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Eugene Boakye Antwi Leads NPP Gen. Sec. Race – UG Research

An overwhelming majority of New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates expect Eugene Boakye Antwi to win the party’s National General Secretary election slated for October 3, 2026.

This is contained in a research conducted by lecturers of the University of Ghana, Legon, led by Dr. Chris Atadika on the NPP National General Secretary race.

According to the findings, when respondents were asked: ‘Which candidate do you think will win the General Secretary position come 3rd October?’, 74.2% (657 out of 889 respondents) tipped Eugene Boakye Antwi to win.

Incumbent General Secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua, was tipped by 25.1% (223 respondents) to win, while Sylvester Tetteh was tipped by 0.7% (6 respondents).

The report summarised: ‘Among the respondents represented in the supplied data, 73.90% identified Eugene Boakye when asked which candidate they thought would win the General Secretary position on 3rd October.

‘Justin Frimpong Kodua accounted for 25.09%, while Sylvester Tetteh accounted for 0.67%. These figures represent the expectations expressed by the surveyed respondents and should not be presented as an independent prediction of the election outcome.’

The research also shows Boakye Antwi leads on other key indicators: Most Preferred Candidate: Eugene Boakye Antwi – 76.6%, Justin Frimpong Kodua – 23.1%; Candidate Who Can Help Party Win 2028: Eugene Boakye Antwi – 60.1%, Justin Frimpong Kodua – 39.2%; Name Recognition: 82.7% of delegates mentioned Eugene Boakye Antwi when asked to name those vying for the position, compared to 13% for Justin Frimpong Kodua.

The respondents identified good communication skills and boldness (14.3%), ability to ensure victory in 2028 (11.3%) and ability to unify the party (9.7%) as the top characteristics needed for the position – qualities many respondents associate with the former Subin Member of Parliament.

The study was conducted among 889 NPP stakeholders with 100% awareness of the General Secretary race.

2027: Rainbow coalition reflects Nigeria’s evolving political landscape – Sokoto PDP guber candidate

The Sokoto State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abubakar Abdullahi Sokoto, has described the emerging Rainbow Coalition as part of Nigeria’s long tradition of political alliances and realignments.

Abdullahi, in a statement issued in Sokoto on Monday, said the controversy surrounding the coalition was not unusual, noting that similar political arrangements had shaped the country’s democratic history since independence.

He defined a political coalition as an arrangement in which different parties or political groups work together towards a common objective while retaining their individual identities.

According to him, Nigeria’s political history, from the First Republic to the present Fourth Republic, is replete with examples of such alliances.

‘What changes are the names, personalities, circumstances and objectives behind them,’ he said.

The PDP candidate recalled that the First Republic witnessed the alliance between the Northern People’s Congress and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, which produced Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe as Governor-General and later President.

He also cited the NPN-NPP accord during the Second Republic, when the National Party of Nigeria, led by President Shehu Shagari, entered into an agreement with the Nigerian People’s Party after the NPN failed to secure a majority in the National Assembly.

Abdullahi said the arrangement resulted in the appointment of prominent NPP members, including Chief Paul Unongo, Prof Ishaya Audu, Chief Ademola Thomas, Chief (Mrs) Janet Akinrinade and Mallam Mamman Ali Makele, as ministers.

He noted, however, that disagreements over political interests eventually weakened the accord, demonstrating that the success of coalitions depends largely on how competing interests are managed.

He further referenced the AD-APP joint presidential ticket of Chief Olu Falae and Umaru Shinkafi in 1999, the Coalition of Progressive Political Parties ahead of the 2015 elections and the merger of the ACN, CPC and ANPP, which culminated in the formation of the APC.

‘The greatest lesson from these experiences is that political coalitions are about people as much as they are about parties,’ he said.

On the current political development, Abdullahi said the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had described the Rainbow Coalition as a multi-party platform working to mobilise support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election.

He noted Wike’s position that the coalition was not an APC structure, adding that concerns reportedly raised by some APC governors should be viewed against the background of Nigeria’s history of political alliances.

Abdullahi called on APC governors and party leaders to work with Wike, whom he described as ‘a national leader and proven grassroots strategist, a master mobilizer for the Renewed Hope Agenda.’

‘Our primary challenge today is not debating individual political relevance, but ensuring that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu secures a decisive victory come 2027,’ he said.

The governorship candidate also listed what he described as key achievements of the Tinubu administration, including Nigeria’s diplomatic response to the Niger Republic crisis, its foreign policy engagements, the Sokoto-Badagry Highway project, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the Compressed Natural Gas initiative.

He said the government’s approach to the Niger crisis demonstrated the importance of dialogue and consultation with traditional rulers and Islamic scholars.

Abdullahi said the Rainbow Coalition should therefore be seen as another development in Nigeria’s evolving political landscape as the country approaches the 2027 elections.

He added that those promoting the coalition had a responsibility to explain its objectives to Nigerians, while the electorate would ultimately determine its level of acceptance through the democratic process.

New Bill forces banks, M-Pesa to share customer data

Banks and payment platforms such as M-Pesa and Airtel Money will be required to share customer data among themselves and licensed third parties, ushering in open banking in Kenya.

The Treasury and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) have jointly prepared a Bill that seeks to introduce open finance, where customers give third-party providers permission to access and use their payment-account data held by banks and other payment providers.

This would allow new financial services, triggering competition, innovation, and customer empowerment in the banking and financial sectors, ultimately lowering costs.

The National Payment System Bill, 2026, will also empower the CBK to force payment service providers, including different banks, mobile money networks, digital wallets, and payment platforms, to allow their platforms to communicate and exchange funds securely with one another.

This would make it easier for Kenyans to money and use financial services across banks, mobile-money wallets and fintech platforms, regardless of their payment service provider.

‘Each payment service provider or payment system operator shall use systems that are capable of securely sharing customer data with third parties for open finance purposes,’ the Bill says.

‘The central bank may require a payment service provider or payment system operator to implement a mechanism to securely share customer data with third parties after obtaining the customer’s consent.’

Payment service providers handle customer-facing transactions, such as M-Pesa and Airtel Money.

Payment system operators own the underlying infrastructure for settling funds between financial institutions and include firms like Pesalink.

The open finance push will upend how banks and fintechs use customers’ data.

Presently, banks and platforms like M-Pesa keep customers’ transaction data in their vaults.

With open banking, customers can grant permission for fintech apps, other banks, or service providers to access this data.

The new Bill would require banks, mobile money providers and other payment companies to build systems that can securely share a customer’s data with other licensed companies, as long as the customer agrees to it.

This is important because it could break the grip that big players like banks and M-Pesa have on customer relationships.

Presently, startups or fintechs seeking to innovate and launch fresh products struggle to get a full financial picture of consumers.

Under the new Bill, a licensed fintech could pull customer data directly from banks or mobile wallets should the users consent.

The Bill does not specify on how access would work and says the CBK ‘shall make regulations to give effect to this section.’

Details on what data can be accessed, under what conditions, and at what cost would be left to subsequent CBK regulations.

Critics of open banking argue that it can lead to greater security risk and exploitation of consumers.

The first open banking regulations were introduced by the European Union in 2015, and many other countries have since followed suit.

Nigeria is a pioneer of open banking in Africa.

If Kenya’s Parliament passes the law, players will have one year to comply with the new requirements.

‘Upon the commencement of this Act, any person providing payment services shall, within one year of the commencement, comply with the provisions of this Act,’ the Bill says.

The draft would also compel all financial and payment service providers to use systems compatible with competitors’ systems as part of a renewed interoperability push.

‘Each payment service provider or payment system operator shall use systems that are interoperable with the systems used by other payment service providers and payment system operators, and their agents,’ the Bill says.

The proposed law requires issuers of electronic money and providers of digital wallets such as M-Pesa and Airtel Money to hold all money received from customers in a trust account at a commercial bank or a microfinance bank.

‘The monies held in a trust account shall be held in a bank licensed under the Banking Act or a microfinance bank licensed under the Microfinance Act,’ the Bill says.

The money in the trust accounts would only be invested in Kenyan government securities or held in interest-bearing trust accounts at a bank or microfinance bank.

This is intended to ensure that electronic money or wallet balance is backed by funds held separately in trust.

‘The balances in the trust account shall not at any time be less than what is owed to the customers,’ the proposed law adds.

An officer of a payment service provider or payment system operator could face a fine of up to Sh3 million for contravening the provisions, rising to Sh5 million for a repeat offence.

A payment service provider or payment system operator could face an administrative fine of up to Sh20 million.

The CBK could impose an additional penalty of up to Sh100,000 for each day or part of a day that a failure or refusal to comply continues.

CRICKET-CPL-Powell proud of Kingsmen despite failing to lift title

Despite falling agonisingly short in their bid to capture their first Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title, captain of the Jamaica Kingsmen Rovman Powell said he is still proud of the team’s performance.

The Kingsmen – the CPL’s newest franchise – went down by eight wickets to the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons in the final at Kensington Oval on Sunday, to give the Falcons their maiden title.

Reflecting on the tournament, Powell said the team had shown resilience to bounce back from losing their first three matches to make the playoffs and the final.

While admitting he was disappointed not to have won the title, he said there were lots of positives to take away.

‘It’s a good feeling, to be honest. I think it’s a very hard-fought campaign for us. I’m so proud of the boys. I honestly feel it’s a proud journey for us. We have accomplished a lot of things. We set out to be in the finals, and when we came to the tournament, we wanted to see if we could progress all the way,’ Powell said.

‘It was a slow start to the competition as we lost our first few games, but we built a little bit of momentum with our home crowd back home in Jamaica, and from there the guys started to believe that we could actually play cricket.

‘We went to Trinidad, which is a difficult place to play cricket, and we played a very good game down there. That confidence kept building within the team. We knew that as soon as we squeezed into the last four of the competition how dangerous our team could be, and the guys just kept chipping in.

‘Credit has to be given to them throughout the entire competition. They listened to the leadership that myself and the head coach provided, and I am actually proud of the boys,’ he added.

Malami rejects alleged corruption finding in Mambilla arbitration

Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has rejected an alleged corruption finding against him in the Mambilla arbitration, stressing that the international arbitration award should not be interpreted as a criminal conviction.

Malami also welcomed Nigeria’s victory in the long-running dispute with Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.

His position was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by his Special Assistant on Media, Mohammed Bello Doka.

The statement followed reports on the 616-page arbitral award, which reportedly contained adverse findings concerning Malami’s role in negotiations with Sunrise and its promoter, Leno Adesanya.

Malami said the proceedings were commercial in nature and did not amount to a criminal prosecution.

‘The proceedings were commercial arbitration proceedings between parties to a dispute. They were not a criminal prosecution of Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the award does not constitute a criminal conviction of him,’ the statement said.

He, however, acknowledged the seriousness of the reported findings, saying they should be examined against the complete evidentiary and documentary records.

‘Those matters should not be ignored, trivialised or answered by speculation,’ he said.

According to Malami, the Mambilla dispute predated his appointment as Attorney-General and had its roots in events dating back to 2003, when Sunrise became involved in the proposed hydroelectric project.

He said previous Attorneys-General and administrations had dealt with the dispute, noting that former AGF Michael Aondoakaa had reviewed the matter and recommended an amicable resolution.

He also cited the November 2012 General Project Execution Agreement involving Sunrise and Sinohydro as evidence that efforts to resolve the controversy predated his tenure.

‘The relevance of this history is straightforward: Malami did not create the Sunrise dispute, introduce Sunrise to the Mambilla project, or originate the Federal Government’s attempts to settle the controversy,’ the statement said.

‘He inherited a longstanding dispute that had traversed previous administrations, Attorneys-General, ministries and contractual arrangements.’

Malami said his involvement in the matter followed governmental and presidential processes, including a directive communicated by the then Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2016.

He explained that the Ministry of Justice’s role was primarily to advise the Federal Government on its legal exposure and options for resolving the dispute.

According to him, the unresolved dispute later became an issue in efforts to finance the Mambilla project, including discussions involving China Exim Bank.

He said Sunrise initially demanded $500 million as full and final settlement during negotiations in London in November 2019, while the Federal Government countered with $100 million before $200 million emerged as a proposed settlement figure.

‘The governmental calculation was whether an asserted multibillion-dollar exposure, continuing litigation, financing difficulties and delays to the Mambilla project could be brought to an end through a substantially smaller negotiated settlement,’ he said.

Malami stressed that Buhari never approved payment of the proposed $200 million settlement.

He said the former President indicated on April 20, 2020, that the Federal Government did not have the money to make the payment, adding that he communicated the decision to Sunrise two days later.

He further said a subsequent request for presidential approval in January 2021 was rejected, with Buhari writing, ‘Not approved.’

Malami argued that what happened after the rejection was also important to understanding his role.

He said he instructed government lawyers to resist Sunrise’s attempt to enforce the settlement after the President declined to approve payment.

‘When Sunrise asserted that Nigeria was consequently in default and sought to rely upon the enhanced financial consequences of the settlement arrangements, Malami instructed counsel representing the Federal Government to resist Sunrise’s attempt to have the settlement terms adopted or enforced against Nigeria,’ the statement said.

On the tribunal’s reported finding of an alleged corrupt arrangement between him and Adesanya, Malami denied wrongdoing.

‘Malami rejects any suggestion that his official actions were undertaken pursuant to a corrupt agreement or in exchange for personal financial benefit,’ the statement said.

He said the allegation should be tested against the complete evidence, including whether he ever received money or any other financial benefit from Sunrise, Adesanya or any related entity.

The statement also referred to reports that Adesanya claimed to have audio or video recordings relevant to his allegations, but that the recordings were not presented before the tribunal.

‘Where allegations of this gravity are made, the existence, non-production, authenticity and contents of any claimed recordings are matters of obvious evidentiary importance,’ Malami said.

The statement said Malami welcomed the outcome of the arbitration, which resulted in Nigeria defeating Sunrise’s substantial financial claims.

The Federal Government has said the tribunal rejected Sunrise’s claims and awarded substantial costs in Nigeria’s favour.

Malami said he remained pleased whenever Nigeria’s legal interests and public finances were protected.

‘Nigeria’s victory should be welcomed, and findings concerning the conduct of former public officials should be carefully examined and answered on the evidence,’ he said.

He added that his office would issue a more comprehensive response to the tribunal’s individual findings after studying the complete award and relevant accompanying records.

Technology does not lead

Will AI replace the sales professional? The honest answer is this: it will replace many sales tasks, reshape sales roles, and possibly remove the need for salespeople in transactions requiring little human judgment or interaction. If your primary value is providing information, preparing routine reports, sending generic follow-ups, or repeating what customers can already discover online, you have every reason to be concerned.

But complex and consequential selling is not merely about processing and exchanging information. It involves understanding people, earning trust, interpreting context, exercising judgment, making commitments, and accepting responsibility for the outcome. High technology may analyze, predict, recommend, communicate, and automate, but it does not lead. Technology serves those who have been entrusted to lead.

Here are five reasons technology cannot fully replace the human role of the sales professional-especially when customer decisions involve complexity, risk, relationships, and trust.

Your experience, insight, and intuition matter

Customers no longer need salespeople simply to explain features, compare specifications, or repeat information they can easily obtain online or through AI. What they need is someone who can interpret that information and connect it with their actual situation. Experience recognizes familiar patterns, insight reveals what the information means, and intuition alerts the salesperson to signals that may not yet appear in the data. These human inputs are not infallible, so they must still be tested against facts, frontline realities, and customer feedback. Your value lies not in knowing more than the machine, but in understanding what its information means for the person in front of you.

Nothing beats the personal touch

Data can reveal what customers bought, when they bought it, how often they responded, and what they may purchase next. But hesitation may come from an unspoken fear, an internal conflict, a damaged relationship, or a consequence that never appears on the dashboard. The personal touch begins when sales professionals listen beyond the words, ask thoughtful questions, observe reactions, and show genuine concern. It recognizes that customers with similar profiles may still make different decisions because their realities are never exactly the same. Technology can identify the pattern, but a sales professional must still understand the person within it.

Commitment is always personal

AI can produce polished messages and personalized recommendations, but it cannot personally commit itself to a customer. Trust grows when sales professionals keep promises, tell difficult truths, protect the customer’s interest, and remain present when something goes wrong. That commitment is tested when delivery is delayed, expectations are missed, or the recommended solution fails to produce the desired result. Customers then need more than an automated response; they need someone willing to listen, explain, repair, and take responsibility. Technology can support the relationship, but only a person can stand before the customer and personally answer for a promise.

Machines are never accountable

Data can reveal patterns, while AI can analyze them and recommend possible actions. Experience and intuition may alert the salesperson to signals that technology has missed, while prayerful discernment helps examine motives, limitations, and consequences. But none of these inputs removes the need for human judgment. The sales professional must still decide what should be done, whom the decision will affect, and whether the action is responsible, fair, and right. Machines may influence a decision, but moral and leadership accountability remains with the people and organizations that choose to act on it.

Selling will always be an act of leadership

Complex selling requires customers to move from uncertainty toward a difficult and consequential decision. The sales professional clarifies the desired future, aligns competing interests, addresses resistance, and builds the confidence required to move forward. AI can analyze information, generate options, and recommend the next action, but it cannot personally accept what the customer entrusts to the relationship. When customers act on a recommendation, they are not only choosing a product; they are trusting someone to help lead them toward a better outcome. As long as selling requires human judgment, entrustment, and accountability, it will remain an act of leadership.

Remember: technology may support the sales process, but it does not lead-that responsibility remains yours. God bless!

Alexey ‘Coach Lex’ Rola Cajilig is the President and CEO of ARCWAY Consultancy Inc., a recognized Sales Leadership Coach, Strategic Sales Operations Consultant, Christian Motivational Speaker, and Human Ecologist. As the author of The Effective Seller and Solving the Sales Puzzle, Coach Lex empowers leaders and sales professionals to turn knowledge into action, and action into measurable results. He is also the creator of ARCH Styles, a cutting-edge behavioral and personality discovery tool that helps individuals and teams unlock their true potential and perform at their peak. Connect and collaborate with Coach Lex at arcway.ph.

FG to empower 200 Oyo youths with skills, start-up tools

The federal government will empower 200 youths in Oyo State with vocational and digital skills as well as start-up equipment under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS).

The beneficiaries will undergo training in Graphics and Artificial Intelligence (AI), Makeup and Fashion Designing, with each participant receiving the equipment required to immediately start or expand a business after completing the programme.

The two-week training, being implemented by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education (OSSAP-TVEE), will begin on September 28 and end on October 9, 2026.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education, Dr Abiola Arogundade, announced the programme in a statement on Tuesday.

She said trainees in Graphics and AI would receive laptops, those undergoing Makeup training would get fully equipped makeup kits, while Fashion Designing beneficiaries would receive sewing machines and starter kits.

Arogundade said the intervention was structured to ensure that beneficiaries did not leave the programme with skills alone but also had the basic tools required to translate their training into sustainable livelihoods.

The programme will culminate in a graduation ceremony and grand finale on October 9, during which the Federal Government will also distribute 500 tablets to young Nigerians as part of its wider digital empowerment drive.

According to the Presidency, the Oyo programme is part of the nationwide expansion of the NPRGS skills initiative across the six geopolitical zones.

The Presidency had earlier announced that each geopolitical zone would host 200 trainees under the current nationwide phase, with courses selected on the basis of local market demand, relevance and the preferences of beneficiaries.

Oyo State is serving as the South-West hub, while the programme is also being extended to Enugu in the South-East and Kebbi in the North-West.

The initiative followed an earlier pilot programme launched in Abuja on June 30, 2025, where beneficiaries received intensive training in cybersecurity, web development and solar energy installation.

The Abuja pilot attracted more than 7,000 applications, according to the Presidency, with graduates receiving laptops and certificates after completing the programme.

Arogundade said the latest intervention underscored the Federal Government’s commitment to equipping young Nigerians with practical and marketable skills, productive tools and opportunities to build sustainable sources of income.

She added that the NPRGS was using skills development and entrepreneurship to broaden economic participation and improve livelihoods, particularly among young Nigerians.

The nationwide initiative is expected to cover 1,200 youths across the six geopolitical zones in its initial phase, with 200 beneficiaries allocated to each zone.

The programme forms part of the Federal Government’s broader poverty-reduction strategy, which seeks to combine economic growth with targeted social interventions and skills development to promote entrepreneurship and self-reliance among Nigerians.

Why King Oyo’s child was excluded from return flight to Uganda following death of Tooro monarch

Fears over safety and a tense, polarised succession dispute forced the family of the late Omukama of Tooro, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukiidi IV, to leave his child behind in Texas, United States, Queen Mother Best Kemigisa has revealed.

In an emotional statement of appreciation addressed to the people of Tooro and Uganda, the Queen Mother shared details surrounding the absence of the late monarch’s child during the mourning and burial ceremonies. She noted that the family had initially intended for the child to travel to Uganda on the same plane as the rest of the family ahead of the final send-off.

“Before leaving Texas, our family had hoped that King Oyo’s child would return on the same plane with us,” Queen Mother Kemigisa stated. “However, as events unfolded in Tooro, concerns grew about bringing a child into a tense and polarised succession dispute. Ultimately, the child did not return with us”.

The revelation comes amid rising tensions within the Kingdom following the demise of King Oyo. According to the Queen Mother, factional disputes quickly erupted while the family was still mourning. She expressed deep sadness over the circumstances, emphasizing that a child should never be caught in the crossfire of royal politics or exposed to potential hostility in his father’s homeland.

“This has left me deeply saddened,” Kemigisa said. “Whatever disagreements existed, no child should ever be placed in circumstances where returning to his father’s homeland could mean being drawn into hostility and conflict”.

The Queen Mother recounted how attempts to choose a successor began prematurely, just hours after King Oyo passed away and before his body had even arrived home. She explained that while the late King’s body lay at Karuziika Palace, public announcements regarding rival claimants to the throne were made, accompanied by loud celebrations nearby, which she described as extraordinarily painful for a grieving mother.

Despite an agreement and a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between her representatives, government leaders, the Musuga, and representatives of the Babiito Clan to pause succession disputes until after a peaceful burial, she noted that the understandings were dishonored at Karambi.

Looking past the distress surrounding the burial and the succession rift, Queen Mother Kemigisa reaffirmed that King Oyo’s lineage and legacy remain intact, explicitly noting that his child is alive and will remain central to the kingdom’s future alongside his family.

“His mother is still here. His sister is still here. His child is still here. His people are still here. And God is still with us,” she stated.

Together with her daughter, Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale Farquharson, the Queen Mother committed to preserving King Oyo’s memory through the newly established King Oyo Memorial Foundation. The foundation will manage several developmental initiatives, including a museum, an international stadium, a model farm, and a research and teaching hospital.

High rice prices despite tariff cuts? Signals anti-competition

PERSISTENT high rice prices despite the reduction in import tariffs may point to anti-competitive conditions in the industry, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said on Monday.

Balisacan said the rice market did not respond as expected after the government slashed the import tariff, with prices remaining elevated even as global rice prices declined in previous years.

‘Essentially, it’s a combination of factors, but one that we could not exclude is the possibility that you have an anti-competitive market in the retail sector,’ Balisacan said during the budget hearing of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev) at the Senate.

The government cut the tariff on imported rice from 35 percent to 15 percent under Executive Order 62, which took effect for rice in July 2024.

The lower tariff was subsequently maintained through 2025, with President Marcos issuing EO 105 in November 2025 to keep the 15-percent rate until December 31, 2025.

The order also introduced a mechanism for adjusting the tariff based on movements in international rice prices starting January 2026.

As of September 2026, the tariff remains at 15 percent despite the new mechanism.

Balisacan said the government has asked the Philippine Competition Commission to look into possible competition issues behind the ‘rigidity’ in rice prices, particularly in trading, wholesale, and importation.

Balisacan also pointed to other factors that could be preventing rice prices from adjusting as expected, particularly bottlenecks and market inefficiencies, as well as the government’s trade-policy decisions on imports.

‘Also in the way we use trade policy, I think the way we make decisions on importation, I think those quantitative restrictions are affecting the way the market functions, so the market can’t effectively function,’ he added.

Rice inflation accelerated to 19.4 percent in August from 17.1 percent in July, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Rice was among the major contributors to the month’s inflation, while its August inflation rate was the highest since July 2024.

45 officials held over alleged cattle restocking funds theft in Kole

Police in Kole District are holding 45 civil servants and local councillors over alleged mismanagement and diversion of funds meant for the government cattle restocking programme.

The suspects, including area councillors, parish chiefs and sub-county chiefs, were arrested in a joint operation on Monday, September 21, 2026.

Samuel Odongo, the Assistant Resident District Commissioner (RDC) for Kole, confirmed the arrests, saying the officials allegedly diverted Shs5 million each meant for vulnerable beneficiaries and instead paid the money to themselves, relatives and friends.

‘These are people who were entrusted to help the vulnerable benefit from the cattle restocking fund, but they instead shared the money amongst themselves. We have handed them over to police for thorough investigation,’ he said.

Mr Odongo said some of the suspects pleaded guilty and refunded the money, while others remained in custody pending repayment.

‘They were 47 in number but some refunded the money. There are about seven area councillors who were also involved and some GISOs are also among them,’ he said in a telephone interview on Monday.

The cattle restocking programme is a government initiative aimed at supporting households, particularly in Lango, Acholi and Teso, that lost livestock during past insurgencies to acquire cattle as compensation for the losses.

In the 2025/26 financial year, the government allocated more than Shs80 billion for the first phase of the programme. Beneficiaries were to be selected by parish chiefs and parish leaders, with the involvement of GISOs, sub-county chiefs and political leaders.

Under the programme guidelines, each parish was expected to select nine vulnerable households, with each household receiving Shs5 million.

Preliminary investigations indicate that some of the officials allegedly connived to select themselves, their relatives and friends as beneficiaries at the expense of vulnerable households.

North Kyoga Regional Police spokesperson confirmed receiving information about the arrests but said a formal report had not yet reached his desk.

‘I have not yet received a formal report but I heard in a meeting that some arrest in relation to restocking money was done today in Kole District,’ he said.

The arrests have been welcomed by residents who have complained about alleged corruption in the programme.

‘We applaud the RDC’s office. Let this be a lesson to others who think government money is theirs to eat,’ Richard Ongom, a resident of Lwala in Ayer Sub-county, said.

George Okwir, a resident of Alito Sub-county, called for the operation to be extended to other areas, alleging that some beneficiaries received less than the amount allocated to them.

‘I want the RDC to come here in Alito Sub-county, there are some elderly people who were given only Shs1 million after using their National IDs to process the money,’ he said.

Police investigations into the alleged diversion of the cattle restocking funds are ongoing.