NIGERIA: More than 300 students still missing after a Nigerian school was raided

The Government Science secondary school in Kankara district was attacked by armed gunmen on Friday.

Parents gather at the school on Sunday following the abductions.

Abuja, Nigeria: Some 337 students are still unaccounted for after gunmen attacked a school in northern Nigeria over the weekend, a government official told CNN on Monday.

Local police said a large number of attackers riding motorbikes ambushed the all-boys Government Science Secondary School in Kankara late Friday, in a possible kidnapping-for-ransom attempt.

The apparent kidnappers are making a demand via a teacher at school, Abdu Labaran, the director general of media for the governor of Nigeria's Katsina state, said Monday.

"The abductors of the Kankara students have contacted a teacher and asked him to tell the government to stop the helicopter surveillance. They have not asked for ransom," said Labaran, who added that the military had deployed in the area to search for the boys.

He said that at least 446 students had been handed over to their parents, but they have been unable to reach scores of families to confirm the safety of students because of bad phone connectivity.

The United Nations strongly condemned the abductions on Sunday, and called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of the children.

There have been varying estimates of the number of children that were kidnapped from the school late on Friday. Government officials said it was difficult to accurately track the numbers as some children ran away during the attack, while others escaped and made their way back to villages and the school over the weekend.

Garba Shehu, a spokesman for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, told CNN via text message on Monday that some of the students had been interviewed by military officers.

"Some of the returning students debriefed by the military disclosed that ten of their colleagues were taken by the bandits, but this still needs to be verified," he wrote, adding that there could still be others unaccounted for.

"The forests and neighboring villages are being searched and parents are being contacted for information about their children."

A school official told CNN that at least three of his students escaped their abductors and returned to the school on Sunday. He said they had not eaten and that they had bruised and swollen legs from hours of trekking. CNN is not naming the school official to protect his safety.

"They commanded the crowd like a herdsman herd the sheep," Hassan Abdul-Bashir, a 13-year-old student at the school, told CNN on Saturday. He said the gunmen were asking students for money, ransacking their lockers and taking some of their belongings. "They shot the policeman guarding our school. I saw them driving many students."

Several more students were rescued on Monday, according to Labaran.

"Fifteen students were rescued today by military in their search and rescue operations, while the police rescued another person and a third came back to parents' house himself," he said Monday.

Musa Adamu, a senior secondary student at the school, said he and many of his roommates jumped out of the windows when they heard the gunshots on Friday. "We headed to the fence and climbed on it and jumped down," the 18-year-old told CNN. "The gun shots sound got louder, we ran in different directions ... into the forest. Most of us had no shoes on, and we kept running until we got tired and the sound of the gunshots fainted."

Nigerian authorities said the motive for the attack is unclear, but added the area has seen kidnappings for ransom attacks in the past.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the Nigerian authorities to "bring those responsible for this act to justice."

"The Secretary-General reaffirms the solidarity and support of the United Nations to the government and people of Nigeria in their fight against terrorism, violent extremism and organized crime," his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said in a statement Sunday.

 

SOURCE: CNN

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Somalia stops diplomatic ties with Kenya with complaint of interference

Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Somalia on Tuesday morning announced it is cutting diplomatic ties with Kenya, in the latest escalation of a spat between the two, and following the invitation of Somaliland leader Muse Bihi to Nairobi.

Osman Dubbe, the Somali Minister for Information declared the news on national TV a few minutes to 2am in the morning, breaking tradition of countries making such pronouncements during the day.

Dubbe said Kenya had “constantly interfered” with Somalia’s internal affairs and that Nairobi was violating Somalia’s sovereignty.

He said Kenyan diplomats in Mogadishu will have seven days to leave the country. But this came just a week after Mogadishu actually expelled the Kenyan ambassador to Somalia, Lucas Tumbo, and recalled theirs to Nairobi, Mohamud Ahmed Tarzan, following a similar complaint of interference.

Somalia had also submitted a complaint to regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), to include the spat with Kenya during the upcoming virtual summit on Dec 20 on Tigray.

Kenya though, became the second country in a year after Guinea, with which Somalia has cut ties over the Somaliland issue.

Kenya hosts Bihi

But as Mogadishu moved in the night, Nairobi was hosting Bihi for bilateral talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta. Both sides on Monday said they had agreed on a number of issues and would continue discussions on Tuesday on business and security cooperation.

With the cutting of diplomatic ties, it means the Kenyan embassy in Mogadishu and Somalia’s mission in Nairobi will be shut and their officials sent back home. But both countries, based on Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, will remain obligated to offer visa and other travel and immigration services to nationals of each other.

In fact, each country will remain obligated to protect premises owned by either side on their host territories.

However, despite having legal obligations to protect citizens of each other, the actual protection of each other’s nationals may be granted to a third acceptable state.

It was unclear by Tuesday morning what will happen to military cooperation between Somalia and Kenya which has sent troops to the country under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom). Legally, it is Amisom to make a decision about troop movements, but in consultation with the UN and troop contributing countries.

About 350,000 Somali refugees also live in Kenya, most of them in camps in Dadaab and Kakuma. Kenya will have to continue protecting them, under the international humanitarian law.

What may be exposed, however, are the properties owned by Somalia businesses and politicians in Nairobi.

Officials in the Kenyan capital said on Tuesday morning they had not yet received any formal communication from Mogadishu on the severing of ties.

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Student parties blamed as South Africa braces for Covid second wave

Health minister says end-of-year mass gatherings are turning into super-spreader events

 

Health workers prepare for Covid testing in Johannesburg. Photograph: Michele Spatari/AFP via Getty Images

South Africans have been warned to brace for a second wave of Covid-19 infections that has been blamed on a series of mass end-of-year parties held by students.

Zweli Mkhize, the health minister, said on Monday that numbers of new infections were rising fast and warned that if the trajectory continued health systems would be overwhelmed.

“A new issue and most worrying is … a large number of parties and young people drinking alcohol with no adherence to [social distancing and other measures] … This inevitably leads to super-spreader events … We have to contain these parties and mass gatherings,” Mkhize said.

One event in the south-eastern coastal town of Ballito earlier this month that was attended by more than 1,500 recent school leavers has been blamed for sparking a massive wave of infections.

Almost two-thirds of those present at the “Ballito Rage” festival – a series of parties, concerts and club nights – have tested positive, including hundreds who returned to homes many hundreds of miles from the venue.

Authorities are trying to trace all those who attended the festival, urging them to self-isolate.

Organisers said the event had received the go-ahead from local authorities, and that venues had been inspected by police.

Similar events involving students in Cape Town were blamed for accelerating a second wave of infections in and around the city, a favourite with tourists.

New infections in South Africa are highest in the 15-19 age group, statistics show.

“This age group is highly mobile and the majority of carriers are asymptomatic,” Mkhize said.

South Africa has recorded 861,000 cases of the virus, with 23,276 deaths, according to official statistics. Excess mortality studies suggest a death toll of more than 50,000 due to the outbreak. The president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is due to address the nation on Monday evening.

The disease claimed another high-profile victim over the weekend. The prime minister of Eswatini, which borders South Africa, died on Sunday aged 52 after being hospitalised with Covid. The small kingdom has recorded 127 confirmed deaths so far among 1.2m inhabitants.

“Their Majesties have commanded that I inform the nation of the sad and untimely passing away of His Excellency the Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini. His Excellency passed on this afternoon while under medical care in a hospital in South Africa,” the deputy prime minister, Themba Masuku, said in a statement.

South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised nation, was widely praised for its initial response to the pandemic but criticism has since mounted since as the government has struggled to retain public trust amid allegations of widespread corruption, arbitrary decisions on restrictions and administrative incompetence.

The difficulty – if not outright impossibility – of social distancing in South Africa’s poorer, tightly packed urban areas was an enabler for the spread of the virus in the early months of the outbreak.

Harsh curfews inflicted massive suffering on the very large number of people who do not have regular incomes but rely on day-to-day earnings to pay for basic necessities.

The second wave of infections appears to have been accelerated by events aimed at more prosperous parts of South African society.

There have been more than 2.3m confirmed cases of Covid on the African continent – with more than 2m recoveries and 55,000 deaths cumulatively, according to the World Health Organization.

 

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Three Nigerian artistes remanded to prison in Uganda for flouting Covid-19 guidelines

Nigerian musician Oma Lay, PHOTO/ STEPHEN OTAGE

Seven people, including two Nigerian musicians and their manager, have been remanded to prison in Uganda after they were on Monday charged with engaging in a negligent act likely to spread COVID-19.

The suspects include, Stanley Omah Didia alias Omah Lay, a 23-year-old Nigerian musician and resident of Lagos; Openyi Temilade, a 25 year-old Nigerian artist and resident of Lagos as well as their 28-year-old manager, Awonyi Muyiwa who is also a resident of Lago.

Other suspects include Salima Kim, 31, resident of Kololo, Kampala; Ivan Ddungu, 41, resident of Kamwokya in Kampala; Philip Kasakye, 34-year-old events security coordinator and resident of Tula road, Kawempe Division, Kampala. They are charged alongside Benjamin Kabuura, a 30-year-old farmer and resident of Kololo, Kampala.

They appeared before Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court, in Kampala on Monday.

Prosecution states that Kim, Ddungu, Kasakye, Kabuura, Omah, Muyiwa, Openyi and others still at large n December 12, 2020 at Ddungu Resort Mulungo Munyonyo, Makindye Division in Kampala District, held a music concert where a Nigerian musician performed and over 200 people gathered without observing the ministry of health guidelines, an act liely to cause the spread of an infectious disease (Covid-19) Contrary to section 171 of the Penal Code Act.

Their attempt to apply for bail failed on grounds that they did not present substantial sureties.

The presiding magistrate, Mr Judi Okumi said: “You have a right to bail but your sureties are not substantial. Go and first prepare. However, you’re remanded until December 16,” he said.

Tamilade and Salima were remanded to Kigo prison while the other five suspects were remanded to Kitalya prison until December 16, 2020 when they will appear before High Court through video conferencing.

The development comes amid reports that health facilities in Uganda are grappling with the surging number of Covid-19 cases.

The ministry of health on Sunday confirmed 461 new virus infections as number of confirmed cases rose to 27,532.

The ministry also said the virus deaths had reached 221 after another person succumbed to covid-19.

 

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New exile for Eritrean refugees fleeing Ethiopia

Tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting in Tigray

Among the thousands of people fleeing the five-week-old conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region are a few dozen men, women and children from Eritrea, one of the world's most authoritarian states.

They were already living as refugees in Tigray, which had long been a safe haven for them during years of conflict and repression in Eritrea.

But when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government launched a military operation against Tigray's ruling party, the Eritrean refugees' illusion of safety was shattered as violence escalated around their camps.

"Suddenly soldiers came to our camp and they started shooting," Kheder Adam told AFP in a Sudanese refugee camp. "The situation was very serious. There was a lot gunfire."

Kheder and his family had originally settled in one of the refugee camps in the Sheraro area of Tigray near the Eritrean border around two years ago, he said.

For years, Ethiopia and Eritrea had been officially in a state of war.

In 2018, Abiy took power, ending years of political dominance by the Tigray People's Liberation Front -- sworn enemies of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.

Abiy and Afwerki signed a historic peace agreement that same year, winning the Ethiopian leader the Nobel Peace Prize.

After the dramatic shift in alliances, Abiy's forces launched their operation in Tigray on November 4, Eritreans who had long benefitted from protection in Ethiopia appear to have become a target.

Since then, a few Eritrean refugees have managed to escape to Sudan.

The UN, meanwhile, has expressed fears for the safety for those still in Tigray, home to some 96,000 Eritrean refugees living in four refugee camps.

- 'Refugee again' -

Kheder, 30, who was separated by the recent violence from his wife and two children, aged three and one, was among several Eritrean refugees interviewed by AFP at a reception centre for new arrivals from Ethiopia in Hamdayit on the eastern Sudanese border.

"Some of the soldiers were Eritreans, some of them were (Ethiopian) federal soldiers," said Kheder, of the attack on the camp in Tigray.

"They were shooting at all people. All -- women, men, children," he said.

His comments were echoed Friday by a US State Department spokesperson -- though the Ethiopian government, a US ally, has denied the claim.

"I feel worried and sad to be a refugee again. There I was a refugee, and here I am also a refugee. It's really difficult," said Kheder.

He cited Eritrea's notorious policy of universal, indefinite conscription as one reason why he fled his home country in the first place.

"They forced us" to undergo a mandatory national service in Eritrea, he said. "That's why we decided to go to Ethiopia."

The Eritrean regime once used its war against Ethiopia to justify its system of universal conscription.

But the system remains in place despite the fact that the war ended in the year 2000, followed by the peace agreement in 2018.

Rights groups say Eritrea's national service often extends for years and any act of desertion or perceived disobedience leads to jail and torture.

- 'Safe' in Sudan -

Along with some three dozen other Eritreans, Kheder has found shelter in Hamdayit reception camp, with camp authorities keeping them separate from Ethiopian refugees.

According to camp manager Yaaqoub Mohammad, the Eritreans, like the Ethiopians, are safe in Sudan.

But he worries for the Eritreans still in Tigray, after what he describes, citing the refugees themselves, as "an attack" on refugee camps in Sheraro.

"The survivors fled to save their lives. Some of them were able to reach Sudan, while we don't know where the others are," Mohammad says.

On Friday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said he was "deeply alarmed about the safety and well-being of Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia" caught in the conflict in Tigray.

"Over the last month we have received an overwhelming number of disturbing reports of Eritrean refugees in Tigray being killed, abducted and forcibly returned to Eritrea," he added in a statement.

Prior to the conflict, UNHCR and other aid agencies provided aid for Eritrean refugees in the camps in Ethiopia.

But most UNHCR staff have since been evacuated out of concern for their safety, and Ethiopia has restricted access to Tigray.

Speaking to AFP in Gedaref, a Sudanese town near the camps, UNHCR's principal emergency coordinator Andrew Mbogori said Eritrean refugees find themselves in an especially difficult situation in Tigray.

"You can imagine, you are a refugee in a country and then this country conflict erupts so you find yourself in double trouble," Mbogori said, adding they were "encountering a lot of difficulties".

- 'Living peacefully' -

Seated on a bench under the blazing midday sun with fellow Eritrean refugees, Shishay Yacoubay, a 46-year-old with a short goatee, says he arrived in Hamdayit just days afer violence erupted in Tigray.

Like Kheder, he does not know where his wife and four children are, though he believes they may still be at Hitsats camp near Sheraro in Tigray, where they lived.

Shishay also said Eritreans were among those firing at the camp.

"We were living peacefully. But suddenly Eritreans and federal soldiers came and started to fire at civilians," Shishay told AFP through a translator. "So after that I fled the camp, separated from my family."

On Friday, the United States said it believed Eritrean forces had entered Tigray and urged their withdrawal.

"We are aware of credible reports of Eritrean military involvement in Tigray and view this as a grave development," a State Department spokesperson said.

But Ethiopian ambassador to the US Fitsum Arega denied this, saying in a tweet: "Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth!"

- Dissidents, deserters -

If confirmed, the presence of Eritrean soldiers in Tigray would represent a major shift in a conflict that has already pushed nearly 50,000 people from Tigray into Sudan, according to UN figures.

With Ethiopian-Eritrean relations restored, it may be that Eritrea no longer wants Ethiopia to host any dissidents or deserters, according to William Davison, senior analyst for Ethiopia with the International Crisis Group think tank.

"Some of the Eritrean refugees who ended up in Ethiopia would have been conscripted Eritrean soldiers who deserted," he told AFP.

"It could be that the Eritrean government wants to punish them for leaving the military... Because of improving relations, the Eritrean government has gained more ability to influence the Ethiopian government not to be a host for dissidents."

Speaking to AFP from her home in Sweden, Swedish-Eritrean journalist Meron Estefanos also believes draft evaders are being targeted.

"The demographics in the camps, with a lot of people (evading) the Eritrean national service, makes them a target," said Estefanos, who is monitoring the conflict through a network of Eritrean contacts.

Rahwa, a 19-year-old Eritrean woman with a red cotton print scarf over her hair and black khol eyeliner, says she arrived in Ethiopia in early 2020.

She was with a group of women and children inside a grim concrete shelter -- a small improvement on the straw and wood makeshift shelters and tents that tens of thousands of Ethiopians have made their temporary homes in Sudan's camps.

"My parents are still in Eritrea and they want me to go back," Rahwa said through a translator.

"But I don't want to. If I go back, things will not be good for me," added the young woman, who AFP is identifying only by her first name due to concerns for her safety.

Because she dropped out of school, she would be automatically drafted into the military, she said.

"I don't want to do that. No, I cannot do that."

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Choose between life and death this Christmas, Mkhize tells SA

Health minister Zweli Mkhize says South Africans face a life-or-death struggle over the festive season.
Image: Sandile Ndlovu

South Africans must choose between life and “sickness or death” as the country faces a devastating second wave of Covid-19 infections, health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Saturday.

Speaking during a webinar, Mkhize said: “If we choose life, then we must realise that we have to make sacrifices during this festive season. It will not be possible to celebrate the holidays in the way we are accustomed to.

“We must now understand that the frivolities that are usually associated with the festive season must make way for the things that really matter — family and friends, caring for one another, physical and spiritual rejuvenation and preserving the spirit of ubuntu,” Mkhize told a virtual gathering to mark Universal Health Coverage Day.

“We therefore all need to take action to save lives and protect everyone. We must commit to small gatherings, responsible drinking, frequent sanitising or washing of hands and surfaces, social distancing and we must never compromise on the correct and consistent wearing of masks.”

Active Covid-19 infections in SA have almost doubled to 63,758 since reaching a low of 33,753 on November 10, and this week Mkhize said the second wave was now firmly established, propelled by soaring infection rates in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

The minister told webinar delegates: “We find ourselves in the midst of a second wave that seems determined to dwarf the first wave.

“As we are confronted by the heavy storm approaching us, I must take the opportunity to appeal to the public, particularly our youth, to be fully conscious of their agency and the role they must play to protect everyone from the devastation of Covid-19.

“We, as government, have and will continue to mobilise all the state machinery we have at our disposal to fight Covid-19. But this virus can only be defeated by each and every South African’s sense of duty and compassion. Only you have the power to stop Covid-19.”

Mkhize said SA had “endeavoured not to waste the proverbial good crisis” by trying to use the pandemic as a way of introducing elements of universal health coverage.

“It is now well recognised that SA is one of those nations that has adopted and deployed a highly co-ordinated response to the onslaught of Covid-19,” he said.

“This is because, for the first time in our history, we approached a public health crisis as one unit, through pooling of resources. We paid special attention to strengthening the primary health care system through our community testing and screening campaigns and mobile testing units, among other strategies.

“We are therefore feeling highly encouraged by the progress that has been made towards universal health coverage in this country, even as we faced significant pushback from the advent of Covid-19.”

 

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U.S. to sanction Turkey over Russian defense system - sources

The United States is poised to impose sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition last year of Russian S-400 air defense systems, four sources including two U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, a move likely to worsen already problematic ties between the two NATO allies.

 

FILE PHOTO: A view shows a new S-400 "Triumph" surface-to-air missile system after its deployment at a military base outside the town of Gvardeysk near Kaliningrad, Russia March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Vitaly Nevar

The long-anticipated step, which is likely to infuriate Ankara and severely complicate relations with the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, could be announced any day, sources said.

The sanctions would target Turkey’s Presidency of Defence Industries and its head, Ismail Demir, sources have said. Several sources said they were expecting the announcement on Friday but one said it could come any day and perhaps as soon as Thursday.

The Turkish lira weakened following the news. U.S. sanctions could harm a Turkish economy already struggling with a coronavirus-induced slowdown, double-digit inflation and badly depleted foreign reserves.

A senior Turkish official said sanctions would backfire and hurt ties between the two NATO members.

“Sanctions would not achieve a result but be counter-productive. They would harm relations,” the official said.

“Turkey is in favour of solving these problems with diplomacy and negotiations. We won’t accept one-sided impositions,” he said.

To be sure, the U.S. State Department could alter its plans and widen or narrow the scope of planned sanctions against Turkey, a NATO ally for decades.

However, sources said the announcement of the sanctions in their current form was imminent and suggested the United States -- after long waiting for Turkey to change course in the face of U.S. warnings about sanctions requirements under the law -- was out of patience and finally ready to act.

The Pentagon referred questions on any potential sanctions to the State Department. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia delivered the ground-to-air S-400s last year and Turkey tested them as recently as October. Ankara said they would not be integrated into NATO systems and pose no threat, and has called for a joint working group on the issue.

But the United States has stressed that the S-400 poses a threat regardless, and went so far as to announce last year that it was removing Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program over Ankara’s decision.

Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter jet is the most advanced aircraft in the U.S. arsenal and is used by NATO members and other U.S. allies.

 

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WORLD BANK: Nigerian economy at risk of ‘unraveling’

Impact of pandemic will send personal incomes in Africa’s largest economy back four decades

 

To avoid a prolonged recession, Nigeria will have to enact a series of potentially politically unpopular reforms, the World Bank said © KC Nwakalor/Bloomberg

The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic will send personal incomes in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, back four decades, the World Bank has warned. While the pandemic is set to create millions of “new poor” in middle-income countries, Nigeria is uniquely vulnerable because of its precarious pre-pandemic economic situation — in which unemployment and inflation were already rising and incomes were falling — and its dependency on oil and remittances, the lender said. 

Nigeria has registered 1,184 deaths from Covid-19 and a four-week lockdown hit the informal economy hard. With more than half of the country’s population unemployed or underemployed, inflation has risen sharply over the past 12 months while foreign investment has plummeted and the economy is forecast to contract by about 4 per cent this year. If Africa’s biggest oil producer is to avoid a prolonged recession, it will have to enact a series of potentially politically unpopular reforms, the World Bank warned. 

“This is not just any crisis for Nigeria . . . how it responds will set the course for the next few decades,” Shubham Chaudhuri, head of the World Bank’s mission in Nigeria, told the Financial Times. “There’s . . . an opportunity to not return to business as usual, but the risk of [the economy] unravelling is real.”

The Nigerian economy is forecast to contract by about 4% this year © Tom Saater/Bloomberg 

Mr Chaudhuri praised the government’s efforts, spurred by the pandemic-related economic crisis, to remove a fuel subsidy that costs the government billions of dollars a year, raise electricity tariffs and move towards a market-driven exchange rate.  

“For the first time in many years, in the last nine months, the government has made some pretty politically courageous decisions but the key is to keep the momentum on those,” he said. But without a strong policy response, 

“Nigeria risks repeating the experience of the 1980s shocks, which set back Nigeria’s development progress by decades”, according to a brief shared by the World Bank. Unlike the 2015-16 recession, which also followed an oil price slump, Nigeria cannot afford to just “muddle through”, Mr Chaudhuri said, because of the broader global economic crisis.

Mr Chaudhuri’s comments came as the bank released its annual Nigeria development report, which suggested reforms including moving even closer to a market-driven exchange rate, reopening land borders, easing forex restrictions on business, reforming the tax system, fixing the power sector and extending direct cash transfers to the vulnerable and poor.  “It’s not entirely a doomsday scenario . . . because there is a choice” to enact such reforms, Mr Chaudhuri said. 

The World Bank expects 15m to 20m Nigerians, roughly 10 per cent of the population, to be driven into poverty — living on less than $1.90 a day — by 2022 mostly because of the pandemic.

 

Nigeria will lose 14 years of per capita income in the next two to three years because of Covid-19, going back to 2010 levels, which is the equivalent in real terms of 1980, the lender said. The average loss in incomes of other middle-income countries is seven years.  

The bank estimates that government revenues will fall by the equivalent of at least 2 per cent of gross domestic product in 2020 alone as a result of the oil price slump. Remittances, which made up about 5 per cent of GDP last year, are set to fall as much as 20 per cent this year. 

Domestically, Nigeria is facing rising insecurity and tensions arising from growing dissatisfaction among the soaring population of jobless youth, as exhibited by the unrest following a crackdown on peaceful anti-police brutality protests in Lagos in October. 

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Zimbabwe opposition VP Biti released on bail in assault case

Tendai Biti, vice president of Zimbabwe’s main opposition MDC alliance, denies charges of assaulting a Russian national.

 

Zimbabwean lawyer Tendai Biti, 53, was freed on $10,000 bail after a night behind bars [File: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP Photo]

Zimbabwean police briefly arrested a former finance minister and top opposition alliance official late on Friday on the charge of assaulting a Russian national last month, his party’s spokeswoman has said.

Tendai Biti, 53, was freed on $10,000 bail on Saturday after a night behind bars, after being charged with assault.

The provincial head magistrate in Harare, Vongai Muchuchuti, set his trial for January 18.

The charge against Biti, a legislator and vice president of Zimbabwe’s opposition alliance Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), relates to an alleged incident following a court hearing on November 30.

Biti, who is also a qualified lawyer, was involved in litigation, representing a client in the Harare Airport Road scandal, Tatiana Aleshina, a Russian national, who was reportedly whispering information to the prosecution constantly.

Biti voiced a complaint to the magistrate about Aleshina’s conduct.

“After the court hearing, Aleshina confronted honourable Biti threatening that he should not mention his name,” MDC spokeswoman Fadzai Mahere told AFP news agency, adding that she then filed a police report.

He was arrested when he went to the police to clear his name, Mahere added.

“Biti’s only crime is unearthing the corruption scandal concerning the Harare Airport Road land deal involving the complainant, Aleshina, and businessmen linked to [President] Emmerson Mnangagwa.”

In court, prosecutor Idah Maromo argued that Biti had assaulted Aleshina by threatening her, pointing his finger at her face, shouting insults at the top of his voice, “intending to inspire fear of belief into her mind”.

Biti denied the charge and his party described it as “trumped up” and a “weaponisation of the law” to target party members and officials.

His lawyer Alec Muchadehama also said that Zimbabwean police were “not working on their own”.

“There is an external force telling them what to do and who to arrest,” he said.

The opposition alliance MDC said on Twitter that Biti had been detained “on spurious charges”.

“His arrest and persecution are a diversionary tactic by the regime to detract from his expose of the corrupt Airport Rd scandal. VP Biti did not assault anyone,” it said.

Below are the charge sheet and state outline in the "assault" case against VP @BitiTendai. He denies the charges. https://t.co/uQqCMfdlWs pic.twitter.com/QTx7AN5vrk

— MDC Alliance (@mdczimbabwe) December 5, 2020

Biti has previously been charged with treason, among other criminal offences.

Zimbabwean police have in the past arrested several opposition officials, which the party argues is a way of weakening their struggle against the governing ZANU-PF.

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Kibiwott Kandie smashes half marathon world record, a Kenyan double in Valencia marathon

All top four finishers in the half marathon managed to beat the previous mark of 58:01 set by Geoffrey Kamworor last year. Evans Chebet and Peres Jepchirchir win the men and women's marathon in course records.

Kibiwott Kandie led Jacob Kiplimo home in world record time to win the Valencia Half Marathon on Sunday in a reverse of the World Championship result from October.

Kandie, Kiplimo, Rhonex Kipruto, and Alexander Mutiso all finished the race in under 58 minutes, bettering the existing record of 58:01 set by Geoffrey Kamworor in Copenhagen in September 2019.

Kenya's Kandie finished in 57:32, taking more than a minute off his previous personal record of 58:37. Ugandan Kiplimo and Kandie's compatriot Mutiso also lowered their own personal bests by similar margins, while it was Kipruto's debut over the distance.

🔝 🥇 RÉCORD DEL MUNDO para Kibiwott Kandie en el medio maratón. #VamosMaratónValencia pic.twitter.com/7K60QKESH8

— #Vamos de Movistar+ (@vamos) December 6, 2020

 The new record is subject to World Athletics' usual ratification processes.

It is the fourth time Kandie has run sub-59 minutes this year, having also done so at the Ras Al Khaimah, Prague, and Gdynia half marathons.

Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia won the women's race in a course record one hour, five minutes 18 seconds, missing the women's world record in a mixed race (1:04.31) currently held by Ababel Yeshaneh who set it in RAK earlier this year.

It was Dibaba's first race in 16 months, since last August, and her debut over the half marathon distance.

Kenyan double in the marathon

Kenya’s Evans Chebet sprinted past compatriot Lawrence Cherono in the home stretch to win the Valencia marathon in a course record of 2:03:00.

The men’s race was a close one with Chebet and Cherono going head to head in the final kilometre after dropping Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese, the 2019 Tokyo marathon champion.

This was the first big marathon win for the 32-year-old Chebet that moves him to sixth in the men’s marathon all-time list.

Chebet’s victory also ensured that a Kenyan topped the podium again for the 18th time in the last 40 editions of the Valencia Marathon.

“I am happy because I have run my personal best here," said Chebet after the race.

"I know this course very well. I am happy because it’s my first major win and in a course record,” said the Kenyan who finished 28th at the Rio 2016 marathon, delighted and hopeful that his top finish could impress Athletics Kenya selectors for the Tokyo Olympics.

 

Evans Chebet of Kenya won the Men’s Marathon in Valencia with a course Record.

The reigning Boston and Chicago Marathon champion Cherono who had a slight stumble in the last bend clocked 2:03:04 for second, in his third big marathon in the last 18 months.

Legese finished third in 2:03:16, in the race that saw eight of the top 10 finishers record personal bests.

Cherono, 32, was named by Athletics Kenya in Kenya’s provisional Tokyo Olympics marathon team alongside the Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge and World Championships marathon bronze medalist Amos Kipruto.

Double Olympian Ayad Lamdassem set a Spanish men's marathon record of 2:06:35 that qualifies him for the Games in Tokyo.

🔴 RÉCORD DE ESPAÑA 🔴

Ayad Lamdassem 2h06:35 #42KValencia #EActíVate pic.twitter.com/qJIOXtL9mc

— Maratón Valencia (@maratonvalencia) December 6, 2020

 

 

Just seven weeks after winning the World Half Marathon title in a world record, Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya won the women’s race in 2:17:16, also a course record.

“It’s unbelievable,“ said Jepchirchir, a double world half marathon gold medallist.

It was the perfect ending of the season for Jepchirchir who holds the world record for the women-only of 1:05:16 from her winning run in Poland on 17 October.

In Gdynia she improved her own 21km world mark from the previous month set in Prague, and is now the fifth fastest women marathoner.

 

Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya wins the Women’s Marathon in Valencia with a Course Record.

It was another 1-2 finish for Kenya as Joyciline Jepkosgei clocked 2:18:40 for second ahead of third placed Namibian record holder Helalia Johannes, the 2019 World Championships bronze medallist. Johannes crossed the line in 2:19:52.

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Scientists are worried a second wave of Covid-19 infections is starting in Kenya and South Africa

 Protecting school children in Kenya.

Many African countries have been widely praised for their effective response to curbing the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Countries in the continent had from the onset of the pandemic implemented social distancing measures to control the spread of the virus and had from around August been reporting a decline in daily cases and deaths.

Against expectations, Africa has so far recorded a far lower tally of Covid-19 cases and deaths compared to Europe, Asia, the Americas, or the Middle East. The continent which accounts for about 18% of the global population, only accounts for about 3.2% of Covid-19 cases and 2.5% of deaths by the diseases globally.

But in recent weeks, there has been a resurgence in new cases and deaths in the continent.

As the US and European countries report a resurgence of cases in what is being referred to as the “second wave,” the resurgence of cases in some African countries is viewed as the potential beginning of a second wave across the continent.

There has been a resurgence in Egypt, DR Congo, and South Africa that may be the beginning of a second wave, but in Kenya, the picture looks different. Kenya appears to be fully experiencing a second wave. Over 1,500 new cases were reported in November surpassing those recorded (less than 1000 cases) during the worst time of the pandemic in the country before a decline in August.

Kenya has now topped 85,000 Covid-19 cases and nearly 1500 deaths including 31 health workers.  It has lost nine doctors, four who died in November. The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union threatened a national strike from this weekend (Dec. 6) if the government did not provide protective equipment and medical insurance for its members, and compensation for health workers who die from Covid-19.

Kenya appears to be experiencing a second wave of Covid-19 cases *as of Dec. 3

 

Professor Kevin Marsh, a senior advisor and co-lead of the Covid-19 team at the African Academy of Sciences says calling these resurgences in Kenya and South Africa, a second wave depends on how one defines it.

“There is certainly a rise in cases and deaths in both countries following an initial drop. In Kenya, it is not clear if this is a genuine rise in transmission or whether it reflects cases from further afield coming into urban centers following the relaxation of restrictions on movement,” he says.

South Africa, which has reported the highest cases and deaths in Africa due to risk factors such as an older population and a high rate of HIV and tuberculosis infections, had been able to drastically reduced the number of daily cases and death. However, in the recent week alone, the number of new cases has increased from around 2000 to over 4000.

“It looks like there is a resurgence or an increase in the number of infections as compared to a few weeks ago,” says professor Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). “This uptick could be the beginning of a new surge. The next peak will depend on interventions implemented to try and reduce community transmission.”

Gray says there is a discrepancy between the number of deaths that were expected by this time this year in South Africa and what is being observed. That is, there are more deaths in the country due to Covid-19 than is expected.

She says this could be due to under-reporting of COVID-19 in death certificates, people dying of Covid-19 without a diagnosis, and collateral deaths from diseases such as HIV and Tuberculosis at home.

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US removes visa fees for Nigerians

The statement

The United States government has announced the removal of visa reciprocity fees for Nigerian citizens with effect from December 3.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made this announcement in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Ferdinand Nwonye in Abuja on Saturday.

According to the statement,  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to inform that the United States Government removed all visa reciprocity fees for Nigerian citizens seeking visas to the United States.

“The positive development is in line with the removal of the excess visa application process and biometric fees to United States citizens applying for a Nigerian visa by the Nigerian government.

“The United Government has, therefore, eliminated reciprocity fees for Nigerians citizens with effect from December 3.

“Prospective Nigerian travellers to the United States are, hereby, advised to visit www.travel.state.gov for details,” the statement added.

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A Nigerian massacre: The Cheat Sheet

Men gather during a mass burial at Zabarmari, in the Jere local government area of Borno State, in northeast Nigeria, on Nov. 29 after a militant attack. (Ahmed Kingimi/Reuters)

The massacre on 29 November of at least 43 farm labourers outside Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri has shocked even this war-numbed country. The migrant workers were all decapitated or had their throats slit by Abubakar Shekau’s faction of Boko Haram.

It was punishment, the jihadists said, for the passing of information to the army by farmers tired of the insurgents’ extortion. In a staggeringly tone-deaf comment, a senior government official blamed the farmers for not seeking military clearance before heading to the fields.

In the ensuing uproar, there have been demands for President Muhammadu Buhari to resign – even from within his northern powerbase. Northern social media has also attacked his more general failure to #SecureNorth – a reference to the wider banditry roiling the region.

Nigeria’s powerful governors are backing calls to hire private military companies, like South Africa’s STTEP.

“Nigeria has made no visible headway despite sinking billions of dollars to prosecute the war,” Idayat Hassan of the Centre for Democracy and Development told The New Humanitarian. “We, the citizens, are just helpless onlookers.”

SOURCE: The New Humanitarian

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Yellow fever claims 172 lives In Nigeria: WHO

A yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria has killed 172 people so far, the WHO said. - AFP/File

A yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria has killed 172 people so far, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Friday.

The outbreak poses an extra challenge to the country's health system as Africa's most populous nation deals with the Covid-19 pandemic, several concurrent disease outbreaks and a humanitarian crisis in the northeast, the WHO said.

Nigeria has been battling successive yellow fever outbreaks since 2017. This latest outbreak was detected in November, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva.

"As of November 24, the outbreak has been reported in five states in Nigeria: Delta, Enugu, Bauchi, Benue and Ebonyi," he said.

"A total of 530 suspected cases have been reported, including 48 that have been confirmed by lab testing.

"A total of 172 deaths have been reported out of those 530 suspected cases."

He said sample testing was ongoing through national reference laboratories.

The spokesman said Nigerian national and state authorities were focused on the Covid-19 pandemic response, limiting the human resources required to conduct investigations and response activities for the yellow fever outbreaks.

Capacity has been increased in certain hospitals to help manage patients who develop yellow fever symptoms and complications.

Currently, 16 of Nigeria's 36 states and the federal capital territory have completed vaccination campaigns.

Six more are expected to do so in the first quarter of 2021, with a further six set to do so by the end of next year, bringing the total to 28, the WHO said.

The percentage of people immunised against yellow fever remains low in many parts of Africa, even though the vaccine is nearly 100 per cent effective and relatively cheap.

There is no specific treatment for yellow fever, which is largely transmitted in urban settings by mosquitoes.

Nigeria, like the rest of Africa, has so far been spared the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic but authorities are wary of a fresh wave.

So far, more than 68,300 cases of Covid-19 have been registered, and 1,179 deaths.

 

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UK increases efforts in tackling climate change in Kenya

The UK has launched a Climate Changemakers photography competition to spur Kenyan voices to share what climate change means to them.

The UK is stepping up to drive climate action in Kenya, British High Commissioner Jane Marriott announced today. During a visit to Lake Baringo, she reaffirmed that the UK is doubling its commitment to providing international climate finance by KES 1.7 trillion over the next 5 years.

During the visit, High Commissioner Jane Marriott met with businesses, schools and community leaders affected by the rise of Lake Baringo. The lake has risen by over 42 inches since May, impacting jobs, education and health services. The UK is committed to tackling climate change in Kenya, and the related issues that have driven the flooding.

As shown by Lake Baringo, the impacts of climate change are being felt all over Kenya, but these effects are felt the most by the communities directly impacted. Next year the UK will host the global climate change talks, and today Ms Marriott launched a new initiative inviting Kenyans to submit their photographs depicting how climate change is affecting the country.

Photographs can portray the very real challenges people face in Kenya. Winning photographs will cover the following categories: nature based solutions to climate change, climate technology and innovation, and adapting to climate change in the community.

Speaking on the shores of Lake Baringo, British High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriott said:

Climate change is already a daily reality for people across Kenya. Vulnerable communities that rely on their natural environment for survival are most at risk, least able to prepare and hardest hit. The UK will provide a platform for Kenyan voices and experiences in the run up to the climate change conference next year in the UK, to build a brighter, greener, future.

Vice President of the World Resources Institute and Friend of COP26 Wanjira Mathai said:

Without support to locally led measures to adapt to climate impacts and increase the resilience of economic activities, communities will sink further into poverty and hopelessness. The need for urgent climate action is clear. We need to re-set our relationship with nature and through our collective action reverse the damage we have done to mother earth.

The initiative comes during a Year of Climate Action in Kenya, a partnership to celebrate the leadership that Kenya has shown in areas such as climate policy, clean energy, and green finance.

Edouard Wenseleers, Globeleq’s Business Development Director for East Africa said:

Globeleq’s mission is to power Africa’s growth. As a responsible investor and power producer, Globeleq is committed to grow its business in a manner that is sustainable and respectful of the environment and the communities. Our Malindi Solar project in Kenya is a testimony of that commitment and we are delighted to sponsor the ‘Climate Changemakers Photography Competition’ launched by the British High Commission in Nairobi.

Last month, the UK announced a KES 1.2 billion (£8m) package of UK initiatives to support climate action in Kenya and Africa.

The UK is also backing new pioneering satellite projects that will apply British expertise to tackling development problems in Kenya. UK academics will work on data solutions to manage natural resources and protecting wildlife. In Kenya, these projects will protect biodiversity, and increase climate change resilience:

Sat4Wildlife - to protect wildlife habitats in Kenya, using innovative sensing and monitoring technologies to boost the capacity of conservationists, including Ol Pejeta Conservancy to tackle threats to people and wildlife.

gEOthermalKenya - working with Kenya’s National Environmental Management Authority to support the sustainable growth of the geothermal sector, through a combination of satellite data insights and community consultations

Earth Observation for Sustainable Aggregate Supply - supporting sustainable management of sand resources

The competition is open from Friday, 4 December 2020 and will close at midnight Sunday, 31 January 2021. Winners will be notified on Wangari Maathai Day on 3 March 2021

Notes to editors:

The photography competition, sponsored by Globeleq, will see up to three Kenyans win KES 200,000 each and a chance to visit and photograph the Globeleq Malindi Solar project once in operation

Winners will be selected by a panel comprising of the British High Commissioner to Kenya, Jane Marriott, the Principal Secretary Ministry of Environment and Forestry Dr. Chris Kiptoo, Vice President and Regional Director for Africa, World Resources Institute, Wanjira Mathai and a representative from the competition sponsor, Globeleq

The Terms and Conditions can be found here Terms and Conditions (ODT, 19.9KB)

The recent 1.2 billion KES package of UK support to tackle climate change in Africa includes:

The UK PACT Green Recovery Challenge Fund programme to Kenya and other countries with KES 770 million (£5.3m) available to support low-carbon transitions through clean energy and nature-based solutions;

A new UK funded partnership between Cambridge University, the Eastern & Southern African Management Institute, the International Institute for Environment and Development and FSD Africa to build capacity to access climate finance across Africa;

UK support to the FlipFlopi Project, in partnership with UNEP, to combat plastic waste and water pollution in Kenya and Lake Victoria, and work by BBC Media Action to train and mentor journalists to report on pollution issues and local solutions including recycling

 

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