POAC team probes 500m/- misuse at varsity college

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POAC chairperson Kabwe Zitto

Parastatal Organisations Accounts Committee (POAC) has formed a subcommittee to investigate reports of misuse of more than 500m/- at Mkwawa University College of Education (MUCE).

The committee’s Chairperson, Zitto Kabwe said the funds were linked to the Higher Education Students Loans Board (HESLB), adding that the committee has decided not to approve the university’s accounts for the 2009/2010 fiscal year.

The Kigoma-North lawmaker said the Controller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report for the financial year 2009/2010 showed that more than 260m/- was used to purchase various types of chemicals for laboratory tests while 60m/- from the Loans Board was allocated to fake students at the university.

“We have noted that the prices for the chemicals were doubled…this proves that Mkwawa University is among institutions that doesn’t follow procurement procedures,” Kabwe said.

On the students’ loans scam, he said the committee observed that there were two payment vouchers with forged names of 31 students. He said the names had the same registration and index numbers but with a slight difference in their surnames.

Kabwe said the sub-committee will be led by Mwibara Member of Parliament Kangi Lugola (CCM), naming Kwamtipura legislator, Ali Khamis (CCM) and Special Seats MP Zainabu Kawawa (CCM) as members. He has given them a week to complete investigations into the matter.

He said the sub-committee will collaborate with the CAG’s office, adding that if it is proven that the funds were embezzled, the committee would suggest that the sub-committee conduct similar investigations in other universities.

The committee also found payments which did not have supporting documents, citing salaries being issued without receipts while it is known that all government payments must be supported with receipts.

For his part, the University Principal Prof Philemon Mushi backed the committee’s decision to make further investigations into the university expenditure.

He promised to offer full cooperation to the sub-committee in order to facilitate investigation.

Meanwhile, the Local Authority Accounts Committee (LAAC) refused to approve the financial report for Pangani district, Tanga region for the fiscal year 2009/2010.

The committee Chairman, Augustino Mrema said they didn’t approve the report because the District Executive Director Neneka Rashid did not submit the report to the CAG’s office on time.

“He was supposed to submit the account books to the CAG five days before they were brought to the committee. We cannot approve them since they have been submitted to us directly,” he noted.

According to Mrema 15 percent of the DED’s January salary will be deducted as penalty.

Source The Guardian

Tokyo Has Chance of Seeing Magnitude 7 Earthquake In The Near Future

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Japan’s capital city, Tokyo, has a high probability of experiencing a magnitude-7 earthquake within just a few years, according to Japanese scientists.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute announced Monday there was a 75 percent chance that a 7.0 magnitude quake could strike the region within four years, and a 98 percent probability of one striking in the next 30 years.

The announcement coincided a magnitude 5.1 quake that rocked large parts of north-east Japan, which was already suffering from a March 11, 2011 magnitude-9 earthquake. There were no reports of death or injuries from the quake, but train lines were briefly shut down as a precaution. Tokyo Electric Power Co. told reporters the tremor caused no further damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant ravaged from last year’s tragedy.

The region has been rocked by nearly 700 aftershocks of magnitude 5 or greater following last year’s quake, according to the government.

Dubbed the Tohoku quake, last year’s event was the fourth strongest quake in recorded history. It caused abrupt stress changes in the upper plate and triggered widespread seismic activity throughout the Japanese island. The northern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, in particular, saw a significant increase of shallow seismicity after the quake compared with the extremely low rate eight years prior, the researchers said.

The last time Tokyo itself was hit by a big earthquake was in 1923, when a magnitude 7.9 temblor killed more than 100,000 people, many in fires that broke out. Researchers say that since the March 2011 quake, seismic activity in Tokyo has increased dramatically, which leads to a higher probability of a major earthquake.

While basing their calculations on data from Japan’s Meteorological Agency, the research institute says it is still “hard to predict” the casualty impact of a major quake on Tokyo, but government and individuals should be prepared for it all the same.

The Central Disaster Management Council has estimated that a large-scale earthquake in the next few decades could result in 11,000 deaths and an economic loss of 112 trillion yen ($1 trillion US). Its goal is to halve the estimated death toll and reduce the estimated economic loss.

The Japanese government’s Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion puts the magnitude-7 earthquake probability at 70 percent for the Kanto region, which includes Tokyo and Yokohama, within 30 years.

The government’s model estimates that a magnitude 7.3 quake beneath Tokyo Bay could kill 5,600 people in the city and injure more than 145,000, seriously injuring about 15 percent of those.

The model shows that most of the 23 wards of the city would experience an intensity above level 6, with buildings along the rivers that lead inland from the bay susceptible to liquefaction and others in densely populated areas succumbing to fire. More than 25 percent of all buildings in the 23 wards would be destroyed, accounting for nearly 500,000 buildings, according to the model.

Tokyo was fortunate to escape the worst of last year’s earthquake, although the quake still measured an intensity level of five and the tsunami reached 5 feet high in Tokyo Bay. Seven deaths and 116 injuries were attributed to the quake, with around 3,500 buildings being damaged, 13 of which collapsed.

Gary Gibson, a seismologist at Australia’s Seismology Research Center, said he wasn’t surprised by the research institute’s findings, given the level of seismic activity and their model used.

“Seismologists cannot predict with certainty when, where and how large the next big earthquake will be,” Gibson told CNN by email. “However, it is possible to forecast the probability of an earthquake in a particular time range (e.g. the next four years), location area (e.g. the Tokyo region), and magnitude range (e.g. greater than magnitude 7.0).”

“Long-term forecasts use average activity levels from all known past earthquakes, geological data from fault displacements, and data about plate movement and deformation from very precise GPS measurements and other methods to determine these probabilities,” he wrote.

“A magnitude 7.0 earthquake is very much smaller than the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake,” Gibson wrote. “It would need 1,000 magnitude-7 earthquakes to release as much strain energy as the magnitude-9. The fault rupture size is tens of kilometers, rather than hundreds of kilometers, and the fault displacement two to three meters rather than 20 to 30 meters.”

And depending on location (offshore or onshore) and depth, damage could either be heightened or limited. A shallower quake, with 6 miles of the surface, would result in more localized damage, Gibson added.

Tanzania coffee prices rise on higher demand

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Coffee prices rose at last week’s auction, driven by demand from exporters for high-quality beans, the regulator Moshi-based  Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) has said.

The number of bags offered for sale at the auction more than doubled from the previous sale as growers increased supply to take advantage of rising prices.

TCB said 18,616 60-kg bags were offered at the latest sale, and 15,280 bags were sold. At the previous sale, a total of 8,223 60-kg bags were up for sale, with 6,526 bags sold.

All the Robusta coffee offered at the auction was bought.

“The coffee supplied to the auction last week was of high quality, while demand has been increasing following the resumption of coffee auctions after the holiday recess,” TCB’s chief auctioneer, Desideri Mboya, told Reuters by telephone from the northern town of Moshi, where the auctions are being held.

“We expect prices at our auctions to remain above the terminal market heading to February-March, since there will be a shortage of coffee harvests this season compared to the previous one.”

Market participants said the up-take of coffee on offer at the weekly auctions was increasing due to global demand.

“Many traders have returned from their holidays and are keento cover their short positions and compensate for the previous two-week lull in trading,” said a trader at a coffee exporting company in Tanzania.

“There is good quality coffee being supplied from the southern and northern parts of the country and everybody wants to get their hands on it.”

Tanzania, Africa’s fourth-largest coffee grower after Ethiopia, Uganda and Ivory Coast, produces mainly Arabica and some Robusta coffee.

Tanzania: New netball rules to be applied in league

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Tanzania Netball Association (CHANETA) chairperson, Anna Bayi.

The new netball rules which came into force on January 1, this year will be applied in the coming local league, according to the Tanzania Netball Association (CHANETA) chairperson, Anna Bayi.

The International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) directed all its member associations to amend their rule books by January 1 and start applying them in their domestic leagues and international matches.

Speaking on Wednesday, Bayi said CHANETA members will meet on Sunday in Dar es Salaam where, among other things, the amended rules will be high on the agenda.

She said the meeting will discuss much on the new rules as delay in applying them could affect players, especially for the national team when they participate in international competitions.

“We will meet on Sunday and we expect to discuss many things, among them will be the issue of new IFNA rules. We want to know when we are going to start applying them and also the dates of the league,” said Bayi.

The news rules, among others, allow team officials and players to coach while play is in progress “provided that they remain seated or stand at their team bench”.

Coaching at the sideline is allowed at intervals and during stoppages.

Bayi also said as one way of improving the team on the IFNA ranking, the association has lined up a number of international games which will be played this year.

At the recent IFNA rankings, the netball national team maintained its 21st position.

Australia remains the world’s number one followed by New Zealand, England and Jamaica, while Malawi and South Africa maintained their 5th and 6th positions respectively.

Another African country in the IFNA rankings is Botswana which is on 16th position.

However, she refused to disclose the teams which they will face and also the dates of the matches, promising to disclose them after the Sunday meeting.

She said the national team needs to play IFNA recognized games between now and July when the rankings will be revised.

Bayi said she is confident that the team will improve on the rankings because they are managing transition of players and the young players are gaining experience.

“It’s our hope that this year we will improve on the rankings. We have young players who are gaining more experience and this will be the strong team,” she said.

By Joseph Mwendapole, The Guardian

Uganda: Rural schools worst hit by the ‘cheating bug’

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Minister Jessica Alupo recieves PLE results from Matthew Bukenya.

The announcement of examination results signals a period of joy as images of candidates and their parents jubilating fill the media.

However, there is another sad side that comes with the release of examination results which the public eye never gets to see, of disheartened candidates who did not excel. Then there is this other group of unfortunate candidates whose results are withheld or in worst case scenarios, cancelled. What happens to such candidates?

Last week, the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), announced that it had withheld results of 1,040 candidates in the 2011 Primary Leaving Examinations. The board’s executive secretary, Matthew Bukenya, said the results were withheld because of suspected involvement in examination malpractice.

It is a trying time for parents of over 1,000 candidates whose results were withheld pending investigations. The parents have to battle with the uncertainty of not knowing how their children have performed or whether their results will be released.

Nyantungo Primary School in Kyenjojo district is one of the 64 schools whose results were withheld. Unlike its counterparts that have only partial results withheld, all the results from Nyantungo were withheld.

“I do not know why this has happened to my school. We have always had a clean record. In fact last year we were among the best performing schools in the district,” the disturbed headteacher told the New Vision.

“I cannot see any possible reason why we were suspected of malpractices. All we can do is work on assumptions and wait for the results from the UNEB investigations so that we are cleared and our candidates can continue with school,” the headteacher, Robert Sanyu, said.

An official from UNEB, who preferred anonymity, said there are various scenarios that can make a school become a suspect of malpractice.

One of the scenarios is when a school that has always been performing poorly, performs very well out of the blue. Or when there is a wide gap between children from the same school who passed very highly and those who failed. Another scenario is when the people who mark at UNEB notice variations in handwriting and a similarity with the answer given by several candidates.

Why arethe rural schools most affected?

It is becoming a trend for the rural schools to have their results withheld. Out of the 64 schools this year, two were from Kampala. It was a similar scenario last year. In 2011, 1,227 results were withheld from 62 schools and most of the affected schools were from the rural areas.

In 2010, still 1,450 results were withheld from 73 schools and only three of these were urban schools.  Prof. Bbosa Lutalo, an educationist, attributes this trend to high rates of teacher absenteeism in rural schools. He argues that the upcountry teachers use exam malpractice as a short cut to good grades because they do not teach.

“There is a lot of absenteeism in upcountry schools because teachers are trying to make ends meet by engaging in other activities such as farm work. When the exams come, they want to produce results because they know they have not been teaching,” Lutalo explains.

Lutalo notes that the children are the victims who are dragged into the whole mess. He argues that it is the teachers and invigilators who involve the children yet it is the future of the children which is put into jeopardy.

Lutalo says there is a need for the Government to monitor schools through the district inspector of schools.

“The Government should increase vigilance on inspection of upcountry schools,” Lutalo says.

Addressing journalists at the release of the results, Jessica Alupo, the Minister for Education and Sports, echoed similar views.

Blaming local leaders, school heads and invigilators, Alupo said examinations no longer leaked from UNEB offices but only when they changed hands to the Police and other stakeholders. Alupo said the ministry was going to guard against the money sent to various districts so that the inspection is heightened.

However, some educationists say the problem is more than the poor inspection in districts. “This has to do with particular candidates who get involved in malpractice. Why is it that we have some results released in a particular school and others are withheld? Or, why is it that you find in a district other schools are not culprits?”

Patrick Kaboyo, an educationist, blames it on the general attitude of the authorities and the community around them.

“These are young children who will always tell their parents what is going on at school. Schools and parents are aware of what’s going on but turn a blind eye and only complain after the results have been withheld,” Kaboyo says.

How pupils are affected Gaston Byamugisha, a counsellor in the Ministry of Education department, says withholding results leaves the candidates in a state of anxiety.

“Most times, these children are not part of the malpractice and so wait anxiously for results. When the results are withheld, they are left in a state of confusion yet they still have to go through the process of waiting for UNEB to release their results,” Byamugisha adds.

“It does not get easier when people around them keep asking for their results. And the moment they say their results were withheld, they will be asked whether they cheated in their exams. In the end these children will start feeling like thieves,” Byamugisha adds.

He warns that even if they eventually get cleared, the children may not get the schools of their choice and this will affect their morale.

UNEB assures affected schools of fairness

UNEB has assured all the affected pupils from the 64 schools of a fair hearing by the Board’s examinations security committee before their results are released. “Let us be clear. These schools are suspected of malpractice.

We are not saying they were actually involved in malpractice. That is why the results are withheld and not cancelled,” Bukenya explains.

“Candidates who will be cleared will have their results released,” he adds. But this is no consolation for the affected candidates who live in fear of their results being cancelled.  What next for the affected pupils Primary Seven leavers are expected to report for Senior One by February 13, this is after the selection exercise for Senior One scheduled for next week ends.

With no specific time line on when the investigations of affected schools will be concluded, this leaves the future of waiting candidates in balance.

For the affected schools to be part of the senior one selection exercise, it means UNEB has a few days to release the findings.  Aggrey Kibenge, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, says UNEB is supposed to conclude investigations within a month after the release of the results.

“We learnt a lot from last year’s experience.To avoid anxiety and confusion, we have tasked UNEB to carry out investigations within a month and clear those who are not guilty,” Kibenge says.

“The selection committee is aware of the number of candidates under investigation so they will be able to reserve places for future placements once the candidates are cleared.”

By Angela Ndagano, The New Vision

FULL TEXT OF RESHUFFLE BY PRESIDENT MILLS

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FULL TEXT OF RESHUFFLE BY PRESIDENT MILLS GNAAccra, Jan. 25, GNA – President John Evans Atta Mills on Wednesday made changes and appointments in Ministers and Deputy Ministers of State.This is the full text of the statement.OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENTPRESS RELEASEHis Excellency the President Professor John Evans Atta Mills has made the following ministerial changes/appointments:•    Hon. Benjamin Kunbour is the new Attorney-General and Minister for Justice;•    Hon. Alban Bagbin currently Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing moves to the Ministry of Health;•    Hon. E.T. Mensah, Minister for Employment and Social Welfare replaces Hon. Alban Bagbin as Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing.2. The new appointments are:•    Mr. William Kwasi Aboah – Minister designate for the Interior•    Ambassador Lee Ocran, Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa – Minister designate for Education;•    Hon. Fritz Baffour Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South – Minister designate for Information;•    Hon. Moses Asaga – Minister designate for Employment and Social Welfare•    Hon. Dominic Azimbe Azumah, Member of Parliament for Garu/ Timpane – Minister of State designate at the Presidency;•    Ambassadoe Amin Amidu Sulemani, currently Ghana’s Ambassador to Egypt  – Minister designate for Upper West Region.3. His Excellency the President has also made the following Deputy Ministerial changes/ appointments:•    Hon. Stephen Ackah, Member of Parliament for Suaman – Deputy Minister designate for the ministry of Local Government and Rural DEvelopemt;•    Mr. Isaac Vanderpuiye – Deputy Minister Designate for Greater Accra Region;•    Hon. James Agyenim- Boateng, currently Deputy minister for Tourism, moves to the ministry of Information as Deputy minister, whilst hon. Baaba Jamal becomes the Deputy minister for Tourism;•    Hon. Edward Omane Boamah, Deputy minister for Environment, science and Technology goes to the ministry of Youth and Sports as Deputy Minister, whilst Hon. Reuben Nii Nortey Dua, Deputy minister for youth and sports moves the Ministry of Water Resources works and Housing as Deputy Minister;•    Hon. Dr. Mustapha Ahmed, currently Deputy Minister for Water Resources Works and Housing is now Deputy Minister for Environment Science and Technology;•    Mr. Henry Ametepey – Deputy Minister designate for the Volta Region to replace Col. Cyril Neku ( Rtd.)4    Alhaji Said Sinare has been appointed as Ghana’s Ambassador designate to Egypt.J.K. BEBAAKO-MENSAHSECRETARY TO THE PRESIDENT[25th January, 2012]

STILL SLAVES OF GREEK SORORITIES/FRATERNITIES

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STILL SLAVES OF GREEK SORORITIES & FRATERNITIES or WHY CONTAFRIKASISTERHOOD AND BROTHERHOOD FOR ALL CONT/DIASPORA AFRIKANS IS FREEDOM FROM THE HELL OF GREEK/FOREIGN SISTERHOOD AND BROTHERHOOD FOR US, By (c) 2012 by Prof. Afrikadzata Deku, Docteur d’Etat; Doctorat d’Etat (PhD); [email protected];

What do you , Afrikans in White America have to do with Greek Fraternities and Sororities like Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc, Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc?

Why will make the Bulk of the Western educated class or elite of African Americans since 1906 and 1908 think and believe passionately with all their hearts, minds and souls in the Slave lie that the best way they can unify and empower themselves to empower others for good in their communities is to turn themselves into the perfect photocopies of the Greeks by by starting, joining and become leaders and members of not Afrika-based but Greek-based Sororities and Fraternities they have become so dependent upon, enslaved by and addicted to ?

My Afrikan sisters and brothers in USA, do you know all the various Greek Organizations you belong to and are so proud of are not your organizations but the White man’s created and controlled organizations which you are programmed to call you own?

How on Earth can you see, think, believe and accept yourselves as a Greek when your Root in life is in Continental Afrika from where the very Greek civilization you so much honor, originated?

Why continue to allow the White man who takes his Western Root from Ancient Greece, to fool you into accepting and believing his lie that your Root in life is not Afrikan but Greek-based and oriented ?

Why prefer and revere the teachings of the student (Greece) to the teachings of the Master (Afrika), which you know little or nothing of.

That is why, today, some of you my Afrikan Brothers and Sisters in USA are so zealous and proud to identify yourselves with all kinds of Greek Sororities and Fraternities as your key to doing good and feeling good and proud about yourselves as Greek Sisters and Greek Brothers instead of Afrikan Sisters and Afrikan Brothers in USA and everywhere you operate .

So in spite of 400 years of programming that makes you prefer slave, colonial, neocolonial/Western/Greek/Arab/Jewish identities and Organizations , Clubs etc to your own Afrikan Identity and Organizations and Clubs etc, the time has come for you to know, once and for all, that you are not and can never be Greek or White man or the Arab or Jew in life but Afrikan whether you know it or not or like it or not .

Hence, calling yourself in Greek Sisters or Greek Brothers does not and cannot make you Greek in anyway, form, shape or manner .

That means, all your meaningless and Anti-Afrikan Greek Sisterhood Organization names like Lota Phi Lambda Sorority, Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, National Sorority of Phi Delta/Kappa, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Alpha Pi Chi Sorority or Eta Phi Beta Sorority etc exist to keep you totally ignorant of your Afrikan Fraternities and to turn you into perfect photocopies of the Greek/White man you have become addicted to and think you cannot exist or flourish or succeed or be useful to others without them .

So , any amount of public services and good you do each year under the auspices of your Greek Sororities, the genocide of preferring alien organizations and identities to your own, far outweigh any positive thing you do through them.

All because, your Greek Sororities, in spite of all your good and noble intentions, rob you of all Knowledge, Power and Benefit of your Afrika-based and oriented Sisterhood Organizations and Clubs that promote no Greek/Western ways of life but your Continental Afrikan Ways of life.

Hence, you are being encouraged today by White America to establish, join, belong to and function through these Greek Sororities not because they will save you from the Hell of White man’s domination, influence, control, exploitation and abuses, but because they will make you forget, hate, reject, and ignore your true Continental Afrikan Root or Origin and in favor of Greek/Western organizations and ways of doing things.

Likewise, your Greek Fraternities for your African American male Elite in USA and elsewhere also exist to make you ?Black? outside but ?White? inside.

Whether or not you call them Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity , the fact still remains they are Greek, which you are not.

If ninety-nine percent of your African American masses whose ?products? you are supposed to be, cannot understand or relate to the Greek names, words, labels and titles of who and what you think you are, of what use will they be to them?

If White American Elite, the French Elite, the German Elite, the Chinese Elite, the Japanese Elite, etc don’t belong to your Afrikan Sororities and Fraternities to do go through but their own , why should you my Afrikan Brothers and Sisters in USA and elsewhere continue to allow others to fool you into believing their lies that you need GREEK and not AFRIKAN SORORITIES AND FRATERNITIES to do good through ?

If White Americans, British, Germans, Italians, Chinese, Greeks, Japanese, Jews and Arabs etc see no need to do good to their fellows through their own created and controlled organizations, why should you not also know, accept and believe that you, as my Afrikan Brothers and Sisters in USA, do not need Greek Sororities and Fraternities to teach you to be kind and generous to your fellow human beings and to reword you for doing so ?

In other words, White America/USA and any other Western countries’ Elite can justifiably base their good deeds on Greek Organizations since Greece is now part of what we call the Western world.

But you, my Afrikan Brothers and Sisters in USA, do not have any justification in basing your good deeds on Earth on Greek organizations.

To continue to do so is to proclaim to yourselves and the world, how ignorant you are about your Continental Afrikan Root and Identity on Earth.

It is also to thank the White man for introducing you to these Greek organizations and without which you are conditioned to think you cannot be of service to others.

Besides, the more you continue to embrace the hell of these Greek organizations, the more you lose the Heaven of your Continental Afrikan Fraternities and Sororities.

Hence, to say Yes to Greek organizations is to say No to your Afrikan Organizations as well as lie to yourselves that you are Greek which you are not .

That is why you so much cherish and revere the Greek principles and ways of life upon which your Greek organizations, titles and activities are based.

But to say Yes to your forgotten Afrikan Fraternities and Sororities is to say No, once and for all, to the insults for Afrikans relying on and basing their good and kind deeds and services on Greek Organizations instead of on their Afrikan Organizations .

In the same way, those of you Afrikans who call yourselves Israelites, Jews or Hebrews or Black British or Black French or Caribbean or Carib or West Indian etc rather than Afrikans, are also fooling nobody but, yourselves .

All because, your Ancestors who gave birth to you and without whom you will not be alive today anywhere in the world, are not from the land call Israel or Britain or France or White America to justify calling yourselves Israelites, Jews or Hebrews etc

Continental Afrika is your Ancestral Home and Motherland as the Richest Continent on Earth for you to reclaim, own, unify, empower, develop, protect, defend and promote for your good as REBORN AND AWAKENED CONTINENTAL AFRIKANS, NATIONALS AND CITIZENS IN LIFE IN DIGNITY .

And since a lioness can only give birth to a baby lion and not to a bird or to an elephant or to a tree or to a stone, it stands to reason that, your Continental Afrikan Ancestors , can only give birth to Continental Afrikan Children anywhere in the world.

So, blindly insisting on the lie that it does not matter who or what you call yourselves or that you can be anything you want in life, can only earn you the titles of Self-ignorant Africans or lost Africans or Uprooted Africans or Assimilated Africans or Westernized/Europeanized Africans or Arabanized/Islamized Africans or Christianized Africans spelt with a ? C? until you are willing and ready to recognize, accept and claim your Continental Afrikan Status as your birthright in life .

This means, your today’s Greek, Jewish or Arab organizations, names, labels and titles exist today to make you a laughing stock of those whose photocopies you have become.

They tell the world you are not human beings enough to have the intelligence to think, create, invent, establish, and operate your own Continental Afrika-based Organizations to promote and defend your Ancestral Afrikan Concept and Practice of Public service and Goodness.

Honoring your Leader with a ridiculous and meaningless Greek Title of ?Supreme Basileus? is not an act of honor to yourselves and others but an act of dishonor and disservice to the blessed memories of all your Continental Afrikan Ancestors to whom you have turned your back by not defining yourselves by their Ancestral Continental Afrikan Identity, Root, Organizations, Names and Labels that are totally alien and meaningless to who and what you truly are in life.

In the same way, honoring your leaders with zero Greek Titles like ?Grand Pole March or Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer? does not mean progress, change or successes in life but enslavement to the shame of alien titles that make you prefer the chaff to the Grain.

As the world’s first and oldest human organization/association on Earth, your Continental Afrikan Organizations are the world’s First Organizations for you to recover, develop , protect, defend, promote and use to do good with and through

This means, no Greek fraternities and sororities can do for you what only your own created and controlled Continental Afrika-based Organizations can do for you .

And to know this is to be free once from the invisible of the colonialism of Greek/Western organizations, titles, activities etc .

By COPYRIGHT (2012) Prof Afrikadzata Deku, Docteur d’Etat, PhD; *Doctorat d’Etat (Ph.D.) * D.E.S.S. (M. Phil) * Diplome De L’ I.I.A.P.(Post-Grad. Dipl.) * M.Sc. * BA. Double Majors *

Emails: [email protected] ; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; ; [email protected], [email protected]

*SKYPE : AFRIKAPHARAOH or AFRIKAFIAGA or WindowsLiveID: AFRIKAPHARAOH* ;

*URLS: http://www.youtube.com/profafrikadzatadeku & https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=4d3310fc746b4eaf&page=play&resid=4D3310FC746B4EAF%21107; http://www.facebook.com/profafrikadzatadeku; ; http://www.myspace.com/profafrikadzatadeku; http://afrikacentricitybooks.blogspot.com/

By: Prof Afrikadzata Deku.

Fashion: Marion Kihogo is interviewed by Grazia magazine….

“I inherited my mother’s love of the scarf; a girl can do so many things with one.” Marion Kihogo

 

 

You can keep up with all of Marion’s fashionable happenings via her website at:http://mariankihogo.com/
http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/archive/2011/12/22/meet-marian-kihogo-our-fave-new-blogger.htm

View the original article here

Art & History: Ashanti Yam Ceremony (1817)

Art & History: Ashanti Yam Ceremony (1817)

Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee (1819)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ashanti_Yam_Ceremony_1817.jpg (Wikipedia images of ghana -ghanaians history art) 

View the original article here

INDIA: BSF strikes again, this time a farmer

Dear Ms. Mamata Banerjee,

INDIA: Kindly investigate the case of torture committed by the BSF at Tarali BSF border outpost

Name of victims: Mr. Tabibar Molla, son of late Sahajaddin Molla, aged about 38 years, residing at Tarali village, under the jurisdiction of Swarupnagar, North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal state, India
Names of alleged perpetrators: BSF officers on duty on 13 December 2011 at about 1pm at the Border Security Force Outpost number three under the jurisdiction of Tarali BSF border outpost situated near Tarali FP school road crossing, including one officer having his name plate reading ‘Prem Singh’
Date of incident: 13 December 2011
Place of incident: BSF Outpost number three under the jurisdiction of Tarali BSF border outpost situated near Tarali FP school road crossing, North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal

I am writing to express concern regarding yet another incident of torture reported by the BSF from the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal state, India.

The incident reportedly happened on 13 December 2011 at about 1pm. Four BSF officers stationed at outpost number three, under the jurisdiction of Tarali border outpost near Tarali FP school road crossing stopped Molla while he was on his way to his farm. The officers accused Molla of pelting stones on the previous night and prevented him from leaving. Molla protested and claimed that the accusation is wrong.

I am informed that the officers however refused to agree. They then detained Molla and started assaulting him with wooden baton and with rifle butts. Molla suffered serious injuries on his head, ears, legs and on his backside in the incident. The injuries caused blunt marks from trauma on Molla.

It is reported that at that time Molla shouted for help. Some persons in the locality heard Molla’s cry for help and arrived at the scene. They helped Molla to be rescued from the BSF officers. They helped Molla to be taken to a medical practitioner on the same day. It is alleged that the BSF officers also shouted filth at Molla in Hindi, while they assaulted him.

It is alleged that Molla has lodged a written complaint against the BSF officers at the office of the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Basirhat, on 16 December 2011. It is alleged that the officer did not take any action till date despite receiving the complaint.

I am informed that Molla alleges that persons namely Mr. Bapi Mondal, Mr. Ainuddin Sardar and Ms Hamida Bibi were witnesses of the incident. Molla also claims that it is these people who rescued him from the BSF. Molla has narrated this in his complaint to the Sub-Divisional Police Officer. Molla has also provided to the officer adequate identification details of the BSF officers who allegedly assaulted him. Molla has identified one officer having a nametag bearing the name ‘Prem Singh’.

I am concerned about the repeated incidents of torture and other forms of violence committed by the BSF in India, in particular by those officers stationed along the Indo-Bangladesh border. This case is unfortunately yet another example. I am informed that the AHRC and MASUM together have reported about 800 cases of custodial violence committed by the BSF during the past eight years. All these cases with narrative details of the incident and that of the persons involved in the incident have been transmitted to the authorities in India calling for actions. I am also informed that the BSF enjoys absolute impunity in India, a fact reiterated by the lack of criminal as well as disciplinary actions against the officers involved in criminal cases thus far brought to your information. I am informed that at the very minimum, a statutory requirement of investigating a complaint and recording the statements of the victim/s as well as the witness/s is not usually complied by the Indian authorities, despite the fact that each case involves a clear breach of law, often punishable under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. I hope the fate of this complaint too will not be the same.

The Border Security Act, 1968 and its Rules 1969, regulates the conduct of the BSF. According to Section 28 (a) of the Act, any person unnecessarily detains a person in arrest or confinement without bringing him to trial, or fails to bring his case before the proper authority for investigation … shall, on conviction by a Security Force Court, be liable to suffer imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned. Section 40 of the Act provides that any person subject to the act who is guilty of any act or omission which, though not specified in the 2004 Act, is prejudicial to good order and discipline of the force shall, on conviction by a Security Force Court, be liable to suffer imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned. Section 41 (f) of the Act mandates that a BSF officer who commits any offence against the property or person of any inhabitant of, or resident in, the country in which he is serving to be punished with seven years of imprisonment.

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 provides punishment for voluntarily causing hurt or injuries to a person. Section 326 of the Code prescribes punishment by way of imprisonment for a term of ten years to a person who voluntarily causes hurt by dangerous weapons or means. Section 357 mandates one year imprisonment for a person who attempts to wrongfully confine a person. Section 307 mandates punishment for a term of ten years for a person who attempts to murder another person. In addition, Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees protection of life and personal liberty of every citizen.

The Supreme Court of India in Shivprasad Pandey v Central Bureau of Investigation, New Delhi, reported in 2003 All India Reporter 1974 and in The Commandant, 68 BN BSF Gakulankar v Shri Arjundas reported in 2006 (7) Supplement Supreme Court Reporter p. 251 has criticized the BSF for the torture committed by them and has convicted officers found guilty of the offence.

Had the BSF been operating in compliance with the Border Security Force Act, 1968 and its Rules 1969, such incidents would not have happened. It shows that discipline and commitment to duty is not ensured within the rank and file in the force. Violence by the BSF against unarmed civilians and other forms of corruption and crimes committed by the BSF with impunity is a threat to the border security of the nation. Such a BSF is a threat to the entire country.

I therefore request you:

1. That the complaints of torture in this case be investigated by an independent agency;
2. That the statements of the witnesses to the incident recorded immediately by a judicial officer;
3. The alleged officers placed on immediate suspension and their case immediately referred to the BSF court or to a civilian court;
4. Should the case be adjudicated by a BSF court, the victim and the witnesses adequately represented in such proceedings by a lawyer of their choice;
5. That victim and the witnesses in the case provided immediate protection;
6. The entire investigation supervised by a judicial officer and the victim or a member of their family is informed about the progress of the investigation;
7. The union government pay an interim compensation to the victim pending the final disposal of their complaints by a court of law.

Yours sincerely,

William Nicholas Gomes
William’s Desk

www.williamgomes.org