi choisi la ville de Garowe, capitale de Puntland, pour accueillir, du 10 au 20 mai prochain, une conférence nationale sur la révision de la constitution du pays.

Les aéroports africains ont réalisé un important progrès dans le domaine de la sécurité

0

% des opérations de révision et d’inspection sur les systèmes de sécurité et de sûreté des aéroports dans le monde ont été faites dans des infrastructures aéroportuaires en Afrique, a indiqué la présidente du Conseil international des aéroports, Angela Guittens, précisant que les aéroports africains ont réalisé un progrès important dans le relèvement du niveau de la sécurité et de la sûreté.

Mme Guittens qui s’exprimait lundi au Caire, à l’ouverture de la conférence et l’exposition du Conseil international, a annoncé que la région africaine est celle qui a plus soutenu en 2015-2016, le programme et l’initiative APEX des aéroports qui consiste à appliquer les critères de sécurité et de sûreté,

indiquant qu’environ 97 experts ont été formés l’année dernière sur la gestion des systèmes de sécurité

et de sûreté dans les pays africains comme le Bénin, le Burkina Faso et le Nigeria.

Le président du Conseil international des aéroports pour la région Afrique, Pascal Komla,

a pour sa part, indiqué que la tenue de la présente conférence coïncide avec le 25ème anniversaire de la création du Conseil africain des aéroports.

Les participants à la conférence du Caire se penche ront sur l’avenir des aéroports africains et l ’industrie du transport aérien qui peut être le socle du développement économique, principal sujet de la rencontre.

Le Conseil africain des aéroports comprend 62 membres représentant 47 pays africains et gère 250 aéroports.

L’objectif principal du Conseil est de renforcer la coopération entre les aéroports africains et les échanges d’expériences dans les domaines de la gestion et de la sécurisation des aéroports, signale-t-on.

PAGE

22 May 2016

T

BUSINESS NEWS

The African Bulletin

Governor of Ghana’s central bank retires

he Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Henry Kofi Wampah, has taken an early retirement, an official statement from the central bank has said.

According to the statement. “It is announced for the information of the financial sector and the general public that in view of his long outstanding leave days, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. H. A. K. Wampah, has taken an

early retirement from the Bank with effect from April 1, 2016 ahead of the end of his tenure which falls on August 5, 2016.”

Dr Wampah said he would want to be remembered for the major reforms he initiated at the central bank that had resulted in the stability of the financial sector. He said a lot of the reforms had started yielding fruits, partly resulting in the current economic stability.

Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has appointed

Dr. Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku as the new Governor of the Central Bank, effective 4 April 2016.

Dr Issahaku has a Masters Degree in Agric Economics and a Ph. D. in Political Science from the University of Georgia.

He worked as a governance expert at the State University of New York, Centre for International Studies. He also worked at the African Development Bank (AfDB) and headed the Export Trade, Agricultural.

Botswana to control import of second hand cars

B

otswana intends to control influx of second hand vehicles into the country, Tshenolo Mabeo, the Communications and Transport minister told parliament recently.

He said though second hand vehicles had significantly improved economic activities for small and medium enterprises, government was working on measures to control their import into the country.

Buhari asks US to assist in recovery of Nigerian stolen funds

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, on his recent trip to Washington D.C. asked the United States government to assist his country in recovering all its stolen funds which can be established to be within the US financial system.

Buhari acknowledged that the United States has been of great help to his administration in the retraining and re-equipping of the Nigerian Armed Forces, a partnership he claimed has resulted in significant success in the fight

against Boko Haram insurgents.

At a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, the Nigerian President‎ said: “It will greatly help our country if you assist us to recover all our stolen funds which we can establish to be within your financial system.”

Kerry said he had been told that the stolen Nigerian funds were in “billions of dollars” and that “it is not easy to hide that amount of money and we are pretty good in tracing them.”

He assured Buhari that relevant United States officials would meet with the Chairman of Nigeria’s

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to discuss further cooperation in that regard.

Mr. Kerry applauded Buhari’s success in rolling back the Boko Haram insurgency, saying that the United States would continue to give Nigeria all possible support to ensure that “the terrorist sect is finally eliminated as a threat to national and regional security.”

The Secretary of State also praised the President’s clear order that Nigeria’s Armed Forces must show greater regard for the human rights of persons in the theatre of operations against Boko Haram.

IMF pledges to help Angola

T

he International Monetary Fund (IMF) stands ready to help Angola address the economic challenges it is currently facing by supporting a comprehensive policy package to accelerate the diversification of the economy, while safeguarding macroeconomic and financial stability, the Fund said in a statement.

According to IMF Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Min Zhu, the Fund has received a formal request from the Angolan authorities to initiate discussions on an economic programme that could be supported by financial assistance from the IMF. “The sharp decline in oil prices since mid-2014 represents a major challenge for oil exporters, especially for those economies that

have yet to become more diversified,” Mr. Min remarked in reaction to Angola’s request.

“We expect to start discussions with the country’s authorities during the upcoming Spring Meetings in Washington D.C. and in Angola shortly thereafter on an economic programme that could be supported by a three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF),” he added.

S

The minister said the second hand cars had resulted in congestion on the roads and an increase in accidents and emissions which negatively affects the environment.

“We want to amend the Road Traffic Act to facilitate, among others, the control of influx of second hand cars,” Mabeo said.

According to latest available data the country’s department of Roads, Transport and Safety, has registered 430,824 imported second hand cars since 1995.

Infrastructure investment boosts Uganda’s economy

upported by the scaling up of infrastructure investment, Uganda’s economy has continued to perform well in a complex global, regional, and domestic environment, affected by election-related uncertainties, according to a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that recently completed a two-week visit to the country.

Led by Roger Nord, IMF Mission Chief and Deputy Director of the African Department, the team said Uganda’s economic growth is expected to reach 5 percent in the current fiscal year and accelerate to 5½ percent in fiscal year 2016/17.

Following a sharp depreciation of the Ugandan shilling, inflation increased, with core inflation reaching 7.6 percent in December 2015, though it has since then decelerated to 6.9 percent.

During the visit, the IMF mission conducted the sixth review of Uganda’s economic programme supported by the Policy Support Instrument (PSI), which the Executive Board of the IMF is expected to consider by end-June 2016.

“The mission commends the authorities for the steadfast implementation of fiscal policy in a complex electoral environment,”

said Mr. Nord, noting that revenue over-performed through end-December 2015 and expenditure pressures were reasonably well controlled.

“There were some renewed fiscal pressures in early 2016, including a slowdown in revenue and some additional spending.

The mission welcomes that the supplementary budget currently before parliament aims at minimizing year-end slippages,” he said, encouraging the authorities to strengthen efforts to boost taxpayer compliance to compensate for the revenue shortfall.

Also, the team observed that the decisive monetary policy response, in the context of appropriate exchange rate flexibility, contributed to the stabilization of the shilling and successfully curbed inflation expectations.

The mission welcomed the 2016/17 budget currently before parliament, which envisages a continued scaling-up of infrastructure investment while boosting domestic revenue by 0.5 percent of GDP. In addition, the mission commended the Bank of Uganda for its effective communication strategy, which contributed to well-anchored inflation expectations, reflected in sharply falling yields.

The African Bulletin

MARKET PLACE

Let The African Bulletin help your business reach out effectively‌ Call +31 40 213 66 11 or email

May 2016

PAGE

23

REACHING OUT EFFECTIVELY...

Boost your business and let The African Bulletin give you the maximum reach!

Call +31 40 213 66 11 or e-mail us TODAY at advert@mediablackberry.com

advert@mediablackberry.com

www.mediablackberry.com We are here to help with all your advertising needs, just call our Sales team on +31 40 213 66 11

PAGE

24 May 2016

The African Bulletin

Single Parents, Multiple Challenges Single mothers who have not married their child’s father are often very young and inexperienced.

They may not have had an opportunity to complete their formal education. Without adequate job skills, they are more likely to be poor and employed in low-paying jobs. Without the support of relatives, such as their parents, they will also have the added responsibility of providing suitable day care for their child. The unmarried mother may also be struggling with emotional burdens, such as feelings of shame and loneliness.

Similarly, parents going through divorce are under enormous stress. Some parents may feel great anger as a result of the divorce. Feelings of low self-worth and a deep feeling of rejection may also rob some parents of their ability to extend themselves emotionally to their children. Mothers who need to enter the job market for the first time may have difficulty coping with the responsibility of managing a household. They may feel that they have neither the time nor the energy for the special needs of the children, who themselves have to cope with dramatic changes after the divorce of their parents.

The successful parent understands the child’s capabilities, personality, and manner of thinking. Parent and child enjoy close, intimate, and warm conversations and association with each other. The lines of communication are open. The child is involved in the parent’s life, and the parent is involved in the child’s life.

The successful parent is able to mold the thinking of the child or children and to understand their feelings. Children want to know about both parents, and they need to feel that they are wanted, not just unfortunate accidents.

Parents should remember that a child’s first impressions of love, authority, and power are shaped by the relationship the child has with his parent.

Children living in single-parent families also need to understand that their cooperation is essential to the success of the family. (Ephesians 6:1-3) Their obedience to parental authority shows that they love their parent and respect the added effort that the parent makes to provide a safe and happy household.

Single parents and children cooperating together in a loving relationship can contribute to a successful family. As more and more children are being raised in single-parent households, everyone should be aware of the particular challenges facing single parents and their children and be willing to offer loving encouragement and support.

You will benefit from the book “The Secret of Family Happiness” which you can download for free from JW.ORG in the section “Publications" Comments can be send to A.G.M. Sanders at biblelessonsforyourfamily@gmail.com

Christian Faith Centre Int’l Tilburg invites you to fellowship with us That what we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. - 1 John 1:3 Place: De Verdieping: Sint Annastraat 20, 5025 KB Tilburg Time: 11:30 hours - 14:00 hours (every Sunday) Direction: Take bus 4 from Tilburg Station to Blaak, then stop at the Cemetery and walk across the road; opposite the Cemetery is Sint Annastraat Contact:

068-5779093

Remember Jesus cares for you!!!

RELIGION

The African Bulletin

May 2016

Let’s listen in and see how this trial progresses: ACCUSED TO ADVOCATE: (Distressed) do you see the evidence he’s got! Thousands of pages, and the videos! How on earth do I even stand a chance with the past I’ve got?

ADVOCATE TO ACCUSED: (Calmly, but confidently, putting hand on the Accused arm to calm him down) Don’t worry. You’ve accepted me as your Advocate. I am representing you today. I have never lost a case when I have been accepted and trusted. By the way, I’ve got some witnesses here today that will testify on your behalf.

ACCUSED TO ADVOCATE: I’m glad to hear that… especially since he has thousands of pieces of evidence.

How many witnesses do you have?

ADVOCATE TO THE ACCUSED: Two. ACCUSED TO ADVOCATE: Just two?

ADVOCATE TO ACCUSED: Trust me, that’s all we’ll need. By the way, did I tell you that the Judge is my Dad? (Accused seems surprised and somewhat relieved, but still fairly inquisitive as to what all is happening) Bailiff and Judge walk in from stage left. Bailiff takes his place, and the Judge goes to his chair.

BAILIFF: Please rise for the Honourable Righteous Judge… His court is now in session… You may be seated.

JUDGE: (Raps Gavel) What are the charges being brought this day?

PROSECUTOR: Your Honour, this man (pointing to the accused) is nothing but a rank sinner. He’s

broken every Law in Your Book. You know the 10 Commandments? He’s broken every one. You know the 6 things you said you hate? Proverbs 6? He’s done all of those, too. I’ve got all the proof you’d ever need.

Caught him in the very act. Bottom line is that he’s a rank sinner. You yourself said that the wages of sin are death!

BAILIFF: Would the accused please stand. (Accused and Advocate stand) JUDGE: How do you plead to these charges?

ACCUSED: (Hesitates considerably, looks back and forth from the Advocate to the Prosecutor; Finally, the Advocate leans over and whispers in his ear) Your Honour, I plead the blood. (Prosecutor falls over backward in his chair.)

ADVOCATE: Your Honour, I have a witness (signals to Bailiff) whose testimony today will make null and void every accusation brought against my client. So much so, that once this witness has spoken, all of this so-called evidence will be deemed inadmissible. Your Honour, I call the cup to the witness stand.

(At this point, the Bailiff has gone to the Communion Table, gets the chalice, and brings it to the witness stand) BAILIFF: Please state your name.

(Once the cup begins to speak, all parties should focus on it) CUP: I am the cup of the Lords Table. I am the emblem of the precious Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the blood of the everlasting covenant.

BAILIFF: Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

CUP: I do.

JUDGE: Tell us what you know.

CUP: The things spoken by the prosecution and his evidence were true at one time. However, that is before I got involved. The One in whose veins I flowed, Jesus the Son of God, lived sinlessly. Then He gave His life as a Ransom for many, as a Sacrifice for all people. As His Body hung on the cross, I was flowing from Him, from where the nails pierced His hands and His feet. I was flowing for the Remission of this man’s sins. Because He accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as His Saviour… *I have cleansed him. *I have washed him. *I have purified him. *I have justified him. *I have delivered him from the Kingdom of Darkness , and have translated him into the Kingdom of God ‘s own Son. *I have made him “nigh unto God,” given Him peace with God, and made him a Son of God. *I have purged his conscience from dead works so that he might serve the Living God. *I testify that I, the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, did in fact redeem this man, and through me, he is totally forgiven.

JUDGE: I accept the testimony of the cup. I pronounce the defendant not guilty by testimony of the blood.

PROSECUTOR: All right! Maybe the spiritual and eternal penalty has been taken care of. But your Honour, it’s not right that this defendant should get off that easy. Sickness and disease have every right to rule in this man’s body while he’s here on this earth. Even if his sins are forgiven, sickness and disease are a very small price for him to pay considering all he’s done!

25

part 2

The Blood Still Speaks

By Bishop Sunny Emmanuel*

PAGE

ADVOCATE: Your Honour, I would like to call one more witness (signals to Bailiff) - the Bread - to the witness stand. (Bailiff goes to the Communion Table, gets the bread, and sets it on the Witness Stand next to the cup) BAILIFF: Please state your name.

BREAD: I am the Bread of the Communion Table. I am emblematic of the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

BAILIFF: Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? BREAD: I do.

JUDGE: Your testimony?

BREAD: Even as the blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins, I was broken for the healing of bodies. Stripes were laid upon me so that man could be whole in every sense. I bore man’s sicknesses and diseases. I bore his pains and infirmities. I carried it away and made full provision for man to be well. What I bore, he need not bear. What I carried, he need not endure. The blood provided spiritual sustenance, but I provide physical sustenance.

(The Prosecutor becomes increasingly dejected and deflated as the bread speaks… toward the end, he slinks out of the courtroom, exiting stage right.)

JUDGE: Would the defendant please stand? On the basis of the testimony of the Cup and the Bread, I declare you to be innocent, forgiven, and free. I want you to take these elements with you. (Bailiff hands the Accused the cup and the bread) If you ever feel guilty.

If you ever feel condemned. If you ever feel ashamed. If the Accuser ever speaks to you again… Look to

these… Listen to these… They will always speak to you, and they will always speak for you. You are free.

Case dismissed! (Raps Gavel) Prosecutor is already gone. The Bailiff, The Judge, the Accused, and the Advocate all exit stage left.

End of Skit Concluding Comments by Pastor We read earlier that the blood of Christ speaks of better things than that of Abel’s. I’m here to tell you today that you need an Advocate with the Father. Every one of us will stand before God, and the fact is, that we’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.

These scales represent justice and judgment. What will happen when your life is placed on the scales? Will sin and unrighteousness cause you to be found wanting? Or will the testimony of the blood of Jesus, speaking on your behalf, cause the scales to tip in your favour? You will be the one to decide.

1 John 2:1, My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have (an Advocate) one who speaks to the Father in our defense --Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

I believe this message ministered to you. Stay blessed!

Shalom!! *Bishop Sunny Emmanuel is a Senior Pastor with Christian Faith Centre International, Tilburg (Holland). He may be reached on bishopsusnnyemmanuel@gmail.com

It is not always the strongest who survive, nor the most intelligent, but those who adapt and change the most - Charles Darwin

Personal Hygiene: The Natural Way

By AbdulRasaq Badru

M

uslims believe that all of humankind is born innately knowing that God is One. It is a natural state of being where one instinctively knows that there is a Creator and our natural way of life is to worship Him and please Him. The Arabic word for this state of being is fitrah and linguistically it means causing a thing to exist for the first time, in its most pure and natural condition. Prophet Muhammad said that every child was born in a state of fitrah, with the correct understanding of God.

The respected Islamic scholar and historian At-Tabari described fitrah as the way, or religion of God. The religion of Islam is a holistic way of life. It encompasses emotional, physical, and spiritual well being and takes into account the natural needs of humankind. When we mention the fitrah in relation to personal hygiene, we mean things done to improve overall health and well-being. Some actions are according to the natural way - the way that is pleasing to God and beneficial to humankind.

The traditions of Prophet

Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, include advice about actions that are part of a natural way to maintain personal hygiene. He said that, “Five things are part of the fitrah: shaving the pubic hair, circumcision, trimming the moustache, plucking the armpit hairs, and cutting the nails”.

This is believed to be the ancient way, the natural way, followed by all of the Prophets, and enjoined on the believers by the laws that they brought. Let us examine each of the five actions of fitrah in relation to cleanliness and personal hygiene.

Shaving the pubic hair

It is obligatory that impurities are completely removed before prayer; therefore, removal of the pubic hair makes it easier to maintain cleanliness. Although plucking was recommended by Prophet Muhammad, the hair may be removed by whatever method is safest and easiest for each individual. The hair that grows around the pubic area is usually very course and thick and after using the toilet traces of faeces and urine may be trapped between the hairs or on the skin.

Muslims are encouraged to keep their genital area and underwear as clean as possible. Prophet

Muhammad advised the believers to use their left hand to clean themselves thoroughly after using the toilet. If we fail to clean this area properly, our bodies become a breeding ground for diseases including urinary tract infections.

In the days of Prophet Muhammad, they used stones or dried clay but now days we have the luxury of toilet paper. However, the use of toilet paper alone is not sufficient.

Once all traces of impurity have been removed with the toilet paper, if possible, water must be used to give the area a thorough clean. Muslim homes often have water hoses installed next to the toilet or have water jugs available to facilitate cleanliness.

Circumcision

The majority of Islamic scholars agree that circumcision is obligatory for men providing they do not fear that it may harm them.

Circumcision makes it easier to keep the penis clean from traces of urine, dirt, or impurities and it involves cutting the foreskin covering the glans. It does not involve flaying the skin or part of the penis, in fact to do so would be causing deliberate harm and thus be against the teachings of

Islam. Female circumcision is not part of the obligatory rites of Islam.

Trimming the moustache

Prophet Muhammad made it clear to his followers that they should trim their moustaches but leave their beards. The scholars have different opinions about whether the moustache should be shaved off completely however, all agree that it should be trimmed so that the hair does not hang over the lip or get into the mouth. It is important that the area around the mouth is kept clean and so it does not emit a bad smell.

Plucking the armpit hairs

Although plucking would be the best way to remove hair from the armpits, it may not be the most comfortable; therefore, any hair removal method is permissible. Removing the hair from the armpits makes it easier to clean an area of the body where sweat and grime collect. Hair, combined with darkness and moisture is an ideal place for bacteria to grow.

Cutting the nails

Again, the main reason for keeping the nails short is for cleanliness and hygiene. Dirt, grime, and

bacteria can easily be trapped under the nails and passed on to other people, especially when preparing food or in a medical environment.

Having dirty or long finger and toe nails, is unhealthy and unhygienic.

In order to be sure that his followers were well groomed and clean Prophet Muhammad ordered that the hair be removed from the armpits and pubic area, and that the nails and moustaches be trimmed, at least every forty days.

Personal hygiene is important in Islam. In order to worship God correctly it is necessary to strive to be healthy in both mind and body. Physical cleanliness is important just as spiritual cleanliness is important. Islam has provided us with clear guidelines. Our purpose is to worship God and we are asked to assure that all our actions begin with the intention to please God. Pleasing God is the ultimate goal and God reminds us in Quran that cleanliness is pleasing to Him. “Truly, God loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves.” (Quran 2:222) Wa Salaam!

Note: Isra and Mi’raj, the Ascension of the Prophet is 5 May 2016.

The African Bulletin

b’sThe Jewels the African Balifrom Nyonga of Cameroon, ” a story of African Migration,

frica’s is the Africa years, o help urces

PAGE

26 May 2016

By Ato Bob*

Aids Orphans Education, African Diaspora Fund for Development, The African Bulletin, Ghanaian Seamen in Europe, Cameroon Friendship Club, African Migration Education Network, GHANAMAN Rotterdam, By Ato Bob* Africa Report, Kenyan American Professionals, Africa Alumni, Wherever a man goes to dwell, ds CAMNED, Bokemei, African his character goes with him.

Heritage Club, Sikaman, Recogin, ust be CoGhaN, CoGhaC. rdaid, I am related, by marriage, ovib. The names on this list mostlyto dothe not Dutch Bali tellNyonga what sort organization tribeofthat came fromis e and Chamba, behind it.but It could be an settled inassociation, the grass-a Dutch fields foundation evenAnglophone a business of Northor West r own Cameroon. partnership, a commercial More about this venture, revelathers, but also just an idea of a few people, tion later. onder still to get an official status and African amigration ildren becoming legal entity.is nowadays almost always understood as mihip to gration to Europe but too much has Getting organized

often matters o your them , but I site: php. guide to the an of your using and page.

and a wellother dy be your on or sician, rock s that at can rty in an to t. ‘We whole t have

ion? dex.p

ociety e they

ucator,

mn are ember al or zation on a oup of o an rpose. who is roup, t be a or let ial or

e is no rch in er that social

ble by ation, entre, a Flo

The African Bulletin

therefore make sure you do understand exactly what every word means or have someone translate it for you.

The Board/Bestuur of the Stichting/Foundation is put in place by the founders, who mostly take seat on it at its creation. From there on it is the Board/Bestuur that decides on matters, as members do not exist in of the North West Province.

I was that organization.

and a personal encounter sort and of still organization: atWhat times fluid not exactly Stichting/Foundation or determined allowing people, goods Vereniging/Association and cattle to move across or even back and forth.

Depending on what you want to do

stationed in Kumba, nowadays popularly known as K-town, but More simply put, the then already a busy administrative Vereniging/Association is democratic headquarter of Meme Division with entity, set up and governed by a group its many traders in cocoa, timber of people who are joined by others as and other products.

For my work members, while the a charitable IStichting/Foundation visited other townsisand villages organization with an ideal or to social to promote Adult Education the purpose,teachers set up byand founders who selfschool the chiefs and govern their elders.

I also‘club’. travelled regularly to Bamenda to meet my colleagues The advantage of the and other volunteers.

Stichting/Foundation is thatBamenda they are

and how you want to work together and function as a group, you have to I am sure that of all Bali people, who choose the type organisation that fits you.

In the Netherlands there are read the first lines of the introduction forms of social organisations that oftwo this column, have now skipped can betoregistered as legal entities: down this sub-heading curiousthe to Stichting Foundation the know what or their in-law has and to write Vereniging or Association. They are about them. distinctly different from one another, first became awarewhat of the so Iconsider very carefully you need, because changing from one to allowed to receive donations or even a the other is possible after registration, heritage which is then deductible been, is being and will be written but will take you (again) to bear the from the taxable income of the donor, Whenwhy, you how meet and casually from time to costs of engaging a Public Notary. which is many cases, is a company or about where Africans time with friends, colleagues or institution. You therefore need to migrate to some Europe. relatives you is dohowever not need to be The Stichting/Foundation is a legal choose carefully, whether you will This column about a organized,human you just have to agree on entity that does not have members and have your organization registered like particular migration within the when and where. But when you has been created to achieve the aims a foundation or an association.

Africa and my personal encounter want to make it a regular thing and in the constitution using a certain with the Bali Nyonga. you have a common aim or purpose in fortune. The aim cannot be to make Conclusion: You do of course mind, you will feel to get organized. payments to the founders, executives understand that these two choices go You will choose or appoint a leader of the foundation or third parties, together and that you do understand There is migration in ecology, and somebody to take notes and keep except where these third parties are my not so subtle suggestion for you to animal and human behaviour, but records. Often there will be money concerned, payments that have an get to do something. Not for yourself involved, soorganisms you need somebody of course! also in other and in thisto ideal or social purpose. collect and keep the cash ortecheven our age, even in information operateHuman a bank account.

The Vereniging/Association is a legal nology. migration is mostly entity that is set up by a group of understood as people moving There you have the main institutional people wanting to achieve a common from one place to another with manpower requirement for almost aim and who are open for others to the intention to settle permanently Africa - Cameroon - Bali Ba Titan Labit HRH Doh Ganyonga III Ba any organization already: a join them. orchairperson, at times temporally.

Nomadic Njingum Ba Fufonjih Ba Titamusing Ba Nyangang Ba Tita Gwanvoma a secretary and a movements of people on the other Ba Bangu Bah Dohother Nwanas Ba Tita Langha treasurer.

Let me explain important hand is not regarded as migration, differences between the two types of because is mostly of the town of Bali and You willitalso have toseasonal agree on and what existence organizations.

The has a more temperate climate than your purpose and their Vereniging/Association its the humid and hot Kumba in the only fewcommon nomadic people haveisbeen inhabitants, when I has worked determine andtill objectives. theinStichting/Foundation able to keepyour this aims lifestyle today. inmembers, Cameroon the early seventies. southern forest zone.

The more youhad meet and talk not, with as it the canNetherlands only have Africa never countries’ para-or I does I first heard of Bali Nyonga when was there organizethe andpopular do things together, participants (SNV) in activities. phrases blog ‘Africa the is Volunteers and as Assistant I started dating a Cameroonian more the need to get it described in a country’ and points to the Berlin of the Teamleader, responsible for midwife, whom I met as a chorister detail. The way to do that is to draw The members of the orupCongo conference of 1884-85, Education in the South a Constitution and By-laws, have it Adult Vereniging/Association haveWest the in the Presbyterian Church, where I which prompted the drive of coloniProvince and moderating two other a member. formalized by a Public Notary into an power to select their executives and had *Atobecome Bob is a former DutchAlthough Diplomat zation and hence creating countries volunteers.

Co-incidentally, the first her parents lived in Kumba, learned Act (of Creation) and have it decide what will be done in the who now consults with I various with borders.

African borders are at SNV team was introduced in 1965, that the ‘real’ Gwanmesia family registered at the Chamber of General Assembly and regular NGO’s on African issues. He lives in Commerce.

N.B: For legal reasons meetings.

Rotterdam and may bewas reached on times the hardest to cross, given placed as a multi-disciplinary team home or compound in Bali. the Act will in again Dutch, in Bafut near Bamenda, the capital That atobobhensen@hotmail.com regulations andberedwritten tape and was where the family head ‘Ba

Introduction

What is migration?

Bali Nyonga

*Ato Bob is a former Dutch Diplomat who now consults with various NGO’s on African issues. He lives in Rotterdam and may be reached on atobobhensen@hotmail.com Nkom’ and other elder brothers of her father and other relatives lived.

So when things became more serious between me and my love, her father sent me to Bali to ask ‘Ba Nkom’ for permission to marry.

I planned that to coincide with my next trip to Bamenda.

On a Sunday afternoon I then went from Bamenda to Bali, guided by a young nephew to the family.

We stopped at a bend in the main road from Bamenda close to the centre of Bali Town. I parked my Landrover in front of a small ‘off-licence’, a store for beer and soft drinks, where we bought a crate of assorted drinks to compliment the bottle of schnapps I had brought.

I was then led up a path through the compound, which had small houses on both sides, which I was told were on the left side for men and the other side for the wives or mothers. We were shown into the parlour of the last house and given a seat. After a short while the family head ‘Ba Nkom’ came in from his room and the nephew, some other family members and myself had to perform the special (hand rubbing and clapping) greeting I had been taught.

Then it was up to me to introduce myself and declare my intention and ask for permission to marry from the Gwanmesia family.

Speaking in Pidgin English, at times assisted by translation into the Bali language Mungaka, I must have been pretty convincing, because… to my surprise and relief permission was granted! The drinks were then shared, which settled the matter.

I was promised a letter to take back to the father in Kumba, while I visited my intended’s grandmother in another part of Bali. There I met the most hospitable and kind woman Anna Kaisa, who invited me into her two room house and gave me a meal of fufu and ngoh, which I called ants, but were in fact fried termites. The way I ate that without batting an eye and even with relish must have gone round like a story to my credit.

However convincing the father, mother and other family in and near Kumba was a different story altogether. As they say, when you marry in Africa as a man, you must wipe your brows.

From Chamba to the grassfields, back to the migration story

When I got involved with people and later family from Bali, I was told various tall stories of how the Bali gained their place in Cameroon. How they came with their horses from Niger, how they fought themselves into the midst of other tribes, subduing them and ruling over them. How they travelled all the way south to the coast and tried to defeat the waves of the sea with their horses. How they led the first Germans around and named the tribes with the prefix ‘Ba’.

Some of this is now better researched and described now by various scholars and publications.

In fact, the Bali Nyonga were part of the Chamba Leko group that lived in the far Northern part of Cameroon, even saddling the border with Nigeria. They started their migration south ward in the early 1800s and became one of the last ethnic tribes to settle in the grassfields (a term coined by the Germans, who by the way not arrived in Bali before 1889). They arrived in Banyo in about 1825 and while taking along others like the Peli, Buti and Tikar, travelled till they settled near the powerful Bamum Kingdom. The Bali unsuccessfully tried to subjugate the Bamum with help of the Bati. They then entered the Bamenda grassfields and attacked the kingdoms of Mankon, Bafut, Pinyin, Meta and Moghamo.

Around 1875 the first Fon Fonyonga I (Fon being like Paramount Chief ) from Kufom settled his people at the present location of Bali.

Conclusion

Now nearly two hundred years since the Bali Nyonga left Chamba, they live and work not only in Bali, but all over Cameroon, Africa and even the rest of the World. Where there are large numbers of Bali indigenous, Cultural Associations are formed. The annual end of year Lela festival in Bali serves as a homecoming and reawakens interest in the rich cultural and other traditions and history of the Bali Nyonga people, which I have come to love and cherish

EVENT / CALENDAR

The African Bulletin

May 2016

PAGE

27

Top environmentalists in Sudan launch Greenbelt Initiative

T

op environmentalists have gathered in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, to attend the landmark launch of an initiative to stop further desertification in Sudan.

90-day campaign to food relief in Ethiopia

T

he UN and humanitarian partners have launched a 90-day campaign to raise awareness about the food crisis in the Ethiopia and raise funds to bridge a US$700 million gap, in order to assist people affected by drought in the country.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ethiopia, Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onuchie said: “Ethiopia is currently contending with one of the most serious climatic shocks in recorded history with 10 million people facing lost harvests and livestock as well as severe water shortages and health risks.”

She noted that humanitarian needs in Ethiopia have tripled since the beginning of 2015 as the drought

I

has led to successive crop failures and widespread livestock deaths, stating that, the drought is tied to one of the strongest El Nino events on record.

“The drought response is not just about saving lives but also about protecting development gains which the government and its development partners have worked tirelessly to build up over decades,” she said.

The UN official said that, out of the US$1.4 billion appeal, the Ethiopian government and the international community have contributed more than US$758 million.

She also added: “Urgent and substantial investment in the humanitarian crisis response this year is the only way to ensure this and we must act now.”

The Khartoum Greenbelt Initiative aims to build a green wall around Khartoum to save the city’s 8 million residents from the adverse effects of climate change, adding impetus to Sudan’s efforts to become a regional and global leader in environmental and biodiversity protection.

“We remind the world that Sudan is a leader in biodiversity protection. We have the political will to protect the environment. To do this, Sudan will sign all international treaties on biodiversity and forestry protection,” said Major General Omer Nimer, Minister of the Higher Council of Environment, Urban and Rural Promotion, the state

agency spearheading the Khartoum Green Wall initiative.

The Greenbelt Initiative, the main topic of discussion among top environmental scientists from 32 countries around the world attending the First Environmental Conference on the Green Belt Implementation, still requires international donors to achieve its noble objectives.

The biodiversity plan aims to achieve broader environmental goals,

including better management of forestry resources, treatment of sewerage and tree planting to stop the advance of desertification, which the government says is a threat to sustainable development and political stability.

The Khartoum Green Belt is planned to cover five other states around the capital, providing the tree cover that is expected to assist the local communities residing in those states to adapt to the climate.

Tanzania to host Internet Interconnection Forum

T

anzania will host the Internet Society’s annual Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) for the first time, organisers revealed.

Organisers said the seventh annual AfPIF forum to be held in Tanzania’s capital, Dar es Salaam, in August will bring together key players. ‘’Serving as a platform to expand

internet infrastructure and services across Africa, the event will bring together key players to address the opportunities in interconnection, peering and traffic exchange on the continent,’’ the statement noted.

The forum seeks to build cross-border interconnection opportunities and facilitate discussions on African Internet infrastructure challenges, including

terrestrial capacity, development of national and regional Internet Exchange Points (IXP) as well as local content.

AfPIF has previously been held in Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Morocco, Senegal and Mozambique. Last year’s event featured 232 participants from 57 countries and an online participation of 978 people in 77 different countries.

Amnesty Intership Positions

nternship at Amnesty International, one of the world’s leading human rights organizations, can provide valuable experience. In addition you will receive work references at the completion of your assignment. Available positions are: Resource Centre Intern

East Africa Intern Democratic Republic of Congo Intern Great Lakes Intern Horn of Africa Intern South Sudan and Sudan Intern All positions are based in Nairobi, Kenya.

For more info, see: http:// www.pambazuka.org/jobs/ amnesty-intership-positions

F

ourteen women, including three from Africa have been presented with the 2016 US Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award in Washington D.C. The US Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award annually recognizes women around the globe who have demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, often at great personal risk.

Since the inception of the award in 2007, the US Department

US honours 14 Women of Courage of State has honoured nearly 100 women from 60 different countries.

The 2016 awardees include Ms. Sara Hossain, Barrister, Supreme Court, Bangladesh, Ms. Debra Baptist-Estrada, Port Commander, Belize Immigration and Nationality, Belize, Ms. Ni Yulan, Human Rights Activist, China, Ms. Latifa Ibn Ziaten, Interfaith Activist, France, and Ms. Thelma Aldana, Attorney General, Guatemala.

Others are Ms. Nagham Nawzat, Yezidi Activist and Gynecologist, Iraq, Ms. Nisha Ayub, Transgender Rights Advocate, Malaysia, Ms. Fatimata M’baye, Co-founder and President of the Mauritanian

Association for Human Rights, Mauritania, Ms. Zhanna Nemtsova, Journalist and Activist, Russia, Ms. Zuzana Stevulova, Director of the Human Rights League, Slovakia, Ms. Awadeya Mahmoud, Founder and Chair of the Women’s Food and Tea Sellers’ Cooperative and the Women’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative for Khartoum State, Sudan, Ms. Vicky Ntetema, Executive Director of Under the Same Sun, Tanzania, Ms. Rodjaraeg Wattanapanit, Bookstore Owner and Co-founder of Creating Awareness for Enhanced Democracy, Thailand, and Ms. Nihal Naj Ali Al-Awlaqi, Minister of Legal Affairs, Yemen.

The honourees also visited some US cities to engage with the American people through an International Visitor Leadership

Programme, and discussed ways to work together to improve the lives of women and girls around the world.

PAGE

SPORTS NEWS

28 May 2016

The African Bulletin

7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye declares for NBA draft

-- A dv ert --

l at rity me; y to

U

FIFA'Beto' Ranking for lisberto Algeriaas rdosoAfrica: confirmed regains top spot pe Verde's new ach

C

ape Verde’s reign on top of the FIFA ranking for African men’s team was short lived as Algeria, third in March, regained the top spot since its 20 unbroken months reign ended in October 2015, according to Cape the latest FIFA. team in the latest FIFA rankings with ed African nation,

officially confirmed Beto telling reporters he understood o CardosoCape as their theplaces "increased the Verdenew fell five to theresponsibility" sixth spot inon April team.

2016.

Algeria dominated the ranking for 20 unbroken

The until Tubaroes Azul (Blue popularly known 'Beto' 2015 months byasOctober Cote d’Ivoire took Sharks) over in d acting coach in and January have until calledMarch up Dutch-born December dominated when Capeattacker Verde eparture of the Portuguese took its place on top. Jerson Cabral from Twente Enschede forare the time. The 25-year-old s over unpaid Thewages. top 20 rankings asfirst follows: comes from the large Cape Verdian World Teams African rros and Bassano were also community in Rotterdam and Ranking ranking previously played at Feyenoord. He team's new assistants.

33 Algeria 1 won caps for the Netherlands at 34 Côte d’Ivoire 2 been assistant to former under-17, U-19 and U-21 level.

38 Ghana 3 international Rui Aguas, 43 Senegal Cape Verde to the last Cape Verde's squad 4was expected to 5 match against Cup finals44 Egypt in Equatorial be cut to 22 before the 47 Cape Verde Islands fore being eliminated after Morocco in Praia on626 March.

47 Tunisia 7 ng group phase despite not 51

DR Congo 8 match.

Cape Verde lead Morocco on goal 58 Guinea difference only at the9 top of Group G 59 Congo d archipelago, one of the with the pair both10winning their ountries on63 Cameroon the continent, opening two qualifiers 11 against Libya as the top64 Morocco ranked African and Sao Tome e Principe.

12

65 Mali 13 67 Nigeria 14 70 South Africa 15 72 Uganda 16 73 Benin 17 75 Burkina Faso 18 78 Zambia 19 83 Equatorial Guinea 20 Globally, here are the top 10: 1. Argentina 6. Spain 2. Belgium 7. Brazil 3. Chile 8. Portugal 4. Colombia 9. Uruguay 5. Germany 10. England

Coach Claude LeRoy goes to Togo

T

ogo appointed Claude LeRoy as their new national team coach to replace Tom Saintfiet.

135 Sudan 43 140 South Sudan 44on the conFrenchman LeRoy, 68, has worked 147 30 Guinea-Bissau 45at a record tinent for almost years and has coached eight Africa 153 Cup ofLesotho Nations tournaments.46 He signed a three-year contract and is tasked with trying 164 Gambia 47 to qualify Togo for the 172 2017 Nations Cup in Gabon.

Mauritius 48 Togo are173 third Comoros in their qualifying group, 49two points behind leaders who they play away50 in June.

174Liberia, São Tomé & Príncipe LeRoy admitted: “We need a miracle to qualify for the 191 Seychelles 51 2017 Nations Cup, perhaps as the best second-placed 204 Djibouti 52 team.”

204 Eritrea 53 However, Le Roy has the pedigree to turn around 204 Somalia 54 Togo’s fortunes. He guided Cameroon to the 1988 Nations

29 30 31 32 lic 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Cup title and has only failed to reach the quarter-finals 42 once. Among the other countries he has coached at the continental championship are Senegal, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

2016 U-17 WWC: Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon qualify for Jordan 2016

G

hana, Nigeria and Cameroon secured Africa’s three spots at the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, Jordan 2016, finishing as the top three sides at the CAF Under-17 Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament.

Ghana booked their place at Jordan 2016 in emphatic fashion with a 10-0 aggregate victory over Morocco. A first-half double from Abdulai and goals from Alhassan and Ansah gave them a 4-0 advantage going into the second leg, before another dominant display saw the West African side put six past their opponents in the return tie in Accra.

Nigeria also put in commanding performance to see off South Africa 7-0 on aggregate. Rasheedat Ajibade, the tournament’s leading scorer, hit the net four times in the first leg in Abuja as Nigeria ran out 6-0 winners, while she also produced the only goal of the game in Johannesburg.

Cameroon and Egypt played out a tightly-contested encounter in their first leg meeting as hosts Cameroon edged their North African opponents 2-1. The second leg was more one-sided, however, as a 4-0 win in Cairo saw Cameroon progress to the tournament for the first time.

The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will take place between 30 September and 21 October, 2016.

H

C Irvine junior Mamadou Ndiaye could soon become the tallest player in the NBA, after declaring his intention for the 2016 NBA draft.

Ndiaye, 22, is 7-foot-6 and a native of Senegal.

Ndiaye has submitted paperwork to enter the draft and has informed the UC Irvine coaching staff of his decision. He said he won’t hire representation immediately, but could potentially hire an agent later in the pre-draft process.

Ndiaye and 7-foot6 Tacko Fall of UCF are the tallest players in the nation.

A shot-blocking, inside presence, Ndiaye averaged 12.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 37 games this season. Ndiaye is ranked as the No. 30 junior in the country.

E

FIFA expels E. Guinea from Women’s Olympic Football Tournament

quatorial Guinea will not compete in the preliminary competition of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament 2020 following a decision taken by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to expel the country from the tournament.

FIFA said the Disciplinary Committee held the Equatorial Guinea Football Association liable for the use of forged or falsified documents.

“More precisely, it found evidence of the use of two passports with different dates of birth for the player Camila Maria do Carmo Nobre de Oliveira, who participated in several matches of the preliminary competition of the Women’s

Olympic Football Tournament 2016. Two birth certificates containing divergent information regarding the player’s parental filiation were also provided,” FIFA said.

In addition to the expulsion from the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament 2020, the Equatorial Guinea FA was sanctioned with a fine of 40,000 Swiss francs, a reprimand and a warning.

FIFA said the player was sanctioned with a 10-match suspension, to be served in the next matches of the representative team of Equatorial Guinea for which she would be eligible, as well as a fine of CHF 2,000, a reprimand and a warning.

FIFA said further investigations related to the eligibility of several other players are currently ongoing.

2016 Women’s AFCON qualifiers: All qualifiers emerge

ere are all the eight qualifiers for the final tournament of the 2016 CAF Women’s Nations Cup, to be hosted by Cameroon from 19 November to 3 December 2016.

The teams - Equatorial Guinea, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and automatic qualifiers Cameroon - emerged after

second-leg, second-round matches were played across Africa.

Here’s how they qualified: 1. Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Mali (first leg 1-1) - Equatorial Guinea qualified on 3-2 goals aggregate.

2. Zambia 2-3 Zimbabwe (first leg 0-1) - Zimbabwe went through on 4-2 goals aggregate.

3. Cote d’Ivoire 2-1 Egypt (first leg 0-1) - Egypt through on 2-2 away goals rule.

4. Kenya 1-1 Algeria (first-leg 2-2) Kenya through on 3-3 away goals rule.

5. Nigeria 2-0 Senegal (1-1) - Nigeria qualified on 3-1 goals aggregate.

6. Ghana 4-0 Tunisia (2-1) - Ghana through on 6-1 goals aggregate.

7. South Africa 3-0 Botswana (2-0) South Africa went through on 5-0 goals aggregate.

8. Cameroon qualified automatically as hosts.

SPORTS NEWS

The African Bulletin

Former tennis great expelled from Hall of Fame

S

outh Africa’s disgraced former champion Bob Hewitt has been expelled from the International Tennis Hall of Fame due to his 2015 conviction for rape and sexual assault.

The Australian-born Hewitt was sentenced to six years

F

imprisonment last year after being found guilty of the rape of two of his former tennis students, Suellen Sheehan and Theresa Tolken. He was also found guilty of indecent assault against a third complainant who cannot be named. They were all under-age when the crimes were committed in the 1980s and 1990s.

He was sentenced to six years imprisonment and ordered to pay US$10,000 in fines to help fund campaigns against abuse towards women and children.

“The expulsion is a result of a conviction against Hewitt on two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault,” the Newport, Rhode Island-based Hall of Fame, said in a statement. The appellate courts have now denied Hewitt the right to further appeals of the conviction.

Hewitt, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992, was indefinitely suspended in 2012.

In 1967, after marrying a South African, he became a South African citizen. During a glittering career, he won all Grand Slam doubles titles, both in men’s and mixed doubles (US Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open, French Open).

He also played a key role in South Africa’s only Davis Cup title in 1974. He won seven titles in singles and 65 in doubles. His career prize money amounted to more than a million dollars.

May 2016

PAGE

29

Top Cement firm sponsors COSAFA U-20 tourney

P

PC, the leading supplier of cement in southern Africa, has joined forces with the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) to sponsor the region’s Under-20 championship in 2016 as they seek to develop Africa’s stars of tomorrow.

This year’s COSAFA U-20 Youth Championship will be hosted in South Africa’s North West province in December, with PPC having an option to renew their sponsorship for a further three years.

COSAFA President Suketu Patel has commended PPC for their dedication to growing Southern African football and to helping the young stars of tomorrow shine.

“Our core business is the development of football in the region and it’s not easy to find Corporates such as PPC who share the same virtues and passion for the growth of the game in Southern Africa.”

The COSAFA U-20 Youth Championships have taken on many guises over the 33-year history of the tournament, but has always been a significant breeding ground for young talent in the region.

The likes of South African stars Itumeleng Khune, Lerato Chabangu, Daine Klate and Lebohang Mokoena all got their introduction to international football tournaments at this level and have gone on to forge successful careers for club and country.

The same can be said for Clifford Mulenga and Isaac Chansa (both Zambians), Tinashe Nengomasha and Onismor Bhasera (both Zimbabweans), as well as Jimmy Zakazaka (Malawi), who also used the tournament to persuade observers they had a bright future in the game.

Zambia had tended to dominate, especially in the early years, with 10 victories to their name, followed by Zimbabwe (six), defending champions South Africa (five) and Madagascar (one).

Player became only the third golfer to win the coveted career Grand Slam in 1965, and he remains the only non-American to accomplish the feat.

Ervin “Magic” Johnson: $18M (Retired 1996) - Magic Johnson Enterprises started out in real estate and theatre businesses but now focuses on television (Aspire), insurance (EquiTrust) and staffing services (Magic Workforce Solutions). Magic also has ownership stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks and new L.A. MLS franchise.

Michael Strahan: $17M (Retired 2007) - He joined Fox’s NFL pregame show before replacing Regis Philbin in the renamed morning show Live with Kelly and Michael. He started contributing to Good Morning America last year and will add hosting duties this year on the reboot of game show $100,000 Pyramid.

Greg Norman: $15M (Retired 2012) - His course design business

is still thriving with its 100th opening in October with the Easter Golf Club in Australia. The firm currently has 42 more courses under contract with a Norman signature design costing $1.5 million.

Pele: $14M (Retired 1977) - A hip surgery has slowed the global crisscrossing schedule of the soccer legend, but he is still greeted like a rock star wherever he goes. During his visit to India last October he was greeted at the airport by over 5,000 people. The Brazilian idol’s story comes to the big screen with the release in May of Pele: Birth of a Legend.

Li Na: $14M (Retired 2014) - Li Na’s run as the greatest tennis player in China’s history has made her a living legend in the country.

She has maintained most of her endorsement deals since her sudden retirement from the game 2 years ago. Reality TV is booming in China and Li capitalized last year with multiple appearances on shows in the genre.

The HighestPaid Retired Athletes 2016

orbes newly released world’s highest earning retired athletes show Michael Jordan atop the list. The basketball hall of fame legend retired in 2003, but has managed to maintain his earning power. David Beckham comes second; showing him as earning more money during the past 12 months than he did when was playing for Manchester United.

Their earnings estimates include salaries, endorsements, speaking and appearances, licensing, book deals and production contracts. Below are the top 10 highest earning former athletes: Michael Jordan: $110M (Retired 2003) - Sales of Nike’s Jordan brand rose 14% in the U.S. last year, pushing his royalty check to an estimated $100 million.

He also maintains relationships with Hanes, Gatorade, Five Star Fragrances and Upper Deck. Nike plans to double Jordan brand revenue by 2020. Michael Jordan is worth an estimated $1.1 billion.

David Beckham: $65M (Retired 2013) - Beckham has a 5-year pact with British fashion brand Kent & Curwen worth $8 million annually, plus royalties for the collection to be launched in the second half of 2016. Chinese real estate firm Luneng inked the

British footballer to a pact worth more than $5 million a year.

Arnold Palmer: $40M (Retired 2006) - Palmer sells big in Asia, where there are 500 Arnold Palmer-branded stores. His eponymous line of drinks represents roughly one-quarter of revenue for AriZona Beverage Co. Palmer has owned the Bay Hill golf resort for more than 40 years.

Junior Bridgeman: $32M (Retired 1987) - Bridgeman had a12-year NBA career as a sixth man for the Milwaukee Bucks. He built Bridgeman Foods into an empire, with more than 450 franchises, including Wendy’s, Chili’s and Fazoli’s locations. Bridgeman added Blaze pizza to his franchise arsenal last year.

Jerry Richardson: $30M (Retired 1960) - Richardson played two seasons in the NFL. He made a fortune in the restaurant business before bringing football to Charlotte in 1993 when he was awarded an expansion team.

Richardson’s estimated earnings are a result of distributions from the Panthers and the Bojangles franchises that he own.

Jack Nicklaus: $26M (Retired 2005) - Nicklaus built the leading golf course design company with 398 courses open for play in 41 countries and 39 states. The first two Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear Grills are also planned for this year

with plans to open 10 more in the next 5 years.

Shaquille O’Neal: $22M (Retired 2011) - O’Neal sold a stake in the business of Shaq in December to Authentic Brands Group, which already manages the licensing of Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Muhammad Ali. ABG gets roughly half of O’Neal’s future licensing and endorsement revenue in return for a lump sum payment.

Roger Penske: $20M (Retired 1965) - The former race car driver left the track in the 1960s to focus on his auto dealership. His comp at the publicly-traded Penske Automotive Group is $5 million a year and his shares generate dividends of $11 million. Penske is the richest former athlete at $1.5 billion. Penske has won 28 national titles as a race team owner.

Gary Player: $19M (Retired 2009) - The 80-year-old has designed nearly 400 golf courses in 38 countries across 5 continents.

PAGE

30 May 2016

The African Bulletin

DRC MINING WEEK EXPO & CONFERENCE

8 – 9 June 2016, LUBUMBASHI, DRC 7 June: Pre-conference | 10 June: site visits 8 June: DRC Mining Week Awards The only mining expo and conference providing strategic solutions and technologies for your operations in the DRC

For more info contact: Jose Alino: jose.alino@spintelligent.com T: +27 (0) 21 700 3562

www.drcminingweek.com

Daddet Kabeya: daddet.kabeya@spintelligent.com T: +27 (0) 21 700 3551

The African Bulletin

May 2016

PAGE

31

PAGE

32 May 2016

The African Bulletin

EXPLORE. STRIKE. PROFIT.

MINING INVESTMENT AFRICA 2016

Conference & Exhibition 7 - 9 JUNE Sheraton Abuja Hotel, Nigeria THE PREMIER CONFERENCE IN WEST AFRICA FOR MINISTERS, INVESTORS, MINING COMPANIES AND TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS

Key Facts: • • •

• • •

West Africa’s Biggest & Most Innovative Mining Investment Forum 3 Days Global Event with 300 Decision Makers from 25 Countries Industry Insights from Leading Investors, Entrepreneurs, Miners & Government Authorities Dedicated Mining & Technlogy Spotlight Sessions Exclusive 1 : 1 Meeting & Business Matching Tool for All Attendees Excellent Networking and Deal-Making Opportunities with 1 : 1 Meetings, Round-table Discussions plus Evening Social Events

300 Decision Makers 100+ Companies 40 Influential Speakers 20+ Exhibitors

Speaking and Sponsorship Opportunities are Available Daniel Radziszewski daniel.radz@spire-events.com +65 6717 6018

www.mininginvestmentafrica.com Spire Events