Connect with us

Metro

COVID-19: Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo opens land, sea borders after 2 years

Published

on

Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo has announced the opening of sea and land borders, 2 years he announced the closure of borders to the West African country in the wake of the global pandemic – Covid-19.

The president made the announcement in his 28th Covid-19 address on Monday. The announcement takes effect immediately.

The president stressed that the economy would soon rebound and cited a “review premised on the background of rapidly declining Covid-19 infections, the relative success of the vaccination campaign … and the increased capacity in the public and private health sectors”.

The World Health Organization says Ghana has so far vaccinated over 14 million people with a single dose and over five million fully vaccinated – 16.3% of the population.

A vaccination overview obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/

The president also declared that all in-person activities such as private parties, churches, mosques, cinemas are to resume at full capacity as long as the audience is fully vaccinated while fully vaccinated travellers to Ghana will not have to take tests when they leave for the West African country nor will they have to take a test upon arrival in Ghana.

According to the World Bank, Ghana’s rapid growth was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the March 2020 lockdown, and a sharp decline in commodity exports. The economy had grown at an average of 7 percent in 2017-19, before experiencing a sharp contraction in the second and third quarters of 2020.

The economic slowdown had a considerable impact on households. The poverty rate is estimated to have slightly increased from 25 percent in 2019 to 25.5 percent in 2020.

With the declaration of the opening of borders, Ghana’s economy is projected to recover gradually over the medium term, thanks to commodity price growth and strong domestic demand. The West African country largely depends on cross-border trade with Togo, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso.

Metro

Rwandan President, Kagame sacks over 200 military personnel in major shake-up

Published

on

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame has sacked over 200 soldiers including top military brass and commanders from the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) in a massive shake-up.

The dismissed officers include the former Commander of the Reserve Forces, Maj. Gen. Aloys Muganga, and Brig. Gen. Francis Mutiganda, a former Head of External Security in the National Intelligence Services, as well as 14 senior officers.

The announcement of the sacking of the officers which was contained in a statement released by the RDF on Wednesday, did not give reason for the sackings, but the move come a day after the president reshuffled the top echelon of the country’s military, which saw the firing of the Defence Minister and an Army Chief.

The sacking of the soldiers has further heightened tension between Rwanda and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, with each side accusing the other of working with rebels to topple one another’s governments, according to reports in local media.

Continue Reading

Metro

UN war crimes court declares Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga unfit to stand trial

Published

on

An 88-year-old Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga has been declared unfit to stand trial by judges at a United Nations War Crimes Court in The Hague.

In a decision published by the court on Wednesday, the judges acknowledged that Kabuga was no longer able to actively participate in his trial, and rather proposed an alternative process that aims to resemble a trial but does not allow for a conviction instead of stopping the proceedings completely.

“The trial chamber finds Mr. Kabuga is no longer capable of meaningful participation in his trial,” the publication said.

“The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, therefore, finds that Mr. Kabuga is not fit for trial and is very unlikely to regain fitness in the future.

“It is therefore agreed to adopt an alternative finding procedure that resembles a trial as closely as possible, but without the possibility of a conviction,” it added.

Kabuga who was arrested in Paris where he had been in hiding under a false identity for several years, was one of the most wanted suspects of the Rwandan genocide, and was charged at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda with genocide and crimes against humanity.

At his initial arraignment in September last year, the ICC heard that Kabuga was alleged to have been the main financier of the ethnic Hutu militias who slaughtered over 800,000 minority Tutsis as well as political opponents during the genocide in 1994.

According to the UN, Kabuga, a wealthy businessman from the Hutu ethnic group, had established and financed an infamous media outfit, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which was notorious for inciting violence and promoting the targeting and elimination of individuals from the Tutsi ethnic group who were referred to as “Cockroaches”.

Kabuga was arrested in Paris in 2020 after decades on the run and sent for trial in The Hague where he pleaded not guilty to charges of sponsoring the infamous Hutu radical radio station urging people to kill Tutsi “cockroaches”.

He also denied supplying machetes and supporting the murderous Interahamwe Hutu militia.

Continue Reading

EDITOR’S PICK

VenturesNow16 hours ago

Kenya: Parliament approves appointment of Kamau Thugge as central bank governor

Months after throwing open the position for the country’s top banker, Kenya’s parliament has approved the appointment of Kamau Thugge...

VenturesNow16 hours ago

Ghana presents ‘working proposal’ for debt restructuring— IMF sources

West African country, Ghana has made a major move at resolving its debt crisis as the country has presented debt...

Metro18 hours ago

Rwandan President, Kagame sacks over 200 military personnel in major shake-up

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame has sacked over 200 soldiers including top military brass and commanders from the Rwanda Defence Force...

Tech18 hours ago

Flutterwave partners Token.io to provide seamless bank transfer to users in UK, EU

Pan-Africa’s payments technology company, Flutterwave has entered into a partnership with Europe’s account-to-account (A2A) payment infrastructure provider, Token.io to power...

Culture18 hours ago

Kenyan govt to convert ‘evil cult’ forest into a memorial site

The Kenyan government says it plans to convert the Shakahola Forest, where bodies of over 250 members of a Christian...

Metro18 hours ago

UN war crimes court declares Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga unfit to stand trial

An 88-year-old Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga has been declared unfit to stand trial by judges at a United Nations...

Sports18 hours ago

FIFA honours Osimhen after amazing season with Napoli

Following his record-breaking season with Napoli where he scored 26 goals to win the Serie A top scorer award, Nigerian...

VenturesNow19 hours ago

Despite revenue crisis, World Bank projects faster growth for Kenya  

The World Bank on Wednesday said progress in the agricultural sector would likely lead to Kenya’s economic growth at a...

Musings From Abroad2 days ago

Angola, Portugal sign 13-point pact spanning finance, law, others    

Angola and Portugal have signed a Memorandum of Understanding including 13 different agreements that cut across financial, legal and other...

VenturesNow2 days ago

Congo DR, Angola advance talks over decades-long oil block dispute

Discussions are on to end a decades-long dispute between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola over an off-shore oil...

Trending