Sunday, 19 May 2013 12:11
Between Business and heartlessness: 2 People Jailed in Nigeria Over Poisoned Baby Drug
A court in Nigeria has sentenced two business officials to seven years in prison for making adulterated teething medicine, which has claimed the lives of at least 80 children.The two officials from the maker of a popular baby syrup My Pikin (literally – and ironically - translated in Nigerian pidgin as “ My baby” ) were found guilty by a court in Lagos after investigations revealed that their syrup, which started killing children as early as in 2008 contains deadly diethylene glycol, used as engine coolant. The syrup, which is used for treatment of sore – gums is said to have caused kidney failure in babies. Sentencing the two business officials, the judge equally ordered that the company be closed down and its assets confiscated and forfeited to the state.Sadly, it is not the first time unscrupulous individuals are jailed for turning the Nigerian pharmaceutical market into an abattoir due…
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Monday, 13 May 2013 08:38
Ugandan Esther Madudu: 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Winner?
In Africa and other so – called third world countries, where often, personal economic survival comes first before someone else’s problems, it is rare to find a woman who judiciously devotes her life to helping pregnant mothers to minimize infant mortality as well as creating social awareness of the mountainous challenges facing these pregnant women in many African countries. The name Esther Madudu might not ring a bell in the Hollywood community, but this Ugandan born midwife has through her humanitarian work, sensitize the world on the plight and challenges facing many African pregnant mothers during their pregnancy and African mortality cankerworm. In many poor African countries where the mortality rate is stubbornly high, many women end up not only losing their baby during delivery, often the pregnant mothers themselves pay the big price with their lives as well. This tragedy is just what Esther Madudu, a well known midwife…
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Sunday, 05 May 2013 07:13
Shell And Nigerian Petroleum Minister In a 380 Billion Dollar Oil Deal?
Nigerian House of Representatives, Thursday accused Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, minister of Petroleum Resources; Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited; and officials of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Corporation (NPDC) of “secret and arbitrary farm-out” of oil mining leases. The House has also asked its ad-hoc committee to investigate the alleged shady oil deal which it put at some $380 billion. According to the House, the deal include; oil mining leases 4, 26, 30, 34, 38, 41 and 42 to two firms, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited and Septa Energy Limited, without due process. The legislators alleged deliberate exclusion of indigenous operators from exercising their rights of first refusal before selections were made, adding that the exercise was carried out in violation of sections 3 ( 1), (2) and 5 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry content Act N0 2 of 2010. They said the federal government would have earned $800 million…
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Saturday, 27 April 2013 12:46
Tourism Nightmares: Poachers, Rangers Wipe Out Rhino in Mozambique Park
Poachers, aided by game rangers, have killed every single rhino in the Mozambique section of one of Southern Africa’s most vaunted transfrontier parks. The director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s wildlife crime and consumer awareness programme, Kelvin Alie, said poachers had killed 15 rhinos in Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park last month, the last remaining animals from an estimated population of more than 300 when the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park was proclaimed in 2002. The administrator of the Limpopo National Park told the media that 30 rangers will appear in court soon, charged with involvement in the killing of the rhino. “It is tragic beyond tears that we learn game rangers have now become the enemy in the fight to protect the rhino from being poached for their horns. “That the entire rhino population of part of such an important conservation initiative can be wiped out – and with…
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Friday, 19 April 2013 16:53
Human Rights Violation: UK-Gambians Implore British Government to Impose Sanctions Against Jammeh’s Regime
A United Kingdom based Gambian human rights group Wednesday handed a petition to the British Foreign Minister William Hague, urging his government to impose sanctions against specific people in President Yahya Jammeh’s government for its human rights violations. The Sene-Gambian Human Rights League (SenGamHRL) said it wants a travel ban and a global freezing of financial and economic assets of the people mentioned in the petition. Among them are the President, the Speaker and majority leader of the National Assembly, the Chief Justice, the Vice President, members of the cabinet, permanent secretaries, heads of the security forces and directors of government agencies. A similar copy of the petition was presented to the Gambian High Commission in London after a protest led by former Vice President Bakary Bunja Darboe. Also in their demands to the British government is the suspension of technical and budgetary support to Gambia’s security apparatus and the judiciary. SenGamHRL…
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Saturday, 13 April 2013 09:55
Boko Haram Rejects Nigerian Government's Amnesty
In a move that has surprised many and might likely set a stage for further bloody escalation of religious violence in Nigeria, the Nigerian radical Islamist group Boko Haram has rejected the government proposed amnesty for the group. The outright rejection came one week after President Goodluck Jonathan appointed and tasked a group of eminent Nigerians to come up with modalities for granting amnesty to the terror group. Reacting to the government amnesty proposal, the leader of the militant group Abubakar Shekau rejected any possibility of amnesty as well as questioned why the group would be granted an amnesty, which according to him was meant for someone, who has done something wrong. According to the insurgent group, such prerogative of mercy should be meant for the Nigeria government, which in the eyes of the group, has committed atrocities against Muslims. Boko Haram group, which is blamed for the…
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Sunday, 07 April 2013 09:59
Is Uganda’s Proposed Ban on Miniskirts Gender Apartheid?
The latest bill in Uganda to ban wearing short skirts in public has courted a lot of controversies especially amongst those who consider the proposed legislation serious gender discrimination. In a free and open country like Uganda, the proposed “anti-pornography” bill which some have interpreted as extraordinary measures against women's rights echoes a return to the era of Dictator Idi Amin. The proposed government backed bill, if passed, would give the government power to control ‘provocative’ clothing of women and closely monitor media contents. It goes without saying that the bill empowers the government to scrutinize film and TV contents as well as control personal internet use. According to Kata Kata’s mole in the parliament, the bill is seriously facing some difficulty in the parliamentary committee stage. Some MPs have voiced their reservations over the bill, which they argue could have some implications on constitutional freedoms. They went further to…
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Saturday, 30 March 2013 09:34
Shocking Statistics On South African Police Brutality
Recent investigation into the activities of South African police has revealed shocking statistics on police brutality. The findings, which were presented at Parliament yesterday revealed the following: Cases of police brutality leapt by more than 300 percent in the past decade, from 416 during 2001/2002 to 1 722 cases by 2011/2012. Of the 720 deaths reported to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate in 2011/2012, one in five involved police criminality. Only one out of every 50 people who experienced or witnessed police abuse reported it. The SAPS was facing civil claims totalling R1.1 billion related to shooting incidents, and assault cases of more than R800 million. Civil claims against the police had doubled in the past two years to R14.8bn. Thirty-five percent of citizens interviewed last year were scared of the police and about 41 percent did not trust the police. The figures were presented to the Parliament’s portfolio committee…
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Saturday, 23 March 2013 14:50
Human Rights Activist Fights 'Widow Cleansing' Tradition in Malawi
Often we seem to take our cultural practices as norms and everyday realities, even though some of these practices are discriminatory or derogatory. In the southern African country of Malawi, a human rights activist Odise Black is doing just the opposite in her attempt to stop a widely traditional practice called “widow cleansing.” According to the Malawi tradition, a widow is expected to have sexual intercourse after the death of her husband, in order for her to be “cleansed.” As an adherent advocate of gender equality and justice, Ms. Black, through a Malawian chapter of Africa Southern in Law on Women (ASLW), has spearheaded a restless campaign to bring cultural awareness of the social injustice against women in Malawi. With her position as the head of ASLW in her country, Ms. Black is leaving no stone unturned in her effort to abolish “ widow cleansing.” Ordinarily, this cultural cleansing practice…
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