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Hon. Anifa Kawooya (Uganda) on the right during discussions

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON: There is renewed interest by academics, civil society and legislators over the continent’s extractive sector and want a common mining law. The legislators are concerned over natural resource governance and economic development on the African continent and are pushing for legislation that addresses issues of transparency and accountability by the governments and mining companies.

They noted that Africa finds itself in a paradox of plenty where its abundant endowment in natural resources does not lead to equivalent levels of prosperity, development and industrialisation.

Meeting in a continental conference in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Thursday, African legislators sought to adopt and ratify a model law on a new development approach to natural resource governance in Africa.

“The model mining law would give pointers that would, for example, strengthen the negotiating capacity of Parliaments; ensuring meaningful collaboration between key players and providing support for the required social dialogue,” Dr. Paul Jourdan, one of the panelists, said.

He elaborated that the African Mining Vision, adopted by African heads of state during their July meeting in 2009 in Kigali, is seen as a solution to the poor governance, lack of strong institutions and weak policies in African states. He explained that the AMV framework is currently being used in several countries such as Mozambique, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Tanzania and provides for a transparent, equitable and optimal exploitation of mineral resources to underpin broad-based sustainable growth and socio-economic development.

Jourdan noted that AMV is also supporting countries to develop world class geological survey system so that they can negotiate from a point of knowledge. He said they hope to work with the Pan African Parliament to train parliamentarians on contract negotiations.

While legislators appreciated the need for a model law to regulate mining on the continent, they noted that there are some hurdles that need to be overcome.

Honourable Geoffrey Lungwangwa (Zambia) was concerned that some colonial land laws still obtain in Africa.

“If you have title to land, you are only confined to the surface and anything under the surface belongs to the state. That land law still prevails in our countries today and it is a contributing factor to poverty,” he said. “Many of our people are being removed from land once minerals are discovered. They are not even given shares in the mining companies. Is this really socio-economic transformation?”

He said there is need to have a model law that eventually will empower local communities to have shares in the mining companies so that they are economically empowered.

According to Hon. Bernadette Lahai (Sierra Leone), who comes from a diamond mining area, exploitation and child labour is rampant in mining areas and legislators often have no information on agreements entered by the mining companies and the state.

“Children as young as six years work in the mines. We don’t want mining to affect education,” she said adding that “Mining agreements are conducted between government and the mining companies leaving MPs and the local population in the dark.” She argued that there is need for capacity building for MPs to monitor and oversee the mining activities in their countries so that they can approve or reject mining deals that come to Parliament.

According to the African Development Bank, minerals account for an average of 70 percent of total African exports and about 28 percent of the gross domestic product. It notes that earnings from the recent oil, gas and mineral discoveries in Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania could lead to an increase in government revenues of between 9 percent and 31 percent in the first 10 years of production.

Legislators noted that because of the structure of Africa’s extractive industries, most countries remain exporters of unprocessed commodities. They proposed that Africa needs to add value to her exports so as to unlock the full economic potential of its natural resources.

According to Hon. Anifa Kawooya (Uganda), the diversity in Africa may not be in asset in having a uniform law.

“We have different land laws and policies. Having one unified model will be complicated,” she said. “There is also the issue of who owns the land where the minerals are found. The land tenure in African countries in different. Some land is owned by the government, individuals, and others owned customarily. We also don’t know how much of our natural resources we have,” she added.

In an attempt to reverse the curse of resources, the East African Legislative Assembly is in the process of adopting a mining law for the East African region. The East African Mining Bill, 2017 will provide a legal framework to harmonise and regulate mining operations in the region and ensure environmentally friendly and sound mining practices. The bill was presented for First Reading in March this year.

The four-day conference on the theme “The issue of political and socio economic integration of the African continent: The role of the Pan African Parliament” is taking place in Yaounde, Cameroon from 22-25 August 2017 and has attracted legislators, civil society and academics from Africa.

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Substitute Vincent Aboubakar got the better of defender Ali Gabr and put the ball in the back of the net.

The Indomitable Lions had earlier equalised  in the 59th minute through Nicolas Nkoulou who rose highest to power in a strong header past El Hadary in the Egypt goal.

The equaliser cancelled out Mohamed Elneny’s opener on 22 minutes with a well taken near-post strike.

The win means Cameroon are now the second most successful nation in the competition’s history with five trophies behind Egypt who have won it a record seven times.

The Indomitable Lions will look to defend the trophy in two years time when they host the African Cup of Nations.

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Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui scored in the 72nd minute and Christian Bassogog netted in an injury-time counter-attack to seal the victory for the Indomitable Lions.

Ghana were close to scoring through Wakaso Mubarak and Christian Atsu but they failed to beat Cameroon goal keeper Fabrice Ondoa.

The Indomitable Lions had a couple of chances earlier with Adolphe Teikeu’s header being cleared off the line by Harrison Afful after Bassogog had won a corner.

Cameroon continued to press through Robert Ndip Tambe and Benjamin Moukandjo but were denied by Ghana’s goalkeeper Brimah Razak.

The four times African champions defended extremely well nullifying the threat of Andre Ayew and Jordan Ayew-and, later on, substitute Asamoah Gyan till they sealed their win.

Meanwhile Ghana will take on Burkina Faso in the third place play off on 4th February, 2017.

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Veteran goalkeeper Essam El Hadary was the hero for Egypt after saving Bertrand Traore’s spot-kick to secure victory.

Mohamed Salah put Egypt in the lead in the 66th minute when he curled a superb shot into the top left corner.

Burkina Faso equalized in the 73rd minute when Aristide Bance managed to chest down Charles Kabore’s cross and volleyed in.

The Burkinabes had a quick start in the game, putting Egypt under immense pressure in the first half but their efforts did not yield anything.

The Pharaohs stepped up their efforts forcing the Burkinabe to halt their attacks.

The game was played at a good tempo with Burkina Faso putting the Egyptian defence under pressure through Bertrand Traore, Prejuce Nakoulma, Aristide Bance and Banou Diawara.

However,El Hadary who is the oldest Nations Cup player in history at 44 years proved hard to beat throughout normal time.

Egypt played more defensively throughout the 90 minutes and were able to hold on in extra-time into penalties where they managed to win.

The Pharoah’s victory means they equal Ghana’s record of appearing in nine finals and will extend their own record as the most successful Nations Cup side if they win an eighth title.

Egypt will take on the winner between Cameroon and Ghana who play on 2nd  February,2017.

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The draw will involve 16 finalists and will be heavily represented during the ceremony in Libreville at the ASMG Tent in Stade de l’Amitie.

Uganda will be represented by Uganda Cranes head coach Milutin Sredojevic and Commissioner for physical Education in the Ministry of Education and Sports Omara Apita after ending a 38-year wait for a place in the African Nations Cup finals.

The Uganda cranes achieved this by securing a 1-0 win over the Comoros Islands in Kampala on 4th September 2016 to qualify as one of the best runners-up in the 13 qualifying groups for the 2017 African Cup of Nations.

A statement by  FUFA Communications Manager Ahmed Hussein confirmed that Micho and  Omara Apita will represent the nation in Gabon.

“FUFA will be represented by both Cranes Head coach Milutin Sredojevic and Commissioner for physical Education in the Ministry of Education and Sports Omara Apita in Gabon” said Hussein

‘Delegations of the 16 finalists at the draw will also conduct a familiarisation tour of the four cities where stadium, Hotel and training grounds are located for 2017 AFCON Finals’, he added.

Uganda is the best ranked country in the East African region and will hope for a good draw.

AFCON 2017 Pots

Pot 1: Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Algeria

Pot 2: Tunisia, Mali, Burkina Faso, DR Congo

Pot 3: Cameroon, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt

Pot 4: Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Guinea Bissau

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This comes after Uganda ended a 38-year wait by qualifying to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon as one of two best placed runners-up.

Uganda cranes coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic is a proud man at the moment having led Uganda to its first Afcon finals appearance in 39 years but also move the nation from 97th in the rankings up to 65^th.

This is in line with the goals set up by the Serb on his arrival in Uganda in May 2013 to take over the reins from the sacked Bobby Williamson.

“One of my aims is to develop the youth systems, and I want us to move from 97th in the rankings up to 70, and stay there to give our players a chance to play in top European leagues.”

Uganda will better their world ranking if they perform well in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia qualifiers group in which they were drawn with Egypt, Ghana and Congo Brazzaville.

Mean while,Kenya have dropped 3 places to 91st,Ethiopia follows closely at 125th moving four places up, Burundi are 129 while Tanzania are ranked 132.

Cote D’Ivoire is the best ranked country in Africa at 34th followed by Algeria (35th), Senegal (39th), Ghana (43rd) and Cameroon at 59th globally.

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It’s not like women preferring to always be younger than their actual age, in football terms its more about competition.

Uganda’s U-17 Team

In Africa its presumed that age in football especially is not a norm in most African countries. Most African players are labeled to be cheats even when there is no evidence to prove it fitting. There is still a common cause of concern why it’s assumed to be that African footballers tend to be mistaken of not telling the right age.

The question then is raised, who is to blame? Is it the footballing bodies, the players, parents, football academies or the African culture? If one is to look for the right answer, I doubt it can be found on the global world-be it on internet, traditional chiefs, associations or anything of the sort .we then wonder if the quest for change is beyond us.

When growing up as young children, we are encouraged to tell the truth. We are brought up as Godly children with the fear of the lord no matter the religion.

Though all the efforts by our parents and the community at large, we tend to have an obscure conviction on what is ought to be done. Age in the modern footballing world has become a concern not for only the African continent but the world as a whole. It’s mostly common in sports and generally being witnessed in most athletes’ who are being convicted of lying about their age.

It’s like cancer which keeps eating up a human being till its leads to death. It’s a devil we live with and one which needs to be handled carefully.

We need support in the societies we live in with emphasis on the systems to have better image in sports.

Sport is one of the leading ventures which have put the African continent on the market in the world and caution needs to be taken when handling age in sports. It’s a global foul eating up the adored games enjoyed by majority of people in the world.

Uganda being one of the low developing countries, it needs to create systems which ensure age cases are in oblivion.

There are has been many instances which have aroused the call for better systems to rectify this.

Ugandan football in particular has been a victim of age cases and poor organization leading to disqualification in major competitions.

The recent instance saw the Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) petitioning the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to take action against Uganda over fielding a player with double identity during the Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations first round matches between the two countries. In the petition; FERWAFA alleged that during the first leg played in Kigali and the return leg in Kampala, Uganda fielded Vipers Sports Club goalkeeper James Aheebwa whose identity was questionable.

Uganda Hippos and Vipers Sports Club goal keeper James Aheebwa who had two different identities on his club license and national passport led to the disqualification of Uganda in the ongoing Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualifiers.

FERWAFA indicated that Aheebwa’s CAF Champions License with Viper Sports Club specifies that he was born on March 27, 1997, while according to his passport used in the U-20 qualifier against Rwanda; he was born on May 19, 1998. FERWAFA argued that this was against the CAF Under-20 rules.

This was blemish on the side of the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) who ought to have avoided such eventualities.It shows there are poor systems in place coupled with inadequate organization in the footballing body.

FUFA being a major governing body with qualified personnel should not be treated to such incompetence in the organization.

There are rules and regulations which are clearly stated to avoid such uncalled for occurrence.

Article 46 of CAF U-20 regulations states that each player must possess a passport containing his photo and giving the full particulars of the player’s age (day, month and year of birth)…. a player who does not have a passport issued by the competent authorities, shall not be authorized to participate in the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.

It adds in case of a junior player participating in CAF Inter- Club competitions, he will not be eligible to participate in the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations if the date of birth indicated in his license is different from the one indicated on his passport…

The regulations are there but it begs a question of what should be done to guide bodies like FUFA. Systems and better organization seems the way forward rather than just regulations to have order in governance especially in Africa and Ugandan football to be specific.

It’s a broader painting on the African continent generally because such instances show ineptitude.

Match officials who handled both qualifiers were also at fault as they didn’t ensure enforcement of a section in chapter 21 (list of players), article 47 which states that the commissioner and the referee must forbid any player on the list that does not conform to the standards of qualification of the competition from participation in the match, as was stated by FERWAFA.

The CAF Appeals Committee tribunal ruled in favor of Rwanda leading to the disqualifying of Uganda from the ongoing Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualifiers for using an illegible player.

Uganda Hippos had eliminated Rwanda wasps with a 2-1 win and 3-2 on aggregate booking a position to face Egypt in the next phase but this was nullified.

Uganda Hippos’ squad that played against Rwanda Wasps in the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualifiers

Rwanda was ruled legible to take on Egypt in the last stage of qualification which is scheduled next year in Zambia.

Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) Media Officer Ahmed Hussein Confirmed a receipt of CAF Communique on U-20 disqualification

The Uganda Football Association (FA) acting president, Darius Mugoye told Xinhua that CAF ruled in favour of Rwanda according to the evidence presented but this showed poor organization on the side of the federation.

In 2010, Uganda was also banned from the Africa U-17 Championship qualifiers after using overage players in a 3-1 aggregate win over Zambia in April.

Other countries involved in such scenario is Kenya which fielded over age players in the first round first leg- clash away to Sudan on Sunday 3 April,2016.
The report states;“The U20 Kenyan National team is disqualified from the preliminaries of the AFCON U20- Zambia 2017 and the U20 Sudan National team is qualified to the next round,” a source from the Confederation of African Football ( CAF) revealed.

According to John McAuley of the national.ae in his article Age cheaters are left with the spoiled, he points out numerous instances of failed age-tests.

A curious case of Abuchi Obinwa, a youngster who was meant to represent Nigeria at the Fifa under 17 World Cup failing age-tests in 2013 remains present due to profound revelations .

This came after the use of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan which deemed he was too old to compete in U17 football, despite the player producing documentation to prove otherwise.

The use of a magnetic resonance testing (MRI) to determine a player’s age, dates to 2003 when Fifa began to investigate the use of biological markers for age determination after being requested to be done  by numerous member associations according to thenational.ae

It reveals that growth plates in the bones of the human skeleton are open during growth and closed at different times with increasing age and maturity. X-ray images of the growth plate of the left wrist were used for decades in paediatrics, and court, to determine age.However, because of concerns regarding the exposure to radiation in the use of X-rays in screening, Fifa’s Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-Marc) suggested using MRI exams that could also provide detailed images and better contrast between body tissues.

F-Marc performed MRI wrist scans of more than 500 players of different ethnic origins, between the ages of 14 and 19, with confirmed birth certificates.

A six-point system was devised to grade the fusion of the growth plate.

Typically, complete fusion is unlikely to occur prior to 17 years of age, with accuracy at greater than 99 per cent.

So, if MRI indicates complete fusion of a player’s wrist, it is 99 per cent certain the player is older than 17. If a player registers a Grade 6, they are considered older than 17.

“MRI of the wrist is a simple, reliable, valid and non-invasive method of age determination in young male football players,” said Jiri Dvorak, the F-Marc chairman.

“We can identify overage players at U17 competitions at no risk to the individual. This is of considerable help both to member associations and Fifa.”

While nothing suggested Obinwa deliberately conspired to deceive, his case was familiar.

Since the implementation of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan by Fifa in 2009, there have been numerous instances of failed age tests, in particular African sides being marked as repeated offenders.

There is increased suspicion of Africans which doesn’t set a good precedence in the sporting world.

This has led to indifference in labeling of age with the most hypothetical being referred to as cancer.

“Age cheating has become a cancer to African football,” an Egyptian FA official was quoted as saying by several Africa media sources ahead of the 2009 U17 World Cup.

“Countries like Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon were fond of fielding overage players in international youth tournaments. Age cheating is destroying football development in Africa.”

More instances are in full flow and this is threatening to rescind football development in Africa and especially in East African countries like Uganda and Kenya which are  among the culprits.

In 2003, Kenya’s government dissolved their national U17 team when players admitted they were over age.

Six years later, as Nigeria prepared to host the U17 World Cup; they dropped 15 members of their squad following testing. In the aftermath, a former Nigerian international claimed in a newspaper column that Fortune Chukwudi, then the side’s captain, was 25 years old.

Soon after came confirmation that Gambia omitted 11 of the 18 players who had helped them triumph at the African U17 Championship a few months previously.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) ordered of all countries involved in qualifying to undergo testing and  players from Ghana’s U17s,Nigeria, Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast – were excluded from participating.

“Many, if not all African countries ‘cheat’ with the age of their youth players,”

Arnold Pannenborg, a Dutch journalist and respected commentator on African football, noted. “We don’t have to pretend it doesn’t happen, because, really, it does.And a lot, too”.

According to vanguardngr, Former Mexico U-17 coach, Raul Gutierrez accused the Nigerian wonder-kids of doing things no real U-17 player could do with the ball in the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.

Gutiérrez was in charge when the 2013 set of Eaglets beat Mexico twice en-route to being crowned champions in the United Arab Emirates.

Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets that made history in Dubai by winning the FIFA Under-17 World Cup for the fourth time after humiliating Mexico 3-0 in the final in 2013

Gutiérrez  speculated that the Eaglets and Mali’s physical attributes and coupled with their  decisions making were not expected of true U-17 players.

“It’s the same with the Nigeria team, so with Mali, that beyond their physical development, decisions made by many of their players are not of an U-17 player’’ the coach told mediotiempo.com.

World problem not limited to Africa

Brazil won the 2003 World Youth Cup – for players of 20 and under – with a team that included a 25-year-old.

Three years after their success, it was revealed that defensive midfielder Carlos Alberto had given the wrong age according to BBC SPORTS

Carlos Alberto (right) was part of the Brazil squad that won the 2003 World Youth Cup

Cases like this  are not unfamiliar in other South American countries.

Akpoborie said:

“It isn’t just in Africa, I am sure. You know there have been problems in South America but you also know the problem in Africa is really big.

“Maybe it is easy in Africa for players to get away with it – or it used to be. There are not many places in the world where it is so easy as it is in Africa. Efforts are being made to stop it.”

BBC has more details concerning the problem of Age in football emphasizing the need to find solutions to curb it.

In November 2012, Australia and Saudi Arabia lodged official complaints over suspicions that the Syrian Under-19 team, competing at the Asian Championships, included over-age players.

John Boultbee, the head of the Football Federation Australia’s International Department, told BBC World Football back then that the problem was “endemic” and that more needed to be done.

He said: “A few days before the competition began, we were provided with the registration list and the Syrian team featured six players born on 1 January 1 1993 – the last day you could be born to be eligible. The whole team had January birth dates.”

African football journalist Oluwashina Okeleji cites personal ambition, pressure for success and ease in falsifying your age as factors for it.

“It is very difficult for young players to go abroad and play and it can take so long that they are too old when they are noticed, so they have to reduce their age, maybe by 10 years,” he said.

“Another factor is the pressure on the under-17 and under-20 sides for success. Some of these coaches are forced to bring in these players over age.”

Junior Binyam, the Confederation for African Football’s (Caf) media director, agrees age fraud is a problem in Africa because countries do not have a reliable database to track ages.

He said: “It is easy in many countries to change ages or ‘amend’ those registers. It is not rare to find people with more than one birth certificate.

“In some cases, when the player changes identity, he can, most of the time, be registered as a new player. The fraud on ages then affect the development programs if the players involved in an age category are not really from that category.”

With a shortage of legal documents to clarify ages in Africa, Koufie believes confusion could be one reason for so-called age fraud.
The shocking evidence concerning age on African continent is detrimental and needs a solution.

Countries like Nigeria with a considerable achievement at the age-group level has never been replicated it to the senior side on the world stage.

There must be an overall change in the mentality and the organization of different bodies if the issue of age is to be resolved.

The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which was introduced by Fifa in 2009 for the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria to help work out whether players were over age or not will also control the issue of Age.

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Hon. Roger Nkodo Dang

The Pan African Parliament has elected Hon. Roger Nkodo Dang as its new President replacing Hon. Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi in a tightly contested race. Hon. Nkodo, from Cameroon and formerly the 1st Vice President representing the Central Africa Region Caucus, defeated Hon. Eduardo Joaquim Mulembwe (Mozambique/Southern Region) and Hon. Rahoui Mongi (Tunisia/Northern Region). Nkodo polled 85 to Mulembwe’s 70 and Mongi’s 9 votes.

The election held at the PAP headquarters in Midrand, South Africa, Wednesday, May 27, 2015 ends weeks of wrangling over Nkodo’s eligibility to stand for the position, which is held on a rotational basis from the five Regional Caucuses of Western, Central, Southern, Northern and Eastern.
Following a Motion on rotation of presidents for the institution passed in 2007, it had been expected that only the Northern and Southern regions would field candidates for President, since the other three regions had held the position. The Eastern Caucus had Dr. Gertrude Mongella (Tanzania), followed by Dr. Idriss Ndele (Chad/Central) and the outgoing Amadi from Nigeria/Western Region. The Vice Chairperson of the Southern Region Caucus Hon. Patrick Mwalula Mucheleka said the Southern Region had not fielded candidates for the previous three elections out of respect for the principle of rotation and appealed to colleagues to respect the principle to “serve the interests of the continent, good governance and deepening democracy.”

The Central Region however, argued that it was normal to field a candidate since it was provided for under the Rules. Uganda’s representatives to the PAP are Hon. Onyango Kakoba (NRM, Buikwe North), Hon. Jacquline Amongin (NRM, Ngora district), Hon. Beatrice Barumba (NRM, Kiruhura district), Hon. Sam Amooti Otada (Ind., Kibanda) and Hon. Elijah Okupa (FDC, Kasilo).
The Pan-African Parliament was established in March 2004 by Article 17 of The Constitutive Act of the African Union, as one of the nine Organs provided for in the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community. Its establishment was informed by a vision to provide a common platform for African peoples and their grass-roots organizations to be more involved in discussions and decision-making on the problems and challenges facing the continent.

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Soroptimist International gives grants to women through the Diamond Education Grants.

Grants range from £100 and £500 a year and women permanently resident in countries where there is a Soroptimist Club may apply but need not be Soroptimists.

In Africa, soroptimist clubs are in Cameroon, the Gambia, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The closing date for applications is 30 April for the academic year beginning the following Autumn.

Scholarship Application Deadline: April every year.

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