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News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended


UN warns of risk of mass atrocities in South Sudan

Posted: 16 Nov 2016 10:24 PM PST

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that there has been a sharp rise in hate speech and ethnic incitement in South Sudan.

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United Nations - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns that there is a real risk of mass atrocities being committed in South Sudan, following a sharp rise in hate speech and ethnic incitement.

In a report to the Security Council released on Wednesday, Ban said that UN peacekeepers in South Sudan lack the manpower and capability to stop mass atrocities should they occur.

"There is a very real risk of mass atrocities being committed in South Sudan, in particular following the sharp rise in hate speech and ethnic incitement in recent weeks," the report states.

"While the secretariat will continue to make every effort to implement the mandated task of protecting civilians through the use of 'all necessary means,' it must be clearly understood that United Nations peacekeeping operations do not have the appropriate reach, manpower or capabilities to stop mass atrocities."

In the report, Ban repeated earlier calls on the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the country which he said is "inundated with weaponry."

He also said that government restrictions on the peacekeepers' movements have led to mission paralysis and are undermining humanitarian operations in the world's youngest nation.

South Sudan has been riven by ethnic violence since shortly after gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.

In 2013, the country was plunged into civil war broke when government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, battled rebels led by his former vice president Machar, who is a Nuer. A peace agreement was signed in August 2015, but fighting continues. Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 2 million displaced.

Ban's report recommended that the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force first deployed in 2011 be renewed for another year.

AP

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Mauritanians support execution of ‘infidel’ blogger

Posted: 16 Nov 2016 06:36 AM PST

Hundreds of Mauritanians are supporting the execution of a blogger accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

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Johannesburg - Hundreds of Mauritanians are supporting the execution of a blogger accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

On Tuesday, protesters in Nouakchott called for blogger Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould Mkheitir to be put to death as Mauritania’s high court considered whether the death penalty should be carried out.

The protests were in response to a call by Muslim leaders who on Sunday declared a “fatwa” that Mkheitir be put to death, and who also organised Tuesday’s demonstration, AFP reported.

Mkheitir was initially sentenced to death for apostasy in 2014 over a blog post deemed insulting to the prophet. Though his crime was downgraded by an appeal court, the accompanying death sentence was not lifted.

The allegedly blasphemous blog post had also attacked “an iniquitous social order” in Mauritania, with an underclass descended from slaves that was “marginalised and discriminated against from birth”.

Modern-day slavery under a hereditary system of servitude forces members of the “slave” caste to work without pay as cattle herders and domestic servants, despite an official ban.

Many Mauritanians live below the poverty line while there is huge disparity between the Arabised moorish elites and the country’s black population.

A defence lawyer subsequently told AFP the court had examined Mkheitir’s case and would deliver its verdict on December 20.

African News Agency

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News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended


Zanu-PF bolstering terror machinery - MDC

Posted: 15 Nov 2016 10:03 PM PST

Zimbabwe's opposition MDC fears that the recruitment of more army personnel is a ploy by the ruling party.

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Harare - The opposition MDC, led by former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has expressed fear that the recruitment of more army personnel by Zanu-PF is a ploy by the ruling party to bolster its terror machinery ahead of the 2018 elections.

The Zimbabwe National Army has been flighting adverts calling for youths between the ages of 18 and 22 to go for recruitment exercises at various barracks around the country.

In a statement on Tuesday, MDC-T national spokesperson Obert Gutu said the nationwide military recruitment exercise by the ZNA was irrational considering that government was currently struggling to pay salaries for its workers timeously.

"As a peace-loving social democratic political party, the MDC is also alarmed by the fact that the ongoing massive army recruitment exercise is deliberately targeted at building the Zanu PF regime's 'war arsenal' in preparation for the 2018 elections," he said.

Gutu said the Zanu-PF government was known for unleashing its security apparatus each time it faced possible defeat at national elections.

He said Zanu-PF had done the same during the June 2008 presidential election run-off when it unleashed soldiers and other security operatives in both urban and rural areas which resulted in an orgy of violence which saw hundreds of civilians murdered while women were raped and homesteads were set ablaze.

"Because the Zanu-PF regime is sensing a crushing and humiliating electoral defeat in 2018, it is already re-tooling and sharpening its instruments of terror, thuggery and brutality. Once again, the MDC would like to call upon SADC,the AU and even the United Nations to keep a close eye on the deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe," he said.

Gutu said it was senseless to add more personnel to an already bloated civil service as revealed by a recent audit by auditors Ernst and Young.

"In fact,this audit revealed that there are no less than 75,000 ghost workers on the civil service payroll. Most, if not all,of these ghost workers are actually Zanu-PF activists who are conveniently given the job title 'ward or youth officers'," he said.

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa is on record saying that more than 80 percent of government revenue was going towards salaries.

African News Agency

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Egyptian court overturns Morsi death sentence

Posted: 15 Nov 2016 04:01 AM PST

An Egyptian court has overturned a death sentence against ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

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Cairo - An Egyptian court on Tuesday overturned a death sentence against ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and ordered a retrial in a mass jailbreak during the 2011 uprising, official news agency MENA reported.

The Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest degree court, ordered that Morsi and five co-defendants, including the supreme guide of the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, will also be retried.

Morsi was sentenced to death in June 2015 in connection with a mass jailbreak during the country's 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

He, along with 129 members of the Brotherhood, was charged of assaulting a prison, killing officers and fleeing in cooperation with Palestinian Hamas movement's affiliates.

The jailbreak helped more than 20,000 criminals escape the prison and spread chaos in the country. Morsi, the first democratically elected president, was overthrown by the army in response to mass protests against his one year rule in July 2013.

He received several prison sentences in other cases related to spying and espionage, in which he appealed.

Tuesday court's ruling cancelled the only execution sentence he was facing. In another case related with violence and killing protesters outside the presidential palace in 2013, Morsi was handed his first final sentence, 20 years in prison.

Xinhua

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News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended


Zimbabwe needs migration policy - Swedish envoy

Posted: 14 Nov 2016 10:05 PM PST

Zimbabwe needs an immigration policy that integrates migration into a broad development agenda, a diplomat says.

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Harare - Zimbabwe, with more than three million people believed to be living in neighbouring South Africa alone, needs an immigration policy that integrates migration into a broad development agenda, the Swedish Deputy Head of Mission to Zimbabwe, Maria Selin said on Monday.

Selin made the remarks in an interview on the sidelines of a Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) Project Close Out Meeting at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) offices in Harare.

She said the Zimbabwean government was being assisted by the IOM to formulate a migration policy that would integrate the issues of migration into the country's development agenda.

"IOM has also been working with government, not with Swedish funding, on producing the diaspora policy because of course a country like Zimbabwe in the region where you have got so much migration you need to have government policies that really look into all aspects and see not only the challenges but also the potential with migration so that is what the IOM has been able to assist the government with," Selin said.

Selin said SIDA was working with the IOM to promote humane migration and to see whether they could work in communities to support those that were affected by migration.

"It's quite clear that we have had a long standing relation with IOM and we have been working together for many years to support on issues of migration because it is quite an important aspect of development," she said.

Selin said the SIDA, together with the IOM, was working with different communities in order to settle various people who have had to move from their original settlements for various reasons.

"We have been trying to work with them to integrate them into the community and with our support of about $3 million for two years, one thing that we have done is set up three reception centres in Beitbridge ,Plumtree and Nyamapanda that we have now handed over to government so they continue to be fully operational in order to assess the migrants that come back to Zimbabwe," she said.

Despite having to deal with its own migration policies, which were putting a strain on the government finances, Sweden would continue to support Zimbabwe to deal with its migration problems and had availed $3 million to be used over two years.

"The Swedish government is committed to stay in Zimbabwe and we are preparing a new strategy, a five year strategy on development co-operation for Zimbabwe, so despite the fact that the national budget, has been hit pretty hard by the cost of migration, we are now fully committed that this will not have a negative impact on our cooperation in Zimbabwe for years to come," she said.

She said they had a slightly lower disbursement this year but was confident that in the next few years they would fund projects in Zimbabwe to the tune of around $25 million per year.

IOM Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, Rangarirai Tigere, said they were dealing with a number of cases of unaccompanied children, adding that the government of Zimbabwe had put in place measures to provide the necessary assistance to the affected children.

"It's quite a concern that we have been addressing together with government where we have minor children who sometimes migrate or have been separated from those with whom they are travelling with," he said. "We are quite glad that government has put in place measures to provide the necessary assistance when such cases come through the reception and support centres; for instance in Beitbridge and Plumtree, there are child centres run by the relevant ministry to provide relevant support."

Tigere said although he did not have the exact statistics of the affected children, he was convinced the figures were high enough to warrant immediate attention. He said migration affected everyone, including children, adding that the major cause of migration was the economic situation which forced families to move in search of greener pastures.

* Zimbabwe and South Africa are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding which will see the establishment of recruitment centres at the Beitbridge Border Post.

Acting Deputy Director for International Relations in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Langton Ngorima, said the recently held Bi National Commission meeting in Harare had agreed that the memorandum would be signed during the first quarter of 2017. He said Zimbabwe would also establish immigration centres at its borders that would provide information for migrants to make informed decisions before they crossed into neighbouring countries.

African News Agency

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Ex-Zambian minister’s graft probe details revealed

Posted: 14 Nov 2016 04:00 AM PST

Former Zambian minister Chishimba Kambwili is being probed on how he accumulated a personal wealth after serving the government for just five years.

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Gaborone - Former Zambian Information and Broadcasting Services minister Chishimba Kambwili is being investigated on how he accumulated a personal wealth that includes several plush villas and over 500 flats after serving the government for just five years.

Unnamed sources from Zambian State House told the “Lusaka Times” that the former minister was also being investigated for alleged irregularities in the awarding of several government and private sector contracts to his company, Mwamona Investments.

Kambwili is a director of the company, which is registered in Lusaka as a diversified holding with interests in real estate, property development, civil engineering, haulage transport services and of late, milling.

It also trades as Mwamona Invest, operating from Dumela Industrial Sites in Francistown, Botswana. A possible investigation is expected to focus on how the ex-minister is funding the construction of executive blocks of flats in the cities of Ndola, Luanshya and the capital Lusaka.

It would also examine how Kambwili accumulated a pool of 28 personal vehicles in five years, up from the three he had when he joined parliament in 2008, as well as reports that he now owns multiple properties in London, where his family lives.

In terms of alleged construction fraud, Mwamona Investments would be probed for abandoning government projects which included the construction of a market place in the town of Mwense in Luapula Province.

Other projects which were allegedly fully paid for but abandoned as incomplete, include schools, clinics and roads in Luapula. In the process, government was defrauded of up to $30 million.

Zambian Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) spokesman Timothy Moono said they would decide soon on whether or not to investigate the allegations against Chishimba.

African News Agency

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200 children could die daily in Nigeria

Posted: 14 Nov 2016 02:04 AM PST

Up to half of all children under the age of five are acutely malnourished in north-eastern Nigeria where terrorist group Boko Haram is wreaking havoc.

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Cape Town - Two hundred children could die every day from hunger in north-eastern Nigeria where Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram is wreaking havoc, charity Save the Children said Monday.

Up to half of all children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, the organisation found when screening the health of boys and girls in the region between June and October.

The figure could be even worse in areas that are out of reach because of insecurity, according to the report.

“Children are presenting in desperate conditions and facing severe malnutrition, often in combination with other life-threatening illnesses like pneumonia, malaria and diarrhoea,” said Save the Children country director Ben Foot.

Violent attacks on civilians by Boko Haram since 2009 have affected almost 15 million people in north-eastern Nigeria, according to the World Health organisation (WHO).

More than 2.2 million people have fled their homes in the region, while 7 million people are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance, the WHO said.

Roughly 3 million people lived in unknown conditions in inaccessible areas in 2015. Boko Haram’s goal is to enforce a strict interpretation of Islamic law, known as sharia. Since 2009, at least 14 000 people have died at the hands of the Sunni fundamentalists in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

 

dpa

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News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended


11 000 people in detention in Ethiopia

Posted: 13 Nov 2016 10:20 PM PST

Ethiopia's state of emergency inquiry board says that over 11 000 people have been detained in different parts of the country.

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Addis Ababa - Ethiopia's state of emergency inquiry board says that over 11,000 individuals suspected of inciting political unrest in different parts of the country have been detained.

Board chairman Tadesse Hordofa said the arrests were made since the start of the six-month-long state of emergency on October 9 and those arrested were being held in six detention centres and military camps around the country.

"Some 11,607 individuals have so far been detained in six prisons, of which 347 are female, in connection with the state of emergency declared in the country," he said in a statement broadcast by the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC).

All those arrested were above 18 years old, with the majority being youth, farmers, and traders.

"No foreign citizen has been arrested so far," he said.

A few weeks ago, government reported the release of about 2 000 people after they had been "counselled". It is unclear whether this figure is part of the current statistics.

The board was due to release a list containing the names of detainees to all regional states starting from Saturday. All regions were required to post the list in public places so that families of detainees could easily identify their whereabouts.

A recent cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Hailemariam Daselegn saw key positions handed to Oromos, whose region has been the centre of protests. Oromia surrounds Addis Ababa on all sides.

Demonstrations spilled into the Amhara region in the north. In a bid to curb the unrest, the government, which has been in power for 25 years, declared a six-month state of emergency "because the situation posed a threat against the people of the country".

Amnesty International has reported human rights violations, including arbitrary mass arrests, and restricted media access and internet censorship in Ethiopia. Bloggers and activists have also been also arrested but the board chairman did not mention this in his statement.

Hordofa also read a long list of alleged offences committed by the arrested people, ranging from major crimes such as "attacking security forces using firearms" or "killing civilians and members of security forces" to the much more mundane "denying provision of public services" and "disrupting movement of vehicles".

Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) chairman Merera Gudina reported at a European Parliament hearing that at least 1 500 people were killed in the past year of protests by security forces while 60,000 were detained without due process of law.

"These are mass arrests targeting innocent people just because they have opposed the government and expressed their views. This needs to stop. It is spinning out of control," he said.

African News Agency

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Mugabe’s successor? Military has no say

Posted: 13 Nov 2016 06:15 PM PST

Zimbabwe’s military has no say on who should take over from Robert Mugabe, according to the country's army commander.

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Harare - Zimbabwe's military has no say on who should take over from President Robert Mugabe, the country's army commander said, as tension mounts within the ruling party over who will succeed Africa's oldest leader.

Mugabe, 92, has held power since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980. But he is increasingly looking frail, stoking a scramble in Zanu-PF to succeed him.

Local media say some top military generals and a group within Zanu-PF are backing Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa to succeed Mugabe. Another faction is widely believed to be manoeuvring to impose Mugabe's wife, Grace, as a possible successor.

Lieutenant-General Valerio Sibanda, the Zimbabwe National Army Commander, told the state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper that the military should not get involved.

“In Zanu-PF the military has no role to play in terms of succession politics, and that is the long and short of it,” he said, in his first comments on the succession issue.

Last year in December, Mugabe warned against the country's military generals and other security services supporting different candidates, saying it could ruin Zanu-PF.

Opposition parties accuse military commanders, who fought in the 1970s independence war, of working hard to ensure Zanu-PF remains in power.

On the eve of presidential elections in 2002 and 2008, military generals said they would not salute a leader who had not fought in the battle for independence. This was seen as an attack on main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who did not participate in the liberation struggle.

REUTERS

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Faint hopes over abducted Sudan refugees

Posted: 13 Nov 2016 06:29 AM PST

Humanitarian organisations are working round the clock to ascertain the whereabouts of 32 children and women kidnapped in South Sudan.

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Khartoum - Humanitarian organisations are working round the clock to ascertain the whereabouts of 32 children and women kidnapped by armed groups in South Sudan.

It is feared they might have been killed following the recent abduction and subsequent killing of other refugees near the refugee hosting area of Lasu Payam.

The fatal shooting and machete attack by armed groups killed two and wounded five refugees from the Kordofan region.

Meanwhile, four women and 28 children are still in captivity in an unknown location following their abduction from a refugee centre in late October.

The captors entered the settlement and asked refugees to present their food ration cards for food distribution mobilisation, allegedly on behalf of the United Nations.

A UN spokesperson said they were attempting to obtain details about the whereabouts of the abducted group and their captors. Prior to the raids, Lasu hosted over 10 000 refugees. The camp is now empty.

ANA-CAJ News

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Lean times for Zim as cash crisis bites

Posted: 13 Nov 2016 01:48 AM PST

Nothing is going right for Zimbabwe right now. There is virtually no cash in the banks and millions of people are more hungry this year than at any time in the last 20 years.

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Harare - Nothing is going right for Zimbabwe right now. After so much turmoil for more than 15 years, there seems no end to the never-ending drama in Harare.

There is virtually no cash in the banks and millions of people are more hungry this year than at any time in the last 20 years.

“Zimbabwe faces one of the most severe lean seasons in the last few decades,” according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET), which monitors food production and food prices in many countries.

The body says Zimbabwe is suffering from the impact of last season’s El Niño-induced drought - which was a second consecutive dry year - as well as “macro-economic challenges”.

The financial “challenges” it refers to is the lack of cash in the banks, as Zimbabwe has run out of its most popular currency, US dollars, and this week, in particular, banks reduced even further the amount it could release to customers. Many people sleep in the streets outside banks, hoping to be first in the queue, so they can withdraw their salaries or pensions, but the banks have severely slashed the amount they can release.

To ease the current shortage of cash, Zimbabwe says it will release small-denomination, specially prin-ted “bond notes” later this month. These can only be used in Zimbabwe. No one is sure where the notes will be printed.

At Old Mutual’s Central African Building Society (CABS), tellers at its most prestigious branch, north of the city centre, said this week they could only release $50, mostly in “filthy” notes, to its VIP customers. The teller at one branch on Wednesday said he was only able to serve 10 customers that day, and expected to run out of notes by mid-morning.

One customer said: “We suspect the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is scooping up as many dollars as possible so that the shortage is even worse than usual, as this will make the new bond notes much more acceptable.”

Many are worried that the bond notes will become the only currency, and prove to be as worthless as the Zimbabwean dollar was when it was abandoned eight years ago.

RBZ governor John Mangudya has been on a nationwide tour, and has allowed more journalists into his city centre office than any of his predecessors, and funded a huge publicity campaign to explain the bond notes.

He says the cash is a financial instrument, and doesn’t signal the return of the Zimbabwe dollar. He adds that the new notes are backed by $200 million from the Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), of which Zimbabwe is a shareholder.

Well-placed banking sources said Afreximbank has recently released $150m into the international accounts of some of Zimbabwe’s main banks so they can pay for key imports such as medicines, food and fuel.

Mangudya says he will resign if the new cash goes the same way as the Zim dollar, which the central bank printed in ever-higher denominations until it had no value and had to be abandoned in late 2008 when civil servants went unpaid, supermarkets were empty, children had no teachers, and state hospitals could not function. Anyone with a pension fund lost it and savings accounts were wiped out.

The battered economy, which began to rebuild after the inclusive government came to power in 2009, adopted the US dollar and rand, but deteriorated sharply after Zanu-PF returned to power with a massive, if disputed electoral majority, in 2013.

Many Zimbabweans pulled their dollars from the banks and Mangudya says he understands why many people are suspicious of the bond notes: “Many lost everything and were traumatised at that time,” he told Independent Media.

Mangudya says he knows that some people and companies took massive amounts of dollars to South Africa as they scored well when the rand was collapsing in the past couple of years.

Zimbabwe imports far more than it exports and its economy is, literally, on its knees, according to a wide range of economists and bankers.

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa is looking for international loans and, in his quest to secure them, paid off Zimbabwe’s debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month.

However, plans to raise new loans have so far failed, and the IMF now says there is little chance of Zimbabwe raising cash to rebuild infrastructure because it has not managed to fulfil the reform agenda it committed to in Lima last year.

The EU, which is a huge humanitarian donor to Zimbabwe, said last week that part of the deal for Zimbabwe to rejoin the international financial world was that land invasions would end so that the agriculture sector could rebuild.

Several key farms used by productive white farmers, in business with small-scale farmers, have recently been invaded.

One, a highly productive and profitable banana and tomato farm in southern Zimbabwe, was destroyed last month by invasions carried out by the Zanu-PF Women’s League, which is led by the country’s first lady, Grace Mugabe.

“The Zanu-PF Women’s League was allocated that farm,” said Zanu-PF Senator Tambudzani Mohadi earlier this week. “I didn’t take it. I have my own 3 000 hectares.”

Her husband, security minister Kembo Mohadi, also took a farm post-2000.

Phillip van Damme, EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, said in a statement released this week that the continuing invasions of productive farms was a violation of the reform agreement that Zimbabwe signed up to with the international financial world in Lima last year.

Van Damme said that all EU countries agreed that the country’s post-2000 land-reform programme could not be reversed, but accepted Zimbabwe’s commitment to “bring to an end the land-reform process”.

Both Mangudya and Chinamasa said in Lima last year that Zimbabwe’s land grab was over, and that the country would rebuild agriculture to boost the economy.

Zimbabwe never had food aid before 2000 as it produced more than it consumed until land invasions began in 2000. Even in previous droughts, such as 1991-92, Zimbabwe was able to fund imports of food.

But the World Food Programme, mostly funded by the US, is delivering emergency food aid to millions in Zimbabwe, and FEWSNET says the situation will be worse in the early months of next year, before the harvest.

It predicted rains into next year would be below average.

Independent Foreign Service

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News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended


Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters surrender in Chad

Posted: 12 Nov 2016 06:03 AM PST

Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters and their families have surrendered in Chad in the past month, security and UN sources said.

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Dakar - Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters and their families have surrendered in Chad in the past month, security and UN sources said, in a sign the military campaign against them is making headway.

Boko Haram, which has killed and kidnapped thousands of people, had seized an area approximately the size of Belgium in northeastern Nigeria by last year but has since lost significant ground amid growing regional military pressure.

Analyst and security sources think the fighters are probably recent recruits that Boko Haram has struggled to retain as it has ceded territory. Defections of Boko Haram fighters have been reported in Nigeria but are not known to have previously occurred on such a large scale.

“They surrendered to our troops on the front line in Lake Chad,” said Colonel Mohammad Dole, Chief Military Public Information Officer for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) headquartered in Chad's capital N'Djamena.

“The surrenders are taking place because of the firepower of our operations. The groups, many of them armed, have been arriving since September and their number keeps increasing,” he said.

About 240 fighters, most off whom are Chadian, are now being held in detention along with their families, Dole said.

The MNJTF, with troops from Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Benin and intelligence, training and logistical support from the United States, launched a regional operation in July against the group, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

It has since continued patrols around the waterways of Lake Chad - one of the world's poorest regions whose villages were last year regularly struck by fighters, sometimes aboard canoes.

Around 2.6 million people have been displaced in the Lake Chad Basin where Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon meet.

Signs that regional armies are wresting back control of the Chadian part of the lake is significant since it had been a recruitment hub, even if the group never sought to conquer territory there, said Ryan Cummings, director of consultancy Signal Risk.

“Their presence in Chad was more for recruitment and for resources. Its strikes in the country were punitive,” he said, referring to revenge attacks on regional military heavyweight Chad, which has supplied 3 000 troops for the MNJTF.

Chadian military officials are currently profiling the detainees currently housed at two detention centres in the remote town of Baga Solo, some of whom arrived this week.

Based on previous patterns, it is likely that many were abducted or forcibly recruited by Boko Haram whose name means “Western education is sinful” in the local Hausa language.

Stephen Tull, UN Resident Coordinator in Chad, said a total of around 700 people were being held, including men, women and children.

It was unclear how many were fighters, he said. Boko Haram has in the past deployed child soldiers and female suicide bombers.

“They are mostly Chadians and appear to all be more recent recruits,” he said citing information from a UN visit to the centres earlier this month.

Islamic State named Abu Musab al-Barnawi as Boko Haram's leader in August although another branch loyal to former head Abubakar Shekau is still operational. It was not clear from which branch the fighters surrendered, nor how senior they are.

Philippe Barragne-Bigot, head of the UN children's agency in Chad, said that it had set up a centre for the children, who he said should be treated as former hostages.

“We want to profile them and make sure they have the right psychological rehabilitation,” he told Reuters.

Reuters

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News Africa Extended


Zuma calls for SADC special summit on drought

Posted: 11 Nov 2016 06:01 AM PST

President Zuma wants regional leaders discuss the current drought and water shortages ravaging members states of the Southern Africa Development Community.

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Pretoria – The current drought and water shortages ravaging members states of the Southern Africa Development Community can be better dealt with if regional leaders convened a special summit on the matter, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday.

Addressing visiting Botswana President Seretse Khama Ian Khama at the third bi-national commission between South Africa and Botswana, taking place in Pretoria, Zuma said their meeting has coincided with a critical phase for the regional bloc.

“We meet during a difficult period when our region faces a serious and persistent drought and water shortages. The drought will result in significantly reduced crop production throughout Southern Africa. This will have a far-reaching impact on food security and food prices,” said Zuma.

“As SADC, we need to explore the possibility of hosting a special summit to discuss the drought and solutions thereof.”

He said it was vital for the region to fast track work on the Lesotho Highlands Water Transfer Project in an effort to address the water shortage crisis.

Zuma said, as a regional bloc, SADC also had to address combating international crime and issues of peace and security.

“Critically important is also the need to enhance our cooperation in border management to combat cross-border crimes such as rhino and elephant poaching. Some of our countries in the region and continent continue to face political and security challenges,” said Zuma.

“We need to continue working together in the maintenance of peace, security and stability.”

South Africa remains one of the major trading partners of Botswana. In 2015, South Africa’s total bilateral trade with Botswana stood at R57.97 billion.

“There is a large presence of South African companies in Botswana which are involved in various sectors such as housing, food and beverages, construction, retail, hotels and leisure, banking, medical services, etc,” the South African presidency said in a statement.

“These companies continue to contribute to the growth and development of the Botswana economy.”

African News Agency

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Cecil the lion: Charges dropped against local hunter

Posted: 11 Nov 2016 03:35 AM PST

A Zimbabwean court has thrown out charges against a local hunter accused of failing to stop the killing of prized lion Cecil.

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Harare - A Zimbabwean court has thrown out charges against a local hunter accused of failing to stop the killing of the country's most prized lion by an American dentist, his lawyer said on Friday.

Walter Palmer, a lifelong big-game hunter from Minnesota, touched off a global controversy when he killed Cecil, a rare black-maned lion, with a bow and arrow outside Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe in July last year.

While Zimbabwean authorities said Palmer had legal authority to hunt, they were stung by the international outcry and charged local hunter Theo Bronkhorst, who assisted Palmer, with failing to prevent an unlawful hunt.

Bronkhorst's lawyers then applied to the High Court in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo to set aside the charge, arguing it could not have been an offence under the country's wildlife laws if Palmer had a permit to hunt.

"The court granted us that prayer yesterday - that the charges be quashed. So I cannot imagine the state coming back again charging him with the same charge," said Lovemore Muvhiringi, a lawyer for Bronkhorst.

Cecil had been fitted with a collar to track his movements but strayed outside the confines of Hwange National Park and was then shot. Bronkhorst was accused of laying bait to lure Cecil out of the park. Palmer said at the time that no one in his hunting party realised the targeted lion was Cecil.

Wildlife hunting is an important revenue source for the southern African country, which is grappling with its worst shortage of cash since it dumped its inflation-ravaged currency in favour of the U.S. dollar in 2009.

Conservationists worldwide were outraged when Zimbabwe's government announced in October last year that Palmer would not be charged over Cecil's killing because he had obtained legal authority to conduct the hunt.

But the government said Palmer would be free to visit Zimbabwe only as a tourist, not a hunter, in future, implying he would not be issued the required permits.

Reuters

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News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended


Zim hopes for better relations with the US

Posted: 10 Nov 2016 10:18 PM PST

A senior Zimbabwean official says his country is ready to work with the new US administration.

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Harare - A senior Zimbabwean official says his country is ready to work with the new US administration to restore sound bilateral relations.

This follows the victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the presidential elections held on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe's Minister of Information Christopher Mushohwe was quoted by the Herald newspaper on Thursday as saying that Zimbabwe hoped the Trump administration would restore normal relations with Zimbabwe.

Relations between Zimbabwe and the United States have been frosty since 2001 when the latter imposed sanctions on the African country.

Mushohwe said Zimbabwe wanted to maintain good ties with Washington and that at no point had it tried to pick a fight.

Zimbabwe, he said, would not pre-judge the new US government, adding "it could actually be a better government than the previous one."

Xinhua

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Monsanto is hopeful Kenya will lift GMO ban

Posted: 10 Nov 2016 01:00 AM PST

American agricultural company Monsanto is hopeful that Kenya will lift a ban on genetically modified foods.

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Nairobi - American agricultural company Monsanto is hopeful that Kenya will lift a ban on genetically modified foods in order for farmers to start reaping the benefits of high yields and also to ensure food security.

According to Monsanto's representative for East and West Africa Japheth Sigei, the company is determined to demystify its operations and counter misinformation associated with genetically modified foods.

Sigei said that it was unfortunate that Kenya banned the import and planting of GMOs in 2012, due to what he described as misinformation and misunderstanding. He said it was difficult for the public to understand that foods can safely have their DNA changed and called on scientists to stand up and do their part in breaking down the information to the public.

Speaking to African News Agency (ANA) on the side lines of the Seed Trade Association of Kenya Congress in Nairobi, Kenya on Wednesday, Sigei said that it would only be fair to lift the ban on GMOs in order to give farmers and consumers more choices in planting and consumption of foods.

He denied reports that GMOs were rejected in many countries because they are harmful and instead blamed competitors in the agricultural industry for fanning lies and misinformation about GMOs.

Sigei said that those countries that have adapted biotech methods of farming like South Africa, Egypt and Bukina Faso were already reaping the benefits of increased quality yields devoid of diseases that used to plague their crops.

"Biotech is a choice. Farmers should be allowed to choose to adopt biotech agriculture. If the yields are good, then the farmers demand for the same will increase," said Sigei brushing off allegations that Monsanto seeds are designed to enslave farmers by making the soil toxic to non-Monsanto seeds.

He said that Monsanto also produces "conventional seeds" which are used in Kenya and many other countries. Some of the seeds already in the market are for corn and vegetables.

Regarding the heavily criticised soil and plant chemical Roundup, Sigei said that it is simply a pesticide that effectively kills weeds. "Roundup is not harmful and has been used in many African countries for over 20 years," said Sigei adding that all Monsanto products are thoroughly tested in labs before being released into the market.

"We test to ensure that our products meet the required market quality and standards before being released in the market," said Sigei. Responding to allegations that Kenya's lax systems may be allowing in GMOs from Monsanto, Sigei said: "As of now there are no GMO seeds from Monsanto in Kenya. We respect the laws of the country."

Sigei allayed fears in the public that Monsanto would use its corporate muscle to force GMOs into the country saying, "Any product brought into this country (Kenya), goes through a process and regulators verify before it is released into the market."

According to an anti GMO group, The Non-GMO Project, most packaged foods contain ingredients derived from corn, soy, canola, and sugar beet, crops which are largely grown in North America and are genetically modified. The group calls for proper labelling of GMO foods.

In August 2015, Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto announced that the Government would lift the ban on GMOs within two months to allow biotechnology to take agriculture to the next level. Kenya is rated by the United Nations as food insecure and often suffers drought and famine leading to deaths by starvation.

GMOs were banned in Kenya in 2012 after a contentious study in France that linked GMOs to cancer. Ruto argues that after consultations with various stakeholders the government had concluded that with the tight regulations and safety measures the country could allow biotechnology to be used in agricultural production.

GMOs refer to crops whose DNA have been modified by manipulation of the genes to produce high-yielding, disease resistant and drought resistant crops.

Monsanto's Sigei said Africa, more than any other continent suffers drought and famine due to inability to mitigate climate change and would be the biggest beneficiary therefore of GMOs.

African News Agency

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News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended


AU elections delayed for me - Senegalese diplomat

Posted: 09 Nov 2016 10:45 PM PST

Professor Abdoulaye Bathily says the Senegalese president intervened to delay the election of a new African Union chair.

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Dakar - Senegalese diplomat Professor Abdoulaye Bathily has revealed that the President of his country, Macky Sall, intervened on his behalf to delay the election of a new chair for the African Union (AU) Commission so that he could participate.

"He made sure that the election at the AU Summit in Kigali in July 2016 was postponed so I could be a candidate in the upcoming election," said Bathily on Wednesday at the official launch of his candidature for the coveted position which will be contested in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The election of the new chair to replace South African incumbent Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, scheduled for July, was postponed to January after the candidates failed to garner the required votes.

At the summit in Rwanda there were three candidates vying for the position - former Ugandan vice president Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, Botswana Foreign Minister Pelonomi Venson Moitoi, and Equatorial Guinea Foreign Minister Agapito Mba Mokuy.

Moitoi is still in the running along with Kenyan Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed.

Speaking at the launch in Dakar, Bathily said: "My candidacy is the culmination of an entire academic, political and diplomatic life at the service of pan-Africanism".

African News Agency

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US urges caution in Sudan

Posted: 09 Nov 2016 01:42 AM PST

The US has asked its nationals in Sudan to take caution against possible protests following hikes in the prices of fuel and electricity.

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Khartoum - The United States on Tuesday asked its nationals in Sudan to take caution against possible protests following recent government decisions to increase prices of fuel and electricity.

A release by the US Embassy in Khartoum Tuesday asked the US nationals "to review personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates."

"The government of Sudan recently released an announcement regarding the lifting of state subsidies on certain consumer commodities. In addition, the government has reportedly taken measures to prevent or disrupt activities to protest the measures," it said.

Some Sudanese cities reportedly witnessed various protests against the government's new economic measures.

Last week, the Sudanese government announced a package of economic decisions aiming to curb the rise in inflation rates and stop the decline of national currency.

In September 2013, the Sudanese government adopted a similar package of economic measures, which then prompted wide protests across the country.

The Sudanese economy has been suffering from difficulties as a result of the separation with South Sudan in July 2011, together with the US economic sanctions.

Xinhua

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News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended


2 die, 5 hurt in Congo blast

Posted: 08 Nov 2016 10:51 PM PST

Five UN Indian peacekeepers remain in a critical condition following an explosion in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Johannesburg - Five United Nations (UN) Indian peacekeepers remain in a critical condition following an explosion in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on Tuesday which killed two and wounded dozens of other people.

The injured include 32 Indian peacekeepers from the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO).

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC is expected to travel to Goma shortly to assess the situation on the ground, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said following the attack all of the wounded were receiving medical treatment in Goma.

He made his remarks during the daily briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.

Early reports said the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED).

A MONUSCO Quick Reaction Force and an investigation team with explosives experts were deployed to the scene.

"Our thoughts are with the family of the victims and our colleagues who were injured," said Dujarric.

The DRC is extremely rich in natural resources, but political instability, a lack of infrastructure, deep rooted corruption, and centuries of both commercial and colonial extraction and exploitation have limited holistic development.

In 2015 major protests broke out across the country and protesters demanded that Joseph Kabila step down as President.

African News Agency

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'My staff spend too much time in the toilet.’

Posted: 08 Nov 2016 02:10 AM PST

Former Namibian trade minister David Namalenga says workers at his textile factory spend “too much time” in the toilet.

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Gaborone - Former Namibian trade minister David Namalenga says workers at his textile factory spend “too much time” in the toilet because they do now want to work.

Namalenga's remarks were in response to a petition from the workers who alleged that his company was recording the time they spent in the toilet and deducting money from their pay for this.

Namalenga said he could not pay for time spent in the toilet because most of Namibia's defunct textile factories closed down due to laziness among the workers.

“If they [employees] spend a lot of time in the toilet and do not do the work which they are required to do, then there is no job. Now, if the client wants their stuff and people spend the time in the toilet instead of working, then there is no job,” said Namalenga.

He said most of the workers in his company had worked for several textile firms that had closed down since 1990 due to worker laziness.

Namalenga said he believed they wanted to bring their tendencies of non-performance with them, a development he vowed not to allow. “Here at Dinapama, we will not tolerate laziness. Nothing is hidden here at Dinapama, and there is no colonialism here. They [workers] can demonstrate and make noise, but the point is that we just have to work. Whoever does not want to perform must just get out,” Namalenga said.

Until 2011, the former outspoken trade unionist was the minister of trade in the Namibian government of President Hipikefunye Pohamba.

He is now the MD of Dinapama, a joint venture textile manufacturer based in the capital Windhoek.

In a petition sent to the Namibia Wholesale and Retail Workers Union, the workers accused Namalenga of deducting money - equivalent to the time they spent in the toilet - from their salaries as lost productivity.

The union also accused the ex-minister's company of “a continued disregard” of good practices and ethics in handling workers' queries.

AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY

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Two Zim baby elephants die before shipment to China

Posted: 08 Nov 2016 12:54 AM PST

Thirty seven baby elephants forcibly taken from their mothers in Zimbabwe are about to be flown to Chinese zoos.

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Cape Town - Thirty seven baby elephants forcibly taken from their mothers in the wild in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park are about to be flown to Chinese zoos, despite an international outcry against previous exports

A number of baby elephants from similar shipments in 2012 and 2015 died shortly after arrival and two of the elephants now awaiting shipment have already died, says the Conservation Action Trust.

In 2012, only four elephants of the eight survived the journey and another three died shortly after arriving in China, leaving only one lonely survivor. In September 2015, National Geographic reported that elephants from a shipment in China were being mistreated and were slipping into poor health.

Export of elephants is sanctioned under Cites regulations, as long as trade in individual animals doesn't threaten the long-term survival of the species.

"Past elephants from Zimbabwe sent to Chinese zoos have died or languished in deplorable conditions," says Iris Ho, programme manager for wildlife at Humane Society International.

"Sending wild African elephants to zoos in China is either a literal death sentence or akin to life in prison to these animals."

Johnny Rodrigues of the Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force said two of the recently captured baby elephants had already died from starvation and thirst due to neglect.

China has apparently ordered 200 juvenile elephants to be captured for a variety of zoos and safari parks across the country over the next five years.

"If these elephant captures and pending transfers to China are confirmed," said Ho, "there is highly likely diplomatic consideration involved in the Chinese authorities' approval of the import."

She pointed to the Chinese president's trip to Zimbabwe last year and the wildlife 'conservation' deal signed at the time.

Chinese president, Xi Jinping, said then that China would continue to help Zimbabwe improve its capability to fund its protection for its wildlife by donating equipment, conducting exchanges of experience, and buying its wild animals. It's understood that the capture equipment for the young elephants was donated by China.

According to the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group, there are currently around 46 000 elephants in Hwange National Park and another 6 000 in adjacent communal and safari areas.

If these numbers are true, it is hard to argue that the removals would have a significant impact on numbers but as elephant biologist, Dr Keith Lindsay says: "The bigger impact is on elephant behaviour. Taking calves away from the midst of families would be very disruptive and I would not be surprised if the adult females from the affected families were very frightened and angry about people on foot or even in vehicles," he said.

"If captures occurred in communal areas, the disruption could increase the incidence of human-elephant conflict and, if they were in the national park, they could make it harder for tourist operators to get close to elephants."

Lindsay, however, says these are only the practical considerations. "The real issue is the inhumanity of stealing offspring from mothers. We know elephants grieve for companions, including calves, who have died and the effect must be similar in the case of kidnappings," he says.

David Neale, Animal Welfare Director at Animals Asia, says information from within China suggests that both Shanghai Wild Animal Park and Yunnan Safari Park are preparing for the arrival of the latest batch of elephants with Shanghai getting 17 elephants and Yunnan 15 elephants. According to Neale, there are a dozen or so other possible zoos earmarked to receive the elephants.

Conservation Action Trust

 

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