A PUBLIC sector strike launched in 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states was picking up support as it entered its third day, union officials said Thursday. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) ordered the strike to begin Tuesday to press state governments to start paying all workers a monthly minimum wage agreed last month of 3000 naira […]
TOP military brass from Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo rebels inspected their allied troops on Tuesday ahead of an apparent offensive against southeastern provincial capitals. Wearing unmarked fatigues, generals Kayumba Nyamwansa of Rwanda, Jeje Odongo of Uganda and Celestin Ilunga of the military wing of the Congolese Rally for Democracy — the main […]
ALL commissions paid on arms transfers will in future as a matter of routine be disclosed to the Cabinet committee overseeing arms deals, Water Affairs Minister Kader Asmal, who heads the committee, announced on Wednesday. Commission amounts will now be included in normal applications to government to transfer or sell arms, according to Asmal. The […]
JAPANESE Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi Thursday told Nigeria’s incoming president he will “fully consider” resuming financial and other assistance including debt relief, a Japanese foreign affairs official said. “I have to improve the living standards of Nigerian people from the dictatorship era,” Nigeria’s president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo told the premier in a meeting in Tokyo. “I […]
NORTHERN Province’s provincial government sacked seven board members on its cash-strapped Agricultural Rural Development Corporation (ARDC) on Wednesday after accusing them of being incompetent. Provincial agriculture MEC, Dean Simon Farisani, said on Wednesday that the board members had been axed for failing to implement cost cutting policies and for repeatedly failing to submit audited financial […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 10.30am. COMMUTERS queued for alternative travel arrangements on Thursday as bus services were hit by a strike involving 18000 transport workers. Negotiations between the Transport Workers’ General Union (TGWU), three affiliated unions and the South African Bus Employers’ Association came to a standstill at midnight Wednesday over wages and rest […]
ALLEGED dealer Gavin Carolus won his case against the state on Thursday when the Cape High Court set aside a court order authorising the seizure of his fixed and loose property. Judge AP Blignaut ruled that the Prevention of Organised Crime Act did not have retrospective effect and could therefore only be applied to crimes […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kampala | Thursday 2.30pm. REBELS in western Uganda killed at least 10 people during an attack on a trading centre, press reports said on Thursday. The independent Monitor newspaper said the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels early on Wednesday attacked Nyakigumba Trading Centre in the Kabarole district. Among the dead were a Ugandan […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 2.00pm. THE New National Party and the Federal Alliance on Wednesday vowed to press ahead with their court actions, despite IEC rulings that registered South Africans living abroad can vote in the June 2 elections. The IEC regulations — which have yet to be officially made public — are expected […]
ZAMBIA has reduced trade tariffs on goods produced by the Common Market for East and Southern African (Comesa) member states by 60%. Comesa general secretary Erastus Mwenchamade the announcement in a speech read on his behalf by Comesa’s director of trade, customs and monetary issues division Charles Chanthonya, at a week-long Automated System for Customs […]