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Tunisian Ons Jabeur moved up one spot to 6th in Monday’s WTA Rankings after reaching – for the first time- the quarter-finals of Roland Garros last week.
WTA Rankings on June 12:
1. Iga Swiatek
2. Aryna Sabalenka
3.Elena Rybakina
…
6. Ons Jabeur.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse
State Department for Devolution staff plant a tree at Ngong Road Forest Reserve, during a tree planting exercise on Monday, June 12, 2023. Ngong Forest occupies 3,026 acres of land and is covered by 70 per cent of natural forest and 30 per cent of Eucalyptus trees. During this financial year, over 21,000 assorted seedlings have been planted in the forest.
Source: Ghana News Agency
The County Government of Nakuru has put measures in place to strengthen accountability and fiscal discipline in the use of its resources to deliver better services and enhance equitable economic development.
Governor Susan Kihika said her administration was enhancing own-source revenue (OSR) streams through the adoption of a cashless mode of payment, the installation of CCTVs in key revenue collection points, and deploying a vibrant and dynamic workforce.
While noting that Counties were collecting less revenue than their potential due to poor systems and leakages, Ms Kihika reiterated her Administration’s resolve to seal all the loopholes that interfere with the optimal use of the revenue generated.
Speaking after chairing a Cabinet meeting where the Nakuru County Finance Bill 2023 was approved, the Governor highlighted some of the revenue streams being enhanced, such as property tax, building permits, business licenses, liquor licenses, vehicle parking fees, and outdoor advertising.
‘The Nakuru County Finance Bill 2023 is critical to the generation of own-source revenue (OSR). The county has not passed a Finance Bill since 2019. The Bill concentrates not on increasing levies, but on expanding the tax base,’ stated the governor.
A tax Gap Impact Report by the Commission of Revenue Allocation (CRA) and the World Bank estimates that Nakuru misses out on an estimated Sh1.985 billion annually of its internal revenue potential.
Counties run on cash transfers from the national government and Own-Source Revenue (OSR) in the form of taxes, charges, loans, and grants.
Between 2013 and 2022, counties’ OSR was extremely low, accounting for less than 15 per cent of their budgets, implying overdependence on transfers from the national government.
According to the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), in the financial year 2021-2022, the average revenue generated by all counties from their own sources was about one-third of their potential, which points to vast unexploited county revenue.
Governor Kihika affirmed that the County Government was determined to ensure transparency in all the County Government’s financial dealings, which she said will enhance the purpose of devolution by taking public finances closer to citizens in a manner that would allow them to have a say on how county budgets are planned for and used.
‘We are committed to complying with the Constitution and the 2012 Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), which require each of Kenya’s 47 counties to publish information during the formulation, approval, implementation, and audit stages of the budget cycle. Nakuru County has competent and well-staffed financial management staff and systems.’ Said Ms Kihika.
She further affirmed that she will ensure timely generation of both budget estimates and implementation documents so that citizens could hold the County Government financially accountable, adding that making documentation against which accountability can be gauged is a right of Kenyans.
The devolved units overrely on transfers of the equitable share of the revenue from the National Government to pay staff salaries and other daily costs that have come at the expense of development projects.
Delays in the release of equitable share, money shared between the national and county governments, have in the past nearly crippled critical services at the counties, such as hospitals, while in other cases county staff went for months without salaries.
The Governor, however, stated that the County Government was working on an Integrated County Revenue Management System, including digitizing land and property records, which she said was critical in enabling the County, to optimize its revenue potential.
Cuts in fiscal transfers to counties combined with population growth, time, and the value of money imply that county per capita spending will decline over the next two to three years unless counties own source revenue (OSR) performance is significantly enhanced to close the resource gap.
A report by CRA for the year ending June 2022 indicated that a majority of counties flouted the budgetary allocation limits. They also missed the target for Own-Source Revenue (OSR) collections, collectively netting Sh35.9 billion against the target of Sh60.4 billion for the fiscal year.
Only four county governments (Turkana, Migori, Lamu, and Vihiga) were able to collect more than one hundred percent of their annual OSR target in the fiscal year,’ said the National Treasury in disclosures contained in the 2023 Draft Budget Policy Document.
These missed milestones, experts say, point to revenue mobilization weaknesses that are borne out of the fact that many counties do not have an economic base that can generate taxes, yet they have to provide a wide range of services to their residents.
A June 2022 study by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), estimated the revenue potential of county governments at Sh215.6 billion, which is six times the actual collection in the past fiscal year.
36 out of the 47 devolved units surpassed the 35 percent cap on wages and benefits spent in relation to revenue.
Of the 11 that met the wage cap threshold, the top performers were Tana River, Mandera, and Isiolo, at 28 percent of revenue.
Meanwhile, Machakos, Garissa, and Kisii counties spent the highest share of revenue paying workers at 62 per cent, 60 per cent and 58 per cent respectively.
Only 12 out of the 47 counties spent more than 30 per cent of their annual outlay on development programmes. Half of these 12 counties were also on the list of the 11 that kept their wage expenditure below the required limit.
In the approved budgets laid down at the beginning of the fiscal year, all but two counties (Nairobi and Kiambu) had allocated 30 per cent of expected expenditure to development, pointing to changes in expenditure priorities during the year due to funding shortfalls.
One of the ways being mooted to address the recurrent-development budget imbalance is for counties to make better use of the debt market, where they can issue bonds to support development projects.
Source: Ghana News Agency
The residents of Kisumu County have hailed the Huduma Mashinani service that was rolled out by the County Government of Kisumu in efforts to bring government services closer and make them more accessible to the people.
The County Government of Kisumu rolled out the Huduma Mashinani services in efforts to evaluate the progress of the projects that it had unveiled to the people, particularly the projects contained in the county’s manifesto as contained in the County’s Integrated Development Plan (CIDP).
The County Government has, therefore, invited the participation of the residents in the exercise to help give validation to the process.
A resident of Nyando, Grace Awino, while giving her take on the process, hailed the process as a critical step towards ensuring that development reaches the people at the grassroots.
‘My name is Grace Awino, and I hail from Awasi location and I want to express my gratitude to our Governor, Prof. Peter Anyan’g Nyong’o, because he has charted new ground by what he has done in ensuring that the entire office of the Governor is out to pursue the matter of service delivery to the residents,’ noted Awino.
Awino hailed the County Government for the various fronts it has taken on matters of development, especially in agriculture, in partnerships with the various nongovernmental organizations that have supplied the local farmers with various inputs, including seedlings such as beans, some of which are drought-resistant, that have boosted the food basket of the locals.
Residents also hailed the efforts of the County Government in sprucing up the conditions of the local roads, even as they pleaded with Governor Ny’ong’o to continue in the same trend and ensure that his development blueprint is felt in all the sub-counties in Kisumu.
Source: Ghana News Agency
The Kenya Chess Federation (KCF) has donated 100 pieces of chess boards to Busia County with a view to introducing the sporting activity in schools.
Speaking during the handover ceremony of the items to Busia Chief Officer for Sports on Sunday, Western Chess Coordinator Situma Makokha said that the move is to demystify the notion that Chess is expensive and therefore meant for the rich people living in big towns like Nairobi.
‘We are here to walk the chess journey with Busia students and residents at large,’ he said, adding that most people know about the game but do not engage in it.
Makokha added that the items will be given to schools including St. Thomas Aquinas in Madende, Joe Destiny, St. James Model, and Resonate Elite, among others.
He encouraged the residents to embrace chess as the sport will enable them to earn a living, adding that most of the prizes have been won by Ugandans who cross over to compete, especially in Bungoma.
‘We have been organizing games, among them the Nairobi Open, Mombasa Open, Bungoma Open, and Kitale Open, and people have been scooping millions of shillings and other items like vehicles.
Busia County Chief Officer for Sports Saviour Panyako said the County is ready to work with the Chess Kenya Federation National Board and incorporate chess in schools in Kenya Intercounty Sports and Cultural Association (KICOSCA) games.
‘We shall ensure that Busia schools embrace and play chess come August this year,’ he said, adding that the sporting activity does not require a lot of space.
Source: Ghana News Agency
As schools continue to struggle with funding occasioned by higher enrollment, a number of secondary schools in Thika, Kiambu County, have come up with alumni associations to improve school infrastructure and pay fees for needy learners.
Chania Boys and Chania Girls High School Principals said the government’s directive to have a 100 per cent primary to secondary school transition has led to congestion in classrooms and dormitories, making their facilities overwhelmed.
Speaking in Thika during the launch of the Chania Boys High School Alumni Association, the school’s principal, James Gitau, said the alumni will go a long way in supplementing the government’s and parents’ efforts in solving some of the challenges they faced as a school.
Gitau said through the alumni association, they will conduct a fund drive as they seek to put up Sh50 million worth of dormitories and other projects to decongest the schools.
‘With a population of 1,500, we are overstretched in terms of infrastructure, dormitories, and classes, and that’s why, through the alumni association, we plan to have a fund drive to help in constructing blocks,’ said Gitau.
His counterpart in the girls’ school, Mary Mwangi, hailed the initiative to form the association, saying not only will they help to support needy students but will also be able to mentor them and link them into the job market and other opportunities.
She said both schools will start an education kitty to support needy students with bursaries to enable them to achieve their dream careers without challenges.
‘The school has about 1,450 students, and with the limited infrastructure, we can’t wholly depend on the government’s support. We need to come up with programmes through the alumni to support students as well as infrastructural development in the schools,’ said Mwangi.
The alumni chairman, Juma Hemedi, said that the old boys and girls will soon roll out an elaborate programme to support the schools in infrastructural developments and raising fees for needy students.
He added that they will also help in networking and linking the schools to organizations that offer financial support to enable them to achieve those goals.
Mwangi called on other old students in various schools to organize themselves into similar associations to give back to the schools.
Bimal Shah, the CEO of Broadways Bakeries Limited, was appointed the pioneer association patron.
He promised to support the two schools in the various projects being initiated.
Source: Ghana News Agency
The country’s largest technological showcase opened its doors on Monday at the Talatona Congress Center, after a period of standstill due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Around 109 speakers and moderators will discuss various topics at the three-day event, which brings together more than 60 companies and 21 countries.
In addition to national experts, the meeting will bring together speakers and moderators from Japan, United Kingdom, Brazil, Nigeria, Lesotho, South Africa, United States, Canada, Spain, Serbia, Uganda, France, Namibia, Portugal, Zambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Sweden, Argentina, Ethiopia, Malawi and Sao Tome.
Meanwhile, the event started in 2018 with 21 plenary sessions and 98 speakers (including 33 international guests) and 16 moderators.
Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)
Visitors to the island nation have a new activity to help them experience the Seychellois way of life, through history, culture, and cuisine, not from just anybody but from the wisest group of the society – the elders.
Grandma’s “savoir-faire”, or know-how, is an initiative of the Seychelles National Heritage Resource Council (SNHRC) and allows a group of grandmothers to share the islands’ heritage through a live experience with visitors.
The executive director of the council, Benjamine Rose, told SNA on Wednesday that through this activity Seychelles – 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean – is offering tourists something that sets the islands apart from other island destinations of this world.
“Tourists can go to any island for sun, sea, and beach. That is why we in Seychelles must be innovative and offer visitors to our islands something they can experience only in Seychelles,” added Rose.
Rose explained that the Grandma’s savoir-faire activity is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Domaine Val de Pres in the eastern district of Au Cap. The Domaine de Val des Pres was inaugurated on October 24, 1988. It offers visitors the opportunity to visit a traditional Plantation House, a large art and craft village, a Creole restaurant, and an art gallery.
“Tourists have a choice of spending half or full day at the Domaine, where we then have grandmothers come over and offer them a variety of activities, where they get the chance to watch, learn and also take part in the activities and get a real feel of the Creole life,” said Rose.
From learning traditional dances to trying to make objects such as making the kapatya – a recipe made from coconut leaves and having a go at some needlework as well.
In the Creole kitchen, all is cooked traditionally, that is, with wood. Visitors help in the kitchen and prepare spices for the grilled fish, grate coconut for the fish curry or the dessert such as la daube or nougat, and prepare the golden apples for the chutney. Visitors get to also learn to make other treats like papaya jam made the traditional way and condiments such as pickles known locally as “asar”.
After all the preparations, the guests get to savour the different authentic dishes – the fruits of their labour.
Jenna Labiche is one of the grandmothers who comes every Tuesday to participate in this activity. “For me, I am very happy to spend time with the visitors and, more importantly, share our way of life with them,” she said.
Labiche told SNA, “As I have retired, I welcome this distraction. Apart from meeting visitors from different countries, I also get to meet with colleagues from other districts,” adding that she also gets the chance to discover and learn things that she did not know before.
Apart from the live demonstrations and experience, the visitors also get to tour the village, visit the souvenir shops and workshops, visit the gallery and Mize Koko as well as Lakaz Rosa,” said Rose.
Lakaz Rosa- Rosa’s House – is a replica of a servant’s dwelling house, which is built of timber on squat stone pillars, it is a modest structure in which a servant slept. The wooden walls are entirely covered with pages of newspapers and magazines including the photograph of the Royal House of Windsor.
Tourists get also to visit the jewel of the village is the Grann Kaz, a beauty of a plantation house showcasing craftsmanship and carpentry with its wooden carved balustrades, from the colonial era.
Grandma’s savoir-faire is a paid event and must be booked in advance. Fees are $50 for a half day experience and $100 for full day.
Source: Seychelles News Agency
President of the Republic Kais Saied said on Sunday that with regard to negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), “solutions can never be presented in the form of diktats,” adding that “conventional solutions will only worsen the social crisis and have a negative impact on the situation in Tunisia and the region as a whole.”
“The IMF must review its proposals and then a solution can be reached,” he argued.
He was speaking on Sunday at Carthage with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula Van Der Leyen and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
If Tunisia is currently going through a difficult financial, economic and social situation, it is because Tunisians have long been the victims of the repercussions of past domestic and foreign policies.”
“The Tunisian people, who had revolted at the end of 2010 against despotism and corruption, would not abandon their demands for freedom, nor their legitimate right to employment and national dignity,” the Head of State pointed out.
Referring to the spoliated funds, the President of the Republic underlined that Tunisia has not yet recovered the funds looted before and after 2011, not to mention the misappropriated loans.”
Kais Saied called for the conversion of these loans into investment projects.
Solutions to the situation in Tunisia should stem from the sole will of Tunisians, he affirmed.
“Tunisia is not an international issue, but rather a purely national one, and, the solution must be found on this basis, together with our partners.”
With regard to migration, President Saied called for a realistic and collective approach.
“Our values dictate that we treat irregular migrants humanely,” he asserted, adding that Tunisia has changed from a transit point to a destination. The stay of migrants must be regular, and everyone must respect the country and its laws.”
He described as inhumane and inadmissible the proposal put forward discreetly by certain sides to settle migrants in Tunisia in return for financial support for the country.
Furthermore, security solutions have proved ineffective as they have increased the suffering of the victims of poverty and war.
“If they had the most basic attributes of a decent life, they would not have been easy prey for criminal networks,” he considered.
Referring to the issue of European investment in Tunisia, the Head of State pointed out that only political stability, social peace and the eradication of corruption can bring them to fruition.
The creation of wealth and fair competition require the eradication of corruption networks and lobbies, underlining the need to provide all the conditions conducive to investment.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse
A broader agenda for Tunisia to discuss many issues over the coming weeks and to implement all the plans made at the economic and bilateral levels was agreed on, said Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the end of the joint meeting held on Sunday in Carthage, with President Kais Saied, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italy’s Prime Minister Girogia Meloni.
Rutte further indicated that he had told Saied that “the Netherlands will send an economic mission as soon as possible to Tunisia to discuss energy, agriculture, water management and of course tourism, and to build on the bilateral cooperation in the development field.”
“Migration was also on the meeting’s agenda and we made an excellent agreement on this. We will work on this over the coming weeks and it is important indeed to kill that cynical business model of the boat smugglers. Migration is at this moment one of the most important issues facing all of us,” he pointed out.
“I was very happy for the European agreement reached last Thursday in Luxemburg between the 27 member states in the European Commission but of course also the discussions now with Tunisia is also important and we can help each other. All will be done in full cooperation and full accordance with human rights,” Rutte indicated.
“We have discussed this comprehensive package and we will now work on this over the coming weeks up to the European Council meeting at the end of June. The window is open, we all sense there is an opportunity to really foster this relationship between EU and Tunisia,” he said.
“A lot of work is to be done but I’m very hopeful that we will achieve our goals on all the issues which we have worked on together,” he concluded.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse