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News and information from the fast-changing continent.
Gambia: How Gambia's Truth Commission Findings Shaped the Sonko Trial
[JusticeInfo.net] The trial of Ousman Sonko, former Interior minister of The Gambia, resumes today in Switzerland. Parties are expected to present their closing arguments. A striking fact of the evidence put before the Swiss court last January was how much of it was first investigated and exposed by the Gambian truth commission between 2018 and 2020. But there are a few takeaways from the Swiss trial.
During its two and half years of public hearings, The Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC)
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Ghana Won't Backslide On Her Human Rights Record - President Akufo-Addo
[GhanaToday] President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured the diplomatic community that Ghana will not backslide on her enviable human rights observance and the rule of law despite the passage of the "Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill'.
Ghana's Parliament on Wednesday (28th February 2024) passed an anti-LGBTQ+ bill that imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of identifying as LGBTQ+.
It also imposed a maximum five-year jail term for forming or sponsoring LGBTQ+
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Somalia: UN Crime Prevention Chief Pledges Enhanced Cooperation in Somalia
[UN News] The Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Ghada Waly has highlighted the threats of transnational organized crime, terrorism and corruption that is plaguing Somalia.
On a mission to the Horn of Africa nation, Executive Director Waly underscored on Friday that "Somalia faces daunting challenges that range from terrorism to resurgent piracy, poverty and the consequences of climate change."
A complicated crisis
Speaking to UN News in Mogadishu, Ms. Waly said interlinked threats
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East Africa: Somalia Becomes Full Member of East African Community
[Daily News] SOMALIA yesterday officially deposited her instrument of ratification of the Treaty of Accession with the East African Community (EAC), making the horn of Africa country as the bloc's eighth partner state.
Speaking during the depositing ceremony which was held at the EAC's Headquarter in Arusha Region, the bloc's Secretary General, Dr Peter Mathuki commended Somalia for achieving the regional community's membership bid.
"We want to congratulate you, the Federal Republic of Somalia for depositing your
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Senegal: National Dialogue Report Submitted to President Sall
[allAfrica] Minister of the Interior Me Sidiki Kaba, presented the report resulting from the national dialogue this Monday, March 4, 2024, to the President of the Republic, Macky Sall. The talks were held at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Center in Diamniadio (Cicad),30km east of Dakar, reports APA.
"He (Sall) plans to contact the Constitutional Council to obtain its opinion on the date of the election and after April 2. The Head of State also saluted the Senegalese genius in overcoming difficulties,"
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Kenya-EU Trade Deal Faces Headwinds Amid Green Deal Compliance Concerns
[Business Day Africa] The free trade agreement between Kenya and Europe may encounter challenges, as it needs to address compliance issues related to the EU Green Deal.
This initiative binds Kenya's exports to sustainable production under the farm-to-folk approach, potentially impacting the perceived benefits of the agreement.
Last week, Kenya moved closer to sealing a duty and tax-free trade pact with the EU after the agreement received approval from the EU parliament.
However, the European Green Deal, launched in December
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Africa: Measles Is One of the Deadliest and Most Contagious Infectious Diseases - and One of the Most Easily Preventable
[The Conversation Africa] "You don't count your children until the measles has passed." Dr. Samuel Katz, one of the pioneers of the first measles vaccine in the late 1950s to early 1960s, regularly heard this tragic statement from parents in countries where the measles vaccine was not yet available, because they were so accustomed to losing their children to measles.
I am a pediatrician and preventive medicine physician, and I have anxiously watched measles cases rise worldwide while vaccination rates have dropped since the early
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Congo-Kinshasa: Congo Style - How Two Dictators Shaped the DRC's Art, Architecture and Monuments
[The Conversation Africa] What kind of art is left behind by totalitarian regimes? A new free-to-read book called Congo Style: From Belgian Art Nouveau to African Independence explores the visual culture, architecture and heritage sites of the country today known as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It does so by exploring two now-notorious regimes: King Leopold II of Belgium's Congo Colony (1908-1960) and Mobutu Sese Seko's totalitarian Zaire, established when he seized power in a military coup in 1965 after five years of
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Ghana - President Should Veto Anti-LGBT Bill
[HRW] Violates Rights to Nondiscrimination, Freedom of Expression and Assembly
Ghana's parliament on February 28, 2024 passed a draconian bill that increases criminal penalties for consensual same-sex conduct and criminalizes individuals and organizations who advocate for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, Human Rights Watch said today. President Nana Akufo Addo should unequivocally reject the bill and refuse to sign it.
Members of parliament introduced the bill, the "Promotion
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Nigeria: Kicking Down Barriers and Empowering Girls in Kaduna State
[Nigeria Health Watch] Football is more than just a game; it has the power to unite people across cultures, languages, and borders. But beyond that, it also has the power to bridge the gender equality gap.
When Grace Iliya visited the Bakin-Kogi community in 2019 there was no public school or health-care facility. The community is located on the outskirts of the Karshi District Area in Nasarawa State. Bakin-Kogi has a makeshift school in the community: a block of three classrooms donated by a church, with no chairs or tables.
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Ethiopia's Deepening Crackdown On Dissent
[HRW] No One Appears Safe from Arbitrary Arrest, Detention
In February, plainclothes security officers detained Batte Urgessa, a spokesperson for the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an opposition political party, and French journalist Antoine Galindo, as they met for an interview in a hotel in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.
More than twenty-four hours later, they were brought before the Addis Ababa City Administration Court. The court granted the police's request to detain them until March 1 to pursue their
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Kenya: High Court Gives Nod to Affordable Housing Bill Process
[Capital FM] The High Court in Kisumu has given Parliament a nod to proceed with the Affordable Housing Bill after it struck out a case challenging public participation.
Judge Lady Justice Saida Shariff threw out the petition lodged in court last month by a lobby group.
The court said the petition was premature noting that it had assumed that the National Assembly intended to conduct the exercise through one mode, that is through submission of memoranda.
"Public Participation was conducted in an effective and
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East African Community Bloc Dismisses Fake Common Currency
[Capital FM] The secretariat of the East African Community (EAC) regional bloc has dismissed a post on X, formerly Twitter, which claimed that the bloc's member countries have launched a common regional currency.
The post had been shared on Sunday by a fake X account named "Government of East Africa."
"The EAC Secretariat wishes to inform all our stakeholders that the Partner States' journey to a single currency is still a work in progress. Kindly ignore any rumors circulating on social media on the unveiling of new
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Kenyans Use Humour to Counter Unpopular State Policies - Memes Are the Latest Tool
[The Conversation Africa] Seemingly disillusioned with the country's leadership, Kenyans have taken to new ways of expressing their anger and frustration with their government.
On social media and in everyday conversations, President William Ruto is now referred to as Zakayo, named after the infamous Zaccheaus, the much-hated chief tax collector in biblical Jericho.
Ruto is also called Kaunda Uongoman, which mimics the stage name of a controversial Congolese musician, Kanda Bongoman. The first name is a reference to Ruto's recent
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Sudan: Communication Blackout Thwarts Mutual Aid Efforts in Besieged Khartoum
[The New Humanitarian] 'If this continues, it will be a factor that hastens famine.'
A communication blackout across Sudan is having a particularly harmful impact on the besieged capital city, Khartoum, where some mutual aid groups have suspended their life-saving humanitarian work even amid growing levels of catastrophic hunger.
Ten months of conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has overturned the lives of millions of people in Khartoum. And now the one-month blackout has left civilians
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Africa-Led Mission to Haiti 'Urgently Needed', According to the UN
[RFI] UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed alarm at the "rapidly deteriorating security situation" in Haiti and called for more funding for the planned international police mission, to be lead by Kenya.
Haiti's capital was largely shut down Monday with residents only venturing out for essentials, reporters witnessed, as authorities imposed a state of emergency and a curfew after a weekend attack on a prison freed thousands of inmates.
As the latest crisis spiraled, Prime Minister Ariel Henry was
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Nigeria: We Have No Desire to Truncate Democracy - Nigerian Army
[Daily Trust] The Nigerian Army says troops of Armed Forces of Nigeria do not have desire to truncate Nigeria's democracy, which he described as "nascent", insisting that democracy has come to stay.
Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja, a Lieutenant General, stated this in Abuja on Tuesday when he declared open a seminar organised by the Army Headquarters Department of Military Secretary.
Lagbaja maintained that the Nigerian Army would continue to defend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and it would
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Africa: Organised Criminals Make Douala Their Gateway to Global Markets
[ISS] Cameroon's main seaport has become a transit hub for illegal exports from West and Central Africa.
In May 2023, a customs official in Douala, Cameroon stamped a shipment of timber for export from the Central African Republic (CAR) to China. It seemed like a routine load, an everyday part of international trade.
But the company exporting the logs - Wood International Group - is part of a network of concerns in Africa operated by the Wagner Group, the notorious Russian private military enterprise. The United
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Kenyan Women Aren't Safe and Will No Longer Be Quiet
[allAfrica] The Kenya government needs to listen to its people and take all necessary measures to prevent and address femicide. It is unacceptable that men kill hundreds of women each year because the authorities have allowed patriarchy and gender inequality to go unchecked. Women have just as much of a right to life, dignity, and security of their person as anybody else.
Between January 26 and February 1, thousands of women in Kenya and their allies including friends, families, and civil society took to the streets,
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Kenya: Breaking News - Plane Crash Leaves 2 Dead
[Capital FM] The pilot and his student died in a mid-air collision with a Diani-bound passenger aircraft on take-off from Wilson Airport; 44 passengers unhurt.
More details later ...
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Chad: One Week After the Death of an Opposition Figure - Calm Appears to Have Been Restored in N'djamena
[Agenzia Fides] In N'Djamena, capital of Chad, there is apparent calm a few days after the assassination of Yaya Dillo, leader of the opposition party PSF (Socialist Party Without Borders). Dillo was killed on February 28 in an army attack on the headquarters of the party of which he was leader (see Fides, 29/2/2024)
"The city appears to be quiet, but is guarded by military and police patrols," local sources tell Fides. "The checkpoints are reinforced, especially at night. We encountered no fewer than six checkpoints on a
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Liberia: 'War Crimes Court to Be Established On Liberian Soil'
[FrontPageAfrica] The House of Representatives is poised to pass a resolution for the establishment of a war crimes court on Thursday, as gathered by FrontPageAfrica. This would be followed by a possible concurrence by the Liberian Senate, which, if granted, would then lead to the enactment of a statute bringing the Court into force.
On Monday, Dr. Beth Van Schaack, the United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, who arrived in Liberia on Sunday evening, met with the Speaker of the House of
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Tanzania: Germany Apologizes Over Colonial Rule Killings
[Daily News] GERMANY has reiterated its apologies following atrocities done during its colonial rule in Tanzania more than 100 years that included killing of tribal leaders.
The apologies were made again over the weekend by the German State Minister Ms Katja Keul during the 124th anniversary of the brutal killings of Mangi (Chief) Meli and others in the Old Moshi area, Moshi district, Kilimanjaro Region.
Mangi Meli is the former Chief of the Chaggas in the Old Moshi area.
"124 years ago on March 2, 1900, a total of 19
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Africa: Somalia-Türkiye Maritime Security Partnership Faces Stormy Waters
[ISS] Somalia is leveraging untapped maritime incentives to build alliances in a turbulent region.
Somalia and Türkiye have forged a new defence and economic partnership. The agreement is one part of an intricate web of maritime pacts involving Somali sovereign rights, and signals maritime governance's growing role in regional peace and security.
On the surface, the agreement expands Türkiye's existing support to Somalia for humanitarian aid, famine relief and infrastructure development. It splits the
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Nigeria: Education Policy Leads to Increased Girls Enrollment, Reduced Child Marriage in North-West Nigeria - Report
[Premium Times] The report states that COVID-19 and insecurity are the most significant challenges impacting negatively on the education of girls in the six states studied.
Despite security challenges, the education sector plans in six north-west Nigerian states led to a significant increase in girls' enrollment in secondary schools and a reduction in the percentage of girls married before the age of 18, a new report has shown.
The report said before the introduction of state education plans, the average girls' secondary
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Senegal: Adoption of Amnesty Law Would Be an Affront to Victims of Deadly Protests and Reinforce Impunity
[AI London] The draft law on amnesty submitted to the Parliament by the Senegalese government relating to protests between March 2021 and February 2024, in which more than 60 people were killed, is an affront to victims of the violence and a troubling endorsement of impunity, Amnesty International said today.
The adoption of the amnesty law by the Parliament would constitute a failure by the state to meet its obligation under international law of providing justice, truth and reparation for the families of more than 60
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South Africa Has More Than 4 Million People Living With Diabetes - Study Shows Many Aren't Getting Proper Treatment
[The Conversation Africa] Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects how the body turns food into energy.
In South Africa there has been a notable rise in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in recent years, due to changing diets. People are consuming more processed foods, sugary drinks and high-calorie meals.
Other factors are the lack of physical activity and high levels of obesity.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form, making up 90% of cases. With this type, the body produces insulin but can't use it effectively. It typically
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Africa: More Drought Across Sub-Saharan Africa
[DW] Withering maize fields for miles -- this is what scores of smallholding subsistence farmers are facing in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Government subsidies can help only so much, as solutions prove slow to implement.
Rain has finally returned to Malawi after weeks and weeks of severe drought -- but it's too little too late for local farmer Saidi M'madi.
In Malawi's southern region of Mangochi, the father-of-six stares out at his field, feeling like all of his work in recent months was completely in
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Zimbabwe: Biden Ends Sanctions on Zimbabwe, Tightens Restrictions on Mnangagwa for Rights Abuses
[New Zimbabwe] American President Joseph Biden has announced an end of the superpower's sanctions regime on Zimbabwe.
The historic move announced on Monday, signals an impending end to America and Zimbabwe's two-decade-long cold war that the ruling Zanu PF has blamed for their failure to reign in its wayward economy.
"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States of America, find that the declaration of a
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South Africa: UCT Invites Disgraced Ex-Eskom Boss for 'Ethics' Lecture - South African News Briefs - March 5, 2024
[allAfrica]
UCT Faces Backlash for Hosting Ex-Eskom Chief Linked to Corruption Scandal for 'Ethics' Lecture
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has sparked controversy by inviting Matshela Koko, the former Eskom boss implicated in the Gupta family's capture of the power utility and a R2.2 billion corruption scandal, to lecture students on "ethics and professionalism," reports News24. Despite Koko's promotion of the invitation on social media, UCT clarified that it does not endorse him and that the lecture is part
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