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Namibia’s President Passes On At 82

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10 months ago

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Namibia’s President Hage Geingob, 82, died early Sunday, the presidency said, weeks after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Geingob had been in charge of the thinly populated and mostly arid southern African country since 2015, the year he announced he had survived prostate cancer.

Vice President Nangolo Mbumba takes the helm in Namibia — a mining hotspot with significant deposits of diamonds and the electric car battery ingredient lithium — until presidential and parliamentary elections at the end of the year.

A presidency post on social media platform X did not give a cause of death, but late last month the presidency said he had traveled to the United States for “a two-day novel treatment for cancerous cells,” after being diagnosed following a regular medical check-up.

Born in 1941, Geingob was a prominent politician since before Namibia achieved independence from white minority-ruled South Africa in 1990.

He chaired the body that drafted Namibia’s constitution, then became its first prime minister at independence on March 21 of that year, a position he retained until 2002.
2007, Geingob became vice president of the governing South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), which he had joined as an agitator for independence when Namibia was still known as South West Africa.

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SWAPO has remained in power in Namibia unchallenged since independence. The former German colony is technically an upper middle-income country but one with huge disparities in wealth.

“There were no textbooks to prepare us for accomplishing the task of development and shared prosperity after independence,” he said in a speech to mark the day in 2018. “We needed to build a Namibia in which the chains of the injustices of the past would be broken.”

Geingob served as trade and industry minister before becoming prime minister again in 2012.

He won the 2014 election with 87% of the vote but only narrowly avoided a runoff with a little more than half the votes in a subsequent poll in November 2019.

That election followed a government bribery scandal, in which officials were alleged to have awarded horse mackerel quotas to Iceland’s biggest fishing firm, Samherji, in exchange for kickbacks, according to local media reports. The resultant outcry led to the resignation of two ministers.

The following year, Geingob lamented that Namibia’s wealth still remained concentrated in the hands of its white minority.

Distribution is an issue, but how do we do it?” Geingob said in a virtual session at an event organized by international organization Horasis.

“We have a racial issue here, a historical racial divide. Now you say we must grab from the whites and give it to the Blacks, it’s not going to work,” he said.

His comments came after the government rescinded as unworkable a policy that would have made it mandatory for white-owned businesses to sell a 25% stake to Black Namibians.

Geingob died at Lady Pohamba Hospital in Windhoek, where he was receiving treatment from his medical team, the presidency said.

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Kano State Hosts 8th Annual Audit Forum to Enhance Transparency and Accountability

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10 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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The 8th Annual Audit Forum, organized by the Office of the Auditor General of Kano State, was held recently, focusing on strengthening transparency and accountability in public financial management. .

Isma’ila Musa, the Auditor General of Kano State, welcomed the participants and highlighted the constitutional and legal mandates that guide the auditing process. “Sections 125(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and 36(i) of the Kano State Audit Law, 2021 (as amended) mandate the Office of the Auditor General to audit the accounts and financial statements of the State Government and all Offices and Courts,” he stated.

Musa expressed immense gratitude to His Excellency, Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf, the Governor of Kano State, for his support in making the event possible. “It is very important to note that a strengthened fiscal transparency will help build trust in governance,” he emphasized. He added that the Audit Forum is a reform intended to reduce opportunities for corruption and abuse of public resources, thereby increasing the efficiency of public expenditures.

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The Auditor General also acknowledged the contributions of various officials, including the Hon. Commissioner Ministry of Planning and Budget, the Accountant General, the Executive Chairman of Kano Internal Revenue Services, and former Auditors General, among others. “My sincere appreciation to all the invitees here present for honoring our invitation. I wish us a successful 8th Kano State Annual Audit Forum,” Musa concluded.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Honorable Tukur Fagge, praised the exercise for its potential to enhance resource management and ensure the success of the tasks at hand. “This exercise will enhance resources management and will realize the success of the task,” Fagge stated.

Sarkin Shanon Kano, Shehu Muhammad Dankadai, who served as the royal father of the day, also graced the event, adding to the significance of the occasion.

The forum underscored the commitment of the Kano State Government to upholding transparency and accountability, reflecting the administration’s dedication to effective and efficient service delivery.

 

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Breaking: Former Secretary of Federal Electoral Commission, FEDECO, Ahmadu Kurfi Passes On at 93

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16 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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Late Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi

 

A former secretary of the Federal Electoral Commission, Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi, has passed away.

A family source, Jafar Yakubu, informed NIGERIAN TRACKER about the death of the pioneer secretary of the Federal Electoral Commission, who supervised the 1979 general election.

 

Jafar Yakubu said Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi died at the age of 93 and his Janaza funeral prayers will take place by 2:30 PM at Kurfi in KATSINA state .

 

Dr. Amadu Kurfi, OFR, was born in 1931. He was a former chairman of the then Marketing Board, former Federal Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Defence, and the first person to acquire a BSc degree in the whole of Katsina State, at University College London in 1957.

 

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President Tinubu Sacks UNIZIK Vice-Chancellor, Registrar

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1 day ago

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November 20, 2024

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The governing council of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University has been dissolved by President Bola Tinubu.

The president dissolved the council and approved the removal of the institution’s vice-chancellor Bernard Odoh and the university registrar, Rosemary Nwokike.

A statement by Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to the president on information and strategy said the action by Tinubu follows allegations of procedural violations in the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor.

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He also said that the council led by Greg Ozumba Mbadiwe and including five other members—Hafiz Oladejo, Augustine Onyedebelu, Engr. Amioleran Osahon, and Rtd. Gen. Funsho Oyeneyin was accused of bypassing due process to appoint an unqualified candidate, prompting federal intervention.

Onanuga said, “The sacking of the governing council and officials followed reports that the council illegally appointed an unqualified vice-chancellor without following due process.

He added that following the controversial appointment, the Federal Government stepped in to address the rivalry between the university’s Senate and the governing council of the institution.

“The government expressed concern over the council’s apparent disregard for the university’s governing laws in its selection process”, Onanuga added.

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