Musings From Abroad

New British PM, Liz Truss, makes history. appoints four cabinet members with African roots

Published

2 years ago

September 7, 2022

Newly elected British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has received praises from the African continent with her cabinet selection by appointing, for the first time, four cabinet with African roots to man UK’s key ministerial positions.

Truss, on Tuesday, selected a cabinet where, for the first time, a white man will not hold one of the country’s four key as she appointed British-Nigerian Member of Parliament, Kemi Badenoch, as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.

British-Ghanaian MP, Kwasi Kwarteng, whose parents migrated to the UK from Ghana in the 1960s, was named as Britain’s first Black Finance Minister while James Cleverly of Sierra Leone descent was appointed UK’s first black foreign minister.

Cleverly’s mother hails from the Sierra Leone and while his father is caucasian and has several times in the past, described himself as an African.

Truss also appointed British-Kenyan, Suella Braverman, whose parents moved to the UK six decades ago, the Home Secretary, or the Interior Minister to succeed Priti Patel who resigned shortly after Truss was named as Prime Minister.

Bravernan will also be in charge of the UK Police and Immigration Services.

This is the first time the British parliament will have four cabinet members who have African roots as as the Conservative Party continues to chart a new course in diversity.

According to political analysts, the move by Truss is an indication that the new PM believes in diversity and her resolve to put forward a more varied set of candidates for parliament.

Before the recent appointments, only one African-born MP, Paul Boateng, originally from Ghana, was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

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Musings From Abroad

EU withdraws Niger diplomat after junta accuses it of mismanaging aid

Published

17 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The European External Action Service (EEAS) has announced that the European Union would return its ambassador from Niger after the governing military in the nation questioned how an EU team handled humanitarian supplies intended for flood victims.

In a statement released on Friday, the junta in Niger accused the EU ambassador in the West African nation of distributing a 1.3 million euro flood relief grant to many foreign nongovernmental organisations in an opaque way and without working with the government.

Consequently, it mandated an audit of the fund’s administration.

“The European Union expresses its profound disagreement with the allegations and justifications put forward by the transitional authorities,” the EEAS said.

“Consequently, the EU has decided to recall its ambassador from Niamey for consultations in Brussels.”

Niger has been under military rule since the junta seized power in a 2023 coup.

Musings From Abroad

Mpox remains health emergency, WHO insists

Published

18 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has insisted that the Mpox epidemic remains a public health emergency.

WHO first declared an emergency when a new strain of mpox spread from the severely affected Democratic Republic of the Congo to neighbouring countries in August.

The WHO Director-General has decided that the increase in mpox still qualifies as a public health emergency of worldwide significance after the WHO called a meeting of its Emergency Committee and followed its recommendations.

According to WHO, the decision was made in light of the growing number and ongoing geographic dispersion of cases, field operating difficulties, and the requirement to establish and maintain a coordinated response across nations and partners.

Mpox is a virus that is spread by close contact and usually manifests as pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms. Although it is typically minor, it can be fatal.

More than 1,000 suspected deaths and more than 46,000 suspected cases have been reported this year throughout Africa, primarily in Congo.

The WHO’s highest level of warning, known as a “public health emergency of international concern,” was previously used to describe a worldwide epidemic of a different type of mpox in 2022–2023.

This year’s notice was issued in response to the transmission of a novel viral variation known as clade Ib. Among other nations, cases of this variation have been verified in the UK, Germany, Sweden, and India.

Following criticism for moving too slowly on vaccinations, WHO approved Bavarian Nordic’s mpox vaccine in September and listed Japan’s KM Biologics vaccine for emergency use earlier this month.