Author: pr.web

President Cyril Ramaphosa will today, Wednesday, 14 September 2022, embark on working visits to the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) to respectively build relations with South Africa’s third largest trade partner and to attend the State Funeral Service of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

President Ramaphosa departs today for Washington DC in the United States where he will honour an invitation by His Excellency President Joe Biden for engagement between the two leaders.

The leaders will meet at the White House on Friday, 16 September, to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest, including trade and investment, climate change, food security, energy, and peace and security.

President Ramaphosa will reaffirm the importance of the strategic and mutually beneficial relations between South Africa and the United States. The President will further emphasise the need for enhanced multilateralism and dialogue as the means through which the challenges facing humanity can be addressed. These include the urgent need to stimulate economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Washington DC, President Ramaphosa and his delegation will meet Congressional leaders and the veterans of the Civil Rights Movement who were instrumental in lobbying the American public against apartheid and who remain loyal to the cause of anti-racism in both the United States and South Africa.

The United States is a major export market for South Africa, a significant source of foreign direct investment (FDI), technology transfer, development assistance and tourism.

Trade and investment relations take place under the auspices of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants duty-free and quota-free access to the US market for value-added products. AGOA has created jobs in both South Africa and the US and is thus mutually beneficial.

The United States is South Africa’s third largest trading partner (after China and the European Union), with more than 600 United States companies operating in South Africa.

In 2021, the United States ranked as the second largest destination for South Africa’s exports globally.

The United States accounts for 17.4% of total South African outward FDI to the world, according to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC).

The President’s visit to the United States provides a platform for strengthening bilateral relations with the United States though the engagement with President Biden.


State Funeral Service for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
 
On Saturday, 17 September 2022, President Ramaphosa will travel from Washington DC to London in the United Kingdom to attend events associated with the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
 
Following his arrival in London on Sunday, 18 September, the President will attend The King’s Reception – a reception hosted by His Majesty King Charles III in honour of Heads of State and Government and guests invited to attend the State Funeral Service – at Buckingham Palace.
 
On Monday, 19 September, the President will be among world leaders attending the State Funeral Service for Her Majesty The Queen at Westminster Abbey, London.
 
Immediately after the State Funeral Service, the UK Foreign Secretary, The Rt Hon James Cleverly MP, will host a reception for Heads of State and Government and other distinguished guests in the precincts of Westminster Abbey.

Source: The Presidency Republic of South Africa

The quality of media content in Ghana has been on a steady decline. This is due to a number of factors, including partisan ownership of media organisations, economic and financial manipulations by governments and the corporate sector to prevent or censor critical, fact-based reporting.

There is also the problem of low skills for analytical and comprehensive reporting among journalists. Increased dependence on social media and other digital sources for news amidst growing misinformation and disinformation further exacerbates the problem of limited access to factual information among media consumers.

To ensure that critical journalism remains vibrant and contributes to transparent and accountable governance, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) set up The Fourth Estate, a public interest and accountability journalism project to produce quality journalistic output that contribute to transparent and accountable governance in Ghana and restore public trust in the media.

About The Fourth Estate:

The Fourth Estate is an independent, not-for-profit, public interest and accountability journalism project by the MFWA. Reporters on its stable undertake thorough investigations that produce journalistic reports that hold the powerful to account, enhance public sector transparency, and amplify the voices and needs of the marginalized in society.

Purpose of the Call:

The call for consultancy is to find a suitable candidate to assess The Fourth Estate’s institutional capacity and staffing needs. The outcome of the exercise will provide guidance for The Fourth Estate’s work in spearheading the promotion and delivery of independent, public interest and accountability journalism. It will also help increase and improve journalistic output, especially, online and audio-visual content that promote transparent and accountable governance.

Scope of Work:

The work is consultancy work. The consultant will work together with The Fourth Estate to understand its work, goal, objectives, strengths and weaknesses as well as needs.

Requirements:

The ideal candidate should have knowledge and experience in the newsroom. He/she should have managed a media house for at least five years and is very conversant with current media marketing trends, particularly digital.

Submission Requirements:

Applicants should submit an updated CV to alerts@mfwa.org with the subject: Consultancy: Institutional capacity and staffing need assessment of The Fourth Estate. The CV of the applicant must show evidence of undertaking similar consultancy work.

Timeframe:

The call for consultancy service will last for a period of one month, ending on October 14, 2022.

Mode of Submission

All applications should kindly be sent to alerts@mfwa.org.

Source: Media Foundation Of West Africa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has traveled to Izyum, one of the largest cities recently retaken from Russia in a lightning counteroffensive in the eastern part of the country.

The Ukrainian military in a statement on social media said Zelenskiy and military officials “took part” in a ceremony raising the Ukrainian flag over the liberated city, which was key for Russia’s ambitions to capture the Donbas region.

Photos showed Zelenskiy greeting Ukrainian soldiers participating in the rapidly advancing counteroffensive.

Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on September 13 that Ukraine was in full control of more than 4,000 square kilometers of territory recaptured from Russian forces and stabilizing another 4,000 square kilometers.

“Our blue-yellow flag is already flying in de-occupied Izyum. And it will be so in every Ukrainian city and village,” Zelensky said on Telegram.

“We are moving only in one direction — forward and until victory,” he said in a post on social media after his visit.

The Ukrainian military has pushed Russian forces out of hundreds of cities and towns in the northeast of the country, and Zelenskiy said the stabilization of the liberated communities was under way.

Zelenskiy also criticized Russia for missile strikes that hit a hydroelectric facility in Kryviy Rih, which he said was an attempt to flood the city and leave its people without water, electricity, heat, and food.

Russian troops fired eight cruise missiles at Kryviy Rih, hitting the facility, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior aide to Zelenskiy. No civilians were injured, and the damage caused is being repaired, he said.

He said the rockets were aimed at critical facilities with the goal of creating an emergency situation and panic among the population.

“They need our panic,” Tymoshenko said. “That’s why we don’t panic.”

Earlier on September 14, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who held a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 13, said Putin hasn’t changed his thinking on invading Ukraine.

“Sadly, I cannot tell you that the impression has grown that it was a mistake to begin this war. And there was no indication that new attitudes are emerging,” Scholz told a press conference on September 14.

The Kremlin, which has made little mention of the setbacks in recent days, vowed to continue fighting. It also said on September 14 that Putin had discussed getting Ukrainian grain to countries most in need in a telephone call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The conversation “mainly focused on implementing the Istanbul agreements on exporting Ukrainian grain” from Black Sea ports, and the export of Russian food and fertilizer, the Kremlin said in a statement.

“Both sides emphasized the importance of meeting the needs, as a priority, of those in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America who need food,” the Kremlin said.

Guterres said he was hopeful a UN-brokered deal would be maintained and expanded to include Russian ammonia.

“To remove the obstacles that still exist in relation to the export of Russian fertilizers is absolutely essential,” Guterres told reporters shortly after speaking to Putin.

“There are…talks in relation to the possibility of Russian ammonia exports through the Black Sea,” said Guterres, adding that there was a “dramatic situation” on the world fertilizer market.

Facilitating Russia’s food and fertilizer shipments is a central aspect of the deal brokered in July that also restarted Ukraine’s Black Sea grain and fertilizer shipments. Russia has recently criticized the deal, complaining that its exports were still hindered.

A pipeline transporting ammonia from Russia to a Ukrainian Black Sea port was shut down when Russia invaded Ukraine. The United Nations is now trying to broker a resumption of those ammonia exports.

In Strasbourg, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said she would travel to Kyiv later on September 14. It will be von der Leyen’s third visit to Kyiv since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Copyright (c) 2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

A Ugandan TikToker, Teddy Nalubowa (also known as Tracy Manule Bobiholic) was charged on September 9 with offensive communication and further remanded to Luzira prison for allegedly recording a video celebrating the death of former security minister General Elly Tumwine, reports The Monitor, a Ugandan daily.

General Elly Tumwine, Ugandan’s retired military officer and longest serving army representative in parliament died on August 25, 2022, in Kenya, from lung cancer. Tumwine’s death ignited public debate over his “double-edged legacy,” reports Rey Ley, a blogger. Tumwine led troops that killed more than 50 civilians during protests which followed the arrest of opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (also known as Bobi Wine) in 2020. As security minister, Tumwine told the media that “the police have a right to shoot you and kill you if you reach a certain level of violence. I can repeat: Police have a right to shoot and you die for nothing,” according to The Monitor.

After thirteen days in detention, and with no legal representation, Nalubowa was arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Kampala where she was charged with offensive communication contrary to Section 25 of the Computer Misuse Act 2011. The TikToker will remain in prison until September 26 when her case comes up again in the court. 

The Computer Misuse Act (2011) and Amendment Bill (2022)

The Computer Misuse Act of 2011 provides “for the safety and security of electronic transactions and information systems; to prevent unlawful access, abuse or misuse of information systems including computers,” and “for securing the conduct of electronic transactions in a trustworthy electronic environment.”

However, Sections 24 and 25 of the 2011 act are problematic with their nebulous definition of “cyber harassment” and “offensive communication.” Cyber harassment, according to the act, means using “a computer” to make an “obscene, lewd, lascivious or indecent” overture (“request, suggestion or proposal”) or threatening “to inflict injury or physical harm” to a person or that person’s property, or “knowingly [permitting] any electronic communications device to be used for any of [these] purposes.” The punishment for cyber harassment is “a fine not exceeding seventy two currency points or imprisonment not exceeding three years or both.” Similarly, the 2011 act defined offensive communication as the “willful and repeated use of electronic communication to disturb or attempt to disturb the peace, quiet or right of privacy of any person with no purpose of legitimate communication whether or not a conversation ensues.” The punishment for this is “a fine not exceeding twenty four currency points or imprisonment not exceeding one year or both.”

Carrie Davis, of AfricanLII of the Department of Public Law, University of Cape Town, further states that these two sections of the 2011 Act have been instrumental in cracking down on Ugandan dissidents and activists. In January 2022, Ugandan writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was arraigned under the offensive communication clause of the 2011 Computer Misuse Act, after spending one month in detention, for writing that the president’s son was obese. Academic and writer Dr. Stella Nyanzi was jailed in 2018 for offensive Facebook posts in which she called the president “a pair of buttocks.”

On September 8, 2022, Uganda’s parliament passed the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which will replace the Computer Misuse Act, 2011. This new law seeks to enhance the provisions on unauthorized data, while prohibiting the sharing of data relating to children without authorization from their parents or guardians. Adding to the list of offences for which people can be arbitrarily arrested.

However, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) described the Bill as “a draconian law that criminalizes digital technologies and largely curtails digital rights”:

Among the key regressive provisions is the prohibition of the “misuse of social media”, described in clause 6 as publishing, distributing or sharing information prohibited under Uganda’s laws. A highly punitive penalty has been prescribed for the offence: imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to UGX 10 million (USD 2,619), or both. Other retrogressive provisions in the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill 2022 are prohibition of sending or sharing of unsolicited information through a computer, and prohibition of sending, sharing or transmitting of malicious information about or relating to any person.

Similarly, Ugandan lawyer Andrew Wandera affirmed that the said bill is redundant because the 2019 Data Protection and Privacy Act “already cures the mischief that the Bill purports to cure.” The Data Protection and Privacy Act bars unauthorized access to personal information with prescribed punishment for any violation. The act equally criminalizes the sharing of information on children without parental approval. Consequently, the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill is only duplicating what is provided for under the act.

Sadly, this means that government is officially widening the net to crackdown on citizens like TikToker, Teddy Nalubowa, for merely expressing an opinion at variance to the official one.

Source: Global Voices

NEW YORK— A 29-year-old Nigerian has been interdicted in the United States for defrauding the State of New York to the tune of US$30 million.

According to a release from the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania that Chidozie Collins Obasi, was charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

He is also facing “six counts of mail fraud, and 16 counts of wire fraud, all stemming from a complicated, evolving fraud scheme that initially targeted Americans through a spam email campaign offering illegitimate “work from home” jobs.

The release added that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the accused “shifted to targeting US hospitals and medical systems by offering non-existent ventilators for sale beginning in March 2020, and finally shifted again in June 2020 to using stolen identity information of American citizens to apply for and obtain Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EID Loans”).

He is said to have coordinated the fraud from Nigeria, “with the help of co-conspirators in Canada and elsewhere. The defendant and his co-conspirators are alleged to have obtained more than $31,000,000 through this multi-faceted fraud scheme, with the overwhelming majority of that money – more than $30 million – coming from the State of New York for the intended purchase of ventilators.”

Obasi is presently a fugitive, and the United States is seeking to locate and arrest him. Anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts should contact their local FBI Office.

If caught and convicted, Obasi faces a maximum sentence of 621 years in prison, a five-year period of supervised release, and a $5,750,000 fine. Obasi also will be required to make full restitution of the more than $31,000,000 that he obtained by fraud.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Deputy President David Mabuza will tomorrow, 15 September 2022, respond to questions for oral reply in the National Assembly. 
 
Questions posed to the Deputy President by members of political parties represented in Parliament cover issues on Eskom and the transformation of the energy sector to achieve long-term energy security. 
 
A question on specific measures that are underway to curb illegal mining activities has also been posed to the Deputy President. 
 
To this end, Deputy President Mabuza will outline various measures that Government  through the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster has taken to deal with the economic crimes that are negatively affecting the mining environment and the economy.   
 
In addition, the Deputy President will brief Parliament on the outcomes of the recent  Communal Land Summit and how Government intends translating the Summit resolutions into practical actions that will develop and grow rural economies. 
 
Furthermore, as Chairperson of the Presidential Task Team on Military Veterans, the Deputy President will appraise Parliament on progress made up to so far in resolving the issues raised by the military veterans.

Source: The Presidency Republic of South Africa