Nigeria’s Central Bank this week announced a new policy that restricts large amounts of cash from being withdrawn from bank accounts. The announcement comes two weeks after authorities unveiled redesigned currency in an attempt to curb cash hoarding and check corruption and crimes. But some critics say the decision will have a negative effect on small businesses.

The Central Bank’s directive this week restricting cash withdrawals from individual and corporate accounts will take effect on Jan. 9, 2023.

According to the new policy, personal account holders will be able to withdraw only 100,000 naira, or around $200, per week while companies will be restricted to about $1,000 in the same period.

The policy comes ahead of Nigeria’s election slated for February 2023, with authorities vowing to tackle vote-trading and corruption.

The CBN says the initiative seeks to address excessive hoarding of cash, help fight crime, give authorities control of the legal tender, and encourage more people to use electronic means for their transactions.

But economist and director at the Centre for Social Justice, Eze Onyekpere, said it will have an adverse effect on small and medium scale enterprises, or SMEs.

“That is not the way to curb vote-buying,” he said. “Yes, it could restrict the amount people have in their hands but these amounts of money are too small considering the value of the naira, and in terms of small businesses particularly people in the informal sector who may not have gone fully cashless who have not gone completely cashless, it’s going to cause them a lot of inconvenience, challenges and also may increase the cost of doing business.”

The initiative allows for a monthly withdrawal above specified limits but that carries a 5% processing fee for individuals and 10% for corporate entities.

The CBN said it will sanction banks and other financial institutions that fail to comply with the measure.

In late November, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the redesigned 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes initially scheduled for launch in mid-December.

Public finance expert Isaac Botti supports the move, saying it is the only way to ensure the new currencies are not stashed away.

“For me, it’s a commendable policy because it’s a way to also curb corruption and looting of public treasuries,” he said. “I don’t have concerns over it affecting SMEs because they’re not expected to carry out solely cash transmissions. The only concern I have is about making the system more effective to be able to accommodate cashless policy.”

Onyekpere also cites the lack of internet banking services as a major hindrance. More than 40% of Nigerians, mostly in rural areas, do not have bank accounts and rely on mobile money agents for their daily transactions.

Abuja bakery owner Eseoghene Eghove said the tightening of accounts will affect her business.

“As a business owner I go to buy flour, sugar, butter and many other things. How do you pay? It is not reasonable, they’ll just make things more difficult for people,” she said.

The old naira bills will cease to be legal tender by the end of January. The CBN has promised to monitor the rollout of the new bills and make sure not too much money is withdrawn.
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At least 10 people, most of them civilian volunteers supporting the armed forces, were killed in northern Burkina Faso in an attack by suspected jihadis, local sources told AFP on Thursday. 

The attack took place Wednesday at Boala in the central-north region, two residents and a regional leader of the VDP volunteer force told AFP. 

“At least 10 volunteers were killed and there were several wounded, who were taken to the medical center in Boulsa,” the main town in Namentenga province, one of the residents said. 

The VDP official said that “several terrorists were neutralized by volunteers” after a two-hour fight. 

A poor landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel, Burkina Faso is battling a seven-year jihadi insurgency that swept in from neighboring Mali. 

Thousands of civilians and members of the security forces have died, and nearly 2 million people have fled their homes. 

More than a third of the semi-desert country is in the control of the militants, and anger within the armed forces at military losses has spurred two coups this year. 

The latest attack is the fourth in Burkina Faso since Sunday and brings the latest tally of deaths to at least 27. 

On Sunday six civilians, including four teachers, were killed by suspected jihadis at Bittou near the southeastern border with Ghana and Togo. 

At least nine civilians were killed in the north on Monday and Tuesday in attacks on a village and a convoy of traders. 

On November 26, four soldiers were killed by a bomb in the north, and three civilians were shot dead in the northeast. 

The VDP — the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland — is an auxiliary force that supports the poorly equipped army. 

Set up in December 2019, it comprises civilian volunteers who are given two weeks of military training and then carry out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.  

But hundreds of volunteers have died, especially in ambushes or explosions caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted along roadsides.  

Despite the losses, 90,000 people signed up during a recruitment drive for the VDP in November, according to the authorities. 

 
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The COVID-19 pandemic has set global malaria control efforts back, especially in Africa, the World Health Organization says.

However, this year’s World Malaria Report says countries were able to lessen disruptions to prevention, testing and treatment.

In 2019, before the pandemic struck, there were 568,000 malaria deaths. Despite the pandemic and other humanitarian emergencies, WHO information shows concerted action by countries has prevented the worst potential impacts of COVID-19-related disruptions to malaria services.

WHO officials say the world has largely managed to salvage many of the gains made against malaria during the past 20 years. 

Abdisalan Noor, head of the WHO Global Malaria Program’s Strategic Information unit, said malaria cases dramatically increased in the first year of the pandemic. However, he said the number of cases last year remained largely the same as in 2020. 

“Overall, however, the pandemic and its related disruptions have led to increases in malaria burden over the last two years, and we estimate that about 63,000 deaths and about 13 million cases [were] attributed to disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

Most deaths and cases have occurred in the WHO African region, Noor said, adding that progress in malaria control is continuing. For example, he said 11 countries with the world’s highest malaria levels have largely held the line against the disease during the pandemic.  Among them are Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Mali and Tanzania,

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Noor said nearly 300 million insecticide-treated bed nets were distributed to susceptible families. Bed nets are regarded as the most important tool against malaria, and their declining effectiveness is of concern.

Noor cited growing insecticide resistance and households’ decreasing retention of bed nets as major problems.

“In particular, because of the physical durability of the bed net itself as well as the maintenance of the bed net in the household … we are not getting the gains we would have hoped for from the ITN [insecticide-treated net], which essentially means that given that mass campaigns have been every three years, we have a considerable period between campaigns when people are not receiving effective protection,” he said.

WHO officials consider the current setback as a temporary glitch on the road to global malaria elimination. They say key opportunities, such as a new generation of malaria control tools, could help accelerate progress toward this goal.

They say long-lasting bed nets with new insecticide combinations and other innovations in vector control are in the offing, and by late next year, the world’s first malaria vaccine will be offered to millions of children. Also, they add, other lifesaving malaria vaccines are in development. 

 
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Cameroon’s military has taken over construction of roads linking its troubled western regions to Nigeria after what it said were repeated separatist attacks. The military says the rebels abducted eight people this week, including road workers, who were abandoning work sites due to insecurity. 

Cameroon says scores of government troops and road construction equipment of its military engineering corps are moving from Yaounde to at least six western towns and villages on the border with Nigeria. 

The equipment that departed the capital Tuesday includes loaders, bulldozers, dump trucks and compactors, the military says.

Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo told parliament this week that President Paul Biya ordered the military engineering corps to take over construction of the road linking the Kumba and Ekondo-Titi districts.

Assomo said a majority of civilian road construction engineers abandoned work following repeated armed attacks and destruction of equipment by separatist fighters.

He said army forces are capable of taking over the work.

Assomo said besides its regular participation in combat operations, forces of Cameroon’s military engineering corps are trained and have a wide range of experience in constructing public edifices, including buildings and roads. He said only Biya, who is commander in chief of the armed forces, authorizes the military to construct roads in areas deemed necessary or where there are armed conflicts.

The road is part of the government’s efforts to reconstruct the western areas devastated by the separatist conflict that has claimed 3,500 lives and displaced 750,000 people.

The government says eight civilians including road construction workers were abducted by separatist fighters from a bus on Monday in Ekondo-Titi.

Separatists have claimed responsibility for the abductions but have not made any requests for ransom, as is usually the case when workers are kidnapped in Cameroon’s western regions.

Mukete Ekoko, a traditional ruler in Kumba, said when constructed, the road will increase trade between Cameroon and a market of 180 million people in Nigeria and reduce poverty in border towns and villages. He said he was happy that the military is taking over the construction of the road.

“This is the most important project for the time being, to take us to the next stage and that is why we the chiefs, we take it so important, we take it so seriously and we want the authorities to know that we are thankful,” he said.

The Cameroon military says civilians should denounce fighters hiding in the community and harassing civilians. The military says it will assure the safety of people and property in the area and complete the 60-kilometer road in less than three months.

Njume Peter Ambang, a lawmaker from Cameroon’s Southwest region where Kumba and Ekondo-Titi are located, said youths who join separatists because they are unemployed will have opportunities to sell their crops when the road is developed.

“We have taken the engagement to tell these boys who are disturbing this road that, please, enough is enough, to please not disturb this road again,” he said.

English-speaking armed groups have been fighting for the secession of two western regions from the rest of Cameroon and its French-speaking majority since 2017.

The last major move by Cameroon’s military to take over the construction of roads was on the northern borders with Chad and Nigeria in 2018 after Chinese contractors abandoned the work following repeated attacks from armed Boko Haram fighters.
…

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed at a summit this week to establish a regional peacekeeping force to fight terrorism and restore democracy after military coups.

The ECOWAS standby force will be led by chiefs of defense staff of member nations, with the stated aim of addressing terrorism and coup attempts among ECOWAS members.

The force will also help restore democratic order in places where coups already have taken place.

Abuja-based political analyst Rotimi Olawale said the peacekeeping force is a welcome development. 

“ECOWAS is not unfamiliar with creating peacekeeping forces. In the ’90s, ECOWAS was popular for creating ECOMOG, which was responsible for restoring peace and order in a number of countries including Liberia,” Olawale said. “It’s a welcome development, particularly in response to counter violent extremism that we’re seeing growing in western Africa. What I see might pose a challenge is this peacekeeping force is expected to respond to two twin challenges.” 

The 15-member West African bloc has seen many coups in the last two years, including ones in Mali and Guinea and two this year in Burkina Faso. The three countries have been suspended from ECOWAS decision-making bodies.

ECOWAS leaders say the coups have set back decades of democratic gains made in the region and have earned it a reputation for being unstable.

ECOWAS member nations also are battling jihadist fighters operating across borders, making it difficult for individual nations’ security forces to address.

Security analyst and editor-in-chief of Security Digest newspapers Chidi Omeje said there will be initial challenges. 

“This is a purely unconventional kind of warfare, you don’t even know the boundaries or who your adversaries are. So, how would such standby force identify adversaries?” Omeje said. “We have the anglophone and the francophone, these two blocks always have this mutual suspicion for each other, they have different perspectives in the way that they deal with each other.”

Olawale agreed that restoring peace and order will not be easy. 

“There were cases where the sitting governments in some of these countries thwarted their constitutions to extend time of office of incumbent. Public opinions in some of the countries support use of force to have a fresh start,” Olawale said. “I feel ECOWAS needs to be very careful in how it responds to coups. There will be a lot of problems if there’s no public buy-in, especially among the citizens of the countries.”

This week, the West African bloc told Mali’s ruling junta to free 46 Ivorian troops who were sent to provide backup for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali but have been held since July.

Defense chiefs from member nations of ECOWAS will meet in January to discuss a way forward for the peacekeeping force. 

 
…

Ethiopia’s electric company says it has reconnected the Tigray region’s capital, Mekelle, to the national grid for the first time in more than a year. 

Ethiopian Electric Power spokesman Moges Mekonen told VOA’s Tigrigna Service that work was underway to repair damaged power lines in eight other areas of the Tigray region. The director of Mekelle’s flagship Ayder Hospital, Kibrom Gebreselassie, told VOA on Wednesday that power has resumed in Mekelle. Residents who spoke to the BBC also confirmed that they are enjoying the “full resumption of electricity.”

Ethiopian state media reported Tuesday that power had been restored to the capital.

It was not possible for VOA to immediately verify the claims as Ethiopia’s government does not allow journalists into Tigray.

Mekelle’s power supply has been erratic since federal forces were forced to withdraw in June 2021, while most of Tigray has been without phone, internet and banking services since war broke out between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, more than two years ago.

Aid workers say the lack of services has worsened the humanitarian crisis in Tigray, where 90% of the 6 million population need aid.

The two sides signed a landmark cease-fire deal in early November that restored its services and commited the federal government to “unhindered” aid to the embattled region. However, since the deal was signed, power, internet and phone lines are still down in most parts of the Tigray region. And while food and medical aid has started trickling into the region, it has been limited.

The World Health Organization said Friday it still does not have “unfettered access” to deliver medical supplies to Tigray.

For its part, Tigrayan forces were expected to disband their fighters within 30 days of the November 2 cease-fire. 

Tigray’s top military commander last week said his forces have withdrawn from 65% of frontline areas but would remain in areas where foreign forces are still present.

Tigrayan leaders accuse Eritrean troops of continuing to commit atrocities in the region, including rapes and executions.

Eritrea denies any wrongdoing and did not take part in the November peace deal. 

 
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Police in northwestern Nigeria have launched a manhunt for gunmen who killed six people, including four police officers, at a market near the border with Niger.

A spokesman for the Sokoto state police command, Sanusi Abubakar, said armed men on motorcycles opened fire Tuesday on a police patrol team outside a market in Yar Bulutu village.

The attack killed four police officers and two traders.

Abubakar told VOA Wednesday that police were headed to the scene to investigate.

“As I speak to you now, we’re in transit, we’re going for on-the-spot assessment regarding the incident,” he said.

Abubakar told AFP the attack could be in reprisal for the killing last week of bandits by police forces in a nearby district as the bandits tried to attack residents.

Nigeria has witnessed a string of shootings perpetrated by ransom-seeking gangs whom authorities have been struggling to contain in the country’s northwest.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) recently warned that escalating violence in the region was disrupting access to farming and worsening a malnutrition crisis there.

 
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Rights groups are pressuring Spain’s government over the deaths of at least 23 people after thousands of migrants forced their way through the European Union’s only land border with Africa between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla.

In the worst tragedy on a European frontier in recent years, the migrants died in a crush, and scores more were injured, when about 2,000 people, many from Sudan, stormed the 6-meter-high fence to try to get through the border on June 24. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) said another 77 people were missing after the incident.

Spain’s state prosecutor and the country’s ombudsman have opened investigations into the incident, and their conclusions could prove politically damaging to Madrid and Rabat if they challenge the official version of events.

Migrant aid groups and opposition politicians have accused both Spain and Morocco of covering up what really happened to the migrants and failing to account for missing people.

Contradictions

Two separate media investigations have suggested at least one migrant died on the Spanish side of the border, contradicting the Spanish government’s insistence that no one died on Spanish soil.

Beyond last June’s incident, the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner said last week migrants in Morocco had “no genuine and effective” access to asylum in Melilla, leaving them with little choice but to try to cross illegally.

Both the Spanish and Moroccan governments have defended the actions of their security forces, saying the migrants had been violent, and police had used reasonable force.

The ongoing controversy raises questions regarding not just the Melilla incident, but how a key European Union border with Africa is policed.

Hours after migrants burst through the border, shocking footage was published by AMDH of Moroccan gendarmerie officers walking among what appeared to be scores of bodies.

The heavily defended borders between Melilla and Ceuta, Spain’s two North African enclaves, and Morocco have long been the flashpoint between well-armed security forces and migrants hoping to make a new life in Europe.

The Spanish interior minister repeatedly has insisted that no deaths occurred on Spanish soil, thereby absolving Madrid of any responsibility for the tragedy.

“I have said it before, and I will repeat it again: We are talking about tragic events that took place outside our country. There has been no loss of life on national territory,” Fernando Grande-Marlaska said last week in the Spanish parliament during a stormy session.

He said that while he “sympathized” with the causes, such as wars that have pushed people to try to migrate to Europe, he added “that does not justify a violent attack against the borders of a country.”

Naser Burita, the Moroccan Foreign Minister, said last week during a visit to Spain, that this was “not a normal incident, not in its origin or how it happened. It was very violent.” He said the circumstances justified the way Moroccan police controlled the incident and said it was handled in a “responsible” way.

Right to claim asylum

Elena Munoz, legal spokesman of the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid, an NGO, said in the June incident that 460 people were returned from Spain to Melilla without the right to claim asylum, thereby contravening international migration law, which states migrants should have 24 hours to make this claim.

“There are two investigations underway from the state prosecutor and the ombudsman to try to find out what happened. Already, the Council of Europe has said it is impossible for migrants to claim asylum in Melilla, so they must climb over the fences,” she told VOA.

“This is a delicate situation [for the government]. On all the land and maritime borders with Europe, human rights must be respected. People must be allowed access to the right to asylum.”

The Melilla tragedy has proved to be a political headache for Spain’s minority government, with some of its normal allies criticizing the leftist coalition over the issue.

“It is not acceptable that in the face of the evidence and investigations over the facts, the government and the minister deny everything,” Jon Inarritu, a lawmaker for the Basque nationalist EH Bildu party, which is a political ally of the ruling Socialist party, told VOA.

“This is the worst incident to happen on the Spanish and European frontier [and it] should be cleared up as soon as possible.”

In an initial report in October, the Spanish ombudsman condemned “excessive and lethal use of force” by Moroccan and Spanish law enforcement forces, but the ombudsman has yet to deliver its final findings.

Lighthouse Reports, a Dutch media organization that worked with four major European media outlets including the Spanish daily newspaper El Pais and France’s Le Monde, published an investigation last week that asserted at least one migrant died on the Spanish side of the border.

It showed an image of what it said was an African migrant on the Spanish side of the frontier.

A BBC documentary broadcast on November 1 said video footage showed “at least one dead body” at the entrance of the Melilla border post, as well as other bodies being removed by Moroccan security forces.

Spanish authorities confirmed that this area “was under their control,” the BBC reported.

A spokesman for the Spanish Interior Ministry, who asked not to be named in accordance with practice in Spain, told VOA it did not want to add anything to the comments of Grande-Marlaska in parliament.

In 2014, 15 migrants drowned trying to swim from Morocco to Ceuta after Spanish police in Ceuta, the other Spanish enclave in north Africa, fired rubber bullets and tear gas to repel them.

A Spanish judge initially indicted 16 Civil Guard officers, but the case was dropped this year by the Supreme Court.

This report includes information from Agence France-Presse.
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Exuberant Moroccans poured into the streets of their capital and in cities across Europe on Tuesday, waving flags and honking horns to celebrate their national soccer team’s historic victory over Spain at the World Cup.

Morocco defeated Spain in a penalty shootout, making the Atlas Lions the only team from outside Europe or South America to make it to the quarterfinals in Qatar — and the first Arab team in World Cup history to make it to the last eight.

“We are so proud of our Lions, who fought hard to get us into the quarterfinals,” said Niama Meddoun, a Rabat resident. “We are delighted to be Moroccans today, since we are the first Arab country that has reached the quarterfinals.”

The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, praised the national team and sent his “heartfelt congratulations” to the players, the technical team and administrative personnel, “who gave their all and blazed a trail throughout this great sporting event,” according to a statement from the royal palace.

The king said the players represented “hopes and dreams of Moroccans in Morocco, Qatar, and all over the world.”

Morocco is the only Arab — and African — nation left in the tournament, the first World Cup held in the Middle East. Its World Cup success has reverberated across the Arab world and among Moroccan and some other immigrant communities in Europe.

In Barcelona, Spain’s second largest city, a crowd of youths waving Moroccan, Egyptian, Algerian and Palestinian flags gathered in the center, where fans of FC Barcelona traditionally celebrate big victories. People cheered to the sound of drums. Some were lighting flares.

In a Barcelona restaurant where viewers had congregated, people jumped on tables and lifted chairs in the air. Outside, cars honked horns and people lit firecrackers and red and green smoke bombs.

Youssef Lotfi, a 39-year-old construction worker who was born in Casablanca but moved to Spain as a child and said he feels love for both countries, was brimming with pride.

“Today is a day of joy for Moroccans and all the Arab world,” Lotfi said. “It was a heart-attack finish that could have gone either way.”

He called the victory “once in a lifetime” experience. “Morocco is representing all the Arab world, all the African continent, that is beyond description, it is the most glorious part,” he said.

In Ceuta, a Spanish exclave which borders with Morocco on the north African coast, the win was also celebrated with cars honking horns. Ceuta’s population is a mix of Spaniards and Moroccan residents and workers.

“What pride! What happiness! Now to celebrate with friends. I have lost my voice!” said 20-year-old Ismael Mustafa. “We were able to pull it off. For Spain? You will win next time, so no worries.”

Celebrations across Spain, which has some 800,000 Moroccan residents, were mostly peaceful, though Spanish media reported a brief scuffle between Morocco and Spain fans in a bar in the southern city of Huelva. No injuries or arrests were reported.

In Qatar, Moroccan fans clashed briefly with police outside the stadium before the game started.

Ten days ago, riots broke out in Belgium and the Netherlands as Morocco fans celebrated beating Belgium in the group stage in Qatar.

In central Paris, cars started honking almost immediately after Morocco’s surprise win Tuesday, and crowds of people streamed toward the Champs-Elysees to celebrate. Men and women, in business suits or track suits, from teenage to middle-aged, cheered or raised their hands in victory. Cries of “Allez, allez!” in French rang out, and one woman asked strangers “Who has a Moroccan flag I can borrow?”

Spain fans were crushed by the loss.

“They have been very unlucky in the penalties, but it seems to me that they have also made a mistake in the players who take the penalties,” said 64-year-old Dionisio Sánchez, who was among a group of fans who trickled out of bar in Madrid.

“They shot with very little enthusiasm … little desire to score, but the penalties, it’s luck, it’s a lottery,” he said.
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The Democratic Republic of Congo says the civilian death toll from what it calls a massacre by rebels with the March 23 movement, known as M23, has risen to 272.

The increased death toll was announced at a press briefing Monday in Kinshasa by Minister of Industry and former governor of North Kivu province, Julien Paluku.

The Congolese army last week accused the March 23 movement rebels, M23, of killing at least 50 civilians in North Kivu’s Kishishe village.

The government later increased the estimate to more than 100.

But Paluku said figures from local groups put the death toll closer to 300. In total, he said, about 272 civilians were killed. Paluku added that the rhetoric from Rwanda’s (President Paul) Kagame claims that it is the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda who are being killed, it is the armed groups. But in Kishishe, he said, most of the people who were killed were in an Adventist church. 

A spokesman for the M23 rebels, Lawrence Kanyuka, told VOA that the group did not target civilians and blamed the Congolese army for breaking a November 23 truce.

But M23 said “stray bullets” from clashes killed eight civilians.

The fresh fighting broke out just days the presidents of the DRC and Rwanda, meeting in Angola, agreed to a ceasefire.

The M23 rebels were not part of the deal, but since the agreement there had been no fighting reported between the Congolese army and M23 until last Thursday.

Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23 rebels, which it denies.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Rwanda’s President Kagame to cease all support for M23 and called for all sides to respect the Angola truce.

Separate week-long talks in Nairobi between the DRC government, armed groups in eastern Congo, and regional leaders wrapped up Tuesday with calls for more efforts for peace with talks in the DRC.

The main rebel group, M23, was not invited to the talks because they refused to give up territory seized since fighting erupted a year ago.

The M23 rebels are mainly Congolese ethnic Tutsis who say the government broke a deal to integrate them into the army.

They began taking territory in November 2021 and in October moved toward the city of Goma.

The East African Community has deployed hundreds of troops from Burundi and Kenya as part of a regional force to try to quell the violence.
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More than 50 Sudanese political forces, civil groups and the military leaders signed a power-sharing deal Monday that raised hopes of ending violent clashes between security and protesters since last year’s coup. 

The agreement calls for immediate security and military reforms which include combining all militias, including the Sudan paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, into one unified army. It also stresses the need to resolve issues regarding transitional justice in the country.

The move raises hope of ending continued clashes between pro-democracy protesters and the security forces.

Some regional and international bodies have praised the Sudanese leaders for reaching the deal.

The U.N. human rights chief, Volker Turk, said in a statement Monday that the agreement was an “important” step toward a political settlement.

Turk reiterated the commitment of his office to supporting the people of Sudan in their aspirations for peace, justice, democracy and the rule of law, and to ensuring that human rights and accountability remain central to the transition process.

Khartoum resident Sahar Al Jazuli hailed the civilian parties and the military for agreeing to begin a new transition.

She said it has been more than a year since citizens have gone without essential services. The situation is complicated internally and externally, she said, adding that the next phase needs everyone to sacrifice and forget their personal and narrow interests that have caused more lives and bloodshed.

Farah Abbas, who lost his 28-year-old son, Abbas Farah, when troops opened fire on protesters outside the military headquarters in Khartoum in June 2019, said neither he nor other families whose relatives were killed by security forces have received justice.

He said they will continue with “true” revolutionaries to reject any deal that doesn’t serve justice and accountability.    

Abbas said they have the real revolutionaries who continue to pressure the military on the streets. He said the resistance committees are the true leaders of change in Sudan, and people will not surrender due to any forms of forces used against civilians.

Sudanese writer and former diplomat to the United States, Mekki El Moghrabi, said Tuesday’s agreement is overdue because the country was headed down an unknown road.

He said by signing this agreement, Sudan will gain a lot of benefit from the international community. 

“This agreement will not solve all problems, but it is a very good step,” he said. “It puts disputes and complications in the truck of long-awaited dialogue. Sudanese people and friends of Sudan should manage their expectations. All should be more realistic.”

Officials from the African Union and European Union congratulated the Sudanese parties for reaching the agreement and urged them to engage in genuine dialogue to complete the remaining tasks that lead to the formation of a transitional government. 

 
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The U.N. refugee agency warns humanitarian conditions are deteriorating for tens of thousands of Somalis in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps as unrelenting drought grips the Horn of Africa and funding dries up.

More than 80,000 Somalis fleeing conflict and drought have arrived in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps over the past two years, more than 24,000 since September.

This is exacting an enormous burden on the local communities and refugees already living in the camps, which house an estimated 230,000 refugees.

The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, reports refugees, especially those who have arrived since the end of September are in urgent need of assistance.  It says shelter for the new arrivals is running out.  This is forcing many to live in makeshift shelters, with limited or no access to clean water and sanitation.

To make matters worse, UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov said a cholera outbreak at the end of October has infected more than 350 people, mainly children.  He said the spread of cholera is declining thanks to the efforts of health partners.  However, the risk of further infection remains.

“UNHCR is providing new arrivals to Dadaab with clean drinking water and extending sanitation and hygiene facilities to the outskirts of the camps.  We are also providing targeted protection services for the most vulnerable to ensure their needs are met.  Malnourished children are being screened and admitted to stabilization centers,” said Cheshirkov.

He notes the UNHCR also is assisting nearby host communities.  It is rehabilitating boreholes, providing generators for water pumps, and trucking in water.  While tending to the immediate needs of the refugees and local populations, he said the UNHCR, and the Kenyan government are seeking long-term solutions for this intractable problem.

Kenya has been hosting more than half a million refugees and asylum seekers in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps and urban areas for over three decades.  This is the second largest number in Africa after Ethiopia.

Cheshirkov said neither voluntary repatriation to Somalia nor resettlement in third countries of asylum are viable solutions currently.

“What we are focusing on now is to find ways for refugees to become self-reliant in Kenya.  And that includes through education, through vocational training and through access to financial services so that people can access businesses.  So that they have a prospect as a longer-term solution is found to their plight,” he said.

In the meantime, the UNHCR warns its life-saving operations for more than 257,000 drought-affected people in Kenya is foundering for lack of financial support.  It notes only half of an appeal issued in June for $11.1 million has been met.
…

Aid groups say measles and cholera outbreaks at Kenya’s congested Dadaab refugee camp have killed at least five people and sickened more than 400.  The outbreaks come as thousands of Somalis have been arriving at the camp this year to escape record drought back home, stretching camp resources.  Juma Majanga reports from Dadaab refugee camp in northeast Kenya.
…

The first shipment of grain as part of Ukraine’s own initiative to supply countries in need arrived Monday in Djibouti for delivery to neighboring Ethiopia amid the region’s worst drought in decades. 

Ukraine’s embassy in Ethiopia confirmed that the “Grain from Ukraine” shipment of 25,000 tons is separate from a United Nations World Food Program effort that has funded humanitarian grain shipments from Ukraine. 

A second ship with 30,000 tons of wheat will be heading to Ethiopia next week, while a third vessel is being loaded with 25,000 tons of wheat bound for Somalia, an embassy statement said. 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month announced the initiative aimed at helping “countries the most struck by the food crisis.” Ukraine has said it plans to send more than 60 ships to Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Congo, Kenya, Yemen and other countries. 

Millions of people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are going hungry during a drought following the fifth straight failed rainy season, while conflicts in Ethiopia and Somalia have worsened the crisis. 

Ethiopia has not yet commented on the new grain shipment from Ukraine. But Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in August criticized reports of a U.N. effort to ship grain from Ukraine to Ethiopia as an attempt to paint “a picture that we are starved.” 

 
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A published report says Ethiopian guards and villagers massacred 83 Tigrayan prisoners at a camp in southern Ethiopia last November in what the report calls the deadliest killing of imprisoned soldiers since the Tigray war started more than two years ago.  

The Washington Post said the previously unreported killings occurred Nov. 21, 2021, at a camp near the town of Mirab Abaya that housed more than 2,000 detained Tigrayan soldiers.  

Witnesses told the Post that between 16 and 18 guards at the camp opened fire on prisoners late that afternoon, prompting many to flee into the bush, chased by Ethiopian soldiers. 

The report said after running for an hour, some escapees came across some locals and begged them for help. Instead, a mob of at least 150 people attacked the Tigrayans with machetes, sticks and stones.  

Witnesses said members of the mob were incorrectly told the Tigrayans were prisoners of war who were responsible for the deaths of local men in the military.  

The Post said none of the soldiers killed had been combatants against Ethiopian forces. 

The attacks happened at a time when Tigrayan forces were advancing toward the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Prisoners interviewed for the story speculated that the attacks were triggered by fear or desire for revenge.  

The bodies of the 83 Tigrayans were dumped in a mass grave outside the prison camp, according to witnesses. 

“They were stacked on top of each other like wood,” said one. 

The Post said it interviewed more than two dozen people, including prisoners, medical personnel, officials and local relatives, for the story that was published Monday. 

The war between Ethiopia’s central government and the northern Tigray region broke out in November 2020. The sides are currently working out details of a cease-fire agreement. 
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Press freedom groups have condemned Burkina Faso’s halting of broadcasts by French media outlet Radio France International (RFI). Ouagadougou’s military leaders linked the ban to RFI reporting that the junta describes as false. Critics say the military is seeking to control news and information as it struggles against worsening insecurity.

Burkina Faso is the second West African country, after Mali, to take the French broadcaster off the air. Both countries are under military rule.

In a statement, the Burkinabe military junta says Radio France International made false reports pertaining to an alleged foiled coup attempt last week and had given voice to Islamist militants. 

In the wake of the ban, announced Saturday, RFI issued a separate statement saying it “strongly deplores” the authorities’ actions and will “explore all avenues to restore RFI’s broadcasting.” RFI also cited its unwavering commitment to the freedom to inform and to the “professional work of its journalists.”

Jonathan Rozen is with the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based advocacy group.

“The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by and investigating the suspension of French broadcaster RFI in Burkina Faso. It’s unfortunate that as people in Burkina Faso and across the Sahel grapple with insecurity, authorities have chosen to deny access to a prominent source of news and information,” he said.

Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, says the authorities’ decision will prevent other journalists from reporting on terrorism and could be illegal.

Sadibou Marong is RSF’s West Africa director.

“CSC is the media regulator, which according to the law has the prerogative to suspend or sanction the media. Unless the law has been changed this is also a violation of the media regulation laws,” said Marong.

Burkina Faso has been at war with militants linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida for more than six years. As the violence has worsened, so has political instability, with the country enduring two military coups this year, one in January, one in September. Both juntas have promised to resolve the country’s security problems.

Andrew Lebovich is an analyst with Clingendael Institute, a Netherlands-based research group. He says the current junta led by Ibrahim Traoré is under increasing pressure to produce results. 

“Attacks have continued, and the junta is still significantly under threat and still faces I think important pressures. I think political pressures, but also pressure even potentially within the military, so there’s a lot for them to balance right now and I don’t think they’ve shown real signs of success yet,” he said.

The action against RFI comes after a number of anti-French protests across the country in recent months. Some blame Burkina Faso’s military partnership with its former colonizer for the failure to stop the violence.

Earlier this year, France announced it would downsize its counter-insurgency military operation in the Sahel and regroup and recast itself under a European umbrella.

Across the western Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, fatalities caused by conflict have increased by more than 50 percent this year, according to information from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. 

(Lisa Bryant in Paris contributed to this report.)
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Cyril Ramaphosa is not South Africa’s first president or leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party to be dogged by allegations of corruption.  While graft claims do not surprise most South Africans, analysts say it is taking a toll on the ANC’s popularity.  Zaheer Cassim reports from Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Cameroon’s government is praising U.S. authorities for arresting three Cameroonian Americans accused of supporting separatist violence in the country’s western regions. The three, arrested a week ago and indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice, allegedly raised funds to abduct persons and use weapons of mass destruction in a foreign country.

Cameroon’s government has for years been urging the U.S. and Europe to crack down on separatists operating outside the country. Government forces have been battling separatist groups for five years.

John Billy Eko, inspector general in Cameroon’s External Relations Ministry, said the arrest of the three Cameroonian-born U.S. citizens indicates the U.S. has come to understand that some people who sponsor the separatist conflict live in America.

“We remain cautious and vigilant because the indictment is perhaps only the first phase of a judicial process which began with our government’s persistence in convincing American authorities to take action [against separatist sponsors],” he said. “So, we await trial and sentencing. There are many, many more unindicted co-conspirators and accomplices in the United States and elsewhere who were not cited in this indictment.”

Cameroonian lawyers in the U.S. say they have filed complaints against 200 Cameroonians and American citizens of Cameroon origin in the U.S. who are suspected accomplices to separatist violence.

Armed groups seeking to separate two predominantly English-speaking regions from Cameroon and its French-speaking majority launched their military campaign in 2017.

Eko said that since then Cameroon has appealed to friendly nations to take actions against separatist supporters working within their national territories.

On November 28, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the charges against Claude Chi, Lah Nestor Langmi and Francis Chenyi, all Cameroonian-born U.S. citizens in their 40s. The three arrested defendants are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a conspiracy to kidnap persons and use weapons of mass destruction in Cameroon.

The U.S Department of Justice says in addition to more than $350,000 the defendants raised through voluntary donations, the three men conspired with others to kidnap civilians in Cameroon and hold them for ransom.

It says in some instances, U.S. citizens were extorted for ransom payments to secure the release of their kidnapped relatives living in Cameroon, with ransom payments subsequently transferred to separatist fighters to fund their operations.

“We have examined the case filed into court by the United States prosecutor. We had previously condemned kidnapping for ransom and the use of Ambazonia forces for personal benefit,” said Capo Daniel,spokesperson of the Ambazonia Governing Council, one of the chief separatist groups. “This war remains the primary cause of the chaos and the emergence of criminal gangs and cartels that seek to use Ambazonia to legitimize their criminal activity.”

Before last week’s indictment, Christopher John Lamora, U.S. ambassador to Cameroon, had condemned abductions for ransom and attacks on education.

“I have seen a lot of videos where people are calling for violence, where people are suggesting that killing students and preventing them from going to school is somehow a valid approach to resolving social concerns. It isn’t,” said Lamora, speaking to Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV. “The people in the diaspora, be they in the United States or elsewhere, who have been calling over the past several years for violence to stop. There is no question about that.”

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison for the material support charges, up to three years in prison for receiving money from a ransom demand charge and up to 20 years in prison for the money laundering conspiracy charge, according to the U.S Department of Justice.
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Sudan’s ruling generals and the main pro-democracy group on Monday signed a framework deal until elections but key dissenters have stayed out of the agreement.

The deal pledges to establish a new, civilian-led transitional government to guide the country to elections and offers a path forward in the wake of Sudan’s stalled transition to democracy following the October 2021 coup.

The deal — the first of at least two planned accords — was signed by Sudan’s two ruling generals, Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, and the leaders from the country’s largest pro-democracy group, Forces of Freedom and Change, at the Khartoum Republican Palace.

However, several of Sudan’s key dissenting political forces have boycotted the deal, including Sudan’s grassroots pro-democracy network, known as the Resistance Committee, which has continually refused to negotiate with the ruling generals.

According to the draft, the deal envisions Sudan’s military step back from politics. The agreement also stipulates that the “revolutionary forces” that signed the deal will decide upon a new prime minister to oversee a two-year transition, a 24-month period that begins after a premier is appointed.

In response to the signing, the pro-democracy Resistance Committee leaders called for demonstrations against the agreement.

The deal is roughly based on a draft transitional constitution proposed Sudan’s Bar Association in September. It does not address details concerning thornier political issues, such as a transitional judiciary system and the implementation of military reforms, which have been left for a follow-up accord.

Sudan has been plugged into turmoil since its leading military figure, Gen. Burhan, mounted the October 2021 coup that upended the country’s former democratic transition after three decades of autocratic rule by Omar al-Bashir. The former leader was toppled in April 2019 following a popular uprising.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s fate was hanging in the balance on Monday ahead of a meeting of the executive committee of the governing party to discuss allegations he may have committed misconduct and violated the oath of office.

The inquiry relates to findings that large sums of foreign currency were hidden at Ramaphosa’s private game farm and he failed to report the money missing when it was stolen in 2020.

Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes. He has said the money stolen was the proceeds of the sale of buffaloes and far less than the millions of dollars alleged when the theft came to light in June.

Ramaphosa said on Sunday he would attend the meeting of the African National Congress National Executive Committee (NEC) and would accept its decision.

“By lunchtime, depending on where we’ll be on the program, we will bring the treasurer general to come and do a doorstop with yourselves,” ANC spokesman Pule Mabe told reporters.

Party leaders and supporters of Ramaphosa clad in the colors of the ANC party were seen arriving at the venue of the meeting on Monday. Some supporters sang in support of Ramaphosa.

Having received firm backing from his allies within the party, Ramaphosa has vowed to fight on, with his spokesman saying the panel’s findings would be challenged.

Investors fear uncertainty and that any other president could slow down or reverse economic reforms and increase government spending and take on more debt at levels they deem unsustainable.

Despite the doubts raised over Ramaphosa’s integrity, he is still seen by investors at home and abroad as cleaner than any of his rivals.

South Africa’s main opposition liberal Democratic Alliance (DA) party said it had submitted a motion to dissolve the national assembly and reiterated its call for an early election.

“Parliament’s role is precisely to step up at times such as this… It can only do this by dissolving the National Assembly so that the president can call an early election,” said DA leader John Steenhuisen.

South Africa’s rand was trading stronger on the day, up 1.74% as of 0842 GMT, as expectations that Ramaphosa might resign were quashed.
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West African leaders said on Sunday they would establish a regional peacekeeping force to intervene in member states to help restore security and constitutional order in a region that has witnessed several coups in the past two years.

West and Central Africa has made strides in the past decade to shed its reputation as a “coup belt,” but the Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS) wants to do more to boost constitutional government in its member states.

“The leaders of ECOWAS have decided to recalibrate our security architecture to ensure that we take care of our own security in the region,” the leaders said in a communique after an annual summit in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.

“The leaders are determined to establish a regional force that will intervene in the event of need, whether this is in the area of security, terrorism (or to) … restore constitutional order in member countries.”

ECOWAS did not give any details of how the force would be constituted but said defense chiefs would meet next month to work out how it would operate.

The ECOWAS leaders also expressed concern over the continued detention of 46 Ivorian soldiers in Mali. They asked Malian authorities to release the soldiers by the end of this month.

If the soldiers were not released, ECOWAS leaders “reserve the right and they have taken the decision to take certain measures, but they would appeal and call on the authorities of Mali to release the soldiers.”

On Guinea, the leaders said the military authorities should immediately have an inclusive dialog with all the parties and politicians, and also expressed serious concern about the security situation in Burkina Faso, which had a coup in October.
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Gunmen abducted 19 Muslim worshippers after attacking a mosque in the restive northwest of Nigeria, police said Sunday.

The attackers stormed the mosque in Maigamji village, in Katsina state, during evening prayers Saturday and carried out the kidnappings after shooting and wounding the imam and another worshipper, said local police spokesman Gambo Isah.

“Our men mobilized and went after the bandits and succeeded in rescuing six of the worshippers from their abductors, while efforts are underway to free the remaining 13,” he added.

The two people wounded were being treated in the hospital, he added.

Northwest and central Nigeria have been terrorized by criminal gangs locally known as bandits, who village raids steal cattle, kidnap for ransom and burn homes after looting supplies.

Hostages are usually released after a ransom is paid to the gangs, which take refuge in the vast Rugu Forest. It straddles four states in northwest Nigeria, including Katsina.

Last month, 15 people were killed and several others wounded in a series of bandit attacks on villages in neighboring Kaduna state, say the authorities.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been under intense pressure to end the violence before he leaves office next year at the end of his eight-year tenure in office.

There is growing concern over an alliance in the northeast between the bandits and jihadists waging a 12-year insurgency to establish a Caliphate.
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At least nine people died and eight others were missing in South Africa after a flash flood swept away members of a church congregation along the Jukskei River in Johannesburg, rescue officials said Sunday.

The dead and missing were all part of the congregation, which was conducting religious rituals along the river on Saturday, officials said. Rescue workers reported finding the bodies of two victims that day and another seven bodies when the search and recovery mission resumed Sunday morning.

The teams were interviewing people from the congregation to establish how many others were unaccounted for.

Religious groups frequently gather along the Jukskei River, which runs past townships such as Alexandra in the east of Johannesburg, for baptisms and ritual cleansing.

Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said Sunday that officials had warned residents about the dangers of conducting the rituals along the river.

“We have been receiving a lot of rain on the city of Johannesburg in the last three months, and most of the river streams are now full. Our residents, especially congregants who normally practice these kinds of rituals, will be tempted to go to these river streams,” Mulaudzi said during a news briefing.

“Our message for them is to exercise caution as and when they conduct these rituals,” he added.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday it was up to the governing party’s national executive to decide his future in the face of allegations of misconduct against him, a day after his spokesman said he would not resign.

Ramaphosa, who said he would attend an executive committee meeting scheduled for Monday, is fighting for his political survival after a panel of experts found he may have violated his oath of office.

Their inquiries relate to allegations that large sums of foreign currency were hidden at Ramaphosa’s private game farm and he failed to report the money missing when it was stolen in 2020.

Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes. He has said the money stolen was the proceeds from the sale of buffaloes and far less than the millions of dollars alleged when the theft came to light in June.

The media has dubbed the affair “Farmgate.

The president’s allies have rallied around him, after two cabinet ministers considered rivals called for him to quit. On Saturday his spokesman said the panel’s findings would be challenged.

The governing African National Congress (ANC) party’s National Working Committee (NWC) was meeting in Johannesburg on Sunday to discuss the panel’s report.

Ramaphosa said he would not take part in those discussions as it was best “when the matter … affects a person personally that it should be discussed in their absence.”

“It is up to the National Executive Committee [NEC], to which I am accountable, to take whatever decision [it deems fit].”

ANC spokesman Pule Mabe told reporters that the NWC would make recommendations to the NEC on Monday ahead of a parliamentary debate on the panel report on Tuesday, but he declined to say what those recommendations would be.

“The expectation is that we will put forward the recommendations of the NWC to the NEC for consideration tomorrow. We are hoping and expect that by the time we go to parliament, there will be one position of the ANC that we’ll convey,” Mabe said.
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