Court sentences man to life IHL for killing 51 Muslims

The New Zealand High court has convicted and sentenced a 29 years old Brenton Tarrant to life in prison with hard labour without a “parole.”

Tarrant, Australian national pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of Attempted murder and one charge of terrorism over last year’s 2019 Mosque attack in Christchurch City in New Zealand, which In the process resulted into the shooting to death of 51 Muslims as they were praying in the Mosque.

In delivering the ruling, Justice Cameron Mander contended that a finite jail term was insufficient for such crime and that the convict did not show remorse to his wrong doing.

Such life sentence is the first to be handed in that country.

Kenya tribe’s circumcision ritual maintained amid Coronavirus pandemic

Among the Bukusu, of the Luhya tribe in western Kenya, teenage boys become men during celebrations that last several days, and during which they are circumcised.

Despite the dangers associated with COVID-19, the Bukusu have decided to keep their tradition alive and maintain the ceremony this year.

“We know this year there is corona,” Peter Kadenge, a traditional circumciser, explained.

“The President of Kenya Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta has already opened churches and other areas, so we have decided that no child will sleep without having been circumcised.”

“We have to circumcise the children according to our Bukusu tradition.”

The celebration will take place, despite government advice to avoid large gatherings.

Boys must dance to show their bravery and attend rituals including the sacrifice of a cow, the blood of which will welcome them into manhood.

Africaews

8 people fined MK1.7 million for demolishing 19 houses over land dispute

Nathenje Second Grade Magistrate Rose Chirwa has convicted and ordered eight people to pay over K1.7 million or in default serve two years in prison for demolishing 19 houses over land dispute.

The convicts were found guilty of malicious damage on Tuesday, August 25, 2020.

Lilongwe Police Public Relations Officer Joseph Kachikho said the accused, who are all related, invaded their nephews’ houses at Jefitala Village in Traditional Authority Chitekwere on August 2 this year.

Kachikho said they demolished 19 houses and property worth K1.7 million.

Mutharika Calls For an Emergency Meeting

Leader of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Peter Mutharika who is also the country’s former head of state has summoned the party’s senior officials today.

According to inner sources, the meeting s set to take place at Mutharika’s retiring home in Mangochi.

Among others, Mutharika is angry with media remarks by the fired Secretary General, Grezelder Jeffrey, on power transition.

The party’s vice presidents, regional governors and some National Executive Committee members are reportedly set to attend the meeting.

Cracks and camps have emerged in the former governing DPP, with some pushing for Mutharika to relinquish power while others want him intact as party president.

On the same, Ben Phiri has also resigned as the party’s Director of Elections.

Minister Of Trade Sosten Gwengwe, Warns Cement Traders Against Over-pricing

Minister of Trade Sosten Gwengwe has attributed the scarcity of cement in the country to shortage of forex on the financial market.
Addressing the media in Lilongwe, Gwengwe warned cement traders against increasing prices beyond K7 500 which is recommended in the current prevailing economic situation.

The Minister's remarks follow a meeting with cement manufacturing companies and importers that aimed to find solutions.
Gwengwe has warned that unscrupulous traders who are taking advantage of cement scarcity to raise prices will have their licenses revoked.
The Minister said cement producers such as Shayona Cement Limited, Cement Products Limited and Lafarge have not raised prices but traders are taking advantage of the situation.
Gwengwe said discussions with the Reserve Bank of Malawi have taken place to prioritise issuing forex to cement importers to deal with the challenge.
Recent weeks the local market has experienced rising prices of cement reaching up to about K10 000 per bag.

Grezelder Jeffrey says she will not resign

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary General Grezelder Jeffrey says she will not resign from her position as instructed by the party president Peter Mutharika.

Jeffrey says Mutharika wants her out of the position because she and other leaders in the party are calling for an early convention to elect a new leader. More to come

Woman Cries As Her Husband Died, His Brother Is Insisting To Marry Her

A lady is crying out that the husband who she was married to for 10 years gave up the ghost three weeks ago and without even waiting for the burial of the husband the brother in-law is insisting she get married to him.

See her story as she shared it on Facebook.

Hello peeps can you guys help me out here?

"My husband died just three weeks ago, we have been married for 10 years and i have a son for him.

" We had to postpone the burial because of this coronavirus disease,now my brother in-law is insisting we get married.

"Since the first week after my husbands death this man wont let me be. I even at a time dad t sleep with him to satisfy him.He promised he wont make a request if i gave it to him just once .

Pope Francis has donated ventilators to Likuni mission hospital in Lilongwe to boost Malawi’s fight against Covid-19

Pope Francis has donated ventilators to Likuni mission hospital in Lilongwe to boost Malawi’s fight against Covid-19.
Shortage of ventilators is a major challenge for most developing countries including Malawi in the treatment and management of the pandemic considering the high costs to procure the life supporting equipment.
According to Vatican News, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church’s donation was made through Archbishop Gianfranco Gallone, who is the Apostolic Nuncio to Malawi and Zambia.

Local Archbishop Tarcisius Ziyaye has since hailed the donation saying the Pope is really concerned about the deadly pandemic which has shaken the whole world.

Zambia President, Edgar Lungu under fire for sacking Central Bank Chief

The Zambian president has come under fire for the abrupt sacking of the central bank governor in the midst of a debt crisis in the southern African nation whose resolution hinges on bailout talks with the IMF.

Denny Kalyalya was fired with immediate effect by Edgar Lungu on Saturday without an official reason being given, at a critical juncture for Africa’s second-biggest copper producer which is struggling to repay more than $11bn of government debts. He was replaced with Christopher Mvunga, a former deputy finance minister and banker.

In a statement on the sacking, the IMF on Monday said that “the macroeconomic stability that most developing countries have enjoyed in recent years has greatly relied on the much-improved effectiveness and increased independence of central banks”.

“It is imperative that central banks’ operational independence and credibility is maintained, particularly at this critical time when economic stability is threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic,” the IMF added.

The independence of African central banks has come under the spotlight as the pandemic threatens to push many of the continent’s economies into their biggest downturns in decades and governments face funding pressures.

Access to the fund’s loans is widely seen as Zambia’s main route to avoiding default on its debts, which were borrowed to finance an infrastructure boom and large shares of which are owed to Chinese creditors and private bondholders.

Police Shoot 19-Year-Old Boy For Impregnating His Girlfriend

Unless three different surgeries are urgently conducted on the left leg of Ledesi Kote, a 19-year-old boy who was shot by a police officer for impregnating a girl, according to doctors ,the young man may lose the leg to amputation.

According to Kote, the father of the victim, He was in his compound in K. Dere community in Gokana local government area of Rivers State on Friday, August 21, 2020, around 7 am, when a Sienna drove into his compound with about four armed police men.

“They went straight to my son’s room door and were banging and cocking guns. I approached them to inquire from them what my son did wrong that they were looking for him, but none of them answered me. It was one of them who angrily told me that my son impregnated a girl.”.

According to the victim’s father, the next thing he heard from the backyard of his house was a gunshot.

He said one of the officers shot his son on the leg simply because he impregnated a girl and went away with him, while he was bleeding profusely and hid him in a private hospital.

Comrade Karl Uchegbu, South-South Zonal Chairman of Civil Liberties Organizations quoted an unnamed human rights activist in the area as stating that, he and other lovers of justice took the father to the Rivers State Police Command headquarters on Moscow road in Port Harcourt, where an official complaint was laid down about what their officers did to an innocent boy, whose only crime was because he impregnated a girl.

Our Correspondent learnt that arrangements were made for the immediate transfer of the victim from the village to a better government owned hospital in Port Harcourt.

Another activist who witnessed the incident regretted that,

”until now, the officer who did this is yet to take full responsibility of the medications. The doctor said the victim will have to undergo three different surgeries or else he might be amputated. We want justice for this boy. It could be me or you tomorrow”.

At the time of filing this report, the Rivers State Police Command headquarters is yet to react to the incident, especially the allegation that a Police Officer shot a boy.

Grezelder Jeffrey fired from DPP

Politician Grezelder Jeffrey has been fired as Secretary General of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) with immediate effect.

The development comes barely hours after Jeffrey wa Jeffrey publicly said the party will soon go to convention to elected its torchbearer of the 2025 Presidential polls to replace immediate past President Peter Mutharika.

Jeffrey confirmed of the development in an interview with the press.

“I am not worried…actually this is good for me. I will be going home in Nkhotakhota,” she said.

Some top officials in DPP led by regional governor for the North Christopher Mzomera Ngwira wants Mutharika to retire from frontline politics.

Man commits suicide after taking poison food

In Phalombe, a 27-year-old man identified as James Kumwamba has committed suicide after taking poisoned food.

The district’s police station public relations officer, Sergeant Innocent Moses has confirmed of the incident and said this happened on 25th August, 2020 around 1400 hours, in Mpheni village in traditional authority Mkhumba in the district

“Facts are that the deceased used to do piece works at Phalombe trading center. For the past three days, he has been complaining that his brain has not been working after he lost his mobile phone. Consequently, his mother has found him dead in his house on 25th August 2020, ” Moses explained.

The incident was reported to police where Officers from Phalombe accompanied by medical practitioner from Phalombe Heath Center rushed to the scene.

Medical practitioner examined the body and confirmed that death was due to suffocation secondary to food poisoning.

Most wanted armed robber arrested after 20 years of terror in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s most wanted armed robber, Musa Taj Abdul has been arrested after 20 years of terror.

The suspect has been on the run for over two decades and was arrested while in the company of six other accomplices in the border town of Beitbridge on Monday night.

Abdul who has been on the police wanted list since 1999, was linked to the robbery attack on December 2019 at Wessel Shop in Msasa, Harare, It was alleged that his gang disarmed a security guard and stole a special Amadeo Rossi revolver, $160 000 and an Isuzu KB240 single cab vehicle.

On February 5 this year, the gang went to Makoni Shopping Centre, Chitungwiza, armed with pistols, an AK47 rifle and robbed unsuspecting complainants of US$19 000, $30 000, cellphones and a Toyota Allion vehicle, which was later found abandoned in Glen View.

On February 26, the gang robbed another person in Harare of US$40 000, jewelry, several pairs of shoes, a laptop, cellphones, a star pistol, and a Hyundai vehicle. The gang proceeded to the victim’s workplace and robbed him of US$227 250 and R28 000 with only US$10 000 being recovered by the police.

Abdul is also known for evading police arrests and escaping shootouts which has led to the death of some of his gang members.

Namadingo Hits k3 Million as He pose as statue in Blantyre

Musician Patience Namadingo has managed to raise over K3 million for fellow musician William Kachigamba, who was diagnosed with cancer.

The musician needs K3 million to travel to Zambia for medical attention. This prompted Namadingo to pose like a statue on the Mahatma Ghandi statue in Blantyre to raise the K3 million on Tuesday.

He stayed there from 12pm without eating but was drinking water until around past 6pm before his manager Peter Mazunda received a message from President Lazarus Chakwera that he should go home as he would settle the balance.

Namadingo was determined to spend a night until he managed to raise the K3 million.

Times 360

WHO declares Africa polio-free after four years without recorded cases

Polio is officially declared eradicated from the African continent by the World Health Organization.

This comes after four consecutive years without a reported case and massive efforts to immunize children.

Following the announcement on Tuesday, the WHO chief,Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, held vitual meeting with the Nigerian philanthropist Aliko Dangote and American billionaire, Bill Gates.

“It is a tremendous victory, a deliverance,” Tunji Funsho of the Nigeria Polio Committee of Rotary International told AFP. “It’s been more than 30 years since we launched this challenge. To say that I am happy is an understatement,” said the Nigerian doctor.

It takes three years without a reported case to obtain WHO approval, but the UN organization preferred to wait four years, “to be 100% sure the disease is completely eradicated.

Polio is a, infectious disease that mainly affects children, attacking the spinal cord and potentially causing irreversible paralysis.

It was endemic disease throughout the world until a vaccine was discovered in the 1950s.

AFP

Campaigning begins for Tanzanian elections

Campaigning begins in Tanzania on Wednesday ahead of a general election due at the end of October.

President John Magufuli, who is seeking re-election, faces 14 challengers.

The ruling CCM party has dominated Tanzania’s politics for decades.

A united opposition during the last election gave the party the strongest challenge yet.

But the crowded race this time could give the president greater advantage.

Mr Magufuli was widely praised as a reformist when he took office five years ago but has since been accused of stifling dissent.

In June he controversially declared that the coronavirus had been defeated in Tanzania through the power of prayer.

Most Tanzanians have since resumed normal business in spite of concerns raised by critics at home and abroad.

This year’s election is expected to be the most challenging yet as the government continues to clamp down on dissent.

Malawi records few Covid-19 cases in past 24 hours`

Malawi has only registered 4 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours.
Taking the tally of total confirmed cases in Malawi to 5,423.
It has recorded one new death in the past 24 hours.
Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 170 Covid-19 deaths.
7 new recoveries have been recorded also taking the tally of total recoveries to 3,066.
Currently, Malawi has 2,187 active Covid-19 cases and it has also conducted 42,902 tests since the outbreak of the pandemic in Malawi.

Man Jailed 15 Years for Producing and Circulating Porn ‘Katundu Very Nice’

The Chipata High Court in Zambia has sentenced a man who was behind the production and circulation of the video in which he was seen fondling privates of unconscious woman while calling upon others to join him.

The infamous video was dubbed ‘Katundu very nice’ as how the culprit described the private parts of the woman in the 2018 incident.

Rodgers Mwanza was sentenced to nine months each in count two and count three where he was charged with production and circulation of obscene materials by the Petauke Magistrate Court last year.

Resident Magistrate Ackson Mumba ruled that the sentences would run concurrently before committing Mwanza for sentencing in count 1 where he was convicted for the offence of indecent assault on a female.

On Monday, The Lusaka judge Getrude Chawatama jailed Mwanza 15 years for the offence of indecent assault on a female and that the sentence would run concurrently with the previous sentences, making it 15 years.

Judge Chawatama said she considered the mitigation that Mwanza was the first offender but also noted that the offence that he committed was serious.

Nigeria Prostitutes Beat Pastor To Coma For Preaching In Their Brothel

A group of prostitutes have pounced on an Evangelist identified simply as Matthew, beating him to coma for daring to preach in front of their premises in Lagos.

Mathew who preaches in a popular church in Ejigbo, Lagos, had gone to carry out his Evangelical duties, by preaching to the lost flock. Little did he know that he would receive the beating of his life on the fateful day.

The incident happened on Friday, August 14, would remain evergreen in his memory.

According to an eyewitness identified as Theresa Okwudili, trouble started for the 36-year-old man of God when he stood at a close range to Golden hotel, Ejigbo, and began preaching to the women of easy virtues and their male clients to forsake their sinful ways and turn to God for deliverance and salvation.

Reports had it that, the pastor’s constant decrying of their flesh-trade, irked the commercial sex workers who weren’t finding it funny.

However, when it seemed to them that the preacher was not in hurry to end his sermon, Hannah, said to be one of the most notorious members of the ‘sex workers’ decided to take the bull by the horns.

“She angrily brought out a bucket of water and poured the man of God. As he was still trying to figure out what was going on, another prostitute advanced towards him and started pushing him away. He was almost pushed to the gutter but for timely intervention of passers-by,” Theresa said.

Another eyewitness who gave his name as Uchenna Kingsley said;

“That was not the first day he was preaching at that place. But he didn’t use to get so close to the brothel premises as he did on this occasion. To me, I believe he overstepped his boundary because he knew the place was an unholy zone; he should have treaded more carefully.”

According to Kingsley, most times, if not all the time, he uses the Bible verse, 1 Corinthians 6: 18-20 which talks about fleeing from fornication

“He uses that verse interchangeably with Proverb 6 verse 32, which also revolves around fornication and adultery,” Kingsley said.

All efforts to reach the Evangelist proved abortive. But it was gathered that he did not make any attempt to fight back the ladies, he described as “daughters of Jezebel”.

I want to get married but i don’t know why men are scared to talk to me – Nigerian Lady Narrates

A Nigerian lady identified as Suraya has said that she wants to get married but does not know why men are scared to talk to her.

According to her, guys have been running away from her, and she doesn’t know why they are scared to approach her

 .

She wrote: “Am not getting any younger. I think, I need to get married, but I don’t know why guys are scared to talk to me. Am I not beautiful?”

Is She Not Beautiful? Someone Should Go Talk With Her Abeg!