Month: January 2022

Posted on

Suspect Arrested in Connection with South African Parliament Fire

A fire at the South African parliament caused extensive damage on Sunday, collapsing the roof and gutting an entire floor in one building. A man in his 50s was arrested in connection with the blaze.

The fire broke out in the early morning and authorities said the sprinkler system appeared to have been tampered with and so did not work. By afternoon, firefighters were still trying to contain the blaze in one of the several buildings that make up the parliament complex in the legislative capital, Cape Town.

A person was arrested inside parliament, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia De Lille told reporters, adding that the case had been handed over to an elite police unit called the Hawks.

“It’s the role of the Hawks to investigate any attack on political institutions,” De Lille said.

There were no reports of any injuries.

The cause of the blaze was not yet known but De Lille said that according to a report that she received, a standard maintenance fire drill had been conducted just before parliament closed for the Christmas and New Year holidays and everything including the sprinklers was working.

“What was discovered this morning is that somebody has closed one of the valves and so then there was no water to trigger that automatic sprinkler system coming on,” De Lille said, adding that CCTV footage confirmed that somebody was in the building from the early hours of the morning.

President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters after visiting the site that parliament’s work would continue despite the blaze. He also praised firefighters for saving a “very important national asset of our government.”

Partly contained

The parliamentary complex, some of which dates back to 1884, consists of a cluster of buildings. The National Assembly, or lower House of Parliament, is situated in what is known as the New Wing.

The upper house, or National Council of Provinces (NCOP), is located in what is called the Old Wing or Old Assembly, which is also used for committee meetings.

“The fire has been contained in the Old Wing. Firefighters are currently trying to control the fire in the New Wing, where the fire has affected the National Assembly Chamber,” parliament said in a statement.

Jean-Pierre Smith, a Cape Town mayoral committee member responsible for safety and security, said the roof of the old building had collapsed, and added the fire had gutted the third floor of the building, including office space and the gymnasium.

He also told reporters that the parliament’s fire alarm only rang when firefighters were already on site.

By afternoon smoke had partially subsided after billowing for hours from the roof and entrance of the National Assembly. But City of Cape Town fire services chief Jermaine Carelse said the fire was still active, and was now concentrated on the first and third floor.

The fire, which started just before 6 a.m., was the second at the parliament in less than a year. In March there was a blaze caused by an electrical fault.

“It is egregious that such a thing happened in the first place, there must be no question about it. Whether it was a result of security breaches, which may be apparent to some people, we don’t know,” Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Lechesa Tsenoli said.

National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told reporters that Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address to a joint session of parliament would go ahead as planned on Feb.10 but an alternative venue would have to be used.

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

Covid-19: WHO optimistic about beating coronavirus in 2022

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief says he is optimistic that the coronavirus pandemic will be defeated in 2022, provided countries work together to contain its spread.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu warned against “narrow nationalism and vaccine hoarding” in a New Year statement.

His comments come two years since the WHO was first notified of cases of an unknown pneumonia strain in China.

Global Covid cases now stand at 287m, while nearly 5.5m people have died.

Across the world, people are marking the New Year but celebrations are muted, with many countries wanting to discourage crowds gathering.

Coronavirus remains part of daily life: a disease that has shut borders, split families and in some places made it unthinkable to leave the house without carrying a mask.

Despite all this, Dr Tedros sounded a positive note in his speech, noting that there are now many more tools to treat Covid-19.

But he warned that continuing inequity in vaccine distribution was increasing the risk of the virus evolving.

“Narrow nationalism and vaccine hoarding by some countries have undermined equity and created the ideal conditions for the emergence of the Omicron variant, and the longer inequity continues, the higher the risks of the virus evolving in ways we can’t prevent or predict,” he said.

In his comments, Dr Tedros also alluded to low vaccination rates.

While most of the population in Europe and the Americas have received at least one dose, a WHO target of full vaccination rates in 40% of every country by the end of 2021 has been missed across most of Africa.

Dr Tedros has previously criticised wealthier nations for “gobbling up” the global vaccine supply, fully vaccinating much of their populations while others wait for their first doses.

The WHO has set a new goal for 2022: vaccinate 70% of people in all countries by July to end the pandemic.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Posted on

A Final Farewell to South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu

CAPE TOWN — The state funeral for Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has taken place in Cape Town, South Africa, with only 100 mourners allowed inside St. George’s Cathedral because of COVID-19 rules. The anti-apartheid hero and human rights activist who died December 26 at the age of 90 had been suffering with prostate cancer.

Desmond Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his campaign against apartheid, said he wanted the cheapest coffin. And he requsted that money intended for flowers should instead be donated to good causes.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation, airing his funeral Saturday in Cape Town, showed his widow, Leah Tutu, sitting in a wheelchair, listening to the tributes to her famous husband.

There was a televised message from the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who said it was like a mouse giving a tribute to an elephant. He said most messages he’s been receiving from people around the world say that when they were in the dark, Desmond Tutu brought light.

“He never ceased to speak prophetically, he never ceased to speak powerfully, he never ceased to shed light. Many Nobel prize winners’ light fades in time, his grew brighter,” he said.

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, gave the eulogy. He said among those Tutu spoke up for were the Palestinians and members of the LGBTQ-plus community.

“One of the causes that was dear to him and less well known to many of us was campaigning together with Her Royal Highness Mable from Organje, who is here with us today, against child marriage across the globe. I have learned how the arch traveled to villages in Ethiopia, in India and Zambia to understand the circumstances under which young girls were being forced into marriage. Such was his stamina. Such was his commitment,” he said.

Ramaphosa credited Tutu with being South Africa’s spiritual father. He said the cleric, along with the country’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, preached hope and forgiveness.

Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that sought to heal the victims and perpetrators of apartheid’s atrocities.

He coined the term “Rainbow Nation,” referring to people of all colors who lived in South Africa, and of the beauty that could come after the storm.

In recent years, Tutu was critical of South Africa’s ruling party because of rampant crime and corruption in the country.

Ramaphosa alluded to this, “There are times when he felt let down, and yet, he never lost hope. The most fitting tribute we can pay to him, whoever and wherever we are, is to take up the cause of social justice for which he tirelessly campaigned throughout his life. Archbishop Tutu has left a formidable legacy, and we are enormously diminished by his passing.”

Tutu’s daughter, the Reverend Naomi Tutu, also addressed mourners.

“Many of the messages we’ve received have said, ‘thank you for sharing him with the world.’

“Well, it actually is a two-way street because we shared him with the world. You shared part of the love you held for him, with us. And so, we are thankful, and we are thankful that all of you have gathered in your many places. In person or via the wonders of technology, to be a part of celebrating daddy’s life throughout this week.

“And lastly, to him, who has gathered us here, uDaddy, uTata (Xhosa language for daddy). We say thank you, Daddy, for the many ways you showed us love, for the many times you challenged us. For the many times you comforted us,” she said.

Archbishop Tutu is being cremated in a private ceremony and his ashes will be interred in St. George’s Anglican Cathedral.

He is survived by his wife of 66 years, their four children, and nine grandchildren.

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

Some in Diaspora Respond to Call for Ethiopian Homecoming

Thousands living in the Ethiopian diaspora have begun arriving in the Horn of Africa country, responding to the government’s call for a “great Ethiopian homecoming.”

Korso Koji looks forward to joining them soon.

“I have friends who have been abroad for a long time and who believe in the unity of Ethiopia. We will go together,” said Korso, 36, who has a trucking business in Columbus, Ohio, and came from the Oromia region’s town of Shashamane.

Ethiopian leaders hope to draw 1 million diaspora members like Korso to their homeland for celebrations of Orthodox Christmas on January 7 and through the January 19 Feast of the Epiphany and Timkat festivals that commemorate the baptism of Jesus.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who issued the #GreatEthiopianHomeComing challenge in November, greeted diaspora visitors Tuesday with a Twitter post in Amharic reading “Welcome, my brothers and sisters, who have returned home in response to the invitation to show your citizenship!”

Abiy’s #GreatEthiopianHomeComing challenge came as a rebuke to countries such as the United States, France, Germany and Turkey, which last month urged their respective citizens to leave Ethiopia as yearlong fighting between federal troops and forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front threatened to reach the capital, Addis Ababa. On November 5, the U.S. State Department ordered nonemergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave “due to armed conflict, civil unrest and possible supply shortages.”

Fighting paused after Ethiopian forces reclaimed some ground, and the TPLF announced December 20 that it would pull back its forces to Tigray from the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, leaving room for negotiations, diplomats and analysts have said.

In a statement shared Wednesday by state-owned Ethiopian news media, Abiy encouraged the visitors to check out tourist sites and development work — and to “witness the atrocities committed by the terrorist TPLF against our people.” (In mid-December, the U.N. Human Rights Council voted to set up an international commission to investigate alleged violations by all parties in the Tigray conflict.)

Billene Seyoum, spokeswoman for the prime minister, also welcomed diaspora travelers via Twitter this week, saying, “When the world said to run from home, your heart knew the truth! Home is indeed where the heart is.”

Earlier this month, she said the homecoming initiative would “demonstrate that Ethiopia prevails” and would “send a message of unity to the international community.”

If Tesfahun Kahsay has any message to send, it’s to oppose the Ethiopian government’s appeal. A Tigray native, the 50-year-old moved to the United States 25 years ago and lives in a Maryland suburb of Washington.

“While the international community is begging for food and medicine” to be delivered to people in Tigray, “my government is not permitting it, he said, complaining about what rights groups have described as a humanitarian blockade. “So, how do I be part of this campaign while my people are sentenced to death?”

Organizing a group

Abiy Gebrehiwot, who lives in Washington and chairs the nonprofit California-based Council for Ethiopian Diaspora Action, told VOA the council last year brought roughly 500 members to Ethiopia to celebrate the holidays and tour the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a new hydroelectric power plant on the Nile River. He said for the homecoming, he intends to bring “as large a diaspora community … as possible and engage them in every aspect of the country.”

The council chairman said one goal was to boost Ethiopia’s economy, battered by COVID-19 and the Tigray conflict. It had been the region’s fastest-growing economy, expanding by an annual average of 9.4% for nine years ending in 2019-2020, according to the World Bank. The poor country, with 112 million people and a per capita income of $850, had ambitions to climb to lower-middle-income status by 2025. The Ethiopian diaspora has sent nearly $9 billion in remittances over the past three years, the foreign affairs state minister said this month.

Another goal for the homecoming initiative is “to show the world the country is safe and peaceful” — and to make it an annual event, Abiy Gebrehiwot said.

Alebachew Desalegn, a London-based member of the Ethiopian Diaspora Task Force, said diaspora members would be encouraged to help rebuild war-torn infrastructure during their stays.

“We focus on development, rebuilding the destroyed houses, and helping the homeless,” he told VOA.

‘Honoring’ the call

State-owned Ethiopian Airlines has offered discounts of up to 30% on its fares for homecoming travelers.

The price drop enticed Korso, who paid $1,200 for a ticket and will leave for Ethiopia on January 10. He plans to bring extra suitcases packed with medicine, protective masks and clothing — paid “at my own expense,” he said, to aid Ethiopians.

The group Doctors for Ethiopia has encouraged diaspora travelers to bring medical supplies.

Korso said he and his friends “want to honor” the prime minister’s call “because I believe the pressure being exerted by Americans and Europeans on Ethiopia is not right.”

Tesfahun, in rejecting the homecoming appeal, also referenced reports of Tigrayans allegedly being targeted for arrest and detention. If he went to Ethiopia, he said, “I might not have the same fate as others because of my [U.S.] citizenship. But those are my people from Tigray who got fired from their jobs and live in detention facilities.”

On Wednesday, Demeke Mekonnen, deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, presided over a welcoming ceremony at Wodajinet Park in the capital, Addis Ababa. According to the state-owned Ethiopian News Agency, he called on diaspora members to support the federal government’s reconstruction efforts.

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

US Takes Ethiopia, Mali, Guinea Off Africa Duty-free Trade Program

WASHINGTON — The United States on Saturday cut Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from access to a duty-free trade program, following through on President Joe Biden’s threat to do so over accusations of human rights violations and recent coups.

“The United States today terminated Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from the AGOA trade preference program due to actions taken by each of their governments in violation of the AGOA Statute,” the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said in a statement.

Biden said in November that Ethiopia would be cut off from the duty-free trading regime provided under the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) because of alleged human rights violations in the Tigray region, while Mali and Guinea were targeted because of recent coups.

The suspension of benefits threatens Ethiopia’s textile industry, which supplies global fashion brands, and the country’s nascent hopes of becoming a light manufacturing hub. It also piles more pressure on an economy reeling from the conflict, the coronavirus pandemic, and high inflation.

“The Biden-Harris administration is deeply concerned by the unconstitutional change in governments in both Guinea and Mali, and by the gross violations of internationally recognized human rights being perpetrated by the government of Ethiopia and other parties amid the widening conflict in northern Ethiopia,” the trade office statement said.

The AGOA trade legislation provides sub-Saharan African nations with duty-free access to the United States if they meet certain eligibility requirements, such as eliminating barriers to U.S. trade and investment and making progress toward political pluralism.

“Each country has clear benchmarks for a pathway toward reinstatement and the administration will work with their governments to achieve that objective,” it added.

The Washington embassies of the three African countries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ethiopia’s Trade Ministry said in November it was “extremely disappointed” by Washington’s announcement, saying the move would reverse economic gains and unfairly impact and harm women and children.

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

UN Food Agency Halts Work in North Darfur, Affects 2 Million

CAIRO — The World Food Program has suspended its operations across Sudan’s province of North Darfur following recent attacks on its warehouses, a decision expected to affect about 2 million local people.

A statement released by the U.N. food agency Thursday said all three of its warehouses in the area were attacked and looted. More than 5,000 tons of food apparently were stolen, the group said.

Earlier in the week, the WFP said an unidentified armed group had attacked one of its warehouses in North Darfur’s provincial capital of el-Fasher. In response, local authorities imposed a curfew across the province.

However, the attacks continued until early Thursday, said the statement. Hundreds of looters have also dismantled warehouse structures, WFP added.

“This theft has robbed nearly 2 million people of the food and nutrition support they so desperately need,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. “Not only is this a tremendous setback to our operations across the country, but it endangers our staff and jeopardizes our ability to meet the needs of the most vulnerable families.”

The agency said it cannot divert assistance from other parts of the East African country to the looted warehouses without compromising the needs of vulnerable Sudanese living outside the province.

Sudan is one of the poorest counties in the world, with nearly 11 million people in need of food security and livelihood assistance in 2022, said the WFP.

The agency urged Sudanese authorities to recover the looted stocks and guarantee the security and safety of the WFP operations in North Darfur.

On Thursday, the country’s state-run news agency reported that a number of suspects were arrested in el-Fasher after they were seen riding trucks and animal-drawn carts loaded with food stocks that were allegedly stolen from the WFP warehouses. SUNA news agency did not say how many were arrested.

The WFP decision comes amid political upheaval that followed the October military coup.

On Friday, a doctor’s group said that five people were killed in anti-coup protests that erupted a day earlier in several provinces across the country. Security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse thousands of protesters, the group said. With Thursday’s fatalities, the total death toll since the coup has risen to 53.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese police acknowledged in a statement issued Friday that four protesters were killed and more than 290 were wounded in the protests. The statement posted on SUNA made no mention of police using tear gas or live ammunition. The police added that more than 40 policemen were wounded in clashes with protesters.

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

Water Resources Development in the Southwest Gash-Barka Part II and Final

There was a perception that building dams in the eastern and western lowlands of Eritrea is hardly possible. The big concern was that large streams of water from highlands would inundate the embankments while sediments would shorten the dams’ life. What is more, many argued that building dams in an arid region would not be effective as a large amount of water would evaporate due to the hot climate.

But emphasizing the strategic importance of building dams in the eastern and western lowlands of Eritrea, Eng. Dawit Berhane, Projects Hydrologist at Segen Construction Company, said, “Every drop of water matters to the normal livelihood of Eritreans residing in the eastern and western lowlands of the country. For them, a drop of water is the very means of their survival in such an arid zone.”

Eritrea’s vision of ensuring food security is realized through the development of large scale agricultural undertakings, and the western lowland has been chosen for this purpose because it is endowed with large and fertile agricultural plains. After the scoping and planning of water development projects in Gash-Barka were made suitable sites for the construction of the dams were selected.

As the capital invested in building dams needs to correspond with the envisaged output, the economic development of water resources was the main point considered before and during the construction of the dams. In this regard, Eng. Michael said: “Cautious ground works were undertaken to ensure longer life of the dams while suitable sites were identified to minimize the operational expenses as much as possible.”

According to Eng. Tesfazghi Michael, projects and infrastructure manager at Segen Construction Company, Fanko-Tsumu’e was constructed in three years, 2003 to 2006, at a total cost of 333,853,000 Nakfa, Gerset dam was built in four years, 2005 to 2009, at a total cost of 590,475,000 Nakfa and Fanko-Rawi was constructed in three years, 2008 to 2011, at a total cost of 255,426,000 Nakfa.

Eng. Tesfazghi believes earth-fill dams are more suitable than concrete and masonry dams in areas that have large catchment areas. Since earth-fill dams are constructed using soil, the cost of construction is a lot lower. It is unavoidable that earth-fill dams are prone to loss of water due to leakage from fractures and that sedimentation decreases the storage capacity of the dams. Eng. Michael Ghebrehiwet, head of Design and Infrastructural Works at Segen Construction Company, said rivers have been diverted to absorb as much silt as possible before the water streams get impounded in the reservoir and check dams, terraces and drainage structures have been constructed to prevent large volumes of silt from entering the dam.

After the paper work for the construction of the dams was completed, the ground work proved to be more challenging. At times, Eng. Michael said, workers were obliged to work from ten to sixteen hours and more in the construction of the dams. The Regional administration, local communities and members of the Defense Forces participated particularly in the stone riprap works at the top section of the dams. Managers, engineers and other experts in dam construction had to stay day and night at the work site to make sure that risks are avoided or minimized to the lowest possible level.

Sharing his views regarding the challenges encountered and the experiences gained from prior construction engagements, Eng. Tesfazghi underscored that it was an exclusive opportunity that boosts the company’s confidence in implementing much bigger tasks. Such an opportunity was a turning point which enabled the company to move forward.

All development undertakings in Eritrea are done by the people and for the people, and the active participation of local communities has been crucial in completing the setout programs with efficiency and within the planned time frame. For this reason, Eng. Michael expresses his appreciation to the residents of Teseney, Haykota and Goluj sub-zones for their commitment throughout the construction period of the dams.

Segen Construction Company had gained experience in building smaller dams in the highlands before it moved to the lowland to build bigger dams. For the last 15 years, starting from the time it moved to Gherset, it has been making efforts to balance the challenges with opportunities. Eng. Dawit said the company has been adhering to the principle of “minimizing challenges and maximizing any available opportunity.” For instance, the human resource capacity has been growing steadily as increased exposure to challenging tasks have been creating opportunities for honing and transferring skills of those engaged in the construction of the dams.

To overcome natural challenges such as floods during rainy seasons the company had to make temporary diversion canals. At times, Eng. Tesfazghi said, structures built to support the dam unexpectedly get inundated with abundant water streams, further extending the original volume of work.

The experiences gained by Segen Construction Company have been instrumental in moving Eritrea as a county forward, from making earth-fill dams to making concrete dams. Emphasizing its implication for Eritrea as a future regional player in construction, Eng. Dawit said, “The human resource capacity built during the construction of the dams played a crucial role in the construction of mining projects and roads, making the company more competitive at regional level,”

Mr. Getachew Merhatsion, Director of Eritrean Mapping and Information Center, said that Fanko- Rawi, which was constructed as a supplement to Fanko-Tsumu’e, has a storage capacity of 20 million cubic meter of water. At present, 2000 to 3000 hectares of land is under cultivation using water from Fanko-Rawi while water from Fanko-Tsume, which can hold up to 14 million cubic meter of water, is being used for the cultivation of vegetables.

The construction of the dams has changed the eco-system from arid zone to green land. People no longer have to travel long distance in search of water for human and animal consumption. To optimize the utilization of the water in the dams, the engineers who were involved in the construction of the dams recommend that the leveling of farmlands needs to be done in parallel with the construction of dams to have three cultivation seasons in a year.

The expertise gained in the construction of earth-fill dams was a stepping stone for the construction of major concrete and rock-fill dams in the Gash-Barka region and in the highlands such as Kerkebet, Mslam and Logo dams and other dams under construction. “The experiences we gained and the challenges we faced have been quite helpful for better accomplishment and judicious utilization of resources, with more economic irrigation technology now in demand,” Eng. Dawit said.

In his final remarks about the actions that need to be taken to ensure the sustainability of the dams, Eng. Tesfazghi said that constant inspection should be made to determine the status of the dams and to ensure that the dams are operating in a safe manner, and regular inspection of spillways needs to be done to ensure a dam is not blocked by logs or trees growing near its embankment. He emphasized that the highest plant growth that should be allowed on a dam’s embankment should not be more than pasture grass to serve as protection against erosion.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea