A Cnl Party candidate sentenced to 5 Years in Prison
The briefing Issue #85, Thursday, May 8, 2020
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Dear Readers,
On Thursday the Ngozi court pronounced a five-year prison sentence against Pasteur Mpawenimana, who is also a CNL candidate for senators in Makamba.
Mpawenimana Pasteur is accused of extortion, kidnapping, assault, and battery against 5 student members of Cndd-Fdd.
He will pay 409 5000 BIF of compensation and 2 500 000 BIF for victims’ health care.
Mr. Mpawenimana and his lawyer explained to the court, but without convincing, that he had acted in order to protect the five Imbonerakure beaten up by CNL militants. The vehicle on which he boarded to rescue the youth was seized. His lawyer plans to appeal the decision.
This week also, Cathy Kezimana a member of the political bureau of the CNL party on the list of upcoming legislative elections for the province of Bujumbura was arrested after a meeting in Mugongo-Manga, she has been detained in Bujumbura central prison.
She was accused of inciting the population to revolt. The judges accused him of having made inflammatory and defamatory statements against the Cndd-Fdd regime.
In less than two weeks, three CNL candidates for the legislative and senatorial elections were arrested.
Agathon Rwasa, the CNL party presidential candidate, said that anyone who breaks the law should be punished, but he protests that the victims are often taken for perpetrators.
"We are aware that there is a plan to struck off our party as it happened for the MSD, it would be in preparation, but it will not come to fruition. ", revealed Rwasa Agathon to Journal Iwacu.
On Wednesday, May 06, 2020, the CENI released a statement where it indicates that during this campaign, it observed on the ground defamatory communications and other behavior contrary to the law.
Pierre Claver Kazihise, president of the CENI calls the candidates who campaign to respect the law in general and the electoral code in particular.
Thanks for reading!
Fabrice Iranzi,
Editor, RegionWeek.com
IN THE REGION
At least 55 people have been killed and 91 houses destroyed in flash floods due to heavy rainfall in many parts of Rwanda Wednesday night, local media reported. The flash floods also swept away five bridges across the central African country, Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) reported on Thursday. Rwanda’s Ministry of Emergency Management announced the government will assist the families of the victims.
Projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a sharp slowdown in Tanzanian growth due to the coronavirus pandemic, underestimate the economy’s resilience. The IMF predicts that growth is set to slow from 6.3% in 2019 to 2% in 2020. But the largest contributors to growth are the state’s construction, infrastructure, and social services projects, says Imani Muhingo, head of research and analytics at Orbit Securities in Dar es Salaam. “There is no indication that the government will slow down in its projects.”(Africa Report)
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved today a disbursement of SDR361 million (about US$491.5 million or 100 percent of quota) for Uganda under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF). It will help finance the health, social protection, and macroeconomic stabilization measures, meet the urgent balance-of-payments and fiscal needs arising from the COVID-19 outbreak and catalyze additional support from the international community.
The Ugandan economy is being severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and, in particular, such key sectors as services (tourism), transport, construction, manufacturing, and agriculture. The challenging external environment is curtailing remittances and foreign direct investments. The pandemic has also exacerbated the challenges posed by heavy rains in early 2020 and the ongoing locust invasion. (IMF)
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