MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — For the first time since 2020, three female suicide bombers attacked the Nigerian border town of Gwoza, where Boko Haram extremists declared a short-lived caliphate 10 years ago, signaling that the world’s longest war on militancy is still ongoing. 

This came two days after officials touted success in their war against extremists, with Nigerian military spokesperson Major General Edward Buba telling reporters the often-used phrase: “We have greatly degraded the terrorists.” 

The first of the three coordinated suicide bombings on June 30 targeted a well-attended wedding, the second was detonated at the victims’ funeral, and the third at a hospital attending to the injured. 

At least 32 people were killed in the attacks, including nine family members and friends of Mohammed Kehaya, a resident who is now worried about his safety in the state of Borno, a hotbed of Islamic militancy, where extremists once kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in 2014. 

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings, but blame quickly fell on Boko Haram, which since 2009 has launched an insurgency to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in northeastern Nigeria. They have since splintered into different factions, together accounting for the direct deaths of at least 35,000 people and the displacement of more than 2 million amid a humanitarian crisis with people in dire need of foreign aid since 2009. 

Nigerian authorities maintained that the attacks were not a setback. 

Nigerian Defense Chief General Chris Musa said the bombings were rather “a sign of desperation” and described them as a one-off by the militants. 

“Some individuals would do everything possible for us not to succeed,” he said. 

However, several security analysts and locals interviewed about the bombings echoed concerns that the attacks must have taken a lot of planning and coordination and portend danger in Borno, where some villages lack a security presence. 

One of the extremists’ goals could be to distort the narrative that the security situation in the region has normalized, said Vincent Foucher, consulting senior analyst for West Africa at the International Crisis Group. 

“It’s a way to show the war goes on,” Foucher said. 

In Borno, the three bombings sent shock waves across families and left many wondering whether they should pack what was left of their belongings and flee once again. 

“Parents have been calling in to ask if their kids would be safe going back to school,” said Yusuf Ibn Tom, a public school teacher in Maiduguri. “Everyone here is scared.” 

At the height of the insurgency in 2014, Boko Haram was considered the world’s deadliest terrorist group, killing at least 6,000 people that year alone, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace’s Global Terrorism Index. A lot has changed since then, making the extremists far less lethal. 

The military has pushed them further into the fringes of the Lake Chad axis, and the 2021 death of the group’s founding leader, Abubakar Shekau, demoralized some members and made suicide bombing less popular. Clashes between Shekau’s faction and the one linked to the Islamic State group have made the extremists turn against themselves, sometimes shifting the focus of attacks from the military and civilians and even contributing to the defection of thousands who are undergoing a reintegration program. 

But what has not changed over the years is the “operational prowess” of the extremists, said Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

Attacks like the latest one “are rarely one-off incidents and are often part of a wider series,” Hudson said. He did not rule out future attacks. “That will give a better indication of the relative strength of the insurgency today as well as the Nigerian military’s ability to respond,” he added. 
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Niamey, Niger — The military regimes of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso marked their divorce from the rest of West Africa Saturday as they signed a treaty setting up a confederation between them. 

The first summit of the three countries, who all pulled out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) this year, also saw calls for greater cooperation across a wide range of sectors. 

“Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS,” Niger’s ruling General Abdourahamane Tiani told his fellow Sahel strongmen at the gathering’s opening in the Nigerien capital, Niamey. 

The three leaders, who took power through coups in recent years, “decided to take a step further towards greater integration” and “adopted a treaty establishing a confederation,” they said in a statement issued at the end of the summit.  

The Confederation of Sahel States, which will use the acronym AES and be headed by Mali in its first year, totals about 72 million people.   

Shift away from France 

Their ECOWAS exits were fueled in part by accusations that Paris was manipulating the bloc and not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts.  

“The AES is the only effective sub-regional grouping in the fight against terrorism,” Tiani declared on Saturday, calling ECOWAS “conspicuous by its lack of involvement in this fight.” 

The exit came as the trio shifted away from former colonial ruler France, with Tiani calling for the new bloc to become a “community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers.” 

All three have expelled anti-jihadi French troops and turned instead toward what they call their “sincere partners” — Russia, Turkey and Iran. 

In early March, the AES announced joint anti-jihad efforts, though they did not specify details. 

Insurgents linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have carried out attacks for years in the vast three borders region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, despite the massive deployment of anti-jihad forces. 

ECOWAS is to hold a summit of its heads of state in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Sunday, where the issue of relations with the AES will be on the agenda. 

Relations between ECOWAS deteriorated following a July 2023 coup that brought Tiani to power. The bloc imposed sanctions and even threatened to intervene militarily to restore the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum.  

The sanctions were lifted in February but relations between the two sides remain frosty.  

United front 

After several bilateral meetings, this is the first meeting of all three Sahelian strongmen since coming to power through coups between 2020 and 2023. 

Niger’s Tiani first welcomed his Burkinabe counterpart Ibrahim Traore in the capital on Friday, followed by Malian Colonel Assimi Goita who arrived Saturday. 

“The aim is to show that this is a serious project with three committed heads of state showing their solidarity,” said Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi. 

The trio have made sovereignty a guiding principle of their governance and aim to create a common currency.  

ECOWAS summit 

Sunday’s summit comes as several West African presidents have called in recent weeks for a solution to resume dialogue between the two camps. 

Notably, Senegal’s new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in late May that reconciliation between ECOWAS and the three Sahel countries was possible. 

In June, his newly reelected Mauritanian counterpart, President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, called on West African countries to unite again against the expansion of jihadism. 

But the successive summits on the same weekend raise fears of a stiffening of positions between the AES and ECOWAS. 

Beyond military cooperation, the leaders Saturday also talked about “mutualizing” their approach to strategic sectors such as agriculture, water, energy and transport. 

They also asked that indigenous languages be given greater prominence in local media.   

The question of creating a common currency to replace the CFA franc was not mentioned in the final communique. 
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IBADAN, Nigeria — Dimly lit and stuffy classrooms stir with life every morning as children file in. Rays of sunlight stream through wooden windows, the only source of light. Pupils squint at their books and intermittently the blackboard as teachers try to hold their attention.

It’s a reality for many schoolchildren across Nigeria, where many buildings don’t have access to the national electricity grid. In Excellent Moral School in Olodo Okin in Ibadan, “the entire community is not connected, including the school,” said school founder Muyideen Raji. It acutely affects pupils, he said, who can’t learn how to use computers or the internet and can’t study in the evenings.

About half of Nigeria’s more than 200 million people are hooked up to a national electricity grid that can’t provide sufficient daily electricity to most of those connected. Many poor, rural communities like Olodo Okin are off the grid entirely.

In a country with abundant sunshine, many are looking to solar energy to help fill the gaps, but getting risk-averse investors to finance major solar projects that would give Nigeria enough reliable energy is an uphill struggle. It means that millions in the country are finding ways to live with little to no electricity.

Lots of sun, few funds

Studies have shown that Nigeria could generate much more electricity than it needs from solar energy thanks to its powerful sunshine. But 14 grid-scale solar projects in the northern and central parts of the country that could generate 1,125 megawatts of electricity have stalled since contracts were signed in 2016.

Those trying to develop solar projects in the country blame interest rates for borrowing which can be as high as 15 percent, two to three times higher than in advanced economies and China, according to the International Energy Agency.

That means it’s more costly for solar companies to work in Nigeria or other developing nations than in rich countries. Africa only has one-fifth the solar power capacity of Germany, and just 2% of global clean energy investments go to the continent.

“The same project put up in Nigeria and Denmark; the Danish project will get funding for 2 to 3 percent” interest rate, said Najim Animashaun, director of Nova Power, one of the stalled solar projects. Meanwhile he struggles to get loans even with interest rates of 10 percent or higher, “even though my solar project can produce two and half times more power,” than a Danish one.

Nigeria also does not set so-called cost-reflective tariffs, meaning the price consumers pay for electricity doesn’t cover the costs to produce and distribute it. This means distribution companies can’t fully pay producers and the industry relies on government interventions to stay afloat, scaring off lenders from investing in the solar industry.

Currently, power producers say they are owed up to 3.7 trillion Naira ($2.7 billion) by the government, making it difficult to meet obligations to their lenders and contractors.

One option would be getting World Bank guarantees that would put investors at ease and make them more willing to put money into solar projects. But the government is wary of signing up to anything that would force them to pay large sums even if electricity from the projects does not get to consumers because of inadequate transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Without World Bank guarantees “nobody will develop or finance a project with a government subsidy, because it can dry off,” said Edu Okeke, the managing director of Azura Power. Azura Power has a stake in the now-stalled 100 megawatt Nova solar project in Nigeria’s northern Katsina State.

Stop-gap solutions

With less than 8,000 megawatts of capacity and an average supply of less than 4,000 megawatts — less than half of what Singapore supplies to just 5.6 million people — power outages are an everyday occurrence in Nigeria.

Communities like Excellent Moral School’s in Ibadan that have no access to electricity are often surrounded by more fortunate ones that are connected to the grid but experience frequent outages and have to use gasoline and diesel-run private generators.

With the long-running petroleum subsidies now removed, many households, schools, hospitals and businesses struggle with the cost of the fuel for their backup generators.

“We have stopped using a diesel generator as an alternative due to costs,” said Abdulhakeem Adedoja, the head of Lorat Nursery and Primary School in Ibadan. He added that although the school is in an Ibadan area that is connected to the grid, they could go two weeks without a power supply.

The problem is not just the lack of electricity for computer-aided learning, proper lighting, and fans to make classes less stuffy for pupils and teachers, but also that students are unable to complete their school assignments at home, Adedoja said.

For more energy-hungry small businesses like restaurants, they either close shop or continue with alternative power generation, incurring high costs that hurt their capacity for expansion.

Ebunola Akinwale, the owner of Nature’s Treat Cafe in Ibadan, said she pays 2.5 million Naira ($1,700) monthly to power backup generators in her four branches.

“If nothing changes, I probably would have to close one or two branches,” she said, though she is planning to go solar which she enthuses will help us cut “pollution from the diesel (generators).” She’s in talks with her bank for a low-cost loan package specially designed for young women entrepreneurs to finance the solar alternative.

However, not every business and household has such access or can afford the upfront capital for a private solar system. School heads Raji and Adedoja said they find the costs prohibitive.

Finding a way forward

The stalled solar projects aren’t happening as finances don’t add up, but even for other sources of electricity generation, Nigeria struggles to attract desperately needed private financing.

The power minister, Adebayo Adelabu, said in May that in order to address the financial crisis affecting the electricity sector, prices must reflect the true costs of service because a broke “government cannot afford to pay 3 trillion Naira ($2.4 billion) in subsidy.”

The government also insists that Nigerians paying fully for the electricity they consume would encourage investments in the sector.

There has been some pushback to that, as labor unions went on strike in early June in part to protest electricity tariff increases.

But businesspeople like Akinwale understand the government’s position because regularly supplied grid electricity, even without a subsidy, is “still cheaper and cleaner” than diesel for generators, she said.

If finances for grid-scale solar projects do not add up, the government should offer incentives such as tax relief and payment plans to encourage private solar adoption, Akinwale said. “Sunlight is there abundantly,” she said.

Former regulatory chief Sam Amadi doubts if consumers in Nigeria — where the minimum wage is 30,000 Naira ($20) a month — “can today pay for energy consumed without subsidy.” He also wants a policy that makes it more affordable to have smaller-scale solar projects dotted across communities, businesses and homes.

Until then, there are consequences to the frequent blackouts, he said.

“I have the story of a person who died in hospital because the electricity went out during operation,” he said. “Every day, we see the real-world effects of the lack of electricity.”
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Abuja, Nigeria — Human rights group Amnesty International raised concerns Friday about the Nigerian government’s hiring of two firms with past dealings with Shell to assess the proposed $2.4 billion sale of the company’s onshore assets in the Niger Delta.

Amnesty said the choice cast doubt on the independence and transparency of the process and called again for accountability in the proposed sale.

Amnesty described the hiring of the Boston Consulting Group, or BCG, and S&P Global by the Nigerian oil regulator as “concerning,” saying the firms are in business with Shell.

Amnesty said S&P Global plays a role in rating Shell’s debt and credit worthiness, while BCG performs a variety of services for Shell.

Amnesty’s Isa Sanusi said that BCG and S&P could be influenced by their commercial interests and that they may become lenient in their review of problems caused by Shell’s activities.

“I don’t think that it is possible for these companies to be independent,” Sanusi said. “In fact, the whole exercise of assessing Shell’s plan has now been jeopardized by this conflict of interest. There’s no way a company working for Shell can be hired to examine the books of Shell. I don’t think that is right.”

In January, Shell announced plans to sell its onshore properties to a local consortium of five companies for $2.4 billion. Shell said the move would enable it to focus on more-profitable offshore business as it plans to transition away from fossil fuels.

But the proposed sale has sparked concern among environmental and human rights activists calling on authorities to delay the deal until a review of Shell’s activities and assets in the region is done.

The groups say years of exploration by Shell have caused massive environmental damage and a loss of livelihoods for residents.

Energy expert Emmanuel Afimia agreed with Amnesty International, saying, “The consultants have existing relationships with Shell. This might compromise the consultants’ ability to conduct an impartial review.

“We need to understand that the independence of these consultants is crucial to ensure a fair assessment, and their ties to Shell could undermine trust in the process,” she said.

Nigerian law mandates Shell provide money for cleanup and decommissioning of its assets before exiting.

But Shell, like other foreign energy firms, has often blamed sabotage and theft for oil spills. Earlier this year, the company released on its website a list of eight cleanup operations it planned to carry out — all for spills of less than 100 barrels of oil.

Amnesty said that unless the right thing is done, enormous human rights risks are at stake.

“There must be an examination of all the environmental liabilities, community liabilities and human rights liabilities,” Sanusi said. “Shell has to pay for it before going ahead to sell its assets in the region. It is about human life, and that should be the priority of Nigerian authorities.”

In March, the Netherlands-based nonprofit Center for Research on Multinational Corporations accused Shell of trying to avoid responsibility for oil spills and warned that if allowed, it could set a negative example for other foreign firms seeking to leave the Niger Delta.
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YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — Central African Republic officials are pleading with civilians to go back to their villages, after up to 10,000 civilians were displaced this week by fighting between rebels and C.A.R. forces.  

Officials say a rebel group known as the Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation, or 3R, has relaunched hostilities in the central African nation. This week, military sources said 3R rebels attacked nearly 10 villages between the towns of Bocaranga and Bazoum in northeastern C.A.R., near the Cameroon border. 

The C.A.R. military says bodies of five government troops and six civilians have been found in villages since the attacks began Tuesday. The military says it is still searching for bodies and transporting injured civilians to hospitals for treatment. 

On Thursday, officials said several hundred troops and humanitarian workers were deployed to the villages to push back the rebels and protect civilians. 

Glwadys Siopathis led a delegation of humanitarian workers to villages affected by the fighting. She says about 10,000 civilians — including children — are hiding in the bush, and are hungry, thirsty and malnourished.

She says a majority are reluctant to return to their homes because they believe rebels have simply retreated and could again attack villages for supplies. 

The C.A.R. says that besides its troops, forces of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, or MINUSCA, have been deployed to protect civilians and their goods. 

Both forces say huge quantities of ammunition were seized and several rebels were either neutralized or captured, but did not give further details. The C.A.R is pleading with civilians to return to villages where they will be protected by government troops. 

Bruno Yapande, C.A.R.’s territorial administration minister, says the government of the Central African Republic has ordered its military to immediately seal border areas where rebels traditionally attempt to pass through when attacked by government troops.  

He says several border security checkpoints have been erected to sort out rebels who disguise themselves as cattle ranchers or infiltrate civilian communities to escape to neighboring countries. 

Yapande spoke Friday on C.A.R. state TV. He did not say which countries the rebels may be attempting to escape to, but the C.A.R. shares borders with Cameroon, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Congo and Chad. 

Last week, Cameroon and C.A.R. officials met in the C.A.R.’s capital, Bangui, and signed an agreement to jointly combat what they describe as increasing insecurity and criminality caused by armed gangs and rebels operating in towns and villages along their border. 

The C.A.R. says the 3R, formed in 2015, is one of several rebel groups in the central African state. 3R rebels claim that they protect Muslim cattle ranching populations from regular attacks by Christian anti-Balaka militias. 

C.A.R. officials say the rebel group has several hundred armed fighters who fight to control villages on the C.A.R. border and regularly escape to eastern villages in Cameroon when attacked by government forces. The C.A.R. accuses the rebel group of killing, maiming, raping, looting, and regularly displacing civilians from the villages. 

The Central African Republic descended into violence and political chaos in 2013 when Muslim-led Seleka rebels seized power and forced then-President Francois Bozize from office in the majority Christian nation. A Christian-dominated militia called the anti-Balaka fought back, with both the Seleka and anti-Balaka being accused of targeting and killing civilians. 

The U.N. says fighting in the C.A.R. has forced close to a million Central Africans to flee to neighboring countries, including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Chad.
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Goma, Congo — A militia attack on a gold mine in northeastern Congo killed six Chinese miners and two Congolese soldiers, a civil society group said Thursday, the latest assault as violence worsens in the resource-rich region.

The attack on Wednesday targeted the village of Gambala and the nearby “Camp Blanquette” gold mine in the Ituri province, according to Jean Robert Basiloko, a member of a local civil society group. A militia known as the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, or CODECO, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Eastern Congo has been torn by decadelong fighting between government forces and more than 120 armed groups, often involving bombs targeting civilians as the militias seek a share of the region’s gold and other resources. Violence in the region has worsened in recent months as security forces battle the militias.

On Wednesday, the militiamen set homes ablaze and then attacked the mine, which is guarded by a competing armed group, the Zaire Militia, Basiloko told The Associated Press.

They attackers killed six Chinese miners and two Congolese troops, he added, and abducted two other miners, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

CODECO and the Zaire Militia are involved in a complex conflict, mixing economic ambitions and power struggles. The Zaire Militia, a dissident faction of CODECO, fiercely opposes its former allies.

CODECO is a loose association of militia groups mainly from the ethnic Lendu farming community. Attacks by CODECO killed nearly 1,800 people and wounded more than 500 in the four years through 2022, according to the African Center for the Study and Research on Terrorism.

The United Nations has said some of the attacks could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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Addis Ababa — Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday he was expecting about $10.5 billion in financial aid in the coming years once the country wraps up negotiations with international lending institutions.  

Africa’s second most populous nation, battered in recent years by several armed conflicts, the COVID pandemic, and climate shocks, has been engaged in drawn-out talks seeking to secure a support program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  

There has been speculation that Ethiopia may have to devalue its currency, the birr, as a condition of IMF aid.  

“We have been negotiating with the IMF and World Bank on a wide range of issues,” Abiy said in an address to parliament, adding that both Ethiopia and the IMF “are stubborn.”   

“Several of our proposals were finally accepted,” he said.   

“When this process comes to a successful conclusion, and the reform is approved, we will receive $10.5 billion in the coming years.”  

The IMF had no immediate response to AFP’s request for comment on Abiy’s remarks.  

According to a source close to the matter, the program currently being negotiated with the IMF concerns around $3.5 billion in financial assistance, and any agreement could result in the release of an equivalent amount from the World Bank.   

Ethiopia has about $28 billion of external debt and is also grappling with sky-high inflation and a shortage of foreign currency reserves.  

The landlocked country’s credit rating was downgraded to a partial default in December by international agency Fitch after it missed a $33 million coupon payment on a Eurobond.   

The two-year conflict in the northern Tigray region which ended in November 2022 led to the suspension of numerous development aid programs and budget assistance.  

When he took office in 2018, Abiy pledged to embark on reforms of Ethiopia’s closed and state-dominated economy, but little has changed since then.
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Bamako — An attack blamed on jihadists in central Mali killed more than 20 civilians on Monday, two officials from the provincial authority said, in the latest killings in the troubled Sahel region.

“At least 21 civilians have been killed” in the village of Djiguibombo, several dozen kilometers [miles] from the town of Bandiagara, one of the officials said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another official, who spoke overnight, said about 20 people had been killed and the security situation prevented authorities from going to the site.

Both sources asked not to be identified given their positions. Since the junta came to power in the West African nation in 2020, information about such events is not generally made public.

The attack began before nightfall and “lasted around three hours”, a youth representative, also speaking anonymously for security reasons, said.

“Twenty people have been killed. More than half are young people. Some victims had their throats cut,” the source said.

Mali has since 2012 been ravaged by different factions affiliated to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as by self-declared, self-defense forces and bandits.

The violence spilled over into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, with all three countries seeing military regimes seize power.
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Geneva — The U.N. refugee agency is expanding a humanitarian appeal for Sudan, as increasing numbers of people flee the country’s war and widespread hunger in search of safety in neighboring countries.

The UNHCR reports more money is needed to aid and protect the swelling population of Sudanese refugees, and it is revising its appeal to $1.5 billion, up from $1.4 billion it requested in January. The appeal will help 3.3 million refugees and the local communities hosting them in neighboring countries through the end of the year.

Ewan Watson, UNHCR head of global communications, has just returned from visits to Sudan’s White Nile State and a to the Renk and JamJin refugee camp in South Sudan’s Unity State.

He described the situation there as “incredibly difficult, confusing, dangerous, and an appalling tragedy for civilians both still in Sudan and those who have had to leave the country due to the violence.”

Briefing journalists Tuesday in Geneva, Watson said “It is one of the most neglected crises globally and for us, it is the most pressing displacement crisis in the world right now.”

Since the conflict began in mid-April 2023, he noted that 10 million people have fled their homes in Sudan, “with many displaced multiple times.”

Of these, the UNHCR reports nearly 8 million are displaced inside Sudan, while nearly 2 million people have gone to neighboring countries.

Money from the January appeal has been used to assist Sudanese refugees who fled to the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

The UNHCR’s revised appeal has been expanded to include two new countries, Libya and Uganda. Since last year’s power struggle between rival generals from the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Response Forces triggered this catastrophic conflict, the UNHCR has registered 20,000 new arrivals in Libya from Sudan, mainly fleeing Darfur.

“We understand that thousands more have arrived in Libya that are not registered and are in the East of the country. With more refugees continuing to arrive since the escalation of fighting in the Darfur region, local services available across the country are really overstretched,” Watson said.

“Refugee families are being forced to sleep in the open as there is a lack of shelter,” he said. “Medical facilities also cannot keep up with growing needs and this is putting children, in particular, at risk of malnutrition.”

He observed that Uganda, which already was the largest refugee hosting country in Africa, is fast becoming home to a burgeoning Sudanese refugee population.

Since the outbreak of the war, he said more than 39,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to Sudan, “with 70 percent fleeing just this year. This is three times more than was initially expected or predicted.”

“Most of them are arriving from Khartoum and have university level education and are looking to rebuild their lives,” he said, noting that most are being hosted and receiving humanitarian aid, including food, shelter, and health care in the Kiryandongo refugee settlement in the west of the country.

“As more people arrive, these services continue to be stretched, while resources to expand assistance are lacking,” he said, adding that only 19 percent of the money required to run its humanitarian operations has been received. “This is abysmally insufficient to cover the most basic needs for people forced to flee. The cost of inaction is having grave consequences for refugees.”

The UNHCR official said heavy rains expected in some of the hosting countries risk complicating the delivery of humanitarian aid, particularly in border areas. He appealed to international donors to provide the funds needed to help strengthen government-led efforts to deliver critical assistance to millions of vulnerable people.

Otherwise, he warned more and more refugees will be forced to seek help “further afield in countries such as Libya, which are extremely difficult for refugees.”

Last week, the United Nations published alarming new data showing that the rapid deterioration in food security in Sudan has left 755,000 people “in catastrophic conditions with a risk of famine in 14 areas.”

Reacting to this latest food assessment by the Integrated Phase Classification, IPC, heads of three leading U.N. agencies warned that “Sudan is facing a devastating hunger catastrophe on a scale not seen since the Darfur crisis in the early 2000s.”

In its latest update of fighting between the SAF and RSF in the southern town of Sinja the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, reports that more than 60,000 people have fled Sinja for safety, most moving east toward the state of Gedaref.

“The fighting continues, and people are on the move as we speak so the situation is very volatile and these numbers could increase in the coming days,” Vanessa Huguenin, OCHA spokesperson told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday.

“We and our humanitarian partners are present in Gedaref and are preparing for the arrival of people that have been displaced by the clashes, with food and nutrition supplies … We have a window of opportunity to act but time is running out and we need more funding and access,” she said.
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Nairobi, Kenya — As protests resumed in Kenya, some families were visiting morgues Monday to collect the bodies of relatives who died during last week’s demonstrations against proposed tax increases.

Hussein Khaled, CEO of Vocal Africa, an organization of community activists, was at Nairobi’s City Mortuary assisting mourners and trying to ensure that autopsies were performed and causes of death recorded.

“We are here to support the families, particularly those who were shot and killed by police officers. We make sure we have the necessary documentation that will help us in seeking justice,” Khaled said.

Reports of the death toll vary. While President William Ruto said on Sunday that 19 people have been killed, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights reported that 24 people have died since the protests began two weeks ago.

Kennedy Mwangi Njeru, 20, was among the fatalities. His parents, Joseph Mwangi Njeru and Mary Muthoni, came to the morgue to collect their son’s body. His father said Kennedy, who he described as his firstborn and best friend, was shot in the head and the back.

“I feel very bad,” his mother said. “My son is gone, and I will never see him again.”

Kennedy Mwangi Njeru’s aunt, who gave her name only as Esther, accompanied her relatives. She said, “We have a lot of stress in our minds. … We were ready to bury [him] on Thursday this week, but we don’t have money even to pay the mortuary to travel from here to Kirinyaga.”

Phoebe Akumu Maina, a widow who lost her 17-year-old son, Kevin Odhiambo Maina, also faced a financial burden.

“I don’t have money, I have nothing. I am only just a mother. … I don’t have anything … to carry the body up to the cemetery,” she said.

Activist Hanifa Adan and others have set up an account through M-Changa, a mobile contribution platform, to help offset some of the protesters’ medical and funeral expenses.

“We had a target of 10 million [Kenyan shillings], but it actually surpassed. We collected 24 million in a day, in just like 10 hours,” Adan said.

She explained that the money, equivalent to about $193,000, will help pay hospital bills and for burial costs.

As some protesters demanded his resignation, Ruto promised a thorough investigation into the deaths. He has withdrawn the controversial tax bill and proposed a multi-sectoral forum to engage youth and discuss issues related to debt, taxation, unemployment and corruption.
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Former army chief earns nearly 56% of vote to earn second 5-year term
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After fleeing conflict in Somalia, Mohamed Mataan overcame many challenges growing up in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp. Today, he is helping young refugees learn digital skills that could lead to a brighter future. VOA reporter Ahmed Hussein met Mataan in the Dagahaley section of Dadaab and has this story.
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