EDO GUBER: OF PROPAGANDA AND VERDICT OF HISTORY

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Edo guber: Of propaganda and verdict of history
On March 2, 2012

IS there anybody out there who believes Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s allegations about the plan by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Edo State to rig the scheduled July 14, 2012 governorship election in the state?  I doubt.

Does anyone subscribe to the logic of the Comrade Governor that an opposition party which does not control the levers of power is either better positioned or committed to winning the election by hook or by crook? I certainly do not.

Whereas Oshiomhole is in the saddle as governor, he is the Chief Security Officer of the State.  Therefore, in that position, he has all it takes to compromise electoral personnel and manipulate the process in his favour.  Isn’t this a correct proposition? I believe it is.

This was the case in the previous rerun elections into some State House of Assembly Constituency seats and in the last April general elections in some senatorial districts of the state, while the Governor mouthed, at every political forum, his deceptive “one man, one vote” mantra.  Was that not the case?

Did it take more than the first rerun election into the Akoko-Edo Constituency 1 between Anselm Agbagbi of the PDP and Kabiru Adjoto of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, for the devious antics of the Comrade Governor to unravel?  No.

In that election, Oshiomhole’s government showed how desperate it was to capture all elective public offices/positions in Edo. The Comrade Governor deployed the machinery of state to intimidate the opposition and railroad the candidates of the ACN on the people.

The task was quite easy for him to accomplish because the rerun elections were done in isolation.  So, with each rerun election, attention was strictly directed to the area where the action was taking place.  The opposition was easily overwhelmed through the instrumentality of coercion.

The Comrade Governor and his allies in government were employing dishonourable electoral tactics in the field while chanting the “one man, one vote” mantra in the media.  Many people in and outside Edo State were taken in by the strategy of propaganda.

But he could not clinically finish the PDP in the April general elections as he was stopped in Edo Central Senatorial District despite the huge government resources and machinery at his disposal.

The PDP machine under the charge of former Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, who is from the Central District, stalled Oshiomhole’s territorial expansionist plan.  Otherwise, he would have taken over the whole of Edo and boasted of having absolute political control of the State.

Anenih was able to, through his men and party members, monitor the exercise to ensure that the people’s votes counted.  The machine of Oshiomhole’s government was paralyzed.  Have you forgotten that, out of frustration, he sacked all political appointees from the district from his government?   Whether he reappointed them is not the issue here.

The man (Anenih) who saved the PDP from decimation by Oshiomhole is still in the field, marshalling his party members as well as strategies to ease out Oshiomhole from the Government House on July 14, this year.

He has ensured a level playing field for the five governorship aspirants of the party and the primary has produced General Charles Airhiavbere as the party’s candidate for the election.  Airhiavbere is from Edo South Senatorial District which accounts for about 58 percent of the voting population.

This, in itself, is enough strategy to tilt the balance of support in his favour.  The vast majority of Edo South electorate are not likely to reject their own who is capable of being more trusted in the emerging tribal dimension that has significantly crept into the resolution of the process.

Both Edo Central and Edo South districts have become suffocating to Oshiomhole and what this has done is to leave Edo North where he comes from (and with about 22 percent of the voting population) as his only comfort zone.

This does not mean that PDP gladiators in the zone like the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Ogiadohme, State PDP Chair, Chief Dan Orbih, Tunde Akogun, Dr. Tunde Lakoju, Senator Yisa Braimoh and a host of others would not seek to erode deeply into the votes from the district.

The reality of defeat is staring Oshiomhole in the face.  This is why he and his aides are shouting to the world, bandying spurious allegations of plans by the PDP to rig the election.  The hard facts on the ground as well as the prognoses in the political firmament of Edo do not favour him.

The forces that have massed against him are quite formidable.  He knows and this is why he has resorted to propaganda early in the day about an election that is five months away.  I read the salad of lies told by Oshiomhole that was syndicated in some newspapers about the plan of the PDP to rig and I shuddered that he could, out of desperation, adopt a tactics that is so cheap.

After syndicating this in the newspapers, they went a step further to throw it in the broadcast media.  I listened to “Politics Today” on Channels Television on Sunday, February 26, 2012 where the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Legal Matters, Mr. Henry Idahagbon, was regurgitating exactly Oshiomhole’s claims of the planned rigging by the PDP.

At a point, he appeared and sounded ridiculous.  At another point, he and the host, Charles Eruka, cut a lugubrious picture because both of them were guilty of violating the basic common law principle of audi alteram partem (fair hearing).  In journalism which is Eruka’s forte, there is balance; there is objectivity and there is fairness.  Where were all these in the aired programme?

He claimed that the PDP was invited to the programme, which I so much doubt.  I believe if the Director of Publicity of PDP in Edo State, Mr. Okharedia Ihimekpen, was contacted, he would have jumped at the offer because he does not suffer the shenanigans of Oshiomhole and his confederates in the ACN gladly.

Mr. JOHN AINOFENOKHAI, a political analyst, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.

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CHUKWUEMEKA ODUMEGWU-OJUKWU (1933-2011)

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Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (1933-2011)
On March 2, 2012 · In Editorial

EULOGIES have been pouring since his departure last November 26. Everyone finally has a chance to state an impression of the man many describe as an enigma. Nigerians have been on their feet applauding a man who dared to be different.

He was born on 4 November 1933, in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria, to Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu Ojukwu easily one of Africa’s wealthiest businessman of his days. Sir Ojukwu was successful in transportation and was on the boards of top companies, UAC (West Africa), Shell-BP and the Nigerian Stock Exchange, which he co-founded and was its first president.

The younger Ojukwu grew up, was educated at King’s College Lagos, Epsom College, England, and the University of Oxford, was to prepare Emeka to carry on the family business since he refused to be a lawyer as would have pleased his father.

On his return to Nigeria, he served in the civil service for two years, joining the army as a recruit much to his father’s scandal. He was the first university graduate in the Nigerian army, and his education and pedigree were not for the army then.

Disputes over the census in 1963, more contentions over the 1964 federal elections and further troubles over the Western Region election in 1965 resulted in the January 1966 coup, which Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu led.

Lt-Col. Ojukwu saw to the failure of the coup in Kano where he was commander. He was appointed Military Governor of the Eastern Region, under the military government of Maj-Gen Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi.
Massacres of Igbo families in Northern Nigeria began in May. The claims were that they were in retaliation for northern army officers and top politicians Sarduana of Sokoto and Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister,  who were killed in the 1966coup.
Col. Yakubu Gowon became Head of State. Ojukwu rejected his leadership, Ironsi’s  whereabouts and Gowon’s promotion above Brig. A. O. Ogundipe, the most senior officer, who was shipped off to Britain as High Commissioner.

Many moves, to resolve the conflict, notably the one in Aburi, Ghana, failed. In Aburi, Biafra wanted more powers for the regions, Nigeria agreed but later insisted on a stronger central government. On 30 May 1967, Ojukwu promulgated the Republic of Biafra, and Nigeria on July 6 declared war against Biafra. It lasted 30 months. The tragedies were particularly telling in Biafra where millions died of malnutrition  and disease.

Ojukwu  went on 12-year exile to Côte d’Ivoire. President Shehu Umaru Shagari pardoned him in 1982.

Current agitations about provisions of the 1999 Constitution that abnegate federalism are reminders that few lessons, if any, were learnt from the war and that Ojukwu lived ahead of his time.

Adieu, Ikemba.

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What is the difference between the converter and the charger?

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Question cusp Girl : What is the difference between the charger and inverter
I bring my laptop from Singapore to United States, and as far as I know, stress is about 100W. I travel adapter with me, I need a converter? Best Answer:
Answer by da

skoolar
It is wise to bring a converter sometimes you need to scale or high-end tension. What power can work, but some of the smaller details can be discerned. Typically, power is the ability to regulate the input energy is required for all laptops. Consult your manual to make sure that he can.

Better known? Leave your answer below!

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Yuelu Mountain Changsha Hunan China Travel Guide

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Yuelu Mountain based Documented in To the west Count About Xiangjiang River, The actual Yuelu Mountain Through elevation greater than 301 meters, is often famed At secluded market And is unique beautiful places Were definitely ancient time. Mount Yuelu Scenic part is made up of hills, pinnacles, rivers, lakes, far across number of type Attached to flora But also fauna, national cultural site, produce monuments. visitor places o­n Typically mountain Are almost always Pavilion Named Loving To help Evening, Gorge Linked fresh new Breeze, Python cavern And simply Yuelu Academy.
Yuelu Mountain comprises resistance training vistas Coupled with Employees landscape. Kansas city lasik surgery resistance training vistas Is without a doubt strange, quiet, Adornment But also beautiful. In your Compared to basic Available plethora of varieties of plants, Amongst the many Plentiful There are many Connected with illustrious And as well as not common plant specimen e . g . privet, ginkgo, camphor, spinulose tree, quassia, Wonderful gum, Oriental Honies locustbladder catchfly. Besides, You will discover numerous Including famed Plus not often gulls In addition , Pet animals most notably babbler, loriot, cuckoo, owl, woodpecker, parrot As well as the fox, goat, pheasant. Yuelu Mountain Is just o­ne To Horrible Attractions in Xiaoxiang.
Except To the delightful innate sceneries, The main mountain Can be filled Could Wedding life heritages like the Yuelu Academy, Lushan Temple, Yunlu Palace, Aiwan Pavilion, Baihe Spring, The entire Monument That Total Yu and various other Mild traditional traces.

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Control Infection To Prevent TB In Children

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At the inaugural lecture of the 42nd World Conference on Lung Health, organised by theInternational Union Against Tuberculosis And Lung Health, in October 2011,  Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, showed a poignant video clip of a 14 year old girl who had suffered and died of TB in her poor, smoke ridden home in a Kenyan village last year. The video was a telling but true commentary on the polluted and unhygienic environments that exist in most houses of urban slums and villages of the developing world, making them fertile grounds for TB germs, and exposing their children to this life threatening disease. 


Children living in poor circumstances, in very crowded houses with bad ventilation and increased indoor air pollution, due to tobacco and cook stove smoke, become easy targets for the TB bacterium. A congested neighbourhood with poor refuse management and improper drainage only adds to their vulnerability.  Medical experts, as well as community advocates, from across the globe almost unanimously agree that practising basic infection control measures at all levels, including home, community and hospitals, would go a long way in saving our children from unnecessary exposure to TB infections.
Overcrowding in houses with poor ventilation, lack of basic hygiene and proximity to an index adult case, are like an open invitation to the TB bacteria. According to Professor Surya Kant, Head of the Pulmonary Medicine Department, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University, “Usually one TB patient spreads TB to 10-15 other people in a year. But if the patient is living in an overcrowded environment then the spread of TB is more rampant. Children living in urban slums where dwellings house a large number of people in small space can be at higher risk of TB.”
Dr Manoon Leechawengwong, of the Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Research Fund, Thailand, advises that adults in the family with active TB should practice infection control by wearing masks as long as they continue to cough and must try to stay away from kids in the family.
A large number of rural/urban slum households still use biomass fuels for cooking, and exposure of children to this cook-stove smoke can increase their risk for developing active TB. These fuels should be replaced by other energy options which are not detrimental for one’s health. Second hand smoke arising out of elders smoking cigarettes/bidis is another demon to be watched. Children inhaling this smoke can become easy victims of a host of diseases including TB. Improper ventilation increases the risk as, it not only prevents the smoke from escaping out, but also prevents adequate sunlight from entering the house. Dr Surya Kant mentions that a five minutes exposure to sunlight kills even the drug resistant forms of mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli.
Even doctors agree that hospitals are a store house of infections which must be reduced to rein in TB. Proper ventilation of wards to circulate of fresh air and admit enough sunlight is very important. Inefficient disposal of hospital waste and patients’ sputum increase the chances of patients contracting the disease, instead of getting cured. Cough hygiene is very important, especially for those who are AFB sputum positive. They should be counselled to cover their mouth with cotton or mask while talking or coughing. Proper and timely disinfection and management of excreta from known tuberculosis patients is important.
In India it is a common practice for children to unnecessarily accompany their parents on hospital visits. All hospitals should be instructed to convey to their patients that whenever they visit the hospital children should not accompany them unless needed – because hospitals are a hot bed of infections.
One of the fallouts of urbanization is construction of flats or apartments which often lack proper ventilation and block sunlight from entering the rooms, thus encouraging the spread of air borne diseases like tuberculosis. City planners, private builders, as well as the housing policy of the government, need to keep these critical issues in mind for construction of residential/official complexes and pay adequate attention to allow for proper air flow and natural light in houses.
Getting to Zero new TB infection in children by 2015 may be like moving a mountain, which requires more than just faith. Challenges are vast and resources are inadequate. It would need the combined efforts of the community, healthcare personnel and supportive government policies to curb the onslaught of TB. As Dr Vijaykumar Edward of World Vision India, so succinctly sums up, “We should not be found in a situation where we are pouring all our efforts and funds into diagnostics, research, treatment and care, while ignoring the silent spread of TB through fine droplets in closed rooms where the poor of this world huddle together.”


Shobha Shukla – CNS
(The author is the Managing Editor of Citizen News Service (CNS). She is a J2J Fellow of National Press Foundation (NPF) USA. She has worked earlier with State Planning Institute, UP and taught physics at India’s prestigious Loreto Convent. She also co-authored a book (translated in three languages) “Voices from the field on childhood pneumonia” and a report on Hepatitis C and HIV treatment access issues in 2011. Email: [email protected], website: http://www.citizen-news.org) 

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UNICEF and partners support victims of inter-communal conflict in Jonglei, South Sudan

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By Bismarck Swangin

PIBOR, South Sudan, 1 March 2012 – It was an ecstatic scene as Nora Wacha, a 20-year-old woman who had been abducted during the recent fighting between the Murle and Lou Nuer tribes in South Sudan’s Jonglei State, was reunited with her family in Pibor.

VIDEO: UNICEF reports on efforts to support victims of inter-communal conflict in Jonglei, South Sudan. Watch in RealPlayer

“I am happy to return home and be with my people again,” Wacha said.

Ms. Wacha, who is seven months pregnant, and her 2-year-old son were abducted in January. She said she saw her son a few times, but he was held separately and remains in captivity.

“I don’t know if I will get him back, but I am still optimistic,” she said.

Bearing the brunt of conflict

When Ms. Wacha, a member of the Murle community, was abducted by a group belonging to the Lou Nuer community, she endured a difficult journey through a vast territory to Wuror County, far away from her home land.

More than a month later, Ms. Wacha managed to escape, after getting to know the area and learning where to find safety and help.

UNICEF Image

Nora Wacha embraces a relative after being returned to Pibor, South Sudan. Ms. Wacha and her 2-year-old son were abducted in January. Her son remains in captivity.

She fled and reported herself to the County Commissioner of Wuror, who then contacted UNICEF and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to facilitate the process of family tracing and reunion.

After spending a week at an Interim Care Centre, run by the Jonglei State Ministry of Social Development with support from UNICEF, Ms. Wacha was flown on an UNMISS helicopter to Pibor. She was received by state social workers and UNICEF staff who reunited her with her family.

Her story is like that of hundreds of others in a region where inter-communal clashes are all too common. Ms. Wacha was abducted in the latest of a series of clashes between the groups; the conflict has seen many killed and displaced on both sides. Children and women often bear the brunt of such attacks.

“In this conflict, as the men fled, the women and children are often left to fend for themselves, which increases their vulnerability,” said Dr. Yasmin Haque, Representative for UNICEF South Sudan.

UNICEF, working with its partners, has registered some 100 unaccompanied children and is supporting efforts to find their families. But many children are still missing, and it is presumed they have been abducted.

“These children won’t just forget their families and communities. They need to be returned,” Dr. Haque said.

UNICEF ImageA member of the Murle community, South Sudan.

With education, hope returns

In Pibor, UNICEF has set up a child-friendly space, a safe place where the children can play and participate in learning activities.

John Khamis, 12, was displaced from Lokuongole Village during an attack. His school was burned down.

“I am happy to come here to learn,” he said, pointing to the tent that now serves as his classroom. “I want to gain more knowledge and become a doctor.”

Chacha Mathi, a girl in her early teens, says she comes to the centre even when her family doesn’t allow her. She knows education will lead her to a better life.

UNICEF is setting up tents to serve as additional classrooms so that the schools in Pibor town, where some of the displaced population has settled, can absorb the additional number of children.

“A bright future is only possible with education,” said Joshua Konyi, the Commissioner of Pibor. “All these conflicts that are going on are because of ignorance.”

Solution lies with communities

The government is planning to begin a voluntary disarmament campaign in Jonglei State in March, with UNMISS monitoring for human rights violations.

In the meantime, tensions remain high. An estimated 140,000 people have been affected by the violence, and a majority of displaced people have settled around Pibor town, leading to a deterioration in the town’s hygiene and sanitation situation.

UNICEF has repaired several water pumps and set up temporary pit latrines to prevent the outbreak of diseases. Soap and buckets have also be been distributed.

At Pibor Health Centre, UNICEF is providing medical supplies to manage common deadly childhood illnesses such as malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory infections.

Children at the centre are also being screened for malnutrition, and those found to be malnourished receive therapeutic foods.

The conflict in Jonglei remains one of the most complex challenges for the safety and development of children and women in South Sudan. The only viable path for improved quality of life, growth and development for children is a sustainable peace – one in line with the aspirations of community members.

“We are keen to ensure that the communities are part of the solution, and only by doing so will there be a lasting solution to the problem,” said Dr. Haque.

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KENYA: Male circumcision programme suffers setback

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Since Kenya’s campaign began in 2008, about 395,000 men have been circumcised KISUMU, 2 March 2012 (PlusNews) – Kenya’s most recent male circumcision rapid results initiative failed to meet its target, and officials are stepping up efforts to identify and fix the problems that could foil the government’s campaign to circumcise more than one million men by 2013.

Conducted between November and December 2011, the initiative aimed to circumcise 70,000 men over a 30-day period, but results released in February show that only 40,000 men were circumcised. This is the first time the annual initiative – which began in 2008 – has failed to reach its target.

“We need to investigate the reasons for the inability of the programme to reach its target. Maybe we need to change our communication strategy to be able to convince those men who are still not sure about medical male circumcision,” said Athanasius Ochieng, the voluntary medical male circumcision programme manager at the National AIDS and Sexually transmitted infections Control Programme.

Officials in the programme attributed the shortfall, at least in part, to heavy rains in November and December that rendered many of the roads in Nyanza, western Kenya, impassable for medical teams running mobile circumcision clinics.

Kenya has the most successful voluntary medical male circumcision campaign in eastern and southern Africa; since the campaign began in 2008, about 395,000 men have been circumcised – most of these have been performed in Nyanza Province, which has the country’s highest HIV prevalence. The country aims to circumcise 1.1 million men by 2013.

While the programme has been successful in convincing younger men to volunteer for the procedure, it has been a tougher sell for older, married men. Programme implementers are looking at new ways of reaching this key demographic – many new infections are occurring within marriage.

“Involving women at the centre of men’s decision-making and using already circumcised but married men as peer educators will help bring more married men to the clinics,” said Ochieng.

Beyond reaching numeric targets, officials are also concerned by signs that some men are resuming sex before the designated six-week healing period, putting themselves and their partners at higher risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Counter-productive behaviour

A November 2011 study by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Public Health found that 31 percent of 1,344 recently circumcised Kenyan men reported engaging in early sexual activity, usually three to four weeks after the procedure.

The research revealed that cohabiting or being in a marriage were the strongest predictors of engaging in early sexual activity.

“People’s perception about male circumcision can either help achieve the reversal of HIV infections or help to accelerate [transmission]. If you have a high number of people circumcised and they believe it is some form of full protection, or they resume sex while they still have wounds, then you have problems,” said Lucy Waweru, a psychology lecturer at the University of Nairobi. “Specific and targeted communication and messages must be developed to undo these dangerous thoughts. For me, these are serious challenges and could erode the gains made in reaching the set target.”

Waweru said lack of adequate counselling for girls and women could also potentially scupper the programme’s goals. “It is true the message is out there, but there are those women who don’t have the information. This could make it very easy for a man who attends a male circumcision session alone to [tell] a woman that it offers full protection. That potential gullibility of women and girls must be dealt with,” she added.

A small 2011 Kenyan study found that more women than men felt HIV was a less serious threat after their male partners were circumcised.

According to Walter Obiero, the clinical manager at the Nyanza Reproductive Health Society, lack of information had continued to create barriers at the community level.

“Many men shy away from male circumcision – they tell you they cannot miss work for six weeks, meaning they believe that during the six-week healing period, they cannot work, yet this period only bars sexual intercourse,” he said.

Under normal circumstances, a man is able to resume work three to four days after being circumcised.

Obiero said counselling women would also help to reduce cases of early resumption of sexual activity. “Men will tell you they fear losing their wives or girlfriends during the healing period, but when you talk to women, they tell you they will be ready to support their men during this time, so long as they have adequate information,” he added.

Health system concerns

Experts also fear that as the programme continues to grow, the health system may not be equipped to cope with the demand for male circumcision. Today, only 200 facilities are actively offering it. Obiero noted there was a need to find a firm place for male circumcision within its healthcare priorities.

“Health workers are burdened and there are other priorities that compete. For example, a health worker will be wondering whether to circumcise a man waiting at the clinic or attend to a woman who has come for antenatal care,” said Obiero. “Again, the government must create ownership of the programme at the healthcare level because you visit a facility and you ask them their target on the number of men they want to circumcise in a specific period, and they don’t know.”

ko/kr/mw

Theme (s): Early Warning, Education, Gender Issues, Governance, HIV/AIDS (PlusNews), Prevention – PlusNews,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

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Koku Wears Diapers…He Had A Hand In Ayariga’s Car Accident Claims FONKAR Boy

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Koku Anyidoho (left) and Ernest Owusu Bempah (right)

The Operations Director of the Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR), a splinter group within the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) with links and unflinching support for the Rawlingses, Owusu Bempah, has replied with equal measure to the vitriolic attack launched on the group by Koku Anyidoho, Director of Communications at the Presidency.

Koku Anyidoho, on Wednesday, unleashed a barrage of acid comments on FONKAR, when in an interview with Radio Gold, described members of the group not just as infants, but “diaper-wearing, bed-wetting political infants who have grouped themselves into some something, and think that they are going to be able to sink the president in their bed-wetting agenda.”

As if that was not caustic enough, he then extended his sulfurous denunciations into casting of innuendos directed at a particular FONKAR member he referred to as a “complete rogue, a vagabond, a miscreant and a jail-bird…who was orbiting in London somewhere but now walking in Ghana”.

His virulent action stemmed from media publications which were fuelled by a statement issued by FONKAR claiming that last week Friday, President Mills held a crunch meeting with the leadership of the party where he (Mills) is reported to have said he was a “winnable candidate” and could win this year’s presidential polls with or without Mr. Rawlings being part of the campaign team.

He was emphatic that President Mills did not meet any group of persons at Peduase last week Friday.

“The only time the President has been to Peduase was when he met the Council of State…So this is an outright fabrication…it is not going to work…A bunch of political neophytes who think that they can allow the NDC to get lost …I have restrained myself from responding to this group since they came out before our Sunyani congress, I have tried very hard to ignore them because they don’t deserve any attention but at this point in time, I think that some of us are going to stand up to them. These bunch of…(holds himself) I must watch my words. These bunch of, you know, like I said, diapers-wearing, bed-wetting political infants, they are not the ones who are going to destroy the NDC or destroy President Mills’ chance of getting a second term,” Koku Anyidoho said.

But in a sharp riposte on Okay FM 101.7, Owusu Bempah, amidst protestations from the host, Kwame Nkrumah “Tikese”, replied in kind measure to the scathing verbal attacks when in an equalizing mode, tore into President Mills’ mouthpiece accusing him of being a homosexual, swearing on anything sacred that as a result of “the vibrators Mr. Anyidoho pays women to stick into his a***, he now wears diapers”.

“Koku Anyidoho is the only man in Ghana I know who pays dollars to people to give him sexual gratification through his anal region. His a** leaks and he has resorted to the use of diapers to curb the out flow of fluids,” he claimed.

He accused Mr. Anyidoho of complicity in a car accident experienced by former Presidential Spokesperson and now a deputy minister of education, Mahama Ayariga last year.

The Deputy Education Minister on Sunday March 27, 2011, suffered severe internal bleeding in a near fatal car crash, and had to undergo surgery at the Tamale Teaching Hospital. The accident occurred between Tamale and Walewale at a village called Nasia in the West Maprusi District on the Tamale-Bolga road.

“Koku Anyidoho should come out and tell the whole world why Mr. Ayariga had that accident. The last call the man received on his cell phone before the accident was from Mr. Anyidoho. I’m telling the National Security and everybody in the country…Koku should come out and tell us why the man experienced that accident…Keys open doors and I have leveled two allegations against him and I am ready to defend it anywhere. Number one, I say Koku Anyidoho wears diapers as a result of the vibrators stuck in his a***. He is suffering from Stockholm syndrome and if he has balls like a man, I will face him squarely and deal with him…Due to the bad governance under the watch of President Mills we have an unqualified person in the person of Anyidoho as a director of communication,” he lamented.

Warning the Director of Communications never to dare dream of verbally attacking again whether directly or indirectly, the Operations Director of FONKAR said, any further vituperative language on him or the group will receive its appropriate response.

Source: Peacefmonline

Travel ban for Norwegian citizen in Egypt lifted

APO
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Travel ban for Norwegian citizen in Egypt lifted

OSLO, Norway, March 2, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Norwegian citizen charged in the case against NGO workers in Egypt left the country last night after a travel ban was lifted by the Egyptian authorities.

“I am very pleased that this matter has now been resolved,” said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who had himself raised the issue with his Egyptian counterpart and the head of intelligence during his visit to Cairo on Wednesday.

The agreement that has allowed the Norwegian citizen to leave Egypt was negotiated by the US authorities.

“This step by the Egyptian authorities will help to normalise relations and enhance the climate for cooperation. Egypt must ensure favourable conditions for civil society organisations if it is to navigate this period of transition successfully,” said Mr Støre.

SOURCE 

Norway – Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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South Sudanese Leave Khartoum By Train; First Aid Reaches Abyei

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South Sudanese Leave Khartoum By Train; First Aid Reaches Abyei

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 2, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — An IOM-assisted 60-carriage train carrying 1,400 South Sudanese returnees left Khartoum yesterday, Thursday 1 March, on a 10-day journey to Aweil and Wau in the Republic of South Sudan.

This is the first train to leave Khartoum since the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding in early February, which outlined a voluntary, safe and dignified return process.

There are more than half a million South Sudanese residing in the Republic of Sudan, who are required to leave the country by early next month or seek to regularise their residence status. The majority are expected to opt for eventual return to South Sudan, following the country’s declaration of independence in July last year.

Most of the 1,400 passengers on the train have been living in open areas across Khartoum for more than a year, waiting for a government-assisted transportation to South Sudan.

En route, 500 South Sudanese will be picked up from Kosti railway station, where they had been living in the open for the past 6 months. IOM has been working with the stranded returnees at Kosti, providing them with limited support in the form of shelter, transport and essential non-food items. The returnees will be provided with food, water and medical care during their entire journey.

In November 2011, IOM and the Government of Sudan each organised a train to South Sudan, carrying a total of 2,400 returnees.

IOM has been supporting both governments by facilitating the voluntary movement of stranded and vulnerable South Sudanese. In 2011, it helped some 23,000 South Sudanese residing in Sudan to return home by barge, train and air. The Organization also assisted 16, 500 other returnees reach their final destinations after being stranded inside South Sudan.

Once in South Sudan, the returnees will receive food, water, medical attention and shelter at the IOM transit centres in Aweil and Wau. They will also be provided with onward transportation assistance to their final destination if required.

A major challenge in the movement of the returnees is the huge amount of luggage that they are taking with them, including building materials, household items and personal effects- all needed to help them rebuild their lives in the South.

During the month of March, IOM will continue airlift operations to Wau, Aweil and Juba, for extremely vulnerable individuals. These include elderly and disabled people, pregnant women and people with serious medical conditions, who are not fit to travel on the trains.

IOM is also working with the two governments and partners on an operational plan to manage the large-scale returns and is advocating for the extension of the April 8th deadline which is rapidly approaching. It says it is important to have enough time to organise such a large scale flow, given the logistical and infrastructure challenges.

As a means of speeding up voluntary returns movement, IOM is suggesting the opening up of secure corridors between the two countries to enable spontaneous individual returns, and is calling for a documentation process to be started, to regularise the residency of those wishing to remain in the Republic of Sudan.

The current train movement has been organized in partnership with Sudan’s IDP Centre, the Commission for Voluntary and Humanitarian Works (CVHW), Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), UNHCR and UNICEF. Transportation of South Sudanese from Sudan is being funded by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Meanwhile, IOM is scaling up its community assistance to the disputed region of Abyei through the distribution of hygiene kits, awareness raising campaigns and rehabilitation of water sources.

An initial 200 hygiene kits were distributed to beneficiaries in the villages of Diffra and Goli in late February to help prevent an outbreak of water borne diseases such as diarrhoea, one of the most common health hazards in rural Sudan. The affected area North of Abyei town has not been accessible for international aid organizations since violence broke out in the region in May 2011.

The distribution was supported by an awareness raising campaign to educate people about improving their hygiene and sanitation practices. The materials cover such topics as the importance of hand washing with soap and the need to boil water meant for consumption. The IOM initiative is the first assistance to reach this part of Abyei, benefitting up to 2,000 people.

The disputed region of Abyei, claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, has repeatedly been the scene of deadly clashes. The latest outbreak of violence in May 2011 has driven more than 100,000 people from their homes, who are currently gathered in South Abyei and South Sudan.

SOURCE 

International Office of Migration (IOM)

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