Author: pr Desk

US Ambassador to Tunisia Joey Hood said in a statement to TAP news agency that “fighting corruption is vital and very important for democratic construction and for creating opportunities for economic and social development.”

The U.S. Embassy is «very pleased» to support the youth anti-corruption summer camp that ended today in Hammamet and which was held in partnership with the National Centre for State Courts as part of the “Fighting Corruption in Tunisia” programme.”

He noted that the camp included in particular the national debate competition between universities on the promotion of anti-corruption values, with the participation of 48 students from law faculties in Tunis, Sousse, Sfax, Jendouba and Gabes.

He noted that as part of the fight against corruption, the US Embassy is also supporting a program to digitise the national system of pharmacies and medicines in Tunisia, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and civil society. The aim is to prevent corruption and enable citizens to report corruption and the Ministry to take the necessary preventive measures for the management of the pharmaceutical system.

He noted that the areas of cooperation with Tunisia are diverse and based on support for entrepreneurship and the private sector.

The United States is the first importer of Tunisian handicrafts in the world, he said, adding “I hope it will be the first importer of Tunisian olive oil in the coming years”.

He also noted that the cooperation also includes the field of modern technologies, stressing that during his visit last week to the governorates of Sousse and Monastir, he attended the launch of 26 start-ups with US support. He also visited other start-ups that had previously received funding from the US Embassy and are now creating jobs and exporting their services to Europe.

For her part, the programme officer of the National Centre for State Courts (a US NGO active in Tunisia since 2016), Basma Jebali, pointed out that the organisation’s programmes had been launched in Tunisia with the support of the programme to improve court administration with 8 model courts. Since 2017, it has launched a major programme to support the fight against corruption in Tunisia, which involves all actors in the fight against corruption in Tunisia, within the framework of agreements signed with the Judicial Economic and Financial Division and the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and in 2019 with the Court of Accounts and the Association of Public Inspectors.

She stressed that the programme continues today with the organisation of the Youth Caravan Against Corruption in Tunisia and awareness-raising events. In June, it had organised legal essay competitions for law students on the subject of corruption, on “Reporting on Corruption and Corrupters”, she added.

She pointed out that the summer camp included, in particular, a demonstration of legal debates on combating corruption and promoting transparency, in which Gabes University won first place.

Jebali added that the National Centre for State Courts will continue to organise other courses of the debate programme for young people as part of a new programme on “access to justice”.

In September, it will also launch a programme to encourage young people from law schools to initiate small projects related to the fight against corruption. The winning project will receive funding for its implementation from the Centre for National State Courts through the US Embassy.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), in a statement on Friday, called on President Kais Saied to respect the independence of the media and “stop interfering in their content”.

The union called on the President of the Republic to apply the law in appointing officials at the head of public media institutions, especially the radio and television, “respect the independence of public, confiscated and private media and refrain from parachute appointments, in which the President of the Republic has basically resorted to symbols of propaganda and disinformation during the period of media blackout,” according to the same statement.

President Kais Saied had indicated during his meeting on Friday at the Carthage Palace with the CEO of

Tunisian Television, Awatef Dali, that “the national television should be at the service of Tunisians and not at the service of lobbies hiding behind the curtain”. He considered that “a number of programmes and the order of the news in the news bulletin of Tunisian Television (Watania 1) are to blame”.

The SNJT stressed in the same statement, in response to the dialogue between President Kais Saied and the CEO of Tunisian Television, that the public media must play its primary role as a public service at the service of the state and society and express the people’s demands and concerns within the framework of information and objectivity, and adopt the priorities of news, education and entertainment, and not be a propaganda tool for the ruling authorities, whatever they may be.

It called on all professional structures and regulatory bodies to publicly reject these practices and to defend the right of women and citizens to a free media that reflects different political and intellectual orientations and represents the diversity and pluralism of Tunisian society.

In this context, the union stressed that it is not the role of the executive authority to control and monitor media content, but rather that of the editorial boards within the institutions and the independent High Authority for Audiovisual Media.

It called on the staff of Tunisian Television in particular and the rest of the public media institutions in general to address these “serious practices and deviations and any attempt to use the public institution to serve the authority or any other entity,” according to the text of the statement.

It considered that “the intervention of the President of the Republic is part of a context of censorship of the public media, sexism and the undermining of the principle of pluralism, diversity and objectivity”, especially in Tunisian television and radio and the TAP news agency, in addition to exclusionary practices, in particular the prevention of civil society and political forces from appearing on Tunisian television, which is funded by taxpayers’ money.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

President Kais Saied praised the level of long-standing relations and solid cooperation between Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates when he met Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, member of the UAE Cabinet and Minister of State, at the Carthage Palace on Friday afternoon.

Khalifa Said stressed Tunisia’s determination to continue strengthening and diversifying these relations for the benefit of the two peoples.

The President of the Republic pointed out that the solid foundations of bilateral relations are driving the establishment of promising partnership prospects in several sectors, including renewable energy, desalination, health, digital transformation, education, tourism and infrastructure, as well as encouraging Emirati investment in Tunisia in several fields and overcoming any difficulties that might hinder it.

For his part, Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan Al Nahyan pointed out that his country, under the guidance of the UAE leadership, is keen to continue supporting Tunisia in various fields and provide it with the necessary assistance to overcome the challenges it faces.

He said that the delegation accompanying him on this visit will coordinate with the relevant Tunisian authorities to identify joint projects in various fields to begin their implementation as soon as possible.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

President Kais Saied said at a meeting with Tunisian Television CEO Awatef Dali Friday at Carthage Palace that “this national institution must serve Tunisian citizens and not “lobbies hiding behind the scenes”.

The President of the Republic made it clear that “this is not an invitation to false propaganda, which is outdated”, considering that a number of programmes and even the presentation of news in the Tunisian Television’s news bulletin (broadcast on Al Wataniya 1) “are not unbiased”.

He wondered about the absence of TV programmes commemorating the assassination of Tunisia’s two martyrs, Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi, as well as members of the army and police who sacrificed their lives in the hunt for terrorists and traitors.

Referring to the programme “Al Zaman Al Jamil” (The Beautiful Days) broadcast on Al-Wataniya, Saied regretted that the pre-revolutionary period was described as “the beautiful era” by a number of guests who lived in “shadows” before 2011 and have become “heroes” today.

The President of the Republic also wondered about the absence of television programmes dedicated to the demands and grievances of Tunisians, which were voiced in December 2010 and January and February 2011, as well as television programmes commemorating major historical events in Tunisia, such as those of January 26, 1978 and January 3, 1984.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

President Kais Saied, during the presentation of credentials ceremony at Carthage Palace on Friday, called on the new ambassadors “not to forget that they represent a sovereign country, to act as equals with the countries to which they are accredited and to serve the interests of our country in all fields”.

In particular, Kais Saied called on the new ambassadors to defend just causes and stand up to defamation campaigns against Tunisia.

Addressing the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Nabil Ammar, Kais Saied said that “consuls must take full responsibility for the Tunisian community, as their mission is to serve Tunisians abroad”.

President Kaïs Saïed, on Friday, presided over a ceremony to hand over credentials to four new ambassadors.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

President Kais Saied presented credentials to four new ambassadors, during a ceremony held on Friday at the Carthage Palace.

They are:

Yassine I Oued, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Tunisian Republic in London.

Karima Bardaoui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Tunisian Republic in Pretoria.

Rachid Saidani, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Tunisian Republic in Dakar.

Kais Darraji, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Tunisian Republic in Seoul.

During the ceremony, the newly appointed ambassadors were sworn in before the Head of State, in the presence of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration, and Tunisians Abroad Nabil Ammar.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

President Hage Geingob has urged public servants to provide diligent and timeous service delivery to citizens in order to attain effective governance.

Geingob in a press statement today in commemoration of the United Nations (UN) and Africa Public Service Day, said in order to build a prosperous and integrated Africa through trade, public servants should ensure citizens, investors, tourists and all those who require public services are treated with respect and are provided with the services they need in a diligent and timeous manner.

The day celebrated under the theme ‘Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation’ is a reminder about the values and virtues of public service in the endeavour of eradicating poverty for a united and prosperous Agenda 2063.

“To be a public servant is a calling and living up to the Charter of the Office, Ministry and Agency you serve, which are a clarion call for you to carry out your work with passion and dedication in fulfilment of the mission of the Government of the Republic of Namibia to deliver Effective Governance as part of the Harambee Prosperity Plan,” Geingob stressed.

The United Nations adopted 23 June as Public Service Day and has been celebrating the day since 2002, coinciding with the Africa Public Service Day aimed to recognise the value and virtue of service to the community and the role of public service in spearheading national and continental development.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

The Namibian Defence Force (NDF) and Botswana Defence Force (BDF) on Thursday officially kicked off with the joint military exercise called Hanganee Two, which is being held in the Omaheke Region.

The exercise, under the theme ‘Enhancing Joint Cooperation’, runs from 15 to 30 June 2023.

Speaking during the official opening of Hanganee Two, NDF Chief, Air Marshal Martin Kambulu Pinehas said the exercise follows the recent signing of the Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) on military cooperation and collaboration between the BDF and the NDF.

“The joint training exercise is aimed at strengthening military to military strategic partnership between the NDF and BDF and it comes through as part of the implementation of resolutions for the 22nd Session of the Republic of Botswana and Republic of Namibia Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security (JPCDS) held in Gaborone in 2012,” he said.

The exercise is a biannual event and is conducted every two years on a rotational basis on a shared responsibility between the two armed forces.

Pinehas further stated that the exercise was first conducted in Botswana in 2014, however, the continuity in hosting the exercise was disrupted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said with the world emerging from the pandemic, the two sister defence forces agreed to resuscitate the exercise.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency