• On March 8, the 26 students were evacuated from Sumy through the humanitarian corridor to Poltava.
• On Wednesday, they left Poltava and were driven to Lviv on the Ukraine border with Poland.
Newly appointed Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Marjan Hussein has opened up over the demise of his former colleague, Chris Msando.
During an interview on Thursday, March 10, Hussein stated that losing Msando, IEBC's former Information Communication and Technology (ICT) manager, was devastating.
The deceased was tasked with spearheading the electronic voting system ahead of the 2017 General election. His body was found mutilated and dumped in Thika.
“It was particularly sad for me because I had recruited him (to the commission),” Marjan told the Standard.
Regarding his first task in office, the new IEBC secretariat boss revealed that he was putting in place plans to add the newly enlisted 2.5 million voters to the IEBC register.
Marjan will also spearhead the auditing of the voter register that was used during the 2017 polls.
This followed concerns that the electoral body would conduct the August 9 polls with a register that contains names of Kenyans who passed away to create a loophole for electoral malpractice.
“The most critical thing I am currently steering is developing the register of voters. The law requires that the register should be ready 60 days before the election,” he stated.
Marjan, who replaced former IEBC CEO, Ezra Chiloba further noted that the commission would complete the process soon enough to enable Kenyans to verify their details.
Additionally, he exhibited his confidence that the electoral body would conduct free and fair verifiable polls.
“Kenyans should relax, IEBC is in control There will always be challenges, but we have learnt from our predecessors’ mistakes and have put up adequate measures to address them,” he stated.
IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati announced Hussein Marjan as the new CEO on Wednesday, March 9.
Tanzania Telecommunication Corporation and Huawei have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the deployment of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and fixed wireless 4G services, as well as the rollout and expansion of fixed and mobile networks in rural locations.
The state-owned operator’s Director General Waziri Kindamba said the partnership is aimed at enabling both parties to work together in various areas of improvement, a step that would help the telco build capacity at a time when the country is undergoing a digital transformation.
‘I can say that this cooperation with Huawei Technologies has come in a very right time, as it will in a large extent contribute in the digitalisation of our country. Our goal is to ensure that every person is connected with speedy and quality internet services,’ he said. Source: Comms Update
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The UK has added Russian oligarch and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich to its list of sanctioned individuals as part of its efforts to "isolate" Russian President Vladimir Putin -- throwing the sale of the London club into doubt.
In a statement Thursday, the UK government said it was adding seven further oligarchs and politicians -- including Abramovich -- to its list of sanctioned individuals.
Abramovich announced this month he plans to sell Chelsea, as it is "in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the Club's sponsors and partners." This came after he declared he gave "stewardship" of the club over to trustees of the club's charitable foundation
But the new sanctions will see his assets frozen and will prohibit "transactions with UK individuals and businesses," the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said in a statement Thursday. The billionaire will also face a travel ban forbidding him to enter the UK.
The sanctions also heavily affect Chelsea. The club is to be issued a "special licence" that will allow matches to be played, "staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches," according to UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries. The measures mean that no further tickets will be allowed to be sold by the club and only season ticket holders and/or tickets already sold will be allowed to attend matches.
British Member of Parliament Chris Bryant had previously called for Abramovich to lose ownership of Chelsea after seeing a leaked 2019 UK government document that said Abramovich was of interest due to his "links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices," the MP said in a Twitter post.
The UK is "absolutely determined" to sanction Russian oligarchs, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said this month, adding that the UK was working through "a further list" of oligarchs to sanction.
"There is nowhere for any of Putin's cronies to hide," Truss continued. Source: People Daily
• On March 8, the 26 students were evacuated from Sumy through the humanitarian corridor to Poltava.
• On Wednesday, they left Poltava and were driven to Lviv on the Ukraine border with Poland.
Freeman Mbowe spent eight months in detention on terrorism charges, which were dropped before his release on 4 March
The release of Tanzania’s opposition leader Freeman Mbowe is a step in the right direction which must be followed by concrete and effective measures to ensure full respect for human rights including the rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression, Amnesty International said today.
Freeman Mbowe spent eight months in detention on terrorism charges, which were dropped before his release on 4 March. Amnesty International is calling on Tanzanian authorities to immediately stop weaponizing the law to target opposition and critical voices, and to make a number of reforms including addressing the misuse of the provisions of non bailable offences under the Criminal Procedure Act to hold people in prison for unreasonable periods of time, on the grounds that further investigations are pending.
Following his release, Mbowe met with President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the State House in Dar es Salaam, where they pledged to join hands to “build the nation, through trust and mutual respect built on the foundations of justice”.
Freeman Mbowe was arbitrarily arrested and detained on politically motivated charges, amid a crackdown targeting Tanzania’s opposition
“Freeman Mbowe was arbitrarily arrested and detained on politically motivated charges, amid a crackdown targeting Tanzania’s opposition. His release brings an end to eight months of injustice and must signal the end of attempts by Tanzanian authorities to crush political opposition and peaceful dissent,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.
“We now call on President Hassan to honor the pledge she made last week, and ensure that the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly of everyone, including the political opposition, will be respected, protected, and promoted going forward.
“This means putting an end to the arbitrary arrest and harassment of politicians and their supporters. All those detained solely for expressing peaceful dissent and denied bail across the country must be released immediately.”
The High Court Division of Corruption and Economic Sabotage Offences ordered the release of Freeman Mbowe and three of his co-accused, Halfan Bwire Hassan, Adam Hassan Kasekwa and Mohammed Abdillahi Ling'wenya, after the Director of Public Prosecution dropped terrorism charges against all of them.
The prosecution did not explain the reason for its decision to drop the charges.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.
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