Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn is likely to appear in a Japanese court next Tuesday to hear the reasons for his detention, after his lawyers deployed a little-used article of the Constitution. The shock move was the latest in a series of unexpected twists in …
Read More »S.Africa launches minimum wage ahead of election
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa introduced its first minimum wage on Tuesday, with President Cyril Ramaphosa saying millions of workers would be better paid as he readies for a tricky election in May with the national economy struggling for growth. Trade unions have been split over whether …
Read More »GMO law fight not over
Civil society excited but frustrated scientists pin hope on Museveni Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Ugandan civil society is celebrating a new law that seeks to regulate the development and application of biotechnology. But it is cautious celebration – until President Yoweri Museveni signs it into law. The objective of …
Read More »Nigeria’s president blocks electoral reform bill
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday refused to sign off on plans to overhaul the country’s electoral laws, judging that new rules would cause “disruption and confusion” so close to an election. Africa’s most populous nation goes to the polls to elect a new president …
Read More »S.Africa minimum wage begins January 1: president
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said Friday that a landmark minimum wage bill to bridge the country’s notorious inequality will become law from January 1 as he eyes elections due in 2019. The bill legislates that the lowest paid workers receive a minimum of …
Read More »ICC members back court, but urge it to speed up work
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | Countries signed up to the International Criminal Court renewed their backing Wednesday for the embattled global legal body, targeted by the Trump administration, but urged it to speed up its work. “The European Union strongly supports the International Criminal Court and its work as …
Read More »South Africa names first female top prosecutor
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | President Cyril Ramaphosa named a respected female lawyer on Tuesday to head South Africa’s prosecuting authority which had been accused of improperly protecting former president Jacob Zuma. His appointment of Shamila Batohi further distances him from Zuma’s scandal-tainted rule during which several top jobs, …
Read More »New effort against HIV/AIDS law
Activists target media in fight to repeal sections of prevention and control Act Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | Rosemary Namubiru, a nurse, was in 2014 sentenced to three years in jail for criminal negligence over what seemed a potential infection of a baby with HIV the virus that causes AIDS. …
Read More »Ethiopia lawmakers to appoint new president: state media
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopian lawmakers on Thursday will meet to appoint a new president, a largely ceremonial post in the Horn of Africa nation, the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported. A session involving both houses of parliament is expected to hear and formally accept the resignation …
Read More »Rent law: Good intentions, bad incentives for property market
The proposed law will make rent expensive Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | John Kityo has been experiencing some tough times in renting a room for his small business in downtown Kampala. The 30-year old has rented seven different places as a result of sudden rent increments. So when Dr. …
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