Category: Politics

The Speaker of the Lower House of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur (Madobe) appointed a two-member committee that will represent our country in the parliaments of Africa, the Caribbean, and Pacific, and the European Parliament.

The members appointed are:

MP Salim Aliyow Ibrow

MP Farhiyo Yusuf Omar

Source: Somali National News Agency

Over 27 conservancies in Taita-Taveta County are pushing for inclusion in the ongoing high-level discussion between the national and county governments on Tsavo National Park revenue-sharing agreement arguing that conservancies form a critical component of wildlife management and conservation in the region.

Taita-Taveta Wildlife Conservancy Association (TTWCA) chair Mr. Bong’osa Mcharo noted that conservancies had over a million acres of land which had become home to thousands of wildlife from Tsavo National Park.

He said that apart from housing species like elephants, buffaloes and lions, the ranches formed crucial secure corridors for wildlife that migrate from Tsavo National Park in Kenya to Mkomazi National Park in Northern Tanzania.

Mcharo stated that ranches had embraced the conservation model as part of an improved land management system that would see them reap the benefits of both rearing livestock for international beef market and engaging in wildlife management. The ranches would enhance the carbon trade to diversify their revenue streams.

He was speaking at Lumo community conservancy during an event to launch community rangers’ savings and credit cooperative society as part of promoting access to affordable credit for over 400 community rangers in the region.

‘Our conservancies are home to many species of wildlife. Those animals have become part of our conservation model. We have agreed to transform into conservancies to reap the dividends of conservation,’ he said.

African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) Country Director Ms. Nancy Githaiga, who was the chief guest during the event, urged the conservancies to take a proactive approach in lobbying to be included in the revenue discussion noting that conservancies had become natural homes to wildlife in Tsavo landscape.

She pointed out that as part of widening the potential revenue sources, the sharing of monies from Tsavo would also benefit the conservancies and help bolster conservation activities through continued preservation of biodiversity in the entire Tsavo ecosystem.

‘The Tsavo revenue-sharing debate needs your input as persons in conservancies because it is all about monies arising from conservation activities. That is what you are also doing,’ she said.

The launch of Tsavo Landscape Conservancies Sacco was also attended by officials from World Wide Fund (WWF), County government and senior national government officials.

Taita-Taveta County is currently engaged in detailed talks on modalities of sharing revenue from Tsavo National Park. Tsavo, the biggest national park in Kenya, had taken over 62 percent of Taita-Taveta landmass triggering a loud agitation by leaders to have the county get a share of Tsavo revenues.

The talks are being spearheaded by the Intergovernmental Technical Relations Committee (ITGRC) that is bringing together other key stakeholders including State Department for Wildlife, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Commission for Revenue Allocation amongst others.

Ms. Hadija Juma, a commissioner with Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA) said the Commission was willing to assist in building the capacity of Taita-Taveta County to generate extra revenue to bolster development in the region.

During a recent visit to the region, Ms. Juma noted that the county was generating approximately Sh350 millions of Own-Source Revenue (OSR) but could generate at least one Sh1 billion if other sources were tapped.

She disclosed that the revenue discussions were pushing for the county to receive at least 15 percent of total Tsavo National Park revenue but said nothing was conclusive as talks were still ongoing.

‘The stakeholders brought together by ITGRC are still engaged in talks and discussions with a proposal of at least 15 percent of revenue going to the county. The parties will have to agree before anything is made conclusive,’ she said.

Deputy Governor Christine Kilalo who is representing the county government expressed her optimism that the talks would yield positive results.

She noted that apart from the park taking the biggest chunk of the county land mass, the region was also a hotspot for human-wildlife conflict that had seen thousands of farmers incur losses from crop destruction by elephants.

She pointed out that sharing of revenue from the park would partly ameliorate the suffering of the locals and allow the county to take development projects to areas affected by wildlife menace.

‘We are asking for a share of the revenue so that the county should feel included in local activities. The resources making that money belong to the people of this region and they have a right to benefit,’ she said.

The county’s efforts to have a share of Tsavo revenues received a major boost after president William Ruto directed the revenue be shared on a 50-50 basis between KWS and the Taita-Taveta County government.

The Head of State was speaking during an interdenominational prayer session in Mwatate town a fortnight ago.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Speaker of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E Sheikh Adan Mohamed Noor (Madobe) today chaired the 26th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Somalia, and was accompanied by the Deputy Speakers of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Somalia.

The meeting focused on the process of approving amendments to the interim constitution and the legislative proposals and agreements.

After a long discussion, the members agreed to the agenda of the process, the agreement and the legislative proposals submitted by the government to the BJFS People’s Assembly.

Source: Somali National News Agency

Donation of technical equipment made to the Seychelles Police Force by the British High Commission is set to boost the training capability of future officers.

The technical equipment will be used as part of the ongoing implementation of the Strategic Review of Policing launched in June 2022.

The donation consists of digital forensic technology, satellite phones, laptops, cameras, and new smart board training and operational planning equipment.

The Strategic Review of 2023-2025 exercise, which was conducted by the British experts, namely Sir George Hamilton, Philip Knox, and Raymond Murray, has 15 recommendations.

The training of staff, especially young officers, was among the recommendations as it was sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Young recruits for the police force are trained at the Seychelles Police Academy (SPA) based in the eastern Mahe district at Pointe Larue.

Speaking to SNA on Wednesday, Assistant Superintendent Hendrika Marie said that the interactive panel smart boards, which can directly connect to the internet, will be placed in classes at the academy.

“This will facilitate the use of digital resources – videos, YouTube – to reinforce our training quality. It will also allow us to conduct mass training when doing virtual training,” said Marie.

She added that “other equipment will be placed in the computer rooms. At the moment, the computer rooms are only accessed by students, but we also want police officers to be able to use them to carry out research. The donations will help us achieve this aim.”

Marie told SNA that the British High Commission assisted the police force with the strategic review and “at the end of the year when they reviewed the funds that they had, they decided to assist us with the extras as they are fully engaged with the implementation of our strategic plans.”

According to a press release from the British High Commission on Tuesday, during the handing over of the equipment, the British High Commissioner, Patrick Lynch, said: “There have been many different elements to this support, with world-leading technical equipment being complemented by the presence of world-leading experts.”

“The UK is the supporting partner, with the change being led by local experts who are designing Seychellois solutions to Seychellois challenges. There is no doubt that the biggest threat to this country at the moment is heroin, with rates of use being worse than in any other country in the world,” added Lynch.

He said that “tragically, many lives have already been lost, and as the situation has deteriorated, we can see a huge risk to tourism, which drives the local economy. There is absolutely no reason that the heroin networks cannot be quickly dismantled.”

For security reasons, no further information was provided by the British High Commission on the digital forensic technology handed over to the Seychelles Police Force and how it will be used.

SNA was unable to reach an officer within the police force to get more details on the benefits of such technology.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

The progress of Absa Bank Seychelles has been described as very satisfactory by the Absa Group Limited chairman who is on an official visit to Seychelles.

A delegation led by Sello Moloko, the group chairman, met with Seychelles’ President Wavel Ramkalawan on Tuesday.

“We are very satisfied with the performance that we are making as an institution in Seychelles and quite comfortable with the management team,” Moloko told reporters.

The two-day visit in Seychelles is the first time a high-level delegation from the Absa Group visit the island nation in the western Indian Ocean.

Moloko explained that the meeting with the President was to discuss the plans of the country and how the financial institution can play a role in ensuring that the country reaches its objective.

“It was also to show our commitment to Seychelles as the country. We are here for the long term and we obviously want to see the economy grow and in the process, grow with the economy,” he added.

One area he said that needs to be addressed is the human capital development around skills and “we are looking at ways in which can continue our role in ensuring that we develop skills in the banking space in Seychelles.”

Absa Bank Seychelles is a subsidiary of Absa Group Limited with its headquarters in South Africa and subsidiaries in 12 African countries.

The bank opened in the country in 1959 as a branch of Barclays of the United Kingdom until 2000, when Barclays Bank Seychelles Limited was incorporated.

Beginning in October 2019, Barclays Bank Seychelles began re-branding to Absa Bank Seychelles Limited until February 2020, when the legal and business names of the bank changed to Absa Bank Seychelles Limited.

“I have been chairperson of the group only since April and so I wanted to ensure that in my role I get to understand the franchise as much as I can,” said Moloko, who added that he has been visiting all of Absa Group’s banks, with Seychelles being the second to last of these countries that I am visiting,” said Moloko.

During their visit to Seychelles, the delegation also had the chance to interact with Absa Seychelles customers, staff and other local partners in a networking event held at Eden Bleu Hotel on Tuesday evening.

Source: Seychelles News Agency