Libyans in dark about the election with eight days remaining

KFS launches eight utility vehicles to augment forest Protection

Kenya: The Principal Secretary of the State Department of Forestry, Ephantus Kimotho, has urged Kenya Forest Service to lay focus on resource mobilization and stakeholder engagement as a key strategic objective in the growth of the capacity of the Service to implement the 30 percent tree cover target by 2032.

Homa-Bay county schools to compete in tree growing

Kenya: The Governor of Homa-Bay County, Gladys Wanga, has launched a school tree growing competition that will involve all schools in the county in a bid to increase the country's forest cover from the current 3% to 30%.

PR Event in Ebène Cybercity for Flyover Ebène Project

Mauritius: A Public Relations exercise with tenants and stakeholders of Ebène Cybercity in view of the construction of the new interchange along the M3-A14 corridor (Flyover Ebène project) was held on Tuesday, 21 March 2023, at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tower in Ebène.

Mauritius Qualifications Authority renews RPL Support Scheme

Mauritius: The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Support Scheme, a process to officially recognise and validate competencies gained outside the formal education and training system for the purpose of certification, was renewed yesterday, between the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) and the Mauritius Qualifications Authority (MQA), during a ceremony held at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tower, in Ebène. The event was followed by a workshop on Portfolio Development for 100 new potential candidates.

Eight days before Libyans were supposed to vote in presidential elections, there is complete uncertainty about the outcome of a vote that has not yet been formally postponed but has a slim likelihood of taking place on time.

After years of factional warfare, the planned Dec. 24 vote, combined with a concurrent election for a new parliament, was expected to help end Libya’s decade of upheaval by appointing a political leadership with national legitimacy.

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However, heated debates over the election’s legal basis and fundamental procedures, including the eligibility of extremely controversial front-runners, have dogged the process from the outset and have yet to be resolved.

The election commission announced on Saturday that the final list of eligible candidates, taken from the 98 who registered, would not be released until legal consultations with the judges and parliament were completed.

It means candidates will have no time to campaign, and severe security breaches in recent days have raised concerns about election integrity if the poll goes ahead.

On Thursday, few Libyans Reuters spoke to believed the vote would take place on time, but many predicted only a minor delay. “It will be postponed for a maximum of three months,” Ahmed Ali, a 43-year-old Benghazi resident, said.

Rival candidates and political factions have been trading accusations, accusing one another of attempting to sabotage or influence the election process for their personal gain.

International powers pressing for elections, as well as the United Nations, have maintained their position that elections must take place, but have ceased mentioning the planned vote date of December 24 in public pronouncements this week.

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In recent weeks, a substantial number of Libyans have collected their ballot papers, and thousands have registered to run for parliament, indicating overwhelming public support for a vote.

For fear of being blamed for the poll’s failure, none of Libya’s political entities were willing to publicly state the vote would not take place, according to Tim Eaton of Chatham House, a London think tank.

“It’s very evident that given the current conditions, the legal wranglings cannot be settled,” he stated. “No one believes this is going to happen on time, but no one is saying anything about it.”

It left an option between short delays to find fixes to push the elections through or longer delays to redraw the political road map, which may involve the replacement of the transitional administration, he noted.

Libya has had no political stability since the NATO-backed rebellion that deposed Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, and the country was split in 2014 between warring eastern and western factions.

Ali Saad, a 66-year-old employee of an oil business, said he cried for Libya’s future. “Even if the elections are postponed, I hope it is with a working agreement and rules, because otherwise things would be tense and the repercussions will be severe.”

For the time being, analysts and diplomats believe that a return to direct fighting between the eastern and western factions, both of which are now well entrenched and have major international military support, is unlikely.

They claim, however, that there is a greater chance of tensions escalating into internal factional fighting within either camp, particularly in Tripoli, where the armed forces are more diversified and political splits are more visible.

An armed group surrounded government facilities in Tripoli on Wednesday night, ostensibly in response to a decision to replace a top military official, but there was no fighting, according to a security source.

Early this week, there were intense battles in the southern city of Sebha between groups connected with competing factions. Fighters attacked voting centres last month, snatching ballot cards, according to the election commission.

KFS launches eight utility vehicles to augment forest Protection

Kenya: The Principal Secretary of the State Department of Forestry, Ephantus Kimotho, has urged Kenya Forest Service to lay focus on resource mobilization and stakeholder engagement as a key strategic objective in the growth of the capacity of the Service to implement the 30 percent tree cover target by 2032.

Homa-Bay county schools to compete in tree growing

Kenya: The Governor of Homa-Bay County, Gladys Wanga, has launched a school tree growing competition that will involve all schools in the county in a bid to increase the country's forest cover from the current 3% to 30%.

PR Event in Ebène Cybercity for Flyover Ebène Project

Mauritius: A Public Relations exercise with tenants and stakeholders of Ebène Cybercity in view of the construction of the new interchange along the M3-A14 corridor (Flyover Ebène project) was held on Tuesday, 21 March 2023, at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tower in Ebène.

Mauritius Qualifications Authority renews RPL Support Scheme

Mauritius: The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Support Scheme, a process to officially recognise and validate competencies gained outside the formal education and training system for the purpose of certification, was renewed yesterday, between the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) and the Mauritius Qualifications Authority (MQA), during a ceremony held at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tower, in Ebène. The event was followed by a workshop on Portfolio Development for 100 new potential candidates.

Dominica: PM Roosevelt Skerrit welcomes Mexican delegation AMEXCID

Dominica: Dr Roosevelt Skerrit, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, received a group from the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID) led by its Executive Director, Dr Laura Elena Carrillo Cubillas, and extended a warm welcome on March 23, 2022.

FAZ salutes fans for filling up levy Mwanawasa stadium

Zambia: The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) wishes to convey its gratitude to the thousands of fans that filled Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola during the Chipolopolo’s 3-1 win over Lesotho in a Group H Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.