Zimbabwe Extends Lockdown, Dusk-to-Dawn Curfew Amid Surge in COVID19 Cases

 

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga says Zimbabwe is in the process of securing coronavirus vaccines to contain the pandemic which he said was in worrisome situation lately. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)

HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Public health experts in Zimbabwe say the country’s extension of a lockdown that includes a 12-hour, dusk-to-dawn curfew to thwart a recent swell in COVID19 cases and deaths will not yield much without adequate equipping of the country’s health care system.  The coronavirus has infected nearly 33,000 -- and two-thirds of its 1,178 deaths are from January alone according to official figures. The lockdown extension comes as the country says it is struggling to detect new highly contagious - and probably more lethal - variants of coronavirus.

Calvin Fambirai, the executive director of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, said his organization welcomed the two-week extension of the lockdown and a 12-hour, dusk-to-dawn curfew by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.

“It was going to be illogical to relax the measures, considering the background of increased daily mortality and incidence rates of COVID-19 as compared to the pre-January levels," said Fambirai. "However, we think that there is need to complement the lockdown with one, expanding testing, case surveillance, and isolation of confirmed cases, secondly, there is need for expansion of health sector capacity to respond to severe disease of COVID-19 in order to minimize mortality, and thirdly there is need for an accelerated approach to nationwide vaccination.”

Announcing the lockdown extension late Friday, acting President Constantino Chiwenga said the government was concerned by recent spikes in infections and coronavirus-related deaths in Zimbabwe.

Official records show that more 52% of the country’s coronavirus infections are from January alone, while the rest are from last year, when the country had its first incident in March. Chiwenga summed-up the situation as "clearly worrisome" in an address on national television.  

“We have a likelihood of new strains and variants circulating. These strains are more transmissible and infectious. It is in light of this that the president of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Comrade Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, has decided to extend the level 4 national lockdown by another two weeks to the 15th of February 2021," said Chiwenga. "The president fully appreciates the difficulties which come with this extension. Livelihoods are being disrupted yet we must save lives and our nation.”

Banana vendor Brian Mutera says he is yet to receive government assistance promised last March, unlike the situation in other countries worldwide, Harare, Jan. 30, 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga)

Those most affected by the extension of the lockdown are informal traders, who constitute the country’s largest sector of employment. Most of them – like Brian Mutera – say they have yet to receive government assistance promised last March, unlike the situation in other countries worldwide. Consequently, he hangs around these shops selling vegetables despite government calls for him to stay at home.

“During this lockdown everyone is not wanted in town. We do hand-to-mouth living and it’s unfortunate," said Mutera. "In this Third World we are in Zimbabwe, there is death and life. I am here, I am dicing OK? with death. But I cannot be home. I have two children to look after. I have to come to the shops [to sell vegetables]. In developed world, government[s] are paying [handouts]. The situation of our economy, everybody knows. It’s unfortunate. We just pray to the Lord that we have to get a vaccine or something all over Southern Africa.”  

On Friday, Chiwenga -- who doubles as Zimbabwe’s health minister -- said the country was in the process of acquiring coronavirus vaccine. A health official earlier this week told a parliamentary committee that China and Russia were among countries that had offered to supply Zimbabwe with the vaccine. 

 

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The ‘Pending Anarchy’ in Nigeria

The quit notice served on the Fulani community in Igangan, Oyo state, by a non-state actor, Chief Sunday Igboho, is a timely reminder that Nigeria is at the risk of becoming a failed state. No private individual in Nigeria should have such powers in a modern nation-state. But with unending raping, kidnapping and killing — and with the Nigerian state unable or unwilling to bring the criminals to justice and protect its citizens — Igangan people cried out to Igboho, a “youth leader” who works for politicians during elections, for help. They have more faith in Igboho than the Nigerian state. He swiftly asked the Fulani to quit. Are they playing with fire?

 

The basic definition of “state” places emphasis on “one organised territory” under “one government”. In some ways, Nigeria now has many governments. The state is losing its sovereignty in parts of the country, with the vast ungoverned spaces falling under the control of violent non-state actors. Max Webber, the German intellectual, defined “state” as a polity that maintains a “monopoly on the legitimate use of violence”. When an individual or a group of individuals assumes the power to “legitimately” use violence to enforce what it sees as law and order, the state is going down. Its sovereignty is being eroded. If this goes unchecked, the state can only get weaker.

In 2008, Professor Phil Williams, who teaches at the University of Pittsburgh, identified five categories of violent non-state actors. In his article titled “Violent Non-state Actors and National and International Security”, Williams listed them as: (1) warlords (2) militias (3) insurgents (4) terrorist organisations and (5) criminal organisations and gangs. We can be in denial for as long as it pleases us, but several developments in recent years, since at least 2008, are loosening the nation’s integrity — and things promise to be worse in the years ahead. The Nigerian now takes orders not only from government officials but also from private individuals who have unilaterally assumed state powers.

Nigeria is evidently inching towards what international crisis experts would term “Somalisation” — what you and I would call a state of lawlessness “where anything goes”. At a point, Somalia was virtually finished as a sovereign political entity. Although Somalis are almost entirely of one religion, one sect, one ethnic group and have similar physical looks, the country has been decimated and controlled by gangs, terrorists, pirates and militias in the last 30 years. Somalia, classed as the most culturally homogenous country in Africa, had no functioning central government and was controlled by clan warlords for over 20 years. The Al Shabbab terrorist group is an offshoot of the anarchy.

As things stand today, the Nigerian government is losing control of parts of its territory to Boko Haram insurgents, who are operating mainly in the north-east and collecting tributes from Nigerian citizens; bandits, who are collecting taxes and tributes from farmers in the north-west; kidnappers, who control some forests in the south-west and north-west and extort ransoms and sex from their victims; warlords and militants in the Niger Delta, who routinely attack pipelines and steal crude oil; pirates, who operate on the high seas and hijack ships; and a separatist movement in the south-east frequently clashing with the police and military in its campaign for secession.

Why is the Nigerian state losing its territorial authority, such that warlords, militias, insurgents, terrorist organisations and criminal gangs have become so entrenched that they are unleashing lawlessness on some parts? Why are non-state actors, such as Igboho, increasingly taking control of ungoverned spaces and making a hero of themselves in the process? What is encouraging and sustaining the rise of non-state actors all over the country? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves if we are to avoid total state collapse and take back the country from those undermining our sovereignty. Unfortunately, we would rather be emotional than logical.

The pervasive insecurity is a major, major warning signal. This is the fundamental point: security agencies have been damaged by corruption and incompetence — and that automatically compromises the safety of the nation and its citizens. Convicted criminals are recruited into security agencies, as President Olusegun Obasanjo publicly lamented when he was in power. What then do you expect? Corrupt security officials are allegedly involved in kidnapping and banditry, either directly or as accomplices. We have read reports of some police officers renting guns to criminals. Rogues in security uniform are worse than the criminals they are chasing. Insecurity is inevitable.

Also, there has been a series of perennial complaints of underfunding and poor equipment. Even if the agencies are devoid of criminals and accomplices, how much can they achieve when there is no sufficient modern equipment and funding for them to enforce law and order? How much efficiency do you expect from an agency where officers have to fuel operational vehicles, feed detainees and transport suspects to courts from their own pockets? That is a broken system. Even the bravest and the most honest of them will find it difficult to stay above board. It is frustrating. Yet we expect to be protected from bandits, kidnappers and armed robbers. We plant potato and plan to reap yam.

Politicians are also undermining the powers of the state. Even if the police have the best personnel, excellent equipment and very good funding, we are still at the mercy of a kill-or-be-killed political culture that breeds thugs whom we now call “youth leaders”. The conventional wisdom in Nigeria’s political circles is that if you control the motor parks, you control the thugs; if you control the thugs, you control the ballot boxes; if you control the ballot boxes, you control state resources; if you control the resources, you control the polity. Elections into NURTW, which the politicians use to control the ballots boxes, are usually deadly. They are agents of politicians, protected by the police.

Senator Femi Ojudu, a presidential aide, recently wrote an unintended exposé on the relationship between politicians and thugs. He knows the names of all the thugs in the south-west who make or mar elections! He mentioned Ade Basket in Akure, Fada Geri in Ondo, and Sunday Igboho in Oyo. I was told about one Kunle Poly who was briefly, and secretly, released from prison to organise his boys for the Osun governorship poll in 2018. Politicians nurture violent non-state actors by financing criminal gangs and undermining the police and the state. That is one of the reasons why our security system is compromised at all levels. And we expect to be safe when we are moulding insecurity.

Elsewhere, Boko Haram took advantage of ungoverned spaces to launch sustained assaults on the Nigerian state. There had been no government presence in many northern territories for decades. Not only are our borders porous, even the manned spaces are nothing but checkpoints for the security agencies to extract bribes and facilitate illegal trade. Nigeria has been largely defenceless for decades. Meanwhile, many of those who ended up in Boko Haram were political thugs called “ECOMOG Boys” who became jobless after elections. We have been reaping the reward of poor governance and crippling poverty, now mixed with religious extremism and ethnic nationalism.

The Nigerian situation is very disturbing. As I noted previously, insecurity by itself is bad enough. When we now layer it with ethnic tensions, it is doubly dangerous. One major complication is the rising wave of ethnic nationalism, which has led to the jumbling-up of issues. The truth, all said and done, is that no Nigerian is safe, no matter the tongue, religion and region. Armed robbers, bandits, kidnappers, bandits, insurgents and terrorists are somalising Nigeria and making life difficult for millions of Nigerians. Our collective agenda should be how to address the issues around safety and security. Sadly, the ethnic nationalists have seen a wonderful opportunity to politick.

I am not saying Buhari should not be criticised for not moving decisively against the criminal herders. That is far from my point. The president tends to have this attitude of “God knows I didn’t ask the herdsmen to kidnap or kill anybody”; while that may be true, it won’t solve the problem. In the last one week, he has made a number of positive moves, apparently in response to public criticism. He needs to do more. I want to believe tension has been de-escalated for now, although the war mongers are still all over the media doing their thing. The urgent task for Nigerian leaders at all levels is to collectively tackle the insecurity in the country so that Somalia will not happen to us.

Finally, as citizens, I think we have — probably unknowingly — given authority to criminal gangs by endorsing the activities of these violent non-state actors. We are enjoying it now because it suits our ethnic and religious sentiments. But they are going to turn on us one day because our interests will not always align. Many Niger Delta militants were also bred by politicians for elections but they became Frankenstein’s monsters. More so, if Igboho can ask the entire Fulani to leave Igangan because of some criminal herders, what stops someone else from ordering all Yoruba to leave Jos because some taxis, usually driven by Yoruba people, are used for kidnapping? Point to ponder.

There was jubilation across Nigeria on Tuesday when President Muhammadu Buhari finally replaced the service chiefs. The agitations for their removal have been on for a while, with Buhari asked to “inject fresh blood” into the war on terror and insecurity across the land. I have nothing against changing the service chiefs — in fact, I was in the “fresh blood” camp — but I hate to burst the bubble: we have been changing service chiefs since like forever but we are not getting more secure. It tells us there is something deeper we are yet to address. But in Nigeria, we like new presidents, new governors, new ministers and new service chiefs. It always excites us. Watching.

RESOURCE KUNG-FU

The spectacular physical combat between representatives of oil and gas host communities at the National Assembly on Thursday told me something: the proposed break-up of Nigeria may look very pretty on paper, but in reality, it does not promise to lead to paradise — contrary to what we often read on Twitter. They were there to discuss common interests on the petroleum industry bill (PIB). If they could not agree to disagree at that elementary level, you have to wonder how they would handle more challenging matters around nationhood when they become a country. I suspect they would start bombing each other as it happens in many underdeveloped oil regions. Worrisome.

CORRUPTION PERCEPTION

Nigeria has scored its lowest marks in the Transparency International corruption perception index (CPI) since 2015, scoring 25/100. That was a horrible performance. I was not surprised that the PDP gleefully seized the opportunity to hit hard at Buhari and the APC government — that was exactly what APC and Lai Mohammed used to do to PDP-led administrations some years ago. But we need to be clear about something: CPI is measured using “perceived levels of public sector corruption”. In other words, as I have always argued, it is not only corruption at the federal level that is being measured; states and councils are also part of the picture. It is the public sector. Understood?

CROSS CITIZEN

After being rejected twice because she is not “originally” from Cross River, Justice Akon Ikpeme was finally confirmed as the state chief judge on Thursday. I was so happy. I don’t even know her and she doesn’t know me, but I was glad because this is another major statement in promoting citizenship rights in Nigeria, well above “state of origin”. She was born and bred in Cross River, schooled in Cross River, practised her law in Cross River, is married to a man from Cross River and all her children are Cross Riverians — but her own parents were from Akwa Ibom. I understand the politics of scarcity, ladies and gentlemen, but some things should align with common sense. Progress.

 

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Kenya says it will vaccinate 1.25 million before June 2021

Kenya’s Ministry of Health said that 1.25 million people will be vaccinated against Covid-19 before the end of June.

 

Mercy Mwangangi, chief administrative secretary in the Ministry of Health said on Friday that the government has prioritized the vaccination that will start in February to June, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

“The people to be covered in this period include frontline health workers and all staff working in health facilities both in public and private sector,” Mwangangi told journalists in Nairobi.

She noted that workers undertaking essential services in priority sectors like security and immigration will also be vaccinated during the period.

The official further revealed that 9.7 million Kenyans, including persons above 18 years of age with underlying health conditions will be vaccinated from July to June 2022.

“It is important to note that if vaccines become available sooner than expected and resources are available, the targets may change,” she added.

Mwangangi observed that the government is working towards a smooth introduction of the vaccine by ensuring that all logistical arrangements are in place for the expected delivery of vaccines before the end of February.

“Kenya has resolved to adopt a vaccine whose emergency use authorization has the approval of a stringent regulatory authority like the World Health Organization,” Mwangangi added.

She said that through Covid-19 vaccines global access facility (COVAX), Kenya will receive 24 million doses of vaccines and also procure 11 million doses from other mechanisms to vaccinate nearly 16 million people, about 30 per cent of the population, over a period of 18 months.

She added that the government has set up a safety monitoring system to investigate and take up immediate measures in consultation with the Pharmacy and Poison Board (PPB) in case of any reported adverse effects from the vaccine.

Mwangangi said that modelling teams are currently assessing the situation in all parts of the country to determine whether the country has flattened the Covid-19 infection curve.

“Our positivity rate has been fluctuating between three and 10 per cent in recent times,” she revealed, noting that the government has established vaccination infrastructure with central storage facilities in Nairobi for vaccines requiring cold chains of up to minus 20 Celsius and some limited capacity for minus 70 Celsius in the major urban areas.

Kenya has registered 100,563 positive cases since the outbreak of the disease in March 2020 after testing a cumulative figure of 1.177 million people as of Friday.

So far, 1,753 people have died from the disease while a total of 83,821 patients have recovered from the disease.

 

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Iran hits Trump with last-minute sanctions

In this file photo taken on November 20, 2020 US President Donald Trump looks down during an event on lowering prescription drug prices in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC. – President Donald Trump came his closest yet to admitting election defeat on November 23, 2020 after the government agency meant to ease Joe Biden’s transition into the White House said it was finally lifting its unprecedented block on assistance. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)

Iran on Tuesday imposed sanctions on outgoing US President Donald Trump and several of his top aides and advisers who took part in his “maximum pressure” campaign against the Islamic republic.

Sanctions issued on Tuesday evening — hours before Trump leaves office on Wednesday — include a travel ban as well as a freeze on financial assets they may hold in Iran.

They were issued under a 2017 law titled “Combating Human Rights Violations, American Adventurism and Terrorist Actions in the Region,” according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

As well as Trump, the sanctions target Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former Pentagon chief Mark Esper.

Also on the list are ex-CIA director Gina Haspel, Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, as well as Brian Hook, once Washington’s administration’s pointman on Iran policy, and his successor, Elliott Abrams.

Given the arsenal of US sanctions targeting the Islamic republic and the repeated anti-Iranian invectives by the outgoing US president and those listed with him, it is unlikely any either hold assets in Iran — or that they intend to visit.

Iran and the United States cut diplomatic relations in 1980.

But decades old US-Iranian tensions escalated after Trump unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018 and reimposed, then toughened, sanctions that have hammered Iran’s economy.

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Tanzania's President Criticized for Dismissing COVID-19 Vaccines

FILE - People use a handwashing station installed for members of the public entering a market in Dodoma, Tanzania, May 18, 2020. Tanzania’s government stopped reporting cases of COVID-19 in May.

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - Tanzanian President John Magufuli’s sharp rejection of COVID-19 vaccines was met Thursday with criticism, concern and confusion.

Magufuli in a speech Wednesday scorned the idea of a lockdown to prevent the coronavirus from spreading and poured doubt on the effectiveness of vaccines.

He claimed that Tanzanians vaccinated abroad had brought a coronavirus variant back to the country and repeated his stance that praying and inhaling steam offered better protection.

People should stand firm because vaccinations are dangerous, Magufuli said. He contended that if whites were able to come up with vaccinations, they would have found a vaccination for AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and cancer by now.

'Extremely dangerous' remarks

Tanzanian opposition politicians criticized Magufuli’s words as undiplomatic and said they sent a poor message to the world.

Zitto Kabwe, a former member of parliament and a leader of the opposition Alliance for Change and Transparency party, said, “Africa is struggling because of the limited supply of vaccinations, and here you have a president of the second-largest economy in East Africa, and this president saying that vaccinations are problematic.  This is extremely dangerous, and I really don’t know how deadly this comment from the president will be going forward.”

Tanzania’s government stopped reporting cases of COVID-19 in May, when it had 509 infections and 21 deaths. Magufuli said there was no need to report cases or take precautions against the virus because God had protected Tanzania from it.

 

FILE - President John Magufuli gestures during a rally in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Oct. 23, 2015. Magufuli in a speech Jan. 27, 2021, scorned the idea of a lockdown to prevent the coronavirus from spreading and said vaccinations were dangerous.

Tanzanian activists and critics have been urging the government via social media to reveal COVID-19 infections in the country.

Kumbusho Dawson, an activist with the Change Tanzania Organization, said he hadn't seen any measures by the government, but that it should be taking all necessary precautions and following the World Health Organization’s advice on fighting the coronavirus. He said people should wear masks and wash their hands to keep themselves and others safe.

The WHO’s regional director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, also urged Tanzanians on Thursday to ramp up public health measures.  She tweeted that science shows vaccines work, and she encouraged Tanzania to prepare a COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

Some confused

The contrasting messages from the world and Magufuli left some Tanzanians, like Dar es Salaam resident Dorcas Mselle, confused.

She said that at least during the first wave of the pandemic, residents were given instructions on what to do, and schools were closed. But now, she said, if people decide to wear a mask or not, or to wash their hands or not, there seems to be no official objection. Mselle called the situation confusing and said Tanzanians still don't know the extent of the problem.

Magufuli was re-elected in a disputed October election but has come under increasing criticism from opposition parties and Western governments for stifling democracy.

 

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UAE doctors used 3D technology to safe Nigerian boy’s foot from amputation

A team of doctors at Thumbay University Hospital United Arab Emirates have used a 3D printing technology to carry out a foot reconstruction surgery on a nine year-old Nigerian boy’s leg, Khaleej Times reported.

The boy needed the surgery after suffering a gunshot.

The doctors used the 3D printing technology to carry out the complex surgical procedure which saved the nine year old’s right leg from amputation.

The boy’s family members disclosed that all the doctors consulted in Nigeria and UAE said the boy’s right leg needed to be amputated after he sustained a severe injury from a gunshot wound in Nigeria.

This left his parents traumatised and they eventually reached out to Dr Faisal Ameer, the head of plastic and reconstructive Surgery at Thumbay University Hospital, Ajman, who assured them of a successful surgery.

The hospital authorities carried out thorough diagnostic tests and a computed tomography (CT) angiogram of the foot and arrived at the conclusion that a complex surgical procedure and post-operative care is likely to save the limb from amputation.

The laser surgery lasted over 14 hours and was followed by a 3D CT scan. An image of the missing bones, which were destroyed by the gunshot wound in the right limb, was reconstructed by a design team belonging to Dubai, Germany and Belgium.

Dr Hillol Kanti Pal, a neurosurgeon, Dr Mufique Gajdhar, a paediatric surgeon, and Dr Arun Kumar, a radiologist, put together a meshed bone made of titanium, which was implanted in the child’s right foot by using the 3D printing technology.

Titanium due to its strength, inertness and light weight.

“This is the first-of-its-kind surgery to be reported in the field of medical science, which makes it unique, historic and extraordinary,” Akbar Moideen Thumbay, Vice-president of Healthcare Division, Thumbay Group.

“It’s a matter of great pride and accomplishment for Thumbay University Hospital, as we bring glory to the nation. The feat further cements the UAE’s reputation of making records in all walks of life.”

The boy’s mother also appreciate the doctors’ help in saving the boy’s leg.

“I am so grateful to the doctors and the entire team at the hospital for saving my son’s life. With their help, he will now be able to get back to his normal life,” the mother said.

The boy is currently undergoing intensive physiotherapy as part of the post-operative care and is expected to make a full recovery soon.

 

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UK extends travel bans as United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda added to red list to prevent spread of new variant

United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda added to travel ban.

 

entry to the UK is banned for visitors arriving from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Burundi and Rwanda from 29 January 2021 at 1pm – British, Irish and third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK will be allowed to enter

 

from 4am on Friday morning all arrivals who have, in the 10 days before their arrival in the UK, been in these destinations, and their households, will have to self-isolate immediately, and will not be eligible to use Test to Release

 

move is in response to new evidence showing the likely spread of a coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa

The government has today (28 January 2021) taken the urgent decision to ban travel to the UK from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Burundi and Rwanda to prevent the spread of the new variant originally identified in South Africa into the UK.

From 1pm on Friday 29 January, passengers who have been in or transited through the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda in the last 10 days will no longer be granted access to the UK.

This does not include British and Irish nationals, or third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK, who will be able to enter the UK but are required to self-isolate for 10 days at home, along with their household. Passengers returning from these countries cannot be released from self-isolation through Test to Release.

There will also be a flight ban on direct passenger flights from the UAE.

The decision to ban travel from these destinations follows the discovery of a new coronavirus variant, first identified in South Africa, that may have spread to other countries, including the UAE, Burundi and Rwanda.

Any exemptions usually in place will not apply, including for business travel.

British nationals currently in the UAE should make use of the commercial options available if they wish to return to the UK. Indirect commercial routes that will enable British and Irish nationals and residents to return to the UK continue to operate.

British nationals should check Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) travel advice and follow local guidance. The FCDO will continue to offer tailored consular assistance to British nationals in country in need of advice on a 24/7 basis.

Today’s action follows new measures announced by the government yesterday to minimise travel across international borders and reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, including managed isolation in hotels and the need to declare a reason for travel. More details on these measures will be set out next week.

 

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Sudan denies occupying Ethiopian territory in contested region

Foreign Ministry spokesman tells News Media its troops redeployed on the Sudanese side of the border with Ethiopia.

The decades-old dispute over al-Fashqa, land within Sudan’s international boundaries that has long been settled by Ethiopian farmers, erupted into weeks of clashes between forces from both sides late last year [File: El Tayeb Siddig/Reuters]

Sudan has denied claims by Ethiopia of occupying its territory, in the latest dispute over the contested al-Fashqa area.

Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mansour Boulad said on Wednesday the Sudanese army had redeployed its forces in the border area with Ethiopia, and did not go beyond the Sudanese territory.

In an exclusive interview with media on Wednesday, Boulad said claims by Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti of Sudan occupying Ethiopian lands “are not true”.

“Our choice so far is that we must deal with the situation according to the mechanisms of good neighbourliness and cooperation between the two countries, but if Ethiopia does the opposite, we will have another position according to the circumstances,” he said.

The exact boundary of al-Fashqa – where the northwest of Ethiopia’s Amhara region meets Sudan’s breadbasket Gadarif state – is rarely delineated on the ground.

According to the colonial-era treaties of 1902 and 1907, the international boundary runs to the east.

This means that the land belongs to Sudan – but Ethiopians had settled in the area and were cultivating there and paying their taxes to Ethiopian authorities.

In 2008, the two governments settled on a compromise, which resulted in Ethiopia acknowledged the legal boundary, but Sudan allowing the Ethiopians to continue living there undisturbed.

Ethiopia committed to ‘peaceful resolution’

In late December, Sudanese soldiers reportedly moved up to 40km (25 miles) into Ethiopian-held territories, including the contested fertile agricultural region of al-Fashqa.

Ethiopia says Sudan took advantage of its forces being distracted by the Tigray conflict to occupy Ethiopian land and loot properties.

It then launched a diplomatic effort to get Sudanese forces out of the territories to promote a return to the normal mechanisms of dialogue to resolve the century-long border dispute.

“Ethiopia is committed to a peaceful resolution of the border differences with Sudan,” Dina Mufti said in a press statement on Tuesday.

Any possibility of mediation would require Sudan to pull its forces to positions prior to late December, when Ethiopia first signalled a breach of its borders, he added.

“We have had mechanisms, technical and political committees,” he said, adding that the two countries need to get back to those resolution mechanisms through dialogue.

Asked how long Ethiopia would maintain a diplomatic stance while Sudan remains in the contested territories, Mufti said: “We will cross that river when we come to it.”

Sudanese military leaders have not shown any sign of heeding Ethiopia’s call, though, and reiterate they reclaimed their own territories.

 

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Kenya asks Somalia not to drag it into internal issues

Nairobi says it is not arming any militia groups to attack Somalia

 

NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenya on Thursday urged Somalia to not drag the East African nation into its internal affairs.

Speaking to reporters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, amid high tensions between the neighbors, government spokesman Cyrus Oguna said: “As a country we will not accept being drawn into the internal politics of Somalia. We are calling on all Somali leadership to desist from dragging Kenya into their domestic issues.”

He said: “As a people, we remain committed to peace in our region, and we shall continue to work towards achieving it. We are peace-loving people in a country governed by the rule of law and guided by the principle of non-interference.”

Saying Kenya will not meddle in the internal affairs of any country, he added: “We equally expect reciprocity. We will, however, continue to advocate for peace and stability in the region, and thus call for a total cessation of hostilities in Somalia in order to give peace a chance.”

Kenya told Somali leaders to create an environment that will facilitate the resolution of conflicts through dialogue.

He dismissed any talk of its arming any militia groups to attack Somalia, which has always been an allied nation.

The tension between Kenya and Somalia has its “genesis in domestic political activity in Somalia,” he said.

Despite the current tensions between the two countries, Oguna said Kenya will not stop helping Somalia regain peace by defeating al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab terrorists.

“We as a country have never spared any efforts in trying to find a lasting solution in that country. As a country we will continue to push for stability in that country because a stable Somalia is good for all of us in the region,” he explained.

According to Kenya, every day over 500 mothers and elderly people from Somalia cross into Kenya to seek medical services, 3,000 students cross every day to pursue education, and 8,000 individuals cross over to do business, and all have been affected by the heightened tensions.

Somalia, a Horn of Africa country, accused Kenya of supporting armed fighters who engaged Somali forces on Monday, a fight that claimed 11 lives.

Kenya, however, denied the allegations and said it wants the conflict to end.

 

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Amnesty International has accused Nigerian government of Denials and cover up mark 100 days since Lekki shooting

Youth-led demonstrations in Nigeria began against police abuse, quickly spiralling into broader calls for reform [Phill Magakoe/AFP]

Nigerian authorities have failed to bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for the brutal crackdown by security forces on peaceful #EndSARS protesters at Lekki toll gate and Alausa in Lagos in October 2020 and have brazenly attempted to cover up the violence, said Amnesty International Nigeria today, 100 days on from the attacks. 

Since the assault by security forces, which killed at least 12 people, Nigerian authorities have targeted supporters of the protests against police brutality by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Some of the movement’s supporters have had their bank accounts frozen.  

The bloody events of 20 October 2020, when Nigerian security forces killed at least 12 people during the violent dispersal of peaceful #EndSARS protesters at Lekki and Alausa, have cast a shadow over Nigerian society that lingers to this day, 

Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria

“Instead of bringing suspected perpetrators to justice and prioritizing genuine police reforms, Nigerian authorities have been abusing their powers by subjecting those who supported the protests to intimidation, harassment and smear campaigns.” 

Reports from across Nigeria indicate that police violence is still widespread despite government promises of change.   

Amnesty International is concerned that the Nigerian authorities will continue their current ban on protests and reminds the government of its obligations under the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) and international human rights treaties to - which the country is a state party - to allow those who gather peacefully to express their views without fear of arrest or intimidation.  

International human rights law also requires the Nigerian authorities to carry out prompt, thorough, independent, impartial and effective investigations into violations of human rights of the protesters including the right to life, such as those committed at Lekki and Alausa, as well as in other parts of the country, and to identify and bring suspected perpetrators to justice in fair trials.   

Those suspected to be responsible for the killings should be brought to justice in accordance with international fair trial standard. 

Osai Ojigho

 Amnesty International is calling on the Nigerian government to suspend accused officials, pending investigations, and to ensure that victims access justice and effective remedies.  

Background  

 

The Nigerian government has set up a panel of inquiry in Lagos State to investigate complaints against SARS and the incidents at Lekki and Alausa on 20 October 2020. However, government officials and the military continue to deny that anybody was killed during the protests while restating their resolve to punish leaders of the #EndSARS movement against police violence.  

 

 Investigations by Amnesty International indicate that since the #EndSARS protests were violently dispersed several of the movement’s leaders have been arrested, tortured and their bank accounts frozen. Many others have fled into exile. 

 

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'We want to finish Boko Haram': Nigerians welcome new army chiefs

Residents of an internally displaced camp in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri have welcomed President Muhammadu Buhari's decision to replace the country's top military commanders as security issues mount.

"To be sincere, the outgoing service chiefs have tried their best but in some instances their best isn't enough at all, despite the fact that we are not security experts, but we know that they have failed." said Ummate Abubakar, an internally displaced person from the village of Monguno.

The Boko Haram insurgency and its deadly affiliate, the Islamic State in West Africa, has killed some 36,000 people and displaced millions since it waged its war for a caliphate in the northeast in 2009.

The group controlled vast swathes of the region in 2015 but were pushed back.

But Boko Haram still conducts deadly attacks and ambushes on civilians and the military.

"What we want is not to repel the Boko Haram but to kill them, not to repel them but to kill them, to finish them at once, not to repel them again," said Sunday Ishaya, an internally displaced person from the village of Monguno.

"We are repeating what all the time we do, that is the reason why we are not after them. We want somebody that will just degrade them, complete them, wipe them away."

Nigeria also faces criminal gangs in the northwest, who were blamed by authorities for the kidnapping of some 300 schoolboys in December.

While in the central regions farmers clash with cattle herders.

 

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Fourth member of Zimbabwe's cabinet dies from COVID-19

The burial of Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba who died of COVID-19, at the Heroes Acre in Harare, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa who presided over the burial called the pandemic "evil" and urged people to wear masks, practice social distancing and sanitize, as cases across the country increased amid a fragile health system. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Four Zimbabwean Cabinet ministers have died of COVID-19, three within the past two weeks, highlighting a resurgence of the disease that is sweeping through this southern African country.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the coronavirus is reaping a “grim harvest” in the country.

“The pandemic has been indiscriminate. There are no spectators, adjudicators, no holier than thou. No supermen or superwomen. We are all exposed,” Mnangagwa said on a nationally televised address.

Mnangagwa presided at the burial of one Cabinet minister last week, shortly after the death of the foreign minister was announced. Then came the death of the transport minister. Several other high-profile politicians and prominent Zimbabweans have also died recently.

The opposition accuses the government of using COVID-19 as a weapon by detaining its members of parliament, officials and other critics in overcrowded jails where the disease is easily transmitted. Critics also accuse the government of neglecting the public hospitals, where many ill with COVID-19 cannot get oxygen needed to survive. Many of the country’s elites are treated at expensive private facilities or fly out of the country for health care.

The government says it is doing its best, and that despite the wide political and economic differences, fighting the virus is everyone’s war.

Zimbabwe, like many other African countries, initially recorded low numbers of COVID-19 but has recently experienced a spike in cases. There are fears that a new, more infectious variant of the virus came to the country when scores of thousands of Zimbabweans living in South Africa returned home for the holiday season.

The country of 15 million recorded a total of 31,007 cases, including 974 deaths, on Jan.23, up from the slightly more than 10,000 cases and 277 deaths at the beginning of December, according to government figures.

Zimbabwe’s rate of deaths by COVID-19 has doubled recently, with the 7-day rolling average of daily deaths rising over the past two weeks from 0.10 deaths per 100,000 people on Jan. 9 to 0.28 deaths per 100,000 people on Jan. 23, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In poor areas such as Chitungwiza, the sprawling residential area about 30 kilometers (18 miles) southeast of Harare, gravediggers are overwhelmed.

“Coronavirus, this is something I used to read about in the news, (but) it is here on our doorsteps now. People are dying,” said Coleta Moyana, a Chitungwiza resident. Officials are seeking more burial space to accommodate rising numbers of deaths.

Many people are not being tested, nor are they going to hospitals for help, said a doctors’ association, noting that on some days, nearly half of COVID-19 deaths happen outside hospitals.

“Those undiagnosed cases are super-spreading,” said the Zimbabwe Senior Hospital Doctors Association earlier this month.

“COVID-19 is affecting everyone, but it is not affecting everyone equally. It has entrenched and exacerbated the extreme inequalities and injustices that existed before the pandemic,” Itai Rusike, director of the Harare-based organization, Community Working Group on Health, told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“The majority of poor Zimbabweans without medical insurance end up dying at home,” he said.

Zimbabwe has not yet received any vaccines. Mnangagwa on Saturday said the government health officials are still deciding which vaccine to acquire.

“Our experts are very close to finalizing the course to recommend … and it will be quite soon,” he said.

 

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Pirates kill sailor, kidnap 15 off Nigeria on Turkish ship

The ship was sailing through the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy when it was attacked

Armed men killed an Azerbaijani sailor and abducted 15 Turkish crew members from a Turkish cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported Sunday.

That left three crew members to sail the Liberian-flagged Mozart owned by a Turkish company, the state agency said. 

Turkish news channel NTV spoke to a sailor still on board who said several crew members were wounded.

The Mozart had been en route from the Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos to Cape Town in South Africa when it was boarded on Saturday. It has now arrived at Port-Gentil in nearby Gabon.

“We have established the necessary contacts with all the countries concerned for the release of our nationals,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on NTV.

“The bandits, the pirates who abducted our citizens have not contacted us yet. These pirates make contact at some point to communicate their demands,” he added.

Earlier, a voice from the Mozart — purportedly that of the new captain — had said on a recording posted on Twitter: “I do not know where I am heading. The pirates cut the cables, only the radar is working.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone to the new captain and was following events closely, his office said.

Ten sailors who were taken hostage from a Turkish vessel off West Africa were released in August 2019.

Pirate attacks on ships worldwide jumped 20 percent last year driven by a record spate of kidnappings off West Africa, the International Maritime Bureau said last week.

A total of 195 incidents of piracy and armed robbery were reported, up from 162 in 2019.

Out of 135 sailors abducted globally last year, 130 were recorded in the Gulf of Guinea — the highest ever number of crew members kidnapped in the area stretching thousands of kilometres (miles) from Senegal to Angola.

 

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Fear arose as fabled ark could be among ancient treasures in danger in Ethiopia’s deadly war

Tigray’s rich heritage is ‘highly endangered’, experts warn, as the conflict escalates near key cultural sites

The sacred Book of Miracles in the Church of Our Lady of Zion in Aksum, Ethiopia: experts fear sacred texts, Bibles and treasures are being looted amid fighting in the Tigray region. Photograph: agefotostock/Alamy

It has been hidden from view for thousands of years, and its whereabouts never proved. But if the Ark of the Covenant indeed rests in a chapel in northern Ethiopia, this extraordinary religious treasure could be at grave risk from fighting in the area.

The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, which reputedly houses the ark – a casket of gilded wood containing stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, according to the Bible – was the scene of a recent massacre of 750 people, reports filtering out of the country say.

International experts have raised the alarm over the security of the ark and other religious and cultural artefacts as a result of escalating conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

Among those voicing concern are academics from the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies at Hamburg University, who warn that Tigray’s rich cultural heritage is “highly endangered”. In an appeal, they say reports suggest “hostilities are taking place in close proximity to renowned cultural sites”.

They add: “There are reports of looting of manuscripts from Tigrayan churches and monasteries, and warnings that they will ... be taken out of Ethiopia to be sold at antiquities markets in other countries.”

The conflict began in early November when Ethiopia’s Nobel peace prize-winning prime minister Abiy Ahmed sent federal forces to attack the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which ruled the country for almost three decades until 2018. Abiy has accused the TPLF, which has its own military, of seeking to destabilise Ethiopia and holding illegitimate elections. Troops from Eritrea, Ethiopia’s former enemy to the north, have crossed the border to fight alongside Abiy’s forces.

 

The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, in Aksum, said to be home to the Ark of the Covenant. Photograph: Neil McAllister/Alamy

Reliable reports of the fighting and its impact have been scarce due to a communications blackout and lack of humanitarian access, but the UN has warned of mass killings, the displacement of civilians and looting. More than 21,000 people have reportedly fled across the border to Sudan.

Heritage experts readily acknowledge that the humanitarian crisis must take priority over protection of the country’s artefacts and antiquities. But, said Alison Phipps, professor of languages and intercultural studies at Glasgow University, “these are sacred sites and of incalculable value to the history of Christianity and its development in Ethiopia in particular.

“Attacks on cultural heritage are devastating in the context of war as they speak of the destruction of the soul of a people, of things which have endured through the ancestors.”

Catherine D’Andrea, director of the Eastern Tigray archaeological project at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, said the region was “truly blessed with numerous and varied forms of tangible and intangible cultural patrimony”.

They include monumental architecture such as the Unesco world heritage site of Aksum, rock-hewn churches and remains of one of the earliest mosques in Africa, which are at high risk of damage, she said. “In addition, there are less visible cultural treasures, including manuscripts, paintings, oral traditions and artefacts held by churches and monasteries scattered throughout rural areas of Tigray. These tend not to be fully documented, so we can’t even begin to calculate the potential losses if destroyed or pillaged.”

 

Despite the absence of verifiable information, damage from the conflict to the recently reconstructed 7th-century mosque complex at Negash had been clearly documented, said D’Andrea. “It appears that the structure was shelled and images from within are suggestive of looting.”

At the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum, fleeing civilians have said the aim of the attack, in which hundreds of people hiding in the church were brought out and shot, was to remove the ark to Addis Ababa, according to Martin Plaut, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

The ancient Debre Damo monastery, which dates from the 6th century, is reported to have been attacked. Photograph: Tim Wege/Alamy

The ark is believed by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians to have been brought to Aksum by Menelik, the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Israel, after Jerusalem was sacked in 586/587BC and Solomon’s temple destroyed. It has since been guarded by a succession of monks who are forbidden until death to leave the church grounds.

As well as the potential threat to the ark, Eritrean troops were “looting everything they can get their hands on” in the region, Plaut told the Observer. “They’ve also gone through some monasteries and churches, taking Bibles and icons back across the border. It’s absolutely appalling.”

The monastery of Debre Damo, dating from the sixth century and containing painted ceilings and walls, is also reported to have been attacked.

Alessandro Bausi of the Hiob Ludolf Centre said he was “extremely concerned that unique artefacts will be destroyed or lost”. The centre is calling on Ethiopia’s state institutions to do “everything possible to protect the cultural property of Tigray”, and for warring parties “to abstain from attacking the cultural heritage and to respect the integrity of the places, both religious and secular, where this heritage is preserved”.

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Rwandans To Celebrate Heroes Day Despite Lockdown

 

KIGALI - On Monday February 1, Rwandans will wake up to observe a national Heroes Day despite this taking place at a time all 30 districts are detached from each other while the Capital Kigali is frozen into a Lockdown.

Heroes Day allows Rwandans to reflect on the country’s heroes classified into three categories named in Kinyarwanda as Imanzi, Imena, and Ingenzi.

Celebrations are scheduled to take place at village level across the country to pay tribute to the heroes that have shaped the future of the country.

Imanzi:
This is the highest order that is bestowed upon people that pushed to limits and even sacrificed their own lives in the interest of Rwanda.

For example, Major-General Fred Rwigema that led exiled Rwandan refugees to forcefuly return home by use of arms. He died in action on the battle front during first days of the liberation war.

“Unknown Soldier” represents all soldiers who lost their lives in the liberation.

Imena:

This is a category reserved for people with proven track record such as King Mutara III Rudahigwa, Agathe Uwilingiyimana and Nyange Secondary School students who were killed by militias after refusing to divide themselves along ethnic lines.

Ingenzi:
This is a category reserved for living heroes – However, the list is yet to be made public.

 

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We Look Forward To Working With Joe Biden And Kamala Harris – Nigerian President

President Muhammadu Buhari has said his government is ready to work with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and hopes that a strong point of cooperation and support for Nigeria as well as the African continent will be marked. 

President Buhari in a communique by his special media aide – Garba Shehu, congratulated the leaders, and the entire country on the successful transition, which marks an important historical inflection point for democracy as a system of government and for the global community as a whole.

“We look forward to the Biden presidency with great hope and optimism for the strengthening of existing cordial relationships, working together to tackle global terrorism, climate change, poverty and improvement of economic ties, and expansion of trade.

“We hope that this will be an era of great positivity between our two nations, as we jointly address issues of mutual interest,” the President added.

President Buhari and all Nigerians rejoice with President Joe Biden, sharing the proud feeling that the first woman elected Vice President of the United States has African and Asian ancestry.

 

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Joe Biden sworn in as 46th U.S president, calls on Americans to 'end this uncivil war'

Kamala Harris is sworn in as VP, breaking historic gender and racial barriers

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2021. (Andrew Harnik/Pool via Reuters)

Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, declaring that "democracy has prevailed" as he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors.

Biden, sworn in at 11:49 a.m. ET,  used a 21-minute inaugural address to call for unity and offer an optimistic message that Americans can get through dark moments by working together. The ceremonies were scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic, with heightened security measures arising from the Capitol riot exactly two weeks ago.

"Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew, and America has risen to the challenge," Biden said early in his address. "Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate but of a cause: the cause of democracy."

Biden pivoted to the challenges ahead, acknowledging the surging virus that has claimed more than 400,000 lives in the United States and become a polarized issue unlike in most other countries. Biden looked out over a capital city dotted with empty storefronts that attest to the pandemic's deep economic toll and where summer protests laid bare the nation's renewed reckoning on racial injustice.

"Those 400,000 fellow Americans — moms, dads, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbours and co-workers — we'll honour them by becoming the people and nation we know we can and should be," he said, before asking for a silent prayer on their behalf.

Biden called on Americans to overcome divisions, declaring that "without unity, there is no peace."

"We must end this uncivil war that pits red versus blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal," he said. "We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts."

There was, he said, "much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build and much to gain."

"Few people in our nation's history have been more challenged, or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we're in now."

Biden also hailed the historic achievement of his Vice-President Kamala Harris. Harris took the oath administered by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, becoming the first Black, South Asian and female vice-president.

Harris, who spent some of her teen years in Montreal, was said to be using a Bible in the swearing-in ceremony that belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice. 

Biden and his wife, Jill, began the day by attending a service at Washington's Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. Along with Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, those in attendance included: both Senate leaders, Republican Mitch McConnell and Democrat Chuck Schumer, as well as Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Biden is only the second Catholic president in U.S. history after John F. Kennedy, and St. Matthew's is the seat of the Catholic archbishop of Washington.

A Capitol police officer hailed as a hero for his actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol accompanied Harris and Biden at the west front. Officer Eugene Goodman, a Black man, confronted the overwhelmingly white insurrectionists and led them away from Senate chambers.

 

Family Bible brought out again

Prominent U.S. politicians past and present proceeded to the west front shortly before 11 a.m., with 44th president Barack Obama and wife Michelle getting a notable round of applause.  Two other past presidents arrived with their wives — Bill and Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush and his wife, Laura — while the oldest living president, 96-year-old Jimmy Carter, had sent his well wishes.

Vice-President Mike Pence was the highest-ranking official from Donald Trump's administration to attend the inauguration, but not Trump, the first outgoing president to skip the ceremony since Andrew Johnson more than a century and a half ago.

U.S. President Joe Biden embraces his daughter Ashley after he was sworn in, as Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, who spoke at the inauguration, looking on. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Biden used a Bible for his swearing-in that has been in his family since at least 1893. Several inches thick, it is the same Bible he used twice when swearing in as vice-president and seven times as a senator from Delaware.

Although the festivities were radically scaled down due to the pandemic as well as security threats, a steady stream of A-list names signed on, headlined by Lady Gaga singing the national anthem, with Jennifer Lopez singing This Land Is Your Land and America the Beautiful, and Garth Brooks performing Amazing Grace.

An invocation was given by the Rev. Leo O'Donovan, a former Georgetown University president, and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Andrea Hall, a firefighter from Georgia. Amanda Gorman, the first national youth poet laureate, gave a riveting address, while the benediction was given by a Biden family friend, Rev. Silvester Beaman of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington, Del.

Biden, Harris and their spouses paused on the steps of the U.S. Capitol while leaving to observe the procession of ceremonial military regiments. Several groupings passed by the steps, with military members saluting the new president and musicians playing traditional patriotic tunes such as Yankee Doodle Dandy.

The couples were then joined by the three former presidents and their wives at Arlington National Cemetery for the playing of the Star Spangled Banner by a brass band and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

As Biden was ushered in, congratulations poured in from around the world, including statements from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Pope Francis sent a message to the second Catholic U.S. president, saying he hoped Biden's decisions would be guided by justice, freedom and respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the poor, the vulnerable and those with no voice.

Long political career

Biden becomes just the seventh person to have served as senator, vice-president and president and the first to achieve that feat since Richard Nixon. While on paper that wealth of previous experience may give the impression of inevitability to his becoming president, there were two failed bids and multiple points along the way where one could reasonably doubt he'd ever become commander-in-chief.

Biden took his first oath of office as a Washington politician just over 48 years ago, in a hospital room in Delaware as his two sons recuperated from a car crash that killed Biden's first wife, Neilia, and their baby daughter, Naomi.

Vice President Kamala Harris greeted by Michelle Obama during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol. (Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images)

During his years in Congress, he earned the slings and arrows that come along with serving in the Senate — a strong reputation for bipartisan work and criticism for his handling of Anita Hill's testimony at Clarence Thomas's confirmation hearings from both parties. There were also a pair of brain aneurysms in the late 1980s, one which was life-threatening.

In 2008, he was picked by Obama to serve as his running mate. Biden, not thrilled with playing second fiddle, later wrote of being persuaded to take the VP job in no small part by his 91-year-old mother, Catherine, who impressed upon him the history of serving under the first Black president. Catherine Biden died in 2010, eight years after her husband, Joe Sr.

Biden had every intention of running for president in 2016, but was waylaid by another tragedy. His oldest son, Beau, expected to become a prominent national politician himself, died at 46 of brain cancer.

As in the past, Biden proved a survivor in the 2020 Democratic race after a slow start, winning the nomination and the general election on Nov. 3.

U.S. President Joe Biden, wife Jill Biden, vice-president Kamala Harris, and Harris's husband Doug Emhoff prepare to descend the Capitol steps as part of the inauguration ceremony. (Tom Brenner/Reuters)

In addition to his wife Jill, who he married in 1977, their son Hunter, daughter Ashley and several grandchildren were on hand to watch him become the next U.S. president.

The traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue will not take place, but an inaugural parade featuring 1,391 virtual participants, 95 horses and nine dogs is scheduled. Organizers said it will be similar in nature to how convention events were conducted last August.

Trump will loom large in the early days of the Biden presidency, as the Senate plans for a remarkable second impeachment trial while holding confirmation hearings for officials in the new administration. As well, because Trump could not admit defeat and commit to a typical transition, the Biden team was not briefed on several fronts by the outgoing administration to the extent that is typical.

After 5 p.m, Biden is scheduled to sign a series of executive orders, many of which roll back Trump initiatives, and at nighttime attend the "Celebrating America" inaugural ceremony along with his wife. The multi-network evening broadcast hosted by Tom Hanks takes the place of the usual multiple inaugural balls.

 

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