Posted on

AMERICA COMMENDS REFORMS AND ANTI-CORRUPTION FIGHT: BUT

ANGOLA: UNITED STATES/ANGOP/21/2/19 SABANews 1

LUANDA – UNITED STATES President DONALD TRUMP has commended ANGOLAN Head of State JOÃO LOURENÇO for his reforms and the fight against corruption in the SADC country.

US President Donald Trump (Pic. EuroNews)

The AMERICAN Presidential Special Assistant and Senior Director for AFRICAN Affairs in the National Security Council has delivered the WHITE House communication.

CYRIL SARTOR conveyed the approval message during a meeting with the ANGOLAN Head of State in the capital, LUANDA.

He says his delegation has come with the spirit of friendship and they recognise the great steps President LOURENCO and the new leadership of ANGOLA have made so far.

Mr SARTO has addressed the media at the Presidential Palace, saying the government efforts show determination to transform the country and fight against corruption and open it to global trade.

Presidential Palace in Luanda (Pic. Angop)

He says ANGOLA is a key country in the new AMERICAN Foreign Policy Strategy for AFRICA and he hopes to strengthen the ties in economic sectors and improve governance.

The UNITED STATES official also says relations between the TWO countries have a strategic focus, which covers what he describes as other issues apart from oil.

The AMERICAN Presidential Special Assistant says he has dealt with regional and international issues with President JOÃO LOURENÇO.

Cyril Sarto (Pic. Angop)

CYRIL SARTOR, described as a master in AFRICAN history with more than 30 years’ experience, was Deputy Director of the Mission of the AMERICAN Intelligence Agency, CIA, in AFRICA.

While the commendation by the UNITED STATES President may be welcome in ANGOLA, critics view the move as a way to ambush the SADC country and swindle it out for its oil and other resources.

The anxiety comes amid accusations against AMERICA, which now fully has its sights on AFRICAN nations, of trying to control the world oil reserves peacefully or violenty.

White House stands accused of training and arming rebel groups in IRAQ, LIBYA, SYRIA, and, of late, VENEZUELA, under the pretext of bringing democracy, the rule of law and human rights to the target nations.

A large AMERICAN military deployment from 2003 to 2011 in IRAQ overthrew the rule of SADDAM HUSSEIN and killed the Head of State after accusing him falsely of having weapons of mass destruction.

The Shorja market in central Baghdad, bustling in early April, was targeted in US attacks in 2007 (Pic. Agencies)

This time, witnesses say IRAQ has begun to slip into anarchy when it used to be a much happier and safer place to live.

The same situation obtains in LIBYA, where there used to be no electricity bill; no interest on loans; with a home seen as a human right; and all newlyweds receiving more than 34-THOUSAND BRITISH pounds to buy their FIRST apartment.

Even education and health care were free; would-be farmers got land, a house, equipment, seeds, and livestock to kick start their farms – all for free; new car owners bought them for HALF the cost, with the government subsidising 50 percent of the price.

The price of petrol in LIBYA was 12 US cents and the country had no external debt, with reserves amounting to some 134-BILLION-246-MILLION-595-THOUSAND US dollars – all of which is now frozen worldwide by AMERICA.

Armed groups roam the streets of Libya day and night nowadays (Pic. Agencies)

Records show the murdered President MUAMMAR GADDAFI constructed the largest irrigation scheme in the world – the Great Manmade River Project, to water the whole desert country.

Just FOUR years, in 2015, after the so-called ARAB Spring protests that became an armed rebellion and killed GADDAFI, LIBYA was torn between TWO governments and scores of militia groups; and things are getting worse.

The so-called SYRIAN Civil War began in 2011 when the UNITED STATES gave rebels of the FREE SYRIAN Army help like food and pickup trucks, before quickly providing training, money, and intelligence to selected rebel commanders.

Research shows there were TWO AMERICAN attempts to assist SYRIAN dissidents: the 2014 PENTAGON scheme to train and equip 15-THOUSAND rebels, which was cancelled a year later after spending 500-MILLION US dollars and producing only a few dozen fighters.

When ‘The World’ interferes in your affairs, this is what happens – This is Syria burning (Pic. The Atlantic)

The CIA also ran a more successful simultaneous covert program of ONE-BILLION US dollars that suffered demolition by RUSSIAN bombing, before the TRUMP Administration cancelled it in mid-2017: and AMERICA is pulling out of SYRIA.

Current media reports say CUBA has denied having troops in VENEZUELA as alleged by the UNITED STATES; which has since openly indicated it wants to impose a puppet regime in the country, even militarily, and is calling on President NICOLAS MADURO to give way.

The reports say President DONALD TRUMP and his officials accuse CUBA of controlling VENEZUELAN security forces and having troops on the ground.

CUBAN Foreign Minister BRUNO RODRIGUEZ has denied the charges and described them as a slander; saying all of the 20-THOUSAND CUBANS in VENEZUELA are mostly civilian health professionals.

He says there is a big political and propaganda campaign going on, which is what AMERICA always does ahead of military action against governments that defy its orders.

The TRUMP Administration is trying to force VENEZUELAN President MADURO to step down and hand over power to the Head of the National Assembly, JUAN GUAIDO; but critics say AMERICA cares not for the domestic politics except for oil.

ANGOLA is the SECOND largest oil producing country in Sub-SAHARAN AFRICA and an OPEC member, with output of about ONE-POINT-55-MILLION barrels of oil per day and about 18-MILLION cubic feet of natural gas production.

CYRIL SARTOR says the UNITED STATES will include ANGOLA among AFRICAN countries like NIGERIA and KENYA to benefit from financing and technical support to boost their economic activities.

However, there is wide speculation that the AMERICAN Government is systematically selecting THIRD WORLD countries to exploit for oil through a variety of means like financial aid or military intervention./Sabanews/cam

Posted on

STATE APPROVES ACCESSION TO ANTI-MARINE POLLUTION PROTOCOLS

NAMIBIA: WATER/NBC/21/2/19 SABANews 1

WINDHOEK – The Government of NAMIBIA has agreed to have the country joining TWO major international protocols against marine pollution from ships.

Information and Communication Technology Minister STANLEY SIMATAA has revealed the information in the capital, WINDHOEK.

He says the Cabinet has approved national accession to the Annexures FOUR and SIX of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage of 2001.

Minister SIMATAA says the approval shows the need to re-double efforts made nationally and worldwide to address marine pollution.

Researchers say marine pollution results when chemicals; particles; or industrial, agricultural, and residential waste; enter the ocean; as well as from noise or the spread of sinister organisms.

Obvious water pollution (Pic. Agencies)

They say at least EIGHT percent of marine pollution comes from land.

Minister SIMATAA says NAMIBIA witnessed its worst oil-spill in MARCH last year, when oil washed ashore at WALVIS BAY.

He says joining the TWO global protocols helps the SADC country enforce international best practices and implement innovative ways to address such problems.

Minister SIMATAA says a pollution levy for companies operating in coastal waters is ONE priorities of the newly established National Marine Pollution Contingency Plan Management Committee.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has asked the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation to find ways to expedite granting interested POLISH investors visas to come and explore chances for investment.

NAMIBIA is further involved in other marine activities related to saving the water resources that are available to it.

An earlier report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, says unsustainable fishing, pollution, climate change and other human activities continue to exert enormous negative pressure on the world’s oceans.

It says the actions have led to pollution of water bodies, depletion of fish stocks, alteration of ecosystem structures and the overall reduction of the ability of ecosystems to adapt to climate variability and change.

The study also says in a bid to mitigate the situation, NAMIBIA, NORWAY, and FAO signed a cooperative program agreement to implement the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management.

The scheme aims to address multiple impacts of human acts like overfishing and pollution on fish stocks and the marine environment to preserve productivity of the oceans for the benefit of future generations./Sabanews/cam

Posted on

NATION SETS TO BENEFIT AS UN ELEVATES RESIDENT COORDINATORS

ZIMBABWE: UNITED NATIONS/SABANEWS/14/2/19 SABANews 1

HARARE – The new economic, socio and political dispensation in ZIMBABWE enjoys nonstop support from the global community, with the latest show of solidarity coming from the UNITED NATIONS itself.

The world body has retained NEPALESE national BISHOW PARAJULI in the economically devastated SADC country with his more than 33 years of experience in a variety of development areas.

Mr Bishow Parajuli presenting his credentials at State House (Pic. UN)

A Statement by UN Mission Communications Specialist SIRAK GEBREHIWOT says Mr PARAJULI gained expertise in humanitarian, diplomatic, fund raising, coordination and management issues in ASIA, EUROPE, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA and the MIDDLE EAST.

He became UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in SEPTEMBER 2014, but this THURSDAY he has presented his credentials, as the most high-ranking UN Representative, to President EMMERSON MNANGAGWA at State House in HARARE.

Mr GEBREHIWOT says the development is in line with events of ONE JANUARY 2019, when the UN System launched a global change for an improved and new Resident Coordinator System and UN Country Team – putting countries at the forefront.

He says UN Secretary General ANTONIO GUTERRES has made the appointment of Mr PARAJULI as part of efforts to implement this ongoing UNITED NATIONS reform agenda.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (Pic. Reuters)

The world body adopted Resolution 72/279 at the 72ND session of its General Assembly to strengthen the authority and leadership of the Resident Coordinators as the highest-ranking representatives of the UNITED NATIONS development systems.

The envoys are to lead sustainable-development-focused UN country teams and system-wide accountability on the ground for implementing the UN Development Assistance Framework, as well as supporting countries in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

However, the promoted UN Resident Coordinator and the refreshed UN Country Team remain focused on sustainable development, with the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions as their principal objective.

Mr GEBREHIWOT says the emphasis is consistent with the integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda, and in line with the UNITED NATIONS Development Assistance Framework.

With his new mandate, Mr PARAJULI will lead alignment of both UN agency programs and inter-agency pool funds for development with national development needs and priorities, as well as with the UN Development Assistance Framework, in consultation with the State.

Secretary General ANTONIO GUTERRES has also recently issued a statement to UN member nations on the rollout of the UN System Reform.

He says countries will be able to count on impartial and empowered Resident Coordinators – fully devoted to the needs required to fulfil the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, drawing on experience, skills and knowledge across the UN system.

Mr GUTERRES says UN Country Teams on the ground will now be better able to tailor their presence, capacities, skills sets, and overall responses to priorities of the host nations.

Before Secretary General GUTERRES appointed him to lead the newly reformed UN System in ZIMBABWE, Mr BISHOW PARAJULI has been UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative in ZIMBABWE since 16 SEPTEMBER 2014.

Mr Parajuli and President Mnangagwa pose for a photo with UN staff (Pic. UN)

He has led UN cooperation with the government, donors, civil society, communities, the media, and other partners to new heights; including a new strategic engagement under the 2016 to 2020 UN Development Assistance Framework, focusing on SIX national priorities.

The priority areas are poverty reduction, social services, gender equality, HIV and AIDS, food and nutrition security, and good governance, and they have led to the successful mobilization of 400-MILLION US dollars yearly for the past THREE years.

Results from the schemes include resilience building for 830-THOUSAND people in 23 rural districts, giving cash and food aid to TWO-POINT-TWO-MILLION vulnerable people, as well as introducing climate smart agriculture.

The development partners have further helped expand agro-businesses and irrigation infrastructures, as well as linking women to domestic and regional markets.

ZIMBABWE also now has independent institutions, including the Election Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission, and the Gender Commission.

The UN Mission statement says the established authorities are meant to promote peace, reconciliation, and contribute to efforts to enhance democracy and human rights in the SADC country.

It says the world body has helped the nation to fulfil its reporting obligations to human rights mechanisms like the Universal Periodic Review, and to implement rights recommendations and development goals, with a view to enhance human rights and development.

The UN has also been actively engaged on national initiatives to end child marriages and gender-based violence, ensuring access to education of children with disabilities and providing books to TWO-POINT-FIVE-MILLION pupils.

Women in rural Masvingo Province working on UN sponsored community projects (Pic. UN)

It has further helped more than 300-THOUSAND poor households – especially child headed – with cash transfer consistently, and more than THREE-POINT-SIX-MILLION people in rural and semi-urban areas have received water and sanitation services.

In response to the HIV pandemic, more than ONE-MILLION people have been successfully put on antiretroviral treatment, allowing them to lead a productive life and make the country ONE of the leaders in such efforts internationally.

The world body says it has been responding proactively to emerging humanitarian crises caused by recurrent droughts, floods and outbreaks such as cholera and typhoid in the country.

The UN has worked with ZIMBABWE and development partners to find lasting solutions by building national capacities for disaster risk management, early warning systems, as well as resilience building of communities to withstand shocks and effects of climate change.

The repositioning of Mr PARAJULI as the most high-ranking UN Representative comes as ZIMBABWE is reeling under biting AMERICAN and BRITISH economic sanctions that have left the country on its knees and facing opposition-led social unrest./Sabanews/cam

Posted on

SADC CALLS FOR LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AND NON-INTERFERENCE IN INTERNAL AFFAIRS

ZIMBABWE: DISTURBANCES/SABANEWS/12/2/19 SABANews 1

WINDHOEK – The SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY, SADC, has repeated the call for Western powers to lift economic sanctions against ZIMBABWE and stop interfering in the affairs of other sovereign nations.

SADC leaders finally vocal (Pic. The Namibian)

President HAGE GEINGOB of NAMIBIA, who chairs the economic bloc, has also issued a statement calling on all political players to cooperate with the government for the benefit of the country.

His comments come after a briefing from President EMMERSON MNANGAGWA to the Consultative Meeting of the SADC Heads of State and Government, held on the NINTH of this month.

President GEINGOB says regional leaders have seen the intense and continuous efforts by the new government to address national challenges and transform the economy.

He says the efforts are particularly visible in the ZIMBABWE Transitional Stabilization Program 2018 to 2020, as well as in the visible moves to consolidate national unity and peace.

Nevertheless, the SADC Chairperson says some internal groups, mainly NGOs getting support from external forces, have continued with counter attempts to destabilise the country.

Such groups have recently taken advantage of fuel price hikes meant to arrest biting economic challenges and staged violent protests that got a number of people killed and caused enormous property destruction nationwide.

The SADC leaders say the demonstrations had nothing to do with the increased fuel costs but were a scheme meant to destabilise the country; and they have expressed sympathy with the affected families for the loss of their loved ones and their property.

On the other hand, SADC says ZIMBABWE is working hard to transform the economy and bring about prosperity to the people, but the illegal sanctions imposed on the country since early 2000 are affecting the struggle.

The 16-member economic bloc says it stands in solidarity with the government of ZIMBABWE and its people, and it is calling on the Western powers to lift the embargo unconditionally.

SADC has further called on the opposition to stop soliciting for wicked support for a regime change agenda; and join the MNANGAGWA Administration in a national political dialogue that aims to strengthening economic transformation.

The renewed push from the regional grouping comes amid serious campaigns by opposition MDC ALLIANCE Leader NELSON CHAMISA to force his way into the echelons of power through a Government of National Unity.

Nelson Chamisa struggles to force formation of GNU (Pic. Agencies)

Mr CHAMISA enjoys massive support from privately-run, well-funded, media outlets against a poorly-resourced national broadcaster and an equally poorly-financed newspaper group run by the State.

Research has revealed the deadly opposition political lobby and the massive media campaign against the new government in ZIMBABWE enjoys generous external support, mainly from the UNITED STATES.

The DONALD TRUMP Administration is not only destabilising the SADC country but has earned the reputation of trying to unseat constitutionally elected governments elsewhere as well, and replace them with pseudo opposition political groups.

The SADC Chairperson has this month issued a statement on events in the BOLIVARIAN Republic of VENEZUELA, where AMERICAN Vice President MIKE PENCE has ushered in an opposition leader as President – with full support from WHITE HOUSE.

President Nicolas Maduro (right) facing a coup (Pic. Agencies)

President HAGE GEINGOB says the SADC notes with concern the attempts by leaders of such countries to interfere in the affairs and sovereignty of VENEZUELA.

He says such nations have sought to undermine an elected government under President NICOLAS MADURO MOROS by proclaiming JUAN GUAIDO MARQUEZ as Interim Head of State.

President GEINGOB says the SADC condemns such violations of the values of International Law, especially the respect for sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of independent States.

He says the people of the BOLIVARIAN Republic of VENEZUELA expressed their political choices through Parliamentary and Presidential Elections in DECEMBER 2015 and MAY 2018 respectively.

However, just like in the ZIMBABWE presidential election last NOVEMBER, the UNITED STATES has encouraged VENEZUELAN opposition leader GUAIDO to take over power from the elected Head of State.

Media reports say, faced with US-led economic sanctions President MADURO has reached out to Pope FRANCIS to seek help to bring about a peaceful solution to the crisis in VENEZUELA. It is not clear yet how the VATICAN has responded.

Just like in ZIMBABWE where Mr CHAMISA tried to inaugurate himself as President even after losing in the Constitutional Court, Mr GUAIDÓ declared himself Head of State on 23 JANUARY after speaking to US Vice President MIKE PENCE.

Trump and Pence conniving to effect random regime changes (Pic. France 24)

Vice President PENCE pledged to the politician support from the TRUMP Administration, after which countries like AUSTRIA, BRITAIN, DENMARK, FRANCE, GERMANY, SPAIN and SWEDEN towed the same line.

However, the US television program, DEMOCRACY NOW, says ITALY has blocked an EU statement recognising Mr GUAIDÓ, while IRELAND and GREECE support new elections but do not recognise the GUAIDÓ presidency.

The broadcaster says TWO major powers, CHINA and RUSSIA, have condemned the AMERICAN move in VENEZUELA out-and-out, which is also the stance taken by the SADC Region.

The call by the SADC leaders for powerful nations in the West to stop interfering in the affairs of poor countries may be the beginning of an era where the THIRD WORLD refuse to be bullied about their domestic affairs./Sabanews/cam

Posted on

SOUTH AFRICA ADVANCES CAMPAIGN AGAINST SANCTIONS ON ZIM

ZIMBABWE: DISTURBANCES/SABANEWS/23/1/19 SABANews 1
 
HARARE – President CYRIL RAMAPHOSA of SOUTH AFRICA has added his voice to the call for Western powers to lift economic sanctions they imposed on ZIMBABWE about 20 years ago.
 
President Ramaphosa in Davos, Switzerland (Pic. EWN)

Media reports say he has spoken on the side-lines of a meeting of the International Labour Organisation ahead of the just ended World Economic Forum in the SWISS resort town of DAVOS.

President RAMAPHOSA says ZIMBABWE has managed to hold successful general elections after emerging from a very difficult political situation.
 
However, he says BRITAIN, the EUROPEAN UNION and AMERICA maintain their embargo on the SADC country, chocking all government efforts to revive the battered economy it inherited.
 
The SOUTH AFRICAN Leader says his country is among the others calling on the world to relax or lift the illegal sanctions altogether, to enable ZIMBABWE to enjoy the economic fruits it is capable to produce.
 
President RAMAPHOSA says the global community can help the new administration, which is only about SIX months old in office, to correct the unpalatable fiscal situation if the rich countries remove the restrictions currently in place.
 
However, the sanctions against ZIMBABWE will be difficult to understand unless people get a clear picture of their major reason – which is a Western retaliation to land repossessions the country carried out in 2000 and onwards.
 
Victims of the massive agrarian reforms are mostly of BRITISH origin, who had hitherto enjoyed lavish lives, generation after generation, for some 110 years.
 
BRITAIN had sponsored the BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY of CECIL JOHN RHODES in 1890, when some 500 white traders and armed thugs crossed the LIMPOPO River to capture the territory stretching to the ZAMBEZI River in the north.
 
Rhodesian invaders in 1890 (Pic. Frontier Partisans)

The Company displaced all the indigenous black communities from their homes and crowded them into labour reserves where they had to irk a living by tilling rocky fields or by working for wages on their former land, now in the hands of the invaders.

Former dictator ROBERT MUGABE, ONE of the few AFRICANS to be knighted by the BRITISH Empire at BUCKINGHAM Palace, had dilly-dallied with the resettlement issue for 20 years since independence, protecting white commercial farmers.
 
Efforts at the end of the 20TH Century to replace the ceasefire agreement then governing the country with a national constitution met with stiff resistance from the farmers, since the proposed law would allow the State to take over their land for black occupation.
 
The farmers sponsored a group of labour leaders to form the opposition MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE, allegedly with the help of AMERICAN and BRITISH agents, and managed to secure a NO vote in the ballot.
 
MDC campaigning for a No Vote (Pic. Agencies)

After Mr MUGABE accepted the results, former liberation war fighters in the south-eastern region led a fierce mass movement onto the commercial farms and launched what became known as Hondo ye Minda (War for Farmlands), which later spread countrywide.

The government failed to contain the new revolution and decided to go along with the protestors, a move that BRITAIN immediately described as an abandonment of the rule of law – and it campaigned, successfully, for the global isolation of its former colony.
 
Angry land-hungry blacks confront white farmer (Pic. The Zimbabwe Mail)

The UNITED STATES was the harshest super power in response to the appeal, as it went to the extent of coming up with a law – the infamous ZIMBABWE Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, ZIDERA of 2001 – which literary bars trade with ZIMBABWE.

The actions of the powerful nations have seen industry closing down, the national currency disappearing and being replaced by a multi-currency regime, massive unemployment, rise of political unrest, infrastructure falling apart, and poverty levels worsening daily.
 
The call by the SOUTH AFRICAN President for them to lift the sanctions comes amid opposition calls back in SOUTH AFRICA calling on him to reprimand the ZIMBABWEAN Leader for what they describe as human rights violations.
 
The DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE reportedly has threatened to approach the International Criminal Court if he fails to intervene directly to stop the ongoing alleged violations by the government of ZIMBABWE.
 
President Mnangagwa has since condemned violence  (Pic. The Citizen)

Media reports say the group has called on President RAMAPHOSA to re-think about what it calls his quiet diplomacy and advise the neighbouring Head of State to stop the military clampdown allegedly on civilians.

The DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE says it strongly believes the human rights crisis currently obtaining in ZIMBABWE is of sufficient gravity to justify a probe by the International Criminal Court.
 
Its Shadow Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, STEVEN MOKGALAPA, quotes the ZIMBABWE Human Rights NGO Forum as claiming at least 12 people have been killed, 78 shot, and 240 others exposed to assault, torture, plus cruel and shameful treatment.
 
The ZIMBABWEAN Government, which insists sanctions are its major problem, has denounced the violence; saying everyone in the country has the right to protest, but they should do so lawfully and peacefully./Sabanews/cam
Posted on

STATE AND CIVIL GROUP OFFICIALS LEARN MORE ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

SEYCHELLES: CLIMATE/SNA/22/1/19 SABANews 1
 VICTORIA – State officials and civil members in SEYCHELLES have acquired more skills to enable them to negotiate successfully for support in Climate Change matters globally.
Seychelles is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as flooding (Pic. SNA)

The national news agency, SNA, says they have attended a training course covering areas aimed to better equip them for times when they take part in international meetings.

 SEYCHELLES’ Permanent Representative to the UNITED NATIONS, RONNY JUMEAU, says the impact of Climate Change is becoming more obvious on the western INDIAN archipelago.
 
As a small country, SEYCHELLES continuously needs support and has to make its voice heard internationally.
 
Mr JUMEAU says the task requires people dealing with issues of Climate Change to be skilled in a variety of areas such as advocacy and negotiation.
 
He says ONE vital factor such negotiators need to take into account when they attend global Climate Change meetings is how to get access to financing.
 
SEYCHELLES has become a high-income country now, which makes it more difficult to get access to financial support for local Climate Change Adaptation projects.
 
Climate Change Adaptation is a response to global warming effects like hurricanes, droughts, floods, and other disasters such as disease outbreaks; and it aims to reduce the vulnerability of social and biological systems to the relatively sudden changes.
Island nations also under threat from rising sea levels (Pic. UNDP)Mr JUMEAU says because of the status of a high-income country, which makes potential funders reluctant to open their wallets, negotiators need to be skilful and know what they are talking about to lure the donors.

 His comments come as Climate Change is adversely affecting the economic development of SEYCHELLES, and impacting directly on the livelihoods of the islanders; and access to funds is vital to the survival of the island country.
 
SNA says the workshop comes right after the GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE ALLIANCE PLUS INITIATIVE has completed a Capacity Needs Assessment recently.
 
The national news agency says participants in the program have identified the need for strengthening the knowledge and skills of SEYCHELLOIS Climate Change negotiators.
 
Project Facilitator ANGELIQUE POUPONNEAU says SEYCHELLOIS negotiators have been eager to know about Climate Change Diplomacy; and how to engage in discussions on the subject.
 
Some delegates to the workshop have already been to the UNITED NATIONS Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties, and others scheduled to take part in the next meeting wanted to be better prepared.
 
Ms POUPONNEAU also says after attending the EUROPEAN UNION funded training, they now have basic skills to engage in negotiations on the global arena.
 
ONE of the delegates, Senior Policy Analyst ELISSA LALANDE, has described the workshop as very enriching, saying she is now ready to represent the country at any international meeting on the subject.
 
Researchers say the SEYCHELLES, being a small island state, with small land areas, high population densities on the coast, and a sensitive economy, is among regions of the world that will suffer the worst effects of Climate Change impacts./Sabanews/cam
Posted on

AUTHORITIES GET WAKE UP CALL AS RESIDENTS DESCEND ON IDLE LAND

NAMIBIA: LAND/NBC/22/1/19 SABANews 1
  
HARARE – The authorities in NAMIBIA seem to be nursing a potentially volatile situation by delaying the long awaited equitable distribution of land to suffering citizens.
 
More than 300 people invade public land in Goreangab area on the outskirts of Windhoek in 2015 (Pic. The Namibian)

Like all the surrounding sister nations in the SADC Region, the former GERMAN colony lost millions of its people during colonisation and throughout the liberation war – all in the name of self-determination.

 This process, by which a country clarifies its own statehood and forms its own government, cannot end until the people access the primary means of production – which in this case is land.
 
Thus, the major grievance that forced thousands of young men and women to leave their homes to join the liberation struggle was land; but 29 years after independence, the issue remains unresolved.
 
Thousands of NAMIBIANS have been without proper homes for generations and have been patient all along, but some are becoming more and more agitated under the situation.
 
More than 100 residents of OTJIWARONGO, a city of 28-THOUSAND inhabitants in the OTJOZONDJUPA Region, have recently invaded idle land at the new OMBILI informal settlement of the municipality.
 
NBC News says the people descended on the area with rakes, shovels, axes and hoes; started clearing and demarcating the land, before the police and municipal authorities and politicians stopped them.
 
The officials included OTJIWARONGO Mayor BENNES HAIMBONDI, Management Committee Chairperson HILDA JESAJA, and ruling SWAPO Party OTJOZONDJUPA Regional Co-ordinator SUSAN HIKOPUA.
 
President Hage Geingob urges citizens to take part in land expropriation talks in 2018 (Pic. MyJoyOnline)

The broadcaster says the residents have told the news agency, NAMPA, they have taken matters into their own hands because the town council rejects their applications for land, charges them exorbitant prices, and councillors give no priority to land delivery.

 NBC News says Mayor HAIMBONDI has asked the group to write down their names and allow the municipality to verify them in its database, to see if they had not yet been given land already, as well as whether or not they are listed as new applicants for land.
 
It says he called for patience, emphasising the town council will service about FOUR-THOUSAND plots in the invaded area; although the total number of the needy is not clear yet.
 
The aggrieved residents have agreed to write down their names, but they have also called on the municipality to speed up the exercise of servicing land at the OMBILI informal settlement.
 
Records show land reform, which has been a vital political and economic topic in NAMIBIA, comprises TWO different strategies: resettlement, and transfer of commercially viable agricultural land.
 
Land issue remains unresolved in Namibia (Pic. News24)

They say resettlement aims to improve the lives of displaced or dispossessed previously disadvantaged NAMIBIANS.

The farms the government obtains for resettlement are usually in a number of sections, with scores of families resettling on what had previously been ONE farm.
 
Commercial farms transfer is not directly under State control, since aspiring farmers with a previously disadvantaged background obtain the properties privately or through affirmative action loans – both under the notorious Willing-Buyer, Willing Seller principle.
 
NAMIBIA has about FOUR-THOUSAND commercial farms, with about ONE-THOUSAND of them now in the hands of previously disadvantaged nationals since independence in 1990./Sabanews/cam
Posted on

GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION TRADE BLAMES FOR VIOLENCE

ZIMBABWE: PROTESTS/THE HERALD/21/1/19 ONE

HARARE – The authorities in ZIMBABWE say they have deployed security forces to ensure public safety following threats of another round of violent opposition protests in the country.

Violent mobs shut down roads (Pic. AFP)

The announcement comes from Home Affairs Minister CAIN MATHEMA and Information Minister MONICA MUTSVANGWA, after angry demonstrators shut down most major cities and towns for the whole of last week.

The ZIMBABWE CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONS this month teamed up with social groups like the TAJAMUKA and the #THISFLAG to organise nationwide labour protests to pressure the government.

Their move comes amid worsening economic conditions that have seen prices of most basic goods rising to out of the reach of the majority, although incomes have remained stagnant and unemployment remains high.

However, what was supposed to have been a peaceful work stoppage for THREE days to force the State to solve the worsening economic situation in the country turned very violent, with mobs blocking roads with large rocks and burning tyres.

The government has blamed the opposition MDC ALLIANCE, which it claims is working with the labour movement and the other groups – with sponsorship from Western powers – to force a regime change in the SADC nation.

Alliance Leader NELSON CHAMISA has dismissed the accusation, saying the demos are a result of mismanagement by the authorities and the announcement of fuel prices increases by the Head of State.

Security forces disperse protestors in city (Pic. IOL)

Mr CHAMISA claims the soldiers who the State deployed shot and killed more innocent civilians than the SIX victims of the AUGUST 2018 post-election violence his supporters provoked in the capital, HARARE.

He has told mourners at the funeral of ONE victim of the violence in the corridor city of CHITUNGWIZA his party is going to engage regional and continental authorities, as well as the UNITED NATIONS, for intervention.

THE HERALD says Home Affairs Minister MATHEMA and Information Minister MUTSVANGWA have pledged the government will deal firmly with lawbreakers focussed on property destruction and loss of life.

The State run newspaper says the Cabinet message comes after the alliance of political parties under the MDC flag, the trade unions’ federation and the social groups have threatened to carry out continuous violent demonstrations – beginning today, MONDAY.

It quotes ONE of the suspected organisers of the disturbances of last week, an official of the #TAJAMUKA outfit, as saying he has gone into hiding but is planning more protests.

PROMISE MKWANANZI allegedly says his team is mapping out their next move to force President EMMERSON MNANGAGWA, currently hunting for capital in EURASIA, to solve the national economic issues and remove bond notes.

Nevertheless, Information Minister MUTSVANGWA says the protests are not actions of demonstrations but machinations by people who are pushing for a violent regime change in the country.

She says the people who destroyed the property worth more than 300-MILLION US dollars across the country are hooligans, some of whom are in custody and face heavy punishment if convicted.

Minister MUTSVANGWA says there is what she calls a THIRD force in the operations, in which mobs reportedly set fire to more than 30 cars and buses, destroyed and looted shops, clinics, private homes, and even police stations across the country.

The authorities have since arrested more than 700 suspects, among them the leader of the #THISFLAG, EVAN MAWARIRE, for their alleged involvement in the violence and they are still looking for others.

They say they have also established security checkpoints to search people who may attempt to move their loot to rural areas, amid reports saying some of the suspects are dumping the stolen goods wherever they can in order to avoid arrest.

Meanwhile, there are reports saying the violence of last week also involved members of a notorious group that has terrorised people every election time in the western HARARE suburbs of WARREN PARK ONE and D as well as other surrounding areas.

Its leader, only named as VOYAGE, allegedly a well-known youth leader of the ruling ZANU PF, which has since disowned him, has reportedly been arrested after commanding teams that attacked residents with machetes, iron bars and an assortment of other weapons.

The groups, using unmarked FOUR-wheel-drive vehicles with no number plates, would pounce on anyone, beat them up brutally, grab phones, as well as smashing windows of parked motor vehicles and houses as they went.

Calm only written to WARREN PARK after armed police officers and soldiers deployed to clear the roads and hunt down the gangsters.

President MNANGAGWA says he has cancelled his trip to DAVOS, SWITZERLAND where he was due to attend the 2019 World Economic Forum so he can attend to the situation back home.

The ZIMBABWEAN Leader has made the statement from ASTANA in KAZAKHSTAN, describing his tour of RUSSIA, BELARUS, AZERBAIJAN and KAZAKHSTAN as fruitful./Sabanews/cam

Posted on

GOVERNMENT PLANS RECRUITING MORE TEACHERS FROM ZAMBIA

SEYCHELLES: EDUCATION/SNA/11/12/18 SABANews 1

VICTORIA – The SEYCHELLES Ministry of Education says it expects to hire additional teachers from ZAMBIA.

Seychelles schools short of teachers (Pic. SNA)

The Principal Secretary for Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary says the recruitment will be through a Memorandum of Understanding with the ZAMBIAN Ministry of Education.

ODILE DE COMMARMOND has told a media conference the move will help the government to compensate for the shortages of teachers in State schools.

She says for the time being, they have 46 vacancies at the secondary level, although it does not mean they are going to fill all the vacancies with teachers from ZAMBIA only.

Ms DE COMMARMOND also says other teachers will have to come from elsewhere, because ZAMBIANS cannot teach some specific subjects such as Religion, FRENCH, and Physical Education.

National news agency, SNA says there are 35 primary and secondary state Schools in the group of 115 islands of the INDIAN Ocean.

It says presently, there are ONE-THOUSAND-AND-50 teachers, including 173 foreigners, working in such institutions on the THREE main islands of MAHE, PRASLIN, and LA DIGUE.

Principal Secretary DE COMMARMOND also says early this year, the Education Ministry took in a group of ZAMBIAN teachers to work in the educational sector, mainly at the secondary level.

She says the local authorities are still looking at the pace of their adaptation to the system to see if there are any setbacks, and how both sides can move forward.

Ms DE COMMARMOND explains the FIRST thing that the ZAMBIANS need to adapt to is the school curriculum.

In their country, the ZAMBIANS have their own examination system and they do not train students for International Certificate of Secondary Education.

In SEYCHELLES, they will be teaching Science, Maths, Geography, Information Communication and Technology, as well as Design and Technology, which are subjects in the ZAMBIAN educational system.

Ms DE COMMARMOND says the SADC member country has offered to help because it has a surplus of professional teachers.

Apart from ZAMBIA, the SEYCHELLES Ministry of Education is also recruiting teachers from MAURITIUS and is exploring possibilities with FIJI, MADAGASCAR and the PHILIPPINES./Sabanews/cam

Posted on

RESIDENTS IN ILLEGAL STRUCTURES FACE DEMOLITIONS

ZAMBIA: FLOODING/ZNBC/28/11/18 SABANews 1

LUSAKA – The authorities in ZAMBIA are making frantic efforts to avoid possible disasters in case of heavy flooding this rainy season.

Floods in Lusaka (Pic. Lusaka Times)

LUSAKA Provincial Minister BOWMAN LUSAMBO says there is urgent need to create space for proper drainage systems to avoid overflows, because rains have already started.

ZNBC News says he has directed the LUSAKA City Council, which runs the capital, to demolish illegal and other unplanned structures immediately.

Mr LUSAMBO says they should target especially structures that have clogged the drainage systems.

He has given the instructions during a tour of CHAWAMA, KUKU and MISISI townships to inspect the drainage systems of the areas.

Mr LUSAMBO says the city fathers should raise public awareness for people to know how they can get land or any property in the municipality.

An earlier report in the LUSAKA TIMES newspaper says heavy rains caused serious flooding in some parts of the city in FEBRUARY last year, a situation largely blamed on the poor drainage systems.

Floodwaters submerged roads and houses around the upmarket MASS MEDIA area as well as the elite ARCADES shopping centre, after the authorities were caught unawares.

The SADC Climate Services Centre says the bulk of the 16-member region is likely to get normal to below-normal rainfall for most of the period OCTOBER to DECEMBER 2018.

However, there should be above normal rainfall over the northern HALF of the TANZANIA – with the JANUARY to MARCH 2019 interval getting normal to below normal rainfall for most of the region.

On the other hand, there should be normal to above normal rains in Northern ANGOLA, Central DRC, Southwestern TANZANIA, Northern MALAWI, and the islands of COMOROS, MAURITIUS, Eastern MADAGASCAR, and SEYCHELLES.

Nevertheless, there is need for serious disaster risk reduction, because there can be uneven rainfall with sudden heavy downpours that can lead to flooding, displacement, destruction of property and infrastructure, as well as loss of life.

It says in such situations, access to basic social services like schools, health centres and markets, could be disrupted; with affected areas facing outbreaks of water- and vector-borne diseases.

The agency says the key recommendation is that prevention is better than cure because it also contributes to resilience-building.

Planning for extreme events is an essential way forward for all SADC member states to implement mitigation and adaptation measures in the face of Climate Change and Global Warming./Sabanews/cam