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In Pemba, the port city of Cabo Delgado, the wait is coming to an end for some, as they are reunited with their relatives. But the situation is far from calm in the town of Palma, and other areas, where locals are fleeing.
In May, Burundi held a presidential election which was won by Evariste Ndayishimiye, candidate of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party.
Ndayishimiye was hurriedly sworn in after the untimely death of president Pierre Nkurunziza in June.
Rights violations continue
The Council encouraged donor countries which had suspended aid to Burundi to continue dialogue towards resumption of development assistance.
A report by a UN watchdog in September said human rights violations were still being committed in Burundi, including sexual violence and murder.
The country was plunged into a crisis in April 2015 when Ndayishimiye’s predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term, which he ultimately won in July 2015.
His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.
Hundreds of people were killed and over 300,000 fled to neighboring countries.
Maputo — 60 former guerrillas from Mozambique's main opposition party, Renamo, natives of the district of Muanza, in the central province of Sofala, have received building materials, agricultural tools, clothing and other goods, as part of the programme to demobilise and disarm the Renamo militia, and reintegrate its members into civilian life.
According to a report in the Beira daily paper \"Diario de Mocambique\", the 60 men had been stationed at a Renamo base known as \"Pombo Verde\" (\"Green Pigeon\") in Dondo district.
\"Pombo Verde\" is presumably the same base in Dondo visited recently by an inspection team including representatives of the government, of Renamo, and of the international Contact Group, set up to facilitate the dialogue between the two parties.
Mirko Manzoni, the head of the Contact Group, and the special envoy to Mozambique of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, issued a statement saying that the base was found to be empty, with no people and no weapons.
Pedro Muchanga, who had commanded the \"Pombo Verde\" base, said he was happy, and called on other Renamo guerrillas to come out of the bush and return to their communities.
DR Congo's military is receiving weapons and training from multiple countries without notifying the United Nations as required by a 2004 resolution, according to a recent report to the Security Council.
Some of the weapons have fallen into the hands of armed groups operating in the east of the country, warns the confidential report by UN experts that was obtained by AFP on Thursday.
DR Congo and its military have not been subject to an arms embargo since 2008, though one still applies to armed groups.
The report noted that several countries \"delivered significant quantities of arms, ammunition, equipment and military vehicles\" to the military.
\"Some of the material delivered to FARDC was later diverted to armed groups in eastern\" DR Congo, the report continues.
The enemy in the central theatre is the self proclaimed \"Renamo Military Junta\", which rejects the peace agreement signed last year by President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade, and which has carried out a string of murderous ambushes on the main roads in Manica and Sofala provinces.
The other four officials sworn in, are the director of Neto's office, Lt-Col Alberto Magudo, the director of the communications department in the general staff of the armed forces, Commodore Anibal Rafael Chefe, the delegate of the Nampula Provincal Recritment and Mobilisation Centre, Lt-Col Cipriano Pio, and the Commander of the Chokwe Productive Unit of the Civic Service, Lt-Col Gil Ganhane.
Maciacona was an officer from the ranks of the former rebel movement Renamo, and his appointment, in January 2019, was part of the agreements between the government and Renamo.
Chefe is also a former Renamo officer, and Neto told reporters his appointment is part of the process of the demobilisation, disarming and reintegration (DDR) of Renamo's armed force, a proces regarded as crucial for achieving a lasting peace in Mozambique.
Chefe's appointment is the first public act in the contaxt of DDR since August last year.
After the bizarre remarks by Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri that the Covid-19 pandemic, which has cost hundreds of thousands of lives globally, was divine punishment for countries that imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe, it seemed the dross emanating from the corridors of power could not get any worse.
\"His Excellency John Pombe Magufuli's Tanzania now has 630 Covid-19 cases with prayers, but without a lockdown, while His Excellency President ED Mnangagwa's Zimbabwe only got 31 cases with a lockdown and masks.
Unhealthy response
While former Health and Child Care permanent secretary Agnes Mahomva was dramatically demoted from her lofty post and given a high-sounding but inconsequential position in the Office of the President, health workers were threatening to down tools over unbearable working conditions at a time the world is gripped by Covid-19.
Pie in the sky
What on earth did Zimbabweans do to deserve the sort of leadership they have?A few weeks ago, when governments around the world rolled out social safety nets to enable their citizens to navigate through the treacherous Covid-19 waters, the Mnangagwa's administration also made its own announcements.
At the beginning of last month, the broke and clueless government announced it had put together a ZW$600 million kitty to provide pocket money to poverty-stricken Zimbabweans to help mitigate the effects of Covid-19 pandemic.
During the lean season in June and August, more than 21 million people across West Africa \"will struggle to feed themselves\", she explained, adding Gambia and Benin to the list of countries in need.
\"An additional 20 million people could struggle to feed themselves due to the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in the next six months, doubling the number of food-insecure to 43 million in this region\", the WFP official added.
Highest forced displacement in Africa
Highlighting people's vulnerabilities, Babar Baloch from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), described West and central Africa as \"one of largest displacement situations in Africa…we are talking about 5.6 million internally displaced people, more than 1.3 million refugees and 1.6 million stateless.\"
The UN refugee agency has repeatedly called for greater support for increasing numbers of people forced to flee for their lives amid renewed conflict in West Africa's turbulent Sahel and Lake Chad region.
On Monday, the agency condemned attacks on 2 May on Malian refugees in Burkina Faso – \"reportedly by the country's security forces\", in Mentao refugee camp in which at least 32 people were injured.
There are now more than over 300,000 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 23 at 7:30 GMT:
\t
\t\tConfirmed cases = 315,380
\t\tActive cases = 156,447
\t\tRecoveries = 150,594
\t\tNumber of deaths = 8,339
Countries in alphabetical order
\t\tAlgeria – 11,920
\t\tAngola – 186
\t\tBenin – 807
\t\tBotswana – 89
\t\tBurkina Faso – 903
\t\tBurundi – 144
\t\tCameroon – 12,041
\t\tCape Verde – 944
\t\tCentral African Republic – 2,963
\t\tChad – 858
\t\tComoros – 247
\t\tCongo-Brazzaville – 1,087
\t\tDR Congo – 5,924
\t\tDjibouti – 4,599
\t\tEgypt – 56,809
\t\tEquatorial Guinea – 1,664
\t\tEritrea – 143
\t\tEswatini – 643
\t\tEthiopia – 4,663
\t\tGabon – 4,739
\t\t(The) Gambia – 41
\t\tGhana – 14,154
\t\tGuinea – 4,988
\t\tGuinea-Bissau – 1,556
\t\tIvory Coast – 7,677
\t\tKenya – 4,797
\t\tLesotho – 12
\t\tLiberia – 650
\t\tLibya – 595
\t\tMadagascar – 1,640
\t\tMalawi – 749
\t\tMali – 1,960
\t\tMauritania – 3,121
\t\tMauritius – 340
\t\tMorocco – 10,172
\t\tMozambique – 737
\t\tNamibia – 63
\t\tNiger – 1,036
\t\tNigeria- 20,919
\t\tRwanda – 787
\t\tSao Tome and Principe – 702
\t\tSenegal – 5,970
\t\tSeychelles – 11
\t\tSierra Leone – 1,340
\t\tSomalia – 2,812
\t\tSouth Africa – 101,590
\t\tSouth Sudan – 1,916
\t\tSudan – 8,698
\t\tTanzania – 509
\t\tTogo – 569
\t\tTunisia – 1,159
\t\tUganda – 774
\t\tZambia – 1,430
\t\tZimbabwe – 512
SUGGESTED READING: rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in Africa II
[New Times] UN Secretary General António Guterres has condemned the killing of a Rwandan peacekeeper serving under the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
Analysis - Mass graves keep cropping up in Zimbabwe. The killings of civilians date back years, but wounds remain. The hurdle to healing is the government, experts say.
The president disclosed this on Thursday at a meeting of the National Security Council at the council chambers of the State House, Abuja.
The council, which is chaired by the president, is the highest security organ in the country and holds its meetings once every quarter.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting on Thursday, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, said the meeting focused on possible areas where the nation needs urgent attention and possible solutions.
He disclosed that as the national security adviser, he presented some memos to the council on issues around the insurgency in the northeast, armed banditry and emergence of different kinds of groups terrorising Nigeria in recent times.
Speaking on the response of Mr Buhari to all issues raised, the NSA said the president renewed his commitment to do whatever is necessary to reduce the spate of violence and insecurity in the country.
Nyumba Kumi to police Covid patients in State homecare plan
Tuesday, June 23, 2020 0:01
By ANNIE NJANJA
Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi.
PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG
The Ministry of Health is banking on the community policing groups such as the Nyumba Kumi Initiative, local administration and estate groups to monitor the Covid-19 patients on home-based care.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi said this on Monday when she announced 59 new Covid-19 cases, raising the national tally to 4,797.
She said this as the government released more than 600 Covid-19 patients showing no symptoms for home-based care, stepping up its plans to free-up bed spaces for seriously-ill patients in hospitals.
The ministry launched the home-based care a fortnight ago to lessen the burden being borne by public facilities owing to the increasing number of Covid-19 patients.
Marking the five-year anniversary of the establishment of the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in Central African Republic (CAR), Tity Agbahey, Amnesty International's Central Africa Campaigner said today:
\"In a country where civilians have paid a heavy price in the face of atrocities by armed groups and all parties in conflict, the establishment of this court was a major positive step.
\"This includes increased and sustainable financial support from international partners, and a better coordination with national criminal courts and the International Criminal Court.
Nine other individuals, members of the armed group UPC were arrested on 19 May in relation with clashes in Bambouti, Obo and Zemio (Southeast).
The Central African Republic has a long history of coups, armed conflicts and violence targeted at civilians.
A peace agreement was signed on 6 February 2019 between the CAR government and 14 armed groups, however serious abuses against civilians continue, including unlawful killings and sexual violence.
Tunisian President Kais Saied said his country would not accept a divided Libya at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris Monday.
Saied is the first head of state to visit France since the country’s de-confinement due to the pandemic.
And I will say it from this podium, in Paris, that Tunis will not accept the division of Libya.
And I will say it from this podium, in Paris, that Tunis will not accept the division of Libya”, he said.
Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a NATO-backed uprising overthrew leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was later killed.
[CAJ News] Bangui -- From dispatching hundreds of military personnel to delivering humanitarian aid in recent years, Russia's role in assisting the Central African Republic (CAR) hold elections and avert catastrophe cannot be overestimated.
Paul Rusesabagina, the polarising hero of the \"Hotel Rwanda\" film who was arrested last month in Kigali, was duped into boarding a jet he thought was flying to Burundi, a report said.
Libyan politicians from rival administrations met for the latest round of peace talks in Morocco on Thursday.
The lawmakers met in the coastal town of Bouznika, south of Morocco's capital Rabat, for talks that come ahead of a major meeting in Tunisia slated for November 9.
The talks follow a \"permanent\" UN-backed ceasefire agreement signed in Switzerland last month, intended to pave the way towards a political solution to the country's grinding conflict.
Libya, with Africa's largest proven crude oil reserves, has been wracked by conflict for nearly a decade, since the overthrow and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
It has since been dominated by armed groups and divided between two administrations that have been bitterly-opposed: the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital Tripoli, and a rival administration in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Warring factions returned to the negotiating table in September in UN-supported talks, with negotiations being held in Morocco, Egypt and Switzerland.
Details of the agenda of the talks in Morocco have not been released.
Negotiators are pushing parallel efforts to broker peace, with the military section of talks taking place this week for the fist time on Libyan soil.
On Tuesday, former enemy officers sat together in a joint military commission and agreed on a road map for implementing the ceasefire deal.
Colombia has the second largest African descendant population in Latin America. According to the census of 2005, the government estimates that Afro-descendants make up 10.6% of the total population. This is 16% down from the government's previous estimations in 2002, which put the total Afro-descendant population at 26% and which is the figure still currently used by the United Nations. Census figures also continue to be disputed by Afro-descendant leaders such as Luis Giraldo Murillo Urritia, ex governor of the department of Choco, who claims that the Afro-Colombian population is as high as 36-40%
The head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) is fighting off allegations of corruption, mismanagement, harassment and political interference.
An internal report by the African Union (AU) criticises Francisco Madeira for mistreating employees - including refusing to provide sanitary towels - using abusive language, hijacking Amisom donations to gain political mileage and taking sides in situations where the mission is expected to be neutral.
\"Madeira has said several times that Amisom will remain neutral during political disputes between Somali politicians but this has not been matched by his actions,\" says a leaked report filed last week by the Amisom Mission cell analysis chief, Walters Samah.
\"Madeira introduced an erratic management and leadership style, characterised by fear, suspicion, threats, corruption, favouritism, bullying and intimidation,\" the reported added, warning that if unchecked, the mission may fail to use its position to support the political process in Somalia.
Madeira has been the head of Amisom since January 2016 when he replaced Tanzanian diplomat Augustine Mahiga as the special representative of the AU chairperson to Somalia.
Unrest in central Mali, plagued by jihadist attacks and inter-community violence, has killed 580 civilians so far this year, the United Nations said Friday.
Niamey – Thousands of people have fled a camp hosting 20 000 Malian refugees in western Niger after a deadly jihadist attack devastated the site, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
Around 50 jihadists on motorbikes killed three local leaders, abducted a guard, destroyed communication antennas and sabotaged the water supply at the Intikane site near the Malian border in a co-ordinated attack on Monday.
Intikane is home to around 20 000 Malian refugees and 15 000 internally displaced Niger citizens – all of whom previously fled their villages due to jihadist violence – as well as the local population.
The jihadists \"attacked the sensitive points of the site – they cut communication lines to isolate the population and they destroyed the sources for drinking water,\" he told the national public radio station after visiting Intikane.
Niger is home to nearly 60 000 Malian refugees who fled their country's north after it fell under the control of Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups in 2012, according to the UN.
Luanda — The 9th Extraordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) takes place on the 3rd and the 4th of June, in videoconference, with the participation of the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António.
The session will address, among other items on the agenda, the pre-selection of the members of the ECCAS Commission, as well as analyze the political and security situation in the Central African Republic, based on the Report of the Secretary General of ECCAS, prepared by the Central African Rapid Alert System.
The analysis of the information note prepared by the ECCAS 's Secretariat about the modalities of organizing the next session of the ECCAS Conference of Heads of State and Government will also be reviewed on the first day of works.
The session basically aims to discuss the reform process of the regional organization, whose revised Treaty was initialed by the Heads of State and Government during the IX Extraordinary Summit held in Libreville, Republic of Gabon, in December 2019, which, among other decisions, called on member states to present candidates to fill the organic framework of the regional body.
ECCAS was created in Libreville, Gabon, in October 1983 and groups together Angola, Cameroon, Burundi, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo, Rwanda and São Tomé and Prince.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has approached President Mnangagwa to mediate in its long-standing border dispute with Zambia in his capacity as chairman of the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
DRC special envoy Marie Nzeza yesterday met President Mnangagwa at State House to brief him on the situation.
There is also the security situation where DRC and Zambia want the organ on Defence and Politics to look at a small matter which is existing between the Republic of Zambia and DRC,\" President Mnangagwa said.
\"There was a conflict at one of the border areas and they have decided to approach the organ on Defence and Security so that this can be resolved peacefully in the spirit of Sadc,\" Minister Moyo said.
The Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation is established under the Sadc Treaty and Article 4 of the Sadc Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security.
POLITICAL Ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown is calling on Parliament to give teeth to the functions of her office to enable it to apply penalties and sanctions for breaches of the code of political conduct, and to create certain offences in law.
About five years ago, some of us started a group called ‘Christians Affected by Crime’ (CABC) where our focus was on providing support for families of perpetrators of offences.
In 2019, we started another project, ‘The Extended Family’ and the focus was to create greater awareness towards developing a big extended family, as a support network across the country.
Building on our learning from these initiatives and other youth initiatives across the country, I would like to propose a ‘Youth and Security Programme called ‘Plot of Land for Guns and Knives’.
The aim is to re-orient our young men who are involved in crime, to put their guns and knives down and become a part of the programme and lead more meaningful lives.
I am thinking out aloud here; of a practical economic programme that could be attractive enough, as alternatives to marijuana cultivation, drug dealing and other criminal activities.
Samora Machel , (born September 29, 1933, Chilembene, Mozambique—died October 19, 1986, Mbuzini, South Africa), Mozambican politician, who was the first president of independent Mozambique (1975–86).
[East African] Patrick Youssef, the International Committee of the Red Cross Director of Operations for Africa, spoke to Fred Oluoch about the challenges on the continent
Maputo — Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario on Thursday called on the authorities in the northern province of Nampula to be on full alert due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but not to neglect the economy.
Rosario also stressed the need for personal hygiene, the correct use of face masks and cooperation with the health authorities in the epidemiological survey that was launched in Nampula city on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister described the terrorist attacks in the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado as a problem that affects all Mozambicans, and everything should be done to fight the terrorists.
The conflict in Cabo Delgado has impacted Nampula, because thousands of people displaced by the terrorists have fled over the provincial boundary into Nampula.
\"We know that Nampula faces challenges arising from the terrorism in Cabo Delgado, where the population cannot produce freely, and cannot live in their normal homes\", he said.
10 people died in Northern Burkina Faso Sunday after an attack on a humanitarian convoy by armed terrorist groups, the government said.
In a statement, the government said the attack on the Foubé-Barsalogho area by the groups targeted a humanitarian convoy returning from Foubé after having delivered food aid there.
According to local police, the dead include 5 civilians and 5 police officers.
The Burkinabe government also announced the killing of 30 people by armed groups in the east of the country Saturday.
The East and North of Burkina Faso are the most affected regions of the country by jihadist attack which have left more than 900 dead and 860,000 displaced over the past five years.
There are now more than over 380,000 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.
Major African stats: June 29 at 7:00 GMT:
\t\tConfirmed cases = 382,190
\t\tActive cases = 189,973
\t\tRecoveries = 182,553
\t\tNumber of deaths = 9,664
\t\tAlgeria – 13,273
\t\tAngola – 267
\t\tBenin – 1,149
\t\tBotswana – 92
\t\tBurkina Faso – 959
\t\tBurundi – 170
\t\tCameroon – 12,592
\t\tCape Verde – 1,155
\t\tCentral African Republic – 3,429
\t\tChad – 866
\t\tComoros – 272
\t\tDR Congo – 6,827
\t\tDjibouti – 4,643
\t\tEgypt – 65,188
\t\tEquatorial Guinea – 2,001
\t\tEritrea – 191
\t\tEswatini – 781
\t\tEthiopia – 5,689
\t\tGabon – 5,209
\t\t(The) Gambia – 45
\t\tGhana – 16,742
\t\tGuinea – 5,342
\t\tGuinea-Bissau – 1,614
\t\tIvory Coast – 9,101
\t\tKenya – 6,070
\t\tLesotho – 27
\t\tLiberia – 768
\t\tLibya – 762
\t\tMadagascar – 2,078
\t\tMalawi – 1,146
\t\tMali – 2,147
\t\tMauritania – 4,149
\t\tMauritius – 341
\t\tMorocco – 12,052
\t\tMozambique – 859
\t\tNamibia – 183
\t\tNiger – 1,074
\t\tNigeria- 24,567
\t\tRwanda – 900
\t\tSao Tome and Principe – 713
\t\tSenegal – 6,586
\t\tSeychelles – 70
\t\tSierra Leone – 1,427
\t\tSomalia – 2,894
\t\tSouth Africa – 138,134
\t\tSouth Sudan – 1,989
\t\tSudan – 9,257
\t\tTogo – 642
\t\tTunisia – 1,169
\t\tUganda – 859
\t\tZambia – 1,557
\t\tZimbabwe – 567
