News & Announcements

The health workers in Nigeria have dated their Federal Government and will, barring any last-minute change, proceed on strike in the midnight today.
Under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), the health workers will proceed on the strike from Sunday, September 13, 2020.
Joy Josiah Biobelemoye, Chairman of JOHESU restated the decision on Sunday in Abuja, following an expanded National Executive Council meeting of the Union which held on Saturday, September 12, 2020.

The latest industrial action may come despite warnings from the country’s Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, against embarking on strike to spite the government. 
JOHESU in a memo to her members, said: “You would recall that at the end of the meeting held in your office on Thursday, 10” September 2020, JOHESU demanded that the outcome of the meeting between JOHESU and the Federal Government be reported back to our expanded NEC meeting and give feedback to the Federal government within 48 hours.

“In the light of the above, the meeting of our expanded NEC was held today, Saturday, 12” September 2020. 
“And at the end of the meeting, which was held both physically and virtually, it was unanimously agreed that since nothing concrete was achieved at the said meeting with the Federal Government, that the strike notice is still germane and alive.
“Therefore, the 15-day ultimatum still subsists and with effect from midnight of Sunday, 13th September 2020, our members shall withdraw their services due to Federal Government inability to meet their demands.
“Kindly accept the assurances of our high esteem.”

Meanwhile, earlier on, the Labour Minister, while meeting with Executive members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), criticized them for embarking on strike, despite huge releases to settle their hazard and inducement allowances. 
JOHESU which comprises of over forty professional health institutions has been having a running battle with the Federal Government over failure to pay 50percent Special Inducement Allowances to frontline health workers involved in the containment of Coronavirus in Nigeria. 

Part of the grievances which may necessitate a full-blown strike in the health sector is the alleged shortchanging of the union in payment of COVID-19 Special Inducement and Hazard Allowance.  Prior to meeting with the Federal Government last week to try to resolve the thorny issues, JOHESU said it is forced to draw attention to the deliberate short-changing of our members in the payment of COVID-19 Inducement Allowances. 

“The FMoH ought to redress and supervise the adherence to payment of 40% or 50% COVID-19 Special Inducement Allowances as appropriate to all health workers in Isolation centres, the FHIs or other related health facilities without discrimination bordering on clinical or non-clinical status based on our MoU of 21st April 2020, and as admitted by the Federal Ministry of Health at a meeting of 1st July 2020, that the payment of 10% was done in error. 

“Consequently, FMoH agreed to correct the anomaly and pay the outstanding balance of 40% of Consolidated Basic Salary to all beneficiaries hitherto earning N5,000 as Hazard Allowance. “The Federal Government did not ensure total and full implementation of the July 1, 2020 agreement between JOHESU and the Federal Government when it disbursed the 3rd tranche of the allowance for June 2020.  
“This has created rumbles and grumbles across our membership and has now created the challenge of assuaging the affected members what have become restive and thus making it impossible to guarantee industrial harmony within the generality of JOHESU members. “It is rational logic to put on the table that infecting viruses will not decipher who a clinical or non-clinical staff is in the various Health Institutions before striking the would-be victims. This is why this variant of discrimination should be embarrassing to the nation.

“It becomes imperative to inform you that if the FG does not meet these demands by midnight of September 13, 2020, JOHESU will have no other choice than to commence a nationwide 7-days warning strike of our members in all the Federal health institutions FHIs, the States and LG Health institutions are placed on red alert for possible entry into the fray if the FG foot drags in attending to our demands.”
The Union has alleged that government was not forthcoming in the payment of all withheld salaries of members at JUTH, FMC  Owerri, LUTH, including April, & May 2018, salaries as well as adjustment of CONHESS salary structure. 

The health workers union also criticized a recent increase in the pump price of fuel and hike in electricity tariff, describing it as ill-timed. 
“We, in strong terms reject the hike in electricity tariff especially at this crunch period occasioned by COVID, as it clearly amplifies the sufferings of poor Nigerians where our members belong.  As a short term solution, we demand urgent fix of our refineries to begin local refining and mitigate the volatility of the petroleum products prices with attendant anti-masses effect. “We at JOHESU take cognisance of the deregulation of fuel prices by the PPPRA and we condemn it as insensitive to the plight of the people just as the introduction of stamp duties to be paid by tenants in properties to the FIRS remains the climax of absurdity.  We, therefore, request the FIRS to reverse the stamp duty. “It is worrisome that when other countries are offering palliatives as well as reducing inclination towards social dysfunctions, our leaders appear to be sowing seeds of hardship and bitter pills to bring depression to the doorstep of citizens, “Josiah stressed.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who spent $1 billion on his 2020 Democratic presidential bid before dropping out, plans to inject at least $100 million to help Democrat Joe Biden’s effort against Republican President Donald Trump in the important swing state of Florida.

The decision comes as Trump’s initial financial supremacy over former Vice President Biden earlier this year has largely evaporated after high spending from the campaign and a surge in fundraising by Democrats.

Florida is one of the biggest prizes on Election Day, and it is also the most expensive of the expected battlegrounds in which to campaign. But polls there show a race that is effectively tied.

The Republican president, who trails Biden in national opinion polls before the Nov. 3 election, told reporters last week that he would spend his own money if needed.

“I thought Mini Mike was through with Democrat politics,” Trump said on Twitter in reaction to the news. “Save NYC instead.”

Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee on Wednesday said they raised a combined $210 million in August, falling far short of matching Biden’s record-breaking haul of $364.5 million for the month.

“Mike Bloomberg is committed to helping defeat Trump, and that is going to happen in the battleground states,” said Bloomberg adviser Kevin Sheekey, who said the spending “will mean Democrats and the Biden campaign can invest even more heavily in other key states like Pennsylvania, which will be critical to a Biden victory.”

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in the countries of the world, the Ministry of Trade n Industry of Sierra Leone has planned a sustained micro-credit scheme for small businesses in the country.
This was disclosed recently by Dr. Hinga Sandy, the minister in charge of the ministry, noting that the ministry has embarked and still embarking on various institutional reforms for effective service delivery.
Sandy noted that the new order would attend to the needs of the populace.

He thus averred that one of the biggest projects his ministry was working on along with the Ministry of Finance was the implementation of a National Micro Credit Scheme that would provide funds for small businesses.   

Sandy said his ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Sierra Leone, had been able to secure essential consumer commodities to meet the needs of the people of Sierra Leone, by providing Five Hundred Billion Leones credit facility to importers.

According to Sandy, as a result of this credit facility, and despite the country going through a difficult times due to the coronavirus pandemic, prices of essential consumer items remained stable.

Rice, he said, is available in the country for up to the end of this year, and that more was expected to be imported for 2021.

The minister added that there were enough petroleum products in the country and that the government had opened up the market by introducing a new player in the petroleum sector who will also be bringing in petroleum products.

He reported that Sierra Leone has joined two large market opportunities – the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme that allows companies within West Africa to trade with businesses in the sub-region, and the Continental Free Trade Agreement that has already been ratified.

Sandy said that his ministry has registered thirty-one companies that are producing goods in Sierra Leone for exporting to other countries.

Several industry promotion policies are currently under review, Sandy said, whilst noting that the ongoing reforms will attract more investments into Sierra Leone.

An elephant named Hamed by residents in a southern region of Ivory Coast has been captured and relocated to the zoo in Abidjan as he awaits transfer to a park where authorities hope he will have a non-human company instead.

Hamed is part of the wild elephant authorities are catching and relocating because they have disrupted farming communities, in a bid to save the animals’ dwindling population in the West African nation.

Hamed had made his way from Azagny National Park to the region of Guitry, where he lived for some years until he started to destroy farmers’ land and scare residents.

“At the beginning, like any elephant, we thought that he was the emblem of Ivory Coast and should be honored,” said resident Eric Serge. “But a moment came and he began to be very aggressive, and the whole population began to worry about his presence.”

Col. Jerome Ake, the country’s deputy director-general of forests and wildlife, said the elephant will go “where there will be no more nuisance.”

Guitry´s leader, Patrice Loua, called the operation encouraging.

Ivory Coast once was home to more than 1,100 elephants in various habitats. Now, experts estimate only 300 remain, living in small groups or isolation and vulnerable to poachers seeking their tusks for ivory.

The country is considering adopting a law to preserve the animals’ population.

Police in the Western Cape are probing a murder case after a patron at a restaurant was gunned down in broad daylight.

On Thursday, just before 3.00 pm, a 40-year-old man was shot and killed while sitting at the popular Gordon’s Bay eatery Talla’s Tavern.

CCTV footage which has been spread widely across social media platforms shows a strip along Beach Road and a man seated on the veranda of the establishment, enjoying his meal with his back to the road.

Opposite the road, a biker can be seen parking his motorbike. As soon as a vehicle passes, he crosses the road and walks towards Talla’s Tavern.

He pulls out the firearm from his black leather jacket, heads over to the patron, and shoots him at close range.

The gunman, wearing blue jeans and his bike helmet, can be seen waiting for the patron to drop to the floor before turning around and leaving.

He places the firearm in his pants, gets on his motorbike, and flees the scene.

Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut confirmed the incident and said no arrests have been made.

“The circumstances surrounding the death of a 40-year-old man are being investigated after he was shot and killed while sitting on the veranda of a tavern in Gordon’s Bay yesterday afternoon at around 2.45 pm.

“The suspect fled the scene on a motorbike and is yet to be arrested,” Traut said.

Sources told African News Agency that the victim had links to the underworld; however, police did not respond to questions about gang affiliation.

It can be revealed now that the role played by President Donald Trump of the United States in the recent peace deal struck between Israel and the United Arab Emirates could have galvanized the nomination of President Donald Trump of the United States for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.

This is coming less than two months before the US election and the Republican flag-bearer obviously has something to celebrate, as he bagged his second nomination for a Nobel Prize.

A far-right Norwegian politician put Mr. Trump’s name forward for the 2021 prize, citing the president’s role in the recent peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Christian Tybring-Gjedde told Fox News on Wednesday: “For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other peace prize nominees.”

Adding that he was not a big Trump supporter, he added. “The committee should look at the facts and judge him on the facts – not on the way he behaves sometimes.”

Of course, a nomination is not the same as winning – we won’t know the winner for another 13 months – so what can we make of this news?

SO WHO GETS TO NOMINATE A PERSON?

For a nomination alone, the barrier to entry is low: all nominations from heads of state or politicians serving at a national level are accepted.

University professors, directors of foreign policy institutes, past recipients of a Nobel Prize, and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee are also among those deemed qualified to submit a nomination for the prize. The nominations require no invitation and as long they are entered before 1 February of the qualifying year, they will be accepted.

For the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize – the winner of which has not yet been announced – there were 318 candidates. The Norwegian Nobel Committee doesn’t publicly comment on its nominees, which are kept secret for 50 years.

THIS IS TRUMP’S SECOND NOMINATION

And for the second time, he has Mr. Tybring-Gjedde to thank. In 2018, the right-wing politician was one of two Norwegian lawmakers to nominate Mr. Trump for the same prize, then for his efforts to bring reconciliation to North and South Korea.

Mr. Trump did not take home the prize that year, but Mr. Tybring-Gjedde, a member of the conservative Progress Party, insists the US president meets the criteria this time.

Last month, Israel and the UAE reached a deal to normalize relations, with Israel agreeing to suspend its controversial plans to annex part of the occupied West Bank – announced by Mr. Trump in a surprise statement.

28-year-old woman was allegedly gunned don by her husband inside the Madeira Police Station in Mthatha, Eastern Cape on Monday afternoon 7 September 28-year-old woman was allegedly gunned down by her husband inside the Madeira Police Station in Mthatha, Eastern Cape on Monday afternoon 7 September. 
The preliminary report suggests that the woman had gone to the police station to report domestic violence. The husband then shot her. The incident, according thesouthafrican.com, took place on the same day President Cyril Ramaphosa elaborated on three new bills set to combat Gender-Based Violence (GBV). 

Provincial Commissioner of the Eastern Cape Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga has expressed shock and dismay at the domestic violence-related killing.

“Whilst she was busy reporting to the police officer at the Community Service Centre, the husband entered the station and without saying anything, started shooting at the wife who succumbed to injuries sustained at the scene,” said Kinana. 

The 42-year-old suspect, who is believed to be working as a security guard in one of the prominent Security Companies in Mthatha, is alleged to have attempted to escape after committing the crime in the police station but was chased and eventually arrested by police.

“The firearm he had in his possession was confiscated and will be sent to the forensic laboratory for ballistic testing,” said Kinana. 

Ntshinga strongly condemned the murder of the woman and described it as “unwarranted” and “devastating”.

“The fact that the suspect followed the deceased all the way to the police station demonstrates a premeditated onslaught on the woman. This is very sad and unfortunate. I am, however, delighted at the rapid move by the police to arrest the suspect. Acts of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide cannot be forgiven, therefore, the suspect must face the law and answer for his actions” said Ntshinga.

A murder case has been opened against the suspect for investigation. Once charged, the suspect will appear in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on murder-related charges.

Flag-bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Ghana’s forthcoming election, former President John Dramani Mahama, has said the ‘next’ government would scrap the law that bars the Importation of salvaged vehicles into the country.
Similarly, the former president hinted, the next NDC government will also scrap the proposed increment in the import duty for such salvaged vehicles.

Mr. Mahama who was highlighting some aspects of the NDC’s 2020 manifesto in Accra on Monday evening, September 7, 2020, said the rationale behind the move was to secure the livelihoods of the many Ghanaians who depended on the sector for their daily bread.

The 2020 NDC manifesto is titled: “People’s Manifesto: Jobs, Prosperity and more.”

“We will review the Customs Amendment Act 2020 (Act 1014) to scrap the law banning the importation of salvage vehicles and the proposed implementation of a 35 percent import duty rate. 

“We are going to scrap it in order that salvaged cars are not banned and top duty rate government intends to impose on these vehicles does not happen. 

“This is to safeguard the local automobile industry so that our people in Suame Magazine, Abossey Okai, Komkompe to continue to work to earn a decent living,” Mr. Mahama explained.

The current New Patriotic Party (NPP) in March, passed the Customs (Amendment) Bill, 2020 an amendment of the Customs Act, 2015 (Act 891).

The new Customs Act banned the importation of accident and salvaged motor vehicles and cars over ten years of age into the country. The Act among other things provides incentives for automobile manufacturers and assemblers registered under the Ghana Automotive Manufacturers Programme.

In a bid to stop incessant crimes associated with individuals using vehicles to perpetrate such, the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) has launched a new number plate series.

At the ceremony to unveil the new number plates at their head office in Freetown on Monday, Ibrahim Sannoh, the executive director of SLRSA, said the innovation was aimed at curbing the increasing vehicle crimes in the country.

He said the new number plates would make it easier to manage data electronically.

He explained that the new number series launch was in line with President Julius Maada Bio’s digitalization agenda for all government agencies.

The new vehicle number plates Mr. Sannoh said will put an end to the production of fake vehicle number plates which for a very long time has posed serious national security risks.

The number of police investigations and court cases involving fake vehicle number plates in Sierra Leone is very high and rising.

With this newly designed number plate, the police and SLRSA will be able to effectively track and trace all vehicles that are registered in the country, the Executive Director said.

According to the administrator of the management information system of SLRSA – Adisa Dosunmu, the new vehicle number plates have three unique features – a QR bar code, the seal of the SLRSA, and the coat of arms of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

Adisa Dosunmu said that SLRSA has purchased android devices that will scan the QR bar code on the vehicle number plates to identify the vehicle and its registered owner.

This new technology he said would help the SLRSA to identify and eliminate fake motor-vehicle number plates, and prevent the transfer of vehicle number plates from one vehicle to another.

The SLRSA has three contractors that are producing motor-vehicle number plates – Bilhaq Trading and Construction System, Sara Trading Company, and the International Associated Services Ecowas License Plates (IAS).

Meanwhile speaking on behalf of the three number plate companies, Mr. Sheik A. Fofanah – the CEO of the Bilhaq Trading and Construction Company said that the new number plates are the first in the West African subregion and that vehicles from Sierra Leone could now travel within the subregion without hindrance.

The Bilhaq Boss said that other countries within the West African subregion have expressed admiration for Sierra Leone’s new motor-vehicle number plates, and are hoping to emulate this new standard set by Sierra Leone.

He also said that the new and innovative number plate design was created by local Sierra Leonean companies and commended the Executive Director of the SLRSA and his Deputy for implementation of the country’s local content policy.

Mr. Fofanah committed the support of the vehicle number plate production companies to the mission and vision of the SLRSA and said they will maintain the West African standard of producing secure vehicle number plates.

Launching the new motor vehicle number plates, the Executive Director of the SLRSA was quick to announce that vehicle owner will not incur additional costs, as the production cost remains the same.

The SLRSA is going through a rapid transformation under the leadership of the Executive Director – Mr. Ibrahim Sannoh. The launching of the new vehicle number plates is the second landmark event in less than a month for the SLRSA.

Recall that two weeks ago, SLRSA launched its new vehicles E-Fitness technology to improve the work of vehicle examiners, as the SLRSA prepares to launch its first biometric driver’s license in Sierra Leone.

Football fans in Nigeria who have been denied the chance to witness sporting activities would heave a sigh of relief as the Federal Government has lifted the ban on sports activities.
So according to information gathered from the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) source, the country’s domestic football league, the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), for the 2020/2021 season, would very soon start. 

Recall that the Nigerian Government, through the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, announced last week the return of football activities however without fans in the stadiums.
The announcement notes that the football resumption must be in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines which would be supervised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu, disclosed these during its weekly briefing in Abuja.
According to him, “Restriction is removed on outdoor communal (non-contact) sports and use of recreational parks for supervised physical exercise; andSporting leagues to resume with no fans in stadiums and with necessary NPIs to be directed by the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development and the NCDC.”

This reopening has come as a huge relief for football stakeholders such as footballers, referees, coaches, administrators as well as journalists that have long longed for the return of sporting activities in the country.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria in February this year, the Nigeria Football Federation in March announced the suspension of all football-related activities in the country until further information.
With this in mind, the Nigeria Professional Football League, the Nigeria Women’s Football League, the Nigeria National League, and the Nationwide League One are all expected to resume, revealed by an official of the NFF.