SOCIAL MEDIA BLOCKED IN UGANDA ON DAY OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Social media has been blocked in Uganda on the day of presidential elections .Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni  explained that this is   to stop people  "telling lies".

Interviewed on TV about social media, Mr Museveni said: "Some people misuse those pathways. You know how they misuse them - telling lies.

Mr Museveni, 71, is seeking to extend his 30-year rule, in a race widely seen as the tightest in the East African state's history. Seven opposition

 candidates are running against Mr Museveni.

His main challenger is his former physician, Kizza Besigye who has said he does not think the election will be free and fair.

Former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi is also seen as a leading contender for the presidency.

The head of Uganda's media regulator, Godfrey Mutabazi, said the block was introduced after a request from the electoral commission, local media reports.

He added that it was to make sure the services would not be used to bribe voters.

Uganda's leading mobile operator MTN, which has 10 million users, confirmed that it had received an order to shut down social media services.

Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and mobile money services have been blocked.

Despite this, #UgandaDecides is still trending on Twitter

The election has been marred by delays of up to five hours at some polling stations.

The electoral commission said difficulties in transporting electoral materials caused the delays and agreed to extend voting for three hours until 16:00 GMT in some polling stations. 

Voting has been cancelled at at least two polling stations in the capital Kampala after clashes with police.

OVER 60 FEARED DEAD AT KINTAMPO ACCIDENT

 At least 63  people are feared dead in Wednesday night's road accident at Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo region.

More deaths have since been recorded at the hospital but the number is yet to be confirmed.

The accident happened around 8pm a few metres away from the Kintampo township on the way to Tamale and near the waterfalls.

It involved a Metro Mass Transit (MMT) bus which was heading towards Northern Ghana and a cargo truck loaded with tomatoes.

Many passengers were trapped under the bus. The injured were taken to hospital for medical attention.

The accident resulted in a heavy vehicular traffic In the area as vehicles queued, waiting for the accident scene to be cleared.

The police said their initial investigations indicated the MMT bus had brake problems.

The driver was said to have earlier detected the brake problem around Techiman, stopped to check on it but continued the journey until the brake completely failed a few meters after the Kintampo township.

He was said to have lost control over the vehicle whilst descending the steep in the Kintampo waterfalls area and crashed head on with a cargo truck loaded with tomatoes in a curve.

Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr. Eric Opoku, has led a delegation from the Flagstaff House, to the hospitals to have first-hand information of the tragedy.
The delegation which includes Collins Dauda, Fiifi Kwetey, and the Inspector General of Police, as well as the Regional Minister have visited the accident scene, mortuary, and the Kintampo Regional hospital.
They have also held discussions with nurses and the Medical Superintendent of the hospital.
More soon…
- See more at: http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2016/February-18th/update-kintampo-disaster-death-toll-hits-63-regional-minister-visits-victims.php#sthash.glfCZnP1.dpuf

Meanwhile, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr. Eric Opoku, has led a delegation from the Flagstaff House, to the hospitals to have first-hand information of the tragedy.

The delegation which includes Collins Dauda, Fiifi Kwetey, and the Inspector General of Police, as well as the Regional Minister have visited the accident scene, mortuary, and the Kintampo Regional hospital.

Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr. Eric Opoku, has led a delegation from the Flagstaff House, to the hospitals to have first-hand information of the tragedy.
The delegation which includes Collins Dauda, Fiifi Kwetey, and the Inspector General of Police, as well as the Regional Minister have visited the accident scene, mortuary, and the Kintampo Regional hospital.
They have also held discussions with nurses and the Medical Superintendent of the hospital.
- See more at: http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2016/February-18th/update-kintampo-disaster-death-toll-hits-63-regional-minister-visits-victims.php#sthash.glfCZnP1.dpuf

FORMER UN SECRETARY GENERAL BOUTROUS BOUTROUS GHALI CONFIRMED DEAD

 

 Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the former secretary general of the UN, has died aged 93.

His death was confirmed by Rafael Dario Ramirez Carreno, the president of the UN Security Council.

As an Egyptian, Mr Boutros-Ghali was the first Arab to hold the UN's top position.

He took office in 1992 at a time of increasing influence for the world body following its decisive role in the Gulf War, serving one five-year term.

The 15-member Security Council observed a minute's silence.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali (November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from January 1992 to December 1996. An academic and former Vice Foreign Minister of Egypt, Boutros Boutros-Ghali oversaw the UN at a time when it dealt with several world crises, including the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Rwandan Genocide.

He was then the first Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie from November 1997 to December 2002.

 Elected in 1991 as Secretary-General, the top post of the UN, Boutros-Ghali's term in office remains controversial. In 1992, he submitted An Agenda for Peace, a suggestion for how the UN could respond to violent conflict.

However, he was criticised for the UN's failure to act during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, which officially left over one million people dead, and he appeared unable to muster support in the UN for intervention in the continuing Angolan Civil War. One of the hardest tasks during his term was dealing with the crisis of the Yugoslav Wars after the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.

His reputation became entangled in the larger controversies over the effectiveness of the UN and the role of the United States in the UN. Some Somalis believed he was responsible for an escalation of the Somalia crisis by undertaking a personal vendetta against Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his Habr Gidr clan, favouring their rivals, the Darod, clan of the former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

 It was believed that he demanded the 12 July 1993 US helicopter attack on a meeting of Habr Gidr clan leaders, who were meeting to discuss a peace initiative put forward by the leader of the UN Mission in Mogadishu, retired US Admiral Jonathan Howe.

It is generally believed that the majority of the clan elders were eager to arrange a peace and to rein in the provocative activities of their clan leader, Mohamed Farrah Aidid but, after this attack on a peaceful meeting, the clan was resolved on fighting the Americans and the UN, leading to the Battle of Mogadishu on 3–4 October 1993.

In 1996, ten Security Council members, led by African members Egypt, Guinea-Bissau and Botswana, sponsored a resolution backing Boutros-Ghali for a second five-year term, until the year 2001. However, the United States vetoed a second term for him.

 In addition to the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Italy did not sponsor the resolution, but the last three nations voted in support of Boutros-Ghali after the United States had firmly declared its intention to veto.

 Although not the first vetoed candidate (China vetoed the third term of Kurt Waldheim in 1981 in order to nominate a secretary general from the Third World), Boutros-Ghali was the only UN Secretary-General not to be elected to a second term in office. He was succeeded at the UN by Kofi Annan.

BENIN'S ANGELIQUE KIDJO WINS WORLD MUSIC ALBUM

Benin's Angelique Kidjo has won the best world music album of the year at this year's Grammys in Los Angeles.

The New York-based singer won the award for her Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg collaboration, Sings.

"I want to dedicate this Grammy to all the traditional musicians in Africa, in my country, to all the young generation," Kidjo said.

Her album beat one by Malawi's Zomba Prison Project and South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Kidjo, one of Africa's most prominent musicians, has now won the award for the second consecutive year.

The album merges African song writing and rhythms with European classical instrumentation, a fusion on which Kidjo has repeatedly experimented.

Kidjo described the album as an artistic challenge as traditional African bands follow the lead of the soloist much more closely, unlike Western orchestras that generally play off refined scores.

The singer, who has worked for a long time with Philip Glass, a leading US composer, said Africa was on the rise.

"Africa is positive, Africa is joyful," she said after collecting the award.

The 55-year-old singer added that she has been fighting for a positive image of Africa for a long time and believed music could connect the world and served as a tool for peace.

She later told the BBC: "I have to continue to working... to open the way for many artists from Africa to come."

African-American rapper Kendrick Lamar won the most prizes on the night with five awards.

The 29-year-old performed The Blacker The Berry, walking on stage as part of a chain gang from inside a prison, before transitioning to Alright, in front of a huge bonfire and African dancers.

His performance ended with the unveiling of a new track with Lamar in front of a map of the African continent and the word "Compton" - his hometown in California - written on it.

ALLEGED MURDERER OF JOSEPH BOAKYE DANQUAH ADU REMANDED

The alleged murderer of the MP  for Abuakwa North Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu has been remanded into police custody for further investigation by an Accra District Magistrate Court. 

The unemployed 19 year old accused Daniel Asiedu was not legally represented  in court  He has been charged with murder and his plea was not also taken. The late MP was last. Tuesday murdered in his home at Shiashi at East Legon in Accra. 

According to the prosecutor, Superintendent Francis Baah,  the deceased arrived in his home about 11:40am and retired to bed in his room located upstairs. 

At about 1am the accused ,who was armed with a catapult,a cutter and a sharp knife entered the house of the late MP through an iron fenced at the blind side of the security man who was fast asleep. 

Asiedu, allegedly picked a ladder in the house and climbed to the pouch of the top floor and entered the bed room through the window while the deceased was sleeping.He allegedly begun to search the room, but the late MP worked up and held him so he stabbed him on his right chest above the breast .

Mr Boakye Dankwa held the knife and shouted for help but no one came to his rescue. Asiedu also sustained deep cut in his palm when he attempted to  pull the  knife from the MP’s hands  The deceased who was then bleeding profusely fell by his bed helpless and Asiedu stabbed him again on the right chest below the breast. 

Realizing that the MP was almost dead ,Asiedu allegedly took away his two phones and a tablet and left him to his fate. He managed to escape by descending from the top to the back of the house and climbed one of the poly tanks in the house and jumeped over the electric fence into the adjoining house. 

Daniel Asiedu is to reappear on the 1st of next month.

MINORITY CAUCUS OF PARLIAMENT ASK GOVERNMENT TO TELL GHANAIANS THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT THE TRANSFER OF THE TWO GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEES

 

The Minority Caucus of Parliament has asked government to come clean and tell Ghanaians the whole truth about the transfer of the two Guantanamo Bay detainees into the country. 

According to the Caucus there is too much confusion surrounding the GTMO Agreement and there are more questions than answers. 

Addressing a News Conference in Parliament today the Minority said even as the Presidency tries to conceal the truth from the citizenry, the Speaker of Parliament Edward Doe Adjaho has also failed to admit urgent questions filed by five NPP MPs on the matter thereby denying them the opportunity to scrutinize the considerations that went into accepting the detainees into Ghana. 

The News Conference was addressed by the Ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee and MP for Subin, Isaac Osei. He said President MAHAMA breached the Constitution in entering into the Agreement with the US without prior approval from Parliament. 

The controversy surrounding the transfer of the two Guantanamo Bay detainees Mammoud Omar Muhamed bin Atef and Khalid Salih Mohamed al-Dhuby into the country continues to rage on. 

According to the Minority Caucus of Parliament the whole process in admitting the detainees is shrouded in secrecy which in a democracy is unacceptable. Meanwhile the Foreign Affairs Ministers Hannah Tetteh has been billed to brief Parliament on the matter on Friday.