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The Zambian government has declared 21 days of national mourning for that country’s first president Kenneth Kaunda, who died at the age of 97 yesterday at Maina Soko Medical Centre in Lusaka, Zambia. In a statement confirming the nationalist’s demise, Zambia’s Secretary to the Cabinet Simon Miti said entertainment activities would be suspended while the …
The post 21 days of national mourning for Kenneth Kaunda appeared first on The Times Group Malawi.
Announcement of the death of former President Rawlings pic.twitter.com/7ext0fp4sd
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) November 12, 2020
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He expelled a WHO representative and three public health experts coordinating the virus response, and his administration insisted the country would be spared because of its Christian faith.
Tolbert Nyenswah, senior research associate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and former deputy minister of health in Liberia, said early, aggressive action by leaders is key.
\"You'll find the countries with a high number of cases, like Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, are some of those countries that are very good at doing testing,\" Nyenswah said on VOA's Straight Talk Africa.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is one leader winning high marks for taking early action in the country's fight against the coronavirus.
Africa's most populous country has the third-highest number of coronavirus cases, with just over 11,000.
Zhou Enlai’s first tour of Africa, popularly known as Zhou’s “Safari,” was a series of state visits to ten independent African countries, undertaken between December 1963 and February 1964 by the Chinese Premier. These visits, which occurred during a period when many countries were gaining independence from colonial power, marked the first time any high-ranking Chinese Communist leader had traveled to Africa.
Zhou’s original plan was to visit every country on the continent that had established formal diplomatic relations with Beijing. He traveled at the head of a delegation of more than fifty people, including China’s foreign minister, Chen Yi. The delegation began its tour in Egypt, which in May 1956 had become the first African country to recognize the Communist government of China. During the journey, the itinerary was amended several times to add Tunisia, whose government planned to recognize Communist China; remove Tanganyika, which was in the midst of the Zanzibar Revolution; and add Ethiopia, despite the fact that it did not recognize the Beijing regime until 1970.
In the end, the ten countries visited were as follows: Egypt (The United Arab Republic: December 14–21, 1963), Algeria (December 21–27), Morocco (December 27–30), Tunisia (January 9–10, 1964), Ghana (January 11–16), Mali (January 16–21), Guinea (January 21–26), Sudan (January 27–30), Ethiopia (January 30–February 1), and Somalia (February 1–4).
Zhou’s primary goal in Africa was to raise China’s profile on the continent at a time when it was beginning to challenge the Soviet Union openly over the direction of the global Communist movement. While Zhou received a warm reception in countries with left-wing governments, such as Algeria and Mali, he faced more hostile encounters with leaders who were adamantly anti-communist, especially in Tunisia and Ethiopia.
In response, Zhou consistently asserted that countries with different “political systems” could maintain friendly relations. Rather than focus on the affairs of postcolonial governments, he
May 10: Closure of border with Tanzania
\tThe Zambian government has announced the closure of its common border with Tanzania.
On Saturday (May 9) 76 new cases were reported in Nakonde, the border town in question.
The president directed that with effect from Monday 11th May, 2020; “the Nakonde border will be temporarily closed.
May 8: Relaxation of lockdown measures
\tThe president in an address to the nation on Friday announced the reopening of restaurants, gyms and casinos “as he calls on Zambian scientists to find local solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic,” local news portal Mwebantu reported.
The president also challenged Zambian scientists to help find local solution to the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Africa has declared a ten day period of mourning for Kenneth Kaunda and flags will fly at half-mast in all flag stations.
[This Day] President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with his Chadian counterpart, Idriss Deby Itno of Chad and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt over recent tragic incidents in their respective countries.
Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza died of a heart attack, according to a government statement released June 9, a day after he passed away in a local hospital.
Nkurunziza in photos
\t
\tIn this Thursday June 24, 2010 photo Pierre Nkurunziza, current president of Burundi and of the ruling CNDD-FDD Party, gestures to supporters during his election campaign at Gatumba , 20km outside of the capital of Burundi, Bujumbura.
Burundi Army Gen. Evariste Ndayishimiye, center, is accompanied by his wife Angeline Ndayubaha, left, and current president Pierre Nkurunziza, right, after he was chosen as the party’s presidential candidate at a national conference for the ruling CNDD-FDD party in the rural province of Gitega, Burundi Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020.
Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, rides a bicycle as he arrives to vote in parliamentary elections in Ngozi, Burundi, Monday, June 29, 2015.
East African Presidents, from left to right, Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame of Rwanda pose for a group photograph in Munyonyo, near Kampala, in Uganda, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to cancel interest-free debt owed by \"relevant\" African countries as part of Beijing's move to help the continent during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a speech to a group of African leaders Wednesday, Mr Xi indicated that he will work with other international lenders to cushion African countries most affected by the novel coronavirus to enable them ride out the crisis.
Mr Xi spoke directly to African leaders via video link for the first time since the virus broke out.
\"Within the FOCAC (Forum on China-Africa Cooperation) framework, China will cancel the debt of relevant African countries in the form of interest-free government loans that are due to mature by the end of 2020,\" Xi told his audience, among them South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta and Senegal's Macky Sall, as well as Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
\"For those African countries that are hardest hit by the coronavirus and are under heavy financial stress, China will work with the global community to give them greater support, by such means as further extending the period of debt suspension, to help them tide over the current difficulty,\" he added.
Johanneburg — Officials in Africa have expressed concern over developments in the U.S. following the death of George Floyd, the black American man killed in police custody in the city of Minneapolis last week.
The head of the African Union described Floyd’s death as an act of “murder,” while South Africa’s ruling party is calling for calm in the U.S. Statements from the African continent could portend a shift in global relations — and hopefully, analysts say, make a bigger point: whether you live in Minneapolis or Monrovia, George Floyd’s death affects us all.
In Addis Ababa, African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat took the U.S. government to task over the death of Floyd.
Meanwhile, U.S. embassies in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo issued rare statements of concern over Floyd’s May 25 death and called for accountability after the arrest of a police officer on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
This week, as fires burned across the U.S., South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party also weighed in in the mounting crisis, saying the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor show that “American society places a perilously low value on black lives.”
There are now more than over 200,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the continent, with a number of African countries imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic.
According to the latest data by the John Hopkins University and Africa Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 in Africa, the breakdown remains fluid as countries confirm cases as and when.
As of May 13, every African country had recorded an infection, the last being Lesotho.
We shall keep updating this list largely sourced from the John Hopkins University tallies, Africa CDC and from official government data.
SUGGESTED READING: Africa’s COVID-19 deaths pass 100,000 mark
Major African stats: June 12 at 7:00 GMT:
\t\tConfirmed cases = 216,775
\t\tNumber of deaths = 5,852
\t\tRecoveries = 98,686
\t\tActive cases = 112,5237
Countries in alphabetical order
\t\tAlgeria – 10,589
\t\tAngola – 118
\t\tBenin – 305
\t\tBotswana – 48
\t\tBurkina Faso – 892
\t\tBurundi – 85
\t\tCameroon – 8,681
\t\tCape Verde – 657
\t\tCentral African Republic – 1,952
\t\tChad – 848
\t\tComoros – 162
\t\tCongo-Brazzaville – 728
\t\tDR Congo – 4,515
\t\tDjibouti – 4,398
\t\tEgypt – 39,726
\t\tEquatorial Guinea – 1,306
\t\tEritrea – 41
\t\tEswatini – 449
\t\tEthiopia – 2,670
\t\tGabon – 3,463
\t\t(The) Gambia – 28
\t\tGhana – 10,358
\t\tGuinea – 4,372
\t\tGuinea-Bissau – 1,389
\t\tIvory Coast – 4,404
\t\tKenya – 3,215
\t\tLesotho – 4
\t\tLiberia – 410
\t\tLibya – 393
\t\tMadagascar – 1,203
\t\tMalawi – 481
\t\tMali – 1,722
\t\tMauritania – 1,439
\t\tMauritius – 337
\t\tMorocco – 8,537
\t\tMozambique – 489
\t\tNamibia – 31
\t\tNiger – 974
\t\tNigeria- 14,554
\t\tRwanda – 494
\t\tSao Tome and Principe – 632
\t\tSenegal – 4,759
\t\tSeychelles – 11
\t\tSierra Leone – 1,085
\t\tSomalia – 2,513
\t\tSouth Africa – 58,568
\t\tSouth Sudan – 1,670
\t\tSudan – 6,730
\t\tTanzania – 509
\t\tTogo – 524
\t\tTunisia – 1,087
\t\tUganda – 679
\t\tZambia – 1,200
\t\tZimbabwe – 332
SUGGESTED READING: rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in Africa II
Today is the 322nd day of 2020. There are 44 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS1993: The US House of Representatives approves the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico.�OTHER EVENTS1534: British Parliament passes the Act of Supremacy, which declares King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England.
LGBT+ people existed freely in Africa before colonialism brought discrimination to the continent
The discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex in Africa has resulted in many of us being stripped of our dignity, with limited access to sexual and reproductive health services.
But a study published January of this year analysing regional enforceable treaties, from the \"African Charter on Human and People's Rights\" adopted in 1981 to \"Agenda 2063; The Africa We Want\", found none of them explicitly forbid discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
Not specifically stating that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression is forbidden allows more room for the fostering hate against LGBT+ people.
In April 2015 the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights gave a South African NGO called the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) observer status, the first openly LGBT+ organisation to be granted this.
When African states, allies and human rights defenders choose to be silent over the fact that we are denied protection from discrimination, our access to fundamental services like decent sanitation and hygiene, healthcare, and subsequently our right to dignity and life, are limited.
