Nigeria now has an online platform to control its power grid. The Nigeria Sustainable Energy for All Grid Platform (SE4ALL) was recently launched by the Nigerian Federal Government.
In Nigeria, the government is moving towards its goal of
digitising the electricity sector. On November 10th, 2020, the Federal
Government launched the online platform of the Nigeria Sustainable Energy for
All Network (SE4ALL). The initiative follows the launch of the Central Data
Management System (CDMS) project in this West African country in 2019.
Currently, the SE4ALL web portal has primary data. This
includes satellite mapping of 350,000 towns and cities. More than 3,000
agglomerations have also been remotely mapped and more than 2,600,000 buildings
identified. SE4ALL also has data on approximately 50,000 km of 33 kV
distribution lines; as well as 11 kV lines, which have been tracked across 21
states and the FCT (Federal Capital Territory).
More data is expected to be collected for the online
platform soon, given the number of developing electricity projects in the
country. The information collected will gradually be provided to the Nigerian
government, which aims to provide 30,000 MW of electricity to its people by
2030, of which at least 30% will come from renewable sources. Investors will
also use the data provided by the platform. “Data
on the power sector is vital for national development as a whole and for the
implementation of Nigeria’s electrification plan in particular,” says
Birgitt Ory, Germany’s ambassador to Nigeria. The online platform will also
remotely monitor the mini-grids across the country to virtually assess their
performance using the Application Programming Interface (API).
The European Union (EU) and Germany are supporting the
project to digitise the electricity sector in Nigeria. The initiative is part
of the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP). This is a technical assistance
programme co-financed by the European Union and Germany. NESPis implemented by the
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the German
cooperation agency, in collaboration with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of
Energy.
Zimbabwean authorities should stop their relentless
victimization of award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and ensure that the
charges against him are dropped, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
today.
Today in the capital, Harare, magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa
denied Chin’ono bail on a charge of defeating or obstructing
justice, claiming that the journalist had a “propensity to continue
committing offences” if released, according to Doug Coltart, one of the
journalist’s lawyers who spoke with CPJ via messaging app, and media reports. The journalist also faces an incitement charge in a
separate case.
“The denial of bail is yet another manifestation of the
single-minded persecution of journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, who has embarrassed
the government by exposing corruption allegedly linked to President Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s family,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator. “It
is high time that Zimbabwean authorities withdraw both the incitement and
obstruction of justice cases against Chin’ono and stop wasting its resources by
hounding him any further.”
The bail ruling is the latest incident in weeks of legal
developments in the cases against Chin’ono. On September 2, the
journalist was released
on bail after spending 45 days in pre-trial detention on the
incitement charge over a tweet about an anti-corruption protest called by
an opposition politician.
But on November 3, he was rearrested for contempt of court
in relation to his tweet referencing other judges’ opinions of Zimbabwe’s
chief justice, Luke Malaba, which police alleged “impaired the dignity” of
Malaba, as CPJ documented at the
time.
Chin’ono told CPJ on the day of his rearrest that police had
told him he violated his bail conditions, which he claimed was false as he was
still allowed to tweet while out on bail, just not to “incite the holding of
mass demonstrations” on the social media platform. The day after his rearrest,
on November 4, police dropped the contempt of court charge and instead charged
him with obstruction of justice, according to a tweet by Coltart.
According to court documents in the obstruction case, which
CPJ reviewed, the new charge is in relation to another of
Chin’ono’s tweets in which he wrote that a source within the National
Prosecution Authority (NPA) claimed that the state would not oppose bail in a
gold smuggling case against Henrietta Rushwayo, president of the Zimbabwe
Miners’ Federation and a relative of President Mnangagwa, according to reports.
According to the court documents, prosecutors claimed that
Chin’ono obstructed justice by “jeapordising the integrity” of legal proceedings
against him in the incitement case, as well as the legal proceedings against
Rushwayo, by tweeting about sources within the NPA.
This latest charge carries a penalty of up to a year in
prison or fine of 1,200 Zimbabwean dollars (US$15), or both, according
to the legal code.
Chin’ono has denied all the charges against him in both
cases, according to court documents, which CPJ reviewed.
According to Coltart, since November 6 Chin’ono has been
held in the overcrowded Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in
Harare. Coltart said the defense team would appeal the denial of bail
ruling in the High Court and stressed that Chin’ono has never been
convicted of a crime. Chin’ono is scheduled to appear in court for a hearing
related to the obstruction charge on November 26 and will go on trial for the
incitement charge from December 7 to 9, according to the lawyer.
Government spokesman Nick Mangwana told CPJ via messaging
app that the “allegations against Mr Chin’ono are that whilst on bail for an
offence, Mr Chin’ono brazenly breached the bail conditions. This includes
corruptly establishing lines of informal communication with his prosecuting
team. This was not only a breach of bail conditions but a serious subversion of
the criminal justice system.”
He called the claim that the state is targeting Chin’ono
over his journalism “false and baseless.”
Rwandan President Paul Kagame meets with President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of the 74th United Nations General Assembly in 2019.
From plane crashes to COVID
complications, over twenty of President Tshisekedi's allies died in the course
of just one year.
In the course of just one year - from June 2019 to May 2020
- an alarming twenty-plus
people in President Félix Tshisekedi's immediate entourage died.
These deaths have ignited various conspiracy theories and shine a light on the
grim reality of politics in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The series of deaths began in June 2019, five months after
Tshisekedi took office, when Monique
Kitoko, a 47-year-old official in the president's Union for Democracy
and Social Progress (UPDS) party, died of a heart attack. Then in October,
an Antonov
plane carrying members of the presidential staff crashed in
Sankuru province.
Since the start of this year, the president has lost several
more colleagues to deaths attributed to COVID-19.
This list includes at least five
advisers - Maitre Jean-Joseph Mukendi Wa Mulumba, Jonas Shamone,
Cesar Kalala, Jean Pierre Westhi, and Charles Kilosho - as well as his uncle,
Bishop Gérard Mulumba, and another one of his bodyguards. Bishop Mulumba's
chief-of-staff Josias Shamuana Mabenga died shortly after too.
The causes of death of some other presidential allies remain
unclear. These include: Louis Tshiyombo Kalonji, an adviser to the president;
Julio Kapeta, Tshisekedi's cousin; Ekumani Wetshi, assistant director of
communication; and Bernard Tshilumba, another bodyguard. Finally, Léon Lukaku,
head of counter-espionage in the National Intelligence Agency, was
reportedly assassinated in
March.
Sparking conspiracy theories
This series of deaths has fanned the flames of suspicion,
especially as the deceased were all close to the president and from his home
province of Kasaï. As a figure close to the UDPS commented:
"The head of state has only lost his closes associates. And, they want us
to believe that Mr. Coronavirus is the presumed assassin."
This speculation has been fed by various inconsistencies and
rumours. For instance, the death of Gilbert Mundela, an adviser and relative of
the president, was attributed to COVID-19 but this was refuted by those close
to the deceased, including his mother.
Some have also pointed to allegedly suspicious behaviour or
patterns. For example, it has been reported that Defence Minister Aimé Mukena,
a close ally of former president Joseph Kabila, was originally scheduled to
travel on the plane that crashed in October 2019 but that he changed
plans at the last minute. The president of the African Association
for Human Rights (ASADHO), Jean-Claude Katende, publicly and cryptically cast
doubt on the deaths of Bishop Mulumba and his chief-of-staff too, tweeting:
"Anyone who is intelligent can understand."
Others have noted that the string of high-level deaths
stopped - with one key exception - after Tshisekedi's then chief-of-staff,
Vital Kamerhe, was arrested on charges of
embezzling nearly $50 million in April 2020. The one exception was the sudden
death of Raphael
Yanyi, the judge presiding over Kamerhe's trial. The justice died just
two days after the Kamerhe's first hearing in May 2020. It was initially
announced that he had died of a heart attack but the autopsy soon
revealed that he'd received several blows to the head.
Infighting and rivalries
In June 2020, President Tshisekedi's special advisor in
charge of universal health coverage, Roger Kamba, said the high-level deaths
would be officially investigated. He explained that the inquiry would "analyse the
rumours circulating on social networks reporting repeated deaths by
poisoning". Since then, Kamba has refused to
provide more specifics and results of the investigation are still pending.
Whether or not there is any truth to the conspiracy
theories, however, their spread and the form they have taken reflects the
helplessness and anger many people have with Congolese politics. The past
decades have been characterised by corruption scandals, patrimonialism and the
lack of rule of law. Meanwhile, several elections are widely believed to have
been fraudulent.
Following the most recent poll in late-2018, Joseph Kabila
finally stepped down amid heavy pressure from both inside and outside the DRC.
However, the president of 18 years ensured he could continue to wield
significant power even after leaving office. He allegedly manipulated the
election to secure victory for Tshisekedi and guaranteed that his own party,
the Common Front for Congo (FCC), won a majority in the legislature.
The new president has therefore been constrained by his
predecessor since taking office. Tshisekedi has also had to balance interests
within his own side. During the 2018 campaign, for instance, Tshisekedi
reportedly promised the position of prime minister to fellow opposition leader
Vital Kamerhe. On assuming the presidency, however, Tshisekedi realised that he
could not fulfil this promise given the FCC's control of the legislature.
Instead, he made Kamerhe his chief-of-staff.
In this position, Kamerhe reportedly clashed with other
presidential advisers, many of whom were from Tshisekedi's Luba ethnic
group. This context has fuelled conspiracy theories about Kamerhe's involvement
in the series of deaths.
Governing in the DRC
Regardless of the cause of the mysterious series of deaths,
it is clear that despite Kabila stepping down, Congolese politics remains
characterised by clientelism, internal tensions, competing allegiances and
mistrust. The difficulty of governing in such a context cannot be overstated,
particularly considering the various crises facing the DRC. This includes a
mounting death toll in the eastern provinces due to conflict, chronic poverty,
the COVID-19 pandemic, and a brutal colonial legacy.
The Congo's entrenched system of patronage and
high-level competition further limits the ability to rule effectively. Despite
being one of the richest countries in terms of minerals, the population rarely
sees this wealth. Rather, in such a clientelist system, access to the state is
a highly coveted means of securing resources for personal gain.
Georges Kasongo Kalumba holds
a PhD in political science and sociology from the University of Lubumbashi and
is a professor at the University of Lubumbashi in Haut-Katanga, DRC. Lisa Jené
holds a PhD in political science from Claremont Graduate University and is a
consultant in Washington, DC.
A protester stands atop a police structure in Ikeja, capital of Lagos state, during #EndSARS demonstrations on October 11, 2020. Ayodeji Adegoroye (@ayodeji_dodo)/Twitter
The United
Kingdom Government and Parliament, yesterday responded to the #ENDSARS petition
by some Nigerians against the federal government, saying it is awaiting the
outcome of Nigeria's investigations into reports of police brutality.
This is coming as the Canadian
Government has debunked granting asylum to any Nigerian due to the EndSARS
protests.
Also, about 32 Nigerians repatriated
from Germany yesterday arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport
(MMIA) Lagos from Dusseldorf Airport.
The deportees, all male arrived the
country at 2.30p.m on board a chartered aircraft, Envelope Airline.
Although there were no details about
the deportation, but immigration sources said the repatriation was facilitated
by the German Embassy and that all the male passengers were deported for
various immigration related offences.
With about 219,702 signatures, the
petition to UK seeks to implement sanctions against the Nigerian government and
officials, over abuse of power by the operatives of the now disbanded Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the alleged shooting at protestors calling for
SARS disbandment.
Reacting, UK noted that it would not
publicly speculate on future sanctions designations but awaits the outcome of
the various investigations by the federal government.
The reaction, which came from the
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, said the government was deeply
concerned by violence during recent protests in Nigeria, which tragically
claimed lives.
It offered the country's condolences
and sympathy to the families of all those affected by the protests and
violence.
The full response read: "The UK
Government is deeply concerned by violence during recent protests in Nigeria,
which tragically claimed lives. Our thoughts are with the families of all those
affected.
"The Foreign Secretary issued a
statement on October 21, calling for an end to the violence and for the
Nigerian Government to urgently investigate reports of brutality by its
security forces and hold those responsible to account.
"The Minister for Africa tweeted
on October 16, noting the Nigerian people's democratic and peaceful calls for
reforms, and again on 21 October, encouraging the Nigerian authorities to
restore peace and address concerns over brutality towards civilians. He
reiterated these messages when he spoke to Foreign Minister Onyeama on 23
October. The British High Commissioner in Abuja has also raised the protests
with representatives of the Nigerian Government and will continue to do so.
"We welcome President Buhari's
decision to disband the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) and the
establishment of judicial panels of inquiry to investigate alleged incidents of
brutality by the security services. They must investigate all incidents,
including in Lagos, fully. The Minister for Africa tweeted on 29 October
stressing the importance of the police and military's cooperation with the
panels. He raised this, and the need for the panels to urgently start
investigations, when he spoke to the Governor of Lagos on 11 November.
"The UK Government will continue
to work with the Nigerian Government and international and civil society
partners to support justice, accountability and a more responsive policing
model in Nigeria. We will continue to push for the Nigerian security services to
uphold human rights and the rule of law, investigate all incidents of
brutality, illegal detentions and use of excessive force, and hold those
responsible to account.
"On 6 July, the Government
established the Global Human Rights sanctions regime by laying regulations in
Parliament under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018. In a
statement to Parliament, the Foreign Secretary set out in full the scope of the
UK's new Global Human Rights sanctions regime. He announced the first tranche
of designations, as well as the Government's approach to future designations.
"This sanctions regime will give
the UK a powerful new tool to hold to account those involved in serious human
rights violations or abuses.
"The sanctions regime is not
intended to target individual countries. It will allow for sanctions to be
imposed on individuals and entities involved in serious human rights violations
or abuses around the world.
"We will continue to consider
potential designations under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime. It is
longstanding practice not to speculate on future sanctions designations as to
do so could reduce the impact of the designations.
"The UK Government will keep all
evidence and potential listings under close review."
Meanwhile, Canada has denied granting
asylum to some Nigerians linked to the EndSARS protests, clarifying that it
does not grant or receive asylum seekers' applications directly from
individuals but through authorised second and third parties.
This is coming few days after it was
reported that Canada granted asylum to DJ Switch, the #EndSARS protester who
streamed live the shooting that happened at Lekki Toll gate in Lagos State.
DJ Switch sought the asylum after
several attempts on her life after the killing of peaceful #EndSARS protesters
in Lekki.
In a series of tweets yesterday on
its official Twitter handle, the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria explained
that no one could guarantee approval of immigration applications except
Canadian migration officers.
The High Commission, which tweeted
@CanHCNigeria, said the notice was important in light of "great interest
in Canadian immigration programs" received lately.
The Immigration and Refugee Board of
Canada had in 2018 reported that Nigeria had more pending refugee protection claims
in Canada than any other country globally.
The statement titled, 'A message from
the Government of Canada', read, "Canadian Embassies, High Commissions,
Consulates, Consulates-General or Honorary Consulates do not accept refugee
applications directly from people.
"Canada
works with the United Nations Refugee Agency, other designated referral
organisations and private sponsors to identify individuals in need of
resettlement, and who are outside their home country.
"You cannot apply directly for
resettlement. You must be referred to Canada by a designated referral
organisation or a private sponsor.
"No one can guarantee that your
immigration application will be fast-tracked or approved. Only a Canadian
migration officer can decide if you can come to Canada.
"All the information you need to
apply to visit or immigrate to Canada is available free on the official
Government of Canada website."
Canada is viewed as a global leader
with respect to refugee protection.
It has signed the 1951 Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees other human rights instruments which protect
refugees.
Canada was the first country to set
out guidelines for considering the refugee claims of women, and has taken an
active role globally in the resettlement of refugees through both government
and private sponsorship programmes.
The UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency,
explained that there are two ways to make an asylum claim in Canada: (1) At an
official Port of Entry, or (2) inside Canada at the office of Immigration,
Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Félicien Kabuga appeared, for the first time, before the UN
court in The Netherlands, on November 11, where he was informed of his rights,
before hearing all the charges brought against him.
Lawyer, Emmanuel Altit,
asked the court to consider his client's "non-response as a plea of not
guilty".
Prosecutors are still investigating Kabuga's genocide related
case and they need at least six more months to gather more evidence.
He is
charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to
commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and
extermination and persecution as crimes against humanity, all committed during
the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi which left as many as 800,000 Tutsi men,
women, and children dead.
A Franco-Ivorian banker Tidjane Thiam is expected to jet in
to the Rwandan Capital, Kigali to embark on an aggressive assignment of leading
a team of well selected experts that should turn Rwanda into an impeccable
global financial hub.
Tidjane is taking up his appointment as chairman of the board of
Rwanda Finance Limited, the government agency responsible for the development
and promotion of the Kigali International Financial Center (KIFC).
He is a former head of Credit Suisse. His appointment was announced
after a cabinet meeting of Wednesday November 12 chaired by President Paul
Kagame.
The Board of directors for Rwanda Finance Limited include; Tidjane
Thiam (chairman), Jacob Diko Mukete (Vice Chairperson), Liban
Soleman ABDI (member), Louise Kayonga (member), Alice Ntamitondero (member),
Umulinga Karangwa (member) and Julien Kavaruganda (member).
It should be remembered that on February 7th, Mr Tidjane resigned from his duties as CEO of the
Swiss banking group, Tidjane was first reported to the board of directors of
the French luxury holding company Kering, before talking about him again.
After his hasty departure from Credit Suisse bank, Tidjane Thiam confirmed
his African ambition.
Cameroonian-born Diko Jacob Mukete
The expert in governance, economic and financial reforms was also
appointed Wednesday November 11 as Vice Chairperson of the board of Rwanda
Finance Limited.
Before this appointment, Mr Mukete served as Country Representative of the
African Development Bank in Rwanda. “Rwanda is a great country with great
people. When you look at what they have been able to achieve over the last 17
years from ashes of the Genocide…there are very few countries in the world
which have been able to show the kind of resilience…” Mr Mukete said in an
interview after his tour on duty at the the AfDB-Rwanda.
He and the other members will have to bring their experience and insights
to the Rwanda Finance Limited which has its work already cut out: turning
Rwanda into a financial hub.
A rally took place to protect the tree on 31 October (From the Twitter feed of Kenyan environmental campaigner, Elizabeth Wathuti)
Campaigners declared victory yesterday after Kenyan
President Uhuru Kenyatta decreed that a century-old fig tree in the capital
Nairobi must not be moved, as was planned, to make way for the $600m elevated
Nairobi Expressway now under construction.
City residents are concerned at the number of trees being
felled for the 27-km tolled highway linking Nairobi’s downtown to Kenyatta
International Airport, which is being financed and built by China Roads and Bridge
Corporation (CRBC).
Tall as a four-story building, and considered sacred by Kenya’s largest ethnic
group, the Kikuyu, the tree on Waiyaki Way was to be uprooted and moved to make
way for a pillar supporting the elevated road.
But when the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) announced that plan on 1 October, a protest movement
began among people angry at the disappearance of green spaces in the city, and
the tree became a beacon of their concern.
A rally took place to protect the tree on 31 October.
Yesterday, Major General Mohammed Badi, director general of
Nairobi Metropolitan Services, called a press conference to relay the
presidential decree ordering the tree to be left alone, and to announce the
creation of more green spaces.
“We have plans in place to create new neighbourhood parks within our
residential estates for the community to enjoy recreational spaces close to
their homes,” he said.
With the decree, CRBC and the Kenya National Highways Authority have agreed to
reroute the road, reports Reuters.
“This particular fig tree is just a symbol of the bigger picture of what we are
asking for, we want a green and clean city, and clean Kenya,” said Kenyan environmental campaigner, Elizabeth
Wathuti.
Government calls on populations to work together to put end
to terrorism which claimed over 1,600 people since 2015
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina
Faso
At least 14 soldiers were killed and eight others wounded in
an ambush against a military convoy in Burkina Faso, the government said late
Thursday.
The incident occurred on Wednesday along the
Tinakof-Beldiabe road in Burkina Faso's northern province of Oudalan.
"A unit of the Tin-Akoff military detachment in the
province of Oudalan, Sahel region fell into an ambush on Wednesday perpetrated
by a group of terrorists, killing 14 and eight wounded, three of whom were
serious," Communication Minister Remis Dandjinou said.
He said defense and security forces engaged in search
operations to track down the perpetrators of the attack.
A security source who requested anonymity told Anadolu
Agency that the Burkinabe army has "neutralize at least nine suspected
terrorists."
Dandjinou called on the populations to work together to put
an end to terrorism which, according to a report published in August by the
Economic and Social Council (CES) of Burkina Faso, has already killed more than
1,600 people since 2015.
The attack is the third recorded in the Sahel and
north-central Burkina Faso since the start of the electoral campaign on Oct.
31.
"I have decided to suspend the activities of my
campaign for 48 hours, following the terrorist attack on Tin-Akoff which caused
the death of several soldiers [...] Strength and honor to our national army
resolutely committed to defending the Fatherland," President Roch Kabore
tweeted early Friday.
Kabore called on citizens "to pray for all the victims
of terrorism, and in particular our valiant sons engaged on the front
line."
Burkina Faso is set to hold presidential and parliamentary
elections later this month, but the presence of militant groups has disrupted
voter registration in some parts of the country and could prevent people from
casting ballots on the day.
A controversial new law passed by parliament in August –
stating that votes will be counted irrespective of people’s ability to access
polling stations on Nov. 22 – is also triggering fears of widespread
disenfranchisement in already marginalized areas, according to The New
Humanitarian.
Life jackets litter a beach near the Libyan port of al-Khums as a rescue worker speaks with a survivor from a shipwreck.
At least 74 migrants died in a shipwreck on Thursday off the coast of Khums, Libya, the
United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.
"The boat was reported to be carrying over 120 people,
among them women and children. Forty-seven survivors have been brought to shore
by the coast guard and fishermen and 31 bodies have been retrieved while the
search for victims continues," the IOM said Thursday in a statement.
IOM says that since Tuesday at least 19 people, including
two children drowned after two boats capsized in the Central Mediterranean,
while NGO Open Arms rescued more than 200 people in three operations.
"The mounting loss of life in the Mediterranean is a
manifestation of the inability of States to take decisive action to redeploy
much needed, dedicated Search and Rescue capacity in the deadliest sea-crossing
in the world," IOM Libya Chief of Mission Federico Soda said in the
statement.
"We have long called for a change in the evidently
unworkable approach to Libya and the Mediterranean, including ending returns to
the country and establishing a clear disembarkation mechanism followed by
solidarity from other states. Thousands of vulnerable people continue to pay
the price for inaction both at sea and on land."
The boat carrying about 200 people set sail for Spain's
Canary Islands when it caught fire a few hours after departing the coastal town
of Mbour in western Senegal, before capsizing near Saint-Louis, on the
country's northwest coast, the UN migration agency said at the time.
According to IOM, in 2020 at least 900 people have drowned
in the Mediterranean trying to reach European shores, some due to delays in
rescue.
The European Union has formally authorized a fourth contract
with the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and their German lab partner BioNTech to
procure up to 300 million doses of their candidate coronavirus vaccine, should
it be proven to be safe and effective against the virus.
"In the wake of Monday's promising announcement by BioNTech and Pfizer on the
prospects for their vaccine, I'm very happy to announce today's agreement ...
to purchase 300 million doses," European Commission President Ursula von
der Leyen said in a statement on Wednesday.
Pfizer announced Monday that an early look at data
from its coronavirus vaccine shows it is more than 90%
effective -- a much better than expected efficacy if the trend continues.
The company's CEO's Albert Bourla called it "the
greatest medical advance" in the last 100 years.
According to BioNTech, the EU contract will guarantee the
supply of 200 million doses, with an option to procure an additional 100
million doses. The pharmaceutical company says it expects deliveries to begin
by the end of 2020, pending approval of the vaccine by the European Medical
Agency.
"As a company founded in the heart of Europe, we are
looking forward to supplying millions of people upon regulatory approval,"
BioNTech's CEO Ugur Sahin said in a statement Wednesday.
"Our aim is to develop a safe and effective vaccine to
contribute to bringing this pandemic to an end. Only through joint efforts will
we be able to do so," Sahin added.
The vaccine uses never-before-approved technology called
messenger RNA, or mRNA, to spark an immune response in people who are
vaccinated.
On Tuesday, Sahin said on a call with reporters that said
BioNTech's goal, in cooperation with Pfizer, is to ramp up production of their
vaccine candidate in the hopes of manufacture up to 1.3 billion doses by the
end of 2021, if it receives authorization.
BioNTech and Pfizer plan to ask the US Food and Drug
Administration to authorize emergency use of the vaccine, with that request
coming perhaps as early as next week, he said.
The 100-year-old tree, slated for removal to make room for a
new expressway, will be preserved following a backlash from environmentalists
concerned about shrinking green spaces in Nairobi.
Demonstrators turned out last month in Nairobi to protest the Kenyan government’s plan to remove the fig tree.Credit...
A beloved fig tree in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, will live
to see another day — and, possibly, another century.
On Wednesday, the head of the Nairobi metropolitan area
said the
100-year-old fig tree that was slated for removal to make way for a
new expressway would not only be saved but also preserved as a national symbol
of environmental conservation.
The announcement was a victory for both environmentalists
and cultural leaders in Kenya who denounced the efforts to cut or relocate the
fig tree, which many communities consider sacred. Some experts had doubted that
the ancient tree, which is four stories high, would have survived being
uprooted and moved.
“Whatever development that is going to happen here will not
touch this tree,” Maj. Gen. Mohammed Badi, the director general of the Nairobi
Metropolitan Services, said during
a visit to the fig tree in the bustling commercial district of
Westlands.
Mr. Badi said he had instructed city officials to fence
off the tree and beautify the area so that the city’s residents could
enjoy the space. He also signed a declaration that adopted the tree “as a
beacon of Kenya’s cultural and ecological heritage” and as a symbol of
“Nairobi’s commitment to environmental conservation.”
The authorities announced in October that they planned to
uproot the tree to make way for the construction of the Nairobi Expressway, a
four-lane highway funded and built by China. The 17-mile highway, which is set
for completion in 2022, is aimed at reducing traffic in the heart of Nairobi
and is expected to create thousands of jobs.
But from the outset, the project drew criticism from
environmental groups who said the effects on air quality and green spaces had
not been taken into account. Even though Nairobi is popularly known as the
“Green City in the Sun,” parks, forests and gardens have been dwindling in the city in recent years
because of commercial and infrastructural development.
Activists also lamented the felling of dozens of trees along
the highway’s route and filed a case against the environmental regulator for
approving the project. Kenyan law would normally require the suspension of the
project pending a court decision, but construction has continued.
Environmentalists on Wednesday welcomed the decision to save
the fig tree but called for more action to save green spaces across the
capital.
“The move by the National Metropolitan Services is very
welcome and a good starting point for us to converse around ethical development
and investments in Kenya,” George Mwangala, the East Africa lead for Purpose
Climate Lab, a social impact agency that has opposed the expressway’s
construction, said in a statement.
But, he added, “we have to ensure nature and our lived
environments coexist and complement infrastructure development at all levels.”
“With what we now know about the role of green spaces and
trees in keeping cities livable, we should work to ensure that Nairobi’s
development is green and inclusive,” Ms. Mathai, chairwoman of the Wangari
Maathai Foundation, said in an interview.
Felicien Kabuga allegedly imported hundreds of thousands of
machetes into Rwanda in the run up to the 1994 genocide
A handout
photo released on May 16, 2020, by the UN shows Felicien Kabuga, one of the
last key fugitives wanted over the 1994 Rwandan genocide [AFP]
The man known as the ‘Eichmann of Africa’ faces his
first pre-trial hearing in The Hague on Wednesday.
Felicien Kabuga used to be one of the richest men in Rwanda
and is the suspected financier and mastermind of the country’s 1994
genocide.
In May, French police
tracked him down to a flat in the commune of Asnières-Sur-Seine outside Paris,
ending a transcontinental 26-year-long
manhunt for Africa’s most wanted man.
Mr Kabuga is accused of several crimes against humanity
- including genocide, complicity in genocide and incitement to commit
genocide - for having helped create a militia group and using his radio
company, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Colline (RTLMC), to incite
people to murder. He denies the charges.
He allegedly imported hundreds of thousands of machetes into
Rwanda that were doled out to the Interahamwe, an extremist Hutu militia
accused of overseeing much of the slaughter. As the genocide began, Interahamwe
militiamen were transported from killing site to killing site in
RTLMC's vehicles and were even given uniforms, investigators say.
Mr Kabuga's radio provided the soundtrack of the genocide,
urging Hutus to hunt down and kill the Tutsi “inyenzi”, or cockroaches.
“The graves are only half full,” the station’s presenters
were heard to warn. “We must complete the task.”
After spending most of this year in a French prison, Mr
Kabuga was transferred to a detention centre in The Hague.
A French court initially ruled that he could be turned over
to United Nations custody in Arusha, Tanzania, where the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda took
place. However, Mr Kabuga’s lawyers successfully argued that he should stay in
a detention centre in The Hague for now because of the coronavirus
pandemic.
His lawyers will be asked to update the tribunal on
Wednesday on how their preparations for trial were proceeding, said Tanzanian
Judge Iain Bonomy. Mr Kabuga could appear in a courtroom in The Hague or via
videolink from his detention centre, he added.
Mr Kabuga — aged 84 according to the arrest warrant, even
though he says he is 87 — has been on the run using false passports and
identities for almost three decades. For some time, he was protected by
powerful individuals in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
A Kenyan journalist, William Gichuki, tried to help the FBI
track him down and came close to finding him in 2003. But Mr Gichuki was shot
dead and his body was disfigured by acid before the FBI could act on the
information.
The UN says 800,000 people - mostly ethnic Tutsis - died
during the Rwanda genocide, which lasted 100 days starting in April 1994.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta commissions newly acquired Diesel Multiple Units for the country’s revamped commuter rail system. (Photo Courtesy: Kenya Railways)
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday officially
commissioned the country’s revamped commuter rail system in efforts to
decongest traffic in the capital, Nairobi.
The system, which will also feature a new light cargo
handling facility, was built to improve the ease of doing business in the
country, particularly for small scale traders.
“We are also talking about the ease of doing business by our
small traders they are our biggest employers and we need to ensure that they
are treated fairly, and they are facilitated just like all others are,”
President Kenyatta said while commissioning the project.
President Kenyatta unveils a commemorative plaque to officially commission the Nairobi Central Railway Station Refurbished under the Modernization Program of the Nairobi Commuter Rail Service. | #NairobiCommuterRailpic.twitter.com/MuYI6v1sLt
Kenya’s finance minister Ukur Yatani echoed the president’s
comments saying the facility will allow traders to access their goods in
Nairobi instead of traveling all the way to the port city of Mombasa as had
been the case.
“This initiative coupled with One Stop Border Post (OSBP)
has improved the flow and efficiency of goods and services across our borders,
with considerable savings to traders,” Yatani said.
He added traders will access their imported goods at the
facility without intervention of clearing agents and other intermediaries to
reduce the bureaucracy and lower the cost of handling imported goods.
“…we have been closely engaging the traders with a view to
solving issues around the importation of their goods. Key amongst them, has
been delays in cargo clearance for most traders who import through
consolidators,” Yatani noted.
Kenyatta also directed the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS)
to levy a uniform charge on imported goods irrespective of their size to all
businesses.
Small-scale traders, especially those who trade in used
clothes, have previously complained of the high cost of doing business due to
high taxation rates despite the small volume of goods they handle.
Tigrayan troops were forced to surrender after government
forces took control of Humera Airport, near the Sudanese border.
Refugees are fleeing the Tigray region and crossing the border into neighbouring Sudan
The Ethiopian military has seized an airport in the northern
Tigray region where fighting against local leaders has led to dozens of
refugees fleeing to neighbouring Sudan, according to reports.
Tigrayan forces surrendered after government troops took
control of Humera Airport, state TV claimed on Tuesday.
Federal soldiers also captured a road that connects the town
of Humera to the Sudanese border, the Fana broadcaster stated.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has vowed his military
will bring a quick end to the fighting in the region along with the removal of
its leadership, which his government sees as illegal.
The African Union is calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Tensions have been building between the Tigray region (pictured) and Ethiopia's central government
The week-long conflict has resulted in at least 30 armed
Ethiopian troops from the region and "large numbers of refugees"
crossing the border into Sudan, the state-run SUNA news agency said.
At least six people have died and 60 have been injured,
according to Doctors Without Borders, but local media claims that dozens more
have been killed.
Authorities in Al Qadarif, Sudan, have started preparing to
build a refugee camp for fleeing Ethiopians.
The international community has warned of civil war in the
region, which has more than nine million people, and a major humanitarian
crisis if tensions are not addressed.
Meanwhile Mr Abiy has continued to defy international calls
for peace in the region.
His spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said on Tuesday: "There
is no rebuffing of anyone by the prime minister.
"He had acknowledged and given gratitude for the
concerns shown.
"Nevertheless, Ethiopia is a sovereign nation
and its government will ultimately make decisions in the long-term interest of
the country and its people."
Mr Abiy, who belongs to Ethiopia's largest ethnic group -
the Oromos - was given a Nobel Peace Prize after taking power in 2018 for
calming tensions with neighbouring Eritrea.
But his sweeping reforms have left the Tigrayans - who live
in the north of the country near the border - marginalised.
Humera Airport and a nearby road have been seized by federal troops
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated
national politics for more than 30 years, but now governs its own people -
separately to the federal administration.
Mr Abiy is already reported to have launched 10 airstrikes
in Tigray.
With the internet largely blacked out and transport links
blockaded, the region has been isolated from the rest of the world since it
held elections against the will of the government in September.
Each side blames the other for sparking the conflict.
Mr Abiy claims tensions heightened after Tigrayan forces
attacked a government military based in the region.
Former Tanzanian MP Godbless Lema (right) with his lawyer George Wajackoya (left) with an unidentified an in the middle when the former legislator addressed a press conference at Kajiado Police Station on November 9, 2020.
Fiery Tanzanian politician Godbless Lema, who was arrested
in Kenya while fleeing persecution has been freed.
Lema, a former MP for Arusha, fled with his wife and three
children but was arrested by police officers in Bisil on the Nairobi-Namanga
road. He was later handed over to authorities in Kajiado Police Station.
His lawyer George Wajackoyah protested his detention, saying
Kenya was going against the international convention that requires protection
for anyone fleeing his country for fear of political persecution.
“Kenya has the obligation to protect him, he should not have
arrested at all,” Wajackoyah told reporters at Kajiado Police Station when the
former MP was freed.
He said, “we have been in contact with the US Embassy in Dar
Es Salaam and they want to know if we have reached the UNHCR offices.”
The former MP on his part told reporters that he fled his
country on learning that there was a plot to assassinate him.
“I could not take such reports jokingly because I have lost
a lot of friends and others are still missing. I knew they will kill me and
that is why I fled with my wife and three children who are already in Nairobi,”
he said, “let it be known that I am not fleeing hunger from my country. I am
also not looking for a job. I am running to save my life.”
There has been a crackdown on Opposition leaders since
President John Magufuli won the second term, trouncing his challenger Tundu
Lissu who accused him of vote rigging.
Earlier Monday, Amnesty International had urged Kenyan
authorities not to deport the former Tanzanian Opposition Member of Parliament.
Kenya’s Amnesty Executive Director Houghton Irungu said the
alleged planned move by the Kenyan authorities would violate the principle of
non-refoulment, an international principle also subscribed by Kenya, that
prohibits a country from turning away people at the border or returning them to
a country where they would be at risk of persecution or danger.
Lema, who has been critical of Magufuli’s administration,
was on Sunday arrested by police in Kajiado after crossing the border alongside
his wife and three children. His family was later freed.
Lema and his family crossed from Tanzania through the
Namanga border and were arrested immediately after the Tanzanian authorities
notified their Kenyan counterparts.
The former MP had reportedly declined to hand over his
passport to Tanzanian immigration officials.
Irungu noted that deporting Lema back to Tanzania where he
risks facing serious human rights violations, would amount to “a human rights
violation” and challenged the Kenyan government to protect and provide him with
sanctuary.
“We call on the Kenyan government to process Godbless Lema
and his family’s quest for asylum per its obligations to the Refugee
Convention, O.A.U Convention on Refugees and the Refugee Act 2006,” he said.
Irungu said since Kenya is a state party to the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1969 O.A.U Convention
Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, “anyone seeking
asylum must be allowed into Kenya, whether the entry is by legal or illegal
means,”.
He added that Lema has the right to have his application
heard and considered for refugee status.
“He also has the right to remain in Kenya until a final
decision has been made on his case and the procedural right to appeal as
provided in law,” he said.
There has been a crackdown on opposition leaders following
President Magufuli’s re-election in a landslide victory questioned by his
critics led by his main challenger Tundu Lissu who lost.
Lema was among three opposition leaders who were released
last week when they were arrested for mobilising demonstrations to demand fresh
elections.
The South African government is considering reimposing
several curbs aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic as fears mount about
a second wave of infections, according to three officials familiar with the
situation.
The option of reintroducing the restrictions is likely to be
on the table when the National Coronavirus Command Council meets this week,
said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information
hasn’t been made public.
South Africa introduced one of the world’s most stringent
lockdowns on March 27, and progressively eased it to restart the economy as the
number of new virus cases declined.
The trend has reversed in several areas over recent weeks,
with the Eastern Cape province, in particular, showing an alarming rise in
infections, and the authorities have voiced concern that the public is failing
to exercise sufficient caution.
“When we fail to wear a mask at a social gathering, when we
attend crowded events, we are not only putting ourselves and others at risk,”
President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly newsletter published on Monday.
“We are also putting our economic recovery in jeopardy.”
Of the 737,278 people diagnosed with the disease in the
country so far, more than 90% have recovered, while 19,089 have died, according
to health department data.
The National Coronavirus Command Council will consider
inputs from a range of experts when it meets this week, and its recommendations
will be presented to the cabinet on 13 November, minister in the Presidency
Jackson Mthembu said. Ramaphosa will then address the nation on the way forward
later this week, he told reporters on 5 November.
The pandemic’s resurgence is posing a challenge for the
country’s Independent Electoral Commission, which is holding by-elections in 95
municipal wards where councilors have died or resigned. All voting has
suspended for the past seven months.
Stringent health protocols will be put in place and lines of
voters will be spread out, Sy Mamabolo, the commission’s chief executive
officer told reporters on Monday. Special votes will be cast on Tuesday,
including several that are being held at Covid-19 isolation facilities.
Animals have ventured back into areas largely emptied of
people by Boko Haram insurgency
A herd of elephants moving across the savannah close to Rann, in Borno state, Nigeria, in December 2019. Photograph: UNHAS
A herd of hundreds of elephants that have returned to
north-east Nigeria are
under threat from jihadist groups and increasingly in conflict with thousands
of refugees whose crops they have trampled weeks before harvest.
More than 250 elephants ventured last month from Chad and
Cameroon into Kala-Balge, a district in Nigeria’s Borno state.
The presence of numerous village populations in Borno had
for years deterred the elephants, who are usually wary of human settlements.
But more than a decade of Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency in north-east
Nigeria has forced many villagers in Kala-Balge and across the region to flee
to refugee camps or urban centres, leaving much of the rural expanse emptied
and more appealing to the elephants.
A population of about 8,000 internally displaced people
remains in Kala-Balge, mostly residing in camps, and there are growing concerns
over hunger.
Babagana Shettima, a community leader in Kala-Balge, said
the presence of the elephants has compounded misery in the district. “The
situation of the elephants here is very terrible, they are really destroying
our farmlands,” he said. “People here are already suffering, they are living in
the camps or in the bush, they have to farm to eat and this is the only source
for their food. If the elephants destroy it, they will not have any food to
eat.”
He said residents and refugees in Kala-Balge had resorted to
walking 12 miles to the Cameroonian border to buy food. “Last month we received
some food aid from the government but he had to come by helicopter because the
roads are completely cut off.”
The elephants in north-east Nigeria make up one of the last
great herds in west Africa.
Their first sighting in the region since the Boko Haram insurgency began was in
December last year.
“It is a very dangerous area for the elephants because of
issues with the local populations and because there is still fighting,” said
Peter Ayuba, the director of forests and wildlife in Borno state. “The
elephants shouldn’t ordinarily be in Kala-Balge but the main issue is the
conflict. The people need a place to live and farm their crops and the
elephants also need peaceful areas to travel. The insecurity has affected their
migratory routes because before there were many settlements of people but
everywhere is now open.”
Before the herd arrived in October, Nigeria was estimated to
have an elephant population of only about 300, scattered in small groups across
the country and highly vulnerable to poaching for their ivory.
Dolmia Malachie, a conservationist with the Elephant
Protection Initiative, said work to protect the animals had been hampered by
insecurity across west Africa. “Last year we put a radio collar on one of these
elephants in Chad, we tracked the movements and migratory patterns. Sadly, the
animal was killed earlier this year in Nigeria,” he said. “We need the
governments of the Lake Chad area to work together to secure the survival of
these elephants.”
Two national parks in Cameroon provided vital terrain for
the animals, but the jihadist insurgency in the Lake Chad area and conflict
spreading across the Sahel has left the elephants exposed to greater threats. Taskforces
set up to tackle poaching face threats to their safety when operating in the
region.
The Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad area has forced 2
million people to flee their homes and caused tens of thousands of deaths.
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