Category Archives: Africa

Thousands of Nigerian refugees fleeing Boko Haram forced back by Cameroon

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UN voices alarm and urges Cameroon to keep its doors open after it denies entry to thousands fleeing unrest

The United Nations said on Friday it was “extremely alarmed” by the forced return by Cameroon of thousands of refugees to north-east Nigeria, where Boko Haram Islamists pose a continuing threat to civilians.

“This action was totally unexpected and puts lives of thousands of refugees at risk,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, said in a statement.

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Libya: reconciliation conference delay could fuel military solution

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Political process is being sabotaged by those who believe conflict is only option, says UN special envoy

Failure to hold a national reconciliation conference in Libya could open the path to those who want a military solution to the country’s divisions, Ghassan Salamé, the UN special envoy has warned.

The conference, which was due to be held this month, is intended to be a precursor to presidential and parliamentary elections this spring designed to end the splits that have paralysed the country ever since the ousting and killing of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

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Senior WHO official accused of using Ebola cash to pay for girlfriend’s flight

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World Health Organization launches inquiry after claims of ‘legendary’ corruption, including racism and sexism

Claims that a senior employee at the World Health Organization misused Ebola funds to fly his girlfriend to west Africa are among a tide of allegations under investigation by the agency.

An internal inquiry has been launched by the WHO following a series of anonymous whistleblower emails that alleged widespread racism, sexism and misspending.

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Ebola cases in Congo expected to double amid fears outbreak could cross borders

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With health system at breaking point, uncertainty over how virus is being transmitted prompt fears it could range beyond DRC

The number of Ebola cases recorded each day in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is expected to more than double, with concern mounting that uncertainty over how the virus is being transmitted could result in it spreading to neighbouring countries.

On Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated its warning that there is a very high risk of the outbreak spreading not only across DRC but also to Uganda, Rwanda and even South Sudan. The heightened danger of transmission is due to extensive travel between the affected areas.

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Zambian villagers await outcome of UK mining firm’s pollution case appeal

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Vedanta Resources in fresh appeal to have water contamination claim brought by 1,800 people heard in Zambia

A British mining company has appealed to the supreme court to prevent 1,800 Zambian villagers bringing a pollution case involving its subsidiary from being tried in the UK.

Lawyers for Vedanta Resources told Britain’s highest court that the case – brought by villagers who allege that their land and livelihoods were destroyed by water contamination from Vedanta-owned Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) – should be heard in Zambia instead.

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African Union calls on DRC to delay election announcement

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Bloc has ‘serious doubts’ over vote, for which declared runner up has called a recount

The African Union has issued a surprise last-minute demand for the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s government to suspend the announcement of final results of the deeply disputed presidential election.

DRC’s constitutional court is poised to rule as early as Friday on a challenge filed by the election’s declared runner-up. Martin Fayulu has requested a recount, alleging fraud.

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Sudanese police fire on protesters demanding president step down

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Activists say a child and doctor killed in demonstrations against Omar al-Bashir

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across Sudan, including the capital, where activists said a child and a doctor were killed in clashes between police and protesters calling for the end of Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year-old rule.

Thursday’s protests marked some of the most widespread disturbances since unrest began on 19 December.

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Journalist who exposed football corruption shot dead in Ghana

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Exposés by Ahmed Husein, who died in Accra, had also lifted lid on corruption in judicial system

A Ghanaian journalist who helped expose corruption in African football has been shot dead in Accra.

Ahmed Husein was part of a team led by award-winning journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, whose investigation led to the resignation of the head of the Ghana Football Association.

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Thousands flee north-east Nigeria after devastating Boko Haram attack

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More than 8,000 refugees cross border into Cameroon after Nigerian town of Rann is burned to the ground

Thousands of people have fled into Cameroon from north-east Nigeria following violent attacks by a faction of the militant group Boko Haram, which looted and destroyed large parts of a major town.

More than 8,000 refugees have crossed the border into Bodo after the attacks on the Nigerian town of Rann on Monday, in which at least 10 people are thought to have been killed. Homes and humanitarian organisations’ buildings were burned down.

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‘Change in people’s hearts’: anti-Bashir protests put Sudan at a crossroads

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With the country in crisis and public discontent mounting, is the endgame nearing for Omar al-Bashir?

Surrounded by brown hills close to the Ethiopian border, the town of El-Gadarif is an unremarkable place. A centre for the trade in sorghum and sesame, it is dominated by its huge Russian-built grain silos.

Four weeks ago, however, the eastern Sudanese town was thrust into the spotlight when it became a centre for protests against the regime of President Omar al-Bashir.

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Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo detained again after last-minute appeal

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Former president remains in ICC custody after acquittal on charges of crimes against humanity

The International Criminal Court has dashed Laurent Gbagbo’s hopes of a swift release following the acquittal of the Ivory Coast’s former president on charges of crimes against humanity.

Trial judges had earlier ordered Gbagbo and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude to be immediately freed after clearing them of any role in a wave of post-electoral violence in 2010-2011 that killed 3,000 people.

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SAS member helped secure Nairobi hotel complex

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Soldier, who was reportedly in Kenya to train special forces, took part in operation against attackers

A member of the SAS helped secure a luxury hotel complex in Nairobi after 14 people, including a Briton, were killed in a militant attack.

Another Briton was wounded as gunmen stormed the dusitD2 complex in the Westlands district of the Kenyan capital on Tuesday afternoon, setting off explosions and shooting people.

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Civilians beaten and abducted in major Zimbabwe crackdown

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Activists tell of abductions and beatings during unrest linked to food and fuel shortages

Police and military have launched a massive crackdown in Zimbabwe after what appears to be have been a widespread breakdown of public order linked to food and fuel shortages in the impoverished country.

Access to the internet and social media was shut off for most of Wednesday, and armed soldiers were patrolling the streets of major cities as unidentified men were reported to be sweeping through poor neighbourhoods of Harare, the capital, and beating people “at random”.

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‘I was prepared to die’: survivors recount chaos of Nairobi attack

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President says planners of assault claimed by al-Shabaab will be relentlessly pursued

Kenya’s president has vowed to relentlessly pursue anyone involved in the Nairobi hotel complex attack, as new details of the 16-hour siege emerged and investigators tried to trace 50 people who are still missing.

Twenty-one people have so far been confirmed dead, including 11 Kenyans, a Briton and an American, as well as five attackers. The figure is expected to rise.

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Death of ex-Rwandan spy boss was political killing, inquest told

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Lawyer claims prominent dissident Patrick Karegeya was assassinated in South Africa

A South African inquest into the killing of the prominent Rwandan dissident Patrick Karegeya has opened in the suburbs of Johannesburg with a lawyer telling the court the former intelligence chief’s death was a political assassination.

“We are dealing with an assassination of a Rwandan citizen in this country,” said Gerrie Nel, the lawyer for AfriForum, a South African NGO representing minority interests and a group of local Rwandan exiles in the case. “We will be arguing that this assassination is intrinsically linked to the political situation in Rwanda.”

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Kenya received warnings of imminent al-Shabaab terror attack

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Western officials frustrated by lack of response ahead of assault that killed 14 in Nairobi

Intelligence services in Kenya were warned that al-Shabaab was planning terrorist attacks on high-profile targets in the east African country around Christmas and the new year, western and regional security officials have said.

Officials and other sources told the Guardian the warnings had been passed on several times in recent months, adding that they had been frustrated not to see a greater response from Kenyan authorities.

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Tanzanians with albinism embrace a life beyond stigma and superstition | Lucy Lamble

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In a country where myths about albinism can have deadly consequences, an organisation set up to battle discrimination is having a profound impact

Paschal Merumba has suffered prejudice from the day he was born.

His mother refused to breastfeed her “cursed” baby, the second child in the family born with albinism; the first had already died of neglect. Merumba was thought to have contaminated the community. He was made to eat apart and sleep on the floor.

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