ISSN:2588-8807
ISSN:1571-3466
Motto: Actuated towards Africa’s advancement
Volume 21. NO. 213 January 2022
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First complete African magazine published in The Netherlands since August 1999
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Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga sets for 5th Presidential bid New view of the Bijlmer
“Bim in the lobby”
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Advertorial:
ESA Humanitarian funds brings relief to Kenyan women The pilot project donated by ESA Humanitarian funds of Space Center, Noordwijk in The Netherlands to support 20 women in Kenya on their Agricultural project has commenced and these women are on the path of selfsufficiency and Self-sustainability. According to the organization, Pamoja Kenya Foundation, their aim is to ensure that these women are educated through agricultural procedures. Also to impact the local government and make these beneficiaries financially independent. Their first solar project in collaboration with Perfect Concepts of Mr. John Njeru has also commenced. They are also involved in the Water tank project, which is to enable the rural communities, harvest rainwater and use when there is scarcity. With this water project, the women can grow their own crops and sell their products and have their own businesses. With the operation of the First Solar project, they no longer have need for generators and no high cost of fuel, which has globally become an essential commodity going out of reach of the ordinary people.
The solar panels are installed and already working perfectly well. According to Marion van der Voort, the founder of Pamoja Kenya Foundation, the coordinating organization for all of these projects, she says, ‘we are working with Perfect concept and Optiven Limited which has made additional solar panel available to a family house outside of this project. And these other companies are encouraging partners. There is also the pilot project on Agriculture for women, we have a group of 20 women in the pilot project, the plans for them is to grow crops, to be financially and dependably stable, she added. We also have the rain harvest water project with installed tanks to collect rains and saved for later days and weeks. It is a combination of all 3 partners in one under the Foundation Pamoja Kenya meaning together we can make a difference in our rural communities in Kenya and other places we are called to reach. You can also be part of these projects and support us by donating to Stichting Pamoja Kenya. Transfer to: NL79INGB0005621106/BIC INGBNL2A
info@pamoja-kenya.com Tel: +31654658978
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The Voice magazine
THE VOICE MAGAZINE TEAM
The Voice magazine is editorially independent although we enjoys the support of our readers, subscribers, advertisers, non-governmental organizations and in dividuals of like minds; however the magazine publishers are in no way affiliated to any of these bodies or to any other publishing institution or political interest or group. The Voice magazine strives to foster awareness among the African audience and bridge the widening gap between Africans and the rest of the world in news gathering and dissemination. The Voice is published digitally online except on demand, we print hard copy.. If you want to receive a copy, send us your email address.
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On the Editorial board are Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh, Jonathan Mgbejume, Sandra Iruh-Monsels, and Henry Oduenyi READ THE VOICE ON LINE AT www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com Our Affiliate partner: www.thenigerianvoice.com
Editor-in-Chief Pastor Amb. Elvis Ndubuisi Iruh elvisiruh@thevoicenewsmagazine.com Founding/Contributing Editor Edward Idahosa Ogbee apexbest2000@yahoo.co.uk Managing Editor Henry D. Oduenyi (Nigeria Office) henry@thenigerianvoice.com Project Coordinator Ifeyinwa Ezeagabu Joy Onoilu (JEBITV) (Belgium) jebitv2003@gmail.com BUREAU CHIEFS Femi Ikutiyinu (London) afpaprint2000@yahoo.com Middle East Vice- President Amb. Laila EL Aftani Rahhal
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The Voice magazine is published in the Netherlands by Stichting Paddi Europa and it is p ublished online since 2016 around the world. It is registered at the Chamber of Commerce Amsterdam. The Voice aim to serve as a vital link among African readers in the Diaspora and we provide objective information and organizes opinion exchange among African people both in the continent and abroad. Thus it strives to foster and enhance complete understanding of developing countries problems and bring information to help address those issues. You can support this project now with as much as one euro a month to help keep publishing our digital copy for you. TV MANAGEMENT
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Volume 22 www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com
NO 213 January 2022
Contents 16-18
The Voice Magazine Volume 22. No 213 January 2022 Edition
20-24
34-38 ARTICLES Page 6 - Editorial: We laid the foundation for 2022 to be the year of scaling and impact! Page 7 – Book presentations by Pastor Michael Umerah JohnEllis Pages 8 & 9 – Photos speak by Salett Lopes Pages 16-18 - Raila Odinga: Still hopeful to be Kenya’s 5th President Page 19 - President Adama Barrows ready for second term Pages 26-27 – Afforestation-A call to action Pages 32 & 33 - President Weah promises to address issues confronting persons with disabilities in Liberia Page 40-42 - Kenyan grows healthcare group from one-bed apartment to eight hospitals Page 43 - Liberia: VP Howard-Taylor addresses the Ruler of Ras Al Kaiman at UAE Pages 44 & 45 - Dutch royals apologise after Princess Amalia invites 21 guests to her 18th birthday in palace grounds Pages 46-49 - President George Manneh Weah showcases customized slingshot luxury sport ride ahead of festive season Pages 50 & 51 – Ghana: The white gaze: Ghana’s troubling skin bleaching habit Page s 52 & 53 - Presidential election postponement favours Saif Gadhafi Page 54 - Economy: UAE announces 4.5-day workweek, Saturday-Sunday weekend Page 55 - Refugee advocates: Emergency asylum shelters fail to meet standards Pages 56 & 57 – Mindbeautysphere by Caroline Omondi Pages 58 & 59 - Princess Amalia delivers confident debut speech to Raad van State Pages 60 & 61 - Dutch News in coverage Page 64 - The end of South Africa’s state of disaster and lockdown restrictions is coming Page 65 -Myanmar court sentences ousted leader to jail. Page 66 - ‘Magic Jay-Jay’- Another ex-Brazil star praises Okocha after Ozil called him his idol Pages 68 & 69 -Africa Cup of Nations tournament is being disrespected says former England striker
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Editorial
We laid the foundation for 2022 to be the year of scaling and impact!
I
t is fair to say that 2021 was a trying year for all around the world but despite the challenges this past year has thrown on our way, we have managed to persevere and make progress towards a more inclusive and sustainable world by adequately informing you on news around the world to keep us abreast with happenings. This would not have been possible without the support, cooperation, and ingenuity of our partners in the Netherlands and around the world. If anything, last year has shown us just how much we can achieve together amid trying circumstances and we promise to continue to serve you with our best efforts in all our endeavors We’d like to take a moment to thank you for being part of our network and subscribing to our news magazine and every other channel in the out gone year 2021. Yes it was a tough year but we made it through, just as a community of people but as well as business wise. This year, with the help of our partners, friends, subscribers, readers, we are prepared to serve you even better. Last year we were able to reach more than 1, 7 million readers across the globe. We developed new partnerships and we are looking forward to bigger cooperation. We would like to mention in particular, our dear friend, Marc Broere, the Editor-in-Chief of Vice Versa who started a global initiative to support young African journalists across the continent with flagship of Kenya, Uganda and Ghana as spring board; through these young journalists, each month we receive fresh investigated and well written articles for your reading pleasure. They are operating under the umbrella name – Vice Versa Global (https:// viceversaonline.nl/vice-versa-global/) We have received good comments on our articles and improvement in the style of writing and presentations. We are working also closely in rebranding our online version to make it more
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attractive and accessible to you the readers. We want your contributions as well in writing your opinion; we want to read from you this new year. We have also been able to provide solutions that have tangible impacts on our readers around the world. As you read about important sector developments in Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh this edition, please reach out to Editor-in-Chief us if you have more questions or ideas how the Voice news magazine can serve you better. To our loyal clients, we say a big thank you and we pray this year would be much better business wise for you all. The Voice Achievers Award 2022 is already being shaped; we shall be hitting The Gambia between July/August 2022. The Voice Achievers Award Banjul 2022 is in the making, just stay tune with us via our magazine or online for details. Your ideas are also welcome on this journey of celebrating our African/ Diaspora success stories. If you’re ready to advance your programmatic goals in 2022, we are ready as well to be at your service. Let us go! Thank you for being a loyal reader. Thank you for our partnership in 2021, and we hope that 2022 brings with it global stability and prosperity so we can continue to make great strides towards our set out objectives and activities for 2022? On behalf of all of us at The Voice publication and the Voice Achievers Award, our mother body, Stichting Paddi Europa, I wish you and your loved ones a very happy and prosperous New Year 2022! Yours in Service, Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh Editor-in-Chief The Voice News Magazine
BOOKS PRESENTATION By Pastor Michael Umerah John-Mllis 1. BOOK ONE: EVERYMAN WANTS REBECCA by Michael Umerah John-Ellis, Details: “Ten Steps To Successful Marriage Union” Uncovering:- Understanding Marriage. ×How to find and attract your dream spouse, establish true love at first impression, and remain treasured by your spouse. **** 2. BOOK TWO: GOD HATES POVERTY by Michael Umerah John-Ellis The book teaches you ways to banish poverty from your life. It expands for you to understand and take advantage of the God’s provided power for wealth, so you can maximize your life. ***** 3. BOOK THREE: THE RIGHT FAMILY by Michael Umerah JohnEllis It shows ways of rediscovering the marriage Union as was divinely envisaged; in concept, wisdom and beauty of God. **** 4. BOOK FOUR: THE LAST OIL by
Michael Umerah John-Ellis It is about how to start divine or circular assignments and see them to successful completion. The book uncovers how to properly enter your calling or dream assignments, and the importance of preparatory trading for a successful and fulfilling practice of assignments. **** 5. BOOK FIVE: SPIRIT OF PROPHECY by Michael Umerah JohnEllis It is a complete topical compendium for the Christian empowerment. The book expounds to teach on what Prophecy is and not, the levels of Prophecy, how prophecies come for the advantage believers, and proper ministerial representation of God as his/her mouthpiece and employer. All books are published on www.amazon.com For your reading pleasure as hard copy or Kindle edition and downloads, Contact +2348032265077 or +2347086368336. E-Mail: michaeljohnellis@gmail.com
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PHOTOS
Salett Lopes is training to become a professional photographer and recently she was in South Africa where she captured this nice animals for your viewing pleasure. Also pictures of houses design in Bo-kaap, South Africa. Enjoy the views
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Pictures by Salett Lopes taken in Cape Town, houses in Bo-Kaap, South Africa
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Pastor Roel & Ida Van Rooij Senior Pastor 4Pillars Community Church Almere
Desmond Tutu: The conscience of South African society dies at 90 Arch-Bishop Desmond Tutu has passed away at the age of 90. He was regarded as the conscience of the South African nation. He has been praised worldwide for his peaceful struggle against apartheid, for justice and for human rights. Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born in Klerksdorp, near Johannesburg. The apartheid system deprives him of his freedom; like other blacks, he is a second-class citizen in his own country. He was looking for more freedom and finds it when he starts his career in the Anglican Church in his thirties. In the 1970s and 1980s, Tutu was one of the best known and fiercest opponents of apartheid. He strives to end white domination without violence. He calls for civil disobedience and an end to foreign investment in South Africa. But he never pits population groups against each other. His motivation is religiously inspired, not political, he says. With his infectious smile, his sense of humor and his selfmockery, he is a source of inspiration for many. Because of his leading position in the church, he is difficult for the white regime to tackle. In 1984 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Two years later, he became Archbishop of Cape Town, the highest
office of the Anglican Church in South Africa. Never before has a member of the black community held that office. Under pressure from international developments, the regime finally realizes that apartheid cannot be maintained. ANC leader Nelson Mandela is released and apartheid in South Africa is officially abolished in the early 1990s. After the first democratic elections of 1994, President Mandela asks Desmond Tutu to become chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Tutu strives for justice for the victims of apartheid, without the country falling apart. The term ‘Rainbow Nation’ dates back to that time and is attributed to him. The committee produced a report in which the abuses under the white regime were described in details, but in which the role of the black combat groups is also highlighted. The work of the committee would serve as an example for other conflict situations in which population groups stand against each other. Tutu continues to be critical afterwards and denounces injustice worldwide. He criticizes US President Bush and British Prime Minister Blair for the war in Iraq. He is also opposed to his former kindred spirit Robert Mugabe, who has developed into a dictator in Zimbabwe. In 2011, Tutu indicated that he wanted to withdraw from public life because of his advanced age. In 2012 he was still in The Hague to present the International Children’s Peace Prize. He cannot resist criticizing the threat of cuts in development aid from the Dutch cabinet. During his visit, he was appointed Commander in the Order of Orange-Nassau and became an honorary member of FC Twente. A year later he spoke at a memorial meeting for late Prince Friso. In 2015, his health deteriorated. He was hospitalized three times in two months because of a recurrent infection. Since then, he has rarely appeared in public. He will do so again in 2017 to encourage protesters who are demanding the departure of then-President Zuma. A year later, he resigned from his Oxfam Novib ambassadorship when it became known that employees of the organization had participated in sex parties in Haiti. He would be remembered alongside late President Nelson Mandela as black icons who stood out in a difficult political era of South Africa. www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com
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Get Your Vaccine A COVID booster shot is an additional dose of a vaccine given after the protection provided by the original shot(s) has begun to decrease over time. Typically, you would get a booster after the immunity from the initial dose(s) naturally starts to wane. The booster is designed to help people maintain their level of immunity for longer. Try to observe the rules and regulations
Protect yourself & others PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST COVID & OTHER VARIANTS A COVID booster shot is an additional dose of a vaccine given after the protection provided by the original shot(s) has begun to decrease over time. Typically, you would get a booster after the immunity from the initial dose(s) naturally starts to wane. The booster is designed to help people maintain their level of immunity for longer. Try to observe the rules and regulations and kindly share this essential information with your families, friends, and love ones so we can beat Covid and associated variants together. Let us have a safe and healthy 2022. Your safety starts with taking responsible actions – Get vaccination and if you have done that, get your booster.
GET YOUR BOOSTER JAB TODAY START 2022 THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE ................ 12
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SUPPORT TO THE VOICE MAGAZINE TO SERVE YOU BETTER ..... Since you’re here... Support the Voice magazine so we stay publishing for your reading pleasure….. Welcome to you our readers and our followers. We have a small favour to ask. More people, like you, are reading and supporting the Voice News magazine since we stopped the hard copy print in 2016. We have continued to serve you the magazine in the same format with all production cost covered like editing, page designs, photography and digital distribution via online channels. The Voice News magazine has been an independent organization, we do not receive any form of subsidy except the support of our advertisers, readers and friends. We made the choice to keep our reporting open for all, regardless of where you live or what you can afford to pay. Our advertising drive continue to grow. You can support us through this medium by promoting us among your friends, colleagues and clients as well,. You can promote your businesses and services with us as your way of support. Our editorial independence means we set our own agenda and voice our own opinions. You are free and welcome to contribute both commercial and political independent articles for our reading audience without bias. We want to continue to give a voice to those less heard, exploited or turn away. We continue to rigorously challenge those in power to do what is right and just. We hope you will consider supporting us from now on. We need your support to keep delivering quality journalism that’s open and independent. Every reader contribution, however big or small, is so valuable. Support The Voice News magazine as little as one EURO and it only takes a minute through your bank account.
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YOUR COPY NOW.... Getting to know you written by Pastor Elvis Iruh Pastor Felix Asare wrote the foreword
BOOK REVIEW Pastor Elvis Iruh’s new book is out…… Title: “Getting to know you” - A book on marital steps with information about marriage Author: Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh About the book Whether you’re preparing for marriage or want to enjoy a deeper union with your spouse, this guide will help you enjoy a relationship built on solid Christian values. Pastor Elvis Iruh is a licensed minister with Victory Outreach International. His book highlights simple principles that are often taken for granted. Learn how to: • get to really know a love interest before deciding to marry; • avoid mistakes that lead to divorce; • appreciate the sanctity of marriage;
partners can carry out with each other as well as guidance for pastors and church leaders who may need help in advising couples. This guide will help couples enjoy marriage that is built to last. ***** About the Author ELVIS IRUH is a native of Delta State, Nigeria. He attended numerous schools in Nigeria, including the Nigeria Institute of Journalism, Lagos, Nigeria, before continuing his studies in Europe and earning a degree in theology from Victory Education & Training Institute. He worked for several media organizations in Nigeria as well and has been the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Voice news magazine since August 1999. He is serving as an associate pastor at Victory Outreach Almere, The Netherlands. The book can be used for educational purposes as well as educating your children on the subject of marriage. He is also available to speak on related topics covered in the book at any organized event or church activities. He is open for collaborative efforts to strengthen marriage institutions worldwide. It is a mission he has dedicated himself to helping the younger generation to talk and address the challenges they face in building good and solid relationships which could end up in marriage. You can purchase the book in Holland via his website: www.elvisiruh.com or through his publishers’: www.authorhouse.com/ Elvis Iruh or on www.amazon.co.uk via this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/ aw/d/1665580844/ref=ox_sc_act_
• forgive your partner when they make mistakes. Before you think of getting married, you should take the necessary steps to really get to know your partner. Your past should not contain any surprises - and your values must be aligned. This revealing book is filled with practical exercises that
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image_1?smid=AHRB2OK2Q2YCL&psc=1 You can contact him directly through any of his social media handle for your questions or comments, he would look into it and respond would be sent to you accordingly. Email: info@elvisiruh.com or elvisiruh@gmail.com
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Raila Odinga: Still hopeful to be Kenya’s 5th President in 2022
Former Kenya Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga Right Honourable Raila Amolo Odinga, a veteran Kenyan political leader and one-time prime minister, has long cast himself as an anti-establishment firebrand, despite belonging to one of the country’s top political dynasties. He has been in the political life of his country from his youth to now. First was his father who fought alongside late President Jomo Kenyatta for the Independence of Kenya and played significant roles in the political life of Kenya Now 76, Odinga has once again announced his candidacy for the August presidential election, after years locked in bitter rivalry with two-time President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose father was also a long-standing political foe. The two families have dominated Kenyan politics since the country won independence from Britain in 1963, with Jaramogi Oginga Odinga losing out to Jomo Kenyatta, as the first President of the Republic. Raila Odinga is from the Luo tribe from Western part of the country, a part of the country that feels they have been deliberately denied the chance to produce the President of the country in over 5 decades. Raila Odinga entered parliament in 1992 during the rule of President Daniel arap Moi, after spending much of the previous decade in prison or in exile during the struggle for democracy. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 1997, 2007, 2013 and 2017, claiming to have been cheated of victory in the last three elections. In fact in the last elections in 2017, the elections was annulled for serious
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irregularities but rather than Raila declared winner of that election, the Supreme Court called for a re-run elections which of course was boycotted by the opposition paving the way for Uhuru Kenyatta to be re-elected and sworn-in for a second term. The 2007 polls in particular, many independent observers also considered it deeply flawed and cast a long shadow over Kenyan politics, unleashing a wave of ethnic violence that pitted tribal groups against each other and cost more than 1,100 lives. In fact the current President, Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy President William Ruto were indicted but their case was thrown out at the International Criminal Court for lack of witnesses to testify against them. After the last elections of 2017 and to avoid a repeat of 2007 political violence, despite pockets of deadly clashes, President Kenyatta extended hands of friendship to tone the line of reforms agitated by Raila Odinga for the future of Kenya. Odinga and Kenyatta strike an alliance and draw a line under decades of vitriol with a handshake in March 2018. ‘The handshake’ “Never again shall a Kenyan die because of an election. On my own behalf and that of all those behind me, I tender my apology,” Odinga said, embracing Kenyatta at a prayer meeting two months later. Known universally as “the handshake”, the pact stunned Odinga’s colleagues and supporters, effectively leaving Kenya without an opposition. As rumours swirled about Odinga’s motives and possible benefits he had secured for himself, the two men announced a plan to carry out sweeping constitutional reforms. The deal stoked speculation that Odinga was in line to succeed Kenyatta, who cannot run for a third term, but could become prime minister if the amendments go through. Odinga’s elevation came at the expense of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto, who found himself side-lined as the erstwhile foes drew closer. It also came loaded with risks for the veteran leader, with Ruto now positioning himself as a politician looking to upend the status quo and stand up for the “hustlers” trying to make ends meet in a country ruled by “dynasties”. “Raila is quite conscious that a lot of the support he enjoys is because he has been an anti-establishment figure for so long,” said Gabrielle Lynch, Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Warwick. “The handshake has undermined that narrative,” she told the press. Odinga, who was born on January 7, 1945 and is fondly
known as “Baba” or “daddy” in Kishawili, is now caught in a complex balancing act. But Baba knows how to negotiate his way through any difficult circumstances he finds himself and many expect this would not be different. It took a while for him to publicly declare that he would contest the next Presidential election. “He has a lot of trust to build, especially in his main voting block,” political analyst Nerima Wako-Ojiwa also observed. Polarising politician
While his supporters consider Odinga a much-needed social reformer, detractors see him differently but it does not
matter now, Baba is in the race to win. Raila is a charismatic speaker, he has a reputation for being stubborn and sometimes short-tempered but in the eyes of some observers, his crowd-pleasing skills remains strong and for the first time, he is cutting across tribal lines, also because of the open support he is enjoying with the outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta. This romance nobody saw coming and many thought it would fade off but it has gone stronger as the President has indicated he does not support his deputy to succeed him. For those who thinks he is old should remember that President Kibaki despite his health challenges contested and won two elections, Raila success would depend on the alliance he is able to build now. He is an Arsenal fan, he credits his love of soccer for helping him develop a philosophical Continued on Page 18 www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com
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attitude towards the rough and tumble world of politics. “You lose some, you win some. It is painful but that is the way to perfection,” he said in an interview with the media late last year. The biggest challenge to Raila ascendency to the Presidency of Kenya are mostly his former allies including the Deputy President, Dr. William Ruto whom many thought he was a political son of Raila until he teamed up with Uhuru Kenyatta to defeat Raila after the fallout of the elections of 2007. Ruto felt abandoned by his principal. Now Deputy President has formed his own political alliance called United Democratic Party (UDA) with the slogan of “Hustlers vs Dynasties”. Ruto is promising a “Hustler Nations” where everyone no matter your background can dream of becoming President of Kenya citing himself as one. It would still be remembered that this same Ruto was instrumental and helped Uhuru Kenyatta to form the Jubilee Alliance that later became the
Raila Odinga: Hopeful for the 5th time success
Raila Odinga with Mama Ida Odinga 18
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From Left DP Ruto & Rt. Hon. Odinga
Jubilee party which has remained in power for eight years. Now Raila has to confront also his former Presidential running mate, Dr. Steven Kalonzo who served eight years as Vice-President. He has decided to go it all his own way this time around even though many still belief that Baba would woo him back to his side as it does none of the two any good to go against William Ruto in the next election in Kenya. By press time, Raila Odinga has come up with his new alliance called Azimio La Umoja and he would be preoccupy how to win back his former allies to be able to clinch the presidency on August 9, 2022. Raila Odinga raised an Anglican, he later converted to evangelicalism and was baptised in a Nairobi swimming pool by a prophet in 2009. The Bible even crept into Odinga’s 2017 campaign with his repeated promise to lead his followers to Canaan, the mythical “promised land”. He studied engineering in communist former East Germany and named his eldest son Fidel, who died in 2015, after the Cuban revolutionary. He is married to his wife Ida for almost half a century, she is also noted as a strong pillar beside Raila Odinga. A promising first lady and mother of the nation. Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga has three surviving children - Rosemary, Raila Junior and Winnie and five grandchildren. We would be featuring more on Kenyan politics in months leading to the August showdown. Would Raila Odinga be fifth time lucky as his colleague in Zambia? Time would tell!
President Adama Barrow ready for second term in office
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anuary 19th 2022 is set as inauguration of the newly elected President of the Gambia, His Excellency Adama Barrow. It would mark the start of his second and final term in office if nothing changes with the country’s constitution. Despite the challenges in court to the peaceful and successful re-election of President Adama Barrow, preparations are in top gear for his swearing in ceremony of His Excellency as stipulated in the Gambian constitution. With the elections over, it is time to settle down to the affairs of running the country as the President clearly stated during his press statement when he addressed the international press? The government is paving the way for a healthy financial environment despite Covid depleting GDP and keeping tourists at bay. The IMF projects GDP growth of 4.9% two years ago compared to a contraction of -0.2% last year. President Barrow’s infrastructure drive could also signal an investment and construction boom. He inaugurated one major and two smaller bridges over the River Gambia in his first term, which has been a boon for trade with Senegal.
“President Barrow will continue his heavy infrastructure development and add to the 600 kilometres of road networks he’s built,” says Hassoum Ceesay, a historian and political commentator. “So that means in the construction sector there will continue to be a lot of improvement in investment and jobs.” In October last year, President Barrow promised an additional $81m towards road and bridge development in the Upper River Region, a project supported by the Chinese government. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy recently built a large office building in Serekunda, and officials are optimistic that the Gambia can strike oil and gas reserves off its coastline and inland. The renewable energy sector has been boosted by September’s inauguration of Gambia’s $3.7m Renewable Energy Potentials project, which will electrify rural areas and train 210 Gambians. Before his swearing in, the Voice news magazine gathered that the alliance partners has been asked to subject names of candidates to be considered for appointment in the new government in accordance with his electoral promises for their support. It is yet to be seen how the appointments would be made and the screening and approval of the National Assembly. This process may take a bit longer that expected but the President assures that it would not slow down his pace of work and developments for the people. Wishing all Gambians a peaceful new administration and progress in the next five years.
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Bims in the lobby:
Three-part web series by VPRO Dorst
Bims in the Lobby is a three-part online documentary series created by George Adegite and Karim Khamis. As a lobby boy, George enters into a conversation with the residents of the most infamous Bijlmer flat. The makers investigate the prejudices that the residents of the flat in the Bijlmer (Bims in slang) have to deal with. In this way they try to break through the stigmas that the neighborhood carries with it. George Adegite and Karim Khamis grew up in the Bijlmer and therefore see the neighborhood in a different light than most people. The clichés about poverty and crime might suggest otherwise, but the Bijlmer is rich. Rich in culture, diversity and history. Precisely for that reason, George created a chic lobby in the supposedly most infamous flat in the neighborhood. To showcase the wealth, to give the apartment dwellers a warm welcome and to invite them to talk about those clichés. In the first episode, George finds out how Bijlmer residents actually experience the neighborhood themselves. What kind of place is the Bijlmer and what is it like to live
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GEORGE ADEGITE
e is a creative centipede from Amsterdam southeast. Give him a pencil and cool creations arise. Where other kids used to watch television, George had more eyes for his own cartoon. Even then George wanted to decide for himself what was on the screen and let his own drawings come to life. All his ideas still arise from his sketches, one time it is trousers for his own clothing brand aGeorge, the other time a creative design for the agency Cablai that he runs together with Karim. George wants to freestyle, just like his nasi goreng is different every time. The common thread in his life is that he is completely guided by his creativity. At the VPRO Dorst Pitch, he wants to sketch the portraits of his neighbors in the Bijlmer. His ultimate goal is to break through prejudice, something he knows from personal experience that can only be achieved if you really get to 20
there? Are they proud of it or do they prefer not to say that they come from the Bijlmer? How do others view them? VPRO Dorst Pitch production Bims in the lobby was developed within the VPRO Dorst Pitch. De Pitch is the VPRO’s school where young talent is challenged to develop a program idea. With the help of master classes, experienced coaches and by simply making, the talents are prepared to become a program maker in two months. No experience with filming, editing or directing is required. Ideas, enthusiasm and love for the story do. And this is what Goerge Adegite and his friend, Karim Khamis has done to earn this slot to produce the nice well researched program for the viewing public. Although right now it is in Dutch but there are plans to expand it into other languages particularly in English or give it a translation sub-titles. Source: VPRO/BM
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know someone. For this we have to meet the inhabitants of the Bijlmer, through the eyes of George and Karim. According to George Adegite, the 3 episodes are available for viewing on the VPRO website or VPRO YouTube channel. For now it is only available online but in future it may be screen for the television directly.
Karim Khamis
H
e is a poetic storyteller whose greatest pride is his roots. But if you ask him what his origin is, he will answer with “I am from Smibsaland.” Karim does not simply present you with all the information, but he invites people to decipher the code language that he learned to speak in the Bijlmer. He thinks it is important that you see this reflected in his work, this should really be a mix of his identity. As with everything, he thinks very carefully about the choices he makes. This also resonates with how most people know Karim, as a conscious boycotter who prefers to buy only Dutch brands in supermarkets and clothing stores. Because where everyone goes left, Karim prefers to stay away. So it probably won’t surprise you that he doesn’t have a cell phone either. Because a screen does not make
him happy, so to speak, Karim prefers to look for stories offline. In the VPRO Dorst Pitch, he therefore wants to tell the unique stories of the Bijlmer from the elevator together with George: De Bims in the elevator.
Bims in de Lobby in collaboration with VPRO
G
eorge and Karim want to tell special stories about the Bijlmer from the elevator. They want to remove the prejudices about their neighbours from this cramped place. It is an amazing concept to change the narratives over the Amsterdam Southeast in particular, the Bijlmer. When you mention that name to those who lives in the Netherlands, it seems you speak over a ghetto, or crime filled community but this is far from the truth. Two young men who have lived their childhood and young adult lives are telling the story in a different perspective. How did the Bijlmer actually get that blemish on its name? Why the negative image of the Bijlmer continues to plague the residents 55 years ago the first pole was driven in the Bijlmermeer. The Bijlmer started as a modern dream, but became a maligned place and that’s how it still is years later seen.
“Dorst makers” George and Karim, Bijlmer residents themselves, want to adjust that image with their short series movie titled “Bims in the Lobby”, in which they focus on the residents of the Geldershoofd flat as their setting plot for the movie. Because although the Bijlmer nowadays no longer has
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as many problems as it did then, and residents are more involved than ever, it is still complicated to get rid of the blemish of the past. Where does that persistent negative image come from, and is there still hope for the future? We dive into history with the help of urban planner and child of the Bijlmer, Wouter Pocornie and Journalist Daan Dekker, who wrote a book about the Bijlmer and made a radio documentary about the Gliphoeve flat. With flashy leaflets, they received the new potential residents of the Bijlmermeer district. The high middle class would come to live in “the city of the future”, in a place as green as the Vondelpark. The flats would be modern and spacious, and you would hear sounds of birds’ song and even nightingales, instead of humming traffic; this was an ultimate answer to the dilapidated, busy and cramped city centre of Amsterdam. But when the first residents received the keys in 1968, there was hardly anything to do with it brands. It was a construction site, a mud puddle with hardly any shops and facilities, where the greenery still had to grow and direct road or metro connections to the city centre were still absent. “Some adventurers liked that, but others were there less to talk about it. You paid much more rent than in the city centre, so some of the optimistic pioneers left fairly quickly,’ says Dekker. Even earlier, in planning, there was already a bad after taste, says Pocornie. “There was division among policy makers. Some thought it was too socialist and progressive, too great a risk to take. They didn’t want the project to get off the ground.” Vacancy arose because some of the residents fled in the early 1970s. In addition to the people who believed in the ‘modernist dream’, a lot of people who had nowhere else to go from the city centre you could only rent through housing associations if you were married and there were not enough owneroccupied homes. In de Bijlmer they were less strict. It became a place where singles, separated people, squatters’ and hippies settled down. ‘Surinamese educated migrants and students too could more easily find a home there than in the inner city, where they were dealing with discrimination from housing corporations,” says Pocornie. The Bijlmer became a home for ‘the outcast of society’. Meanwhile, Suriname declared its independence in 1975. That brought, also in the years before that, comes with a lot of uncertainty. Surinamese faced a choice: to stay in Suriname
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or with their Dutch passport to move to the Netherlands for economic security? Many opted for the latter. In the city center there were no homes for Surinamese, so they ended up in the Bijlmer, which already has a small community of those educated migrants from Suriname who lived there. But that became a problem for the municipality. A dispersion policy was initiated by the government. There was a quota for the number of Surinamese in the flat, and the rent was increased, it became more expensive for Surinamese only. ‘A number of Surinamese activists did not accept this and said: this is discrimination. Then they started squatting at the Gliphoeve flat,’ says Dekker. Do you want to know more about how the Surinamese residents of Gliphoeve went to war against discriminatory policies? Then listen to the radio documentary Gliphoeve – a forgotten battle of Daan Dekker and Maartje Duin.
GLIPHOVE AS A SYMBOL OF DEGRADATION Gliphoeve, now called Geldershoofd, has been a major factor in the black identity of the Bijlmer, and the center of negative image formation. “Gliphoeve was the Surinamese flat, there lived almost only Surinamese from a lower social class, who come here from flow income houses or from the interior of Suriname,” explains Dekker. And suddenly they have to live in a flat in the Netherlands on the eleventh floor and to get used to this new life style in The Netherlands brought a lot of chaos to them. Pocornie says that the Bijlmer since the 1970s, with the arrival of black people was already being associated with degradation and negativity. Magazines headlines read: “The Bijlmer will become a ghetto”, or “De Bijlmer: the Harlem
of the Netherlands”, accompanied by a photo of playing rise buildings were demolished and Gliphoeve was renovated children in a playground.’ The Bijlmerbajes was also opened into Geldershoofd. at Overamstel during that period although it was not in the ‘A former resident of the E-neighbourhood, who was being Bijlmer. It got that name because the high-rise flat, which didn’t demolished, said that it was the intention that they could come look like a prison might seem so, was reminiscent of the high- back to low-rise buildings, but not enough homes had been rise buildings of the Bijlmer. But the negative associations of built when it was their turn,” says Pocornie. ‘It became clear the two of course were quickly made by the people. that residents were not involved in the decisions made for the Just like in Harlem, a lot of heroine was traded in the centre of Bijlmer. It also proved that there is little visibility given on Amsterdam at the time and used. That came to an end in the poverty and illegality.” early eighties: anyone who used or dealt was knocked off the In the meantime, the Bureau Bijlmer program was also street by the M.E. and pinned. The metro line had already been broadcast in the 1990s, a reality series about the police in the built, so remaining dealers and addicts moved to the Bijlmer. And there it was tolerated, because at least there it was out of sight of the city centre,’ says Dekker. The Bijlmer was the ideal place to deal, because of the anonymous architectural style of the flats, the large public space, the many green spaces, the inner streets, parking garages and storage rooms. ‘A lot people came from different backgrounds, they didn’t have such a good network here, no education, so they couldn’t find work either. The temptation to also deal and earn money was very great then.’ And that’s where things went wrong. Gliphoeve became the deal spot in Europe. “Crime exploded because people made money needed from their drugs. Where Gliphoeve was still cosy and friendly in the beginning, a warm communal place for Surinamese who had yet to get used to From left is the chairperson of Amsterdam Southeast Council, The Netherlands, it became a grim place Tanja Jadnanansing (PvdA) thanking George Adegite for the positive message because of the drugs.” of the Biljmer projected on the movie According to Pocornie, Gliphoeve became the symbol of degradation and crime in the Bijlmer. “A lot also happened, but by no means in all flats.” Bijlmer, in which -of course mainly crime in the neighbourhood THE GREAT DEMOLITION was shown. In 1992, disaster struck when a plane flew into the Groeneveen ‘I myself wished that there was less from a sensation lens but and Klein-Kruitberg flats, it split the buildings into half. The more from a care lens looked at the neighbourhood. I always biggest air disaster the Netherlands has ever known. There compare it to the problem of homelessness: it is easier to say were officially that homeless people have themselves to blame than that we 43 people dead, but the real number is much higher: people recognize how problematic housing policy is,” Pocornie says. also lived in the flats, many people who stayed illegally in the But the Bijlmer was rebuilt. The high-rise was replaced by Netherlands. The disaster was called the Bijlmer disaster. After low-rise and more owner-occupied homes were added, which that disaster, the entire Bijlmer was completely overhauled, made people more involved in the neighbourhood. The quality because of the reputation of degradation, crime and disaster. of life and safety improved considerably. ‘You could say that Pocornie also suspects that ‘the flats by the low incomes of the the Bijlmer had a difficult childhood. And at some point the people were not profitable.” Almost half of the original high- people who are there became grown up adults.
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The Bijlmer has now become a trendsetter in some areas, in the field of fashion and music. Appreciation for the type of architecture has increased. Residents are proud of the Bijlmer,’ according to Dekker. Yet the negative image remains for the residents of the Bijlmer almost on daily basis mainly through the reproduction of the old negative stories, stereotypes and cultural features that are still associated with crime and decay. A large part of the residents do not recognize themselves in how the neighbourhood is being depicted. This kind of spatial stigmatization is what Dorst makers George Adegite and Karim Khamis are uncovering with their short series, and presenting a different view of the Biljlmer. ‘Bims in the Lobby’ is an ode to Geldershoofd and its inhabitants. FUTURE What does the future hold for the Bijlmer? ‘It is still a neighbourhood with social challenges. Drug trafficking is a problem. There is poverty. Apparently there isn’t enough perspective in the society,’ says Dekker. And the Bijlmer does not escape the rising house prices. Gentrification makes people wonder: Can I still live here? The community in this neighbourhood is very important. There are many cultures; people say to each other - hello, they help each other much more than the rest of Amsterdam. Precisely in such places, where people needed each other because they could not always count on the government, it is sad that communities could be torn apart. But there goes the municipality is now working hard on it,” he says.
Gliphoeve or Geldershoofd, where the short series- ‘Bims in the Lobby’ takes place, a major renovation would take place which would mean that the residents would have to move to another place in Southeast, or come back and pay a higher rent. Mayor Halsema earlier this year announced the master 24
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plan what the Bijlmer will be called ‘the Brooklyn of Amsterdam’. They would create a new city centre but affordable. There will be 40,000 homes and a lot is being refurbished. ‘De Bijlmer is such a special place because of its contrasts: it is based on optimistic, vistas, but turned out to be something completely different. The flats have a monotonous architectural style, and at the same time people from all over the world live in it. In addition, the Bijlmer is a metropolitan vibe – due to the grand architecture, the metro line that cuts through the neighbourhood, walking and the diversity of people you really feel that you are in a different part of Amsterdam, and that is important for a city,’ says Dekker. Dekker hopes that ‘the Southeast vibe, the open arms feeling’ will not be lost. That also applies for Pocornie. According to him, this is mainly in the hands of policy makers. “I hope they understand: I am part of a unique story, which goes beyond a story about small Suriname or a ghetto neighbourhood or a modernist residential area. This could be the start of a journey that shapes the future in the right way, in which you also understand the history and neighbourhood identity.” 55 years later, the Bijlmer’s dream begins again.
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Column:
AFFORESTATION - A CALL TO ACTION By Nicholas Jimmy (Jimmie Nicks)
“What an old man can see while seated, a young man cannot see even when standing on tree tops” From my community where I grew up, there was a common believe that old people especially with grey hair were full of wisdom and anything they said was taken serious. And while this believe was nothing based on science or academic research, I tent to resonate that the thinking can easily be drawn from the fact that people who have lived long enough have most likely experienced a lot and in the process maybe gathered some knowledge that may not be attained by the youth/young over night. However its not all old people who are knowledgeable, we
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can agree that having lived over decades one can easily compare notes and experiences and draw some knowledge from those lessons learned from Africa continent. The continent has experience speedy changes compared to the rest of the world. I say so because the idea that other continents were civilized way long before Africa is given
Column
“Nicholas Jimmy (Jimmie Nicks) is a graduate with B. A degree in Integrated Community Development, since his college days, he has continued to champion community programs on capacity building and eventually founding United Global Volunteers International, with twelve years of experience as an expert in Community Development, he is also the Founder of Kollywood Horizons - media Business, he also organizes World Volunteer Day (WVD) every 5th of December in Kenya, creating awareness on the need to grow volunteer culture and helps community institutions to get free experts & volunteers to assist solve community problems while experts get opportunity to re-learn and get exposure through various programs across targeting Grassroot capacity building. Jimmy has been awarded by Kenyan government (2010) receiving Good Samaritan honorary award presided by the then speaker of national assembly, Hon. Kenneth Marende. He has also been awarded by Daystar University as the youngest servant leader impacting communities” www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com
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Jeffangs Beauty
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Imported skin care products may damage your skin, Ajibola-Bodude tells Nigerians Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude, the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Ethnic Wellness, a company that is into the production of black soap, body wash, body oil, body scrub, black oil, tiger nut milk powder, natural spices and dates powder, in this interview with IKECHI NZEAKO, speaks on the advantages of using natural skin care products and other industry issues. Excerpts:
N
zeako: How did you get into the business? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: I got into the business a few years ago after I had worked with a skin care company for many years and I developed an interest in skin care products. After I left the company, I decided to go into the production of skin care products; I went to learn how to make the products and promote them. Nzeako: Why did you go into the production of natural skin care products? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: I am dark skinned and I do not condone bleaching and many women are into it, and I wanted to let people know that the black skin is beautiful, and that was the reason I went into the production of natural skin care products. When did you start the business? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: I started three years ago. It has been good and encouraging and I believe that it could be better. Government should support entrepreneurs in many ways. They can give us grants and low interest loans. If entrepreneurs have good funding, the sky is their limit. Nigerians are resourceful. Most of the raw materials that we use are sourced locally; I do Shea butter, turmeric, moringa and others and these are local natural products and they have many medicinal properties and uses that many people do not know. I make black soap and I put these things in my black soap. When you use them, your skin will glow; my products do not contain artificial materials and chemicals and they make you beautiful. Many people abroad like and use our products; many people here want to get fairer and they buy and use bleaching chemicals and these chemicals are dangerous to their skin and well-being. What do you say to people, who use chemicals to beach their skin? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: It is a dangerous thing to do, and they should stop; the adverse effect may not be seen now, it will show in the future. It is a bad thing to do; as you use them and coupled with our weather and the sun, they are destroying the
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top layer of the skin. The chemicals go beyond the skin and enter the body and destroy it. Health wise, it is a bad practice. What qualities does one need to have to succeed in this line of business? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: One, make sure that your products are good; if your products are of high quality, it may take time but you will succeed in the end. If the first person buys and it is good, he will tell another person and the demand for
the product will grow. So, make sure that the quality of your product is good. We need funding to succeed; with funding you can properly package your products; I buy foreign containers to package my products and I sell my products abroad.
Packaging is very important; plantain chips and “igbekere” is the same thing; the only difference between them is the way they are packaged. Bottled water and sachet water is the same thing, the difference being packaging. If you have adequate funding, you can package your products well, it will be an advertisement for people to see. Have you been able to access funding for the business? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: No, I have relied solely on family and friends to fund the business. There are many funding opportunities around, have you tried to access one? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: I have tried many, but I have not succeeded with any; I have attended many programmes and pitched at different events without success. How would you describe the skin care industry in Nigeria? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: The skin care industry in the country is growing because Nigerian women love to look good; after our skin, the next thing is clothing. Even if you are not wearing good clothes, you want your skin to look good. No matter what you wear, if your skin is not good, you will not have confidence. If you have good skin, it improves your confidence. Is good to have good skin and every woman wants to have good skin no matter what level they are. Nzeako: How do you compare Nigerian made in skin care products to imported ones? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: Most imported skin care products are not good for the skin of Nigerians and most of them damage our skin. We use natural products to do our products; although they may not be fast but they are natural and safe. When you want to lighten your skin, there are many local products you can use. What do you say to young people who do not want to acquire a skill as you have done? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: It is a pity that some people have refused to learn a skill; it is a sad situation; everybody should learn a skill. I went to school, trained and worked as a journalist and now I am an entrepreneur and I became one after I acquired a skill. The jobs are not there and the few available are for young people. Who would want to employ a person like me? If one has a job now, a time will come when they will be asked to go; so it is very important for one to acquire a skill. Nzeako: What is your assessment of the Nigerian business environment? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: It is tough because there is a lot of competition; if you go to the Internet and search for, say skin care, you will see more than 1000 and one products; you have the good ones and you have the bad ones. The bad ones are
spoiling the business for the good ones. You have to do a lot of convincing for people to buy your products. Sometimes I give products out free to people to make them experience the quality of my products. Sometimes I tell them that they could return the products if they did not have the advertised quality. We give out free samples to convince people to buy. Nzeako: What should the government do to make the environment better for entrepreneurs? Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: They should help us with funding as I said before; the interest banks charge is too high for entrepreneurs and the conditions are too difficult. Government should facilitate the training of young entrepreneurs by mobilizing experienced people to train them. It can also help by formulating and implementing friendly policies and programmes; for instance, I have been trying to get NAFDAC approval for my products for a long time without success. They should make it easy for people to get the approvals. Government can build hubs with installed facilities and entrepreneurs can come in and produce at a small fee. Nzeako: Thank you for the interview Ebiere Ajibola-Bodude: You are welcome
For contact details, please you can reach her via Email : skincarebodyglow@gmail.com Tel: +234(0) 9032258613. www.ethnicwellness.com.ng Ikechi Nzeako conducted the interview. First published in Independent Newspaper Limited, Nigeria. Mr. Nzeako is a journalist with Independent Newspapers Limited. He is a graduate of the University of Ibadan and he is interested in politics, history, economy and sports. He writes on small business, entrepreneurship, training, employment, start-ups, and general business.
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President Weah promises to address issues confronting persons with disabilities in Liberia
P
resident George Weah at the country’s first National Disabilities Summit told scores of individuals with disabilities that issues confronting them are part of the challenges his pro-poor agenda is seeking to address. The National Commission on Disabilities (NCD) in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP), the Ministry of Finance on December 3, 2021, began Liberia’s first National Disabilities Summit that lasted for two-day. At the event, an executive of the NCD Samuel Dean clearly outlined nine thematic areas he says the NCD wants the government to address. Dean highlighted the issues about employment, education, agriculture and food security, access to justice and representative seats at the Legislature as some of the thematic areas the NCD wants government to prioritize when implementing its Pro-poor Agenda. President Weah, giving a special statement, praised the NCD Leadership for organizing the first national summit. The conference, the President said, presents a special opportunity for his government to highlight the plights of persons with disabilities.
are embodiment of the challenges my pro-poor agenda seeks to resolved.” According to the Liberian Leader, whether you have disabilities or not, every human being is challenged in a different way. “Nothing should be allowed to stop one from reaching his or her God giving potential,” he furthers. Weah continued: “I am here today to give you my full support. My administration will continue to strive to improve the condition in Liberia, under which people living with disability must live.” This, he said, his government will facilitate the works of the different organizations working with persons with disability including the National Commission on Disabilities. “This country has witnessed a significant increase of the number of people living with disability since the end of the civil war with many languishing at the lower of the economic ladder,” the Liberian said.
“Disability is not inability. It’s my belief that people with disability have the ability to contribute positively to the growth of our society,” President Weah stated. He added: “Let me once and again thank you for inviting me to the inaugural conference of persons with disabilities. This is an important gathering for me since it involves people who 32
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President Weah continues: “We cannot allow your suffering to continue. We must, consciously, provide the social services you need in the same manner that will support your able body counterpart; no one should be left behind.” “There must be equal access to healthcare services, education and employment opportunity for people with disabilities. While this is lacking, we will begin to take the necessary corrective steps to restore their basic and fundamental
rights,” he said. Development Partners Assure NCD of Full Supports At the event, few Embassies including international development organizations that were presence praised the NCD for bringing people with disability from every part of the country to highlight the plight of their community. Speaking, the US Ambassador to Liberia Michael McCarthy said when he was a youth; he worked for five years on a YMCA project. The project, he said, was to work with people with disabilities for three hours every Saturday morning. “There is no such thing as disabled person; there are people with disabilities,” he said. According to Ambassador McCarthy, the first American President to visit Liberia Franklin Roosevelt was disabled. Roosevelt was left permanently paralyzed from the waist down. He was diagnosed with poliomyelitis. “When President Roosevelt got down at the airport and walked to the microphone, nobody ever introduced him by saying here is the disabled President of the United States,” he said. Ambassador added: “I just want to say that the United States remains steadfast in our commitment to advance
the human rights of persons with disabilities at home and around the world. We surely believe with our friend here in the government of Liberia that it is essential to engage persons with disabilities in the democracy process to combat discrimination, to counter prejudice and to protect the rights of the disabled and ensure their inclusion in all part of life on an equal basic with other people.” Also speaking, European Union Head to Liberia Laurent Delahousse said his institution is willing to partner with the government to support persons with disabilities. According to Delahousse, the event should not be called a disability summit. Rather, it should be called, super abilities summit. “You develop what is missing. If your eyes are not working, ears not working, your legs are not working, you compensate by developing super senses and that is extraordinarily to see how you manage, how you mitigate, and how you integrate,” the EU strong man said. “You deserve the support, you need support. Your presence here today from all over Liberia is so important. It is a sense of belonging. We the development partners of Liberia want to bring you our friendship and our support through our programs and in corporation with your government,” Ambassador Delahousse stated.
Hon. Steven Ochieng Nyandiare appointed Special Senior Advisor to H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisai Al-Qassimi Hon. Steven Ochieng Nyandiare from Kenya has recently been appointed by the office of His Highness, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisai Al-Qassimi, a member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates. He is coming on board as a Senior Advisor to His Highness. Hon. Nyandiare comes with a load of experiences ranging as Property Business Development Director, Investment Consultant, Strategic liaison personnel on international trades with Africa and around the world, Government relations consultant and building international trades between Africa global partners. He is also a political adviser to many African countries and political leaders. Congratulations to Hon. Steven Ochieng Nyandiare on his latest appointment.
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Just get on with it: the adventure of entrepreneurship An office job in the civil service is no longer the only career option for young people in Chad. A rapidly growing group of young people are opting to start their own business. Running a small business is not only a way to earn money, it also builds confidence and helps young people to break free of le système. ‘Don’t wait, just get on with it!’
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andrine Ousmane (34) often works long days, going to homes and businesses from early in the morning to late in the evening to sell freshly-squeezed fruit juices. ‘I have a range of flavours – mango, lychee, ginger – depending on the season,’ she says. She runs her company, Le Mbakeur, single-handedly. This makes her unusual in Chad, where young women are not very likely to start their own business after graduation. So Sandrine’s relatives did not all receive the news that she planned to become an entrepreneur with unreserved enthusiasm. ‘They thought I was wasting my time,’ she tells me on a Zoom call from the capital Ndjamena. Clément Madjita, aged 29, is on the same Zoom call. He too chose to take the entrepreneurial route. As director of Mar’One he runs an events venue and restaurant which people can hire for weddings, religious celebrations and student parties. His family was also mystified at first. ‘My parents didn’t understand,’ he says. ‘They expected me to get a normal job after I graduated; an office job, in other words.’ In Chad, young people and their parents regard an administrative job, preferably in a government office, as the best way of earning a stable living. The tendency to play it safe is quite understandable, of course. Chadians have faced a toxic mix of problems for some time now. Half the population lives below the poverty line, and the country is highly dependent on foreign aid. The oil reserves discovered there in the 1970s should have been a source of national income, but the revenues have largely gone into the pockets of Western companies like ExxonMobil and Shell. Chad scores high on international corruption indices, and comes bottom of the UN’s Human Development Index. The population is growing rapidly. In the early 1990s Chad had six million inhabitants; now, the figure stands at over 16 million, and 60% of them are under the age of 25. Finding a job is one of the biggest challenges facing young people in Chad. According to figures from the International Labour Organization, youth unemployment in the country’s urban areas was already running at 30% before the pandemic. ‘The current mindset among young people,’ Madjita explains, ‘is that you have to find a job in the public sector. But there’s often not enough work there.’ This attitude is now changing. Young Chadians are starting to broaden their horizons, and see startups and running their own business as a way of escaping poverty. Ousmane and Madjita regard themselves as pioneers, but
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they see more and more young people trying their luck in the world of business. This requires creativity, of course, although potential entrepreneurs don’t necessarily have to come up with groundbreaking ideas in order to be successful. ‘My plan,’ says Ousmane, ‘was actually quite a logical one. It’s very hot here all year round, so I thought there would be a market for refreshing fruit juices.’ You need to be willing to take risks, says Madjita. His enterprising nature became clear quite early on when, as a child, he would sell bottles of fuel door-to-door in his neighbourhood. After his studies, Madjita went to work for the company that he later bought. It was a bold move. ‘At that point the company was about to close down.’ Though his friends and family were initially sceptical, he is now admired as a success. ‘The people around me are all really proud.’ he says.
When they started out as entrepreneurs, it was basically all up to them. Now they get support from Job Booster, an initiative launched by Dutch international development organisation Woord en Daad. The programme aims to bring young people into contact with employers, or to help them run their own business. ‘I heard about Job Booster on radio FM Liberté, a local radio station in Ndjamena,’ says Madjita. He and Ousmane are learning how to keep their books, and how to devise a good business strategy. ‘We also each have our own business coach.’ Hal Souakar Ambera (34) is one of the coordinators of the Job Booster programme in Chad. ‘It really got going in 2019 – but it was followed just a few months later by the first lockdown,’ he tells me on Zoom. ‘Almost the entire country closed down, which made it extra difficult for young people to find work.’
The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures introduced in response had a huge impact. The parliamentary committee on economics and planning did not waste any time: the pandemic had ‘exposed the bankruptcy of the Chadian economy’. Chad had to ask the IMF for a 560 million dollar loan. The government has now also come to the conclusion that it can The subject did be beneficial not really attract to promote inmuch attention dependent enuntil about four trepreneurship years earlier, he among young There is a growing interest in entrepreneurship among young Chadians explained, when people, says ‘startup hubs’ were Ambera. Last already quite common in other African countries. Madjita year it established a fund around 30 billion CFA francs (or and Ousmane say that one of the biggest obstacles is the in- €45 million) that can be disbursed as loans to young entreadequate education system. ‘Everything’s focused on getting preneurs. The proposal was unanimously adopted by parliaas many qualifications as possible,’ Ousmane complains. ment. ‘The then president began talking increasingly about the importance of entrepreneurship,’ says Ambera. It’s now a After completing their education many young Chadians dis- hot topic at all government ministries. cover that the qualification they worked so hard to obtain is fairly useless on the job market. Madjita is particularly He is however concerned about whether the money really critical of the education system in Chad: ‘What we learn has will reach young people. ‘In practice you often see that plans absolutely nothing to do with the reality here.’ like this are poorly implemented. There’s a lot of corruption here.’ The lack of good governance is partly down to cliOusmane nods and adds: ‘There’s absolutely no focus on entelism and tensions between different ethnic groups and entrepreneurship at school. They don’t teach you how to do regions, he explains. ‘Equity is an alien concept here.’ business deals, how to behave professionally, how to successfully market products.’ In April President Idriss Déby was shot dead just after his There is growing interest in entrepreneurship, but the sector is still in its infancy. In 2019 the then organiser of Global Entrepreneurship Week in Chad told Reuters news agency that the country still had some catching up to do, particularly compared to the rest of the continent. ‘Chad is really lagging behind.’
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Continued from Page 35 re-election. He had been leading his army against rebel groups in the northwest of the country. His son, General Mahamat Déby, seized power and is currently the de facto leader. ‘The day the president was murdered,’ says Ambera, ‘we couldn’t go to the office, so we worked at home. There were soldiers in all the streets.’ Idriss Déby had been president for 30 years, and was known for favouring his fellow party and clan members in the national administration. ‘That caused a lot of bad feeling among the rest of the population.’ In the Middle Ages Chad was a hub of trans-Saharan trade. Like other countries in the region, it lies at a cultural crossroads, with the largely Muslim north influenced by Arabic culture, while Christianity is the main religion among the black Africans in the south. Chad may once have been a trading hub, but ‘now foreign investors are put off by the violence,’ says Ambera. Chad gained independence from France in 1960, having long been the poor relation in the French colonial empire in Africa. Since then the country has been plagued by military conflicts, including the ‘Toyota War’ with Libya, so named because of the Toyota trucks driven by Chadian soldiers. The Libyan-trained rebel group Front pour l’Alternance et la Concorde au Tchad (Fact), whom President Déby was fighting when he was killed, is currently the government’s main c h a l l e n g e r. ‘We haven’t stopped fighting each other since independence,’ Ambera sighs. The tensions between population groups are also eroding confidence in the state. People have little faith in the government. This is one reason why social inclusion is a key focus of the Job Booster programme. ‘We have officially adopted a target that one in ten of the young people we help must come Sandrine Ousmane from the most vulnerable communities,’ he says. ‘Gender balance is another key concern, 36
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so 40% of participants are women.’ In Chad it is not only different population groups that are in conflict with each other, there is also a big generation gap – sometimes even generational conflict. In 2019 a young taxi driver was shot dead by a leading member of the governing party. On social media, young people from poor neighbourhoods agreed that the murder highlighted just how little their leaders cared about them. To prevent large-scale protests, the killer was quickly arrested. But mistrust of the government is deep-rooted, Ambera tells me. ‘The old generation of leaders refuse to hand over power. They want to keep control of everything themselves – preferably for the rest of their lives.’ Young people in Chad call the political system and the public sector le système: a closed world where nepotism is the norm, and where you can only get a job if you have links to the right party. But resistance to this system is growing, Ambera notes. He himself has a background in youth activism. ‘I see youth organisations cropping up everywhere,’ he says. ‘Young people are organising symposiums and meetings where they talk about how their rights are being violated, and help each other set up projects.’ In 2018 the youth-led Iyina movement (the name means ‘we’ve had enough’) tried to unleash a popular uprising. The same year, 38-yearold Succès Masra resigned from his job as a leading economist at the African Development Bank and set up a political movement called Les Transformateurs. Masra is all over social media. President Déby managed to exclude his young challenger from the elections this year by raising the minimum age for the presidency to 40. But the pressure is on, Ambera says. ‘Before his death Idriss Déby appointed two ministers under the age of 30.’ Ambera believes that the growing interest in entrepreneurship among young Chadians is about more than simply finding work. It is also a way for young people to claim a place in society. ‘If you can’t rely on the government,’ he says, ‘you have to make sure you are self-reliant.’ The two young entrepreneurs Madjita and Ousmane both talk with enthusiasm about the confidence they have gained from running their businesses. ‘The most important lesson that entrepreneurship has taught me,’ says Ousmane, ‘is don’t wait, just get on with it!’ Given the demographic trends, it remains to be seen whether startups will prove a sustainable solution to the unemployment crisis. But the interest among young people also reveals something else: they are no longer willing to remain
on the sidelines, but want to be actively involved in solving the country’s problems. ‘This adventure has taught me that I myself can help make Chad more prosperous,’ says Madjita proudly. Job Booster ‘When one person gets a job, it benefits an average of four other people,’ says the Job Booster page of the Woord en Daad website. At the moment, the programme is supporting over 20,000 young people in several countries – and so around 80,000 of their relatives are also benefitting.
To young entrepreneur Madjita, Job Booster is a kind of Hal Souakar Ambera anchor. His life now is very different from the office job The first Job Booster project in Chad started in 2018. Since his family envisaged for him. Every day is hectic. ‘I start at then, the programme has expanded rapidly, and now consists eight in the morning,’ he says, ‘cleaning the venue with the of three networks of young people whose members are all staff. Then I have meetings and go to classes. In the afternoon independent entrepreneurs from a range of sectors. One is a I usually go into town to meet new business partners.’ young farmer who is pioneering aubergine cultivation in desert regions. Another is a biology student trying his luck in the Job Booster helps him channel his energies in the daily turtelecoms sector in Ndjamena. moil. ‘And if I run into a problem, I can ask my coach for help.’ The life of an entrepreneur can be lonely, so there are Coordinator Ambera says many young people have shown an now flexible workspaces at the Job Booster office where the interest in IT lately. ‘But that’s still a challenge in a country entrepreneurs can come and work. Eventually, the idea is to where the vast majority of people have no internet connec- expand this into a complete business centre. tion.’ He believes young people’s interest in entrepreneurship springs partly from their disappointment at what they see Coordinator Ambera is now working on the next big project. in the public sector. ‘There, success is all about knowing the ‘We are working with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency to right people.’ set up an Agri Job Booster project in the south. The goal is to set up more than 3,000 small agricultural enterprises by This is less of a problem in the private sector, and in the major 2025.’ international organisations active in Chad, like the EU and USAID, the American aid organisation. ‘Having connections Madjita and Ousmane have found a community of like-mindis not the most important thing there. They operate on the ba- ed people at Job Booster. ‘I love to see people with ambition sis of professional standards.’ getting a real opportunity here,’ says Ousmane. In the future, she would like to see the young entrepreneurs get help using The Job Booster programme transforms ambitious young peo- social media. ‘So that we can raise our profile even more.’ ple into true entrepreneurs. Participants are taught all kinds Madjita nods in agreement: ‘Because a high profile is everyof topics, from tax law to bookkeeping. A digital marketing thing for an entrepreneur.’ course has also been offered since the pandemic began. After learning how to put together a good business strategy, by the By Elian Yayhe end of 2020 40 entrepreneurs had seen their turnover increase by more than 10%.
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Nigerian Christians under persecution Help us please....... It is a well known fact that Nigerian Christians are under severe persecution particularly in the Northern part of the country. They continued to be attacked, properties destroyed, thousands of people dead, many more displaced, farm lands destroyed, children left homeless, orphans and desolate in a nation of plenty of resources. A government unable to protect his people. We have received a request from an organization helping these persecuted Christians to get some type or relief. They are calling on us on the Diaspora to support and help through our kind donations. The organization is coordinating assistances, see the flyers published below for details of how you can support their efforts. We approve the flyers so you can send support directly or contact them for clarification or more information. God bless you all. TV Management https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg52LK6cJlw&feature=youtu.be
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Happy 84th birthday Dad! A father’s tears and fears are not easily seen. His love in unexpressed but his care and protection remains as a pillar of strength throughout the lives of his children. Uncle Sammy Rex Iruh, we live out your legacy of hard work, courage, care and love. You remain my true human hero. I pray God to continue to bless you with good health and sound mind. Your old age is blessed. You being around keep us going and we thank God for each day we have with you. God bless you for us in Jesus Christ name. Amen Love from all your children, children-in-laws, husbands, wives, grandchildren. Amen Signed on behalf of the Samuel Iruh Clan Pastor Elvis Ndubuisi Iruh For the whole family
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Kenyan grows healthcare group from one-bed apartment to eight hospitals By Our Reporter
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r Maxwel Okoth (35) started what was to become the RFH Healthcare group in a one-room apartment in 2011. Over the next decade he grew the business to include eight hospitals and medical centres. The origins of RFH Healthcare Okoth is a graduate of the medical school at the University of Nairobi. In 2010, he started his internship at a public hospital in central Kenya. While it would have been easier for Okoth to join a large hospital or existing practice, he decided to become an entrepreneur. During his internship, he identified a gap in the existing value proposition. In Kenya, the established private medical institutions mostly serve the upper end of the market. There was a huge gap for a brand that was inexpensive yet provided service of acceptable quality. RFH Healthcare began in a onebedroom apartment in Ruai, a suburb in the eastern part of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. To attract patients, a plywood board advertised Okoth’s services, indicating the facility was open 24 hours, an important offering. The reception and waiting area were clean and tidy and news soon spread. Patients started requesting consultations. “They soon got attached to me, rather than the institution. When I was not there, they would come back when I was available,” he explains. Okoth’s mother lent him $3,000 as seed capital to start the business. When he was involved in a motor vehicle accident in 2012, the insurance paid out about $6,000. This covered much-needed X-ray and ultrasound equipment as well as theatre anaesthetic devices. It enabled him to do basic surgeries and provide services such as X-rays. Okoth finally realised that as much as people needed medical attention, many were not visiting the practice as the facility was just too small. He started to look for something bigger. Growing the hospital group Okoth contacted the landlord of an unfinished building in Ruai, who was so receptive to the idea of having a hospital in the area that he finished the construction, installed windows and tiles, and painted the building; something that is usually the responsibility of the tenant of a commercial building. To fund the equipment of the new Ruai Family Hospital, 40
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Okoth applied for a loan from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. While it was approved, the payment was delayed and he had to sell his wife’s car to cover immediate capital needs. With these funds, he finalised the new premises and put in 10 beds, a theatre, an X-ray room and ultrasound equipment. People started to visit in greater numbers. Over time, the hospital at Ruai grew to 40 beds and an ambulance was added. It offers general consulting, in-patient and maternity services, imaging, dialysis, general surgery, specialists, laboratory services and a pharmacy. Okoth relied on a bank loan to fund this growth. Ruai Family Hospital focuses on low- and middle-income earners, with pricing adjusted to fit in with the guidelines of the National Health Insurance Fund. The area in which the first hospital was situated was immortalised in the name: Ruai Family Hospital Healthcare or RFH Healthcare. The second family hospital of RFH Healthcare began as a result of the Ruai facility receiving a lot of referrals from the town of Tala, about 56 km east of Nairobi. Curious to find out where they were getting referrals from, Okoth and staff visited Tala and decided to open a 10-bed hospital there. I n 2016, he became aware of space in a gated community in the Nairobi suburb of Embakasi, with about 5,600 households. Okoth set up an outpatient centre in Embakasi, the RFH Medical Centre targeting middleincome earners to whom it provides a full range of medical services. Okoth had a vision of developing a hospital where more advanced services could be offered. In 2017, he obtained a loan from the bank and purchased land in the Ruai suburb, where the company built the RFH Specialist Hospital that commenced operations in 2019. The building of the hospital was initially funded through internally generated funds, which was crippling the business as it was moving working capital into real estate. To address this, Okoth obtained a loan from Business Partners International to finish the building. He also had to approach a local bank for funds to buy new equipment and finance working capital. Between 2019 and 2021, the group opened an additional four facilities in several Nairobi suburbs, to bring the total number of hospitals to eight. As for medical personnel, most of the staff works for RFH
Healthcare, including general practitioners. It is only the specialists or consultants that are not in-house. They use the theatres and consultation rooms of the various facilities of RFH Healthcare. They invoice RFH for the medical services they provide; the company in turn bills the patients. Offering medical insurance Kenya only has about 5% medical insurance penetration, according to Okoth. RFH Healthcare has developed two insurance products: Baraka Prepaid Maternity Card and Red Leaf. Baraka Prepaid is a lay-by model for people with pre-existing conditions and pregnant mothers; it functions like a wallet. Pregnant women, for instance, can use Baraka to save money for nine months. RFH Healthcare provides services to wallet holders at a discount of 5%. Red Leaf is the in-house micro-insurance product of RFH. It functions on the basis that policyholders must consult one of the RFH facilities in the event of illness. Strategies for success When asked about the strategies RFH Healthcare adopted to achieve success, Okoth is adamant about the importance of his team and attracting patients through a brand that inspires confidence in its services. “Focus, consistency and having a team that believes in our dream. People who stuck around even when there was no money. People who were not motivated by money but by the dream. At times, they did not get a salary as there was no money, but they would still work.” RFH Healthcare brought crucial services to patients at
an affordable price and addressed the gap in the market. Although there were a small number of other providers,
RFH Healthcare was prominent with its equipment and quality of services, which grew the communities’ confidence in the brand. Taking care of patients during emergencies and being open 24 hours, further built trust in the business. RFH Healthcare also had the advantage of initially targeting outlying peri-urban areas, which competitors avoided. “Based on my circumstances and what I had available, I would not do anything differently. It is not possible to have done anything faster than what we have managed to do,” notes Okoth. The road ahead Okoth believes Kenya is positioning itself as the centre for medical tourism in east and central Africa; RFH Healthcare already receives many patients from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zambia. Kenya’s medical services infrastructure is viewed in
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a favourable light and other hospital groups from countries like India are coming in to set up facilities. Okoth believes the industry will see more mergers and acquisitions, as smaller players won’t be able to survive. RFH Healthcare recently succeeded in securing funding from AfricInvest, a private capital company based in Tunisia. The group has a number of new facilities in the pipeline as it spreads its wings to the inner city of Nairobi. It is also in the process of starting a pharmaceutical distribution company as well as a medical training college. According to Okoth, RFH Healthcare is still open for private equity investment with a strategic partner, either local or foreign. This will help the group expand into the region. It is also interested in acquiring or merging with an existing player to create one large group that is well represented locally. Johan Burger is the business development manager at the College of Business and Economics of the UAE University, a research fellow at the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies in Singapore, and a research associate at the Institute for
Ugandan lawyer receives Dutch human rights prize
Ugandan human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo was awarded the 2021 Human Rights Tulip. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs awards the honor, which is accompanied by a cash prize of 100,000 euros to help the recipient continue or expand their work. Opiyo opposed a controversial anti-gay law that included a life sentence for homosexuality. According to the ministry, the human rights defender also played an important role in criminalizing torture in his country. His work often leads to him being accused of criminal violations with no evidence to back up the charges, and he is often closely monitored by security forces. “Human rights activists see the charges against Nicholas as a way to hinder his work as a human rights lawyer. Even in jail, he used his time to talk to prisoners who sought advice,” the ministry stated. “His work has made the LGBTI community in Uganda feel 42
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Futures Research at the University of Stellenbosch Business School in South Africa.
stronger, knowing that there are allies who support them,” said caretaker Foreign Minister Ben Knapen. Opiyo beat out two other finalists for the prize. Nunca Más is the name of a group of activists who defend human rights in Nicaragua. Together, they documented over 400 instances of serious human rights violations, the ministry said. The other finalist is Russian lawyer Mari Davtyan who stands up for the safety of women in Russia. Aside from representing women in challenging and complex domestic violence cases, she also heads the Consortium of Women’s NGOs. “The organisation gives courses on women’s rights to lawyers and the police and helps victims with their legal cases,” the ministry continued. Last year the Human Rights Tulip went to Lilit Martirosyan who fights for transgender people and sex workers in Armenia. “Since winning the Human Rights Tulip in 2020 I’ve felt stronger and more protected, knowing that the Dutch government is on my side and that I’m no longer on this journey alone,” she said in a press release from the ministry. Reporting by ANP and NL Times.
Liberia: VP Howard-Taylor addresses the Ruler of Ras Al Kaiman at UAE The Vice President of Liberia, Chief Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor, had the opportunity as a guest of the Ruler of Ras Al Kaiman of the United Arab Emirate to express her concern over the blame game on the spread of Covid pandemic. She was there as a Special Guest of Honor of the Global Citizens Forum. Dr. Howard-Taylor, being the only female of Government on the opening, had the opportunity to speak about Africa Post COVID and recovery plans to this global audience. During her deliberations, she spoke that Africa was not the originator of the pandemic, yet most African Nations continue to keep their doors open. She also said that the incident numbers have, thankfully, remained very low in many African countries against the projections of the Western countries. She was concerned that though this was so, the new variant had caused Western nations to begin to put African Nations on lockout while allowing their citizens to travel. She said this was unfair treatment.
Dangote, richest African man’s wealth surges to highest in seven years Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa closed last year at the richest level he has ever been since 2014 buoyed by the second straight year of gains at his cement unit. The rising share price of his Dangote Cement PLC and higher oil and fertilizer prices helped boost the 64-year-old Nigerian businessman’s wealth by as much as $2.3 billion last year to $20.1 billion as of December 3rd 2021, the richest he has been since 2014 according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The highest his wealth has touched on the index was $26.7 billion in June 2014. Robust cement demand and rising prices of the construction material in Africa’s biggest economy have helped boost revenue at Dangote Cement, the tycoon’s main asset. Dangote is also poised to complete a $19 billion refinery that has the capacity to more than meet Nigeria’s fuel demand, which is currently met by imports. Dangote, last year, also started exporting fertilizer to the United States of America and Brazil after the completion of a plant with a capacity to produce 3 million tons of urea and ammonia annually. Born into a wealthy Muslim family of traders in the north, Dangote incorporated his own business selling cement at 21. He shifted to manufacturing the building material in the 1990s, helped by government policies that encouraged ways to reduce the need for imports.
But Vice President Howard-Taylor was quick to point out that humans may have to learn to live with this virus and so must look at means for survival; such as putting funds together to purchase what was needed, partnering with Pharmaceutical companies to establish manufacturing plants on the Continent and rigorously following COVID protocols. The Vice President also had an opportunity during the twoday Summit to meet with the Ruler to speak about Liberia. The Ruler expressed his gratitude that Dr. Taylor accepted the invitation to attend the Summit and looked forward to working with her shortly.
Critics accuse him of taking advantage of his closeness to the government to gain unfair market advantage, a claim he has repeatedly dismissed. Nigeria’s state oil firm in June announced plans to acquire a 20% stake in the Dangote refinery. Despite the loss of his younger brother in 2021, Dangote remains positive as he looks forward to recording more business successes in 2022.
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Dutch royals apologise after Princess Amalia invites 21 guests to her 18th birthday in palace grounds came as hospitals struggled to find beds for a surge in COVID-19 patients and concerns about the new Omicron variant. Social-distancing restrictions were in place nationwide, including the early closing of restaurants and non-essential shops. Professional sporting events were closed to the public and households had been asked not to have more than four guests. ‘The family strived to treat the coronavirus rules responsibly with this outdoor gathering and by taking precautions’ Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a letter to lawmakers, in reference to the party. ‘Guests were asked to take a test. All were vaccinated. The assumption was that they would The King of The Netherlands, King Alexander and Queen Maxima keep an acceptable distance.’ But King Willem-Alexander ‘informed me that in hindsight, it Crown Princess Amalia held a party at the Huis Ten was not such a good idea. I think that’s a sensible reaction,’ Bosch palace in The Hague on December 7th 2021 when the Dutch government has just put in place a new lock Rutte wrote. down restrictions including social-distancing restrictions, According to De Telegraaf, the party was hosted in the including the early closing of some venues and shops. Huis Ten Bosch royal palace in The Hague - one of the With open criticism of the royal family, the Dutch Prime three official residents of the Dutch monarch. Minister Mark Rutte informed the parliament of the party. The newspaper reported that two open canopies were This is the latest in a string of scandals involving the Dutch placed against the house in the palace gardens, which were royal family during the pandemic that has led to a drop off used to protect guests against the rain. Sources told the newspaper that about 100 people attended, in their popularity In a new development, the Dutch royal family has although the Dutch government maintained 21 people apologised after Crown Princess Amalia invited 21 guests were invited, saying not everyone turned up. to her 18th birthday party, despite the government telling The Netherlands has extended the lock down and close citizens to restrict their gatherings to four in the face of primary schools early for the Christmas holidays as concern grows over the Omicron Covid-19 variant. The surging Covid-19 cases. The heir to the Dutch throne, who had cancelled indoor new rules would be reviewed again by 14th January 2022. festivities because of the pandemic, held a last-minute The party is the latest in a string of faux pas committed by the Dutch royal household during the pandemic that have gathering in the palace gardens. The eldest daughter of King Willem-Alexander had been dented its popularity. expected to quietly celebrate her birthday last month but it In October 2020, the royals were forced to cut short a holiday in Greece following an outcry when details were was revealed that it was larger than expected. Although no rules appear to have been broken, the event published and the Netherlands had just gone into a partial lockdown. The general population had been advised
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against going abroad. The Royal family also took delivery of a capital racing boat, De Telegraaf reported, which caused upset as the country was going through the struggles of the pandemic.
A photograph during last summer’s UEFA European Football Championship also saw the King - Willem-Alexander - greeting football fans in the street without a mask. The incidents have resulted in the country’s royals lose popularity, polls show. Amalia, the heir to the throne, made headlines in June when she gave up her right to a 1.6 million euros (£1.36 million) annual income. She celebrated her 18th birthday on December 7, and was elevated to the Dutch Council of State, the government’s highest advisory body, by virtue of reaching the age of majority. On the same day, The Netherlands reported 17,981 new Covid-19 cases, and 69 deaths. The country has seen a spike in cases in recent weeks, which appeared to peak in mid-November, averaging over 20,000 new infections per-day. Numbers have been going down in the run-up to Christmas, the country is in suspense as of what to expect in the New Year 2022. For now the lock down continues….
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President George Manneh Weah showcases customized slingshot luxury sport ride ahead of festive season
President George Weah testing out his
A
s the joyous celebration of the festive season by occupants of thousands of households in Liberia remain uncertain as a result of severe hardship and economic constraints, President George Manneh Weah continues to flagrantly showcase his wealth to his critics and others, bothering less of the aftermath of his action in a nation where bulk of its citizens live below less than US$1. In 1995, President Weah won the World Best Player of the year award. He came to the Liberian Presidency in 2018 after defeating his archrivals in the 2017 general and presidential elections after failure in its first attempt. Since then, the Liberian leader has been amassing wealth one after the other with some of his supporters and government officials pointing to his earnings during his footballing days as one of the main sources of his wealth. However, recently several photographs of President Weah showcasing a customized slingshot popped on the social media during the early mid-way of December 15, 2021. A slingshot is a three-wheeled sensation that reignites ones love for driving. It is classified as an Autocycle. The price of the slingshot is about US$26,000. But President Weah may have spent additionally to have it customized with his middle name “Manneh”. The Liberian Chief Executive was seen inspecting and taking a ride in the slingshot at his condominiums in Thinker’s Village, outside Monrovia. Reactions The photos of the President’s new slingshot went viral on the
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social media minutes after being posted. It has been greeted with mixed reactions, with scores of Liberians criticizing the decision taken by those around the presidency to allow those photos to be taken and posted on the social media during these difficult times. In some comments to react to the photos of President Weah and his new slingshot, Liberians reacted with sad or crying emojis to show their displeasure. Emmanuel Kumeh Wreh Farr: “He’s living the life he didn’t live when he was a football millionaire. Liberian people will learn the hard way”. Youjay Debah: “Liberians Christmas will be no fun fair as we can see from the cost of things and with the challenges of the Covid pandemic new car in the country good”. “He went broke, came back to become President and rescue himself from poverty. He became President Bang! New mansion; reason why he shamelessly refuse to publish his assets”, Drew Wallis noted. William Kollie stated: “Mr. President, there are certain lifestyle you deprived yourself of especially when the ordinary people are going to bed without a fitting meal. This advice is important for you because, it will be seen like you are putting yourself ahead of them particularly in this struggling economy”. “89 million from soccer he couldn’t live this kind of life style, but can live life to the fullest at the expense of the suffering
President Weah examines his new racing car masses. This too is Liberia, a country where nothing called accountability matters. State resources and taxpayers dollars
can be used any how”, Chrisco Baimba Massaley stated. “I see why the 4M cannot come outside since last month. Chey..”, Varlington Karpennoh states. On the other hand, few citizens believed that President Weah did nothing wrong for satisfying his pleasure during this festive season. Esiaka Sekou Jabateh: “His name on the tires, check there too. Who na like better thing? Ur allow the man to be great mehn..” Fannie Abasi writes: “Wow! This is so beautiful. Merry Christmas my black president. Ur Christmas gift is giving them heart attack. Congratulations on the gift again”. Report of the slingshot being gifted to President Weah by his son Timothy Tarpeh Weah is scanty as Deputy Presidential Press Secretary Smith Toby promised to provide the details upon hearing from the Liberian leader. Tim is an American professional soccer player who plays as
don’t have a bus; how will we buy a $30 million plane? Where do they get this kind of news from? It is not possible for us to buy a plane for $30 million; we are just coming to office”. He continued: “The airplane they are talking about is for my friend, who is the manager of a big company in Burkina Faso. He told me to use it anytime I want to travel because he has seen me use planes owned by Ivory Coast and others. He wants me use a plane that is not labeled to boost my moral, too”. Following the claims made by the President, investigation established the mystery wealthy Burkinabè businessman, who President Weah did not name, was one Mahamadou Bonkoungou, CEO of EBOMAF, a construction company in Burkina Faso. The government signed a US$420M agreement with the Burkinabe company for the construction, and supervision of road corridors in Monrovia (Somalia Drive-Kesselly Boulevard to Sinkor) and northeastern Liberia – Tappita-Zwedru Raod, including Toe Town to La Cote D’Ivoire and ZwedruGreenville. But since the agreement was ratified by the National Legislature, nothing has been substantively heard about the projects. President Weah came under strong criticism again as civil society actors, critics and others began to question the rationale behind his decision taken to accept a jet from his friend, barely few months before the EBOMAF deal appeared before the National Legislature. Though it remain unclear President George Weah pose for the media in his new whether or not George Manneh Weah purchased the plane collection despite critics on his spending from his ‘wealthy Burkinabe friend’ or not, he continues to use the jet to fly out of Liberia. a forward for French Ligue 1 club Lille and the United States Construction of duplexes national team. This is not the first time for President Weah Also barely a month after he was sworn into office, President to come in the public glare flaunting his wealth, or some of Weah commenced the construction of a multi-million-dollar his supporters or government officials releasing his multiple complex in the Baptist Seminary community, off the Robertsfield properties to the public. Highway. It comprises of 41 duplexes. He has been accused by his political opponents of amassing ill- The project, which has been completed, raised eyebrows with gotten wealth, but the presidency has denied it all. many Liberians still wondering how it was funded. Plane saga Though his supporters and some government officials justified Few weeks after his ascendancy to the presidency, the Liberian that the duplexes were constructed to accommodate struggling or leader was accused by his critics of using tax payers’ monies to less fortunate Liberian citizens with the President’s own money, purchase a private jet. there is no record to show that those duplexes have been occupied But the President at the time clarified that the jet was given to him by these people. by his ‘wealthy Burkinabe friend’ to boost his morale after he had Demolished US$150,000 residence for a palace won the elections. In early 2020, the President ordered the demolition of his President Weah said: “The airplane issue is causing problem. We US$150,000 9th Street beachside property for the construction Continued on Page 48 www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com
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Continued from Page 49 of a palace, while at the same time renovating the Jamaica Beach property and building the RIA Highway complex simultaneously. Deputy Presidential Press Secretary Smith Toby justified that the property was transferred and it’s now owned by the President’s son Timothy Weah who plays professional football abroad. “I think to convince you further, we’ll get the transfer documents transferring that property that was demolished – remember that building was demolished and remolded by the current head of the property, so we need now to give you further clarity on it by giving you those transfer documents because that property is no longer in the name of the President.” Less than 24 hours, Mr. Smith was compelled to backpedal over his previous comments following barrage of public outcries and insinuations suggesting that the Liberian leader was allegedly transferring his alleged illgotten wealth to his children and other family members. Toby stated: “If our information weren’t correct around that particular claim, now he’s [Pres. Weah] come back to tell us the information you put out isn’t correct, you need to correct the information and let the people know that, it’s my property, it has no attachment with my son. Toby further stressed: “I’m doing an erratum that the previous information on that
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property wasn’t the factual information; the fact of the matter currently confirmed by the President is that property belongs to him and not his son.” But sources closed to the presidency confided in the press that the clarification was made by Toby following a demand from First Lady Clar Weah after her son, Timothy, complained that his link to his father’s properties in Liberia could lead him into trouble with the United States government. Article 22 of the Constitution of Liberia forbids non-Liberians from acquiring real properties. It states: “Every person shall have the right to own property alone as well as in association with others; provided that only Liberian citizens shall have the right to own real property within the Republic.” There are reports that the 9th street palace worth about US$3M. President Weah also constructed the state-of-theart Forky Klon Jlaleh Family Fellowship church, along with a theatre, and recording studio. Declaration of assets President Weah is yet to openly declare his assets and have it published since he was sworn into office. Opposition politicians, civil society actors and others have pressurized him to openly declare his assets to promote accountability and transparency, but he has failed to do so. The Liberian leader has persistently justified that his assets remain his privacy and there is no law on the book that mandates him to do so. “I have kids and families to protect. So, I gave them access to all my banks, so they have to protect me. Information about my assets cannot be made public. For those government officials
who have not yet declared their assets, I have told them to do so because they have to abide by the law,” he told the BBC in February 2019. In his 2014 asset declaration forms filed with the National Elections Commission (NEC), President Weah declared his 9th Street property, worth US$150,000, the Rehab structure valued US$100,000. The Miami, Florida property – US$1.4 million while the other property in Florida was put at
US$900,000.00. He further declared at the time that he earned US$200,000 over a period of 12 months (July, 2013 to June 2014) from his real estate in the United States. In a 2016-17 child support case brought by Mannete A. Gono against Weah in the United States, Weah, then Senator of Montserrado County told the U.S. Court that he earned only US$1,090 as Senator. He, therefore, insisted that he could only afford US$160 as monthly child support fee. He added that he had two other minors born in 2000 and 2012. The only savings mentioned in that declaration was US$50,000 in Chase Bank in the U.S. The sticky issues There has been mounting public concerns over the sources of funding of the President’s projects and his properties. His critics and political opponents
have accused him of lavish spending and amassing wealth to the detriment of the citizenry. But his officials, particularly Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Weah, are on record for defending the President’s wealth. Citizens have raised multiple questions on why the Liberian leader claimed to have play for millions of United States dollars during his footballing days didn’t muster the courage to acquire decent properties, but had to wait to excel to the Liberian presidency before purchasing or taking steps to either build duplexes or demolish his previous properties owned in the past to construct better ones. Some believed that the consistent show of wealth, including “swags” by President Weah, who has been nicknamed “the swag killer” by many of his supporters for matching his wearing-is intended to mock his critics and the struggling masses. They feel that the move by the Liberian leader to only concentrate on his wellbeing and happiness shows that he is allegedly insensitive to their plights. Others believed that the Liberia leader owes no one apology for acquiring properties and showcasing in the public. The unrestrictive manner and form in which photographs of the President merrymaking or engaging into extra activities, including swimming in the ocean during his leisure take to the social media remains an issue of concern for many citizens.
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GHANA The white gaze: Ghana’s troubling skin bleaching habit
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n Ghana, skin whitening or lightening is as widespread as it is in parts of Africa due to unfettered access to various brands of bleaching creams, often blamed on the continent’s lax regulations. Beauty standards, often promoted by the media and advertising companies, have reinforced the bias that lighter skin tone is more desirable, forcing men and women of colour to bleach. “Here, light skin is equated with beauty and most of our women and even the men do it because they believe it’s prestigious,” Naa Dei, a resident of Chorkor-Chemuenaa, a coastal community in Ghana’s capital, told the press. Among certain Ghanaian ethnic groups - such as the Ga - skin whitening is seen by both sexes, including the old and young, as a symbol of beauty, attractiveness and self-esteem. Women from Dei’s neighborhood bleach more, especially during festive seasons like naming ceremonies and Christmas celebrations. “When our women give birth, they bleach to look more beautiful and be admired during the naming ceremony of their new born babies. It’s community thing,’’ she says, holding a cream she bought from a pharmacy to treat a skin rash but ended up altering her skin colour. What drives the decision to alter the skin varies for
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each individual. Men and women engaged in the act do so because of factors such as insecurities, family influences or the desire to move upward in their social circles. Newer forms of bleaching In many other African countries, the practice of skin bleaching is a lucrative business, raking in billions of dollars annually. Skinbleaching products are reported to contain ingredients that prevent the production of Melanin, the body chemical that darkens skin. One such ingredient is hydroquinone, a depigmenting agent used to lighten the skin. Even though the practice has been associated with a number of adverse health effects including skin cancer, kidney, liver or nerve damage, there appears to be no end in sight.
Pills and injectables containing bleaching ingredients like glutathione have now become the new frontiers for those seeking a lighter complexion. Such infusions, mostly patronized by the affluent cost a minimum of €175 apiece. In Ghana, the sale of glutathione injections are mostly done online with some marketers claiming it corrects uneven skin tone. “Now the fastest way to bleach is to do the intravenous which quickly changes their complexion because it goes directly through the veins and it is very dangerous,’’ warns Professor Edmund Delle, a dermatologist with Accra based Rabito Clinic. “What is sad is that the users don’t even know the chemical composition of what they are spending so much of their money to buy. These newer forms pose greater risks to health as they expose users to irreversible skin conditions, can damage the liver and lead to all manner of life-threatening diseases like cancer and even lead to deformation of unborn babies,’’ he explains. In October, Ghana’s regulatory Food and Drugs Authority warned citizens against the use of glutathione for skin bleaching. It follows a similar move in 2017, when it banned all creams containing hydroquinone due to its damage to the skin. This however, has not stopped importers from bringing the products
into the country by either using illegal routes of entry or concealing them from being seized by authorities. Despite regulatory bans and warnings, the use of skin bleaching products is still on the rise, often attributed to the country’s lax regulations and failure on the part of authorities to sanction those who break the law. Looking forward In Accra, many skin care advocates including female skin care specialist, Nikki Boa-Amponsem, are campaigning against skin bleaching. ‘Now everyone is bleaching and it is even the educated and wealthy ones who are deeply involvedeven more alarming is the fact that mothers are bleaching their newborns,’ says Boa-Amponsem who is deeply concerned about the rising trend. “I decided to educate people against the dangers associated with it because anything that affects the skin is something I am interested in,’’ she adds. Currently, there is no documented data in Ghana on how many of these skin bleaching products are imported into the country and those who are actively using them, making it difficult for researchers to know the extent of use. Even though several warnings and campaigns against skin whitening and its consequences have been publicly communicated, many believe that the quest for a lighter complexion will not stop as long as the act is seen as a pinnacle of beauty.
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Presidential election postponement favours Saif Gadhafi By The Nigerian Voice
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aif al-Islam Gadhafi, the second son of late leader Moammar Gadhafi and once heir has changed the face of politics in Libya since he announced his interest to contest and govern the nation again. The election, which should have taken place by December 24th, 2021 until the High National Election Commission (HNEC) objected, announced the postponement of the election indefinitely. Saif Gadhafi was among 25 other candidates who were disqualified, most of whom have now been readmitted into the crowded race for the presidency. HNEC’s Resolution 79 cited missing documents and noncompliance with the presidential election law of the country for overturning the earlier decision to disqualify him from participating. Gadhafi has been out of public view since 2017 till now but remains very popular and in demand by his people for the wonderful and kind works he did, supporting and helping to build the country which was nearly destroyed through violence masterminded from outside of the country after the death of his father.
of Zintan, which first captured him in November 2011 as he tried to flee the country after the fall of his father’s government a month earlier. The same group secured his trip across more than 700 kilometers (434 miles) to Sabha where he registered as a Presidential candidate in November 2021. Now that he is officially in the race despite the HNEC’s attempts to disqualify him, his close supporters are keeping a watchful eye over what might transpire. We gathered there that are still efforts from some forces to stop him from participating, particularly from outside of Libya but according to his supporters, they would fail because we are going to vote and not them. “We know many countries do not like him and afraid of him but he is not interested in the outside world but
Meanwhile, he has been active behind the scenes, meeting supporters and mediating tribal conflicts, particularly in southern Libya to ensure that the country returns to a fully democratic state that would allow development, reconstruction and restructuring to take place. A political observer in Libya who does not want his identity published says that Saif Gadhafi has “played a very successful role in reconciling two of Sabah’s biggest tribes in the past year”. He also kept in contact with his representative in Europe, Mohammed Abu Ajeila al-Ghadi, who went on to represent him in the UN-led dialogue that elected Libya’s Unity Government Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, whose government gained a vote of confidence on March 10. In a surprised move, Gadhafi gave his first interview in over a decade to The New York Times magazine in which he said my guards “are now my friends,” referring to the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Brigade, an armed group based in the western city 52
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Saif al-Islam Gadhafi Libyan Presidential Candidate Libya, his dear country that has been badly damaged by years of wars”, says Yusuf, a supporter of Saif Gadhafi. When asked whether Gadhafi stands a chance in winning the elections, Yusuf said, “ am 100% sure that Saif will win.” Libya has neither official nor professional opinion polls, but
Yusuf pointed to social media as an indicator. “All over Facebook, [Saif] is the favorite contestant” In the absence of any official polls, relying on social media becomes the obvious choice to get a read on the mood of the general public. Suleiman Hussein shares the same opinion, a social sciences professor at Tripoli University, who thinks Gadhafi is “popular and lucky at the same time.” His popularity was reflected in people taking to the streets in many Libyan towns in celebration when he first announced his candidacy. “The continued failure of all governments” that came to power since 2011 is “the most effective campaigner in support of Saif. This is what makes him lucky too,” he added. Gadhafi’s close advisers believe Libya’s future is at stake and their man is in the best position to return security and stability. They point to the fact that he has not been involved in any violence in the country since 2011, which, according to Yusuf, makes him “favored by the majority of Libyans.” Since the polls are suspended, it gives Saif room to build more bridges at reuniting the tribal chiefs are divided and still have conflicts among themselves. After the announcement, the following statement was
issued by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres: The Secretary-General takes note of the announcement on 22 December by the Libyan High National Elections Commission that a new date needs to be set by the House of Representatives for the first round of presidential elections. The Secretary-General commends the 2.8 million Libyans who have registered to vote. It is imperative that the will of the people is respected. Presidential and parliamentary elections must take place in Libya in the appropriate conditions to peacefully end the political transition and transfer power to democratically elected institutions. In this regard, the Secretary-General takes note of the Libyan High National Elections Commission’s recommendation to the House of Representatives and welcomes its continued commitment to the ongoing presidential and parliamentary electoral process. The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Libya, Stephanie Williams, and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya will continue to support a Libyanled and Libyan-owned process to address outstanding challenges and ensure the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as possible.
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Economy: UAE announces 4.5-day workweek, Saturday-Sunday weekend
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n key change, the UAE says new working week will be 4.5 days, with Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday forming the new weekend for government employees. The United Arab Emirates announced all government entities will adopt a new work-week schedule consisting of four-and-a-half days with Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday forming the new weekend. The move, announced by state news agency will come into effect on January 1, 2022, making the working week more in line with Western schedules. The UAE currently has a Friday-Saturday weekend, which corresponds with other countries in the region. The transition is “in line with the UAE’s vision to enhance its global competitiveness across economic and business sectors, and to keep pace with global developments”, the Abu Dhabi government media office said in a statement. “The UAE is the first nation in the world to introduce a national working week shorter than the global five-day week,” WAM said. “The extended weekend comes as part of the UAE government’s efforts to boost work-life balance and enhance social wellbeing, while increasing performance to advance the UAE’s economic competitiveness,” the WAM
report said. Under the new model, employees will have to complete an eight-hour workday from Monday to Thursday but are 54
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only expected to work only for 4.5 hours on Friday. Government employees will also be allowed to choose “flexible work or work-from-home options” on Fridays. Meanwhile, Friday sermons and prayers will be held at 1:15pm. In predominantly Muslim countries, Friday is usually considered the holiest day of the week. In some of the neighbouring countries, shops and vendors are prohibited from opening before Friday prayers end. While becoming the only Gulf country not to have a Friday-Saturday weekend, the resource-rich and ambitious UAE now comes into line with the non-Arab world. Local media reports said more details were expected to emerge in the following days. ‘Boost productivity’ Scott Livermore, chief economist at Oxford Economics Middle East, an advisory firm, said the weekend alignment with Europe and Asia “will help internationally orientated business that are an important pillar of the economy and could attract investment”. At the same time, “a shorter working week does present some challenges in terms of managing output costs, although there is some evidence that a shorter working week can boost productivity of the workforce”, he added. The shift likely will see the private industry and schools follow suit, as they did in 2006 when the week changed from Saturday to Wednesday – a workweek followed in some Muslim-majority countries, such as Iran and Afghanistan. The UAE has in the past year taken measures to make its economy more attractive to foreign investment and talent, including introducing longer-term visas. It has also revised laws regarding cohabitation before marriage, alcohol and personal status laws. The changed week was generally welcomed on social media, where the subject was trending and the official announcements were widely retweeted.
Refugee advocates: Emergency asylum shelters fail to meet standards
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he way in which refugees and asylum seekers are housed by the Netherlands in emergency reception locations is seriously lacking, according to VluchtelingenWerk, known in English as the Dutch Council for Refugees. In many places there is a lack of privacy, safety, and heating, and there is great concern about access to healthcare, education for children and repeated relocations in a short period of time. The conclusions are the result of a study into the living conditions of 5,000 asylum seekers at 21 emergency reception locations, the Council says. The conditions under which refugees stay in temporary shelters, such as sports halls, event halls, on boats, and in care centers, hotels, barracks and tents “are falling below the humanitarian lower limit,” the organization points out. “Many then end up in massive halls and tents where privacy does not exist and it is never quiet - even at night. The lack of sleep and living so close to strangers is very taxing mentally. This causes irritation and tension. In tents in particular, it is often too cold or too warm, and winter has yet to begin,” says the Council. The emergency placements are “particularly unsuitable” for children, according to the refugee organization. “The option to cook your own food is an important part of controlling your own life. But this is only possible in two locations. Parents are concerned about the eating habits of children who do not like the food, and therefore do not receive enough nutrition.” In a critical letter, the Council for Refugees makes an urgent appeal to Ankie Broekers-Knol, the State Secretary for Justice and Security. They want more suitable locations for the reception of refugees, and for provinces and municipalities to close the unsuitable emergency facilities as soon as possible. Their concerns were also echoed by the Dutch Red Cross, which has been assisting the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) for several months as they worked to place Afghans and other asylum seekers. The emergency aid organization “urgently” calls on parties involved in the reception to “break the current impasse”. “A solution must be found now,” said Marieke van Schaik, director of Red Cross Netherlands. “All parties point the finger at each other, and it is not possible to designate a number of large locations to realize humane sheltering. We would like to help, but then there must be clarity. Otherwise it will be a very cold Christmas for people who are without home and hearth.”
The COA currently offers shelter to approximately 35,000 people, partly at temporary locations. The demand for reception spots will only increase next year, COA said last week. In 2022, a total of 42,000 reception places will be needed. A major problem is the transfer of those granted refugee status to a permanent home, because of the large housing shortage in the Netherlands. Unlike the Dutch Council for Refugees, the Red Cross thinks municipalities and the Ministry of Defense should extend the use of current reception facilities in addition to focusing on new locations. That is the way to prevent “ending up in am emergency crisis situation where people are transferred every 72 hours,” Van Schalk says. The national government and the municipalities are responsible for ensuring stability and security for these people, she adds. Last October, the Red Cross issued a warning that reception
Emergency construction of new aslyum center
centers in the Netherlands are in danger of falling below a
“humane lower limit,” similar to what the Council for Refugees said on Wednesday. They noted that access to medical and mental care is under pressure and there are concerns about the continuity of care, especially if people are relocated. The Red Cross supports the COA at various locations with several projects, including the distribution of food and clothing, investigating missing relatives, and providing cots and camp beds. Reporting by ANP. www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com
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Mindbeautysphere
By Caroline Omondi
Caroline Omondi would be writing for us in the coming time on mental health. She started working with some women on her platform, which she initiated, that bring women from the African Diaspora in the Netherlands together to share, listen, laugh, and be there for one another. The experience she agrees to share with our readers in this special column. We are grateful to Caroline Omondi for this kind gesture and we wish her success with her writings. I pray you would enjoy her writings and if you have any questions, kindly email her directly at the email below or write to the Voice magazine via info@thevoicenewsmagazine.com She would like to read from you. Thank you.
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t all started in 2018. That was a time that I was approached by many ladies going through stuff in their lives, just as I was myself at the same time. And being here, I needed a community that is familiar, in terms of how I felt. So, in listening to these ladies, and being there for them, I learned more about
myself. I realized that maintaining and boosting one’s mental health is an ongoing challenge for many people, men, and women alike in modern societies, but that women living in the African Diaspora in Europe share a lot of similar problems that impact their mental well-being. There are many similarities: born in poverty, loss of a parent or family connections, betrayal, having to find your way in a society that you are not born and grown up in, re-defining who you are as a human being, as a woman, how to value and be valued for what you culturally and personally bring. None of these issues are easy to deal with, not by oneself, alone. In a way it all emerges from a place of pain, questioning, you know, like gasping for air. I have faced defeat, death, loss, you name it, but when I look back and go to sleep today, I will say thank you, because I had the chance to share my 56
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challenges, and feel empowered in the knowledge that I am not alone in facing these demons – and like many of my sisters, am grateful that I am still here, stronger, wiser and in many ways happier than before. Women were reaching out to me, in person, by phone, or in sending text messages. I started spontaneously as one sister talking to another, by listening and responding. At one time it felt I was carrying everyone’s secrets and emotional weight and that started weighing in on me. Back in my Kenyan days, I had a few courses in counseling and I always wanted to get deeper into counseling. What I realized is that instead of responding to each woman individually, we could all benefit from opening up, sharing our stories with each other, as a group. Like this, we hear different perspectives, and by sharing in the mix of sisterhood, trust, and mutual support – we can shift vulnerability into (self) empowerment. With my social enterprise, Fashion High Tea, fashion with a cause that I had started in 2017 and about which I was able to share in Voice Magazine in 2019, I had established already quite a social network of mostly African women in the Netherlands that knew about me and honored me with their trust and friendship. The shared concern of how to discuss among each other important matters of mental resilience and health let me branch off the MindBeautySphere initiative. Here, I organized meetings of (mostly) African women of the Diaspora living in the Netherlands, satisfying our need to booster our psychological well-being. I wanted these meetings to be easy, the conversation to come naturally, flowing from a willingness to share. At the first meeting that I organized in 2018 at a local hotel and conference center in Apeldoorn, 28 ladies attended, many more sessions followed. Not only does this indicate that there is a clear need for them, but I believe that key success elements that make these gatherings so wholesome and receive so much appreciation of the participating women are that they thrive on the power of sisterhood, which is deeply cultured. All women that take part in the meetings have a voice, encounter a safe space to speak, share experiences, and are heard. Doing so in
a benevolent group of sisters generates different perspectives on the issues discussed. Needless to add, that the meetings take several hours, and balance serious conversation with food, light drinks, music, dance, and lots of laughter. What many of these women face is not unique to Africans that have migrated but what is African is the signature way of addressing these issues communally, building on a unique cultural heritage and practices that are based on the collective strength of women, of sisterhood, that has such a strong base in African communities. It is this strength that proves so powerful and beneficial for African women living in Diaspora. When asked why me? What it is that makes me so passionate about the mental health and resilience of African women living in Diaspora, the answer is that life taught me, already at an early age that there is always more than just the person. Circumstances affect people’s sense of well-being, their mental health. I have encountered this in the lives of people close and dear to me, as well as in my personal life. I remember vividly that as a young girl I loved listening to Gospels, I still do. One gospel, I can still feel the rhythm, hear the words, but do not recall its name, made me pray to God to use me, to make me an instrument for the good of people, to help me break the power of what makes people suffer. I cannot make much of a difference to the various life events that hurt people, but I can try helping people deal mentally with hardship that they have encountered. Experience taught me that doing so communally, as a bond of sisters, does
make a meaningful difference to many. Standing at the dawn of 2022 my dream is to extend the signature approach that I developed in the MindBeautySphere
over the last years in the Netherlands, into more thematically varied seminars, workshops, and furthermore, to pilot groups in other European countries. Fostering mental health is a topic that will only increase in importance the next decade(s) to come since more and more people are living highly individualized lives and more and more so outside the familiar bonds of culture, family, and friends that they grew up in. To live wholesome and mentally healthy lives under such challenging conditions are feasible for all but presupposes conscious and regular maintenance and (self) care. I genuinely believe that mental health cannot be achieved by flying solo. Mental health, like happiness and love, requires one to be seen and to be appreciated by significant others. In essence, mental health is a community achievement. She could be reached or followed via @mindbeautysphere @fashionhightea E-mail: info@fashionhightea.eu
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Princess Amalia delivers confident debut speech to Raad van State
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confident Princess Amalia has addressed the Raad van State for the first time in her capacity as the official heir to the throne. The princess was sworn in to the government’s most senior advisory group one day after her 18th birthday on 7th December 2021 marking the moment she can succeed her father, King Willem-Alexander, as monarch. The princess was led into the ballroom of the Kneuterdijk palace in The Hague on the arm of her father, the Raad’s ceremonial chairman, and accompanied by her mother queen Máxima who is also a member. The king, Queen Máxima and now Princess Amalia do not have a vote but can attend meetings. Amalia is not expected to come to the weekly gatherings because she is currently on her gap year. The meeting opened with a speech by the king welcoming his daughter to the Raad. Addressing her father as ‘chairman, if I may call you this’, the princess said she hoped the moment when she would take over as chair would be ‘a long way into the future, although I realise it could be as soon as tomorrow’. She went on to say she would endeavour to be ‘a good student’. 58
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‘I have much to learn, about the tasks of the government, about the administrative processes,’ she said. Vice-chair and de facto leader of the Raad van State, Thom de Graaf, who has been known to support a purely ceremonial role for the head of state, and applauded the abolition in 2012 of royal involvement in the formation process, remarked on the changing nature of royalty. ‘This is the former residence of Willem II. It is now the seat of the Raad van State. This ballroom is where its members meet. That is how it goes,’ he said. De Graaf said he hoped princess Amalia would have the opportunity to explore ‘other worlds’ like any 18-year-olds and would only take her place as chairwoman after ‘a very long time’. The ceremony was concluded in the French garden of the Kneuterdijk palace, where the princess planted a royal lime tree. Amalia (l) with Queen Maxima, King Willem-Alexander and Raad van State chair Thom de Graaf. Photo: ANP/HH/ Robin Utrecht
A birthday princess! Future Dutch queen Amalia at 18
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he is regal in red in official portraits taken at The Hague’s Huis ten Bosch Palace to mark her 18th birthday. The Dutch royal family has released stunning photos of Princess Amalia, the heir to the throne, to mark her 18th birthday. Amalia, the eldest daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, was photographed in two beautiful dresses at Huis ten Bosch Palace, in The Hague, this autumn. The milestone birthday is significant within the Dutch royal family because it marks the princess taking on a more public role. A biography has already been released to introduce the future queen to her public, and she will now be given a seat on The Council of State, an advisory body that advises on legislation and dispenses administrative justice. King Willem-Alexander has a seat on the council, although he does not take part in any of its activities. Queen Maxima also has a seat and acts in an advisory role. It comes after teenage Amalia said she would ask her Argentine-born mother, Queen Maxima, 50, to step in temporarily if her father, King Willem-Alexander, 54, were to die suddenly, in a new biography marking her birthday
The biography, simply titled ‘Amalia’, was written with the approval of the Royal Family. It offers a rare glimpse into the princess’s private life, which has been closely guarded by her parents since Willem-Alexander ascended the throne in 2013. Biographer Claudia de Breij reveals Amalia had a part-time job at a beachside cafe, feels self-conscious when she is recognised by members of the public and would pursue a career as a singer or equestrian if she was not
destined to be queen. Along with her sisters Princess Alexia, 16, and Princess Ariane, 14, Catharina-Amalia spent the early years of her life at Eikenhorst Villa in Wassenaar, an affluent suburb of The Hague. ‘We do our best to be really with them – on holidays or weekends or even at breakfast in the mornings,’ WillemAlexander once said in an interview. The family enjoyed days out cycling and to the beach, and holidays to Maxima’s home country of Argentina. However life changed in 2013 when Amalia’s grandmother Queen Beatrix abdicated and Willem-Alexander ascended the throne. The new king and queen moved their daughters into Huis ten Bosch, the royal palace in The Hague. Nine-year-old Amalia became The Princess of Orange, the title given to the heir to the throne. Speaking ahead of his investiture, Willem-Alexander said: ‘Amalia’s title will be made formal when she’s 18 and she enters the State Council. Until then, we will protect her as much as possible. ‘That means she won’t participate in official engagements, or as little as possible. Her environment right now should only include her parents, her sisters, and her friends.’ Now that time is less than a month away and the biography has been released as a way to introduce the princess to her future subjects. It reveals Amalia, who excelled as a student at Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet, in The Hague, juggled her studies with a part-time job as a waitress at a beachside cafe where she was given the nickname ‘cocktail queen’. She now hopes to spend a year working at a ‘multinational organisation’ before potentially pursuing a degree at the prestigious Leiden University. Amalia also said she feels self-conscious when she is recognised while out in public, adding: ‘Everyone looks at you like you have a goldfish on your head.’ While the House of Orange remains popular with the majority of Dutch people, the monarchy has come under increasing criticism in recent years. Of the possibility republicans could abolish it, Amalia said she could accept that. ‘They can do that of course, and then I’ll go on living too.’
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Tax office fined €2.7m for discriminating against dual national families
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he Dutch tax service has been fined €2.7 million by the privacy watchdog for discriminating against dual national families who were targeted in the childcare benefit scandal. The data protection authority AP said tax inspectors should not have kept records of people’s second nationality or used them in deciding whether to investigate families for benefit fraud. AP chairman Aleid Wolfsen said citizens needed to be sure that the government was not collecting more personal information than was legally necessary and that discrimination was not a factor in its decision making. ‘That went badly wrong with Toeslagen [the department handling allowances], with all the consequences that ensued,’ he said. ‘Obviously this fine cannot turn back all that, but it is an important step in a wider recovery process.’ Junior finance minister Alexandra van Huffelen said the fine was ‘very painful’ and the government would endeavour to pay it before the end of the year. ‘The AVG [privacy law] and the ban on discrimination should be respected,’ she said. ‘The rules should be applied equally in every case. I offer my sincere apologies once again.’ Cabinet resigned due to the childcare benefit scandal which prompted the resignation of Mark Rutte’s cabinet in January, two months before the general election, after a report by a parliamentary commission concluded the victims had been subjected to an ‘unprecedented injustice’.
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Between 2004 and 2019 thousands of families had their benefits stopped and were ordered to repay what they had
received, sometimes because of technical transgressions such as failing to sign a form. Some people were forced to sell their homes and possessions after they were denied access to debt restructuring. Some 15,000 people have received a €30,000 compensation payout promised in the wake of the commission report, but thousands more are still waiting for their cases to be assessed. The AP last month also criticised the Netherlands’ highest administrative court, the Council of State, for failing to notice that people with dual nationality were
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol might have to reduce considerably the number of flights for environmental reasons
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t may be necessary to take drastic measures to secure the future of Schiphol. Legal advisers to the government advise draconian measures because the airport does not comply with regulations on nitrogen and in the field of noise and nuisance, sources tell the Dutch State television NOS. The airport also does not have a nature permit. A nature permit is being worked on, but that is legally very complex. There is a chance that the number of flights per year will have to be reduced. Without drastic measures, according to lawyers, a licence could be issued for a maximum of 400,000 flight movements per year, a decrease of 20 percent. In order to keep the current annual number, for example, according to the lawyers, it is necessary to buy up farms in the wider area. The speed limit on nearby highways should also be reduced to 80 kilometres per hour and polluting companies in the area must be tackled more strictly. And even then, it remains to be seen whether the nature permit
required by Schiphol will stand up to the courts. In the past, Schiphol had to ensure that nature is not damaged, but that has been arranged for years via the so-called Habitats and Birds Directive. For a long time, the airport thought that this was sufficient and that a separate nature permit was not necessary. In 2019, the cabinet said that Schiphol must apply for that nature permit. During the nitrogen crisis, it turned out that Schiphol’s nitrogen emissions have an effect on nature. The airport must also comply with all kinds of environmental, stench and noise standards in order to protect local residents in particular. Nature organisations have threatened to take legal action if there is no legally sound nature permit. The government fears a forced downsizing of Schiphol because the airport is seen as an important engine for the economy. Furthermore, many foreign travellers use Schiphol to transfer. The Council of Ministers will consider the Schiphol file on Friday, but there is no chance that it will find a solution to the complex legal problem on the same day. The case is likely to drag on for years. By André Orban
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Abuses Under Gambia’s Ex-Ruler Should Be Prosecuted, Inquiry Says A commission’s long-awaited investigation reported responsible for the abuses, the information minister, Ebrima widespread human rights violations, but it is not Sillah, said by phone: “I cannot commit to that,” saying it would depend on the merits of the report. clear if anyone will be charged with crimes. Documenting wide ranging atrocities under the autocratic former president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, an investigative panel has recommended multiple prosecutions. But the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission did not make public either its report or the names of people it had recommended for prosecution, leaving it unclear whether Mr. Jammeh, who governed for 22 years before going into selfexile almost five years ago, is among those who could face criminal charges. In Gambia, a tiny sliver of a country on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, Mr. Jammeh’s fall from power in 2017 was greeted with jubilation. But that mood has largely given way to disappointment with the government Because Mr. Jammeh and members of his regime have not been held to account for the misrule experienced in the country for over two decades. “We expect the president to show some commitment, and have the political will to fully implement the recommendations,” said Sheriff Kijera, chairman of the
Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations. “Jammeh should face justice at all costs.” When asked if the government would prosecute those most 62
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The commission reported the deaths of 240 to 250 people in the custody of the state or its agents, as well as rape, torture,
disappearances and witch hunts, its chairman, Lamin Sise, said in a press briefing outlining the findings in Banjul, the Gambian capital. The panel held 871 days of hearings, streaming them live online in an unusually public airing of human rights abuses. Among the 393 witnesses who testified was a soldier who said he killed a prominent journalist on the president’s order, and a woman, Fatou Jallow, who accused Mr. Jammeh of raping her. The commission delivered its report to President Barrow, who is supposed to give copies within a month to the country’s National Assembly and to the United Nations secretary general. That means it is not likely to become public until after his second term swearing in as he, President Barrow won the Dec. 4 presidential election. Mr. Sillah, the information minister, said the president would have six months to review the report, after which the
government would publish a document giving its response. Mr. Jammeh first took power at age 29 in a military coup, and pushed through a new constitution concentrating power in the president’s hands. His rule was marked by corruption and the suppression of political opposition, the press and L.G.B.T. rights. He claimed to cure H.I.V. with herbs. But the government held a relatively free election in 2016, and Mr. Barrow defeated Mr. Jammeh, who refused to accept the results. Only after a military intervention by several neighboring countries in January 2017 did Mr. Jammeh
relinquish power, moving to Equatorial Guinea. Mr. Barrow’s administration was supposed to be a transitional one, setting Gambia on the road to democracy. But the recommendations of a Commission of Inquiry into Mr. Jammeh’s finances were only partially implemented, and last year a newly proposed, more democratic constitution was defeated in the National Assembly. The proposed constitution would have curbed executive powers and limited a president to two five-year terms. The term limit would have applied retroactively to Mr. Barrow, so he would have been permitted just one more term. That left the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission as the only official path left for coming to terms with the Jammeh era. Its final report was originally scheduled to be delivered in July, but was delayed until September and then delayed again. “We have the truth,” said Baba Hydara, who has long campaigned for justice for the 2004 assassination of his father, the newspaper editor Deyda Hydara. “Now we need justice. Justice for my father, justice for all of Jammeh’s victims, and justice for Gambian society as a whole.” By Saikou Jammeh reported from Banjul, Gambia, and Ruth Maclean from Dakar, Senegal.
Soccer legend Samuel Eto’o elected President of Cameroon FA Samuel Eto’o has been elected president of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) after winning a vote in an election conducted by the football federation in the country. The former Cameroon international promised an array of reforms after receiving 43 votes from members of FECAFOOT’s general assembly. Eto’o enjoyed a glittering club career, playing for the likes of Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea, while also making over 50 appearances for the Cameroon national side. At his peak, Eto’o was considered one of the best strikers in the world and he inspired his country to win two African Cup of Nations titles and an Olympic gold medal.
“I’ll be remembering today as one of the proudest moments of my life,” Eto’o tweeted after the results were announced. “Every vote represents the energy and ambition of our football family to take our beloved sport to a level we’ve never seen before.” He will now be in charge of the federation for when Cameroon hosts the African Cup of Nations this year, with games set to begin on January 9th 2022. The four-time African Footballer of the Year beat rival Seidou Mbombo Njoya in the voting. In a press statement received before press, Samuel Eto’o reportedly sent home a number of the Federation’s workers for reporting late for work on his resumption. The new Cameroonian FA president arrived at 7:30am and staff who came after 8am were sent back home. A signal that it would not be business as usual again in the football headquarters in Cameroon.
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The end of South Africa’s state of disaster and lockdown restrictions is coming
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resident Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet has approved the extension of South Africa’s national state of disaster into 2022, but the government is now looking at ways to move away from the controversial system for good. Answering in a written parliamentary Q&A last month, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the government was in the process of developing sustainable regulatory measures needed for the control of Covid-19 beyond the national state of disaster in terms of existing legislation. “Notable is that relevant sector departments have been requested to accelerate the phasingin of Covid-19 resilience measures using their respective existing legislative frameworks,” she said. “The details of progress made in terms of finalising specific sector regulatory measures is not available and can best be provided by the Cabinet Members responsible for the particular areas of work.” Dlamini-Zuma said that a specific date by which the national state of disaster is to be lifted cannot be provided at this stage. “But it is important to reiterate that all lockdown restrictions will
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contingency arrangements through the disaster management regulations is no longer required to assist and protect the public, provide relief to the public, protecting property, preventing or combating disruption or dealing with the destructive and other effects of the disaster.” Latest extension In a media briefing, the minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele said that the state of disaster will be extended until 15 January. Dlamini-Zuma formally gazettes the extension in the last month of last year. This makes it the 22nd month under the state of disaster since it was declared at the end of March 2020, and the 19th extension of the regulations after their first end date of June 2020. While the national state of disaster was initially set to lapse on 15 June 2020, the act provides that it can be extended by the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister by notice in the gazette for one month at a time before it lapses. The government has relied on the regulations to introduce and give effect to lockdown restrictions, which it has used to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it has also faced criticism for giving national government wide-ranging powers over the lives of citizens, with few limits and little to no oversight from parliament. The latest extension means that South Africa will be nearing 30 months of restrictions.
Aung San Suu Kyi: Myanmar court sentences ousted leader to four years jail
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special court in Myanmar’s capital sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison on charges of inciting dissent and breaking Covid rules. Suu Kyi was been placed under house arrest and charged with a number of offences after she was ousted by a military coup in February. A court in Myanmar has sentenced the country’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to four years in prison after finding her guilty of incitement and violating coronavirus restrictions, a legal official said. The ruling is the first in a series of cases brought against the 76-year-old Nobel laureate since the army seized power on February 1, blocking her National League for Democracy party from starting a second term in office. The legal official, who insisted on anonymity for fear of being punished by the authorities, said Suu Kyi received two years in prison on each of the two charges. The incitement case involved statements posted on her party’s Facebook page after she and other party leaders had already been detained by the military, while the coronavirus charge involved a campaign appearance ahead of elections in November last year which her party overwhelmingly won. The army, whose allied party lost many seats, claimed massive voting fraud, but independent election observers did not detect any major irregularities. Suu Kyi’s trials are closed to the media and spectators, and her lawyers, who had been the sole source of information on the proceedings, were served with gag orders in October forbidding them from releasing information. The cases against Suu Kyi are widely seen as contrived to discredit her and keep her from running in the next election. The constitution bars anyone sent to prison after being convicted of a crime from holding high office or becoming a politician. Opposition to military rule remains strong 10 months after the army’s takeover, and the verdict may inflame tensions even further. There were protest marches on Sunday against the military government and calling for the release of Suu Kyi and other detained members of her government. An army truck deliberately sped into a march by about 30 young people in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, and at least three of the protesters may have been killed, according to unconfirmed reports. The verdicts in Suu Kyi’s first two cases, on incitement for allegedly spreading false or inflammatory information that could disturb public order — and violating the Natural Disaster Management Law for allegedly breaching coronavirus restrictions,
were supposed to be delivered last Tuesday. However, the court postponed its ruling with no explanation. At the same time, it agreed to allow testimony this week on a separate coronavirus charge from an additional defence witness who had previously been unable to attend court because of ill health. Suu Kyi’s lawyers sought vigorously to have the incitement charge dismissed. The prosecution’s evidence consisted of statements posted on a Facebook page of Suu Kyi’s party. Defence lawyers argued that Suu Kyi and a co-defendant, former President Win Myint, could not be held responsible for the statements — which criticised the takeover and suggested in broad terms that it be resisted — because they were already in detention. The former mayor of Naypyitaw, Myo Aung, was another defendant in the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a fine. Win Myint was sentenced to a total of four years and Myo Aung to two years. February’s seizure of power was met by nationwide nonviolent demonstrations, which security forces quashed with deadly force. They have killed about 1,300 civilians, according to a detailed tally compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. With severe restrictions on nonviolent protest, armed resistance has grown in the cities and countryside, to the point that UN experts have warned the country is sliding into civil war. The military took Suu Kyi into custody on the day of its takeover, and she has not been seen in public since then, though she has appeared in court in several of her trials. Judgment on Suu Kyi’s second count of violating coronavirus restrictions is scheduled for December 14. The maximum penalty for each count is three years’ imprisonment and a fine. Other cases against Suu Kyi now being tried cover the alleged unregistered import and use of walkie-talkies by her security guards, and four separate corruption charges covering the alleged acceptance of a bribe and abuse of office to obtain favourable terms on property transactions. Each of the corruption charges has a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine. A trial on a fifth corruption charge has not yet started, and state media last week announced a sixth charge has also been filed against Suu Kyi. The latest charge accuses her and Win Myint of corruption in granting permits to rent and buy a helicopter. In mid-November, the military-appointed election commission announced it intended to prosecute Suu Kyi and 15 other senior political figures for alleged fraud in the last election, which could result in her party being dissolved. The military has declared it seized power because of widespread election fraud, a claim that independent election observers say lacks evidence. By Grant Peck, Associated Press www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com
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‘Magic Jay-Jay’- Another ex-Brazil star praises Okocha after Ozil called him his idol
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he ex-Nigerian captain continues to receive plaudits from current and former players for his magic on the ball during his playing days Former Brazil midfielder Alex de Souza is the latest Brazilian to speak of the greatness of former Super Eagles captain Austin Jay-Jay Okocha. Okocha was known for his trickery, stopovers, dribbling skills and set piece quality on the ball during his playing career. The 48-year-old played for many clubs during his career, including Fenerbahce and Eintracht Frankfurt, who faced off in the Europa League last month. And ahead of the clash, the ex-Bolton Wanderers man was honoured by Fenerbahce, with Mesut Ozil presenting him with the number 10 jersey. Okocha was one of Ozil’s idols growing up, and the former German international took to his Twitter handle to share his excitement after meeting the former PSG star. Fenerbahce also shared the picture on their Twitter feed, and reacting to the tweet, Aled de Souza, who also played for Fenerbahce, called the ex-Super Eagles captain a magician on football. De Souza is not the first Brazilian to speak in awe of Jay-
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Jay. Brazilian legend Ronaldinho also revealed the ex-Hull City man is one of the two number tens he admired most in the world of football. He was recently spotting a photo shot with the President of Niger Republic. Jay-Jay Okocha was also named among the ambassadorial assistance to the Super Eagles of Nigeria
suffered severe brain damage. In 2018, Ajax Amsterdam admitted responsibility for not dealing with him correctly immediately on the pitch, but so far there had been no agreement on damages. Last January, the family threatened to take the case to court. From now on, this compensation should cover the cost of Nouri’s care, the loss of his potential income and non-material damages, but the amount of the agreement will remain confidential, reports the Dutch press. Nouri, who still suffers from serious and irremediable brain damage, collapsed on July 8, 2017 during
Abdelhak Nouri’s family and Ajax Amsterdam finally reach compensation agreement
Abdelhak Nouri’s family reached a compensation deal with Ajax Amsterdam, four years after the young talent collapsed on the pitch. In July 2017, Abdelhak Nouri, then 20 years old, suffered a heart attack during a match in Austria and
a friendly match between his club, Ajax Amsterdam against Werder Bremen in Austria. The man nicknamed “Appie” suffered from heart disease. His collapse shocked his family, friends, teammates and club, prompting international footballers to show solidarity with the young player and his family. Several months into his hospital stay, Ajax fans gathered outside the Nouri family’s home, showing support and sympathy for the player’s family and displaying signs bearing the slogan #StayStrongAppie. Back home in the summer of 2019, “Appie” seems to be getting better and better and would have even woken up after more than 2 years in a coma. The footballer was one of the most talented young players in the Netherlands. He started his career in 2005 at the age of 7 and played for the Dutch under-15, 16, 17, 18 and 19-year-old teams.
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Africa Cup of Nations: Tournament is being ‘disrespected’, says former England striker Ian Wright The Africa Cup of Nations is being “disrespected” by some negative media coverage, says former England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright. The 24-team competition begins on 9th January and will feature a host of Premier League and European stars. Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira is among those who have called for more respect to be given and shown to the competition, the tournament deserves more respect he says. “Is there ever a tournament more disrespected than the Africa Cup of Nations?” Wright said on Instagram. On the media coverage around Afcon he claimed: “There is no greater honour than representing your country. The coverage is completely tinged with racism. “We played our Euros across 10 countries in the middle of a pandemic and there’s no issue at all. But Cameroon, a single country hosting a tournament, is a problem. “There are players getting
asked if they will be honouring the call-ups to their national teams. Imagine if that was an England player representing the country being asked such ridiculous question. Can you imagine the furore?” Former Newcastle, Tottenham and Norwich defender Sebastien Bassong, who won 18 caps for Cameroon, says he recognises the double standard. “People don’t really give any respect to the Africa Cup of Nations,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “At the end of the day, our national teams are just as important as the European ones and the others. “When I was in a dressing room and every time I was going to a competition or on an international break, the respect and consideration was totally different from the club and the people from the club about the way we’re
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travelling, or when we should come back, or could we miss the international break?” Ajax’s Ivory Coast striker Sebastien Haller said the
suggestion of if a player would want to miss the tournament to play for their club “shows disrespect for Africa”. He told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf: “Would this [question] ever have been asked to a European player towards a European Championship? “Of course I will go to represent Ivory Coast. That is the highest honour.” However, the 27-year-old said having to miss club games “is very frustrating”. Haller added: “I hate having to choose between my country and my club.” Although several Premier League clubs will be without key players in January - including Crystal Palace who are set to lose Cheikhou Kouyate, Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew – Crystal Palace boss Vieira echoed Haller’s sentiments. “I respect and understand the passion and the importance to players to go and represent their country so I will never stop any player going to play the Africa Cup of Nations,” said Vieira, a World Cup and European Championship winner as a player with France. “I believe that competition needs to be more respected because this competition is as important as the European Championships.” Title hopefuls Liverpool face significant absences, with the Premier League’s leading scorer Mohamed Salah, fellow forward Sadio Mane and midfielder Naby Keita set to take part in the African tournament. Leaders Manchester City will lose Riyad Mahrez, while second-placed Chelsea will be without goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and West Ham’s Said Benrahma will be with Algeria. Leeds United, Newcastle United, Norwich City and
Tottenham are the only Premier League clubs not losing any players for the tournament. Players are allowed to play for their clubs until 3 January before leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations after FIFA rules stating clubs must release players by 27 December was changed “in the spirit of goodwill and solidarity”. “Loads of the best players in Europe right now are African,” said Wright. “If we love them at club level why can’t we love them at international level like their counterparts across the globe? Why is this tournament constantly getting so much flak? “I have got to give a shout out to the players like Sebastien Haller who are taking a stand against the media backlash, plus Patrick Vieira for coming out and speaking about this. “This is why it is important to have a black manager who can let people understand where his roots are and how
Africa Cup of Nations to go ahead as planned in Cameroon this month African football Chief, Patrice Motsepe confirmed that the Africa Cup of Nations will go ahead as planned in Cameroon this month dispelling rumours that the already delayed continental showpiece could fall victim to the Covid-19 pandemic. “I am going to watch on the 9th of January, Cameroon vs Burkina Faso,” Motsepe said, referring to the opening match of the 2022 tournament. The president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) flew to the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé amid concerns over the country’s readiness to host the tournament. These included worries over a lack of organisation, incomplete building work and the threat of coronavirus outbreaks among the large number of players and staff set to descend on the under-resourced country in the next few weeks. Last month, the European Club Association (EAC) threatened to block players from participating in the tournament due to a lack of information about
important this tournament is for African people. “I want to wish Cameroon every success in hosting this tournament and all the very best to the players and the fans.” health protocols. The CAF later said that it would be importing its own laboratory, bypassing local healthcare facilities, to test players during the tournament. Fans will also be required to show proof of vaccination and present a negative Covid-19 test result to attend matches, officials announced. The CAF President said the fast-spreading Omicron variant posed “an enormous challenge” for the organisers but added, “we must always identify problems and challenges, and not shy away from them. “We have to have confidence and belief in ourselves as Africans. And we have to have confidence and belief that we can host a very successful Nations Cup in Cameroon.” Motsepe gave the green light for the event to go ahead after talks with Cameroonian President Paul Biya. Cameroon was originally awarded the hosting of the 2019 finals but the tournament was switched to Egypt when CAF found the West African country was not ready. Cameroon was then handed the 2021 tournament, which has since been delayed by 12 months due to the pandemic.
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