Malawi has become the first country in southern Africa to eliminate trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness, the World Health Organization announced.

It is the fourth country in Africa to stamp out the bacterial infection, after Ghana, Gambia and Togo. The WHO said in a statement that Malawi has been known to be endemic for trachoma since the 1980s. 

The disease received due attention in 2008 following a survey conducted in support of the WHO and Sightsavers, a nongovernmental organization. 

The findings spurred the country to step up efforts against trachoma by establishing a national taskforce which implemented the WHO-recommended strategy known as SAFE to control the spread of the disease. The SAFE strategy comprises provision of surgery, antibiotics to clear the infection, facial cleanliness and environmental improvement through access to water and sanitation. 

Bright Chiwaula, country director for Sightsavers in Malawi, said besides the SAFE strategy, the achievement is also a result of several elements, including training of surgeons and the promotion of good hygiene education. 

“Another element is where we assured that we had a monitoring mechanism in place that was effective and efficient, making sure that we were able to track what was happening in the country as regards trachoma elimination,” Chiwaula said.  

Trachoma is one of a number of neglected tropical diseases, or NTDs, and is endemic in nearly half the countries in Africa.   

In a statement Wednesday, Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera paid special tribute to community health workers, many of them women, whom he said played an instrumental role in freeing millions of citizens from the misery caused by these diseases. 

Chakwera said he hopes such an achievement would be replicated in the fight against other NTDs like scabies, schistosomiasis and river blindness. 

Caroline Harper, CEO of Sightsavers, told VOA Thursday that her organization is working towards that. 

“The great news is that Malawi is very close to eliminating river blindness,” she said. “Sightsavers in Malawi are helping the ministry to do that. We are actually working in 30 countries on NTDs across the whole of Africa.” 

Harper said Sightsavers made a commitment at a global summit in Rwanda in June to invest at least $20 million in the fight against neglected tropical diseases, but added the organization is hoping to raise far more than that in the future.  

 
…

U.N. investigators are accusing the Ethiopian government of committing serious violations in the Tigray region which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

The International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia submitted its first report Thursday to the U.N. Human Rights Council. The three-member Commission says widespread, horrific acts of violence have been committed since fighting in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray province broke out in November 2020. 

It finds neither the government nor the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front has clean hands. However, it notes the government is responsible for most of the atrocities documented in the report, adding that some of these crimes are ongoing. 

The investigators blame the government for the dire humanitarian situation in Tigray. The Commission chair, Kaari Betty Murungi, said the federal government and its allies have looted and destroyed goods indispensable for the survival of the civilian population.   

She added these and other tactics have left 90 percent of the population in desperate need of assistance. 

“We have reasonable grounds to believe that the widespread denial and obstruction of access to basic services, food, health care, and humanitarian assistance amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution and inhumane acts,” Murungi said. “We also have reasonable grounds to believe that the federal government is committing the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare.”   

Murungi noted the Commission also has received information indicating that Tigrayan forces have looted or otherwise misappropriated humanitarian aid. 

She said there are reasonable grounds to believe the Ethiopian Air Force has committed war crimes, including intentional attacks against civilians and the use of armed drones against civilian targets, causing many civilian deaths and injuries.  

“The Commission also found that rape and crimes of sexual violence have been perpetrated on a staggering scale since the conflict began, with Ethiopian and Eritrean forces and regional militias targeting Tigrayan women and girls with particular violence and brutality,” Murungi said. “At times their attackers used dehumanizing language that suggested an intent to destroy Tigrayan ethnicity.”   

The Commission said the Tigrayan forces also have committed serious human rights abuses, some of which amount to war crimes. It accused the forces of large-scale killings of Amhara civilians, rape and sexual violence, and widespread looting and destruction of property. 

The Ethiopian Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Zenebe Kebede, said the allegations in the report were unsubstantiated, selective, discriminatory, and politically motivated. 

He said Ethiopia is committed to peacefully resolving the conflict in Tigray under the auspices of the African Union. He called on members of the Human Rights Council to reject the report and not to extend the mandate of the Commission. 

 
…

Uganda has confirmed seven cases of Ebola including that of a 24-year-old man who died earlier this week, and an additional seven deaths are being investigated as suspected Ebola cases, a health ministry official said on Thursday.

The man who died had developed a high fever, diarrhea and abdominal pains, and was vomiting blood. After initially being treated for malaria, he was diagnosed as having contracted the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus.

“As of today, we have seven confirmed cases, of whom we have one confirmed death,” Dr Kyobe Henry Bbosa, Ebola Incident Commander at the Ugandan Ministry of Health, told a briefing.

“But also we have seven probable cases that died before the confirmation of the outbreak.”

Uganda last reported an outbreak of Ebola Sudan strain in 2012.

In 2019, the country experienced an outbreak of Ebola Zaire. The virus was imported from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo which was battling a large epidemic in its north-eastern region. 

In August, a new case of Ebola virus was confirmed in the city of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. An Ebola vaccination campaign was launched last month in the Congolese city of Beni last month.
…

Suspected jihadis have shot dead 11 farmers, nine from Niger and two Nigerians, in southeastern Niger, a local official said on Wednesday. 

“Eleven farmers have been executed by shooting [Tuesday] morning by elements of Boko Haram, seven kilometers from Toummour,” Issa Bonga, Toummour’s mayor, told AFP. 

The town is in the Diffa region close to the Lake Chad basin, a strategic area where the borders of four countries converge: Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.  

Boko Haram and its rival, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), have established bases on the many small islands in the vast, swampy Lake Chad basin. 

The 11 victims had set off to cut wood in the bush, the mayor said. 

The nine from Niger, who came from Bosso, a neighboring town to Toummour, were scheduled to be buried early Wednesday, the mayor added. 

“Thirteen woodcutters [who] left to look for wood have been intercepted by elements of ISWAP. Eleven have been executed,” a local group called Jeunesse Diffa (Diffa Youth), which has closely reported on the security problems in southeast Niger, said on Facebook. 

“In addition, the terrorists sent a message through the channel of one of the released woodcutters to warn residents to no longer frequent” the area where they operate, the group’s posting said. 

Jihadis killed several fishermen from Niger and Nigeria at the start of the month for having disobeyed an order to leave the Lake Chad area. 

At the end of August, they had ordered locals to leave the islands and killed some people who did not comply, according to a local official. 

Niger, the world’s poorest country by the benchmark of the U.N.’s Human Development Index, has been hit hard by the jihadi insurgency that began in northern Mali in 2012. 

Niger is also facing an insurgency on its southeastern frontier with Nigeria, a campaign launched by Boko Haram. 

Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad revived the Multinational Joint Task Force in 2015 to fight the extremists.
…

Kenya’s wildlife authorities have launched a free mobile phone app that allows users to track sightings of rare mammals to help authorities protect them.

The Mammal Atlas Kenya, or Makenya, allows any user who spots a wild mammal to identify it and log the location.

Kenya is home to nearly 400 species of mammals, 22 of them natives to regions of Kenya, according to national figures. Authorities say it is getting more difficult to protect them, as climate change and human activities take a toll on their natural habitats.

So the National Museums of Kenya, the Mammal Committee of Nature Kenya and partners designed the mobile app, which also provides a way to upload photographs and details, such as the number of mammals sighted and their exact locations.

“You can also add the behavior,” said Dr. Simon Musila, a researcher at the National Museums of Kenya. “When you see this animal, what are they doing? Are they resting? Are they running away? Are they feeding? What are they doing at the moment you see them?”

Musila said it’s important to engage the public using technology to help the country’s limited number of mammal specialists. Wildlife authorities said staff would keep records of the animals’ changing environment and survival conditions.

There’s a need “to bring in many people who can contribute a lot of data,” he said. “These are people like safari guides. These are people like students, tourists, people who go out and come across animals and will be willing to submit data.”

Samson Onyuok uses the Makenya app. Users like him have reported more than 2,500 mammal sightings since the app launched in August.

“First, I think I take pride in contributing to conservation initiatives in the country,” he said. “I think as a Kenyan, that is my little way of contributing to the conservation initiatives. So, yes, there is a fulfillment that comes with that.”

Experts say Africa contributes minimally to climate change but is bearing the brunt of its consequences. Dr. Philip Muruthi, vice president of the African Wildlife Foundation, told VOA that reproduction of the rare mammals and the survival rate of young ones are dropping.

“It is very hard to benefit or manage what you don’t know,” he said. “That is why this is so important. It is going to tell us which species we have, where they are, and maybe which ones are highly endangered, what we need to do about them. And especially not just the big things but also the small things, like the bats.”

Wildlife officials say Kenya is a habitat to at least a third of mammal species in Africa and are hopeful app users will boost efforts to protect them.
…

Ethiopia on Tuesday rejected a report by U.N. investigators that accused Addis Ababa of possible ongoing crimes against humanity in its war-torn Tigray region, including using starvation as a weapon.

The Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia said it had found evidence of widespread violations by all sides since fighting erupted in Tigray nearly two years ago.

This included the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a Nobel laureate, and its allies who were “intentionally causing great suffering” by denying aid to Tigray, a region of 6 million.

Kaari Betty Murungi, one of the commission’s three independent rights experts, and its chair, said the denial of food, medicine and basic services was “having a devastating impact on the civilian population.”

“We have reasonable grounds to believe it amounts to a crime against humanity,” she said on Monday following the release of the report, the commission’s first.

“We also have reasonable grounds to believe that the federal government is using starvation as a method of warfare,” she added.

Ethiopia’s permanent representative to the U.N. in Geneva, Zenebe Kebede, said the commission was “politically motivated” and its conclusions were “self-contradictory and biased.”

“There is not any single evidence that shows the government of Ethiopia used humanitarian aid as an instrument of war,” the envoy told AFP, describing the report as “a mockery” and “rubbish.”

“Therefore, we have no other option but to reject this report.”

He said investigators had ignored atrocities by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which ruled Ethiopia for decades before Abiy came to power in 2018, and which Addis Ababa considers a terrorist group.

Eritrea condemned

Fighting between government forces and their allies, and rebels led by the TPLF, reignited in August after a five-month lull.

The return to the battlefield comes as diplomatic efforts intensify to try to peacefully resolve the nearly two-year war in Africa’s second-most populous country.

Authorities in Tigray announced this month they were ready to participate in talks mediated by the African Union, removing an obstacle to negotiations with Abiy’s government.

But fighting has only escalated in the weeks since, with airstrikes pounding Tigray, and Ethiopia’s ally Eritrea crossing the border to join the fight against the rebels.

On Tuesday, the TPLF accused Eritrean forces of launching a “full-scale offensive” across northern Ethiopia, where heavy combat has been reported on multiple fronts in recent weeks.

AFP was not able to independently verify the claims. Access to northern Ethiopia is severely restricted, and Tigray has been under a communications blackout for more than a year.

Mike Hammer, the U.S. special envoy to the region who just returned from 11 days in Ethiopia, said Washington “had been tracking Eritrean troop movements across the border.”

“They’re extremely concerning, and we condemn it,” Hammer told reporters on Tuesday.

“The presence of Eritrean troops in Ethiopia only serves to complicate matters and inflame an already tragic situation.”

Eritrean troops supported Ethiopian forces in the early stages of the war when Abiy sent soldiers into Tigray to unseat the TPLF, accusing the group of attacking federal army camps.

Last week, Eritrean authorities issued a general call for mobilization.
…

The new school year started in Nigeria this month, but more than 600 schools are still closed due to a surge of kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs, according to authorities. Nigeria already has one of the world’s highest rates of out-of-school children and the U.N. says the problem has gotten worse. Timothy Obiezu reports from Kaduna State, Nigeria.
…

Israel has restarted flights to bring thousands of Ethiopians to Israel. All of those coming have family members already in Israel. The Israeli move comes as war is escalating again in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Linda Gradstein reports from Tel Aviv. Camera: Ricki Rosen
…

Reports that Eritrea is mass-mobilizing reserve troops has raised international concerns that the reignited war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region could quickly escalate.

A Tigrayan forces spokesman said Tuesday that Eritrean troops have launched a “full-scale offensive” supported by Ethiopian forces. Eritrean and Ethiopian officials have yet to comment on the reports or a series of airstrikes this month that hospital officials say killed Tigrayan civilians.

In a tweet, a spokesman for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front said Eritrean forces have launched a full-scale attack in parts of the Tigray region with the help of forces from the Amhara and Afar regions.

Getachew Reda said TPLF forces were defending their positions against their enemies.

The U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Mike Hammer, ended his visit to Ethiopia last week, the third visit since he was appointed in June. In a news briefing Tuesday, Hammer said Eritrea must stop interfering with its neighbor’s internal affairs.

“We’ve been tracking Eritrean troop movement across the border, they are extremely concerning and we condemn it. All external foreign actors should respect Ethiopia’s territorial integrity and avoid fueling the conflict. We couldn’t be any clearer. We’ve said this repeatedly,” Hammer said. “We will encourage those who might be able to communicate directly with Asmara that this is of extreme concern and must stop.”

Eritrea supported the Ethiopian government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed when the war between Ethiopia and the TPLF broke out in November 2020. Tigray officials accuse Eritrea of committing rights violations against its people, a claim it denies.

Hassan Khannenje, head of the Horn Institute for Strategic Studies, said Eritrea’s mobilization of troops is guided by the government’s fear of conflict spreading into its territory.

“There is a sense that Eritrea perhaps expects some kind of incursions or attack from TPLF and so, in part, is an attempt to preempt that by increasing its own readiness as well as being ready to offer whatever support perhaps that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed may need,” Khannenje said.

A report released Monday by the United Nations Human Rights Council accused all sides of the Tigray conflict of crimes against humanity. It warned that resuming the conflict increased the risk of more crimes against the population.

According to the report, the human rights researchers said there were reasonable grounds to believe that the Addis Ababa government and its allied regional state administrations have committed and continue to commit crimes against humanity such as ethnic persecution and other inhumane acts.

The U.N. investigators said some violations include extrajudicial killings, starvation, rape and sexual violence.

A five-month cease-fire in the Tigray conflict came to an end last month. Khannenje said the return of Eritrean troops to Tigray will complicate the peace efforts ahead.

“The potential entry of Eritrea into that theater complicates the entire equation when it comes to the search for peace,” Khannenje said. “And so it’s going to be important that the players, not just within Ethiopia but especially those who are trying to help the parties, come to a negotiated agreement that step the efforts in ensuring that this kind of escalation doesn’t take place and that Eritrea is limited with regard to their engagement in Ethiopia.”

Hammer said the Ethiopian government and Tigray regional administration must resolve their differences through dialogue.

“What is important here is that the parties recognize the United States is trying to serve their best interest, the best interest of Ethiopia, which is again to begin a process that allows them through dialogue to resolve outstanding complex and difficult political issues that the fighting is not going to yield victory for either side,” Hammer said.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in the Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions by the war.
…

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to leaders Tuesday to unite and take action to address the problems of a world “teeming with turmoil.”

“We are in rough seas; a winter of global discontent is on the horizon,” he said at the opening of the annual weeklong gathering of presidents, prime ministers and other officials at the U.N. General Assembly.

“A cost-of-living crisis is raging. Trust is crumbling. Inequalities are exploding.

“And our planet is burning,” he cautioned.

“We need hope …. and more. We need action.” His immediate call was for easing the global food crisis. An essential element of that is addressing what he called the “global fertilizer market crunch.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, it has imposed quotas on its exports of fertilizer. Russia is one of the world’s top exporters and the shortages it has created have led to steep price increases on international markets, making it unaffordable for some small farmers, with the potential to dramatically decrease their harvests.

“Without action now, the global fertilizer shortage will quickly morph into a global food shortage,” Guterres said.

He called for the removal of “all remaining obstacles” to the export of Russian fertilizers and their ingredients, including ammonia.

“These products are not subject to sanctions — and we are making progress in eliminating indirect effects,” he emphasized.

While there are no Western sanctions on either Russian food or fertilizer exports, Moscow claims that there are. A deal signed in Istanbul on July 22 is helping to get millions of tons of Ukrainian grain to international markets and is working to build confidence among shippers, insurers and buyers of Russian grain and fertilizer so they will resume at pre-invasion levels.

Two giant screens in the assembly hall above the secretary-general showed a photo of the Brave Commander, one of the ships that carried Ukrainian grain to the Horn of Africa. He said it represents multilateral diplomacy in action.

“Meanwhile nuclear saber-rattling and threats to the safety of nuclear plants are adding to global instability,” he said, alluding to the threatened Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, as well as rhetoric and actions from North Korea and questions around Iran’s nuclear program.

Wider turmoil

Guterres mentioned a litany of crises both new and entrenched from Ethiopia and the Sahel to Haiti, Syria and Myanmar that he said must be resolved.

In Afghanistan, he said human rights are “being trampled,” especially those of women and girls, who have seen their rights disappear under the Taliban.

He warned of the dangerous divisions between the global West and the South and geopolitical tensions splitting between developed and developing countries.

The world’s top diplomat urged making conflict prevention and peace-building a priority.

“In all we do, we must recognize that human rights are the path to resolving tensions, ending conflict and forging lasting peace,” he reminded leaders.

All this conflict is leading to an unprecedented amount of humanitarian need. He said U.N. aid appeals are running a deficit of $32 billion.

In his sea of bad news, he found a few “glimmers of hope.”

“In Yemen, the nationwide truce is fragile but holding,” he said. “In Colombia, the peace process is taking root.”

The world’s youth are also a source of hope, he said, as they work for a better future.

Existential threat

The secretary-general’s strongest words were for the rapidly warming planet.

“The climate crisis is the defining issue of our time,” he said. “It must be the first priority of every government and multilateral organization.”

He worried that climate action has been pushed to the back of the international agenda, despite global public support for leaders to do more.

Greenhouse gas emissions are rising at record levels and he said they need to be slashed by 45% by 2030 to have any hope of reaching the net zero target by 2050.

To do that, he urged the world to end its “addiction” to fossil fuels and accelerate its transition to clean, renewable energy. And as part of that, he said, “Polluters must pay.”

“Today, I am calling on all developed economies to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies,” the secretary-general declared, noting that G20 countries emit 80% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

He said those funds should go to help defray the costs of climate change in countries suffering loss and damage from the climate crisis and to people struggling with rising food and energy prices.

He urged unity to develop “common solutions to common problems.”

“Let’s work as one, as a coalition of the world, as united nations,” he said.
…

Somalia’s national army said Tuesday it recaptured the small but strategic town of Booco in the country’s central Hiran region from al-Shabab militants. 

The military said local militia backed them up in this latest offensive against the Islamist militants, who state TV said have controlled the town for 13 years.   

Somalia National Television (SNTV) reported that Army Chief Brigadier General Odawa Yusuf visited the Hiran region village of Yasoman on Tuesday, where troops also drove out militants with local support.   

Hiran Governor Hiran Ali Jeyte Osman spoke to VOA by phone. He said Booco was an al-Shabab stronghold that was used as the region’s base for their so-called shadow court and to extort money from locals. 

Osman said in the last two days the army took over the villages of Garisiyani, Booco and Nur-Fanah, as well as many other locations. He said he wants to tell the Somali people that the al-Shabab fighters were cowards who can’t compete with the army. 

The offensive came just a day after Somalia’s government said the military forced al-Shabab out of 30 villages in clashes this month that killed more than 200 militants. 

Somalia’s Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur praised local militias who backed the military in the fights against al-Shabab. 

Somalia’s Information Ministry in a statement Monday night acknowledged the army had received air support from the U.S. during the offensives in Hiran. 

Somalia has been workimg to defeat the al-Shabab terrorist group for 15 years.   

Last month, the group attacked an international hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, killing 20 people and wounding more than 100. 

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud responded to the deadly siege by announcing a “total war” against the militants. 

 
…

Somali army commanders say their forces killed more than 100 al-Shabab militants during weekend offensives to retake territory from the Islamist militant group. Witnesses say the troops also recaptured two villages that al-Shabab had held for more than a decade.

The Somali National Army said Monday that troops launched a fresh offensive against al-Shabab in the central Hiran region over the weekend.

Senior army commanders in Hiran who spoke to VOA via phone said that fierce firefights between the military and al-Shabab began early Saturday, especially in the villages of Aborey and Yasooman.

They told VOA that 75 al-Shabab militants were killed in the fighting in Yasooman and 30 in the vicinity of Aborey.

Local residents told VOA via WhatsApp that troops took control of both villages, which had been under al-Shabab control for more than a decade.

Speaking to media at the frontline, Abdifatah Hassan Afrah, the former governor of Hiran, said troops are defeating “the enemy of Somali people,” referring to al-Shabab.

He says our victories are bringing more victories, and it is coming one after the other. And their defeat will bring them more defeat. By the will of Allah (God), we are wishing that they will be cleared out of the country.

Somalia’s information ministsaid Sunday that the army’s recent offensives have killed 200 al-Shabab fighters and “liberated” 30 villages from the group in all.

Malik Abdalla is a member of the Somali federal parliament from Hiran. He told VOA via WhatsApp that the fighting in Hiran also involved local militias known as Macawisley.  

He said residents of the villages have had enough of al-Shabab.

He says the reason why the people of Hiran or the people in this region fight is because they could not bear the hardships they faced day and night. He says they stood up to survive after al-Shabab blew up their water wells and their villages burned.

Al-Shabab has yet to comment on the army and Information Ministry’s claims. But in a video released by the group’s media wing Sunday night, spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage, known as Ali Dhere, said the group is ready for the war that Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, declared on them. 

Rage warned Mogadishu residents to stay away from hotels that are frequented by Somali government officials. 

President Mohamud, who was elected in May, announced that his administration will wage a “total war” against the al-Shabab network after the group attacked a hotel in Mogadishu, killing more than 20 people and wounded at least 100 others.
…

South Africa’s state power utility, Eskom, has implemented its highest level of nationwide power cuts to reduce pressure on the grid after two more of its aging power plants broke down.

South Africans will be forced to go up to nine hours a day without electricity, putting a severe strain on Africa’s most industrialized economy.

The energy crisis is so severe that President Cyril Ramaphosa is cutting short his trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York to return home and try to find solutions to the electricity shortages. 

Ramaphosa, who is currently in England for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, had just held an urgent virtual meeting with the concerned ministers to find out what led to so many units tripping, his spokesman Vincent Magwenya told VOA. 

“He further wanted to understand what could be done immediately to resolve the current state of loadshedding which is devastating to businesses as well as households,” Magwenya said. 

On Sunday, officials from state power utility Eskom warned that the country could be heading for even higher stages of what’s known here as “loadshedding” — scheduled blackouts to save energy. 

Stage Six, the worst level seen so far, and which was last implemented in June during South Africa’s winter, allows for some 6,000 megawatts to be cut to avoid total collapse of the national grid. 

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said loadshedding might have to be ramped up to Stage Eight, but that “total blackout” was not an imminent risk. 

“I think we are doing our level best to avoid a total system collapse, that is why we have to impose loadshedding,” de Ruyter said. 

For ordinary South Africans, loadshedding makes all aspects of daily life difficult, from having to plan when to cook, to making sure they always have gas lamps or candles available for when homes across the country are plunged into darkness. 

And for small businesses that can’t afford to get generators, the cuts are devastating. 

Jeanette Mmelwa is a hairdresser at a small Johannesburg salon which was empty on Monday morning. She says there’s no electricity to run the hair dryers, so no clients are coming in. Mmelwa works on commission, so isn’t earning anything. 

“I am concerned because of this loadshedding my boss can one day just say, ‘No, I can’t take this anymore. We’re not making enough money, so we have to close.’ I am worried about that,” she said.

Things are even worse at home, said Mmelwa, who has a young son. 

“Waking up in the morning and there’s no lights, now you think, ‘What is he going to eat before he goes to school?’ So yes, it’s very stressful,” she said. 

The current electricity crisis has been brewing for a decade. The cash-strapped and debt-ridden power utility relies on aging coal plants that are prone to breakdowns. 

Corruption has also weakened the utility considerably, said independent political analyst Ralph Mathekga. 

“The problem with loadshedding is that ours is self-created, it is about corruption, inability to turn things around and fight against corruption,” Mathekga said. 

If South Africa’s energy crisis persists, there will be massive damage to the economy, which has already been badly hit by the pandemic, with the official unemployment currently at 33.9 percent. 

 
…

A government-allied Somali militia killed at least 45 al-Shabab fighters and beheaded some of them, three witnesses said on Sunday, as citizens in central regions of the country increasingly take up arms against the insurgents.

The beheadings on Saturday followed a battle in the Hiran region of Hirshabelle State, where there has been significant fighting this month between al-Shabab and newly expanded militias allied with the federal government.

Al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked Islamist group, has been fighting Somalia’s weak central government since 2006. It wants to implement a strict interpretation of sharia law.

Al-Shabab has increasingly burned houses, destroyed wells, and beheaded civilians in the Hiran region, residents say; that, combined with its demands for taxes amidst the worst drought in 40 years, has pushed more residents to take up arms.

“Al-Shabab is not strong, it just burns people, beheads people and put their heads in the streets just to terrorize,” said Ahmed Abdulle, a Hiran elder.

“Now, we are doing the same: we have ordered the beheading of al-Shabab fighters,” he told Reuters.

Videos widely shared on Telegram showed at least two beheaded alleged al-Shabab fighters and dozens more dead bodies in fatigues and red-and-white checked scarves. Some of the dead appeared to have died in battle.

Reuters was not independently able to verify the authenticity of the videos, but three witnesses to the beheadings said they were real. Seven other residents, including Abdulle, said family members had been present and confirmed the deaths to them.

The three witnesses asked not to be named for security reasons.

“Al-Shabab put us in hell. … So our people decided to liberate themselves. … My daughter is also fighting in the frontline, she has an AK-47 on her shoulder,” resident Halima Ismail said.

Somali Interior Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

An al-Shabab spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Fighters have retaken 10 villages from al-Shabab in recent weeks, elder Hassaan Farah told Reuters.

Residents in nearby Galmudug state are also taking up arms.

“This week, we have recaptured nine villages,” said Ahmed Shire, the Galmudug information minister. “It is a big revolution by Galmudug state.”

On Saturday, the federal government sent troops to reinforce Galmudug fighters, the Somali National News Agency said.

Earlier this month, al-Shabab militants killed at least 18 civilians and destroyed food aid trucks. In August, they killed more than 20 people in a hotel siege.

Somalia has been in civil war since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew a dictator then turned on each other.
…

Eritrean authorities have called on their armed forces to mobilize in response to the renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia, the British and Canadian governments said.

The return to combat last month shattered a March truce and dashed hopes of peacefully resolving the nearly two-year war between Ethiopian authorities and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Tigrayan authorities have since expressed readiness to hold talks led by the African Union, but the Ethiopian government has not responded publicly to the overtures, other than saying it remains “committed” to the AU-led peace process.

Both sides have accused the other of firing first, and fighting has spread from around southern Tigray to other fronts farther north and west, while also drawing in Eritrean troops who backed Ethiopian forces during the early phase of the war.

In travel advisories published late Friday, the Canadian and British governments warned their nationals in Eritrea to limit their movements following the mobilization call. 

“Local authorities have issued a general call for mobilization of armed forces in response to the conflict in northern Ethiopia,” the Canadian government said.

“Additional security measures could be imposed on short notice across the country,” it said.

The British advisory said the Eritrean announcement was made on Wednesday.

“You should be extra vigilant at this time,” the advisory said.

Eritrea, which is one of the world’s most closed states, has not commented on the reports.

Since the latest clashes broke out, Tigray has been bombed several times, with an official at Ayder Referral Hospital, the region’s biggest, saying that 16 people had died in air strikes.

AFP was not able to independently verify the claims. Access to northern Ethiopia is severely restricted and Tigray has been under a communications blackout for more than a year.

The TPLF ruled Ethiopia for decades before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018.

Abiy’s government has declared the TPLF a terrorist group and considers its claim to authority in Tigray illegitimate.

Abiy — a Nobel Peace Prize laureate — sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 to topple the TPLF, in response to what he said were attacks on federal army camps.

But the TPLF recaptured most of Tigray in a surprise comeback in June 2021.

It then expanded into the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara before the fighting reached a stalemate.
…

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said that his country is seeing gains in the fight against the Somali-based, al-Qaida-affiliated Islamist militant group al-Shabab, following recent clashes in central Somalia between the Somali National Army supported by pro-government local clan militias and al-Shabab.

“We see a strong momentum against al-Shabab and want to sustain it to defeat a group that has proven to be remorseless and [like the] mafia, which has attained economic autonomy through intimidation and the murder of innocent people,” Mohamud said.  

In a speech to the Somali diaspora community in the Washington area Friday, he said his government is organizing a strong military front in the southern Jubaland state of Somalia.  

“There is ongoing preparation to liberate al-Shabab from middle-Juba region in southern Somalia, the only region in the country where the militants control its entirety,” Mohamud sad.  

He said his government’s new approach is being encouraged by the resistance of local clan militia, who keep fighting al-Shabab in the central Somali regions of Hiran and Galguduud.

“Once they could not tolerate the intimidation, the extortion and the abduction of their children, now some local clans say they have started fighting al-Shabab. Therefore, we want to support our people to live in peace and dignity,” Mohamud said.  

On Saturday, hours after the president’s speech in the U.S. state of Virginia, the Somali National Army said it killed 43 militants in central Somalia.  

“The Somali National Army launched an attack on the al-Shabab base in Aborey village and took over the militant base, killing 43 militants,” Brigadier General Mohamed Tahlil Bihi, infantry commander of the Somali National Army told government radio.  

Aborey is 25 km east of Bulaburte, a town 220 km north of Mogadishu.   

On Thursday, speaking to the government news agency (SONNA), Somali army chief General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh said the SNA killed at least 18 al-Shabab militants in an operation in the Buq Aqable area in the same region, located about 90 km south of Beledweyne city, the provincial capital of the Hiran region.

Government military officials say that in the recent military campaign against al-Shabab army troops, backed by armed locals, have killed more than 100 al-Shabab fighters and “liberated” 20 villages from the al-Qaida-affiliated group.   

Mohamud’s Washington visit   

In an exclusive interview with VOA Somali, President Mohamud said he discussed new government strategies to fight al-Shabab with top U.S government officials, who he said pledged “full support for his government.”  

At the Pentagon, President Mohamud met Thursday with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, at the White House with the president’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Homeland Security Adviser Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, and at the State Department with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.

He said his trip to Washington has been mainly focusing on two things, security and the drought, which is feared to cause famine in parts of Somalia from October through December.    

“All the existing policies and strategies against the militant group seem to have fallen short of our expectations and the expectations of our partners because the militants keep changing tactics to survive. We came up with a new strategy that is based on two things, [an] ideological war front and cutting al-Shabab’s economic lifeline,” Mohamud said.  

According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Defense, Austin and Mohamud “exchanged views on the security outlook for the Horn of Africa in light of climate shocks, humanitarian issues, conflict, and the threat of violent extremism.”   

A White House statement said, “Mr. Sullivan and President Hassan Sheikh discussed the importance of political reconciliation in Somalia, particularly the renewed coordination between the federal government of Somalia and federal member states to improve governance, law enforcement, service delivery and security for the Somali people.”  

“Great to see Hassan Sheikh Mohamud with Under Secretary of State in Washington to discuss shared stabilization, good governance and humanitarian goals. The United States is committed to helping the people of Somalia counter terrorism, prevent famine, and advance democracy, and save lives,” Blinken said in a Twitter post. 

“It was a pleasure to meet with secretary Blinken and Under Secretary Nuland in Washington. We agreed on the importance of combating terrorism, promoting good governance and responding to [the] drought in Somalia. The U.S. is a strategic partner in Somalia’s sustainable development and progress.” Mohamud said in a Twitter post.  

Mohamud also met with The World Bank Group President David Malpass and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. 

“Mr. Malpass has reaffirmed to President Mohamud the World Bank Group’s (WBG) support to Somalia’s response to ongoing drought and humanitarian crises through reprogramming and additional financing and utilizing resources from IDA (International Development Association) Crisis Response Window,” the World Bank said.  

“I have discussed with all the U.S. government officials and the leaders of the other Washington-based institutions I have met, including senior officials from the World Bank and IMF on security, economic recovery and reform, as well as the ongoing drought situation in Somalia,” Mohamud told VOA. 

Mohamud also served as Somalia’s president between 2012 and 2017 and is the first Somali leader to win a second term in office.  After his victory in May he promised to transform the troubled Horn of Africa nation into “a peaceful country that is at peace within and with the world.”
…

Somalia’s Information Ministry said Saturday the country’s military has targeted al-Shabab militants in the Hiran region.

The Somali National Army has killed more than 30 al-Shabab militants in an operation conducted on the outskirts of the town of Bulo-burde in the central region of Hiran.

That’s according to a statement Saturday by Somalia’s Information Ministry, which says the operation was conducted overnight after the army received intelligence.

The government says five of its soldiers were injured during the operation.

Hiran has seen increased military activity this month as the army claimed it had gained significant ground from the al-Qaida-affiliated militant group al-Shabab.

The group has not commented on the Somali government’s claim, but it said that an airstrike in the same region killed a traditional leader and other civilians. The information could not be independently confirmed.

Somalia’s Internal Security Ministry also said the country’s national intelligence and security agency, NISA, has arrested 10 al-Shabab operatives in the capital, Mogadishu.

Ministry spokesman Abdikamil Moalim Shukri said at a news conference in Mogadishu that NISA also seized three houses that al-Shabab was using.

He said special forces of the national intelligence and security agency, based on intelligence information, have destroyed an al-Shabab network that was behind killings and insecurity in Mogadishu. The intelligence forces have arrested 10 al-Shabab conspirators, including militants who were prepared to kill and doctors who were treating al-Shabab members, he added.

The Somali government recently announced its forces “liberated” 21 villages from al-Shabab in a fresh offensive in parts of the country.

The government also said it killed about 100 al-Shabab militants.

Somalia’s new president, Hassan Sheikh Mahamud, who assumed office earlier this year, announced that his administration will wage a “total war” against the Islamist al-Shabab network after the group carried out a deadly hotel siege in Mogadishu that killed more than 20 people and wounded at least 100 others.
…

Senegalese President Macky Sall reinstated the post of prime minister Saturday, appointing a former economy minister to the job two months after a tense legislative election in which Sall’s ruling coalition lost its comfortable majority.

Amadou Ba, a 61-year-old taxation specialist who has also served as foreign minister, was named as the West African country’s prime minister, a statement from the presidency said.  

Ba’s appointment reestablishes the position of prime minister in the West African country following its abolition in April 2019.

“The major priorities that the president has outlined include improving household purchasing power, taming inflation, security, housing, vocational training, employment and entrepreneurship,” Ba said on national television after a meeting with Sall Saturday.

The full government is expected to be appointed later Saturday.

Earlier this week, Senegal’s security forces were called to secure a voting process in parliament and hold back rowdy opposition members of parliament who tried to disrupt the election of a new president of the national assembly. The assembly was convening for the first time since July’s election.

Sall came to power in 2012 after unseating longtime President Abdoulaye Wade. He was elected again in 2019 on promises of large-scale infrastructure expansion as the country is set to start producing oil and natural gas next year.

But much of his second term has been marked by economic hardship – partly stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and global fallout linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Political tensions have boiled over after Sall’s refusal to publicly rule out a third-term presidential bid in 2024.  

Violent protests erupted in Senegal last year when Ousmane Sonko, Sall’s main opponent — who came in third in the 2019 presidential election — was arrested on rape charges which he denied.   

Sonko was released but many protesters saw his arrest as an attempt by Sall to remove a prominent rival and clear his path for a third term bid.
…

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa made his first visit to the White House on Friday, where he and US President Joe Biden discussed global security, climate change, trade, food security and health — and African nations’ reluctance to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
Video editor: Kim Weeks
…

The first “green hydrogen” power plant being built in Africa is expected to begin producing electricity in Namibia in 2024, an official from France-based HDF Energy told Reuters news agency this week.

That presents something of a dilemma for Namibia, which is championing the clean energy but also said this month that huge oil deposits had been discovered off its coast after many failed attempts at drilling.

Green hydrogen is produced by using renewable energy — like wind and sun, both of which Namibia has in abundance — to power the electrolysis of water. A plant producing green hydrogen, a clean power source that can potentially be used for industry and electric vehicles, is due to open in less than two years.

But at the same time, oil companies Shell and Total recently discovered the oil deposits, estimated to amount to more than 1 billion barrels, about 290 kilometers off the Namibian coast. 

Herbert Jauch, the head of a local nonprofit, the Economic and Social Justice Trust, wants Namibia to forsake oil drilling and focus on green hydrogen, a much-touted energy source of the future.

However, Jauch said, it’s “tricky” for Namibia to give up possible oil revenues when advanced nations are still making heavy use of fossil fuels, even as carbon admissions cause global warming.

“The oil discovery coincides with what needs to be the end of fossil fuels, and therefore it is quite tricky for Namibia to move into that direction, to go into large-scale oil exploration,” he said, noting the potential for ecological danger in drilling and the effects of climate change in many countries. By accenting solar energy and green hydrogen, “Namibia could become a front-runner in renewable energy.”

Maggy Shino, the petrol commissioner at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, cautioned that there was still a long way to go before Namibia could become an oil-producing nation.

“We need to understand that for us as explorers, we have a very long journey ahead of us before we can be able to change the narrative to say that we are an oil-producing nation,” Shine said. “We are oil finders, we have oil accumulation, but we are not yet an oil-producing nation. For us to get to that stage, a lot of work still needs to be done.”

Minister of Mines and Energy Tom Alweendo said even if Namibia did begin to produce oil, it would have competition from other African countries, and citizens should not expect a financial windfall from oil revenue. 

“We just came from an oil and gas conference that was held in Senegal,” he said. “Senegal has discovered a lot of oil; so has Ghana; Uganda has oil, although they have not produced yet. So has Equatorial Guinea, so has Angola, so has Nigeria.”
…

Hundreds of Boko Haram jihadists have fled a forest enclave in northeast Nigeria, escaping air strikes by the military and floods from torrential rains to seek shelter on Niger’s side of Lake Chad, sources told AFP.

Northeast Nigeria is facing a 13-year armed insurgency by jihadist groups that has killed more than 40,000 people and forced about 2 million from their homes.

The violence has spilled into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, with the jihadists maintaining camps in the vast Lake Chad region straddling the four countries.

A Nigerian security source said Boko Haram militants have been leaving the Sambisa forest since last month because of sustained bombing of their hideouts.

Nigeria has also recorded a more intensive rainy season, which usually runs from May through September, and floods have hit almost every part of the country.

“The exodus of the Boko Haram terrorists has increased in recent days as the bombardments have intensified, coupled with the floodings that have submerged many of their camps,” said the security source in the region who asked not to be identified.

On Monday, a convoy of more than 50 trucks carrying Boko Haram fighters and their families passed through villages on a route linking Sambisa with Lake Chad, several residents in the region said.

The fighters are believed to be loyal to Bakura Buduma, a Boko Haram factional leader, the sources said.

“The Boko Haram convoy is definitely heading to the islands on Lake Chad in the Bosso area of Niger where the group has camps,” said a fisherman named Kallah Sani who said he was familiar with Boko Haram movements in the region.

Niger authorities could not immediately confirm the movement.
…

Botswana has announced it will cull more than 10,000 cattle in the country’s northeast in a bid to fight an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. One of Africa’s largest beef producers, Botswana was forced in August to halt beef exports over the virus, including to the lucrative European Union. 

Assistant Minister for Agriculture Molebatsi Molebatsi said the decision to kill affected livestock was taken following consultations with disease control experts. 

“The decision to depopulate is the one we have taken,” Molebatsi said. “We took the decision after consultation with experts. We don’t want any traces of the virus to remain or to have any further viral circulation.” 

Molebatsi said 19,000 cattle are in the affected zone, which is near the Zimbabwe border, and more than 10,000 will be slaughtered. Some goats and sheep will also be culled. 

Veterinarian Mbatshi Mazwinduma said culling means farmers must be compensated. 

“It comes at a great cost because it means people have to be compensated,” Mazwinduma said. “And there is also environmental issues of animals that have been slaughtered … on how do you dispose of them safely.”

Mazwinduma said in disease control, there should be certain considerations, particularly for the affected farmers.  

“When you are trying to control the disease, you have to consider the economic, social and often political impact. Politically speaking, remember at times you are going to be slaughtering animals that belong to farmers, and you might push them further into abject poverty,” Mazwinduma said. “Most of the time, the compensation of animals that are slaughtered is nowhere near the equivalent value if they were to sell them at the market.”           

Bose Sethupa, a farmer from the affected region, said while the livelihoods of many people will be affected, the government has to contain the disease. 

“It is a good move to try and contain the spread of the disease, but at the same time, it is not too good to the farmers because the government compensation is lower than the value of what the farmer will be having,” Sethupa said. “But apart from that … the move is good. It is truly meant to protect the export market, which is very key to our economy.” 

Roughly half of Botswana’s beef exports — or about 9,000 tons — are sent to the EU each year. 

 
…

A survey in South Africa shows more than half of graduates are considering moving to another country because of few opportunities at home. Business Unity South Africa, which represents the private sector, says they are seeing the lowest levels of confidence in the country’s future since World War II.

The survey was conducted by the Social Research Foundation which calls itself a start-up think tank. Its director Frans Cronje dismissed social media criticism, which said it is funded by the main opposition Democratic Alliance Party.

Cronje says they are privately funded and not affiliated with any organization. He says his pollsters surveyed just over 3,000 people.

“On the question of emigration, what it identifies is that roughly a quarter of adult South Africans are considering emigration and that figure rises pretty steeply as you go to the top echelons of the skills base,” he said. “So, university graduates figure comes in at around 50 percent and also top earners.”

Cronje says the emigration figures are in line with other public opinion research the foundation has recently conducted.

“And this is all very consistent with broader public opinion based on South Africa, which shows that in response to tough economic circumstances and an increasingly troubling outlook towards the political future of the country, levels of concern about the long-term future have hit rates that I haven’t seen in 20 years of doing this stuff.”

Joshua Jacobs has been looking for a job since graduating from college last year. He is considering emigrating to Vietnam or South Korea to teach English, even though it is not what he studied.

“It’s quite dire at the moment. It doesn’t look like there’s an opportunity,” said Jacobs. ”I have a few friends who have already gone over and, based on what they are experiencing, it seems like way more viable than being here.”

Jacobs says he studied for three years and graduated with a degree in human resources management last year.

“I’ve been looking more or less in my field, but no luck there,” he said. “It is a weird position that I’m in. Because when I started studying, the market was a bit better in terms of HR, whereas now it doesn’t seem like there’s the same opportunities. The ones that there are, the pay has decreased and the experience needed has now increased.”

Bonang Mohale, president of Business Unity South Africa, says he thinks it’s regrettable when a country cannot hold onto the future workers in whom it’s invested so much.

He asks, what will happen if graduates leave in droves?

“The economy is already on its knees. It will further exacerbate the condition.”

The Social Research Foundation is planning follow-up research.
…

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, is releasing $100 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to assist millions of people in what it calls “forgotten emergencies.”

OCHA reports money for 11 humanitarian operations in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East has dried up, putting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people at risk. 

The United Nations says it needs $49.5 billion this year to assist 204 million people threatened by conflict, climate shocks, hunger and forced displacement.

To date, only $17.6 billion of this total amount has been received. While this is a large amount of money, OCHA deputy spokesman Jens Laerke said the funding gap is nearly $32 billion, the largest it has ever been. 

He said the release of $100 million is meant to shrink this critical funding gap and address the problem head on.

“It may seem like a drop in the bucket and if you look at it from that perspective, it is a drop in the bucket,” he said. “But, the CERF funds, a key criterion is it has to go to lifesaving projects. So, it is the worst of the worst that we are trying to address with the CERF funding. And I guarantee you, for those whose lives are hanging by a thread, it means something.”

Laerke said the consequences for hundreds of millions of vulnerable people will be many and very severe, if money to assist them at this time of greatest need is not forthcoming.

“That can range from loss of life to victims of or survivors of gender-based violence who receive no support,” he said. “Children who do not get the vaccines that they need and so on and so forth.”

Laerke said the $100 million will help scale up lifesaving operations in the 11 countries, which include Yemen, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Venezuela.

He noted that CERF has allocated a record $250 million dollars so far this year to countries that are in a desperate state, but largely overlooked.
…