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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
In Nigeria, a Mixed Reception for COP28 Deal to ‘Transition Away’ From Fossil Fuels
ABUJA, NIGERIA — A deal struck at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to “transition away” from fossil fuels received a less-than-hearty welcome Wednesday in Nigeria, which depends on crude oil sales for most of its budget.
Nigerian leaders said that their nation needs funding if the world wants it to move away from the production and use of fossil fuels.
The United Nations’ COP28 summit closed Wednesday with the signing of a deal to transition away from oil, gas and coal in what the text called a “just, orderly and equitable manner” in hopes of reducing carbon emissions and ease global warming.
It is the first such agreement to move away from fossil fuels since the annual conferences began nearly three decades ago.
The deal also seeks to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030 and promote carbon capture technologies that can clean up hard-to-decarbonize industries.
The president of the COP28, the UAE’s Sultan al-Jaber, praised the deal but said its success would be measured by how well it is implemented.
Peter Tarfa, former climate change director at Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment, agreed, saying, “This is not the first time that decisions have been taken in climate change discussions … that they have not been fully implemented. It is actually in the best interest of the climate that all hands should be on deck.”
Others are not so pleased with the deal. Members of the OPEC oil-producing countries, including Nigeria, initially resisted calls by more than 100 nations for stronger measures, such as a complete “phase out” of fossil fuels.
Salisu Dahiru, director of Nigeria’s National Council on Climate Change, attended a plenary session in Dubai on Wednesday.
“There’s no fairness, justice, equity” in asking developing countries to “start ditching fossil fuels,” Dahiru said.
“These fossil fuels are necessary for developing countries to taste the goodness of development,” he said. “What we’ve always stood for is decarbonizing the oil and gas so that we get cleaner fuels.”
Critics argue that decarbonizing technology is expensive and a diversionary tactic by countries so that they can continue to produce fossil fuels.
Oil accounts for 95% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. Tarfa said authorities must begin to look elsewhere to grow Nigeria’s economy.
“There’s a lot of investment now going on toward the green economy pathway,” he said. “For Nigeria, we cannot act in isolation. … The phaseout or phase down of fuel consumption will definitely impact the economy, but now the time has come for the government to start diversifying to other sources.”
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, writing a column for CNN published Wednesday, said that Nigeria had initiated programs to transition from fossil fuels but that the country needs $10 billion every year until 2060 to achieve its transition plan.
Tinubu also criticized developed nations for failing to honor a pledge to give $100 billion to poorer countries to mitigate the effects of climate change.
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Cameroon Says Bedbugs Imported From Europe Infest Towns and Villages
Yaounde — Sanitation and health workers in Cameroon are disinfecting homes to kill bedbugs that have infested the central African state’s capital, Yaounde, and several towns and villages. Government officials say the bloodsucking bugs are imported by travelers from Europe, where some countries are also experiencing infestation.
Cameroon residents say they are expecting teams from the central African state’s hygiene and sanitation service to come to their homes to help get rid of the bugs.
Fruit seller Kuffo Marilyne lives in Madagascar, a neighborhood in Yaounde. She said she first used insecticides to get rid of the bugs in her home, thinking they were little cockroaches. She said she was surprised when three of her children developed insomnia and experienced irritation after they were bitten by the insects.
Bedbug bites leave blisters or large rashes on the skin, health workers say.
Kuffo said she took her children to the hospital for treatment, but that a majority of her neighbors who also reported bedbugs in their homes are poor and unable to get their children medical care.
Cameroon’s government reported that huge numbers of bedbugs have infested homes in several poor Yaounde neighborhoods.
Cameron’s health ministry said the bugs come out at night to feed on human blood and often cause psychological distress, sleeping issues, anxiety and depression.
The government said it has dispatched several hundred sanitary and health workers to disinfect homes and kill the bugs.
Mariline Longue a medical staff member at the Cite Verte District Hospital in Yaounde, said more than 70% of people in some of Yaounde’s congested neighborhoods have reported bedbugs in their homes and shops. Longue said 24 of the 30 houses they visited in Cameroon’s capital on Wednesday morning had huge numbers of bedbugs hidden in mattresses, cracks of bed frames, chairs and couches.
The government said besides Yaounde and the economic hub Douala, there are fears several other towns and villages have been infested.
Maritial Ayissi, a sanitation officer with the Yaounde City Council, said the bugs are coming from European countries.
Ayissi said it is unfortunate government officials did not take measures to protect borders when the Cameroon National Hygiene and Sanitation Association raised an alarm in September that people were coming in from Europe with bedbugs in their luggage. He said many secondhand goods including mattresses, blankets and dresses that are imported by merchants from France in particular and sold in Cameroon have huge numbers of bedbugs hidden in them.
Ayissi said the bugs have become increasingly resistant to chemical treatments after they disappeared from daily life more than 20 years ago.
Rights groups and civil society activists have expressed fears that the insects may turn up in neighboring states, including landlocked Chad and Central African Republic, that rely on Cameroon for most of their goods. More than 80% of goods imported to Chad and CAR from Europe pass through Cameroon’s Douala seaport.
Cameroon officials said they will disinfect airports and goods imported from Europe if reports about bedbugs being found in them are investigated and found true.
In September, France announced that travelers were posting photos and videos purportedly showing bedbugs in Paris’ local transport system, high-speed trains and at Charles de Gaulle airport, provoking a wave of panic.
The French government in October said there was no evidence of any resurgence of the biting irritants on public transport, but it did not dismiss reports the insects were found in some homes.
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Refugee Forum Seeks Solutions for 114 million Forcibly Displaced People
GENEVA — Over the next three days, more than 3,500 delegates attending the world’s largest international conference on refugee issues will seek concrete, practical solutions to ease the plight of 114 million people forcibly displaced by persecution, human rights violations, violence, and armed conflict.
In opening the Global Refugee Forum Wednesday, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called the gathering “an opportunity for all of us to re-commit to some basic actions needed to respond to forced displacement, protecting people forced to flee, and sharing the responsibility of those who host them.”
Ironically, the issue that looms the largest over the forum, that of the Palestinian refugees, does not fall under the UNHCR’s mandate. They are under the care and protection of UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
However, Grandi, who was commissioner-general of UNRWA from 2010 to 2014, was unable to ignore what he calls “the major catastrophe unfolding in the Gaza Strip” triggered by the brutal invasion of Israel by Hamas militants on October 7.
“We foresee more civilian deaths and suffering, and also further displacement that threatens the region,” he said, echoing the call of the U.N. Secretary-General “for an immediate and sustained humanitarian ceasefire, the release of hostages” and the resumption of a dialogue that “brings real peace and security to the people of Israel and Palestine.”
These sentiments were forcefully brought home by Jordan’s King Abdullah II in his keynote address to the conference.
“As we speak, we find ourselves dealing with another internal displacement crisis in the region. Over 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza, many of whom themselves refugees, have been forced to flee their homes amid a relentless bombing campaign,” he said, referring to Israeli military operations.
“With all eyes on Gaza, the international community must recognize more than ever that Band-Aid solutions are no longer feasible and that global crises demand long-term responsibility sharing,” noting that Jordan was hosting nearly four million refugees of different nationalities—over a third of his country’s population.
While confirming that Jordan continued to support the Palestinians and UNRWA in Gaza, he said there needed to be a more coordinated response and support by the international community for the needs of countries hosting refugees and asylum seekers.
“Our country is still bearing the heavy costs and burdens of the refugee communities in our midst, he said adding that international funding to meet pledges has been steadily declining.
“So far this year, we only received around 22 percent of the Response Plan needs, the lowest level ever. The rest is covered through Jordan’s national budget,” he said.
While a strong focus remains and must remain on Gaza, High Commissioner Grandi urged governments not to lose sight of other pressing humanitarian and refugee crises around the world.
“The situation of civilians in Sudan and in Ukraine, including millions who are refugees and displaced, demand our attention and support, as do protracted crises like the plight of the Rohingya, the Syria situation, Afghanistan” and others, he said.
Belying common perceptions, UNHCR statistics confirm that low- and middle-income countries host 75 percent of the world’s refugees and other people in need of international protection.
Colombia, one of four co-convenors of the Global Refugee Forum is a case in point. Colombian Vice President Francia Elena Marquez Mina told the forum that her country has the highest number of forcibly displaced persons in the world — over 6.9 million people uprooted from their homes due to decades of internal armed conflict.
“Colombia is also the fourth country to host the largest number of refugees in the world. And today, we have about three million Venezuelans, which we have welcomed and hosted.
“Two million have benefited from a special migration status; 100,000 children have received Colombian nationality, and these are children who are at the risk of being stateless without a nationality. And, Colombia has provided them with the civil right of recognizing Colombian nationality to those children,” she said.
“I believe this demonstrates Colombia’s commitment not only to addressing the forcibly displaced population in our own country but also addressing those we are hosting who come to our country,” she said.
However, she said that this care comes at a price. She said international legislation must be produced committing nations to support refugee hosting countries “because our state alone does not have the capacity or resources to grapple with this situation.
“No one wants to leave the countries where they were born. No one wants to flee from their homes,” she said. “People leave because they want to safeguard their lives, or they want to seek better opportunities.”
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Congo Opposition Candidate Suspends Presidential Campaign after Violence
Kinshasa — One of the main opposition candidates for Congo’s presidential election next week, Moise Katumbi, suspended part of his campaign on Wednesday after violent clashes at one of his election rallies.
Live rounds were fired and several people were injured as Katumbi addressed supporters in the coastal town of Moanda on Tuesday, marking an escalation in tension ahead of the Dec. 20 vote.
There are differing accounts of the incident. The provincial government said in a statement that Katumbi’s guards fired warning shots after the crowd grew rowdy, stoking tension and jostling. The police used tear gas to restore order.
Several people were injured, including a police officer who was seriously hurt, and investigations into the incident are ongoing, the statement said.
Katumbi said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that police shot live bullets at people and that the incident had been orchestrated to create violence.
“In order to avoid further provocation, I have decided to temporarily suspend my meeting with citizens in (the cities of) Kananga and Tshikapa,” he said, referring to events scheduled for Wednesday.
Kananga and Tshikapa are in the Kasai-Central province, which is a stronghold for President Felix Tshisekedi’s supporters.
Almost 44 million people are registered to vote in an election that will determine whether Tshisekedi will remain in office after a first term characterized by economic hardship and insecurity.
Katumbi is one of more than two dozen candidates in the presidential race that also includes leading opposition candidate Martin Fayulu and Nobel Peace Prize-winning gynecologist Denis Mukwege.
There have been several challenges in the run-up to the polls, including alleged irregularities in voter registration and difficulty distributing voting materials.
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Tunisian Court Hands Suspended Jail Term to Opposition Figure Chaima Issa
Tunis — A Tunisian military court on Wednesday sentenced opposition figure Chaima Issa to a one-year suspended prison sentence for “offending” President Kais Saied, her lawyers said.
Issa, 43, was found guilty of causing offence to Saied, spreading rumors to harm public security and inciting soldiers to disobey orders, her lawyer Dalila Ben Mbarek said in a Facebook post.
Issa, a member of the National Salvation Front coalition, said after a court hearing Tuesday that Saied’s opponents were being treated like “criminals.”
“We are not criminals,” she said. “We are not plotters. We are not traitors. We are politicians, opponents of the coup of July 25” 2021.
Saied, who was democratically elected in October 2019, assumed sweeping powers in July 2021 and has since had the constitution revised to substantially weaken parliament.
Issa was arrested in February 2023 as part of a crackdown on Tunisia’s opposition. She was released in July with her trial pending.
Samir Dilou, a member of Issa’s defense team, condemned her court appearance on Tuesday “under the famous decree 54, which penalizes false information.”
“It’s dangerous,” he told AFPTV.
“She should have never been prosecuted for expressing her opinions, nor tried by a military court,” Salsabil Chellali of Human Rights Watch said on X, formerly Twitter, following Issa’s suspended sentence.
Since February, more than 20 Tunisian political opponents, businessmen and others, deemed “terrorists” by Saied, have been jailed over an alleged “plot against internal security.”
your ad hereRwanda to Hold Presidential Poll Next July
Kigali — Rwanda will hold presidential and parliamentary polls on July 15 next year, the election commission said Tuesday, with President Paul Kagame due to run for a fourth term in office.
“Throughout the country, the polling date for the president of the Republic and 53 deputies elected from a list proposed by political organizations or for independent candidates is Monday, 15 July 2024,” the National Electoral Commission said on X, formerly Twitter.
Kagame, 66, has ruled over the landlocked African nation with an iron fist for decades.
He presided over controversial constitutional amendments in 2015 that allowed him to run for more terms and stay in power until 2034.
A former rebel chief, Kagame became president in April 2000 but has been the country’s de facto leader since the end of the 1994 genocide.
He was returned to office — with more than 90 percent of the vote — in elections in 2003, 2010 and 2017.
Kagame’s only known challenger in the upcoming elections is opposition Green Party leader Frank Habineza, who announced in May his intention to run in 2024.
Candidates will be allowed to campaign from June 22 until July 12, the election commission said.
While Rwanda lays claim to being one of the most stable countries in Africa, rights groups accuse Kagame of ruling in a climate of fear, stifling dissent and free speech.
The Rwandan government in March decided to synchronize the dates for its parliamentary and presidential elections.
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Kenya’s Electrical Wires, Poles Pose Threat to Rare Birds
Conservationists in Kenya warn that nearly all the country’s 103 species of raptors are in decline. These wildlife advocates are now proposing the construction of bird-friendly infrastructure to avert possible extinction. Francis Ontomwa has this report from Nakuru, Kenya. (Camera: Amos Wangwa)
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Five Countries in East and Southern Africa Have Anthrax Outbreaks, WHO Says
Five countries in East and southern Africa are in the middle of outbreaks of the anthrax disease, with more than 1,100 suspected cases and 20 deaths this year, the World Health Organization said Monday.
A total of 1,166 suspected cases had been reported in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Thirty-seven cases had been confirmed by laboratory tests, according to the WHO, which also said the five countries have seasonal outbreaks every year, but Zambia was experiencing its worst since 2011 and Malawi reported its first human case this year. Uganda had reported 13 deaths.
Anthrax usually affects livestock like cattle, sheep and goats, as well as wild herbivores. Humans can be infected if they are exposed to the animals or contaminated animal products. Anthrax isn’t generally considered to be contagious between humans, although there have been rare cases of person-to-person transmission, WHO says.
Anthrax is caused by spore-forming bacteria and is sometimes associated with the weaponized version used in the 2001 attacks in the United States, when five people died and 17 others fell sick after being exposed to anthrax spores in letters sent through the mail.
Anthrax bacteria also occurs naturally in soil.
In a separate assessment of the Zambia outbreak, which was the most concerning, WHO said that 684 suspected cases had been reported in the southern African nation as of November 20, with four deaths. Human cases of anthrax had been reported in nine out of Zambia’s 10 provinces. In one instance, 26 people were suspected of contracting the disease from eating contaminated hippopotamus meat.
WHO said there was a high risk that the Zambian outbreak would spread to neighboring countries.
The outbreaks in all five countries were “likely being driven by multiple factors, including climatic shocks, food insecurity, low-risk perception and exposure to the disease through handling the meat of infected animals,” the WHO said.
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Pressure Mounts in Turkey to Seek Extradition of Somalia President’s Son for Fatal Crash
The Turkish government is facing mounting pressure to seek the return of the Somali president’s son, who allegedly fled Turkey after causing a fatal traffic crash in Istanbul.
Yunus Emre Gocer, a 38-year-old motorcycle courier, died of injuries in a hospital on Dec. 6, six days after he was hit by a car driven by Mohammed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on a busy highway in Istanbul.
Turkish authorities ordered Mohamud arrested and barred him from traveling abroad following the motorcyclist’s death, but reports said the Somali president’s son had already left Turkey by the time the warrant was issued.
On Sunday, dozens of people, including motorcycle courier groups, staged a demonstration in Istanbul demanding that Mohamud face trial for Gocer’s death.
Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and a prominent opposition politician, tweeted a security camera video of the crash, claiming that the “suspect left Turkey with his hands free,” and accusing the government of “being too weak to defend the rights of its own citizens.”
Responding to the pressure, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said without elaborating that “international procedures” had been initiated concerning the crash.
“Regardless of their title, everyone is equal before the law and the entire process for the capture of the suspect — including the international procedure — is being carried out meticulously,” Tunc tweeted Sunday.
Separately, Tunc said that an investigation was also launched into police officers who conducted an initial investigation into the collision and allegedly allowed Mohamud to go free.
On Monday, a Somali diplomat in Turkey told The Associated Press that the president’s son took the severely injured victim to a hospital after the crash. He later traveled to Dubai, according to the diplomat.
The diplomat, who requested anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to speak to the media on the matter, said that the car is owned by the Somali Embassy. The president’s family travels with diplomatic passports and had previously lived in Turkey, according to the official.
Turkey has built close ties with Somalia since 2011 when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — then prime minister — visited the East African nation in a show of support for the country, which was suffering from severe drought. Turkey has provided humanitarian aid, built infrastructure and opened a military base in Somalia where it has trained officers and police.
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In Africa, Eswatini Taiwan Relationship is One of a Kind
This year marks the 55th anniversary of relations between Taiwan and the small landlocked country of Eswatini in the southern part of Africa. VOA’s Nokukhanya Musi examines why Eswatini has continued to recognize the government of Taiwan instead of China when most countries, including the U.S., have official ties with Beijing. Camera: Samkeliso Sibandze, Video editor: Sibusiso Dlamini
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South Africa’s Agricultural Business Chamber Calls for Early Renewal of AGOA
South Africa’s Agricultural Business Chamber is calling for the early renewal of the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act, known as AGOA. The act allows some products from certain sub-Saharan countries duty-free access to the United States. Vicky Stark reports from Cape Town.
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2 Killed, 7 Injured in ICRC Convoy Attack in Sudan’s Khartoum
An attack on a humanitarian convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Sudanese capital Khartoum killed two people and injured seven, the ICRC said Sunday.
The wounded included three ICRC staff members, the Red Cross added in a statement.
“The humanitarian convoy, consisting of three ICRC vehicles and three buses, all clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, was due to evacuate over a hundred vulnerable civilians from Khartoum to Wad Madani when it came under attack upon entering the evacuation area,” the statement read.
The ICRC said it was shocked and appalled by the attack, which it described as deliberate.
It did not point the finger at any party, but Sudan’s army said the convoy had come under fire after violating an agreement by approaching its defensive positions, using a car “belonging to the rebels” — a reference to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The ICRC convoy was evacuating civilians, including foreign nationals, from St. Mary’s Church in Khartoum, according to the army.
In a separate statement, the RSF accused the army of attacking the convoy. It said the incident had resulted in deaths as well as injuries.
“The humanitarian operation had been requested by and coordinated with the parties to the conflict, who gave their agreement and provided the necessary security guarantees,” the ICRC said.
The army and the RSF have been locked since mid-April in a conflict that has devastated Khartoum and triggered waves of ethnic killings in Darfur despite several diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting.
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West Africa Leaders Meet as Region Struggles With Coups
West African leaders met in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Sunday for talks on their region in deepening crisis, after four countries fell under military rule and with risks growing from Sahel jihadist conflicts.
After coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger since 2020, the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS saw member states Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau report attempted coups in recent weeks.
A French military withdrawal from the Sahel — the region along the Sahara desert across Africa — has heightened concerns over conflicts spreading southward to Gulf of Guinea states Ghana, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast.
International attention has focused on the most recent coup in Niger in July after troops ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, prompting ECOWAS to impose tough sanctions and close trade.
Niger — key Western partner in the fight against Sahel militants — has demanded French troops based there leave, while the US still has military personnel in the country.
But recent talks with the regime in Niamey stalled. ECOWAS called for Bazoum’s immediate return to power, but Niger’s rulers have kept the ousted president in detention and want up to three years for a transition back to civilian rule.
“The military authorities have unfortunately shown little remorse as they hold on to their untenable positions, holding not only President Bazoum, his family, and members of his government hostage, but also the people of Niger,” ECOWAS commission president Omar Touray told the summit opening.
Touray said ECOWAS recognized the “dire humanitarian” situation in Niger, but accused the rulers in Niamey of interfering with the flow of aid that was allowed into the country.
In a possible signal of ECOWAS maintaining its hardline on Niamey, exiled Niger Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou attended the Abuja summit.
Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is current chair of ECOWAS and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee was also at the meeting to discuss how to support Niger’s return to democratic rule and Sahel security.
The ordinary summit will also discuss delayed or uncertain transitions back to civilian rule and elections for Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger.
Tinubu called for the “re-engaging with the countries under military rule on the basis of realistic and short transition plans”.
Mediator
Earlier this month, Nigeria said it was asking the Niger regime to free Bazoum and allow him to fly to a third country, as a step to opening talks on lifting sanctions.
But Niger’s military leaders rejected that option and have asked Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe to act as a mediator.
Before Sunday’s ECOWAS meeting, Niger’s military leader General Abdourahamane Tiani and some of his ministers visited Togo on Friday to strengthen bilateral ties.
“Tiani is willing to talk over the length of the transition and over the situation with Bazoum,” said a Togolese diplomatic source.
ECOWAS has also left on the table the last option of a military intervention in Niger though analysts say that appears increasingly unlikely.
Since French troops began leaving the region, military regimes in Niger, Mali and Burkina — struggling with jihadist violence — have hardened their positions and joined forces in an “Alliance of Sahel States”.
“This phantom, push back-alliance appears intended to divert attention from our mutual quest for democracy and good governance,” Tinubu told the summit.
Last month, armed attackers stormed military posts, prisons and police stations in another ECOWAS member Sierra Leone, in what the government called a coup attempt that killed 21 people.
A week later Guinea-Bissau also denounced an attempted coup, with fighting between the national guard and special forces of the presidential guard.
your ad hereRwanda Official Died Without Facing Justice: Genocide Victims
A Rwandan genocide survivors’ group on Sunday voiced anger that Laurent Bucyibaruta, a former official convicted of complicity in the 1994 massacres, died this week “without facing the full force of justice”.
Bucyibaruta, who died on Wednesday aged 79, was the highest-ranking Rwandan to have faced trial in France over the 1994 massacres in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in 100 days of mass killings.
Bucyibaruta was found guilty in July 2022 of complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity over four massacres in the southern province of Gikongoro. He was handed a 20-year sentence.
The massacres, committed at a school in Murambi and the parishes of Cyanika and Kaduha, left some 75,000 people dead on April 21, 1994.
The court however acquitted him as the perpetrator of the killings.
Bucyibaruta — one of only a handful of Rwandans to go on trial in France over the genocide — had appealed the conviction against him and was released from prison pending a new trial.
“Despite his grave crimes, he lived a good life… without facing the full force of justice,” Philibert Gakwenzire, chairman of the genocide survivors’ group IBUKA, told AFP.
“We urge governments and courts to consider the rights and emotional wellbeing of genocide survivors in these cases.”
Throughout the original trial, Bucyibaruta contested the accusations against him and downplayed his importance in the chain of command as well as the resources available to him to prevent the killings.
He repeatedly said he had been “overwhelmed by the events”.
Bucyibaruta became prefect of the Gikongoro province, which was among the worst-affected regions by the genocide, in 1992.
He fled Rwanda at the end of the genocide, on July 23, 1994, and had lived in France since 1997.
France has been one of the top destinations for fugitives fleeing justice over the Rwandan slaughter.
A former Rwandan doctor, Sosthene Munyemana, 68, has been on trial since November 14 over his involvement in the 1994 massacres — the sixth such proceeding to be held in France.
your ad hereUN Struggles to Fund Peacekeeping as Nations Demand End to Missions
The United Nations’ top peacekeeping official defended the organization’s missions worldwide as concerns grow that they’ve gone into retreat as African leaders demand their withdrawal from Mali to Congo.
Under Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said Wednesday that the force operates on a $5.5 billion budget, which is less than that of the New York City Police Department, even though its force is much larger, with 70,000 personnel worldwide. He told delegates at a U.N. peacekeeping ministerial meeting in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, that efforts had been hampered by divisions among member states.
The majority of U.N. peacekeeping missions are in Africa, including in Central African Republic, Sudan and Western Sahara. However, they’ve faced increasing blowback and scrutiny over their ability to successfully carry out their missions, including protests in Congo from residents claiming peacekeepers did little to protect them from armed groups.
The operations, which require approval from the U.N. Security Council to be extended, have gradually gone into retreat in Africa. In June, leaders in Mali requested the United Nations withdraw peacekeeping forces. Leaders from Congo made a similar request to the Security Council in September.
Congolese President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi said then that the mission had failed to confront fighting, but on Wednesday Lacroix defended the force, telling reporters that the U.N. had received feedback from residents that they wanted the peacekeepers to do more.
“Peacekeeping can only operate if the U.N. has the sovereign support,” Lacroix said of Congo.
The two-day ministerial meeting in Accra is taking place as polarizing divides emerge among United Nations member states about wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Institutions like the United Nations Security Council — which has a mandate to maintain international peace and security — have struggled to reach consensus on Israel’s latest war with Hamas militants that began in October when it launched a deadly incursion into southern Israel.
Though Lacroix lamented how the peacekeeping budget was a mere 0.3% of global military spending, he also noted that it provides a good return on investment as peacekeepers save lives for relatively little cost.
Peacekeepers, he said, operate in the face of armed groups, terrorists and criminal networks with access to lethal weaponry. They work among improvised explosive devices and face growing threats from “the weaponization of digital tools,” he said, including hate speech and disinformation that often has fueled violence against peacekeepers and the communities they’re tasked with protecting.
“Despite the challenges we are facing, we continue to do our utmost to strengthen the impact and effectiveness of these operations. We continue to do what we can to advance political solutions and support sustainable peace, including through facilitating political settlements and supporting locally led conflict resolution,” Lacroix said.
Though Congolese leaders have asked the U.N. to begin withdrawing, Lacroix said peacekeepers were providing logistical support for this month’s elections at the request of authorities, particularly in North and South Kivu and Ituri provinces. Since 1999, peacekeepers have been in Congo’s impoverished but mineral-rich east, where rebel groups including M23 have long clashed with the government.
Ghana Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia said U.N. member states should work to improve peacekeeping missions rather than give up on them. He also noted growing risks to peacekeepers that threaten their ability to carry out their mandates and stabilize the regions where they operate.
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3 in 4 People in Africa Cannot Afford a Healthy Diet, Says UN
At least three-fourths of Africans cannot afford a healthy diet, and a fifth are undernourished due to an “unprecedented food crisis,” United Nations agencies said in a report released Thursday with the African Union Commission.
The continent’s 1.4 billion people are confronting high levels of hunger and malnutrition as the hit on world grain supplies from Russia’s war in Ukraine compounds the ills of African conflicts, climate change and the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.
It warned that “millions are expected to be at risk of worsening hunger in the near future.”
With a young population set to double by 2050, Africa is the only rapidly growing region where people are getting poorer, and some are beginning to celebrate coups by soldiers who promise a better life. Despite its wealth of natural resources, Africa is far from meeting its commitment to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2025.
Causes include violence, economy
Armed violence in West and Central Africa has uprooted millions from their communities, while in East Africa climate change and extreme weather pose severe threats to farmers. Many families increasingly find it difficult to eat as incomes fail to keep pace with skyrocketing prices for food.
“The majority of Africa’s population — about 78% or more than 1 billion people — remain unable to afford a healthy diet, compared with 42% at the global level, and the number is rising,” said the report from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the World Food Program, and the African Union Commission.
In 2022, as many as 342 million Africans were “severely food-insecure,” the report said. That represented 38% of the 735 million hungry people around the world, it said.
Among those affected the most by the food crisis in Africa are children under age 5, 30% of whom are stunted because of malnutrition, the report said.
“The deterioration of the food security situation and the lack of progress towards the WHO global nutrition targets make it imperative for countries to step up their efforts if they are to achieve a world without hunger and malnutrition by 2030,” Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO regional representative for Africa, said alongside officials from the other agencies.
Hunger worse since pandemic
The agencies noted the continent is still reeling from the impacts of COVID-19. They said 57 million more Africans have become undernourished since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total of the undernourished to nearly 282 million last year.
“After a long period of improvement between 2000 and 2010, hunger has worsened substantially and most of this deterioration occurred between 2019 and 2022” during the pandemic, the report said.
In Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest economy and a top oil producer, nearly 93% of the country’s more than 210 million people cannot afford a healthy diet, the report said.
Troubles continue despite continent’s wealth
Such situations are leading many to question why Africa’s governments are failing to use the continent’s wealth to make life better for citizens.
While Nigeria has been battling growing hardship as a result of austerity measures introduced by the nation’s new leader, the government budgeted millions of dollars for cars and house renovations for the president and his wife — even though her office is not recognized by the country’s constitution.
“We hope the findings will trigger the momentum for agrifood systems transformation along with other systems such as education, health and energy, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all,” the U.N. agencies said.
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Varying Accounts of Nigerian Village Bombing Spark Debate About Cover-up
The governor of Nigeria’s Kaduna state criticized Nigerian defense officials Friday after they said terrorists had embedded themselves in the village that was hit by a drone strike Sunday, killing at least 87 people.
Governor Uba Sani said the statement was careless and lacked empathy.
Meanwhile, rights group Amnesty International said the military is trying to suppress atrocities.
Sani, speaking to Lagos-based Channels Television, said the claim by Nigerian defense authorities that the military was targeting terrorists in Tudun Biri village contradicted the initial position of state authorities and the Nigerian army.
He called for an investigation.
“We will not slow down in insisting that this investigation must be concluded within a time frame,” Sani said. “The rebuilding of the community will start in the next three to four weeks.”
The airstrike conducted by drone occurred as the residents of Tudun Biri gathered to mark the birthday of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad on Sunday night.
The Nigerian army said it was an accident. This week, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu called for a thorough investigation and promised to hold officials accountable.
But Amnesty International said authorities frequently make such promises without taking action.
Isa Sanusi, director at Amnesty International in Nigeria, said, “The first thing the government should’ve done was to establish an independent inquiry that will reveal the truth. I don’t give any iota of regard to that claim that anyone found responsible will be punished. It’s just an empty political statement.”
Amnesty International accused authorities of trying to cover up human rights atrocities by putting out contradictory explanations.
Security analyst Chidi Omeje said he suspects that an intelligence failure is to blame but that only an inquiry can learn the truth.
“This is not the first time we’ve had this kind of accident,” Omeje said. “So, I think they should let go the issue about that statement and investigate what really went down.”
Last December, an airstrike by the Nigerian Air Force killed 64 people in northwest Zamfara state. One month later, a military airstrike killed nearly 40 herders in Nasarawa state near the capital.
Critics say authorities have yet to hold anyone responsible for those killings.
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US Treasury Sanctions People in 9 Countries for Human Rights Abuses
The U.S. Treasury’s ’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Friday announced sanctions against 20 individuals in nine countries for human rights abuses.
Friday’s sanctions include 13 individuals targeted for their roles in perpetrating or condoning the perpetration of rape and other forms of sexual violence in the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, and South Sudan.
In addition, two Taliban officials in Afghanistan were designated for abuse related to the repression of rights for woman and girls based solely on their gender. In Iran, two intelligence officers were designated for cracking down on opponents of the government and peaceful protests.
Two Chinese government officials in Xinjiang province were also targeted for serious human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.
In announcing the sanctions, the department noted the upcoming 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or UDHR, “the landmark document enshrining human rights and fundamental freedoms for all individuals.”
The declaration was drafted by representatives from all regions of the world and proclaimed by the U.N. General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948.
The department also noted U.S. President Joe Biden has made promoting accountability for conflict-related sexual violence a top priority, signing a memorandum last year to strengthen the U.S. government’s efforts to combat it, using financial, diplomatic, and legal tools.
In the statement, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. commitment to upholding human rights is sacrosanct.
She said the sanctions announced Friday — and over the course of the past year — “underscore the seriousness of our commitment to promoting accountability for human rights abuse and safeguarding the U.S. financial system from those who commit these egregious acts.”
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
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Rights Group Claims Company Intimidates Communities Along Tanzania-Uganda Oil Pipeline
The French oil company TotalEnergies coerces and intimidates communities affected by the $5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline project in Tanzania and Uganda, a human rights organization said this week.
Residents along the 1,443-kilometer (870-mile) pipeline route are forced to accept inadequate compensation for their land, according to Global Witness, a human rights and environmental organization.
Global Witness accused TotalEnergies of collaborating with Tanzanian and Ugandan authorities to suppress efforts by communities seeking accurate compensation for land taken for the oil pipeline.
The pipeline route stretches from Tanzania’s port city of Tanga to Lake Albert in Uganda.
TotalEnergies has denied the allegations.
Neither country has commented on the report, but previous criticism, including that from Human Rights Watch and court cases against the displacement and abuses, has not stopped or affected the project.
The Global Witness report
Hanna Hindstrom, a senior investigator in the Global Witness land and environmental defender campaign, told VOA that TotalEnergies is directly involved in human rights violations.
“We found evidence suggesting that TotalEnergies, through its subsidiary, its contractors and partners, has been party to intimidation and bullying of community members affected by the project,” Hindstrom said. “Many people we spoke to say they were pressured into accepting compensation for their land and their property that they felt was too low as a result of a climate of fear in both countries.”
She said the company benefits from the authoritarian political environment in Tanzania and Uganda in which environmental defenders find it “all but impossible to speak up against fossil fuel development.”
Global Witness said it spoke to activists, experts, journalists and more than 200 people affected by the multibillion-dollar project.
Farmer Jealousy Mugisha, 51, is one of many people who said they are losing their land to pave the way for the pipeline.
The father of seven told VOA he lost his land twice. First, in 2017, when more than a dozen hectares were taken for a processing plant used as an oil collection point. Then, in 2019, he lost 2½ hectares in the pipeline route.
He refused any compensation offered to him, saying it was not enough.
“Our target is not that we want to sabotage a government program or oil project program,” Mugisha said, “but … we need them to respect our rights. … [People’s] land was taken, and now they are suffering.”
He said, “We need to get fair compensation, adequate compensation and promotive compensation. That is the only thing we are claiming.”
Land use and compensation
According to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project, in the first phase of land acquisition, landowners could continue to use their land. The landowners said they were allowed to plant seasonal agricultural produce such as corn and sweet potatoes.
Further into the project, compensation to the evicted owners was calculated with a “disturbance allowance” and an increase to reflect the time elapsed since original surveys of the land, according to project documents.
Some landowners filed cases challenging the evictions and low compensation in a local court and a French court.
TotalEnergies has denied allegations they have intimidated anyone affected by the project. The oil firm says it has instituted numerous support mechanisms to ensure that those affected sign agreements only of their own free will.
The company also said it treats the people’s concerns with the utmost seriousness.
Harassment and intimidation reported
Maxwell Atuhura, head of Tasha Research Institute in Uganda and an environmental activist, said he came under attack for challenging the pipeline project.
“My field office was closed … and [I was] given two hours to leave the place, to leave my own district, my own area,” he said. “The security man working for an oil company is telling me that ‘I’m giving you a few hours to leave the district.’ Where do you want me to go?”
Atuhura said he also has been harassed.
“Since then, they started trailing me, and my phone is surveilled,” he said. “I started seeing the experience of my house being broken into.”
About 80% of the project will be in Tanzania, with the rest in Uganda. Global Witness said the oil pipeline, for which construction began this year after years of delay, will cut across wildlife habitats, protected areas and Indigenous land.
The pipeline project said that Tanzania and Uganda regulators have approved the environmental and societal impacts, and that the project seeks to avoid populated and environmentally sensitive areas.
Global Witness has called for an official investigation of the alleged rights abuses.
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Democratic Republic of Congo Prepares to Hold Elections
The Democratic Republic of Congo is due to hold presidential elections on December 20th. Analysts say while the independent national electoral commission (CENI) is doing what it can to ensure free and fair elections, challenges related to security in some parts of the country and disseminating voter material remain. VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo has this report. Camera and edit: Amos Wangua
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Zimbabwe Ruling Party Eyes Supermajority in Votes Without Opponents
Zimbabwe will hold nine by-elections Saturday with opposition candidates largely absent as President Emmerson Mnangagwa cements his control over the mineral-rich nation.
A political crisis has been growing since a group of MPs with the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) had their seats declared vacant.
A court ruled on Thursday that most of the CCC contenders could not stand in Saturday’s vote. Barring a Supreme Court reversal, the ruling ZANU-PF will now pick up some easy seats as it moves closer to changing the constitution.
“The overall effect of this in terms of undermining any hope for Zimbabwe of democracy right now, is very clear,” said Nic Cheeseman, a professor of African politics at the University of Birmingham in Britain.
The crisis was sparked by a letter laden with spelling mistakes penned in October by Songezo Tshabangu, a little-known politician claiming to be the CCC’s interim secretary-general.
Speaker silences opponents
Addressed to the ZANU-PF parliamentary speaker, it stated that 15 CCC lawmakers elected in a bitterly contested August election had ceased to be party members and should lose their seats.
CCC leader Nelson Chamisa, 45, protested that Tshabangu was not a CCC member, the party had no secretary general, and had not expelled any MP.
The speaker ignored him and ordered the by-elections, except in one seat where Tshabangu had misspelled the name of a lawmaker.
ZANU-PF has denied causing the turmoil even though it has most to gain.
“We have an irresponsible opposition that is selfish and is self-imploding,” party spokesperson Farai Marapira told AFP.
‘People are tired’
In Mabvuku, a Harare suburb that will vote on Saturday, only a few electoral posters were visible and there were few signs of the impending election.
“I won’t be surprised if ZANU-PF wins. There is voter apathy. People are just tired so we can just wait and see,” said Gladmore, 28, a resident who gave only his first name.
The local CCC candidate is the only one spared by Thursday’s court ruling that struck the eight other party candidates off ballot papers.
ZANU-PF is currently 10 seats short of the two-thirds majority in the 280-member parliament needed to amend the constitution.
Analysts believe it wants to remove a two-term presidential limit. This would allow Mnangagwa, 81, to counter any challenge to his leadership from inside his party or the opposition.
The term limit was introduced in 2013 after long-time ruler Robert Mugabe was forced to accept a power-sharing government with the opposition.
Critics say Mnangagwa, who came to power on the back of a 2017 coup that toppled Mugabe, is even more autocratic than his predecessor.
Hopes that he could lead Zimbabwe on a more democratic path, foster foreign investment and turn around the dire economy have fallen by the wayside, said Christopher Vandome, a senior Africa research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in Britain.
Parliament has passed laws to silence dissent. The courts have been stripped of their independence, rights groups say.
In August, it won elections denounced by the CCC and that international observers said fell short of democratic standards.
The CCC has complained about a campaign of intimidation against its members before and after the vote.
Meanwhile Tshabangu, who denies being a ZANU-PF stooge, has penned more letters, seeking to gain control of party funds and recalling another 13 lawmakers — something the CCC is battling in the courts with little success.
“Their infighting is our harvest,” Patrick Chinamasa, ZANU-PF treasurer told a rally attended by thousands of people in Mabvuku on Thursday.
“Let’s go out on Saturday and win.”
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Regional West African Court Dismisses Niger’s Challenge to ECOWAS Sanctions
A court for the West African regional bloc ECOWAS has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Niger’s transitional leaders and some corporations over sanctions imposed on Niger by ECOWAS following the July ouster of President Mohammed Bazoum.
The applicants argued the sanctions are causing hardships for millions of Nigeriens. However, the ECOWAS Court of Justice said the military government did not have standing to make a case on behalf of Niger.
Last month, Niger’s military leaders, along with seven corporations, asked the court to suspend the political and economic sanctions imposed on Niger following the July 26 coup d’etat.
However, in its ruling Thursday, the two-man court held that the application was inadmissible, stating that the applicants — including a government instituted by a coup — did not have standing to make a case on Niger.
The court also said it suspected there was a convergence of interests between the military junta and the private entities, and said they were acting in their own interests.
Justice Dupe Atoki delivered the judgment. She said an entity that is a product of an unconstitutional change of government, which is not recognized by ECOWAS as the government of a member state, lacks the capacity to bring this case in which it seems to derive benefits. The judge said action and a request for provisional measures standing in the name of Niger were inadmissible.
Senior military officers overthrew Niger’s government July 26 and have since kept President Mohammed Bazoum in detention.
After the coup, ECOWAS ordered members to close their borders with Niger, seized government assets and halted trade with the country.
Niger depends mainly on Nigeria and the Benin republic for the food it imports. Nigeria also supplies two-thirds of the country’s electricity.
All of that has been halted for months, and millions of citizens and businesses have been struggling to get by.
Godbless Otubure, founder of pro-democracy group Ready to Lead Africa Initiative, says the ECOWAS court ruling is correct.
“The issue at hand is a matter of legitimacy. They’re not a legally elected government of Niger republic, so there’s really no case,” Otubure said. “If the case is heard and judgment is given in favor of the junta, what it means is that there will be more military coups on the continent.”
The United Nations World Food Program estimates the number of people suffering from food insecurity in Niger has doubled to more than 6 million since the sanctions were imposed.
Otubure says ECOWAS should find a way to reduce civilian suffering.
“The issue of sanctions that have now affected more people definitely should be looked into. The people are paying the price for what the military has done,” Otubure said.
Last week, the ECOWAS court was scheduled to issue a decision on a complaint submitted by Bazoum’s lawyers, but the court failed to meet.
The complaint centers on what Bazoum’s lawyers call “sequestration and arbitrary detention.”
Experts say continued sanctions could put a strain on regional relations, especially on joint security and trade and investments.
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