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A LEGAL showdown is looming between Hwange Colliery Company and former workers after the coal mining firm cut electricity to their homes in a bid to force them out of company-owned houses. BY FRANCIS MWINDE Two weeks ago, the colliery company cut off electricity to company-owned houses occupied by former workers following their retrenchment but are refusing to vacate. Four years ago the colliery retrenched hundreds of workers both on compulsory and voluntary bases. Most of them have since gone to their respective homes. However, others are disputing the retrenchment process which they claim was fraught with irregularities resulting in them seeking legal advice on the way forward. Their lawyers, Calderwood, Bryce Hendrie and Partners, wrote a letter advising the company that their ex-employees would continue staying at their respective houses until finalisation of the matter between the two parties. Last week, the lawyers wrote a letter to Hwange Colliery threatening legal action against the company and the respective officers if the retrenched workers were not provided with electricity within forty-eight hours. “The conduct is, with respect, unlawful and constitutes proper grounds for relief at the High Court on an urgent basis. “The law frowns on persons who take the law into their own hands and we suggest that you seek legal advice on how to deal with this matter,” read part of the letter by the Bulawayo-based legal firm. Efforts to get a comment from Hwange Colliery Company were fruitless yesterday.
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
Ghanaians poured praise on their former leader Jerry Rawlings who died on Thursday. Many eulogized him as a patriot and a democrat.
President Nana Akufo-Addo ordered flags around the country to fly at half-mast, to mark seven days of national mourning from Friday.
It is with great sadness that I learnt of the passing of former president Jerry Rawlings of Ghana. Africa has lost a stalwart of Pan-Africanism and a charismatic continental statesman. My sincere condolences to his family, the people and the government of #Ghana
— Moussa Faki Mahamat (@AUC_MoussaFaki) November 12, 2020
Announcement of the death of former President Rawlings pic.twitter.com/7ext0fp4sd
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) November 12, 2020
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By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium The 2020 election season has been historical for African Americans both locally and nationally. From Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to win the seat of Vice President of the United States, to an unprecedented show of political force as African Americans claimed a record number of seats in the […]
The post 2020 Election Was Historic For Washington State’s African American Community appeared first on Afro.
Angolan police fired live ammunition and used tear gas against youths protesting against poverty Wednesday in Luanda.
Protests against the government, usually met with violence, have been going on for several weeks in Luanda, motivated by high unemployment, the cost of living, and state corruption.
Protesters, supported by UNITA, the main opposition party, also called for local elections, which had been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic to be held.
Demonstrations were rare when current President Joao Lourenco succeeded Jose Eduardo dos Santos in 2017, raising hopes for change after decades of corruption and nepotism.
But disenchantment has swelled in recent months with the government, which is seen as unable to deliver on its promises to rid itself of corruption and revive the economy.
Kat Stafford, Aaron Morrison and Angeliki Kastanis | Associated Press Power. Respect. Finally. When Eric Sheffield first saw Joe Biden take the lead in the vote count in Georgia, the 52-year-old Black man immediately thought about all the years he spent urging his Black friends and family to vote and all the times he saw […]
The post 'This is Proof': Biden's Win Reveals Power of Black Voters appeared first on Black Voice News.
THE majority of residents in Zimbabwe’s major urban areas are drinking sewage-contaminated water due to poor management systems by local authorities, Auditor-General Mildred Chiri has revealed in her latest audit report. BY MIRIAM MANGWAYA An assessment by the Auditor-General on six major cities in the country showed that urban local authorities were failing to attend to sewer blockages within 24 hours, resulting in raw sewage mixing with drinking water. This ultimately gives rise to outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera, among others. Unattended sewer blockages also result in sewage back-flowing, which further weakens the pipes, according to the audit findings for the period 2013 to 2017 following a public outcry over sewer bursts. “The assessment of the urban local authorities’ management of sewerage system revealed a number of weaknesses which contributed to the increase in the number of sewer blockage complaints from consumers,” Chiri said. “If local authorities fail to attend to blockages within the stipulated eight to 24 hours, raw sewage is lost into the environment before reaching the treatment plants, thereby contaminating water bodies. “According to interviews conducted, engineers cited that they were doing more of reactive maintenance rather than planned maintenance.” Results of the assessment also showed that Harare, with the highest population of over 1,5 million people, records the highest number of sewer blockages on average each year, which places residents in the capital city at high risk of contracting waterborne diseases. The United Nations Environment report of 2013 ranked Lake Chivero, Harare’s main water source, as one of the most 10 polluted lakes in the world. Statistics from the audit show that Harare discharges about 4 000 megalitres of raw or partially-treated water into water systems. In responding to the audit, city fathers blamed residents over sewer blockages, citing dumping of kitchen utensils and other items in sewage pipes as the major contributor to infrastructure damages. Although with a higher population, the audit report said Bulawayo had a better sewer system compared to other councils. In 2013 alone, 560 people died of waterborne diseases, while close to 600 000 others contracted the diseases countrywide. In 2008, five years before the audit, Zimbabwe recorded its worst cholera outbreak, which claimed over 5 000 lives, with Harare’s Budiriro and Glen View high-density suburbs the worst hit. Harare and Bulawayo are staring another crisis due to recurrent water shortages, with Harare declaring incapacitation to buy water treatment chemicals. Last week, Harare City Council confirmed four cases of typhoid, a bacterial infection that can be transmitted through contaminated water. The local authorities do not have modern equipment and technologies for sewer system inspection and maintenance and Chiri stated that the government was losing about US$194 million annually owing to poor sanitation practices. The Auditor-General also noted that poor service
Despite a police civilian oversight panel’s objections, the executive director of the Providence External Review Authority (PERA) released footage of a brutal attack on a Black man by a police sergeant. According to The Providence Journal, the head of the organization, Jose Batista, opted to share the cellphone video and bodycam recording on Thursday with the public after the footage showed Rishod Gore’s violent arrest by Sgt. Joseph Hanley on April 19. An independent review performed by PERA detailed the harrowing chain of events from the night of the arrest. The findings determined that Hanley had used excessive force against Gore. Three officers approached Gore in response to a domestic violence call that night. In the video, Hanley could be seen forcibly removing the 28-year-old from the passenger seat of a vehicle they approached. Gore was thrown to the ground by officers and handcuffed while face down. During the arrest, Hanley could be seen taunting Gore as he knelt on the...
TWO UNITED Nations agencies have warned that the labour market in Latin America and the...
The post COVID 19: 'It will take a lot of time to return to the levels seen before health crisis' appeared first on Voice Online.
In the midst of flu season, Shelby County’s COVID-19 infections remain steady, according to the director of the Shelby County Health Department. “We are fairly stable with a slight increase in the last week. We are running about 220 to 230 cases per day,” said Dr. Lisa Haushalter, who said numbers of cases may fluctuate […]
NEW YORK — During the COVID-19 pandemic, public life in much of the world has largely ground to a halt. For the two billion people living in conflict-affected countries, however, there has been no lull in violence and upheaval. Some of the world’s conflicts have even escalated or been reignited during the crisis, dealing devastating new blows to infrastructure and health-care systems that were only beginning to be rebuilt. Globally, we continue to invest far more in the tools of war than in the foundations of peace. guest column:Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka As the world awaited the outcome of the US presidential election, no one doubted the stakes. But, even if Joe Biden emerged victorious, Americans must reckon with the fact that nearly 70 million of their fellow citizens voted for a candidate who lacks any capacity for ethical reasoning. Of course, some are working for peace. On March 23, at the outset of the pandemic, United Nations secretary-general António Guterres called for a global ceasefire, in order to enable countries to focus on the COVID-19 crisis and allow humanitarian organisations to reach vulnerable populations. More than 100 women’s organisations from Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen quickly joined the appeal with a joint statement advocating a broad COVID-19 truce, which could form the basis for a lasting peace. It should come as no surprise that women were among the first to support the call for a ceasefire. Last week, governments and civil society came together to mark 20 years since UN Security Council Resolution 1325 first recognised women’s pivotal roles on the frontlines of peace-building efforts. It is women — including young women — who do much of the painstaking, long-term work that underpin high-profile formal agreements, which are still often reached in talks that exclude them. For example, in Syria, women have negotiated ceasefires to allow the passage of humanitarian aid, worked in field hospitals and schools, distributed food and medicine, and documented human-rights violations. In South Sudan, women have mediated and resolved tribal disputes to prevent conflicts from escalating to violence. Women also spearhead the critical work of campaigning for peace, including through education programs, which teach young people that conflict is never inevitable. Feminist organisations have long called for nuclear disarmament, arms control, and the reallocation of funds from the military to social investments. These appeals are essential. But they have gone unanswered. So has the UN’s call for a COVID-19 ceasefire: according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, in the two months following Guterres’s appeal, armed conflict in 19 countries displaced at least 661 000 people. Unless we listen to women, and shift our investments from war toward peace, the devastation will continue. Enjoy unlimited access to the ideas and opinions of the world’s leading thinkers, including weekly long reads, book reviews, and interviews; The Year Ahead annual print magazine; The Green Recovery special-edition print maga
