Welsh politician: ‘Could Ireland use EU funds to pay for our motorway improvements?’ (Youtube-Clip)

“Ukip has asked the Welsh government to seek EU funding from the Irish government to help upgrade a motorway between London and south Wales. The M4 motorway is the main artery between the main cities of Wales and the rest of the UK – but it also carries a large amount of Irish goods exported and sold there. Ukip assembly member David Rowlands made the appeal to the Welsh National Assembly this afternoon. He says that Irish exporters also rely on the M4 to transport goods to other EU countries on the continent – and told TheJournal.ie that it is “quite a reasonable idea to explore”: http://jrnl.ie/3109404” (TheJournal.ie, 2016)

Britain won’t turn its back on Africa following Brexit (29.11.2016)

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There is clearly a need in the aftermath of Brexit for there to be a degree of reassurance given to Africa that Brexit doesn’t mean that the United Kingdom is going to turn its back on Africa.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, November 29, 2016 -Brexit does not mean that the British government will turn its back on Africa, Lord Paul Boateng, a Member of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords said Monday.

Speaking at the first ever Africa Trade Forum which is being hosted by the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union, Mr. Boateng said Brexit presents Africa and the UK with an opportunity to “put development at the heart of our trading relationship with Africa in a way frankly that it has not always been in relation to the EPAs, let’s be frank about it”.

“The UK recognizes that and we will seek every opportunity to minimize the disruption in our trading relationship and take every opportunity to seize this chance to re-fashion the relationship between the UK and Africa in terms of trade so intra-African trade becomes an opportunity which we can seize together,” he said.

Contributing to debate on Africa-E.U. Economic and Trade Cooperation and Brexit implications for Africa, Mr. Boateng assured participants, including African Ministers of Trade, Finance and Transportation as well as senior government officials, heads of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), African CEOs and executives, representatives of international development agencies, civil society and others, that trade relations between the UK and Africa will not be affected following Brexit.

“There is clearly a need in the aftermath of Brexit for there to be a degree of reassurance given to Africa that Brexit doesn’t mean that the United Kingdom is going to turn its back on Africa and I’m able to assure you that right across the political divide in the UK, in both Houses, Africa and the UK’s historic link with Africa remains central to our thinking,” he said.

“Yes there’s uncertainty at this time, that is inevitable, when such a momentous decision is made,” SAID Mr. Boateng.

“Yes there is a hazard always when you think about the scale of the task that lies ahead in terms of mapping out the future of the trading relationship between the UK and Africa but I think I can give the absolute assurance that we see this in the UK as an opportunity to be seized.”

He said he was concerned by the issue of infrastructure in most African countries. Mr. Boateng was born and brought up in the Gold Coast in Ghana.

“I am the grandson of cocoa and cassava farmers. My grandmother grew cassava, my grandfather grew cocoa and when I look at our village in Tafo in the eastern region of Ghana, two things strike me, first of all, that in the 1950s there was a direct rail link between Tafo, a heart of cocoa growing region and Takoradi, which at that time was our main port,” he told participants.

“That rail link no longer exists and that has had a damaging effect on agriculture in Ghana but Ghana is not alone in seeing the deterioration of its infrastructure so the United Kingdom recognizes the importance of infrastructure in terms of promoting intra-African trade.”

“The second matter which I can’t but help notice, he said, is that right next door to my grandmother’s farm was a West African Cocoa Research Institute and that was a major resource for West Africa in terms of agricultural support and extension and research at the highest level so it produced every year a handful of PhDs now sadly due to decades of neglect and the impact of the structural adjustment of the 70s and the 80s, that emphasis on higher education and the link between higher education, science, technology and innovation and agriculture simply went now we are seeking to revisit that but I would argue that that too is a very important part of our struggle in order to increase agricultural productivity of Africa.” 

“Without that we are going to be in difficulties but the good news is it seems to me that is changing and the UK and our department of international development is making its contribution to that,” Mr. Boateng said.

Participants will be in Addis Ababa for the week attending the first ever Africa Trade Week, a multi-stakeholder platform for the advancement of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA). And intra-African Trade.

Somalia: FIEIT visits Galmudug to urge timely completion of voting for Lower House (24.11.2016)

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Cadaado, 24 November 2016 – Members of the Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) visited the Galmudug state capital today to push for timely completion of ongoing elections for seats in the federal parliament’s House of the People.

The FIEIT team met with senior state officials to discuss the status of the elections in Galmudug, which so far has filled 21 out of its 36 allocated seats in the lower chamber.

“Our visit today is to assess how the elections are going on in Galmudug. We are here to ensure that the process is finished on time, by 30 November this year. We want to encourage them to do keep doing the good work and where there are concerns, then we would address and find solutions,” said FIEIT Chairman Omar Mohamed Abdulle.

Mr. Abdulle said FIEIT would adhere to the election timetable it released in September. He said the timely completion of the electoral process would enable the country to have a new government and federal parliament before the end of 2016.

FIEIT is pressing state-level governments and electoral bodies to expedite voting for the remaining seats in the House of the People that have not yet been filled. A two-thirds quorum of members is needed in both houses of the federal parliament to hold a presidential election in the legislature, according to Somalia’s 2012 Provisional Constitution. The Upper House has crossed that threshold with 43 of its 54 seats already having been elected.

“We hope to have at least two-thirds of the members of the Lower House before the November 30 deadline. We now have a total of 145 members, if we get 35 more members, the country would have an institution that can sit and decide on issues,” Abdulle added.

His remarks drew support from the Vice President of Galmudug, Mohamed Hashi, who assured the FIEIT team that the state’s remaining 15 members would be elected before the end of this month.

“We did a lot of work to resolve disputes. We hope to finish the election of the remaining members of the Lower House by Monday or Tuesday next week,” said Mr. Hashi.

In other election news, the FIEIT and the Independent Electoral Disputes Resolution Mechanism (IEDRM) issued a joint press statement announcing they are investigating cases of electoral malpractice following allegations of corruption, intimidation and manipulation in the ongoing electoral process.

The two electoral bodies warned today that stern action will be taken on cases where proof of electoral malpractice is confirmed.

“When investigations confirm that serious malpractices have occurred, the FIEIT and the IEDRM will take appropriate and decisive actions,” said the two bodies in the statement. “Such actions will include nullification of the election results and disqualification of candidates who have committed the malpractices.”

The statement also expressed concern about the failure of some clans to comply with the 30 percent quota established by the National Leadership Forum (NLF) for women’s representation in the parliament. In the case of Galmudug, only three of the 21 members elected to the House of the People thus far are women.

“This rule needs to be respected in all the upcoming elections. Failure to fulfill this requirement will result in action by the FIEIT and IEDRM against the offending clans both in past and upcoming elections,” the statement warned.

Both electoral bodies urged all stakeholders to abide by the rules and regulations of the electoral process as defined and agreed by the NLF.

Somalia: FEIT and IEDRM planning coordinated action against serious electoral malpractice (24.11.2016)

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Brexit: Labour has plans to counter the non-existence “Moving-On” plans of the Tories!

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Its days after and just two weeks after leaked Memo that said how little plans the Conservative Party or Tories Government had. So this report is a answer to that. Like the certain quote of the memo:

“The divisions within the Cabinet are between the three Brexiteers on one side and Philip Hammond/Greg Clark on the other side. The Prime Minister is rapidly acquiring the reputation of drawing in decisions and details to settle matters herself – which is unlikely to be sustainable. Overall, it appears best to judge who is winning the debate by assuming that the noisiest individuals have lost the intra-Government debate and are stirring up external supporters” (Sky News, 2016).

When the matter comes into the light like this; it’s fruitful to see that the major Opposition Party have now showed alternative path or at-least thought things through where they have propositions to a counter-party that doesn’t care for fulfilling their mandate and exercising the vote of the people.

Theresa May, was voted into the Parliament to be MP and not a PM. Therefore she might forget how to get the popular vote and get consensus. Here is one set of ideas and suggestions to how to make amends of the Brexit. This is worth listening to and also reading to get ideas of how to fix the problems of the European Union and the United Kingdom. Take a look!

Infrastructure Policy:

“So what should be done? Brexit offers British policy-makers the opportunity to step back and examine the future direction of infrastructure and housing policy. The Autumn Statement should be used signal a change in direction towards an economic strategy which uses infrastructure and housing policy as a tool to boost growth and productivity in regions that have suffered a lack of investment” (Moving On, P: 12, 2016). “Ignore this problem and it is clear that unity in our divided country will be even further away. Accept the challenge, take steps to rebalance investment, and the United Kingdom has half a chance at sticking together“ (Moving On, P: 14, 2016).

Working Policy:

“First, he should do all that he can to stimulate investment in innovation. Coming up with new ideas, products and services which the rest of the world wants to buy is the best way we can remain internationally competitive post Brexit without seeking to pursue an alternative strategy, advocated by those on the Right, of making our labour markets ever more flexible and embarking on a race to the bottom on people’s terms and conditions of work. Innovation will also help improve UK productivity which is 18% below the G7 average, the largest gap since 1991 when the ONS started collecting such data” (Moving On, P: 19, 2016). “Limited digital connectivity is one of the biggest barriers to business and Ofcom estimates that 1 in 5 small business premises will still not be able to access superfast broadband without further action from government. The Universal Service Obligation – which sets a target of all homes having 10MB per second speeds by 2020 is nowhere near ambitious enough – a more ambitious target and timeframe for delivery should be set if Britain is to be at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution” (Moving on, P: 22, 2016). “The biggest boost he could provide is by declaring that the Government’s goal during the Brexit negotiations is to continue with the UK’s membership – not just access to – the European Single Market, as I set out in my speech to the Centre for Progressive Capitalism last month” (Moving on, P: 24, 2016).

Skills/Education:

“The National Audit Office for instance has recommended that the Department of Education should set out the planned overall impact of its apprenticeships policy on productivity and growth, along with short-term key performance indicators to measure the programme’s success. The Government must also adequately fund welfare-to-work in the Autumn Statement, get a grip on inclusive regional growth and ensure that welfare-to-work helps those in areas with high unemployment and not just those who find it easiest to get back into work. As the Science and Technology Select Committee has said, the Government should now publish its Digital Strategy policy without further delay and include goals for developing better basic digital skills and increasing digital apprenticeships as well as providing a framework through which the private sector can more readily collaborate with communities and local authorities to raise digital skills in local SMEs” (Moving On, P: 30, 2016).

Welfare:

“The ‘digital skills gap’ meanwhile has been estimated as costing the economy £63 billion a year in lost additional GDP. Also holding us back from the high tech economy of the future is the lack of new engineering and technology recruits meeting employers’ expectations. We are also facing an engineering ‘retirement cliff’ with the average engineer currently in their fifties.18 According to the Engineering UK 2016 report, engineering employers have the potential to generate an additional £27 billion per year from 2022 but only if we can meet the forecasted demand for 257 000 new engineering vacancies.19 And these are exactly the type of professions we need to build our industries and export to the world after we leave the European Union” (Moving On, P: 28, 2016).

Welfare II:

“Firstly, he must reverse cuts to Universal Credit (UC) and restore confidence after the programme’s chaotic introduction so it genuinely provides an incentive to work. Secondly, the Chancellor has to do more to help parents join or re-join the workforce and give every child the best start in life. We should move towards a system of universal free childcare for all working parents of pre-school children, starting with free childcare for all two year olds” (…) “There is also a worrying picture on pay progression too. Universal Credit was intended to help workers move onto higher pay levels, as well as get a job in the first place. But as the Resolution Foundation has said “implementation realities scuppered the ambition of the design”. The likely result is that UC will leave an increasing number of workers stuck on the minimum wage when they should be looking to earn more” (Moving On, P: 32-34, 2016).

Championing Key Sector:

Because Brexit austerity could last beyond a conventional economic cycle, it will require fundamental policy change and supply-side efforts to counteract. Take, for example, the risks now hanging over the financial services sector – which represents 12% of our economic output, nearly two million jobs in the UK and which generates £67billion of revenues for the public purse. It’s not simply a case of having an ‘industrial strategy’ to play to this core comparative advantage for the UK. We will need to negotiate long term access to EU markets where a whole series of product lines face the prospect of being banned and outlawed. Should this turn out to be the case, and the cluster of specialisms in UK financial centres erode with core competences like clearing relocating to Frankfurt or to New York, then we lose a vital skills infrastructure as well as year by year corporation and income tax revenues” (Moving On, P: 38, 2016).

“So we should test the Autumn Statement for whether it counteracts the looming Brexit austerity and whether it can deliver access and opportunities for sectors under threat, like financial services. Yes, there are reforms still needed to many of the tax regimes in which the financial services sector operate. Some lucrative practices need loopholes closing – for instance in the taxation of financial spread betting or old Osborne legacies such as the wasteful ‘shares for rights’ dodge that is rife for abuse” (Moving On, P: 2016).

This here shows the proofs that the Labour Party can have things that works for the nation, if they get people to believe it, but the simplistic dogma of the Tories is sold to the commoners like coke and cheddar cheese, while the Labour Party message is a rock to hit your head instead of being served feasible to the public. Therefore the Labour has to change their ways of sending their message and make sense to the ones blinded by the PM May and her deceptive tone of arrogance from White Hall. Peace.

Reference:

Alison McGovern MP, Chuka Umunna MP, Shabana Mahmood MP, Rachel Reeves MP & Chris Leslie MP – ‘Moving on – A Labour approach to the post-Brexit economy’ (November 2016)

Sky News – ‘Leaked memo shows Government’s lack of Brexit plans’ (15.11.2016) link: http://news.sky.com/story/leaked-memo-shows-governments-lack-of-brexit-plans-10658063/revision/1479197701

US Ambassador Stephen Schwartz letter to H.E. Mr. Adbikarim Hussein Guled on the Electoral Process in the Galmudug (20.11.2016)

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Opinion: Leaked Memo shows that PM May and her Cabinet has a true disregard for the Brexit!

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There are some days that just have to grow upon you, as the news we’re coming on the matter, Davis Davis, the Member of Parliament who was named and appointed to be the Brexit Minister of Davis Michael Davis. As long as you have loudmouth Foreign Secretary for the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, another Brexiteer who hasn’t delivered anything that matter on the Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty or anything else.

So the Conservative Party under Prime Minister Theresa May has a Cabinet that doesn’t even consider the Brexit vote and the public wish to leave the European Union. Something the backbenchers of the Conservative Party didn’t fight for anyway. Except for the ones who renegaded against the than PM David Cameron.

So the months has gone, and September there we’re even reports that Brexit Minister Davis Davis we’re living the life of lavish MP, but not acting upon the election that offered him the job in the government.

So he has been a ghost and undetermined person. As shown with the words of the leaked memo yesterday: “The divisions within the Cabinet are between the three Brexiteers on one side and Philip Hammond/Greg Clark on the other side. The Prime Minister is rapidly acquiring the reputation of drawing in decisions and details to settle matters herself – which is unlikely to be sustainable. Overall, it appears best to judge who is winning the debate by assuming that the noisiest individuals have lost the intra-Government debate and are stirring up external supporters” (SkyNews, 2016).

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The PM May has to sort out her house and make sure the dishes is washed inside the kitchen before the food is served. Brexiteers hasn’t seemed to pushed hard if the dishes are just staying dirty and not worked on. And the PM May doesn’t seem interested in change the state of affairs, because she want to steer the ship herself without listening to the cabinet, that will be a good leader, but a selfish one it seem.

“Individual Departments have been busily developing their projects to implement Brexit, resulting in well over 500 projects, which are beyond the capacity and capability of Government to execute quickly. One Department estimates that it needs a 40% increase in staff to cope with its Brexit projects. In other words, every Department has developed a “bottom up” plan of what the impact of Brexit could be – and its plan to cope with the “worst case”. Although necessary, this falls considerably short of having a “Government plan for Brexit” because it has no prioritisation and no link to the overall negotiation strategy” (SkyNews, 2016).

So there is no distinctive negotiation strategy for the Brexit, as the Prime Minister Theresa May already proven to be selfish and wanting to take the decisions on her own, instead of listening to the ones she has appointed for her cabinet. This proves the little value the PM has in her own as she doesn’t care for listening to Secretary for Brexit Davis or anybody else.

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Departments are struggling to come up to speed on the potential Brexit effects on industry. This is due to starting from a relatively low base of insight and also due to fragmentation – Treasury “owning” financial services, DH-BEIS both covering life sciences, DCMS for telecoms, BEIS most other industries, DIT building parallel capability focused on trade etc” (SkyNews, 2016).

Another one of the nonsense that the Departments are not focused or working together to know the effects of an actual leaves the European Union and the trading with the Member States of the EU. How the Departments are effected by Brexit that should be checked and made sure by the Ministers and through the back-channels to make sure the Industry are getting a good as possible place with their trade. Instead of finding out the real potential of the industrial production and the needed changes that might be there after the actual Brexit.

“Industry has two unpleasant realisations – first, that the Government’s priority remains its political survival, not the economy – second, that there will be no clear economic-Brexit strategy any time soon because it is being developed on a case-by-case basis as specific decisions are forced on Government” (SkyNews, 2016).

So another statement showing the disgraceful attempt of silencing internal movement of the Brexit; they didn’t show any clear economic-Brexit strategy, but the decisions are not made as there is apparently no will for the Cabinet and Conservative Party Government and the PM May. That shows the disrespect the Government that been made after the PM David Cameron showed grace and stepped down. Because he had no real plan to leave the Union he had cooperated so well with during his years in Cabinet and in Parliament.

Peace.

Reference:

Sky News – ‘Leaked memo shows Government’s lack of Brexit plans’ (15.11.2016) link: http://news.sky.com/story/leaked-memo-shows-governments-lack-of-brexit-plans-10658063/revision/1479197701

Uganda: Alleged Irregularities in the Procurement for Management and Collection of Revenue from Nyamayenje Market (19.09.2016)

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Other Documents:

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Explaination of the documents: 

“Today the Town Clerk of Rukungiri Municipal Council Otim Andrew Kibwota was described as the most un serious accounting officer by the members of Rukungiri District Public Accounts Committee.Mean while all Councillors of Rukungiri Municipal council have unanimously voted to chase away this Town Clerk who is never in office and only comes when he hears that government has released some money and comes to withdraw it and share it with the Mayor Charles Makuru(Endira Kukyinduka) and Treasurer one Andrew Byaruhanga” (John Kakugombe, 30.09.2016).

Footage: Dr. Kizza Besigye Swearing in as Minister of Interal Affairs in 1986

Somalia: International Community notes Nominations for Upper House and Urges Rapid Review in line with NLF Commitments, particularly on Woman’s Representation (10.10.2016)

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