News
UN urges Somali leaders to chart way forward on 2021polls
The United Nations (UN) office in Somalia has called on the country’s leaders to reach consensus on a way forward on holding a universal vote as early as March 2021.
In a statement issued in Mogadishu on Sunday, the UN lauded the National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC) chairperson Halima Yarey for presenting electoral options to realise direct voting for Somalis.
“Now that NIEC chairperson has presented electoral options, the UN in Somalia urges broad consultation among Somali political leaders to reach consensus on a way forward,” said the UN.
It said the planned three-day meeting of the national government and the Federal Member States which is slated for early July is a good next step for the leaders to agree on the electoral process.
The UN statement comes after the poll body said on Saturday it will not be possible to hold elections this year due to technical and logistical issues including the security situation in the country.
Halima Yarey, chairperson of NIEC said the poll body requires 13 more months to prepare a credible poll where Somalis will have an opportunity to take part in ‘one person, one vote’ election for the first time since 1969.
“The commission needs to register citizens, register political parties and the candidates,” Yarey told parliament in Mogadishu.
She said the earliest Somalia can go to the polls is March 2021 if Parliament approves the manual voter registration option which she said could take only nine months as opposed to biometric registration which is costly in terms of acquisition and training of staff.
Somalia is preparing for universal suffrage elections, which will be the first of its kind after more than two decades since the outbreak of the civil war that followed the collapse of the government in 1992.
However, the country’s opposition alliance (FNP) on Sunday said the electoral commission has lost public and political stakeholders’ trust and called for the entire commission to resign.
FNP said they will not accept even a day of extension of the election date and blamed the NIEC, saying it’s blended with the leadership of the country.
The electoral commission defended itself, saying it’s an impartial institution and urged all stakeholders to stand with the commission to make this historic election a reality. -Xinhua
News
President Mahama meets Kantamanto traders
President John Dramani Mahama has reached out to traders affected by the recent fire at Kantamanto Market in Accra.
The President in a meeting with the traders today, January 12, 2025, acknowledged the heavy loss and assured them of his administration’s support.
He said “One of the first things we need to do is to prevent these outbreaks from happening. In some cases, it might be due to long wiring and the use of inferior materials.”
He continued to say,“But in some cases, we cannot rule out what we call arson, that is people deliberately setting fire to cause destruction.”
Recounting similar situations in the past, he said, “I remember it happened before in 2013, when I was sworn in as president,there were market fires in almost every market which was quite unusual, and in many cases, the investigations show that people deliberately set fire to just cause chaos and confusion.”
He therefore said, “We need to look at how to prevent it from happening again, how to alleviate their plight, and how the market should be rebuilt.”
“We held a meeting with the security heads today to see how we can tighten security around all the major markets to prevent any such occurrence,” he added.
The President in the meeting with the traders concluded by saying “Just this morning we heard about the Techiman market fire, so it looks like something which is going to continue and we need to take quick steps to address it. We are asking the Fire Service to deploy fire tenders close to where there are major markets at night and installation of CCTV cameras at various markets.”
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
News
E-levy will be scrapped immediately – Dr.Ato Forson
Minister for Finance Designate, Dr.Casiel Ato Forson has assured Ghanaians that the E-Levy introduced by the past government will be scrapped immediately.
According to him, his position on the E-Levy has not changed.
He said it should not always be about revenue, adding that there is also the need to look at expenditure.
The Minister for Finance Designate stressed that the tax had not produced the expected revenue and had instead burdened the sector without benefiting the broader economy.
Against this backdrop, Dr Forson also reiterated his strong stance on the controversial E-levy, saying his position on the matter had not changed.
“My position on the e-levy is well known. I have written articles about it, and my position has not changed,” he stated.
He raised concerns about the classification of the levy, calling it neither a direct nor an indirect tax. “I don’t know how to classify it,” he added, questioning its efficacy in the current fiscal system.
This notwithstanding, he said, the E-levy must go and will be scrapped immediately.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
