Woman Responds to Backlash Over Her Post on Paying Taxes

 

When 23-year-old Belén Sisa posted a picture of herself along with a 1040 tax form on Facebook to show she had paid state taxes in Arizona despite being an undocumented immigrant she didn't know what to expect.

"I wanted to educate people and bust the myth," Sisa told NBC Latino, "that Uncle Sam doesn't care if you have a social security number."

Sisa is shielded from deportation under former President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Response to the controversial post was swift. Sisa said she has received plenty of backlash, even death threats and that many people messaged her informing her they had reported her post to local immigration authorities.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane says her office will need at least R1 billion

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane says her office will need at least R1 billion in funding to ensure that it “stays afloat” and remains effective.

Mkwebane told Parliament’s justice committee that the R301 million allocations for the 2017/18 financial year and the R319 million allocations for the following year‚ were not enough to ensure that her office was fully operational. “It’s scary but it’s a reality” she said.

Mkwebane told the committee that currently only 50% of the required posts in the chapter nine institution were currently funded.

CEO Themba Dlamini told the committee that the R1 billion was a “conservative amount”.

He said that there was already a R626 million budget shortfall for the current staff complement over a three-year period. “If we add an additional 50% for the complete structure‚ that puts us at R1.2 billion‚” he said.

Nigeria: Meningitis Outbreak Death toll rises in Abuja

 

 Meningitis vaccination [Photo Credit: communit.com]

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Primary Health Care Development Board on Thursday confirmed the death of yet another person due to Cerebrospinal Meningitis in the territory.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported on Wednesday that the board recorded four deaths on Tuesday in Durumi area of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

The Executive Secretary of the board, Rilwanu Mohammed, told NAN in an interview in Abuja that another death from the disease occurred in Dakwa, a border village of Bwari Area Council and Niger state on Wednesday.

Nigeria: Abuja airport runway upgrade to continue for another 18 weeks

 

After the initial six weeks, the Abuja airport runway will still require another 18 weeks of ‘upgrade,’ an official said on Sunday.

According to a statement circulated to select journalists by the presidency, the 18 weeks’ upgrade would however, be carried out at night, meaning normal flight operations will continue during the day.

The source also said the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has been working diligently to minimise the inconvenience caused by the closure.

“After the Abuja airport reopens for operations on April 19, upgrade works on the runway would continue for another 18 weeks,” he said.

Nigeria: Federal Government releases N1trn capital to MDAs

 

Capital releases to Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, for the 2016 budget, have reached a record N1 trillion, the highest ever  in Nigeria’s annual funding for capital projects, Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has revealed.

“So far, N1 trillion has been released on capital and this is the highest so far in the history of this country. With the current stability in oil price and the return of normalcy in Niger Delta, I am sure we will do more this year, 2017,” she said.

According to the Director of Information in the ministry, Mr. Salisu Na’inna Dambatta, the minister disclosed the figure in an interactive exchange with members of the House of Representatives Tactical Committee on Recession in her office in Abuja.