Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a prominent African cardinal who was a key adviser on climate change and social justice as part of a rare shake up of an entire Vatican office.

The Vatican said on Thursday that Cardinal Peter Turkson, was leaving the large department, officially known as the Dicastery for Integral Human Development. All other superiors also had offered their resignations.

The department was formed in 2016 to merge four offices that dealt with issues such as peace, justice, migration, and charities. It was plagued by management problems and turf wars from the start, Vatican sources said.

The Vatican has not commented on the timing of Turkson’s departure or the claims of dysfunction in his department.

Turkson, seen by some as a candidate to become the first African pope in about 1,500 years, offered his resignation again last week, following an automatic procedural offer at the end of his term in August. One source said he had told some staff he was “fed up”.

Turkson, 73, from Ghana, represented the Vatican at high-profile international venues such as the World Economic Forum at Davos.

His departure leaves the Vatican with no African heading a major department, following the retirement of Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea earlier this year.

A senior Vatican source said the pope was expected to give Turkson another top Vatican job.

The department underwent an external review headed by Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago at the pope’s request earlier this year.

The shake-up follows two high-level departures from the department over the summer, one because of retirement and another sudden and unexplained.

Turkson will be eligible until he turns 80 to enter a conclave of cardinals to elect the next pope after Francis dies or retires, according to Church rules.

The Catholic Church had several popes of north African origin early in its history, the last in the 5th century.

The Vatican said the department would be run on an interim basis by Cardinal Michael Czerny, an immigration specialist, and Sister Alessandra Smerilli, an economist.

Both were already members of the department.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters)

Guinean authorities must take immediate measures to ensure thorough and impartial investigation of recent rapes and sexual assaults followed by murders committed over the course of just eight days and bring perpetrators to justice, Amnesty International and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) said recently.

They must also increase their efforts to fight sexual violence by strengthening prevention, supporting access to justice for survivors and adopting a special law on violence against women.

Six girls aged between three and 16, and a woman were sexually assaulted, and some were raped between 25 November and 2 December 2021. Two of the girls have died as a result of the violence.

On 2nd December 2021, the Office for the Protection of Gender, Childhood and Morals (OPROGEM in French) presented a 24-year-old man charged with the rape of a three-year-old girl in the district of Gbessia in the capital Conakry.

On 30th November another three-year-old girl was raped in Batè-Nafadji in the eastern region of Kankan. On 27th November, a 12-year-old girl was raped by two men on her way home in the town of Sanoun. This came just a day after the death of another 12-year-old girl in the north-eastern town of Siguiri.

In the urban commune of Labé, west-central region of Guinea, a three-year-old girl was gang raped on 26th November.

Local organization, “Agir pour le Droit Féminin”, which met with the three-year-old girl’s parents on 7t December, told the organization that she was abducted when going to buy candy not far from the family home. She was then taken to an uninhabited house and sexually assaulted until she died.

The girl’s father who met with the prosecutor confirmed his demand for justice for his daughter. One of the alleged perpetrator’s father requested forgiveness from the girl’s family but they refused.

The rape of girls followed the rape of a woman on 25th November while she was in a hospital in the north-western town of Kamsar for a surgery. The hospital management announced three days later they had “arrested the alleged perpetrator” -who is an external service provider- and taken him to the gendarmerie.

The same day, a 16-year-old girl was also raped by several men in Kankan.

The authorities must ensure thorough and impartial investigations of these rape cases without delay and anyone found guilty must be brought to justice,

Marie-Evelyne Petrus-Barry is the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Africa Regional Director. She said,
“Survivors must receive access to medical care and psychosocial support as well as legal aid to access justice and redress.”

More than 331 rape cases reported since the beginning of the year

Since the beginning of the year, OPROGEM and the Special Brigade for the Protection of Vulnerable Persons (BSPPV in French) have already dealt with 331 rape cases. In 2020 alone, they dealt with 374 cases, a number which reflects only the tip of the iceberg according to NGOs working on sexual violence survivors, journalists, police and gendarmerie.

This is due to the stigma associated with rape in Guinea, which often leads to not reporting the crime and often such cases are handled through mediation and out-of-court settlements between the victims or their families and the alleged perpetrators or their families.

The recent rape cases follow another case that sparked a strong public reaction across the country last month. M’Mah Sylla, a 25-year-old woman, was allegedly raped by doctors at a non-licensed clinic in Conakry, where she went for treatment. She got pregnant as a result, and the same perpetrators raped her again when she returned to the clinic to seek an abortion. The rape caused injuries that could not be healed despite seven surgeries. The victim died on 20th November in Tunis (Tunisia) where she was medically evacuated following a government intervention.

Following M’Mah Sylla’s death, women staged protests on 22nd, 24th and 30th November in the towns of Labé, Kindia and N’Zérékoré, demanding justice for all victims of rape. On 21st November, the Ministry of Justice said three of the four alleged perpetrators of M’Mah Sylla’s rape had been detained in Conakry prison. The government also presented its condolences to her family on behalf of the head of state.

Djenab Boiro of “Mon Enfant, Ma vie” a local organization, told Amnesty International during a meeting in Conakry:

“Even dead, M’Mah Sylla deserves justice. I am convinced that the day the perpetrators will be sentenced to the punishment they deserve, her soul will finally rest in peace.

We have had too many cases like M’Mah Sylla’s and we hope and dream of not having any more.”

“Authorities have taken some steps in the right direction in recent years which we welcome, such as the creation in 2020 of a special unit within the gendarmerie to fight sexual violence.

In addition, local women’s rights organizations have played and continue to play a major role in speaking up against sexual violence, together with some media,” said Samira Daoud.

“Despite this situation, the persistence of rape cases, especially of girls, calls for much greater efforts to raise awareness among the public to prevent sexual violence, to protect the survivors, and ensure their timely access to justice and reparations as well as to bring perpetrators to account. This includes but is not limited to the adoption of a special law on violence against women, as recommended by the CEDAW Committee,” Marie-Evelyne Petrus-Barry said.

Gambia Action Party faction that formed an alliance with the Gambia Democratic Congress in the 2021 presidential election has appointed Jalal Camara as their new leader.

The faction held a congress on Wednesday where it appointed Mr Camara as secretary general, according to a statement.

The statement signed by top chieftain Muhammed Kandoro Yaffa read: “The Gambia Action Party’s National Executive Committee Members has unanimously agreed to appoint you as the Secretary General and Party Leader of GAP until Congress. This decision came as a result of leadership vacuum in party following the dismissal of its former leader.

“The party expects distinguished members in your calibre to lead the party for the betterment of the Gambia as a nation and her citizens. Equally, we expect responsible, dedication, determination and influential leadership from you in conformity with the constitution of the party and modus operandi. This appointment becomes effective after an acceptance letter is addressed to the administration.

“Your integrity, fairness, moral obligation towards the citizens of the Gambia and leadership traits triggered for this appointment. We wish you all the best in your new terrain and congratulations.”

By Christian Conteh

The Gambian Government has in line with its culture of Joint Islamic Solidarity added its voice to the call by countries the world over to act with utmost urgency to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

The Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Dr. Mamadou Tangara added his voice to the call at the recently held 17th Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting in Islamabad.

The meeting galvanized support to address the growing influx of internally displaced persons and refugees as a result of the armed conflict and the effect of COVID-19 in Afghanistan

The Gambian Foreign Minister appealed to all Member States, Islamic Financial Institutions and partners to act urgently to provide humanitarian aid to areas of greatest need, in addition to the reconstruction efforts in the country

“The need to address this humanitarian crisis is due to the growing influx of internally displaced persons and refugees as a result of the armed conflict in this country, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gambia therefore urges all Member States, Islamic Financial Institutions and partners to act urgently to provide humanitarian aid to areas of greatest need, in addition to the reconstruction efforts in the country.”

Minister Tangara said in line with the objective of Joint Islamic Solidarity, it is indeed a duty to provide full support and solidarity to the Afghan people and stand with them in this hour of need as was emphasised in the Communique issued following the Extraordinary Executive Meeting in Jeddah 4 months ago.

“To avoid this looming crisis, secure lasting peace, durable stability and development we call upon the Taliban, Afghan leadership and the International Community to ensure that Afghanistan is never again used as a platform or haven for terrorists and prevent terrorist organisations to use its territory as a launching pad to attack other countries as emphasised in our Joint Communique in Jeddah in August,” Minister Tangara said.

Afghan now now faces a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis affecting ever-greater numbers in the population. The widespread loss of income, cash shortages, exhausted coping strategies, and rising food costs, coupled with a halt to development assistance, and public services on the brink of collapse, has further exacerbated existing socio-economic vulnerability, manifesting in critical levels of sectoral humanitarian needs.

The Personnel Management Office on Thursday announced the approval of a new pay and grading system.

Gambia civil servants have struggled with low pay for decades but the Barrow government has since 2017 been engaged in efforts to improve the salary conditions of workers.

According to PMO, the new pay and grading system has been approved by cabinet for implementation. It will start in July 2022.

“Finally, this is indeed important as it will help improve the current low pay and pension of civil servants, improve attraction of both managerial and technical talents required for improved service delivery; assist in retaining highly skilled and competent civil servants among others,” PMO said.

Nigeria has destroyed more than a million doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines in a bid to assure a wary public that they have been taken out of circulation. The destruction came more than a week after health authorities said some COVID-19 doses donated by rich Western nations had a shelf life that left only weeks to administer the jabs.

The Reuters news agency reported on December 7 that about one million COVID-19 vaccines were estimated to have expired in Nigeria in November without being used. At a dumpsite in Abuja, a bulldozer crushed AstraZeneca shots that were packed in cardboard boxes and plastic as reporters and health officials watched.

Al Jazeera’s Fidelis Mbah, reporting from Abuja, said the delivery of the vaccines has been accompanied by conspiracy theories via social media and word of mouth.

“So the government has been making a very conscious effort to make sure that Nigerians are reassured that these vaccines are very effective. This is why they decided to make a public show of the destruction of the expired jabs,” he said.

Faisal Shuaib, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency executive director told reporters that a shortage of vaccine supplies on the continent had forced Nigeria to take the doses, knowing full well they had a short shelf life.

“We have successfully withdrawn 1,066,214 doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines. We have kept our promise to be transparent to Nigerians. The destruction today is an opportunity for Nigerians to have faith in our vaccination programme,” Shuaib said.

Source: Al Jazeera

China locked down the western city of Xi’an on Thursday to stamp out a persistent Covid outbreak, it’s biggest such move since the pandemic started in Wuhan, underscoring how the country’s zero-tolerance approach hasn’t allowed it to move on since the virus emerged nearly two years ago.

The 13 million residents of Xi’an were told to remain in their homes and to designate one person to go out every other day for necessities, triggering fights over access to food. Non-essential travel out of the city was banned. This came after a second round of mass testing pinpointed 127 Covid infections scattered across 14 districts, making containment of the virus “grave and complicated,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The rising number of cases underscores the challenge China faces at a time of increased holiday travel and preparation for the winter Olympic Games, which will feature an influx of athletes and their entourages in February. The vast majority of the infections stem from the delta variant, which spread through most of the world in the summer and fall. The country is girding for the more infectious omicron strain, which has been shown to evade immunity from vaccination or previous infection.

Protracted Battle

The lockdown of Xi’an is the latest escalation in China’s efforts to extinguish local transmission of the delta variant as it becomes the only country in the world still bent on eliminating the virus and bringing cases to zero. To prevent the infections in Xi’an from flowing into other areas, the city cancelled all domestic flights on Thursday, local media reported in the Paper.

Throughout the pandemic, officials have been able to stamp out outbreaks within about a month through mass testing, aggressive contact tracing and targeted lockdowns.
Yet as the virus’s new strains become more infectious, increasingly disruptive measures have been needed to contain outbreaks, putting pressure on the world’s second-largest economy. It’s been more than two months since there were no new local cases of Covid in China.

While local authorities have in the past used targeted lockdowns to slow outbreaks in smaller places in China, no major city has been put under mass restrictions since Wuhan in early 2020. It has a similar population size as Xi’an.

Officials in Beijing on Thursday acknowledged that there will inevitably be Covid infections at the winter Olympic Games, which are set to begin in early February. They urged all participants to get booster shots to better protect against the virus, especially those caused by the immunity-evading omicron variant.

Covert Spread

The outbreak in the city, the capital of many ancient Chinese dynasties that’s known for its terracotta warriors, traced its roots to a flight from Pakistan. A cleaner at a quarantine hotel got infected two weeks ago after disinfecting the rooms of travellers who tested positive upon arrival in China. The virus quickly spread to coworkers, while another chain of transmission may have brought it from the airport to local communities.

Many of the early cases were caused by a subtype of the delta strain. Yet the virus’s subsequent spread hasn’t been fully accounted for, enabling it to covertly fan out across the city and triggering the sweeping lockdown in an effort to contain it. More than 200 cases have been detected through Thursday.

While the number of infections remains small, the fact they are scattered across the city’s 14 districts shows how difficult it will be to contain the outbreak. Officials still haven’t identified some chains of transmission and the city is initiating a third round of mass testing in hopes of spotting them.

Subsequent cases have been found in two other cities in the Shaanxi Province, where Xi’an is the capital. Infections also occurred in Beijing and the southern Chinese manufacturing hub of Dongguan, where two dozen cases linked to the Xi’an outbreak were detected.
On China’s social media, some people described the outbreak as the worst the city has encountered. Videos posted online show people fighting over food and other essential goods in supermarkets as they stock up for the lockdown.

Entrance Examination

The outbreak comes as the city is set to hold a graduate school entrance examination for some 135,000 people next weekend. Some have been told to sit for the exam in other cities or provinces, while those who are infected or have been identified as close contact will take the test in quarantine.

Meanwhile, China has found four omicron infections from people returning from overseas. It hasn’t yet seen the far more infectious strain spread in the local community. Authorities have vowed to tighten restrictions at borders and ports as they see a mounting risk of infection seeping in from overseas.

Source: Bloomberg

Manchester City footballer  Benjamin Mendy will spend Christmas in prison after he appeared in court accused of rape by a fourth woman.

Mendy, 27, already facing serious sex offence allegations, was charged with another rape offence relating to a new complainant last week. Reporting restrictions were lifted on Wednesday when Mendy appeared at Chester Crown Court for a hearing ahead of his trial next year.

The charge relates to a new complainant and is alleged to have taken place in July this year. Mendy is now accused of eight offences against five different women, including seven counts of rape relating to four women.

The earlier charges are three counts of rape, alleged to have happened on October 11, 2020; sexual touching on January 2, 2021; one count of rape on July 24 2021 and two counts of rape on August 23 2021.

The France international, wearing a black suit and white shirt, spoke only to confirm his name during the 40-minute hearing and followed proceedings by an interpreter. A proposed trial date of January 24 next year has been rescheduled and his trial will now start on either June 27 or August 1.

The defendant is currently being held in HMP Altcourse, Liverpool. Mendy, of Withinlee Road, Prestbury, Cheshire, has been in custody since he was first arrested and charged with sexual offences on August 26.

Mendy has played for Manchester City since 2017, when he joined from Monaco for a reported £52 million. He was suspended by the club after being charged by police, pending an investigation.

Source: Evening Standard

President Adama Barrow has declared Monday, December 27th, 2021 and Monday, January 3rd, 2022, as public holidays throughout The Gambia.

A statement by State House on Wednesday said: “The Public is hereby informed that His Excellency President Adama Barrow, acting under section 76 of the 1997 Constitution, is pleased to declare Monday, December 27th, 2021 and Monday, January 3rd, 2022, as public holidays throughout The Gambia.

“The holidays are in observance of the Christian holy feast of Christmas and New Year’s Day 2022.

“President Barrow takes this opportunity on behalf of the First Family and the Government, to wish the Christian community and all Gambians a Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year.”

The University of The Gambia has issued a statement announcing that President Adama Barrow, approved the appointment of Professor Herbert Robinson as Vice-Chancellor. The appointment which came on November 30, is the culmination of a rigorous and painstaking search process for an inspiring leader for the country’s only public university. He emerged as first choice in a highly competitive international group of scholars.

The statement by UTG said: “Professor Herbert Robinson has an outstanding track record as an academic and thought leader. He started his academic career at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom in 2000. He became a full Professor at London South Bank University (United Kingdom) in 2011 after he taught and led major academic programmes, including cutting-edge research and consultancy projects that benefitted both international firms and public sector institutions such as the National Health Service of the UK, which collaborated with the university. As Professor of Project Management and Sustainability Strategy, he provided leadership in programme and curriculum development, research, building partnerships and mobilising resources, and strategic planning at faculty and university levels. Outputs from his research have been presented in international conferences and knowledge sharing events in Europe, USA, the Caribbean, Middle East, Asia and Africa. He has authored a plethora of publications, including books, book chapters, technical papers, policy briefs and articles in leading international journals and conferences.

“Prior to his appointment as Vice Chancellor, Professor Robinson was Director of Knowledge, Research and Learning at the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), a specialised agency of the African Union, based in Harare, Zimbabwe. In this capacity, he provided leadership in organising knowledge-sharing events such as the Africa Think Tank Summit, and in coordinating the production and dissemination of research publications to align the development priorities of African countries with key policy documents such as the African Union Agenda 2063, African Development Bank High Fives and UN SDGs 2030.

“Professor Robinson also served as the Regional Advisor, Head of Capacity Development and Training Division and Acting Director, at the United Nations African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (UN-IDEP)/ UN Economic Commission for Africa based in Dakar, Senegal, from 2012 to 2015.

“Before embarking on his academic career, Professor Robinson worked in industry as a Quantity Surveyor at the London Office of Ove Arup, an internationally renowned consulting firm, and returned to The Gambia in 1991 as a United Nations National Expert to support the World Bank Second Highway Maintenance Project at the then Ministry of Works and Communications in The Gambia.

“Professor Herbert Robinson attended Saint Augustine’s High School (1978-83) and after completing his Sixth Form education at Gambia High School (1983-85), he worked at the Medical Research Council (Fajara) before pursuing further studies abroad. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Quantity Surveying (Construction Economics) from University of Reading, United Kingdom (1989), a Master of Infrastructure Planning from University of Stuttgart in Germany (1995), and a PhD in Infrastructure Economics from South Bank University (2001) in the United Kingdom.

“The university is pleased that a Gambian national will occupy the position of Vice Chancellor, to steer the direction of the university with effect from January 2022.

“On behalf of the University community, we heartily congratulate Professor Herbert Robinson on his appointment and wish him a very successful tenure as Vice Chancellor.”

Lower Baddibu MP Alhagie Jawara has claimed United Democratic Party is dead ‘already’, – also stated the party’s members have learnt their lesson.

UDP is having a moment to forget after the party got torn apart by President Adama Barrow and his National People’s Party in the December 4 presidential election.

Leader Ousainou Darboe had always insisted he would be president-elect but that statement has now turned out to be only a dream.

MP Jawara told The Fatu Network: “They are very hostile when it comes to politics. They are the only party that has platforms, WhatsApp groups that are insulting people.

“They are the only political party during the registration process, they have their black blacks going to registration centres, point fingers at people, telling them ‘you’re not a Gambian, you cannot have our voter’s card’.

“I believe these are the things that disturbed them very much and they thought they were gaining.

“But they have learnt their lesson. The citizens have already shown to them that ‘we say no to UDP’. The party is already death. There is no chance [for them to resurrect].”

Former Manchester United youngster Saidy Janko has been included in The Gambia’s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations next month.

Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet has guided the tiny west African country, ranked 151st in the world, to qualification for the first time in their history.

Wing-back Janko, who plays for Spanish second tier side Real Valladolid, is named alongside England-based pair Ebou Adams (Forest Green Rovers) and Ibou Touray (Salford City).

Sampdoria defender Omar Colley, Roma midfielder Ebrima Darboe and FC Zurich striker Assan Ceesay are also in the 28-man travelling party.

Pa Modou Jagne will captain the squad in Cameroon, where The Gambia will face Tunisia, Mali and Mauritania in Group F.

The tournament begins on 9 January, with the final on 6 February.

Goalkeepers: Baboucarr Gaye (Rot-Weiss Koblenz, Germany), Sheikh Sibi (Virtus Verona, Italy), Modou Jobe (Black Leopards, South Africa).

Defenders: Pa Modou Jagne (FC Dietikon, Switzerland), Omar Colley (Sampdoria, Italy), James Gomez (AC Horsens, Denmark), Noah Sonko Sundberg (Ostersund, Sweden), Bubacarr Sanneh (Unattached), Ibou Touray (Salford City, England), Saidy Janko (Real Valladolid, Spain), Mohammed Mbye (Solvesborg, Sweden).

Midfielders: Ebrima Sohna (Fortune FC, The Gambia), Dawda Ngum (Bronshoj, Denmark), Sulayman Marreh (Gent, Belgium), Ebrima Darboe (Roma, Italy), Yusupha Bobb (Piacenza, Italy), Ebou Adams (Forest Green Rovers, England), Musa Barrow (Bologna, Italy), Ablie Jallow (Seraing, Belgium), Steve Trawally (Ajman, UAE), Ebrima Colley (Spezia, Italy).

Forwards: Lamin Jallow (Fehervar, Hungary), Bubacarr Jobe (Norrby, Sweden), Assan Ceesay (FC Zurich, Switzerland), Muhammed Badamosi (Kortrijk, Belgium), Modou Barrow (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, South Korea), Dembo Darboe (Shakhtyor Soligorsk, Belarus), Yusupha Njie (Boavista, Portugal). (BBC)

President Adama Barrow has appointed Professor Herbert Robinson as the new vice chancellor of the University of The Gambia.

Interim vice chancellor Professor Pierre Gomez made this known on Wednesday during the matriculation event of new students of the varsity.

Professor Robinson was appointed to role last month.

Professor Herbert Robinson is a Gambian professor in the United Kingdom who worked for both the UN and African Union.

The United Democratic Party (UDP) leadership has continued to urge its members and supporters across the country to avoid discussing the merits of the ongoing presidential election petition at the Supreme Court.

This call reiterates its position as earlier expressed in a 14th December public statement from the party’s leader, Lawyer Ousainou Darboe.

“I urge all members and supporters of the UDP to stay calm and continue to be peaceful and law-abiding at all times. And to go about their normal activities in peace and tranquility,” the statement read.

Adding that, “as the matter is now before the apex court of our nation, I urge all members and supporters of the UDP to refrain from discussing the merits of the case or to engage in any sort of trial by media until the court passes its judgement.”

At Tuesday’s hearing, President Barrow’s lawyers filed a fresh motion withdrawing the previous motion. The new motion brought a stronger request asking the Supreme Court to dismiss the UDP petition. The matter stands adjourned to Friday 24th December 2021.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) hopes the Malian transitional authorities finalize a precise electoral calendar before the end of this year.

ECOWAS envoy, Goodluck Jonathan made the remarks after meeting with Mali’s interim leaders. He led a delegation to Mali to assess progress of a promised election after the mutiny in August 2020.

“The meeting with interim president Colonel Assimi Goita went very well,” he told reporters without giving further details.

“We hope that, by the end of the year, all the decisions, including recommendations and an electoral calendar for the continuation of events in Mali, will be released,” he said, adding that he will come back next January to take stock.

Following the mutiny in 2020, an 18-month political transition starting from September 15 is underway in the West African country. The transitional authorities said earlier that the vote scheduled for February 2022 will likely be postponed by a couple of weeks or months due to security concerns. (XINHUA)

Lawyers for President Adama Barrow have filed a fresh motion asking the Supreme Court to dismiss UDP’s petition against the president.

UDP initiated a lawsuit against President Barrow over the December 4 presidential election, accusing the president and his National People’s Party of bribing voters.

On Tuesday 21st December, President Barrow’s legal team withdrew their motion filed earlier seeking the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition filed by the United Democratic Party on grounds that a sitting president is immune from legal action.

The defendant’s withdrawal came with a fresh motion. The earlier motion only had one prayer which was the dismissal of the petition whilst the new motion is more elaborate with eight prayers. The new motion, Sheriff M Tambadou lawyer for the 1st respondent said only seeks to consolidate the other motion that had been filed earlier.

Chief Justice Hassan B. Jallow granted the application and ordered the defendant to pay cost of D10,000 to the petitioner (UDP).

The petitioner (UDP) was represented by Lawyer Borry S. Touray, Lawyer Abdul Aziz Bensouda and Lawyer Lamin L Darboe. While the 1st respondent (President Barrow) was represented by Lawyer Sheriff Marie Tambadou, Lawyer Christopher E. Mene, Lawyer Pauline Bakurine and Lawyer Ida Richard.

And the 2nd respondent (IEC) was represented by Lawyer Kebba Sanyang and Lawyer Malick HB Jallow.

The matter stands adjourned to Friday 24th December.

A brawl has broken out in Ghana’s parliament during a late-night session over a contentious government-proposed levy on electronic transactions. MPs shoved, pushed and threw punches at each other, while others tried to stop the fighting.

The chaos started after opposition MPs rushed forward to prevent Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu from leaving his seat to vote, local media reports.

He was chairing the session, which was then adjourned because of the disorder.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected the proposed levy of 1.75% on electronic transactions, which includes mobile-money payments.

It says it will hit low-income people and those outside the formal banking sector.
But Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Artta has said it is necessary to widen the tax net, arguing that it could raise an extra 6.9bn Ghanaian cedi ($1.15bn; £870m) next year.

The parliamentary session began on Monday morning and broke up after midnight, the local Graphic newspaper reports.

Many Ghanaians have expressed disappointment at the behaviour of their MPs, saying they ought to be role models – not behaving immaturely. The deputy speaker’s vote was seen as crucial as parliament has been heavily divided over the proposed tax.

It was approved by parliament’s finance committee by 13 votes to 12, but only after its chairman cast the decisive vote in favour of the proposal, the Graphic says.
The parliamentary session is due to resume on Tuesday.

Ghanaian politics has been fractious since last year’s election when the NDC and President Nana Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) obtained 137 parliamentary seats each.
One seat is held by an independent, who has thrown his weight behind the governing NPP, giving it the edge.

In January, soldiers entered parliament to end a brawl among MPs over the election of a speaker – the NDC’s Alban Bagbin was elected to the post after some NPP members voted for him rather than the NPP’s Mike Oquaye.

Mr Bagbin was not present during the chaotic session on Monday, leaving Mr Owusu from the NPP in the speaker’s chair.

SOURCE: BBC

General Lamin Bojang has given his view on the just end presidential election saying no one could steal it.

“The way this election went from the registration to the way the voting took place, no one steal in it,” General Bojang told reporters at the high court in Banjul on Tuesday.

His comments come as officials of the National People’s Party went to court for UDP’s petition against President Adama Barrow.

UDP has accused President Barrow of bribing voters and the party is asking the Supreme Court to annul his victory.

UDP commando Momodou Sabally has called on UDP supporters to keep calm amid the party’s court battle.

“Just like I told you, keep #calm and remain #Yellow. One #victory @ a time, inshaa Allah… #KanaSong,” Sabally wrote amid UDP’s case on Tuesday.

UDP is currently in court disputing the December 4 presidential election result. The party wants the Supreme Court to scrap the election for alleged bribery and non-citizens voting in the election.

Supporters of the party celebrated online after lawyers for President Barrow withdrew an earlier motion seeking the dismissal of the case.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is not in favour of large-scale Covid-19 lockdowns because of the economic impact and how it affects people’s mental health, one of its leaders has said.

Dr Margaret Harris, a public health doctor from WHO said the most important thing people in the fight against the new Omicron variant is to get vaccinated. It comes after WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that people may wish to scale back their Christmas plans.

“All of us are sick of this pandemic, all of us want to spend time with friends and family, all of us want to get back to normal.

“The fastest way to do this is for all of us, leaders and individuals, to make the difficult decisions that must be made to protect ourselves and others.

“In some cases, that will mean cancelling or delaying events, just as we have had to cancel the reception, we planned to have with you (journalists) today.

“But an event cancelled is better than a life cancelled. It’s better to cancel now and celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later.”

Asked whether WHO wants people to cancel Christmas, Dr Harris said that is “not what the director-general was saying – he was saying large events, so he was actually referring to a reception we promised to have with journalists…”

On people’s plans for Christmas, she said the public should think about questions such as “Who is coming? What is their status? Have they all been vaccinated? Are you taking other measures – are you opening your windows, ventilating your room? Can you space things, have they worn masks? So there are lots of things that you need to do and take into account when you put your party together.”

She said “vaccines are really protecting” people, including the vulnerable, from going into hospital and from dying.

Asked if lots of people can contract Omicron but not find themselves in hospital, she said: “We’re hoping that that’s the case, especially in well-vaccinated populations. So that’s why we’re saying getting vaccinated is key.”

On the issue of lockdowns, Dr Harris said they work but not without an impact on people and business.

“We prefer not to see lockdowns, a big lockdown because they have huge economic implications, they have very severe social implications and mental health implications,” she said.

“However, they do work. So governments do get to a point when the hospitals are overwhelmed, where they run out of options.”

Asked if the British Government is probably right not to bring in further restrictions, Dr Harris said: “We don’t give marks to any individual country.

“We understand that leadership and health authorities tailor their measures and their decisions according to the epidemiology in their populations, but also the cultural and behavioural dynamics at work in their populations.

“But the overall message is limit crowding and take the measures if you’re out and about that will protect you, like wearing the mask and wearing the mask properly. Please wear it over your nose… And make sure that you do the handwashing, the distancing, and really, really seriously, get vaccinated.

“Not just get vaccinated, but if you know someone who’s still struggling with the idea of being vaccinated, help them to get vaccinated.”

Regarding the mental health impact on younger people and the impact of lockdowns, she said: “We prefer that governments do not get to the point – that your epidemiology does not get to the point – where governments feel they need to make that decision because, indeed, the mental health impacts are very serious and we have seen a big rise in mental health suffering during this period.

“So, if you do go into lockdown, look at how you can support people, what you can do to alleviate the suffering that it does cause.”

Dr Tedros said the pandemic could be ended in 2022 if 70% of the population of every country of the world has been vaccinated by the middle of next year.