Mozambique police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters planning a march Saturday in memory of a rapper vocal in his criticism of the government, Human Rights Watch said.

The sudden death of Edson da Luz, known by his stage name Azagaia, has sparked rare anti-government demonstrations in the southern African country.

On Saturday, more than a thousand people were expected to take part in a memorial march in central Maputo, with rallies also planned in other cities.

But in the capital, a heavy police presence prevented the procession from taking place.

“They didn’t allow people to gather,” said Zenaida Machado, a senior researcher with HRW in Mozambique, pointing out that the rally had been authorized by city authorities. “Without any sign of violence from the protesters, they started throwing tear gas, and rubber bullets.”

Social media footage showed anti-riot police with armored vehicles and dogs firing tear gas as they dispersed small groups of demonstrators.

“We came here to say thank you to rapper Azagaia for everything he has done for this country. Why are they attacking us?” activist Fatima Mimbire told AFP. “It was a peaceful march.”

At least two people were injured after a tear gas grenade landed inside a house, said Quiteria Guirrengane, a rights activist who was among the organizers of the demonstration.

“Some young people who were in the march were arrested and we are currently trying to free them.”

A police spokesperson did not answer calls from AFP seeking a comment.

Azagaia, who died after an epileptic seizure earlier this month, was popular among Mozambique’s youth for his lyrics focusing on poverty, corruption and human rights issues.

A funeral procession attended by thousands of people earlier this week also saw police firing tear gas. HRW has called on the government to investigate both incidents.

“Authorities in Mozambique appear to be completely paranoid about having seen people on the streets peacefully protesting or marching for a cause,” Machado added.

Political protests are rare in Mozambique, ranked among the poorest nations in the world, where the ruling Frelimo party, has been in power since independence from Portugal in 1975.
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Malawi rescue teams started using sniffer dogs Friday to locate the bodies of people trapped under rubble left after Cyclone Freddy destroyed their houses. The Malawi government announced that Zambia has sent two aircraft to help with rescue efforts and more nations are pledging to do so.

Authorities in Malawi are still coming to terms with the scale of Cyclone Freddy’s destruction.

Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya told VOA Friday about the challenges they face locating the remains of people trapped under muddy rubble, which is why sniffer dogs are an asset.

“Most of the dead bodies are under rubble and it is becoming difficult to find out where the bodies are. So, today we engaged these dogs from this morning,” Kalaya said.

Early this week, Malawi search and rescue teams — comprised of police, the Red Cross and the military — were deployed to rescue people trapped in trees and rooftops by the cyclone.

Lameck Kalenga is deputy chief of military operations in Malawi.

He told a news conference Thursday that the military team also faced significant challenges.

“Our boat capsized, and we had all occupants in that boat submerged in water,” Kalenga said. “They managed to swim, others to the shore but others … they swam on and held on to trees that were surrounded by water. So, we had like three officers who were surrounded by water, but by yesterday [Wednesday] all of them were rescued.”

Authorities in Malawi say there are still many areas that cannot be accessed by either vehicles or boats.

However, the Zambian government Friday sent two aircraft to help the search and rescue team in Malawi access those hard-to-reach areas.

“One of these aircrafts is a relief aid aircraft, which is bringing relief aid to Malawi,” Kalenga said. “And the other one is [an] MI8 helicopter, which will be used to gain access in those inaccessible areas. Mainly Mulanje, Phalombe and Nsanje.”

The Department of Disaster Preparedness in Malawi said search and rescue teams from South Africa, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom are expected to arrive soon.

In the meantime, Mozambique has also pledged to assist Malawi with an aircraft.   
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Signers of the political deal in Sudan say a transitional civilian government is expected to be named in April. Both civilian and military officials agreed Wednesday to expedite restoration of civilian rule in Sudan, where the military has ruled since a 2021 coup. But some groups are against the framework agreement and many Sudanese are skeptical that the military will ever give up power. 

Signatories to the December 2022 Political Framework Agreement met on Wednesday to discuss progress toward restoring a civilian-led government in Sudan.

Speaking to the press shortly after the meeting, Khalid Omer Yousif, the official spokesperson of the civilian coalition that signed the agreement, says the meeting focused on expediting the process of drafting a new constitutional document.

The document, he said, will be the basis to govern the upcoming transition in Sudan.

He says participants also resolved to form a technical team that consists of representatives of the civilian coalition and military forces and other experts,

The body will be tasked with reviewing the agreement and drafting the constitution.

He said, “the meeting discussed the general progress on the political process and resolved a number of issues, including discussion on the remaining two complex matters, the transitional justice and military and security reforms. He said, those two issues are to be discussed in the ongoing political conference that should end before the holy month of Ramadan.”

Ramadan begins March 23.

The December 2022 framework agreement requires that the parties to the political process organize a conference to discuss issues that need a national consensus.

Yousif says once discussions on transitional justice and military and security reforms are finished, the technical committee will start drafting a final political agreement that will lead to the establishment of a new civilian government in early April.

He said, “The joint technical and coordinated committee that comprises the signatories to the agreement and the trilateral mechanism is expected to urgently draft a new timeframe for the discussion of the remaining issues before signing of the final political agreement as soon as possible.”

Some signatories of the 2018 peace deal aimed at settling Sudan’s internal conflicts refuse to join the ongoing political process because they reject the framework and want to maintain the 2019 constitutional declaration made after the overthrow of longtime president Omar al-Bashir. 

Many Sudanese are skeptical the military will completely give up power, regardless of any deals that are struck.

Khartoum resident Sahar Al-Jazuli says the October 2021 military coup negatively affected the revolution for democratic rule in Sudan and said supporters of democracy will not accept any agreement that doesn’t serve justice. 

Speaking to VOA via a messaging application Friday, Al-Jazuli says Sudanese people are now more aware of their rights and they will continue to speak up once they realize the framework agreement doesn’t serve their interest.

Our people have learned a lot, he said, and they became more aware of their political rights as citizens by participating in the revolution. The Sudanese people learned and understood the meaning of uprooting rights, he said. They became determined toward achieving the slogans of the revolution, freedom, peace and justice.

However, another Khartoum resident, Al-Nazir Adam Musa, applauded the military for what he called “courageous” steps to leave the political scene and allow the country to be under civilian rule.

He said, “What we expect from the current framework agreement is that it would help the country to overcome the ongoing political deadlock because the military is determined to hand over the power to civilians. He said, “This is a good gesture so far.”

Ibrahim Al-Merghani, the head of the political bureau at the opposition Democratic Unionist Party, predicted the ongoing talks on the framework will bear fruit. 

There are not many differences among national political forces about the transitional issues, he said.  He added, the differences will not affect the dialogue, which he forecasts will lead to “completion of the transitional period and sustainable democracy in the country.”
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Burundi has declared a national public health emergency after polio was detected in a 4-year-old and two other children who had been in contact with the child.  

The polio outbreak is Burundi’s first in more than 30 years. 

The landlocked African country is preparing a vaccination campaign targeting eligible children, from newborns to 7-year-olds. It will be ready in a few weeks. 

In addition to the children, health officials found five polio samples in its surveillance of wastewater, confirming the presence of circulating poliovirus type 2.  Early detection is critical in containing an outbreak of the disease.

Type 2 infections can occur when the weakened strain of the virus contained in the oral polio vaccine circulates among under-immunized populations for long periods. 

The highly infectious disease is also spread through contaminated water and food or contact with an infected person.  
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Russia has long been the biggest exporter of arms to sub-Saharan Africa, but a new study indicates Western sanctions are making it harder for Moscow to sell weapons, opening the door for more Chinese-made arms.

Even before the Ukraine war, China had increased its sales of weapons to sub-Saharan Africa, exporting almost three times as many arms to the region between 2017 and 2020 as the United States, according to a report this month by the Atlantic Council. The lion’s share went to just five African countries where China has invested heavily in its key infrastructure program, the Belt and Road Initiative.

For example, in 2021, Nigeria — which is fighting an Islamist insurgency and spent $4.5 billion on its military that year — purchased 34.4% of its arms from China, with Russia accounting for more than 6% and the U.S. — while still by far the largest arms exporter globally – just over 2%.

The Atlantic Council researchers say this trend will likely continue.

“Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine may open additional opportunities for Chinese military influence in Nigeria. International sanctions in the wake of that invasion may limit the benefits of Nigeria’s 2021 agreement with Moscow for military equipment and training—and could mean an increase in Nigeria’s arms imports from China,” the report said.

“U.S. sanctions of many Russian defense contractors are forcing Nigeria to consider alternatives: China is clearly the default option as the growing relationship between China and Nigeria in the past few years has also made China the top arms exporter to Nigeria, surpassing Russia in arms exports for two consecutive years,” it found.

China, Russia exporting arms to Africa

The Atlantic Council estimated that between 2010 and 2021, Russia accounted for 24% of all arms exports to sub-Saharan Africa, China for 22% and the U.S. for 5%. China’s arms exports peaked in 2013, the year the Belt and Road Initiative was launched.

Oluwole Ojewale, a Nigerian researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, told VOA there were two reasons behind Nigeria and other African nations turning to China for arms. One, he said, is the fact that China is Africa’s largest trade partner generally. The other is that sales of Chinese arms — unlike U.S. arms exports which are governed by International Traffic in Arms regulations — don’t come with strings attached.

“It’s lax on the part of China, on the part of Russia, some of these autocratic countries, compared to the U.S.,” he said, noting that in the past Nigeria has turned to Russia for arms in its fight against Boko Haram because the U.S. was concerned their weapons could be used in abuses.

Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, said the Atlantic Council data showed a “big jump” in recent Chinese arms sales compared to previous data.

“I believe that the sanctions that have been incurred by Russia, by the Russian government, by Russian defense companies is obviously a boon for China… China really stands to benefit,” he said, adding that “strategically speaking China and Russia are actually competitors when it comes to weaponry on the African continent.”

“I think one also has to mention the fact that African countries have been quite disappointed at what they’ve seen in how Russian hardware, especially tanks and heavy weapons have fared in Ukraine,” Nantulya said. “They’ve not fared very well.”

In terms of what exactly African countries are buying, Nantulya said that early on, Rwanda purchased China’s “Red Arrow” missile system, and Namibia procured patrol craft and attack vessels from China, as has Algeria. China has always had a monopoly on weapons and training in Tanzania, he said, and in Cameroon, the country’s naval assets have been fitted with high caliber Chinese guns.

The Atlantic Council said China also has graduated from selling mainly small arms to selling heavier weaponry to Africa, and Nantulya noted that “unmanned aerial vehicles have become a very popular defense article among African militaries.”

Selling drones, shopping for jets

This year, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is fighting a rebel movement in the east, purchased nine Chinese attack drones.

The DRC is also reportedly looking to buy fighter jets and, just last week, a high-level delegation from the China-Africa Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation based in Beijing was in Kinshasa along with People’s Liberation Army officials to discuss a deal.

Thomas Newdick, a defense journalist at the U.S.-based War Zone defense technology website, told VOA that Russia does not have anything to offer comparable to China’s drones. Armed drones, he said, are good for insurgency-like situations — which abound in Africa — and countries are turning to China to purchase them because “the U.S. export guidelines for armed drones in particular are extremely strict.”

China also is selling more aircraft, where Russia used to dominate, he said.

“The Chinese footprint in terms of arms sales has been expanding rapidly, even before the war in Ukraine,” said Newdick, noting that now however, because of the war, “the Russian arms industry is struggling even to meet its domestic requirements.”

Asked for comment on its increasing arms exports to Africa, the Chinese Embassy in Washington referred questions to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, which did not respond. The Chinese Mission to the African Union also failed to respond to request for comment, as did an A.U. spokeswoman.

As well as military hardware, China also provides regular training for African forces, as does the U.S.

“For decades, the United States demonstrated this commitment through sustained efforts to build defense capacity, particularly through professional military education, grant assistance, security agreements, joint exercises, training, and military exchanges,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told VOA.

Regardless of where they buy their weapons, analysts say both Western-supplied weapons and Chinese weapons can fall into the wrong hands or be used in human rights abuses.

The U.S. sells billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, an autocratic regime that has been accused of rights abuses in the war in Yemen.

“It matters less where governments of African countries choose to buy arms. What we need to underscore is that irrespective of the source, arms can still fall into the hands of organized criminal groups” including terrorists, said Ojewale.

With African governments increasingly turning to more sophisticated weapons like attack drones and missile systems, analysts expect insurgent and terrorist groups to upgrade their weapons to keep pace.
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Zambian authorities have arrested the country‘s auditor general and 17 others at the Ministry of Finance on charges of corruption and theft of public funds. The suspects allegedly benefited from $25 million in payments for fictitious activities.

Anti-Corruption Commission spokesperson Timothy Moono confirmed the arrests to reporters in Lusaka on Friday. He said the commission was not targeting any one person at the Finance Ministry. 

“The commission has subsequently restricted several bank accounts held by individuals suspected to be involved in this saga as part of ongoing investigations,” Moono said.

The investigations stemmed from a special audit of the government’s financial management information system for the period from 2018 to 2021.

Cabinet Secretary Patrick Kangwa, in an earlier statement, said that “President Hakainde Hichilema has directed that the ongoing investigations must be conducted without any interference.”

Transparency International’s representative in Zambia, Sampa Kalunga, recently complained on a local radio station that the government’s anti-corruption program was “disjointed, archaic and does not show results.”

Many previous arrests have ended in bail, with defendants denying the charges and investigations not resulting in any convictions.
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Leaders of Central African states meeting Friday in Cameroon announced reductions and bans on some imports to encourage local production and create jobs.

The leaders from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo say the ongoing economic slowdown is stifling development, increasing food and fuel prices, and making living conditions unbearable for a majority the region’s 55 million people.

Daniel Ona Ondo, president of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, said conference attendees decided that Central African states will tackle the crisis by reducing or stopping imports of clothing, food, and manufactured goods, mostly from China, Russia, Ukraine, and the European Union.

Ondo said Central African states will produce goods and grow food locally to boost their economies following a severe recession triggered in 2015 when the international price of oil dipped below $50, forcing many oil exporting countries to scale back production.

He said in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered one of the largest global economic crises in the world, and in 2022, Russia’s war in Ukraine provoked extreme price shocks and disruptions in the supply of food crops and oil in Central Africa.

Ondo said CEMAC, through its financial reforms program, is allocating about $5 million for projects, including import substitutions, over the next five years. He said the funds will be raised through contributions from member states and loans.

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Central African states relied on Russia and Ukraine for 80 percent of their wheat imports and 60 percent of petroleum products. Russia’s invasion caused disruptions in supply and price hikes, including a 40 percent spike in the cost of fuel.

CEMAC said most of the imported products could be grown locally.

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, outgoing chairperson of the CEMAC Conference of Heads of State, said solidarity is needed among CEMAC member states to put an end to several crises that are making living conditions difficult and causing despair among civilians.

Biya said CEMAC member states that are still reluctant to reduce imports should open their borders for the free movement of goods and people, which is necessary in speeding economic growth and development.

He also said CEMAC members want to establish resilient, stable and prosperous communities at home.

The leaders agreed to continue negotiations to merge the 11-member Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) with the six-member Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) in a move to boost trade and growth.

ECCAS consists of all CEMAC member states plus Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Sao Tome and Principe.
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The U.N. says in the past week, 100,000 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have fled their homes following fighting between M23 rebels and government forces. The UN accuses Rwanda of backing the rebels, a claim Rwanda denies. As Henry Ridgwell reports, critics say European powers should pressure Rwanda to end the fighting.
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Mozambique’s health minister said Friday a cholera outbreak in the area hit by Cyclone Freddy killed eight people this week and hospitalized 250 – part of 600 sickened since the record storm made landfall in February.

Health Minister Armindo Tiago told state-run Radio Mozambique the cholera victims were in the port city of Quelimane, capital of Zambezia province, the area most affected by the cyclone.

Tigao said cholera prevention is focused on 133 centers in the city that are sheltering up to 50,000 people displaced by flooding. He added that more work is needed in other provinces hit by Cyclone Freddy, a record storm that hammered the region since February.

Tiago said everyone must work to control the outbreak by boiling drinking water, cleaning and washing food, and disposing of garbage properly – especially human waste.  And, if people have symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting, they must go to health units.   

The World Health Organization Wednesday confirmed that Mozambique is seeing a rise in cholera cases, while cases are dropping in neighboring Malawi after a record outbreak.   

The WHO said more than 40,000 cases of cholera were reported this year in Africa, more than half of them in Malawi.

Malawi gave out close to 5 million vaccination doses since the outbreak a year ago, but health authorities fear the numbers could spike there and in Mozambique if adequate measures are not taken.   

Malawi was hit the hardest by the cyclone, which has weakened to a low-pressure system, leaving hundreds dead and spreading floodwaters could be contaminated with cholera bacteria.

As the cyclone approached the southeast coast of Africa in February, Mozambique vaccinated more than 700,000 people in four provinces deemed at high risk for cholera, but Zambezia province was not among the regions targeted in the WHO-partnered vaccine drive.   

Reuters reported Mozambique on Wednesday received approval for an additional 1.3 million cholera vaccine doses to help control the spread.  
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken is the first top US diplomat to visit Niger, as the West African country has emerged as a crucial security base for Western countries seeking to counter terrorist groups in the Sahel region. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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A court in Namibia is hearing an appeal by the local branch of Russia’s state-owned atomic energy agency, Rosatom, which is seeking water permits needed for uranium mining.

The government of Namibia, the world’s second-biggest producer of the nuclear fuel, said last year that a mining company owned by Rosatom had failed to prove its uranium extraction method would not cause pollution.

The Uranium One mining company is asking the court to set aside the decision by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform on the ground that it is contrary to an article of the Namibian constitution that requires administrative bodies to act fairly and reasonably.

The company said it was not given an opportunity to prove that its method of uranium extraction would not contaminate the underground water that farmers in the area rely on for their livelihoods.

Riaan Van Rooyen, Uranium One’s Namibian spokesperson, said the company “has launched review proceedings in the High Court of Namibia in terms of which it seeks to assail the decision taken by minister of agriculture, water and land reform in respect of an application for drilling permits submitted by Uranium One. As the case is currently sub judice [under judicial consideration], Uranium One will refrain from further commenting in respect to pending litigation.”

Calle Schlettwein, the minister of agriculture, water and land reform, told VOA in an earlier interview that Uranium One must present scientific data that show no contamination of underground water will take place if the company is granted permits to continue with uranium exploration.

“It is not anything against the company or investment,” Schlettwein said. “It is the principle that we have to look at that guards against the possible contamination of a very important renewable resource.”

Local support

Schlettwein’s decision to not grant Rosatom’s Namibian subsidiary a water permit is supported by various local farmers, who are listed in an affidavit in the court case.

One of those farmers, Goddy Riruako, who is also a community activist, lamented what he termed extractive industries that come to Namibia with the promise of spearheading development.

He said the community cannot seek development at the expense of the long-term effects that pollution may have.

“Now, who says the method is clean and does not contaminate the underground water?” he asked. “No one knows what happens underground, and anything that you put into water that others drink or that we drink will have a detrimental effect on our health and the health of our children and generations to come.”

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform is listed among 39 other respondents in the affidavit.

Scientists say the global demand for energy is likely to increase by 40% in the next 17 years, and countries like Russia are looking to Africa to meet growing energy needs.
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Plumes of smoke and tear gas spilled into the Dakar sky Thursday as police clashed with opposition protesters. It marked the third day of unrest in Senegal’s capital where opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is facing trial for alleged defamation.

Hundreds of protesters surrounded the car taking Sonko to the courthouse as police in riot gear encircled the area.

Just before the officers dispersed the crowd with tear gas, Sonko stepped out of the vehicle to send a message.

“It’s the police that are preventing me from moving. It’s the police that have prevented me from getting to my hearing,” he said. “This is Senegal. The face of Senegal is the dictatorship of Macky, with police repression.” He was referring to President Macky Sall.

A police spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on the allegation.

Sall’s refusal to state whether he’ll run for an unconstitutional third term in next year’s elections has incensed many Senegalese.

His administration has also been widely accused of silencing dissent through arbitrary arrests.

Senegal’s government denies persecuting the opposition or moving away from democracy.

Sonko is facing libel charges for allegedly accusing tourism minister Mame Mbaye Niang of embezzlement.

Sonko also faces separate charges for rape, which his supporters say were fabricated to prevent him from running for the presidency. Sonko has denied all allegations.

His arrest a year ago ignited a week of rioting that led to the deaths of 14 people.

No deaths have been reported in this latest round of protests, but violence on Thursday was widespread. Demonstrators hurled rocks at police, burned down grocery stores and destroyed bus depots. They hauled parked cars onto streets to act as roadblocks, and smashed windows.

Paulin Maurice Toupane is a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Dakar.

Senegal, he said, is at a tipping point.

“Senegal must do everything it can to avoid reaching the level of instability we see in other countries in the region,” Toupane said.

West Africa has suffered a series of coups in the last few years, and instability in Senegal — long considered the region’s most solid democracy — could ripple beyond its borders.

Tensions are only expected to grow as the country gets closer to the presidential election in February 2024.

Sonko came in third in the 2019 presidential election and has since grown in popularity, mainly among Senegalese youth.

Twenty-six-year-old Mouhamad Diakho was among the protesters.

“I’m very sad about this situation in our country. I’m so sad,” said protester Mouhamad Diakho, 26. “I’m not happy about what is happening. I got this shame inside of me. I got this anger inside of me. Because we the Senegalese people don’t deserve this. We deserve peace. We deserve love.”

A rally for Sonko on Tuesday drew an estimated 10,000 supporters.
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In Mozambique, girls often drop out of school due to teen pregnancy, forced marriages, poverty, sexual violence and abuse. To help combat the problem, the U.S. Agency for International Development is providing millions of dollars over five years to promote girls’ education. Adina Sualehe has this story narrated by Salem Solomon.
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In a February visit to Sudan, the head of the U.N. World Food Program said 75% of the country’s farmland goes unused, but with the help of investors, Sudan can go from receiving food aid to exporting food. But as Henry Wilkins reports from Khartoum, others say it’s more complicated than that.
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Sudan is in a political stalemate, with a long-awaited transition to civilian government yet to materialize and the country’s military rulers refusing to relinquish power. Ongoing protests against military rule have been met with force, with more than 100 protesters killed. In Khartoum, Henry Wilkins meets the family of a protester killed in February. Please be aware this story contains graphic images that many will find disturbing.
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Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has assured people displaced by Cyclone Freddy that they will get the assistance they need.

Chakwera made the announcement Wednesday during his first visit to evacuation camps in Blantyre since he declared a state of disaster in all the flood-hit areas this week. The president also attended a mass funeral for the storm’s victims. The record tropical cyclone has killed more than 200 people in Malawi and scores more in neighboring Mozambique.

Chakwera said his government has set aside about $1.6 million to assist thousands of people affected and displaced by the cyclone in 10 districts in southern Malawi.

“I will soon call for a Cabinet meeting to endorse what we have so far budgeted for the crisis,” said the president. “Because if we try to follow financial approval procedures, we will put lives of the victims at risk.”

Displaced people say they lack food, clothes, clean water and soap.

During the president’s visit, the government donated several kinds of relief items, such as flour, clothes and buckets.

The president also attended a mass funeral for 28 people killed by the storm.

Chakwera said his government has asked neighboring countries to assist Malawi with rescue airplanes to complement the search-and-rescue efforts under way in the country.

Authorities in Malawi say more than 35 roads have been impacted by the floods, making it difficult to provide help to many cyclone victims.

“We are currently consulting our development partners for assistance, although they also are facing various problems,” he said. “We want them to assist us so we can assist our people who are badly affected by Cyclone Freddy.”

The U.S. government, through various agencies, is responding immediately to the crisis, said Namita Biggins, the public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Malawi.

“We are providing emergency shelters to affected households in Nsanje and Chikwawa through our existing $2 million support through Catholic Relief Services,” she said in an audio statement on Tuesday. “USAID has also initiated the process of swiftly allocating additional, lifesaving resources to provide essential humanitarian assistance to include blankets, buckets, tarps, chlorine tablets to ensure clean water, mosquito nets and more.”

Biggins said USAID has staff on the ground coordinating closely with the Emergency Operations Center in Blantyre to determine how the U.S. government can help the government of Malawi reach the hardest-hit communities.

Weather experts in Malawi say Cyclone Freddy has now weakened, but the rains will continue for the next few days, largely because of an incoming weather front from Congo.
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U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen on Wednesday as part of his one-day working visit to the country.

During brief remarks made at the start of their official meeting, Blinken sounded optimistic about the November peace deal signed between the Ethiopian federal government and Tigrayan forces.

“It’s very, very good to be back in Africa, especially to be in Ethiopia at, I think, a very important moment, a moment of hope given the peace in the north that is taking hold and that continues to move forward,” he said.

“There’s a lot to be done, but the most important thing is to continue to deepen the peace that is now taking hold in the north,” he added.

The meeting was attended by other high-level officials, including U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Tracey Ann Jacobson and Ethiopian Ambassador to the U.S. Seleshi Beleke.

During the meeting, officials discussed the establishment of an interim regional administration in Tigray, which was part of the November peace deal.

The Ethiopian government has lifted blockades into the region since the deal, allowing the entry of humanitarian aid, and Tigrayan forces have handed over heavy weapons to the Ethiopian government.

Officials also discussed a transitional justice policy that will bring about accountability and redress for victims, according to statement from the Ethiopian government.

Rights group Amnesty International has recently called on the U.S. Secretary of State to make human rights issues central to the talks. 

Ethiopia has been lobbying to cut short a U.N.-backed investigation on human rights violations in the country, which it has said is politically motivated.

A report by the U.N. investigators, rejected by Ethiopia, found widespread violations by both sides during the war, including the government’s use of starvation as a method of warfare. 
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At least 3,000 people have been displaced in fresh fighting along the Nigerian-Cameroonian border, according to forces battling Boko Haram militants.

Refugees at Minawao, a camp on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria, say the number of people seeking humanitarian assistance in the camp increases by the day.

Isaac Luka, president of Nigerian refugees at Minawao, said the current influx caused by hunger and gun battles is making living conditions that were already bad in the camp even worse.

“There are Nigerians coming from the host community around the border,” he told VOA via a messaging app from Minawao on Wednesday. “They were given portions of land to start cultivating food, but this year the season was not good for the harvest and recurrent attacking at the border pushed them to the camp. They have their relations in the camp. They share the little they have. Some go selling firewood to earn something for their children.”

Luka fled Nigeria’s Borno state in June 2014 after Boko Haram terrorists killed more than 20 people in his village, including his family.

He said host communities around the camp are also overwhelmed by the number of civilians escaping hunger and battles between Cameroon government troops and Boko Haram fighters along the northern border with Chad and Nigeria.

Toudje Voumou, the highest government official in Mayo-Moskota district, said the Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, or MNJTF, has increased its presence on the border. The force has troops from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

Voumou said for about two weeks there have been intense battles between Cameroon government troops and Boko Haram militants on both sides of the Cameroon-Nigeria border. Voumou added that several military posts have been erected to face Boko Haram militants hiding and harassing civilians in villages on both sides of the border.

MNJTF announced in February that the month of March will be dedicated to wiping out remaining Boko Haram fighters in the border area.

The force said several attacks have been launched on Boko Haram strongholds, but did not specify how many jihadists have been killed or wounded.

The Cameroon government said civilians should assist troops fighting the jihadists by reporting strangers in their villages. The government also said it has remobilized militias to assist with the ongoing battles against Boko Haram by reporting strangers and armed men hiding in the bush to government troops.

Olivier Guillaume Beer, the UNHCR representative in Cameroon, spoke to Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV this week, saying humanitarian conditions for displaced persons is concerning.

“We have 2,500 people in the transit center, which has a capacity of 300. These people are supposed to be registered and then go to the Minawao refugee camp, which is already very saturated. Sixty-seven thousand people in the camp,” Beer said. “So, these are our challenges. We need more resources to be able to register and document them, to provide health care, increase the number of classrooms, and alleviate the suffering of this population.”

During an April 2022 visit to Cameroon, the U.N.’s refugee chief, Filippo Grandi, vowed to give more support to displaced persons and refugees fleeing violence and natural disasters. However, the U.N. said it received only 23% of the $100 million it needed to take care of the growing needs of refugees in the central African state.

Boko Haram attacks broke out in Nigeria in 2009 before spreading to neighboring countries, including Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

More than 36,000 people have been killed, mainly in Nigeria, and 3 million have fled their homes, according to the United Nations. 
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French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Central Africa this month has received mixed reviews, with some skeptical of his latest reset of French relations with the continent. It’s part of broader challenges Macron faces in asserting French influence — not just in Africa but also in Europe, amid a fast-changing political landscape marked by the war in Ukraine and Russia’s growing influence overseas. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA.
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Malawi has declared a state of disaster from Cyclone Freddy, which has killed at least 219 people in Malawi and Mozambique since Saturday night, and displaced 11,000.

The disaster declaration is a part of an appeal for national and international assistance for the victims of the cyclone. So far, several organizations have started responding to the call.

Marion Pechayre, head of the mission for Doctors Without Borders in Malawi, told VOA that her organization has assigned medical workers to assist in handling casualties from the cyclone.

“We are supporting the ministry of health in one of the biggest hospitals in the country, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, to triage and treat the patients at the emergency department because they have mass casualties brought to the hospital,” she said.

Survivors of homes that were washed away in southern districts say they are in need of basic necessities.

“The first one is food,” said Daniel Chilonda, one of the victims in hard-hit Chilobwe Township, in Blantyre. “We also need plastic sheets so that we protect our shelters against the rains. Also, where we lack some clean water, soap and blankets.”

The Malawi government said it is making efforts to assist the victims.

Sosten Gwengwe, minister of finance, told a press conference in Blantyre on Tuesday that the government is considering revisiting its 2023-’24 budget to help cyclone victims.

“Last week we presented a budget and I know that on Monday, parliamentarians will be sitting again to start the debate,” he said. “I will be pleading with parliamentarians to start re-looking at our figures, because we might need to redirect some priorities because the scale of devastation that we have seen here is untold.”

Cyclone Freddy is one of the most powerful and longest-lasting storms ever recorded in the southern hemisphere.

It made landfall in Mozambique over the weekend, leaving more than 20,000 people homeless. Meteorological experts in Malawi say the cyclone is slowly moving back to Mozambique.

“However, as this cyclone is weakening, it is giving way for the Congo Air Mass which will continue giving rainfall,” said Lucy Mtilatila, head of the Meteorological Department in Malawi. “Unfortunately, we are seeing a possibility of rainfall to continue over some areas throughout the week.”

In the meantime, rescue and search operations are under way in the cyclone-hit areas despite the continuing rains.   
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Somali officials are warning the federal and regional governments of Somalia not to underestimate the strength of militant groups al-Shabab and Islamic State as authorities plan new military operations against them.

Despite recent successes in dislodging al-Shabab from vast countryside areas in central Somalia, the militant group hit back, setting off deadly explosions and raiding military bases and installations, killing dozens.

In the latest attack Tuesday, an al-Shabab suicide car bomb targeted a building housing regional officials who have been planning mobilizations against al-Shabab in the town of Bardhere, Gedo region. The attack killed four soldiers and injured nine others.

On March 7, al-Shabab raided a military base at Janaa Cabdalle village, killing at least five soldiers.

Somali officials warn that al-Shabab’s militia strength is “intact,” and they argue recent operations did not substantially weaken the group’s strength.

“I believe on one hand they have been slightly wounded, but their strength remains intact,” said two-time former Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. “They have been making tactical retreats lately, but their force cannot be underestimated.”

Mohamed Abdi Tall, the governor of Bakool region, which is planning to join the second phase of the offensive, says the group is particularly entrenched in the southern Jubaland and Southwest regions.

Tall said the country is large and it will require support from the federal government and volunteers to participate in the operations against al-Shabab.

He argues that al-Shabab has been building and recruiting for years and has a larger force than reported previously. He estimates that al-Shabab had “not less than 20,000 fighters” before last year’s military offensive started.

“For 15 years they have been recruiting, they readied lots of fighters,” he said. “They had lots of power. Since they have been removed from regions, we assess their strength has been destroyed, but we are not underestimating them.”

Hussein Sheikh-Ali, the national security adviser to the president of Somalia, gave a lower number for al-Shabab’s fighting personnel. “My assessment, plus or minus, is they are 10,000,” he said. “The last estimate I had couple of years ago was 14,000, but since then I don’t believe they have trained adequate numbers, and they have been involved in too many fights.”

Ali said he believes al-Shabab lost “more than a thousand” fighters within the past six months and “probably would have 2,000-3,000 injured” as a result of the military operations.

Ali insists the government itself is not underestimating al-Shabab.

“I have been somebody who always, when people were underestimating Shabab, used to warn people not to underestimate them,” he said. “But now, because they have no support from the population, their days are numbered.”

IS threat

In the remote mountains of northeastern Somalia, al-Shabab and Islamic State militants clashed this week, the latest in multiple skirmishes between the sides over the control and influence of the Cal-Miskaad highlands since late 2018.

Somalia’s IS contingent, which is smaller in size than al-Shabab, still poses a “great danger” to Somalia, experts said.

Founded by Sheikh Abdulkadir Mumin, who defected from al-Shabab in 2015, the group members occupy a small territory in the eastern parts of the semi-autonomous Puntland region.

Ahmed Mohamoud Yusuf, commissioner of Balidhidhin, a frontline district in Puntland, told VOA that IS militants have been recruiting Ethiopian fighters in recent years.

He said when the group first arrived in the area in 2015 and 2016 their numbers were estimated to be about 20 fighters. That number rose to 250 to 300 fighters, including Ethiopians, according to regional experts.

“It’s not easy to say exact figure,” Yusuf said when asked about the number of Ethiopian fighters.

The number of Ethiopian fighters is believed to be significant, and IS has previously released a propaganda video showing Ethiopians among its ranks.

“ISIS has always targeted Ethiopia and other African states for recruits, its main limitation is that its physical presence is limited to a very small district in northern Somalia east of Bosaso, where it has almost no vegetation, limited cover,” said Matt Bryden, Horn of Africa regional analyst.

“It moves its fighters between caves and settlements and cannot establish a viable operational presence. So however much it tries to recruit from across the continent, it really doesn’t have a solid base from which to project influence and power.”

Bryden believes al-Shabab is further ahead of IS in its regional reach, including recruiting Ethiopian fighters.

Yusuf said Puntland has been fighting IS since the militants arrived in the area and has prevented them from seizing control of an urban area.

The strategic location of the group’s hideout, which includes caves, poses danger to Puntland and Somalia, according to Sharmarke.

“Definitely these people will surprise us one day unless they are put under pressure and hunted down,” he said.

Sharmarke called for cooperation and intelligence sharing between Puntland, other states and the federal government of Somalia.

U.S. hails killing of IS leader

IS-Somalia recently came under the spotlight following the killing of one of its top foreign fighters, Bilal al-Sudani, in a special operation by U.S. forces in Cal-Miskaad mountains. The U.S. hailed the killing of al-Sudani in the January 26 counterterrorism operation.

The U.S. described him as a “key operative and facilitator for ISIS global network, as well as a number of other ISIS operatives.”

An IS defector who declined to be identified for security reasons told VOA that al-Sudani was not only the group’s finance operative but its number two leader behind the emir, Mumin.

Al-Sudani, real name Suhayl Salim, arrived in Somalia in 2006 along with his brother, Suhayb, seeking jihad in Somalia, defectors said. That is the year Islamic courts took over most of south central Somalia and defeated U.S.-backed warlords.

Omar Mohamed Abu Ayan, a former al-Shabab official, said Al-Sudani had a twin brother who died in 2008 after a mortar he was firing at the Somali presidential palace in Mogadishu malfunctioned and exploded on him.

Abu Ayan said al-Sudani had a role in the recruitment of Ethiopians.

“He came up with the idea to translate Daesh propaganda into Amharic, targeting Ethiopia,” Abu Ayan said.

Despite its limitations, IS-Somalia has enjoyed a “disproportionate influence” within Islamic State networks from Somalia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda and down to Mozambique in southern Africa, analyst Bryden said.
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Illegal fishing is a multibillion-dollar global industry closely linked to organized crime. The trade will pose a greater threat to security as climate change warms the world’s oceans, according to a report from Britain’s Royal United Services Institute. Henry Ridgwell has more from London.
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Lahore in Pakistan jumped more than 10 places to become the city with the worst air in the world in 2022, according to an annual global survey by a Swiss maker of air purifiers.

The report published on Tuesday by IQAir also said that Chad in central Africa had replaced Bangladesh as the country with the most polluted air last year.

IQAir measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5. Its annual survey is widely cited by researchers and government organizations.

Lahore’s air quality worsened to 97.4 micrograms of PM2.5 particles per cubic meter from 86.5 in 2021, making it the most polluted city globally.

Hotan, the only Chinese city in the top 20, followed Lahore with PM2.5 levels of 94.3, an improvement from 101.5 in 2021.

The next two cities in the rankings were Indian: Bhiwadi, on Delhi’s outskirts had pollution levels at 92.7, and Delhi followed close behind at 92.6.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum PM2.5 concentration of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

While Chad had an average level of 89.7, Iraq, which had the second most polluted air for a country, averaged 80.1.

Pakistan, which had two of the five cities with the worst air in 2022, stood third in the country-wide ranking at 70.9, followed by Bahrain at 66.6.

Bangladesh’s air quality improved from 2021, when it was tagged as the country with the worst air. It is ranked fifth in the latest report, with PM2.5 levels coming down to 65.8 from 76.9.

India has has some of the most polluted cities in the world, but ranked eighth in the latest report, with PM2.5 levels at 53.3.

The report said India and Pakistan experienced the worst air quality in the Central and South Asian region, where nearly 60% of the population lives in areas where the concentration of PM2.5 particles is at least seven times higher than WHO’s recommended levels.

It said one in 10 people globally were living in an area where air pollution poses a threat to health.

The U.S. Pacific territory Guam had cleaner air than any country, with a PM2.5 concentration of 1.3, while Canberra had the cleanest air for a capital city, with 2.8. 

The index was prepared using data from more than 30,000 air quality monitors in more than 7,300 locations in 131 countries, territories and regions.
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