Fashion designer Jerry Lorenzo just locked it in … he’s officially found a buyer for his Los Feliz pad. The “Fear of God” streetwear designer picked up the place with his wife back in 2018 for a cool $8.5 million. The house was listed for…
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By Zakeyu Mamba
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Mayor of Blantyre City, Jomo Osman, made history this week on by becoming the first mayor in Malawi to officially invite street children into his office for an open, motivational, and personal conversation.
The rare moment, which took place Tuesday 18 Nomber, 2025, has drawn widespread praise from community members, leaders, and social-welfare advocates who view the gesture as a compassionate and progressive step toward supporting vulnerable young people.
During the meeting, Mayor Jomo spoke to the children with humility and honesty, sharing the difficulties he faced while growing up.
He explained that his journey to leadership was filled with struggles, uncertainty, and moments where giving up seemed easier.
However, through perseverance, discipline, and continuous effort, he managed to shape a better future for himself.
His message to the children was clear: Their present situation does not determine their destiny, and with commitment and self-belief, they can rise above any challenge.
The children listened closely as the mayor encouraged them to avoid destructive behaviors and to distance themselves from influences that may push them deeper into hardship.
He emphasized the value of education, respect, hard work, and good conduct-qualities he described as essential for anyone who wishes to transform their life.
He also assured them that his office remains open for guidance, mentorship, and support whenever they may need it.
As the meeting concluded, Mayor Jomo politely reminded the children to respect the office environment and ensure that nothing went missing as they left.
The remark, although delivered with humor, carried an important lesson about trust, responsibility, and integrity.
The visit has since been celebrated as a groundbreaking effort to build stronger relationships between city leadership and marginalized children-many of whom often feel unseen, unheard, and forgotten in society.
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By Tony Ogunlowo
In the runup to the October 1st Independence celebrations Sahara Reporters leaked a story that a bloody coup aimed at destabilizing , and overthrowing, the democratic government of President Tinubu had been thwarted.
There is still no official confirmation of this todate even though top service chiefs have been replaced and more than 40 officers have been arrested by the DSS who allegedly have had them under surveillance since August 2024.
Nigeria is a different country to the way it was in the 60s, 70s and 80s when anybody, presumably any disgruntled junior officer, could just pick up a gun, overthrow the incumbents, become Head of State and start their dictatorships: Africa, and mostly certainly Nigeria, have moved on from the Abachas and Idi-Amins of the past.
A military junta coming into power will abolish all laws and will rule by degree, so it’ll be a question of them shouting ‘jump’ and the people going ‘how high?’. Nigerians have long evolved beyond this and it’ll only bring out the people , en-masse, to protest. And as we’ve seen from previous mass protests, such as #ENDSARS, it’s not easy to crush the will of the people anymore. No more are they scared of a soldier with a gun. And with SM to pass the word around and keep everyone up to date; a medium even the junta can’t control or shut down completely as we’ve seen when the Buhari-led government tried shutting down Twitter usage in Nigeria, people just used VPNs to get around the ban. So a government overall control of the media is out of the question.
Nigerians have tasted the freedom of democracy, however imperfect it may be, and a return to a repressive military will not be welcomed with open arms: people now have the right to elect whoever they want to rule them instead of having somebody imposed upon them.
For a military coup to be successful the military will have to coral the people into a pen they can control: this can work in countries like Mali or Niger where the entire populace is less than the population of Lagos state. In Nigeria, a country of more than 200 million souls plus, the military is already stretched beyond its limits fighting insurgencies in the North and South-East so a new military junta won’t have the might – or equipment – to control the country successfully.
Mali and Niger armed forces removed democratically elected Presidents and their governments on the grounds of absolute abuse of office. Some will argue that the same should happen in Nigeria.
Whilst I’m not a big fan of President Tinubu it’s got to be said he’s been in power for less than two years and he inherited a mess from Buhari who in turn inherited it from Jonathan, who….need I go back any further? Logically thinking, anybody coming into power, military or civilian, will not have the power to change things overnight, as the people want, and the hardship will continue. For those old enough to remember when the Buhari/Idiagbon junta ousted Shehu Shagari from power in 1983 change did not happen overnight: it was a gradual undertaking and things weren’t as bad as they are now. So a military junta coming in will just huff and puff without getting anything done.And to make matters worse the international community will be watching and will impose extremely tough sanctions upon the nation in effect crippling all business transactions in and out of the country. And if they go as far as declaring an oil embargo and call in all loans obtained, the country will be finished. Further more ECOWAS, the OAU – including President Trump’s USA – may decide on a military intervention to forcibly remove the junta from power because democracy can not be seen to fail in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, as it has in Mali,Niger and elsewhere.( – and don’t forget Trump is looking for any excuse to bomb ‘disgraced’ Nigeria anyway!). If people think life under Tinubu is hard, then it’ll become unbearable.
In an earlier article ( “Are Coups in Africa still a Good thing?) I did point out that if we are going to practice democracy the African way there should be provision to remove inept and corrupt leaders the African way (aka a coup d’etat). Without sounding like I’m contradicting myself, people like the late Robert Mugabe needed a palace coup to remove him from office ( – as may well Paul Biya of Cameroon) for the systematic abuse of the democratic process that kept him in power. The same can be said also of the autocratic democracies of Niger, Mali etc who were also overthrown by the military. But the question is, as I pointed out then, is where do you draw the line?
Nigeria is still a fledgling democracy, I say is still in its infancy and mistakes will be made as we learn as once did the great democracies of the Western world: we are going to screw things up, abuse things but eventually we’ll get it right ( – whenever that might be!) as they say Rome wasn’t built in a day. Allowing the boys in khaki back will just send us back to square one and all the efforts of those who fought for modern-day democracy in Nigeria, like MKO, would have been in vain.
So the idea that a semi-illiterate gun-totting ‘who-build-dis-garda’ Army General seizes power and miraculously restores the country to its former glory, overnight, is not going to happen. It’s simply against the Law of Averages.
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.….Calls for Accelerated Action
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Mary Navisha, has raised fresh concerns over the low number of women serving in Malawi’s Parliament, revealing that women currently make up only 21 percent of all sitting legislators.
Speaking in an interview, Navisha said the figure is a reminder of the persistent barriers women face in political participation despite years of advocacy aimed at increasing female leadership in governance.
“It is worrying that women remain underrepresented in such an important decision-making space,” Navisha said.
“We need to collectively step up efforts to ensure more women are empowered and supported to contest for public office.”
She attributed the low numbers to structural and cultural challenges, including limited access to campaign resources, political intimidation, and deeply rooted social norms that discourage women from seeking leadership roles.
According to Navisha, increased female representation is critical to achieving gender equality and ensuring that issues affecting women and girls such as gender-based violence, maternal health, and economic empowerment are addressed effectively at policy level.
The minister said the government, civil society organizations, and political parties must intensify capacity-building programs, mentorship initiatives, and financial support mechanisms aimed at helping women navigate the political landscape.
Several gender rights advocates have echoed Navisha’s sentiments, saying the 21 percent representation falls short of regional and international commitments such as the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, which encourages member states to strive for 50 percent women’s representation in decision-making positions.
As Malawi prepares for future elections, stakeholders are urging communities to challenge stereotypes and support female candidates, emphasizing that stronger representation in Parliament will contribute to more inclusive and balanced national development.
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Climate Action, Climate Change, Climate Change Finance, Climate Change Justice, Conferences, COP30, Editors’ Choice, Environment, Featured, Global, Headlines, Human Rights, Humanitarian Emergencies, Latin America & the Caribbean, Sustainable Development Goals, TerraViva United Nations
The COP30 Presidency is urging all “negotiators to join in a true mutirão—a collective mobilization of minds, hearts, and hands,” saying this approach helps “accelerate the pace, bridge divides, and focus not on what separates us, but on what unites us in purpose and humanity.”
Negotiations take place throughout the day and now late into the night. Credit: UN Climate Change/Kiara Worth
– At a Conference of the Parties, where science intersects with politics, reaching agreements is often a tricky business. What is inside the last-minute negotiations as the COP presidency tries to get the parties to agreement at the final plenary?
COP negotiators are diplomats and government officials who meet at the Conference of the Parties to negotiate and agree on how to address climate change. They are also often joined by COP delegates’ representatives from civil society, social movements and businesses.
As representatives of their respective countries that are parties to the UNFCCC treaty, they discuss, debate, and haggle over their preferred wording of texts and legally binding agreements regarding how to address climate change during closed-door sessions.
Windowless Closed-Door Meetings
These closed-door meetings are often also windowless, and negotiators often lose track of time as they work through extensive documentation and diverse national positions to form a final agreement towards the end of the COP summit schedule.
COP 30, Belém, is posting a daily photographic glimpse into the collective effort to build trust, dialogue, and cooperation to accelerate meaningful climate action and deliver its benefits to all. Many hope this message will permeate inside these rooms.
The UN climate summit has now entered its final stages. The Brazilian COP30 Presidency has extended working hours, scheduling late-night meetings for the last two nights—Monday and Tuesday, Nov 17 and 18, 2025.
Tonight might not be any different, as the COP30 Presidency pushes for a rapid compromise and conclusion of a significant part of negotiations to pave the way for a “plenary to gavel the Belém political package.”
After all, the COP is where the science of the Paris Agreement intersects with politics.
The Elusive True Mutirão
The COP30 Presidency is urging all “negotiators to join in a true mutirão—a collective mobilization of minds, hearts, and hands,” saying this approach helps “accelerate the pace, bridge divides, and focus not on what separates us, but on what unites us in purpose and humanity.”
But this is the point in the negotiations, even in a ‘COP of truth,’ as COP30 was staged to be, where the real claws come out amid accusations of protectionism, trade tensions and geopolitical dynamics as the worlds of business, politics and human survival intersect.
Even as UN officials urge parties to accelerate the pace, warning that “tactical delays and procedural obstructions are no longer tenable” and that deferring challenging issues to overtime results in collective loss, reconciling deep differences among nations is proving easier said than done even within the Global Mutirão—a concept championed by the COP30 presidency.
It calls for worldwide collective action on climate change, inspired by the Brazilian and Indigenous Tupi-Guarani tradition of mutirão, which means “collective effort.” The bone of contention at this juncture is what some parties see as weak climate commitments, insufficient financial pledges from the global North to South, and trade measures.
Protectionism
Trade measures are turning contentious and deeply debatable in Belém because of a difference of perspective—developing countries view them as protectionism, while some developed countries see them as necessary to level the playing field for their climate policies.
For developing countries, protectionism is a deliberate strategy by more developed countries to limit imports to protect their industries from foreign competition and therefore give them an undue advantage. Developing nations say this is unfair because it restricts their ability to export and gain access to larger markets.
The core of the debate at COP30 is the inclusion of issues like the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in climate talks. For some countries, CBAM is a direct part of climate action and belongs at COP. Others say it is an agenda best discussed at the World Trade Organization.
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is a tool to put a price on the carbon emissions of certain imported goods, ensuring that the carbon price for imports is equivalent to that for domestic EU production. Its main goals are to prevent “carbon leakage,” or companies moving production to countries with weaker climate policies, encourage cleaner production globally, and protect EU businesses by creating a level playing field.
How to Go About a Just Transition?
The business of climate change is not the only thing that is complex and divisive. There are also small island states calling for rapid emissions cuts vis-à-vis the positions of major emerging economies. G77 and China are an intergovernmental coalition of 134 developing countries that work together to promote their collective economic and developmental interests within the United Nations framework.
China is not an official member and does not pay dues. It has been a partner since 1976, providing significant financial support and political backing to the G77. Developed countries such as the UK, Norway, Japan, and Australia are pushing back against their proposed global just transition, thereby prolonging the negotiations.
Developed nations are refusing the global just transition proposal by the G77 and China because they see it as a new and unnecessary mechanism and a duplication of existing structures. They refuse to accept the financial and technical support these countries are asking for to facilitate this transition. Simply put, they want a less strict framework that allows their own interpretations of existing institutions and funding structures for the just transition.
Where is the Adaptation Financing?
Finance for adaptation is similarly a sticking point. Developed nations are dragging their feet around committing sufficient funds to support developing nations to adapt to climate impacts and transition their energy systems. It is still not clear whether financial commitments will be embedded inside adaptation goals or remain as they are—separate.
Lobbyists and the Fossil Fuel Debate
Amidst growing tensions, it is also not clear whether this COP will phase out or phase down fossil fuels in the final agreement. The large delegation of fossil fuel lobbyists suggests it is too early to call. On the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), those who want indicators for measuring adaptation progress directly linked to financial commitments will not budge. The settlement of this matter could potentially take two years (or more).
Disagreements are ongoing about the mandate of the Mitigation Work Program, which seeks to raise ambitions on national emissions reduction. In general, insiders to the negotiations are saying general negotiation tactics are at play.
Some participants are employing delay tactics to buy time and ultimately weasel out of certain commitments; a lack of trust continues, as it has in previous COPs, along with generally slow progress on building consensus around various contentious issues.
This feature is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.
IPS UN Bureau Report
DODOMA-(MaraviPost)-Tanzanian human rights organisation, Sauti ya Watanzania (The Voice of Tanzanians), has strongly rejected the appointment of former Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera as the mediator in that country’s political crisis.
According to the public statement we have seen the grouping argued that a mediator must be a person of strong integrity with a proven track record in leadership qualities they believe Chakwera did not demonstrate during his tenure as Malawi President.
The organisation cited reports of corruption, bribery, and governance weaknesses under Chakwera’s administration, saying such issues could undermine public confidence in the mediation process.
The rights group observes that Chakwera played a role in leading mass protests in 2019, which they claim may compromise his ability to handle Tanzania’s post-election conflict in a fair and impartial manner.
Tanzania continues to experience serious violence following the October 29 elections, with some reports suggesting that more than 700 people may have died in the unrest.
As pressure mounts for credible and transparent peace talks, experts warn that appointing a mediator whose credibility is widely questioned could further complicate efforts to resolve the crisis.
However, the Commonwealth has defended its decision to appoint Chakwera, emphasising the need for swift action to help restore peace and stability in the country.
Chakwera office is yet to comment on the matter.
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