id stringlengths 32 32 | url stringlengths 31 1.58k | title stringlengths 0 1.02k | contents stringlengths 92 1.17M |
|---|---|---|---|
bbbd80de6402ae778a65674c2f6e500b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40802778 | South African Stephen McGown freed by al-Qaeda in Mali | South African Stephen McGown freed by al-Qaeda in Mali
A South African held hostage by al-Qaeda in Mali since 2011 has been released.
Stephen McGown, who also has UK nationality, was kidnapped from a hotel in Timbuktu along with two others.
In December 2015 a video of Mr McGown and another hostage -
Swede Johan Gustafsson, freed in June
- was posted on YouTube to show they were alive.
Authorities say he was released after efforts by the two countries' governments and NGO Gift of the Givers.
Africa Live: More on this and other stories
He was freed on 29 July and is now home with his family. But it is not clear why news of the release was delayed - some believe this was a security precaution.
"It was a big surprise when I saw Stephen walk through the door. When I hugged him, he felt as strong as ever," his father told Malcolm McGown told reporters in Pretoria where the announcement of his son's release was made.
He thanked South Africans of "every race and creed" for their support over the last few years.
"I wouldn't ever wish this to happen to anyone else, but they will have the support of the government...I would like to thank President Zuma for everything they did," he said.
The government says no ransom was paid for Mr McGown's release.
"We are happy to announce that finally these efforts have culminated in Mr McGown's release on 29 July 2017. We would like to warmly welcome him back home and wish him good health and good fortune in his life as a free man," International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane told a media briefing in Pretoria.
"It is with sadness though, that his dear mother, Beverly passed on in May 2017 without seeing her son again. The government extends, its deepest condolences to Stephen and his family. May her soul rest in eternal peace," she added.
|
d1ef245949509c34c2ebb691afc9e221 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40824267 | Gilbert Deya: 'Miracle babies' pastor extradited to Kenya | Gilbert Deya: 'Miracle babies' pastor extradited to Kenya
The UK has extradited a self-styled Kenyan pastor, who claimed he created miraculous pregnancies, to Kenya to face child-trafficking charges.
Gilbert Deya's extradition came after he failed in his decade-long legal battle to remain in the UK.
He denied charges of stealing five children between 1999 and 2004 when he appeared in court in Nairobi.
Concerns were first raised about the conduct of Mr Deya, who ran a church in London, in a BBC investigation in 2004.
Infertile or post-menopausal women who attended the Gilbert Deya Ministries church in Peckham, south-east London, were told they could have "miracle" babies.
But the babies were always "delivered" in backstreet clinics in Nairobi, Kenya's capital.
Mr Deya later moved to Scotland, and was arrested in Edinburgh in 2006 under an international arrest warrant issued by Kenya.
His Gilbert Deya Ministries is being investigated by the UK Charity Commission for alleged mismanagement.
"Our statutory inquiry into Gilbert Deya Ministries is ongoing. We are currently considering the implication of Gilbert Deya's extradition on our investigation," the commission said in a statement.
Gilbert Deya: 'The Archbishop of Peckham'
When the BBC asked Mr Deya during its 2014 investigation how he explained the births of children with DNA different to that of their alleged parents, the 65-year-old Mr Deya said: "The miracle babies which are happening in our ministry are beyond human imagination.
"It is not something I can say I can explain because they are of God and things of God cannot be explained by a human being."
Kenya's police spokesman Charles Owino told the BBC that Mr Deya had arrived in Nairobi aboard a Kenya Airways flight following his extradition.
Mr Deya had opposed his extradition, saying he feared being tortured and sentenced to death.
In 2007, his wife, Mary, was sentenced to two years in prison in Kenya after being convicted of stealing a baby.
In 2011, she was sentenced to three years in jail after being convicted of stealing another child.
Desperate women, some past the menopause and others who were infertile, were convinced that being prayed for by Mr Deya and travelling to Kenya would result in a child.
Once there, they were convinced by Mrs Deya and others that they were experiencing labour and taken to illegal clinics where they believed they had given birth.
But they were actually given babies which had been taken from local women.
|
88ee8caf77b68479852578609e7d158b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40914747 | Nigeria's Buhari feels 'ready to go home' after treatment in UK | Nigeria's Buhari feels 'ready to go home' after treatment in UK
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has said he feels ready to return home after medical treatment in the UK, and is awaiting his doctor's permission.
The African leader has recently faced questions at home over whether he is well enough to run the country.
Since the start of 2017 he has spent more time in the UK than in Nigeria.
His current period of sick leave is the second this year, after a stint from January to March. The nature of his illness has not been disclosed.
"I feel I could go home, but the doctors are in charge," Mr Buhari said in a statement. "I've now learnt to obey orders, rather than be obeyed."
He added that there had been a "tremendous improvement" in his health.
Some protesters in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, have demanded the president's resignation this week. Others called for more transparency about his condition.
When Mr Buhari first went to London for treatment in June 2016, his office said it was for a persistent ear infection.
His main opponents in Nigeria's 2015 election had claimed he had prostate cancer - which he denied.
Photos released by the presidency show the 74-year-old standing outdoors in sunglasses and smiling as he holds a "Get well soon" card.
Mr Buhari has appointed his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, to carry out his duties in his absence.
The leader's medical challenges have sparked speculation in Nigeria about whether he will be fit to seek a second term in 2019.
If he does not stand for re-election, observers say, it could prompt tensions between factions in the largely Muslim north and mostly Christian south.
The health of Nigeria's leaders has been a sensitive topic since 2010, when President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua died in office after months of treatment overseas.
|
0d6320530119bbf44b9784824ab96d15 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41072524 | Shock and fear amid South Africa cannibalism case | Shock and fear amid South Africa cannibalism case
Fear has gripped the village of Shayamoya in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province after the discovery of a decapitated body.
The family of Zanele Hlatshwayo, 25, who has been missing since July, believe she was a victim of a cannibalism ring that has so far led to the arrest of five men.
Her decomposing body was found after a man who claimed to be a traditional healer handed himself over to police last week and confessed that he was tired of eating human flesh.
Police officers had initially dismissed his statement, according to reports.
It is only after he produced a bloodied hand and foot as proof that he was immediately arrested. He led them to his rented home, where police found eight human ears in a cooking pot.
It is believed they were to be served to his customers, who were told they had magic properties and would convey money, power and protection.
Several other body parts were found stuffed in a suitcase.
Ms Hlatshwayo's bloodied and torn clothes were found among the human remains in the traditional healer's home.
The clothes were identified by her family.
However, police are still waiting for DNA test results to confirm if the remains belong to the mother of a two-year-old boy.
Ms Hlatshwayo's family is yet to bury her. As I entered the Hlatshwayo homestead, I was greeted by a solemn hymn and the cries by the grieving family.
"We can only imagine how she begged for her life, she died an extremely painful death," said her elder sister Nozipho Ntelele as she wiped away tears.
"Her clothes were covered in grass and dust, which is a clear indication that she had been in a struggle to save her life," said Ms Ntelele.
The traditional healer lived in a rented hut in Rensburgdrift near Estcourt.
He is nicknamed "Mkhonyovu" which loosely translated means "the corrupt one or corruption" in the local Zulu language.
He rented the hut from Philani Magubane, whose brother was also arrested for being the traditional healer's alleged accomplice.
"I was shocked to find out that my younger brother fell for the traditional healer's fairytales - he promised them wealth when he was just as poor as I am," Mr Magubane told me.
He said that one his tenants had been complaining about the smell of rotting meat that was coming from his next door neighbour.
"Mkhonyovu only moved into the house two months ago - I had no idea that he kept human remains here because I don't live in the same yard," said Mr Magubane.
Mr Magubane said he believes that his brother, along with three other young men, were lured by the traditional healer to work for him as they had been struggling to find jobs.
It is alleged that he sent the young men to dig graves in the middle of the night so he could make magic charms known locally as "muti".
Mthembeni Majola, a local politician, convened a community meeting shortly after the cannibalism suspects made their first court appearance last week.
"Most residents were shocked by this and now live in fear," but Mr Majola says others were not surprised.
"A few confessed to have consulted with the traditional healer and knowingly ate human flesh," he said.
"But what has angered most of us here is how gullible our people have become," saying that Mkhonyovu's customers were livestock thieves who were told he could make them invincible, even bulletproof, so that the police could not shoot them, said Mr Majola.
Phepsile Maseko, from South Africa's Traditional Healer's Organisation, has condemned the alleged cannibalism practices.
She said "Mkhonyovu" that was a fake healer who wanted to enrich himself and had brought "our sacred practices into disrepute".
"Ritual killings and the use of human tissue are not part of traditional healing... this angers us as traditional healers because we have to constantly defend our honest work," said Ms Maseko.
The five men, who were arraigned in court on Monday, amid public protests outside the courtroom, abandoned their bail request and will make another court appearance at the end of September.
|
9621135b7b8d63bcd4b6091f62a08ed7 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41278618 | What is behind clashes in Ethiopia's Oromia and Somali regions? | What is behind clashes in Ethiopia's Oromia and Somali regions?
Thousands of people have fled Ethiopia's Somali region following deadly clashes in recent days between ethnic Somalis and Oromos. The BBC's Kalkidan Yibeltal looks at the cause of the conflict and whether it can be stopped.
Dozens of people are reported to have died in clashes across Ethiopia's Oromia and Somali regions in recent days.
According to Adisu Arega, Oromia government's spokesperson, 18 people have been killed.
Twelve of those victims are ethnic Somalis, Mr Adisu told the BBC.
The figures are however disputed by the Somali regional government, which says that more than 30 ethnic Somalis have been killed in the Oromia town of Awaday.
Mr Adisu said the clashes had displaced at least 55,000 people, some of whom have taken refuge in makeshift camps at a stadium in the eastern city of Harar, whilst others are camping at police stations.
Local administrators have now asked aid agencies operating in the area to provide humanitarian assistance.
Following intense anti-government protests that plagued the Horn of Africa country during most of 2016, the government imposed a 10-month state of emergency, which was lifted in July.
While this heightened state of alert calmed most of the restive areas in the Oromia region, it did not stop cross-border clashes in the Oromia and Somali areas.
In February and March, hundreds were reported to have been killed in the southern Oromia district of Negele Borena after an incursion by a paramilitary force called the Liyu Police, which is backed by the Somali region.
Ethnic Oromos allege that the Liyu Police, which has previously been accused by rights groups of human rights violations, of being behind the current attacks.
The Somali regional government has however rejected the allegations and charged that senior officials in the Oromia government were sympathisers of the Oromo Liberation Front, which is categorised as a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian government.
While conflicts have been common between the two bordering communities, the public finger-pointing by top regional officials is unprecedented and could exacerbate the current conflict.
"We don't believe this is expected from a responsible senior government official," Communication Minister Negeri Lencho told the BBC.
Ethiopia's political arrangement - federalism structured along ethno-linguistic lines - dictates that ethnic borders are also usually political ones.
Critics argue that this structure is a tinder box that allows minor conflicts to escalate.
Oromia and Somali are, respectively, the two largest regions in the country by area size, sharing a border of more than 1,400 km (870 miles).
While Somalis are mostly pastoralists, living from their animals, Oromos tend to be farmers, as well as pastoralists.
Both communities inhabit the areas around the regional border.
Historically, their relationship has been characterised by territorial competition which often leads to disputes and conflicts over resources, including wells and grazing land.
These conflicts can cause the displacement of tens of thousands of people.
In 2004, a referendum to decide on the fate of more than 420 kebeles - the country's smallest administrative unit - gave 80% of them to Oromia.
Following the outcome, tens of thousands of ethnic Somalis reportedly fled the areas for fear of repercussions.
The decision has still not been implemented and this is one factor behind the current conflict.
Since the two communities are largely pastoralist and cross borders in search for pasture for their animals, it is difficult to clearly demarcate their boundaries.
Additionally, clashes that occur between the two communities can easily spread to neighbouring regions and countries because of shared ethnic ties.
The recent conflict has reportedly inspired the killing of two Ethiopians of Oromo origin in Hargeisa, capital of the
self-declared republic of Somaliland
.
People are reportedly trying to escape the violence by fleeing to the Kenyan side of the southern border town of Moyale, which also has a history of Oromo-Somali conflict.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has ordered that regional security forces be withdrawn from the border areas, with federal police patrolling the main roads instead.
He also urged local community leaders to support the government's peace efforts.
But it is not clear whether this will be enough to prevent the conflict from spreading.
|
4c5ac31519e70175d63bc11fcfa2c28e | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41490482 | Zimbabwe reporter held over 'Grace Mugabe underwear' story | Zimbabwe reporter held over 'Grace Mugabe underwear' story
A Zimbabwean journalist has been detained over a story alleging that used underwear had been distributed to ruling Zanu-PF supporters on First Lady Grace Mugabe's behalf, his lawyers say.
NewsDay reporter Kenneth Nyangani was likely to face "criminal defamation" charges, the lawyers added.
Zanu-PF MP Esau Mupfumi distributed the underwear, and said Mrs Mugabe had donated it, the newspaper reported.
There has been no official comment on Mr Nyangani's arrest.
It was unclear clear whether the complainant was the MP or the first lady, NewsDay reported.
Police in the eastern city of Mutare detained Mr Nyangani on Monday evening for "allegedly writing and publishing a story over the donation of some used undergarments" by President Robert Mugabe's wife, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said in a statement.
The privately-owned newspaper had earlier reported that Mr Mupfumi had handed out clothes at the weekend to Zanu-PF supporters in the Mutare area.
"I met the First Lady Grace Mugabe and I was given these clothes so that I can give you. I have briefs for you and I am told that most of your briefs are not in good shape, please come and collect your allocations today," Mr Mupfumi was quoted as saying.
"We have night dresses, sandals and clothes, come and take, this is from your First Lady Grace Mugabe," he added.
Worsening economic conditions in Zimbabwe are forcing many people to buy second-hand clothing, the AFP news agency reports.
It says such items include used underwear from Western countries which is chiefly imported from Mozambique.
Mrs Mugabe, the president's second wife, attracted widespread media attention in August when she was accused of attacking a model at a hotel in South Africa where her sons were staying.
She has denied any wrongdoing.
|
1fbe12adc2d1a8e6e0cf3b6fb3e3606a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41530924 | Zimbabwe succession row: Grace Mugabe warns of coup plot | Zimbabwe succession row: Grace Mugabe warns of coup plot
Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe has warned of a possible coup plot amid growing tensions in the fight to succeed her husband.
She says allies of Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa are threatening the lives of those who don't support him to replace President Robert Mugabe, 93.
Mrs Mugabe herself and Mr Mnangagwa are the front-runners and their rivalry has split the governing Zanu-PF.
The row comes after Mr Mnangagwa claimed that he was poisoned in August.
His supporters have suggested that rivals within Zanu-PF were responsible, although Mr Mnangagwa has distanced himself from such claims.
He has told state media that he remains loyal to President Mugabe.
An angry Grace Mugabe departed from a prepared speech at an event in Harare to attack Mr Mnangagwa.
"We are being threatened night and day that if a particular person does not become president we will be killed," she said.
"We will not bow to that pressure. They say there will be a coup, but no-one will recognise you. The African Union will not recognise you, the SADC [Southern African Development Community] will not."
Mr Mnangagwa fell ill at a political rally led by President Mugabe in August and had to be airlifted to South Africa for treatment.
His supporters suggested a rival group within Zanu-PF had poisoned him and appeared to blame ice cream from Mrs Mugabe's dairy firm.
But on Thursday, Mrs Mugabe dismissed the suggestions.
She said: "Why would my dairy business prepare a single poisoned ice cream cup just for him? Why would I want to kill him? I am the wife of the president. Who is Mnangagwa, who is he? What do I want from him?"
Addressing reporters earlier, Mr Mnangagwa said that while doctors had confirmed that he was poisoned, it was "false and malicious" to suggest that it was at the hands of the first lady.
Shingai Nyoka, BBC News, Harare
The tension between 93-year-old Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's possible successors is growing.
And in his characteristic fashion, President Mugabe has stayed out of the factional fights, refusing to take sides - publicly at least.
It is his wife, Grace Mugabe, who has taken the lead in voicing concerns about the vice-president.
Even though she doesn't officially speak for the president, her candid utterances reflect the anxiety within the first family over the vice-president's influence.
Mr Mnangagwa, who has worked with President Mugabe for more than 40 years, has been influential in previous election victories. It is inconceivable that President Mugabe would want to sack such a key figure ahead of elections next year.
But as Zimbabweans are seeing, in Zanu-PF politics anything is possible and no position is guaranteed.
Mr Mnangagwa pledged unflinching loyalty to the party and to the president.
Earlier this week, Zimbabwe's other vice-president, Phelekezela Mphoko, publicly reprimanded Mr Mnangagwa, accusing him of trying to "destabilise" the country.
Mr Mphoko said doctors had confirmed to the president that stale food and not poison was to blame.
He said there was an agenda to "undermine the authority" of the president and fuel tensions within the party.
|
3019597e0964c722b823bb3d66880bca | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41620589 | Ivory Coast crash: Four die when cargo plane plunges into sea | Ivory Coast crash: Four die when cargo plane plunges into sea
A cargo plane has crashed into the sea off Ivory Coast, close to Abidjan airport, killing four people and injuring six.
The wreckage of the turboprop plane, which was carrying 10people, was swept toward a beach where rescuers treated surviving crewmen on the sand.
All four of the dead are Moldovan while four French nationals and two Moldovans were injured.
Local police told AFP the aircraft had been trying to land when it crashed.
According to local news site Ivoire Matin one person was taken into custody after the crash. It is unclear if they are a member of the crew.
Reuters news agency reports that the plane crashed during a storm with heavy rain and lightning.
The plane was a Ukrainian-made Antonov chartered by the French army as part of its anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane, a French military source told AFP.
Ivory Coast country profile
|
c8845e41ca41a6ce50fee1138296e448 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41621660 | Somalia: At least 230 dead in Mogadishu blast | Somalia: At least 230 dead in Mogadishu blast
A massive bomb attack in a busy area of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday is now known to have killed at least 230 people, police say.
Hundreds more were wounded when a lorry packed with explosives detonated near the entrance of a hotel.
It is the deadliest terror attack in Somalia since the Islamist al-Shabab group launched its insurgency in 2007.
President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed blamed the attack on them, calling it a "heinous act".
No group has yet said it was behind the bombing.
"Brothers, this cruel act was targeted at civilians who were going about their business," the president said.
He has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the blast.
Local media reported families gathering in the area on Sunday morning, looking for missing loved ones amid the ruins of one of the largest bombs ever to strike the city.
Police official Ibrahim Mohamed told AFP news agency the death toll was likely to rise. "There are more than 300 wounded, some of them seriously," he said.
Officials also confirmed that two people were killed in a second bomb attack in the Madina district of the city.
Mogadishu's Mayor Thabit Abdi called for unity while addressing a crowd of people who had gathered to protest.
"Oh, people of Mogadishu, Mogadishu shouldn't be a graveyard for burnt dead bodies," he said.
"Mogadishu is a place of respect, and if we remain united like we are today, moving ahead, we will surely defeat the enemy, Allah willing."
A BBC Somali reporter at the scene of the main blast said the Safari Hotel had collapsed, with people trapped under the rubble.
An eyewitness, local resident Muhidin Ali, told AFP it was "the biggest blast I have ever witnessed, it destroyed the whole area".
Meanwhile, the director of the Madina Hospital, Mohamed Yusuf Hassan, said he was shocked by the scale of the attack.
"Seventy-two wounded people were admitted to the hospital and 25 of them are in very serious condition. Others lost their hands and legs at the scene.
"What happened yesterday was incredible, I have never seen such a thing before, and countless people lost their lives. Corpses were burned beyond recognition."
The international community has been quick to condemn the attack:
|
e680a8bf37c49a860240bde3fb2af3f0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41696703 | Millions caught in South Africa's 'worst data breach' | Millions caught in South Africa's 'worst data breach'
Authorities in South Africa are investigating a data breach which has seen the personal details of more than 30 million citizens leaked on the internet - placing them at risk of identity theft.
The information contained in a 27GB file was discovered by Australia-based internet security expert Troy Hunt earlier this week.
It contains their names, full identity numbers, income, gender, employment history, contact numbers and even home addresses.
South Africa's population is about 54 million, so more than half of the country is affected by what has been described as the country's worst leak of private data.
The country's State Security Agency (SSA) would not be drawn into discussing the implications of such a breach and whether it could threaten security.
"We are looking in to the matter. There is an investigation. We are obviously very concerned," SSA spokesperson Brian Dube told the BBC.
"It's important to us to get to the bottom of this, see how it came about and do whatever we have to do, to deal with it," he said.
Local newspaper, The Times, is reporting that the breach has even reached senior politicians, including President Jacob Zuma, but this has not been confirmed.
There are many unknowns.
According to Mr Hunt, the file dates back to April 2015 but it is not clear how long the information was on the internet prior to his find.
The information could have been accessed by anyone from anywhere in the world if they knew what to look for.
Experts say this is the sort of data that companies would pay good money for.
Mr Hunt said on Twitter this week that the data breach "is one of the worst I've ever seen on many levels".
The server of a property company called Jigsaw Holdings appears to be the source of the breach, this was traced through an IP address, according to local reports.
While Jigsaw has not been available for comment, it is not believed the cyber breach was a result of malice or negligence.
Some local newspapers have been calling for South Africans to use Mr Hunt's website
haveibeenpwned
which works by checking one's email address to see if their account has been compromised.
I took his advice. I've been using a private email address for years which I have always believed to be secure - but it turns out I'm in the 30 million.
It is not clear what happens now and perhaps that is the part that is most unnerving - do you wait until you are a target? Will you be a target? Do you warn your credit providers? Or simply do nothing?
The publisher of Stuff Magazine, a technology magazine in South Africa, says in the wrong hands, the information could be used to impersonate people.
"All of this information could be used to open a bank account, a credit card account and they would use it knowing that someone will else have to pay for it when the bill comes,"
Radio 702 quotes Toby Shapshak as saying
.
He also speculated in the same interview that as many as 60 million people have had their personal data compromised, if you include the details of people who have died.
South Africa's banking institutions are said to be among the safest in the world, but they could be caught off-guard if the information was misused.
It is said to be the largest leak of the details of private citizens in the country's history - and yet it seems to have gone largely undetected.
There is no outcry.
But Mr Shapshak says South Africans "should panic".
"Yes the data may be five years old but our ID numbers stay the same, our employment history stays the same and these are the sort of things that make it possible to create fake identities. It is a serious problem and I'm not being paranoid."
Experts say cyber crime is still not taken as seriously as conventional crime, even though it can be used to fund all sorts of illicit activities including terrorism. While the possibility of identity theft could open a whole new door for criminals here.
"It's too early to say anything at this moment... There are a lot of reports going around, but we are concerned and looking into it," said Mr Dube.
And so we wait - and hope that the right people are doing all the right things to protect the country's citizens from those who live on the dark web.
|
c29490ac61652305741da579ec3f3d11 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41702662 | Robert Mugabe's WHO appointment condemned as 'an insult' | Robert Mugabe's WHO appointment condemned as 'an insult'
The choice of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe as a World Health Organization (WHO) goodwill ambassador has been criticised by several organisations including the British government.
It described his selection as "surprising and disappointing" given his country's rights record, and warned it could overshadow the WHO's work.
The opposition in Zimbabwe and campaign groups also criticised the move.
The WHO head said he was "rethinking his approach in light of WHO values".
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had previously praised Zimbabwe for its commitment to public health.
He said it was a country that "places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide health care to all".
Mr Mugabe's appointment as a "goodwill ambassador" to help tackle non-communicable diseases has attracted a chorus of criticism.
The British government said it was all the more surprising given US and EU sanctions against him.
"We have registered our concerns" with the director general, a spokesman said.
"Although Mugabe will not have an executive role, his appointment risks overshadowing the work undertaken globally by the WHO on non-communicable diseases."
Zimbabwe's leader has been frequently taken to task over human rights abuses by the European Union and the US.
Critics say Zimbabwe's health care system has collapsed, with staff often going without pay while medicines are in short supply.
Dr Tedros, who is Ethiopian,
is the first African to lead the WHO
. He was elected in May with a mandate to tackle perceived politicisation in the organisation.
US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it was an embarrassment to give the ambassador role to Mr Mugabe, because his "utter mismanagement of the economy has devastated health services".
HRW's Kenneth Roth said Mr Mugabe's appointment was a cause for concern because the president and some of his officials travel abroad for treatment.
"When you go to Zimbabwean hospitals, they lack the most basic necessities," he said.
Zimbabwe's main MDC opposition party also denounced the WHO move.
"The Zimbabwe health delivery system is in a shambolic state, it is an insult," spokesman Obert Gutu told AFP.
"Mugabe trashed our health delivery system... he allowed our public hospitals to collapse."
Other groups who have criticised Mr Mugabe's appointment include the Wellcome Trust, the NCD Alliance, UN Watch, the World Heart Federation and Action Against Smoking.
President Mugabe heard about his appointment while attending a conference held by the WHO, a UN agency, on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Montevideo, Uruguay.
He told delegates his country had adopted several strategies to combat the challenges presented by such diseases,
which the WHO says kill about 40 million people a year
and include cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes.
"Zimbabwe has developed a national NCD policy, a palliative care policy, and has engaged United Nations agencies working in the country, to assist in the development of a cervical cancer prevention and control strategy," Mr Mugabe was reported
by the state-run Zimbabwe Herald newspaper
as saying.
But the president admitted that Zimbabwe was similar to other developing countries in that it was "hamstrung by a lack of adequate resources for executing programmes aimed at reducing NCDs and other health conditions afflicting the people".
Imogen Foulkes, BBC News, Geneva
The UN has a bit of thing for goodwill ambassadors, especially famous ones.
Angelina Jolie, as ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency, was regularly pictured comforting displaced families in over-crowded camps.
Swiss tennis star Roger Federer visits aid projects in Africa for Unicef and plays charity matches to raise money.
Further back in time, film star and Unicef goodwill ambassador Audrey Hepburn visited disaster zones and graced gala dinners where her glittering presence was an encouragement to donors.
The publicity does attract support for relief efforts.
But it is hard to imagine 93-year-old Robert Mugabe fulfilling a similar remit.
Will he provide comfort in WHO field clinics in conflict zones? Would one of his suit jackets fetch a high price at auction? Would the presence of a man who is widely accused of human rights abuses encourage more $10,000-a-plate attendees at a gala ball?
Somehow it just does not seem likely, which begs the question, what exactly is Mr Mugabe going to do in his new role? The World Health Organization has not made this at all clear.
|
035125194b4aab384a21dcb326ad87c0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41713919 | WHO cancels Robert Mugabe goodwill ambassador role | WHO cancels Robert Mugabe goodwill ambassador role
The World Health Organization has revoked the appointment of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador following a widespread outcry.
"I have listened carefully to all who have expressed their concerns,"
WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said
in a statement.
He had previously praised Zimbabwe for its commitment to public health.
But critics pointed out that Zimbabwe's healthcare system had collapsed in recent years.
During the first 20 years of his 37-year rule, Mr Mugabe widely expanded health care, but the system has badly been affected by the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy since 2000.
Staff often go without pay, medicines are in short supply, and Mr Mugabe, who has outlived the average life expectancy in his country by three decades, travels abroad for medical treatment.
Mr Tedros said he had consulted with the Zimbabwean government and decided that rescinding Mr Mugabe's position was "in the best interests of" the WHO.
He said he remained "firmly committed to working with all countries and their leaders" to build universal health care.
Mr Tedros, elected in May under the slogan "let's prove the impossible is possible" had said he hoped Mr Mugabe would use his goodwill ambassador role to "influence his peers in the region".
But the appointment was met by a wave of surprise and condemnation. The UK government, the Canadian prime minister, the Wellcome Trust, the NCD Alliance, UN Watch, the World Heart Federation, Action Against Smoking and Zimbabwean lawyers and social media users were among those who criticised the decision.
The BBC's Andrew Harding in Johannesburg reports that Mr Mugabe's supporters are likely to see this episode as Western meddling in Africa.
Imogen Foulkes, BBC News, Geneva
Following the storm of criticism from human rights groups and expressions of dismay from many member states, the WHO had little choice but to cancel its plan to make Robert Mugabe a goodwill ambassador.
The about-face will raise questions over the leadership of the WHO's new director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The decision to honour Mr Mugabe is likely to have been taken several weeks ago, and at no point did Mr Tedros seem aware that appointing as goodwill ambassador a man who has been accused of human rights abuses, and of neglecting to the point of collapse his own country's health service, might be controversial.
The WHO was supposed to be embarking on a new era of reform. Instead, it is mired in a public relations disaster.
|
baa413e2d3b2731b570cb42f34594fbc | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41807642 | Are protesters right on South Africa farm murder rate? | Are protesters right on South Africa farm murder rate?
"Genoeg is genoeg."
Enough is enough. That was the message on Monday, as (mostly white)
activists carried crosses and blocked roads to demand better protection for South Africa's farms
, after they were targeted in a spate of murders.
The South African Police Service has argued that
the majority of attackers are motivated purely by a desire to rob farmers,
but the country's Institute of Race Relations has warned
there may be a racial element to some of the attacks.
There's a sense in some quarters that white farmers are being targeted in particular.
Many have claimed in recent weeks that South Africa's farmers are more likely to be murdered than the average South African.
Neither of the claims above is supported by reliable data. So what does the evidence say?
According to the best available statistics, farm murders are at their highest level since 2010-11.
South Africa's Police Service says 74 people were murdered on farms between April 2016 and March 2017, up from 58 in the previous year.
That's broadly in line with figures collected by the Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU). They rely on media reports, social media posts and tip-offs from their members, which means they don't pick up every murder or attack that takes place.
They counted 64 murders on farms in 2015, 71 in 2016, and 68 in the first nine months of 2017 alone.
It is worth noting that both the police and the TAU are counting murdered farmers, farm workers and visitors to farms - irrespective of race.
But a rise in the number of farm murders doesn't tell us anything about whether farmers are more at risk than average South African.
To do that, we need to calculate the murder rate - the chance of being murdered.
It's easy enough to tell you what the average is for South Africa.
There were 19,016 murders in South Africa
in 2016-17, according to the police.
According to Statistics South Africa's mid-year estimate for 2016,
there were 55,908,900 people in South Africa.
That's 34 murders for every 100,000 people.
Are farmers at greater risk than this national average?
The truth is, we don't know. We can't calculate a meaningful murder rate for farmers, because we don't know how many there are.
Do we include all 810,000 people employed in agriculture? That gives a farm murder rate of 9.1 per 100,000 - much lower than the South African average.
Or, do we restrict ourselves to the 32,375 commercial farmers counted in the country's last agricultural census in 2007?
That's what AfriForum, a group that campaigns for the interests of Afrikaners in South Africa, appears to have done.
It has estimated a farm murder rate of 156 per 100,000 that has been widely quoted in recent days.
It appears to be calculated as follows.
First, take the 50 murdered farmers counted by the TAU in 2016 (which excludes murders of family members, employees and visitors).
Then, divide by 32,000 - an estimate of the total number of farmers, based on the 2007 figure.
There are problems with this approach.
First, the data is very old, so the number of farmers may be different now.
Second, to exclude murdered family members, employees, and visitors to the farm from such an analysis misses part of the picture of what is happening on South African farms - but we don't know how many of those people there are.
Third, the 2007 census did not include small, non-commercial farms - but some of the murders counted in the figures did take place on smaller farms. By leaving them out, the murder rate comes out higher than it should.
This also helps explain why it's impossible to say whether white farmers are more at risk than black farmers - or more at risk than the population at large.
We simply don't know what proportion of people on South Africa's farms is white.
The closest we get is
the 2016 Community Survey
of agricultural households. Of the nearly 200,000 households whose agricultural activity takes place on farmland, about 54,000 have a white person at the head of the household.
The problem is, we don't know how many people are in each household or how many of the households are racially mixed.
So we don't know how many white people there are on South Africa's farms. And that means we can't work out how likely those white people are to be murdered.
We could try and guesstimate, by making various assumptions about how many farmers there are now, how many are white and how many people live on their farms.
South Africa's Institute of Race Relations has attempted to do so here
.
But as they explain in their analysis, small changes to those assumptions can make huge differences to the estimated murder rate. On some sets of assumptions, the farm murder rate is no higher than the national average.
Fellow fact-checkers Africa Check discuss further pitfalls here.
In short - we have no clear idea about the murder rate on South African farms.
And because of that, the claim being made by protesters about farmers being more likely to be murdered is not supported by reliable data.
Read more from Reality Check
Follow us on Twitter
|
0c76a440326737f6d365e7e61ef46f96 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42013720 | Zimbabwe in 10 numbers | Zimbabwe in 10 numbers
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe resigned last year after almost four decades in power. Now, the country is approaching its first post-Mugabe election, with his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa and MDC Alliance candidate Nelson Chamisa the two front-runners in a field of 23 candidates.
Here are 10 numbers that will help you understand how the country got to where it is now.
Robert Mugabe, who led the country's liberation movement, was in power from independence in 1980 until he was ousted in November last year at the age of 93. His years in office, first as prime minister until the switch to a presidential system in 1987, were marked by economic turmoil and the crushing of dissent.
Emmerson Mnangagwa is his successor - nicknamed the "crocodile" because of political cunning. Once a Mugabe loyalist, he promises to revive the shattered economy and hopes to win elections on 30 July to legitimise his presidency.
Zimbabwe's economy has struggled since a controversial land reform programme was introduced in 2000.
The programme that saw white-owned farms redistributed to landless black Zimbabweans - and those with good political connections - led to sharp falls in production.
As the country's central bank printed money to try to get out of the crisis, rampant inflation took hold.
Although the World Bank does not have figures for 2008 and 2009, numbers from Zimbabwe's central bank showed annual inflation reached 231 million % in July 2008. Officials gave up reporting monthly statistics when it peaked at just under 80 billion % in mid-November 2008.
The country was forced to abandon its own currency a year later at a rate of Z$35 quadrillion to US$1.
More on post-Mugabe Zimbabwe:
The political and economic crises between 2000 and 2008 nearly halved Zimbabwe's GDP -
the biggest contraction in a peacetime economy, according to the World Bank.
A brief period of recovery between 2009 and 2012 has now faltered and the economy faces serious challenges, says the World Bank. Growth has slowed sharply from an average 8% from 2009 to 2012, caused by shifts in trade and a series of major droughts.
Mr Mugabe always blamed Zimbabwe's economic problems on a plot by Western countries, led by the UK, to oust him because of his seizure of white-owned farms.
The country's political and economic crises have resulted in high poverty rates.
The hard years between 2000 and 2008 saw poverty rates increase to
more than 72%, according to the World Bank.
It also left a fifth of the population in extreme poverty.
Extreme poverty, estimated to have fallen from 2009 to 2014, is now projected to have risen again substantially.
About 27% of children under the age of five suffer stunted growth, with 9% severely stunted because of poor nutrition, the
2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey report revealed.
But poverty in Zimbabwe is still lower than in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, where about
41% of the population were living on less than $1.90 a day
in 2013, World Bank data suggests.
Estimates of the country's unemployment levels vary wildly.
The World Bank's modelled estimates, based on International Labour Organisation data, puts the figure
as low as 5% in 2016
, while Zimbabwe's biggest trade union claimed
the jobless rate was as high as 90% last year.
However, the World Bank's definition only covers those actively seeking work. Many of those not counted may not seek a job despite wanting one because they "view job opportunities as limited, or because they have restricted labour mobility, or face discrimination, or structural, social or cultural barriers".
The CIA World Factbook estimates the rate was
95% in 2009, but says current figures are not known.
Thanks to large investments in education since independence, Zimbabwe has one of the highest adult literacy rates in Africa, with
89% of the adult population literate
, according to World Bank data from 2014.
Globally, the literacy rate stood at 86% in 2016, while in sub-Saharan Africa it was 64%.
Almost all women and men aged 15-49 have had at least some primary education,
according to the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey.
More than 70% of people aged 15-49 have also attended secondary school.
Zimbabwe has the sixth highest HIV prevalence rate in sub-Saharan Africa, with 1.3 million people living with HIV in 2016,
according to UNAids.
However, after a peak in 1997, rates are declining.
According to the UN, this is a result of successful campaigns encouraging condom use as well as programmes preventing the transmission of infection from mother to child. Treatment and support services have also improved.
Life expectancy fell in the 1990s, with the HIV/Aids epidemic a major killer. It dropped from a high of just under 61 years in 1986 to 44.1 years in 2003.
It is now steadily improving again, but with unemployment and poverty endemic and HIV/Aids rates still high, it remained at just 60 in 2015, according to World Bank data.
Mobile devices are the leading communication tool for Zimbabweans.
But while most have a mobile phone, only 43% of households have a radio, 37% have a television and 10% have a computer,
according to the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey.
After a growth spurt after independence in 1980, a decline in birth rates and a rise in death rates saw population growth slide downwards.
With high outward migration rates also high, the population has not recovered its post-independence growth.
Written and produced by Lucy Rodgers.
|
55300d061295501f33842b1eab244921 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42072673 | Mugabe resigns: Zimbabwe celebrates end of an era | Mugabe resigns: Zimbabwe celebrates end of an era
Jubilant Zimbabweans have celebrated late into the night after Robert Mugabe resigned as president.
He held power for 37 years and once said "only God" could remove him.
His ally turned rival, former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is expected to return from neighbouring South Africa and could be appointed as the new president within hours.
Mr Mugabe's shock resignation came in the form of a letter read out by the speaker of parliament.
In it, Mr Mugabe - who had so far resisted pressure from the public, the army and his own party to step aside - said he was resigning to allow a smooth and peaceful transfer of power, and that his decision was voluntary.
The announcement abruptly halted an impeachment hearing that had begun against him on Tuesday.
Lawmakers from the ruling party and opposition roared with glee, and spontaneous scenes of joy erupted in the streets with people dancing, singing, honking car horns and waving flags.
"I'm so happy, wonderful, feeling so much excited, this is the greatest moment for our country," Julian Mtukudzi told the AFP news agency.
"We have been having sleepless nights hoping and waiting and we are so happy. It's over and it's done."
Activist and political candidate Vimbaishe Musvaburi broke down in tears of joy speaking to the BBC.
"We are tired of this man, we are so glad he's gone. We don't want him anymore and yes, today, it's victory," she said.
The ruling Zanu-PF party says former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa will succeed Mr Mugabe.
Mr Mnangagwa's sacking earlier this month triggered a political crisis.
It had been seen by many as an attempt to clear the way for Grace Mugabe to succeed her husband as leader and riled the military leadership, who stepped in and put Mr Mugabe under house arrest.
Mr Mugabe, 93, was until his resignation the world's oldest leader.
According to the constitution his successor should be the current Vice-President, Phelekezela Mphoko, a supporter of Grace Mugabe.
But a ZANU-PF official Larry Mavhima told Reuters Mr Mnangagwa is to return home for 11:30 GMT, where he is later expected to be sworn-in.
Fergal Keane, BBC Africa editor, Harare
Driving through Harare, the cheers and the blaring of car horns signalled the end of the Mugabe era.
The man who dominated Zimbabwe for so long has already begun to fade into history here. It is a city singing with the noise of joy.
Exactly a week after the military first moved against President Mugabe, I was standing in parliament as legislators debated the motion to impeach him.
Suddenly, there was cheering.
An usher approached the speaker and handed him a letter. He stood to speak and we strained to hear his words. They were muffled but momentous. Robert Mugabe had resigned.
On the floor of the parliament I met jubilant MPs. Some danced. Celebrations spilled into the hallways and out into the street.
Despite welcoming the news, Zimbabwean opposition and civil society figures have warned that the political culture needs to change.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told the BBC he hoped that Zimbabwe was on a "new trajectory" that would include free and fair elections.
He said Mr Mugabe should be allowed to "go and rest for his last days".
Prominent Zimbabwean opposition politician David Coltart tweeted: "We have removed a tyrant but not yet a tyranny."
African Union president Alpha Conde said he was "truly delighted" by the news, but expressed regret at the way Mr Mugabe's rule has ended.
"It is a shame that he is leaving through the back door and that he is forsaken by the parliament," he said.
|
49aa10fc0dae849be08c973403b2e77f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42130757 | Mugabe will play elder statesman role in Zimbabwe, says mediator | Mugabe will play elder statesman role in Zimbabwe, says mediator
Robert Mugabe will continue to have a role to play in Zimbabwean politics, the Jesuit priest who helped negotiate his resignation has told the BBC.
Father Fidelis Mukonori said he would provide "advice" as an elder statesman, including to the new president.
Mr Mugabe, 93, resigned on Tuesday after a military intervention and days of mass protests.
Mr Mukonori said he could not confirm reports that the ex-leader was granted $10m (£7.5m) to ease him out of office.
Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in to replace Mr Mugabe as president on Friday.
Mr Mnangagwa, long a close ally of Mr Mugabe, was sacked earlier this month, triggering the political crisis that eventually saw his boss's downfall.
Father Mukonori, 70, who is close to Robert Mugabe and acted as a mediator between him and the military, said the new president would go to his predecessor for political counsel.
"In the African world, senior citizens are there for advice," he told the BBC's Richard Galpin at a church outside the capital, Harare, after leading a service that included prayers giving thanks for the peaceful transfer of power.
He referred to what Mr Mnangagwa said about his predecessor at his inauguration.
"When he says 'he's my father, he's my leader, he's my mentor', you tell me he's going to stay off from his father, from his mentor, from his leader? I don't think so."
The priest said that Mr Mugabe and his wife Grace remained at their house in Harare and had no plans to leave the country.
The military takeover came in response to Mr Mugabe's decision to position Grace as his successor and sack Mr Mnangagwa from the vice-presidency.
Father Mukonori said he could not confirm
reports that the ex-president was granted millions of dollars and promised that his assets would not be touched to persuade him to step down.
"We didn't offer him anything... He resigned for the good of Zimbabwe," he said.
He added: "What I have read in the newspapers is about immunity [from prosecution], and that he will be looked after like any other former head of state."
Mr Mugabe leaving power, he added, was the best thing he had ever done.
Separately on Sunday, Robert Mugabe was described as being "quite jovial" by a nephew in an interview with the French news agency AFP.
"He is actually looking forward to his new life - farming and staying at the rural home. He has taken it well," Leo Mugabe said.
He said that Grace wanted to focus on already announced plans to build
the controversial $1bn Robert Mugabe University
in Mazowe, near Harare.
There are fears that President Mnangagwa, who is associated with some of worst atrocities committed under the ruling Zanu-PF party since independence in 1980, will not usher in the democratic reforms that many in Zimbabwe are hoping for.
But Father Mukonori said he believed the former spymaster knows that democracy is "crucial".
|
aa8c18aedeac7295a1389047a558c753 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42510304 | South African court delivers Zuma impeachment blow | South African court delivers Zuma impeachment blow
South Africa's top court has found that parliament failed to comply with its duties in holding President Jacob Zuma accountable over a public funding case.
The ruling said parliament must now set out rules for impeachment proceedings, but it remains unclear whether this will lead to any impeachment.
The court was hearing a case brought by opposition groups who wanted parliament to be compelled to begin impeachment.
It relates to Mr Zuma's use of state funds to upgrade his private home.
Handing down the Constitutional Court ruling, Judge Chris Jafta said: "We conclude that the assembly did not hold the president to account.
"The assembly must put in place a mechanism that could be used for the removal of the president from office."
But the court said it could not intervene on how parliament determined the mechanism and that it had no power to order an impeachment
The court awarded costs against Mr Zuma and parliament.
The court ruling was by majority. Dissenting Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said the ruling was a clear case of "judicial overreach".
Some $15m (£11.1m) in state money was spent upgrading Mr Zuma's home.
In March 2016, the court ruled he had ignored a watchdog's findings and said he must pay some of the money back. The president has reimbursed $631,000, deemed by the Treasury to be "reasonable".
Parliament then debated the matter and he survived a no-confidence vote, but Friday's court ruling said that the procedures it followed were insufficient.
Mr Zuma has been weakened by a number of corruption allegations and by his recent replacement by Cyril Ramaphosa as head of the ruling ANC.
Mr Zuma, 75, is scheduled to remain president until general elections in 2019.
He has faced a number of corruption allegations, all of which he denies.
Earlier this month
Mr Zuma lost two court cases in one day
, both linked to corruption allegations.
|
e6b305f6c89d7f052662776863d05a58 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42517535 | Tanzania threatens to shut churches after Magufuli criticism | Tanzania threatens to shut churches after Magufuli criticism
Tanzanian authorities have threatened to shut down churches which mix religion and politics after a cleric criticised President John Magufuli.
The cleric, Zachary Kakobe, used a Christmas sermon to say the country was "turning into a one party state".
Days later, the Home Affairs Ministry warned religious organisations which dabbled in political issues would have their licence revoked.
Critics complain of growing intolerance towards dissent in Tanzania.
Some critics accuse President Magufuli, nicknamed "the Bulldozer", of becoming increasingly authoritarian - a charge he strongly denies.
Several newspapers have been shut down and individuals have been prosecuted for allegedly insulting the president on social media, while last year Tanzanian police indefinitely suspended political protests and rallies, only permitting political campaigning during elections.
The constitution of Tanzania protects freedom of worship - although religious organisations must register for a licence with the country's Home Affairs Ministry to operate legally.
But Mr Kabobe, who leads a Pentecostal church in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, used his Christmas sermon to tell congregants Tanzania was "quietly turning into a one-state rule by systematically banning political activity".
On Thursday, Projest Rwegasira, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, warned religious leaders talking about political issues "could lead to cancellation of the registration of the concerned religious society", news agency Reuters reports.
He said religious leaders "using their sermons to analyse political issues is contrary to the law".
|
645c71c46a2696f5464c80b51a80b026 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42529032 | Dozens killed in bus and lorry road crash in Kenya | Dozens killed in bus and lorry road crash in Kenya
At least 36 people have died in a head-on collision between a lorry and a Nairobi-bound bus on a notoriously dangerous road near Migaa in Kenya.
Local officials said the accident happened at 03:00 (0:00 GMT), and the bus was speeding and in the wrong lane.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has ranked Kenya as one of the world's worst countries for road safety.
Police believe over 100 people have died in the same area on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway in recent weeks.
The bus was reportedly carrying 46 passengers to Nairobi from the western town of Busia when the accident happened.
"I was asleep when the accident occurred and all I heard was a loud bang and screams from all over before I was helped out,"
a passenger who survived the crash told a local radio station
.
Both vehicles' drivers are said to be among the dead, with the youngest victim reportedly a three-year-old child.
The Kenyan Red Cross said on Twitter that 18 passengers from the bus were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Six of the injured later died, officials say.
Police say the accident on Sunday is the worst on the highway in the month of December.
The National Transport and Safety Authority announced an immediate ban on overnight travel for long-distance buses following Sunday's crash.
Earlier this month
Kenyan officials announced the road was going to be renovated into a dual carriageway in 2018
, in order to try and minimise accidents on the deadly stretch.
|
c3d701136dac653185e9aee0881f8f68 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42529862 | Congo: Deaths at anti-Kabila protest | Congo: Deaths at anti-Kabila protest
Security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have killed at least seven people at a protest calling for President Joseph Kabila to step down, UN peacekepers say.
Police said three people had died and two of the deaths were being investigated.
Church activists and opposition parties had backed the demonstration.
Under a deal reached a year ago, Mr Kabila was due to step down by the end of 2017.
That was a year after the end of his second term in office. An election to replace him has now been delayed until December 2018.
Catholic activists had called for protests after Sunday church services, but the Congolese authorities banned the demonstration.
Police used live ammunition and tear gas to prevent protesters from gathering at locations including churches.
Two men were shot dead outside a church in the capital Kinshasa, rights group Human Rights Watch said.
UN spokeswoman Florence Marchal said that in addition to the seven people shot dead in Kinshasa, another protester had been killed in the central city of Kananga,
More than 120 people had been arrested, she said.
She condemned the "use of force against peaceful demonstrators" and the "violent suppression of fundamental rights and freedoms by security forces".
Mr Kabila has been in power since 2001. He was supposed to step down after his second and final term came to an end in 2016 but the vote to replace him was not held.
The failure to organise the polls led to a wave of deadly demonstrations by opposition supporters. The UN says dozens of people have been killed during anti-government protests over the past year.
A deal to create a transitional government brokered by the Catholic church collapsed because the government and the opposition were unable to agree on the power-sharing mechanism.
|
e0db696c3eea3abe077ab9ee2ddf5e25 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42582343?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Blink%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D | Why African millennials can't get enough of Bitcoin | Why African millennials can't get enough of Bitcoin
Bitcoin's eye-watering price surge over the past year is proving too tempting to resist despite fears that cryptocurrencies are a bubble floating towards an inevitable burst. One group for whom it holds particular appeal is African millennials, writes the BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga from Uganda.
Thirty year-old Peace Akware in Kampala is a convert to the cryptocurrency craze.
Like any self-respecting middle class millennial here her smartphone is always within reach and with it her digital wallet.
"I check my Bitcoin every day and any chance I can get.
Any minute, any hour, anytime, as often as I can," she tells me from the small bungalow she rents on the outskirts of Kampala.
Finding a job here is almost like a lottery for graduates so Ugandans often have so-called side hustles.
Peace has sold clothes and even got into money lending. Both failed.
But buying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin appeals to her because it requires less of her time and there are no upfront costs.
She's bought more than a thousand dollars worth of Bitcoin.
So far the gamble is paying off and overall she is seeing her digital value rise.
"You know there's potential for it growing even further. I would like to buy a car. I would like to buy land. I would like to build with it."
It's not just those hoping to get rich quick who are getting in on the action.
In parts of the continent - especially commercial hubs like Lagos, Nairobi and Johannesburg - a small but growing number of people are finding that cryptocurrencies offer a cheaper solution to an expensive problem - transferring funds across borders.
The technology platform Bitpesa uses Bitcoin as a medium to transfer cash across borders.
It is like a remittance company.
With traditional remittance companies like Western Union, when you transfer money initially it goes from your local currency into dollars then on the other side they receive dollars which are then converted into the local currency.
You lose a lot of money in that conversion.
What Bitpesa does is substitute the dollars with Bitcoin.
It is cheaper, especially when there is a shortage of dollars in the country or restrictions on accessing dollars.
It is also quicker because you don't have to go through long complicated bank approvals.
Five African tech trends to look out for in 2018
The computer that can smell explosives
Africa needs more engineers and makers
How African governments block social media
Elizabeth Rossiello is the CEO of Bitpesa. Even as someone who knows how the finance world works, she gets frustrated with traditional banking.
"I've been in Nairobi for the past month and I had three big banking things to do.
"All three of these operations with three different Kenyan banks were cancelled for different reasons, or had delays or needed additional information so it took almost two-and-a-half weeks per transaction to get them finalised and I'm an expert."
Bitpesa has been operating for four years now and has over 6,000 customers across the continent.
It focuses on big-ticket transfers - for example, paying suppliers in China or employees in another country.
In Nigeria, when the government placed controls on access to the US dollar during a financial crunch, Bitcoin made it much easier for businesses to transfer cash abroad, something that has increased interest in cryptocurrencies in the country.
In places like Zimbabwe, where there has been political and economic instability, Bitcoin has become a place to store value, buy goods and services from abroad and crucially a vehicle for remittances from the diaspora.
Many central banks are sceptical.
The Nigerian, Kenyan and Ugandan central banks have issued warnings about getting involved in the new and unregulated market.
The governor of the Central Bank of Kenya went as far as saying digital currencies are a type of Ponzi scheme because of the way their value often fluctuates.
Martin Serugga, a sharply dressed currency trader in Kampala warns people to be cautious too.
He says unfamiliarity about the new financial instruments could lead to criminals duping customers out of their money.
Nevertheless, he has started weekly classes with over 50 people attending to learn about cryptocurrencies and how to trade them against traditional currencies like the US dollar or British pound.
He says high youth unemployment in Uganda is driving interest in Bitcoin and other products.
"If you don't have factory jobs and you don't have corporate jobs to serve the thousands of young people coming out of the universities this is an alternative," he says.
Mr Serugga's class is made up of equal numbers of men and women, who are mostly young.
They come to an upmarket coffee shop for their dose of the financial markets.
The bright projector on the screen flashes numbers, graphs and bright colours.
Joachim Ndhokero, a recent economics graduate, is still unemployed.
His father encouraged him to attend the classes to make some money but it has not been easy.
He lost over $900 (£664) in a trade gone wrong.
Before he lost all his money, he had just made a $200 profit.
Then he went to the cinema and lost everything.
"I think it was within like two hours.
"That day I learnt that for cryptocurrencies, since they have a bigger spread, they can easily bring in losses. If it's a loss, it's really a loss."
The expert advice here is "use what you can afford to lose".
But it's not just the currency aspect of this technology that people think will transform the continent.
Digital security expert Neil Blazevic sees the blockchain technology which underpins cryptocurrencies as the more important innovation.
Blockchain is a form of recording data that cannot be tampered with or hacked. It can be used for documents from contracts drawn up by lawyers to land registries.
He lists many more applications.
"If African developers, entrepreneurs, and governments can leverage blockchain technologies, they may have a shot at tackling some of the continent's most intractable problems of the unbanked masses, digital identities, untrusted voting systems, to name only a few applications," Mr Blazevic explains.
"With the right support for innovation, and collaboration Africa could once again leapfrog over the digital divide and become a market leader just like it did in the move from landline communications infrastructure to the mobile phone ecosystem."
One person who has fully embraced the African mobile phone revolution is Ms Akware.
She continues to watch over her digital wallet.
She knows that the value of Bitcoin could fall at any moment.
If all fails she will probably start again from scratch with a new venture.
For the moment she is holding on, hoping to buy her first car in two months.
|
ba63479fddbfe91536934d4ff4a15c3e | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42787773 | Cape Town water crisis: 'My wife doesn't shower any more' | Cape Town water crisis: 'My wife doesn't shower any more'
The BBC's Mohammed Allie is one of millions of people trying to stave off Day Zero - the day the taps in the South African city of Cape Town will run dry. Here, he tells us what life is like when you have just 50 litres of water a day.
My wife does not use the shower any more. Instead, she boils about 1.5 litres of water and mixes it with about a litre of tap water to have her daily wash while the rest of us catch the slow running water in a bucket for re-use in the toilet cistern.
As for flushing, which in the past would have used around six litres at a time, we have adopted the popular slogan: "If it's yellow let it mellow and if it's brown flush it down."
Like most residents of Cape Town, my household of four has had to change our habits to conserve water. A bucket and jug have now become essential tools for me and my children when taking a quick two-minute shower.
In the height of summer, it doesn't feel like much.
A severe drought has forced the city's municipality to limit water consumption to 50 litres per person per day in an effort to delay what has become known as Day Zero, which has been set for 12 April, when the water supply will be shut.
It isn't easy to reduce to just 50 litres a day per person: South Africa's WaterWise notes a typical shower uses 15 litres per minute, while a standard toilet consumes 15 litres per flush.
But failure to stick to the limit only means one thing: Day Zero will get even closer in the city of more than four million people.
A stone's throw from Newlands' famous stadiums, hundreds of concerned Capetonians queue, an hour before sunrise, outside the gates of the South African Breweries premises to collect what is fast becoming the city's most precious commodity - fresh water.
Just last month such scenes would not have played out, but the increasingly worrying possibility of the city's taps running dry has forced residents into rethinking their sourcing and use of water.
SA Breweries - conveniently located near the cricket and rugby stadiums - installed five taps that allow locals to fill up plastic containers of every shape and size with clean running water diverted from a natural spring located on the premises.
Security has had to be tightened and individuals limited to 25 litres at a time following accusations that some locals and canny entrepreneurs, who travel great distances, were taking as much as 2,000 litres in one go and selling the water to desperate consumers.
The opening times have been adjusted, from a 24-hour operation to 5am - 11pm operation to eliminate incidents of crime.
Many desperate locals, armed with plastic containers, can also be seen collecting water from mountain streams around the city.
Water has clearly become the new gold of Cape Town, a city famous for its beaches and mountains.
Those with more money - and who are not prepared to endure the Newlands queues - can be seen filling up trolleys in supermarkets with five litre bottles of mineral water in an effort to augment their supply as they try to remain within consumption limits.
The city has had to be firm in enforcing its limits on residents. Failure to comply could result in the installation of a water-management device, that strictly limits consumption to 350 litres per day, with the home owner having to foot the 4,500 rand ($378; £265) installation bill.
Sadly though, I have seen many of these plastic devices breaking, resulting in precious water gushing from the pipes, sometimes for as long as 24 hours.
But most locals have adapted their water consumption patterns in an effort to stay within the limits.
Fortunately in our house we have for the past decade had a system that pumps used water to the garden as well as having a 750 litre plastic tank that collects rain water which has been diverted from the roof's gutters.
Current limit
per resident: 87 litres; from 1 February: 50 litres
Percentage sticking to limit:
41%
Day Zero
(predicted day non-essential supplies to be cut off): 12 April (revised down from 21 April last week). Takes effect when dams reach 13.5% capacity; currently at 27.1%
70% of Cape Town water use is in domestic homes - so:
Source: Cape Town government
Through making other behavioural changes, like not watering the garden, limiting the use of the washing machine to two cycles per week and re-using water wherever possible, we have been able to greatly reduce our daily consumption from around 18,000 litres per month last year to the current 7,000 litres per month.
And as a bonus our water bill has been reduced from around $23 per month to $2.30.
But if things do not improve we may have to resort to using paper plates when eating in an effort circumvent dishwashing, while we may also have to limit the use of the washing machine.
With many Capetonians doing everything in their power to limit their water usage our efforts to stave off the dreaded Day Zero, there is nothing more infuriating than seeing those who could not care less hosing down their pavements or their cars with impunity and in contravention of local regulations.
Still, that should not deter us from continuing to make our little contribution towards conserving the precious resource that is water.
Sharing water conservation tips via social media have become the order of the day among Capetonians as locals increasingly realize the importance of saving water: Western Cape Premier
Helen Zille - who revealed last year she only showered once every three days
- is among them.
There is no question that the current crisis has forced a change in water consumption patterns and one has become so used to the new regime that it is hard to imagine returning to the days when, frankly, we were very irresponsible in our use of the world's most precious resource. Without water there cannot be life.
|
349983d6d740ebedf5aa20c55170ddab | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-43046510 | South Africa: ANC decides Zuma must go 'urgently' | South Africa: ANC decides Zuma must go 'urgently'
South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has formally asked President Jacob Zuma to resign for the sake of the country.
But despite the ANC's top leadership deciding to "recall" him "urgently", the scandal-hit Mr Zuma was still in power on Tuesday.
He is expected to respond to the request on Wednesday, an official said.
He had already told them he was willing to stand down in the next three to six months, the official added.
Mr Zuma, who has been in power since 2009, has been dogged by corruption allegations.
But he has so far resisted increasing pressure to quit since December, when his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, replaced him as leader of the ANC.
Wednesday's cabinet meeting, usually chaired by Mr Zuma, has been postponed because of "developments taking place in the ruling party",
a government statement said
.
Ace Magashule, the ANC's secretary-general, told reporters the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) decided the removal should be "treated with urgency".
"The NEC has noted South Africa is going through a period of uncertainty and anxiety as a result of unresolved matter of transition," he said.
Mr Magashule said the country needed to build on the "renewed hope" felt after the election of Mr Ramaphosa as ANC leader.
"It is obvious we want Comrade Ramaphosa to come in as the president of South Africa," he added.
He said the president was expected to respond to the NEC's decision on Wednesday, although they had given him no deadline.
"When we recall our deployee, we expect our deployee to do as asked," Mr Magashule said.
ANC NEC member Lindiwe Zulu told the BBC the party will give Mr Zuma an opportunity to respond to its request.
"There is no guillotine here. He is a comrade," she said.
South Africa's opposition parties have already expressed reservations about the ANC's confidence that Mr Zuma will step down.
"The only way to remove Jacob Zuma as president of our country is for parliament to do so through a motion of no confidence,"
the Democratic Alliance (DA) tweeted
.
It called the motion brought by another opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), to be brought forward from 22 February so parliament can "remove Jacob Zuma".
By Lebo Diskeo, BBC News, Johannesburg
Although it was hardly an unexpected announcement, there was still a sense of disbelief among the waiting journalists as Mr Magashule announced the NEC has asked Mr Zuma to step down.
After such a long wait, we had half expected the ANC to say they had given him more time, or reached some sort of compromise.
But surprise gave way to bemusement as Mr Magashule side-stepped repeated requests for clarification on what the ANC will do if President Zuma refuses to resign by Wednesday.
As for whether the ANC would support an opposition motion of no confidence, Mr Magashule said he did not know.
But when asked what Mr Zuma said when he was told of the NEC's decision, Mr Magashule choice of words were pointed: the president had said he was "a disciplined member of the ANC".
It was a term repeated several times during the briefing.
In other words, as far as the ANC is concerned - it is done.
Mr Zuma's presidency has been overshadowed by allegations of corruption which he has always vehemently denied.
In 2016, South Africa's highest court ruled that Mr Zuma had violated the constitution when he failed to repay government money spent on his private home.
Last year the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that he must face 18 counts of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money-laundering relating to a 1999 arms deal.
More recently, Mr Zuma's links to the wealthy India-born Gupta family, who are alleged to have influenced the government, have caused his popularity to plummet.
Both Mr Zuma and the Guptas deny the allegations.
The formal request to resign is difficult to resist, but he is not legally obliged to do so and could technically carry on as president despite losing the support of his party.
However, should he continue to defy his party, he would be expected to face a confidence vote in parliament. Mr Zuma has survived other such votes but he is not expected to pull it off again. A confidence vote would be considered a humiliating process for him and the party.
In terms of the constitution, it will require the entire cabinet to resign and for the parliamentary speaker to serve as acting president until MPs elect a new president.
The ANC was badly rattled by its performance at the 2016 local elections when
it won its lowest share of the vote since coming to power under the late Nelson Mandela in 1994
.
It wants to project a fresh image for next year's general election. Having served two terms in office (South African presidents are elected by parliament), Mr Zuma cannot legally return to power in any case.
On Monday, opposition parties called for an early election.
"Anyone from the ANC that wants to lead this country, must get their mandate from the people of South Africa," DA leader Mmusi Maimane told reporters.
|
38681b1f87710cd7b886a1ebb25dae83 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-43060759 | South Africa's Zuma: I've done nothing wrong | South Africa's Zuma: I've done nothing wrong
South Africa's embattled President Jacob Zuma says he has done nothing wrong and sees no reason to stand down.
Mr Zuma spoke after the ruling African National Congress (ANC) gave him an ultimatum to resign by the end of the day or face a parliamentary vote of no confidence on Thursday.
The 75-year-old has come under increasing pressure to resign amid numerous allegations of corruption.
But he said the ANC had failed to explain why he had been recalled.
In a lengthy, unannounced, interview with national broadcaster SABC, Mr Zuma made no reference to the early morning police raids and arrests at the home of his close associates, the wealthy, Indian-born Gupta family.
The Guptas have been accused of using their close friendship with the president to wield enormous political influence. Both parties deny all allegations of wrongdoing.
Mr Zuma stressed that he was not defying the ANC but he disagreed with its decision to ask him to resign.
"It was very unfair to me that this issue is raised," he said. "Nobody has ever provided the reasons. Nobody is saying what I have done."
Mr Zuma's decision to cling on to power has put him at odds with South Africa's deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC's new leader and his expected successor.
President Zuma told SABC he had offered to go after June, but objected to the way the issue was currently being handled.
He said he would make a further statement later on Wednesday.
The ANC said it had noted Mr Zuma's televised comments but would await his promised later statement before responding further.
Earlier, ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu announced that a motion of no-confidence in the president would be heard on Thursday, with Mr Ramaphosa sworn in as the nation's president as soon as possible after that.
A meeting of the ANC's National Executive Committee had announced its decision to recall Mr Zuma on Tuesday and gave him until the end of Wednesday to resign.
Three people were arrested during the raid, with local media saying two more expected to hand themselves in. A lawyer for the family told Reuters that none of the three Gupta brothers - Atul, Rajesh and Ajay - were among those arrested.
According to a statement released by the Hawks - the police's elite high-priority crimes unit - the raids were carried out in connection with the Vrede farm investigation.
That investigation relates to the Estina dairy farm near Vrede, in the Free State, a project which was originally meant to help poor black farmers but from which the Gupta family are alleged to have pocketed millions of dollars, allegations they deny.
A tranche of leaked emails released last year alleged that some of the money ended up paying for the family's lavish wedding at Sun City, South Africa's upmarket holiday resort.
In January, the Hawks raided the offices of the Free State premier, Ace Magashule, looking for documents linked to the project. Mr Magashule was elected secretary-general of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in December.
The Gupta family own a range of business interests in South Africa, including computing, mining, air travel, energy, technology and media.
The three brothers moved to the country in 1993 from India, just as white-minority rule was ending.
They are known friends of President Zuma; his son, daughter and one of his wives worked for the family's firms.
The brothers have been accused of wielding enormous political influence in South Africa, with critics alleging that they have tried to "capture the state" to advance their own business interests.
The wrangle over Mr Zuma's presidency has caused political upheaval in South Africa and threatened to split the ANC.
Last week's scheduled state of the nation address was postponed amid fears it would be disrupted by Mr Zuma's opponents.
Mr Ramaphosa has vowed to revive the ANC's failing popularity by cracking down on corruption and cronyism.
Elections are due in 2019 but the opposition is demanding they be brought forward.
|
177ac69a111a54756f1688a48b78c057 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-43211086 | Lassa fever: The killer disease with no vaccine | Lassa fever: The killer disease with no vaccine
Since the beginning of the year, Nigeria has been gripped by an outbreak of a deadly disease. Lassa fever is one of a number of illnesses which can cause dangerous epidemics, but for which no vaccine currently exists.
Lassa fever is not a new disease, but the current outbreak is unprecedented, spreading faster and further than ever before.
Health workers are overstretched, and a number have themselves become infected and died.
The potentially fatal disease is a so-called "viral haemorrhagic fever", which can affect many organs, and damage the body's blood vessels.
But it is difficult to treat.
Most people who catch Lassa will have only mild symptoms such as fever, headache and general weakness. They may have none at all.
However, in severe cases, it can mimic another deadly haemorrhagic fever, Ebola, causing bleeding through the nose, mouth and other parts of the body.
Lassa fever normally has
a fatality rate of about one per cent
. But in the Nigerian outbreak it is thought to be more than 20% among confirmed and probable cases, according to the country's
Centre for Disease Control
.
About 90 people are thought to have died so far, but the true number may be much higher, because Lassa is so hard to diagnose.
Women who contract the disease late in pregnancy face an 80% chance of losing their child, or dying themselves.
In the early stages it's almost impossible to distinguish from other common diseases like malaria and dengue.
With no readily available test, the only way to confirm a diagnosis is to analyse a blood or tissue sample in one of small number of specialised laboratories.
The disease was first identified in the Nigerian town of Lassa in 1969, after an outbreak in a mission hospital.
It has since been seen in many West African countries including Ghana, Mali and Sierra Leone.
However, this outbreak is causing particular concern because the number of cases is unusually high for the time of year.
Health officials are working to understand why.
Outbreaks can be influenced by seasonal weather conditions, which affect the numbers of the virus's natural host - the multimammate rat.
These small mammals are common across West Africa, where they easily find their way into homes.
Another possibility is that the high number of cases reflects heightened public awareness.
Or it's possible that something about the virus has changed.
Most people catch Lassa fever from anything contaminated with rat urine, faeces, blood or saliva - through eating, drinking or simply handling contaminated objects in the home.
It can also pass from person to person through bodily fluids, meaning healthcare workers and people taking care of sick relatives without protective equipment are particularly at risk.
The incubation period for Lassa is up to three weeks. Researchers are trying to work out whether - like Ebola - Lassa can stay in the body and be passed on through sexual contact even after illness subsides.
Nigeria has a strong public health system, and is used to dealing with epidemics like this.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with Nigerian authorities to help coordinate the response and
the UK government has deployed a team of experts from its Public Health Rapid Support Team.
Those living in affected areas are being advised to take basic precautions: blocking holes that may allow rats to enter their homes, disposing of rubbish in covered dustbins, and storing food and water in sealed containers.
People are advised to wear protective gloves when caring for anyone who may have Lassa fever, and to carry out safe burial practices.
Despite these measures, the fight against Lassa - and other infectious diseases - is hampered by a lack of effective medical tools like diagnostic tests, treatments and vaccines.
It is likely that a vaccine could be found for Lassa - reducing the possibility of an outbreak becoming a global health emergency - but as with other epidemic diseases that mainly affect poorer countries, progress has stalled.
Vaccine development is a long, complex and costly process. This is especially true for emerging epidemic diseases, where a prototype vaccine can usually only be tested where there is an outbreak.
A new organisation called
CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations)
- set up in 2017 with financial support from the Wellcome Trust, national governments and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - hopes to accelerate vaccine production.
Lassa is one of the diseases on its hit list
and it's hoped one or more promising vaccines will be ready for large-scale testing in the next five years.
The WHO has drawn up a list of other serious, but often poorly understood diseases, with the potential for devastating outbreaks, including MERS, Nipah, Rift Valley Fever and, of course, Ebola.
It plans to highlight gaps in our knowledge of these diseases and to begin further research.
But research alone isn't enough.
Stronger health systems are needed in the countries where epidemics are most likely to arise.
This could mean building better healthcare facilities and training staff to recognise and respond to outbreaks.
It will also mean working with communities to understand how to identify outbreaks at an early stage and prevent their spread.
About this piece
This analysis piece was commissioned by the BBC from an expert working for an outside organisation.
Dr Charlie Weller is head of vaccines at
the Wellcome Trust
, which describes itself as a global charitable foundation working to improve health for everyone. Follow her at
@DrCharlieWeller
.
Edited by Jennifer Clarke.
|
3fac21e273c0b84ff79ee642cdcdd4bf | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-43355677 | Tillerson in Africa: US diplomat 'feeling unwell', cancels Kenya plans | Tillerson in Africa: US diplomat 'feeling unwell', cancels Kenya plans
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has cancelled scheduled events in Kenya on Saturday because he is feeling poorly.
"The secretary is not feeling well after a long couple days working on major issues back home such as North Korea," the state department said.
Mr Tillerson, on his first official trip to Africa as Washington's top diplomat, is in Kenya until Monday.
The news came a day after US President Trump shocked the world, agreeing to meet North Korea's Kim Jong-un by May.
Officials accompanying Mr Tillerson, 65, on his five-nation tour of Africa did not specify his illness but it is understood not to be serious.
Mr Tillerson was in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa when news of Donald Trump's agreement to meet Mr Kim in unprecedented talks broke late on Thursday.
The decision is reported to have been taken without consultation with key advisers, including Mr Tillerson.
The top US envoy had told reporters just hours before the surprise announcement that Washington was "a long way" from talking directly to North Korea.
The US secretary of state has been on the road for four days, visiting Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. He is scheduled to go on to Nigeria and Chad.
"Some events will go ahead without him, while they are looking at the possibility of rescheduling others," spokesperson Steve Goldstein told reporters travelling with Mr Tillerson.
His planned schedule on Saturday had included a visit to a US-funded HIV/AIDS programme and attendance at a ceremony marking 20 years since Al-Qaeda bombed the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people.
|
027c4d1a2b1dd8f5d37a74466fb75a52 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-43964932 | How Trump stirred controversy in Nigeria | How Trump stirred controversy in Nigeria
Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari became the first president from sub-Saharan Africa to visit Donald Trump's White House on Monday. But even after they neatly avoided Mr Trump's alleged comments about "shithole" African countries, the US president managed to stir controversy in Nigeria, writes the BBC's Stephanie Hegarty from Lagos.
Perhaps warning bells rang when Mr Trump started off asking Mr Buhari how he was getting on with "that Boca Haram", a reference to militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
But then again, maybe that slip of the tongue was predictable.
Less so was what he said next, as the former reality television star weighed in on the conflict between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria's Middle Belt - or the way in which he would frame it.
"We have had very serious problems with Christians who are being murdered in Nigeria," Mr Trump said. "We are going to be working on that problem very, very hard because we cannot allow that to happen."
The US president showed little understanding of a very complicated and intensely politicised crisis - one which has a battle between nomadic cattle herders and settled farmer over access to land and grazing rights at its centre.
But perhaps it should not come as any surprise. Mr Trump has always been quick to jump to the defence of Christians in conflicts such as Syria and Iraq and comments like this play well to his base among Evangelical Christians in the US.
But his point of view also plays into popular feeling among some Nigerian Christian groups.
It is a widely touted refrain that the conflict between farmers and herdsmen constitutes a "genocide against Christians".
It is hard to support this claim with any fact: there have been many killings on both sides in this conflict.
But the recent attack on a Catholic church by suspected Fulani herdsmen and the murder of 17 people, including two priests, have added fuel to the flames of those who want to frame the conflict in this way.
After that attack a priest in the area told the BBC he was doing what he could do prevent young Christian men from his parish launching random reprisal attacks on Muslims. Clearly then, Mr Trump's words then make for dangerous rhetoric.
But many Christian leaders have taken to mainstream and social media to push this narrative, jumping upon Mr Trump's comments as a kind of vindication of their own claims.
In response, Nigerian Muslim advocacy groups have criticised his comments.
In a statement, the director of the Muslim Rights Concern, Ishaq Akintola, said they were "prejudiced, parochial and unpresidential" and claimed that Mr Trump "is luring Nigerian Christians into bolder confrontation with Muslims".
With elections due in February 2019, there is an intensely political side to all of this. President Buhari has announced his intention to re-run for office. He is a Muslim and a Hausa-Fulani.
Much of the conversation on this crisis falls along these ethnic and political lines - Christian vs Muslim; Hausa-Fulani vs everyone else. In reality, the conflict falls along lines that are much less easily defined.
During the press conference, Mr Buhari was quick to deflect the Christian comment.
He immediately reframed the question to address a conflict between farmers and herdsmen, saying: "The problem of cattle herders is a very long historical problem. Before now, cattle herders were known to carry sticks and machetes… but these ones are carrying AK-47s."
As he has in the past, he went on to explain what is happening as a consequence of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's arming of "mercenaries".
Mr Buhari claimed they are now returning to West Africa and causing trouble.
Whether Gaddafi's former soldiers are responsible for this crisis or not, there is a point to be made here. Since the crisis in Libya began, guns have been flooding into West Africa through the Sahel - just as migrants have been rushing in the other direction.
Last year, the Director of UN's Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Africa said
70% of the illegal small arms imported to West Africa end up in Nigeria, according to PRI Nigeria.
But if Mr Buhari felt any exasperation at Mr Trump's unexpected comments, it was quickly brushed under the carpet.
Despite the rhetoric which does little to promote peace in Nigeria's central region, the two leaders came across as firm friends.
Instead, in true Trump style, the two men patted each other on the back over a recent "deal": the sale of 12 US military aircraft to Nigeria.
And another bone of contention was artfully avoided - Mr Trump's allegedly ungracious comments in January comparing African countries to a toilet.
While many Nigerians had hoped their president would take Mr Trump to task, Mr Buhari admitted he did not bring it up.
Instead, Mr Buhari, standing in the Rose Garden, reiterated his deep appreciation for the invitation. He seemed to shrink into the background as Mr Trump took centre stage, complimenting Nigeria as a beautiful country and professing his desire to visit Africa's most populous state.
|
49b5c7277edb71ea949720e9f1d2b0c2 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45017383 | Zimbabwe's MDC Alliance says Chamisa beat Mnangagwa | Zimbabwe's MDC Alliance says Chamisa beat Mnangagwa
Zimbabwe's opposition says its candidate, Nelson Chamisa, has won Monday's presidential election.
The MDC Alliance said the ruling Zanu-PF party was attempting to rig the vote to allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to win, and the delay in releasing official results was unacceptable.
The electoral commission urged patience, saying it needed time to collate the votes.
The polls were the first since long-serving ruler Robert Mugabe was ousted.
The vote attracted a high turnout of 70% and was monitored by international observers.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital, Harare, the MDC Alliance's Tendai Biti said there was a clear attempt by Zanu-PF to interfere "with the people's will".
He warned the party not to "plunge Zimbabwe into chaos".
The opposition announcement pre-empted official results.
A Zanu-PF spokesman told the BBC he had "no clue" what Mr Biti was talking about.
And Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu said those who violated election rules by prematurely declaring victory risked incurring the "wrath of the law".
Zanu-PF, which has been in power since Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980, has been accused of rigging previous elections to keep Mr Mugabe in office.
Mr Mnangagwa has promised a free and fair election.
There have been celebratory scenes outside the MDC Alliance headquarters in Harare.
Crowds have been blocking the road, singing and dancing, since Mr Biti said that Mr Chamisa had won.
A truckload of policemen and water cannon drove near the building in an apparent show of force.
However, many businesses reopened on Tuesday after being shut on voting day, a public holiday.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has until Saturday to announce the results but its chairwoman, Priscilla Chigumba, said she expected the announcement to be made well within that deadline.
"We will not subvert [the people's will]," she said at a press conference, rejecting allegations that there had been ballot rigging.
Observers say the race between Mr Mnangagwa's Zanu-PF party and Mr Chamisa's MDC Alliance is extremely tight.
Both men are among 23 candidates running for president.
Zec has announced some of the results in the parliamentary elections but says it needs time to pull together the figures for the presidential poll from across the country.
A presidential candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to win outright. Otherwise, a run-off election will be held on 8 September.
In a tweet, Mr Mnangagwa expressed confidence about his chances but added that he was "waiting patiently for official results as per the constitution".
By Pumza Fihlani, BBC News, Harare
The electoral commission held two press conferences on Tuesday in a bid to keep the public informed.
But it is the result of the presidential election that people want to know, and that will not be ready for another few days.
There were more than 10,000 polling stations, and collating the votes will not be an easy task.
In the meantime, accusations are surfacing and anxieties are starting to creep in.
On the sidelines of the jostling of the politicians, the fake news media machine has kicked into full gear, with social media accounts, purporting to belong to politicians, claiming victory for their parties.
While the voting process was peaceful, the waiting and any perceived delays could raise the temperature here.
The commission has told South Africa's public broadcaster that it is under no "political pressure", implying that it will not be rushed.
But in the age of social media, where false stories thrive in an information vacuum, it does raise questions about how democracies can respect the electoral process without creating room for the very credibility of that process to be jeopardised.
Zimbabweans voted for a new president, parliament and local councils, and on Tuesday Zec announced the results for seven parliamentary constituencies.
Some candidates are already accepting defeat.
Pastor Evan Mawarire, who rose to prominence in 2016 by rallying support against Mr Mugabe's government on social media, failed in his attempt to win a seat on Harare's city council.
His #ThisFlag movement, which denounced the government's management of the economy, gained tens of thousands of followers at the time.
Lawyer Fadzayi Mahere, who has a large following on Twitter and ran a successful social media campaign, lost her bid to become an MP for a constituency in the capital.
"We consistently said that we'd win or we'd learn," she tweeted.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zanu-PF
The 'crocodile' who snapped back
Nelson Chamisa, MDC Alliance
The crusader taking on Zimbabwe's 'crocodile'
European Union (EU) and US election monitors have been allowed into the country for the first time in 16 years to assess whether the elections are free and fair.
EU chief observer Elmar Brok said on Monday it was too soon to make a judgement but voting had been "very smooth" in some areas and "totally disorganised" in other areas, Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
"There are shortcomings that we have to check. We don't know yet whether it was a pattern or whether it was a question of bad organisation in certain polling stations," Mr Brok told the AFP new agency.
As well as worries about the voters' roll, the opposition has expressed concern over the security of ballot papers and voter intimidation in mainly rural areas.
Liberia's former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was among the monitors, told the BBC that Monday's long queues showed Zimbabweans were enthusiastic about voting, without any kind of repression.
"I think this is an exciting moment for Zimbabweans to change the course of their country through their votes," she told the BBC.
|
48d2f10bdd76df382b30203953bcb842 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45232892?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central | Kofi Annan, former UN chief, dies at 80 | Kofi Annan, former UN chief, dies at 80
Kofi Annan, the only black African to become UN secretary-general, has died.
The 80-year-old "passed away peacefully on Saturday after a short illness", the foundation named after him said.
His home country, Ghana, has declared a week of national mourning. Annan served two terms as UN chief from 1997 to 2006, and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work.
He later served as the UN special envoy for Syria, leading efforts to find a solution to the conflict.
In a statement announcing his death,
the Kofi Annan Foundation described him as a "global statesman
and deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world".
"Wherever there was suffering or need, he reached out and touched many people with his deep compassion and empathy."
The career diplomat died in hospital in the Swiss city of Bern. He had been living near Geneva for several years.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for helping to revitalise the international body, during a period that coincided with the Iraq War and the HIV/Aids pandemic.
Kofi Annan described his greatest achievement as the Millennium Development Goals which - for the first time - set global targets on issues such as poverty and child mortality.
However, Annan was not immune from criticism. His critics blamed him for the UN's failure to halt the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s when he was head of the organisation's peacekeeping operations.
Later, after the US-led invasion of Iraq, he and his son were accused of being involved in the "oil for food corruption scandal" that led some to call for his resignation, though
he was later exonerated
.
In an interview with the BBC's HardTalk to mark his 80th birthday in April, Annan acknowledged the UN's shortcomings, saying it "can be improved, it is not perfect but if it didn't exist you would have to create it".
"I am a stubborn optimist, I was born an optimist and will remain an optimist," he added.
By Imogen Foulkes, BBC's UN reporter in Geneva
Kofi Annan will be remembered for the way he drew attention, over and over again, to the plight of those caught up in war, environmental disaster, or simply grinding poverty.
The way he quietly but firmly reminded world leaders, however powerful, that they needed to put their duty to their citizens above their political careers.
Read more from Imogen
Current UN chief Antonio Guterres has been leading the tributes to his predecessor, describing Annan as "a guiding force for good".
"In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations. He rose through the ranks to lead the organisation into the new millennium with matchless dignity and determination," he said in a statement.
UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein said in a tweet he was grief-stricken over Annan's death:
Tributes have been pouring in from world leaders and diplomats, including UK
Prime Minister Theresa May
and Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg.
Former US President Barack Obama, the first African American to win the White House, said: "Long after he had broken barriers, Kofi never stopped his pursuit of a better world."
President Vladimir Putin of Russia said the memory of Annan would "forever live in the hearts of Russians".
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "the world has lost not only a great African diplomat and humanitarian but also a conscience keeper of international peace and security".
Announcing the week of national mourning, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo called Annan "one of our greatest compatriots".
The diplomat's career continued after retirement from the UN, and in 2007 he set up his own foundation aimed at promoting global sustainable development, security and peace.
A year later, his reputation was boosted after he successfully helped negotiate a power-sharing deal to end post-election violence in Kenya.
In a Facebook tribute, Raila Odinga,
the opposition leader who signed the agreement, called Annan "the man who stepped in and saved the country from collapse"
.
In 2012 he was made chair of The Elders, a peace and human rights advocacy group started by South Africa's Nelson Mandela.
The same year, he quit his post as UN envoy to Syria after only six months in the role, citing the failures of world powers to fulfil their commitments. He was later quoted as saying: "I lost my troops on the way to Damascus."
His most recent role was chairing an independent commission investigation Myanmar's Rohingya crisis.
Annan's wife, Nane, and three children were "by his side during his last days", the Kofi Annan Foundation said.
|
2db1dd6e4bf4d18f9e80ce1588090039 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45299176 | Zimbabwe court upholds President Mnangagwa's election win | Zimbabwe court upholds President Mnangagwa's election win
President Emmerson Mnangagwa's win in last month's polls has been upheld by Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court.
The opposition MDC Alliance had brought the legal challenge saying the vote was marred by "mammoth theft and fraud", but this was rejected by the court.
Delivering the verdict, Chief Justice Luke Malaba called allegations of tampering "bold and unsubstantiated".
It was Zimbabwe's first election since long-time leader Robert Mugabe was ousted from power last year.
Two days after the vote, at least six people were killed in
clashes between the army and MDC Alliance supporters
, who alleged that party leader Nelson Chamisa had been robbed of victory.
Ahead of the court ruling, the streets around the courthouse in the capital, Harare, were cordoned off by security forces.
The BBC's Shignai Nyoka in Harare says that the city's roads are mostly empty.
In a unanimous judgement, the nine judges ruled against the opposition's petition because they said it did not include sufficient evidence.
"The best evidence would have been the contents of the ballot boxes themselves," Chief Justice Malaba said.
He also said that if the opposition had requested a re-count of the vote it would have provided "a clear and indisputable picture of the outcome of the election".
Chief Justice Malaba then dismissed as "startling" the MDC Alliance's claim that an official revision of the vote share was itself proof of irregularities.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa narrowly avoided a second-round run-off when he took 50.7% of the vote. Zec, the electoral commission, had revised this figure from the 50.8% it originally released.
Chief Justice Malaba said the body had "complied with prescribed procedures" when it announced the change.
Central to the opposition's legal challenge was their claim that the recorded number of votes had been doctored to hand President Mnangagwa victory.
In Zimbabwe's voting system, a candidate can win in the first round and avoid a second-round run-off if he or she secures more than 50% of the vote.
The opposition alleged that Mr Mnangagwa's 50.7% vote share - which was just 30,000 more votes than the minimum needed for outright victory - was suspicious.
It says that when the votes were counted, 40,000 more presidential ballots were found than parliamentary ones.
International election observers, who were allowed into Zimbabwe for the first time in 16 years, largely praised the conduct of the polls.
However, European Union observers were more cautious, stating that all parties should accept the verdict but also suggesting that President Mnangagwa had benefited from an "un-level playing field".
Analysis - Shingai Nyoka, BBC News, Harare
The uncertainty that has hung over this nation for weeks has now finally been resolved by the Constitutional Court.
Mr Mnangagwa is expected to be inaugurated within 48 hours.
And while he has received legitimacy from the courts, he still faces an uphill task of uniting a deeply divided nation and winning over a popular opposition leader who refuses to accept his victory.
The president has tweeted that he was "not surprised" by the Constitutional Court's ruling.
He said he was calling "for peace and unity above all" and that his "door is open" to his opposition rival who brought the legal challenge.
But his tweets included criticism of the opposition MDC Alliance, accusing it of instigating "wholly unnecessary violent protests" after the 30 July polls.
A group of 27 opposition activists have been charged with inciting public violence but maintain their innocence.
The US has criticised the detention of, and "abuses" against, opposition supporters, in particular expressing concern for the "physical safety" of key opposition figure Tendai Biti who was arrested in connection with the post-election violence.
The opposition party has vowed to dispute the ruling even though it says it "respect[s] the verdict of the courts".
"We shall doggedly pursue all constitutionally permissible avenues to ensure that the sovereign will of the people is protected and guaranteed," the MDC Alliance tweeted.
The party hinted that justice had failed, saying "the sombre mood in the country in the wake of today's court verdict is in itself a telling statement".
|
903cb1b3ca2f270efaa60f60be7b7341 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45507124 | Kofi Annan's funeral: World leaders bid farewell to ex-UN chief | Kofi Annan's funeral: World leaders bid farewell to ex-UN chief
World leaders and royalty have paid their respects to one of Africa's most famous diplomats, Kofi Annan, at his funeral in his home country of Ghana.
It is the climax of three days of mourning which saw thousands of Ghanaians file past his coffin as it lay in state in the capital, Accra.
Annan died on 18 August in Switzerland at the age of 80.
He was UN secretary-general from 1997 to 2006, the first black African to hold the world's top diplomatic post.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for helping to revitalise the international body, during a period that coincided with the Iraq War and the HIV/Aids pandemic.
Speaking at the funeral, current UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said Annan was an exceptional leader who saw the UN as a force for good.
"As we face the headwinds of our troubled and turbulent times, let us always be inspired by the legacy of Kofi Annan," Mr Guterres said.
"Our world needs it now more than ever," he added.
By Mayeni Jones, BBC News, Accra
Mourners in traditional black and red attire filled the main hall of the Accra Conference Centre, which sits about 4,000 people. More are watching proceedings on a giant screen in an auditorium just outside the hall.
There have been hymns and a performance by soprano and human rights campaigner Barbara Hendricks.
Annan's nephew Kojo Amoo-Gottfried read a eulogy, describing how he had led a hunger strike in his secondary school to protest against the quality of food in the dining hall.
There were also a moving tribute by his wife, Swedish lawyer and artist Nane Maria Annan. She described how her husband was always excited to return home, and thanked Ghana for giving the world such an extraordinary man.
She said her husband had an irresistible aura of radiant warmth.
"His legacy would live on through his foundation and through all of us," she concluded.
The former queen of the Netherlands, Princess Beatrix, and her daughter-in-law Princess Mabel, who were close friends of Annan, were among the mourners.
The king of Ghana's Asante people, Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, awarded Annan the title Busumuru in 2012 to honour his role as an international diplomat.
Busumuru is one of the swords attached to the monarch's Golden Stool, or throne.
Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo described Annan as "one of the truly iconic figures of modern times".
"The outpouring of tributes from the world over is an accurate measure of the man, a man who gave his life to making peace where there was conflict, to defending the voiceless who were powerless, to promoting virtue where there was evil," he said.
The Anglican bishop of Annan's home city of Kumasi in central Ghana, the Most Reverend Daniel Sarfo, said: "Today history is being made in Ghana. One of our illustrious sons is lying here.
"But we are grateful that God used him over the years to work for humanity, for peace. Today, as he lies here, he has finished his work."
All pictures subject to copyright
|
f5cf1c79395d077d69d3b32d21307e88 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45881004 | Ethiopia's Abiy gives half of ministerial posts to women | Ethiopia's Abiy gives half of ministerial posts to women
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has appointed women to half of his government's ministerial posts, including the job of defence minister.
Explaining his decision in a speech to Parliament, Mr Abiy said women were "less corrupt than men" and would help restore peace and stability.
Ethiopia is now the only African state after Rwanda to have equal gender representation in the cabinet.
Mr Abiy also cut the number of ministerial jobs from 28 to 20.
Since becoming prime minister in April, he has carried numerous massive reforms.
He has ended two decades of conflict with neighbouring Eritrea, released thousands of political prisoners and loosened the state's tight grip on parts of the economy.
Aisha Mohammed was named as Ethiopia's first female defence minister. She is from the country's Afar region in the north-east, and had served as construction minister.
Muferiat Kamil, the former speaker of parliament, became the country's first Minister of Peace. She will be overseeing the country's intelligence and security apparatus, including the federal police.
Mahlet Hailu, Ethiopia's deputy permanent representative to the UN, tweeted the list of new ministers:
Mr Abiy said that his reform process needed to continue to address the structural and strategic problems that pushed the country into chaos.
He said women had made a great contribution to restoring peace and stability, were less corrupt, respected their work and could sustain the drive for change.
The 42-year-old became prime minister in April after the unexpected resignation of Hailemariam Desalegn.
It followed three years of protest led by ethnic Oromos, who were demanding an end to what they considered their political and economic marginalization.
Mr Abiy is Oromo himself, but his appeal for trust and unity to "heal our wounds... and work together to develop our country" has received a cautious welcome from many within Ethiopia.
More about Abiy's impact:
Father reunited with long-lost daughters
Making peace with 'Africa's North Korea'
Behind the smiles of Eritrea's president
Key facts about Ethiopia
You can now get the latest BBC news in
Afaan Oromo
,
Amharic
and
Tigrinya
.
|
950922a8694f3b2c388dfe110aae52f5 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46035330 | Kenyans cash in on avocado craze | Kenyans cash in on avocado craze
Avocado on toast, in a salad or a smoothie? There are many ways to eat the green fruit which is popular with hipsters across the world - a craze that Kenya is cashing in on.
At Le Grenier à Pain restaurant in the leafy suburb of Riverside in Nairobi, upwardly mobile Kenyans and expatriates enjoy plates of "toast à l'avocat" (avocado on toast).
"It's in every magazine, on every website how good avocado is for your health," says restaurant owner Yan Welffens.
"My father-in-law eats an avocado every day - he doesn't leave the house without his plate of avocado, so, I try to copy him to see if I can age [well] like him."
The growing appetite for ready-to-eat healthy options has seen the demand for avocados increase over the past few years.
Avocado exports to Europe nearly tripled in value between 2013 and 2017
, according to the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI), which is part of the Dutch Enterprise Agency.
That impact is being felt thousands of miles away, on farms in Kenya's highlands where growers' fortunes are changing.
Peter Kariuki has recently finished selling his avocados for the season in Kandara in central Kenya, and has harvested about 400,000 fruits from his farm.
"It has been a very good season - the price per fruit almost doubled compared to last year," he says.
The trees form a continuous canopy above our heads providing a much-needed shade. Birds perched on the branches chirp away as a cool breeze blows our way.
The ground beneath the canopy is almost bare but Mr Kariuki has planted napier grass, some arrow roots and maize a short distance away.
The grass is fed to his dairy cows and they, in turn, provide manure for the farm.
Mr Kariuki says the trees are organic and grow as in the wild - he does not need to spray pesticides or apply commercial fertiliser.
He was the first famer in the area to plant avocados more than 30 years ago.
"I used to work as a clearing and forwarding agent at the airport in the 1980s, that's where I learnt about avocado exports."
Luckily for him, his father worked at the Agricultural Research Institute near their village. He brought the first seedlings to the farm.
On patrol with Mexico's avocado police
'Head-sized' avocado in world record bid
The 200 trees on the farm are mature now, giving him an annual income of about $20,000 (£15,300). And he does not need to do much: "We prune the trees once a year."
He hires casual workers to pick the fruits when they are ready and exporters collect the harvest from the farm.
Small-holder famers like Mr Kariuki produce most of the avocados sold in and outside Kenya.
More and more of them are uprooting traditional cash crops like coffee and tea and planting avocados instead.
A long rainy season has meant the production was good for farmers like Mr Kariuki.
But exporters - like Lucy Njeri - are not as happy.
"It hasn't been a good season in terms of sales," says the 30-year-old business and marketing graduate, who runs Saipei Foods with her husband.
At their packing house near Nairobi's main airport, about 35 workers dressed in green or black branded uniforms receive fruits from delivery vans.
They then sort and clean them, load the conveyor belt, weigh the fruits before packing them into small carton boxes ready for export.
Ms Njeri says she has exported more than 1,200 tonnes of avocados this season, mostly to Europe.
"Much as we've had a consistent supply, the market has been saturated and the prices weren't as good as we expected," says Ms Njeri. "But such is business."
Yet forecasts say saturation in the near future is unlikely.
While noting an oversupply in 2018, the CBI predicts that new avocado markets such as China will likely tilt the scales.
"Avocado plantations worldwide are expanding fast but they take time to reach full capacity and catch up with demand," the trade body says in its latest report on the crop.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is due to travel to China in November for an imports fair, where
he is expected to sign trade deals on avocados among other commodities, according to The Star Newspaper
. He will be accompanied by horticultural farmers and traders.
Kenya has recently overtaken South Africa to become Africa's biggest avocado producer, but globally, its market share is dwarfed by countries like Peru, Chile and Mexico.
But local awareness of the crop's potential is growing.
A Kenyan agronomist, Bernard Kimutai, set out to recruit 10,000 new farmers to grow avocados during the onset of the long-rains season in April.
"I very nearly hit the target," he told the BBC six months later.
As more and more farmers turn to growing the green fruit, Mr Kariuki is wasting no time in increasing his share, and now plans to plant 300 more trees on his farm.
He earns about $0.10 for each fruit, which is then sold for around $10 per plate in cities like New York and London.
It is a huge difference in price, but that means the avocado benefits many more people as it travels from the farmer to the consumer somewhere else in the world, even if that is only an hour's drive away at Le Grenier à Pain.
|
583c3b7b5873abac15689e6e4a25cd4b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46042246 | Uganda to set up new force to make Kampala safe | Uganda to set up new force to make Kampala safe
Uganda's government is a creating a new security force to combat soaring levels of crime, but critics fear it could become a law unto itself, writes the BBC's Patience Atuhaire from the capital Kampala.
Zarake Maria Goretti sits on the grass after giving her blood samples for her medical check-up.
The 22-year-old is one of thousands who turned up at an open-air ground, usually used for trade fairs in Kampala, to apply to join the new civilian militia, known as Local Defence Units (LDUs).
About 6,000 LDUs are currently being trained to help the security forces curb crime following a wave of high-profile murders.
Critics have memories of the last time a civilian militia existed. Some of its members were accused of abusing their positions, and becoming criminals themselves.
But Ms Goretti is anxious to pass her medical tests, and join the militia. Although she has qualifications in hotel management, she wants to get on the government payroll.
"I would have a more secure job there," Ms Goretti told the BBC.
Thirty-year-old Abue George William, on the other hand, said he had always aspired to protect the nation.
"I will make sure that every family is safe, there are no thieves in the neighbourhood, and everyone is free to move - even at 1am," he said.
LDUs are expected to patrol neighbourhoods, pass on intelligence to police, and give them back-up when they are dealing with incidents of crime.
Recruits are being promised a monthly salary of 200,000 Uganda shillings ($50; £40).
There is an enormous queue - typical of any recruitment drive in a country where there is a shortage of jobs.
Soldiers are spearheading the recruitment process, weeding out those who do not have the right paperwork.
The hopefuls are put through a physical test, including a run of 4km (2.5 miles).
Security Minister Elly Tumwiine told the BBC the LDUs would "be accountable to the army and work alongside the police".
"It is a joint operation," he added.
Recruits will undergo four months of training, and will be deployed, with weapons, in Kampala and nearby areas.
This follows a directive in September from President Yoweri Museveni to make urban areas safer.
Support for the president during his three-decade rule is partly based on his reputation as a guarantor of security, ending the political turbulence and instability that stretched from the late 1960s to when he came to power in 1986.
But since 2014, Kampala has witnessed a worrying level of insecurity.
At least five Muslim leaders were mysteriously gunned down between December 2014 and October 2017 in Kampala and surrounding areas.
Other unresolved high-profile murders include those of:
In 2017, there was also an upsurge in the kidnapping and murder of women. About 20 women were killed in a space of four months in and around Kampala,
causing fear and shock
.
Machete-wielding gangs also wreaked havoc in some city neighbourhoods.
A former security chief, who asked to remain anonymous, put the insecurity down to the economic downturn.
"Young people are educated but have no jobs. Some have had to turn radical for their own survival.
"Criminal gangs like Kifeesi who operate in the city are a result of this alienation," he said.
Kifeesi is said to have its headquarters in the Katwe slum of Kampala, and its members are notorious for breaking into people's cars when they are stuck in traffic jams and hitting them with iron bars before robbing them.
The president has expressed concern about the failure to hunt down criminals.
"It is clear that the intelligence has been weak in the cases where the murders have been committed, like in the cases of [the prosecutor] Kagezi and the others. This weak area is being strengthened," Mr Museveni said as he announced the creation of the LDUs.
The police force is about 45,000-strong, but, the security minister says, it is overstretched.
And the military is not in a position to help because it is involved in peacekeeping missions in countries like Somalia, the army's Col Bonny Bamwiseki told the BBC at a recruitment centre.
"We can't be deployed to secure urban neighbourhoods.
"These young people will secure their villages because they know them best," he added.
Gen Tumwiine said the LDUs would play an intelligence role and reinforce police efforts to tackle crime.
"We haven't developed technological means and we believe that the human eye is the most reliable as of now.
"It worked for us in the past and we believe in it," he said.
Some human rights activists have reservations about their formation, saying the government had formed LDUs more than 10 years ago, but they became discredited.
Its members became notorious for hiring out their guns to criminals, or turning themselves into gunmen for hire, as the state-owned New Vision newspaper frequently reported at the time.
"They were not well motivated, not well screened and they became part of the problem rather than the solution," said the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, Livingstone Sewanyana.
"I see it as a misguided approach to the whole question of law enforcement. There is no legal framework for the LDUs," he added.
The former security chief, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed similar reservations.
"We have local councils and leaders at the village level, parish intelligence officers, district intelligence officers. This structure runs all the way to regional level. What happened to this very elaborate internal security organisation structure?"
"How come men on motorbikes can commit crimes so close to the centre of power and get away with it? Where do they melt to? It would mean the public has lost trust in the system and they do not share useful information."
But Gen Tumwiine is confident the decision to form the LDUs will pay off.
"We know Uganda's security better than anybody so leave it to us," he said.
|
406f0f75b188c1beab6e93dd18f0b581 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46122678 | Cameroon kidnap: Bamenda students freed | Cameroon kidnap: Bamenda students freed
Schoolchildren kidnapped from a boarding school in Cameroon's North-West region have met the regional governor after being freed.
The 78 boys and girls and three others were seized early on Sunday in the region's capital, Bamenda.
A driver was also released, but the school's principal and a teacher are still being held.
The government has accused separatists in the English-speaking region of being behind the kidnapping.
The Anglophone separatists have denied they were involved.
The secessionist movement took up arms last year to demand independence for the North-West and South-West regions - the two English-speaking regions in a country where French is the most widely spoken official language.
The kidnapped students, aged between 11-17 years old, were "frightened and traumatised but in good shape", Rev Fonki Samuel, Presbyterian Church Moderator in Cameroon, told the BBC Focus on Africa programme.
He said that they were being given food and being checked by the doctors before being reunited with their parents.
One of the hostages, 17-year-old, Alain, said the kidnappers forced them to run after seizing them. He told Reuters news agency that they were not mistreated and the captors gave them food.
"They gave us kontchap [a mix of corn and beans] to eat... It was not enough but they still gave us some. They also gave us water," he said.
Rev Samuel said the Bamenda's Presbyterian Secondary School - where the students were seized - had been closed.
According to the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon, the students were abandoned in one of their buildings in the town of Bafut, about 24km (15 miles) from Bamenda.
"The release was done peacefully... by unidentified gunmen. They [students] were brought into the church premises," Rev Samuel said.
"The first information we got from them [kidnappers] is their call and they were telling us they intended to release the children yesterday [Tuesday] morning... but unfortunately it rained so heavily that could not happen.
"So [on] the evening of yesterday, surprisingly and by God's grace, the children were brought back to us."
Rev Samuel told the BBC that 78 students, not 79 as earlier reported, had been released.
He also revealed that Sunday's kidnapping was the second such case at the school in less than a week.
In the earlier 31 October incident, 11 boys were taken and then released. It is unclear who the kidnappers were but the church paid a ransom of $4,000 (£3,000) to secure their release, he said.
The army had been deployed to try and find the children taken on Sunday.
Rev Samuel told the BBC he was not concerned about who was behind the kidnapping, only "overwhelmed and happy" that the schoolchildren had been freed.
He said, "armed groups, gangsters and thieves" could be taking advantage of the insecurity in the region to kidnap people, and blame it on the government and separatists.
Cameroon's authorities have blamed the kidnap on Anglophone separatist militias - who have called for schools in English-speaking regions to be closed.
They want to create an independent state called Ambazonia.
There have been a spate of kidnappings in the Anglophone regions at other schools but Sunday's incident involved the largest number abducted at one time, the AP reports.
It said that the separatists had set fire to at least 100 schools and taken them over as training grounds.
On Tuesday, anxious parents gathered at the Presbyterian Secondary School to try to get information about their children.
A video of the hostages released on Monday showed one of the captives saying they had been seized by "Amba Boys" - the widely-used term to describe the separatist rebels.
An Anglophone group, the Ambazonia International Policy Commission (AIPC), has however denied that the separatists were behind the kidnapping, noting that the person recording the video appears to have a poor grasp of Pidgin-English, the language spoken widely in the Anglophone area of the country.
One of the kidnappers was also apparently heard speaking French.
English-speakers in Cameroon have long complained that they face discrimination from Cameroon's Francophone majority.
They say that they are excluded from top civil service jobs and that government documents are often only published in French, even though English is also an official language.
Read more:
Cameroon timeline
|
9e28efb0c104296aa5f58d2c1df849fc | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46167340 | DR Congo Ebola outbreak 'worst' in country's history | DR Congo Ebola outbreak 'worst' in country's history
The latest outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the worst in the country's history, the health ministry says.
Almost 200 people have died since August, officials say, with more than 300 confirmed or probable cases.
A vaccination programme has so far inoculated about 25,000 people.
DR Congo has suffered long years of instability and efforts to relieve the disease have been hampered by attacks on medical workers.
"At this point, 319 cases and 198 deaths have been registered," health minister Oly Ilunga said.
"In view of these figures, my thoughts and my prayers go to the hundreds of families grieving, to the hundreds of orphans and the families which have been wiped out."
About half the victims were from Beni, a city of 800,000 in the North Kivu region, the national health authority said.
The current outbreak is the tenth DR Congo has suffered and the worst since the country's first epidemic in 1976, so early in the disease's history it had yet to be named.
The outbreak in 1976 of what was then an unknown disease in a remote part of DR Congo sparked terror,
but was brought under control by experts quickly identifying the virus' nature and using quarantines
.
Ebola is spread via small amounts of bodily fluid and infection often proves fatal.
Early symptoms are flu-like, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and internal and external bleeding.
|
2a61f45e36b7582e6bbda1a63b033ba4 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46180098 | Tanzania's Magufuli deploys military amid cashew nut crisis | Tanzania's Magufuli deploys military amid cashew nut crisis
Tanzanian authorities have deployed the military to buy cashew nuts from farmers to solve a row over prices.
President John Magufuli had given traders a Monday deadline to buy the crops at government-approved rates.
Farmers had halted sales of their harvests for weeks, saying offers from private traders were too low.
Critics have accused the president of trying to use the crisis over cashews, one of Tanzania's main exports, for political gain.
Mr Magufuli rejected offers from 13 companies who wanted to buy the crop at $1.3 (£1) per kilogram.
The Tanzania People's Defence Forces were ordered to buy the produce from farmers in the southern Mtwara region at $1.43.
On Saturday, Mr Magufuli sacked the agriculture and trade ministers over the crisis, which has seen a fall in the prices of cashews.
The president said he wanted to ensure that thousands of farmers got a fair price for their cashew nuts and secure vital export earnings.
But some say his real motivation is to boost his popularity in the Mtwara region, an opposition stronghold.
Opposition politician Zitto Kabwe said the government should seek parliamentary approval for buying cashew nuts.
Mr Magufuli appointed two other ministers and four deputies after dismissing Agriculture Minister Charles Tizeba and Trade and Investment Minister Charles Mwijage.
He also disbanded the Cashewnut Board of Tanzania and revoked the appointment of the board chair, Anna Abdallah.
|
250213217553881fffd4b9394068fab6 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46194532 | Cameroon drops fake news charges against Mimi Mefo | Cameroon drops fake news charges against Mimi Mefo
The Cameroon government has dropped charges of fake news levelled against a prominent TV journalist from an Anglophone region.
Mimi Mefo Takambo was arrested after sharing reports on social media alleging that the military was behind the death of an American missionary.
The military says the case was shelved on the orders of President Paul Biya.
Over the last two years, Anglophone areas have been hit by unrest in the majority French-speaking country.
Some English-speaking groups complain of discrimination and are pushing for a separate state.
Ms Mefo, head of English news at the privately owned Equinoxe Television and Radio, was arrested on 7 November on charges of "publishing and propagating information that infringes on the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cameroon".
She had posted on her Twitter account that US missionary Charles Trumann Wesco was shot dead by soldiers.
He was killed in October near Bamenda
in the north-west, one of two Anglophone regions.
Her lawyer said that his client had also posted the military's account - that he had been killed by Anglophone separatists.
An army spokesman said the president had decided to stop the prosecution - by a military tribunal - as "a gesture of magnanimity".
She had been freed on 10 November and charges dropped two days later. Local and international media campaign groups had called for her release.
Before her arrest, Ms Mefo had complained of receiving several threats over her reporting of unrest in English-speaking regions.
The separatist issue was thrown into sharp relief by the kidnapping of 82 people, nearly all schoolchildren, from near Bamenda, the capital of the north-west region, on 4 November.
It is still unclear who exactly seized the group. The government blamed Anglophone rebels but they denied involvement.
The last four of those held - the principal, one teacher and two students - were freed on Monday
.
Last month, President Biya won a seventh term in office in polls marred by low turnout and voter intimidation.
According to the International Crisis Group, voter turnout in the two Anglophone regions was as low as 5%.
Cameroon timeline
Paul Biya: Cameroon's 'absentee president'
Lingering cultural colonialism
|
e0053c8912bdf8733eda50a41f64d764 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46235642 | Zimbabwe's Nelson Chamisa calls MDC protesters 'stupid' | Zimbabwe's Nelson Chamisa calls MDC protesters 'stupid'
Zimbabwe's opposition leader has apologised after appearing to insult people who protested over allegations of fraud in July's election.
Six people were shot dead on 1 August in clashes with security forces.
The same day, MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa said he had won the popular vote and that "manipulation" would not prevent his victory. He has refused to accept the election result.
But Mr Chamisa now says the demonstrations were "stupid".
The vote was the first since long-time President Robert Mugabe was ousted from power last year.
Speaking on Thursday, Mr Chamisa distanced himself from the violence and said that the results of the 30 July election had not yet been announced when the protests took place.
"You are talking about an election that has not been declared. And why would I even react because I do not know the results that will be announced?"
"It was very stupid, even, for people who demonstrated… it was stupid, because they then opened themselves for attacks and manipulation," he told journalists. "I think whoever demonstrated - it was their right, but I feel it was not called for."
Security chiefs this week told a commission investigating the violence that Mr Chamisa and other opposition leaders were to blame for inciting violence.
Mr Chamisa has been asked to appear at the inquiry next week but has said he would only testify to the inquiry if President Emmerson Mnangagwa also took part, according to Reuters.
Mr Chamisa later said that his words had "created the wrong impression", adding that he supported people's constitutional right to protest and that "any discomfort caused is sincerely regretted".
Speaking in August, Mr Chamisa had said of the violence: "The thank you we are getting for being peaceful was a thank you of bullets, guns and tanks."
Mr Chamisa's opponent Emmerson Mnangagwa narrowly avoided a second-round run-off when he took 50.7% of the vote in August's election.
The opposition claimed that his vote share - which was just 30,000 more votes than the minimum needed for outright victory - was suspicious.
By Shingai Nyoka, BBC Africa, Harare
It's yet another storm for Mr Chamisa, a gifted orator who unfortunately has had his fair share of gaffes in the nine months he has led the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance.
He has always distanced his party from the 1 August violent protests, in which six people died during a military crackdown. But he may have gone too far this time.
During this week's press conference he appeared angry and agitated, hinting that the authorities who have threatened to arrest him over the deaths are trying to exert pressure on him to accept President Mnangagwa's poll victory.
Doing so would help end the political tensions that have stifled international goodwill since the vote.
He appeared to be cracking under pressure, yet however politically unwise his comments - and even if they do alienate some supporters - Mr Chamisa has in the past always retained a core support base and a legion of supporters willing to explain away the gaffes and half-truths.
|
aa41b0dfea5832f9a2ea57bd1aaeea01 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46249319 | Anti-Ebola efforts in DR Congo disrupted amid violence | Anti-Ebola efforts in DR Congo disrupted amid violence
Efforts to contain an Ebola virus outbreak in the town of Beni in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been further disrupted by rebel attacks, health officials say.
A militia attacked just "a few metres" from an emergency centre, the country's health ministry said.
Staff of the World Health Organization (WHO) were forced to leave as a shell hit the building they were in.
WHO told the BBC that its mission had not been suspended.
It said 16 staff members, whose residence was hit by an unexploded shell, were sent to Goma for psychological care. The rest of the mission is in place.
It was not clear who had fired the shell. It happened during exchanges of fire and could have come from the militia, the UN peacekeepers or the Congolese army.
The staff members took refuge downstairs, before evacuating Beni.
Vaccinations and outreach work in the region were disrupted two months ago
following a rebel attack in which 18 people died.
WHO said that despite the attacks, its mission has continued for three and a half months and never been suspended for more than a day.
Seven UN peacekeepers and 12 Congolese soldiers were killed earlier this week during a joint operation against the ADF.
An Ebola outbreak in the region has killed more than 200 people since August.
|
b5df232a37f4ebfe01c1e53d8d254875 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46254625 | South Africa's Ramaphosa to repay campaign donation | South Africa's Ramaphosa to repay campaign donation
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is to repay $35,000 (£27,300) given to his leadership campaign by a firm accused of corruption.
The donor, a firm called Bosasa, has won lucrative government contracts but is under investigation.
Mr Ramaphosa initially told MPs the money had been paid to his son, Andile, for consultancy work for Bosasa.
By later admitting it was a donation, he undermined his own anti-corruption fight, the BBC's Will Ross reports.
The controversy is a setback for a president who has vowed to fight corruption, our Africa editor adds.
Mr Ramaphosa also ordered a review of all payments to his campaign for the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC).
Answering questions in parliament on 6 November, Mr Ramaphosa said money paid to his son by Bosasa (which is now named African Global Operations) had been for legitimate business between the company and Andile.
Then, in a written clarification to parliament this week, he said he had been subsequently informed that the payment did not relate to his son but had been paid into a fund used for his leadership campaign.
"The donation was made without my knowledge," Mr Ramaphosa wrote. "I was not aware of the existence of the donation at the time that I answered the question."
On Saturday, AFP news agency reports, ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa told state media the president had "decided voluntarily that he will pay back the said amount".
Mmusi Maimane, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, has said the Bosasa payment looks "suspiciously like all other ANC government corruption deals".
Since taking over from
Jacob Zuma, who stepped down in February in the face of mounting corruption allegations
, Mr Ramaphosa has campaigned for probity in public life.
Just this month, he described the corruption plaguing South Africa as an "amoeba" with "tentacles all over".
Acknowledging that South Africans were angry and needed to see senior government officials tried and sent to prison, he compared the current situation to that of a rape victim forced to watch her attacker go unpunished.
|
294f41da2ea12636aaf6f80e79b5892d | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46575449 | Nigerian military lifts Unicef ban after 'spy' row | Nigerian military lifts Unicef ban after 'spy' row
Nigeria's military has revoked its earlier decision to suspend activities of the UN children's agency Unicef in the north-east of the country.
The military said this came after "extensive deliberations" during emergency talks with Unicef officials.
Earlier on Friday, the army had accused the agency of spying for Islamist militants in the restive region.
Millions of people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east are dependent on humanitarian aid.
In a statement, the army said that it had lifted a three-month ban on Unicef's operations.
It said that during the meeting it urged "Unicef representatives to ensure they share information with relevant authorities whenever induction or training of new staff is being conducted".
The statement came just hours after the military had accused the UN agency of spying for Islamists.
"[Unicef staff] train and deploy spies who support the insurgents and their sympathisers," the army said.
These were "unwholesome practices that could further jeopardise the fight against terrorism and insurgency," it added.
This is not the first time the army has taken dramatic action against the UN agency.
In April, the military declared three Unicef workers persona non grata, following leaked allegations of sexual abuse by Nigerian soldiers. That decision was also swiftly reversed.
Nigeria's north-east has been devastated by a decade-long insurgency by Boko Haram and its splinter group Islamic State West Africa
More than 30,000 people have been killed and many more driven from their homes.
|
0be1884b69621fd296dcd61ccb906f25 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47330414 | Botswana mulls lifting elephant hunting ban | Botswana mulls lifting elephant hunting ban
A report by cabinet ministers in Botswana has recommended lifting a four-year hunting ban and the introduction of elephant culling.
After months of public meetings and consultations, the report by ministers also recommends the "establishment of elephant meat canning" for pet food.
The number of elephants in Botswana is estimated to be about 130,000, which some argue is too many for the ecosystem - there is increasing conflict between wildlife and people.
But others say the country's tourism has grown dramatically since the ban came into place and that lifting it would affect the country's international reputation for conservation.
Shortly after coming into office in April 2018, President Mokgweetsi Masisi asked ministers to review the hunting ban which was implemented by his predecessor Ian Khama in 2014.
Public meetings were held and organisations, communities and individuals were asked to comment.
The report's findings recommend that:
President Masisi welcomed the report which will go through further consultation before being implemented.
"I can promise you and the nation that we will consider it. A white paper will follow and it will be shared with the public," he said.
"If needs be, we will give an opportunity to parliament to also interrogate it, and also allow them the space to intervene before we make a final determination."
Surveys have shown that the elephant "range" - how far the elephants travel - has been expanding.
The director of Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Otisitwe Tiroyamodimo, said there were many factors involved, including climate change.
"We started seeing that as soon as the rain started decreasing, the vegetation started deteriorating and then the elephants naturally migrated outside their natural range because they were getting very little water and very little feed," he said.
"The number of the elephants has increased - at the same time the human population also increased, and there has been demand for more land. Infrastructure development has also caused the elephants to migrate."
But the latest survey of wildlife in northern Botswana suggests their numbers are not increasing as many rural people suspect.
Those living close to elephants support the re-introduction of hunting, arguing the amount of conflict has increased since the ban was introduced.
Elephants can be very destructive when they encroach onto farmland and move though villages - destroying crops and sometimes killing people.
Those previously employed by hunting safari companies lost their jobs and say they would welcome the change.
Hunting can be used as a conservation tool, by utilising wilderness that is not suitable for the high-end photographic safaris that Botswana is famous for.
But many conservationists are against the idea of culling elephants or hunting them and warn there may be a backlash from international tourists.
Tourism is Botswana's second largest source of foreign income after diamond mining.
With an election due in October, the government has to balance lifting the hunting ban to win rural votes, against the impact it may have on Botswana's international reputation as a luxury safari destination.
|
9b8557ee5786c70f66e194a8c20a312c | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47432723 | Algeria protests: President confirms fresh poll bid despite rallies | Algeria protests: President confirms fresh poll bid despite rallies
Algeria's veteran President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has defied protesters by confirming he will run again - but says he will not serve a full term.
In a letter he said if he won April's vote he would oversee a national dialogue leading to fresh elections that he would not contest.
His decision to seek a fifth term in office sparked nationwide protests.
Mr Bouteflika, 82, has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.
Sunday saw new protests as a midnight deadline loomed for candidates to register. By nightfall young people were again marching in the capital Algiers despite the president's offer.
Mr Bouteflika's campaign manager submitted papers on behalf of the ailing president, who is undergoing medical treatment in Switzerland.
The electoral commission has said candidates need to submit them in person, but the Constitutional Council ruled that he did not have to be physically present.
The proposal came in the form of a letter to the Algerian people read out on state television.
Should he be re-elected. Mr Bouteflika said he would hold an "inclusive national conference" followed by a vote to determine the next president.
He said he would not run again and acknowledged the protests that have rocked Algeria.
"I listened and heard the heartfelt cry of protesters and in particular of the thousands of youth who asked me about the future of our country," the letter said, read by a presenter on ENTV.
"These youth express an understandable concern about the uncertainties they face. I have the duty and will to appease the hearts and spirits of my compatriots."
So far, six other candidates have formally registered, among them a retired general, Ali Ghediri, who has promised to bring "change" to Algeria.
Businessman Rachid Nekkaz, who has a sizeable Facebook following and is said to be popular among Algeria's young, announced plans to run, but was deemed ineligible.
Instead his cousin, a car mechanic who is also called Rachid Nekkaz has entered and the businessman says he will serve as his campaign manager.
Two opposition parties, the Labour Party, and the Islamist Movement of Society for Peace, have said they will boycott the election.
A key challenger in previous elections, Ali Benflis, also is not running.
Yes - public shows of dissent in Algeria are rare, and the protests have been the biggest since Mr Bouteflika came to power 20 years ago.
Demonstrations broke out about 10 days ago after Mr Bouteflika announced his plans to run for office again.
On Sunday, people again took to the streets of the capital Algiers and other major cities.
Police reportedly used water cannon to disperse students rallying in Algiers.
There have also been demonstrations in France, the former colonial power, which is home to a large Algerian community.
"We aren't opposed to the president, but he is unconscious, he doesn't exist anymore, his generals and those close to him are doing what they will behind his back," one demonstrator told the AFP news agency.
Mr Bouteflika came to power in 1999 and is credited with putting an end to a civil war that is estimated to have killed more than 100,000 people.
Protests against food prices and unemployment broke out in 2011 during the Arab Spring but he responded by lifting a nearly two-decades old state of emergency, meeting a key demand of protesters.
After his stroke he won re-election in a poll denounced by the opposition and dissolved the country's powerful spy agency, replacing it with a body loyal to him.
Critics say his ill health means that he is unable to perform his duties as president.
Despite the dissent, Mr Bouteflika is still widely tipped to win the election this year.
Algeria's opposition is divided and Mr Bouteflika won the last presidential elections in 2014 despite doing no personal campaigning.
|
7af773f9e7e76924eaaaf2019f2d090a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47469522 | South Africa 'sunflower murder' farmers jailed | South Africa 'sunflower murder' farmers jailed
Two white farmers who accused a black teenager of stealing sunflowers and threw him out of a moving van have been sentenced in South Africa.
Pieter Doorewaard, 28, and Phillip Schutte, 35, were sentenced to 18 and 23 years in prison respectively for murder and other offences.
The pair had accused 16-year-old Matlhomola Mosweu of stealing sunflowers worth $5 (£3).
The killing triggered tension in the town of Coligny, North West Province.
Doorewaard and Schutte had said they caught Matlhomola stealing and that the 16-year-old jumped out of their van while they were taking him to the police station in April 2017.
They were convicted at a trial in October.
North West High Court Judge Ronnie Hendricks said that, although the murder was not premeditated, the men must have foreseen that throwing the boy from a moving truck could result in death.
The judge called the pair's actions disgraceful and appalling, the BBC's Nomsa Maseko reports.
The killing sparked violence in Coligny, our reporter says. Black residents set fire to several businesses and homes that belonged to white people.
Police were deployed inside the court house for the sentencing.
|
b1cc99958b8762063b32863a4c023bbc | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47523958 | Ethiopian Airlines: Africa's largest airline | Ethiopian Airlines: Africa's largest airline
Ethiopian Airlines has been shaken by the crash that killed 157 people, but it is widely recognized as Africa's most successful airline.
Voted the Best Airline in Africa in 2018, the airline's triumphs are arguably down to reasonably priced tickets, efficient service delivery, a good safety record and a wide network of flights.
Ethiopian Airlines joined Star Alliance Network, an international airline network giving it access to more routes with partner airlines, in 2011.
It is the largest airline in Africa and one of the few airlines turning a profit in the continent.
In the financial year 2017/2018, Ethiopian Airlines made profits of $245m (£187m) and carried 10.6 million people.
Founded in 1945 by Ethiopia's last emperor Haile Selassie, with the hope of modernising and shaking off the country's poverty-stricken image, the inaugural flight to Cairo via Asmara took place in December that year.
It has since expanded and its fleet of 111 planes is larger than any other airline on the continent, flying to 106 international and 23 domestic destinations.
Ethiopian was the first African airline to take delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the 757 freighter and has invested in expanding and modernizing its fleet - and this has resulted in it having the youngest fleet in Africa.
The average age of the Ethiopian aircraft is just 5.4 years, compared to 13.5 for British Airways, 15 years for United Airlines and 10.7 for American Airlines.
Ethiopian is one of the safest airlines in Africa, however there have been four major, deadly accidents or incidents involving the carrier.
The last Ethiopian Airlines plane crash happened in 2010 when flight ET409 caught fire five minutes after take-off from Beirut and plummeted into the Mediterranean two miles off the Lebanese coast, killing all 89 passengers and crew.
A Lebanese investigation blamed pilot error for the crash but Ethiopian Airlines rejected the report, saying that the plane exploded, which according to their experts pointed to sabotage, a lightning strike or shooting down.
In 1988 35 people died when an Ethiopian Airline plane's engines ingested pigeons and the aircraft caught fire during a belly-landing at Dahir Bar airport in Ethiopia.
In 1996, a Boeing 767 was infamously hijacked and it ran out of fuel while flying from Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya. The plane crash-landed in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros Islands, killing 125 of its 175 passengers.
Beyond its own operations, the airline has also been helping other African national carriers.
It revived and owns a 49% stake in Malawi Airlines and a 45% stake in Zambia Airways and has announced plans to help re-launch a new airline in Mozambique. It is also in talks to establish smaller regional bases in Djibouti, Chad, and Equatorial Guinea. It already operates hubs in Malawi and Togo.
This strategy of reviving defunct national airlines, launching more connections and setting up more hubs across Africa has helped Ethiopian Airlines become a leader in its industry.
"Ethiopian has really come up with a very smart model for many years now," Max Kingsley-Jones, of aviation publisher FlightGlobal, told the BBC.
"Airline Business [magazine] gave Tewolde Gebremariam [CEO of Ethiopian Airlines] an award for being the best airline serving a particular market. The airline has very extensive network and their strategy of flying into Addis Ababa and then carrying people around the region of Africa, all over Africa, has proven successful", he said.
Ethiopian Airlines also has a good marketing strategy; it recently marked International Women's day by operating an
all-female flight from Addis Ababa to Oslo
.
Recently, Ethiopia overtook Dubai as the biggest transfer hub for long-haul travel to Africa, according to findings by Spanish travel consultancy ForwardKeys.
The undergoing expansion at Ethiopia's main airport, the Bole International airport, will further enhance the Ethiopian aviation industry's presence in Africa. Once completed, it will be able to accommodate up to 22 million passengers a year - overtaking South Africa's OR Tambo International airport in Johannesburg.
But that is not enough for Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
At the opening ceremony of Ethiopia's largest hotel, adjacent to the airport in January, he said: "We expect the Board and the Management [of Ethiopian Airlines] not to be complacent with the new terminal, but rather to aim for a bigger facility with a capacity to accommodate at least 100 million passengers."
While the crash is a massive shock to the airline, it will continue with its long-term vision.
|
0ee3186bff945bcd477015c879a7e00d | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-48579475 | Mali attack: '100 killed' in ethnic Dogon village | Mali attack: '100 killed' in ethnic Dogon village
Nearly 100 people have been killed in an attack in a village in central Mali inhabited by the Dogon ethnic group, officials say.
The attack happened in Sobame Da, near Sanga town in the Mopti region.
The search for bodies is ongoing, but officials say 95 people have been found dead, with many of the bodies burned.
There have been numerous attacks in Mali in recent months, some ethnically driven, some carried out by jihadist groups.
Clashes between Dogon hunters and semi-nomadic Fulani herders are frequent.
Mali's government said "suspected terrorists" had attacked the village at around 03:00 local time. At least 19 people were still missing, it said.
But the mayor of nearby Bankass, Moulaye Guindo, told Reuters news agency that Fulanis from that district had attacked Sobane Da after nightfall.
"About 50 heavily armed men arrived on motorbikes and pickups," a survivor who called himself Amadou Togo told the AFP agency. "They first surrounded the village and then attacked – anyone who tried to escape was killed."
"No-one was spared – women, children, elderly people," he added.
No group has officially said it was responsible for the attack.
"Right now we have 95 dead civilians. The bodies are burned, we are continuing to look for others," a local official told AFP.
The Dogon people have lived in central Mali for centuries, and live a largely traditional way of life as settled farmers.
Many Fulani, on the other hand, are semi-nomadic herders who move across large distances in West Africa.
Friction between farmers and the roaming herders over resources is long-standing – but clashes between them have increased since a militant Islamist uprising in northern Mali in 2012.
Both sides accuse the other of carrying out attacks amid the unrest.
The Fulani, a largely Muslim ethnic group, have been accused of having links with the Islamist uprising. But for their part, the Fulani accuse a Dogon self-defence association, Dan Na Ambassagou, of attacks on them.
By Louise Dewast, West Africa correspondent
There is a growing view in Mali that the (mostly military) response to this multi-faceted crisis is ineffective and even counter-productive. Despite having a large UN peacekeeping mission and French forces deployed since 2013, insecurity has worsened in some parts of the country.
According to the International Crisis Group, there were four times more attacks in May 2019 compared to May 2016. In their latest report on the country, the group urges the government to engage in dialogue with militants to negotiate local ceasefires and facilitate humanitarian access to civilians in need.
After another massacre of Fulanis in March, senior officials were sacked, people took to the streets – and the entire government resigned in April.
The attack on Sobame Da has killed about a third of its inhabitants.
In the same region in March, more than
130 Fulani villagers were killed by armed men
wearing traditional Dogon hunters' clothing.
After the attack, the Dogon Dan Na Ambassagou was banned by Mali's government.
But the organisation, which insists it is a self-defence group and had nothing to do with the killings, refused calls to lay down its arms.
The United Nations mission in Mali,
in a report dated 31 May
, said the security situation in central Mali "continued to deteriorate".
It said that clashes between the Dogon and Fulani had been "exacerbated by the presence of extremist groups", and that the central region had recorded the highest number of attacks against civilians.
Hundreds of people have been killed so far this year.
There are several Islamist groups based in northern Mali. In 2013, they seized half of the country and were advancing on the capital, Bamako.
France, the former colonial power in Mali, and some neighbouring African countries, intervened – and
pushed the Islamist groups back towards their strongholds
in the Sahara desert.
Before the unrest, disagreements between the Fulani and Dogon were often settled through negotiation.
But the uprising - which had spread to the centre of Mali by 2015 - decreased government control and increased the availability of weapons.
|
439c7cbb8e7ec2a248124c0b7b08375a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-48640939 | Letter from Africa: 'Sudan's revolutionaries offline but not silenced' | Letter from Africa: 'Sudan's revolutionaries offline but not silenced'
In our series of letters from African journalists, Zeinab Mohammed Salih describes what life is like without the internet for Sudan's revolutionaries.
Many Sudanese are still in shock after the crackdown by security forces who brutally broke up the crowds at the sit-in outside the military headquarters on 3 June.
The opposition says more than 100 people were killed in the capital, Khartoum, that day - and doctors say 40 of those who died were dumped into the River Nile.
In the wake of the massacre the internet was shut down by ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC), which said it was necessary in the interests of "national security".
In the heady days of the mass protests that prompted the military's ousting of Omar al-Bashir as president - nearly everyone in Khartoum was glued to their phone.
The main body organising the demonstrations - the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) - would make its announcement via its Facebook page, which has more than 800,000 followers.
Thousands used Twitter and Facebook to galvanise their efforts to demand a return to civilian rule.
Now that the sit-in site - which covered a vast area from the military's HQ to the campus of University of Khartoum and north to the River Nile - is in ashes, there is an overwhelming feeling of isolation.
Not only are the demonstrators no longer able to gather, but they have found it difficult to communicate and share their disappointment, frustration and anger at the turn of events.
It also leaves them isolated from the rest of the world - and in the days after the crackdown those in the diaspora were desperate to contact friends and family.
The internet shutdown is costing businesses millions of dollars, according to the local newspapers, something the country can ill afford given that
it was the economic problems that first kick-started the protests in December
.
For me as a journalist, it has made my working life very difficult. At first I had to send stories to London via text - and these would not always be delivered.
This was until a friend told me about a hotel in downtown Khartoum with a good landline internet connection.
But reaching the hotel is also not easy.
Most roads in Khartoum have been blocked by barricades erected by activists angered by the killings - and people, especially in the first days after the crackdown, had to walk everywhere.
Eerily this was done in complete silence - and in stark contrast to the noise that emanated for two months from the sit-in site.
A few offices also have landline internet connections and my sister walked for three hours to get to hers in Khartoum east to check an urgent email from a US university where she is hoping to study.
Those forced to walk have been seen carrying knives and sticks, especially in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, to protect themselves.
The SPA has now started to send out text messages to mobilise people but not everyone is signed up to these - I have yet to receive any - and some fear that texts are tracked by the authorities.
Most people prefer to turn to old-fashioned phone calls to pass on information.
I have spoken to more friends and contacts in the last few weeks than I have done in a year.
There is still a worry that these conversations may be tracked but it is felt that not everything can be monitored.
Without the internet, many pro-democracy activists are also cut off from news that they trust.
State TV is largely ignored as it the mouthpiece of the military junta.
The Saudi channel Al-Hadath is probably the most watched television station - even though the Saudis are seen as backers of the TMC, it has wide coverage of events in Sudan.
And the protest movement is slowly re-galvanising itself - by word of mouth.
Protests are beginning to be held at night in suburbs across the capital and in neighbouring cities.
As more people hear about them, the bigger they become - though witnesses say they are kept to smaller streets because of the presence of the security forces on the main roads.
Nonetheless it shows the resilience of the demonstrators - and their hope that their demands will eventually bear fruit.
Follow us on Twitter
@BBCAfrica
, on Facebook at
BBC Africa
or on Instagram at
bbcafrica
|
45d334d5977c0f80b22290c687ea81e9 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-48734572 | Ethiopia army chief shot dead in 'coup bid' attacks | Ethiopia army chief shot dead in 'coup bid' attacks
The chief of staff of the Ethiopian army, Gen Seare Mekonnen, has been shot dead by his own bodyguard in the capital, Addis Ababa.
He and another officer died trying to prevent a coup attempt against the administration in Ethiopia's northern Amhara region, PM Abiy Ahmed said.
In Amhara itself, regional governor Ambachew Mekonnen was killed along with an adviser.
The government says the situation is under control after arrests were made.
The prime minister has gone on TV to urge Ethiopians to unite in the face of "evil" forces set on dividing the country.
The US state department has warned its staff in Addis Ababa to stay inside.
Ethnic violence has hit Amhara and other parts of Ethiopia in recent years.
Since his election last year, Mr Abiy has moved to end political repression by releasing political prisoners, removing bans on political parties and prosecuting officials accused of human rights abuses.
Africa's oldest independent country, Ethiopia is also the continent's second most populous (after Nigeria), with 102.5 million inhabitants from more than 80 different ethnic groups.
A transfer hub for long-haul air travel, it has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, but a vast number of young Ethiopians are without work.
Gen Seare was killed on Saturday evening at his residence along with another general, Gezai Abera, by the bodyguard who is now in custody, the prime minister's press office says.
The government says it has reason to think the attack was linked to the assassination of the governor of Amhara a few hours earlier in the region's capital, Bahir Dar.
Mr Ambachew was killed at a meeting in his office along with his senior adviser, Ezez Wasie, while the region's attorney general was wounded.
Lake Ayalew has now been appointed as the region's acting governor.
The prime minister's office accused Amhara's regional security chief, Brig-Gen Asaminew Tsige, of plotting the coup attempt. It is unclear whether he has been arrested.
Many of those involved in the coup attempt are under arrest and operations are in progress to detain others, the PM's press office said.
"The coup attempt in Amhara regional state is against the constitution and is intended to scupper the hard-won peace of the region," it added.
"This illegal attempt should be condemned by all Ethiopians and the federal government has full capacity to overpower this armed group."
The mayor of Addis Ababa, Takele Uma, has said life will resume as normal on Monday and he called on the city's public employees to go to work as usual.
Safety and security would be maintained in the capital, he promised.
By Emmanuel Igunza, BBC Africa, Nairobi
These are tumultuous time for Ethiopia and Prime Minister Abiy, who is already facing increased ethnic tensions.
Chief of staff Seare Mekonnen had only served as head of the military for a year having being appointed by Mr Abiy, who made sweeping changes in the security apparatus when he took office last April.
It is clear there is still significant opposition within the military opposed to the PM's style of leadership.
The killing of Amhara's governor is also a big blow for Mr Abiy, who is credited with installing Ambachew Mekonnen in office.
He was a key ally in Amhara, which is itself facing security problems and clamour from some groups for greater autonomy from the central government.
The first general election since Mr Abiy came to power is supposed to be held next year, but it is very hard to see how this will go ahead in a country that is highly polarised. The atmosphere is just too toxic.
The homeland of the Amhara ethnic group is the country's second most populous region and has given Ethiopia its state language, Amharic.
Violence between the Amhara and Gumuz ethnic groups left dozens of people dead last month in Amhara and its neighbouring region, Benishangul Gumuz.
Ethnic violence, typically sparked by land disputes, has displaced nearly three million people across Ethiopia.
Another issue the prime minister is having to grapple with is unrest within the military.
In October, he said hundreds of soldiers who marched to his office to demand a pay rise had wanted to kill him.
Mr Abiy survived a grenade attack at a rally a year ago
which killed two people and left more than 100 injured.
Asaminew Tsige was among a group of high-ranking military officers released from prison early last year when the previous government moved to free political detainees in response to public pressure.
The general had been in custody for nine years for allegedly plotting a coup.
According to Reuters news agency, Amhara's top officials had convened Saturday's meeting to discuss open attempts by the general to recruit ethnic militias.
Gen Asaminew openly advised the Amhara people this month to arm themselves, in a video spread on Facebook and seen by a Reuters reporter.
It was not immediately clear on Sunday if the general was among those arrested.
|
17f699c6a0e7e016489a76ab24f18fbc | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-48837948 | US jails Rwandan for hiding genocide involvement from immigration | US jails Rwandan for hiding genocide involvement from immigration
A Rwandan man who hid his involvement in the 1994 genocide has been sentenced to eight years in jail.
Jean Leonard Teganya committed "the most serious form of immigration fraud" by "lying about his status as a war criminal to win asylum,"
US Attorney Andrew E Lelling said in a statement
.
In just 100 days in 1994, about 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda by ethnic Hutu extremists.
Teganya denies that he was involved in the genocide.
But prosecutors in the US said Teganya participated in at least seven murders and five rapes during that time.
Although Teganya's charge and sentencing was for immigration fraud, not his activities during the genocide, the case proved a challenge for the judge.
"Do I sentence him as a liar or do I sentence him as a murder, or a rapist, or genocide participant?" Judge F Dennis Saylor IV is reported to have said by AP news agency.
Federal prosecutors in Boston said they would have sought a life term had the sentencing been for murder and rape, Reuters news agency reports.
Journalist and election observer Elizabeth Blunt says there are parallels with the case of Tom Woewiyu, the former spokesman of Liberian warlord Charles Taylor who was
found guilty of immigration fraud in the US for lying about his role in his country's civil war
.
Teganya, now 47, was a medical student in Rwanda at the time of the genocide and was accused of leading teams of soldiers around a hospital and identifying Tutsi patients,
the US statement says
.
"Once discovered, the Tutsis were taken and killed behind the maternity ward," it adds.
During the genocide, Hutu extremists were targeting members of the minority Tutsi community, as well as their political opponents, irrespective of their ethnic origin.
Teganya fled Rwanda in 1994 and ended up in Canada where he applied for asylum. But the authorities turned down his claim because of his alleged involvement in the genocide.
He then avoided deportation and went to the US where he was detained. In his application for asylum in the US he did not disclose his activities during the genocide, the US government says.
Teganya is expected to appeal against the judgement, Reuters news agency reports.
His lawyer argued that he had fled Rwanda because as a Hutu, he feared being accused of involvement in the genocide under the new Tutsi-dominated government. He also described Teganya in court documents as a religious father of two who has led a "quiet and unassuming life" over the past 25 years, according to AP news agency.
Once his sentence is complete, Teganya is likely to be deported from the US.
|
5212697bd183a38bbfda99b62200dcfd | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49421885 | Has Kenya's plastic bag ban worked? | Has Kenya's plastic bag ban worked?
Two years ago, Kenya introduced a ban on plastic carrier bags.
Has it worked?
Tens of millions of plastic bags were handed out in supermarkets every year in Kenya.
They polluted the environment and clogged up drainage systems contributing to floods in rainy seasons.
A study supported by the National Environmental Management Agency (Nema) found that more than 50% of cattle near urban areas were found to have plastic bags in their stomachs.
So after years of promising to take action, the government made the manufacturing, sale and distribution of plastic carrier bags illegal.
Since the ban, the government says 80% of the population have stopped using plastic carrier bags.
Although this is encouraging, some of the alternatives have also been found to be environmentally damaging.
Anyone found manufacturing, importing or selling a plastic carrier bag could be fined up to $40,000 (£32,000) or face a prison sentence of up to four years. Using the banned bags carries a fine of more than $500 or a jail term of up to a year.
So far, fines of between $500 and $1,500 have been handed out to around 300 people.
Others have been sent to jail, says Keriako Tobiko, Kenya's environment minister.
Last year, 18 people who pleaded guilty in a court in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa were fined $300 or sentenced to eight months in jail for using the bags.
In other cases, first-time offenders have been let off without punishment.
"It is at the discretion of the courts to decide what penalty they will give. The judge has the discretion depending on the case," Mamo Mamo, the acting director general of Nema, told the BBC.
The toughest penalty imposed so far has been on a manufacturer who was sentenced to a jail term of one year without the option of a fine, according to Mr Mamo.
He says the ban is having a real impact - abattoirs are now finding fewer bags inside cows.
There has also been praise from environmental charities.
"It is good progress if what we see around is anything to go by. Previously, driving from Nairobi to a place like the Masai Mara you would see plastic bags hanging from trees like flowers after being blown away and getting stuck. We don't see them any more," says Nancy Githaiga, WWF Kenya's policy and research manager.
The ban has largely been considered a success although some types of plastic bags have not disappeared entirely.
While supermarkets and many shops are no longer handing out carrier bags, small traders have been using a smaller bag made of clear plastic.
And there are signs these are being smuggled into the country from neighbouring Uganda and Somalia.
"There is a high probability for illicit products to enter the Kenyan market due to our porous borders and the country-specific policy decision on plastic bags that wasn't adopted at the regional level. Illicit trade is a huge challenge in the country," says the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (Kam).
Smuggling across the border is a problem reported by Rwanda too, which banned plastic bags in 2008, and Morocco, which started enforcing a ban in 2017.
Tanzania, which also used to be a source of plastics smuggled through the border, implemented a ban in June.
Following the ban, polypropylene bags became a popular alternative.
Polypropylene is a type of plastic that is easier to recycle than polythene, the plastic more widely used in bag production.
However, Nema found that manufacturers soon started to reduce the quality of this type of bag, increasing the polythene content, so it couldn't be recycled.
"The single usage of these bags will eventually lead to heavy environmental consequences due to poor disposal practices currently being experienced in the country coupled with the lack of requisite infrastructure to sustainably manage these bags," Nema says.
The government then banned polypropylene bags in March 2019 until a quality standard was introduced.
But manufacturers and traders challenged this and the ban was reversed, so that polypropylene is currently permitted.
Kam claims the plastic bag ban led to a loss of jobs, investment and markets as some manufacturers closed their businesses and others relocated to other countries.
But it has also brought new business opportunities.
"The few remaining plastic bags manufacturing companies have diversified their operations to produce fabric-based bags, non-woven bags, pulp paper-based bags amongst others," Kam's communications officer Grace Mbogo told the BBC.
"However, the capacity for production remains low due to the limited supply of raw materials domestically."
Read more from Reality Check
Send us your questions
Follow us on Twitter
|
b880a2939e22d5820d2672be7754d2cd | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49673944?utm_source=amerika.org | South Africa crime: Police figures show rising murder and sexual offences | South Africa crime: Police figures show rising murder and sexual offences
Sexual offences and murder rates have risen significantly in South Africa over the past year, according to new official crime figures.
Murders recorded by the police have been rising every year for the last decade, and sexual offences including rape have risen 4.6% this year.
The release of the figures comes amid growing concern about violence against women after a number of high-profile rape cases and murders in recent weeks.
Thousands of people took to the streets earlier this month to protest against the attacks.
Among sexual offences, sexual assault increased by 9.6% and rape by 3.9%
For crimes detected by the police as a result of their own activities (rather than reported by the public) there was a 19% increase in recorded sexual offences.
There were also increases in arson (5.5%), attempted murder (4.1%) and common assault (3.7%).
And there was an increase of more than 14% in commercial crime, the majority of which related to fraud.
However, recorded robberies and thefts from property or vehicles have shown decreases over the past year.
Murder rates in South Africa have been steadily rising since 2011-12
according to official figures
.
In that year, there were 15,554 recorded murders. By 2018-19, this figure had increased to 21,022.
That averages out to about 58 murders a day.
Last year, there were a total of 52,420 recorded sexual offences.
This is lower than for the period 2009-15, but over the past three years the rate has been increasing.
In a statement on the release of the latest figures, the Minister of Police Bheki Cele, said reversing the rising murder trend of the last six years was a "mammoth task, but is doable".
He also said there were plans to increase the number of specialist police units dealing with gender violence, as well as recruit and train more women officers.
South Africa's parliamentary committee on police
has said it is "unacceptable" that crime rises every year.
"The trajectory of crime cannot continue at the current rate and requires a shift in the way we view policing, from being responsive to being more preventive," said Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the committee's chairperson.
The Institute for Security Studies think-tank argued that the latest figures
show that increased spending on policing and harsher sentences have not reduced violence.
It called for more investment in programmes that help with parenting, after-school care and anti-bullying programmes as "most violent behaviour is learnt in the home or in communities".
South Africa does have a very high murder rate when you look at other countries.
United Nations figures for the number of murders per 100,000 people show that in 2017, only four other countries had a higher rate of homicide - Belize, Honduras, Jamaica and El Salvador.
And World Health Organization (WHO) data for 2016 for the murder rate of women and girls puts South Africa amongst the four worst countries.
This is the latest year for which data is available.
It is difficult to compare sexual offences because of the different ways police forces around the world record these, and also because there is likely to be significant under-reporting of sexual violence.
|
1862044f65e094088ffd952d4d2ca2f8 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50167447 | Can South Africa's Democratic Alliance bounce back? | Can South Africa's Democratic Alliance bounce back?
The resignation of the leader of South Africa's main opposition party has robbed it of a man who was viewed as a potential president and raised questions of whether it can tackle the country's ingrained racial injustice, as Andrew Harding reports from Johannesburg.
For many years, South Africa's biggest and most disciplined opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has had a relatively easy ride.
Its power and reach grew consistently in successive elections as it began to take control of important municipalities, led since 2015 by a charismatic young black man, Mmusi Maimane, the party started to position itself as a force that would soon sweep to power nationally.
The DA was helped in this project by the increasingly spectacular failings of the governing African National Congress (ANC) - particularly in the last decade - under what many South Africans concluded was the overtly corrupt, tired, and incompetent leadership of former President Jacob Zuma.
The DA wisely positioned itself as the anti-corruption party, and earned an impressive reputation for good governance in towns and communities across the country. Mr Maimane gave barnstorming speeches haranguing President Zuma as a "broken man".
The DA had little incentive to resolve deep policy rifts within its own ranks. It believed that all it had to do was say "we're better than the ANC", and the voters would surely follow, ushering South Africa's young democracy towards electoral maturity in which a governing party appeared vulnerable.
But then, in 2017, the ANC woke up.
At the end of that year, it dumped the discredited Mr Zuma and brought in a new leader, Cyril Ramaphosa, who appeared genuine in his commitment to tackle corruption and fix a broken economy.
At this year's elections, many black South Africans chose to give the ANC - the party that once liberated them from racist white-minority rule - one more chance, while the DA's white support base also began to fracture.
For the first time, the DA's share of the national vote dropped, slipping down to 21%.
Some soul-searching, and staff changes in the party, were inevitable. But in recent weeks the DA has gone much further than that.
The election setback has triggered a vicious factional war inside the party - a war that now threatens to push it back to the margins of South Africa's political landscape.
Some commentators are wondering if the party can even survive. A great deal is now at stake both for the DA, and for multi-party democracy in South Africa.
The DA's factionalism is complicated and often over-simplified, but it centres on South Africa's apartheid past, and how best to tackle the enduring racial inequality here.
The question is whether to focus on non-racialism, on growing an economy that will benefit all communities, which is the preference of the party's older, more conservative core. Or whether the party should be more committed to transformation, backing pro-black empowerment schemes and generally looking to woo poorer black voters, which is the view of erstwhile leader Mr Maimane.
Crunch-time came last weekend, when the DA's strident former leader, a white woman, Helen Zille, abruptly returned to high office in the party.
She is a dynamic but increasingly divisive and - one might argue - tone-deaf figure,
whose 2017 tweets on colonialism infuriated Mr Maimane
and offended many black South Africans.
When news was leaked that an internal panel set up to investigate the recent election setbacks had recommended that Mr Maimane step down, his resignation became almost inevitable.
And so, in the course of a few days, the DA has lost its leader, its chairman and
the mayor of Johannesburg, who resigned on Monday
.
Can it bounce back? Of course, it can. Indeed some will argue that all this is just a brief, necessary, and constructive purge for the party.
But behind all the nuance and the complexity, lies a simple challenge.
To rebuild and progress, the DA needs to hold on to its white supporters, some of whom are defecting to more radical parties, while convincing black South Africans that it is not returning to its historical roots as a minority party predominantly representing the interests of whites, who make up just 9% of the population.
The idea that the party's crisis can be reduced to a simple black-white issue might seem absurd. After all, South Africa has changed enormously since apartheid, and the modern DA is full of young black officials and politicians who have helped make strong inroads in black communities.
But 25 years after the advent of democracy, racial injustice remains a raw and dominant theme here.
The ANC and its radical off-shoot, the Economic Freedom Fighters have, increasingly, sought to exploit and inflame the issue, blaming the country's economic problems on "white monopoly capital", and often attempting to polarise politics along racial grounds.
In his resignation speech on Wednesday, Mr Maimane described the DA as being the wrong "vehicle" for his vision of building a united South Africa, prompting speculation that he and other departing figures may seek to form a new party.
After so many years of ANC rule, there is a huge appetite here for a competent, centrist party that can win black support, keep the government on its toes and perhaps eventually push the ANC out of power.
But in 25 years, plenty of new parties and ANC splinter groups have fizzled out, or retreated to the extremes. Only the DA has maintained the support, and the organisational clout, to win control of a province, and to look like a potential government in waiting.
Now all that is under threat.
|
26f33fa649e1e23226eee4b9af9166df | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50169598 | Zimbabwe sanctions: Who is being targeted? | Zimbabwe sanctions: Who is being targeted?
Friday is a public holiday in Zimbabwe to mark a day of protest against sanctions which the government blames for the country's economic problems.
Southern African countries have joined calls from the Zimbabwe government for the sanctions to be lifted, saying they're damaging the region's economy.
So why are sanctions in place and what impact are they having?
The United States and the European Union (EU) have both maintained sanctions, citing a lack of progress in democratic and human rights reforms as well as restrictions on press freedoms.
They target both specific individuals and companies.
United States financial and travel restrictions currently apply to 85 individuals, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
There are also 56 companies or organisations facing restrictions.
"We have sanctions against certain individuals and certain corporations… not against the country of Zimbabwe. There is nothing to stop US businesses from investing in Zimbabwe, from going to Zimbabwe," says US Assistant Secretary of State on African Affairs Tibor Nagy.
Washington says the economic impact is mostly on farms and companies owned by these designated individuals.
The US also imposed a ban on arms exports to Zimbabwe.
EU sanctions also target specific individuals both within the Zimbabwean government and associated with it.
Travel restrictions and a freeze on assets have been imposed, along with the sale of military hardware and equipment which might be used for internal repression.
Originally imposed during the era of former President Robert Mugabe, these sanctions were reviewed earlier this year and have been extended until February 2020.
The EU says these restrictions have no impact on the economy of the country.
Zimbabwe's economy has faced deep economic crises over the past few years with periods of hyperinflation rendering the local currency worthless.
Once again this year Zimbabwe has been reeling from high levels of inflation as well as severe shortages of fuel, power and water.
Recent economic data suggests Zimbabwe's economy has recently been shrinking as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, the average economic output per person.
The government of Zimbabwe has regularly blamed the dire economic performance on sanctions, and its neighbours in the southern African region are concerned about the impact Zimbabwe's worsening economic crisis is having on the region.
But there's little evidence to suggest that US and EU sanctions are responsible for Zimbabwe's troubles.
The US blame the crisis on what an official described as "catastrophic mismanagement" of the economy.
The EU also points to economic policies, a poorly carried out land reforms programme, drought and the HIV/Aids pandemic.
Data from 1980 to 2015 shows no evidence sanctions had a negative effect on formal employment and poverty, says Carren Pindiriri, a lecturer at the Department of Economics, University of Zimbabwe.
For its part, the Zimbabwean government argues that sanctions have cost billions of dollars.
"You can't say sanctions are targeted when you specify 56 of the biggest companies in Zimbabwe. What is left?" Zimbabwe's permanent secretary for information Nick Mangwana says.
When Mr Mugabe was forced from office in 2017,
two UN human rights experts
supported calls for the lifting of sanctions.
They said the measures could not be said to be "limited" or "targeted", as the people and companies affected represented the vast majority of the economy.
"Zimbabwe's economy is heavily concentrated in particular sectors, and sanctions on only a few people or companies can have a devastating impact."
Read more from Reality Check
Send us your questions
Follow us on Twitter
|
30fee2f8105b68555e73575124d03828 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50199322?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/africa&link_location=live-reporting-story | South Africa's DA chooses Steenhuisen as parliamentary leader | South Africa's DA chooses Steenhuisen as parliamentary leader
John Steenhuisen has been elected parliamentary leader of South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The DA's former chief whip was chosen after
the resignation of Mmusi Maimane
as both parliamentary and party leader.
Mr Maimane, who is black, had said the traditionally white party was not the "best vehicle" to create a united South Africa.
In the last seven days, two other senior members resigned from the party.
Herman Mashaba, the black mayor of Johannesburg, resigned on Monday, citing concerns over how the party handled race as one of the reasons for his departure.
On Wednesday, Mr Maimane's resignation was quickly followed by that of party federal chairman Athol Trollip, a white politician who is a Maimane loyalist.
Mr Steenhuisen was the only nominee for the parliamentary leadership, DA official Annelie Lotriet said on Sunday.
The election of the 43-year-old has become a trending topic on Twitter in South Africa with users pointing out that the DA leadership is now all white and questioning the election of a leader who lacks university education.
The party has not yet chosen Mr Maimane's successor as party leader.
|
ddec19ace60d3e8e8fd52aac7e4ad239 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50304472 | Genevieve Nnaji's rise from Nollywood to Netflix | Genevieve Nnaji's rise from Nollywood to Netflix
Nigerian star and film director Genevieve Nnaji has already shown that she is a force to be reckoned with, so the disqualification of her Netflix film from the Oscars is unlikely to frustrate her ambitions.
In fact
the rejection of Lionheart earlier this month
from the Academy's best international feature film category may well act as a springboard for her future success.
The 40-year-old has starred in more than 80 films over the last two decades and her rise to prominence coincided with the exponential growth of Nollywood, as the Nigerian film industry is called, across Africa.
Yet she suffered a major setback in 2004 when she was blacklisted by a powerful cartel of film studios in Nigeria, along with several other A-list actors.
These film studios, operating out of Nigeria's commercial hub Lagos and Onitsha in the south-east state of Anambra, largely bankrolled Nollywood in the 1990s and early 2000s.
They gave funds to producers and told them who to hire, says BBC Igbo reporter Vining Ogu, who used to be a film producer based in the southern city of Asaba.
"At some point, the studios felt these A-list stars were collecting too much money and felt they were being held to ransom," he said.
"At its height, one actor collected 10m naira [$28,000; £21,000] in the early 2000s in cash, which was a lot of money."
With no producer brave enough to go against the studios, Nnanji found herself out of a job - so she decided to move into music, releasing an album called One Logologo Line.
Her one and only album, it is best remembered for the track No More, a love song with lyrics that could be seen as metaphor for the rest of her career: "No more crying oh, No more fighting oh, No more tears oh, I got my freedom, power and more."
Screenwriter and director Ishaya Bako traces her rise to the top and the birth of independent producers in Nigeria to that ban.
"The studios thing happening, there was some bad in it, but a lot of good came out of it," says Bako, who worked with Nnaji on the Road to Yesterday in 2015 - when she made her debut as a producer.
"It made her realise there could be life behind the camera," he said.
From there as a producer she had more power over what type of films she appeared in and what roles she played.
She started acting as an eight-year-old, starring in the popular TV soap Ripples.
Her Nollywood career really took off when she was 19 in Most Wanted, when she played one of four daredevil female armed robbers masquerading as men.
Film director Adim Williams say he takes some credit for "her rise to fame" when he cast her in his 2002 film Sharon Stone - not a biopic of the US actress - in which she played a flirtatious woman.
"In her rising days she was called Sharon Stone and I wrote and directed the movie, which was a massive hit and became sort of her identity," he said.
He describes Nnaji as "very intelligent" and said she looked like she "was prepared for stardom" the first time he met her.
You may also be interested in:
He says playing "similar characterisations" helped her in the early days, when she was cast as a "likeable, beautiful, loveable girl".
Perhaps her upbringing had a hand in shaping some of her on-screen roles.
She grew up in the bustling city of Lagos in a middle-class home - her father an engineer and her mother a teacher.
Actor Richard Mofe Damijo, who has co-starred with her several times, says she is a natural on screen.
"She was and still is one of our queens and she always comes to the party with a winning spirit," he told the BBC.
In 2011 she was honoured with an award by the Nigerian government for her contributions to the film industry - yet she was not done, wanting to try her hand at directing.
When in 2018 Netflix announced that it was acquiring the rights to Lionheart, her directorial debut, it was seen as a massive boost for Nigeria's film industry.
Nollywood is a multi-billion dollar enterprise but with short turn-around times, not much attention is paid to technical details and storytelling.
With an average production budget of between $15,000 and $70,000, most films are shot within a month and expected to be profitable.
Kenneth Gyang, an independent producer based in the northern city of Jos, said Nnaji's deal with Netflix "has opened up the possibility that money can be sourced from other avenues".
"Netflix has a quality control that is very high. Now they [producers] know that if it is a very good film they can sell it as an original and make more money," he told the BBC.
Film critic Oris Aigbokhaevbolo agrees that the Netflix deal showed other filmmakers that good films could be profitable.
When Lionheart was nominated for the Oscars, Nnaji described it as a "pivotal moment in the history of Nigerian cinema".
However, films in the best international feature film category must have "a predominantly non-English dialogue track".
Lionheart, in which Nnaji also stars, is largely in English, with an 11-minute section in Igbo - hence its rejection.
Nnaji hit out at the Academy, tweeting: "We did not choose who colonised us."
But the rules were clear and the Nigerian selection committee had bungled it.
Yet some feel it may be a watershed moment for more local language films to be produced.
"Nollywood has proven itself stubborn to change. Perhaps Genevieve and the rest will spearhead it," says Mr Aigbokhaevbolo.
So it may be that this rejection could open another chapter for the director and Nollywood.
|
ee5f068ff07e98a2bd03142b8be9cb48 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50717749 | Algeria election: Thousands march to protest in Algiers | Algeria election: Thousands march to protest in Algiers
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Algerian capital, Algiers, to protest against Thursday's presidential election.
They briefly overran a polling station. An attempt by police to disperse the crowd failed.
Two more voting centres were stormed in the Kabylie region, east of the capital.
The vote follows the ousting of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was forced to resign in April.
He had been in power for two decades, but was ousted following anti-government demonstrations across the country.
The protesters have continued to demand the sweeping away of Algeria's entire political establishment, and they are boycotting the election.
All five candidates standing were closely linked with the rule of ex-President Bouteflika.
For close to a year, thousands of Algerians have protested every Friday in Algiers and other cities across the country against any elections under the current government.
They want all officials associated with the regime of ousted President Bouteflika to be removed from office, including interim President Abdelkader Bensalah and Prime Minister Nouredine Bedoui.
"No election with the gangs", "they must all be removed" protesters have chanted week after week, referring to the politicians and businessmen in the inner circle of the ousted president who they see as corrupt.
They say new faces must be brought in to organise "real elections" in a country where the winner of presidential elections has always been easy to guess.
Any election under the current government would be seen as a mere resuscitation of the old regime protesters have been fighting against.
Source: Electoral commission
Many protesters say Mr Bensalah and Mr Bedoui cannot be trusted to secure a free and transparent election because they have benefitted from former President Bouteflika's rule.
But
army chief Gen Ahmed Gaid Salah, the county's de facto leader
insisted that the election go ahead if Algeria is to avoid "chaos".
Despite clampdowns by the authorities, anti-election protests have taken hold across the country, making it difficult for candidates to engage with voters in the streets or in open-air rallies.
Skirmishes between campaigners and anti-election protesters have marred electoral campaigns in some cities.
All five candidates in Algeria's presidential elections have served under former President Bouteflika or his FLN party:
A candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner, otherwise there will be a second round.
Yes. For the first time in Algeria presidential candidates took part in a live TV debate, but many viewers were left unimpressed.
A panel of journalists representing the main public and private news organisations in the country took part in the show on 6 December.
It was run by the state broadcaster and also aired by commercial channels.
Experts and observers slammed the event for a lack of real debate and robust questioning of the candidates.
In their statements, all five presidential hopefuls have sought to distance themselves as much as they could from the ousted president and his inner circle.
They have also agreed "to meet the demands of the protesters" from their first day in office.
Mr Tebboune has promised to pursue taxpayer money "stolen and hidden abroad". Similarly, Mr Belaid says fighting corruption will be his priority if elected.
Mr Bengrina says too many of those in office are old men and he wants to see a "government of youth". Mr Benflis, meanwhile, wants to reduce the age requirement to run for public office.
Mr Mihoubi promises to improve Algeria's economy by focusing on agriculture and renewable energies.
Unlike Algeria's previous presidential elections there is no obvious front-runner this time around.
But experience and political support would put Mr Benflis, Mr Tebboune and Mr Mihoubi ahead of the rest.
Mr Tebboune has been dubbed "the chosen one" by social media users who see him as close to army chief Gen Salah. But the presidential hopeful was dealt a blow when his son appeared in court last week in connection with a high-profile corruption and cocaine-trafficking case.
Ms Benflis, meanwhile, has always struggled to distance himself from the Bouteflika regime in the eyes of the general public.
For years he was a close ally of the ousted leader and a promoter of his policies, despite a disagreement between the two.
Mr Mihoubi arguably has less baggage, and has not been linked to cases of corruption and financial scandals. Yet there is the burden of association with his
RND party's disgraced former leader Ahmed Ouyahia, who has been jailed for corruption
.
In massive demonstrations across Algeria, citizens have once again been calling this election a sham.
The authorities decided to go ahead with the vote despite massive popular resistance. But low participation would certainly damage the future president's legitimacy.
The vote was originally scheduled for June 2019 but was cancelled due to a lack of candidates. Army chief Gen Salah has repeatedly said the election must not be delayed a second time.
In the days ahead of the vote, reports have emerged of angry protesters destroying ballots boxes in some areas of the country.
Voting began on Saturday for the Algerian diaspora. Photos of polling stations opened in consulates and embassies abroad do not show a lot of enthusiasm for the election.
Turnout is likely to be a major challenge for the authorities as people had been more focused on whether the vote would even take place, rather than its possible outcome.
It was army chief Gen Salah who triggered the removal President Bouteflika
, his former ally, when he called for his office to be vacated. The move was designed to appease nationwide protests against Mr Bouteflika seeking a fifth term.
Since Mr Bouteflika's ousting in April, there have been sweeping arrests of wealthy businessmen and high-profile officials close to the former president and his inner circle.
They include his brother
Saïd Bouteflika who was jailed for 15 years for conspiring against the state and undermining the military
, along with former intelligence chiefs Mohamed Mediene Toufik and Athmane Bachir Tartag, as well as leftist party leader Louisa Hanoun.
Corruption and money laundering convictions have also landed two former prime ministers in jail
- Ahmed Ouyahia was given a 15-year sentence, and Abdelmalek Sellal 12 years.
On the same changes, former cabinet ministers Youcef Yousfi and Mahdjoub Bedda have each been handed 10-year sentences, while businessmen Ali Haddad, Ahmed Mazouz, Hassan Arbaoui and Mohamed Bairi were each jailed for seven years.
An international arrest warrant has been issued against another cabinet minister, Abdesalem Bouchoureb, who is believed to have fled the country. He has been sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison.
It is likely these men will appeal against their sentences.
While anti-government protesters have celebrated the prosecution of such figures - who they dub "the gang" - they remain determined to continue until their demands are met.
|
c52385cd81026ffa3d9ec94acd0d6949 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50731570 | Algeria election: 'Why I give up my weekends to protest' | Algeria election: 'Why I give up my weekends to protest'
Amina Boumaraf, 19, and Yanis Cherrou, 23, are not your typical students.
Every week since February they have been taking part in demonstrations in Algeria.
The protests led to long-time leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigning in April - but they are opposed to Thursday's elections to choose his successor, and the protests are still going on.
The demonstrations began with a rallying call from an anonymous group on Facebook.
The 22 February Movement asked people to take to the streets when it was announced that the 82-year-old Mr Bouteflika was running for a fifth term.
"We didn't really know what to expect and to be honest I was worried of Islamist violence. But I went anyway, out of curiosity," Mr Cherrou tells the BBC.
During the 1990s, Algeria fought a brutal civil war against an Islamist insurgency and the memories of those dark years have often kept demonstrators at bay.
But something had changed: people like Ms Boumaraf and Mr Cherrou were too young to remember those times. The two students decided to be part of the change.
"The internet was blocked during that first march in February and so it was only in the evening that we started seeing pictures of protests that took place all over the country, including in Algiers, where it's been illegal to demonstrate since 2001," says Mr Cherrou.
"That's when we thought, wow."
Ms Boumaraf says that in the beginning, her parents did not want her to join the protests.
"They were really scared. But after the first march, I told them I couldn't not join. For me it wasn't really a choice, it was my responsibility. My country was calling."
Initially, the demonstrators focused on Mr Bouteflika's re-election bid.
When he resigned a new election date was set, but, like thousands of others, Mr Cherrou and Ms Boumaraf did not want to stop there.
You may also be interested in:
"We live in a reign of corruption and injustice. Algerians are suffering every day," says Ms Boumaraf, a student leader in Algiers.
"Before the revolution, if we wanted to improve or change the situation, it was impossible.
"There are people with money and connections who can do whatever they want, and we have nothing."
Both students admit that participating in this movement - called "hirak" (Arabic for mobilisation) - has been all-consuming, and that they've put their studies and everything else on standby. Demonstrations are usually held on a Friday, the first day of the weekend.
"What I love is also that barriers have fallen," explains Ms Boumaraf, who studies architecture.
"There are people from all ages and backgrounds during the marches. Every week we are determined. It really gives me hope.
"Sometimes I just stop and look at people and it gives me energy again. It's really moving. Every single week."
Mr Cherrou, who studies IT, has the same perspective on the movement even though he lives about 100km (60 miles) east of the capital in the city of Tizi Ouzou.
"In the beginning there was a lot of anger, people were really fed up," he says.
"But after maybe the third protest the mood became more joyful and we started calling the movement 'The smiling revolution'.
"I can say that I am proud to be part of this movement. My family fought for independence [from France], fought in the name of Berbers, and so I'm happy that I also get a chance to try and change things, and not just with my community but with the entire country."
The movement has also been emboldened by the arrests and sentencing of
dozens of officials and businessmen associated with Mr Bouteflika
, some of whom are part of the ruling elite that has controlled Algeria since independence in 1962.
"The revolution isn't just against a president, it's against a system. We want a radical change," says Ms Boumaraf.
"I'm not against elections per se but I am against organising elections in these conditions," says the young woman.
"We need to have an independent justice system, freedom of expression."
Because of this many are planning to continue demonstrating this week, right up until election day.
The five men running for president either supported Mr Bouteflika or participated in his government.
"They're making fun of us with these candidates. It's just a renewal of the same system," says Mr Cherrou.
"We won't be able to change the system if we have a president that doesn't represent us, a president that will be illegitimate," says Ms Boumaraf.
"It's going to be very difficult."
For Mr Cherrou, it is as though all their protests since February have been for nothing. And even worse: no-one seems to be watching.
"It's sad to see that the world isn't paying attention to what's happening here," says Mr Cherrou.
"For the past 42 weeks [since the movement started] an entire nation has been ignored."
|
556c6f579656ed93d9f0853fd88d38af | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50744649 | Niger army base attack leaves at least 71 soldiers dead | Niger army base attack leaves at least 71 soldiers dead
Militants have killed at least 71 soldiers in an attack on a military base in western Niger - the deadliest in several years.
Twelve soldiers were also injured in the attack in Inates, the army says.
No group has yet said it was behind the killings.
But militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS) have staged attacks in the Sahel region this year despite the presence of thousands of regional and foreign troops.
Security analysts say the insurgency in Niger is escalating at an alarming rate.
Defence Minister Issoufou Katambe told the BBC "a large number of terrorists" had been "neutralised" during the attack, which happened on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Katambe said there had been "a fierce battle" with "several hundred" militants in Inates, not far from the border with Mali.
Local media also reported another attack on an army camp in Tahoua on Monday.
In October 2017, four US soldiers and five Nigerien soldiers were killed in a jihadist ambush in Tongo Tongo, a village near the Mali frontier, not far from the site of Tuesday's attack.
The Inates camp, near the border with Mali, was also attacked in July when 18 soldiers died
.
Analysis by Louise Dewast, BBC West Africa correspondent
The security crisis in the region started in 2012 when separatist militants took over the northern part of Mali, triggering a French military intervention in the region to push them back. A peace deal was signed in 2015, but was not completely implemented, and new groups have since emerged and expanded to central Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
In particular, the Liptako-Gourma region, which is a stretch of land across all three nations, is now at the centre of the insurgency and counter-terrorism operations.
This is where Tuesday's attack happened. It's also where nearly 100 Malian soldiers have been killed by suspected militants since September, forcing them to retreat from their side of the border.
Illicit activities such as weapons, drug, motorcycle and fuel trafficking, cattle rustling, artisanal gold mining and poaching are key to the militant group's survival in the Liptako Gourma region, according to William Assanvo, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.
Earlier this week, Niger's government requested a three-month extension to a state of emergency, which was declared two years ago. Niger's army is struggling to contain the spread of armed groups.
In recent weeks, there have been increasingly bold attacks by militants.
Insurgents linked to al-Qaeda and IS operate on the country's northern borders with Mali and Libya, while the Boko Haram group is active on its south-eastern border with Nigeria.
The Inates attack came days ahead of a planned summit in France, where President Emmanuel Macron and five West African leaders were due to discuss security in the region.
But Mr Macron and Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou have now said the summit will be postponed to early next year.
Niger is a member of the French-backed G5 Sahel group, a taskforce created by the region's leaders in 2014 which aims to fight the militants; it also includes Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Chad.
But despite the creation of this taskforce, and the presence of 4,500 French soldiers and more than 14,000 UN peacekeepers, this year has seen the jihadist groups step up their attacks in Mali and other countries in the region, including Niger.
Last month,
13 French soldiers died in Mali when two helicopters collided during an operation against jihadists there
.
You may also be interested in:
|
6c520e9f56750c9a85a01e734cd9ba43 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50794096 | Omar al-Bashir: Sudan ex-leader sentenced for corruption | Omar al-Bashir: Sudan ex-leader sentenced for corruption
Sudan's ex-president Omar al-Bashir has been sentenced to two years in a social reform facility for corruption.
The judge told the court that, under Sudanese law, people over the age of 70 cannot serve jail terms. Bashir is 75.
Bashir also faces charges related to the 1989 coup that brought him to power, genocide, and the killing of protesters before his ousting in April.
During the sentencing, his supporters started chanting that the trial was "political" and were ordered to leave.
They continued their protest outside the court, chanting: "There is no god but God."
Afterwards one of the ousted leader's lawyers, Ahmed Ibrahim, said they would appeal against the verdict.
Mohamed al-Hassan, another lawyer for Bashir, previously said that the defence did not consider the trial a legal one but a "political" one.
It is unclear whether Bashir will be tried over widespread human rights abuses during his time in power, including allegations of war crimes in Darfur.
The corruption case was linked to a $25 million (£19 million) cash payment he received from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Bashir claimed the payments were made as part of Sudan's strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, and were "not used for private interests but as donations".
None of the active cases against Bashir in Sudan is linked to the charges he faces at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, over the conflict in Darfur that broke out in 2003.
The UN says that around 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million were displaced in the war.
After Bashir was ousted in April, ICC prosecutors in The Hague requested that he stand trial over the Darfur killings.
The Sudanese army generals who seized power immediately after his fall initially refused to comply, but Sudan's umbrella protest movement - which now has significant representation in the country's sovereign council - recently said it would not object to his extradition.
Prosecutors in Sudan have
also charged him with the killing of protesters
during the demonstrations that led to him being ousted.
|
f089d8182178e6f0017dc19c3be6dd3b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50924266 | Islamic State in Nigeria 'beheads Christian hostages' | Islamic State in Nigeria 'beheads Christian hostages'
The Islamic State group has released a video claiming to show the killing of 11 Christians in Nigeria.
IS said it was part of its recently declared campaign to "avenge" the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during a US raid in Syria in October.
No details were given about the victims, who were all male, but IS says they were "captured in the past weeks" in Nigeria's north-eastern Borno State.
The 56-second video was produced by the IS "news agency" Amaq.
It was released on 26 December and analysts say it was clearly timed to coincide with Christmas celebrations.
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the apparent killings and urged Nigerians not to let themselves be divided along religious lines.
"We should, under no circumstance, let the terrorists divide us by turning Christians against Muslims because these barbaric killers don't represent Islam and millions of other law-abiding Muslims around the world," he said in a statement.
He did not mention the identity of the victims.
The aid agencies whose staff are being held by the "Islamic State West Africa Province" (Iswap) have not yet commented.
The footage was filmed in an unidentified outdoor area.
One captive in the middle is shot dead while the other 10 are pushed to the ground and beheaded.
"We killed them as revenge for the killing of our leaders,
including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
and [IS spokesman] Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir," said a member of the group's media unit, according to Ahmad Salkida, a journalist who was first sent the video.
One faction of Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram broke away in 2016 and now fights under the banner of Iswap.
Earlier this month, the group said it had killed four aid workers it had abducted in north-eastern Nigeria.
Last year,
Iswap killed two midwives it had previously taken hostage
.
It is also active in neighbouring countries, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Mali.
Ishaq Khalid, BBC News, Abuja
The video once again highlights the brutal tactics of Iswap, while the timing of the release - over the Christmas period - is also designed to get maximum attention.
This video may be intended to increase tension between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, as well as put more pressure on the government to respond to their demands, says security analyst Kabiru Adamu.
Earlier this month, the group released a video of the captives, appealing to the Nigerian authorities and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to intervene.
Iswap has used hostage-taking as a bargaining tool - either for ransom or in exchange for their arrested members, although the authorities have never confirmed carrying out a prisoner swap.
The militant group has previously killed a number of hostages, including members of the security forces and aid workers but this is the largest group to be killed at one time.
It is not clear how many captives Iswap is currently holding in Nigeria, but there are believed to be dozens - mainly security forces, aid workers and those perceived to be associated with government institutions.
|
3373c4a051258d118c07062ca1addf64 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50965779 | Guinea-Bissau: Former PM Embalo wins presidential election | Guinea-Bissau: Former PM Embalo wins presidential election
Former Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Umaro Cissoko Embalo has been elected president after winning a run-off vote against another ex-prime minister.
The 47-year-old beat rival Domingos Simoes Pereira by about 54% to 46%, the electoral commission announced.
Mr Pereira vowed to contest the result, alleging "electoral fraud".
Mr Embalo has said he wants to resolve political tensions in the West African country, which has seen nine coups or attempted coups since 1974.
Incumbent President Jose Mario Vaz crashed out of the election in the first round in November.
He was the first head of state to carry out his term without being either deposed or assassinated, but his tenure was marred by issues including political infighting and widespread allegations of corruption.
His campaign team accused rivals of electoral fraud, but West African regional bloc Ecowas rejected the claims and warned that a military force was on standby to "re-establish order" in the event of a coup.
Election observers have also said they found no evidence of vote tampering in Sunday's run-off, but Mr Pereira - leader of the country's historic ruling party PAIGC - said the results were "full of irregularities, annulment and manipulation" as he vowed to mount a challenge in the Supreme Court.
Opposition candidate and former army chief Mr Embalo, nicknamed "The General", served as prime minister between 2016 and 2018.
He sought to overcome his rival's lead in the first round by pledging to unify the country and gaining the backing of eliminated candidates, including Mr Vaz.
Mr Embalo has also vowed to modernise Guinea-Bissau - one of the world's poorest nations, which is home to some 1.6 million people.
His supporters celebrated his victory in the capital Bissau on Wednesday, dancing and beating pots and pans, AFP news agency reports.
As president, he will face major challenges including poverty and drug trafficking, as well as the unstable political system that led to an impasse under Mr Vaz's presidency in which parliament can appoint the prime minister, but this appointee can be fired by the president.
|
7147db12e41fc90b1ea822290d3354f1 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51149093 | UK-Africa summit: Wooing Africa after Brexit | UK-Africa summit: Wooing Africa after Brexit
After Brexit, the UK wants to boost business trade with Africa, but as a major UK-Africa business summit starts in London, Matthew Davies asks if there really will be new opportunities for the continent.
Trade is tricky. Trade agreements are trickier. Trade negotiations to get those agreements are exponentially more complicated.
And the road that the Brexit can has been kicked down for so long is rapidly running out.
Once the UK leaves the European Union at the end of January, it has 11 months to come up with a trade deal with the European Union to avoid reverting to WTO rules.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Leave supporters have always expounded the virtues of being outside the EU, including the ability to negotiate its own trade deals on its own terms for the benefits of its own citizens.
Being part of a big gang has its advantages and disadvantages.
Yes, you have to make compromises and adapt your goals to match commonly-agreed policies. But you also get the power of the bloc behind you in trade negotiations.
The UK's International Development Secretary, Alok Sharma, is, as one would expect, very optimistic saying that Britain's relations with Africa will be "turbo-charged", with trade, business and investment deals being struck left, right and centre.
The UK government seems to be taking it seriously.
The UK-Africa Investment Summit can be seen as evidence of that but any potential change in actual trade conditions is some way off. Possibly years.
Mostly, nothing changes at the end of January.
There will be much political posturing and speech making, but the UK will still be a member of the EU Customs Union and Single Market until the end of the year.
There is a provision for it to extend that by a further two years, but that would seem to be ruled out by Prime Minister Johnson.
That means trade relations between the UK and Africa stay the same for 2020, conducted under the EU's various existing deals with the continent.
Beyond the 2020 horizon, trade arrangements between many African countries and a fully-Brexited UK are also set to remain the same under a number of "continuity agreements".
These basically say that the trade conditions (tariffs, quotas, standards and so on) remain the same as they are currently between a number of African countries and trading blocs and the EU.
For example, in September last year, the UK initiated an Economic Partnership Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) - which is made up of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and eSwatini - and Mozambique.
It is designed to keep things as they are under the current trade relationship that the southern African nations have with the EU.
It mirrors the agreement that the EU already has with Sacu.
According to Britain's International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss, the agreement "will allow businesses to keep trading after Brexit without any additional barriers".
And that seems to be the UK's approach - keep the same conditions in place that already exist between the UK and African countries under EU deals. Worldwide, the UK has in place about 40 such "continuity" deals, covering some 70 countries.
The UK has been allowed to strike these deals with countries that already have similar agreements with the EU.
Part of the reason of doing it this way is that it allows the UK to negotiate new arrangements with those who do not have an existing trade deal with the EU. The big one here is the United States.
Sounds simple, but it's not.
At least, not in the longer term because of the uncertainty that is still very much part of post-Brexit picture.
The "continuity agreements" will eventually run out. That's when the real opportunities and challenges for African states will emerge.
Outside the big EU gang, the UK, technically, has less negotiating clout.
That could mean that the African countries that trade with the UK may be able to squeeze out slightly more preferential terms in negotiations. Perhaps.
As mentioned earlier, trade negotiations are complex and require time and resources.
With the starting gun fired at the end of January, the UK's trade negotiating efforts will have to be prioritised.
The lion's share of the UK's effort will be aimed at getting the best deal possible with the EU, its closest and, by far, its biggest trading partner.
Beyond that, deals with the likes of the US, China, South Korea and Australia will be prioritised, which means that African countries will be quite far down the list.
But it is also a question of volume and value. For example, South Africa is the sub-Saharan African country that does the most trade with the European Union.
Minerals, cars and agricultural products are exported into EU and of that total 18% end up in the UK.
But some agricultural products are subject to quotas.
In theory, the UK could allow greater access to the British market than it does under the current arrangement, something which, for example, South African wine makers could take advantage of.
But equally, their French counterparts could lean on their government to lean on Brussels negotiators to get their exported wine into the UK under more preferential terms than those from South Africa.
You may also be interested in:
In truth, it is impossible to tell what could happen, but this does point to the complexities of over-arching trade negotiations.
Uncertainty remains a factor, despite the efforts being made to counter it.
Razia Khan from Standard Chartered Bank says: "In the short-term, greater uncertainty will weigh on prospects, although this has been mitigated to some extent by the UK's offer of an extension of trade agreements for two years, in order to deal with this uncertainty."
Of course, the Brexit effect goes beyond trade.
This may be seen if the UK falls into a recession after Brexit. That would hit places like South Africa hard.
The UN calculates that the UK is South Africa's eighth-largest import and export market in global terms.
If the UK's economy gets a recessionary cold, South Africa's could get flu.
And given South Africa's powerhouse status as regards other African economies, that would not bode well.
Brexit could also require new infrastructure in the UK to deal with certain imports.
Flowers are one of Kenya's biggest exports and foreign currency earners. The industry is also a major employer, providing 100,000 people with direct work and around two million indirectly.
At the moment, Kenya's flowers enter the EU through the massive market in Amsterdam.
From there 18% of them end up in the UK. But what happens after Brexit?
Zero-tariff arrangements can still be place under a continuity agreement, but there could be physical problems.
The Kenya Flower Council has pointed out that the infrastructure for flying flowers directly to the UK is not as developed as the Nairobi-Amsterdam route.
In other words, there could be an impact.
As far as African companies are concerned, the post-Brexit world will depend very much on the nature of their business with both the EU and the UK.
"Companies that depend heavily on EU-related preferences in the UK market need to keep a watchful eye on developments in Europe; and on negotiations between the UK and their own country on future arrangements," says Matthew Stern at DNA Economics in Pretoria.
"If all goes to plan, these preferences will be maintained, but any slippage from either party could be costly for certain firms."
As African politicians and business leaders gather in London for the UK-Africa Investment Summit, uncertainty remains.
It may be mitigated to some degree by the continuity agreements, but somewhere down the line, new negotiations are likely to happen.
Uncertainty is the enemy of investment. And behind the handshakes and smiles at the summit, it will be at least one of the elephants in the room.
|
a7438b1148f597d13bf1258ebbec94e6 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51183521 | Rohingya crisis: The Gambian who took Aung San Suu Kyi to the world court | Rohingya crisis: The Gambian who took Aung San Suu Kyi to the world court
Gambian Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou's actions brought Aung San Suu Kyi to The Hague to deny that her country's military was committing a genocide. As the UN's highest court orders measures to prevent further mass killings, Anna Holligan takes a look at the man taking on the Nobel laureate.
It was an unexpected detour that led Abubacarr Tambadou from his home in the tiny West African country of The Gambia to experience an epiphany on the edge of a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar.
Listening to survivors' stories he said the "stench of genocide" began drifting across the border into Bangladesh from Myanmar.
"I realised how much more serious it was than the flashes we'd seen on television screens," he told the BBC.
"Military and civilians would organise systematic attacks against Rohingya, burn down houses, snatch babies from their mothers' arms and throw them alive into burning fires, round up and execute men; girls were gang-raped and put through all types of sexual violence."
The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in mainly Buddhist Myanmar.
These chilling scenes reminded Mr Tambadou of events in Rwanda during
the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of about 800,000 people
.
"It sounded very much like the kind of acts that were perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
"It was the same modus operandi - the process of dehumanisation, calling them names - it bore all the hallmarks of genocide.
"I concluded in my own mind, it was an attempt by Myanmar authorities to completely destroy the Rohingya ethnic group."
Myanmar has denied committing a genocide and this week released an "executive summary" of a government investigation which characterizes the mass killings as a "haphazard" response by the military to attacks by Muslim militants.
Released a few days before the ICJ ruling, it appears to be an attempt to clear the authorities of any "intent", which is central to defining the crime of genocide.
In court, Aung San Suu Kyi argued that this domestic investigation negates the need for any international intervention.
For Mr Tambadou, doing nothing was never an option.
"This is about our humanity after all," his voice rose as he spoke.
"On a personal level I'm disgusted by what I have heard and seen. Professionally I thought Myanmar should be held responsible for these actions [and] a way to do that was to bring a case to the International Court of Justice."
After the ICJ sided with him and ordered measure to prevent the genocide, he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that he was "very, very pleased".
"I think this represents a triumph of international law and international justice. And it is the international community - as represented by the ICJ - saying in the strongest of terms that genocide will not be accepted under any circumstances by any perpetrators."
For this former prosecutor at the UN's Rwanda tribunal to have found himself himself in a displacement camp in Bangladesh pondering what to do was not a coincidence but a matter of "divine destiny".
Myanmar stands accused of violating the genocide convention. Any one of the 149 countries which have signed the treaty could have instigated the case but it was The Gambia, under the direction of Mr Tambadou, that took the initiative, backed by the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, a group of 57 mainly Muslim countries.
The Gambia asked the ICJ to make an emergency ruling on its request for provisional measures which are designed to prevent any further acts of violence or destruction and preserve any evidence of genocidal acts against the Rohingya Muslim population.
Simon Adams, head of the humans rights organisation Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, said there was only one man with the courage, skills and humanity to try to hold Myanmar accountable for the alleged atrocities.
"Some were afraid of retaliation from the Chinese," he said.
"Others said it wasn't a good time, was too politically risky. [But] I was impressed by his fearlessness. He realised what would be coming pressure-wise but he was developing a strategy to deal with it."
This agility was developed during Mr Tambadou's early years.
Born in 1972, he grew up in The Gambia's capital, Banjul, as one of the middle children among 18 siblings.
It was a traditional polygamous Muslim family and his father had three wives.
As a young man he excelled in sport, winning caps for his country in football. "I was not a bad player," he modestly conceded.
The 47-year-old described his childhood as "lucky". His middle-class family could pay for both a private secondary school education at home, as well as a British university degree.
Afraid of disappointing his father, he abandoned his sporting aspirations and chose a more academic path.
"I'd never intended to study law. But... the first university place I got offered was to do a law degree [at Warwick University] and so I had a career deviation."
After graduating, he returned home and initially worked as a public prosecutor.
Increasingly conscious of the political situation in The Gambia, he and his friends began to speak out against human rights violations.
In April 2000,
President Yahya Jammeh's notorious security forces opened fire on crowds of peaceful protesters
, killing 14 students, a journalist and Red Cross volunteer.
Mr Tambadou watched his close friends prosecuted and persecuted but it was pressure from his family, concerned about the consequences of his opposition to the Jammeh regime that finally convinced him to pursue opportunities outside his homeland.
And so began his career in international justice.
His self-imposed exile took him to the UN court set up to try the ringleaders of the Rwanda genocide, where he was responsible for the prosecution of former Rwandan army chief of staff Maj-Gen Augustin Bizimungu.
He believed what he was doing "was not just prosecuting the Rwandan genocidaires," he said.
"This was a way for us Africans to send a message to our leaders... I saw it as more of an African struggle for justice and accountability than a Rwandan one."
After Jammeh's fall at the beginning of 2017, Mr Tambadou returned to The Gambia to serve in the cabinet of President Adama Barrow - The Gambia's first new leader for 23 years.
And it was in his capacity as justice minister that he travelled to New York with the country's foreign minister, Ousainou Darboe. When Mr Darboe was then unable to go on a planned trip to Bangladesh, he asked Mr Tambadou to go on his behalf.
He scanned his diary and responded: "Why not?"
"You may call it a coincidence" he laughs.
But Mr Tambadou's next assignment could be closer to home.
Protests erupted in The Gambian capital of Banjul last week, with supporters of former President Jammeh calling for him to return home from exile in Equatorial Guinea.
In a leaked recording the exiled former leader could be heard saying he supported the demonstrations.
The justice minister believes it is unlikely that he will come back but if he does he says that Jammeh will be arrested.
"Nothing would please me more than to see former President Jammeh face up to his crimes he has committed against ordinary Gambians.
"I've luckily never had anything to do with him. I opposed and despised his brutal and savage methods since the day he took power."
The authorities have now started seriously discussing the most viable place to bring criminal charges against Mr Jammeh.
All options are currently on the table - a national trial, regional tribunal or international court case.
Mr Tambadou thinks this is the time for The Gambia to reclaim its position on the world stage. In terms of human rights he holds a bold ambition: "We want to lead by example."
"The case at ICJ is Gambia showing the world you don't have to have military power or economic power to denounce oppressions. Legal obligation and moral responsibility exist for all states, big or small."
|
5aac3df7fed20c248b17c4baea5ae323 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51411720 | Ethiopia's missing students: Families' pain and the unsolved mystery | Ethiopia's missing students: Families' pain and the unsolved mystery
"We are grieving. I can't stop thinking about her. The entire family can't eat," a visibly pained Mare Abebe told the BBC.
She is worried about Belaynesh Mekonnen, a first-year economics student at Ethiopia's Dembi Dolo University, who was kidnapped last December, along with 17 of her colleagues.
As Belaynesh's guardian, Ms Mare is distraught for the girl, whom she said she had raised despite many challenges.
"We are in pain. She is a good girl, so caring, but now we don't know where she is. We don't know whether she is alive.
"I never thought this could happen to her, even in my dreams," she said, her voice cracking.
On 4 December last year, an unknown group of people blocked a bus and kidnapped students on board who were leaving for home from Dembi Dolo University in western Ethiopia.
The students, mostly ethnic Amharas, were fleeing ethnic violence and threats in the university that is located in Oromia region.
A total of 18 students - 14 women and four men - were ordered out of the vehicle at Sudi near Gambela city, about 100km (60 miles) from Dembi Dolo.
Belaynesh was among the 17 who had been reported missing, after one of the students, Asmira Shumiye, managed to escape.
It was Asmira's account of their kidnap and her subsequent escape that brought the matter to the public's attention.
Asmira said the young men who kidnapped them "looked like gangsters" and spoke in the Afaan Oromo language.
"They selected us and forced us to leave the bus. One person followed us and begged them to leave us, but they refused.
She said their captors repeatedly told them that they had no problem with them (the students). "Our problem is with the government," she quoted them as having said.
Their intention, she noted, was for Ethiopians to hold demonstrations to pressure the government to come and speak to them.
Inside the forest, the kidnappers kept their captives constantly on the move until some were physically exhausted.
"They made us walk for a long time. Some of the students were very tired. They stumbled and fell. While the abductors were trying to help some of them, I managed to run away. They didn't notice when I left," she told the BBC.
After freeing herself, she spent two nights in the forest, uncertain of where she was until she came to a clearing near a main road.
"I met an elderly man on the road. He was alone. He asked me why I was there. I told him what had happened to us and he asked me where I wanted to go. I begged him to link me up with the federal police.
"He made me put on his jacket and and hide under a tree. He was saying: 'If those people [the kidnappers] see me, they might kill me.'
"I was frightened. He stood by the roadside and hailed a car for me. Finally, I managed to go back to the city and reported to the federal police."
It remains unclear why the students were abducted but it came at a time of rising ethnic tension in Ethiopia, especially in Oromia.
The Oromo people are the largest of the more than 80 ethnic groups in Ethiopia, constituting more than a third of the country's 100-million-strong population.
Many ethnic Oromos accuse the government of discriminating against them and there have been attacks on members of other ethnic groups in the area.
The kidnappings had been rumoured to be linked to Oromo rebels fighting the government in the region led by Kumsa Diriba, also known as Jaal Maro. The group denies it.
Even Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appeared to be at a loss: "When Boko Haram [an Islamist militant group in West Africa] abducts people, it takes responsibility and announces that they did the action, but in this case, no-one took the responsibility of the kidnap.
"They [kidnappers] are unknown people. If we could say something bad happened to [the students], there is no evidence to show that," Mr Abiy said in February while answering a question in parliament.
After Asmira's escape, it took at least a month for the government to acknowledge the issue.
In the weeks and months after the initial incident, there were protests and a social media campaign to pressure the authorities to take action. But it had little effect.
On 6 January, the eve of Ethiopian Christmas Day, Amhara regional security head Temesgen Tiruneh finally acknowledged the issue saying: "We are aware four students have been kidnapped." Five days later, the prime minister's office said 21 students who had been kidnapped had been released and only six were still missing.
It is not clear why there is such a disparity in the numbers.
On 30 January, Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen said the kidnapping of the students was one of the challenges the country was facing, and they would look for a solution.
But families are still crying out for the missing students.
Perhaps alluding to what the authorities ought to have done, Amhara region's former deputy president Lake Ayalew said: "As a nation, we have made little effort to release the students and as a result, the problem could not be resolved quickly." He was speaking in January, on the 50th day since the students went missing.
Habte Dagnew, the father of Grima Habte, a third-year mechanical engineering student, is in the same situation as Ms Mare.
He told the BBC that his son had called him three days after they were kidnapped, using an unfamiliar number, which he said possibly belonged to the kidnappers.
"He didn't tell me about what situation he was in. Maybe he was frightened. He simply said that he was OK, and asked us to pray for him. Since then, I haven't heard his voice and I don't know where he is.
"Where should I go? His mother got sick. She is not able to take care of our other children. She always thinks about him. I don't know what to do," he said.
Mr Habte said he felt "useless and powerless" for not being able to do anything about his kidnapped son.
"I wish I would die before him, as I don't know where I should go and fight for him. I have struggled a lot to raise him. I was expecting his graduation and his future success," he said.
Zewdu Adane, another parent, said after the news of the kidnappings, he and other parents went to the town where the university is located.
He had no luck in finding his daughter, Mulu Zewdu, a second-year psychology student.
He told the BBC that everyone in his family was very worried about her.
"Relatives, neighbours have been asking about her, but we don't have anything to say. We don't know where she is, or what condition she is in. We even don't know whether she is alive or not," he said.
"We are farmers; this is harvesting time, but we can't work properly," Mr Zewdu said.
The Ethiopian government has met some of the parents and assured them that their children would be safely rescued.
When Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met representatives of families of the missing students in late January, the parents had reason to hope that their children would be found.
He made assurances that something was being done to rescue the students from captivity.
But hope is now starting to run out. Families are unsure what is happening, more than three months after the kidnaps were first reported.
A relative of one of the students last week told the BBC that the response from the authorities since meeting the prime minister is not what they expected.
On Twitter, Meti Shewaye Yilma directed her anger at Mr Abiy: "You woke up knowing the whereabouts & safety of your family but not families of abducted Dembi Dollo University students. God knows how the students woke up. @PMEthiopia, any news or progress on this case? #BringBackOurStudents
The situation remains a mystery, and parents are desperate to see their children again.
"We need our children. We are crying every day. We are worried about their wellbeing," Ms Mare said.
"We don't know whether they are alive or not, but we can't do anything unless the government returns our children or lets us know what happened to them."
|
42a883a86ac464095d66a760d18a632b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51521775 | Uganda's Queen of Katwe star Nikita Pearl Waligwa dies aged 15 | Uganda's Queen of Katwe star Nikita Pearl Waligwa dies aged 15
An actress who starred in the Queen of Katwe, a Disney film about a chess prodigy from a Ugandan slum, has died aged 15, Ugandan media report.
Nikita Pearl Waligwa had been diagnosed with a brain tumour.
The 2016 film was based on the true story of Phiona Mutesi, who took up chess aged nine despite not being in school and went on to compete in international tournaments.
It starred Lupita Nyong'o as her mother and David Oyelowo as her chess teacher.
Waligwa played the role of Gloria, a friend of Phiona who explained the rules of chess to her.
She was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016 and Queen of Katwe director Mira Nair reportedly mobilised people to help fund her treatment in India, with Ugandan doctors quoted as saying they did not have the necessary equipment.
She was given the all-clear in 2017 but last year was found to have another tumour.
|
0e86adc9a69e6154693b48880d9841a1 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51547573 | Locust swarms: South Sudan latest to be hit by invasion | Locust swarms: South Sudan latest to be hit by invasion
Swarms of desert locusts that have been devouring crops and pasture in the East Africa region have spread to South Sudan, the UN food agency says.
Several million South Sudanese are already facing hunger as the country struggles to emerge from a civil war.
The UN has warned that a food crisis could be looming in East Africa if the outbreak is not brought under control.
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has pledged $8m (£6m) to help fight the invasion on his visit to Africa.
Mr Pompeo was speaking after talks with Abiy Ahmed, the prime minister of Ethiopia, which along with Somalia, Kenya and Uganda, has been hit by the pests.
The invasion is the worst infestation in Kenya for 70 years and the worst in Somalia and Ethiopia for 25 years.
Efforts to control the locust infestation have so far not been effective. Aerial spraying of pesticides is the most effective way of fighting the swarms but countries in the region do not have the right resources.
There are now fears that the locusts - already in the hundreds of billions - will multiply further.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said about 2,000 adult insects had entered South Sudan via Uganda into the southern county of Magwi.
"These are deep yellow, which means that they will be here mostly looking at areas in which they will lay eggs," the AFP news agency quotes FAO South Sudan representative Meshack Malo as saying.
Agriculture Minister Onyoti Adigo Nyikuac said the government was training people to spray.
"Also we need chemicals for spraying and also sprayers. You will also need cars to move while spraying and then later if it becomes worse, we will need aircraft," he said, AFP reports.
About 60% of South Sudan's population is facing food insecurity - and destruction of harvests by locusts could lead to a drop in nutrition levels in children, rights group Save the Children warns.
More world's newest nation, South Sudan:
Even without the locusts, the charity expects that more than 1.3 million children aged under five will suffer from acute malnutrition this year.
The FAO says the insects, which eat their own body weight in food every day, are breeding so fast that numbers could grow 500 times by June.
The UN body last week called on the international community to provide nearly $76m (£58m) to fund the spraying of the affected areas with insecticide.
Somalia has declared a national emergency in response to the crisis.
The Ethiopian government has called for "immediate action" to deal with the problem affecting four of the country's nine states.
Kenya has deployed aircrafts to spray pesticides in several regions and its Agriculture Minister Peter Munya said on Monday that the invasion was "under control".
Meanwhile, Uganda has deployed soldiers to the northern regions to spray pesticides in the affected areas.
The locust swarms entered Africa from Yemen three months ago.
|
e41ad166f4870c5a9d721c176cc307db | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51571409 | Ethiopian 18th Century crown returns home from Netherlands | Ethiopian 18th Century crown returns home from Netherlands
An 18th Century Ethiopian crown has been returned home after being hidden in a Dutch flat for more than 20 years.
Ethiopian Sirak Asfaw, who fled to the Netherlands in the late 1970s, found the crown in 1998 in the suitcase of a visitor and realised it was stolen.
The management consultant protected it until he alerted a historian and Dutch police of his discovery last year.
On Thursday, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the crown, thought to be one of just 20 in existence.
The crown has depictions of Jesus Christ, God and the Holy Spirit, as well as Jesus' disciples, and was probably given to a church by the powerful warlord Welde Sellase hundreds of years ago.
In a tweet, Mr Abiy said he was grateful to Mr Sirak and the Dutch government for the return of the "precious crown".
Mr Sirak left his home country in 1978 to escape the political repression of the Communist government, or Derg, which had come to power in 1974. The regime unleashed a wave of violence known as the Red Terror, which killed hundreds of thousands and forced many to leave.
The former refugee used to host Ethiopians who had left the country in his Rotterdam flat throughout the 1980s and 1990s. "Friends, refugees, whoever," he said. It was one of these visitors staying at his home in 1998 who was carrying the crown in his bag.
"Most people don't really care about this cultural heritage. I'm loyal to Ethiopia," he told the BBC in an interview last year.
Mr Sirak confronted the man and insisted the crown was not leaving unless it could be returned to its home.
After asking for help on internet forums - which yielded no useful answers - he decided the best course of action was to hold onto the crown until he knew it would be safe.
"You end up in such a suffocating situation, not knowing who to tell or what to do, or to hand over," he said. "And of course afraid that the Dutch government might confiscate it."
"I had fire alarms all over my house, eight or something like that. Really scared!"
But after the reforming Mr Abiy becoming prime minister in 2018, Mr Sirak felt the time was right to have a piece of Ethiopia's history return to Addis Ababa.
He contacted Arthur Brand, known as the "Indiana Jones of the art world", for help returning it home.
"I explained to him, look, either the crown will disappear or you [will], if you continue like this," Mr Brand told the BBC.
"I said if the people who were involved at the time got knowledge of it, the risk was that they would come back and would take the crown from him."
With the consent of the Dutch police, the art hunter placed the artefact in a secure facility. An expert confirmed it was genuine, and Mr Brand decided the best course of action was to announce it publicly.
"It's an amazing piece. It's very big, I feel pity for the people who had to wear it on their heads because when you wear this for a couple of hours your neck hurts," he said.
Both men waited for the Ethiopian government to get in touch with the Dutch authorities to plan the return of the crown.
"I want this crown to be a symbol of unity and togetherness," Mr Sirak said. "The crown will be celebrated by all of us Ethiopians, even Africans."
|
16010fba0bb2a3617cecb7024a9c5ec6 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51629660 | Kenya bans commercial slaughter of donkeys | Kenya bans commercial slaughter of donkeys
Abattoirs in Kenya will be banned from slaughtering donkeys from next month, the agriculture minister has said.
The East African nation legalised trade in donkey meat and hide in 2012 to meet growing demand in China.
Minister Peter Munya said the decision had been a mistake as it had caused the donkey population to fall.
Many people in rural areas use donkeys to fetch water and firewood, raising fears that their dwindling numbers will increase the workload of women.
Kenya has about 1.2 million donkeys compared with 1.8 million a decade ago, according to government data published last week.
Women and men from farming communities protested outside Mr Munya's offices in the capital, Nairobi, on Monday to demand action to protect the donkey population.
"When donkeys are stolen or killed, women are turned into donkeys," read a placard held by the protesters.
Mr Munya later told reporters that abattoirs licensed to slaughter donkeys had a month to switch to slaughtering other animals - or else they would be closed.
"The policy of slaughtering donkeys for meat was not well thought out," the minister said.
"The benefits that are brought by the traditional work that donkeys do are much more than whatever benefit you might get by slaughtering a donkey and eating the meat," he added
The mass slaughtering of donkeys has also spawned a black market with skin-smuggling networks hiring gangs to steal donkeys, locals say.
Kenya has four abattoirs licensed to slaughter the animals.
Brooke East Africa, a donkey advocacy group, estimates that at least 1,000 donkeys are slaughtered each day in Kenya.
The value of an adult donkey more than quadrupled in Kenya after their meat was legalised for human consumption in 2012, according to the Africa Network for Animal Welfare.
There is huge demand for donkey skin in China.
When skins are boiled, they produce a brown gelatine, which is the essential ingredient in Chinese "ejiao" products - popular health foods and traditional medicines.
|
bbe5ea9e6af4f72e518b1776da9431d8 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51671834 | Coronavirus: Nigeria confirms first case in sub-Saharan Africa | Coronavirus: Nigeria confirms first case in sub-Saharan Africa
The first case of the coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa has been confirmed in Nigeria.
The patient is an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and flew into the commercial city of Lagos from Milan on 25 February.
Authorities say he is stable with no serious symptoms and is being treated at a hospital in the city.
Elsewhere on the continent, Algeria and Egypt have also confirmed cases of the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had warned that Africa's "fragile health systems" meant the threat posed by the virus was "considerable".
Meanwhile, South Africa's health ministry has announced that two nationals aboard a cruise ship docked in Japan have tested positive for the virus.
In Kenya, the High Court has ordered the temporary suspension of flights from China following a petition by the Law Society of Kenya.
It comes amidst public outrage after China's Southern Airlines resumed flights to Nairobi amid concern about the spread of coronavirus.
Globally, more than 80,000 people in nearly 50 countries have been infected. Nearly 2,800 have died, the vast majority in China's Hubei province.
Nigerian authorities say the Italian patient - who had flown in from Milan, a city badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak - is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.
The patient was screened when he arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday and did not show any symptoms of the virus, according to Nigerian health authorities.
They have obtained the passenger manifest from the airline and started tracking people who had contact with the patient, Health Minister Osagie Emmanuel Ehanire said.
He added that there was no need for alarm as Nigeria was well prepared to deal with the disease, adding that the country had four laboratories where patients can be tested.
At least 60 doctors have been deployed to Lagos's main airport to support the ongoing screening effort.
The authorities also say Nigeria was not planning to halt flights from affected countries; nor planning to quarantine those travelling into the country.
Health authorities are advising people to regularly and thoroughly wash their hands with soap and water, and use alcohol-based hand sanitisers, to avoid contracting the virus.
People have also been told to stay home if they have persistent coughs and sneezes, and contact authorities if they have any concerns.
However, the president of the Nigeria Medical Association has expressed fears over the safety of health workers in the country.
The association has directed all its members to treat every single case as a possible coronavirus infection, Dr Francis Faduyile told the BBC.
Nigeria was widely praised for its efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in 2014 which killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa.
The coronavirus outbreak has reached a "decisive point" and has "pandemic potential", WHO head Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said on Thursday.
He urged governments to act swiftly and aggressively to contain the virus.
"We are actually in a very delicate situation in which the outbreak can go in any direction based on how we handle it," he said.
"This is not a time for fear. This is a time for taking action to prevent infection and save lives now," he added.
The country's health ministry has announced that two nationals - working for the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan - have contracted the coronavirus.
It quoted Japanese officials as saying the two patients were not outwardly displaying symptoms of the virus but were receiving treatment.
The cruise liner was carrying 3,700 people when it was quarantined on 5 February, but more than 600 have since been allowed to leave after being cleared.
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the repatriation of some 132 citizens living in Wuhan.
No timeframe for the repatriation was given but the government said the 132 citizens - out of a total of 199 South Africans living there - had put in requests to be returned home.
None has been diagnosed with the virus or exhibited any symptoms of the disease, but they will be quarantined for 21 days upon arrival in South Africa as a "precautionary measure", the president's office announced in a statement.
The arrival of a Southern Airlines flight from China's Guangzhou city in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday sparked public anger.
Many criticised the government for allowing the 239 passengers into the country amid concern of the spread of the coronavirus.
The passengers were screened and cleared and also told to self-quarantine for 14 days, Kenyan authorities say. The Chinese embassy in Kenya also said it was working with Kenyan health officials to monitor all the passengers.
But the assurances have done little to assuage the anger and anxiety of many Kenyans worried about the spread of the virus and the country's ability to contain it.
One of the local papers labelled some of the government ministers "enemies of the people":
A judge has now ordered the temporary suspension of flights from China after the Kenya Law Society petitioned the High Court.
The Chinese embassy in Kenya has, however, said the debate about the outbreak should be "rational and scientific"; it also warned against "irresponsible and even racist remarks" targeting its citizens, after a Kenyan MP suggested that locals should avoid Chinese people.
Have you been affected by the spread of coronavirus? You can get in touch by emailing
haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:
|
5314cce8b1186d46bf6bc6526375aefe | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51720184 | Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: The Ethiopian at the heart of the coronavirus fight | Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: The Ethiopian at the heart of the coronavirus fight
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), is something of a superstar these days.
The entire planet hangs on his every word as he explains, during regular press conferences at WHO headquarters in Geneva, just how widespread the Covid-19 pandemic now is and what countries must do to defeat it.
A who's who of world leaders joined him, virtually, at one of those meetings last month - France's President Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, and South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa - all pledging support for the WHO's efforts to end the pandemic, and find a vaccine.
Pop star Lady Gaga turned up a week before that, announcing an online music festival One World Together at Home - with a host of big names from Billy Eilish, to Elton John, to the Rolling Stones.
No other senior UN official, not even the UN Secretary General himself, has ever received so much attention.
Dr Tedros, as he likes to be known, is the first African head of the WHO.
He took office two-and-a-half years ago promising to reform the organisation, and to tackle the illnesses that kill millions each year: malaria, measles, childhood pneumonia, and HIV/Aids.
A certain political wiliness has become apparent too as Dr Tedros faces down more than just the virus itself.
He has weathered bitter criticism - most notably from the US - of his handling of the pandemic, which the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January.
A PHEIC is the WHO's highest level of health emergency. That means it requires 24-hour monitoring, deployment of medical staff, equipment and medicines, daily discussions with affected countries and countries who might be affected, and of course, a steady stream of reliable information for an anxious world desperate for immediate answers.
A huge task for the "charming" and "unassuming" 55-year-old at the organisation's head.
At his first press conference as WHO director general, the Geneva-based journalists quickly realised Dr Tedros' style would be very different.
He strolled in smiling, sat down and chatted in a very relaxed way, his voice sometimes so quiet it was difficult to hear him. That was a very big change from his more formal predecessor, Margaret Chan.
And yet, behind that quiet manner, there lies a very determined man.
Before becoming head of the WHO, he climbed through the ranks of Ethiopia's government, becoming health minister and then foreign minister. He could not have risen that far by being self-effacing.
Dr Tedros was born in 1965 in Asmara, which became Eritrea's capital after independence from Ethiopia in 1991, and grew up in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region.
One formative, and now motivating experience, was the death of a younger brother, who was around four years old at the time,
he told Time magazine in November
. Later, as a student, Dr Tedros came to suspect it was measles that killed him.
"I didn't accept it; I don't accept it even now," he was quoted as saying, adding that it was unfair that a child should die from a preventable disease just because he was born in the wrong place.
"All roads should lead to universal health coverage. I will not rest until we have met this," he told the World Health Assembly shortly before his election as WHO chief.
As the coronavirus pandemic exposes the fragility of even the richest countries' health sectors in a crisis, Dr Tedros and his supporters believe it's the best argument there is for a radical global commitment to universal health coverage.
Dr Tedros became a member of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which was in the vanguard of the 1991 overthrow of Ethiopia's Marxist dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam.
As a government minister from 2005, he was seen as more approachable and friendly than some of his more austere TPLF comrades.
He has been praised for reforming the health sector and improving access to health care in Ethiopia, Africa's most populous state after Nigeria.
But when he was in charge, his ministry was known to discourage journalists from reporting about suspected cholera cases in the country.
During his highly efficient and ultimately successful campaign to lead the WHO, Dr Tedros' supporters dismissed allegations that he had covered up cholera outbreaks.
That is why "persuasive" and "political" are also words which crop up regularly when discussing his leadership of the WHO.
He knows that the WHO's success tackling global health crises depends on the co-operation of the organisation's 194 member states.
During the current Ebola outbreak in DR Congo which is also a PHEIC, he has travelled there several times, not just to see the situation but to also talk to government leaders. And he moved quickly to visit Beijing when news of the coronavirus outbreak emerged.
"His strategy is to coax China to transparency and international co-operation rather than criticising the government," says Lawrence Gostin, Professor of Global Health Law at Georgetown University.
But has that actually worked?
Some WHO watchers have criticised the effusive praise heaped on China for its containment measures.
After his trip to Beijing, Dr Tedros said China had set "a new standard for outbreak control".
A few days later, he told world leaders meeting at the Munich Security Conference that China's actions had "bought the world time".
Such comments sit uneasily with the knowledge that China arrested health workers who first raised the alarm about the outbreak.
The US, with President Donald Trump leading the way, has cut its funding to the WHO, saying the organisation botched its efforts to control the pandemic.
Dr Tedros knows very well just how serious the US funding cut is, not just on an immediate financial level, but to the whole UN system, based as it is on a multilateral approach to the world's biggest threats.
He has been careful to say that he "regrets" the US decision, and his only mention of Mr Trump was to say he thought the president was handling the US' virus outbreak well.
But that all-star line up of world leaders, in which the US was conspicuous by its absence, was a political masterstroke.
It laid the groundwork for an accelerated development of treatments and vaccines, and promised the resulting medicines would be fairly priced, and available to all.
At the same time it sent a signal to Washington: Look, we're all here getting on with this crisis together, where are you?
So is there any foundation to the US charge that the WHO waited too long to declare a PHEIC?
"I was one of the first to ask him to call a PHEIC," says Prof Gostin. "Having said that, it was only a short delay and I don't think the timing had any impact on the trajectory of Covid-19."
"I do worry quite a bit however that his effusive praise for China could in the long term tarnish the WHO's reputation as a trusted scientific authority willing to speak truth to power."
Meg Davis, a global health specialist at Geneva's Graduate Institute, views the WHO's position as an awkward one.
"All my sympathies go to [them], they were in a tough spot," she says. "China was the place where we first saw the outbreak. They [WHO] sent a team to China, wrote generally an accurate report about the things China was doing well.
"But they didn't talk about censorship, or repression of whistleblowers… and because they didn't do that, they are now having to pay a ridiculous price."
Now is not the time, says Dr Davis, to start cutting funding.
"At this moment we really need the WHO more than ever. We need a functional well-resourced organisation, to analyse the data and gather evidence of what works."
So while Dr Tedros may be political, a lot of that political effort seems to be spent reassuring authoritarian, opaque governments, in a bid to get them to work with the WHO to tackle diseases which threaten global health.
When it comes to perceiving how that effort may be viewed by governments in Western democracies, his political skills may not be quite so sharp.
Shortly after taking office he proposed Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president at the time, as a WHO goodwill ambassador
, saying he had worked to make Zimbabwe "a country that places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies".
Only after days of outrage, not just from governments, but from human rights groups, who pointed to the deprivation that Mr Mugabe's regime had inflicted on its people, did Dr Tedros decide to withdraw his proposal.
It is not the first time the WHO has been in the spotlight for allegedly handling a disease outbreak badly.
Dr Tedros' predecessor Margaret Chan was criticised for a perceived overreaction to the 2010 swine flu outbreak, over which she declared a pandemic and advised countries to spend millions on medicines most did not, in the end, need.
Then she was seen to react far too slowly to West Africa's catastrophic Ebola outbreak, which claimed at least 11,000 lives.
"Damned if you do, damned if you don't," is a phrase you often hear at WHO headquarters.
Prof Gostin believes Dr Tedros has become "the symbol of leadership" in the course of the coronavirus crisis. But, he warns, the WHO's "fundamental weaknesses are still there, including pitiful funding".
The success of Dr Tedros, and the WHO as a whole, at handling the coronavirus will not be really clear until the crisis is over.
For now, he will keep on advising countries to prepare, to diagnose, to trace, and to contain.
And so he continues with his press conferences. He knows they are being watched around the world, in every time zone. He begins each with the words "Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening".
Despite the pressure to come up with answers, and despite the constant media spotlight, he remains quiet and friendly.
His only flash of passion came when he was asked, for the umpteenth time, what his response was to the personal criticism of him.
"I don't have extra energy for that," he said. "My focus is on saving lives."
|
105ec6c6248fe032d52043458ee63943 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51770856 | Letter from Africa: The spread of coronavirus prejudice in Kenya | Letter from Africa: The spread of coronavirus prejudice in Kenya
In our series of letters from African writers, Kenyan journalist Waihiga Mwaura reflects on how the coronavirus has fuelled anti-Chinese prejudice in his country.
Despite the concerns around the spread of the coronavirus, the greatest enemy is not the virus itself, but "fears, rumours and stigma".
Not my words, but those of the Ethiopian who is leading the global effort to lessen the impact of Covid-19.
The World Health Organization chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was responding at the end of last month to cases of anti-Chinese prejudice. He repeated the message on Twitter earlier this week while sharing a story about a Singaporean man who was beaten up in the UK capital, London, over the coronavirus.
The virus of prejudice is spreading. Kenya is no exception.
A shakily filmed video has been circulating on social media here showing an Asian man and woman being bullied by a large crowd in a low-income area of the capital, Nairobi.
The video begins with unidentified individuals in the crowd shouting: "You are coronavirus, you are coronavirus."
The man responds by trying to film the crowd but quickly realises that his female companion could be attacked so rushes to her aid.
He stands up to the most aggressive member of the crowd and starts shouting back: "We don't have corona, we don't have corona."
The video stops before we see how the incident ended but it was a true depiction of the side-effects of the coronavirus.
On 27 February, a message went viral on Facebook, allegedly posted by a Kenyan member of parliament, calling for his constituency residents to avoid interaction with Chinese nationals who had just returned from China after celebrating their new year.
The post warned that if the government did not do enough to protect its citizens, and forcefully quarantine any of these Chinese nationals, then the residents had his permission to chase away and stone any Chinese people within their vicinity.
China's embassy responded quickly with a Twitter post calling for a "rational and scientific approach towards Chinese communities" and described the remarks that had been made as racist.
Kenya is not alone in this prejudice, but what is interesting is that all the initial cases of the virus in sub-Saharan Africa have been linked to European travel rather than China. Yet there is no equivalent anti-European feeling.
Before Kenya has even recorded a case, the fear, mixed with stigma, is palpable.
The prejudice has been fuelled by China and Kenya's entwined economic relationship.
Kenya has borrowed a large amount of money from China for big infrastructure projects. While the ordinary Kenyan is not feeling the benefit, they are looking for someone to blame for their economic woes.
Tired of pointing the finger at the government, some here have re-directed their frustrations towards the growing number of Chinese nationals who have come to seek economic opportunities.
Coronavirus fears, therefore, have found fertile ground and led to some extraordinary behaviour.
Adrian Blomfield, a veteran freelance journalist here, said that all the drivers at his local taxi rank had agreed not to carry Chinese people as passengers.
One taxi driver told me that Chinese nationals were changing their user names on the taxi hailing apps to avoid their passenger request being declined.
He also informed me that when they are ferrying passengers from the airport, they roll the windows down and even wear facemasks, especially if the passengers had just landed from China.
He wound up his narrative by demanding that the government provide free face masks to all taxi drivers who ply the airport route and to provide more information to the public.
There has been some criticism here that the authorities have been slow in educating the public about the virus and warning them against prejudice.
The vacuum has been filled by rumours and misinformation. A sensitisation campaign has now been promised, but it may come too late.
Nevertheless, for Chinese nationals living in Kenya, like Lin Yimenghan, who runs a charity, life goes on.
He has witnessed only one worrying incident when someone called him "coronavirus" at a bus stop in Nairobi.
But his analysis of the situation is remarkable.
"It is normal for people to fear something they are not aware of," he told me calmly.
The spread of the stigma is faster than the spread of the virus, he added, and ended with some advice: "People should have more understanding and love for each other."
If only everyone had such an attitude, then this world would be a more peaceful place.
Follow us on Twitter
@BBCAfrica
, on Facebook at
BBC Africa
or on Instagram at
bbcafrica
|
94bc0c6eda82fa3ddef44859e7b2de5f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51804764 | Nigeria's emir of Kano dethroned for 'disrespect' | Nigeria's emir of Kano dethroned for 'disrespect'
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, one of Nigeria's most influential Muslim traditional leaders, has been removed from his throne.
He was deposed for showing "insubordination'' to the authorities in the northern state of Kano.
Mr Sanusi, an ex-central bank chief, has had frosty relations with Kano Governor Abdullahi Ganduje since 2017.
His supporters believe he was sacked for opposing Mr Ganduje's re-election last year.
Traditional leaders in Nigeria hold few constitutional powers but are able to exert significant influence as they are seen as custodians of both religion and tradition.
Mr Sanusi was seen as a reformist and had been critical of some government policies - a stance that frequently put him at loggerheads with ruling politicians, reports the BBC's Nigeria reporter Ishaq Khalid.
The emir has been removed from the palace in the city of Kano by security forces. It is not clear where he has been taken, but by tradition he will be expected to live in exile outside the emirate for the rest of his life, our reporter says.
Aminu Ado Bayero, the son of Mr Sanusi's predecessor who ruled Kano for more than half a century until his death in 2014, has been chosen as the new emir by the local authorities.
The government said he was removed "in order to safeguard the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano emirate", accusing the emir of "total disrespect" of institutions and the governor's office.
Since the emir and governor fell out, Mr Sanusi has not attended state functions and official meetings, which the government said amounted to "total insubordination".
The emir's refusal to appear before a panel investigating allegations of corruption against him also did not go down well with the government.
He is accused of selling property and mismanaging funds but he secured a court order stopping the probe.
After last year's election, Mr Ganduje, who is a powerful figure within Nigeria's governing All Progressives Congress (APC) party, split the Kano emirate into five and appointed four more emirs - to weaken Mr Sanusi's influence.
Mr Sanusi is not shy about voicing his opinions, which some say is a break with the tradition that an emir be seen and not heard.
Last month, he said fathers who sent their children out to beg for alms should be arrested.
In the past he criticised what he described as the "ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam" in some parts of northern Nigeria that has discouraged the education of girls, family planning and other progressive policies.
Born into the Fulani royal family, Lamido Sanusi became the 14th Emir of Kano in 2014 after the death of Ado Bayero.
He described the post, which carries enormous weight among Nigeria's northern Muslims, as a life-long ambition.
In the mid-1990s he quit a well-paid job as banking risk manager to deepen his knowledge of Arabic and Islamic studies by going to study in Sudan.
Long before he became emir, he opposed the adoption of Islamic law in some northern states, arguing that there were more pressing issues that needed to be dealt with.
But it was as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria that he gained notoriety.
His whistle-blowing over $20bn (£12bn) allegedly missing from the state oil company caused a storm that led to his suspension by then President Goodluck Jonathan. The government denied that any money was missing.
Mr Sanusi challenged the suspension in court but was still sacked from the role. He later withdrew the court case.
Critics say he has a holier-than-thou attitude and have wondered why he refused to appear before the panel investigating corruption allegations against him.
|
1b6c7288d11c6bf84d8c1d79d3eb7768 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51875424 | South Africa: 'Our children are dying, but President Ramaphosa doesn't care' | South Africa: 'Our children are dying, but President Ramaphosa doesn't care'
In our series of letters from African journalists, South African filmmaker and writer Serusha Govender reports on the growing anger fuelled by a spate of child murders.
Passing by Cape Town's Parliament Square earlier this month, I caught sight of Fadiel Adams camped outside on the final days of a hunger strike.
This was a father making a desperate stand against what he felt was the government's lack of interest in combating the recent spate of child murders in the Western Cape province.
The child murder rate has been high for some time in South Africa, but since the beginning of the year, several killings close to Cape Town have drawn nationwide fury and calls for immediate action.
The murder of seven-year-old Tazne van Wyk in early February was the spark.
Tazne went missing on 7 February. Her body was found two weeks later after her suspected murderer led police to the storm drain where he said he had disposed of it.
The suspect, a violent multiple offender had been released on parole. He was in prison for the kidnapping and murder of another child.
Mr Adams ended his hunger strike after six days, once he had handed a memorandum to President Cyril Ramaphosa's secretary, but his campaign is far from over.
He is not convinced that the president will do anything. He accused the president of not caring, adding that "this government has failed all of us".
"We are dying here, our children are dying," said Mr Adams.
"If Ramaphosa really cared he would have made an immediate directive… I don't condone violence or burning things, but we won't stop raising this [issue]. If we have to shut down this whole city to make our point next time then we will."
After Tazne's body was found, Mr Ramaphosa visited her community in Elsies River and apologised.
He said that the accused should never have been given parole, adding that he knew how the community felt and that urgent action would be taken.
His words were reminiscent of his speech to protesting crowds outside parliament after a
19-year-old student, Uyinene Mrwetyana, was murdered by a postal worker last year
.
This triggered nationwide protests against the high levels of violence against women and children, which in turn prompted the president to promise immediate targeted action.
Then, too, Mr Ramaphosa told the crowds that this should never have happened, that he would take action, and that he knew how they felt.
But following Tazne's killing, his audience had had enough of platitudes, with many saying that they wanted less smooth-talking and more real action being taken to keep their children safe.
And they are right to be concerned as Cape Town does seem to have a high number of child murders, and it appears to be getting worse.
Crime statistics released last year showed that four children are murdered every week in the Western Cape Province alone and, overall, child murders have increased across the country by almost 30% over a decade.
On the same day that Tazne went missing, seven-year-old Reagan Gertse disappeared. His body was discovered on a farm in the Western Cape a week later. The man accused of killing Reagan was also a violent criminal released on parole.
And there have been other cases of people on parole committing murder.
When the president promises to fix the problem by pouring more money into a criminal justice system that is releasing violent criminals into communities without any warning, the government should not be too surprised when those communities lose faith and lash out.
When the man accused of killing Tazne appeared in court, community members revolted. They attempted to storm the court building and, when that failed, they torched nearby buildings they said were frequented by neighbourhood criminals, including the accused.
Community Activist Mr Adams said that no-one wanted to mete out vigilante justice.
"To be honest their reaction was mild in comparison to the violence this community has already faced… How else did you expect them to express their anger and frustration at what's been happening?" he asked.
You may also be interested in:
Albert Frtiz, the politician in charge of community safety in the Western Cape, acknowledges that the criminal justice system has failed its residents, and the parole system faces profound issues.
At the national level, Justice Minister Ronald Lomola has defended parole, saying that most of the people released are reintegrated safely back into society.
While he admitted that there were flaws in the system, he said it was not entirely broken.
Perhaps the level of child murder here is symptomatic of a much deeper malaise and arguing over the parole issue is missing the bigger point.
But what is certain is that there are too many children dying here and the government is not doing enough to protect them.
Follow us on Twitter
@BBCAfrica
, on Facebook at
BBC Africa
or on Instagram at
bbcafrica
|
76dabb2f08f821ca7cf2cd4a3da7b225 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51949125 | Coronavirus: South Africa braces for the worst | Coronavirus: South Africa braces for the worst
As the number of coronavirus cases in South Africa rises quickly, BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding visits a poor neighbourhood in the main city Johannesburg to see how it will cope with an outbreak.
In the narrow, muddy alleys, lined with makeshift homes, that lead down to a rubbish-strewn stream on the edge of Alexandra township, there is no real debate about whether this continent is likely to cope with coronavirus.
"If the virus comes here it's going to kill everyone," said electrician Nicholas Mashabele, watching a crowd of men playing cards beside a communal tap and an open drain. The other men nodded in agreement, although 80% of people who are infected only develop mild symptoms.
"We don't have money to buy hygiene [products] to protect ourselves. We're living in high risk," added Mr Mashabele.
As in many poorer communities around South Africa, and indeed across the continent, families in informal settlements in Alexandra on the outskirts of Johannesburg often live in cramped single rooms and share communal outdoor toilets with dozens of neighbours.
Simple suggestions to battle coronavirus - like washing hands regularly - present fundamental challenges.
"We are going to struggle," said Mr Mashabele's wife, Shebi Mapiane, as she prepared an evening meal for her three children in the tiny upstairs room they rent.
"My neighbour is just here," she added, pointing to the wall. "If I catch it, he'll catch it, and everyone will catch it. So, it's dangerous."
That concern is shared by many health experts in South Africa, some of whom privately describe the continent as "a tinderbox".
"My biggest worry is... if this spills over into poorer communities where it's more difficult to identify patients and to contain [the virus]," said clinical biologist Dr Alison Glass.
"That's why containment now is so crucial."
Compounding those worries is uncertainty about the impact of the new virus on people already living with HIV - particularly the estimated 2.5 million in South Africa who are not taking anti-retroviral drugs.
"In those individuals we're likely to see more severe infections," said Professor Salim Abdool Karim, who heads the country's leading Aids research centre in the coastal city of Durban.
But in the wealthier Johannesburg neighbourhood of Richmond, a very different picture of South Africa's readiness to deal with the virus was on display. Cars pulled over to park outside a private laboratory where groups of medics in protective gear stood ready to perform "drive-in" Covid-19 tests.
"I was starting to present with a bit of a cough, and a slightly sore throat," said a university student who had driven himself to be tested after a fellow student was confirmed to have the virus.
The South African government, its National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), and the health system at large have been widely praised for their initial response to the pandemic, and appear to have made good use of the extra weeks this continent has been given - as the pandemic has torn through Asia and Europe - to learn from the mistakes and successes of other nations.
"Fortunately, our country is well prepared. When I look at what we know about this virus I have minimum cause for concern," said Professor Karim.
"If we take steps and ensure we react appropriately and take the necessary precautions I think we'll be able to contain this infection."
South Africa, along with many other African governments, is moving early on its outbreak to introduce measures in line with many Asian countries - with policies on the tougher, more restrictive end of the spectrum.
South Africa has already closed down schools, and is blocking foreign visitors and banning gatherings of more than 100 people.
Local authorities are discussing measures to prevent panic-buying, and plans are even being drawn up to allow the elderly to shop at special times.
More on Africa and the virus:
"The key is to get the basics right," said Dr Kerrigan McCarthy from NICD, who added that the focus needed to be on communities, rather than on hospitals.
"We need community and individual commitment to trust the advice of government and adhere to it in terms of isolation, quarantine, social distancing and good hand hygiene. But should we have a community level outbreak… that will definitely swamp our health systems," she said.
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said: "It's the same problem in the UK, in Canada, in the US… It depends on how we respond. We need to mobilise people to be ready to fight the spread and work together. We can contain it."
There is hope that warmer weather across much of the continent will help suppress the virus. And there is a strong belief that the experience many countries have had, over decades, in tackling HIV, malaria, cholera, Ebola and many other diseases, means that even underfunded health systems may be better prepared than in other parts of the world to fight coronavirus, particularly at community level.
But at rush-hour at the crowded central bus station in Alexandra, many commuters did not appear too confident as they waited in line before squeezing on board cramped mini-buses for the journey home.
"I'm frightened. Truly. I don't know who is infected and who is not," said one woman.
"If I had any alternative transport I would definitely [use it] but unfortunately, I have no choice. I have to work to feed my family so I can't afford to stay at home."
|
3abc5ca4aa872dd9fbde8c6189996765 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51949595 | Nigeria visa firm owned by man on fraud charges | Nigeria visa firm owned by man on fraud charges
The owner of the Nigerian government-appointed company which produces visas for people wishing to travel to Nigeria from around the world is facing charges of fraud and money laundering in Nigeria in relation to a different company, the BBC has learnt in a joint investigation with the Premium Times.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the visa-processing company and the allegations have no relation to the management of the visa business.
Mahmood Ahmadu, together with his former company Drexel Tech, was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on two counts of fraud and three counts of money laundering.
Three others, including former Interior Minister Abba Moro, face charges of fraud and breach of public procurement laws.
All those charged, including Mr Moro and Mr Ahmadu, deny any wrongdoing.
Mr Ahmadu has been highly regarded in Nigeria and was given the Order Of The Niger, a prestigious national award, by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014.
His lawyers say at no time did the EFCC or any other authority in Nigeria or elsewhere declare him "wanted". They say he is not standing trial. He maintains his innocence and his lawyers deny that he is facing charges.
But the EFCC charge sheet alleges that Mr Ahmadu, together with other defendants, was involved in organising a recruitment exercise that led to the deaths of Nigerians.
Mr Ahmadu's former company, Drexel Tech, was engaged in 2013 to organise a recruitment drive supposedly for 4,000 vacancies in the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
However the NIS later said there were no vacancies. In total, 676,675 Nigerians applied for the jobs, paying 1,000 naira (£2; $2.30) each to register.
When dates for a recruitment exercise were set, several people died during a stampede
as thousands of jobseekers scrambled into the Abuja National Stadium
to take part in the exercise allegedly organised by the Interior Ministry.
"I was surprised about the recruitment exercise because I was not aware of it," then NIS Controller General, David Paradang, later told the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The EFCC has said that Mr Ahmadu, who the charge sheet describes as "at large", and the co-accused, made a total of 677m naira (£1.4m; $1.6m) from the recruitment exercise.
The charge sheet alleges that Mr Ahmadu and Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd spent part of the money to purchase property in Abuja while just over 100 million naira, it is claimed, was converted to dollars for the personal use of Mr Ahmadu and the company.
While all the other co-accused, including Mr Moro, presented themselves for questioning and are currently standing trial, the EFCC says that Mr Ahmadu did not come forward to talk about his alleged role in the recruitment exercise.
Back in 2016, then spokesperson of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujiaren, told the Nation newspaper: "We may enlist Interpol and relevant agencies in the UK to track down Mahmood Ahmadu. He used to have companies in the UK and with his biometrics, there is no hiding place for him. We have already watch-listed him."
Last week, the EFCC's current spokesperson, Tony Orilade, told the BBC that there is still a case against Mr Ahmadu.
"The charge sheet reads that he is at large. The position of the EFCC is clear: the proceeds of the recruitment remains illegal...
"The EFCC is aware he is hiding in Europe. He has not been seen since arraignment."
Mr Ahmadu's visa company, Online Integrated Solutions (OIS), states on its website that it is present and conducting business on behalf of the Nigerian Government in 25 major cities across the world in Nigeria, China, Lebanon, UAE, Malaysia, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, USA , France, Germany, UK, India, and Canada.
The company prides itself as "a specialist Nigerian visa and passport application agency" in partnership with diplomatic missions across the world to "expedite hitch-free travel" to global destinations. The company makes millions of dollars every year.
The BBC made numerous attempts to contact Nigerian Interior Ministry and the country's High Commission in London. They did not offer any response.
The BBC contacted the UK's Home Office and the Foreign Office who were not prepared to comment on the case.
The UK's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said that "a foreigner charged with a crime abroad can still set up a company and run it in the UK, if no arrest warrant has been issued".
|
e3b332ffaf994f43a372e33890f581e4 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51978459 | Aurlus Mabélé: Congolese music legend dies 'from coronavirus' | Aurlus Mabélé: Congolese music legend dies 'from coronavirus'
Congolese music star Aurlus Mabélé has died in hospital in France's capital Paris, aged 67.
Posts on social media from friends and relatives say he died of coronavirus but this is not confirmed.
His fans called him the king of soukous - a high-tempo Congolese dance music popular across Africa.
His daughter, French singer
Liza Monet, tweeted
on Thursday that her father had died of coronavirus. "I am inconsolable" she wrote.
Fellow member of the supergroup Loketo, Mav Cacharel, also
said on Facebook
that he had died of coronavirus.
His manager, Jimmy Ouetenou, however, told BBC Afrique that it was not confirmed he died of coronavirus and that he had long-term health problems.
He was admitted to hospital on Thursday and died on the same day.
Mabélé, whose real name is Aurélien Miatsonama, was from Congo-Brazzaville and moved to France in the 1980s.
His hits include the track Embargo.
Mr Ouetenou said talks were already underway with the Congolese government for him to be buried in his home country.
In the meantime, his coffin will be placed in a burial vault until travel restrictions due to coronavirus are lifted, reports BBC Afrique's Rose-Marie Bouboutou.
By Gaïus Kowene, BBC News, Kinshasa
Under his real name Aurélien Miatshonama, Mabélé founded Les Ndimbola Lokole with his friends in Brazzaville and recorded some of the hottest hits that moved the African continent in the 1970s, such as Embargo, Zebola and Waka Waka.
Later, he moved to Paris where he founded another band, Loketo, meaning "hips" in Lingala - the language of most soukous songs, which is widely spoken in western DR Congo and Congo-Brazzaville.
With more than 10 million albums sold over a 30-years of musical career, Aurlus Mabélé took soukous beyond Africa, around the world.
|
6d7ee00aa66c5ddb293fd502f3a564cc | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51982703 | Coronavirus: Algeria protests called off for first time in a year | Coronavirus: Algeria protests called off for first time in a year
Algerian protesters have called off their weekly anti-government demonstrations for the first time in more than a year to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
This would have been the 57th week in a row that Algerians came out onto the streets.
Authorities banned the demonstrations, but opposition activists also urged supporters to stay inside.
There have been at least 10 deaths and 90 confirmed virus cases in Algeria.
Imprisoned activist Karim Tabbou was among the protest leaders who told demonstrators to suspend their marches, according to Reuters news agency.
The protests began in February 2019 after the then president Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced he was going to seek a fifth term in office.
As the protests grew, the 82-year-old scrapped his plans and stood down from power.
But demonstrators continued to fill the streets every Friday, demanding the whole ruling regime stand down too and accusing them of widespread corruption.
Some weeks, tens of thousands of people filled the streets of the capital Algiers.
On Friday, Algiers' streets were empty – apart from police and journalists, Reuters reports.
|
2d69f66dea2f54c80c6c906bafa2b8e2 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52005899 | Mozambique jihadists seize key town in Cabo Delgado | Mozambique jihadists seize key town in Cabo Delgado
Islamist insurgents have seized control of a key town in northern Mozambique, close to where foreign companies are working on a $60bn (£52bn) natural gas project.
The militants staged an overnight attack on Mocimboa de Praia, taking a military base and raising their flag, police said.
The army and police have launched a counter-offensive, police added.
This is the first time Mozambican jihadists have attacked a major town.
They usually attack villages and farms.
Panicked residents said the fighters had blocked all exit routes, and they could not leave the town.
"They are taking residents to the mosque and locking them there," the privately owned Moz24h website quoted a resident as saying.
Hundreds have been killed and thousands displaced during the three-year insurgency in Cabo Delgado.
The government has battled to curb the insurgency, despite support from a Russian military company.
The militants call themselves al-Shabab although it is unclear whether they are linked to the significantly larger Somali movement of the same name.
Cabo Delgado is one of Mozambique's poorest regions, but it is rich in untapped mineral resources.
In 2010, Mozambique discovered huge gas reserves in Rovuma Basin, off the Indian Ocean coast of Cabo Delgado.
Last October, ExxonMobil unveiled plans to invest more than $500m in the initial construction phase of its gas project in the region.
|
2d8951278958dda60fcd32429dccc955 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52010868 | Coronavirus: Why Ghana has gone into mourning after mass funeral ban | Coronavirus: Why Ghana has gone into mourning after mass funeral ban
In our series of letters from African writers, journalist and former Ghana government minister Elizabeth Ohene writes about the dramatic impact coronavirus is having on life in her country and beyond.
If anyone had any doubt about just how serious the Covid-19 outbreak is, we now have proof positive, we are in the midst of a huge crisis.
This is a crisis not measured yet by how many people have been taken ill, or are in hospital or have died.
Here in Ghana, there are some things that are sacred in our lives and nobody touches them under any circumstance: religion, handshakes and funerals.
These are subjects that are not up for discussion and many people believe they define our very existence.
For weeks, government and health officials here have been warning everybody to improve personal hygiene and avoid crowds.
Many people preferred to think that the coronavirus would not make it into sub-Saharan Africa and therefore they believed the warnings by the health experts could be ignored.
Whoever heard of a Ghanaian, indeed, an African greeting another person and not shaking hands?
To refuse or ignore to shake hands with someone means that person is an enemy. Now we can't shake hands with anybody, friend or foe.
President Nana Akufo-Addo set the tone for the new rules at the celebrations of Ghana's 63rd independence anniversary on 6 March, when he ostentatiously kept both his hands resolutely behind his back when he arrived at the ceremony to greet those seated on the dais.
And as though the prohibition on handshaking was not traumatic enough, a ban has been put on the holding of funerals. The official announcement says there can be private burials, but no mass gatherings of mourners.
I am not sure I can convey the enormity of this on the Ghanaian psyche.
There is no such thing as a private burial in our thinking and funerals are huge, dramatic and regular ceremonies.
Our lives revolve around funerals.
The catering industry relies on funerals to survive, the textile industry needs orders for funeral cloths to stay in business, the tailors and dressmakers are busy mostly because they make clothes for funerals; choral groups, events organisers, transportation and manufacturers and sellers of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks would disappear without funerals.
But there will be no more funerals.
Come to think of it, what with the hand shaking ban, it's probably just as well that a ban has been placed on funerals.
We can't have funerals and not shake hands, the entire funeral ceremony consists of shaking hands, shaking hands and shaking hands.
The ban on religious gatherings here, and in some countries elsewhere on the continent, is having a big impact on people for whom communal prayer and the discipline of the religious calendar are central to their lives.
But there is silence in the mosques and in the churches here in Ghana.
When the announcement was first made by the president, the Christian leaders were stunned and the charismatic churches in particular were in total disbelief.
It was unthinkable that anything or anybody could close church services. The all-night services, the miracle services, the anointing services have taken over all our lives.
Some had hoped that the promise of miracle prayers to save Ghana from the scourge of coronavirus would convince the president to keep the churches and mosques open, but he was not moved to change his mind.
And they will stay closed throughout Easter, the most sacred festival on the Christian calendar.
The order to close the churches is turning out to be the most difficult one for people to obey.
The mainstream churches are complying and many are offering online services, which include provisions for offertory to be made through mobile money donations.
But some of the charismatic churches seem to think they are allowed to flout the order not to hold church services by claiming they are offering special prayers against Covid-19.
Going to church multiple times a week is normal for many people and the news is usually full of the antics of some of the so-called men of God.
The president asked the nation to fast and pray on Wednesday this week and doubtless, some people would have had difficulty accepting that they could fast and pray by themselves at home without going to church.
From here, we keenly follow all the news about how the rest of the continent is doing with the role of religion in the march of the deadly coronavirus.
I have no doubt that the approach of Tanzanian President John Magufuli would be cited by some people here as worth following.
He has banned public gatherings and closed schools as we have, but he said he did not ban church or mosque worship because these were places where "true healing" took place.
"Coronavirus is a devil, it can not live in the body of Christ, it will burn instantly. This is a time to build our faith," President Magufuli, who has a PhD in chemistry and is a devout Catholic, said at a church service last Sunday.
President Akufo-Addo has urged us to seek the face of God and pray for Ghana but he is sticking to the science and emphasising the washing of hands, social distancing and the churches and mosques remain closed.
It is now getting through to many people that we are in deadly uncharted territory when the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), probably the biggest church in southern Africa, announced it had postponed all gatherings including their Easter service.
This service normally draws millions of pilgrims, who congregate at the foothills of the Moria Mountain in Limpopo during the Easter weekend, and there surely cannot be a more dramatic spectacle.
Never, in the history of the ZCC, since its inception in 1910, has the church postponed or cancelled its pilgrimage.
We can't shake hands, we can't have funerals, we can't go to worship at the mosque or the church, the ZCC has postponed its Easter pilgrimage; we are in the midst of an emergency alright.
Follow us on Twitter
@BBCAfrica
, on Facebook at
BBC Africa
or on Instagram at
bbcafrica
|
81288c2758d3aa925cc67109a902b23b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52019326 | Lorry in Mozambique found with 64 dead stowaways | Lorry in Mozambique found with 64 dead stowaways
Mozambican immigration officers have found 64 dead bodies in a shipping container on the back of a lorry that had crossed into Mozambique from Malawi, officials say.
It is suspected that the dead, thought to be Ethiopian, suffocated, the authorities told the BBC.
Two people, including the vehicle's driver, have been detained in connection with the deaths.
The migrants were on a well-known trafficking route to South Africa.
When officials inspected the vehicle, 14 people were found alive.
The immigration service had stopped the container truck in the town of Moatize, according to Tete provincial director of health, Carla Mosse.
She said investigations were ongoing to discover how the occupants died, but said asphyxiation was the likely cause of death.
Amélia Direito, spokesperson for the National Migration Service in Tete, said the driver had not wanted to stop the vehicle when asked.
She explained that her colleagues had heard noises from the lorry and suspected that migrants might be inside.
Referring to the trafficking of migrants she said: "This is a worrying situation. We are continuing to tighten the control of the border."
Some of the 14 survivors were hitting the container and screaming,
reports the Portuguese newspaper Observador
.
Danilson Goncalves, head of public health in Tete, said a team of medical examiners would carry-out autopsies to determine the exact cause of death.
|
46e9ff0d8492faf3543eaa9b18ed55bc | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52050531 | Africa's week in pictures: 20-26 March 2020 | Africa's week in pictures: 20-26 March 2020
A selection of the week's best photos from across the continent:
Images: AFP, EPA, Getty Images and Reuters
|
54e44601b05235e6fb112e773075a18c | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52053738 | Cameroon rebels declare coronavirus ceasefire | Cameroon rebels declare coronavirus ceasefire
A separatist militia in Cameroon is to down its weapons for a fortnight so people can be tested for coronavirus.
The Southern Cameroons Defence Forces (Socadef) said its ceasefire would come into effect from Sunday as "a gesture of goodwill".
It is so far the only armed group among many operating in Cameroon's English-speaking regions to have heeded the UN's call for a global ceasefire.
The fighters say they are marginalised in the majority French-speaking nation.
For the three years, they have been fighting government forces in the Anglophone regions with the aim of creating a breakaway state called "Ambazonia".
But there is no indication that
one of the biggest rebel group - Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF)
- is to follow suit and declare a ceasefire.
Chief mediator Alexandre Liebeskind, from the conflict resolution group Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, told the BBC that the ADF had refused to join the negotiations.
"They are the only group which refused to join the process,” he said.
But he added that he hoped other groups would follow Socadef's example.
The BBC's West Africa reporter Chi Chi Izundu says this move by one Anglophone separatist group will not bring the long and bloody conflict to an end, but could be a source of hope in otherwise dark times.
Fighting in the North-West and South-West regions has killed at least 3,000 people and forced more than 700,000 people from their homes, thousands fleeing across the border into Nigeria.
Many displaced people could be in danger of contracting coronavirus and not receiving treatment.
Cameroon's health ministry has so far has confirmed 75 cases of the virus - and recorded its first death earlier this week.
Mr Liebeskind says the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue is also appealing to militias elsewhere in Africa - in the Sahel and Central African Republic - in the hope it could allow a "better response to the coronavirus" as well as "lead to some kind of politically negotiated solution".
“To do my job you need to be an optimist," says Mr Liebeskind.
"Sitting in Africa, I am particularly concerned because it's a fragile continent. The economic and social consequences [of coronavirus] could be devastating if it is not quickly contained."
|
d97dfd8075870492de2e93db4b5aef93 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52061547 | Coronavirus: What the world can learn from Ebola fight | Coronavirus: What the world can learn from Ebola fight
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who made history as Africa's first elected female president, led Liberia for 12 years including during the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak that killed nearly 5,000 people in her country.
The BBC asked the Nobel Peace Laureate for her reflections on the current coronavirus crisis.
Dear fellow citizens of the world,
On 19 October 2014, at the height of the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa, when 2,000 of my citizens had already perished and infections were growing exponentially, I wrote a letter to the world pleading for the mobilisation of personnel and resources.
I demanded a show of global unity to avert what we feared would be a worldwide pandemic.
Today, I take this opportunity to raise my voice in a message of solidarity.
Almost six years ago, I explained how Liberia's post-conflict economy, and its fragile healthcare system, made it vulnerable to the rapid spread of disease, and I contended that how the world responded to the localised crisis in West Africa, would define our collective healthcare security.
I argued that an uncontrolled contagion, no matter where in the world, and no matter how localised, is a threat to all of humanity.
The world responded positively. And did so boldly.
A mass mobilization of resources led by the UN, the World Health Organization, and the US followed. We defeated it together. As a result, today there are effective experimental vaccines and antivirals thanks to the collaboration of the best scientific minds around the world.
In the face of the coronavirus outbreak, I am making a similar plea to my fellow world citizens. I do this with an acute awareness that while African nations have so far been spared the worst, it is only a matter of time until it batters the continent which is the least prepared to fight it.
We must act to slow down, break the chain of transmission, and flatten the curve.
It is clear that lapses were made in the initial response to the virus, from Asia to Europe, to the Americas.
Cues were missed. Time was wasted.
Information was hidden, minimised, and manipulated. Trust was broken.
Fear drove people to run, to hide, to hoard to protect their own, when the only solution is, and remains based in the community.
I know this. I made all of those missteps in 2014, and so did the world's responders. But we self-corrected, and we did it together.
We are at a critical juncture as borders are closing around the world to slow the rate of transmission.
Let us not take the wrong cue from this. It does not mean that we are on our own, every country for themselves. On the contrary, it is the sign of a communal response, that border closures make a difference.
Watching from my home in Monrovia, what most encourages today, is the opening up of expertise and the fact that knowledge, scientific discovery, equipment, medicines and personnel are being shared.
It is happening within nations, and increasingly across international borders; an indispensable, albeit delayed reaction, that every person, in every nation, needs to do their part.
This realisation led to our turning point of disease control in West Africa.
In Liberia, we emerged resilient from the Ebola epidemic, and stronger as a society, with health protocols in place that are enabling us to manage the Covid-19 disease.
I fervently believe this is the path we are all on.
I have full faith in the relentless spirit of the individual, a conviction that leaders emerge in times of crisis at every level of society, and that our religious and communal differences pale in comparison to our collective belief in the power of prayer, and our respective faith in God.
As we all hunker down in the next few weeks, I pray for the health and well-being of our global citizens, and I ask that everyone remember that our humanity now relies on the essential truth that a life well-lived is a life in the service to others.
You can hear Ellen Johnson Sirleaf read out her letter on Focus on Africa on the BBC World Service on Monday 30 March from 15:00 GMT.
|
c5929825b4aa182240ba22c5e0c490ca | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52061697 | Coronavirus: Zimbabwean broadcaster Zororo Makamba died 'alone and scared' | Coronavirus: Zimbabwean broadcaster Zororo Makamba died 'alone and scared'
Cooped up in an isolation ward, a young Zimbabwean man who had been diagnosed with Covid-19, pleaded with his family for help.
Thirty-year-old Zororo Makamba was "alone and scared", according to his older brother who spoke to Zimbabwe's privately owned Daily News newspaper.
Makamba was being treated in the Wilkins Hospital, designated as the main isolation facility for coronavirus patients in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.
Shortly after he talked to his family, he was dead.
The death of Makamba, a well-known journalist, came swiftly - less than three days after his diagnosis.
Famous for his online social and political commentary, under the banner "State of the Nation", his death achieved an unwanted milestone.
He was the country's first coronavirus casualty and it shocked Zimbabwe.
The fact that Makamba came from a wealthy, high-profile family did not save him, and family members have argued that his death has exposed the inadequacies of the country's medical response to the threat of conronavirus.
"The government is ill prepared to deal with the virus," older brother Tawanda Makamba told the Daily News.
The health ministry said his pre-existing condition made him vulnerable to the disease. He had undergone surgery last November to remove a tumour from under his lung and was in recovery.
While his family admit that his immune system was compromised, they insist that his death could have been avoided.
Very few governments were prepared for a public health crisis of this magnitude.
As the coronavirus swept through Asia, Europe and the US, Zimbabwe has watched from the sidelines as advanced economies with better developed health care systems have buckled under the strain.
The shortage of hospital beds, of protective clothing and life-saving equipment, such as ventilators, is a global problem.
The difference is that many of these countries were overwhelmed by hundreds and then thousands of patients. Zimbabwe, it seems, was overwhelmed by one.
"The world needs to know what happened to Zororo," his brother Tawanda told the BBC in a brief phone conversation.
Zororo Makamba had returned from New York with flu-like symptoms and was told by his doctor that it was a regular flu, the family says.
But on Friday 20 March his condition deteriorated and he was tested for coronavirus. The positive result did not come through until the early hours of Saturday morning, but his admission to the isolation facility was delayed because "they were not ready to admit him", according to his family.
He was eventually admitted, despite there being no ventilator to help him breathe. Makamba then died on Monday morning.
The Harare city authority denies there was negligence.
In a series of messages posted on social media it said that "the hospital staff did all they could to save his life", but admitted the clinic did not have ventilators.
"Not all patients require ventilators… we started with one of the worst cases which required a ventilator," the city's health director Dr Prosper Chonzi told state media.
They also had not received needed funds from central government to equip their facility to deal with coronavirus cases.
"We were given an unfunded mandate," Dr Chonzi said.
The government has admitted concerns about its preparedness, if cases spike.
"People are rightly expressing concern over our capacity to fight Covid-19," government spokesman Nick Mangwana said in a tweet.
"We can fight this if [we] take a national approach."
President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that as "each day passes we increase our capacity to respond". He has since announced a nationwide lockdown to begin on Monday.
But the state of Wilkins Hospital is symptomatic of a broader problem.
For decades Zimbabwe's health system has been in decline. At their worst, public hospitals have had no running water and no pain killers. Doctors say they have sometimes been forced to wash and reuse bandages.
Critics have blamed the government for allowing the situation to deteriorate, pointing out that top officials have been known to seek treatment abroad at the expense of the public.
After Makamba's death, some private sector companies on Wednesday announced plans to establish isolation facilities at several idle private clinics.
The announcement has been met with both joy and cynicism.
Some have said that the intervention at this stage is welcome, but others say the rich and powerful are setting up facilities for themselves.
The government insists access will be for all.
Meanwhile, a large consignment of protective equipment and test kits have arrived in the country, courtesy of Chinese billionaire Jack Ma and Wilkins Hospital is undergoing renovations thanks to Chinese aid.
Ventilators have also been donated to Wilkins, but they came too late for Makamba.
The young journalist's death was "his most profound and emphatic State of the Nation… he exposed the lies of government and the opposition," media owner Trevor Ncube tweeted.
"His lonely and painful death reminded us all that we are the change that we seek."
|
f437a864990a612614f3a4e757f15630 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52093343 | Lagos lockdown over coronavirus: 'How will my children survive?' | Lagos lockdown over coronavirus: 'How will my children survive?'
As more than 25 million people are placed on a two-week lockdown in parts of Nigeria in a bid to curtail the spread of coronavirus, poor people in congested neighbourhoods are worried about how they will cope, writes the BBC's Nduka Orjinmo from the commercial capital Lagos.
"From where do we get the extra water to wash the hands you are talking about," asked Debby Ogunsola, 36, as she led me down a dark corridor towards her room in the Alapere area of Lagos state.
A lockdown in Lagos - the commercial hub of Nigeria, as well as the neighbouring state of Ogun and the capital Abuja - came into force on Monday night, following an announcement by President Muhammadu Buhari that the fight against the virus was a "matter of life and death".
For Ms Ogunsola it will be difficult to remain indoors. She and her family live in one room in a block of 20, locally called Face-me-I-face-you because of their close proximity to each other.
There is no electricity, and when I visited, light was coming in through where a door should have been standing. Outside there were two toilets and bathrooms shared by all the families living in the 20 rooms.
There is no pipe-borne water either in Alapere, and Ms Ogunsola is forced to walk more than 50 metres to a broken public water pipe for her supply.
"It's my children I am worried about," she said.
All four of them were lying on the floor as it rained outside. A single window was the only source of air into the room and it could get very hot at night.
"If I am not able to go out and sell, how will they [children] survive?'' asked Ms Ogunsola, who earns money by selling fruit and vegetables by the roadside.
Her husband works at an oil rig in the southern city of Warri and is due to come home in a month. But several states - including Rivers, Delta, Kano and Bayelsa - have closed their borders, prohibiting inter-state movement. So if the lockdown is extended, it could be a while before she is reunited with her husband.
"It is hunger I am worried about, not a virus. I even heard it doesn't kill young people," Ms Ogunsola told the BBC.
Though there is a higher mortality rate among the old and those with underlying health conditions, young people are also dying of the virus - and they can transmit it if they do not act responsibly.
Across an open drain from Ms Ogunsola's residence are more rows of similar apartments. One has an expansive veranda where two old women were sitting and talking.
It is not uncommon for urban Nigerian families to live with older relatives, who also double up as nannies.
And the concern is that these old people could be at risk if the virus spreads.
"They are at home and they are still gathering in crowded conditions. If you were to have someone who has the virus there, the chances of spreading it is high," said Dr Oyewale Odubanjo, a public health expert.
In Italy, many multi-generational families also live together and this is one reason why it has seen more coronavirus deaths than any other country.
All non-essential travel has been banned in most states and many workers, including civil servants, have been told to work from home.
But with a lack of reliable electricity supplies and poor internet connections, it is hard to see how most people will get any work done.
There were long queues at supermarkets after President Buhari announced the lockdown, with people rushing to stock up on essentials.
But many Nigerians live hand-to-mouth, often on less than $1 (£0.80) and they cannot stock up on food or other essentials.
Many workers are also yet to be paid their wages for March so there are deep concerns about the financial implications of a lockdown.
Mr Buhari outlined some measures to ease the hardship, including a one-month advance payment of the monthly $13 given to the poorest of the poor, but most people feel that millions of self-employed Nigerians have been left without financial aid.
"It's only those who have money that can buy now. If you do not have what can you do?" said a taxi driver parked outside a supermarket.
There are also fears that if things get worse in the urban areas, people would ignore the ban on travel and start moving to rural areas - where they are guaranteed food from family farms but where there is a higher population of vulnerable older people and more limited health services.
"That would be bedlam, total madness, if people begin to move to their villages," said town planner Ayobami Bamidele.
"Whatever happens, people should remain where they are. We will survive this," he said.
Early March now seems like a long time ago, when the World Health Organization praised Nigeria for its handling of coronavirus after the first case was reported in the country.
Officials had swiftly identified, traced and quarantined contacts of the Italian man they referred to as the index case.
But now there is growing concern that Nigeria has not done enough to curb the spread of the virus, and its health system is ill-equipped to cope with a major outbreak.
Nigeria has few testing kits, but many asymptomatic government officials and music stars are being tested, raising questions about the fairness of the process.
Despite Mr Buhari's promise when he took office to put an end to medical tourism, he and other government officials still go abroad for treatment. However, this is unlikely to happen if any official gets Covid-19.
"Even if you are wealthy, you will have to use the same health facilities with others, whether good or bad - nobody is going to accept a patient from abroad to treat," Dr Odubanjo said.
Lagos and some other states introduced restrictions on large gatherings about a fortnight ago, but many people - including some pastors - are ignoring calls to adhere to social distancing.
Meanwhile, back at a crowded bus stop in Alapere, hawkers competed for every inch of available space to sell their wares, ignoring any thought of social distancing. Most were not concerned about the virus.
"All death is death," a woman selling smoked fish on a tray said in Pidgin, as she nipped between two yellow buses.
"If I stay home, I will die of hunger, if I come out to hustle you say I will die of coronavirus.
"There is nothing we have not seen and we are still here, we shall survive this one," she said, smacking her lips.
|
97c72403d6c3ee90a9aa4e291313cff0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52098230 | Sierra Leone overturns ban on pregnant schoolgirls | Sierra Leone overturns ban on pregnant schoolgirls
Sierra Leone has overturned a five-year law barring pregnant girls from going to school.
The ban was introduced in 2015 as schools reopened after the Ebola crisis, which saw a rise in pregnancies among school-age girls.
West Africa's top court ruled in December that the girls were discriminated against and their human rights violated.
Teenage pregnancy is a huge issue in Sierra Leone.
The UN children’s agency Unicef in a 2015 report found that 40% of girls are married before their 18th birthday.
Several rights organisations sued the Sierra Leone government at the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) court in May 2018.
The court ruled last year that the “discriminatory” policy had denied the girls their right to education.
Judges also criticised parallel learning centres that had been set up for the girls, saying it was “another form of discrimination” and ordered that they be abolished.
President Julius Maada Bio, who had come into office a month earlier, said in a statement after the December ruling that he was committed to "inclusion of every citizen” in his development plans.
There was an increase in underage pregnancy during the Ebola crisis, which left many girls vulnerable to sexual abuse and desperate for money.
By Umaru Fofana, Freetown
Sierra Leone is a very traditional society. Many say much of the beliefs are misogynistic. It is a country where former President Ernest Bai Koroma refused to sign into law an abortion bill that was unanimously passed by parliament. Many activists say men are determining the future of women without regard to the women themselves.
Female genital mutilation is widespread, with an equally widespread resistance to stopping it by traditionalists. Any attempt to do so is resisted, with accusations of "foreign cultural interference".
During the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and 2015, the government closed all schools in order to halt the spread of the disease. Consequently, hundreds - some say thousands - of girls became pregnant. A 2010 policy of not allowing pregnant girls in school came to the fore. So the girls were shut out of school and not allowed to write their exams.
The policy received widespread public support and still does.
Memunatu Margao, a shop attendant in central Freetown, expressed disappointment with the overturning of the ban: "I will not allow my daughter to sit in class with someone pregnant - that's a very bad influence".
Asked whether she would keep her daughter in school if she became pregnant, the mother of two said emphatically: "No! She will stay at home."
But Education Minister David Moinina Sengeh described it as a great day for the children of Sierra Leone, and said the policy shift "was based on evidence and consultation with a diverse task force consisting of religious leaders, heads of schools and civil society organizations".
He said that "at a time of uncertainty, when schools are closing for what seems like an indefinite time for Covid-19, Sierra Leone is learning from its experience during the Ebola crisis".
A new policy of inclusion would apply to "all learners", while the government would also "engage communities to prevent teenage pregnancies", he added.
But many here believe that while the official policy may have changed, the stigma against pregnant girls will continue, so the girls may be kept out of school for a different reason.
The issue of pregnant girls going to school is also a big issue on the other side of Africa, in Tanzania.
President John Magufuli has defended the policy of banning pregnant girls from school, saying young mothers would be distracted if they were allowed back in school.
|
50d4277489c732a73c5c00140672d0d6 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52172164 | Coronavirus: Malawi president takes 10% pay cut | Coronavirus: Malawi president takes 10% pay cut
Malawi's president and all government ministers are taking a 10% wage cut for three months to raise money to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
President Peter Mutharika made the announcement as he set out a stimulus package to help cushion the economic impact of the disease.
Malawi reported its first cases of the coronavirus on Thursday - one of the last countries to do so.
The country, among the world's poorest, has declared a state of emergency.
There is no lockdown but schools are closed and the government says it is urging people to work from home and follow hand-washing and social-distancing guidelines.
All social gatherings of more than 100 people, such as funerals, church services and political rallies, have been banned.
Mr Mutharika earns about $3,600 (£3,000) a month but no figure was given for how much money would be raised by the pay cut for all ministers.
As part of the stimulus package, the president announced a series of tax breaks for businesses, a reduction in fuel prices and an increase in risk allowances for health workers, Reuters news agency reports.
He also said that an extra 2,000 health workers would be recruited.
Tobacco is Malawi's main export and the president said that all tobacco markets would remain open to maintain foreign currency earnings and keep farmers in business, Reuters reports.
The four confirmed cases so far have all been linked to people travelling from the UK.
Mr Mutharika, 79, became president in 2014. His re-election last year was cancelled in February after judges found there had been widespread irregularities.
A new election is currently scheduled for 2 July.
|
422e60080d43fb7f2c42808584c91b58 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52172609 | Somali outrage at rape of girls aged three and four | Somali outrage at rape of girls aged three and four
The government in Somalia has condemned the abduction and rape of two girls aged just three and four.
The doctor in charge of the hospital where they are being treated says they need major surgery.
An official said several arrests had been made following the attack which happened on Wednesday.
The parents say that the two cousins were walking home from school in Afgoye, close to the capital, Mogadishu.
They were seized by men who took them away and sexually assaulted them.
Their parents desperately searched the neighbourhood and found them alone the following day.
BBC World Service Africa editor Will Ross says the fact that the girls are aged just three and four has added to the shock in Somalia where reports of rape have increased in recent years.
It is thought that such horrific crimes have long been taking place but people are now more aware of the need to publicise the incidents in order to bring about change, he says.
|
d3223abd4058a2644599018ee8da36c2 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52189144 | Coronavirus: Ivory Coast protesters target testing centre | Coronavirus: Ivory Coast protesters target testing centre
Protesters in Ivory Coast's commercial capital, Abidjan, have destroyed a coronavirus centre that was being built in the district of Yopougon.
Residents said it was being built in a crowded residential area, too close to their homes.
Videos on social media show people tearing apart the centre with their bare hands, smashing construction materials on the ground.
Some appeared to be hurling metal poles into a truck.
The health ministry said the building was never intended as a treatment centre, only as a testing facility.
Although, like many African countries, Ivory Coast has had relatively few confirmed coronavirus cases, it has imposed a lockdown in Abidjan and a nationwide curfew.
On Saturday, health officials urged people to wear masks to try to slow the spread of the virus.
The hostile response towards the testing centres is reminiscent of attitudes during Ebola outbreaks in West and Central Africa when some people attacked health workers, suspicious that they were bringing the disease to their communities, rather than offering crucial medical care.
Last week, two French doctors sparked fury by suggesting that an existing tuberculosis vaccine
could be tested on African people to see if it cured coronavirus
.
The doctors' words have fuelled existing fears that African people are to be used as guinea pigs to test a new coronavirus vaccine, though there is no evidence to support this claim.
Other widespread myths - such as black skin supposedly being resistant to Covid-19, or pepper soup and black tea some providing a cure - have also been debunked.
|
776e803424548d94dc235027d7a4c2de | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52189785 | Coronavirus: Nigeria's mega churches adjust to empty auditoriums | Coronavirus: Nigeria's mega churches adjust to empty auditoriums
The auditoriums of Nigeria's mega churches are empty and their gates are shut as they are forced to observe a government ban on large gatherings to halt the spread of coronavirus.
But it took not only threats, but force and arrests for the message to get across.
In some cases those in charge of making the churches bolt their doors turned to the scriptures.
"May I use the words of [Prophet] Mordechai: 'For such as time as this we do what is appropriate,'" said the leader of an enforcing team in the capital, Abuja, as he arrested a pastor in front of his congregation.
Dressed all in black, had he had a collar he would have passed for a preacher with his baritone voice and gesticulations.
The pastor he led out of the church, sporting a burgundy-coloured suit, shiny black shoes and with hair that glowed in the sun, looked like many of those who now lead huge congregations in the West African nation.
These preachers have changed the face of Christianity in Nigeria - with their evangelical sermons, prophecies and promises of miracles.
One of the most famous of these is TB Joshua, who last month claimed to be divinely inspired, predicting that the coronavirus pandemic would be over by 27 March, several days before a lockdown was imposed on the states of Lagos, Ogun and the capital, Abuja.
"By the end of this month, whether we like it or not, no matter the medicine they might have produced to cure whatever, it will go the way it came," he said to applause from his congregation.
When 27 March passed the TV evangelist found himself mocked for his "false prophesy".
But he defended himself - once again to cheers from worshippers - by saying: "What I meant was that the virus would be halted where it began, and in Wuhan it has stopped."
Other pastors have been accused of flying in the face of the authorities and spreading fake news, impeding efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The biggest controversy has been caused by Christ Embassy pastor Chris Oyakhilome, who in a video post that went viral, linked the virus to 5G networks and alleged that it was part of a plot to create a "new world order".
Such views have been widely condemned by scientists
, who say the idea of a connection between Covid-19 and 5G is "complete rubbish" and biologically impossible.
For some Christians, especially those who belong to the dwindling pews of the Anglican and Catholic churches, more needs to be done to weaken the influence of the mega pastors who exploit vulnerable people.
"Those that sell us the miracle waters, the holy oils and all that, this is the time to prove it," said Blessing Ugonna, a woman I met in Lagos.
But many of the mega churches, which run multi-million dollar business empires, have adapted to the changes brought about by the virus.
They are streaming prayer services online, and some families are trying to create an atmosphere at home by dressing up in their Sunday outfits with the head of the household even collecting "offerings" - or money - from the rest of the family to give to their church.
The churches are also making donations to the government and financially stricken worshippers in a move that is likely to see them retain popularity.
Pastor Enoch Adeboye - the head of Redeemed Christian Church of God that has a branch in almost every street in mainly Christian cities and towns in southern Nigeria -
has donated 200,000 hand gloves, 8,000 hand sanitisers, 8,000 surgical face masks to the Lagos state government.
.
And the Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention Church - whose self-styled prophet Chukwuemeka Odumeje once caused a stir on social media for wrestling a congregant he claimed to be possessed by a demon - has earned some praise on Twitter for giving food to people who risk hunger during the two-week lockdown.
Nevertheless, many Christians still yearn to go to church - and last Sunday was particularly difficult for them as it was Palm Sunday.
Usually, the streets of Lagos are packed on the day, with processions being held as the faithful wave palm leaves and re-enact Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem days before his crucifixion.
The streets were empty this year - just as they are likely to be over the Easter weekend.
But I did bump into a group of four - three women and a man - returning from a small service held in someone's home.
When I asked them why they had ignored advice to pray alone in their own homes, one of them replied: "Even the Bible said that where two or three are gathered, He is there in their midst. The Bible did not say one person."
I then went to the headquarters of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, known for its intense prayer sessions, in Ogun state.
The security guards told me there was no service.
"Not even an online service?" I asked.
"Not even online," one of them, dressed in a lemon-coloured vest, replied.
"So how are people keeping the faith?" I inquired.
He dug into his bag and put a booklet into my hands.
"That's what they are reading while the lockdown lasts," he said, before walking away and shutting the gate with more force than was required.
The 60-page booklet was called Thirty Days Prayer Retreat - with recitations from the books of the Bible.
It will not be surprising if the "prayer warriors", as the church calls some of its worshippers, complete it during the 14-day lockdown, rather than in a month.
|
81011ea49d034ea88f16fb4cc30b7111 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52192184 | Coronavirus: Africa will not be testing ground for vaccine, says WHO | Coronavirus: Africa will not be testing ground for vaccine, says WHO
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has condemned as "racist" the comments by two French doctors who suggested a vaccine for the coronavirus could be tested in Africa.
"Africa can't and won't be a testing ground for any vaccine," said Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The doctors' remarks during a TV debate sparked outrage, and they were accused of treating Africans like "human guinea pigs".
One of them later issued an apology.
When asked about the doctors' suggestion during the WHO's coronavirus briefing, Dr Tedros became visibly angry, calling it a hangover from the "colonial mentality".
"It was a disgrace, appalling, to hear during the 21st Century, to hear from scientists, that kind of remark. We condemn this in the strongest terms possible, and we assure you that this will not happen," he said.
As the number of confirmed cases in Africa continues to rise, some governments are imposing stricter measures to try to slow the spread of the virus. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has banned all travel in and out of the capital, Nairobi, and three other large towns for three weeks.
During a debate on French TV channel LCI, Camille Locht, head of research at Inserm health research group, was talking about a vaccine trial in Europe and Australia.
Jean-Paul Mira, head of intensive care at Cochin hospital in Paris,
then said
: "If I can be provocative, shouldn't we be doing this study in Africa, where there are no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation?
"A bit like it is done elsewhere for some studies on Aids. In prostitutes, we try things because we know that they are highly exposed and that they do not protect themselves."
Mr Locht nodded in agreement at this suggestion, and said: "You are right. We are in the process of thinking about a study in parallel in Africa."
Dr Mira had earlier questioned whether the study would work as planned on healthcare workers in Australia and Europe because they had access to personal protective equipment (PPE) while working.
The show sparked widespread anger, including from former footballer Didier Drogba, who called the comments "deeply racist". He added: "Do not take African people as human guinea pigs! It’s absolutely disgusting".
Fellow former footballer Samuel Eto’o called the doctors "murderers".
The doctors' comments have also fuelled existing fears in Africa that African people will be used as guinea pigs for a new coronavirus vaccine.
Coronavirus centres
have been targeted in African countries
- most recently, a facility that was under construction in Abidjan in Ivory Coast was attacked and destroyed by protesters.
Footage posted on social media showed people tearing the centre apart with their bare hands, and smashing construction materials on the ground.
Meanwhile, prominent Nigerian actress Funke Akindele was fined $260 (£210) after holding a birthday party for her husband at her mansion in Lagos, attended by a number of other Nigerian celebrities.
Akindele and her husband
pleaded guilty to violating Nigeria’s lockdown
restrictions in a Lagos court, according to a statement from Lagos State police. The couple have also been ordered to do 14 days of community service.
In South Africa,
a pair of newlyweds were arrested
after breaking lockdown restrictions to go ahead with their wedding. Police turned up to the party in KwaZulu-Natal after receiving a tip-off, and arrested all 50 wedding guests, the pastor who conducted the ceremony, and the couple themselves.
Zimbabwe has warned people against buying and selling unregistered Covid-19 self-test kits. Unverified kits have been sold by private companies, including some pharmacies, but Health Minister Obadiah Moyo told the state-owned Herald newspaper that all kits need to be evaluated by the local authority first.
|
02fa0f63c26efead30a420ca5353c682 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52214740 | Coronavirus in Africa: Whipping, shooting and snooping | Coronavirus in Africa: Whipping, shooting and snooping
Armed variously with guns, whips and tear gas canisters, security officers in several African countries have been beating, harassing and, in some cases, killing people as they enforce measures aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19.
The actions of the police and military are at the sharp end of a debate over the balance between personal freedoms and human rights on the one hand, and the need to protect society as a whole from coronavirus on the other.
Faced with a growing health crisis, some African governments have introduced new emergency laws and digital surveillance echoing an earlier and more oppressive era.
Rights groups have warned that if they are not reversed once the crisis is over then these new measures could undermine basic freedoms.
The authorities say the lockdowns, curfews, and other crowd control measures are aimed at saving lives, but overzealous enforcement has cost lives.
In Kenya, a 13-year-old boy playing on a balcony in a high rise residential building in the capital, Nairobi, was shot dead after being hit by what police described as a "stray bullet".
Three other deaths, including that of a motorcycle taxi rider who succumbed to injuries after being beaten by police, have been reported in the local press.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has apologised "to all Kenyans… for some excesses which were conducted" by the security forces, while urging the public to abide by measures the government had put in place to contain the spread of the virus.
In neighbouring Uganda, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused police of using "excessive force" - including beating fruit and vegetable sellers and motorcycle taxi riders.
Moreover, police arrested 23 people during a raid on a shelter for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, accusing them of disobeying orders by remaining in the shelter and charging them with "a negligent act likely to spread infection of disease", HRW said.
"The basic human rights of people should be at the centre of the government's response to this pandemic, especially those who are most vulnerable like street vendors, and homeless youth," HRW said.
In the face of mounting criticism, 10 officers were charged with torture on Tuesday after being accused of caning 38 women and forcing them to swim in mud in the northern town of Elegu. The officers have not yet been asked to plead.
While in South Africa, which has recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases on the continent, at least eight people have been killed by police since a nationwide lockdown was imposed on 26 March, the country's Independent Police Investigative Directorate said.
Nearly all countries on the continent are battling the spread of coronavirus, and with confirmed cases surpassing 10,000, there are legitimate reasons to be worried about the disease.
Most have poor healthcare systems that could be overwhelmed, resulting in an unprecedented health disaster.
However, global watchdog Freedom House has warned that some measures being used to fight Covid-19 could have lasting "harmful effects and can be extended and re-purposed after a crisis has passed".
Opposition groups in Ghana are, for instance, worried about a new law that gives the president sweeping powers to impose restrictions on people's movements.
"We wanted the president to use emergency powers in the constitution which would require him to come to parliament every three months so that MPs can assess if the measures are needed," Ras Mubarak, an MP for opposition National Democratic Congress, told the BBC.
"The new law gives him a loaded gun to use as he pleases, especially in restricting people's movements."
Ghana's Justice Minister Gloria Akuffo defended the legislation, saying it had been drafted to protect the nation's health and would help deal "not only with the risk that our country has been exposed to presently but also in the future".
Similar concerns have been raised in other countries.
Critics of Malawi's President Peter Mutharika say he is using the coronavirus outbreak to "fix his political problems".
"The government would want to use coronavirus to prolong their stay in power," Gift Trapence, the leader of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition, told the BBC.
Mr Mutharika, who in July is facing a re-run of last year's annulled election, has declared a state of national disaster.
The new powers allow him to ban public gatherings.
"They are happy with the coronavirus status and want to use it as a scapegoat to continue the president's rule," Mr Trapence said.
Malawi's Information Minister Mark Botomani dismissed such comments as "the usual noise" from civil society groups.
"Our focus as a government is to put everything in place to protect the lives of our people," he said.
In Africa's second most-populous country, Ethiopia, a state of emergency has been declared following the indefinite postponement of the much-awaited August election because of coronavirus.
Nobel Prize-winning Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy says he held discussions with opposition leaders on his response plans for the pandemic after some hit out about not being consulted about the poll delay.
Yet it has not eased their fears, with the Oromo Federalist Congress saying the state of emergency should not be misused.
Tahir Mohammed, from the National Movement of Amhara, said the decree was too vague and people had "a right to know what was allowed and what was prohibited".
"What we're seeing is that the government is still focusing on activities that have political gains - it's showing a tendency to do politics even now," he told the BBC.
Though Isabel Linzer from Freedom House says when it comes to the vote, a postponement is not a bad idea.
"It may allow time to better prepare and administer a more credible election," she told the BBC.
Another development that rights groups are concerned about is the targeting of people who challenge the official narrative about the health pandemic.
In Tanzania, the Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) penalised three TV stations for airing content that was "misleading and untrue" about the government's strategy on fighting coronavirus.
The TCRA did not elaborate, but speculation is that it objected to a report which criticised President John Magufuli for saying that churches should remain open because "coronavirus cannot survive in a church".
Ten journalists covering the impact of Uganda's lockdown were beaten by security officers, Robert Sempala, from the Human Rights Network for Journalists in Uganda, told the BBC.
While the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has singled out South Africa's new regulation criminalising the spread of misinformation for criticism.
"If information is false, it needs to be debunked instead of criminalising speech," the CPJ's Muthoki Mumo told the BBC.
Privacy rights are also a cause for concern for some.
The authorities in Kenya have been tracking mobile phones of people suspected to have Covid-19 as a way of enforcing a 14-day mandatory isolation period, government spokesman Cyrus Oguna told the BBC.
"We want to know that they are where they say they are," Mr Oguna said, adding that a mobile app was being developed so that "detailed" information about their movements could be obtained.
Kenyan lawyer and privacy specialist Mugambi Laibuta said that while freedoms were not absolute, people should be informed that they were being tracked and how their data was being handled and stored.
South Africa is also working with mobile phone companies to collect geo-location data from mobile phone towers to help track people who had contact with Covid-19 patients.
However, the government has stressed that it is not intercepting calls.
The UN special rapporteur on freedom and rights, David Kaye, said it was understandable for governments to use emergency measures to deal with the health crisis.
"There's certainly a place for certain kinds of medical surveillance right now, there's no question about that," he told the BBC.
To avoid the abuse of power, all new regulations should be subject to judicial oversight, and have a sunset clause so that they did not remain place after the Covid-19 crisis, he added.
South Africa has taken a step in this direction, appointing a respected former judge, Kate O'Reagan, to oversee the use of data, and to recommend any changes required to the emergency regulations.
Activists welcomed the move, but said the public needed to remain vigilant.
"I think that we must always have reservations [about surveillance] and that
it's good to stay sceptical about these things
," South African digital rights activist Murray Hunter said.
|
f263b882347cc1d9df4e70650f3238ad | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52228932 | Coronavirus in South Africa: The lull before the surge? | Coronavirus in South Africa: The lull before the surge?
During the past fortnight South Africa has seen a dramatic, and unexpected slow-down in the daily rate of coronavirus infections.
Health experts are warning that it is far too early to see this as a significant development, and worry that it could even trigger a dangerous sense of complacency.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has now suggested that the two weeks of lockdown is responsible. He has extended the nationwide restrictions, scheduled to end in one week's time, to the end of the month.
But - as the country and the continent continue to brace for the potentially devastating impact of the pandemic - doctors are struggling to explain what's going on.
The beds are ready. Wards have been cleared. Non-emergency operations rescheduled. Ambulances kitted out. Medical teams have been rehearsing non-stop for weeks. Managers have spent long hours in online meetings drawing up, and tweaking their emergency plans.
But so far, and against most predictions, South Africa's hospitals remain quiet, the anticipated "tsunami" of infections that many experts here have been waiting for has yet to materialise.
"It's a bit strange. Eerie. No-one is sure what to make of it," said Dr Evan Shoul, an infectious disease specialist in the main city, Johannesburg.
"We're a bit perplexed," said Dr Tom Boyles, another infectious disease doctor at Johannesburg's Helen Joseph Hospital, one of the biggest public hospitals in the city.
"We've been calling it the calm before the storm for about three weeks. We're getting everything set up here. And it just hasn't arrived. It's weird."
It is nearly five weeks since the first confirmed Covid-19 case in South Africa, and until 28 March, the daily graph tracking the number of new infections followed a familiar, accelerating, upward curve.
But on that Saturday, the curve suddenly broke sharply - from 243 new cases in one day, to just 17. Since then, the daily average has settled at around 50 new cases.
Could it be that South Africa's early, and strict lockdown, and its aggressive tracing work, are actually working? Or is this just a small lull?
On Thursday President Ramaphosa said it was "too early to make a definite analysis", but he said that since the lockdown had been introduced the daily increase in infections had dropped from 42% to "around 4%".
"I think the more people we test, the more we'll reveal whether it's an aberration, or it's real. The numbers are not yet there," cautioned Precious Matotso, a public health official who is monitoring South Africa's pandemic on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO).
There is a general acknowledgement here, from the health minister to frontline hospital staff, that it is dangerously early to try to reach any firm conclusions about the spread of the virus.
"It's difficult to predict which road we're going to take - a high, middle or low [rate of infection]. We don't have widespread testing.
"There might be early signs that are positive, but my fear is that people start becoming complacent, based on limited data," said Stavros Nicolaou, a healthcare executive now coordinating elements of the private sector's response.
The sense of a vacuum caused by this extended lull - the potential "calm before a devastating storm," as Health Minister Zweli Mkhize described it last week - is, inevitably, being filled by speculation.
The widespread assumption has been that the virus - introduced to South Africa, and many other African countries largely by wealthier travellers and foreign visitors - would inevitably move into poorer, crowded neighbourhoods and spread fast.
According to experts, that remains the most likely next stage of the outbreak, and there have already been several confirmed infections in a number of townships.
But doctors here and in some neighbouring countries have noted that public hospitals have seen not yet any hint of an increase in admissions for respiratory infections - the most likely indication that, despite limited testing, the virus is spreading fast.
One theory is that South Africans might have extra protection against the virus because of a variety of possible medical factors - ranging from the compulsory anti-tuberculosis BCG vaccine that almost all citizens here are given at birth, to the potential impact of anti-retroviral HIV medication, to the possible role of different enzymes in different population groups.
But these ideas have not been verified.
"These stories have been around for a while. I'd be amazed if it was BCG. These are theories. They're probably not true," said Dr Boyles.
"It's an interesting hypothesis" but nothing more than that, said Prof Salim Karim, South Africa's leading HIV expert, of the BCG jab. He chided "instant experts" for promoting unverified solutions on social media.
"I don't think anyone on the planet has got the answers," said Mr Nicolaou.
"We're still planning as if the tsunami is coming. The feeling is still very much one of great nervous anticipation," said Dr Shoul.
And so South Africa waits - wondering whether it is experiencing a minor pause before what one doctor here called "an intergalactic spike," or something more significant.
The more important question may be whether these quiet weeks are being put to good use.
There have been particular concerns that the state health system has been slow to implement an aggressive testing regime and is currently too dependent on private clinics.
Internal health department correspondence, seen by the BBC, points to growing concerns about mismanagement and dysfunction within the state system, particularly regarding the slow rate of testing.
But those concerns are balanced by growing confidence in the government's "evidence-based" approach to the pandemic, and by encouraging signs of increasingly constructive and formal cooperation between the state and the private sector.
|
8c0f3fcd13f2fe0b114eb3ea8f935e2d | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52286296 | Ugandan floating island causes national power cut | Ugandan floating island causes national power cut
A huge floating island in Lake Victoria triggered a nationwide blackout in Uganda after clogging a turbine in a hydroelectric power station.
"It was at least two acres, almost two football size pitches," an official, Simon Kasyate, told the BBC.
The outage caused a broadcast by President Yoweri Museveni on the Covid-19 crisis to be delayed by an hour.
Lake Victoria, which is shared by three East African countries, has for decades been invaded by water hyacinth.
The huge mass of vegetation choked the turbines of Nalubaale Hydro Power Station, causing widespread disruption, power utility company Eskom Uganda said in a statement.
The company said the lake's "current rising water levels" could be behind the movement of the floating island.
The water level in the lake is currently at 13.12m, almost reaching the record high of 13.46m seen in 1964, said Mr Kasyate, from the Uganda Electricity Generation Company.
It is usually between seven and nine metres deep, he said.
Heavy rain, clogging of the lake's tributaries, and pollution could also explain the island's movement.
He added that electricity had finally been restored, but workers were still chopping off parts of the island.
"We have always managed to manually deal with this plant - this one was unprecedented," said Mr Kasyate.
|
dac24b93427c263ad4f2fd7d1a9bf7fb | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52358268 | South Africa coronavirus lockdown: Is the alcohol ban working? | South Africa coronavirus lockdown: Is the alcohol ban working?
The ban on the sale and transportation of alcohol during the coronavirus lockdown in South Africa has emptied hospital beds, ruined businesses, provoked violence and political disputes, and has led to a surge of interest in pineapples, writes the BBC's Andrew Harding from Johannesburg.
The idea was simple.
Ban all booze, and you'll prevent drunken fights, reduce domestic violence, stop drunk driving, and eliminate the weekend binge-drinking so prevalent across South Africa. Police, medics and analysts estimate - conservatively - that alcohol is involved in, or responsible for, at least 40% of all emergency hospital admissions.
In normal times some 34,000 trauma cases arrive at emergency departments in South Africa every week.
But since the nationwide lockdown came into force last month to prevent the spread of coronavirus, that figure has plummeted, dramatically, by roughly two thirds, to about 12,000 admissions.
"It's a significant impact," said Professor Charles Parry, with some understatement.
He has been modelling the extent to which the alcohol ban has been responsible for the decline in those numbers for South Africa's Medical Research Council.
"If we end the prohibition on alcohol sales, we're going to see about 5,000 alcohol admissions in trauma units coming back into the system [each week]," he predicted.
The fact that those 5,000 extra hospital beds now stand empty could soon prove invaluable if the pandemic - which has been held, impressively, in check here for several weeks - begins to spread again exponentially, as government advisors predict it may.
But medical experts, while urging the government to keep the alcohol ban in place, also point out that heavy drinking weakens the immune system and may have a particular effect on respiratory conditions.
"Covid-19 is going to have a more severe impact on heavy drinkers… and in South Africa many people live in crowded conditions.
"So, alcohol sales… may increase community transmission [as people often drink socially]… and we're likely to see an increase in gender-based violence and harm towards children," warned Professor Parry.
But how to enforce such a draconian and unprecedented clampdown for five weeks, or possibly more if South Africa's lockdown, due to end on 30 April, is extended once again?
The man responsible for policing the new prohibition has provoked anger in some quarters by appearing to encourage the security forces to take heavy-handed, and potentially illegal, action against those caught breaking the rules.
There have already been numerous worrying examples, including the alleged
beating to death of a man caught drinking in his own yard
.
Police Minister Bheki Cele, well-known for his abrasive language and his swaggering enthusiasm for the alcohol ban, recently warned that his forces would "destroy the infrastructure where the liquor is sold".
"It's deeply concerning when you have senior political leaders encouraging police officers to use violence or force, or to break the law. It seems as if the police minister has gone rogue," said Gareth Newham, a crime expert at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies.
South Africa's alcohol industry initially sought to challenge the ban in court, arguing that it was unconstitutional and introduced without consultation. It has since backed down.
But while many in the industry acknowledge the importance of supporting national efforts to fight the virus, there is frustration about a "one-size-fits-all" approach that is causing significant damage to many businesses.
"It's not looking good at all," said Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela, the country's first black female brewery owner and chair of South Africa's Beer Association, who fears her small business may go under if the ban continues for much longer.
"The arguments against lifting the ban do make sense. A lot of people are unemployed and use alcohol as a get-away drug," she acknowledged, but she said a more sophisticated approach - perhaps allowing limited alcohol sales - could save her industry from collapse.
"It could be game over for us," agreed Nick Smith, an American who owns a craft brewery outside Cape Town.
"This one-size-fits-all rule is having a major impact on smaller businesses like ours," added Mr Smith.
That argument is echoed by South Africa's official opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), which is in favour of a "smart lockdown model" that would allow people to buy alcohol for a few hours each day.
But another party, the radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has called the DA's proposal "murderous" and "racist" since the current ban appears to be having the most positive impact on health in poorer, largely black, communities.
Many people have compared South Africa's prohibition to the US's famous, decade-long crackdown which began in 1920 in response to campaigning by religious and moral groups, and was immortalised by Hollywood in films like Some Like It Hot and The Untouchables.
As with Chicago's notorious gangster, Al Capone, there are concerns that the alcohol ban could push the sector here into the hands of criminals who already control a lucrative chunk of South Africa's cigarette industry.
"The longer the lockdown goes on, the more criminal networks will be able to entrench their ability to sell and distribute alcohol," confirmed Gareth Newham, warning that the government was already losing a fortune in taxation because of the ban.
The ban has certainly tapped into deep undercurrents here in South Africa - a country with a history of apartheid where black citizens were once banned from drinking in public, and some workers were even paid in alcohol, causing huge social problems.
"We, South Africans, don't have a good relationship with alcohol. Over the years, it's something that has to a certain extent got out of control," said Ms Nxusani-Mawela.
But as things stand, one aspect of the ban does appear to be uniting people from different walks of life. It has created a new enthusiasm for home brewing, which has always been a firm fixture in rural communities.
Videos and recipes for pineapple beer and the more traditional corn and sorghum known as "umqombothi", are now being widely touted on social media, alongside warnings that such drinks, if wrongly prepared, could prove dangerous.
|
aa79f1f7ac94ba490edde43fe6d0f970 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52440789 | Coronavirus tests cause tailbacks at Kenya-Uganda border | Coronavirus tests cause tailbacks at Kenya-Uganda border
Lorry drivers are complaining of long tailbacks at the Kenyan-Ugandan border as both nations carry out mandatory coronavirus testing for them.
On Sunday,
the queue on the Kenyan side was up to 30km (19 miles) long, according to local station Citizen TV
.
The East African neighbours are each other's biggest trading partners.
The border towns of Malaba and Busia, where the congestion has been centred, are crucial routes for the transport of goods.
"I haven't gone home for almost a month now, I've been stuck on this road,"
lorry driver Ali Muhammad told NTV
.
"They keep poking my mouth every night when they do the swab test, I'm now in pain. They've even taken my blood but I don't know what the result is."
Lorry drivers delivering cargo across East Africa are among very few people allowed freedom of movement during the pandemic, the BBC's Anne Soy in Nairobi says.
With the knowledge and experience gained from dealing with HIV and Aids, countries in the region have been quick to identify lorry drivers as a high-risk group.
At the height of the spread of HIV in the 1980s and 1990s, studies of a trucking route from the Kenya's port city of Mombasa into DR Congo's interior showed that many drivers and their crew had multiple sexual partners along the way.
Clinics and services were soon established along that route providing HIV prevention and treatment.
Eight Kenyan drivers in Uganda have recently tested positive for coronavirus, where officials have also been able to identify positive cases who were asymptomatic thanks to mandatory screening.
There have been other, more sophisticated, tracing methods in East Africa, our correspondent says.
On one occasion, a Tanzanian driver whose test returned a positive result after he had left the border was tracked down using the Uganda Revenue Authority's cargo-tracking system.
As well as mandatory testing, Kenya has also proposed relay driving, where drivers hand over vehicles to their Ugandan counterparts at the border.
This is already under way in Rwanda, where incoming transport companies are being told to swap drivers upon arrival in the country.
More regional streamlining is expected, following a virtual meeting of East Africa's health ministers over the weekend.
|
6bb04bf4ee9b6d47b702eb283aa79ffe | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52483924 | South African anti-apartheid veteran Denis Goldberg dies | South African anti-apartheid veteran Denis Goldberg dies
Veteran South African anti-apartheid activist Denis Goldberg, who was tried alongside Nelson Mandela, has died at the age of 87.
As a member of the ANC's military wing, he was convicted of armed resistance to white-minority rule and sentenced to four life terms in 1964.
He was imprisoned for 22 years.
Confirming the news of his death on local media, Mr Goldberg's niece, Joy Noero, said he had been suffering from lung cancer.
He "died peacefully" at his home in Hout Bay, near Cape Town, just before midnight on Wednesday, she added, saying that he "never stopped believing in his ideals".
Apartheid was a legalised form of racism in which white people were privileged above all others. It governed every aspect of life in South Africa, and only white people were able to vote until the first democratic elections in 1994 when Mandela was elected president.
Mr Goldberg was a lifelong supporter of the African National Congress and became a member of the armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, when it was formed in 1961.
Two years later, he was among the ANC officials arrested at a hideout in Johannesburg.
On trial with Mandela, they were convicted of sabotage, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The black prisoners were sent to Robben Island. But as the only white person to be found guilty in the case, Mr Goldberg was separated from the others, and spent 22 years in prison in Pretoria.
On his release in 1985, he went into exile in the UK, but returned home to South Africa after the abolition of apartheid.
In later years he was a critic of the alleged corruption which came to define much of Jacob Zuma's presidency of South Africa, reports the BBC's Nick Ericsson.
Mr Goldberg's parents, who were both communists, had migrated from England before he was born,
he said in a film made by the University of Cape Town last year
.
He recalled that he was attacked at school because of his parents' politics and the fact that he was Jewish.
"I understood that what was happening in South Africa with its racism was like the racism in Nazi Germany that we were supposed to be fighting against," he said.
"You have to be involved one way or another. That's what I grew up with."
Reflecting on his activism, he said that he "came from a generation who were prepared to put our lives on the line for freedom. Freedom is more important than your own life."
|
efc87f8005248281cf64d75bb89088bb | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52604961 | Coronavirus: Zambia sex workers praised for contact tracing | Coronavirus: Zambia sex workers praised for contact tracing
Sex workers in Zambia are helping to trace people who have contracted coronavirus after a surge in new infections at the border town of Nakonde, the health minister has said.
Chitalu Chilufya said 76 of 85 reported new cases in the northern town were either sex workers or lorry drivers.
"Sex workers have been very co-operative and they are giving us all the leads we want," Mr Chilufya said.
Zambia has confirmed 267 Covid-19 infections, with seven deaths.
Last week, President Edgar Lungu announced the reopening of restaurants, casinos and gyms after a month-long shutdown to enforce social distancing measures.
You may be interested in:
"The situation in Nakonde remains grave, and the president is concerned," Mr Chilufya said on Sunday, adding that Mr Lungu had ordered the border to be "temporarily closed."
Nakonde streets are usually lined by lorries leaving Zambia or entering from neighbouring Tanzania, the BBC's Kennedy Gondwe in Lusaka reports.
Lorry drivers are seen as a high-risk group because they stop at several towns along the way and are known to have multiple sex partners, he added.
"They [sex workers] are being very co-operative in our investigations, and we don't want to stigmatise or discriminate against them. They are being very useful in contact tracing," Mr Chilufya said.
"We had a case where one of them appeared with symptoms and told us about a client who was a lorry driver of foreign jurisdiction and even gave us a contact number. We called that number and we were told the person we called had Covid-19," the minister added.
Health authorities in East Africa have expressed concern that lorry drivers, listed as essential workers, could be spreading coronavirus.
Strict checks, including tests by Ugandan authorities, have caused long tailbacks at its border with Kenya.
|
f039eae3be592ab362b2162122b4c6d7 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-53005447 | Zimbabwe's MDC 'abductees arrested for lying about torture' | Zimbabwe's MDC 'abductees arrested for lying about torture'
Zimbabwe's main opposition party says three of its female members, including an MP, have been arrested for lying about being tortured in custody.
Thee women were detained in May for attending a protest during lockdown.
They allege state agents then abducted them from the police, beat and sexually assaulted them and forced them to drink each other's urine.
Their re-arrest came as UN experts called for the prosecution of "the perpetrators of this outrageous crime".
The nine UN special rapporteurs said there was
a pattern of forced disappearances "aimed at suppressing protests and dissent"
.
Such tactics against the opposition were often used during the presidency of Robert Mugabe, who was overthrown in 2017.
But last year alone, the UN rapporteurs said 49 cases of abductions and torture were reported without investigations leading to anyone being held to account.
Almost 48 hours after the abduction of MP Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova last month, they were found dumped in a marketplace and had to receive treatment in hospital for their injuries.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) tweeted that the three were re-arrested on Wednesday at the offices of their lawyers, alleging police had had them under surveillance.
The party says the charges relate "to an alleged fake abduction report".
Last month, after the women had related their ordeal from a hospital in the capital, Harare, where they were being treated, Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said they had made up the story to divert attention from the fact that they broke lockdown rules by attending a protest.
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.