Headline

After Much Protests, Deaths, Kenya President, Ruto Withdraws Controversial Tax Bill

Published

3 days ago

June 26, 2024

President William Ruto of Kenya on Wednesday bowed to his people, refusing to assent to a finance bill which introduced new taxes that the people protested against.

The Kenyan Parliament passed the bill on Tuesday, June 25, but Kenyan youths, who had held a series of street protests against the bill since it was sent to the parliament a week earlier, escalated their protest by forcing their way into the parliament and setting a part of it on fire as the lawmakers scampered for safety.

President Ruto who has the final say about signing the bill or discarding it, chose the latter on Wednesday, saying he was withdrawing the bill.

“I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 Finance Bill and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,” Ruto said in a televised address.

“The people have spoken,” the president asserted, adding that he would now start a dialogue with Kenyan youths.

Ruto refrained from the details of what the dialogue would be, but he hinted that it would include austerity measures that would start with cuts to the expenses of his own office.

The president’s capitulation is widely hailed by many who have followed the weeklong protests in the capital city Nairobi and other major centres across the country that had by Tuesday led to the death of at least seven people.

Up to early on Wednesday, the mood in Kenya was that the protests would continue if the presidency decided to go ahead with the tax hikes stipulated in the finance bill.

William Ruto, 57, has been president of Kenya, an East African country of about 48 million people, since September 13, 2022.

Headline

Executing Four National Budgets Concurrently A Recipe For Disaster – Peter Obi Chides Tinubu

Published

8 hours ago

June 29, 2024

Editor

The Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has faulted what he described as a concurrent implementation of four national budgets by the Nigerian government, saying that it is a recipe for chaos, confusion, and catastrophe.

In a post on his X handle on Saturday, Obi said it is a blatant disregard for fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability.

The former Anambra State Governor also stated that the government’s action will lead to frivolous items in the approved budgets competing with essential projects for limited resources, further exacerbating the suffering of the Nigerian people.

He wrote: “All available evidence has confirmed that the Nigerian government is implementing four national budgets concurrently. This is in blatant disregard for fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability.

“It is also a recipe for chaos, confusion, and catastrophe.

“This intentionally reckless action will lead to frivolous items in the approved budgets competing with essential projects for limited resources, further exacerbating the suffering of the Nigerian people.

“It indicates that the Leaders are out of touch with reality and lack the competence to manage our nation’s finances effectively.

“Unfortunately, this deliberate act of fiscal recklessness is being undertaken by elected representatives of the people, thereby betraying one of the cardinal pillars of democracy. Leaders are elected to responsibly manage public resources in an organized way.

“I respectfully appeal and in fact, demand that this situation be reversed immediately in preference for a more responsible and transparent approach to budgeting.

“We must prioritize the needs of the Nigerian people, not the selfish interests of a few.

“This is a call to action for all Leaders to desist from actions that will further drive the country into economic chaos.

“Neither the National Assembly nor the executive has any excuse to promote or condone such unconscionable behaviour.

“We seek and insist on a nation governed by leaders who are frugal and responsible in their handling of public resources.

“This is the only way we can build a great nation.”

Headline

Police Arrest Female Prison Officer Filmed Having Sex With Inmate In UK Cell

Published

11 hours ago

June 29, 2024

Editor

Police have arrested a woman after footage emerged of a female prison officer having sex with an inmate in an HMP Wandsworth jail cell.

The suspect was taken into custody yesterday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

The video shows a prison officer engaging in sexual acts with an unidentified prisoner at the Category A jail in south-west London. The woman is seen wearing her uniform during the explicit encounter.

The footage, believed to be recent, depicts the officer first performing a sex act on the prisoner before having intercourse with him.

The incident was reportedly filmed by the inmate’s cellmate using a mobile phone. The cell’s interior is visible in the video, showing a TV and piles of clothes on a bunk bed.

Ian Acheson, a former prison governor, commented on the security implications of the incident: “If this footage is authentic, and I’ve been assured it is, the problems confronting a likely new Labour administration go far beyond overcrowding.”

The case has raised serious concerns about security protocols and staff conduct within the prison system.

Headline

‘Too Stressful’; No Intension Of Going Back To Presidential Villa – Patience Jonathan

Published

11 hours ago

June 29, 2024

Editor

Former First Lady Patience Jonathan has said that she has no intention of returning to the Presidential Villa.

She said the stress associated with the office was too much.

Mrs. Jonathan stated this in an event on Friday.

Jonathan in a video seen by The Nation said if anybody calls her to return to the Villa, she would refuse the offer as she is now old.

She added that if God brings one out of the stress, one should be grateful to God.

“If you call me now for villa, I won’t go there. I won’t. Don’t you see how young I am? The stress is so much.

“The stress of Nigeria is so much. If God manages to bring you out of it, you should glorify God and thank him. It is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.

“He has taken you there once, why do you want to go there again? Me I won’t go oo,” she stated.