France ‘enabled’ 1994 Rwanda genocide, report says

Study commissioned by Rwandan gov’t alleges France ‘did nothing’ to prevent ‘foreseeable’ April and May 1994 massacres.

 

An estimated 800,000 people were slaughtered in the genocide [File: Baz Ratner/Reuters]

The French government bears “significant” responsibility for “enabling a foreseeable genocide,” a report commissioned by the Rwandan government concludes about France’s role before and during the horror in which an estimated 800,000 people were slaughtered in 1994.

The report, which The Associated Press has read, comes amid efforts by Rwanda to document the role of French authorities before, during and after the genocide, part of the steps taken by France’s President Emmanuel Macron to improve relations with the Central African country.

The 600-page report says that France “did nothing to stop” the massacres, in April and May 1994, and in the years after the genocide tried to cover up its role and even offered protection to some perpetrators.

It is to be made public later on Monday after its formal presentation to Rwanda’s Cabinet.

It concludes that in years leading up to the genocide, former French President Francois Mitterrand and his administration had knowledge of preparations for the massacres – yet kept supporting the government of then-Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana despite the “warning signs.”

“The French government was neither blind nor unconscious about the foreseeable genocide,” the authors stress.

The Rwandan report comes less than a month after a French report, commissioned by Macron, concluded that French authorities had been “blind” to the preparations for genocide and then reacted too slowly to appreciate the extent of the killings and to respond to them.

It concluded that France had “heavy and overwhelming responsibilities” by not responding to the drift that led to the slaughter that killed mainly ethnic Tutsis and the moderate Hutus who tried to protect them. Groups of extremist Hutus carried out the killings.

‘A common understanding of the past’

The two reports, with their extensive even if different details, could mark a turning point in relations between the two countries.

Rwanda, a small but strategic country of 13 million people, is “ready” for a “new relationship” with France, Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vincent Biruta told AP.

“Maybe the most important thing in this process is that those two commissions have analysed the historical facts, have analysed the archives which were made available to them and have come to a common understanding of that past,” he said. “From there we can build this strong relationship.”

The Rwandan report, commissioned in 2017 from the Washington law firm of Levy Firestone Muse, is based on a wide range of documentary sources from governments, non-governmental organisations and academics including diplomatic cables, documentaries, videos and news articles.

The authors also said they interviewed more than 250 witnesses.

In the years before the genocide, “French officials armed, advised, trained, equipped, and protected the Rwandan government, heedless of the Habyarimana regime’s commitment to the dehumanisation and, ultimately, the destruction and death of Tutsi in Rwanda,” the report charges.

French authorities at the time pursued “France’s own interests, in particular the reinforcement and expansion of France’s power and influence in Africa”.

In April and May 1994, at the height of the genocide, French officials “did nothing to stop” the massacres, says the report.

Operation Turquoise, a French-led military intervention backed by the United Nations which started on June 22, 1994, “came too late to save many Tutsi,” the report says.

Authors say they found “no evidence that French officials or personnel participated directly in the killing of Tutsi during that period”.

This finding echoes the conclusion of the French report that cleared France of complicity in the massacres, saying that “nothing in the archives” demonstrates a “willingness to join a genocidal operation”.

French gov’t ‘distorted the truth’

The Rwandan report also addressed the attitude of French authorities after the genocide.

Over the past 27 years, “the French government has covered up its role, distorted the truth, and protected” those who committed the genocide, it says.

The report suggests that French authorities made “little efforts” to send to trial those who committed the genocide. Three Rwandan nationals have been convicted of genocide so far in France.

It also strongly criticises the French government for not making public documents about the genocide.

The government of Rwanda notably submitted three requests for documents in 2019, 2020 and this year that the French government “ignored,” according to the report.

Under French law, documents regarding military and foreign policies can remain classified for decades.

But things may be changing, the Rwandan report says, mentioning “hopeful signs”.

On April 7, the day of commemoration of the genocide, Macron announced the decision to declassify and make accessible to the public the archives from 1990 to 1994 that belong to the French president and prime minister’s offices.

“Recent disclosures of documents in connection with the (French) report … may signal a move toward transparency,” authors of the Rwandan report said.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda praised the report commissioned by Macron as “a good thing,” welcoming efforts in Paris to “move forward with a good understanding of what happened.”

Félicien Kabuga, a Rwandan long wanted for his alleged role in supplying machetes to the killers, was arrested outside Paris last May.

And in July an appeals court in Paris upheld a decision to end a years-long investigation into the plane crash that killed Habyarimana and set off the genocide.

That probe aggravated Rwanda’s government because it targeted several people close to Kagame for their alleged role, charges they denied.

Last week, a Rwandan priest was arrested in France for his alleged role in the genocide, which he denied.

 

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Religious freedom groups lament rising Nigerian persecution

Seven years after Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a majority Christian school in Chibok, Nigeria, U.S. religious freedom advocates are lamenting escalating religious persecution in the African country.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom noted the growing number of abductions of students and other residents by terrorists and bandits copying Boko Haram’s tactics.

“Nigerians have waited too long for the violence to stop,” Tony Perkins, vice chair of the commission, said April 14. “Seven years since the outrageous abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, copycats are still popping up all over, taking inspiration from Boko Haram and other extremist groups. It is the Nigerian people who pay the price.”

600 students kidnapped since December

The commission noted the kidnappings of 600 students between December 2020 and March, compounded by “ongoing attacks against Christian communities, Muslim congregations and houses of worship.”

Amnesty International said Wednesday that kidnappings have forced the closure of hundreds of schools because of safety concerns, and that hundreds of children have been “killed, raped, forced into ‘marriages’ or forced to join Boko Haram.”

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom estimates about 10.5 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are out of school in Nigeria because of the closures and violence.

Various Nigerian government officials are “apathetic and negligent,” Commissioner Frederick A. Davie said.

“Nigerian officials at all levels, from the president (Muhammadu Buhari) and federal officials to local governors, police commissioners and courts need to do more to prevent growing insecurity and hold accountable those who perpetrate violent acts,” Davie said.

He urged the U.S. government to ensure progress in Nigeria by leveraging the U.S. State Department’s December 2020 designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern.

‘No lessons have been learned from the Chibok tragedy’

Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said the failure of Nigerian authorities “shows that no lessons have been learned from the Chibok tragedy. The authorities’ only response to schoolchildren being targeted by insurgents and gunmen is to close schools, which is increasingly putting the right to education at risk.”

Seven years after the Chibok kidnapping, about 100 of the abducted girls remain missing, although others have escaped or been released. Leah Sharibu, kidnapped from her school in Dapchi in 2018, still is being held for refusing to denounce her Christian faith, although 104 students were released to their families. Five girls were killed in the kidnapping conducted by the Islamic State West Africa Province.

A series of kidnappings early this year in northwest Nigeria, which resulted in the death of Christian student Benjamin Habila, were blamed on loosely organized bandits copying Boko Haram.

But many terrorist groups, including Boko Haram, Boko Haram faction of the Islamic State West Africa Province and militant Fulani herdsmen are active in Nigeria’s northeast and Middle Belt.

Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List designates Nigeria as the ninth most dangerous country for Christians, compared to its number 12 ranking on the 2020 list. From November 2019 to October 2020, more than 3,530 Nigerian Christians were killed for their faith, Open Doors said in its report.

Christians are abducted and killed while going about their daily lives. In one of the most recent attacks, Christians blame militant Fulani herdsmen for kidnapping eight members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God from the church bus as it traveled from Kaduna to Kafanchan in late March, Morning Star News reported.

 

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Over 7,200 Human Penises Shipped Out of Nigeria: What is Chinese Doing With Nigerian Penises?

Shocking as Chinese authorities seize 7,221 human penises on cargo ship from Nigeria’s Lagos. 

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode says a ship from Nigeria has been impounded while it was trying to smuggle 7, 200 penises into the Asian country.

 

A total of 7,221 penises of African origin have been seized by the Chinese customs officers in what has now been tagged the world’s biggest seizure of human organs in history.

The organs which were hidden in a refrigerated freight container were seized when the ship harboured in the Shanghai Port following information from an anonymous informer who alerted the Chinese authorities.

The organs were packed in 36 boxes labelled as ‘plantains’ inside the refrigerated container on a ship which transited from Lagos, Nigeria and ship’s crew consisting of four Nigerians, two Malians and two Cameronese now being detained.

Speaking on the seizure, the spokesman of the Chinese General Administration of Customs, Li Wu, says an increasingly large number of armed groups in Africa use organ trafficking to finance themselves, making such seizures predictable.

“These organs are common commodities now, but they were certainly harvested in unsanitary conditions or contaminated at some point, so we can’t let them out on the Chinese market.”

Mr. Li says the organs were shipped from Lagos in Nigeria but may have only transited through that country and could possibly originate from elsewhere in Africa.

“We know that penises from Lybia and Sudan fetch a higher price than those from other African war zones, but can’t presume of their origin before the end of the investigation.”

Describing the organ’s value as high as illegal drugs, he said that “specimens of this size” usually fetched around $160,000 each on the black market, and its total value was more than US$1.15 billion, adding that similar seizures may become more common over the next few years as armed groups in Africa turn to organ trafficking to finance their military operations.

Human penises were seized in nine cases since 2002, but today’s find represents more than four times the amount seized by customs officers over the past 18 years.

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Nigeria Medical Association apologises to Nigerians, patients over NARD strike

Nigerian Medical Association, NMA

Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has apologised to Nigerians, especially patients at various government hospitals, over the strike embarked upon by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

Dr Enema Amodu, the Chairman, NMA, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter, made the plea on Sunday in Abuja while addressing newsmen over the NARD strike.

According to him, the association is sorry and wishes to apologise to Nigerians over the action.

The resident doctors embarked on strike on April 1 to press home their demand for upward review of their N5000 hazard allowance, payment of outstanding COVID-19 inducement allowance, among others.

He said “we are not insensitive; we hope that government and those in charge of the discussion with NARD will take it seriously, with a view to settling the issues at stake.

“To our patients, we are very sorry that you have to suffer this epileptic irregular healthcare service delivery; we have taken an oath to take care of you.

“But if a doctor is not in a sound state of mind and is not happy with what he or she is getting from the job, the doctor may not be in right frame of mind to discharge his or her duty right.

“And this will invariably affect you; by the time we get placed properly, renumeration and other welfare matters and facilities that we need to serve you, we will be able to serve you better with productive results,” he said.

He pleaded with all health workers, pharmacist, nurses, among others, to stop the incessant acrimony and disharmony among them.

 

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At Least 90 Dead, Dozens Missing In Indonesia Timor Floods

This handout photo taken on April 5, 2021 and released by Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) shows the aftermath of a flash flood in Lembata, East Flores, as dozens are missing after flash floods and landslides killed more than 70 people in Indonesia and neighbouring East Timor, while thousands fled to shelters after the disaster left them homeless. HANDOUT / Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) / AFP

 

Tropical cyclone Seroja pounded Indonesia and East Timor Monday after torrential rains triggered floods and landslides that have killed at least 91 people and left dozens missing.

Packing heavy winds and rain, the storm heaped more misery on the Southeast Asian nations after Sunday’s disaster turned small communities into wastelands of mud and uprooted trees and forced thousands of people into shelters.

Downpours are expected over the next day as the storm triggers offshore waves as high as six metres (20 feet), Indonesia’s disaster agency said.

The cyclone, which was picking up strength as it moved toward the west coast of Australia, hampered efforts to reach trapped survivors.

 

This handout photo taken on April 5, 2021 and released by the National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) shows rescuers looking for survivors in Nelemamadike village, East Flores, after torrential rains triggered floods and landslides in Indonesia and East Timor.
HANDOUT / NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY / AFP

 

Indonesia’s disaster agency said at least 70 people have been killed, with another 70 missings.

In East Timor, at least 21 people have been killed according to an official in the tiny half-island nation of 1.3 million that lies between Indonesia and Australia.

Many of the deaths were in East Timor’s inundated capital Dili, where the front of the presidential palace was transformed into a mud pit.

In Indonesia’s remote East Flores municipality, torrents of mud washed over homes, bridges, and roads.

Images from Indonesia’s search-and-rescue agency showed workers digging up mud-covered corpses before placing them in body bags.

On Lembata, an island east of Flores, parts of some villages were swept down a mountainside and carried to the shore of the ocean.

Soon after flash floods began tearing into resident Basir Langoday’s district in the early morning, he heard screams for help from a nearby home covered in rubble.

“There were four of them inside. Three survived but the other one didn’t make it,” he told reporters.

Langoday and his friends scrambled to try and save the trapped man before he was crushed to death.

“He said ‘hurry, I can’t hold on any longer,” Langoday added.

Juna Witak, another Lembata resident, joined his family at a local hospital where they wept over the corpse of his mother who was killed in a flash flood Sunday. Her body was found by the seashore.

“There was a rumbling sound and the floods swept away homes, everything,” Witak said.

– ‘Medicine, food, blankets’ –
Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed “deepest condolences” over the devastation in the southeast end of the archipelago.

“I understand the deep sorrow suffered by our brothers and sisters because of this disaster,” he said in a nationwide address.

The European Union said it was ready to offer assistance to poverty-stricken East Timor, officially known as Timor-Leste.

“The catastrophic floods come at a time when Timor-Leste is working hard to contain the spread of Covid-19 among its population, putting a considerable additional strain both on resources and on the Timorese people,” the EU said.

Across the region, residents have flocked to temporary shelters or taken refuge in what was left of their homes.

“The evacuees are spread out. There are hundreds in each sub-district but many others are staying at home,” said Alfons Hada Bethan, head of the East Flores disaster agency.

“They need medicine, food, blankets.”

Some 2,500 people had been evacuated in East Timor, along with several thousand more in Indonesia.

Pounding rains challenged efforts to find any survivors.

“We suspect many people are buried but it’s not clear how many are missing,” Bethan said.

In Lembata, local officials were forced to deploy heavy equipment to reopen the roads.

Images from the island showed barefoot locals wading through mud and past collapsed houses to evacuate victims on makeshift stretchers.

Fatal landslides and flash floods are common across the Indonesian archipelago during the rainy season.

January saw flash floods hit the Indonesian town of Sumedang in West Java, killing 40 people.

And last September, at least 11 people were killed in landslides on Borneo.

The disaster agency has estimated that 125 million Indonesians — nearly half of the country’s population — live in areas at risk of landslides.

The disasters are often caused by deforestation, according to environmentalists.

 

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Kenya Airways sees passenger business recovery in 2024, turns to cargo

Kenya Airways planes are seen parked at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport near Nairobi, Kenya November 6, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Kenya Airways expects its passenger business to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2024, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

The carrier, whose joint venture with Air France KLM is set to expire this September, will boost its cargo business to help blunt the impact of the drop in demand for travel by passengers, CEO Allan Kilavuka told Reuters.

 

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African airlines are testing their own Covid-19 passport

 

Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines are testing a new digital Covid-19 passport system.The digital health passport allows travellers and airport authorities to authenticate Covid-19 test certificates prior to departure.

The Trusted Travel Pass pilot programme was developed by the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as digital health passports look likely to become a standard requirement for international travel.

A global travel pass developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is currently being trialled by several leading international airlines. The pass allows travellers to create a digital copy of their passports and receive verified information on country-specific travel requirements via an app.

These requirements will inform what testing or vaccination procedures need to be followed prior to departure.

Once these requirements are met, confirmation is provided in the form of a unique QR code which can be scanned by the relevant health authorities. Apart from creating a universal authentication standard, the pass aims to also simplify check-in processes for both travellers and airline staff.

The African Union and Africa CDC launched their own version of the health passport to boost confidence in safe air travel across the continent. Adopting the same principals and processes used by IATA, the Trusted Travel Pass is currently being tested in AU Member States.

Passengers on Kenya Airways or Ethiopian Airlines flights are encouraged – but not yet forced – to use the Trusted Travel Pass.

The online portal, which allows passengers to upload their Covid-19 test and vaccine results to receive a QR code, is accessible via desktop and mobile phone but has not yet been rolled out as an app. Features of the Trusted Travel Pass include:

Signing up to create a traveller profile and itinerary

Listing travel requirements and restrictions applicable to the destination country

Providing a database of authorised Covid-19 testing facilities

Generating a Trusted Testing Code (TT Code) and Travel Code (TC) based on tests completed and vaccines administered by registered health services.

“We are pleased to have introduced a digital platform that will be pivotal in increasing the number of passengers while making air travel safer,” says Getinet Tadesse, Ethiopian Airlines’ Chief Information Officer. “The solution is capable of addressing passengers’ travel needs during [the] Covid -19 pandemic as it helps them validate their test and vaccination documents before departure.”

Other African airlines are expected to join the pilot programme, according to John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa CDC.

“To coordinate our air, sea and land movement on the continent, all countries have to have a similar understanding of what we have to do and harmonise that,” adds Nkengasong.

Should the pilot programme be a success, the pass is expected to be rolled out to all AU member states and airlines as a mandatory compliance protocol.

“Kenya Airways as an AU and Africa CDC partner will also bring invaluable input and feedback to improve the Trusted Travel Pass programme making the ground-breaking step in enabling safe international travel during the pandemic as convenient as possible… giving people the boost of confidence that they are meeting all Covid-19 entry requirements by governments,” said Julius Thairu, Acting Chief Commercial Officer at Kenya Airways, which was the first carrier to adopt the pass on 6 March.

 

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John Magufuli: Tanzania's president dies aged 61 after Covid rumours

 

The 61-year-old president died from heart complications on Wednesday

Tanzania's President John Magufuli has died aged 61, the country's vice-president has announced.

He died on Wednesday from heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, Samia Suluhu Hassan said in an address on state television.

Mr Magufuli had not been seen in public for more than two weeks, and rumours had been circulating about his health.

Opposition politicians said last week that he had contracted Covid-19, but this has not been confirmed.

Mr Magufuli was one of Africa's most prominent coronavirus sceptics, and called for prayers and herbal-infused steam therapy to counter the virus.

"It is with deep regret that I inform you that today... we lost our brave leader, the president of the Republic of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli," Vice-President Hassan said in the announcement.

She said there would be 14 days of national mourning and flags would fly at half-mast.

 

According to Tanzania's constitution, Ms Hassan will be sworn in as the new president within 24 hours and should serve the remainder of Mr Magufuli's five-year term which he began last year.

Mr Magufuli was last seen in public on 27 February, but Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa insisted last week that the president was "healthy and working hard".

He blamed the rumours of the president's ill-health on "hateful" Tanzanians living abroad.

But opposition leader Tundu Lissu told the BBC that his sources had told him Mr Magufuli was being treated in hospital for coronavirus in Kenya.

 

When Covid-19 arrived in Tanzania, Mr Magufuli called on people to go to churches and mosques to pray. "Coronavirus, which is a devil, cannot survive in the body of Christ... It will burn instantly," he said.

He declared Tanzania "Covid-19 free" last June, saying the virus had been eradicated by three days of national prayer.

He also mocked the efficacy of masks, expressed doubts about testing, and teased neighbouring countries which imposed health measures to curb the virus.

"Countries in Africa will be coming here to buy food in the years to come… they will be suffering because of shutting down their economy," he said, according to the Associated Press.

Tanzania has not published details of its coronavirus cases since May, and the government has refused to purchase vaccines.

On Monday, police said they had arrested four people on suspicion of spreading rumours on social media that the president was ill.

"To spread rumours that he's sick smacks of hate," Mr Majaliwa said at the time.

Shock and disbelief in Tanzania

Analysis by Athuman Mtulya, Dar es Salaam

The country is in a sombre mood - for the first time in its six decades of existence, Tanzania has lost a sitting president, John Pombe Magufuli.

The news of his death was received with shock and disbelief - although there were rumours of his illness, the authorities reassured the country that all was well with him.

From his home district of Chato to the capital of Dodoma to the business hub of Dar es Salaam, most Tanzanians have been mourning Magufuli.

There are those with a different view, especially on social media led by exiled opposition politician Tundu Lissu, who has been speculating that President Magufuli had contracted Covid which led to his death, however the authorities have insisted the death was caused by heart complications.

Tanzanians are now turning their minds to the succession, which should see current Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan become the country's first female president.

 

Mr Magufuli was declared president on his 56th birthday in October 2015. He was elected for a second term following a disputed poll last year.

He was hailed for his anti-corruption stance during his time in office, but he was also accused of cracking down on dissent and curtailing certain freedoms.

 

His critics agree that Mr Magufuli contributed to Tanzania's development. He invested in large infrastructure projects such as a standard-gauge railway to connect the country with its neighbours, major highways, and a bus system in the commercial hub of Dar es Salaam.

He also increased electricity production, reducing the need for power rationing.

But it is his approach to Covid-19 that many analysts say will define his legacy.

 

African leaders pay tribute

In Tanzania, people have reacted with grief and disbelief to the news of Mr Magufuli's death.

One, Joseph Petro, told the BBC he thought Mr Magufuli was a "caring" leader, adding "he was helping people in one way or another".

"I am really pained. I am personally pained," he said.

 

Another, Illuminata Abel, offered similar sentiments: "He was not my relative, but he was someone who listened to people's problems, and he was down to earth."

African leaders have also come out to pay tribute.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta said: "I have lost a friend, colleague and visionary ally," and declared a seven-day period of national mourning in Kenya.

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan called Mr Magufuli a "partner in democracy" and a "patriot who loved his country".

But Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu told the BBC that Mr Magufuli's "politics, policies and Covid denialism" had "driven the country towards disaster".

 

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Nigeria: Lagos kicks off Covid vaccination

 

Nigeria's Lagos state started its coronavirus vaccination campaign on Friday after receiving over 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca jab, despite concerns in some countries over the safety of the vaccine.

Lagos state health commissioner Akin Abayomi told reporters that authorities had spent a long time looking over the data and concluded that there was "no reason for us to slow down our COVID-19 vaccination response."

Some countries, mostly in Europe, have paused use of the AstraZeneca jab following sporadic reports of blood clots.

But the European Medicines Agency said there was no evidence of an increase in dangerous blood clots in connection with the shots.

Health workers and front line responders began receiving the vaccine in Lagos on Friday.

"I am very, very happy that we are advancing and the government is doing so much," said Clara Emembolu, a 74-year-old who was inoculated.

"I appreciate the government's effort in trying to secure this for our people."

Nigeria is among more than 180 countries worldwide receiving vaccines through the COVAX initiative.

 

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Rwanda becomes first African nation to use Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

Rwanda began its COVID-19 vaccine campaign on Friday, becoming the first nation in Africa to use pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s doses that require ultra-cold storage.

Authorities began transporting Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots round the hilly nation of 12 million people after they arrived earlier this week, using helicopters to reach far-flung parts.

“This means that I will die when God wants because the coronavirus cannot kill me now,” 90-year-old Stephanie Nyirankuriza said, leaning on a walking stick after her shot at a health centre just east of the capital Kigali.

As in most nations, health workers and the elderly are first in line as President Paul Kagame’s government plans to vaccinate up to 30% of Rwandans by the end of this year.

The Kagame government, which prides itself on efficiency and technological prowess but is often criticised as authoritarian, has installed special infrastructure to keep the Pfizer vaccine at the required -70 degrees.

‘LENGTHENING MY LIFE’

At some centres, people were required to sign consent forms before receiving the shots.

Sitting in a makeshift tent awaiting her turn, Urusaro Ntoranyi, 70, said she was confident the vaccine was safe. “I have children who got COVID-19,” she added, saying that they survived but two other relatives had died.

Those vaccinated were required to stay for about 15 minutes in case of side effects.

“This is like lengthening my life span,” 69-year-old Sisiyani Rusenyanteko, a community health worker and father-of-nine, exulted after an AstraZeneca shot.

Rwanda has so far received 102,960 and 240,000 doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines respectively via the global COVAX facility.

Rwanda’s Health Minister Daniel Ngamije said he expected to get more but did not say from where. “The turnout is good,” he said, shortly after receiving his Pfizer shot, adding the doses had been distributed to over 500 health facilities countrywide.

Rwanda has reported just over 19,000 cases and 265 deaths.

 

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Nigeria gets tough on offshore gambling operators

 Director-general of the Nigerian Lottery Regulatory Commission, Lanre Gbajabiamila

The West African country of Nigeria is the continent’s largest economy, primarily due to its petroleum production and export industries, and is well-known for its long-time love affair with gambling of all kinds. Many in the gambling industry believe that Nigeria has the potential to become the continent’s largest online betting market.

Due to its economic leadership in Africa, what happens in Naija may affect the financial state of the rest of the continent. Yet, despite the apparent success of both online and offline gambling enterprises in Nigeria (with many benefits to the state), government officials are now looking to seriously crack down on offshore and unregulated gambling operators.

Cracking down on unregulated sites
The unprecedented growth of the gambling industry in Nigeria has proved to be the largest obstacle for authorities to properly govern the actions of the operators and players within the country.

When in December of 2019, the state of Lagos began granting licenses for online sports betting, Nigerians were able to start playing at offshore online casinos for decades without fear of prosecution.

Unfortunately, not all government agencies were kept apprised of the swift growth in players playing in offshore establishments, causing a backlash of issues such as capital flight, tax evasion, the non-disclosure of financial transactions and movements of illicit funds.

The collaboration
Recently, the Nigerian Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) sought out the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in order to form a cooperative task force to restrict Nigerian gamblers from playing on unregulated sites.

Earlier in 2020, the NLRC had partnered with the country’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to fight “unscrupulous companies” in the country’s gambling industry. Although these organizations have previously worked together to scrutinise operators, they’re now ramping up their efforts.

In a statement, NLRC director-general Lanre Gbajabiamila said, “Our alliance and mutual cooperation are now more imperative, and as responsible agencies, it is our duty to keep pace with the dynamic and growing complexity of the modern lottery industry which features multi-channel availability, the electronic delivery of play, and complex financial transactions.”

It will be interesting to see how this new partnership affects the ongoing reorganization of federal and state cooperation in regulating this ever-growing and ever-changing industry.

Australia as a case study
We expect that Nigeria will continue its aggressive enforcement against offshore operators. Nigerian officials, however, should be wary that many countries have tried this in the past.

Australia is a perfect case-in-point. When the Australian government regulators decided to crack down, they began by implementing site blocking at an ISP (internet service provider) level. This did little to stop the online casinos from simply bypassing the attempted blocks and then it’s back to business as usual for the offshore operators.

For this reason, the two federal departments in cooperation with the state regulators must come up with better ways of combating the unlicensed operators than have been tried in the past.

Gambling in Nigeria
The state of gambling in Nigeria is a complex beast. There’s no doubt that in any nation, the gambling industry does provide significant benefits in the form of jobs, revenue to healthcare and education, and, of course, general entertainment for the population.

For many years, Nigeria’s offline sports betting and gambling industry saw significant year-to-year growth, with its online gambling counterpart gaining strength in the last decade or so with an increase in the country’s population and widespread access to the internet. In 2018, it was reported that Nigeria was the second-largest online betting market in Africa, with gross gaming revenues of $58 million for that year.

The downsides, however, can be just as significant without proper regulation. Federal and state regulatory agencies have never been on the same page about current laws, licensing, or legal procedures for dealing with gambling entities.

Corruption
Public officials in Nigeria do have good reason to fear for the future of unregulated gambling in their country. Concerns have surfaced recently about the uses of illicit money generated by illegal gambling in Nigeria. These include things like money laundering, terrorism financing, “financial leakages” to the unlicensed sector, and other issues that the new regulations are aiming to stamp out.

Recently, the NLRC and the NFIU signed a Memorandum of Understanding that contains their plans to combat these harmful forms of corruption within the nation.

Ambiguous legal status
Confusingly, gambling is currently both legal and illegal in Nigeria, complicating the status of regulated and non-regulated operators. Depending on the type of gambling, the status of the game, operation, or casino could be deemed legal or outside the law.

It’s not surprising then, that many Nigerian government officials have called for new laws to clarify the status of gambling operators in the country. Only time will tell whether the ongoing struggle between federal agencies and state lottery boards issuing licenses and blacklisting operators will solve the country’s current problems or only further muddy the issue going forward.

 

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UN calls for investigation into possible war crimes in Tigray

 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday called for an "objective and independent investigation" in the Ethiopian region of Tigray, after having "corroborated serious violations" likely to constitute "war crimes and crimes against humanity".

In a statement issued in Geneva, Bachelet said her office "has managed to corroborate information on some incidents that occurred in November last year, indicating indiscriminate bombings in the towns of Mekele, Humera and Adigrat in the Tigray region" in the north of the country, the scene of several months of fighting.

The UN office also verified "reports of serious violations and abuses including massacres in Aksoum and Dengelat in central Tigray by Eritrean armed forces," the statement said.

"Serious violations of international law, which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, may have been committed."

The forces on the ground include the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the Eritrean armed forces, the Amhara Regional Forces and affiliated militias, the same source said.

- "General denials" -

"With multiple actors in the conflict, general denials", there is "a clear need for an objective and independent assessment," said Ms. Bachelet.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the Ethiopian government to allow her office and other UN investigators access to Tigray "to establish the facts and help ensure accountability, regardless of the origin of the perpetrators".

She stressed that her office continued to receive information about ongoing fighting in central Tigray.

She deplored "deeply distressing reports of sexual and gender-based violence, extrajudicial killings, widespread destruction and looting of public and private property by all parties".

"Without prompt, impartial and transparent investigations and without holding those responsible accountable, I fear that (human rights) violations will continue to be committed with impunity and the situation will remain volatile for a long time to come," she said.

Ms. Bachelet also expressed concern about the detentions this week in Tigray of journalists and translators working for local and international media.

As they were released, she highlighted worrying remarks by a member of the government that representatives of the "misleading international media" would be held responsible.

"Victims and witnesses of human rights violations and abuses must not be prevented from sharing their testimony for fear of reprisals," Ms. Bachelet said.

In late November, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared an end to the military operation in Tigray with the capture of Mekele, but authorities fleeing the region promised to continue the fight and fighting has been reported since.

Several massacres have also been documented, some attributed by survivors to Eritrean troops in Tigray, whose presence continues to be denied to this day by Addis Ababa and Asmara.

Ethiopian and Eritrean troops responsible for possible "war crimes" in Tigray (UN).

 

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Ghana's top court invalidate opposition election petition

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo was Thurday retained as leader, following a seven-member panel of the country’s top court Judges' dismissal of the election petition filed by main opposition leader John Mahama.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court said this is because the case had no merit.

Former President John Dramani Mahama who contested the 2020 elections on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress, took the Electoral Commission to court.

He sought to challenge validity of results and subsequent declaration of President Akufo-Addo as the winner.

But reading the ruling of the court Thursday, Chief Justice Anin Yeboah said the petitioner did not satisfy all the 5 issues outlined by the court to determine the case.

According to the Electoral Commission, President Nana Akufo-Addo, was re-elected with 51.59% of the vote against 47.36% for his predecessor and opponent John Dramani Mahama of the main opposition NDC.

Only 515,524 votes separated the two candidates.

International and local observers said the election was generally calm. However, five people were killed in violence on voting and counting day, according to police.

Aside from these sporadic incidents, the election was generally hailed as an example in West Africa.

This was the third time that these two old political rivals had faced each other, with equally close results in the previous two elections.

In 2016, Nana Akufo-Addo won with 53.8%. Four years earlier, in 2012, John Mahama had 50.7% of votes.

At the time, Akufo-Addo challenged Mahama's victory and appealed to the Supreme Court to invalidate the results.

Eight months later following intense debates broadcast live on radio and television, the court upheld Mahama's victory.

Shortly after the verdict was announced, Nana Akufo-Addo admitted defeat.

Mahama is expected to address his supporters during the day, his lawyers said.

 

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Rwanda's economy in recession

 

 

Rwanda’s economy

Rwanda’s economy is in a recession. Restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus is piling pressure on the economy. Thousands face unemployment and there’s risk of more Rwandans falling into poverty. That’s why analysts are urging the government to take additional measures to spur growth in this East African nation. Retail trade, leisure, hospitality and conference tourism are key sectors hard hit.

The country of 12 million people has seen strict coronavirus-prevention measures in place since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Rwandan population has felt the effects of these measures - with 5% more unemployed since the start of the health crisis i.e. 550,000 people in 2021.

Over 80% of those recently out of work are in rural areas, according to data published by the World Bank this week. The pandemic has affected all sectors in the nation - including services, small to medium enterprises and the leisure and tourism industry.

There has been a significant drop in activity as Africa’s technology hub has been in lockdown - leading to a notable decline in growth.

The government has adopted an economic recovery plan estimated at 900 million USD - whose implementation will span the two fiscal years 2019/20 and 2020/21.

"Tourism has been the top foreign exchange earner, and when the pandemic kicked in, this sector was heavily affected. If you look into the growth that we experienced in 2019, you are talking about where the economy grew by 9.4 percent, but if you go into the numbers from 2020, we are projecting to receive a growth rate that is going to be even less than 2 percent’’, Zephanie Niyonkuru, Deputy CEO, Rwanda Development Board tells Ignatius Annor.

 

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HIV findings in DR Congo 'give hope for cure'

 

The researchers were surprised by their findings

The discovery of a large group of people whose bodies naturally control HIV without taking medication is leading to hopes of an eventual cure, scientists say.

The study found as many as 4% of HIV carriers in the Democratic Republic of Congo were able to suppress the virus.

Typically less than 1% of people with HIV are able to do so.

This could serve as springboard for further research to develop a vaccine or new treatments to tackle the virus that causes Aids, researchers say.

"When we first started to see the data coming in from the study we were surprised, but we were also elated," Mary Rodgers, the study's lead scientist, told the BBC.

"This could mean that this is something that we can actually cure," she said.

The findings, published in eBioMedicine which is part of The Lancet family of medical journals, looked at samples taken FROM people living with HIV between 1987 and 2019.

The team included scientists from pharmaceutical company Abbott, Université Protestante au Congo, Johns Hopkins, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and University of Missouri - Kansas City.

 

Mary Rodgers: "This group of people gives us hope"

Dr Rodgers, head of Abbott's global viral surveillance programme, said the group in DR Congo was the biggest detected in one country - between 2.7% and 4.3% . Another 1% of people living with HIV in Cameroon were also identified as controlling the virus well without medication.

"This has never really been seen before, typically we would find less than 1% of all people with HIV who are able to suppress the virus naturally."

Currently, most people living with HIV have to take anti-retroviral medicines daily to suppress the virus and reduce their viral load.

It is not yet known how the so-called "elite controllers" discovered in DR Congo are able to suppress their HIV infection.

But Dr Rodgers said understanding how the group was able to maintain low or undetectable viral loads would be crucial to controlling the virus.

However, she stressed the need for more research, while pointing to previous studies that showed this group of people potentially lose their protection as the disease progresses.

HIV came to global attention in the 1980s. It has infected 76 million people since then and 38 million people are living with the virus, Abbott says.

It is believed to have originated in what is now DR Congo a century ago, and today HIV disproportionately affects women in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

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Pregnant woman, five others killed as ambulance hits land mine in Burkina Faso

Six people were killed after an ambulance hit an explosive device on Tuesday in northeast Burkina Faso, government spokesman Ousseni Tamboura on Wednesday said.

"The coward and barbaric incident that occurred while the ambulance was ensuring a medical evacuation to the capital Ouagadougou claimed the lives of six people," the spokesman said.

The victims included a woman patient and her husband, two members of the nursing staff, a girl, and the ambulancier.

The government of Burkina Faso condemned on the strongest terms this criminal act perpetrated by faithless individuals and extended its condolences to the bereaved families, Ousseni Tamboura said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for laying the land mine.

Attacks in Burkina Faso by fighters linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State have risen sharply over the last three years, displacing more than a million people.

Last month, Burkina Faso’s government for the first time said that it was open to talks with Islamist militants to try to end the insurgency, a position echoed by authorities in neighbouring Mali.

 

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Uganda Targets Doubling Palm Oil Production With Second Estate

Oil palm fruit bunches harvested. Resting on the ground

Wilmar International Ltd.’s Ugandan unit is establishing the East African country’s second palm oil project, which is expected to double national output to as much as 80,000 tons.

Bidco Uganda Ltd. -- jointly owned by Wilmar, Josovina Commodities Pte Ltd. of Singapore and Bidco Africa Ltd. of Kenya -- is already producing as much as 40,000 tons of palm oil from its Bugala island estate on Lake Victoria.

It started planting on Buvuma island last month and targets to have 1,000 hectares under trees this year and 5,000 hectares in four years, according to Connie Masaba, head of the Ugandan agency supervising the project. Small-holder farmers producing for Bidco are expected to plant a total of 2,500 hectares by 2025, she said Wednesday by phone from the capital, Kampala.

Uganda is providing land under an investment deal aimed at slashing imports. The nation shipped in crude and refined vegetable fats and oils valued at $243 million in 2017-18, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. The global vegetable oil market could expand to $299.2 billion by 2027 at a compound annual growth rate of 3.3%, according to a report by Research and Markets.

 

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Nigeria school abduction: Hundreds of girls released by gunmen

The freed schoolgirls were taken to a government building in Zamfara state in a fleet of minibuses

 

Girls among the nearly 300 who were kidnapped from a school in north-western Nigeria have been describing their ordeal following their release.

"Most of us got injured," one of the schoolgirls told the media, adding that gunmen threatened to shoot them.

The girls were abducted by unidentified assailants from their boarding school in Jangebe, Zamfara state, on Friday and taken to a forest, police said.

The state's governor said on Tuesday that the 279 girls had been freed.

Such kidnappings are carried out for ransom and are common in the north of the country.

 

On Tuesday, dozens of the girls were seen gathered at a government building in Zamfara after they were taken there in a fleet of mini-buses.

Speaking to the media, one of the schoolgirls said that some of those kidnapped had found it difficult to continue walking when instructed to do so by the gunmen because of their injuries.

"They said they [would] shoot anybody who did not continue to walk," she said. "We walked across a river and they hid us and let us sleep under shrubs in a forest."

Another of the girls, aged 15, said that some of her classmates found it difficult "walking in the stones and thorns" and had to be carried.

"They started hitting us with guns so that we [would] move," she told Reuters news agency, adding: "While they were beating them with guns, some of them were crying and moving at the same time."

 

 

The girls were reportedly made to walk a long distance into the forest after their kidnapping

Some of the fathers who had arrived to see their daughters for the first time since their abduction told reporters they were "very happy" at the news of their release.

The group's release was secured through negotiations between government officials and the abductors, authorities in Zamfara state told the media.

 Local authorities said that an earlier figure provided by police of 317 for the number of girls kidnapped was not accurate.

One official told Reuters that the discrepancy was because of the fact that some girls had fled shortly after being abducted.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari said he felt "overwhelming joy" at the news of the girls' release. "[I am] pleased that their ordeal has come to a happy end without any incident," he said.

 

The governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle, tweeted that it "gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students".

"This follows the scaling of several hurdles laid against our efforts," he added. "I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe."

Mr Matawalle has denied paying for the girls to be released, but last week President Buhari admitted state governments had paid kidnappers "with money and vehicles" in the past and urged them to review the policy.

Analysis: Nigeria's ransom controversy

It is believed that schools have started to be targeted as such abductions attract a lot of attention - putting more pressure on the authorities to negotiate with the armed criminal group responsible.

The authorities rarely admit to paying ransoms - but some observers say it is unlikely that the gunmen would release their victims without some sort of exchange, either of money or the release of their members who are in jail.

Besides, kidnapping for ransom is a widespread criminal enterprise across the country - people are seized by gunmen on almost a daily basis - with both the rich and the poor falling victims. Security personnel have been held too. People often speak of how they have managed to secure someone's release by raising funds from friends and relatives - or even selling their assets.

But ransom payments are controversial. It may save someone's life, yet some observers say paying ransom only fuels the problem. President Buhari agrees, saying today ''ransom payments will continue to prosper kidnapping''.

He has repeatedly said his government will not negotiate with the armed criminal gangs. But many believe the failure of his administration and those at the state level to provide security is to blame. There are growing calls for the authorities to provide security for thousands of schools across the country - many of which are unfenced and do not have adequate security guards.

The 2014 kidnap of 276 schoolgirls in the north-eastern town of Chibok by Islamist militants Boko Haram brought global attention to the scourge of raids on schools in Nigeria, but a surge in recent attacks is suspected to be the work of criminal gangs.

The raid in Zamfara state was the region's second kidnapping in recent weeks. Some 27 students were kidnapped from a boarding school in Kagara in the north-central state of Niger last month before they were released on 17 February.

No group has said they were behind the Zamfara kidnappings.

Armed groups operating in the state often kidnap for ransom but when gunmen took more than 300 boys from Kankara in neighbouring Katsina state in December last year, some reports said Boko Haram, which operates hundreds of miles away in the north-east, was behind the attack.

The reports were later disputed and the boys released after negotiations.

 

Source: BBC

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Kenya receives 1.02 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine

Over 1 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine part of 24 million doses country expects to receive within months

 

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya has received just over 1 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in the first batch from the global COVAX initiative that was created to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have fair access to vaccines.

Some 1.02 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, arrived in Nairobi early Wednesday, according to a joint statement from UNICEF, the World Health Organization, international vaccine alliance GAVI and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

Kenyan Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe expressed excitement and optimism that the vaccines would help stop the spread of the coronavirus that has forced the East African country to partially lock down its economy with devastating consequences for many citizens.

“We have been fighting the pandemic with rubber bullets but what we have acquired today is equivalent, metaphorically speaking, to bazookas and machine guns,” Kagwe said.

The minister said the vaccines will be administered to some 400,000 medical workers and the rest will go to other frontline workers such as teachers and police officers.

Many Kenyan public health care workers have been disgruntled over the inadequate supply of personal protective equipment, and they say they were never paid the allowances that the government promised them for the extra work and risk while combating COVID-19.

Austine Oduor, an official with the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers, said there is no palpable excitement from members of his union and nurses who were forced by a court order to resume work last week after a 70-day strike.

“What they really wanted was payment of the allowances,” Oduor said. “ In fact, some are questioning whether the distribution will be done fairly in a country where corruption is rampant.”

Kenya has more than 106,000 confirmed virus cases including more than 1,800 deaths.

 

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