Plans for former first minister Jack McConnell to become the UK's High Commissioner in Malawi have again been put on hold with a career diplomat, Fergus Cochrane-Dyet, being installed in the role this week.
Mr McConnell was promised the job after he stood down as Scottish Labour leader following the 2007 elections but the appointment was delayed until 2011 after he was given a new international role by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as his special envoy in Africa.
The High Commissioner's job is not now expected to become vacant until 2012 and the Foreign Office has said it is not "automatic" that Mr McConnell would take over.
Opposition MSPs claim Mr McConnell is a "part-timer" after it emerged he had spent 27 days on foreign trips since the beginning of the year.
Mr Cochrane-Dyet's appointment fuels speculation that the Labour Party is desperate to avoid a by-election in Mr McConnell's Motherwell and Wishaw constituency.
Hugh O'Donnell, the Central Scotland LibDem MSP, said: "It is time the Labour Party told Mr McConnell to decide what his future is going to be and time he told his constituents in Motherwell and Wishaw whether he is going to continue to be their MSP on a full-time basis."
SNP MSP Christina McKelvie added: "Two years of dithering over his departure may have come to an end but his lack of commitment to the Scottish Parliament continues. Labour wouldn't let him leave and call a by-election but the people of Motherwell are left without a real MSP."
A Labour Party spokesman said Mr McConnell was a "highly-regarded and conscientious MSP" who ran a very busy office in his constituency and in the Parliament despite figures showing that between May 2007 and April this year he had one of the poorest voting records at Holyrood.
He added: "Jack has made clear there would be no time when he would be both and MSP and High Commissioner.
"He spends significantly more time in Motherwell and Wishaw now than when he was First Minister. He undertakes work on behalf of the UK in developing countries in Africa. "At a time when the SNP are damaging Scotland's image around the world, Jack is doing incredibly important work to help and support countries that still suffer from unspeakable poverty."
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Diseases threaten to wipe out bananas in sub-Saharan Africa
Bananas for sale at a roadside in Mbarara. Huge demand for Uganda’s goods, especially by neighbouring countries, could be a disadvantage to the economy should production dwindle or remain stagnant. Photo/MORGAN MBABAZI
Fast spreading new banana diseases are threatening food production and the lives of millions of people.
The bacterial wilt banana disease in Uganda has crossed eastwards as the banana bunchy top disease spread through Malawi into Southern and Central Africa.
The banana bunchy top viral disease, one of the world’s most invasive, has established itself in half of the banana-growing regions of sub-Saharan Africa, worsening food insecurity for 30 million people on the continent whose primary source of food is the banana.
The disease spreads epidemically and is almost impossible to eradicate and has forced scientists and policy makers to urgently convene in a bid to avert a food crisis.
Simon Eden-Green, a consultant with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, told The EastAfrican in Arusha last week the extent of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa and the little attention it has received is shocking.
Dr Eden-Green said the disease eliminates yields while destroying propagation materials. Severe attacks of the disease, characterised by all leaves sprouting from the top of the plant, stunting growth, were last year reported in central and southern Africa.
Scientists found the disease established in 12 countries, including in Gabon, DR Congo, Congo Republic, northern Angola and central Malawi.
Dr Lava Kumar of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, who led the survey, said farmers were familiar with the disease as they likened it to “Sida” (Aids) or called it witches’ broom.
Dr Mischeck Soko from the Bvumbewe Agricultural Research Station in Limbe, Malawi, said by 2003 the Nkhotakota Cavendish banana was wiped out by the viral disease.
Some 45,000 hectares of banana were infected with the disease in all three regions of the country, where the disease was first noted in 1994.
The banana bacterial wilt disease was established in Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania, and North and South Kivu in DRC and was poised to enter Burundi.
Dr Jerome Kubiriba, a banana expert from Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organisation, said Uganda, Africa’s leading producer and consumer of bananas, has been losing up to $200 million every year to the disease, which it has been battling since 2001.
Fast spreading new banana diseases are threatening food production and the lives of millions of people.
The bacterial wilt banana disease in Uganda has crossed eastwards as the banana bunchy top disease spread through Malawi into Southern and Central Africa.
The banana bunchy top viral disease, one of the world’s most invasive, has established itself in half of the banana-growing regions of sub-Saharan Africa, worsening food insecurity for 30 million people on the continent whose primary source of food is the banana.
The disease spreads epidemically and is almost impossible to eradicate and has forced scientists and policy makers to urgently convene in a bid to avert a food crisis.
Simon Eden-Green, a consultant with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, told The EastAfrican in Arusha last week the extent of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa and the little attention it has received is shocking.
Dr Eden-Green said the disease eliminates yields while destroying propagation materials. Severe attacks of the disease, characterised by all leaves sprouting from the top of the plant, stunting growth, were last year reported in central and southern Africa.
Scientists found the disease established in 12 countries, including in Gabon, DR Congo, Congo Republic, northern Angola and central Malawi.
Dr Lava Kumar of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, who led the survey, said farmers were familiar with the disease as they likened it to “Sida” (Aids) or called it witches’ broom.
Dr Mischeck Soko from the Bvumbewe Agricultural Research Station in Limbe, Malawi, said by 2003 the Nkhotakota Cavendish banana was wiped out by the viral disease.
Some 45,000 hectares of banana were infected with the disease in all three regions of the country, where the disease was first noted in 1994.
The banana bacterial wilt disease was established in Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania, and North and South Kivu in DRC and was poised to enter Burundi.
Dr Jerome Kubiriba, a banana expert from Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organisation, said Uganda, Africa’s leading producer and consumer of bananas, has been losing up to $200 million every year to the disease, which it has been battling since 2001.
LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS FOR MALAWI STUDENTS
IN A few weeks, thousands of new students will be attending their first day at Angus College many of whom will receive support from the government through bursaries and grants.
The college system in Malawi, however, could not be more different with many students facing the threat of not being able to attend or sit exams due to unavoidable financial hardship.
This was something which principal of Angus College John Burt saw on his recent trip to Malawi as part of the Scotland-Malawi Partnership Project.
Mr Burt was pleased to present two scholarship awards to students from Don Bosco College in Lilongwe.
The first was awarded to Tryness Nguluwe who is currently studying secretarial practice whilst supporting her six younger siblings.
A second was presented to IT student Agness Nyendo who was also struggling with funding her education due to family problems.
These two latest scholarships take the total number of Malawian students sponsored by Angus College to 14.
Mr Burt commented: "The money raised by students and staff at Angus College through various fund-raising activities will really go a long way in Malawi. We are delighted to help and hope that these scholarships make a significant difference to the lives of these Malawian students."
Angus College is now looking forward to a reciprocal visit from the principal of Don Bosco College, Brother Walter, who will arrive in Scotland at the end of September.
The college system in Malawi, however, could not be more different with many students facing the threat of not being able to attend or sit exams due to unavoidable financial hardship.
This was something which principal of Angus College John Burt saw on his recent trip to Malawi as part of the Scotland-Malawi Partnership Project.
Mr Burt was pleased to present two scholarship awards to students from Don Bosco College in Lilongwe.
The first was awarded to Tryness Nguluwe who is currently studying secretarial practice whilst supporting her six younger siblings.
A second was presented to IT student Agness Nyendo who was also struggling with funding her education due to family problems.
These two latest scholarships take the total number of Malawian students sponsored by Angus College to 14.
Mr Burt commented: "The money raised by students and staff at Angus College through various fund-raising activities will really go a long way in Malawi. We are delighted to help and hope that these scholarships make a significant difference to the lives of these Malawian students."
Angus College is now looking forward to a reciprocal visit from the principal of Don Bosco College, Brother Walter, who will arrive in Scotland at the end of September.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
