Metro

Zambia: Sampa abandons legal challenge in PF’s leadership tussle as Registrar of Societies recognizes Chabinga

Published

5 hours ago

November 27, 2024

President of a Patriotic Front (PF) faction, Miles Sampa, has withdrawn his legal challenge against two of his adversaries, Robert Chabinga and Morgan Ng’ona, in a dramatic twist in the leadership saga of the faction.

The Matero Member of Parliament took the steps in documents filed on November 25, opting to abandon his interim injunction which had sought to stop Ng’ona, who claims to be PF’s General Secretary, from holding an elective meeting on August 11.

Sampa also dropped contempt of court applications against Chabinga, who had defied a November 9 High Court injunction by holding a press briefing at Radisson Blu Hotel in Lusaka, where he controversially declared himself the acting president of the PF.

Earlier this month, Sampa had sought permission from the court to initiate contempt proceedings against Chabinga, Ng’ona, and the Registrar of Societies.

His action followed allegations that the Registrar had altered PF’s official leadership records, removing Sampa as president and recognising Chabinga in a senior leadership capacity.

The tensions within PF escalated further when Chabinga expelled several top party officials, including former Republican President and PF leader Edgar Lungu, Sampa, and other prominent members, citing gross indiscipline.

In response to the purported expulsion, Sampa had accused Chabinga, Ng’ona, and the Registrar of Societies of deliberately flouting court orders and showing blatant disregard for judicial authority.

Related Topics:Featured Miles Sampa PF Politics Zambia

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Metro

4 Barrick Gold employees arrested in Mali

Published

6 hours ago

November 27, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Barrick Gold, a Canadian business, has claimed that four of its workers have been arrested and are being held pending trial in Mali.

In September, four senior local Barrick personnel were briefly detained in Mali, one of Africa’s leading gold-producing countries. Reuters was informed by a person with knowledge of the situation that the same staff members had been arrested once more.

Without going into specifics, the business stated in a statement that Barrick denies the accusations made against its workers. It also said it will keep working with the Mali administration to ensure the release of detainees and reach a peaceful agreement.

“Since September 30, the company had been actively seeking to finalize a Memorandum of Agreement that would guide Barrick’s partnership with the government in future, including the state’s share of the economic benefits,” the statement said.

In early November, Barrick CEO Mark Bristow told Reuters that the top-ranked gold miner in the world was certain that claims and disagreements with authorities would be settled by year’s end.

The business and finance ministry and the justice ministry’s economic division were in charge of the case, Mali’s mining ministry told Reuters, adding that it was not directly engaged.

The world’s leading gold miner, Barrick, told Reuters in early November that it was confident claims and disputes with authorities will be resolved by the end of the year.

Mali’s mining ministry told Reuters that it was not directly involved in the issue and that it was within the jurisdiction of the business and finance ministry and the economic division of the justice ministry.

After the miners agreed to pay the Mali government $160 million to help settle the tax dispute, they left the capital, Bamako.

Metro

NIDCOM launches investigation into detention of Nigerian man in South Africa since 2019

Published

12 hours ago

November 27, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has launched an investigation into the detention of a Nigerian citizen, Abdul Olatunji, in South Africa since 2019 without trial.

The Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols for NiDCOM, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, said the Nigerian government is determined to get to the root of the with a commitment committed to uncovering the facts surrounding the case.

Olatunji’s family, in a petition to the Commission, had accused South African authorities of orchestrating false and malicious charges that led to his prolonged detention without charging him to court and called for the intervention of the Nigerian government.

In the Commission’s statement, Balogun said the acting Nigerian High Commissioner in South Africa has been mandated to the South Africa government to provide an explanation on the prolonged detention of Olatunji.

“The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission’s (NIDCOM) attention has been called to the above issue and will like to react as follows:

“Since the matter was brought to the attention of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), we have contacted the Acting Nigerian High Commissioner in South Africa who has reached out to the South Africa government to provide an explanation on the matter given the severity of the case.

“It should be noted that this case was never brought to the attention of NiDCOM nor the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa who are currently working on a few cases involving Nigerians in South Africa.

“However, we will work with the Nigerian Mission in South Africa to ensure a thorough investigation is carried out, with justice and fairness.

“The President of one of the Nigerian Diaspora Organisations in South Africa, the Nigerian Women’s Association South Africa, Elizabeth Johnson, informed NiDCOM that they have reached out to Abdul, after some media reports, while making arrangements for a prison visitation soon. NiDCOM Chairman has also spoken to Abdul’s brother via a telephone call.

“The Nigerian, Abdul Olatunji, has allegedly been detained since 2019, without fair trial. The family had alleged that Olatunji is the victim of false and malicious charges, orchestrated by South African officials and called for the intervention of the Federal Government.

“NIDCOM assures that the matter will be thoroughly looked into by the Federal Government of Nigeria,” the statement added.