Uganda: Motorcyclist dies in an accident leaving behind 6 widows and 30 children in a poor condition

The fate of 6 widows and 30 children hangs in the balance as a commercial motorcycle rider who was their breadwinner died recently in a terrible road accident.

Reports say 51-year-old Hassan Mafabi from a Ugandan village had taken a loan to purchase a brand-new motorbike barely a month before his death, ostensibly to work and pay back the loan.

Motorcyclist dies in an accident leaving behind 6 widows and 30 children

According to Ugandans.com, the deceased was run over by a speeding car and he could not survive the crash.

One Bishop James William Ssebagalla of the Mukono church of Uganda diocese who is reported to have confirmed the tragic death of Mafabi said his bereaved humongous family are currently in a state of despondency. Tuko.co.ke reported the man of God as appealing to the general public to come to the aid of the ‘hopeless’ family.

The future of the 30 poor children who cannot be blamed for their polygamous father’s decision to bring them forth looks bleak as their equally poor mothers are not in any good standing to take care of them.

Compounding their plight is the fact that Mafabi did not finish paying the loan he had contracted too, and it is unclear how and who will take responsibility for the liability.

Question: 

WHY THE RICH STAY RICH AND THE POOR STAY POOR

 ???

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WHY THE RICH STAY RICH AND THE POOR STAY POOR

By AngelikiS

To fix a problem that starts so early in life, it is necessary to start in early childhood.

The gap between the rich and the poor has become bigger during the last few decades. NGO Oxfam found in a report that wealth concentration increased in 2018. According to the report, 26 billionaires have gathered wealth that is equal to the income of half the poor in the world.

Wealth inequality becomes worse every year. The rich become richer and the poor poorer. The income of billionaires increased by 12% -by 2.5 billion dollars per day. At the same time, the poorer half of the world saw its income decrease by 11% -500 million per day.

There seems to be no end in sight for this vicious circle of poverty. Inequalities thrive and governments do almost nothing to change the situation.

The more you make, the less you pay

Governments favor the rich. According to the World Inequality Report 2018, countries can reduce inequality through progressive taxation and by subsidizing education. However, governments are reluctant to tax the rich. Moreover, according to studies, the rich are more likely to avoid paying their taxes.

According to the World Inequality Report, the United States and Western Europe had similar levels of inequality in 1980 with the top 1% holding about 10% of income. By 2016 the top 1% in Europe had gathered 12% of income, while in the US the 1% held 20% of income.

That happened because US governments became less strict with taxing the rich. At the same time, European policies provided support for education. The measure benefited lower and middle-income families.

Moreover, some governments prefer sales taxes, rather than income taxes. According to the Washington Post, lower-income households spend a greater fraction of their earnings on purchases -for food for example or transportation. As a result, the poor suffer more from taxation than high-income families.

Family and education play a big role

The first stages of one’s life define his/her financial situation. Specifically, education and cultural environment determine the future success of a child.

A child born into a wealthy family has access to resources and a high level of education. Those children have an advantage compared to poor kids. Some studies show that wealthy children are likely to stay rich at about the same rate as poor kids are likely to stay poor.

While parents in poor families spend money on the immediate needs of their children -like food and housing-, rich families spend their money in order to give their children access to means that ensure their well-being. It is hard to achieve financial success, when you have to work hard in order to cover your basic needs, or when you don’t live in a safe environment (for example when your house is in a dangerous neighborhood).

Wealthy children will choose a better college and they will enter the workplace with little or no debt. Poor children have to choose a college based on their means. They also choose a major that can later provide financial stability. Moreover, upon graduation, they face the prospect of a large debt.

Acquaintances help the rich to find jobs easier, while the poor do not have that advantage. Except for general education, the poor sometimes lack financial education as well. Financial intelligence gives people the ability to make effective decisions. It gives an understanding of how money works and how people can use them in order to change their financial situation.

Rich mindset is willing to invest resources to something that pays off in the long-term. Poor people usually do not have access to resources and the lower their income is the lower their investments.

Poor people are, also, less willing to take financial risks. While rich people have the opportunity to risk everything, poor people are more afraid to do so. Financial intelligence could help to give them the self-confidence they need in order to invest and win more.

So, what can be done? Governments should take measures in order to tax wealthy people. They can distribute the money to those who need them. Countries can use that revenue in order to invest in education, infrastructure or health. That could give more economic opportunities to people who need them and help in closing the gap between the rich and the poor.

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NAACP leads largest delegation of African Americans to Ghana to commemorate year of return

Nearly 300 African Americans reconnected with their African roots in the journey of a lifetime marking the 400th Anniversary of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Baltimore, MD (August 28, 2019) – NAACP led a delegation of nearly 300 African Americans, ranging in age from 4 to 90, on a transformative journey from Jamestown, VA to Jamestown, Ghana to reconnect with their African roots and commemorate the Year of the Return – a landmark spiritual and birth-right journey inviting the global African family, home and abroad, to mark 400 years since the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the United States.

“In the Twi language of Ghana, ‘Sankofa’ translates to ‘go back and get it.’ We are standing in our ‘Sankofa’ moment,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “We are proud to return to Ghana to walk in the footsteps of our ancestors and reaffirm that our existence is one of strength, power, resilience and liberation.  This experience has brought us all closer together and we have the knowledge we need to continue to fight for all of mankind. Strangers became sisters, fathers became mentors, children became playmates and a generation of the Black diaspora found their home.” 

The journey began August 19th with a ceremony at the Jamestown Historic Center to honor the first enslaved Africans to arrive at Point Comfort and Fort Monroe near Hampton, VA.  The reflective, yet uplifting event included a processional, remarks from local and national NAACP leaders and an opportunity for participants to write messages to their ancestors.  

The following day, the group visited the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, DC before traveling from Dulles International Airport to Accra, Ghana. Here are highlights from Ghana: 

Akwaaba! Homecoming Celebrations

Drummers, dancers and local residents greeted the NAACP delegation at Kotoka International Airport, which included actor and humanitarian Danny Glover, as the group made their long-awaited arrival for the Year of Return. The group was first welcomed to the Jubilee House – the residence and office to the President of Ghana – for a photo opportunity, before heading to the Accra Visitor Center to meet with representatives from the Ghana Tourism Authority.

Per Ghanaian tradition, the group paid a visit to the Mayor of Accra and Jamestown chiefs, who to announce their arrival welcomed them with a blessing. Warm greeting remarks were also provided by President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana. The group also paid visits to the village chiefs and elders in Cape Coast, as well as the Ashanti Queen Mother, a direct descendant of Nana Yaa Asantewaa – one of Ghana’s most acclaimed heroines.

Emotions Run Raw During Visits to Cape Coast Slave Castle & Assin Manso Last Bath River

The group visited Cape Coast Slave Castle – one of several castles along the coast of West Africa –  where millions of Africans suffered in dungeons at the hands of European slave traders. As the group wandered from chamber to chamber, hanging on to every word as the guide narrated the painful history of the ground they walked on, the agony in the air was almost tangible.

“This has been the most life-changing moment of my life,” whispered an elderly woman to her daughter as they exited the female dungeons and walked toward the Door of No Return – the last port of exit before slaves were taken away from their homeland forever. On the other side of the door stood a placard that read, ‘Door of Return.’

“They called this the ‘Door of No Return,’” said one of the tour guides. “They didn’t want you to come back but look at us now. You have returned. You have survived, and you have returned to us.”

Following the tour, nearly 80 participants received the results of their African ancestry, through AfricanAncestry.com. People traced their roots to Cameroun, Togo, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal and more. The Haynes family, a multigenerational family of women traveling from Howard County, MD, were the last participants to be called. The crowd erupted in cheer and tears of joy when it was announced they were matrilineal descendants of the Akan people of Ghana.

Business and Labor Summits; City Tours Encourage Year of Return Visitors to Invest in Ghana

Participants in the Jamestown to Jamestown journey, explored two complementing sectors in Accra, the cultural landmarks and monuments, and the prime opportunities for investment in the city, and to a larger extent, what the country represents for the Black Diaspora. Hosted by the Ghana EXIM Bank, NAACP President Derrick Johnson gave poignant remarks as to the purpose of the Jamestown to Jamestown trip, reminding the group that the threat to exploit Black labor is still an unfortunate reality across the world, and the need to recognize the value and power of Black labor and consumerism.

The group also took part in a variety of group tours in Accra and the surrounding area, visiting sites such as the home and museum of one of the founders of the NAACP, W.E.B. Du Bois, the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Park, the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, and the very first cocoa farm in Ghana, the Tetteh Quarshe Memorial Cocoa Farm.

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Nigerian assets at risk worldwide in $9 billions arbitration case

Libby George

LAGOS (Reuters) - A British judge has said he will grant a firm called Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) the right to attempt to seize some $9 billion in assets from the Nigerian government over an aborted gas project.

The company was awarded $6.6 billion in an arbitration decision over the failed 2010 project to build a gas-processing plant in the southern Nigerian city of Calabar. With interest, the sum now tops $9 billion - 20% of Nigeria’s foreign reserves.

Nigerian officials vowed not to surrender any assets.

WHAT IS AT STAKE?

P&ID can target real estate, bank accounts or any kind of moveable wealth, but it has to prove that the property is unrelated to Nigeria’s operations as a sovereign state.

“The onus will be on the claimant to prove that the property is exclusively in use for commercial purposes,” Simon Sloane of law firm Fieldfisher said. “It’s quite a difficult hurdle to overcome.”

State assets that have any diplomatic function - such as a commercial property that is also used to issue visas - cannot be seized.

But state asset seizures “happen all the time”, said James Langley, a partner with international law firm Dentons and an expert in arbitration.

In a 2008 case against Chad, a UK judge ruled that proceeds of oil sales held for the purpose of making repayments to the World Bank qualified as commercial assets.

And in 2018, a U.S. judge cleared the way for a Canadian mining firm to target shares in a U.S. oil refinery owned by state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) over an arbitration debt owed by Venezuela.

The Nigerian government holds bank accounts in foreign jurisdictions including Britain. Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC also owns some of the oil cargoes that sail from the country’s shores. Ultimately, a judge would have to rule on whether any individual asset was subject to seizure.

ARE NIGERIA’S ASSETS SAFE?

The Aug. 16 ruling converts the arbitration award to a judgement, giving it the same force as a British court ruling. This would be recognised across the European Union as long as Britain remained a member.

Sloane said Nigeria’s best protection would be to ensure it had no significant commercial assets in any jurisdiction that could be exposed to an asset execution.

But the arbitration award itself also allows P&ID to seek to seize assets in any of the 160 countries that are part of the New York Convention - a global pact for the recognition and enforcement of arbitration awards.

Sloane and Langley said there was a long history of successful asset seizures using the New York Convention.

WHAT ARE NIGERIA’S OPTIONS?

Nigerian officials said they would appeal. In Britain, their prospects are limited, experts told Reuters.

“Nigeria would have to apply to set aside the order for enforcement and that may be difficult to achieve,” Langley said.

A set-aside request would have to prove there was an error in the ruling. Langley said the judge’s decision was not legally controversial.

Lawyers representing the Nigerian government argued the award should not be enforced because England was not the correct place for the case, and even if it were, the amount awarded was “manifestly excessive”.

But the decision on the UK as the seat of arbitration was made in 2016, and the arbitration award was made in 2017. Nigeria had 28 days in each case to appeal. It appealed the former decision, but missed the deadline by several months and a judge dismissed it. It never appealed the latter decision.

Nigeria successfully applied to have the award set aside by the Federal High Court in Lagos.

But in English law, judges do not typically review either the decision on the seat of arbitration or the underlying award once the window for appeal has passed, Sloane and Langley said.

Nigerian Information Minister Lai Mohammed said there was no imminent threat to Nigeria’s assets while the case was underway.

But once the court makes its judgement into an order, which is expected in September, P&ID could start targeting assets.

To delay this, Nigeria would also have to request a stay of enforcement while the set-aside request is considered. A set-aside request ruling is quick in legal terms - a matter of weeks or months rather than a year or more, Langley said.

IS $9 BILLION AN UNUSUALLY LARGE AWARD?

Arbitration awards in the billions are not uncommon. Langley said the method used to determine the figure, based on expected earnings over the life of the contract, was standard for commercial arbitration.

A co-founder of P&ID testified during the arbitration that the company spent $40 million before the project failed, but Langley said the sum was not necessarily relevant.

The award, Langley said, is “just a function of the kind of contract this was”, reflecting potentially large profits.

Parties at this stage would typically reach a settlement that is often well below the award, the experts said.

WHAT IS NIGERIA DOING?

In addition to fighting the UK ruling, Mohammed said Nigeria “will strongly avail itself of all defences customarily afforded to sovereign states ... to stave off any enforcement of the award”.

Nigeria is also fighting a P&ID effort to convert the arbitration award to a judgement in a U.S. federal court.

The information minister made no mention of seeking a settlement.

The government has also asked its anti-graft agency, intelligence agency and police inspector general to investigate P&ID and the circumstances surrounding the deal, which, it said, “includes commencing a full-scale criminal investigation”.

In a statement, P&ID said government allegations that the gas project was designed to fail were “entirely fictional” and “will not make the legal obligation to pay go away.”

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Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum: The Congolese scientist behind the cure for Ebola

Written byNwachukwu Egbunike

Written byRosebell Kagumire

'We will no longer say that Ebola is not curable'

Sierra Leone: Health workers prepare to enter an area where Ebola patients get treatment. Flickr image by EC/ECHO/Cyprien Fabre, August 2, 2014. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

On August 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a positive development in the clinical trials of drugs being tested for the treatment of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR of Congo).

WHO asserted that the Ebola drugs showed “advances that will bring patients a better chance of survival,” and further affirmed that “two out of the four drugs being tested are more effective in treating Ebola.”

Who is the man behind the Ebola cure? Esteemed professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, director-general of the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) DR of Congo, who invested a substantial part of his adult life treating the virus.

While the international media has often focused heavily on the deadly, contagious nature of Ebola in DR of Congo, less has been said about the Congolese scientist who discovered its cure.

Muyembe-Tamfum declared: “We will no longer say that EVD [Ebola virus disease] is not curable.”

Based on Muyembe-Tamfum's tireless work, scientists tested four drugs for Ebola treatment: ZMapp, remdesivir, mAb114 and REGN-EB3. The results from the clinical trials conducted in 499 study participants showed that patients treated with “REGN-EB3 or mAb114 had a greater chance of survival” when compared to those treated with the two other drugs.

The trials were conducted under the auspices of the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB), the DR Congo Ministry of Health and three medical humanitarian organizations: the Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA), the International Medical Corps (IMC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

The Congolese scientist behind the Ebola treatment

Muyembe-Tamfum has been researching Ebola since its first known outbreak in DR of Congo in 1976 when he became the first researcher to travel to the area of the first outbreak.

Rosebell Kagumire @RosebellK

 · Aug 13, 2019

“I spent four decades of my life thinking how to treat patients with the Ebola virus. So this is the achievement of my life" - Dr Muyembe, who with his team of researchers, has discovered a new Ebola treatment that can cure symptoms in just an hour

https://www.

bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0

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Focus on Africa - New Ebola treatment cures symptoms in just an hour - BBC Sounds

Top Ebola researcher Dr Muyembe says the new treatment can cure 90% of infections

bbc.co.uk

Rosebell Kagumire @RosebellK

Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director general of the Institut National de Recherche Biomedicale in the Democratic Republic of #Congo and his team have discovered a new Ebola treatment that can cure symptoms in just an hour

6:42 PM - Aug 13, 2019

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A professor of microbiology at Kinshasa University Medical School in DR of Congo, he has been working for the past 40 years on a cure for the disease. In 1995, he worked with WHO in implementing detection protocols and control measures in the first documented urban outbreak of Ebola in Kikwit, DR of Congo.

Professor Muyembe-Tamfum (seated with the microphone) speaking at a public education event in Beni, North Kivu, DR of Congo, in September 2018. Photo MONUSCO/Aqueel Khan (CC BY-SA 2.0)

With this discovery, people infected with Ebola will now have more trust in the possibility of recovery and will be more likely to go to the hospital for treatment.

“Now that 90 percent of their patients can go into the treatment center and come out completely cured, they will start believing it and building trust in the population and community.” — Jean-Jacque Muyembe-Tamfum

Why Ebola treatment matters

The first recorded cases of Ebola occurred in 1976 near the Ebola River in DR of Congo. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), since then, the Ebola virus has “emerged periodically from its natural reservoir (which remains unknown)” to infect people in Africa.

Ebola virus outbreaks since 1976. Map from the Centres of Disease Prevention and Control

Between 2014 and 2016 there were more than 28,600 recorded cases of Ebola within West Africa. According to a WHO 2015 report:

• In October 2014, Senegal had one case of Ebola infection and zero death.
• Nigeria recorded 20 cases with 8 deaths. WHO declared Nigeria's curtailment of the virus as a “piece of world-class epidemiological detective work“.
• In January 2015, Mali had 8 reported cases and 6 deaths.
• However, the most devastating cases occurred between March and June 2016 in three countries: Sierra Leone: over 14,000 cases and about 4,000 deaths; Liberia: about 10,000 cases and 3,000 deaths; Guinea:  3,800 cases and 2,500 deaths.

The global narrative on Ebola

Ebola's ravaging of African countries generated global panic and hysteria in 2015 when two patients died in the United States and one each in Spain and Germany. Gaby‐Fleur Böl, a researcher at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Berlin, Germany, identified other cases in Spain, Germany, the UK, Italy and Switzerland. At that time, an Ebola infection was considered a death sentence due to the lack of an effective treatment.

As  Böl asserted, the high mortality rate of Ebola and also “the sometimes‐exaggerated media coverage” of the epidemic created hysteria around the world.

This position was further corroborated by a 2017 study in which Hal Roberts, Brittany Seymour, Sands Alden Fish II, Emily Robinson and Ethan Zuckerman analyzed over 109,000 stories published in US mainstream/regional media and blogs between July to November 2014, with a focus on Ebola coverage.

They discovered that three distinct peaks in Ebola coverage in the United States media and blogs “occurred around July 27, September 28, and 15 October 2014″:

On July 27, reports broke of the first infections of American doctors in Liberia. On September 30, media widely reported the infection of Thomas Duncan in Texas as the first infection on US soil. On October 12, Ebola coverage intensified with the first infection of a health care worker in the United States. After October 12, a series of other US infection-related events led to continuous coverage that gradually lessened in intensity over time.

US media may have covered Ebola so intensively because of the presence of the disease in the US. In addition, with a more interconnected army of digital networks, the Ebola epidemic became more amplified in Europe and the US.

However, what remains to be seen is if the discovery of a cure by an African from DR of Congo to this “African” epidemic will also garner as much coverage as it did in 2017.

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