Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as Zimbabwe’s president on Friday, marking the final chapter of a political drama that toppled his predecessor Robert Mugabe after a military takeover. Mnangagwa, until recently one of Mugabe’s closest allies, took the oath of office at the national sports stadium on the outskirts of Harare to an explosion of cheering from the full-to-capacity crowd. “I Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa swear that as the president of the republic of Zimbabwe I will be faithful to Zimbabwe and obey, uphold and defend the constitution and all other laws of Zimbabwe,” he said as he took the oath of office before the chief justice. He then received the chain and sash of office, and took salutes and pledges of allegiance from the country’s military and security chiefs. Mnangagwa, 75, had said this week that Zimbabweans were witnessing “a new and unfolding full democracy”, although critics say he is a hardliner in the ruling ZANU-PF who gained power in a de facto m

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will on December 7 arraign a former  Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Jonah Otunla, and eight others before the Federal High Court in Abuja on money laundering charges involving diversion of N2bn from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser. The defendants were scheduled to be arraigned before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba on Tuesday but the arraignment was re-scheduled to December 7 due to the unavailability of the judge who was said to be attending a training organised for some judges in the country. But Otunla was absent from court on Tuesday. One of his co-defendant, Otunba Ade Adelakun, was however present in court.The rest of the six defendants are companies said to have benefited from the N2bn withdrawn from ONSA account with the Central Bank of Nigeria The companies named as co-defendants are Gold Reef Industries Limited, Lambster Nigeria Limited, G.C Electronic Limited, Sinmilak Nigeria Limit

President Muhammadu Buhari has proposed N8.6trn for the 2018 financial year. Buhari made this known at the Joint Session of the National Assembly on Tuesday in Abuja, during the presentation of the 2018 Budget Proposal. The President assured that the 2018 budget would be a consolidation of the earlier ones, noting that 2018 is expected to be a year of better outcomes, while describing the document as “Budget of Consolidation.”

Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi on Monday said the laying of tracks of Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line would start in December. He also said that Jibowu and Costain bridges in Lagos would be demolished to give way for the new railway lines. Amaechi made the remarks in Lagos when he met with the Steering Committee of the project and the China Civil Engineering Construction Company. The minister said “The two bridges that we may likely demolish are Jibowu and Costain to give way to the rail lines.“But we are rebuilding them immediately; we are not going to abandon them. “The challenges will be in the cities like Lagos, Abeokuta and Ibadan because we have to pay compensation, look at the water pipes, gas pipes, houses and cables. “In Lagos especially, we deal with bridges, electric cables and water pipes and other assets.” Amaechi also said that CCECC was consulting with Lagos State Water Corporation, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, among oth

An enraged woman forced an airliner to make an emergency landing after she discovered mid-flight that her husband was apparently cheating on her. The woman, an Iranian national, was travelling from Doha to Bali with her husband and child on a Qatar Airways flight on Sunday, India’s Hindustan Times reported Tuesday. As her husband slept, she used his hand to unlock his fingerprint-protected phone, revealing the alleged affair in all its sordid detail. Angered by the discovery, the woman reportedly started to hit her husband. The cabin crew intervened but were unable to calm the situation. With the inflight episode spiralling out of control, the pilots decided to make an unscheduled stop in the southern Indian city of Chennai. The woman, her husband and their child were taken off the plane, which then resumed its journey to Indonesia, an unnamed security official told the paper. “The family spent the day at Chennai airport and was sent to Kuala

A man on Tuesday apologised before a German court for stabbing his seven-year-old stepdaughter to death after her mother indicated she wanted a separation. Prosecutors have charged the unnamed man with murder, citing revenge as his motive directed at his wife, the girl’s mother. According to the charges, the man forced his way into the home of one of his wife’s friends in the western German city of Karlsruhe in May. At the time, the children of the friend and the stepdaughter were there without adult supervision.The court heard that he had kicked the door in, dragged the girl out of the home and stabbed her seven times. However, the child died a few da ys later, while he gave his age as 29, prosecutors indicated that he was 33.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has raised the alarm over an alleged plot to frame its Acting Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, with ownership of assets abroad. The spokesman for the commission, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on Wednesday that “shadowy interests at the receiving end” of the agency’s anti-corruption campaign were behind the alleged scheme. “Those behind the plot, which is believed to be part of a grand design to discredit the anti-graft czar, have allegedly finalised plans to name Magu as the owner of choice properties in exotic locations abroad. “The commission has information that the desperate cabal could take their gambit to the ridiculous extent of purchasing properties and registering them in the name of Ibrahim Magu to make the plot believable. “They are also prepared to sponsor some political hirelings who would come out openly to claim they have information about the property acquisitions.” According to him, the allege