Day: August 5, 2021

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More Than 40 Die in 2-Vehicle Collision in Mali

A deadly vehicle collision this week in the West African nation of Mali has been blamed on bad weather and the chronically poor state of the roads.

Forty-one people were killed and 33 injured Tuesday when a passenger bus and a truck carrying agricultural goods collided in central Zambougou near the town of Segou.

Diadji Sacko, the head of the National Agency for Road Safety, told VOA’s  Bambara Service the accident occurred when one of the truck’s front tires blew out, causing it to crash into the passenger bus.

The tragedy has also been blamed on heavy rains that left already dangerous roads wet and slippery, plus excessive speed.

“Authorities need to find a solution to road accidents in Mali. Accidents kill more than coronavirus, malaria and every other disease,” said Rokya Coulibaly of Association of Families of Victims of Traffic Accidents. “There are too many funerals due to road accidents in Bamako. And there are too many people in Bamako who have a broken leg, who are handicapped and cannot take care of their families because of accidents.”

Traveling by road is still the principal means of transport for people and goods in the landlocked Sahel nation of 20 million.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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App Helps Kenyans with Emergencies

As crime rates in Kenya shot up during the coronavirus pandemic, a Kenyan developer who was a crime victim himself created a mobile application to help people alert police about emergencies. The application has been so successful that Kenya’s police force has adopted it.

At Kenya’s national police command and control center, officers are monitoring the movement of the public. While the technology helps in catching suspected criminals, the increase of crime during the pandemic is overwhelming this technology.

But a mobile application created by a Kenyan developer Vincent Awino is helping to meet this challenge. Called “Upesy,” meaning “quick” in Swahili, Awino’s mobile app enables crime victims to raise alerts to police or security firms.

“It’s on your phone, meaning it’s mobile,” Awino said. “The response comes to you anywhere you are. It’s not fixed because we have a large network of providers. All the user needs to do is go on the phone and trigger an alert or click the phone’s power button at least four times in order to get an emergency.”

Kenyan authorities say some members of the public don’t report suspected criminals, fearing retaliation. But technology such as this can help apprehend criminals.

“We endeavor to use technology to fight crime and any application that can assists in reporting track criminals will be implemented,” said Charles Koskei, deputy police spokesperson of Kenya’s police service. “Technology is key in fighting crime that’s why we are able to track some of the criminals.”

Anthony Murithi, who lives with disabilities, is among the millions of Kenyans who could be targeted by criminals as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt livelihoods.

“As a person with a disability, my security is to a large extent compromised,” he said. “I cannot put up a fight, so I need something that is going to give me … like to be there for me in case of any danger.”

In a 2021 report, the United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice found that the pandemic is putting a strain on authorities’ capacity to detect, prevent and combat crime.

Kenya’s security officials hope that technology will make a difference in crime prevention.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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USAID Head Says Ethiopia’s Humanitarian Situation Growing Worse

The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development highlighted what she called “desperate humanitarian needs that are growing even more acute with every passing day” during talks Wednesday with officials in Ethiopia.

The United States, United Nations and others are calling for an end to the conflict in the Tigray region, which has caused tens of thousands of people to leave their homes and put millions in need of humanitarian aid.

USAID leader Samantha Power cited “an alarming humanitarian catastrophe,” saying all parties involved should agree to an immediate cease-fire. She also said blockades have hindered distribution of aid, leading to supplies sitting in warehouses unable to reach those in need.

“Humanitarian aid workers should be free to do their jobs and never be targeted, attacked, or harassed, and they should have unhindered access to the desperate Ethiopian people whose lives they are trying to save,” Power told reporters.

When asked about comments made by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who described Tigrayan forces with words such as “weeds” and “cancer,” Power said she was concerned about such “dehumanizing rhetoric.”

“Dehumanizing rhetoric of the kind that you referred to only hardens tensions and can, and historically, certainly, often accompanies ethnically-motivated atrocities,” Power said.

She said she hopes a common shared goal is peace, and that there is no military solution to the conflict.

“It’s extremely important that all parties involved in the conflict come to the table and move away from what is an increasingly ratcheted up set of accusations and counter accusations and focus instead on the dialogue that is going to be needed for an inclusive peace and an end to the suffering of civilians,” Power said.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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Tanzania Opposition Supporters Arrested as Leader’s Case Postponed 

Tanzania’s main opposition Chadema party held a street protest Thursday with its supporters calling for the government to release their leader, Freeman Mbowe.

Police arrested Mbowe in July ahead of a meeting on constitutional reforms, and they are holding him on terrorism-related charges. Critics said the arrest and charges show that President Samia Suluhu Hassan is continuing the same strong-arm tactics as her predecessor.

Dozens of supporters of the main opposition party for democracy and progress, Chadema, appeared outside a court in Dar es Salaam Thursday with placards, chanting, “Mbowe is not a terrorist” and “Free Freeman Mbowe.”

An unspecified number of those protesters were arrested by a group of armed police who were deployed at the area to disperse the crowd.

Freeman Mbowe, the leader of the Chadema party, was arrested last month in the port city of Mwanza before his planned address at a meeting to discuss constitutional reforms.

Chadema General Secretary John Mnyika said none of the supporters arrested during the protests broke the law.

“We will follow up on those who have been arrested by police, but what we are insisting upon is that citizens show up Friday at 9 a.m. to demand accountability in the case,” Mnyika said.

Matias Andrew, a Chadema supporter, was at the scene.

“We know that he (Mbowe) has been arrested because he demanded a new constitution. There is nothing else. If they fear when we demand a new constitution, what do they fear?” Andrew asked, “if you want justice, why do you fear a new constitution while it comprises components that grant justice to every Tanzanian?”

Mbowe didn’t appear in court Thursday. Instead, authorities attempted to hear the case using videoconferencing, but technical problems ensued and the proceedings were postponed until Friday. Peter Kibatala is one of Mbowe’s five defense lawyers.

“There were connection challenges, so we have failed to accomplish the process because there has been poor communication between the video conference facilities here at Kisutu court and that of Ukonga prison,” Kibatala said. “We have agreed that tomorrow [Friday] the accused will be brought to court.”

Other Chadema supporters, like Robert Mwasi, said the postponement was motivated by fear from authorities.

“Why did they postpone the case? I think it is because of fear since we as supporters have mobilized ourselves,” Mwasi said. “We demonstrate to convey a message to the world, and they see if they try Mbowe it will be a challenge to them.”

The Chadema general secretary told reporters at the court that their party will follow up to learn the fate of their arrested supporters and insisted citizens appear Friday.

Simon Sirro, the inspector general of police, warned against the protests and said the charges facing Mbowe have nothing to do with the constitution.

Sirro said, “Before the general election last year, I said there are people plans to burn fuel stations and kill government officials, those who led that campaign have to know that Mbowe is a human being and we have taken him to the court, so let’s leave the matter to the authority.”

Rights activists such as David Piniel say things may worsen under the leadership of President Hassan if she fails to negotiate with the opposition.

Piniel said, “This is an issue that can disrupt economic plans and other strategic plans in Tanzania. Especially considering the way the president is saying that she’s working on the economy first, but the economy cannot prosper if there are no effective ways to deal with these disputes with the opposition.”

President Hassan took over as Tanzanian president following the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli.

At her first days in power, there had been hopes that she would mark a pause with Magufuli’s autocratic rule.

The U.S. undersecretary for political affairs, Victoria Nuland, met Wednesday with Hassan and later with opposition leaders, and said the United States will stand up for fundamental rights and freedoms.

Meanwhile, Mbowe continues to be held at a maximum-security prison in Dar es Salaam pending his trial Friday.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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Rwanda Troops in Mozambique Claim Progress Against Jihadists

Rwandan forces in Mozambique, deployed less than a month ago to help battle jihadists, said Thursday they have scored successes in driving out the militants wreaking havoc in the country’s gas-rich north.

The forces last week helped the Mozambique army regain control of Awasse — a small but strategic settlement near the key town of Mocimboa da Praia seized by militants in August last year.

“We are progressing well in Cabo Degaldo province,” Rwanda Defense Force spokesman colonel Ronald Rwivanga told AFP via phone text.

“We have registered successes on two fronts and are closing in Mocimboa da Praia,” he added, referring to the port town that has been occupied by the militants since August 12, 2020.

The town, from where the first Islamist attacks were staged in October 2017, has since last year become the de-facto headquarters of the IS-linked extremists.

Mozambican military forces have been struggling to regain control over the province, which is home to one of Africa’s biggest liquefied natural gas projects.

Rwanda said the insurgents had fled Awasse to other small towns near Mocimboa da Praia “but we are closing in on” them.

Rwanda’s 1,000-strong force deployed on July 9, following an April visit to Kigali by Mozambican leader Filipe Nyusi.

Weeks after Rwanda rolled in, neighboring countries, under the aegis of the 16-member regional bloc Southern African Development Community (SADC) started sending in troops.

Botswana became the first SADC country to send in boots on July 26, deploying 296 soldiers. President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who chairs SADC’s defense and security arm, has been outspoken on the urgent need for regional stability.

Regional powerhouse and immediate neighbor, South Africa announced on July 28 it would deploy 1,495 soldiers.

A day later, Zimbabwe unveiled plans to dispatch 304 non-combatant soldiers to train Mozambique’s infantry battalions.

Angola will deploy, from August 6, 20 specialized military air force personnel while Namibia will contribute N$5.8 million (about $400,000) towards the anti-insurgency offensive.

The European Union on July 12 formally established a military mission for Mozambique to help train its armed forces battling the jihadists.

Former colonial ruler Portugal is already providing training for Mozambican troops, with Lisbon’s military instructors expected to make up half of the new EU mission.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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Vaccine Shipments to Africa Picking Up Amid Upsurge of COVID-19

The World Health Organization says shipments of coronavirus vaccine to Africa are picking up while the continent continues to grapple with an upsurge in COVID-19 infections.

After a slight dip in cases last week, the third wave of COVID-19 has come roaring back, with infections rising by nearly 19 percent to more than 278,000 new cases this week.

Also, this week, the World Health Organization says COVID-19 deaths have reached a record peak of more than 6,400, bringing the total number of coronavirus fatalities on the continent to more than 172,000.

Amid the bad news is the positive prospect of scaled-up vaccine shipments to Africa.  Phionah Atuhebwe is New Vaccines Introduction Officer at the WHO Regional Office for Africa.  She says there has been a 12-fold increase in vaccine deliveries in the last two weeks of July compared with the first half of the month, bringing the total number of doses shipped to Africa so far to 91 million.

“We need to be clear though:  In a continent of over 1.3 billion people, this is just a tiny drop in a very large ocean, and in the face of a surging third wave and more contagious variants, vaccine shortages leave Africa dangerously exposed,” said Atuhebwe. “We have a very long way to go.  With less than two percent of Africans fully vaccinated, we cannot get vaccines fast enough into the arms of the people.”

Atuhebwe says the vaccines arriving from the United States and European Union are expected to continue and shipments from Britain will start soon.  She says around 110 million doses are expected to be delivered to African countries through the COVAX facility and the African Union by the end of September.

“Beyond September, as commitments by COVAX and the African Union and bilateral deals come through, we hope to meet the target of vaccinating 30 percent of Africans by the end of this year,” said Atuhebwe. “But we also need up to 250 million more doses to complement the COVAX and African Union doses to meet this goal.”

Atuhebwe says it would be a dream to have vaccines manufactured on the continent.  She says several countries, notably Senegal, South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt have the capacity to make it, but not from scratch.

For that to become a reality she says the technology for producing COVID-19 vaccine must be transferred to African countries.  She says a waiver also is needed on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, known as TRIPS.  That would temporarily allow African countries to manufacture vaccines for underserved populations.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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Nigerian Authorities Seize Pangolin Scales Destined for Export

Nigerian customs officials have announced the country’s third largest bust of pangolin scales and the arrest of three foreign nationals.

Pandemic travel restrictions had slowed trafficking of the endangered anteater to Asia, where its scales are used in traditional medicine. But experts say a July raid at a Lagos warehouse shows that traffickers have been stockpiling wildlife parts pending the lifting of restrictions.

This week, authorities displayed the confiscated items at a briefing in Lagos. They say 196 sacks of pangolin scales weighing 7.1 tons were seized in the raid, along with 840 kilograms of elephant ivory.

 

Joseph Attah is the public relations officer with Nigeria’s Customs Service. At a briefing with reporters, he discussed the case and Nigeria’s efforts to curb the illegal trade.

“The demand is not in Nigeria, the source is not in Nigeria and those involved, most of them are not even Nigerians,” Attah said. “Nigeria as a nation is only being used as a transit route. To that extent Nigeria is collaborating with international partners to ensure that never again shall we be used as a transit hub.”

Authorities say a joint operation with the Netherlands-based Wildlife Justice Commission, or WJC, led to the arrests of the three suspects. Officials also say those in custody will serve as links to other members of a gang, including the landlord of the Lagos warehouse.

This was the ninth-largest seizure of pangolin scales globally since 2019 and the third in Nigeria within the same period.

Last year, authorities seized 9.5 tons of wildlife parts here and another 8.8 tons this past January.

The Wildlife Justice Commission says the latest confiscations show that the market for pangolin scales continues to thrive despite COVID-19 restrictions.

Sarah Stoner is the director of intelligence at the WJC.

“A lot of our investigations are done in an undercover manner, so we’re talking to different brokers and traffickers about different products they have availability or access to,” Stoner said. “The fact that they seem to have a lot more access to pangolin scales last year is really significant. We also know that a lot of those individuals who are also stockpiling are waiting for transport to resume to enable them to move a lot of those.”

Pangolin scales and elephant tusks have been touted and smuggled to countries in Asia where they are priced and used as jewelry or for traditional medicinal purposes.

In 2014, Nigeria and Congo overtook Kenya and Tanzania as the major transit hub for wildlife trafficking in Africa, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

 

 

Source: Voice of America