The International Monetary Fund said it has increased loan disbursement to Zambia up to $1.7 billion with an immediate release of $569.6 million.
It will help the southern African nation boost its foreign reserves as it faces a severe drought, significantly impacting its agriculture and electricity generation.
The drought situation led to a revision of the 2024 growth projections down to 2.3% from 4.7%, the IMF said after a meeting of its executive board on Wednesday.
It was in August 2022 that Zambia signed a 38-month Extended Credit Facility arrangement with the IMF under which the loan was disbursed.
“The drought has affected a substantial share of the population, and the authorities should continue their commendable efforts to address the humanitarian needs,” said Antoinette Sayeh, IMF deputy managing director. By Necva Tastan, Anadolu Agency
Sir Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of being “bullied” into taking action over the Westminster betting row as they faced off in their final televised head-to-head debate ahead of the General Election.
The two leaders traded barbs over the gambling debacle, taxation and immigration in the last major set piece event before polling day.
The recent allegations of political bets placed ahead of the July 4 contest were bound to feature heavily and the first audience question in the BBC debate challenged the duo to say how they would restore trust in politics, with people “dismayed by the lack of integrity and honesty”.
Sir Keir laid the blame at the Prime Minister’s door, saying “you have to lead from the front on issues like this” and linking the scandal to so-called partygate, when Mr Sunak was fined for busting lockdown rules.
The Labour leader said: “What I did, when one of my team was alleged to have been involved and investigated by the Gambling Commission, they were suspended within minutes, because I knew it made it really important to be swift.
“The Prime Minister delayed and delayed and delayed until eventually he was bullied into taking action.”
Mr Sunak responded: “It was important to me that given the seriousness and the sensitivity of the matters at hand that they were dealt with properly, and that’s what I’ve done.” BySophie Wingate, The London Economic
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, June 26, said he wasdeeply saddened by the reports of deaths and injuries - including of journalists and medical personnel - connected to protests and street demonstrations in Kenya.
Kenyan President William Ruto termed Tuesday's street protests in the East African nation as treasonous, noting that his government will soon provide an expeditious response to the situation, Xinhua reports. In his televised address to the nation, Ruto said the government has mobilized all its resources to ensure the situation does not occur again "at whatever cost."
In a post on his official X account, Guterres said: “I urge the Kenyan authorities to exercise restraint, and call for all demonstrations to take place peacefully.”
Guterres’s call for restraint followed a similar call by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Amb Moussa Faki Mahamat, who released a statement hours earlier, on Tuesday, urging all stakeholders to exercise calm and refrain from further violence. The AUC Chairperson also appealed to Kenyan stakeholders to “engage in constructive dialogue to address the contentious issues that led to the protests in the supreme interest of Kenya.”
President Ruto on Tuesday directed security organs to use all means possible to thwart any threats to the country's national security.
"It is possible that the criminals who reigned terror on innocent people and challenged our security organs are likely to continue with this behaviour," he said, adding that the planners, financiers and abetters of the protests would not go scot-free.
Ruto's remarks came a few hours after at least five protestors were shot dead and more than 150 others injured as protests erupted countrywide for the second week in a row against new taxation measures proposed. The protestors gathered in various towns across Kenya, including the capital Nairobi, where they breached the heavily guarded premises to enter both the National Assembly and the Senate, destroying property and marching into the buildings despite police firing live bullets in the air.
In his address, Ruto said the government would not tolerate crime masked as democratic expression. "The government will secure the nation and any threats to national security are a danger to the Republic and will be dealt with," he said.
The president observed that the national conversation on what affects the nation would only be done under the rule of law, constitutionalism, and respect for the nation.
Ruto spoke as Aden Duale, the cabinet secretary for defence, gazetted the deployment of the Kenya Defence Forces to aid the police in curbing protests.
The Kenya Defence Forces were deployed on Tuesday in support of the National Police Service in response to the security emergency caused by ongoing violent protests in various parts of the country, Duale said.
Uhuru Kenyatta appealed for calm and dialogue
In a statement issued on Tuesday, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta appealed for calm and dialogue, noting that he is saddened by the loss of lives occasioned by the protests.
Kenyatta asked elected leaders to listen to the people's grievances, calling for calm and for the leadership "to show restraint and do the right thing by listening to the people and not be antagonistic to them."
The lawmakers on Tuesday morning passed the contentious finance bill 2024, seeking to raise an additional 346.7 billion shillings (2.67 billion U.S. dollars), by such measures as increasing the railway development levy from 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent and the import declaration fee from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent.
The legislators also imposed an eco-levy on imported items like smartphones and electronics, noting they end up as electronic waste damaging the environment.
Ruto, who won the elections in August 2022 on the platform of helping the poor, has been under pressure to raise additional revenues in the country amid rising government debt repayments.
The finance bill was thus amended to remove the proposed 16 percent VAT on bread, transportation of sugar, financial services, foreign exchange transactions, and the 2.5 percent motor vehicle tax.
There will be no increase in mobile money transfer fees, and the excise duty on vegetable oil has also been removed. Levies on the housing fund and the proposed one on social health insurance will not attract income tax, The New Times
LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivian Defense Minister Edmundo Novello assured the nation on Wednesday that those responsible for the attempted coup will face justice, and affirmed that the government has “total and absolute control over our Armed Forces.”
A tense calm returned to Plaza Murillo in La Paz after the Bolivian armed forces retreated from the presidential palace and General Juan Jose Zuniga was arrested.
This followed President Luis Arce’s denunciation of a “coup” attempt and his appeal for international support.
Earlier in the day, military units led by Zuniga, who had recently been stripped of his command, gathered in the square, which houses the presidential palace and Congress. A Reuters witness reported seeing an armored vehicle ram a door of the presidential palace, with soldiers subsequently rushing inside.
Tensions have been escalating in Bolivia ahead of the 2025 general elections. Leftist ex-President Evo Morales plans to run against his former ally Arce, creating a major rift within the ruling socialist party and contributing to wider political uncertainty. AMU TV
At least 9 other soldiers wounded, government declares 3 days of national mourning. Twenty Nigerien soldiers and a civilian were killed in an attack by “a coalition of terrorist groups” in western Niger on Tuesday, the government said.
The incident occurred around 10 a.m. local time when a detachment of the Defense and Security Forces was attacked on the outskirts of the village of Tassia in the Tillaberi region in the tri-border area, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
At least nine other soldiers were wounded, it added.
The military government declared three days of national mourning from Wednesday, during which flags will fly at half-mast.
The ministry said the army later launched an operation in which dozens of terrorists were neutralized and their means of transport destroyed.
Lt. Gen. Salifou Mody, the Minister of State for National Defense, in his condolence message assured the population of “the unwavering will of the defense and security forces to continue the fight for sovereignty.”
The Tillaberi region, which borders Burkina Faso and Mali, faces regular attacks blamed on an affiliate of the Daesh/ISIS terror group.
Niger is ruled by a junta which ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum last July, citing a worsening security situation.
Earlier this year, the junta cancelled “with immediate effect” a 2012 defense cooperation agreement with the US. Yeni Safak
Informer East Africa is a UK based diaspora Newspaper. It is a unique platform connecting East Africans at home and abroad through news dissemination. It is a forum to learn together, grow together and get entertained at the same time.
To advertise events or products, get in touch by info [at] informereastafrica [dot] com or call +447957636854. If you have an issue or a story, get in touch with the editor through editor[at] informereastafrica [dot] com or call +447886544135.
We also accept donations from our supporters. Please click on "donate". Your donations will go along way in supporting the newspaper.
