The first shipment of Ukrainian grain to Africa since Russia’s invasion arrived in Djibouti on Tuesday. The grain will be distributed in Ethiopia to help the drought-stricken nation cope with worsening hunger that threatens to become a famine. 

Mike Dunford, East Africa regional director for the U.N.’s World Food Program (WFP), spoke to reporters at the port.  

“The food on the [U.N.-chartered ship] Brave Commander will feed 1.5 million people, for one month in Ethiopia,” he said. “So, this makes a very big impact, for those people who currently have nothing and now WFP will be able to provide them with their basic needs.” 

A Russian blockade of Ukraine’s seaports forced Ukraine to halt nearly all deliveries of grain, which sparked worries of a worldwide food crisis. Russia invaded the country in February. 

A settlement between Kyiv and Moscow that was mediated by the U.N. and Turkey in July, known as The Black Sea Initiative, saw a resumption in exports of wheat, other foodstuffs, and fertilizers from three Black Sea ports at the beginning of August. 

The WFP said 150,000 tons of additional wheat grain from Ukraine will be sent in the coming weeks thanks to funding provided by the United States. 

In landlocked Ethiopia, where the grain is now headed, more than 5 million people have been displaced because of conflict. A total of 17 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance as the Horn of Africa endures another year of drought.  

Dunford said the Black Sea Initiative is a step toward easing the situation.  

“We’ve already seen a reduction of 15% in wheat prices globally, since the Black Sea Initiative commenced,” he said. “What we want to see is more food flowing. We need, from WFP’s perspective, millions of tons in this region. In Ethiopia alone, three quarters of everything that we used to distribute originated from Ukraine and Russia.” 

There are concerns the resumption of exports from Ukraine may not be enough to make a dent in the crisis. 

Adullahi Halakhe, with the Washington-based advocacy group Refugees International, said the amount of grain arriving to Ethiopia is not enough. 

“When you consider over 20 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, food inflation stands at 40%, I think this is very important,” he said. 

Humanitarian organizations say parts of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region may be in a state of famine, because of the conflict there and a de facto humanitarian blockade imposed by Ethiopia’s federal government. 

Although limited aid was entering the region, renewed fighting between the government and Tigrayan forces that began last week led to the U.N. announcing Monday that it has suspended aid convoys into the region.  

 
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Kenya’s Supreme Court has ordered the recount of ballots cast at 15 polling stations during the August 9 presidential election. The order was one of several issued Tuesday as the court began hearing a challenge to the win of President-elect William Ruto.

The recount request from Raila Odinga and his running mate, Matha Karua, was for 15 polling stations in four counties: Kericho, Nandi, Nyandarua and Mombasa. 

The first three counties voted heavily for Ruto, while Mombasa residents voted mainly for Odinga. 

Judges said the recounts must be done within 48 hours. 

The court also told Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the IEBC, to provide the official voter registries and some election-related equipment for examination.  

Chief Justice Martha Koome said after looking at the arguments submitted by Odinga and his lawyers, the judges will be ruling on several questions. 

“The first issue [is whether] the technology deployed by IEBC for the conduct of the 2022 general election met the standards of integrity, verifiability, security, and transparency to guarantee accurate and verifiable results,” Koome said. “Issue number two is whether there was interference with the uploading and transmission of forms 34A from the polling stations to the IEBC public portal. Issue number three is whether there was a difference between forms 34A’s uploaded on the IEBC public portal and forms 34A’s received at the national tallying center and forms 34A’s issued to the agents at the polling stations.” 

Form 34A is the form signed at local polling stations after vote counts are completed. Once signed, the form is transmitted to the national tally center to be included in the presidential vote totals.  

The Supreme Court will also examine whether there were discrepancies between the total votes cast for the presidential candidates and for other electoral positions, such as the governors and senators. 

In addition, the judges will examine whether Ruto got more than 50 percent of the vote — the standard needed to avoid a run-off — and whether there were irregularities and illegalities in the counting process that could affect the results. 

Odinga is challenging the official election results that saw him lose by a small margin. Ruto got 7.1 million votes, while Odinga got 6.9 million. 

The Odinga camp believes the election was rigged in favor of Ruto, allegedly with the help of some electoral officers and IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati, a claim the chairman has denied. 

After the vote count was completed, Chebukati declared Ruto to be the winner, but four of the seven commissioners publicly disowned the results, citing issues with the counting process. 

In Tuesday’s hearing, lawyers from the opposing camps clashed over who had the right to represent IEBC, despite the court saying it would admit the arguments of all the commissioners. 

The electoral commissioners have made individual submissions to the court, a move that legal experts say will likely weaken any attempts to defend how the IEBC conducted the electoral process.  

Hearings are expected to continue until Friday. 

 
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Malawi’s police service has welcomed two officers with albinism into its ranks, the first people with the rare genetic pigment disorder in Malawi’s state security organization. Rights groups say the hirings should help efforts to crack down on attacks against albinos and restore confidence in police after some officers were connected to such attacks.

Police constables Hamid Vasco and Brenda Mhlanga graduated Friday after six-months of training and were welcomed into the police service Monday along with other new recruits.

Vasco, who is 25 years old, said he decided to join the police to help stop attacks on people with albinism in Malawi.

Statistics show that since 2014, more than 170 albinos have been attacked or killed in Malawi because of false beliefs that concoctions mixed with their body parts bring luck and wealth.

“So, this gave me the [opportunity] to apply to be a police officer so that I can work hand in hand with my fellow officers on issues of investigating the cases and crimes concerning the killing and abduction of persons with albinism,” said Vasco.

Rights groups say the hiring of albino officers will help rebuild public confidence in the police, after some officers were connected to such attacks.

In June, the High Court in Blantyre sentenced police officer Chikondi Chileka and four others to 30 years imprisonment with hard labor, after finding them guilty of transacting in human tissue. The body parts came from MacDonald Masambuka, a man with albinism murdered in 2018.

Vasco and Mhlanga are also the first people with the rare genetic pigment disorder working in Malawi’s state security organization.

Young Mahamba is the president of the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi or APAM.

He said there was a change in policy after his association and other campaigners lobbied for police to hire albinos.

“APAM as an organization, and all other stakeholders, we have been advocating for people to understand albinism and to know that albinism is not a limit. So, we have seen positive development. For example, we have seen a person with albinism [for the first time] being a member of parliament. This shows that the attitude is changing, and we will gear up,” said Mhlanga.

However, a representative for Malawi Police Service, Peter Kalaya, said there was no change in policy. He said the problem was that people with albinism were not applying for police jobs.

“There is no specific change of policy because we have the requirements which each and every person who wants to join the police service must be satisfied. And these two managed to meet those conditions and they even managed to succeed in both physical and classroom training,” said Kalaya.

He said police do not expect any special contribution from Vasco and Mhlanga toward combating attacks on albinos.

“Their coming will of course add something because having them in the service might be a message to those people who perpetrate these acts. For example, sending a message to perpetrators that ‘Okay, these people they can also be police officers, they can also carry guns.’ But in terms of efforts at investigating, prosecuting or following up on cases to do with attacks and killings of people with albinism, we were capable, and we are still capable,” he said.

Kalaya encourages other people with albinism to apply for jobs in the police service, saying the service does not discriminate against anyone in terms of skin pigment disorders.
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For the third time in his career, Kenya’s main opposition leader Raila Odinga is challenging presidential election results at the country’s Supreme Court. Some critics are mocking the former prime minister for again refusing to accept defeat. But legal experts say Odinga’s petitions have played a key role in improving the integrity of Kenya’s elections and the stability of its democracy. Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi, Kenya. Camera: Amos Wangwa
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Adenekan Ayomide had been attending the University of Abuja for two years when the lecturers went on strike in February. The 27-year-old undergraduate student hoped he would return to school quickly but immediately took a job as a taxi driver to pay bills.

Unfortunately for him, the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities has now clocked six months and Ayomide’s hopes of returning to classes anytime soon grow thin.

“Nobody is talking about school again,” said Ayomide, who said he is working more than one job and the budget he had for getting through university now looks unrealistic.

University strikes are common in Nigeria, which has more than 100 public universities and an estimated 2.5 million students, according to Nigeria’s National Universities Commission. The universities here have recorded at least 15 strikes covering a cumulative period of four years since 2000.

The latest strike, however, is biting harder on an education sector that is struggling to recover from a COVID-19 lockdown and an earlier strike that lasted for most of 2020.

No alternative means of learning is provided for students because “more than 90%” of lecturers in Nigerian universities are members of the academic staff union, according to Haruna Lawal Ajo, director of public affairs at Nigeria’s universities commission.

The striking lecturers are demanding a review of their conditions of service including the platform the government uses to pay their earnings, improved funding for the universities and the payment of their salaries withheld since the strike started.

Talks between the lecturers and the government ended in deadlock this month, dashing hopes of a compromise agreement.

Lecturers have faulted the government’s position, arguing that the government has still not provided higher pay for lecturers and more funds for the education sector which it agreed to in 2009.

If the government has not fulfilled a promise made in 2009 by 2022, how can it be trusted? asked Femi Atteh, a lecturer at the University of Ilorin in northcentral Kwara state who now works with his wife to run a food retail business.

“I just see ASUU (the union) trying to fight for the rights of its people. … Nigerian lecturers are far behind in terms of welfare when compared to others,” said Atteh.

Atteh said some of his colleagues are moving abroad for better opportunities and improved pay.

“Our situation in this country is just in a sorry state,” said lecturer Sabi Sani at the University of Abuja. After 12 years of teaching, Sani said his monthly salary is “not even enough to pay my children’s school fees.”

He said that when “more lecturers realize they can migrate, we will be left with unqualified lecturers to teach our children (because) all the qualified ones will run away.”

It is not just lecturers who are eyeing relocation for better opportunities.

Amidat Ahmed, a 22-year-old economics student at the University of Abuja said the strike has prevented her from getting clearance that would see her wrap up her undergraduate studies in the school because lectures are not available. She is now considering going abroad for a fresh undergraduate degree program.

“My life is stagnant,” said Ahmed who said she is working two jobs including one as a shoemaker where she is learning the skill to set up a business later in life.

It is a case of using the lemons to make lemonade, she said.

“Apart from this (learning the shoe-making trade), I don’t think I have done anything with my life all this while and it has been six months.”

Across Nigeria, students are looking for work to survive. Rent and other bills have accumulated, making things worse for many from poor backgrounds in this nation with a 40% poverty rate, according to the latest government statistics.

Some students’ financial situation is better when school is in session as a small proportion of the students get funding provided by nonprofits and government agencies.

After the latest round of talks to end the strike was unsuccessful, Ayomide remained on the roads as a taxi driver.

“I don’t have 5 naira ($0.012) in my account and I cannot go home because there is no money,” said Ayomide. His only option is to work long hours, he said. “Sometimes, I sleep at the airport or inside the car.”

“We just have to double our hustle and hope for the best,” he said. “This is the country where we are, so we have no choice.”
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