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Ghana’s VP Bawumia throws weight behind anti-LGBTQ campaign

Published

1 month ago

April 12, 2024

Ghana’s Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has thrown his weight behind those against the LGBTQ community in the country.

Bawumia, who is also the presidential candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), while addressing thousands of Muslim faithful in Kumasi on Thursday during the Eid-Fitr celebrations to mark the end of the Ramadan fasting, said he had emphatically rejected the practice of LGBTQ in Ghana as it went against his religious faith and the country’s cultural norms.

It was the first time the Vice President will publicly comment on the issue since it became a burning topic after the Ghanaian parliament passed a bill criminalising LGBTQ+ and its advocacy.

The bill has however, suffered some setbacks as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has been reluctant to sign it into law as it’s constitutionality being challenged in court by human rights activists and pro-LGBTQ advocates in the country.

It has also been rumoured that Akufo-Addo’s reluctance in signing the bill into law may not be unconnected with threats from international donor agencies to withdraw funding for the West African country if the bill is signed into law.

In his address, Dr. Bawumia did not minced words when he pronounced that the practice was alien to Ghanaian culture and must be condemned by all.

“I will like to take this opportunity to personally comment on the raging issue of LGBTQ in Ghana,” Dr. Bawumia said.

“First of all, it is important to note that our cultural and societal norms and values as Ghanaians frown on the practice of homosexuality.

“On the issue of LGBTQ, it is important to note that our cultural and societal norms and values as Ghanaians frown on the practice of homosexuality.

“Furthermore, as a Muslim, my view on this matter aligns with the position of my religious faith. My faith is therefore very strictly against the practice of homosexuality. No shades of grey,” the NPPbpresidential candidate added.

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Namibia to receive $138.5 million W’Bank loan

Published

1 week ago

May 7, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The World Bank has announced that it has granted a $138.5 million loan to assist Namibia in strengthening its transmission network and integrate renewable energy projects into the grid.

Namibia, one of the driest nations in Sub-Saharan Africa with an abundance of sunshine and wind, aims to establish itself as a hub for renewable energy in tandem with the significant offshore oil and gas discoveries that have made the nation a global centre for exploration.

“Namibia is a uniquely positioned regional leader in the transition towards a greener and more sustainable future,” Satu Kahkonen, World Bank country director for Namibia said in a statement.

This will be Namibia’s first World Bank-financed energy project, and the loan will be utilized by the national electricity utility NamPower as it works to wean itself off of electricity imports from neighbouring nations.

Namibia is pursuing a $10 billion green hydrogen project, which, when finished, will be exported to the European Union, in addition to new solar and wind projects.

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Socialist Party accuses Zambian ruling UPND of abducting its candidates

Published

1 month ago

April 13, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Zambian opposition party, the Socialist Party (SP), has accused the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) of masterminding the abduction of its candidate for the Kaunga Ward by-election in Luangwa district of Feira Constituency, Maneya Mwale.

The SP, in a statement in Lusaka, also called on security agencies to arrest the UPND’s Lusaka Province Chairperson, Obvious Mwaliteta, for the alleged abduction of Mwale.

SP’s Vice President, Dr Cosmas Musumali, said Mwaliteta should be arrested together with his District Chairperson, Anderson Banda.

Musumali, who made the call at a media briefing in Lusaka, alleged that Mwaliteta, Banda and other people mentioned kidnapped his party’s candidate.

He also accused the ruling party and President Hakainde Hichilema of being behind such activities that had continued to happen in all the ward elections in the country.

“Those who know this President know that he micromanages everything. He has hands on type of leadership and this kidnapping have not happened once but have been happening, nothing has been done, no one has been arrested, what’s the conclusion, the conclusion is that he is okaying it, he sees nothing wrong with it and the Head of State who swore to uphold the rights and Constitution of Zambia,” Musumali said.

“This is something that can not be done without HH tolerating it, facilitating it and even giving it a go ahead. If it’s done once I would agree with you that some rogue UPND members did it outside his control,” Musumali added.

He also claimed that the UPND was not ready to uphold the democratic tenets of the country and were using all means necessary to win the elections.

“The candidate in Kaunga Ward, like in the other 6 Wards, was abducted during the nominations day, which forced the Socialist Party to look for other candidates and Hichilema has remained silent on such activities,” Musumali noted.

Musumali further called on the Electoral Commission of Zambia to invalidate the nominations for Chikenge and Chisanga wards and set a new date for filling in of nominations.

“We further demand that the Commission should ban the UPND from participating in these two wards due to the crimes committed, which are against the electoral code of conduct,” he demanded.

He expressed that “hell would have broken lose had it been the other way round, and that Socialist Party leader Dr Fred M’membe would have been called all sorts of names by the UPND and their surrogates.”

“This is the winning formular for the UPND, kidnapping, abductions have become child’s play for them, they are endangering people’s lives, you have the audercity to abduct a 22 years old girl and pointing a gun to her head,” Musumali said.