A ZIMBABWEAN man based in the United Kingdom sues the government for £750 million in compensation for being denied sex with his girlfriend while he was in prison.
Rayden Simon Kullem, claimed his human rights were being breached by the ban.
And due to an administration blunder he temporarily won his case by default – after Government solicitors failed to oppose his case.
This led to an urgent court hearing being held, in which a top judge dismissed the “preposterous” claim.
Kullem is in Hull Prison awaiting deportation to Zimbabwe following the end of his prison sentence. He has twice failed in his bid to become a UK citizen.
Kullem launched a civil claim against the Government last September on the grounds it was a breach of his human rights not to be allowed to have sex in prison.
The Government said it did not receive the claim.
But when it failed to respond, Mr Kullem was mistakenly awarded damages in default in an administration error.
He was seeking between £500 million and £750 million in compensation.
Appearing at Hull High Court on behalf of the Government, barrister Sasha Blackmore said: “We were only aware when the default judgement was received.”
Judge Jeremy Richardson QC struck out Kullem’s claim and set aside the default action.
He said: “It should have raised a few eyebrows, to put it mildly.
“This is a preposterous claim suggesting persons have the right to have mixed cells should they so wish and if that is the proper argument – which is a very novel one to put it mildly – judicial review is the right way.
“There has been a mistake, quite whose it is doesn’t really matter – things do occasionally go wrong.
“Giving somebody the amount of money you were claiming in a default judgment should have put somebody on alert.
“An erroneous judgment was made. I will set it aside.”
Judge Richardson QC told Kullem a civil court was unable to deal with such a claim. He said: “I feel your claim is farfetched but, in any event, you are in the wrong court.
“I have every suspicion that it would be doomed for failure.”
Kullem said he wished to challenge the decision.
He said: “I have followed the procedure from the beginning, putting an application in. I still feel the knock-on effect from prison.
“I do not think it is doomed. “It would be beneficial for the majority of the public. I would like to appeal. I feel very strongly about this.”
The judge ordered Kullem pay court costs of £2,850, should he find himself able to afford it. The court did not hear why Kullem had been sent to prison
A Zimbabwean nurse who called a colleague a slag after he saw what appeared to be love bite has lost his job and has been struck off the medical register.
Image for descriptive purpose only
Rodney Gwamba was also found guilty by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of concealing a drug caution and of not attending mandatory training and a string of medication failures. Colleague Lianne Crookes told the panel that Gwamba said to her “You slag” or words to that effect and “How slaggish is that?”
She said Gwamba said these words to her, in the presence of other staff and patients, in comment upon a love-bite which he had seen on her neck. She said that she was shocked and hurt by these remarks.
During the course of his final disciplinary hearing Gwamba admitted uttering both remarks. He said that the remarks were meant in good humour and in jest.
Gwamba originally qualified as a nurse in Zimbabwe and undertook adaptation at the Oaks Nursing Home in Derby between March and December 2007. He was thereafter registered as a General Nurse and on 18 September 2008 was employed by the Home as such, on bank duties. His duties included providing nursing care, to patients and supervising care assistants.
The Home was a 36 bed nursing facility that provides general nursing care to highly dependent residents and palliative care to “end-of life” residents. The patients were often highly dependent, with complex nursing needs.
Gwamba was at first employed for a probationary period of three months. By the end of that period the management of the Home had concerns as to Gwamba’s nursing practice which were first addressed at an informal meeting on 17th December 2008, following which his probationary period was extended indefinitely.
There followed a disciplinary hearing on 9th January 2009, which resulted in Gwamba being given a first and final written warning. A further disciplinary hearing was held on 8th May 2009, following which Gwamba’s employment at the Home terminated.
The charges relate to alleged failures while Gwamba was working at the Home involving failure to attend mandatory training sessions; the use of inappropriate comments towards a colleague; a failure to check and accurately document checks of emergency equipment checks; and a failure to administer and/ or document the delivery of medication to residents under his care.
On the charge of failing to attend mandatory training, Gwamba admitted receiving the final written warning and the notice that the medication course had been booked. He also admitted failing to attend the course and failing to advise anyone that he was unable to attend.
Gwamba also failed to disclose that he was cautioned by police for cannabis possession. Gwamba’s caution came to light only upon receipt of the Enhanced Disclosure Record.
“The panel has carefully considered whether the actions of Mr Gwamba as set out above amounts to dishonesty. It is clear that Mr Gwamba did not disclose the caution on his job application form and Mr Clayton and Ms Bullock both told the panel that Mr Gwamba did not mention his caution to them when he was interviewed on 16th September.”
“ The Panel considers that he must deliberately have concealed the fact of the caution for fear that it would result in his failure to obtain employment. Ms Bullock and Mr Clayton said that when questioned about the caution Mr Gwamba said that he was surprised that it appeared on his CRB record and he alleged that the plants had been grown by his brother, of which there is no evidence whatsoever.”
“The offences which Mr Gwamba committed and for which he was cautioned and his dishonest failure to disclose the caution to his employer tend to bring the profession into disrepute and in the judgment of the Panel also constitute misconduct.”
“In the Panel’s judgment the misconduct in this case and the breach of numerous relevant standards was so serious as to be fundamentally incompatible with Mr Gwamba’s name remaining on the register. The Panel considers that the need to declare and uphold proper standards of conduct and behaviour, so as to maintain public confidence in the profession, requires Mr Gwamba’s removal from the register. Accordingly, the panel has decided to make a striking off order.”
Degenham Jobcentre staff swindled £1.7million by hijacking identities and making thousands of false benefit claims, a court has heard. The Nigerian-born gang are accused of ripping off nearly £900,000 in tax credits over five years by submitting claims using names, dates of births and addresses raided from the Department of Work and Pensions’ confidential database.
They are also said to have netted another £820,000 in bogus claims for Sure Start Maternity Grants — a one-off £500 payment to support pregnant women.
They backed these claims by forging the signatures of midwives, nurses and doctors, Croydon Crown Court in South London was told. The cash was said to have been paid into accounts they had set up.
Prosecutor Andrew Evans said Anthony Ekajeh, 48, of Rainham, Essex, played a “principal” role in the fraud while an executive officer at the Dagenham JobCentre in East London.
He denies conspiracy to defraud along with Fiayo Akinwumiju, 35, of Coulsdon, Surrey, and Olufemi Kehinde, 47, of Acton, West London, who worked in other branches.
Three others are being tried in their absence and a seventh man admitted three charges at an earlier hearing. The trial continues.
Some weeks ago, Nigeriafilms.com broke the story that top Yoruba actress, Folashade Omoniyi, who is well known as Lepa Shandy, has a child for his new Dublin based lover, Dayo David Adewale.
Nigeriafilms.com can now also exclusively report to you that the once skinny actress, who relocated to Dublin after her failed marriage some years ago, has now secretly married Dayo in Dublin. We learnt that Shade and Dayo, who is from Ogun State, got married some weeks ago.
You will recall that Shade has already bore Dayo a child, which she left in care of her in-law in Dublin, while she visited Nigeria last recently. She was spotted in Lagos at the 60th birthday celebration of former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu in Lagos.
Lepa Shandy breezed through the movie industry through movie marketer, Bayo Adewusi, who is also known as Bayowa.
EXPOSED: Nollywood Actress, Lepa Shandy’s Secret Lover, Already Has Child For Him.
A Colombian Girl, 10, Gives Birth to a baby girl and sparked outrage after becoming one of the world’s youngest ever mothers by giving birth to a healthy daughter.
The girl, a member of an indigenous tribe called the Wayuu who are based in the La Guajira Peninsula in the north of the country, was 39 weeks pregnant when she underwent a Caesarean section. Most pregnancies are 38 weeks.
It was the first time the pre-teen, from the town of Manaure had visited a doctor in connection with her pregnancy.
She reportedly arrived at the hospital bleeding, in floods of tears and ‘enormous’ pain from the contractions.
Doctors decided to carry out the risky operation because of her age – and both mother and daughter, who weighed just 5lbs, are said to be ‘doing well’. This is despite the mother refusing to breastfeed her newborn – and the pair being confined to the neo-natal unit of the hospital, which has not been disclosed.
Switzerland’s government needs to do much more to tackle rising racism and xenophobia, a Commissioner from the European Council on Human Rights said in a letter to the Swiss foreign ministry.
The ECHR Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg sent his strongly worded letter earlier this month to Swiss foreign minister Didier Burkhalter.
“Manifestations of racism and xenophobia appear to be on the rise in Switzerland. Disturbing political campaigns with aggressive, insulting slogans against foreigners are tendencies of great concern,” the letter read.
Hammarberg said that he recognized “the value and importance of an open political debate”, but went on to say that freedom of expression should not be absolute.
“It can and at times must be restricted by the authorities in order to safeguard the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others,” he said.
A cause for concern, the Commissioner also noted that “political discourse of xenophobic and racist nature is… not criminally sanctioned by the courts”, and he called for an overhaul of the Swiss criminal law “in order to put an end to impunity for xenophobic and racist public discourse.”
Hammarberg went on to say that discrimination laws also needed to be strengthened to protect not only the rights of non-nationals, but also of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
“Switzerland’s human rights protection system would greatly benefit from the establishment of Ombudspersons in all cantons, complemented by a Federal Ombudsperson with a coordinative function and a long awaited National Human Rights Institution”, the Commissioner recommended.
The letter also raised concerns about the recent move to restrict migrants’ abilities to include family members in their applications, making family reunification even harder than it previously has been.
Burkhalter replied on Wednesday, thanking the Commissioner for his comments, promising that the comments would be given close consideration by the relevant bodies of authority.
He reiterated the government’s commitment to tackling racism, and he confirmed that the compatibility of certain popular initiatives with human rights legislation was under review.
He also replied that the Federal Constitution already guards against discrimination on the grounds of a person’s chosen lifestyle, and that respect for family life is also taken into consideration when considering migrants’ applications.
Comments hinting that a black dancer should be replaced because of his skin colour in order to boost Sweden’s chances of winning the Eurovision Song Contest recently sparked outrage and left Swedish state broadcaster SVT in crisis.
“After this was leaked to the press we were worried because we didn’t hear it from official sources. We tried to stay positive nonetheless,” said choreographer Ambra Succi to The Local.
It was rumoured that Christer Björkman, who oversees Sweden’s Eurovision Song Contest participation for SVT, considered switching the dancer who accompaniesMelodifestivalen winner Loreen on stage in her winning number, “Euphoria”.
“SVT are scared of the racism that they perceive as rife in Eastern Europe. They have winner hubris at the moment and don’t want to risk losing votes due to this,” a reliable source revealed to daily Aftonbladet.
According to the paper, Björkman was forced to call a crisis meeting at SVT after the information that he wanted to replace dancer Ausben Jordan hit the media, due to what Björkman himself calls a “misunderstanding”.
Björkman admits that Jordan’s colour at one point or another was brought up in a meeting, but claims it was not the reason that they were considering getting another dancer.
“I simply said that since the semi-finals were introduced in ESC no coloured person has ever made the final. And then I said: ‘I sincerely hope this doesn’t affect us’,” he said to the paper.
Jordan, who has an impressive résumé, dancing with international artists such as Snoop Dogg, Madonna and Cypress Hill, has not enjoyed the recent storm around his colour.
According to Succi, Jordan found the situation taxing. Growing up in Texas with both African American and Native American roots, he has seen his fair share of racism.
“It is sad to come to a country to share your love and passion with others and then hear that your colour might mean someone wants to replace you,” Jordan told Aftonbladet.
“If they had chosen to replace him due to finding someone better, it would have been easier to accept,” Succi told The Local.
On Wednesday, however, Loreen reportedly called her record company announcing that she will perform the song with Jordan after all.
A few hours later Jordan and Björkman met up to discuss the situation.
“He understood that it was a misunderstanding and now we are moving on. Hopefully we will win in Baku,” said Björkman to the paper.
According to Succi, the matter is now closed and both Loreen and Jordan, as well as herself, are now moving on, aiming to continue working for a win in Azerbaijan.
“We can start practising now, so let’s hope for the very best,” she told The Local.
UMOJA Village, Kenya – No man, except for those raised here as children, lives in Umoja village in Kenya; one has not for two decades. It is a village only of and for women, women who have been abused, raped, and forced from their homes.
In the culture of northern Kenya’s Samburu district there is a saying: “Men are the head of a body, and women are the neck.” The neck may support the head, but the head is always dominant, towering above.
But in this remote village, located in the grasslands of Samburu district, this mantra does not ring true. In Umoja, as one female resident says, “We are our own heads.”
Umoja, which means “unity” in Swahili, holds a unique status in the country: it is a village populated solely by women. For more than two decades, no men have been permitted to reside here.
The rule is one of the requirements of a community that has fought against overwhelming odds to become a place of refuge for women. It is a sanctuary where men – who have been the cause of so many problems for these women – are simply not welcome.
In the 22 years since its founding, the village has had a significant impact not only on the women who choose to call Umoja home but within the communities that surround it. The example that Umoja has set, coupled with the outreach efforts of its residents, has touched the lives of women in the region.
Celena Green, who is the Africa programme director for an organisation called Vital Voices that works with the women of Umoja, told IPS: “The existence of Umoja has allowed women’s groups in other surrounding villages to learn from the empowerment and pride of the Umoja women.”
Women from nearby communities attend workshops in the village that are aimed at educating women and girls about human rights, gender equity, and violence prevention. When the women return home, Green explained, “they begin to change the culture, demanding a safe, violence free community where women and girls are valued and protected.”
“Ideally, no woman or girl should ever have to flee her home to come to Umoja in the first place,” she added. “But ultimately, the aim of Umoja is to provide an emergency safe haven for those women who are in distress, and more importantly to contribute toward building communities where everyone is valued and can succeed.”
Umoja’s history began in 1990, when a collective of 15 Samburu women, who called themselves the Umoja Uaso Women’s Group, began selling beadwork and other goods to raise money for themselves and their families. As the group began to grow financially lucrative, they found themselves facing increasing harassment by men in their communities who felt that economic growth was not appropriate for the women, who traditionally play a subordinate role.
In response, the women, led by matriarch Rebecca Lolosoli, decided to break away and begin their own village, in order to ensure security and cooperation for themselves out of the reach of those who sought to undermine them.
Today, Umoja is home to 48 women who have come from all over the country. Their stories vary – some were young girls fleeing forced marriages to old men, others were raped or sexually abused, and several were widows who were shunned by their communities. Moreover, several women residing in the village are Turkana, taking refuge from the tribal violence currently raging in the central region of Isiolo.
The villagers, who rely on the sale of beadwork and profits from a nearby campsite and cultural center, pool their funds as a collective to support themselves. In addition to providing food and basic necessities for village residents, profits are used to cover medical fees and the operation of a school that serves both the village’s children and its adult women who wish to learn basic skills and literacy.
Nagusi Lolemu, an older woman with delicate hands and a melodious voice, is one of the village’s original founders. Sitting in the shade, her nimble fingers string red beads deftly in one fluid, unthinking movement, as she speaks rapidly in Samburu.
Lolemu’s story echoes a recurring theme in the village: she was widowed after years of marriage and subsequently rejected by the community she called home. “There were too many single women,” she explained to IPS through a translator. Single women, who are not permitted to hold property in Samburu culture, and generally are not educated, are viewed as a financial drain on the community. When her husband passed away, she was no longer welcome in her home.
Nagusi, who has been living in Umoja for 22 years, has two grown children. She does not question her decision to leave her home for Umoja.
“My children are educated, working, and giving back to the family and the community,” she told IPS. “In a regular village, this could not happen.”
In her village – like any other traditional community – there is little opportunity for women’s education and the consequential financial benefits it brings, she explained. Her daughter would have grown up as she did, illiterate and dependent on men for all her basic needs.
“Here,” Lolemu said, matter-of-factly, “everyone is equal.”
Green echoes this statement, explaining to IPS: “In a traditional village, women may not have had the opportunity to exercise leadership, to be in control of their wealth or resources, and they would more likely experience domestic violence, female genital cutting, child marriage and other traditional practices that discriminate against and physically harm women and children.”
In addition to barring men from residing in the village, the women of Umoja live by a set of self- imposed rules, which, as Lolemu explained, are based on ensuring equality and mutual respect within the village.
Residents are required to wear the traditional clothes and intricate beadwork jewelry of their people at all times, in order to preserve and promote their cultural heritage. The practice of female genital mutilation is not permitted. And the only males allowed to sleep in the village are those who have been raised there as children.
One of the most striking aspects of Umoja is the women’s attitude towards men. In a place where men have been the root cause of so many hardships, and, in most cases, the reason the residents fled their homes, it is tempting to think that the victims want nothing more to do with them and are happy to live the rest of their lives surrounded by other women. This is not the case at all – in fact, most of the younger women in the village plan on marrying and raising families.
The difference is that they are going to do it on their own terms.
Judy, a 19-year-old resident who fled an arranged marriage to a much older, polygamous man five years ago, is planning on getting married some day. She dates – outside the confines of the village, which is not only permitted but encouraged by the older residents – and is raising a six-month-old named Ivan, who squirms and coos in her arms as she speaks. One day, she will marry and leave Umoja for her husband’s village. But, until then, she is happy here.
When asked if there is anything she misses from her previous life, any element of living in a women’s- only village that she finds lacking, she laughs.
“No. Here we have everything,” she says, and smiles.
In Umoja, women are not only their own “heads” – each is her entire body.
While everyone is talking about the letter Oprah Winfrey wrote to her younger self, we will first be taking a look at what Sheer Glamour Collections showcased at South Africa Fashion Week 2012. Below are images of some of the pieces that were presented to guests by Sheer Glamour collections at the fashion show.
This red dress from Sheer Glamour collections all about flowers.
Sheer Glamour collections went for sheer flowy fabrics for a lot of its pieces. For this dress, it is combined with a print fabric.
What do you think of these pieces that were showcased by Sheer Glamour Collections at South Africa Fashion Week 2012. Let a comment below to share your views with us. Take care.
Ok, back to Oprah Winfrey’. Below is what the queen of talk shows wrote her younger self at 19 years of age.
Dear beautiful brown-skinned girl,
I look into your eyes and see the light and hope of myself.
In this photo you are just about to turn 20, posing outside the television station where you were recently hired as a reporter. You’re proud of yourself for getting the job, but uncertain you’ll be able to manage all your college classes before 1 and arrive at the station by 1:30 for a full day’s work. Even so, your biggest concern is how to manage your love life with Bubba. Yes, you are dating someone named Bubba.
On this day you’ve brought him to the station to see where you work, hoping he’ll be proud, too. He seems less than impressed. The truth is, he’s intimidated. You don’t know this, though, because you can see yourself only through his eyes. A lesson you will have to learn again and again: to see yourself with your own eyes, to love yourself from your own heart.
You’ve spent too many days and years trying to please others and be what they wanted you to be. You will have to learn that the wounds of your past—rape, molestation, whippings for “stepping out of place,” and not being allowed to show anger or cry afterward—damaged your self-esteem. Yet through it all, you’ve held on to a belief in God and God’s belief in you.
That will be your single greatest gift: knowing there is a power greater than yourself and trusting that Force to guide you.
The trajectory of your life changed the day you answered the call from Chris Clark, the news director at WLAC-TV. Your response was ignited by the words of your then-favorite Bible verse, Philippians 3:14. “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Knowing there is a “high calling” is what will sustain and fulfill you.
From where I sit now, viewing your journey, there are few regrets. Only months before this picture was taken, you wrote a poem about a “woman becoming.” Even then you understood that success was a process and that moving with the flow of life and not against it would be your greatest achievement.
According to Volkskrant the Dutch newspaper, at least 40 mayors have made it clear to immigration minister Gerd Leers that they will not cooperate with the deportation of illegal immigrants or failed asylum seekers if there is a risk to public order.
Leers stated that the police have to follow his orders when deportations are to be carried out. Nevertheless on a normal circumstance, the police are under the control of the major in the main police regions which makes it difficult to take orders form the minister without passing through the mayors.
Now the body representing the 40 local authorities where refugee and deportation centres are located has written to the minister pointing out their mayors are in charge when public order issues are at stake.
War criminal
The letter coincides with a row in the Zuid-Holland district of Giessenlanden, where the local mayor has told her police officers not to cooperate with the deportation of a 45-year-old Afghan man. He is to be deported as a suspected war criminal but his wife and family have been given leave to stay.
In addition to the protest from the 40 mayors, some 145 local authority areas have signed a petition calling for an amnesty for youngsters who have lived in the Netherlands for at least eight years and now face being told to leave. Mayors have also protested at Leers’ decision to impose a quota on the police in terms of rounding up illegal immigrants.
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