Day: April 12, 2023

Mr John-Peter Amewu, Member of Parliament (MP) for Hohoe Constituency and Minister of Railway Development, has donated medical equipment to the Volta Regional Hospital, Hohoe and other health facilities in the Constituency to improve health care delivery.

The equipment included surgical gloves, face masks, needles and syringes, wheelchairs, clutches, surgical gowns, diapers, respirators, assorted bandage supplies, and scissors.

Mr Amewu said the donation, which was in collaboration with the Claribel-Esther Foundation, a registered Non-Governmental Organization in the Hohoe Municipality, hoped the equipment would be put into effective use.

Madam Esther Kporwofe, Nurse Manager of the Hospital, on behalf of staff and management, expressed gratitude to the MP for the donation.

She said the items would help the facility in discharging its duties adding that the equipment would be taken care of.

At the Fodome Helu Health Centre, Mr Victor Lumor, in-charge, said the 21-year-old facility in practice served as one of the referral centres in the Municipality.

He said the facility was unable to meet their demands due to some challenges including poor lighting system, adding that as a result, the few health equipment were not being operated.

Mr Lumor said the facility needed an expansion of its wards as well as more places of abode for staff while in need of transport for the facility.

He noted that with the availability of all equipment, the facility would operate to full capacity.

Mr Amewu donated a transformer to the Fodome Helu community and a motorbike to the health facility.

At Fodome Ahor, where the equipment were presented to the Ahor and Fodome Woe health facilities, Mr Amewu said he was committed to the health of his constituents.

Mr Patrick Yao Adoboe, a Committee Chairman at Fodome Ahor, commended Mr Amewu for the good works he was doing for the Constituency.

He thanked the MP for the kind gesture towards the health facilities in the Constituency.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A Cameroonian student, Samuel Nkongho Tanyi, has been sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for importing 9.5 kilos of drugs to Cyprus from Cameroon. The verdict was passed on April 11th 2023.

The high court Judge Murat Soytaç together with two other judges noted that the accused came into the country as a student and imported 9.5 kilograms of cannabis-type drugs through the Ercan Airport because he did not have enough money to cover his education. He also stated that this portrays weaknesses in the student admission policy of foreigners by the state.

“It raises serious questions about the issue, and also points to serious weaknesses in the student admission policy of the State,” the North Cyprus News Agency reported.

He highlighted that importing drugs into North Cyprus, which is claimed to be the “country of universities”, through Ercan Airport also raises serious questions as to how well students can be protected.

“The fact that such a large amount of drugs can be brought into the country from Ercan Airport in a suitcase without taking any additional measures shows us a picture as grave as the crime committed.”

The High Court Judge has criticized the management of foreign students and says

urgent measures are needed to address the problem of African students who arrive in North Cyprus and become either the perpetrators or victims of crimes.

The online news for North Cyprus had reported in September last year that most African students, mainly from Nigeria, are lured to North Cyprus by agencies who promise them the opportunity to work while they study. There have been incidences where some have been kidnapped and forced to work as sex workers.

While Others have been unable to pay for their tuition because they cannot find employment to help pay for their studies and thus they resort to selling drugs.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Senators making up the third legislature will have as challenges: the implementation their institutional mission, which is to decently represent their decentralized territorial collectivities and to actively participate in the implementation of democracy as mentioned by the Head of State.

These challenges were revealed on April 11th 2023 as the 100 senators who were recently elected and appointed, met at the Yaounde Conference Center for the solemn opening of their first ordinary session as of right. The session was presided over by the eldest Senator, René Ze Nguele together with his youngest colleagues, Senators Jeanne Caroline Afane and Michel Kotoko.

New Senators during the opening session expressed satisfaction and also revealed what their plans are.

“I am proud and satisfied to be here to participate in the writing of a new page in the history of the Senate in Cameroon and I hope we shall all have convergent points of view to participate in the construction of our country,” Senator Laurent Charles Boyomo Assala of the Centre region said.

“Our regions and the population in general are really expecting much from us. We should initiate development from the senate. We are also expected to bring our touches in decentralization. I think it is a mandate of revolution. We are determined to accompany the Head of State in this mandate,” Senator Grégoire Mba Mba of the South region added.

After the solemn opening of the Senate, the Senators are expected to continue their session as of right during which their compatibilities will be verified by various executive bodies that will be put in place, they will also be handed over their attributes and general committees will be formed.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Angolan head of State João Lourenço Wednesday in Luanda discussed with his counterpart from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Félix Antoine Tshisekedi the security and peace process in the Eastern region of this country, which faces an internal armed conflict.

Félix Tshisekedi, who had been in Luanda for a few hours, discussed with President João Lourenço, among the matters, the cantonment of the M23 forces, according to the understandings reached as part of the mediation exercised by the Angolan Head of State.

The Angolan mediation of the conflict in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) resulted in a ceasefire agreement in that region, since March 7 this year.

The Angolan National Assembly approved last month, at the request of the President of the Republic, unanimously, the deployment of a contingent of 500 soldiers from the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) to the DRC for a 12-month period.

The staff integrates a battalion of the FAA and their respective components, as well as financial means estimated at 11.2 billion kwanzas, within the framework of the budget of Defence and Security sector.

A contingent of the Angolan army should secure the cantonment areas of the M23 rebels and protect the members of the ad hoc verification mechanism, following the ceasefire between government troops and the rebels.

At a mini-summit on peace and security in the Great Lakes region, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 17, 2023, the African Heads of State and Government mandated” Angola, in coordination with the former President of Kenya, Uhuru Kennyatta, a facilitator appointed by the East Africa Commission, to hold contacts with the leadership of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group.

The M23 was created in 2012 when DRC soldiers revolted over the loss of power of their leader, Bosco Ntaganda, accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of war crimes and for alleged breaches of the peace agreement of March 23, 2009, which gives the name to the movement.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

La session ordinaire 2023 des travaux du Sénat de Côte d’Ivoire s’ouvre ce jeudi 13 avril 2023 à la Fondation Félix Houphouët-Boigny de Yamoussoukro qui lui sert d’hémicycle. Ces travaux seront présidés par le président de l’institution, Jeannot Ahoussou-kouadio qui devrait avoir comme invité de marque, le Vice-président de la République, Tiémoko Meyliet Koné. Sont également attendus, des présidents d’institutions, des membres du gouvernement, des membres du corps diplomatique accrédités en Côte d’Ivoire et de nombreuses autres personnalités. Seul point à l’ordre du jour de cette séance, le discours solennel d’ouverture de la session ordinaire 2023 par le président du Sénat au cours duquel il donnera les orientations pour cette nouvelle année législative, la dernière de la première législature du Sénat. En marge de cette cérémonie solennelle, une exposition photos dénommée « EXPO PHOTOS SE´NAT 2023 » ouvrira ses portes afin de faire revivre, en images, les cinq premières années de la première législature. Pour terminer, Jeannot Ahoussou-kouadio présentera son dernier ouvrage dénommé « Le Se´nat de Côte d’Ivoire, une Institution au cœur de la République », récemment paru aux éditions L’Harmattan.

Source: Agence Ivoirienne de Presse

La production cotonnière a chuté de plus de 50% par rapport à la campagne précédente à cause du phénomène des jassides, a relevé mercredi 12 avril 2023, le ministre d’Etat, ministre de l’Agriculture et du Développement rural, Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani à l’ouverture de la 15ème réunion bilan du Programme régional de production intégrée du coton en Afrique (PR-PICA), à Grand Bassam. M.Adjoumani a rappelé que malgré les efforts de l’Etat de Côte d’Ivoire et des acteurs de la filière cotonnière ivoirienne, la production nationale de coton graine, estimée à 236.175 tonnes à fin mars, a chuté de plus de 50% par rapport à celle de la campagne précédente qui a été estimée à 539. 623 tonnes. Soit une perte de 334.250 tonnes par rapport aux prévisions révisées de juillet 2022. Le ministre d’Etat, Kouassi Adjoumani a salué les efforts du Centre national de recherche agronomique de Côte d’Ivoire (CNRA) pour avoir identifié de façon diligente les insectes nuisibles, à savoir les jassides qui ravagent les contonniers. Il a également apprécié la mise au point d’une technique de riposte des chercheurs pour éradiquer ces insecteurs ravageurs. M. Kouassi Adjoumani a précisé que pour la campagne 2022-2023, une subvention au prix de cession des intrants a été octroyée aux producteurs d’un montant de plus 39 milliards et d’une subvention aux producteurs pour la prise en charge d’une partie de leur crédit agricole d’un montant de 29 milliards. Il a appelé les participants à cet atelier qui prendra fin vendredi 14 avril 2023 à des échanges cordiaux, francs et productifs, autour de thèmes qui contribueront à la relance de la production cotonnière suite à la crise des jassides. Le président du PR-PICA, Kodjané N’Diamoi a précisé que cette rencontre internationale vise à trouver une réponse aux principales problématiques actuelles de la recherche sur le coton tout en mettant un accent particulier sur la question des Jassides pour développer des synergies d’actions en vue d’un meilleur contrôle de ce ravageur pendant les prochaines campagnes. Elle réunit 250 personnes à savoir les représentants des partenaires nationaux des pays du programme (instituts de recherche, interprofessions, sociétés cotonnières et organisations des producteurs de coton), ainsi que les représentants des organisations sous régionales, internationales et les firmes agro-pharmaceutiques. Les pays membres du PR-PICA sont le Bénin, le Burkina Faso, le Cameroun, la Côte d’Ivoire, le Mali, le Sénégal, le Tchad et le Togo. Des prospections dans les zones cotonnières faites par le CNRA ont permis d’identifier trois espèces de jassides notamment, Amrasca biguttula, jacobiasca lybica et jacobiella fascialis avec une forte proportion d’Amrasca biguttula à 95%.

Source: Agence Ivoirienne de Presse