Mauritius has appointed Abdurraffeek Hamuth, a former judge, to lead an inquiry into the circumstances in which a Japanese-owned vessel, the Wakashio, entered its waters and spilled hundreds of tonnes of oil.

The MV Wakashio, owned by Nagashiki Shipping and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), ran aground on a coral reef off Mauritius on 25 July 2020. It was carrying 4,000 tonnes of oil before it split into two on 16 August.

Former Judge Hamuth and his assessors will investigate the cause and extent of the damage caused by the bulk carrier.

Testimonies at the inquiry are expected to reveal how the hull of the vessel cracked.

About 15 people have so far confirmed their participation, including opposition leader, Arvin Boolell, maritime safety expert and social activist, Bruneau Laurette, along with government officials and crew members.

Captain Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar and his assistant Hitihamillage Subodha Janendra Tilakaratna were arrested after the vessel sunk.

In September 2020, an expert witness told a court in Port Louis that the captain of the MV Wakashio, Nandeshwar, had been drinking before the accident.

According to the expert, the Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), which took an audio recording in the ship, confirmed suspicions of a birthday party a little more than an hour before the ship ran aground and that the Capt Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, had consumed alcohol.

Capt Nandeshwar was also aware that the depth under the ship was decreasing considerably, the court heard.

The court heard that the ship’s voice recorder did not record any call with the Mauritius National Coast Guard.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has reportedly collected KSh166 billion revenue in December 2020, which pointed to excess in revenue collection by KSh 2 billion.

The revenue collection signified 3.5% higher than the KSh160 billion collected in the corresponding period in 2019, according to a statement on KRA’s website.

This is the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that the agency surpassed its revenue collection target. The government agency attributed the increased revenue collection to enhanced economic conditions since the easing of covid-19 restrictions. Efforts by the agency to increase tax compliance also contributed to improved revenue collection.

KRA’s Customs & Border Control (C&BC) Department collected the highest ever monthly revenue collection of Ksh 60.777 billion in December, representing a 40.9% growth in the revenue collected from the same period in 2019.

Read Also: Kenya to Conduct Survey on Diaspora Remittances

Governments efforts to lower exemptions and remissions also yielded results as the tax exemptions and remissions in the customs department fell by 39.3% in December 2020, thereby boosting revenue collection by KSh3.34 billion.

Domestic Taxes had the best performance rate of 91.1% in December, since the onset of Covid-19 in Kenya in March 2020. KRA says that Pay As You Earn (PAYE) taxes hit 99.8% of the set target while Withholding Tax exceeded the target by Ksh 725 million. Corporate taxes also reached 93.5% of the set target.

The Revenue Authority is optimistic that the recovering economy and efforts to increase tax compliance will boost tax revenue collection in 2021. In addition, the introduction of the digital services tax, minimum alternative tax, and voluntary disclosure program will boost KRA’s revenue collection goals.

Incumbent Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni has been announced as winner of the country’s Presidential election.

The electoral commission of Uganda announced the final results of the election on Saturday, 48 hours after the polls.

Museveni won 5,851,037 votes (58.64%) of the votes to emerge winner of the election. Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) won more than 3 million votes and over 34% of he votes.

It is Museveni’s lowest votes tally in 6 elections and the lowest since he had 59% in 2006 against Kizza Besigye.

The Presidential election was marred with trouble-ridden campaigns with an opposition candidate, Bobi Wine having some of his supporters killed.

Prior to the election, internet was shut down in Uganda while CSOs and NGOs were not allowed to observe.

United States observers were also not granted accreditation.

More than half of the 18m people who registered to vote in Uganda participated in the election.

Bobi Wine has since rejected the results, as he accused Museveni of riggin the election.

Security operatives have since surrounded Bobi Wine’s house, as they failed to allow local and foreign journalists into his premises.