Protesters are demanding that President Joseph Kabila – whose expected term of office expired more than a year ago – should step down.

A number of people have been injured, and UN peacekeepers have reportedly been deployed in the capital.

Similar demonstrations three weeks ago led to a number of deaths.

The widespread marches had been called for by the country’s Catholic Church, which appealed for a large but peaceful demonstration.

The Congolese authorities, however, banned the marches and no formal permission was given. On Saturday evening, internet access in the capital Kinshasa was cut.

Police warned that they would not tolerate “any attempt to disturb public order.”

Despite the ban, protesters gathered after morning mass on Sunday to march through the streets, accompanied by members of the clergy.

Local media outlet Radio Okapi reported protests in Kinshasa, Kisangani, and Bukavu. Other cities remain quiet, it reports, though a heavy police presence has been seen in many places.

The UN mission in the country – which has been running continually since 1999 – said it deployed its troops to the streets to observe and record any violence.

President Kabila has been in power since 2001, and was supposed to step down after his second and final term came to an end in 2016.

Under a deal reached more than a year ago, he was due to step down by the end of 2017 – but that has not happened.

Instead, the election to replace him, originally planned for 2016, has now been delayed until December 2018.

The country’s powerful Catholic Church has been a voice of opposition to Mr Kabila. The Church also called for the demonstrations in late December which led to at least seven deaths, according to UN peacekeepers.

Dozens were arrested in the aftermath of those protests.

Sunday’s demonstrations were also backed by the country’s Muslim community. Before the march, representative Cheikh Ali Mwinyi M’Kuur told AFP: “I ask the authorities to avoid repressing the march.”

“If they decide to repress, there will be no peace. But if they let the march take place, they will respect the constitution and peace will prevail,” he said.

DR Congo’s evangelical Christian churches also lent their support to the march organised by their Catholic counterparts.

–

Source: BBC

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In his first interview since Sunday’s referendum, Carles Puigdemont said his government would “act at the end of this week or the beginning of next”.

Meanwhile, Spain’s King Felipe VI said organisers of the vote put themselves “outside the law”.

He said the situation in Spain was “extremely serious”, calling for unity.

Hundreds of thousands of people across Catalonia have been protesting over Spanish police violence during the vote, during which nearly 900 people were hurt.

During the vote, 33 police officers were also injured, local medical officials said.

In the BBC interview, Catalonia’s President Carles Puigdemont said his government would “act at the end of this week or the beginning of next”.

When asked what he would do if the Spanish government were to intervene and take control of Catalonia’s government, Mr Puigdemont said it would be “an error which changes everything”.

Mr Puigdemont said there was currently no contact between the government in Madrid and his devolved administration.

He disagreed with the European Commission’s statement on Monday that events in Catalonia were an internal issue for Spain.

He was speaking shortly before the king’s speech.

In his televised address to the nation, the king said the Catalan leaders who organised the referendum showed their “disrespect to the powers of the state”.

“They have broken the democratic principles of the rule of law.

“Today, the Catalan society is fractured,” the king said, warning that the poll could put at risk the economy of the wealthy north-eastern region and the whole of Spain.

But he stressed that Spain “will overcome difficult times”.

The central government has described the referendum as illegal.

Huge protest rallies have been taking place across Catalonia.

In Barcelona alone, 700,000 people took to the streets, city police were quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

This has not been confirmed by the authorities in Madrid.

More than 50 roadblocks in the city caused big traffic jams. Barcelona’s metro traffic was cut to a 25% service during rush hour and no trains at all at other times.

Barcelona’s port was at a standstill, trade union sources said.

Top tourist attractions were also closed, including the city’s famous Sagrada Familia church.

Mercabarna – Barcelona’s massive wholesale market – was left deserted as some 770 food businesses closed for the day.

However, the city’s El Prat airport and its taxis are operating normally.

Many small businesses have shut for the day. Schools, universities and medical services were also closed or operating at a minimum level.

The strike was called in protest at “the grave violation of rights and freedoms” seen during the ballot.

Some police officers were seen firing rubber bullets, storming into polling stations and pulling women by their hair.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said the vote made a “mockery” of democracy.

Earlier on Tuesday, Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said: “We see how day after day the government of Catalonia is pushing the population to the abyss and inciting rebellion in the streets.”

He also warned that the central government would take “all measures necessary to stop acts of harassment”.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría condemned the “mafia” behaviour of those protesters who had earlier gathered around hotels housing Spanish police officers and demanded that they leave.

On Sunday, more than 2.2 million people reportedly voted in the referendum. The Catalan government says the vote in support of independence was nearly 90%, but official results have not yet been released.

Turnout was relatively low at a reported 42%, potentially weakening the position of Mr Puigdemont.

Meanwhile, political leaders are trying to find a way forward.

Mr Puigdemont earlier said he wanted a new understanding with the government in Madrid, but the Spanish government has warned it could suspend autonomy of the region.

–

Source: BBC

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A government mediation team led by a Minister of State in charge of National Security at the Presidency, Bryan Acheampong, resolved the political deadlock in the area.

They signed a peace accord with the MCE and resolved to support her to deliver on her mandate.

A statement read by the spokesperson, Abubakari Sadiq Sulemana, said “The Savelugu/Nantong Municipality has been in the news in the last one month during which we protested the nomination and confirmation of Hajia Ayishetu Seidu as the Municipal Chief Executive of the Savelugu/Nantong Municipality. Our challenge with Hajia’s nomination was that we were worried she wasn’t well known to the elders and executives of the party. This was because we believed it was only somebody from amongst us who we knew could best implement the President’s vision in Savelugu/Nantong would have been better.”

“In recent days however, we have had an opportunity to fully engage Hajia Ayishetu Seidu, and we are now convinced that she has what it takes to implement the President’s vision for the full benefit of the people of Savelugu/Nantong.”

The Savelugu constituency NPP Communications Director, Abubakari Sadiq Sulemana, assured President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo of their full cooperation with Hajia Ayishetu Seidu.

“We want to assure the President, Vice President and the party leadership that, we will not do anything to derail the efforts of government to make Ghana a safe haven for investors. As stakeholders in the Municipality, we want to state that we will harmoniously work with Hajia Ayishetu Seidu as the MCE for Savelugu/Nantong to ensure that the vision of the President and the program of government is implemented for the benefit of the people of Savelugu/Nantong.”

“We also hereby apologize to the President for the demonstrations for several weeks, though we believed our message was important. We now concede our approach was wrong.”

He emphasized that, “Our commitment to the Akufo Addo government is still intact and unwavering. We will continue to work with all stakeholders in the governance process to ensure the success of this government.”

Chief Mediator

The Chief Mediator, who is a Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of National Security, Bryan Acheampong, commended them for their decision.

He reassured them of government’s commitment to make the nation a better place for all, and called for peaceful co-existence in the area, and implored the youth to remain law abiding citizens.

Mr. Bryan Acheampong tasked the MCE, Hajia Ayishetu Seidu, to liaise with all major stakeholders in the municipality and deliver good governance.

Savelugu/Nantong MCE

An elated Hajia Ayishetu Seidu, said, “For me, it is a day that I have been dreaming of. A day that I knew will come one day but it was not going to be easy.”

She appreciated the role of the mediation team and promised to galvanize the people for constructive purposes. She also vowed to constantly engage the Members of Parliament for Savelugu/Nantong, and all the major stakeholders to move the municipality forward in the right direction.

“With the support and efforts of the two MPs, we will bring everybody on board and see to it that we move the municipality to another level.”

Savelugu MP

Hon. Abdul Samed Gunu described the latest development as a sigh of relief.

He admitted that the breakthrough was not an easy task, but commended his constituents for smoking the peace pipe with the MCE.

“The latest development is a plus for all of us. This was just an internal wrangling and the chapter of Savelugu not having peace has finally come to an end.”

Regional Minister

Chairman of the Northern Regional Security Council, (RECSEC), Salifu Saeed, commended the youth and the party’s bigwigs in the two constituencies for reasoning with the President’s plea.

The Regional Minister encouraged the MCE, Hajia Ayishetu Seidu, to strengthen her relationship with the residents.

Salifu Saeed assured the youth of well-paying jobs, and reaffirmed government’s agenda to transform the Savelugu/Nantong Municipality into the hub of the Sahel.

–

By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, majority of these drivers are redundant, but they have been added to the national payroll, thus increasing government’s expenditure.

Dr. Thompson stated that the number of people on Ghana’s payroll, is 11 percent higher than that of the UK.

He said the number of drivers employed by the GES is unsustainable.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson further stated that government is devising a plan to reduce the number of people on government’s payroll.

But in a rebuttal, the Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Charles Aheto Tsegah justified the number of drivers employed by the service saying it forms an “integral aspect of the Ministry’s operations.”

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Tsegah said the criticisms against the GES’ move were unfounded since the number of drivers accurately corresponds with vehicles within the service.

“GES is not a small organization; we are talking about an organization that spans the length, breadth, width and every part of the country”

“We are talking about 37,000 basic schools, we are talking about secondary schools, we are talking about administrative structures, we are talking about a number of institutions,”Mr. Tsegah said.

According to him, every single driver deployed by the GES plays an important role in the sector.

“If you have an institution of such a national magnitude you need drivers so you cannot just say that we have 40,000 drivers and want everybody to giggle about it. This is a serious matter”

“We are not just talking about equipment that are not essential. They are very important to the kind of resources we have to deliver to the nation” Mr. Tsegah added.

By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Most of the institutions, including the Polytechnics have embarked on a series of demonstration this year.

Lecturers in the country’s Polytechnics embarked on a three week strike in June and asked their students to proceed on a compulsory recess.

The Deputy Director-General of the Service, Stephen Adu explained that most of the challenges that drive teachers to strike are labour issues which fall under the labour commission, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission,  National Pensions Regulatory Authority and the Ministry of Finance.

“We are working on our professional challenges but sometimes when it comes to the labour issues it becomes very difficult for us to address because there are other agencies which have to come in which might not directly be under the Ministry of Education for that control.” Mr. Adu explained.

According to him “labour issues are becoming more rampant and existent due to global awareness.”

He therefore asked these agencies to quickly resolve the various labour issues so that the education sector can focus on providing quality education.

“As far as education is concerned the awareness is now being created so people are now becoming more interested in education,” Mr. Adu added.

By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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Mr Samuel Oppong, Agona West Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) made this known when he addressed the first ordinary meeting of the  Assembly at Agona Swedru.

According to the MCE,  available statistics indicate that out of 2,182 candidates who sat for the examinations, only 848 candidates passed, representing 38.8 percent.

He attributed the poor results to teacher-absenteeism, and said this constituted  a major drawback on education delivery in the Municipality, and said the Municipal Educational Oversight Committee had put in place measures to reverse the situation.

Mr Oppong who is also the chairman of the Educational Oversight Committee, said the measures include teacher promotion, Best Teacher Award, institution of welfare services and sanctions on recalcitrant teachers.

He charged the Agona West Municipal Directorate of Education to work hard to promote education at the Junior High Schools (JHS).

The MCE said government was sinking millions of Ghana Cedis into education, and asked the teachers to work hard to reciprocate the gesture.

Mr Oppong said the Assembly in collaboration with the Agona West Municipal Health Directorate,  had put in place plans to educate the public against the spread of  communicable diseases.

On revenue, the MCE said the Assembly has put in place measures to improve revenue mobilization to improve the financial position of the Assembly.

Source: GNA

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Prior to the strike, members of the Greater Accra branch of NAGRAT have indicated they will embark on a demonstration on Thursday, May 15.

The intended nationwide demonstration is expected to be replicated in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region on May 27.

The President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Christian Addai-Mensah, issued this threat on Wednesday May 7, 2014 in Accra at a news conference.

He accused government of downplaying NAGRAT’s outstanding issues of non- payment of the 2011-2012 increment credit arrears, three months arrears payment policy, poor handling of the second Tier pension issues of Ghana Education Service (GES) workers, staff rationalization and non-payment of transfer grants among other issues.

He said majority of graduate teachers were facing difficulties in paying back loans they collected from banks following government’s delay in addressing their financial constraints.

On the issue of pension, Mr. Christian Addai explained that “Teacher Unions have done everything humanly possible to get government and the National Pension Regulatory Authority [NPRA] to see to a peaceful resolution of these  issues but government has remained indifferent; we are reliably informed that workers contribution have become a cheap source of funds to government and hence the persistence in clinging onto workers money.”

He demanded that steps should be taken to improve data processing mechanism at the Ghana Education Service District Directorate, the GES Headquarters and the Controller and Accountant Generals Department so as to ensure speedy processing of salaries and allowances.

Christian Addai-Mensah also challenged the education minister, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang who was onetime a lecturer to be proactive in addressing teachers’ concerns.

Click to read full address by NAGRAT president

By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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