Category: Politics

The Women In Politics Forum (WIPF) of Nigeria on Wednesday lauded the integrity and independence of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) ahead of the Election 2024.

Mrs Ebere Ifendu, the President of the WIPF, a pressure group, that supports and groom young women in politics, gave the commendation, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

She said Nigeria, in particular, and countries in general, ought to under-study, and learn lessons and experiences from Ghana’s electoral management body to shape the beauty of democracy in the sub-region.

Mrs Ifendu was speaking to the GNA on the sidelines of the 11th Digital Rights and Inclusive Forum 2024 (DRIF24), underway in Accra on the theme: ‘Fostering Rights and inclusion in the digital age.’

Hundreds of delegates, civil society organisations and actors as well as NGOs and academia are attending the three-day forum, being organised by the Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a Pan African organisation.

Comparatively, Dr Ifendu described Ghana’s electoral processes,
in both General and political party elections, as one of the finest in the sub-region and in Africa and hoped that the EC in Ghana would continue to remain an independent ‘referee’, as the Election 2024 gathered momentum.

‘In fact, we have monitored and observed both party and general elections in Ghana. I was in the country to observe the NPP’s Election 2024 Presidential and parliamentary primaries, and I can attest to the fact that Ghana’s EC is doing great in the electoral processes’.

‘The situation is quite different in my country. Political parties in Nigeria conduct and supervise their own internal elections. Nigeria’s EC is just an observer and that is not auguring well for the Nigerian democracy,’ Mrs Ifendu stated.

The Executive Director indicated that though the electoral management body of every country had their peculiar air challenges, Ghana had set the pace for countries in the sub-region to follow and learn a cue to consolidate the gains of African democracy.

Multi-party democracy in Africa
, Mrs Infendu observed, was confronted with serious challenges that made it bleak, saying ‘our African leaders are not supporting our democracy to growth.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Wilberforce Andrews, an Independent Presidential Candidate has promised to emancipate Ghana from sovereign insolvency stress, cascading taxation, and unemployment if voted into power.

Mr Andrews, a native of Enyan Denkyira in the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District of the Central Region, gave the assurance in a press release announcing his ambition as an Independent Presidential Candidate.

A release with the title: ‘Third Force, Free Travelling Passport-Free Visa,’ copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), stated that he would initiate a free compulsory traveling passport to solve the many chronic problems of Ghana’s economy.

Mr Andrews was the former Executive member of United Nations International Monitory Fund (IMF) and distance member of American Administration of President Joe Biden.

He said the free passport would be embedded with a chip containing everyone’s detailed information to replace Voter’s Identity Cards and the Ghana Card, to become a major identity for all legal and official transactions and se
rve as security check to track down criminals.

He said if the electorate gave him the nod, he would also encourage travelling for greener pastures to help stop the galamsey menace, which was destroying the country’s river bodies, lands and forestry.

Mr Andrews stated that the creation and promotion of football as an employment opportunity would also be one of his topmost priorities, with the construction of modern football training pitches across the country and motivate players in local teams by paying them.

There would also be a pension scheme for Cocoa farmers to encourage more people to opt for agriculture as a source of employment.

Again, he said he would collaborate with private companies to fix the country’s energy crisis, to put an end to ‘dumsor’.

He said as a Third Force Independent President, all his initiatives would be towards the national development plan and not in favour of political party and family members.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Addis Ababa: Primae Minister of the State of Libya Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba, arrived in Addis Ababa tonight to pay an official working visit to Ethiopia.

Upon arrival at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, he was warmly received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Taye Atskeselassie.

The Prime Minister is expected to consult with Ethiopian senior officials on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Addis Ababa: Ethio-Slovenia political consultation aimed at evaluating the status of existing relations and consulting on further enhancing the bilateral ties between the two countries was held in Addis Ababa today.

The consultation was aimed at evaluating the status of existing relations, consulting on further enhancing the bilateral relations of the two countries and exchanging views on current regional, continental, and global issues of common interest.

Ambassador Zenebe Kebede, Director General for European and American Affairs at the ministry and Mateja Norcic Štamcar, Director General for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia led the consultations.

Recall that Ethiopia and the Republic of Slovenia held their first political consultative meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia in February 2020.

The two sides discussed issues of common interest where they can cooperate to strengthen the Existing Ethio-Slovenia partnership, according to Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Agriculture, M
anufacturing, Tourism, ICT, Logistics, and Transport were among issues that were pointed out as areas of cooperation between the countries, it was learned.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Addis Ababa: Ethiopia has put in place a National Dialogue Commission and Transitional Justice Policy that would allow the country to rectify its historical shortfalls, the National Security Council said in a statement it issued today.

The National Security Council issued a statement on the current national security of the county.

The statement said the challenges that Ethiopia is facing cannot be resolved only through corrective measures but it requires efforts to heal wounds which the country inherited from history.

We have therefore put in place three pathways that would enable us to rectify our historical shortfalls through resolving past political challenges through inclusive national dialogue, implementation of transitional justice and upholding peaceful political avenues, the statement underscored.

Peaceful political transition is not an end by itself but a means to ensure other overarching political goals, the council noted.

Pursuant to the objective reality in Ethiopia, a government that assumes
political power by winning elections should not just make decisions on overarching political issues, it said, adding there are other significant and important issues that require inclusive engagement with all stakeholders.

Stating the commissioners of the National Dialogue, who were appointed to serve in the institution, are of high caliber and rich experience, the statement indicated the law has empowered them with extensive power to conduct their duties of coordinating and conducting an inclusive national dialogue.

The commissioners have now charted out extensive outlines on how the inclusive dialogue should be conducted by consulting with pertinent stakeholders, the council added.

The process of identifying candidates, who would participate in the national dialogue, has been conducted in 10 regional states and two city administrations where some 12,294 participants have been identified from 679 districts, it said.

According to the statement, the commission is expected to commence dialogue on regional
levels within few weeks.

The implementation of transitional justice which incorporated international best practices, has also been a viable strategy to break the dichotomy between the transgressors and the victims in Ethiopia, it said

The council further noted that over the past several historical incidents, various transgressions, heinous activities and violation of basic human rights have been conducted in the country.

‘Those who have hitherto assumed political power condemns and punishes others by shifting the blame on others it considered as transgressors. Such approach will never promote the prevalence of justice. It would only produce regrets, and escalation of revenge. This is the major reason why a vicious circle of the desire for vengeance, revenge and unforgiving have prevailed in the country’ the statement elaborated.

The Pretoria Peace Agreement signifies a mature and resolute decision to prevent future generations from inheriting a legacy of winners and losers characterized by animosity, the
National Security Council said.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Addis Ababa: Ethiopia’s ambassador to Uganda, Burundi, Seychelles, Comoros and Central African Republic Etsegenet Bezabih said various activities are carried out to strengthen the existing historical relationships between Ethiopia and Uganda.

According to the ambassador, activities have been underway to organize ‘Ethio-Uganda Day’ event with a view to strengthen people-to-people relations between the two countries.

She said that many Ethiopians live in Uganda noting the people of the two countries have many shared values.

The ambassador further indicated efforts being made to enhance trade ties of the countries by using the potential of Ethiopian Airlines in this regard.

The two countries have been collaborating in peace and security and in the promotion of Pan-Africanism.

In addition to Uganda, Ethiopia is keen to further strengthen its relations with other African countries including Burundi, Seychelles, Comoros and the Central African Republic, she added.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Addis Ababa: The Horn of Africa is going through a phase of reconstruction, where there are signs of opportunities and positive development, Institute for Security Studies East Africa Regional Director Paul-Simon Handy said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Handy said the Horn of Africa region is going through a phase of reconstruction and regional organizations have been exerting efforts to implement some of the rules.

‘It’s true that very often we tend to criticize regional organizations for the failure of member states themselves,’ the director stated, noting that regional organizations are, however, the reflection of member states.

According to him, solutions should first come from member states and they should have a regional dimension.

‘For instance, climate change, which is a threat to the region, cannot be addressed only at the national level and needs a regional approach. Organizations like IGAD have in this regard played a very important role in terms of climate change and environmental issue
s,’ he elaborated.

IGAD has actually been instrumental in the sophisticated early warning systems for climate disasters to help member states address the challenges thereof.

Besides, Handy pointed out that the Horn of Africa region is probably Africa’s most strategic region.

‘We will always have the interests of external actors. It cannot be overstated that external actors will always come. The region is strategic.’

The director elaborated that external actors are interested in the Horn because of the safety of international trade and it is one of the most crucial trade routes that links Europe and Asia, some of the two most important regions for world trade.

These external interventions will always be there, he noted, adding that ‘the question is, how do states channel them so that they are not only useful for them at a national level, but also for regional cooperation and integration?’

Handy believes that this does not have to be contradictory, but it’s difficult because governance is different from s
tate to state; and the types of regimes we have are sometimes different and have different interests.

The director advised the Horn of Africa countries to strengthen trade relations to prevent conflict.

‘Unfortunately, Africa is one of the regions of the world in which member states trade the least with each other. Unfortunately, African states trade with external actors… (But) we need to have economies that complement each other, not that compete with each other.’

At the moment, he said that if we compare Ethiopia with its neighbors, we would see that there is a high degree of similarity in what they export. Ethiopia exports coffee, flowers, and a few other things that many of the neighbors also do.

Handy added that ‘Ethiopia has identified it quite well and worked on it for several years on industrialization, which can make Ethiopia the industrial hub of the region and now disseminates manufactured products across the region.’

The regional director further stressed that the African Continental Free T
rade Area (AfCFTA) can contribute to making member states in all the regions of Africa, particularly in the Horn, trade with each other, but do not have the same products that they export.

‘If they [member states] are dependent on each other on trade, it will be the best contribution to conflict prevention,’ he underscored.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aims to foster economic cooperation and create a unified market across the continent; and regional organizations like IGAD play pivotal roles in driving regional economic integration.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Addis Ababa: Ethiopia is making preparations to successfully host the preparatory conference of the 4th UN International Conference on Financing for Development in July 2024, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassie affirmed Ethiopia’s commitment to successfully host the preparatory conference while meeting with UN Deputy Secretary General Amina J Mohammed in Addis Ababa today.

The officials exchanged views on the multifaceted partnership and priorities between Ethiopia and the UN.

They also deliberated on the status of the SDG implementation, the upcoming UN summit of the future, and recent developments in the Horn of Africa.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency