Author: Kelvin Funkeye

Mozambique says it needs $3.2 billion to recover from a pair of powerful tropical cyclones that ripped into the southern African nation earlier this year and left hundreds dead, raising alarm about the effects of climate change on coastal nations. That’s according to a government assessment supported by the World Bank, United Nations and European Union for a global pledging conference that begins on Friday. Some aid workers fear the worst is yet to come….

The World Bank has approved the Sh75 billion loan request for Kenya, further raising the country’s debt. On Wednesday, the lender said the loan facility will support critical reforms that will enhance competition and market transparency, reduce corruption opportunities in agriculture, and help Kenyan farmers to achieve higher productivity and increase their incomes. “Reforms supported by the facility include better targeting of subsidies for agricultural inputs to reach the intended beneficiaries (using e-vouchers and biometric…

FINANCE Minister, Mthuli Ncube says government is reluctant to hike power tariffs, but it may consider a commodity linked tariff for mines. Appearing before the parliamentary committee on Budget and Finance, Ncube told legislators that a tariff increase was highly untenable in the current environment and would only add to inflationary pressures.  “The pressure from Zesa has been to increase the tariff but we have been reluctant to do that. We should hold that back…

Karamoja- The Government has allocated Shs40b for food relief in Karamoja and other districts that are facing acute food shortage in the country. Mr John Byabagambi, the minister of Karamoja Affairs, made the announcement on Friday while touring projects funded by northern Uganda Social Action Fund phase III in Karamoja Sub-region. Mr Byabagambi said government has taken note of the situation on the ground and decided to act before it escalates. He said government released…

The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brig Gen Shuaibu Ibrahim, has warned tertiary institutions in the country against enrolling unqualified graduates in the scheme.   The DG said the NYSC would blacklist any higher institution found to be involved in fraudulent mobilisation of unqualified graduates in order to serve as a deterrent to others.   The NYSC is preparing to mobilise its Batch B prospective corps members by June amid reports from the…

President Muhammadu Buhari has said the police and community leaders are to blame for insecurity in the country. He spoke during a media chat on NTA on Monday. The President had been asked by the interviewer what he thought about the problem of kidnapping for ransom which was prevalent in the country. He said, “Those who are committing atrocities against communities, against the state and the country came from somewhere in Nigeria. Their neighbours know…

Anna Sorokin, the German con artist who passed herself off as a wealthy heiress to swindle banks, hotels and even close friends as she lived out a high-society, Instagram-ready fantasy in New York, was sentenced Thursday to four to 12 years in prison. The 28-year-old, who had played with her own tabloid image during the trial by wearing stylish dresses to court, looked despondent as the verdict was announced. She pressed her hand to her…

President Akufo-Addo says his government is determined to improve the skills of Ghanaian youth around the world in order to make them globally competitive. He said he hopes to see Ghana’s youth at par with their peers anywhere in the world when it comes to science and technology. The President made the statement during Monday, May 6’s inaugural inter-generational dialogue at the Kempinski Hotel, in Accra. “The 21st century is both a competitive one and the…

Nigeria is set to produce the president of the United Nations General Assembly after a three decades, Daily Trust reports. Joseph Nanven Garba, had in 1989 presided over the UNGA, the last time the position was held by a Nigerian. Professor Tijjani Muhammad Bande is expected to emerge the next President of the UNGA should he be elected, the present UNGA president Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garcè, hinted during an official visit to Nigeria. Bande is…

A prominent transgender activist from Zimbabwe has received asylum in the U.S. Ricky “Rikki” Nathanson, founder of Trans Research, Education, Advocacy and Training (TREAT), a trans advocacy group in Zimbabwe, applied for asylum on Dec. 27, 2018, after she traveled to D.C. from New York where she had attended OutRight Action International’s annual summit. The U.S. granted Nathanson asylum on Feb. 15. “I actually am feeling really much at home,” Nathanson told the Washington Blade…