Africa News and Discussions

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caltrek
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More Violence in Minembwe
by Georges Budagu Makoko
October 11, 2022

Introduction:
(AmJamboa Africa) On October 9, in the city of Minembwe, in the eastern part of DR Congo, a 14 year old boy named Mugaza Ngenganyi Samuel was murdered. According to witnesses, he was tortured, and his hand was cut off by a member of the Congolese military, then displayed as a trophy to his miliary comrades. This is the latest in a long string of violent acts against the Banyamulenge minority community in DR Congo.

Richard Munyetwari, President of the Banyamulenge community in Maine, expressed his deep dismay over the loss of such a young boy. “I am a father of three, and I can only imagine the pain and grief that Samuel’s father and his siblings are going through right now,” he said. Munyetwari pointed out that this event is part of a slow genocide that is ongoing against the Banyamulenge. “The genocide started many years ago, but recently took a terrible turn in 2017,” he said.
Read more here: https://www.amjamboafrica.com/more-vio ... minembwe/

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VIolence is extremely topically for a large percentage of africa. IT seems that every tribe hates each other. :shock:
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caltrek wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 9:19 pm “I am a father of three, and I can only imagine the pain and grief that Samuel’s father and his siblings are going through right now,” he said.
Not to sound disrespectful but I think that child suffered by far the most.
weatheriscool wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 9:23 pm VIolence is extremely topically for a large percentage of africa. IT seems that every tribe hates each other. :shock:
It happens in many places, it's just that many African governments lack the means to prevent large-scale confrontations (or abuses like in this case).
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As Ethiopia-Tigray War Parties Agree to a Pause, Experts Offer Insights into Two Years of Devastating Conflict
by Julius Maina
November 2, 2022

Introduction:
(The Conversation) The main combatants in the two-year Ethiopia-Tigray war have announced a dramatic pause in hostilities. What started on November 3 2020 as a swift armed mission by Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed to bring the rebellious state of Tigray to order soon degenerated into a humanitarian nightmare in which innocent civilians have been killed and many more rendered homeless or destitute.

As many as 500,000 people had died as a result of war-related violence and famine by late 2022. In 2021, Ethiopia reported 5.1 million internally displaced people in 12 months. This, according to a report, is the highest number internally displaced in any country in any single year. Millions more have fled to Sudan as northern Ethiopia, especially Tigray, remains cut off from food, water and medical aid.

Over the course of the war, various scholars have written important articles for The Conversation Africa on the war and its devastating consequences. Here are five essential reads.

1. African Union’s failure to broker peace

The African Union pledged in 2016 to “silence the guns” by the end of 2020: to end armed conflict on the continent. But until now the AU has not exerted its influence to broker a ceasefire or find peace over the past two years.
Read more here: https://theconversation.com/ethiopia-t ... ct-193636
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Nigeria: A Democracy In Search Of Democrats
by Kola King
November 21, 2022

Introduction:
(Eurasia Review) The recent simultaneous attacks on the offices of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC in Abeokuta, Ogun State and Ede, Osun State is as though a dagger thrust through the heart of democracy. Apparently, the perpetrators of that dastardly crime described as arsonists were acting on the prompting of their political paymasters. Whoever is behind those attacks are enemies of democracy. All these portend ominous signals for our democracy.

Also, Nigeria’s democracy may be imperiled judging by the litigious propensity of politicians to dispute the outcome of every election. Due to this proclivity on the part of political actors, INEC is saddled with hundreds of electoral cases across the country over the election of candidates in the party primaries, even as it prepares for the 2023 general elections. Specifically, the Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, said recently in Abuja that the commission is currently facing 600 court cases that arose over the nomination of candidates for the 2023 general elections. This is outside cases that arise from election petitions from State and National Assemblies to gubernatorial and presidential elections.

The INEC chief who spoke at a seminar organized by the Court of Appeal for Election Petition Tribunal members billed to adjudicate on election disputes for next year’s general elections stated that the situation was worrisome when a political party served 70 court summons on the electoral body in one day on the same issue.

“From experience, he said that INEC has found that most politicians and political parties are litigation-happy, dragging the electoral body on frivolous and vexatious issues,” he stressed. The INEC Chairman said that most of the cases seeking an order of court to compel INEC to accept their nominations were instituted after the closure of time allowed by law for nominations. Despite the enormity of the court cases, Yakubu assured that the electoral body would obey and abide by all valid court orders at all times.

Notwithstanding, Professor Yakubu assured that the 2023 general elections would witness improved outcome, being the first to be conducted after the repeal of the 2010 Electoral Act and the first since the advent of the 2022 new Electoral Act that gives legal backing to the use of technology in the conduct of elections in the country.
Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/21112022 ... ats-oped/

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Across Africa, Water Conflict Threatens Security, Health, and the Environment
by Robin Scher
November 17, 2022

Introduction:
(Independent Media Institute) Water is a finite resource on our planet. We can only rely on what we have, which translates to about 2.5 percent of drinkable fresh water. Of that amount, only 0.4 percent currently exists in lakes, rivers, and moisture in the atmosphere. The strain of this limited supply grows by the day and as this continues, the detrimental impact will continue to be felt in places least equipped to find alternative solutions—in particular, the African continent.

The global population is estimated to reach around 9.6 billion people by 2050. This is triple the number of humans on the planet just a few decades ago, having to exist with the same amount of water, not taking into account the nonhuman animals and plants that also rely on water to survive.

More than a third of the planet’s population living without access to clean, safe water live in sub-Saharan Africa. And nearly two-thirds—some four billion people—live in water-scarce areas. With this number set to steadily rise, the United Nations predicts that around 700 million people across the world might be “displaced by intense water scarcity” by 2030.

Scarcity-Led Conflict and Crisis

Each year, the world is seeing extreme water-related events including heatwaves and droughts. In 2021 on the African continent alone, Madagascar, Kenya, and Somalia experienced severe water shortages. And with scarcity, conflict tends to follow.
Read more here: https://independentmediainstitute.org/ ... ironment/
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Teodoro Obiang, Equatorial Guinea's Iron-fisted Ruler
November 26, 2022

Introduction:
(AFP via MSN) Confirmed for a sixth term as president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled oil-rich Equatorial Guinea since August 1979, overseeing a regime notorious for crushing dissent and fearing coups.

The 80-year-old's 43 years in power are the longest of any leader alive in the world today, with the exception of monarchs.

He seized power from Francisco Macias Nguema, who in 1968 had become Equatorial Guinea's first president upon independence from Spain and later declared himself president for life. Macias -- Obiang's uncle -- was executed by firing squad two months after the coup.

Obiang's opponents say that under his iron-fisted, hermetic tenure, the country has become the "North Korea of Africa".

The regime's ruthlessness is regularly condemned by rights watchdogs, who have documented mass, arbitrary arrests, dissidents held in nightmarish prison conditions and frequent sweeps against suspected plotters.
Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/t ... msnnews11

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Social Commerce Startup Kapu, by Ex-Jumia Executive, Comes Out of Stealth with $8 Million Funding
by Annie Njanja
December 4, 2022

Introduction:
(TechCrunch) Kapu, a social commerce startup, coming out of stealth today having raised $8 million seed funding, is hoping to help lessen the burden of buying food for Kenyan consumers, many of whom are grappling with the sky-rocketing food prices.

Kapu founder, Sam Chappatte, former Jumia Group executive vice president, said the startup has since inception in January this year been building a B2C e-commerce service that enables consumers buy groceries at lower prices, through online and offline channels.

The startup is now expanding its network of local agents that consumers can place orders with. It will soon support WhatsApp orders too. By sourcing directly from manufacturers and producers, Kapu enables group bulk-buying of groceries and claims to help consumers save up 30% of the spend on fresh produce and packaged consumer goods.

“People spending like 40 to 50% of their household income on the grocery basket is a big problem for society, but it is also a huge opportunity … The reason we started Kapu is that we think that there is a more relevant model of e-commerce that can be built to target the grocery basket, which is the biggest portion of spend for the vast majority of consumers. And if by using technology we can bring efficiency then we can have a tremendous impact on society for consumers and businesses,” Chappate told TechCrunch.
Read more here: https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/04/soci ... -funding/
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Nigeria's ruling party candidate Tinubu wins presidential election - electoral commission
Source: The Guardian
Nigeria’s ruling party candidate, Bola Tinubu, was on Wednesday declared winner of the presidential election, after defeating two of his closest rivals in the most competitive election for decades.

Tinubu’s victory after the weekend vote signalled the continued dominance of the established political elite in Nigeria. Analysts had described the poll as a potential “inflection point” for Africa’s most populous country, which is struggling with economic turmoil, widespread violence and corruption.

The Independent Nigerian Election Commission (Inec) announced final results early on Wednesday, after a chaotic count lasting almost four days.

Though Tinubu’s victory appears to reinforce the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party’s grip on power, the count showed that reformist candidate Peter Obi overcame a lack of resources and weak organisation to make big gains.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... commission
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Human Rights Office Told to Leave Uganda
by Olive Mukahirwa
February 26, 2023

Introduction:
(Amjambo Africa) According to President Kaguta Museveni of Uganda, government institutions have been restructured, and Uganda does not need the United Nations to maintain a Human Rights Office in Uganda anymore. Uganda can protect the human rights of its own people, Museveni said. The United Nations Human Rights Office in Uganda is pushing back on Museveni’s decision.

Museveni is 78 years old and has been in office since 1986. His government has been widely accused of abusing, imprisoning, humiliating, and killing political dissidents over a period of many years. Ugandan authorities deny these allegations and say that any security forces who violate human rights are severely punished.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Uganda, which was established in 2006, was responsible for monitoring the observance of human rights, especially in the northern and northeastern parts of Uganda – the area which suffered from the conflict between the Ugandan army and the fighters of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Though the Ugandan government shows no will to renew the UNHuman Rights Office, it confirmed it will continue to work with the UN at its permanent office in Geneva, Switzerland.

The decision has been strongly criticized by Muwada Nkunungi, one of the members of the opposition party led by Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine. Nkunungi said the Ugandan government made the decision because it wants to continue to violate human rights without any accountability.
Read more here: https://www.amjamboafrica.com/human-ri ... nt-to-go/


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