Day: May 15, 2023

Angolan minister of Social Action, Family and Women’s Promotion, Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto, highlighted Monday, in Huíla, the Executive’s engagement in strengthening family skills, in the rescue of moral values and in the socioeconomic empowerment of families.

The minister was speaking during the opening of the 24th Session of the National Family Council taking place in Lubango, Huila, under the motto “Family Strengthened Society Developed”.

Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto said that the State has paid particular attention to women, adolescents and young people, through the Ministry of Social Action, Family and Women’s Promotion (MASFAMU).

The minister spoke of the implementation of a programme for Valuing the Family and Strengthening Family Skills, awareness actions, via the Jango de Valores project.

As part of the economic empowerment of families, she said that financial inclusion and literacy campaigns had been carried out, personal finance multipliers, opening of bank accounts and the attribution of Automatic Payment Terminals (APT).

The minister considered significant the results achieved with the actions, calling for the participation of all partners in mobilisation and awareness campaigns.

According to the official, social stability and the development of any country depend on peace and security in families, stating that everything begins in the family.

However, she invited parents, children, churches, civil society, among other actors, to work on strengthening the families so that they can have a developed society.

“The Executive, through MASFAMU, is working on drawing up a proposal for the National Action Plan on the Family in Angola that, in an inter-sector way, can respond to the various situations that affect families in Angola”, she said.

She said that in the context of the reform of justice and law, a process of revision of the Family Code is underway, which aims to keep up with the dynamics of life and increasingly defend the rights of families.

The municipal, provincial and national family councils, according to the minister, are an opportunity to reinforce the message of union, love and respect so that together, they can cultivate the spirit of tolerance and solidarity, with a view to establishing a good relationship among all family members.

The minister also defended the need to use the available mechanisms to raise awareness among the population about the importance of the family as a vital nucleus of society, to discuss their rights and responsibilities, as well as to promote knowledge related to issues social, economic and demographic conditions that affect it.

Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto pointed to the drama of family breakdown, the loss of fundamental values such as respect for life, solidarity, generosity, honesty, obedience and dialogue.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

The suspected armed robber who was intercepted in Douala, Littoral region by elements of the National Gendarmerie, was presented to the public on Saturday May 13 in the Douala IV sub-division, alongside two of his accomplices.

The suspects include 32 – year – old Clovis Max also known as Mascotte Clotaire from the Central African Republic known to be the gang leader, Mambingo Martial also known as Pacho, 32 years old (body guard) and Ekome Nteh Didier – 26 years old.

Apart from armed roberry, they are also accused of human bone trafficking, as during their arrest, they were in possession of human bones from Mamfe in the Manyu division of the South West region.

“On April 13 2023, an informant hinted us that one of them was preparing his automatic pistol for a robbery operation. We then hunted him down in a motel and brought him in for questioning. During interrogation, he acknowledged being in possession of human bones at his Bonaloka residence in Douala,” narrated Lieutenant Ngrewui Adolphe, Chief of Bureau in charge of the fight against high crime and criminality, Littoral Gendarmerie Legion.

Further interrogation enabled the investigators to trace down the said pistol and ammunitions in Buea, South West region.

“After Bonaloka, we moved to his permanent residence in Buea-South West region where he was in keeping of an automatic pistol and stock of bullets. Through him, we succeeded to arrest two of his accomplices. He also told us the bones were dug in Mamfe, Manyu Division of the South West region,” Lieutenant Ngrewui Adolphe added.

The crack down on the trio is part of the National Gendarmerie’s operation to rid the Douala City and the entire Gendarmerie Legion of criminals.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

It was until early Monday, May 15, 2023, that Nigerian-born, Hilda Baci hit 90 non-stop cooking to beat the record that was previously held by Indian-born, Lata Tondon, 87 hours and 45 minutes in 2019. She became the first woman to create a record that was previously made by men.

By Monday morning, Hilda hit 90 hours. The Nigerian foodpreneur, actress, and producer now hold the Guinness World Record for the longest Marathon cooking.

She started her record-breaking journey on May 11, 2023, at the Amre Gardens in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital. She cooked over 100 dishes and fed more than 3000 people who came to encourage her day and night.

People close to her said she embarked on the journey to showcase the beauty of cooking and diversity of the African cuisine.

Before breaking the new record, Lata congratulated Holda and encouraged her to keep up.

Nigerian chef, Hilda Baci breaks Guinness World Record for longest cooking time

Nigerian chef, Hilda Effiong Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci, has broken the Guinness World Record for the “longest cooking marathon by an individual”

The Chef has been receiving a wide wave of support from top government officials and celebrities in Nigeria.

The Nollywood actor, Charles Okocha, actress, Kate Henshaw; singer, Tiwa Savage; media personality, Enioluwa, and many others were present at the event on May 14th, Punch reported.

The popular Filmmaker, Kevin Adetiba, wrote on Twitter, “REALLY rooting for HILDA BACHI. Don’t know her personally, but her drive, ambition, and resilience, inspires and motivate me IMMENSELY. Sending her prayers and the best vibes to PUSH THROUGH. She’s inspiring people she doesn’t even know. GO HILDA… YOU GOT THIS!!!” He stated.

Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, also lauded Baci for her determination and wrote on his Twitter page

“The efforts being made by Hilda Effiong Bassey (Hilda Baci) to beat the current Guinness World Record for cooking for 4 days nonstop shows the true Nigerian spirit of hard work and resilience. I applaud her determination and focus on the goal, which are inspiring many Nigerian youths to live their dreams through hard work and dedication.”

Reports reveal she is not new to cooking competitions as she was a participant in the maiden edition of the Jollof Face-off Competition and won a grand prize of $5000.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Between 50 to 60 farmers of a western district of Mahe, Seychelles’ main island, will benefit with improved water supply once the agriculture department completes a water reservoir project at Bon Espoir, Montagne Posee.

Under the project, a gabion will be built to collect and store 1,000 cubic metres of water in a wetland identified at the former Cable and Wireless station at Bon Espoir.

A gabion is normally a cage filled with rocks, used to build walls to contain soil, water or for defence. When used to capture water, gabions also act as filtering dams, not only to increase storage capacity but also to harness the resource instead of letting the water flow down to the sea.

In an interview with SNA on Monday, the senior irrigation and drainage officer at the agriculture department, Serge Larue, said that the project will benefit farmers of a western district Anse Boileau.

“The gabion is becoming a popular system for collecting water. It is a long-term project that is strong and durable. It will provide water to the farmers of Hermitage, Dan Fore as well as Montagne Posee,” said Larue.

He outlined that although fresh water is already being provided to farmers at Hermitage and Dan Fore, the amount of people that have been allocated with new land has increased, placing more pressure on the supply.

“Between 10 to 15 farmers at Montagne Posee, located below the prison, have never been connected to our water as they are located above our reservoir. They had to connect to their own sources. As we need to help everyone, the ministry had to find the best solution,” said Larue.

“We located a source at the top of Bon Espoir, Montagne Posee, that will provide water to all these farmers having water problems in the district,” he continued.

Before work on the project commences, farmers who are already getting their water from the area will have to relocate their hoses to a location identified by the department. This will prevent the water supply from having high content of soil, something foreseen to happen should they have remained connected to the wetland during construction.

The construction of the gabion reservoir will take 6 months to complete. A similar project is to be undertaken on Praslin to tackle water supply problems on the second largest island of Seychelles.

Using gabion for water collection in national projects started as a pilot in 2018 at the Bougainville “Dan Sours” wetland in the district of Takamaka in the south of Mahe. Following that project, two more such reservoirs were built at Val D’en Dor, Baie Lazare.

In previous SNA reports, it has been outlined that such reservoirs increased resilience to climate change and benefits for water supply for human consumption, food security and livelihood.

Such projects represent an alternative to desalination for potable water production and the sustainability of the environment.

Source: Seychelles News Agency