Sierra Leone's President Koroma wins second term

Koroma won his re-election bid on Friday, avoiding a run-off ballot by taking more than 55% of all votes cast in the west African country`s third national vote since the end of the 1991-2002 civil war.

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma was sworn in for a second term on Friday after winning elections, promising to boost foreign investment and crack down on corruption in the war-scarred nation.
Koroma took 58.7 percent of the ballots in a Nov. 17 poll, just above the 55 percent he needed to avoid a run-off, election officials announced. His main rival, Julius Maada Bio, a 48-year-old retired army brigadier, took 37.4 percent.
“We will continue to attract investment, we will continue to fight corruption,” Koroma said in a speech to cheering supporters in the ramshackle capital Freetown.
“I will make sure that the fruits of ... prosperity are equally distributed in every district and every region. The work starts today.”
The election was the third national vote since the end of a 1991-2002 civil war that made Sierra Leone notorious as a “blood diamonds” battleground for rebels and child soldiers.
After Koroma’s win was announced, groups of youths shouted and cheered under a cotton tree in the centre of Freetown, a landmark where slaves were once bought and sold.
“I’m pleased, very happy (...) He brings joy in Sierra Leone. Ernest brings joy in the heart of the people,” said Abdul Deen, 41, who runs a decorating business.
At stake in the vote was the opportunity to oversee billions of dollars of investment in the aid-dependent country’s resources that include gold and diamonds, oil and iron ore.
Iron-ore shipments by British companies African Minerals and London Mining are expected to buoy the economy to 20 percent growth this year - below original forecasts of more than 50 percent, but still one of the highest growth rates on the planet.
Election officials and observers reported a large and enthusiastic turnout in the polls, and observers called the process free and fair.
Koroma and his ruling All People’s Congress (APC) faced a determined challenge from Bio, a former junta leader who represents the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
Koroma wrested the presidency from the SLPP in a hotly disputed 2007 vote and was considered the narrow favourite above Bio, who was involved in two military takeovers in the turbulent 1990s.
Bio supporters were dismayed by the outcome, many claiming the results were fraudulent.
“As for me, the election does not go down well with us,” said Frank Mattia, a 28-year-old student. “Ernest Bai Koroma has rigged the election which is not free and fair to us, the people of this country.”
The electoral commission said there were some polling stations where votes exceeded registered voters, but said those results were thrown out and were too few to have an impact on the election’s outcome.
An SLPP official declined comment, saying an official statement would be issued over the weekend.
The election in the former British colony was one of the most closely observed in Africa this year by monitors from the European Union, the Commonwealth and the African Union.
Doubts remain whether Koroma can root out graft from Sierra Leone’s patronage-driven politics and fairly distribute the mineral wealth.
“If they get through this successfully, I think it will mark the tipping point from a post-conflict country to a democratically developing one,” John Stremlau, of the Atlanta-based Carter Center’s election observer mission, said.

Nigeria Boko Haram commander Ibn Saleh Ibrahim 'killed

Nigeria's military has killed a top commander of militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, an army spokesman has said.

Ibn Saleh Ibrahim was killed in an exchange of fire with six of his "lieutenants", the spokesman added.

Nigeria's security forces believe he was behind last month's assassination of retired General Mohammed Shuwa.

Boko Haram, which has killed hundreds of people since 2009, has not commented on Mr Ibrahim's reported death.

The group's founding leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was killed by security forces in July 2009.
'War hero'

Boko Haram is now said to be led by Abubakar Shekau.

Army spokesman Lt Col Sagir Musa told the BBC that Mr Ibrahim was "very close" to Mr Shekau and had a reputation of being "invincible".

"Yesterday [Thursday], we learned he was in town and we were able to track him in a special operation," he said.

"There was an exchange of fire and in the process he was killed with six of his lieutenants."

In a statement, Lt Col Musa said the operation in Maiduguri, which supported by armoured personnel carriers and helicopters, was on-going.

Weapons and explosive devices have been recovered, he added.

Lt Col Musa said Mr Ibrahim had had been responsible for the assassination of Gen Shuwa following an order from Mr Shekau.

Gen Shuwa is regarded by the Nigerian military as a war hero, and played a key role in crushing Biafran separatists during Nigeria's brutal civil war in the 1960s.

He was shot by gunmen in his home in Maiduguri, but no group has said it carried out the killing.

Earlier this month, rights group Amnesty International accused Nigeria's security forces of carrying out widespread abuses in their campaign against Boko Haram, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture.

Farming Academy for the Ghanaian youth

Yara Ghana, leading mineral fertilizer manufacturer and distributor, is initiating a scheme to promote the business of agriculture among young people.

The ‘Farming Academy’ has the aim of driving students from the primary through to the senior high school level to learn best practices in crop production whilst appreciating opportunities in the agricultural sector.

“Yara is all about knowledge; we don’t believe we just sell fertilizer, but we bring the knowledge that comes with it”, said Mehdi Saint-André, Managing Director of Yara Ghana.

According to him, the Academy will discourage the perception that farming is a punishment and rather inculcate in students the knowledge and skills in land preparation, seed selection and fertilizer application as well as post harvest activities and storage.

The pilot project would be undertaken with inmates of the Royal Seed Home at Odupong Ofaankor, Kasoa, where the company has established a 15-acre maize farm to support the orphanage.

“Hopefully for the next farming season in March/April 2013, we’ll be ready and we’ll go on the farm with a group of children but it should be incorporated in the school curricula; if they have some topics which is about farming or agriculture, then they can go on the field with us to learn”, stated Saint-André.

He reiterated that Yara Ghana’s corporate social responsibility projects are fully integrated into its business with an objective to develop the productivity of the Ghanaian farmer.

He cited the ‘Yara Crop Clinic’ for product retailers and the Masara N’Arziki “Maize for Prosperity” projects as thriving CSR schemes to help increase knowledge and incomes among local farmers.

Meanwhile, Yara Ghana has commissioned a Gh₵20,000 potable water facility to meet the needs of the 145 inmates of the Royal Seed Home.

Founder of the Home, Mrs. Naomi Esi Amoah is excited at the gesture and appealed to other benevolent individuals and institutions to support in “caring for the children who need to be trained as future leaders with good vision”.

Floods displace more people in north Cameroon

More and more people in the north of Cameroon are being displaced by unending floods. The number of people displaced has risen to over 30,000 as torrential rains continue to submerge riverbeds and surrounding settlements in a part of the country noted for its aridity.

The floods have affected over 90,000 people and at least 30 have been declared dead since September. Thousands of houses have been completely wiped out across the North and far North regions of Cameroon.

The number of victims in the Far North grew quickly over the past several days from 10,000 at the weekend to more than 31,000. Kousseri on the border with Chad is the hardest hit with more than 9,000 people left homeless by the overflowing of River Logone, which is the source of abundant flood water across most of Logone and Chari division.

Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Rene Sadi said, he was “shocked by what I saw”, when he visited the affected areas recently. He promised government action to support victims and control further damage in the region.

“The government has decided to do whatever it would take to find a sustainable solution to this problem,” the minister said.

There are concerns that the situation could worsen. Experts have warned that a dyke built on the Logone in 1978 could soon break up under the mounting weight of water. Rains have also continued in spite of the fact that this should be the dry season.

The government and aide agencies have been battling with the growing humanitarian crisis. President Paul Biya made a grant of FCFA 1.5 billion to victims and promised new road infrastructure during a visit in September. The UN system in Cameroon has also been providing assistance, including tents to house some of the people left homeless.

Farmlands and livestock have all been washed away and there are fears that the homelessness would give way to famine and extend the crises by several years. Health workers have also warned that broken sanitary infrastructure could lead to disease outbreak, especially cholera which claimed thousands of lives in the regions between 2010 and early 2012.

It is the worst flood in Cameroon in about 60 years. Other parts of the country, including the East and North West regions have also suffered less severe flooding in a year that the rains have been unusually heavy and persistent.