Day: June 29, 2023

A military parade highlighting the Seychelles National Day celebrated on June 29, the day the island nation got its independence in 1976 from Britain, took place on Friday.

This year’s special guest at the ceremony was the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, and First Lady Jeanette Kagame. President Kagame is on a state visit to Seychelles from June 28 to July 2.

For the second time in a row, the Seychelles’ beautiful capital of Victoria, hosted the prestigious event to mark 47 years since the island nation got its independence.

This year the Seychelles’ National Anthem was played by the National Band and 50 youth accompanied by a 21-gun salute.

Following the arrival of the guest of honour, President Kagame, and the President of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan, the parade started marching from Palm Street.

Once again, the parade, which for many years marched on the tracks of the stadium ‘Stad Linite’, made its way to the centre of Seychelles’ capital Victoria at the Unity Monument, to be greeted by cheering crowds with waving flags.

The customary Military Parade had 23 platoons of the Seychelles Police Force, the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency and youth organisations falling under the Seychelles National Youth Council. The parade also included platoons from foreign military forces, namely the United Kingdom, the Indian Navy, and the Reunion-based Armed Forces in the Southern Indian Ocean (FAZSOI).

The platoons marched along Constitution Avenue passing in front of the ‘Lavwa Lanasyon’ [Voice of the Nation] monument and proceeded towards Liberty Monument. After saluting the President, the platoons marched up to the International Conference Centre (ICCS) car park.

As part of the celebration, there a performance of well-known veteran Seychellois artist John Wirtz with his ever-popular song ‘Desann pou Lendepandans’ [Come down for the Independence].

In addition, this year, there were floats from 25 districts showing off aspects of their rich history and culture in a display of colours and vibrancy.

The ceremony ended with a performance of the Moutya, a Seychelles traditional dance added to UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage in December 2021.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

There is the need to establish Civil Defence Corps to protect Vital National Assets, Mr Prince Bagnaba Mba, President of Forum for Equity, a Non-Governmental Human right Organisation has stated.

He mentioned the protection of assets like gas pipelines and petroleum installations, the railway lines, especially the new line to northern end of the country.

Apart from that Mr Mba said they could also compliment the work of the Ghana immigration service at the borders of the country through patrol and surveillance duties to ensure safety of life and minimise losses

He suggested that the Corps should be at post at every district to ensure minimum losses during emergencies and natural disasters.

‘There’s a yearning gap in our security network that needs to be filled with the corps’.

He said the terrorist threats on the Northern borders would be held in check by the corps if established at every district.

The corps he said could also protect major infrastructure throughout the country as a proactive approach to protect and prevent any eventuality.

‘It is necessary and urgent for stakeholders to act immediately and swiftly, he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Hajia Alima Sagito Saeed, the Executive Director of the Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-GH), has called for the active involvement of women as role models, to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She referred to the Goals five and 10, which targeted gender equality, saying said it was important for women, who survived various degrees of gender inequalities, to act as role models in their communities to serve as inspiration to other young women, who aspired for greatness.

Hajia Saeed made the call at this year’s annual summit of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), which was organised by the University for Development Studies’ (UDS) Local Chapter and supported by SWIDA-GH, Songtaba, and Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS), all non-governmental organisations. .

She said, it was unfortunate that most young women, who had escaped various forms of abuses, did not want to advocate the rights of others.

‘If you are privileged to have escaped child marriage, when you get back to your community, act as a role model to justify why young women should be given the opportunity to access education,’ Hajia Saeed emphasised.

Hajia Iddrisu Mariam Bugala, the Chief Executive Officer of Girls to Women Foundation, said the low representation of women in various leadership positions required that women rose to the occasion by being advocates against issues that impeded their inclusion in major decision-making processes in the country.

Source: Ghana News Agency