Parliament
Ghana army steps in to quell parliament clash ahead of swearing-in
Ghanaian soldiers intervened overnight to quell a clash between opposing parties in parliament ahead of the body’s swearing-in set for Thursday. Chaotic scenes erupted after a ruling party deputy tried to seize the ballot box during the vote for parliament speaker. The ensuing clash lasted several hours until the army stepped in, with national television broadcasting the drama live. “There was total breakdown of law and order,” said MP-elect Kwame Twumasi Ampofo of the opposition National Democratic Congress. “Looking at a member of parliament and a minister of state snatching ballot papers… was so shameful.” The new parliament will be virtually split down the middle between the two main parties, posing the risk of gridlock with key issues on the agenda including how to turn around an econ...
Malian opposition leader dies of coronavirus
Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cisse has died of coronavirus aged 71, his family and party said Friday, after being held hostage for six months by jihadists earlier this year. Cisse “died in France, where he had been taken for Covid-19 care,” a member of his family told AFP. “I can confirm this terrible news. He’s dead,” a leader of Cisse’s URD party told AFP, saying the politician’s wife had let him know. Cisse was snatched by jihadists on March 25 while campaigning in the northeastern Timbuktu region ahead of legislative elections. He was freed six months later in October alongside Frenchwoman Sophie Petronin and two Italians. The hostages were exchanged for some 200 prisoners whose release was demanded by jihadist groups. “I was not subjected to any violence, either physical or verba...
Thousands protest in Sudan in call for faster reform
Thousands of Sudanese protesters took to the streets of the capital Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman on Saturday, demanding an acceleration of reforms on the second anniversary of the start of an uprising that ousted Omar al-Bashir. The veteran leader was deposed by the military in April 2019 after months of mass protests against poor economic conditions and Bashir’s autocratic, three-decade rule. Many Sudanese are unhappy with what they see as the slow or even negligible pace of change under the transitional government that has struggled to fix an economy in crisis. The government was formed under a three-year power sharing agreement between the military and civilian groups which is meant to lead to fair presidential and parliamentary elections. Sudan’s state TV aired footage of thousa...
Senators decry executive’s disregard for resolutions on insecurity
Federal lawmakers, on Tuesday, deplored the federal government’s continued disregard for Senate’s resolutions on the issue of national security. The Senators spoke while contributing to a motion on the recent kidnapping of students at the Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State. The Red Chamber had twice called for the replacement of the service chiefs. The lawmakers, in their various contributions to the motion, expressed deep frustration over the recurring issues of killings and kidnappings across the country and the inability of the security agencies to address the challenges. They insisted that the service chiefs had overstayed and should allow other officers with fresh ideas to take over. Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger) said, “Every day, people are dying and nothing ...
Senate summons minister, service chiefs over Kankara kidnapping
The Senate, on Tuesday, invited the Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd.), service chiefs and heads of other security agencies to brief it on measure being taken to rescue the abducted students of Government Science School, Kankara Katsina State. This followed a motion by Senator Bello Mandiya (APC, Katsina South), who noted that the abduction is coming on the heels of yet to be resolved abduction of 270 girls at Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State in 2014, and abduction of about 100 school girls at Government Girls Science and Technical School, Dapchi, Yobe State in 2018. He expressed concern that like the other incidents of school children abduction that took place in Chibok and Dapchi, if no immediate action was taken to rescue Kankara School boys, their fate...
Ghana election: President Akufo-Addo to soon start work in his second term – minister
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will start work in his second term in office after he was re-elected as president of Ghana in the December 7 general elections. Mr Akufo-Addo polled a total of 6,730,413 votes, representing 51.59 per cent to beat closest contender John Dramani Mahama, who polled a total of 6,214,889 votes, in Monday’s presidential elections. Returning Officer of the 2020 Presidential Elections, Jean Adukwei Mensa, who is also the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC), declared the incumbent president winner of the polls. In a tweet on Thursday December 10, Mr Oppong Nkrumah who was also re-elected Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi constituency said “The last 36hours have been hectic. In the end Ghana won. ...
House of Reps suspends President Buhari’s scheduled appearance
The House of Representatives on Wednesday suspended its earlier plan for a briefing by President Muhammadu Buhari, after it became clear the president would no longer honour the House’s invitation. At plenary Wednesday, the House failed to mention an item on its order paper to admit Mr Buhari into the House chamber. It was the clearest evidence Mr Buhari, who was billed to explain the terrible security situation in the country to lawmakers, had cancelled the plan, confirming a report he would back off. All Progressives Congress (APC) governors had urged Mr Buhari to shelve his scheduled appearance. At a Tuesday night meeting between the governors and the party’s caucus in the National Assembly, those in attendance argued for hours on reasons for and against the appearance of the president ...
Nigerian government wants children’s parliament established in schools
Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen has called for the establishment of children’s parliament in schools to aide planning and implementation of programmes affecting children. Tallen made the call on Tuesday in Abuja during an interaction with children in commemoration of the 16 days activism to end Gender Based Violence (GBV). She said establishing children’s parliament in schools would provide a platform for students to express their views, help in implementing programmes affecting them and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. “It is my hope that after this event, the school authorities will set up guidelines to establish Children’s Parliament within the schools. “This will provide a platform for harvesting the voices of children in planning and implementing ...
House of Reps summons auditor-general over $36.1 million World Bank loan
The House of Representatives has summoned the acting Auditor General of the Federation, Mr Aghughu Adolphus, over a $36.1m facility under the Fiscal Governance and Institutions Project of the World Bank, to the office. The House Committee on Public Accounts issued the summons at its public hearing in Abuja on Tuesday. Adolphus, who had earlier been invited by the committee, had failed to show up on Tuesday. His representatives led by a Deputy Director, Mr Babalola Olanrewaju, could not explain to the lawmakers the rationale behind taking the loan. Chairman of the committee, Mr Wole Oke, said, “We want to know what the loan was meant for before going to sign for it. What was your procurement plan before arriving at that figure? Or is it a reward? We need to know the programme plan, how you ...
Congo lawmakers hurl chairs in parliament brawl
A brawl erupted at Congo’s parliament, Tuesday, December 8, as tensions boiled over after President Felix Tshisekedi’s moved to end an alliance with his predecessor, Joseph Kabila. Tshisekedi announced Sunday that he planned to disband his coalition with allies of Kabila, and Kabila’s side argued that would be illegal. In 2018, Tshisekedi won a disputed election over Kabila’s chosen successor but Kabila’s allies won majorities in parliament, forcing the coalition’s formation. Police eventually dispersed the crowd with tear gas. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards...
Kuwaiti opposition make gains in first parliamentary vote under new emir
Opposition candidates made gains in a parliamentary vote in Kuwait in which two thirds of MPs lost their seats and no women were elected, a result which analysts said could hamper government reform efforts to address a severe liquidity crunch. Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who took the reins in September following the death of his brother, had raised hopes of a detente between the ruling family and their critics in the perpetually deadlocked and fractious parliament. The final count carried on state media on Sunday showed that 31 new lawmakers had been elected to the 50-seat assembly, which is unusually outspoken for the highly authoritarian Gulf region. None of the 29 female candidates who stood in the election were successful. There was no official figure for turnout but local med...
Nigerian National Assembly spends billions of naira on constitution review
The perennial constitution amendment exercise by the National Assembly is characterised by proposals that keep resurfacing despite gulping billions of naira yearly, an analysis has shown. The federal parliament had from the 5th to the current 9th National Assembly made several attempts to amend some provisions of the 1999 Constitution to no avail. At every session, the parliament officially spends N1 billion shared equally between the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are reports that the lawmakers spend more than what is appropriated for the exercise. While some amendments were successful, several others suffered serial failures but kept appearing in new proposals. Considering the huge spending, lawyers and civil society groups have pointed out that no significant amendments ...