Metro

Cape Verdeans lament high cost of living amid soaring inflation

Published

1 year ago

April 19, 2022

Citizens of Cape Verde island are feeling the effect of the Russian-Ukraine war as they lament the high cost of living with its attendant inflation that has continued to skyrocket.

According to statistic reports in the country, prices of goods increased by 0.7 percent in March and accumulated a rise of 7.1 percent compared to the same month of 2021, indicating the latest data from the Cape Verdean Instituto Nacional de Estatisticas (INE), an economic research institute run by the government.

“From corn to olive oil, rice, as well as fuel, bread, sugar, flour, and meat, are some of the products whose price rises Cape Verdeans consider exaggerated and call for intervention from the government and regulatory authorities,” the INE said on Tuesday.

“Many people are now hoping that the government will step in to stem the ever-increasing prices of food, petrol and other services in the country.

“Fuel prices rose by 5 percent in April, the maximum limit stipulated by the government, but have accumulated an average rise of 42.6 percent in the last year, as well as a rise of 7 percent since last January,” it added.

Some businessmen are calling on the state to control the prices of commodities entering the country to curb traders taking advantage of the situation.

“The rise in prices is worrying at all levels, especially for food products. We are aware of the international situation, but not everything is due to the international situation,” Lenine Mendes, a Cape Verdean businessman said.

“Often, producers and traders take advantage of crises to raise prices. We don’t have a law that limits prices, there is no supervision and control,” Mendes added.

While inflation is on the rise, Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, has ruled out the possibility of an increase in the national minimum wage due to the economic crisis.

“In a crisis situation, increasing the minimum wage would be transferring increased problems to the private sector, which may even affect existing jobs,” Correia e Silva said during a debate in the National Assembly, ahead of the escalating food and fuel prices caused by the war in Ukraine.

Currently, Cape Verde’s national minimum wage stands at 13,000 escudos (117 euros) in the private sector and 15,000 escudos (135 euros) in the civil service.

Related Topics:Cape Verde Cost of Living Featured inflation

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Metro

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

Published

18 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

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.

Metro

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

Published

19 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

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.