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05:01Last update on: 12 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Mon 12 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair? Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform. SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
POLL
What do you think of the renaming and addition of regions and constituencies?
Results so far:
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NEWS - AFRICA
| 2013-08-12
Mali heads to the polls
BAMAKO - Malians went to the polls yesterday in their millions for a president expected to usher in a new era of peace and democracy in the first election since a military coup upended one of the region’s most stable democracies.
Almost seven million voters have a choice between former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and ex-finance minister Soumaila Cisse to lead the nation from a crisis which allowed Islamists last year to seize Mali’s vast desert north before they were dislodged by a French-led military intervention.
Both declared themselves confident of victory in the runoff, called after none of the 27 candidates in the first round on the 28 July achieved an outright majority.
The election, the first since 2007, is crucial for unlocking more than US$4 billion in aid promised after international donors halted contributions in the wake of last year’s coup.
The days leading up to the vote have been largely uneventful, with cities and towns deserted as Malians - over 90% of whom are Muslim - stayed at home to celebrate the Eid festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The rivals have faced off before, losing the 2002 presidential election to Amadou Toumani Toure, who was overthrown by a military junta in March 2012 as he was preparing to end his final term in office.
The return to democratic rule will allow France to withdraw most of the 4 500 troops it sent to Mali in January to oust al-Qaeda-linked extremists who had occupied the north in the chaos which followed the coup, imposing a brutal regime of sharia law characterised by executions and amputations.
Keita, who is considered the favourite, was more than 20 percentage points ahead of his rival in the first round but Cisse has remained optimistic.
“I am confident because it is not about adding to the votes from the first round. There will be new votes, it is a new election. Everything restarts from zero,” the 63-year-old told AFP.
Cisse had complained about widespread fraud in the first round while more than 400 000 ballots from a turnout of 3.5 million were declared spoiled.
Mali’s Constitutional Court rejected the allegations, however, confirming that Keita, 68, had won 39.8%, while Cisse attracted a 19.7% share.
Keita has urged voters to hand him a “clear and clean” majority in the runoff to ensure victory cannot be “stolen”.
“Given the results from the first round, there is a good chance that they would be confirmed in the second,” he said on Friday.
“My first priority would be the reconciliation of the country... after the trauma that it has suffered, a new start is needed.”
- Nampa-AFP
Almost seven million voters have a choice between former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and ex-finance minister Soumaila Cisse to lead the nation from a crisis which allowed Islamists last year to seize Mali’s vast desert north before they were dislodged by a French-led military intervention.
Both declared themselves confident of victory in the runoff, called after none of the 27 candidates in the first round on the 28 July achieved an outright majority.
The election, the first since 2007, is crucial for unlocking more than US$4 billion in aid promised after international donors halted contributions in the wake of last year’s coup.
The days leading up to the vote have been largely uneventful, with cities and towns deserted as Malians - over 90% of whom are Muslim - stayed at home to celebrate the Eid festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The rivals have faced off before, losing the 2002 presidential election to Amadou Toumani Toure, who was overthrown by a military junta in March 2012 as he was preparing to end his final term in office.
The return to democratic rule will allow France to withdraw most of the 4 500 troops it sent to Mali in January to oust al-Qaeda-linked extremists who had occupied the north in the chaos which followed the coup, imposing a brutal regime of sharia law characterised by executions and amputations.
Keita, who is considered the favourite, was more than 20 percentage points ahead of his rival in the first round but Cisse has remained optimistic.
“I am confident because it is not about adding to the votes from the first round. There will be new votes, it is a new election. Everything restarts from zero,” the 63-year-old told AFP.
Cisse had complained about widespread fraud in the first round while more than 400 000 ballots from a turnout of 3.5 million were declared spoiled.
Mali’s Constitutional Court rejected the allegations, however, confirming that Keita, 68, had won 39.8%, while Cisse attracted a 19.7% share.
Keita has urged voters to hand him a “clear and clean” majority in the runoff to ensure victory cannot be “stolen”.
“Given the results from the first round, there is a good chance that they would be confirmed in the second,” he said on Friday.
“My first priority would be the reconciliation of the country... after the trauma that it has suffered, a new start is needed.”
- Nampa-AFP
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