Drought in the Horn of Africa is worsening hunger across the region, including in Kenya, where authorities say nearly a million children are acutely malnourished. The failure of a fifth rainy season in a row has authorities and aid groups scrambling to prevent famine. Ahmed Hussein reports from Wajir county in northern Kenya.
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Category: Africa
Africa news. Africa is highly biodiverse, it is the continent with the largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. However, Africa also is heavily affected by a wide range of environmental issues, including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity, and pollution
Egypt Announces Freedom, Mass Pardon for 30 Jailed Activists
Egypt announced late on November 24 the release of 30 political activists from jail, the latest in a series of mass releases from detention amid intensifying international scrutiny over the country’s human rights record.
There was no immediate word on the identities of the activists, and it was not immediately possible to confirm how many of them have already been freed.
The announcement came from Tarik el-Awady, a member of Egypt’s presidential pardon committee. He said the 30 had been in pre-trial detention, facing charges related to their “opinions.”
El-Awady later posted photographs, describing them as showing several of the freed detainees hugging family members and friends.
Since 2013, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s government has cracked down on dissidents and critics, jailing thousands, virtually banning protests and monitoring social media. Human Rights Watch estimated in 2019 that as many as 60,000 political prisoners are incarcerated in Egyptian prisons, many without trial.
The issue came to focus during Egypt’s hosting of the two-week world climate summit in early November. The conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh was in part overshadowed by the hunger strike of imprisoned Egyptian political dissident, Alaa Abd el-Fattah.
As the summit known as COP27 opened, el-Fattah intensified his monthslong, partial hunger strike to completely stop any calorie intake and also stopped drinking water in an effort to draw attention to his case and others like him.
Then, as concerns for his fate mounted, he ended his strike. He remains in prison.
In the months building up the summit, Egypt had sought to rectify its international image, pardoning dozens of prisoners and establishing a new “strategy” to upgrade human rights conditions.
Rights groups have remained skeptical about whether these moves will translate into any lasting change, with Amnesty International describing the strategy as a “shiny cover-up”‘ used to broker favor with foreign governments and financial institutions.
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Somalia Military Rebuilding Shows Signs of Improvement
Despite relentless al-Shabab attacks, Somali defense officials say the country is making progress in building a viable security force capable of not only protecting state institutions but also expanding governmental authority.
In central Somalia, federal troops supported by local fighters have been slowly seizing territories from al-Shabab since August. The current military offensive is entirely planned and executed by Somali commanders and local forces, a significant and confidence-boosting achievement.
“We inflicted heavy defeat on terrorists, and we have dislodged them from large territory in the regions, Hiran in particular, which has been the focal point for the operation,” Army Chief Brigadier Gen. Odawa Yusuf Rage told VOA Somali.
“The ultimate goal is to remove these terrorists from Somalia and eliminate them.”
Gen. Rage and Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur were in Jubbaland this week to oversee regional forces that are planning to join the operations. The strategy is intended to open a new front against al-Shabab in the south.
Troops trained by Turkey and the United States are the core of Somali forces undertaking these operations.
On September 30, 2017, Turkey established the largest overseas military training facility in Somalia. Turkey has so far trained 5,000 commandos known as Gorgor (the eagle). To strength the command and leadership, Turkey also trained 316 officers and 392 non-commissioned officers.
The training courses are continuing, and army recruitment centers in Mogadishu are attracting young university graduates.
Gen. Rage, who himself was trained in Turkey, praised Ankara’s role. “It’s contributing significantly to the training and building of the Somali national army,” he said.
Rage said troops trained by Turkey have made a “significant difference” in the fight against al-Shabab.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said its engagement with Somali forces is to contribute to peace and stability in Somalia. It said the aim is to improve the organization, training, military infrastructure and logistics systems of the Somali National Army.
“The battalions trained and equipped by Turkey have been successful in recapturing large numbers of al-Shabaab-controlled settlements, defending their bases and neutralizing terrorists,” said a Turkish statement sent to VOA. “These battalions will form the backbone of the Somali National Army in the future. We believe that the personnel trained by the Turkish Armed Forces will serve not only the security of Somalia, but also the security of Africa and beyond.”
The elite Somali forces known as Danab (lightning) are trained by the U.S., and they are the other major forces involved in ongoing operations. Danab force strength is inching closer to 2,000 including a new batch of 350 troops that started training just few weeks ago at an airfield west of Mogadishu.
Somali defense officials said current operations will be boosted upon the return of 5,000 more soldiers trained in Eritrea, although no date has yet been set.
The government said it also is pursuing other initiatives to train more forces abroad.
Turkey drones
Somali security officials have acknowledged that Turkish drones are participating in the operations against al-Shabab, by conducting bombings and monitoring the militants.
Two security officials who requested not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the project told VOA Somali that Turkish drones were involved in airstrikes in Lower and Middle Shabelle regions in recent weeks.
The presence of Turkish drones was confirmed in September by the Minister of Interior, Federal and Reconciliation, Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, who was speaking to a local television station.
But Somalia’s defense officials avoid confirming or denying it.
“We don’t discuss specific operations by any particular country,” Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur told VOA Somali.
General Rage was equally dismissive in discussing Turkish drone operations.
“That is not an issue I want to talk to about,” he said. “Whether it exists or doesn’t exist, I will answer another time, but at this time I have no information about it.”
Unlike the U.S. military, which has been publicly reporting airstrikes against al-Shabab for many years, including some that took place during recent operations, Turkey has not commented on its clandestine drone operations.
On the multilateral level, Turkey supports all efforts to increase the capacity of the Somali National Army, read a statement by the Turkey Defense Ministry. That statement did not mention the word “drone” once, although VOA inquiry mainly focused on the drone issue.
But Somali officials said Turkish drones were effective in bombing al-Shabab when troops met stiff resistance from the militants.
Former Mogadishu intelligence chief Major Ibrahim Moallim Abdullahi, who has been following the operations of Turkish drones, said recent progress by the troops would not have been possible without the drones.
“Turkish drones are playing a significant role in the ongoing operations,” he said.
Abdullahi said Turkish drones arrived in the country last year, but their activities were limited to surveillance until this year when operations started.
What is the strategy?
Despite the success on the front lines, some security experts are questioning if the government has a “clear strategy” to defeat al-Shabab. Al-Shabab fighters this week penetrated a popular hotel next to the Presidential Palace, killing nine people. In October, the group detonated two large bombs at a busy junction killing 121 people and injuring more than 330 others.
Critics argue the government only joined up for the fight after local mobilizations developed in the Hiran region against al-Shabab. In addition, in the town of Wabho in Galmudug State, troops vacated after briefly capturing it.
“If you are starting a war, it needs a clear strategy, which has a starting point and an end point,” Abdullahi said. “What you need in liberated areas is to have the police, intelligence, and service providers ready in place.”
Defense Minister Nur rejects the idea the government approached this without a plan.
“It is a government plan that started it off, and there is no fighting that the government has not planned or led,” he said. “There is nothing spontaneous about it.”
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Nigerian President: Ukraine War Funneling Arms, Fighters into Lake Chad Basin
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari says the war between Russia and Ukraine is allowing arms and fighters to stream into the Lake Chad region, bolstering the strength of terrorist groups.
The Nigerian leader spoke Tuesday in Abuja to a summit of heads of state from the Lake Chad Basin Commission, or LCBC.
Buhari called for more vigilance and cooperation among the commission’s six member nations against the increased proliferation of weapons into the Lake Chad basin. He said weapons meant for the Ukraine war and to combat terrorism in the Sahel are being diverted to West Africa and ending up in the hands of terrorist groups.
He didn’t specify who was diverting the weapons but said the development was threatening improved stability in the region, where a multi-national joint task force created by the LCBC has been fighting terror forces for years.
The Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Abuja did not respond to calls for comment.
The chairman of the Partnership Against Violent Extremism, Jaye Gaskia, agrees the war in Ukraine is a threat to security in the African region.
“The longer this war goes on, the more it opens up for all manners of groups to be entangled with it, if not directly through financial and funding, through building solidarity and the rest, the more that becomes a possibility, the more insurgent groups in the Sahel begin to find the theater of war in Ukraine as a veritable source,” said Gaskia.
Buhari said the multinational forces are planning fresh operations in region but noted that military operations must be backed with sustainable development.
However, the commission has been hit by financial crisis, with nearly every member struggling to meet yearly obligations for intervention programs.
Nigeria’s contribution to the pact has dwindled from about $2.4 million in 2017 to $315,000 in 2021.
More than 30 million people in the Lake Chad basin are affected by fighting and the impacts of climate change.
This week, Nigeria’s water resources minister Suleiman Adamu, who is also chairman of the commission’s council of ministers, called for more support.
“Unfortunately, the commission has been facing financial crisis due to the non-payment of financial contributions and arrears of contributions in line with approved budgets. There’s an urgent need to tackle and address this persistent challenge to ensure that the executive secretariat delivers on its mandate especially in implementing the Lake Chad Basin emergency development program. I’ll like to use this opportunity to encourage all of you to urgently look into this crucial issue and carry out the needed advocacy in your respective countries,” said Adamu.
Security analyst Patrick Agbambu blames global economic downturn for the financial problems and says it will have consequences on the fight against terrorism if allowed to continue.
“Countries around the world are currently experiencing financial downturn, the region is not exempted. Nigeria particularly is also experiencing that and it’s going to affect the intensity of the execution of the war,” he said.
Gaskia said the Russia-Ukraine war is making countries shift their priorities.
“With the war, which has also compounded the cost of living crisis, it therefore also means that financing and funding has to be shifted to other more immediate needs and this is probably going to go on for another year or two,” said Gaskia.
On Tuesday, President Buhari ceded the leadership of the Lake Chad Basin Commission to Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, the president of the transitional military council of Chad.
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Malawi Launches Africa’s First Children’s Malaria Vaccine
Malawi and the World Health Organization are rolling out a new malaria vaccine for young children that backers say will reduce deaths from the mosquito-borne disease.
The RTSS vaccine was pilot tested on more than one million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi and recommended a year ago by the WHO. Despite a low effectiveness rate of 30%, the vaccine has raised hopes that some of the more than 400,000 people who die annually from malaria can be saved.
Malaria remains a huge public health problem in Malawi, with about one third of its 20 million people getting infected each year.
According to the ministry of health, the disease kills five Malawians every day, most of them children under the age of five or pregnant women who were not presented early enough for care.
The health ministry says the first phase of the vaccination campaign will target 330,000 children, who were not reached during vaccine trials.
The vaccine, sold by GlaxoSmithKline as Mosquirix, is meant for children under the age of five and requires four doses.
“Malaria is major problem in children. They are the ones at highest risk of dying,” said Dr. Charles Mwansambo, Malawi’s secretary for health. “That’s why even when we were doing the earlier studies, we found that once we get maximum benefit, we should target this age group. The main reason is that they are the ones that are most likely to die from malaria.”
Last year, the government launched a nationwide anti-malaria initiative known as Zero Malaria Starts with Me, aimed at eliminating the disease by 2030.
Mwansambo said the vaccine is a key part of that initiative.
“It actually prevents about 33 percent of deaths. Meaning that if you add the 33 to those that we can prevent using insecticide treated nets, if will also add on those [we can] prevent by indoor residual spraying, it [can] add up to something significant that will end up eliminating malaria,” he said.
However, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, backers of the vaccine, have raised concerns about whether the vaccine is worth the cost.
In July, the Associated Press quoted Philip Welkhoff, director of malaria programs for the Gates Foundation, as saying the foundation will no longer offer direct financial support for the vaccine, although it will fund an alliance backing the vaccine.
He said Mosquirix has much lower efficacy than the foundation would like and that the vaccine is relatively expensive and logistically challenging to deliver.
Dr. Neema Kimambo, a WHO representative in Malawi, said the malaria vaccine itself is not a silver bullet but part of a combination of all interventions to fight the disease.
“Where it [vaccination] was done, we have seen how it has reduced under-five deaths and we believe that as we expand now, we are definitely to save more lives of children under five,” she said.
Maziko Matemba, a health activist and community health ambassador in Malawi, said he hopes the malaria vaccine efficacy will improve as time goes by.
“I have an example with COVID-19. When we had AstraZeneca, the efficacy when it started — as you know it was also a new vaccine — it was less that certain percentage and people said no it was less than this. But over time, we found that the efficacy has gone up,” Matemba said. “So we are monitoring the launch of this new vaccine with keen interest.
“I know that other partners are saying the worthiness of investment is not worth it, but looking at the way we are coming from, Malawi in particular, this could be one of the tools to prevent malaria.”
Besides WHO, other partners supporting Malawi in the fight against malaria include USAID, UNICEF, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and a global health nonprofit organization, PATH.
your ad hereReport: Authoritarianism on the Rise as Democracy Weakens
Democracy is being degraded around the world because people are losing faith in the legitimacy of elections and see freedom of expression being stymied, among a range of other problems, according to a global body founded to promote democracy worldwide.
The 34 member-country International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, or International IDEA, said in a report that the decline in democratic rule is being fueled by efforts to undermine credible election results, widespread disillusionment among youth over political parties and their out-of-touch leaders as well as the rise of right-wing extremism that has polarized politics.
The Stockholm-based organization said in its annual Global Report on the State of the Democracy that the number of countries moving toward authoritarianism is more than double those moving toward democracy and that authoritarian regimes worldwide have deepened their repression, with 2021 being the worst year on record.
Authoritarianism is gaining in countries like Afghanistan, Belarus, Cambodia, the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros and Nicaragua.
The 64-page report that measures democratic performance in 173 nations, concluded that progress within democratically-run countries has stalled over the last five years.
International IDEA Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora said its essential for democracies to now push back against a “toxic mix” of crises ranging from the skyrocketing cost of living to fears over nuclear war climate change that are confronting them.
“Never has there been such an urgency for democracies to respond, to show their citizens that they can forge new, innovative social contracts that bind people together rather than divide them.” he added.
In Europe, democratic rule in 17 countries has eroded over the last five years, affecting 46% of the high-performing democracies, the organization said.
In Asia and the Pacific, democracy is receding while authoritarianism solidifies. Although over half of the region’s population lives in democracies, almost 85% of that number lives in countries were democracy is weak or backsliding. Even democracies such as Australia, Japan and Taiwan are suffering democratic erosion.
The report also noted that three out of seven backsliding democracies are in the Americas, pointing to weakening institutions even in longstanding democracies. A third of democracies in that region have experienced declines including Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador and Guatemala.
In the United States, threats to democracy persist following the presidency of Donald Trump, illustrated by Congress’s political paralysis and the rolling back of long-established rights.
“The world is at a critical crossroads,” International DEA said, adding that efforts are underway to revive democratic rule through “appropriate and corresponding mechanisms.” Those include reforming existing democratic institutions and rethinking the ‘social contract’ between citizens and government in a way that responds to new and evolving public needs and demands.
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Tears, No Fears for Senegal After Advancing into Knockout Phase
Emotions ran high as Senegal qualified for the knockout phase of the World Cup exactly two years after the death of Papa Bouba Diop, the player who kickstarted their 2002 run to the quarterfinals.
Kalidou Koulibaly wore a special armband with Diop’s number 19 and the players held a banner with a portrait of the midfielder after their captain’s 70th-minute strike sealed a 2-1 win against Ecuador and effectively sent them into the last 16.
Diop, who died at age 42, scored the goal in Senegal’s 1-0 win against France in the 2002 tournament and two in a 3-3 draw with Uruguay in their last group game.
“This victory and this (man-of-the-match) trophy are for the family of Papa Bouba Diop, this is a very special day,” an emotional Koulibaly told a news conference after what he said was one of the most important games of his and his teammates’ careers.
“We wanted to commemorate the great player he was, he’s a legend of Senegalese football, he made me dream, he made all of us dream so we could not mess it up on the anniversary of his death.”
Koulibaly, who spent eight seasons at Napoli before joining Chelsea this season, also sent “strength to the people of Naples, my second home,” who have been affected by the landslide on the island of Ischia.
Senegal was without its Sadio Mane, who was ruled out of the tournament before it started with a fibula injury, and the Bayern Munich striker was on his teammates’ minds.
“We also play for Sadio, he’s our star, our brother, we’re a family,” said Koulibaly before Coach Aliou Cisse also mentioned former coach Bruno Metsu, who led them to the quarterfinals in 2002, and died in 2013.
“I don’t forget all those who helped us be here today,” he said.
Koulibaly, however, quickly set the team’s sights on the next game. Senegal will face the winner of Group B, England.
“We’re not listening to what’s being said. We believe in ourselves, and we don’t intend to just go through the motions here,” Koulibaly said.
“Two-thirds of the world thought that we were done after Sadio got injured but the other third, us, Africa, had faith.
“After his injury, there was more pressure on the team leaders, but everyone stepped up. We fear no one, we are a good team with a lot of talent,” he added.
Cisse said that Senegal is used to playing make-or-break games.
“We’ve played so many important games, like the final of the African Nations Cup,” he said of Senegal’s victory against Egypt on penalties in February.
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Namibia’s Ruling Party Chooses First Female Presidential Candidate
Namibia’s ruling party has selected Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as the party’s vice president, putting her in line to be the country’s first female presidential candidate when the current leader steps down in March 2024.
During a prolonged party congress that ended Monday night, members of Namibia’s ruling Swapo party re-elected Netumbo-Nandi Ndaitwah, the country’s deputy prime minister, as its vice president.
According to the Swapo constitution, she will be the party’s candidate for president when the incumbent, Hage Geingob, completes his limit of two terms in office in about 15 months.
Ndaitwah cruised to an easy first-round victory over two other candidates, including her boss, the current prime minister.
Speaking to VOA, Ndaitwah said she is prepared to lead.
“The point I am trying to make is there is no easy time in life,” she said. “So, every time it has its own challenges and I can tell you, whatever the challenges, there are always people who are ready to face those challenges and I am one of those. This is the time I am given in order to take the position. I am asking party members to give me that opportunity and I am ready.”
More than 700 delegates descended upon the capital for the party congress.
Amongst the delegates were observers from nearby countries, such as Mike Bimha, national political commissar for Zimbabwe’s ZANU-PF party.
He commended Namibia’s ruling party for ushering in new leadership through democratic systems and processes.
“Right from the first day, the conduct of congress went on very well and it was very purposeful,” he said. “Everybody was attending and the procedures were followed diligently. We were also delighted that the election process went on well. Procedures were followed and it was very transparent.”
The congress that was scheduled for three days was extended by a rerun for the deputy secretary general position, after none of the candidates won a majority of votes in the first round.
Uahekwa Herunga was later declared the winner per the Swapo constitution, which requires a gender balance in the top four positions.
The ruling Swapo party has led Namibia since independence in 1990 and commands strong support from voters, paving the way for Ndaitwah to become the country’s first female head of state.
Only one woman has been elected head of state in Africa, that being Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia.
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Influx of Refugees in Kenya as Thousands Flee Drought and Hunger in Somalia
Record drought and hunger in Somalia are driving thousands to flee to neighboring Kenya for help. Relief groups say the influx of refugees at Kenya’s Dadaab camp is stretching the already overcrowded camp’s resources. Juma Majanga reports from the refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya.
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Rights Activists Demand Release of Arrested Ugandan Opposition Leader
Ugandan opposition politicians and rights groups are calling for the release of opposition party president Joseph Kabuleta, who was arrested Monday by security forces.
Kabuleta’s party is demanding an explanation for his arrest, which they likened to an abduction. Ugandan police accused him of promoting sectarianism, while Human Rights Watch accused authorities of muzzling government critics.
A video circulating on social media Monday afternoon showed six men walking into an office in which Kabuleta was meeting with two people. One of the men moved to grab Kabuleta’s phone, and two others grabbed him by his hands before he is whisked away in a black van.
Kabuleta, who heads the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue party, has been critical of government policies. This includes what he has called “poor service delivery” to different parts of the country.
Kabuleta’s lawyer, Ivan Bwowe, speaking to VOA by phone, described the incident as “fishy” and said a full day passed without police revealing where Kabuleta had been taken.
Bwowe told VOA that at 2:39 p.m. Tuesday, party leaders received a call from police informing them of Kabuleta’s whereabouts.
“After a lot of pressure, police authorities, they have just informed us that he is at Kira division police. And, right there, the police authorities have made instructions that he should be allowed to access his lawyers, doctor, and also the family members. But that has been a struggle on its own,” Bwowe said.
The police say they are holding Kabuleta on charges of promoting sectarianism based on statements he made that service delivery in some parts of the country were based on ethnic lines.
The police say the statements, made on May 30, are likely to create alienation, raise discontent, and promote feelings of ill will or hostility among members of the public.
Shortly before his arrest, Kabuleta held a news conference in which he called on President Yoweri Museveni to treat the ongoing insecurity in the country very seriously.
This was in relation to recent attacks on police stations and an army installation in which guns were stolen and security officers killed and injured.
Kabuleta also condemned the killing of suspects who had information regarding the attacks.
Orem Nyeko, an East Africa researcher for rights group Human Rights Watch, said it was wrong for the police to arrest Kabuleta because of his criticism.
The government must stop restricting freedom of expression, he said, adding, “Especially for people who are critical of how the government operates. People should be allowed to talk freely. Especially when it’s about issues of how they are governed and to do that it is just increasingly closing in Uganda.”
Bwowe accused Ugandan authorities of torturing dissenters and holding people incommunicado.
“We condemn of course these actions,” Bwowe said. “They are barbaric. They are not for the 21st century, and authorities should reconsider their methods of operation.”
Also Monday, Muslim cleric Yahya Mwanje was picked up in an unmarked van in Kampala and whisked off to an unknown location. There has been no police report on why he was arrested.
your ad hereThousands Flee Drought and Hunger in Somalia for Kenya
Raho Ali has just arrived from Somalia with four of her children at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) transit area in Kenya’s northern border town of Dadaab.
The 45-year-old mother of seven said the biting drought in Somalia prompted her to flee and seek relief in Kenya. Three of her children got lost following a gun attack on them while on the treacherous journey and she has yet to locate them.
“On our way to Dadaab refugee camp,” she told VOA, “I met with different things. People were dying of starvation and hunger. People were disappearing.” She added that, “I have even lost three of my children on the journey. I don’t know where they are.”
Ali is among tens of thousands flocking to Kenyan camps in a new wave of drought-driven refugees.
The Kenyan government put a ban on the registration of new refugees in the northern border with Somalia, but the UNHCR says it has profiled 80,000 new arrivals in the last few months. Relief agencies say the influx is straining their capacity to help.
Guy Avognon, the head of the UNHCR in Dadaab, said that the wave has “overstretched our work. It has overstretched our resources, because for the moment, this is an operation that is not attracting a lot of donor attention. So, we are providing the barest minimum of assistance that we can.”
Kongani Athanus, health manager for the International Rescue Committee, agreed with him. He explained that, “This population was not planned prior to, like, six-seven months ago. But we’ve seen these cases increase recently, like the past three-four months.”
With a fifth straight failed rainy season, it is feared the drought crisis in the Horn of Africa will only worsen. And with parts of Somalia approaching famine, more refugees are expected in the camps.
Humanitarian agencies say they are worried about the dwindling attention from the international community on the crisis and are appealing for more aid.
“We are making plans for more arrivals,” Avognon explained, “But we appeal to the international community to really pay attention to this side of the world, because there doesn’t seem to be much attention coming our way, probably out of other priorities internationally, including Ukraine. We are feeling it as compared to previous years and previous influxes and previous emergencies where we got more attention than now.”
For the thousands fleeing drought and hunger across the border like Ali, their main goal is simply to get some food and shelter.
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Funding Gaps, Patriarchy Hinder Family Planning in Nigeria
In 2020, Aisha Ali and her husband decided she would take a birth control injection after having nine children.
Ali said the decision was due to financial constraints.
She told VOA that she is “a petty trader and my husband is a motorcycle rider. We want the best for our children but don’t make enough money.”
But the contraceptive Ali was given suppresses ovulation for only a few years.
Many Nigerian women like Ali, especially those in rural areas, surpass the national birth rate of about five children per woman.
Evelyn Isienyi had eight children before her husband passed away in 2018. Now she says she’s struggling to take care of them.
“Even if my husband was alive,” Isienyi said, “I wouldn’t want to have more children because of the hardship. Things are very difficult for me.”
The United Nations Population Fund [UNFPA] pointed to low funding for procurement of family planning consumables, cultural bias and so-called “male dominance” as major factors affecting uptake of family planning measures here.
This is the reason the U.N. raised concerns that population growth, especially in Africa, is not sustainable.
Marking the world population milestone of 8 billion earlier this month, U.N. officials called the population growth a result of improvements in medicine and public health leading to reduced mortality rates.
According to Erika Goldson, the deputy country representative for Nigeria at the UNFPA, “There are major advancements happening, but one of the things that concerns us at the U.N. is that this progress is not received equally across board. There are some citizens [who are] denied access to basic health care, basic education — their whole overall quality of life is affected negatively.”
Eight countries worldwide are expected to account for more than half of the global population growth over the next three decades. Five of them are in Africa, including Nigeria.
Nigeria is already the seventh-largest population in the world, and 95 million of its people live below $2.15 a day, according to World Bank data for 2022.
In February of this year, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari launched a national population policy to control high fertility rates and improve access to modern family planning tools.
To help, the U.N. and Nigerian officials educate women about family planning in rural areas. But Goldson says Nigeria must budget more money for family planning to achieve more tangible goals.
“Since this year,” Goldson explained, “We’ve had a gap of 25 million [dollars], and that had to do with a lot of economic downturn because of the COVID-19. We also have the issue around the Ukraine war, and that had affected donor contribution. A lot of the issues around family planning, especially procurement, is very donor-driven, which is very risky for Nigeria.”
Health officials say Nigeria needs to invest $35 million every year to address family planning gaps but only earmarked only $50,000 for it in the national budget for next year.
Civil society groups are calling for authorities to increase the allotment before the budget is approved by the national assembly in December.
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Rwandan Characters, Traditions Used to Improve Child Literacy
The United Nations says only 35 percent of students in Africa attain minimum competency in reading and just 22 percent in mathematics by the end of primary school. In Rwanda, a group is creating comic books, games and animations based on Rwandan characters and traditions to help improve child literacy. Senanu Tord reports from Nyamirambo, Rwanda.
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Kenyan Herders Learn Coding for More Sustainable Jobs
In northern Kenya, the government and aid groups have launched a project teaching computer coding to herders so they can find more sustainable jobs. But not everyone supports education that could end their traditional way of life, as Victoria Amunga reports from Isiolo Kenya. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo
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East African Nations Say DRC Needs Political Reform to Deal With Armed Groups
Kenya is hosting a third round of talks aimed at bringing peace to the volatile eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The East African Community regional bloc has convened a meeting in Nairobi to discuss how to solve the political, security and social problems that have plagued the eastern DRC for decades.
This week’s talks are essentially an inter-Congolese dialogue, involving local community leaders, civil society organizations, and some of the armed groups active in eastern Congo.
The EAC says Congo needs to implement political and institutional reforms that will make it conducive to defeat and disarm the armed groups.
Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is also the bloc’s peace envoy to the DRC, said the Congolese people need to own the peace process and address the real insecurity problems in Ituri, North and South Kivu and two other provinces.
“To also deepen the consultation of communities and armed groups from the concerned areas for the greater inclusivity and greater ownership of the process, including for the first time with the representatives from Maniema and Tanganyika, and identification of root causes of the conflict in the five provinces and finally to evaluate the concrete modalities for the restoration of state authority in each province,” Kenyatta said.
The eastern DRC is engulfed in violence in part because of armed groups competing over the area’s rich mines. Neighboring countries’ troops have crossed into Congo, chasing rebel groups that they accuse of trying to destabilize their countries.
Most recently, the Congolese army has been fighting with the rebel group M23, which it accuses of receiving military support from Rwanda, an accusation denied by Kigali.
The M23 agreed to a cease-fire last week during talks in Angola but said they will not withdraw from territories captured from the Congolese army.
The rebel group has blamed the army and some rebel groups for attacking their families and uprooting them from their homes.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who joined the conference online, said Congo’s problems can be solved but all communities must be involved in the peace process.
“The internal groups of Congo come from the weakening of the state authority in that area for a prolonged period but even this problem can be solved by combining the political method, i.e. dialogue, with military method,” he said. “The peaceful solution should be the outcome of that dialogue but the victim communities and the refugees should also be consulted.”
Kenyan President William Ruto said the region must work towards peace and respect international laws.
“We are here to emphasize the urgent need for dialogue, de-escalation and to encourage and facilitate every actor to intensify their pursuit through the effective engagement of regional and international dispute resolution mechanisms,” he said. “We also encourage regional states to maintain their commitment to existing regional bilateral as well as multilateral understanding.”
The DRC said it will hold presidential and parliamentary votes by December 2023 and the electoral commission said it will stick to the deadlines despite the threat of armed groups.
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Comoros Security Court Sentences Ex-President to Life in Prison
A court in Comoros, the island nation off Mozambique, has found former President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi guilty of treason for selling passports to people from the Middle East.
A state security court in Comoros gave a life sentence to former President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi.
Sambi is charged with treason and the court said it found him guilty of selling Comorian passports to people in Gulf countries.
The sixty-four-year-old was not present in the court. He boycotted the hearing last week, claiming he would not get a fair trial.
Jon Fermon, a lawyer representing Sambi, termed the trial and the ruling illegal.
“The case should have been stopped. If the case went on, at least it should have been brought before a regular court established according to the law, which was not the case. If it was brought before a regular court established according to the law, it’s obvious for me President Sambi should be acquitted because there is not a piece of evidence,” he said.
Sambi has spent four years in jail for corruption.
The prosecution said the former president embezzled millions of dollars for the sale of passports to foreigners.
Fermon says they will take the case to the international forum to seek justice for Sambi.
“We will have to take this to the international scene,” he said. “There is no other choice than to take this out of Comoros and try to get it to the international attention for this case with U.N. bodies in Geneva with the French justice system, to which we will submit the question of this attempt buy a false witness statement… because there is no possibility to appeal the decision under Comorian law. So, there is no other choice than to go beyond Comoros to continue the struggle for justice for President Sambi.”
One of the defendants, Bashar Kiwan, a French-Syrian businessman, accused the current Comorian government led by President Azali Assoumani of pressuring him to testify against Sambi in exchange for a pardon. The presidency denies the claim.
Sambi, after leaving power, was placed under house arrest for disturbing public order. He ruled the Indian ocean nation from 2006 to 2011.
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Al-Shabab Militants Holed Up in Mogadishu Hotel
Explosions and gunfire rang out Monday from a hotel in Somalia’s capital that was attacked by a group of insurgents Sunday.
Four people were killed overnight in the hotel, according to an Agence France Presse report.
“The terrorist gunmen are trapped inside a room in the building and the security forces are about to end the siege very soon…so far we have confirmed the death of four people,” Mohamed Dahir, a security official told AFP.
Reuters reports Somalia’s parliament canceled sessions for both of its houses because of the militants’ hotel attack.
Al-Shabab militants carried out the complex attack on the Villa Rays Hotel, located in a secure area not far from the presidential palace in Mogadishu and a prison run by the national intelligence agency, according to witnesses and police. The hotel is frequented by government officials and politicians.
Witnesses have seen special security forces moving into the area. Police said they rescued many civilians and officials.
In a Telegram post, the militant group said its fighters conducted a suicide infantry mission.
The attack comes as Somali government forces supported by local fighters continue an offensive against the militants in Hirshabelle and Galmudug states.
Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre last week said security forces have killed more than 600 militants and injured 1,200 others during three months of military operations against the group.
In a report marking the first 100 days of his Cabinet, he said security forces have also recovered 68 localities from al-Shabab.
“The government of Dan Qaran (National Interest) has launched a three-front war, militarily, economically and ideology against the Khawarij,” he said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the Villa Rays Hotel.
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Landslide Kills at Least 14 Attending Funeral in Cameroon Capital
A landslide in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde Sunday killed at least 14 people who were attending a funeral, the region’s governor said.
“We are carrying the corpses to the mortuary of the central hospital, while the search for other people, or corpses, is still ongoing,” Naseri Paul Bea, governor of Cameroon’s Center region, said.
Dozens of people were attending a funeral on a soccer pitch at the base of a 20-meter-high soil embankment, which collapsed on top of them, witnesses told Reuters.
Yaounde is one of the wettest cities in Africa and is made of dozens of steep, shack-lined hills. Heavy rains have triggered several devastating floods throughout the country this year, weakening infrastructure and displacing thousands.
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Worried About Ebola, Uganda Extends Outbreak Epicenter’s Quarantine
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has extended a quarantine placed on two districts that are the epicenter of the country’s Ebola outbreak by 21 days, adding that his government’s response to the disease was succeeding.
Movement into and out of the Mubende and Kassanda districts in central Uganda will be restricted up to Dec. 17, the presidency said late Saturday. It was originally imposed for 21 days on Oct. 15, then extended for the same period Nov. 5.
The extension is “to further sustain the gains in control of Ebola that we have made, and to protect the rest of the country from continued exposure,” according to Museveni.
The government’s anti-Ebola efforts were succeeding with two districts now going for roughly two weeks without new cases, the president said.
“It may be too early to celebrate any successes, but overall, I have been briefed that the picture is good,” he said in a statement.
The East African nation has so far recorded 141 infections. Fifty-five people have died since the outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever was declared on Sept. 20th.
Although the outbreak was gradually being brought under control, the “situation is still fragile,” Museveni said, adding that the country’s weak health system and circulation of misinformation about the disease were still a challenge.
The Ebola virus circulating in Uganda is the Sudan strain, for which there is no proven vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain, which spread during recent outbreaks in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
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4 Killed in Sao Tome’s Failed Coup Bid, State Media Reports
Four people were killed in a failed coup attempt on Sao Tome and Principe, the state news agency STP-Press said Sunday reporting a toll from the armed forces chief of staff.
The military, which Friday thwarted a coup bid in the tiny Portuguese-speaking archipelago off central Africa considered a beacon of democracy, announced “four human lives were lost” after “exchanges of fire” at a military site.
Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada told STP-Press that “four citizens” and 12 soldiers and fighters from South Africa’s officially disbanded Buffalo Battalion were involved in the attempted overnight putsch.
The army said Sunday 12 active-duty soldiers were involved.
They were “neutralized and captured” after trying to storm military sites and three of them died from their wounds despite the army’s efforts to preserve their lives by taking them to the hospital, Trovoada added.
One of the victims was Arlecio Costa, who once served as a mercenary in apartheid South Africa’s Buffalo Battalion, disbanded in 1993. Trovoada accused him of being one of the ringleaders.
The army said Costa — also held in 2009 over accusations of plotting a coup — died following his arrest Friday after he “jumped from a vehicle,” without giving further details.
Trovoada said the former president of the outgoing National Assembly Delfim Neves was also one of several people arrested after the attack on army headquarters, in a Friday video message confirmed by the justice minister.
A judicial source told AFP two inquiries had been launched to investigate the alleged attack on a military barracks in Sao Tome and the “torture” and “murder” of four suspects.
The government on Sunday condemned what it called a “violent attempt to subvert the constitutional order,” saying the deaths and the coup attempt would be investigated.
It added that an international team was coming to the archipelago to support investigators and called on the hospital services to look after the victims’ bodies.
A resident speaking to AFP anonymously by phone said she had heard “automatic and heavy weapons fire, as well as explosions, for two hours inside the army headquarters” in the nation’s capital.
In the video message, authenticated and sent to AFP by the press office of Sao Tome’s prime minister, Trovoada is seen sitting at a desk saying he wants to “reassure” the population and “the international community.”
Trovoada initially said a soldier had been “taken hostage” and wounded but “would be able to resume his activities in a few days.”
A former Portuguese colony in the Gulf of Guinea, the nation of some 215,000 people is deeply poor and depends on international aid but is also praised for its political stability and parliamentary democracy.
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Al-Shabab Militants Storm Mogadishu Hotel
Al-Shabab militants have carried out a complex attack on a hotel located in a secure area not far from the presidential palace in Mogadishu and a prison run by the national intelligence agency, according to witnesses and police.
“Tonight Khawarij group attacked a hotel in Bondhere district,” said a note sent to the journalists via WhatsApp. “Security forces are conducting an operation to end the Khawarij attack.”
Khawarij or “deviant sect,” is a term the government uses to refer to al-Shabab.
A security official who did not want to be named confirmed to VOA Somali that the militants targeted Villa Rossa, a hotel frequented by government officials and politicians.
The official also confirmed that the attack started with an explosion, followed by armed gunmen storming the hotel. The number of al-Shabab gunmen is not yet known. The first explosion occurred at around 8:05 p.m. local time.
Witnesses have seen special security forces moving into the area. Police said they rescued many civilians and officials. There was no word on the number of casualties as a result of the ongoing attack.
In a Telegram post, the militant group said its fighters conducted a suicide infantry mission.
The attack comes as Somali government forces supported by local fighters continue an offensive against the militants in Hirshabelle and Galmudug states.
Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre last week said security forces have killed more than 600 militants and injured 1,200 others during three months of military operations against the group.
In a report marking the first 100 days of his Cabinet, he said security forces have also recovered 68 localities from al-Shabab.
“The government of Dan Qaran (National Interest) has launched a three-front war, militarily, economically and ideology against the Khawarij,” he said.
The figure given by the government has not been independently verified.
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Somalia Joint Operation Kills 100 Al-Shabab Militants
Somalia’s government said Saturday that an operation in the country’s Lower and Middle Shabelle region, conducted by the army, backed by locals, killed more than 100 al-Shabab militants.
Speaking to the media in the capital, Mogadishu, Saturday, Somalia’s deputy information minister, Abdirahman Yusuf Omar Adala, said that the operation targeted more than 200 al-Shabab militants, who were gathering for an attack on the Somali military.
He said the operation was conducted by the country’s national army, backed by locals and international partners, and took place on the outskirts of the village of El-Dhere at the border of the Lower and Middle Shabelle regions, killing more than 100 al-Shabab Islamist fighters, including 10 “ringleaders.”
The government said during the operation the army and locals “liberated” El-Dhere village and seized weaponry from the group.
Adala said the army and locals are now chasing the remnants of the Khawarijs, wanted criminals who were ringleaders planning on hurting the people of Middle Shabelle and Hiran were also there.
He also praised the involvement of international partners, who are assisting Somalia’s military from the air during their recent operations in the Horn of African country.
He called on al-Shabab fighters to surrender to the government and stop following what he called the wrong path.
The operation comes a day after the Somali military said it repulsed an al-Shabab attack on a military base in the village of Qayib in Somalia’s Galmudug state, killing scores of militants.
Al-Shabab, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said it killed 43 soldiers and wounded 51 others.
On Wednesday, the Somali government said it killed 49 al-Shabab Islamists after an operation in the village of Bulo Madino.
Late last week, marking his first 100 days in office, the Somali prime minister said the country’s forces killed more than 600 al-Shabab fighters, wounded 1,200 others and recaptured 68 areas from al-Shabab Islamist militants, who have been fighting the Somali government and AU peacekeeping mission forces since 2007.
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Cease-Fire Holding in Eastern DR Congo, Residents Say
The frontlines between government troops and M23 rebels remained calm in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday for a second day running, local residents told AFP, after a cease-fire came into force.
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi attended a regional mini-summit in Luanda on Wednesday, agreeing a deal on the cessation of hostilities in DRC’s war-torn east from Friday evening.
M23 rebels, who have seized swaths of territory in recent weeks, were to withdraw from “occupied zones”, failing which the East African regional force would intervene.
Local people reported no sign of a rebel pullout by midday Sunday.
Clashes had continued right up to the cease-fire deadline north of the provincial capital Goma, but on Sunday both sides were holding their positions, locals told AFP by telephone.
On Saturday, Mai Mai militia and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation Rwanda (FDLR) fought with M23 for control of a zone northeast of the provincial capital Goma where the national army is not present.
As a result, M23 took over the town of Kisharo, 30 kilometers from the Uganda border, residents said.
AFP was unable to independently confirm the accounts from the locals.
The March 23 group had been dormant for years but took up arms again late last year accusing the government of failing to honor a disarmament deal.
M23 has overrun large tracts of mountainous Rutshuru territory north of Goma, a city of one million which they briefly captured 10 years ago.
The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the rebels — charges Kigali denies and in turn alleges Kinshasa works with the FDLR, a Hutu faction present in the sprawling country since the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in neighboring Rwanda.
The M23 is among scores of armed groups that have turned eastern DRC into one of Africa’s most violent regions.
Many of the groups are legacies of two wars before the turn of the century that sucked in countries from the region and left millions dead.
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The Somali Diaspora and its Journey to Political Victories in the West
From refugees to elected office, 14 Somali Americans have won legislative seats across the U.S. this year. Some also have been elected to city councils, school boards and the boards of parks and recreation in their respective cities. The U.S. midterm elections have proved to be historic for Somalis, with more women elected to public offices than ever before.
VOA Somali Service’s Torch Program explains how Somalis who arrived as migrants and refugees to the West have made their way into politics.
Hashi Shafi, executive director of the Somali Action Alliance, a Minneapolis-based community organization in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota, says the campaign that led Somalis to shine in U.S. politics started right after 9/11 with a community-based voter registration program.
“In the beginning, Somalis were thinking about returning back to Somalia. They had their luggage ready; the artists were singing with songs giving the community a hope of immediate returning, but after 9/11, the community activists realized that such a dream was not realistic, and the Somalis needed to find a way to melt into the pot. Then, we started registering community members to encourage them to vote,” Shafi said. “Somali Americans’ rise in political power has come with its difficulties.”
Tight-knit community
Abdirahman Sharif, the imam and the leader of the Dar-Al-Hijrah Mosque in Minneapolis says another reason Somalis have risen in U.S. politics is because they are a tight-knit community.
“When Somalis came to [the] U.S., they moved to a foreign country where they could not communicate with people. So, for them, being close to people from their country meant having someone to communicate with and that helped them to unite their votes, and resources for political aspirants,” Sharif said.
The state of Minnesota has the largest Somali community in the country, mostly in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. According to U.N. estimates from 2015, there are about 150,000 Somalis, both refugees and nonrefugees, living in the U.S.
The first wave of Somalis came to Minnesota in early 1990s after civil war broke out in their country. Another wave of refugees followed, and the community thrived, thanks to the state’s welcoming social programs. It’s the biggest Somali community in North America, possibly in the world outside of East Africa.
Similarly, job opportunities and a relatively low cost of living have drawn Somali immigrants to Columbus, Ohio. Ohio has the second largest Somali population in the United States, with an estimated 45,000 immigrants.
Communities have grown significantly in both states. Somali-owned restaurants, mosques, clothing stores, coffee shops and other businesses have opened in several neighborhoods in Minneapolis, called Little Mogadishu, named after Somalia’s capital.
Large communities of Somalis are also concentrated in Lewiston and Portland, Maine, as well as Seattle in Washington state, and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Analyst Abdi-Qafar Abdi Wardere says such concentrations have helped Somalis to gather their strength as a community.
“Somalis are bound together by intimate social or cultural ties that helped them to live together and concentrate [in] certain states or neighborhoods in the diaspora. About one-third of Minnesota’s Somali residents came directly from refugee camps; others settled first in another state and then relocated to Minnesota. I can say they are somehow a tight-knit community,” Wardere said.
Canada and Europe
It’s not only in the United States but Somali immigrants have also found their place in Canadian and European politics. They have gathered in big numbers in major cities to have an impact and exert influence.
In Toronto, Canada, Somalis have made breakthroughs by winning elections and political offices. Ahmed Hussen, a lawyer and community activist born and raised in Somalia, is among the most influential Somalis in Canada. He was first elected as a member of parliament in 2015 to represent York South – Weston. He has previously served as minister of families, children and social development, and minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship. Now he is Canada’s minister of housing, diversity and inclusion.
Faisal Ahmed Hassan, who is a Somali Canadian politician, was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2018 until his defeat in 2022. He thinks for Somalis in the diaspora, there are two reasons they run for political office.
“One reason is that the community wants someone to represent their new homes and second is that Somalis inspire one another to doing something. If one of them does something good, others are encouraged that they can do the same,” Hassan said.
In the Nordic region of Europe, the first Somalis arrived in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Later, as Somalia’s civil war became more intense, new arrivals joined.
In recent years, the first generation of Somali refugees has been making its mark in politics, from the local council level to the national stage.
In Finland, Suldaan Said Ahmed has been the first Somali-born member of the Finnish parliament since 2021 and he is also the country’s special representative on peace mediation in the Horn of Africa, the northeastern region, where Somalia is located.
In Sweden, Leila Ali Elmi, a former Somali refugee, made history in 2018 becoming the first Somali-Swedish Muslim woman elected to the Swedish parliament.
Last year, Marian Abdi Hussein became the first Somali MP in Norway’s history.
Both women also became the first Muslims to wear hijabs in their respect houses of parliament.
In Britain, Magid Magid, a Somali-British activist and politician who served as the mayor of Sheffield from May 2018 to May 2019, became the first Somali elected to the European Parliament.
Mohamed Gure, a former member of the council of the city of Borlänge, Sweden, said there are unique things that keep Somalis together and make them successful in the politics in Europe.
“The fabric of Somalis is unique compared to the other diaspora communities. They share the same ethnicity, color, language, and religion. There are many things that keep them together that divide them back home. So, their togetherness is one reason I can attribute to their successes,” Gure said.
Gure says the fear of migrants and refugees stoked by politicians has been setting a defining narrative for elections in the West.
“One other reason is the fear of a growing number of migrants and refugees in the West. As they are trying to melt into the pot, such fear created by nationalist politicians continues to set a tone for electoral victories that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago,” Gure said.
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