US calls for withdrawal of Eritrean forces in Ethiopia following investigation into massacre

 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Saturday for the withdrawal of Eritrean and Ethiopian regional forces from the Tigray region of Ethiopia, and an end to killings and human rights violations there.

His call came a day after investigations by CNN and Amnesty International into the massacre of civilians in two separate assaults in the northern Tigray region late last year.

Thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military operation against leaders in the Tigray region. CNN has previously reported that soldiers from neighboring Eritrea have perpetuated many of the extrajudicial killings, assaults and human rights abuses in the Tigray region.

"The United States is gravely concerned by reported atrocities and the overall deteriorating situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia," Blinken said in a statement Saturday.

 "We strongly condemn the killings, forced removals and displacements, sexual assaults, and other extremely serious human rights violations and abuses by several parties that multiple organizations have reported in Tigray." He added that "those responsible for them must be held accountable."

Eyewitnesses told CNN that a group of Eritrean soldiers opened fire on Maryam Dengelat church in Dengelat village, eastern Tigray, on November 30 while hundreds of congregants were celebrating mass. Dozens of people died over three days of mayhem, with soldiers slaughtering local residents, displaced people and pilgrims, they said.

Ethiopia responded to CNN's request for comment with a statement that did not directly address the attack in Dengelat. Eritrea has yet to respond to a CNN request for comment.

Amnesty International charged in a report Friday that Eritrean forces killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the city of Axum in November through indiscriminate shelling and shooting and extrajudicial killings, in what the human rights organization said could amount to a crime against humanity.

 

Members of the Amhara Special Forces keep guard at the 5th Battalion of the Northern Command of the Ethiopian Army in Dansha, Ethiopia, on November 25, 2020.

In his statement, Blinken recognized the Ethiopian Prime Minister's commitment to allow humanitarian aid to the region, adding: "The international community needs to work collectively to ensure that these commitments are realized.

"The immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces and Amhara regional forces from Tigray are essential first steps," Blinken said, referring to forces from Ethiopia's Amhara state, which neighbors Tigray. "They should be accompanied by unilateral declarations of cessation of hostilities by all parties to the conflict and a commitment to permit unhindered delivery of assistance to those in Tigray."

Blinken said the US was committed to working with the international community to achieve these goals and that the US Agency for International Development would send a disaster assistance response team to Ethiopia.

"We ask international partners, especially the African Union and regional partners, to work with us to address the crisis in Tigray, including through action at the UN and other relevant bodies," he added.

After seizing control of Tigray's main cities in late November, Abiy declared victory and maintained that no civilians were harmed in the offensive. Abiy has also denied that soldiers from Eritrea crossed into Tigray to support Ethiopian forces.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

SOUTH AFRICA: Four men shot dead

 

Police line tape. Crime scene investigation. Forensic science.

Four men aged between 30 to 64 were shot dead and another was injured Saturday at Mitchells Plain near Cape Town, said South African police.

“The victims were shot and killed at close range while a 37-year-old male victim escaped the attack with a gunshot wound,” said Western Cape police spokesman Andre Traut.

“It is alleged that unknown suspects opened fire at the group of five and fled the scene on foot. The suspects are yet to be arrested and police are making an appeal to the community to approach us with information,” he said.

The cause of the shooting was not clear at this stage.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

FARMING: Adapting to survive and thrive in Ghana

In the West African country of Ghana, many people from farming backgrounds are forced to find new ways to survive, as droughts, floods and erratic weather patterns upend age-old agricultural practices.

Programmes supported by the UN are helping, especially, women to acquire new skills, and adapt to an increasingly uncertain world.

They’ve been learning how to process soy beans, shea and rice, turning them into more profitable products, such as soy milk, soy flour, and shea butter.

Women across Ghana are learning how to process their crops into food stuffs that can be sold in markets., by UNDP/PraiseNutakor

Selling these processed goods at the local market, can help them to live through lean times, for example when drought and other climate change-related events hit.

Read more here  about how across northern Ghana, thousands of women are benefiting from similar projects, financed by The Adaptation Fund, which was set up to support programmes in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

Tanzania COVID U-turn ‘a good move’ – but is it good enough?

After months of downplaying deadly disease, government officials have called on people to take precautions and wear masks.

 

Tanzania stopped releasing infection numbers in April 2020 [Ericky Boniphace/AFP]

Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania – Esther Mngodo, like other Tanzanians, was relieved to hear this week government officials are finally urging people in the country to take precautions against the coronavirus – and even wear face masks.

“It is a good move,” said Mngodo, a 34-year-old resident of Dar-es-Salaam. “But much more needs to be done to increase public awareness, testing and treatment. Most importantly, we must have a clear strategy on how to navigate through these unprecedented times.”

In a surprise change in the official stance on coronavirus, President John Magufuli on Sunday said the government had not forbidden the wearing of masks and encouraged those who wanted to do so.

However, he warned against what he claimed were faulty face coverings on sale in the country, suggesting that high coronavirus-related death rates worldwide could be linked to the uptake of such products and claiming those in Tanzania’s rural areas were less likely to fall victim to the virus because they tended not to wear them.

“The government has not forbidden mask-wearing. But we have to be careful about which masks we wear. We will perish. Don’t think we’re loved so much. Economic war is bad,” Magufuli told a congregation at a church service in Dar-es-Salaam.

“These masks which we buy in the shops- we’re killing ourselves,” he argued, before advising Tanzanians to either to make the masks themselves or use those produced locally.

Magufuli has long downplayed the severity of COVID-19, urging Tanzanians to pray, use steam inhalation and embrace local remedies to protect themselves from the respiratory disease. Tanzania stopped releasing infection numbers in April 2020, weeks before Magufuli declared the country coronavirus-free in June through divine intervention.

For Mngodo, the recent U-turn could be a result of what seems to be a deadly resurgence of infection, which has swept across the country over the past few months.

“It appears that the extent of the problem has reached to a point where the government cannot deny the severity of the problem,” said Mngodo, a media consultant.

Announcements of deaths often attributed to “the current pneumonia” or “breathing problems” have flooded social media.

Among the deceased are a number of high-profile individuals, including several university professors, a former governor of the central bank, the country’s chief secretary and Zanzibar’s first vice president, Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad.

Of them, Hamad was the only person confirmed to have been infected by the novel coronavirus, as he texted his COVID-19 test results to the media. As for the others, the public has been left to speculate about the causes of their deaths, at a time when the world is stilling battling the coronavirus pandemic and many common Tanzanians have been touched by the effects of it.

These circumstances have led religious leaders and other critics, particularly on social media, to put pressure on the government to provide clear and consistent guidelines on fighting the pandemic, while also urging individuals to take precautions.

A Tanzanian medical doctor based in the United States, Frank Minja, said the change of mind is welcomed, if long overdue, and could present an opportunity. “We want to encourage [the president] to move faster in implementing what we know to be effective and implement it right away,” he said.

“I don’t want to say it’s too late, because if we say too late then it means we might as well not do anything. And because, by its nature, the pandemic attacks in waves, it is never too late to start doing the right thing,” added Minja, who has been campaigning on social media to raise awareness about the coronavirus.

Dorothy Semu, acting chairperson of the opposition ACT Wazalendo party, criticised Magufuli, saying the measures implemented when the virus first entered the country – including physical distancing and cancellation of large events – should have been kept in place.

“I am a politician but I am also a believer in science,” Semu said. “As leaders responsible for people’s lives it is important that we make our decisions based on facts. It’s like when HIV/AIDS was discovered; some people denied its presence and many lives were lost. So, I expected the president, who is also a scientist, to have continued with the past measures and we would have saved many lives.”

 

Magufuli in June declared Tanzania ‘coronavirus-free’, thanks to the prayers of its citizens [File: AP Photo]The new stance by Magufuli – a former teacher and industrial chemist – on mask-wearing seems to have also prompted many other public offices and officials to suddenly come forward and warn people of the dangers of coronavirus and measures individuals should take to protect themselves from the virus.

For instance, the agency which runs Dar-es-Salaam’s rapid transport buses on Monday said passengers would not be allowed to board if not wearing a mask.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health, headed by Dorothy Gwajima who has previously advocated steam inhalation and a vegetable smoothie to treat COVID-19, earlier this week issued a statement warning people against the virus and appealing to them to take precautions.

However, it insisted that it would not be recommending lockdown measures.

“As said by the president, we won last year and the economy continued to grow until we achieved middle-income economy status, and Coronavirus still existed,” said the ministry’s statement.

“We did not set lockdowns, and even now, we will not impose lockdowns because God is on our side.”

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

Rwanda Official Admits Legal Violations in ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Case

A video, aired by Al Jazeera English, shows that the attorney general intercepted legal materials from Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed in the movie “Hotel Rwanda” and is accused of terrorism.

Paul Rusesabagina in court in Kigali this month.Credit...Simon Wohlfahrt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Rwanda’s attorney general inadvertently revealed that he had intercepted privileged and confidential legal materials in the ongoing terrorism case against Paul Rusesabagina, the prominent dissident whose efforts to save more than 1,200 people during the country’s genocide was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated movie “Hotel Rwanda.”

In a video interview published by Al Jazeera English, Johnston Busingye, who is both justice minister and attorney general, rejected accusations that authorities had confiscated Mr. Rusesabagina’s papers or trampled on attorney-client privilege.

But in an hour-and-half-long preparation video that his public relations team accidentally sent to the media outlet, Mr. Busingye contradicted himself, saying that the prison authorities had intercepted correspondence between Mr. Rusesabagina and his lawyers and children, some of which included escape plans.

Mr. Busingye also discussed with the team how to respond to questions about whether the Rwandan government had paid for the flight that in August brought Mr. Rusesabagina to Kigali, where he was arrested on charges including murder, armed robbery and being a member of a terrorist organization.

The latest revelations came just hours after a Rwandan court on Friday ruled that it had jurisdiction to try Mr. Rusesabagina — a Belgian citizen and permanent resident of the United States. It also came as the trial faces widespread condemnation from entities including rights groups, members of the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament.

The latest disclosures, his lawyers say, also cloud the prospects of Mr. Rusesabagina’s getting a fair hearing, given that his international lawyers have not been permitted into Kigali to represent him and prison officials continue to confiscate his case files. Mr. Rusesabagina, a former hotelier, has told his lawyers that he is afraid to die of a stroke in prison, and his family members have said they remain concerned about his deteriorating health.

During the interview with Al Jazeera, Mr. Busingye denied that Mr. Rusesabagina’s communication with his lawyers had been intercepted. But “if that has happened, it will be raised in the courts and the courts will address it fairly,” he told the Al Jazeera interviewer, Marc Lamont Hill, on the “UpFront” show.

 

Johnston Busingye, Rwanda’s justice minister and attorney general, rejected accusations that the authorities had confiscated Mr. Rusesabagina’s papers.Credit...Cyril Ndegeya for The New York Times

In another clip aired by Al Jazeera, Mr. Busingye is seen receiving advice on how to respond to queries about who paid for the private jet that brought Mr. Rusesabagina to Kigali. In the video, the public relations consultant can be heard warning the minister to be “cautious” because the interviewer was “looking for something they can put out in a news release about the interview — looking for nuggets of hard stuff.”

When Mr. Hill from Al Jazeera queried him about who had paid for the jet, Mr. Busingye said the Rwandan government had done so.

Ever since Mr. Rusesabagina was presented to the press handcuffed in Kigali on Aug. 31, questions have swirled about how he ended up there.

He left his home in San Antonio, Texas, and arrived in Dubai on an Emirates flight from Chicago on the evening of Aug. 27. He then checked into the Ibis Hotel in Dubai, according to a document from the United Arab Emirates mission in Geneva, and five hours later boarded a private jet that he believed was headed to Burundi, where he planned to speak to churches at the invitation of a local pastor.

The next day, the plane, operated by the Greece-based charter firm GainJet, landed in Kigali, where he was arrested, bound and interrogated.

The Rwandan authorities have, including in interviews with The New York Times, previously confirmed that they had leased the charter service for government operations, but never explicitly confirmed having hired the exact flight that brought Mr. Rusesabagina to Kigali.

In December, Mr. Rusesabagina and his family sued GainJet over its role in the episode.

After his arrest, President Paul Kagame — whose government had been trying to apprehend the 66-year-old Mr. Rusesabagina for years — dubbed the operation “flawless” and said that it was not a kidnapping.

As for Mr. Rusesabagina’s escape plans, his daughter Carine Kanimba said she had received WhatsApp and Twitter messages since November of a person claiming to be one of her father’s prison guards. The messages, both audio and written and reviewed by The Times, described Mr. Rusesabagina’s routine and suggested ways of helping him escape.

“I never responded,” Ms. Kanimba said in a telephone interview. “My fear was that I would respond and that they would use that against my father.”

In December, the family also shared the material with the F.B.I., the U.S. State Department, and the Belgian foreign ministry.

On Friday, the Rwandan authorities doubled down on their position, calling the arrest “legal and proper.” In a statement, the Justice Ministry said that Mr. Busingye had become aware of a “possible violation” in December with regards to privileged documents, and that he had instructed that they be returned to Mr. Rusesabagina.

Kate Gibson, Mr. Rusesabagina’s lead counsel, contested the statement, saying that his papers “continue to be routinely and systematically confiscated, including his privileged and confidential materials.” Ms. Gibson is one of three lawyers awaiting permission to represent the former hotelier in Kigali.

As late as this past week, she said, Mr. Rusesabagina was denied from going to his cell with his documents.

“We now see from the Al Jazeera preparation video that the content of privileged and confidential legal documents are making their way to the highest levels,” she said in an email. “The right to confidential communication is at the heart of legal representation. Without it, it is impossible to consider proceedings fair.”

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

In Burkina Faso ‘Doctors are paying for supplies': inside a stretched Burkina Faso Covid ward

In a country where pneumonia, malaria and TB are much bigger killers, doctors say ‘resource-intensive’ Covid-19 is diverting precious resources

 

A Covid patient is transferred from Tengandogo University hospital's ICU. Photograph: Amanda Coakley

When stocks of medical equipment in the general ward of Tengandogo University hospital in Ouagadougou ran low as resources flowed to the coronavirus unit, medical staff bought the essentials themselves.

Blood pressure monitors, glucose monitors and oximeters were needed. Even the ink in the printers had to be replaced.

The hospital closed to non-Covid patients during Burkina Faso’s first wave in March but reopened in July to treat the numerous other illnesses that affect the population of approximately 20 million people. Without any emergency budget for resources, doctors faced a challenge.

“The pandemic has had a big impact on resources, especially things like oxygen that are needed for coronavirus treatment,” Dr Lassina Séré, a senior practitioner, told the Guardian. “In terms of equipment, some things that the hospital used to be able to pay for are no longer covered by the budget because it’s all been used on Covid, so what the doctors have done is start initiatives to buy what’s needed ourselves.”

Tengandogo is one of Burkina Faso’s leading health institutions. A sprawling blush pink complex, it’s eerily quiet. There is no buzz of machines or the drone of a hospital intercom. It’s a private facility that treats the country’s most critical patients, but since March it has treated people with coronavirus without charge.

Before the pandemic this landlocked country had a shortage of specialist staff, especially in rural areas where the quality of care is considerably lower. Poor salaries coupled with growing insecurity in the north and east due to militant violence have led many young professionals to leave, and deterred others from coming. In Tengandogo, the staff are overworked, and when some have had to self-isolate, it has been a struggle.

 

A small clinic in Gampela village on the outskirts of Ouagadougou. Photograph: Sam Mednick/AP

“We had to create a new Covid area in the hospital. We couldn’t hire new personnel, so we had to take from the regular staff, which means there are shortages on the other services,” says Dr Moussa Kabré, head of the general ward. The slight 41-year-old is exhausted, and says recent months have been among the most challenging of his career.

Respiratory diseases such as pneumonia are the leading cause of death in Burkina Faso. Dr Christian Jules Wenl Minoungou, head of respiratory medicine at Tengandogo, has struggled to access resources. One patient under his care, 23-year-old Philomon, has been in the general ward for two months with an undisclosed respiratory disease. His body has wasted away and speaking has become uncomfortable. On the floor next to him sits his tired mother, Delphin. “My only hope is for my son to get better and recover,” she says.

“There are only 30 lung specialists in this country,” says Minoungou. “Pneumonia is the first cause of death here and if you don’t act quickly the situation deteriorates. We need more resources to deal with it. People are always coming in from the countryside in an advanced condition because they are unable to get care there.”

The director of Tengandogo, Ferdinand Tiendrébéogo, agrees: “When you look at the figures, coronavirus is not a priority. It’s very small compared to, say, malaria. That said, you do need to keep an eye on Covid because you never know what can happen with it, but overall it’s been a very resource-intensive disease for this hospital.”

Crossing the threshold into the ICU at Tengandogo, the quiet is replaced by the steady beat of heart monitors. A handful of nurses care for four Covid patients and the 12 other patients who are at the other end of the ward. Some of the staff are in full PPE, others wear only mask and gloves. In the corner by the door is a pile of discarded garments.

Head ICU nurse Ally Ouattara. Photograph: Amanda Coakley

 

Ally Ouattara, the unit’s head nurse, is six hours into his shift. The smile behind his mask reaches his eyes and he stands out in brightly patterned scrubs. He carefully recounts the details of each of his Covid patients. Two men in their 60s with underlying health conditions. A middle-aged woman with a history of TB. The fourth, Ismail, 50, is being moved to the recovery ward after eight days. It’s a moment of celebration for the staff in a ward where the Covid survival rate is 50%.

According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 11,847 lab-confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Burkina Faso and 139 deaths. The true figure is thought to be higher as testing is limited to about 2,000 rapid tests a day.

Track and trace is nonexistent and daily life for millions of people continues as normal despite some earlier restrictions. Since late November the Burkinabé have seen a second wave that led to a spike in admissions and renewed fears that hospitals could be overrun. Dr Brice Wilfried, the director of Corus, Burkina Faso’s health emergencies organisation, says the second spike is in decline, after a fall in cases over the past two weeks.

 

Getting the Covid message across in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Photograph: Legnan Koula/EPA

Dr Jerry-Jonas Mbasha, health cluster coordinator for the World Health Organization in Burkina Faso, says: “We need to understand the fragility of the health system here before Covid-19 and what’s happened over the last year is a significant amount of extra stress. There already was a strategy to identify specific respiratory diseases across the country and what we did to ensure that continued to function was integrate Covid testing into that structure and that’s been quite effective.”

For Séré, Covid is more of an economic problem than a health emergency. “It’s changed our access to resources and the attention it’s getting here is disproportionate compared to the impact,” he says.

Like his colleagues, he believes that quality care has to continue for all patients even if it means financing it from their own pockets.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

ZIMBABWE: Unvaccinated Citizens To Be Barred From Public Spaces

President Emmerson Mnangagwa

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has warned Zimbabweans to get vaccinated against the deadly Covid-19 pandemic or they will soon be barred from all public spaces.

Zimbabwe rolled out the national immunisation programme last week after receiving a donation of 200 000 Sinopharm doses from China.

Speaking in Nyamandlovu, Matabeleland North province Thursday, Mnangagwa said his government was expecting to purchase another 1,8 million doses from China before warning citizens avoiding inoculation that they would be barred from all public spaces.

Mnangagwa is yet to receive the vaccination.

A person who has been vaccinated is issued with a “Covid-19 Vaccination Card”.

“Don’t forget your Covid-19 Vaccination Card for the second dose. Make sure you keep this record card in your wallet. Keep it in a safe place,” the card reads in part.

Mnangagwa’s Thursday chilling warning was confirmed by his spokesperson George Charamba.

“Cde ED Mnangagwa, today (Thursday) broke his silence on whether or not (to take) the Covid-19 vaccination remains voluntary forever,” Charamba said after Mnangagwa’s speech.

“Those wishing to abstain from the vaccination programme are free to do, for as long as they accept the onerous trade-off: namely that they may have to be barred from public spaces, including accessing offices, shops, or riding mass transits like ZUPCO.”

Charamba added: “The leadership has and continues to demonstrate safety of the country’s chosen vaccines by being the first ones to have the vaccines administered on them, added the President, revealing he is set to be vaccinated in the second batch of the vaccine which is expected in the country in the next week or two.

“So, too, will his Cabinet ministers. So, asked the President, who are you to resist the vaccination programme thus imperiling the general public, including yourself and your family? The President invited Vice President (Constantino Chiwenga) up as proof that the Sinopharm vaccine was indeed safe.

“Many medical staff, themselves the core frontline in the fight against Covid-19, have been vaccinated under the programme which is wholly government funded and is meant to get Zimbabwe back to normalcy.”

Mnangagwa said there were companies who had approached government with proposals to import Covid-19 vaccines and sell them for a profit, but they had been turned away.

“If any company buys vaccines, they must be distributed freely. The Ministry of Health supported by (Finance Minister Mthuli) Ncube also bought two sets yesterday (Wednesday), 600 000 doses which will come during the first two weeks of March and another 1,2 million doses.”

Chiwenga was the first official to get injected when the vaccination programme was rolled out in Harare last week.

However, some Zimbabweans have raised concerns on being vaccinated with Sinopharm vaccine when the World Health Organisation (WHO) is yet to approve it while there many other approved inoculations from other countries.

In response to these dissenting voices, Charamba retorted: “Go to those countries for those vaccines; here we decide! Period. And to govern is to decide. You don’t dictate to us!”

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

ETHIOPIA: Eritrean troops’ massacre of hundreds of Axum civilians is a crime against humanity

Eritrean troops fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray state systematically killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the northern city of Axum on 28-29 November 2020, opening fire in the streets and conducting house-to-house raids in a massacre that may amount to a crime against humanity, Amnesty International said today in a new report.

Amnesty International spoke to 41 survivors and witnesses – including in-person interviews with recently arrived refugees in eastern Sudan and phone interviews with people in Axum – as well as 20 others with knowledge of the events. They consistently described extrajudicial executions, indiscriminate shelling and widespread looting after Ethiopian and Eritrean troops led an offensive to take control of the city amid the conflict with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in mid-November.

Satellite imagery analysis by the organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab corroborates reports of indiscriminate shelling and mass looting, as well as identifies signs of new mass burials near two of the city’s churches.

“The evidence is compelling and points to a chilling conclusion. Ethiopian and Eritrean troops carried out multiple war crimes in their offensive to take control of Axum. Above and beyond that, Eritrean troops went on a rampage and systematically killed hundreds of civilians in cold blood, which appears to constitute crimes against humanity,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa.

This atrocity ranks among the worst documented so far in this conflict. Besides the soaring death toll, Axum’s residents were plunged into days of collective trauma amid violence, mourning and mass burials. 

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“This atrocity ranks among the worst documented so far in this conflict. Besides the soaring death toll, Axum’s residents were plunged into days of collective trauma amid violence, mourning and mass burials.”

The mass killings came just before the annual celebration at Axum Tsion Mariam, a major Ethiopian Orthodox Christian festival on 30 November, compounding the trauma by casting a pall over an annual event that typically draws many pilgrims and tourists to the sacred city.

Large-scale military offensive

 

 

Overview image of damage & debris around the city of Axum, in Ethiopia's Tigray region, following an offensive by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces in November 2020. Image: Google © 2021 Maxar Technologies

On 19 November 2020, Ethiopian and Eritrean military forces took control of Axum in a large-scale offensive, killing and displacing civilians with indiscriminate shelling and shooting.

In the nine days that followed, the Eritrean military engaged in widespread looting of civilian property and extrajudicial executions.

Witnesses could easily identify the Eritrean forces. They drove vehicles with Eritrean license plates, wore distinctive camouflage and footwear used by the Eritrean army and spoke Arabic or a dialect of Tigrinya not spoken in Ethiopia. Some bore the ritual facial scars of the Ben Amir, an ethnic group absent from Ethiopia. Finally, some of the soldiers made no secret of their identity; they openly told residents they were Eritrean.

‘All we could see were dead bodies and people crying’

According to witnesses, the Eritrean troops unleashed the worst of the violence on 28-29 November. The onslaught came directly after a small band of pro-TPLF militiamen attacked the soldiers’ base on Mai Koho mountain on the morning of 28 November. The militiamen were armed with rifles and supported by residents brandishing improvised weapons, including sticks, knives and stones.

Sustained gunfire can be heard ringing out across the city in a video recorded early that day from several locations at the bottom of the mountain.

A 22-year-old man who wanted to bring food to the militia told Amnesty International: “The Eritrean soldiers were trained but the young residents didn’t even know how to shoot… a lot of the [local] fighters started running away and dropped their weapons. The Eritrean soldiers came into the city and started killing randomly.”

Survivors and witnesses said Eritrean forces deliberately and wantonly shot at civilians from about 4pm onwards on 28 November.

According to residents, the victims carried no weapons and many were running away from the soldiers when they were shot. One man who hid in an unfinished building said he saw a group of six Eritrean soldiers kill a neighbour with a vehicle-mounted heavy machine-gun on the street near the Mana Hotel: “He was standing. I think he was confused. They were probably around 10 metres from him. They shot him in the head.”

I saw a lot of people dead on the street. Even my uncle’s family. Six of his family members were killed. So many people were killed. 

21-year-old male resident of Axum

A 21-year-old male resident said: “I saw a lot of people dead on the street. Even my uncle’s family. Six of his family members were killed. So many people were killed.”

The killings left Axum’s streets and cobblestone plazas strewn with bodies. One man who had run out of the city returned at night after the shooting stopped. “All we could see on the streets were dead bodies and people crying,” he said.

On 29 November, Eritrean soldiers shot at anyone who tried to move the bodies of those killed.

The soldiers also continued to carry out house-to-house raids, hunting down and killing adult men, as well as some teenage boys and a smaller number of women. One man said he watched through his window and saw six men killed in the street outside his house on 29 November. He said the soldiers lined them up and shot from behind, using a light-machine gun to kill several at a time with a single bullet.

Interviewees named scores of people they knew who were killed, and Amnesty International has collected the names of more than 240 of the victims. The organization has been unable to independently verify the overall death toll, but consistent witness testimonies and corroborating evidence make it plausible that hundreds of residents were killed.

Burying the dead

Most of the burials took place on 30 November, but the process of collecting and burying the bodies lasted several days.

Many residents said they volunteered to move the bodies on carts, in batches of five to 10 at a time; one said he transported 45 bodies. Residents estimate that several hundred people were buried in the aftermath of the massacre, and they attended funerals at several churches where scores were buried. Hundreds were buried at the largest funeral, held at the complex that includes the Arba’etu Ensessa church and the Axum Tsion St Mariam Church.

Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab geolocated a video showing people carrying a dead man on a stretcher in Da’Ero Ela Plaza (14.129918, 38.717113), towards Arba’etu Ensessa church. High-resolution satellite imagery from 13 December shows disturbed earth consistent with recent graves around the Arba’etu Ensessa and the Abune Aregawi churches.

Intimidation and looting

In the days following the burials, the Eritrean army rounded up hundreds of residents in different parts of the city. They beat some of the men, threatening them with a new round of revenge killings if they resisted.

Axum residents witnessed a surge in the Eritrean army’s looting during this period, targeting stores, public buildings including a hospital, and private homes. Luxury goods and vehicles were widely looted, as well as medication, furniture, household items, food, and drink.

International humanitarian law (the laws of war) prohibits deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate attacks, and pillage (looting). Violations of these rules constitute war crimes. Unlawful killings that form part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population are crimes against humanity.

“As a matter of urgency, there must be a UN-led investigation into the grave violations in Axum. Those suspected of responsibility for war crimes or crimes against humanity must be prosecuted in fair trials and victims and their families must receive full reparation,” said Deprose Muchena.“We repeat our call on the Ethiopian government to grant full and unimpeded access across Tigray for humanitarian, human rights, and media organizations.”

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

NIGERIA: Gunmen killed 36 in attacks in northern Nigeria

Armed bandits killed people, burn down houses in villages of Kaduna and Katsina states.

 

Gunmen killed 36 people in two attacks in northern Nigeria on Wednesday, a day after fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades amid worsening security in Africa’s most populous nation, officials and residents said.

The series of attacks by armed bandits occurred over the past 60 hours with 18 people killed each in villages of Kaduna and Katsina states and several others injured.

The assailants burned down houses, displacing the villagers.

In a statement quoted by the Daily Post website, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan said the attacks in that state followed an air operation by security forces in which “several armed bandits” were killed.

 

Hundreds of people have been killed in northern Nigeria by criminal gangs carrying out robberies and kidnappings.

The attacks have added to security challenges in Nigeria, which is struggling to contain insurgencies in the northeast and communal violence over grazing rights in central states.

The latest attack comes less than a month after President Muhammadu Buhari replaced his longstanding military chiefs amid the worsening violence, with the armed forces fighting to reclaim other northeastern towns overrun by fighters.

Last week, unidentified gunmen killed a student in an attack on a boarding school in Nigeria’s north-central Niger state and kidnapped 42 people, including 27 students.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

Kenya to Receive First Batch of Covid-19 Vaccines Next Week

Residents queue for a Covid-19 test in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 26. Photographer: Luis Tato/Bloomberg

Kenya will receive its initial batch of Covid-19 vaccines in the first week on March, according to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s office.

Health-care workers and frontline personnel, including security officers, teachers, vulnerable persons and those in the hospitality sector, will be the first priority for inoculation, the presidency said in a statement following a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The East African nation expects to vaccinate 16 million of its approximately 53 million people by June next year, Health Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said earlier this month.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

South Africa has found 4,000 Covid-19 re-infections

About 4,000 cases of re-infection with Covid-19 have been found in South Africa, Barry Schoub, the chair of the country’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccines, said.

“This is probably to a large extent due to the variant” of the virus that was first identified in the country, he said on a webinar on Wednesday.

The mutation, known by scientists as B.1.351, was identified in the country last last year and has become the dominant strain in the nation.

With over 1.5 million known coronavirus infections and almost 50,000 deaths, South Africa has been the hardest hit country on the continent.

On Thursday the South African government will release the results of a study into the transmissibility of the variant, whether it can cause re-infection and whether it causes more severe disease.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

Ethiopia tells Sudan to pull back from borders before talks

The ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Dina Mufti, said in his weekly press conference that Ethiopia does not wish to enter into a conflict with Sudan. (File/AFP)

Ethiopia called on Sudan to pull back its army troops on Tuesday from the borders before any dialogue could begin amid heightened tensions between the two countries.

The ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Dina Mufti, said in his weekly press conference that Ethiopia does not wish to enter into a conflict with Sudan.

“Our position on the border crisis with Sudan is clear and has not changed,” Mufti said in his press conference as sited by Al Arabiya, stating that Sudanese army must return to its former position prior to November 2020 to begin dialogue.  

The spokesperson reiterated accusations of “a third party” involvement the crisis.

“Sudan’s exploitation of Ethiopia's preoccupation with the law enforcement process in Tigray, and its violation of our borders, confirms the involvement of a third party pushing the military component in Sudan to enter into conflict with Ethiopia to implement its own agenda,” he said.

An armed conflict erupted on Nov. 4, 2020 in the Tigray region of Ethiopia between the Tigray Regional Government and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

Uganda Opposition Leader Bobi Wine Accuses Court of Bias, Withdraws Election Petition

Ugandan opposition figure Bobi Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, speaks at a press conference in Kampala, Feb. 22, 2021.

KAMPALA - Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, better known by his stage name Bobi Wine, says he will withdraw his petition at the Supreme Court challenging January's re-election of President Yoweri Museveni. Wine alleged bias in the court toward Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since 1986, and said his side was not being allowed to present evidence of fraud in the vote.

In announcing his decision Monday, Wine said authorities had blocked his attempt to present a case, citing the police lockdown of his party’s offices, and the military denying access to his lawyers and officials of his National Unity Platform party.

He also accused the Supreme Court of rejecting as many as 200 affidavits.

A patrol car of the Ugandan police is seen stationed outside the compound of opposition leader Bobi WIne on Jan. 20, 2021.

Wine said this is a sign the judiciary does not intend to serve justice in the matter and they would not participate in what he called mockery to justice.

“The Supreme Court said, we could only submit, in this our petition, for 30 minutes. Now, that was clear, one, the Supreme Court did not want this matter to attract so much attention. So, for that matter, for the reasons we’ve given above, we have decided to withdraw from their court. The courts are not independent; it’s clear that these people are working for Mr. Museveni,” he said.

Through his lawyers, Wine filed the petition February 1st seeking to nullify the election that saw President Museveni win a sixth term with 58 percent of the votes.

They also asked the court to ensure that Museveni can never run again in an election, accusing him of orchestrating violence, using soldiers to pre-tick ballots and invade polling stations.

Jameson Karemani, the court registrar, said the court is not bothered by Wine’s allegations of favoritism.

He said once the court receives the application to withdraw the petition, judges will decide on the matter, but it will be conditional.

“Conditional in the sense that, you filed a petition and served it on other parties, the parties had to go out of their way to prepare themselves for your petition. Now you have withdrawn it; they have incurred costs. So, the condition may be for you to be asked to pay the costs,” said Karemani.

Last week, President Museveni, the electoral commission and the attorney general, filed a total of 185 affidavits in response to the 53 grounds raised by NUP lawyers.

Oscar Kihika, Museveni’s lawyer, said officials will wait for Wine’s application.

“He’s made the announcement; we have heard it. What for us we do as the legal team on the other side is to wait for the application to be filed and served on us as required by the law,” said the lawyer.

Wine said the matter will now be presented before what he calls the people’s court, meaning the court of public opinion.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

Zimbabwe official faces trial for embezzling COVID funds

Separately, last year health minister was sacked for fraud in purchase of COVID-19 material

 

A senior health official in Zimbabwe was arraigned on Monday before a court for misappropriating funds to fight coronavirus.

Portia Manangazira, the director of epidemiology and disease control, faced four counts of criminal abuse of office when she appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Bianca Makwande.

The government funds allegedly looted by Manangazira, together with the fuel, were said to be part of the $796,675 disbursed by the Health Ministry for the training of 800 health workers nationwide amid the rollout of a national vaccination program. Manangazira is expected to apply for bail.

Last year, then-Health Minister Obadiah Moyo was dismissed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa after being implicated in a $60 million scandal involving the purchase of COVID-19 material.

A landlocked country in southern Africa, Zimbabwe has so far recorded 35,796 COVID-19 cases and 1,436 deaths, with recoveries exceeding 32,000.

Last week, it launched its vaccination drive by inoculating healthcare workers in the first phase.

Over 200,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine donated by China are being used in the first phase of the campaign, which is mainly targeting people over 60, front-line government workers, and vulnerable groups.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

South Africa’s Teraco eyes data centres in Nigeria and Kenya

Banks are finding it harder to justify the cost of an in-house data centre. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

Teraco Data Environments, Africa’s largest data centre provider, is considering expanding to Nigeria and Kenya, CEO Jan Hnizdo tells The Africa Report.

The company could create data centres of between 1MW and 4MW in those countries, Hnizdo says from Johannesburg. Nigeria and Kenya have the liberalised telecoms sectors that data centres need, he adds.

Growing numbers of African internet users make it harder to serve the continent’s needs via offshore data centres in Europe or the US. Local capacity means faster connections speeds, and Africa’s data centre market is set to grow at a compound annual rate of more than 12% to reach $3bn in 2025, according to Turner & Townsend.

Growth in the provision of undersea cables for Africa has meant increased use of public clouds from providers such as Amazon and Huawei, says Hnizdo.

That in turn means that African companies such as banks are finding it harder to justify having an in-house data centre, he argues.

Covid-19 has accelerated the trend towards outsourcing data centres.

In December, the US International Development Finance Corporation invested $300m to fund the expansion of Liquid Telecom’s data centres in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana and Morocco.

Private-equity investor Actis plans to invest $250m into African data centres over three years. It started in March 2020 by buying control of Rack Centre in Nigeria. Nigeria is one of the African governments that requires data to be hosted locally for key sectors.

Education benefits

According to the Africa Data Centres Association and Xalam Analytics, more than 30 facilities have come online in Africa since 2016, doubling the region’s capacity. But that capacity is unevenly distributed, their study shows.

More than two-thirds of Africa’s capacity was in South Africa in 2020, and only a third of Africa’s 80 cities with a population of more than 1 million have their own data centre, the study says.

According to the Balancing Act consultancy, there are 15 African countries with economies and population sizes to justify data centre and cloud services ecosystems.

Boston-based private-equity firm Berkshire Partners bought a majority stake in Teraco in 2019.

This month, Teraco secured R2.5bn ($168m) in loans from lenders led by South African bank Absa for the construction of a 38MW hyperscale data centre in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg.

This will be Africa’s largest data centre.

South Africa’s liberalised telecoms sector has enabled it to become a strategic location for cloud providers, says Hnizdo.

“The rest of Africa is slowly starting to catch up,” but connectivity in many countries is still too expensive, he says.

Telecoms liberalisation can have a “huge” positive impact of populations, adds Hnizdo. Online education in African can be a “massive beneficiary”.

African students will gain access to the world’s best schools and African universities will be able to draw students from anywhere, he says.  “It’s not a question of Western versus African education. Cheap connectivity is the key.”

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

Kenya to hold referendum after BBI Bill gets 24-county approval

A supporter of the BBI Bill outside the Nyeri County Assembly on February 23, 2021. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NMG

Kenyans will vote in a referendum to amend the Constitution as early as June this year after the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill Tuesday surpassed the constitutional  24 county assemblies' approval threshold.

And while the Bill still needs to be tabled in both the National Assembly and the Senate, the referendum is as good as confirmed since the decision of the bicameral Parliament—whether endorsing or rejecting the document—does not change the counties' endorsement.

On Tuesday, Kakamega, Narok, Mombasa, Murang’a, Makueni, Kitui, Bungoma, Taita Taveta, Nyeri, Machakos, Tharaka Nithi and Lamu joined the list of counties that voted in favour of the Bill.

With 10 more county assemblies debating the Bill this afternoon, the number is expected to rise even higher. 

The 12 regional Houses join Siaya, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Busia, Vihiga, Trans Nzoia, Nairobi, Kisii, West Pokot, Kajiado, Laikipia and Samburu that had already given their nod for the process that seeks to change Kenya’s governance system and increase funds to the counties.

The BBI secretariat is already planning for the next phase, chief among them countrywide tours to sell the referendum message.

“From March 1, we are rolling out countrywide tours to take BBI to the people. With all the signs that the assemblies will pass the document by a big number, we will be rolling out grand plans to tell to the people what is in the document and counter any propaganda out there,” National Assembly minority whip Junet Mohamed, who is also the BBI secretariat co-chairman, told the Nation. 

The Constitution stipulates that a proposed amendment to supreme law shall be enacted by a referendum, if the changes relate the structure of government, Parliament, among others.

“We wish to emphasise that we are within the timelines we had communicated earlier, and we are on course to hold the referendum by June 2021. We are confident of obtaining approvals from at least 35 county assemblies, way above the constitutional threshold of 24 counties,” BBI secretariat co-chairman Dennis Waweru told journalists.

Parliament

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has already said that the BBI Bill will take as short as three weeks, meaning the House will be done with it by end of March.

Since the two Houses will not have an opportunity to alter anything in the document, it is expected that the Senate will take the same amount of time.

Once the two Houses make their decision, the Speakers will communicate to the President.

On receipt, the President will send his message to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to hold a referendum.

The commission has 90 days within which to hold a referendum on receipt of the President’s message.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

Hutu rebels accuse DRC, Rwanda over Italian's killing

Congolese and UN forces secured the scene of the attack ALEXIS HUGUET AFP

Rwandan Hutu rebels Tuesday denied allegations they were behind the killing of the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo and instead accused the armies of the DRC and Rwanda.

Luca Attanasio died of his wounds on Monday after a World Food Programme convoy came under fire near the eastern city of Goma while he was on a field trip, according to a senior diplomatic source in Kinshasa and the WFP.

The Italian government confirmed the death and said an Italian policeman, Vittorio Iacovacci, and a driver it did not identify, had also died.

The DRC interior ministry blamed the killings on "members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)," a Rwandan Hutu rebel group that has plagued the region for more than a quarter of a century.

But the FDLR rejected the allegation, in a statement received by AFP on Tuesday.

It said the ambassador's convoy was attacked near the Rwandan border, "not far from a position of the FARDC (DR Congo armed forces) and Rwandan soldiers...

"The responsibility for this despicable killing is to be found in the ranks of these two armies and their sponsors who have forged an unnatural alliance to perpetuate the pillaging of eastern DRC", it said.

The FDLR denied "being involved in the attack" and called on Kinshasa and UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO to "shed light" on the killings "instead of resorting to hasty accusations."

The DRC and Rwanda authorities have not reported the presence of any regular Rwandan troops in the DRC.

An expert at the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a US monitor, told AFP: "The FDLR are near the place where the attack took place. It's in the realm of possibility that the Rwandan rebels are responsible for this attack."

Attanasio, 43, had been representing Italy in Kinshasa since 2017, first as head of mission, and then as ambassador from October 2019.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella confirmed what he called a "cowardly attack."

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a statement urging the DRC to swiftly investigate a "heinous targeting" of a UN mission.

Scores of militias roam the DRC's four eastern provinces, many of them a legacy of wars in the 1990s that sucked in countries around central-southern Africa and claimed millions of lives.

Monday's attack occurred in thickly forested, mountainous terrain north of the North Kivu capital of Goma, in Nyiaragongo Territory -- one of the most dangerous parts of the country.

Some of the group's founders were involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide during which the Hutu majority slaughtered 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis but also Hutu moderates.

The group is opposed to the current Rwandan government, but has not launched any large-scale offensive in Rwanda since 2001.

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.

NIGERIA: Insurgency and visa-on-arrival policy

Members of the Lassa vigilante group, in Borno state. Photo credit: Center on Conflict and Development

Boko Haram, ISIS, bandits, kidnapping, yahoo-yahoo boys did not come to Nigeria because of the implementation of visa on arrival policy.

The Nigerian government in March 2020 suspended its visa on arrival policy over fears of further spread of coronavirus. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha made the announcement at a media briefing on Wednesday, March 20, 2020.

Visa on arrival is not a bad policy in itself, but the concern is whether the country has developed the right capacity to implement it without undermining Nigeria’s national security and assets. It is unfair to place the emergence of Boko Haram on the implementation of the visa on arrival policy.

Nigeria’s visa policy was first presented by President Buhari on February 4 2020, at the Council chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The policy, according to Buhari, was announced to attract innovation, specialised skills and knowledge from abroad to complement local capacity in Nigeria. “The new visa policy provides an avenue to achieve African integration by the introduction of visas on arrival for short visits to Nigeria for holders of passports of African Union (AU) countries.”

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, recently gave an unfair assessment by calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately proscribe the Miyetti Allah groups existing in the country as was done to IPOB as the first step to ending the raging herdsmen crisis in the country. The association also urged the federal government to review its open visa or visa arrival policy as it had allowed armed herders from West African countries easy access into the country.

There is no link between visa on arrival policy and the emergence of Boko Haram. Visa on arrival policy started in 2020 and Mohammed Yusuf founded the sect that became known as Boko Haram in 2002 in Maiduguri, the capital of the north-eastern state of Borno. He established a religious complex and school that attracted poor Muslim families from across Nigeria and neighbouring countries. ... Yusuf’s arrest elevated him to hero status.
 
The Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 was intended to attract innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad to complement locally available ones. NVP 2020 is a global visa system that will boost internal security because there is biometrics linked to online applications for each applicant. Chances of criminals beating the system are negligible. Biometrics is to be conducted at the port of entry which is a major boost to Nigeria’s national security. The Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 has security identity number which is like the national identification number, or national insurance number which helps to boost internal security which is used by the governments of many countries as a means of tracking their citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents for the purposes of work, taxation, government benefits, health care, and other governmentally-related functions.

I wish to throw more light on the issue of visa on arrival as many people are not aware and usually get embarrassed about it. One cannot acquire a visa on arrival without a letter of approval from the delegation of national security in the country of your origin. So you need somebody to do this at least one or two weeks before your arrival. The Visa on Arrival policy will not compromise the country’s security, that this government together with the relevant stakeholders such as the Office of the National Security (ONS), International Police Organization (INTERPOL), and the Immigration Department will profile visitors to make sure that they do not have a questionable character before entering the country.

The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, has said that the visa policy took into consideration the specific needs of foreigners who would want to visit the country, without compromising the security of the country. The minister said the policy had followed a process that considered the security, economy and territorial integrity of the country, and would only be issued after due diligence with other security components of the country. “Especially, the new visa policy will be helpful to diaspora Nigerians by birth who can now use other passports to visit the country because some countries do not allow dual citizenship,’’ he added.

In a technical presentation, the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, said the service had already put in place a technological hub, called the Migrants Information and Data Analysis (MIDAS), to ensure strict compliance with the conditions for the issuance of the visa. Babandede assured that issues of corruption or bribery will be controlled by the automated system while allaying fears of possible infiltration of the economy by criminals and terrorists.

He said the new policy has 79 categories, which include health, education, tourism etc, pointing out that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Interpol also made inputs into the system, and would be carried along in the processing before approvals. The policy as not being a bad policy said they are concerned about the intelligence level of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, to track those coming in with wrong intentions.

President Muhammadu Buhari last year in Abuja explained that the new Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 aims at attracting innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad to complement local capacity. The President said, “The implementation of the Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 will support the attainment of a globally competitive economy for Nigeria by building on the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council.’’

With the official launch of the Nigeria Visa Policy (NVP) 2020 by President Buhari, here are some salient points to note:

• A greater part of 2019 was devoted to conceiving and enunciating the policy, with retreats, conferences and engagements with stakeholders by the Nigeria Immigration Service. These held in August, October, and December, in Lagos, Benin, and Abuja, respectively. It was, therefore, not a hasty decision.
• Visa on Arrival to be issued only at airports, not at land borders.
• There are three categories of visas: short visit, temporary, and permanent residence.
• From the previous six, there are now 79 classes of visa.
• There is Visa for Diaspora Nigerians by birth, with dual citizenship.
• Visa on Arrival is only for short visits, and there is little chance that visitors will come in to take jobs which should have been for Nigerians.
• The system is automated. No cash transaction, so the chances of corruption are reduced.
• NVP is part of a wider reform ‘NIS Border Strategy, 2019-2023.’
• It holds immense economic benefits for the country. 

As President Buhari said; “The Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 is intended to attract innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad to complement locally available ones...it will support the attainment of a globally competitive economy for Nigeria by building on the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council. The policy is expected to improve the business environment, attract Foreign Direct Investment and boost tourism without compromising national security

 

Thanks for reading. Follow the page and Share it.