A number of African led organizations in Norway misuse tax payers money

There is an outcry within the African community in Norway. Oslo City Council funding system to voluntary organizations has loopholes that enables those who run the organizations to misuse the funds dished out to them.

Yearly, organizations come with project proposals to the city council and when their project proposals are approved by the council they receive the funding.

The City council does not have proper machinery to follow up on how the funds is used by each organization. When project proposals are approved for funding, it is expected that such projects will benefit the African community as a whole in the City but that is not always the case.

Some of the money ends up in organization leaders’s pockets and the money is put into private use.

At the end of the year, the organizations are supposed to produce reporets on how the money has been used. This is where the City Council is fooled into believing that the money was put into good use. Whatever they are given as documentation on how the funds was used is easily approved and money money is dished out again without proper control as who benefited from the money.

API/APN will start a presentation on a weekly basis a review about some African led organinzations touching on the organization’s leadership and the way they direct the spending of the funds. The review will bring to the readers the loopholes that exist and what the City Council intend to do in order to steamline the misuse of public funds.

In our review, we will discus whether the projects costed for benefit the African community in any way because the organizations get the money every year for projects the Africans do not participate in and yet the City Council is made to believe otherwise.

Published by Korir, African Press International (API)/ African Press in Norway (APN) africanpress@chello.no

Nigeria explains border demarcation delay with Cameroon

Lagos (Nigeria) The Director-General of Nigeria’s National Boundary Commission (NBC), Alhaji Sadiq Diggi, Monday said “difficult terrain” was the cause for the delay in the demarcation of the Nigeria/Cameroon border in Adamawa State in northern Nigeria. Diggi told journalists in Abuja that a joint team of surveyors was carrying out the delineating exercise as defined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment. In spite of a helicopter being made available to the team comprising officials from Nigeria, Cameroon and the UN to speed-up the exercise, Diggi said there had been no headway. Out of the 200 kilometers of border listed for demarcation, only 50 kilometres have been covered as a result of due to the “difficult terrain” making it impossible for the copter to land, Diggi explained. Meanwhile, he complained about arguments on the fields among the parties, a situation he said has also helped to slow down the work. “Everybody is trying to save his own territory,’’ he said, and appealed to the stakeholders to sensitise their local communities to allow their surveyors and contractors to continue with the demarcation. Published by Korir, API/APN africanpress@chello.no source.apa

AFRICAN DELEGATES VISIT THE GREAT WALL

<BY Jeff Otieno Aguko

and James Keyi in Beijing, China

Over 100 Delegates drawn from Ten African Countries including Kenya last Week on Wednesday had a rare opportunity to visit the historic Great Wall of China located in the Jundu Mountain.

Great wall is a famous Cultural site measuring 6350km in terms of length and 6.5metres wide under strict state protection.

It was planned by first emperor General Xuda and Chang Yuchun and is now 2000 old since inception.The historic wall is one of the Seven Wonders of the World-it can be seen from the moon.It has four intriguing sites to contend with namely Badaling which is the longest,Mtianyu,Jinshangling and Etsimatai which is the shortest.

There is an entrenched believe in China and the neighbouring Countries which says that he who does not visit the site is not true man-meaning bravery and adventure due to it’s location and accesability.

During the tour there was an astonishing shivering temperatures measuring -20degrees.

The delegates had to wade across the snow littering the precincts of the place for about one hour to catch the glimpse of the rare site.

China is the world most populous country with a staggering estimated population of 1.3b which is tantamount to one fifth of the world total and the figure does not include those living in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan Province.

It’s home to the highest mountain in the world Mount Qomolangma it towers above others at 29,035feet or 8,848metres.The exchange programme by the delegates mostly Journalists,Doctors and Teachers was the culmination of President Hu Jintaos recent visit to South Africa where he promised to cement good ties with African Countries devoid of any semblance of political conditionalities.

The one hundred delegates is the first of a series to follow in the next three years.Before the conclusion of the programme next week the delegates are scheduled to visit Guangzhou Honda Automobile Company ltd,Sun Yat-Sen University,Chinese University incubator and Qingxiu mountain.

Below: The Great Wall

Published by API/APN africanpress@chello.no

DR Congo,Uganda agree to resolve border dispute

Kampala (Uganda) Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed to use the global position satellite system to resolve the border boundary dispute between the two countries, APA learnt on Monday. A joint ministerial commission meeting of foreign ministers and senior military officers from the two countries took the decision Saturday at the Speke Resort, Munyonyo in Uganda. Relations between Uganda and Congo soured in the 1990s when Uganda invaded Congo but the border conflict took center stage following the discovery of oil deposits at the border. Now the two countries have agreed to use the global satellite system technology and the 1915 Belgian and the British Agreement on international demarcations of the two countries, to resolve the conflict. Both officials from the foreign affairs ministries, later visited Kaisotonya and Lukwanzi Islands on Lake Albert. At the joint ministerial commission meeting, the Ugandan government also accepted to sign a tripartite agreement to resolve raids by dissident rebel leader Gen. Laurent Nkunda. On Thursday, DR Congo officials accused Uganda of offering military reinforcements to Gen. Nkunda. The acceptance of a tripartite agreement followed an attack on Wednesday by the DR Congo government army into the territory under control by rebels loyal to the dissident General Laurent Nkunda. However, the renewed violence has brought fresh fears for the safety of tens of thousands of people who have already been displaced by the conflict. Published by Korir, API/APN africanpress@chello.no