https://www.voanews.com/z/612 The latest news and analysis from Africa. https://www.voanews.com/Content/responsive/VOA/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.voanews.com/z/612 en 2024 - VOA 60 Sun, 15 Dec 2024 21:53:40 -0500 Pangea CMS – VOA Tripoli, Libya — One of Libya's main refineries in the west has been shut down after clashes between local armed groups erupted early Sunday and caused fires on infrastructure, state oil company NOC said. Several tanks at the Zawiya refinery, a town 45 km west of Tripoli and the only one in western Libya that supplies the local market with fuel, caught fire, according to videos posted on social media, before being brought under control.   Built in 1974, the Zawiya refinery, which is also a port terminal for importing and exporting fuels, is the largest in the country after that of Ras Lanouf (north), with a refining capacity exceeding 120,000 barrels per day. The NOC announced in a statement the suspension of production, declaring "a state of force majeure and a state of emergency level three (maximum degree) following the damage caused to several tanks at the Zawiya refinery in the early hours of December 15." "Clashes with heavy and medium weapons broke out between armed groups in the perimeter of the refinery, causing serious fires, brought under control by civil defense personnel," according to the statement. Libyan news sites reported a death toll of one dead and 10 injured among the armed groups, without official confirmation.   "All the fires that broke out in the refinery's tanks, which were hit by gunfire, have been brought under control," NOC spokesperson Khaled Ghulam told Libya al-Ahrar TV. "We reassure the residents of Zawiya and Tripoli that the fuel supply to the tanks of the Brega Oil distribution company is secure and that the distribution of gasoline to gas stations continues without interruption," the official added. Zawiya, the third largest city in Tripolitania after Tripoli and Misrata, is the scene of violent and recurring fighting between armed groups. In May, clashes between rival gangs left one dead and a dozen injured before the intervention of notables and tribal leaders.   Classes have been suspended in all schools and at the university in Zawiya, according to the Libyan news agency Lana. The coastal road linking the city to Tripoli has been reopened after a closure that lasted until early morning.   Invoked in exceptional circumstances, the "state of force majeure" allows an exemption from the NOC's liability in the event of non-compliance with oil delivery contracts. Since the fall and death of leader Muammar Gadhafi in 2011, Libya, which has the most abundant hydrocarbon reserves in Africa, has struggled to extricate itself from more than a decade of chaos and division, with two rival governments vying for power. Blockades of oil and gas sites have been frequent in recent years in Libya, linked either to social grievances, security threats or political disputes.   Thanks to a lull and new investments in infrastructure, production, which has been around 1.2 million barrels per day for the past ten years, rose to 1.4 million barrels per day at the beginning of December (compared to 1.5 to 1.6 million before the 2011 Revolt). https://www.voanews.com/a/one-of-libya-main-refineries-shut-down-after-fighting/7902249.html https://www.voanews.com/a/one-of-libya-main-refineries-shut-down-after-fighting/7902249.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 18:51:33 -0500 Middle EastAfricawebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) The United Nations will convene a technical committee of Libya experts to resolve contentious issues and put the country on the path to long-awaited national elections, the acting head of the U.N. mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said Sunday. A political process to resolve more than a decade of conflict in Libya has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates. The new committee of Libya experts will look for ways to overcome outstanding issues in electoral laws, the U.N. mission's (UNSMIL) acting head, Stephanie Koury, said in a video statement. They will also look for options to "reach elections in the shortest possible time including with proposed guarantees, assurances and a timeframe," she added. A Government of National Unity (GNU) under Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah was installed through a U.N.-backed process in 2021 but the parliament no longer recognizes its legitimacy. Dbeibah has vowed not to cede power to a new government without national elections. Libya has had little peace since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, and it split in 2014 between eastern and western factions, with rival administrations governing in each area. While all major political players in the country have repeatedly called for elections, many Libyans have voiced skepticism that they genuinely seek a vote that could push most of them from positions of authority. "UNSMIL will also continue to work to help advance the unification of military and security institutions and, with partners, advancing national reconciliation," Koury said. https://www.voanews.com/a/un-launches-fresh-attempt-to-resolve-libya-election-impasse/7902243.html https://www.voanews.com/a/un-launches-fresh-attempt-to-resolve-libya-election-impasse/7902243.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 18:33:55 -0500 Middle EastAfricawebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) Istanbul — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Ethiopia and Somalia early next year after brokering a deal to end tensions between the two Horn of Africa neighbors, he said on X Sunday.  "I will visit Ethiopia and Somalia in the first two months of the New Year," he wrote in a message that referred to the deal between Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Ankara on December 11. The pair agreed to end their nearly yearlong bitter dispute after hours of talks brokered by Erdogan, who hailed the breakthrough as "historic." The dispute began in January when landlocked Ethiopia struck a deal in with Somalia's breakaway region Somaliland to lease a stretch of coastline for a port and military base.  In return, Somaliland — which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 in a move not recognized by Mogadishu — said Ethiopia would give it formal recognition, although this was never confirmed by Addis Ababa. Somalia branded the deal a violation of its sovereignty, setting international alarm bells ringing over the risk of renewed conflict in the volatile Horn of Africa region. Turkey stepped in to mediate in July, holding three previous rounds of talks — two in Ankara and one in New York — before last week's breakthrough, which won praise from the African Union, Washington and Brussels.  Fresh from his latest diplomatic success, Erdogan on Friday telephoned Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and he offered "to step in to resolve the disputes between Sudan and the United Arab Emirates," his office said. Since April 2023, Sudan has been mired in a brutal conflict between army chief Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo who leads the RSF.  Sudan's army-backed government has repeatedly accused the UAE of supporting the RSF — a claim which the UAE has consistently denied. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced over 11 million more. https://www.voanews.com/a/erdogan-to-visit-ethiopia-somalia-in-early-2025-after-brokering-deal/7902234.html https://www.voanews.com/a/erdogan-to-visit-ethiopia-somalia-in-early-2025-after-brokering-deal/7902234.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 18:04:43 -0500 AfricaEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) Nairobi, Kenya — Voters were busy across the globe in 2024 and more than a dozen countries in Africa staged presidential, parliamentary or local elections.  While some of Africa’s longtime dominant ruling parties retained power, in others, incumbents went down in surprising and crushing defeats.  Southern Africa The small archipelago of Comoros — off Africa’s east coast — was the first to host presidential elections in 2024. Incumbent President Azali Assoumani, a former military officer who first came to power in a coup in 1999, won a fourth term.  Election results were immediately rejected by the opposition, triggering violent protests that killed one and injured 25.  In Mozambique, the Frelimo party won general elections again, extending its nearly 50 years in power. The official results were immediately rejected by opposition leader and runner-up Venancio Mondlane, triggering violent protests in the southern African country. Many analysts, including Maputo’s Center for Democracy and Human Rights’ Director Adriano Nuvunga, predicted a Frelimo win despite heavy youth support for Mondlane. "The terrain is already prepared, regardless of what we see — the enthusiasm, dynamism of the young people that are rallying behind this opposition candidate,” Nuvunga told VOA. American University’s Kwaku Nuamah hopes President Daniel Chapo of Frelimo can extend an olive branch to the opposition to avoid a prolonged conflict in Mozambique. “When you win, you have the responsibility to unite the country. Hopefully, he’s able to do that... We don’t need another African country going down in flames,” Nuamah told VOA.  Similarly, Namibia’s ruling party SWAPO retained power after many decades of governance but made history by electing its first female president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. Her main challenger, however, called the elections flawed, after multiple examples of election day technical difficulties and ballot paper shortages were documented.  Unlike Mozambique, Comoros, and Namibia, Botswana ushered in a new era by electing a leader from the opposition for the first time in nearly 60 years, following decades of rule by one party.  “Let’s carry those who came before us, those we have today and those who will come after us, to greater heights,” Duma Gideon Boko addressing supporters at his swearing-in ceremony. Elections were peaceful in neighboring South Africa, but the outcome predicted by some surprised many. The African National Congress, in power since 1994 — when Nelson Mandela was elected president following the end of apartheid — failed to win the elections with an outright majority, forcing it for the first time to form a coalition government. Simphiwe Malambo, an architect in South Africa. welcomed the change telling VOA “The ANC is finally going to be in a position where they have to reconsider how they’ve been approaching running the country.” While ANC leaders asserted the country made progress under its stewardship, many voters expressed dissatisfaction with the government's failure to deliver reliable electricity and other services. Allegations of corruption and disunity within the party played a role in the ANC’s ability to win a majority.  “[Former President] Jacob Zuma’s party Mkhonto We Sizwe or MK has been completely unexpected. It arrived on the scene quite late in the run up to the elections and completely scrambled everything,” Daryl Glaser, University of Witwatersrand in South Africa told VOA a few days before the vote took place.   East Africa  In Rwanda’s elections, President Paul Kagame, in power for 30 years, won almost 100% of the vote. Some analysts credit Kagame for bringing peace, unity, and economic development to Rwanda after the country’s 1994 genocide. “Voters want a leader who provides solutions for them… The achievement is tangible. You can see it,” analyst Teddy Kaberuka tells VOA. But others like Strathmore University professor Edgar Githua question his popularity within the country. "If you have a vote where 98% of a population vote for one candidate, that is a red flag. Nobody is that popular in this world,” he said. A 2022 Human Rights Watch report said the space for political opposition and free media remained closed in the east African country. West Africa In West Africa, where a wave of coups recently dominated the political landscape, two countries seen as beacons of democracy didn’t disappoint.  In Ghana, after serving only one term about a decade ago, President John Mahama made a stunning comeback in 2024 and beat the country’s ruling party candidate and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia. University of Ghana’s senior lecturer Kwame Asah-Asante told VOA that many voters in the country were thinking about the economy and their financial situations when they cast ballots because “it’s a bread-and-butter issue. We’ve seen time and again that anytime you have a very difficult economy, campaigning becomes difficult for the government of the day,” he said. Ghana is the second largest cocoa producer in the world, but the country defaulted on most of its $30 billion external debt in 2022 after the effects of years of borrowing were made worse by the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mahama vows to cultivate a 24-hour business environment — enabling businesses and public institutions to operate 24/7, in three shifts of eight hours each — to bolster job creation and improve the economy. In Senegal, little-known opposition leader Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, became Africa’s youngest president. Faye promised to fight corruption, rebuild institutions, and unite the country. His election victory — just a few weeks after getting out of prison — followed a failed attempt by outgoing President Macky Sall to postpone the election process, plunging the country into a brief political crisis. “It was very interesting, very educational scenario for those who are learning about democracy,” analyst Kaberuka told VOA about the Senegal vote. Sahel region While elections went on as planned in most African nations, they’ve been postponed in others including the ones plagued by coups in the Sahel, signaling military juntas’ intention to stay in power, analysts warn.   Elections were officially postponed in Mali and Burkina Faso and Niger’s junta spoke of a three-year transition. According to the 2024 rankings on media freedom by Reporters Without Borders, already-high restrictions on access to information increased in the Sahel, where several countries suspended local retransmissions of foreign broadcast media. https://www.voanews.com/a/african-elections-some-ruling-parties-retain-power-some-suffer-defeats/7902194.html https://www.voanews.com/a/african-elections-some-ruling-parties-retain-power-some-suffer-defeats/7902194.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:00:35 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Mariama Diallo) Voters were busy across the globe in 2024 and more than a dozen countries in Africa were among those holding presidential, parliamentary or local elections. While some long-time dominant parties retained power in parts of Africa, incumbents suffered crushing defeats in others. VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo looks into how democracy fared this year on the continent. https://www.voanews.com/a/in-africa-2024-saw-long-time-dominant-parties-retain-power-in-some-countries-suffering-crushing-defeats-in-others/7902182.html https://www.voanews.com/a/in-africa-2024-saw-long-time-dominant-parties-retain-power-in-some-countries-suffering-crushing-defeats-in-others/7902182.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 15:26:12 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Mariama Diallo) ABUJA, NIGERIA — West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, approved Sunday an exit timeline for three coup-hit nations after a nearly yearlong process of mediation to avert the unprecedented disintegration of the grouping. “The authority decides to set the period from 29 January, 2025 to 29 July 2025 as a transitional period and to keep ECOWAS doors open to the three countries during the transition period,” the president of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, said in a statement. In a first in the 15-nation bloc’s nearly 50 years of existence, the military juntas of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced in January that they have decided to leave ECOWAS, accusing it of “inhumane and irresponsible” coup-related sanctions and of failing to help them solve their internal security crises. The three coup-hit countries have largely rebuffed ECOWAS’ efforts to reverse their withdrawal. They have started to consider how to issue travel documents separately from ECOWAS and are forming their own alliance. The one-year process of their departure is expected to be completed in January. ECOWAS said Sunday that the impending exit of three member states led by military juntas is disheartening after a nearly yearlong process of mediation. ECOWAS Commission President Touray, speaking at the summit of regional heads of state in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, earlier Sunday commended efforts by the bloc's envoys to resolve the crisis. “These efforts underscore your collective commitment to preserving peace and unity in our region,” Touray said. Bola Tinubu, the president of Nigeria and chairman of ECOWAS, said the challenges faced around the world and in the region test its ability to work together. “We must not lose sight of our fundamental responsibility, which is to protect our citizens and create an enabling environment where they can prosper,” he said. One major benefit of being a member of ECOWAS is visa-free movement to member states, and it is not clear how that could change after the three countries leave the bloc. Asked about such an implication in July, the ECOWAS commission president said: “When you get out of an agreement... if it is about free trade, free movement of people, the risk of losing those concessions remains.” On Saturday, the three countries said in a joint statement that while access to their territories would remain visa-free for other West African citizens, they “reserve the right … to refuse entry to any ECOWAS national falling into the category of inadmissible immigrants.” As West Africa's top political authority since it was formed in 1975, such a division is ECOWAS' biggest challenge since inception, said Babacar Ndiaye, senior fellow with the Senegal-based Timbuktu Institute for Peace Studies. The chances of ECOWAS getting the three countries back into their fold are slim mostly because the bloc wants a quick return to democracy, which the juntas have not committed to, said Mucahid Durmaz, a senior analyst at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft. Allowing the juntas to remain in power “could risk further regional fragmentation” while recognizing them as legitimate authorities would represent “a serious departure from ECOWAS’s founding principles,” Durmaz said.  The regional bloc also failed to manage the situation in the best possible way, he said. “The bloc’s inconsistent responses to coups in the region have given an impression that its stance is influenced more by the political ambitions of member states than by its founding principles of promoting democratic governance,” Durmaz said.   https://www.voanews.com/a/west-africa-bloc-meets-as-military-rulers-vow-to-quit/7901872.html https://www.voanews.com/a/west-africa-bloc-meets-as-military-rulers-vow-to-quit/7901872.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 13:10:41 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) CAPE TOWN, South Africa — At least 11 people have died after Cyclone Chido caused devastating damage in the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, France's Interior Ministry said Sunday. The intense tropical cyclone has now made landfall on the east coast of Africa, where aid agencies are warning of more loss of life and severe damage in northern Mozambique. The ministry said it was proving difficult to get a precise tally of the dead and injured in Mayotte amid fears the death toll will increase. A local hospital reported that nine people were in critical condition there and 246 others were injured. The tropical cyclone blew through the southeastern Indian Ocean, also affecting the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar. Mayotte was directly in its path and suffered extensive damage Saturday, officials said. The local prefect said it was the worst cyclone to hit Mayotte in 90 years. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Saturday night after an emergency meeting in Paris that there were fears that the death toll in Mayotte “will be high” and the island had been largely devastated. Prime Minister François Bayrou, who took office Friday, said public infrastructure on Mayotte had been severely damaged or destroyed, including the main hospital and the airport. He said many people living in precarious shacks in slum areas have faced very serious risks. Chido brought winds more than 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service, making it a category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale. Mayotte has a population of just over 300,000 spread over two main islands about 800 kilometers (500 miles) off Africa’s east coast. It is France's poorest island and the European Union's poorest territory. In some parts, entire neighborhoods were flattened, while residents reported many trees had been uprooted and boats had been flipped or sunk. The French Interior Ministry said 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers have been deployed to “help the population and prevent potential looting.” More than 100 rescuers and firefighters have been deployed in Mayotte from France and the nearby territory of Reunion, and an additional reinforcement of 140 people was due to be sent Sunday. Supplies were being rushed in on military aircraft and ships. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was closely monitoring the situation, while Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims of the cyclone while on a visit Sunday to the French Mediterranean island of Corsica. Chido continued its eastern trajectory and made landfall early Sunday in Mozambique on the African mainland, where emergency officials had warned that 2.5 million people could be impacted in two northern provinces, Cabo Delgado and Nampula. Landlocked Malawi and Zimbabwe are also preparing to be affected, with both countries warning they might have to evacuate people from low-lying areas because of flooding. In Mozambique, the United Nations Children's Fund said Cabo Delgado province, home to around 2 million people, had been hit hard. “Many homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or completely destroyed, and we are working closely with [the] government to ensure continuity of essential basic services,” UNICEF said. “While we are doing everything we can, additional support is urgently needed.” UNICEF Mozambique spokesperson Guy Taylor said in a video posted by the group from Cabo Delgado's regional capital that alongside the immediate impact of the cyclone, communities now face the prospect of being cut off from schools and health facilities for weeks. December through to March is cyclone season in the southeastern Indian Ocean and southern Africa has been pummeled by a series of strong ones in recent years. Cyclone Idai in 2019 killed more than 1,300 people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Cyclone Freddy left more than 1,000 dead across several countries last year. Cyclones bring the risk of flooding and landslides, but also stagnant pools of water may later spark deadly outbreaks of the waterborne disease cholera as well as dengue fever and malaria. Studies say cyclones are getting worse because of climate change. They can leave poor countries in southern Africa, which contribute a tiny amount to global warming, having to deal with large humanitarian crises, underlining their call for more help from rich nations to deal with the impact of climate change. https://www.voanews.com/a/dead-in-french-territory-of-mayotte-from-cyclone-chido-/7902003.html https://www.voanews.com/a/dead-in-french-territory-of-mayotte-from-cyclone-chido-/7902003.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 10:31:50 -0500 AfricaEuropeClimate Changewebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) Luanda — Talks due Sunday between the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to end conflict in the eastern DRC were called off after negotiations deadlocked, officials said.    Since 2021 a Rwanda-backed rebel militia has seized swathes of the eastern DRC, displacing thousands and triggering a humanitarian crisis.    There had been high hopes that the summit hosted by Angola's President Joao Lourenco — the African Union mediator to end the conflict — would end with a deal to end the conflict.    But around midday Sunday the head of the Angolan presidency's media office said it would not go ahead.    "Contrary to what we expected, the summit will no longer be held today," media officer Mario Jorge told journalists.    Lourenco was meeting with DRC leader Felix Tshisekedi and without Rwandan President Paul Kagame, he said.    The Congolese presidency said that negotiations had hit deadlock over a Rwandan demand that the DRC hold direct dialogue with the Kigali-backed and largely ethnic Tutsi M23 rebels who have since 2021 seized swathes of the eastern DRC.    "There is a stalemate because the Rwandans have set as a precondition for the signing of an agreement that the DRC hold a direct dialogue with the M23," Giscard Kusema, the Congolese presidency spokesman present in Luanda, told AFP.    Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said Friday that his country wanted "a firm commitment from the DRC to resume direct talks with the M23 within a well-defined framework and timeframe."    The Congolese government says, however, that the M23 only exists because of Rwandan military support.    "If Kigali is in good faith in the negotiations and on its promise to withdraw ... its troops from Congolese soil, the conflict will end with the M23, and at the same time it will stop with Rwanda," a Congolese government source said.     Fragile truce   Kagame and Tshisekedi last saw each other in October in Paris but did not speak, though they have maintained dialogue through the mediation of Luanda.    In early August, Angola mediated a fragile truce that stabilized the situation at the front line, but both sides continued to exchange fire and clashes have intensified since late October.    Home to a string of rival armed groups, the mineral-rich eastern DRC has been plagued by internal and cross-border violence for the past three decades.    "Our country continues to face persistent rebellions, including the aggression by the Rwandan army and the M23 terrorists," Tshisekedi said in parliament Wednesday, calling the militants and Rwanda "enemies of the Republic."    The capital of DRC's North Kivu province, Goma, home to about 1 million people and another million displaced by war, is now nearly surrounded by M23 rebels and the Rwandan army.    Early in November, the two central African neighbours launched a committee to monitor ceasefire violations, led by Angola and including representatives from both the DRC and Rwanda.    Kinshasa and Kigali a few weeks later approved a document setting out the terms by which Rwandan troops will disengage from Congolese territory.    A previous draft dated in August listed the dismantling of the FDLR militia, created by ethnic Hutus involved in the Rwandan genocide in 1994, as a precondition for Rwanda's withdrawal.    Often portrayed by Kigali as a threat to its security, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is one of various disparate militias fighting alongside the Congolese army against the M23.    The August draft was rejected by the DRC, which demanded that the withdrawal occur at the same time as the FDLR's dismantling.    The final strategic document, seen by AFP, planned for a period of 90 days to "conclude the neutralization of the FDLR and the lifting of Rwanda's defensive measures."  https://www.voanews.com/a/dr-congo-rwanda-peace-talks-canceled-/7901906.html https://www.voanews.com/a/dr-congo-rwanda-peace-talks-canceled-/7901906.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 07:59:23 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) OKAPI WILDLIFE RESERVE, Democratic Republic of Congo — Scattered along the banks of the Ituri River, buildings cram together, cranes transport dirt and debris scatters the soil. The patches of trees are a scant reminder that a forest once grew there. Nestled in eastern Congo's Ituri province, the Chinese-run gold mine is rapidly encroaching on an area that many say it shouldn't be operating in at all - the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, an endangered World Heritage site. The original boundaries of the reserve were established three decades ago, by Congo's government and encompassed the area where the Chinese company now mines. But over the years under opaque circumstances, the boundaries shrunk, allowing the company to operate inside the plush forest. The reserve was already on the endangered list, amid threats of conflict and wildlife trafficking. Now the rapid expansion of the Chinese mines threatens to further degrade the forest and the communities living within. Residents and wildlife experts say the mining's polluting the rivers and soil, decimating trees and swelling the population, increasing poaching, with little accountability. "It is alarming that a semi-industrial mining operation is being given free rein in what's supposed to be a protected World Heritage Site, that was already on the danger list," said Joe Eisen, executive director, of Rainforest Foundation UK. Spanning more than 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 square miles), the reserve became a protected site in 1996, due to its unique biodiversity and large number of threatened species, including its namesake, the okapi, a forest giraffe, of which it holds some 15% of the world's remaining 30,000. It's part of the the Congo Basin rainforest — the world's second-biggest — and a vital carbon sink that helps mitigate climate change. It also has vast mineral wealth such as gold and diamonds. Mining is prohibited in protected areas, which includes the reserve, according to Congo's mining code. Issa Aboubacar, a spokesperson for the Chinese company, Kimia Mining Investment, said the group is operating legally. It recently renewed its permits until 2048, according to government records. Congo's mining registry said the map they're using came from files from the ICCN, the body responsible for managing Congo's protected areas, and it's currently working with the ICCN on updating the boundaries and protecting the park. The ICCN told The Associated Press that in meetings this year with the mining registry the misunderstandings around the boundaries were clarified and the original ones should be used. An internal government memo from August, seen by AP, said all companies in the Reserve will be closed down, including Kimia Mining. However, it was unclear when that would happen or how. The document has not previously been reported and is the first acknowledging that the current boundaries are wrong, according to environmentalists working in Congo. Rights groups in Congo have long said the permits were illegally awarded by the mining ministry based on inaccurate maps. Shifting boundaries and rules Eastern Congo's been beset by violence for decades and the Okapi Reserve's endured years of unrest by local militia. In 2012, in Epulu town, a local rebel group slaughtered several residents including two rangers, as well as 14 okapis, the latter were part of a captive breeding program. The reserve's also been threatened by artisanal — small scale — mining, by thousands of Indigenous peoples who live in and around the forest. The Muchacha mine — the biggest in the reserve and one of the largest small and medium scale gold mines in the country — spans approximately 12 miles (19 kilometers) along the Ituri River and consists of several semi-industrial sites. Satellite images analyzed by AP show consistent development along the southwestern section of the Reserve, since it began operating in 2016, with a boom in recent years. Joel Masselink, a geographer specializing in satellite imagery, who previously worked on conservation projects in the forest, said the mining cadastral — the agency responsible for allocating mineral licenses — is using a version of the reserve's maps in which the area's been shrunk by nearly a third. This has allowed it to award and renew exploration and extraction concessions, he said. The mining cadastral told the U.N. that the boundaries were changed due to a letter from the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, the body in charge of protected areas in Congo, but didn't provide a copy, said a report from U.N. experts. The ICCN told the AP it's never seen the letter and the boundaries used should be the original ones. Changing World Heritage Site boundaries needs to be approved by UNESCO experts and the World Heritage Committee, which analyze the impact of the modification, a spokesperson for the World Heritage Center told AP. The Center said no request to modify the Reserve's boundaries had been made and that cases of boundary modifications to facilitate development were rare. Civil society groups in Congo accuse some government officials of intentionally moving the boundaries for personal gain. "We all knew that Muchacha was within the reserve," said Alexis Muhima, executive director of the Congolese Civil Society Observatory for Peace Minerals. He said the discrepancy over the park's boundaries started when they realized the mine was producing large quantities of gold. The U.N. report said mines are controlled by the military, and some members are under the protection of powerful business and political interests, with soldiers at times denying local officials access to the sites. Residents, who once mined in the reserve, are infuriated by the double standard. "The community is worried, because the Chinese are mining in a protected area when it's forbidden for the community," said Jean Kamana, the chief of Epulu, a village inside the Reserve. Despite being a protected forest, people still mined there until authorities cracked down, largely after the Chinese arrived. Kimia Mining grants limited access to locals to mine areas for leftovers, but for a fee that many can't afford, say locals. Muvunga Kakule used to do artisanal mining in the reserve while also selling food from his farm to other miners. The 44-year-old said he's now unable to mine or sell produce as the Chinese don't buy locally. He's lost 95% of his earnings and can no longer send his children to private school. Some residents told the AP there are no other options for work and have been forced to mine secretly and risk being jailed. Losing land, animals and income During a trip to the reserve earlier this year, Kimia Mining wouldn't let AP enter the site and the government wouldn't grant access to patrol the forest with its rangers. But nearly two dozen residents, as well as former and current Kimia Mining employees from villages in and around the Reserve, told the AP the mining was decimating the forests and the wildlife and contaminating the water and land. Five people who had worked inside Kimia's mines, none of whom wanted to be named for fear of reprisal, said when the Chinese finished in one area, they leave exposed, toxic water sources. Sometimes people would fall into uncovered pits and when it rains, water seeps into the soil. Employees and mining experts say the Chinese use mercury in its operations, used to separate gold from ore. Mercury is considered one of the top ten chemicals of major public health concern by the U.N. and can have toxic effects on the nervous and immune systems. One 27-year-old woman who worked as a cook for Kimia for six months and lives in Badengaido town, close to the mine, said the soil has become infertile. "(It's) poisoned by chemicals used by the Chinese," she said. The AP could not independently verify her claim. However, a report from the University of Antwerp that researched the impact of conflict and mining on the Reserve said chemicals used to purify gold, such as mercury or cyanide, can enter the ecosystems and pollute the soil. In the past, 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of peanut seeds would yield approximately 30 bags, but now it's hard to get three, she said. The loss of income has made it challenging to afford school and medical care for her siblings. Assana, a fisher who also worked in the mines and only wanted to use his first name, said it now takes four days to catch the same amount of fish he used to get in a day. While doing odd jobs for the company last year, the 38-year-old saw the Chinese repeatedly chop swaths of forest, making the heat unbearable, he said. Between last January and May, the reserve lost more than 480 hectares (1,186 acres) of forest cover — the size of nearly 900 American football fields — according to a joint statement from the Wildlife Conservation Society and government agencies, which said it was concerned at the findings. Aboubacar, Kimia's spokesperson in Congo, said the company respects environmental standards and pays tax to the government for reforestation. Mining is a crucial revenue stream for Congo and it "can't place a higher value on the environment than on mining," he said. Kimia is supporting the population and has employed more than 2,000 people, said Aboubacar. Conservation is an uphill battle Conservation groups are trying to protect the reserve, but say it's hard to enforce when there's ambiguity on the legalities. "On the one hand, Congo's law clearly states that mining is illegal in protected areas. On the other hand, if a mine is operating with an official permit, then that creates confusion, and that becomes hard to enforce on the ground," said Emma Stokes, Vice President of field conservation for The Wildlife Conservation Society. The internal memo, seen by AP, outlines discussions by a joint task force between the ICCN and Congo's mining registry, which was created to try and resolve the boundary issue. The document said it will trigger the process of stopping all mining within the Reserve and integrate the agreed upon map from the joint commission into the mining registry's system. UNESCO's requested a report from Congo by February, to provide clarity on what will be done to resolve the problem. But this comes as little comfort to communities in the reserve. Wendo Olengama, a Pygmy chief, said the influx of thousands of people into the Chinese-run mines has increased poaching, making it hard to earn money. During the authorized hunting season, he could capture up to seven animals a day, eating some and selling others. Now it's hard to get two, he said. Sitting in a small hut beside his wife, as she bounces their 3-year-old granddaughter on her lap, the couple says they want the Chinese company to provide business opportunities, such as cattle raising and teach people responsible hunting. "If the situation persists, we'll live in misery," said his wife, Dura Anyainde. "We wont have food to eat." https://www.voanews.com/a/chinese-gold-mining-threatens-a-protected-un-heritage-site-in-congo/7898474.html https://www.voanews.com/a/chinese-gold-mining-threatens-a-protected-un-heritage-site-in-congo/7898474.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 02:36:28 -0500 AfricaEast AsiaChina Newswebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — A trend in South Africa of people jumping in front of slow-moving cars to get compensation payouts for injuries drew a warning Tuesday from the government's national Road Accident Fund. In a statement, it said the phenomenon of people intentionally getting hit near intersections and stop streets was becoming a significant problem, while it acknowledged that some cases might have been driven by poverty and desperation at an expensive time of the year. "We acknowledge road users may be faced with socioeconomic challenges," the fund said. The RAF allows people to claim compensation from a national fund if they are injured in car crashes. But it warned that it was clamping down on bogus claims after identifying the new trend. It said people were waiting for vehicles to "slow down enough that they don't get killed" before throwing themselves in front of or against the cars to fake an accident. "The RAF does not compensate someone who intentionally causes a motor vehicle accident, even if this results in serious injuries," it said. The fund didn't say how many cases of people intentionally getting hit by cars it had recorded but said it had rejected nearly 50,000 claims in the period between February 2022 and February this year, some of them because they were fraudulent. The warning comes ahead of South Africa's notoriously dangerous holiday season on the roads. The RAF said that on average more than 1,500 people are killed in road accidents in South Africa during the holiday period between the start of December and January 11. Around 40% of those fatalities are pedestrians, it said. "Road users are urged to also remember that the fund does not compensate for the death itself but only pays for the actual costs to cremate the deceased or bury them in a grave," the fund said in a grim holiday message. The RAF said it paid out $2.5 billion in claims in the 2023-24 financial year. https://www.voanews.com/a/south-africa-warns-of-people-jumping-in-front-of-cars-in-payout-scam/7898423.html https://www.voanews.com/a/south-africa-warns-of-people-jumping-in-front-of-cars-in-payout-scam/7898423.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 02:35:51 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) KAMPALA, UGANDA — The day Shalom Mirembe was sent home from school last month over unpaid tuition, her father lay dying in a hospital. Even as her mother sat by his bedside, school officials were calling and demanding payment. For Mirembe's mother, a shoe vendor who looks after four children, it was a heartbreaking moment in the daily struggle to pay often unpredictable and unregulated school fees. Constant threats demanding payment can leave her feeling helpless. Some officials are more tolerant, but eventually they all grow tired of her pleas. "You have to care for this one, you have to care for the other one," Justine Nangero said, describing a delicate balancing act to keep Mirembe and the others enrolled. "I try to fight to see that I pay to all these schools." It is a crushing issue for many across sub-Saharan Africa, where the lack of a few hundred dollars can determine a child's future. The region has long had the world's highest dropout rates. Reasons vary, but financial pain is the biggest. Last year, the World Bank said 54% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa rank the issue of paying school fees higher than medical bills and other expenses. It said school fees were the biggest source of financial worry for 40% of people in Uganda, where top government-funded schools now charge nearly $700 in tuition per three-month term. That's a significant amount in this East African country where annual GDP per capita was $864 in 2023. More than anything, it's the unpredictable tuition hikes — for sometimes questionable reasons — that haunt parents across the country of more than 45 million people. Some critics, including Uganda's parliament speaker, have called for regulation to protect parents from exploitation. The Equal Opportunities Commission, a government agency that tracks inequality and discrimination, released a report in September calling for punitive measures against government-supported schools that appear to set excessive fees. It warned that arbitrarily raising fees can force children to drop out. Attendance falls from 68% in grade school to 22% in secondary school, with financial difficulty the main reason for failure to continue studies, according to new figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. Uganda does have a program for universal secondary education, introduced in 2007 and similar to one for primary education, but such schools are often rundown and undesirable for many families. They are generally tuition-free, but parents must pay sometimes burdensome fees for uniforms, textbooks and other items. When it comes to more popular, and more expensive, private schools, the government is not interested in price intervention, said Dennis Mugimba, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education. Setting fees for private schools is "purely administrative and it is adjusted according to the business environment," he said. But certain charges such as those including "capital development" should not be the responsibility of parents, he said. Such private schools have mushroomed across Uganda and now make up the majority of the country's schools, addressing growing demand but also emphasizing the profitability of education as a business. That worries some experts. "We can't let education be treated like a market stall," said Fagil Mandy, a former inspector of schools. Education authorities should standardize regulations to make school fees universally predictable, he said. Routine school expenses, for both private and some top government-funded schools, can include everything from a contribution towards the purchase of a bus to the procurement of laboratory equipment. But when the list of fees includes a ream of photocopying paper or a bag of cement from each student, questions emerge about where they end up. The school that Mirembe attends outside the capital, Kampala, charges the equivalent of $300 per term. Its officials expect 70% of fees to be paid at the beginning of a term, but many parents fail to meet that threshold. Some, like Nangero, send their children to school having paid nothing, counting on the mercy of officials. But measures to track payments include gate passes that show how much is owed and when, and a student may be denied entry, said Joanita Seguya, a deputy head teacher at the school, Wampewo Ntakke Secondary. In the school of more than 2,100 students, roughly 400 are from working-class families that routinely struggle to pay fees, according to Seguya, who said the system can seem harsh. To accommodate some parents, the school accepts in-kind payments such as vegetables and fruit, she said. But Nangero, whose family shares a single room, has nothing of the sort to offer. Her shoe business, long drained of cash by school fees, has collapsed. The death of her husband, whose carpentry once supplemented the family income, has increased the pain. She said anxiety over school fees is more damaging for her children, who spend days at home whenever school officials lose patience. She's grateful that two of her sons in secondary school are now supported by an evangelical cleric — rare support made possible via contact through their religious fellowship. The 20-year-old Mirembe, who is taking her final exams this year, was able to start the school term in September because of a bursar's sympathy, she said, but other officials were not so lenient weeks later as her father was near death. "At least maybe I will come and pay something tomorrow," her mother recalled pleading with one official. "And she told me, 'No, we are not going to allow your daughter to be here.'" Mirembe arrived home hours before her father died. Vincent Odoi, a teacher at her school, recalled the incident as unfortunate, saying administrators didn't know of the family's challenges. Mirembe was allowed to return days after her father's burial, which some of her teachers attended. Other families are not so fortunate. One is a nearby family of seven children who dropped out of school in recent years for lack of tuition. Their jobless father, Moses Serikomawa, described the scramble in vain for school fees as "like a cancer. It cannot be treated." Raising a total of over $200 in school fees each term is too much trouble when the family sometimes lacks food, he said. His oldest child, who would be in high school now, dropped out after completing secondary school last year. Now the boy is idle. "The children still want to go back to school," Serikomawa said. "When I look at my children, there is no joy, no joy at all." https://www.voanews.com/a/parents-in-africa-struggle-with-unpredictable-school-fees-that-force-children-to-drop-out/7898409.html https://www.voanews.com/a/parents-in-africa-struggle-with-unpredictable-school-fees-that-force-children-to-drop-out/7898409.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 02:35:15 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) GOMA, CONGO — Fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebel group intensified in eastern Congo in recent days ahead of much anticipated peace talks on Sunday, the army said.   In a statement on Friday, Congo's army accused the M23 of killing 12 civilians this week in villages of the Lubero territory in the eastern province of North-Kivu . An M23 spokesperson told The Associated Press it denied the accusation, discrediting it as "propaganda" from Congo's government.   Conflict displaces millions M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, in a conflict that has created one of the world's largest humanitarian crises. More than 7 million people have been displaced.   Congo and the United Nations accuse Rwanda of backing M23. Rwanda denies the claim, but in February admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.  Last month, Congo and Rwanda's foreign ministers agreed on the terms and conditions of the disengagement of Rwandan forces in eastern Congo.  In July, Congo signed a ceasefire with M23 that came into effect in August, but fighting has resumed since. Earlier this month, the United States said it was "gravely concerned" by ceasefire violations by M23 rebels.  'Tired of the war' The intensification of fighting comes as Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame are set to meet Sunday in Angola, which has been mediating the conflict. It will be their first official meeting since last year.  Aline Kasereka, a mother of six living in Lubero, a town 50 kilometers (30 miles) away from the villages where the fighting took place earlier this week, said the peace talks are urgently needed.  "We are tired of the war, every day we move, we do not know in which country we are anymore," Kasereka told the AP. "Our authorities have to sit on the negotiation table and find a solution because we want to return to our normal life." Henry Pacifique, analyst for the Kivu Security Barometer research project, said he remains pessimistic about the outcome of the summit.  "It seems like Angola is trying to force Congo and Rwanda to participate, while both parties continue to make the other the scapegoat to justify future violations of the agreement," he said.  https://www.voanews.com/a/heavy-fighting-in-congo-between-army-rebels-ahead-of-peace-talks-/7901629.html https://www.voanews.com/a/heavy-fighting-in-congo-between-army-rebels-ahead-of-peace-talks-/7901629.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 19:11:37 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) GENEVA — An attack on the main hospital in the western Sudanese town of Al-Fashir on Friday killed nine people and wounded 20, including patients and their families, the head of the World Health Organization said. In a posting on X Saturday, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added that "continued attacks on health across Sudan are deplorable." "We urge for the protection of all patients and health professionals, and for all attacks on and around health facilities to stop," he said. Since April 2023, Sudan has been ravaged by a war between two generals, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. The war has left tens of thousands of civilians dead, displaced more than 11 million people, and plunged the East African country into the worst humanitarian crisis in recent years. Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur, has been besieged since May by the RSF, which has blocked trade and aid deliveries to the region. https://www.voanews.com/a/dead-in-attack-on-sudan-hospital-who-says/7901472.html https://www.voanews.com/a/dead-in-attack-on-sudan-hospital-who-says/7901472.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 12:37:21 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) MORONI, COMOROS — The French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean suffered extensive damage from Tropical Cyclone Chido, officials said Saturday, as the storm roared toward the east coast of the African continent. Chido brought winds in excess of 220 kilometers per hour, according to the French weather service, ripping metal roofs off houses in Mayotte, which has a population of just over 300,000 spread over two main islands. There were no immediate reports of casualties. “Our island is being hit by the most violent and destructive cyclone since 1934. Many of us have lost everything,” Mayotte Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville said in a Facebook post Saturday. He said the highest alert had been lifted so that rescuers can help after the worst of the cyclone had passed. Mayotte is still under red alert for the ordinary population, and people were asked to “remain confined in a solid shelter,” Bieuville said. Only emergency and security services were allowed to go out. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Mayotte had been hit hard. “The damages already appear to be extensive,” he said on X. “State and local emergency services are fully mobilized.” Local broadcaster Mayotte la 1ere said that thousands of homes were without power, tin huts and other small structures had been blown away and many trees had been blown over. Retailleau said 110 rescuers and firefighters sent to Mayotte from France and the nearby territory of Reunion have been deployed and an additional reinforcement of 140 people will be sent on Sunday. The nation of Comoros, a group of islands north of Mayotte, also was being battered by Chido and the highest red alert had been announced in some areas. Authorities said they were concerned for a group of 11 fishermen who had gone out to sea on Monday and had not been heard from. Comoros authorities have ordered all ships to remain anchored in harbors and have closed the main airport and government offices. Schools were ordered closed on Friday so that people could prepare for the cyclone. Chido was expected to continue its eastern trajectory and hit Mozambique on the African mainland late Saturday or early Sunday, forecasters said. Mozambique's disaster agency has warned that 2.5 million people might be affected in the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula. Further inland, landlocked Malawi and Zimbabwe were preparing. Malawi's Department of Disaster Management Affairs said it was expecting flooding in some parts and urgently advised some people to move to higher ground. In Zimbabwe, authorities said some people should prepare for evacuation. December through to March is cyclone season in the southeastern Indian Ocean, and southern Africa has been pummeled by a series of strong ones in recent years. Cyclone Idai in 2019 killed more than 1,300 people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Cyclone Freddy left more than 1,000 dead across several countries last year. The cyclones bring the risk of flooding and landslides, but also stagnant pools of water may later spark deadly outbreaks of the waterborne cholera disease — as happened in the aftermath of Idai — as well as dengue fever and malaria. Studies say the cyclones are getting worse because of climate change. They can leave poor countries in southern Africa, which contribute a tiny amount to climate change, having to deal with large humanitarian crises. https://www.voanews.com/a/cyclone-chido-rips-through-mayotte-as-it-barrels-toward-eastern-africa/7901414.html https://www.voanews.com/a/cyclone-chido-rips-through-mayotte-as-it-barrels-toward-eastern-africa/7901414.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 11:22:30 -0500 AfricaClimate Changewebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) HARARE, ZIMBABWE — Rights groups are urging Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa to sign into law a bill that would abolish the death penalty, following the bill’s landmark passage Thursday by the country's senate, after earlier passage by the lower house of parliament. In an interview with VOA, Zimbabwe's justice minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, said passage of the death abolition bill is welcomed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who, since coming to power in 2017, has refused to sign death warrants for those facing capital punishment. "He is a man who has not been an advocate of death penalty," Ziyambi said. "The passage of the bill by the senate towards Christmas is an early Christmas present to him, as he has been an advocate to say, 'We can't do this.' And that's the reason why I said he is the man who is going to appreciate the work that has been done by both houses." Human rights groups are now calling for Mnangagwa to sign the bill, among them Lucia Masuka, the head of Amnesty International in Zimbabwe. "Amnesty International commends the progressive legislative efforts made so far to make the abolition of the death penalty from the country’s statutes a reality," Masuka said. "We urge the president to take heed of this historic landmark decision by signing this bill without delay and commuting all death sentences to prison terms. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and has no place in our world." In the past Mnangagwa has refused to sign some bills after parliament had passed them. But Ziyambi said that will not happen this time. "How would I say it’s an early Christmas present if he does not want to sign it?" Ziyambi said. "He has lived the trauma of being on death row and was saved by a technicality. He is ready to sign like yesterday." But not everyone is happy with this latest development. One of them is Zachariah Choga, an attorney in Harare. "I still believe adequate to search was not properly done on this regard," he said. "If you look at the increase in crime in Zimbabwe at the moment, especially violent crimes, robberies, armed robberies to be specific house-breaking, it's only going to escalate further with the death penalty off the table because it appeared with the death penalty on the table. It could have been the only deterrent that we had at this particular point, but now with the death penalty gone, we're going to see a rise in violent crimes of that nature." According to Amnesty International, 24 countries across sub-Saharan Africa have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while two additional countries have abolished it for ordinary crimes only. Zimbabwe’s last known execution was in 2005, though courts continue to impose death sentences – for cases of murder committed under aggravating circumstances. In April, all those condemned to death had their sentences commuted to life in prison by President Mnangagwa. https://www.voanews.com/a/rights-groups-urge-zimbabwe-s-president-to-sign-bill-abolishing-death-penalty/7901209.html https://www.voanews.com/a/rights-groups-urge-zimbabwe-s-president-to-sign-bill-abolishing-death-penalty/7901209.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 03:39:55 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Columbus Mavhunga) MOGADISHU, SOMALIA/WASHINGTON — Expressing a renewed desire to return to their homeland, some Syrian refugees residing Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, are hopeful that recent developments, including the ousting of the Assad family regime that brutally ruled Syria for 53 years, might signal a safer future in Syria. Since the Syrian civil war broke out more than a decade ago, Syrians have fled to countries in the Middle East and Europe, as well as to African countries that have been grappling with instability. Many Syrian refugees found themselves in Somalia, a war-torn nation in the Horn of Africa that has faced terrorist attacks, piracy and humanitarian crises. On Wednesday, dozens of Syrian refugees in Mogadishu staged a demonstration marked with emotional speeches to celebrate the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Holding placards that read "We want to go home" and "Syria awaits us," the demonstrators expressed their longing for peace and stability in their homeland. Some of them shared their stories with VOA. "We are victorious because of the free Syrian army. Those in control [Syrian rebels] now are God-abiding people, not the ousted and strayed al-Assad," said Hussein Hikmat, a refugee from Damascus. "Here, Somalis welcomed us and supported us, but we will go back to our country." Ali Al-Zahir, who fled from Aleppo, Syria's largest city, lost his wife and three children in the Syrian war. He arrived in Mogadishu in hopes of keeping his two surviving children safe. "I am your brother from Aleppo, a city that suffered at the hands of al-Assad and his predator regime. Syria is free today, and free soldiers control it. I swear to God I want to return to my country," he said, in tears, reflecting on his deep desire to reunite with his homeland. Syrian refugee Khadija Mohamed sells perfumes and tusbah, prayer beads used in Islamic practices, in Mogadishu. While she is hopeful about returning to Syria, she acknowledges the challenges her impoverished family faces. "The situation in Syria is good. Bashar al-Assad is gone, and now Syria is in safe hands," Mohamed said. "I have lived in Somalia for two years with my husband and kids. We want to return, but our current situation does not allow us to do so."  Fatima Mohamed, another refugee, shared a cautious outlook. "The situation in Syria is improving, and many places are free," she said. "It is not entirely stable yet. We hear that some of the Syrian prisoners arrested by the Assad regime are still in underground jails," she added, pointing out that conditions would need to be less volatile for her to consider returning home. Like Fatima Mohamed, many Syrian refugees remain cautious despite their longing to return home. Somali officials who spoke at the demonstrations have acknowledged the refugees' wishes and said they were working with international organizations to assess the situation in Syria and facilitate safe returns. There is no official data on the number of Syrian refugees living in Somalia, but officials estimate it to be in the thousands. Syrians who found refuge in Somalia said the two countries' history of amicable relations drove them. The Syrians say Somalis' friendliness toward refugees and Somalia's lack of visa restrictions also drew them to Mogadishu and other major cities in the country. In return, the Syrian refugees, which include doctors, nurses, engineers, chefs, technicians, and teachers among their ranks, have enriched Somalia culturally and economically because of the knowledge and skillsets they brought with them. This story originated in VOA's Somali Service.   https://www.voanews.com/a/syrian-refugees-in-somalia-hope-to-return-home/7901147.html https://www.voanews.com/a/syrian-refugees-in-somalia-hope-to-return-home/7901147.html Fri, 13 Dec 2024 22:03:20 -0500 AfricaMiddle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Mohamed Olad Hassan, Seynab Abukar) Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian authorities in oil-rich Rivers State unveiled on Friday six military-grade gunboats to help security agents battle the piracy and oil theft that have plagued the Niger Delta region for decades. The latest measure is part of a broader crackdown aiming at boosting Nigeria's oil production.  Local singers and dancers enthralled hundreds of delegates at the ceremony marking the handover of six military gunboats to Nigeria's navy in southern Rivers State.  It's the latest effort by state authorities to support a national crackdown on oil thieves and to check piracy along the waterways in the Niger Delta.  Officials said the boats will bolster the navy's ability to patrol and respond to threats, especially near submerged oil export pipelines, which are often prone to attacks by thieves.  Siminalayi Fubara is the Rivers State governor.  "We're doing logistics support to the Nigerian navy, who are the closest agency that can battle the ones off the land," said Fubara. "It's a big problem. When you see the technology involved in the lines, you'd see that it's not small engineering, it's a professional thing."  Nigeria has long declared a war on crude oil theft, but the problem has continued to cut into the government's income and disrupt exports.  Authorities estimate the country loses $10 billion every year, or the equivalent of about 200,000 barrels of oil per day, to illegal actors.  Corruption, lack of security, and poor regulation have hindered authorities' ability to effectively curb the problem.  Fubara said in addition to heightening security measures, state authorities will expand investments in infrastructure, health care and education in local communities most prone to oil theft to dissuade them from the practice.  "This problem is not just a problem that attacking those people on the field can solve," said Fubara. "What we need is a total reorientation. You need to engage them."  The state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company said this week that 94 incidents of crude oil theft occurred between November 30 and December 6.  On Thursday, the Nigerian military said its 90-day Operation Delta Safe, a program that aimed to reduce oil theft and increase production, was successful upon its conclusion in mid-October.  Rear Admiral John Okeke is commander of the operation. He spoke to journalists.  "We've been able to arrest, and the appropriate handling of over 300 vehicles comprising trucks, tankers, cars, tricycles conveying crude oil and illegal products," said Okeke. "Similarly, we've been able to handle over 15 million liters of stolen crude oil and about four million liters of illegally refined automotive gasoline oil."  Authorities say Nigeria plans to use drones, automated metering systems and other technology to monitor its oil pipelines next year.  https://www.voanews.com/a/nigeria-unveils-new-gunboats-to-enhance-operations-against-oil-theft/7901110.html https://www.voanews.com/a/nigeria-unveils-new-gunboats-to-enhance-operations-against-oil-theft/7901110.html Fri, 13 Dec 2024 19:55:36 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Timothy Obiezu) ABUJA, NIGERIA — The World Health Organization (WHO) and public health experts are calling for increased political commitment and funding to fight malaria, especially in endemic regions like Africa. This week's release of the 2024 World Malaria Report by the WHO said there were 11 million more malaria cases compared to the previous year and that Ethiopia and Nigeria recorded their highest death tolls from the disease since 2015. According to Wednesday's report, there were 263 million cases of the mosquito-borne disease and nearly 600,000 deaths worldwide last year. The report indicates global malaria cases grew by about 11 million compared to the year prior while fatalities remained nearly the same. The WHO report said Africa accounted for 95% of global malaria deaths. Most of the victims were children under 5 years of age. Dr. Kehinde Ajayi, an expert on malaria epidemiology and control, said one issue is that since 2020, most developing nations have had a shortage of resources to combat the disease. “Some of the resources like insecticide-treated nets and also funding towards the malaria control programs have been hampered because of ... COVID-19 and the economic imbalance in developing countries,” Ajayi said. Ajayi said climate change and declining effectiveness of anti-malaria drugs are threatening progress. Nigeria bears the world's highest burden of malaria with more than 27% of global malaria cases and 31% of deaths. But the WHO report also showed some progress — estimating that about 2.2 billion cases of malaria and 12.7 million deaths were averted globally since 2000. Ajayi said increased government funding for malaria interventions could change things. "Mosquitoes thrive very well under temperatures that are more than 19 degrees Celsius, and the climate change has made [that] possible,” Ajayi said. “Also, the plasmodium parasite has gained a lot of resistance against malaria drugs. Also, the government needs to invest more in our health sector. Government also needs to fund research that will help us in discovering indigenous drugs." The WHO report said only about half of the $8.7 billion target for malaria intervention last year was achieved. In Nigeria, spending on health care is about 4% of the national budget, much lower than the 15% agreed upon by the African Union in 2001 — in the so-called Abuja Declaration. Authorities have pledged to improve spending on health. On Thursday, Nigeria signed a deal to promote local production of test kits for HIV and malaria. Last week, Nigeria launched its malaria vaccination campaign — becoming the latest African country to provide malaria vaccines to young children. There are now 17 countries giving new malaria vaccines. https://www.voanews.com/a/nigeria-experts-call-for-increased-funding-for-malaria-intervention-/7900864.html https://www.voanews.com/a/nigeria-experts-call-for-increased-funding-for-malaria-intervention-/7900864.html Fri, 13 Dec 2024 17:45:52 -0500 AfricaScience & Healthwebdesk@voanews.com (Timothy Obiezu) Gaborone, Botswana — The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is building a military logistics hub in Botswana to ensure rapid deployment of troops. The construction follows the regional bloc's 2021 failure to quickly send forces to quell an insurgence in northern Mozambique. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in his capacity as SADC chairperson, performed the groundbreaking ceremony Friday to mark the start of construction.  The 19 hectare-SADC Standby Force Regional Logistics Depot will be built in Rasesa, 40 kilometers north of Gaborone.  "This groundbreaking ceremony is timely and marks a significant stride in our journey towards promoting and consolidating peace, stability and security in our region," said Mnangagwa. "Regrettably, the last four years have seen our region witnessing complex and multifaceted threats to peace and security. These require urgent and collective regional responses."            Having faced previous deployment challenges, Mnangagwa says the establishment of the center will ensure the region will be able to deploy troops quickly. "The regional logistics depot will serve as a critical hub for the storage of and the rapid deployment of resources, personnel and equipment," said Mnangagwa. "This ensures that the SADC Standby Force has tactical capability to swiftly respond to the threats to peace and security."        However, Mnangagwa says only $15 million of the $45 million required to complete the facility has been raised. He appealed to international partners to come to the SADC's aid.    Botswana President Duma Boko said the military hub will give the SADC the capacity to intervene in strife-torn regions. "They (people) are mostly unsafe in some of their countries. They face strife, they face belligerent hostilities," said Boko. "They are in distress and they are looking for help and we in SADC have taken it upon ourselves when these calls of distress are raised to step in, to step up and come to the rescue we set up therefore, a force through which we intervene in some of these situations."    Boko said the depot will be crucial to the distribution of military equipment when needed.    "We have taken it upon ourselves to respond, to take to these trouble spots and deploy forces to assist and to bring an end to the conflicts," said Boko. "Such missions require facilities where the equipment they will need in the execution of their missions will be kept and from which such equipment can then be moved and distributed with speed and dispatched to the front lines where it is needed."   Zimbabwe-based political analyst Effie Dlela Ncube said while it is critical to have the armory, regional leaders must first address the root cause of conflict.    "We need to go beyond that (deploying troops) and deal with the political, socio-economic, legal and other structural root causes of conflict in the region," said Ncube. "We need to ensure that there are free and fair elections so that people do not have to rely on war in order to change governments. We need to eradicate discrimination on the basis of where people come from, on the basis of the language they speak, because that is a key driver of conflict. We need to deal with poverty, corruption (and) economic inequalities."    The SADC has seen the emergence of trouble spots, notably in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and in northern Mozambique.  https://www.voanews.com/a/southern-african-countries-build-45m-military-depot-in-botswana/7900778.html https://www.voanews.com/a/southern-african-countries-build-45m-military-depot-in-botswana/7900778.html Fri, 13 Dec 2024 17:02:33 -0500 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Mqondisi Dube) nairobi, kenya — The Chinese Embassy in Kenya says it has begun training Kenyan journalists to promote professionalism and integrity. But press advocates say the initiative is ironic as China sits close to the bottom in a key press freedom ranking for 2024. Kenyan news anchor and reporter Allan Aoko is one of dozens of reporters and editors at the state-run Kenya Broadcasting Corporation who recently participated in a Chinese Embassy-sponsored media course in Nairobi. The course touched on a range of journalism topics. ''It was very critical for me to understand the kind of tools that we should be using in artificial intelligence as a reporter using those tools to disseminate the news," he said. "It was important for me to understand the details.'' Some 70 journalists participated in the training. Speaking at the opening of the training session, the Chinese Embassy’s deputy ambassador to Kenya, Zhang Zhizhong, talked about the importance of the role of journalism in a nation. ''Journalists and reporters, you are the core of media and also the key factor in the success of media in conveying information and shaping perceptions and leading a country or nation into the correct direction," Zhang said. Studies by independent journalist advocacy groups have documented how China uses such partnerships to try to foster more positive coverage, including via press junkets, sponsorships and so-called career development opportunities to nurture better media relations. It has also offered tightly controlled press trips to Xinjiang to try to counter investigative reporting that has exposed its mass detentions and abuses in the region. As the world's leading jailer of journalists, China is considered one of the most censored countries in the world, using a combination of censorship, surveillance and legal threats to prevent free expression. The country ranks 172nd out of 180 on the Press Freedom Index, where 1 reflects the best media environment. Aleksandra Bielakowska works for Reporters Without Borders, which compiles the index. She said that  "inside their country, Beijing is conducting a full-scale campaign against independent voices, which is also independent journalists. In the past 10 years, we could see some space for independent journalism in China. The investigative journalists have almost died out.” The Kenyan national broadcaster’s editor-in-chief, Simon Maina, told VOA that because resources are limited, accepting help from China may be inevitable. But Maina said his newsroom’s editorial decisions are free of China’s influence. ''The sponsorship they have given us does not interfere with our editorial policy," Maina said. "Our editorial policy still stands, so it has nothing to do with how they operate in their country.” A 2021 report by the International Federation of Journalists found that Beijing's strategy was to target journalists in developing countries, such as in Africa, where it has deep financial interests. The report further showed that three quarters of African respondents said they viewed cooperation with Chinese entities as positive, especially where there was not enough media infrastructure.   Kenyan foreign policy professor Noah Midamba said that even with Beijing’s efforts and investments in Africa, the continent's mass media are still aligned with the West because of the language barrier with China. ''What is lagging for the Chinese is their information has not penetrated to the people in the streets, people in the rural areas and the most populous [regions] in Africa, as most Africans don’t understand Chinese,'' he said. At the same time, what has made the headlines is Kenya’s participation in China’s global infrastructure development project called the Belt and Road Initiative - a partnership many economists say has led the country into a debt trap. https://www.voanews.com/a/chinese-embassy-in-kenya-partners-with-state-broadcaster-to-train-journalists/7900762.html https://www.voanews.com/a/chinese-embassy-in-kenya-partners-with-state-broadcaster-to-train-journalists/7900762.html Fri, 13 Dec 2024 16:11:41 -0500 Press FreedomAfricaChina Newswebdesk@voanews.com (Victoria Amunga)