Metro

Rwanda, DR Congo trade accusations over border post attack

Published

1 year ago

February 16, 2023

The Rwandan and Democratic Republic of Congo governments have traded blames over an attack at a border post which spiked tensions between the two neighbours.

Rwanda’s army fired the first salvo on Wednesday when its troops briefly exchanged fire with soldiers from the DRC at the post, claiming the provocation was caused by the Congolese soldiers.

A statement by the Rwandan military in Kigali on Thursday, said “12 to 14 Congolese soldiers entered the neutral zone near the western district of Rusizi and opened fire at a Rwandan border post, in an act of provocation.”

“Our security forces responded and the Congolese soldiers withdrew. There were no casualties on the Rwanda side and the situation is calm,” the statement said.

But while reacting to the accusation, the DRC government, in its own statement released from Kinshasa, denied entering the neutral zone and said there were clashes between its military and a group of “bandits” near the border in Bukavu.

“In no case did the army cross the neutral zone, let alone open fire in the direction of Rwanda,” Theo Ngwabidje Kasi, governor of South Kivu province, said in the statement.

Kasi said the accusations were lies and described the incident as an altercation involving an exchange of fire between the Congolese security forces and bandits.

“Rwanda’s tendency to want to portray itself as a victim and stoke tensions by making false accusations reveals without any doubt its intention to attack South Kivu province, as is currently the case in the war of aggression that it is carrying out in North Kivu,” Kasi added.

The incident is coming against a backdrop of existing tensions between the DRC and its smaller neighbour over an offensive in the eastern Congolese province of North Kivu.

In January, Rwanda accused a Congolese fighter jet of violating its airspace near Goma, a town on North Kivu’s border after the plane came under fire but was able to land safely in Goma.

Kinshasa had described the attack on its aircraft as “a deliberate act of aggression that equals an act of war” with the goal of sabotaging regional peace efforts.

The DRC has also accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group that has been fighting in eastern DRC for more than a decade, while Rwanda in turn, accuses the DRC of supporting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel group based in the DRC and has carried out raids into Rwanda in the past.

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Metro

Chipata youth calls for stronger media protections amid concerns over media independence

Published

15 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Alepha Banda, a programmes officer at the Youth Development Foundation (YDF), says Zambia’s existing laws do not adequately safeguard journalists, thereby impeding media freedoms and their ability to report objectively.

Banda also argued that journalists’ lack of economic stability makes them susceptible to manipulation.

In an interview with Zambia Monitor in the Eastern Province, Banda stated the need for the government to develop policies aimed at protecting private media entities and journalists.

“The government should formulate a policy that will protect the private media and journalists,” he said.

Moreover, Banda pointed out that although individuals theoretically possess the freedom to express themselves, this liberty was frequently curtailed by factors such as fear and threats emanating from certain members of the political class.

“Individuals in positions of power have a tendency to interfere with the media, as evidenced by numerous incidents where media outlets have been stormed by individuals affiliated with certain political factions,” he said.

Nevertheless, he noted that there had been instances where the government respected media freedoms.

“At least we have seen some tolerance in some instances, where the government has not taken action that hinders media freedom,” he stated.

Additionally, Banda mentioned that the marginalised were often overlooked both in new media platforms and traditional mainstream media outlets.

“The marginalised are often neglected across television, radio, and newspapers,” he said.

This story is sponsored content from Zambia Monitor’s Project Aliyense.

Metro

Nigeria may need to raise supplementary budget to be able pay minimum wage— IMF

Published

21 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the Nigerian government may need to raise a supplementary budget to be able to pay the proposed minimum wage increase for workers.

The IMF which gave the advise in its latest staff country report for Nigeria on Monday, said a supplementary budget was necessary because the negotiated amount for the wage increase may surpass the budgeted amount in the original 2024 budget.

“The authorities noted that a supplementary budget may be needed to accommodate the outcome of the ongoing wage structure negotiations which may exceed what they had included in the 2024 budget,” the report said.

“Staff projects a higher fiscal deficit than anticipated in the 2024 budget, but broadly unchanged from 2023. The drivers are lower oil/gas revenue projections, reflecting IMF oil price forecasts but incorporating recent production gains; higher implicit fuel and electricity subsidies; continued suspension of excise measures included in the MTEF; and higher interest costs,” the agency noted.

The report also noted that the government might need to raise the domestic and external borrowing ceilings to prevent fresh borrowings from the apex bank’s Ways and Means.

“Over the medium-term, staff projects consolidation in the non-oil primary deficit. With rising interest costs, government debt stabilises towards the end of the projection period.

“Staff factors in an under-execution of capital expenditure in line with past outcomes and estimates an FGN deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP relative to the 2024 budget target of 3.4 per cent of GDP.

“For the consolidated government, this implies a projected deficit of 4.7 per cent of GDP in 2024—compared to 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2023 measured from the financing side—which is appropriate given the large social needs and factoring in a realistic pace of revenue mobilisation.

“Based on staff’s projections, the authorities must raise the domestic and external borrowing ceilings to prevent renewed recourse to CBN financing.

“With higher interest rates, banks and nonbanks should have sufficient appetite—as indicated by market sources—conditional on careful management of system liquidity, including a likely reduction in the currently high cash reserve requirement.”

Organised labour in the country has continued to clamour for an increase in the minimum wage for government workers.

Labour leaders have demanded for N615,000 from N30,000 as salaries for lowest ranked workers, while a tripartite committee set up by the government have mulled N70,000 as the new minimum wage.

Despite the government allocating N6.48tn for personnel cost in the 2024 budget, the international lender argues that the amount may be insufficient, which could force the government to come up with a supplementary budget to fund the deficit, the report added.