Pragmatic, wealthy and ambitious, Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected leader of South Africa’s ruling ANC party on Monday, despite being badly damaged by a cash-heist scandal that has dogged him for months.

Ascendancy to the helm of the African National Congress (ANC), in power for almost three decades, is a steppingstone to a second term as head of state.

But the 70-year-old is on much shakier ground than when he was first elected party leader in 2017, amid deep divisions within the ANC — the party shaped by Nelson Mandela to spearhead the struggle to end apartheid.

Ramaphosa promised a “new dawn” for South Africa when he became president in 2018, but his image has been dented by scandal and a lackluster economy.

Earlier this month, he survived an opposition-led attempt to open impeachment proceedings against him over accusations he attempted to conceal a burglary at his farmhouse.

Details about the huge cash haul, stolen from under sofa cushions, have dealt a massive reputational blow to the man who took the reins of Africa’s most industrialized economy on a pledge to root out graft.

“Previously he was this icon of the clean-up struggle, [a] paragon of virtue… with this [scandal] came so much doubt on his credentials and a reminder that this is not a superhuman [man],” said political analyst and author Susan Booysen.

Born on November 17, 1952, in Johannesburg’s Soweto township — the cradle of the anti-apartheid struggle — to a policeman and a stay-at-home mother, Ramaphosa had long eyed South Africa’s top job, but only came to it after a long detour.

From Mandela to Coca-Cola

He took up activism while studying law in the 1970s and spent 11 months in solitary confinement in 1974.

Ramaphosa turned to trade unionism, one of the few legal ways of protesting the white-minority regime.

A protege of Mandela, who once described him as one of the most gifted leaders of the “new generation,” Ramaphosa stood alongside the anti-apartheid icon when he walked out of jail in 1990.

He was a key member of the task force that steered the transition to democracy.

But after missing out on becoming Mandela’s successor, Ramaphosa swapped politics for a foray into business that made him one of the wealthiest people in Africa.

He held stakes in McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, making millions in deals that required investors to partner with non-white shareholders.

Ramaphosa developed a passion for breeding rare buffaloes and cattle, a business that would come back to haunt him.

The opposition once nicknamed him “The Buffalo” after he bid for a $104,000 beast in 2012.

He later apologized for making the glitzy bid “in a sea of poverty.”

COVID

In 2012, his image was badly tarnished when police killed 34 striking workers at a platinum mine, where he was then a non-executive director and had called for a crackdown on the miners.

He became Zuma’s vice president in 2014, often drawing criticism for failing to speak out against government corruption.

Renowned for his patience and strategic thinking, Ramaphosa narrowly defeated pro-Zuma rivals to take over leadership of the ANC party in 2017 and then the presidency when Zuma was forced out two months later.

Relaxed at public appearances, he attracts a support base that crosses South Africa’s racial and class divides, but still faces strong opposition from inside the ANC.

His anti-corruption drive has yielded some results, with charges being brought against some high-profile figures.

His handling of the COVID health crisis also won praise internationally. But the pandemic dealt a heavy blow to plans to revive South Africa’s sagging economy.

Unemployment remains stratospherically high and prolonged power cuts are a deep source of anger.

Ramaphosa’s native tongue is Venda, one of South Africa’s 11 official languages — most of which he is now said to speak fluently.

Married three times, Ramaphosa has four children. His current wife Tshepo Motsepe, a doctor, is the sister of African football chief Patrice Motsepe.
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Judges at London’s High Court will rule Monday whether the British government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is legal, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stakes his future on stopping a record number of migrant arrivals in small boats.

Under a deal struck in April, Britain aims to send tens of thousands of migrants who arrive on its shores illegally more than 4,000 miles (6,4000 km) to Rwanda.

The first planned deportation flight was blocked in June by a last-minute injunction from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the strategy’s lawfulness was subsequently challenged by a judicial review at London’s High Court.

Judges Jonathan Swift and Clive Lewis are expected to deliver their verdict at 10:30 GMT.

A victory for the government Monday will not mean that flights can take off straight away because there may be a further appeal in the British courts and the ECHR injunction imposed during the summer prevents any immediate deportations until the conclusion of legal action in the United Kingdom.

In one of his first major policy announcements, Sunak set out a strategy to clamp down on illegal immigration and said he wanted to restart the flights to Rwanda despite opposition from lawmakers in all the main political parties, the United Nations and even King Charles.

The prime minister is under growing pressure from his own members of parliament and the public to deal with the arrivals, with figures showing more than 40,000 — a record number — have arrived from France this year, many having made the journey from Afghanistan or Iran or other countries suffering war to travel across Europe and on to Britain to seek asylum.

Immigration has climbed in voters’ priorities to become the third most important issue facing the country after the economy and health, polls show.

The deaths of four migrants in the Channel this week when their dinghy began sinking was the latest in a series of tragedies in the water between Britain and France that have underscored the government’s inability to stop the crossings.

Inhumane, not working

Lawyers acting for asylum seekers from countries including Syria, Sudan and Iraq, as well as charities and Border Force staff told the High Court in hearings this year that the government’s Rwanda policy was inhumane and does not comply with human rights conventions.

They said that Rwanda, whose own human rights record is under scrutiny, does not have the capacity to process the claims, and there is a risk some migrants could be returned to countries from which they had fled, citing concern raised by government officials themselves.

Britain says the Rwanda deportation strategy will help deter migrants from making the perilous trip across the Channel and will smash the business model of people smuggling networks.

Supporters of the Rwanda deal say that sending migrants to the country will reduce overcrowding in processing centers and give genuine refugees a home.

However, since the policy was announced tens of thousands of people have continued to arrive in Britain and until recently Rwanda had only set up one hostel to accept U.K. arrivals, with the capacity for about 100 people, representing 0.35% of all the migrants who arrived in Britain on small boats last year.

The strategy is based loosely on Australia’s program of sending migrants to Papua New Guinea and Nauru for processing.

Under the agreement with Rwanda, anyone judged to have entered Britain illegally is eligible for deportation, with the exception of unaccompanied minors.

Deportees granted protection by Rwanda’s government would be eligible to live there but would not be permitted to return to Britain.
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The South African government has stationed members of the armed forces at several of the country’s beleaguered power stations, amid rolling blackouts and allegations of sabotage and corruption.

Soldiers have been deployed at four key power generating plants, Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa, tells VOA, saying further deployments will be announced in due course.

He welcomed the decision to send in the troops, which comes amid reports of theft, sabotage and vandalism at several plants run by state power utility Eskom.

“This is a welcome intervention for Eskom as it clearly demonstrates that days of malfeasance and nefarious activities will be dealt with by government,” he said.

Just this week, company CEO Andre de Ruyter quit, saying it was in part due to the struggle he faced in trying to turn Eskom around in the face of crime and corruption.

South Africa has been mired in an energy crisis for more than a decade, but it has accelerated this year, with the country experiencing daily scheduled blackouts — sometimes for as long as 10 hours a day.

Known here as “loadshedding,” the cuts are meant to reduce pressure on the overstretched grid.

Eskom blames its aging coal fleets and lack of maintenance for the regular breakdowns, which are having a devastating effect on Africa’s most developed economy.

South Africans also have voiced increasing frustration at the failure of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to get the power crisis under control.

ANC delegates vote

On Sunday, thousands of ANC delegates began voting for the party’s top seven membership positions at a party congress in Johannesburg, held every five years.

Whomever wins the party presidency this weekend goes on to lead the country if the ANC wins national elections in 2024.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is vying for the top job against former health minister Zweli Mkhize, who was forced to resign amid corruption allegations over COVID-19 funds.

Ramaphosa himself was recently mired in a scandal regarding the theft of a large amount of money found hidden in a sofa at his farm.

Last week, he avoided a vote that could have led to impeachment, after his party closed ranks behind him.

 

 
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The Somali military says the country’s national army, with the help of local civilians, has conducted a planned military operation against the Islamist militant group al-Shabab in the Middle Shabelle region, killing at least 50 al-Shabab militants.

A statement issued by Somalia’s national army command Saturday says the army’s planned operation against the militants took place in the village of Darul-nicim in the country’s Middle Shabelle province.

The village on the outskirts of the recently liberated strategic town of Adan Yabal, 217 kilometers north of the capital, Mogadishu, has seen an increase in military activity in the last three weeks.

“The Somali National Army, with the help of local people, have killed around 50 Khawarij in an operation in the village of Darul-Nicim in the Middle Shabelle region and other villages under Adan Yabal district,” said a short statement by the army posted on Twitter on Saturday evening.

Khawarij is a term the Somali government uses to refer to the Islamist militant group al-Shabab.

The operation comes a day after Somalia’s deputy information minister, Abdirahman Yusuf Omar Al-adala, said the army had killed at least 88 al-Shabab fighters in the same province within 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the governor of Somalia’s central region of Hiran, Ali Jeyte Osman, pledged a bounty of $30,000 to any al-Shabab fighter who kills al-Shabab spokesperson Ali Mohamud Rage, known as Ali Dhere.

Jeyte spoke to Somali security personnel and local clan militias Saturday after visiting several villages on the outskirts of the central town of Beledweyne, the provincial capital of Hiran region. He said the government would give a $10,000 reward for every al-Shabab militant killed.

The Somali military has recaptured a large part of the central states of Galmudug and Hirshabelle from the militant group.

The Horn of Africa nation has been fighting al-Shabab since 2007. Militants have been carrying out deadly attacks on government troops and African Union peacekeeping forces in Somalia for more than a decade.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was reelected earlier this year, had announced an “all-out war” against al-Shabab.
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Three swimmers died and 17 others were seriously injured Saturday when a freak wave struck a popular beach in South Africa’s southeastern city of Durban, the emergency services said.

“There was a freak wave that washed some people to sea, three have drowned and 17 people have been taken to hospital,” Robert McKenzie, spokesman of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial first responders services told AFP.

He said one of the dead was a child around 7 or 8 years old, while those injured are “in serious or critical condition.”

The incident occurred around 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) at the Bay of Plenty, one of the popular beaches in South Africa’s third-largest city.

The emergency services said that they were afraid the toll would rise after the “uncommon” event.

Durban has gradually been re-opening its beaches after they were shut due to high levels of E. coli coming from the city’s sewer system, which was badly damaged by deadly floods earlier this year.

The floods, the worst in living memory, killed more than 400 people in April.
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Tunisians showed little inclination to vote Saturday morning in a parliamentary election that most political parties are boycotting, having denounced it as the culmination of a march to one-man rule by President Kais Saied.

Taking place 12 years to the day after Tunisian vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in an act of protest that sparked the Arab Spring, the election will vote in a new parliament whose lawmakers are likely to have little influence on government policy.

Turnout in most previous elections since the 2011 revolution, which shook off a dictatorship and ushered in democracy, seemed higher than on Saturday, when few Tunisians were visible at polling stations in the capital.

Reuters visited six polling stations around Tunis that were all largely quiet. During a two-hour period split between three in the Ettadamon and Ettahir districts, a journalist from the agency saw only about 20 voters cast their ballots.

The official electoral commission, whose members are appointed by Saied, said about 270,000 – or 3% – of 9 million eligible voters had cast ballots by 10 a.m. (0900 GMT), two hours after polling stations opened.

As he voted earlier, Saied hailed the election as a historic day and urged Tunisians to cast ballots. But as they struggle with economic hardship, many have grown jaded by years of political dysfunction.

“Why should I vote? … I am not convinced by this election,” said Abdl Hamid Naji, sitting in a cafe near a polling station in the Lafayette neighborhood of the capital Tunis as it opened at 8:00 a.m. (0700 GMT).

“What will this parliament do?” he asked. “In the previous elections, I was the first to arrive… But now I’m not interested.”

There were more journalists than voters at the Rue de Marseille polling station in Tunis, which has been packed from early in the day in previous elections.

Faouzi Ayarai, who did vote there, was optimistic. “These elections are an opportunity to fix the bad situation left by others over the past years,” she said.

BOYCOTT

Saied, a former law lecturer who was a political independent when elected president in 2019, shut down the previous parliament and started ruling by decree in July 2021, gradually amassing more and more power.

His opponents, including the Islamist Ennahda party, accuse him of a coup.

A new constitution, passed with a low turnout in a July referendum, has defanged parliament and shifted power back to the presidential palace in Carthage from which Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali ruled with an iron fist before being ousted in 2011.

Nejib Chebbi, head of an anti-Saied coalition including the Islamist Ennahda party, a major force in the previous parliament, has labeled the election a “still-born farce.”

Saied has described it as part of a roadmap for ending the chaos and corruption he says afflicted Tunisia under the previous system.

Casting his vote with his wife, he urged Tunisians to do likewise. “It is your historic opportunity to regain your legitimate rights,” he said.

But I Watch, a non-governmental watchdog organization formed after the 2011 revolution, said the new parliament had been “emptied of all powers.”

Al Bawsala, another NGO that has monitored the work of parliament since the revolution, has said it will boycott a legislature that it too believes will be an instrument for the president.

The election is taking place against the backdrop of an economic crisis that is fueling poverty, leading many to attempt the perilous journey to Europe aboard smugglers’ boats.

With the main parties absent, a total of 1,058 candidates – only 120 of them women – are running for 161 seats.

For 10 of those – seven in Tunisia and three decided by expatriate voters – there is just one candidate. A further seven of the seats decided by expatriate voters have no candidates running at all.

The polls are scheduled to close at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT).

 
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As the U.S. welcomed African leaders to Washington for a summit this week, the media freedom record of several of those countries was brought into focus.

At least 56 journalists are in prison for their work in 11 African countries, several of which have a long history of silencing the free press, according to a report released Wednesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

While Iran and China registered as the most prolific jailers of journalists in the annual report, with 62 and 43, respectively, in prison, Egypt with 21 cases and Eritrea with 16 feature among the 10 worst countries.

The report paints a grim picture for those imprisoned, often for reporting information unfavorable to the government. Overall, 2022 marked the highest total on record for CPJ, with 363 journalists in prison as of December 1, 2022.

CPJ’s Angela Quintal told VOA the report’s release is “rather ironic” because “we have these leaders who happen to be meeting President [Joe] Biden, [Secretary of State Antony Blinken], and doing trade deals, who are among the worst jailers of journalists in Africa.”

Eritrea was one of the countries not invited to the summit because it doesn’t have formal diplomatic ties with the U.S. However, advocates and exiled writers have been calling for the release of journalists imprisoned there, some for 21 years.

“Their whereabouts aren’t known, their families don’t know where they are and no one knows what kind of life they are leading or whether they are alive,” said Eritrean writer Awet Fissehaye.

The exiled poet is the executive director of PEN Eritrea. His organization recently displayed images of detained Eritrean journalists in the British Parliament to raise awareness.

In Cameroon, at least five journalists are in prison after authorities responded to a conflict involving separatist movements in the English-speaking region. Journalists covering the unrest were intimidated or abducted, CPJ reported.

Morocco has at least three journalists detained, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo has two journalists in prison. CPJ documented one journalist each in Algeria, Burundi, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Senegal.

Of the four journalists jailed in Rwanda, three were arrested for posting content deemed critical of the government on YouTube.

“They’re doing it on this platform because it’s one of the country’s few remaining publishing platforms, because the space for dissenting speech has been closed down in traditional media,” Quintal said.

She added that CPJ has heard “worrying reports of torture and ill-treatment and poor conditions” for journalists behind bars.

Rwanda’s Justice Ministry did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment.

Neighboring Burundi is responsible for the only known case of a detained female journalist in Africa: Floriane Irangabiye.

“She’s reportedly been sexually assaulted during her detention,” Quintal said.

CPJ’s researchers who spoke with people familiar with the reporter’s case say an intelligence agent allegedly groped Irangabiye.

Burundi’s prosecutor general has said the allegation is “unfounded.”

CPJ’s annual report offers a snapshot of journalists in jail, but that doesn’t offer the full picture, says Quintal. The nonprofit includes only cases of journalists detained by official government entities.

Ethiopia is one such case, she said. The country has been mired in a two-year-long civil war, and journalists have been caught in the crossfire.

In August, CPJ published research showing that at least 63 journalists had been detained or briefly held covering political events or stories about the war.

In the Tigray region’s capital, Mekelle, five journalists are currently held by the regional leadership. Three are accused of “collaborating with the enemy” during a period when the regional capital was under the federal government’s control.

Because the Tigray regional government is not officially recognized as the formal authority, the cases are not included in CPJ’s report.

“We are urging the Tigray rebels to ensure that they are released as soon as possible,” Quintal said. “No journalist deserves to be in jail for their work.”

Mesfin Araya, an attorney of one of the journalists, told VOA’s Tigrigna Service that tactics are used to delay justice and that “justice delayed is justice denied.”

The regional prosecutor’s office said the journalists weren’t held because of journalism but because they were suspected of being involved in other crimes.

International pressure

Most of the journalists in Africa are being jailed on anti-state charges, but cybercrime laws and criminal defamation also present risks.

In Senegal, journalist Pape Ale Niang, who runs the news website Dakar Matin, was accused of spreading information harmful to public security charges for publishing stories about rape allegations involving an opposition political figure.

And Oloye Ayodele Samuel of Nigerian outlet Taraba Truth & Facts is detained on defamation charges.

The arrest of even one journalist can be damaging to a country’s media freedom environment, experts say.

Authorities in Somalia have twice detained Abdalle Ahmed Mumin of the Somali Journalists Syndicate in recent months, in a move condemned by international rights groups.

CPJ and Human Rights Watch are among the rights groups who raised Mumin’s case in a Monday letter to the country’s attorney general.

“To this day [Mumin] faces ongoing threats and persecution,” the letter read. “Continuing his prosecution not only casts a chilling effect on media freedom and journalism, but it also significantly contributes to the closing civic space in the country.”

Quintal at CPJ says international pressure can bring change. In Egypt, at least 12 journalists have been freed, in part due to the efforts of international advocates.

Globally, CPJ says it has helped with the release of 130 journalists in 2022.

“That is why we do believe that the international community does have a role to play,” in ensuring the safety and release of journalists in states that Quintal describes as “repressive,” “anti-press freedom,” and “anti-free expression.”

VOA Tigrigna Service’s Minia Afwerki and Mulugeta Atsbeha contributed to this report.
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The World Health Organization says climate change is behind an unprecedented surge in the number of cholera outbreaks around the world this year.

At least 30 countries have reported outbreaks of the deadly disease this year, about a third higher than normally seen.

Philippe Barboza, WHO’s team leader for cholera and epidemic diarrheal diseases, said most of the large cholera outbreaks have coincided with adverse climate events and have been visibly and directly affected by them.

“Very severe droughts like, for example, in the Horn of Africa, in the Sahel but also in other parts of the world,” he said. “Major floods, unprecedented monsoons, succession of cyclones. So, most again, most of these outbreaks appear to be fueled by the result of the climate change.”

No quick reprieve is in sight. The World Meteorological Organization predicts the so-called La Nina climate phenomenon will last through the end of this year. The pattern, which cools the surface of ocean waters, is expected to continue well into 2023. That will result in prolonged droughts and flooding and increased cyclones.

Consequently, health officials warn large cholera outbreaks are likely to continue and spread to wider areas over the next six months. Barboza said preventing disease outbreaks will be a challenge.

He said a global shortage of vaccine has forced the WHO to temporarily suspend its two-dose strategy and switch to a single dose approach. That allows many more people to be vaccinated against cholera. However, he said it shortens the period of immunity against infection.

“So, the situation will continue to prevail for the months to come,” he said. “There is no silver bullet, magic solution and the producers are at the maximum production. … So, there is no hope that the situation will improve in the coming weeks or months.”

Barboza said lack of data makes it impossible to accurately determine the number of global cholera cases and deaths. However, he noted information from at least 14 countries indicates the average fatality rate is above 1%. He said the cholera fatality rate in heavily affected Haiti is around 2%.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by consuming contaminated food or water. Treatments include oral rehydration. People with severe cases need rapid intravenous fluids and antibiotics. Cholera can kill within hours if left untreated.
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Botswana is developing a national security strategy amid fears of heightened terrorism threats.

The country’s minister of defense, Kagiso Mmusi, addressed parliament Thursday.

“The emerging global security challenges, such as cybercrime, terrorism, poaching, human trafficking, distribution of drugs, money laundering and transnational organized crimes, continue to threaten Botswana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Irregular migration also poses a threat to multilateralism,” Mmusi said.

To this end, he said, a strategy to counter possible acts of terrorism and other national security threats is being developed.

“In an effort to address the above-mentioned global challenges, the country is developing the national security strategy. Botswana will ensure the permanent inviolability of national territory and its effective control by employing all available instruments of national power,” Mmusi said.

In June, Botswana’s army commander, Placid Segogo, told lawmakers the country needed to scale up efforts to counter terrorism, as the deployment of 300 troops to Mozambique had created challenges.

Botswana’s troops in Mozambique are part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Standby Force’s more than 1,000 soldiers in Cabo Delgado.

“As the defense force, we continue to have challenges in respect to cybercrime terrorism because we are now clearly in Mozambique specifically because of terrorism. We do realize that our footprint there creates an even bigger vulnerability,” Segogo said.

This week, Botswana’s Vice President Slumber Tsogwane told new army recruits to be ready for deployment in Mozambique if called upon.

“Today, you graduate to take your place in the Botswana Defense Force at a time when [the] SADC region is fighting a war against terrorists in the Republic of Mozambique,” Tsogwane said. “You need to acquaint yourselves with the tactics, techniques and procedures as well as process in leading your men in tactical situations quickly, for you may be required to be deployed there or elsewhere.”

Since sending troops in July 2021, Botswana has lost five soldiers in Mozambique, including one during combat. Two died during freak accidents at their respective camps in Cabo Delgado, and the other two died in a murder-suicide incident. 
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Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said the military government of Burkina Faso has hired Russian mercenaries to help fight an insurgency in their country and is using a mine to pay them.

Militants have made increasing inroads into Burkina Faso, triggering two coup d’etats this year, one in January and one in September, as the military tries to re-establish control of the country.

Experts believe Burkina Faso’s current leader, army captain Ibrahim Traore, is using Russian mercenaries from the shadowy Wagner group to fight the jihadists.

Speaking Wednesday in Washington as part of the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit, Akufo-Addo expressed concern about the suspected development.

“Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border,” Akufo-Addo said. “Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there and I believe a mine in the southern part of Burkina has been allocated to them as a form of payment for their service. To have them operating on our northern border is particularly distressing for us in Ghana.”

An official involved in the border security of Burkina Faso, speaking on condition of anonymity, commented on Akufo-Addo’s remarks in a text message to VOA.

He did not deny the presence of mercenaries, instead saying “Burkina does not need foreign fighters, but equipment. We have men capable” of fighting terrorism.

Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar, executive director of West Africa Center for Counter-Extremism (WACCE), said the recent withdrawal of European, mainly French, peacekeeping troops from the Sahel is a loss in the fight against jihadists.

He said it will enable Russia’s push to establish a strong foothold in Africa.

“Now that we are seeing the withdrawal of the French forces, which is followed by the other European partners, is a big blow to the region and to all of us here along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea,” Muqthar said. “The Russian mercenaries are in there and they seem to be building some significant sense of goodwill from the local population as against traditional European partners and that should worry all of us.”

Muqthar said focusing solely on using combat to fight terrorism in West Africa is not the best way to go, saying it failed in the Sahel regions.

“Combat measures are very important to hold territories and to stop these extremists,” he said. “But it’s not enough to sustain any gains relating to combating terrorism. We need to match it with significant noncombat measures, which is the people. It’s important that military measures must be development linked and must be linked to the realities of the problem because people don’t just wake up to fight.”

Recently, West African leaders met in Accra to discuss terrorism and worsening security in the region. They resolved at the Accra Initiative to establish an anti-jihadist force within a month to protect coastal countries, such as Ghana.
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Botswana’s government says rural communities have earned $5 million since last year from the proceeds of elephant hunting. Conservationists object to the practice, but local officials say the hunts are necessary to reduce human-wildlife conflict. The annual activity attracts hunters from overseas who pay huge sums to shoot elephants.

Acting Minister of Environment and Tourism, Sethabelo Modukanele, said communities are benefiting following the lifting of a five-year hunting ban.

“Hunting was reinstated in 2019 following a five-year moratorium after extensive stakeholder consultation. This allowed communities to generate considerable revenues amounting to 50 million pula over two years [from 2021 to 2022] for their development projects,” said Modukanele.

Most of the revenue is from international hunters who pay up to $50,000 to shoot a single elephant.

Botswana Wildlife Producers Association chief executive, Isaac Theophilus, says more could be done to ensure communities benefit from wildlife resources.

“Communities can make more from hunting. The problem right now is that communities only depend on selling their hunting quotas, subleasing some of the areas allocated to them. In order to gain more from hunting, communities have to explore other avenues of trying to raise funds, like investing the P50 million that they have accrued into income generating activities,” said Theophilus.

Botswana’s growing elephant population, at more than 130,000, has created conflict with humans, as the animals often trample crops, injure or kill people.

But animal biologist Keith Lindsay said elephant hunting could hurt the species’ breeding patterns.

“The biggest male elephants are the ones that contribute most of the population in terms of survival and mating success. Their genes are actively selected and chosen by female elephants; they prefer mating with the biggest males. By taking away those big males, you are damaging the population’s genetic structure and survival chances in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister Modukanele said the government has distributed nearly 400 wild animals to small-scale farmers to ensure locals have a stake in agro-tourism.

“Government made a deliberate decision to support start-up ventures for Batswana who showed interest and met the requisite criterion for keeping of game in plowing fields. Those who qualified were assisted with animals of various species, such as impala, gemsbok, eland and zebra. To date, 277 have applied and 251 approved and 67 provided with seed stock, totaling 377 animals,” said Modukanele.

At a recent meeting of parties to CITES, the 1963 treaty to protect endangered species, some African countries tried to present a proposal seeking to ban trophy hunting in Botswana and other southern African elephant ranges.  The attempt was unsuccessful, and elephant hunting will continue in Botswana for the foreseeable future.   
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Convicted Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda has been transferred from the International Criminal Court to Belgium to start a 30-year sentence for war crimes, the tribunal said Wednesday.

Dubbed the “Terminator,” Ntaganda, 49, was convicted by the ICC in 2019 of leading a reign of terror in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in the early 2000s.

“Mr Bosco Ntaganda was transferred to … the Kingdom of Belgium to serve his sentence of imprisonment at the Leuze-en-Hainaut prison,” the Hague-based ICC said in a statement.

Belgium is the former colonial power of Congo.

“The ICC relies on the support from states for the enforcement of its sentences and is highly appreciative of the voluntary cooperation of the Belgian government in this case,” the court’s registrar, Peter Lewis, said.

The Rwandan-born Ntaganda was convicted of five counts of crimes against humanity and 13 counts of war crimes, including murder, sexual slavery, rape, and use of child soldiers.

Ntaganda was the first person to be convicted of sexual slavery by the court. Many of the other charges related to massacres of villagers in the mineral-rich Ituri region of Congo.

Prosecutors portrayed him as the ruthless leader of ethnic Tutsi revolts amid the civil wars that racked Congo after the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in neighboring Rwanda.

Formerly a Congolese army general, Ntaganda became a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which was eventually defeated by Congolese government forces in 2013.

Later that year, he became the first-ever suspect to surrender to the ICC, when he walked into the U.S. Embassy in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.

Ntaganda — known for his pencil mustache and penchant for fine dining — insisted that the “Terminator” nickname, referring to the films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a relentless killer robot, did not apply to him.

Ntaganda’s sentence was upheld on appeal last year.
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