Current vice president Henry Van Thio’s financial reports indicate he spent more than 7 million kyats (US$5,194) on his re-election campaign this year. On November 8, Henry Van Thio ran for an Upper House parliamentary seat in Chin State’s Constituency 10 in Thantlang Township, representing the National League for Democracy (NLD). Henry Van Thio won the seat, beating Sheng Lian Hmung of the Union Solidarity and Development Party and Van Mun Lian of the Chin National League for Democracy. According to Cho Khaing Oo, secretary of the Hakha District Election Commission, Henry Van Thio spent 7,146,890 kyats on his campaign…
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While most electoral candidates throughout Chin State have submitted election expense reports to respective election commission offices, those in Paletwa Township have been unable to submit them on time due to difficulties associated with the ongoing conflict in the region. Some 37 candidates ran for election on November 8 in Matupi District, Chin State, with 28 having already submitted the necessary post-electoral documentation. “We still need reports from nine electoral candidates,” Min Aung Shein, secretary of the Matupi District Election Commission told Khonumthung News, noting that seven were from Paletwa and two were from Matupi. “They cannot send it due…
The government needs to take action against a company for failing to finish a water distribution project it was commissioned to complete in Chin State’s capital, Hakha, said a parliamentarian for Matupi Township. Awng Liang, an MP from Chin National League for Democracy, told Khonumthung News that locals are paying the price after the company withdrew from the project before completion. The fact that a minister and another high-ranking official resigned from their post after the fiasco is of little consequence, explained the MP. “The government needs to resolve this issue…the chief minister said that he’s transparent and accountable..we don’t…
“Sudan, situated in Northeast Africa is a country of immense diversity that fascinates and intrigues most of its visitors from anthropologists and archeologists to historians and average travelers. Sudan gained independence on 1st January 1956, since then the country has experienced alternating forms of democratic and authoritarian government. Sudan’s period of conflict (1955-1972 and 1983-2005) stands as one of the longest in Africa’s post-independence history. Continued conflict between the Khartoum-based Government and opposition forces in Sudan’s regions have oftentimes resulted in grave socio-political divides across the country, exacerbated by the struggle over natural resources.” <UNDP in Sudan> Interview of the…
A new highway from Tedim to Rih, on the Indian border in northern Chin State, will be built next year with financial assistance from the Indian government. Because it won’t be as steep, Soe Htet, spokesperson for the Chin State government, told Khonumthung News that the 62 miles long two-lane tar road will be twice as long as the old road it is replacing. New bridges will also be constructed. With over 400 million people living in the seven states in north-eastern India, “it’s a big market,” he said. The benefits of increased trade from the new road “are good…
Five people, who recently returned to Paletwa from Rakhine State tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total cases detected in the town in southern Chin State to fourteen. General administration development (GAD) officer for Paletwa Township Aung Law Har said the new cases were discovered during their quarantine. They were sent to Paletwa Public Hospital and placed in isolation. Ten people are recovering from the virus after four were discharged from the hospital. Aung Law Har said everyone’s health is fine. Due to an increase in infections in Paletwa, all returnees must undergo mandatory quarantine upon arrival in the town.…
Two complaints have been filed with village election commissions in Chin State’s Tedim and Thantlang townships regarding voting practices in Burma’s November 8 general election. Political parties have reported that people in these townships cast proxy votes on behalf of other people. “The two cases were reported on election day. The cases are concerning the police,” Lin Kyaw, secretary of the Chin State Election Commission, told Khonumthung News. “We have only two cases where somebody cast a ballot at the polling station on behalf of another person.” Lin Kyaw speculated that the problem might be rooted in a lack of…
The first shipment of 5,000 clothing items and blankets from the Relief and Rehabilitation Committee for Chin IDPs (RRCCI) arrived in southern Chin State’s Paletwa town on Monday. Most of the clothing in this batch was secondhand and collected from donors, according to Mai Nang Wai, who is working with RRCCI, but the next batch is new clothing. “We already sent the second batch of assistance yesterday. These are new clothes. We will send new clothes again. We bought new clothes directly from the garment factory. That’s why we had to wait a little while,” Mai Nang Wai told Khonumthung…
The Chin State government has banned restaurants from opening as COVID-19 continues to be on the rise in the region. Burma’s central COVID-19 Control and Emergency Response Committee announced that on December 4, some restaurants and tea shops would be allowed to re-open if they were located in areas that did not have stay-at-home orders. However, Chin State will not be re-opening such businesses anytime soon. “We do not have any plans to allow it, because the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased in our area including in Hakha, Mindat, Kanpetlet, Matupi, Paletwa and Tedim,” Chin State government spokesperson…
Amid the corona crisis, which causes about 500,000 confirmed cases and 8,000 deaths a day worldwide, a Korean-based religious organization called Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (hereinafter referred to as Shincheonji Church) hosted an online prayer meeting, “3rd Global Prayer Service of Religious People” on November 15th. Broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of Shincheonji Church, the prayer meeting was organized to pray for not only the patients and their families in sufferings but also the government, medical staff, and volunteers fighting to overcome COVID-19. Along with 200,000 domestic and foreign members…