Africa’s richest woman suspect in criminal investigation into misappropriation of funds
Portugal has ordered a freeze on the bank accounts of the billionaire businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, who is currently the subject of a criminal investigation in Angola.
The public prosecutor’s office in Lisbon confirmed reports that dozens of personal and corporate accounts belonging to Dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo, were the subject of a seizure order.
Continue reading...Talks resolve to send ‘those who face arrest warrants’ for war crimes to The Hague
Sudan has suggested it is prepared to hand over the former dictator Omar al-Bashir to the international criminal court in The Hague to face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The decision marks a dramatic shift from the previous official position of the country’s new rulers, though observers warned that many obstacles still needed to be overcome before the 76-year-old reached a court room.
Continue reading...Outbreak in east Africa has already devastated crops across a swath of Kenya and Somalia
Massive swarms of locusts sweeping across much of east Africa have reached Uganda and Tanzania, the United Nations has said, threatening millions more people with hunger in an already fragile region.
Tanzania has detected swarms in its northern border areas close to Mount Kilimanjaro and hired three planes to spray pesticide, a tactic seen as the most effective means of countering the spread of the insects.
Continue reading...Three years of water shortages in Eswatini have disproportionately affected the HIV-positive community. The founder of a local support group in Lubombo is empowering others to look after themselves
Supported by wealthy foreign backers, a feared paramilitary outfit controls Sudan’s most lucrative industry, complicating the country’s path to democracy
Ornate, heavy necklaces gleam on stands above stacks of thick filigree bangles in the windows of Khartoum’s gold market. The gold is Sudanese, dug from the rich mines that span the country.
Shop owner Bashir Abdulay hands over a palm-sized lump of pure gold with two small bore holes as he explains how the prized metal goes from mine deposit, through middlemen, to Khartoum.
Continue reading...Case of Patrick Zaky doing master’s on gender and human rights echoes that of murdered Italian student Giulio Regeni
An Egyptian researcher who is studying in Italy has been arrested on arrival in Cairo on charges of “harming national security”, sparking alarm among Italy’s authorities who fear a repeat of the case of murdered Italian doctoral student Giulio Regeni.
Patrick Zaky, a graduate student at the University of Bologna, was arrested at Cairo airport during a visit to see family. Zaky is a researcher on gender and human rights at the Cairo-based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), which said he was covertly taken from the airport and interrogated at facilities belonging to Egypt’s national security agency in Cairo and Mansoura, his home town.
Continue reading...Widespread corruption and deteriorating economy have contributed to rise in sexual bribery, say researchers
Zimbabwe has recorded an unprecedented number of women reporting being forced to exchange sex for employment or business favours.
More than 57% of women surveyed by Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) said they had been forced to offer sexual favours in exchange for jobs, medical care and even when seeking placements at schools for their children.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Inquiry into $21.4m conservation project reports ‘credible’ evidence of abuse
Armed ecoguards partly funded by the conservation group WWF to protect wildlife in the Republic of the Congo beat up and intimidated hundreds of Baka pygmies living deep in the rainforests, an investigation into a landmark global conservation project has heard.
A team of investigators sent to northern Congo by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to assess allegations of human rights abuses gathered “credible” evidence from different sources that hunter-gatherer Baka tribespeople living close to a proposed national park had been subjected to violence and physical abuse from the guards over years, according to a leaked draft of the report.
Continue reading...Malian musician Ballaké Sissoko has accused US border officials of breaking his “impossible to replace” musical instrument during a security check.
Sissoko plays the kora, a west African instrument whose 21 strings can sound similar to a harp. US border officials said they did not open the instrument case.
Continue reading...From the Gambia to Kenya, FGM has been fought most successfully at grassroots level. The world must pay heed
I underwent female genital mutilation at the age of seven, while on holiday in Djibouti. When I returned to school in the UK my teacher told me that this happened to “girls like me”.
Thankfully, this type of reaction is no longer common, and this country is much better equipped to protect girls at risk. FGM is now seen as a global issue, which we know has affected more than 200 million women and girls around the world.
Continue reading...Watchdog reveals huge sum ploughed into ‘world’s dirtiest fossil fuels’ despite climate vow
UK taxpayer funds totalling $750m (£577m) have been invested in new fossil fuel projects in developing African countries despite the government’s public commitment to tackling the climate crisis, according to an international watchdog.
Global Witness found that a London-based investment group raised $1bn from the UK government over 16 years and spent three-quarters of this supporting oil and gas projects in some of Africa’s poorest countries.
Continue reading...As women age in rural Ghana, signs of dementia, mental health issues or even menopausal symptoms can result in them being declared ‘witches’ and pushed out of their community. Around 80 women live in such exile in Kukuo ‘witch village’
Police claim ‘strong case’ against Maesiah Thabane for 2017 killing of Lipolelo Thabane
Lesotho’s first lady Maesiah Thabane has been charged with murder for her alleged links to the brutal 2017 killing of the prime minister’s previous wife.
Maesiah Thabane, 42, will spend the night in custody after she came out of hiding and turned herself in to the police earlier on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Opposition leader Zitto Kabwe received death threats after asking bank to suspend education fund over human rights concerns
An opposition leader in Tanzania said he was taking death threats he received after he urged the World Bank to withdraw a $500m (£382m) education loan to the country over human rights concerns “very seriously”.
But Zitto Kabwe, leader of the alliance for change and transparency party (Act), added that he would not be intimidated by comments made by the leader of the ruling party and other officials that his request to the bank was an act of betrayal and he should be killed.
Continue reading...Majority of tents in Agadez were destroyed by fire following peaceful sit-in, leaving Sudanese living in fear
Sudanese refugees in Niger say they have been living in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation after security forces cracked down on protests calling for better living conditions.
Refugees have been sleeping in the desert despite low temperatures since their camp in Agadez was almost completely burned down last month after a sit-in was forcibly dispersed by Nigerien security forces. The Nigerien authorities said they arrested 355 people immediately after the fire.
Continue reading...Stigma, misinformation and a dearth of psychiatric resources mean many Ghanaians resort to chaining up their loved ones or patients, sometimes for years on end
All photographs by Robin Hammond
Continue reading... Leader ruled for decades and legalised one-party rule during a tenure marked by poverty and corruption
Former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi, an autocratic leader who ruled for more than 20 years, has died, the office of the president said on Tuesday. He was 95.
There was no immediate information on the cause of Moi’s death but he had been in and out of hospital with breathing problems in recent months.
Continue reading...Police investigate causes of tragedy in Kakamega amid reports that pupils fell from third floor as they ran downstairs at home time
At least 14 children have died and dozens of others have been injured in a crush at a primary school in Kenya, officials said.
The police have launched an inquiry into what caused the crowd of students to panic as they were leaving the school in the western town of Kakamega to go home at around 5pm local time on Monday.
Continue reading...Child had been taken by her family to have the procedure, still prevalent in the country despite new laws to combat it
A doctor has been arrested after the death of a 12-year-old girl he had performed female genital mutilation (FGM) on.
Nada Hassan Abdel-Maqsoud bled to death at a private clinic in Manfalout, close to the city of Assiut, after her parents, uncle and aunt took her for the procedure.
Continue reading...For the families of Ghanaians with mental health or substance abuse issues, shackling their loved ones can seem the only option, as faith healers compete to fill the mental health void
All photographs by Robin Hammond
Under the baobab tree two goats are tethered to the great trunk by ropes. Baba Agunga, a man in his twenties, is held by chains. A bracelet shackle round each of his ankles leads to a chain rusted to the same tone as the Ghanaian mud and welded tight around a thick, solid tree root.
He sits naked on a cloth, hugging thin legs, his skin dusty dry and his eyes vacant. He has been there for three years says his mother, Aniah Agunga.
Continue reading...