State wants city couple’s luxury cars, cash seized in drugs
News State wants city couple’s luxury cars, cash seized in drugs probeMilimani Law Courts in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMGThe Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) wants a suspected drug-trafficking couple to forfeit its cash, luxury cars and prime land to the government. The court in November froze the couple’s bank account at Barclays and blocked the transfer of their Range Rover, Mercedes Benz and saloon cars as well as three parcels of land in Nairobi. They are said to have masterminded a criminal network of acquiring, trafficking, distributing and selling narcotic drugs through their family members and associates. In 2009 Mr Wanjohi and his wife were charged with trafficking in heroin following a police raid at their Muthaiga home.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 18, 2019 07:07 UTC
Morocco celebrates precious diplomatic goals on Sahara issue
Morocco is celebrating a series of diplomatic victories on the Sahara issue, the latest of which is the US 2019 appropriation bill providing for extending the funds allocated to Morocco to the Sahara. The Polisario and its mentor Algeria have launched maneuvers aiming at undermining Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces by using the economic card. Since 2017, the polisario’s attempt at legally challenging Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara through challenging economic agreements have been foiled. Phosphates production and related industries, an area of excellence for Morocco, has been key in the Kingdom’s African foreign policy. Phosphate revenues have also contributed to the development of the southern provinces where Morocco spends seven times more than the revenues reaped from the region.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 17, 2019 13:52 UTC
Morocco: Fuel price caps opposes government to competition council
On the same day the competition council issued a scathing report criticizing the government’s plan to set caps on fuel prices, governance minister responded by discarding the report as political. The council said capping fuel prices would not be beneficial to the Moroccan economy and citizen’s purchasing power. But the council irked the government when it pointed to the dysfunctions that marred the liberalization of fuel prices in 2015. “The competition council is a constitutional institution that should not assess governmental decision,” Daoudi told local media, stressing that the capping will still take place. Morocco imports the bulk of its fuel needs further subjecting local prices to fluctuations in international markets.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 16, 2019 14:26 UTC
US Spending Legislation Incorporates Sahara; Morocco Applauds
President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law the 2019 appropriation legislation that stipulates explicitly that the assistance funds allocated to Morocco will also benefit the Sahara. Morocco welcomed the text, which recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara southern provinces, as it is unequivocally pro-Morocco and unusually forthcoming on US development funds for the Sahara. It reiterates Morocco’s position that the Sahara should be considered as part of the US aids funds allocated to Morocco. “Funds appropriated under title III of this Act shall be made available for assistance for the Western Sahara,” reads the bill’s “Morocco” section. It noted that these provisions refer to the documented diversions and trafficking of international aid destined to the populations of these camps.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 16, 2019 14:03 UTC
Morocco Hosts MENA Business Aviation Show 2019
The Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) will organize in Marrakech Sept.25-26 its business aviation show 2019. The holding of this show in Morocco confirms the country’s position in the business aviation sector and its promising development potential. Business aviation flights to Africa are growing. In MENA region, the number of business aircraft is expected to reach 175,000 by 2020. This sharp increase is due to the region’s thriving economies, notably Morocco and an expanding wealthy elite using business aircraft in increasing numbers.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 16, 2019 09:00 UTC
Ad-hoc Corps members revolt for the harsh conditions and neglect by INEC
Corpers are being harassed by INEC who substituted corpers name for indegene in Remo North local Govt Ogun state. It's a serious matter.We were told to go back to our various houses at 11pm dt they don't need us.Hw can we not be needed where we were posted. Fuck u all pic.twitter.com/oRVMCHP7K0
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 16, 2019 07:52 UTC
Nigeria postpones presidential election for one week
Abuja, Feb 16, 2019 – Nigeria’s electoral watchdog on Saturday postponed presidential and parliamentary elections for one week, just hours before polls were due to open. President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking a second term of office, but is facing a stiff challenge from the main opposition candidate, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar. But the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, said after late night emergency talks that the timetable was “no longer feasible. Parliamentary elections for 360 seats in the lower House of Représentatives and 109 seats in the Senate will be held on the same day. Nigeria postponed voting just one week before it was due to be held at the last election in 2015, citing security concerns linked to the Boko Haram insurgency.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 16, 2019 02:26 UTC
Why Is Meghan Markle Traveling to Africa Just 2 Months Before Her Due Date?
Meghan Markle may be two months away from giving birth to her and Prince Harry’s first child, but that isn’t slowing her down. Meghan Markle smiling | Phil Noble – Pool/Getty ImagesWhere in Africa is Meghan Markle going? This will be Markle and Prince Harry’s first official trip to Africa. While on the two-day trip Prince Harry delivered a passionate speech about the strong relationship between the two countries. At the time of the visit, Markle will be just about eight months pregnant.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 16, 2019 00:22 UTC
2019 Election: Inec Replaces Card Readers Burnt In Anambra
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said that it has replaced the burnt card readers and other sensitive materials that were destroyed in a fire at its office in Anambra state. INEC had said that over 4, 000 card readers were destroyed in the fire. In a statement on its Twitter handle on Thursday, the Commission said its office in Anambra State replaced card readers for 14 LGAs, adding that they have been configured and delivered. The electoral umpire said it is working hard on the remaining 7 LGAs – Ayamelum, Ogbaru, Idemili North, Idemili South, Aguata, Awka North and Oyi. A spokesman for the Commission, Festus Okoye, had disclosed on Tuesday said that immediate measures to ameliorate the situation in Anambra including the mopping up of some spare card readers from other states were already in progress.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 15, 2019 20:15 UTC
2019 Election: Rec Declares Ballot Papers For Niger East, North Missing
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Niger State on Friday said that elections for the senatorial positions of Niger East and Niger North may not hold on Saturday as the ballot papers meant for the zone were missing. Prof. Samuel Egwu, Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, made the declaration while interacting with newsmen in Minna. “The issue has been reported to the INEC’s Headquarters in Abuja for urgent attention. He said that the Commission trained 23,000 ad hoc staff for the elections in the state. The REC also said that 2,181,400 eligible voters would participate during the general elections in the state.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 15, 2019 18:33 UTC
King Felipe VI upbeat about Morocco-Spain Alliance
Such an alliance is likely to bring closer the two shores of the Mediterranean as well as the European and African continents, the Spanish king pointed out. In this connection, King Felipe VI welcomed the “progress made by Morocco in modernizing its economy, its infrastructure and its institutions”, recalling that the North African Kingdom has gained 60 places in 7 years in Doing Business ranking. This economic forum, bringing together investors and businessmen from both countries, will further develop the Spanish-Moroccan ties as well as trade between the two countries, King Felipe VI said. Analysts explained that the fact that King Felipe VI has visited Morocco twice in less than five years, the first visit having taken place in 2014, attests that he is keen on strengthening ties between the two countries. The second royal visit was marked by talks with King Mohammed VI and by the signing of eleven cooperation agreements.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 15, 2019 18:11 UTC
Cameroon: 187 ex-Boko Haram fighters surrender arms
The government said on Thursday that nearly two hundred Cameroonians who were members of Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist group have returned home and surrendered to the authorities after breaking with the organization. Provincial Governor Midjiyawa Bakari said a total of one hundred and eighty-seven former jihadists from the district of Mayo-Sava, in Cameroon’s Far North province, gave themselves up, many of them returning from Nigeria on foot. After surrendering to the authorities in the towns of Kolofata and Meme, they were enrolled in a programme to reintegrate them into society. They were taken on Wednesday to a base of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MMF), an anti-Boko Haram force combining soldiers from Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria, he added. Boko Haram’s nearly 10-year insurgency is epicentred in northeast Nigeria, but spilled over into Niger and Cameroon as well as the Far North province.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 15, 2019 16:41 UTC
Libya: Washington debunks involvement in raid on al-Qaeda
The USA Thursday refuted statement by the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) that it conducted in coordination with the Tripoli-based administration a raid on some al-Qaeda fighters, in southern Libya. The US military command headquartered in Germany, Stuttgart, in a statement said it did not take part in the operation announced on Wednesday by spokesman for GNA leader Faiez Serraj, Mohamed El Sallak. “US Africa Command was not involved in the reported raid of an al-Qaeda site in Ubari, Libya, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019,” the command said in the statement. The US military command has since the GNA’s establishment in capital, in March 2016, brought support to the weak government. The command backed the GNA-aligned forces to derail Islamic State group (ISIS) fighters in the city of Sirte that the terror group turned into his stronghold in the region.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 15, 2019 13:52 UTC
Anambra police station burnt down, IPOB fingered
A police station in Ajali, Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, has been burnt down and several policemen were beaten up before the station was set ablaze. Several detainees were said to have been released by the arsonists suspected to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra. The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Haruna Mohammed, said in a statement that the Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dandaura, is presently at the scene for an on-the-spot assessment and has ordered the Deputy Commissioner in charge of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department to conduct a thorough investigation in order to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident.”Meanwhile the police said it was “a case of fire incident for now until the contrary is proved through discreet investigation.”
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 15, 2019 09:45 UTC
FAO sounds alarm on Desert Locust outbreak in northeast Africa and Saudi Arabia triggered by heavy rains
CNBC Africa provides content from APO Group as a service to its readers, but does not edit the articles it publishes. Download logoHeavy rains and cyclones have triggered a recent surge in Desert Locust populations, causing an outbreak to develop in Sudan and Eritrea that is rapidly spreading along both sides of the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, FAO warned today. At least one swarm crossed the Red Sea to the northern coast of Saudi Arabia in mid-January, followed by additional migrations about one week later. There is a moderate risk that some swarms will continue crossing the Red Sea to the coastal and interior areas of Saudi Arabia. Adult locust swarms can fly up to 150 km a day with the wind.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 15, 2019 09:11 UTC