Finland

Dar es Salaam. Parliament’s Budget Committee wants all government vehicles to be converted to use compressed natural gas as part of efforts to cut massive spending on fuel.

The advice comes at a time when fuel prices are rising due to disruptions in the global supply chain, fuelled by Western nations’ sanctions on key producer Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

The Women Leadership Centre (WLC) launched their new project titled, Reducing Family Violence in San Communities, which is being implemented by community leaders in six San communities in Namibia.

The centre will be working in Omega 1, Mu’ciku, Ndama, Tsintsabis, Drimiopsis and Skoonheid in partnership with the Embassy of Finland.

***CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story carried an image of a family member of Melvin Sogbandi. FrontPage Africa and New Narratives regret the error ***

By Eric Opa Doue, Senior New Narratives Justice Reporter

JUAH TOWN, Grand Bassa – James Diggs broke down in tears when he heard the news of the death of Melvin Sogbandi. Sogbandi led “Strike Force Marine”, one of the deadliest divisions of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) during the civil war.

By Anthony Stephens and New Narratives staff

After nearly a year of hearings, including five months in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the ground-breaking trial of Gibril Massaquoi, a Sierra Leonean rebel charged with committing war crimes in Liberia, looks set to end this month. From there the fate of the 51-year-old former commander of the Revolutionary United Front will be in the hands of four judges of the District Court of Tampere, Finland’s second largest city.

A former member of the witness protection unit of the UN backed Special Court for Sierra Leone has told judges in the ongoing war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi, the former Revolutionary United Front commander, that the accused did not escape UN surveillance to cross over to Liberia in 2003.

Rappler.com and c oda.com, in a weekly technology feature, have highlighted the objection made by Transwave - a non-government organisation (NGO) engaged in transgender advocacy - to the latest version of legislation to facilitate a digital national identification system in Jamaica.

The Government of Jamaica is designing and developing the National Identification System (NIDS), aiming to capture and store personal identity information for citizens and persons ordinarily resident in Jamaica.

– If found true the revelations would cast a cloud over the findings of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the integrity of its witness protection program.

By Mae Azango, Senior Justice Correspondent, with New Narratives

MONROVIA, Liberia – The Finnish court trying Gibril Massaquoi for war crimes committed in the Liberian civil war has made its unscheduled return to a secret location here to test two critical questions that have arisen in the trial since it left West Africa and returned to Finland in May.

The trial of Gibril Massaquoi, the Sierra Leonean former Revolutionary United Front commander accused of committing war crimes in Liberia’s civil wars, will return to Liberia, likely in August.

The Pirkanmaa District Court in Tampere, Finland, where Massaquoi was arrested in March 2020, made the surprise announcement this week and said it would hand down a judgement early next year.

The court was initially scheduled to rule on the case this autumn.

Inside QNet Pyramid Scam Scheme

By Yankuba Jallow

In what looks like a daylight robbery, Foroyaa’s four months investigation has found a global e-marketing group operating in The Gambia amassing wealth from Gambians, including innocent students.

Dubbed QNet, the company does this under the ploy that they organize “Business Management” with the promise to give the students what they refer to as “International Certificate”.

Four of The University of the West Indies Press’ (UWI Press) published books have recently earned recognition by international publishing awards.

On June 9, two UWI Press books were announced among the bronze medallists when the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards) declared its annual winners.