The Vice President and Flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has called out former President John  Mahama over what Dr. Bawumia describes as indecent utterances by the former President.

A viral video of Mahama at a campaign event, captured him launching stinging attacks on Chiefs, Imams, Pastors and CSOs, describing them as “hypocrites” for supporting the NPP and Dr. Bawumia, instead of joining forces with him and the NDC, to push out the NPP.

Addressing thousands of supporters at a campaign event Monday morning in Amasaman, in the Greater Accra Region, Dr. Bawumia expressed shock at the unpresidential utterances  of former President Mahama, adding that the former President is frustrated because he has realized he will lose the election massively.

“You all know that this election is between  former President Mahama  and myself. But how the campaign is going, the former President has seen that he will lose massively so any little thing, he gets angry,” Dr. Bawumia said.

“Today I have heard that he has insulted pastors, Imams, Chiefs and CSOs. He says they are hypocrites. How can you say this? Is this how a former President should speak? That Chiefs, the Clergy, Imams and  CSOs are hypocrites?”

“Recently he has also been insulting the Electoral Commission. And he said NPP government is a foolish government.  Are these utterances that should be coming out of the mouth of a former President? How can a former President make such indecent comments?”

Dr. Bawumia admonished that politicians have a responsibility to be decent in their utterances, stressing that the election is about issues and ideas, and only those without ideas insult.

“We, politicians  must have some decency in the language we speak,” Dr. Bawumia admonished.

“This election is not about insults.  It is about ideas. You only insult people when you do not have ideas. But if you have ideas, you present your ideas. We have ideas and we have bold solutions to problems.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency, Republic of Ghana.

Foreign Affairs and Tourism Minister Sylvestre Radegonde has said that he is very satisfied with the outcomes of his 48-hour working trip to sister-island Mauritius, undertaken in his capacity as Chair of the Council of Ministers of Indian Ocean Commission (IOC).

The trip, undertaken 4 months into Seychelles’ 8th chairmanship of the IOC, was Minister Radegonde’s first to Mauritius since taking over this responsibility at the end of the 38th Ordinary Session of the IOC Council of Ministers held there in May this year.

During this official trip to Mauritius, Minister Radegonde met with the Secretary General of the IOC, Edgard Razafindravahy, for the first time in person since the latter was nominated into the post in July this year during an extraordinary session of the IOC Council of Ministers held online and chaired by Minister Radegonde. At their meeting held at the IOC Head Office in Ebene, Minister Radegonde signed the contract of employment of the new Secretary General before the two men had a tête à tête

Following that, Minister Radegonde chaired a meeting with the management team of IOC’s secretariat to follow up on the implementation of the decisions taken at the 38th Council of Ministers as well as the priorities of the chair. Minister Radegonde also had a separate meeting with Mr. Raj Mohabeer, Chargé de Mission at IOC who was Acting Secretary General of the organization before Razafindravahy took on his post on September 2nd. That meeting focused on issues of maritime security.

Minister Radegonde also met with the US Ambassador to Seychelles based in Mauritius, Mr. Henry Jardine, as well as the Head of the European Union Delegation based in Mauritius, Ambassador Oskar Benedikt. He was the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by the Attorney General and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade; of Mauritius, Hon. Maneesh Gobin.

While in Mauritius, Minister Radegonde also met with the only two surviving founding fathers of IOC, Mr Jean-Claude de L’Estrac, who is also a former Secretary General of the IOC, and Mr Anil Gayan, who is running for the post of Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Mr de L’Estrac signed the Declaration de Port Louis in December 1982 which called for the setting up of the IOC along with the late Dr Maxime Ferrari and Jean Benanjara of Madagascar while Gayan signed the Accord de Victoria in January 1984 which formerly set up the regional organisation along with Ferrari and Christian Remi of Madagascar.

Minister Radegonde said he was very satisfied with his short trip to Mauritius describing it as fruitful. He explained that it was necessary for him as chair of the IOC to meet with the new Secretary General to build mutual trust. As for the meeting with the IOC’s management team, he noted that it was important to ensure that the Chair and the IOC’s secretariat are on the same wavelength as this underpins the success of the organization. Regarding his meeting with Minister Gobin, he said Mauritius and Seychelles have very good bilateral relations. He also said it was important for the Chair of the IOC to meet with the EU as it is a major financial backer of IOC, as well as countries like US which have great interest I regional issues like maritime security.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism – Foreign Affairs Department, Republic of Seychelles.

As part of the capitalization and consolidation of the implementation of the West Africa Regional Indicative Program (RIP) of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), the UEMOA and ECOWAS Commissions held an inter-organizational strategic workshop in Lomé from September 9th to 13th, 2024.

The objective of the workshop is to take stock of the implementation of programs financed in the ECOWAS region by the 11th EDF, to capitalize on experiences with a view to consolidating achievements and improving the performance of Regional Organizations in terms of the implementation of programs financed by external resources.

This workshop, co-organized by ECOWAS through its External Relations Directorate headed by Mr. Jerome BOA (co-chair of the session), by UEMOA through its Cooperation Directorate headed by Mr. Arnaud Cédric KIEMA (co-chair of the session) and its EDF-UEMOA Management Unit, saw the participation of ECOWAS and UEMOA Directorates in charge of priority projects implemented within the framework of the 11th EDF PIR.

During the opening ceremony, Mrs. Aminata Cira LO PAYE, Resident Representative of the UEMOA Commission in Lomé, recalled that since 2021, the NDICI has succeeded the EDF as the European Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI). The first programs resulting from this new instrument are in the start-up phase. It is in this context that this workshop is being held, which aims, on the one hand, to take stock of the implementation of the portfolio of regional programs financed by the European Union through the PIR 11th EDF jointly supported by ECOWAS and UEMOA, on the other hand, to draw relevant lessons for future programming actions within the framework of the NDICI, with a view to meeting the many current challenges facing regional integration projects.

This meeting was preceded by survey work by project, conducted jointly by the FED-UEMOA cell, the UEMOA Cooperation Directorate and the ECOWAS External Relations Directorate. This survey work allowed the development of information support summarizing the implementation report of target projects identified and used during the work sessions and useful for compiling the workshop recommendations.

At the end of the work of this workshop, the recommendations will be transmitted to the management of the two organizations, to better focus future discussions with development partners and to better coordinate joint ECOWAS-UEMOA initiatives.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Members of Parliament, Ms Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, Mr Mdumiseni Ntuli, Ms Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, and Mr Vuyani Pambo were today sworn in as members of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP).

The four members were appointed by both Houses of Parliament to serve as members of the continental legislative body. They were sworn in this morning during the sitting of the Pan-African Parliament Committees and other PAP organs currently underway in Midrand, Johannesburg.

The PAP is a legislative organ of the African Union (AU) as set out by the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community (Abuja Treaty). It provides a platform for people from all African states to be involved in discussions and decision-making on the problems and challenges facing the continent, including matters pertaining to respect for human rights, the consolidation of democratic institutions and the culture of democracy, as well as the promotion of good governance and the rule of law.

The PAP also promotes, among other things, the coordination and harmonisation of policies, measures, programmes, and activities of the Regional Economic Communities and the parliamentary fora on the continent.

During today’s plenary session, the Members received presentations on various topics affecting the continent’s development, such as peace and security, climate change, and the poor implementation of Agenda 2063.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.