Rita Mawuena Benissan, a Ghanaian American artist, creates art that reflects the beauty of Ghana’s culture and African history. She’s extending her passion to a campaign that seeks the return of artifacts that were created in Ghana centuries ago but now sit in Western museums. Senanu Tord has this report from Accra, Ghana.
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Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana — Ghana’s ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) launched its manifesto Sunday in a vibrant event in Takoradi, as the party gears up for a fierce battle in December’s politically charged elections.

The party’s presidential candidate, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, unveiled the document, which places a strong emphasis on job creation and economic development.

“Our vision is clear,” Bawumia said to enthusiastic supporters decked out in the NPP’s signature red, white, and blue.

“We will create jobs, empower the youth, provide tax amnesty, and unleash the potential of the private sector to drive Ghana’s economic transformation.  

“We are the party of jobs, and under our government, every Ghanaian who wants to work will find the opportunity to do so.”

The event drew a significant crowd, including high-ranking party officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is set to step down after serving the maximum two terms in office.

Unemployment is one of the country’s most pressing problems.

With young people making up a significant portion of the electorate, the NPP is aiming to appeal to young voters by promising more opportunities and a brighter future.  

“We know the challenges our youth face, and we are committed to tackling unemployment head-on,” said Bawumia.

Tax, education

The manifesto also highlights a tax amnesty program designed to encourage businesses to comply with tax regulations without facing penalties.  

This, “will bring more businesses into the formal economy, increase government revenue, and ultimately create more jobs,” said Bawumia.  

Bawumia also promised to expand access to education and improve infrastructure.

“We will ensure that every child, no matter where they come from, has access to quality education. This is not just a promise — it is a commitment we will fulfil.”

Some observers, however, remain skeptical.  

For Joshua Jebuntie Zaato, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, party manifestos are “shopping lists” that often go unfulfilled.  

“Political parties tend to promise the moon during campaigns, but the reality of governance often limits what can actually be delivered,” he told AFP.

The NPP is seeking an unprecedented third consecutive term in office but faces a formidable challenge from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), led by former President John Mahama.

Mahama is determined to reclaim power. Both Bawumia and Mahama hail from northern Ghana, adding a regional dimension to the contest.

Ghana, one of West Africa’s stable democracies, faces significant economic challenges, including a $3 billion-loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund after an economic downturn in 2022 resulted in record-high 54% inflation.
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Cairo — Sudan has been stricken by a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly two dozen people and sickened hundreds more in recent weeks, health authorities said Sunday. The African nation has been roiled by a 16-month conflict and devastating floods.

Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said in a statement that at least 22 people have died from the disease, and that at least 354 confirmed cases of cholera have been detected across the county in recent weeks.

Ibrahim didn’t give a time frame for the deaths or the tally since the start of the year. The World Health Organization, however, said that 78 deaths were recorded from cholera this year in Sudan as of July 28. The disease also sickened more than 2,400 others between Jan. 1 and July 28, it said.

Cholera is a fast-developing, highly contagious infection that causes diarrhea, leading to severe dehydration and possible death within hours when not treated, according to WHO. It is transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food or water.

The cholera outbreak is the latest calamity for Sudan, which was plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and a powerful paramilitary group exploded into open warfare across the country.

The conflict has turned the capital, Khartoum and other urban areas into battlefields, wrecking civilian infrastructure and an already battered health care system. Without the basics, many hospitals and medical facilities have closed their doors.

It has killed thousands of people and pushed many into starvation, with famine already confirmed in a sprawling camp for displaced people in the wrecked northern region of Darfur.

Sudan’s conflict has created the world’s largest displacement crisis. More than 10.7 million people have been forced to flee their homes since fighting began, according to the International Organization for Migration. Over 2 million of those fled to neighboring countries.

The fighting has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the U.N. and international rights groups.

Devastating seasonal floods in recent weeks have compounded the misery. Dozens of people have been killed and critical infrastructure has been washed away in 12 of Sudan’s 18 provinces, according to local authorities. About 118,000 people have been displaced due to the floods, according to the U.N. migration agency.

Cholera is not uncommon in Sudan. A previous major outbreak left at least 700 dead and sickened about 22,000 in less than two months in 2017.

Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for WHO, said the outbreak began in the eastern province of Kassala before spreading to nine localities in five provinces.

He said in comments to The Associated Press that data showed that most of the detected cases were not vaccinated. He said the WHO is now working with the Sudanese health authorities and partners to implement a vaccination campaign.

Sudan’s military-controlled sovereign council, meanwhile, said Sunday it will send a government delegation to meet with American officials in Cairo amid mounting U.S. pressure on the military to join ongoing peace talks in Switzerland that aim at finding a way out of the conflict.

The council said in a statement the Cairo meeting will focus on the implementation of a deal between the military and the Rapid Support Forces, which required the paramilitary group to pull out from people’s homes in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.

The talks began Aug. 14 in Switzerland with diplomats from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the African Union and the United Nations attending. A delegation from the RSF was in Geneva but didn’t join the meetings.
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DUBAI — Sudan’s government said it will send a delegation to Cairo for discussions with U.S. and Egyptian officials on Monday, keeping open the question of participation in peace talks aimed at ending a 16-month war. 

The government, controlled by the army which is fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for control of the country, has said it would not attend the peace talks in Switzerland unless a previous agreement struck in Jeddah is implemented. 

The U.S.-led talks, which the RSF is attending, aim to end the devastating war that broke out in April 2023, and address the crippling humanitarian crisis that has left half of Sudan’s population of 50 million facing food insecurity. 

A statement from the ruling Transitional Sovereign Council said the decision to go to Cairo came after contacts with the US special envoy and the Egyptian government, which is an observer in the talks, and was limited to discussing implementation of the Jeddah agreement, under which the RSF would leave civilian areas. 

High-level government sources told Reuters that the government had presented its vision on that and other topics to US and Saudi mediators, and that its approach to further talks would be based on their response. 

The sources denied media reports that the government had already sent a delegation to Geneva. 

Another sticking point for the army is the presence of the United Arab Emirates, which it accuses of supporting the RSF, a charge the UAE denies. U.N. experts have found such accusations credible. 

The army on Thursday pre-empted a key topic of the talks when it said it would allow an RSF-controlled border crossing into Darfur to be used for aid deliveries.  

A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had agreed to the opening during a phone call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken the day before. 
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MLOMP, Senegal — It’s almost dusk, and the West African heat is finally faltering. In Mlomp, a village in southern Senegal, dozens of teenagers in colorful jerseys are throwing each other to the ground to the rhythm of Afrobeats against a backdrop of palm trees. 

It’s a common sight across Senegal, where wrestling is a national sport and wrestlers are celebrated like rock stars. The local variation of wrestling, called laamb in Wolof, one of the national languages, has been part of village life for centuries. Senegalese wrestle for entertainment and to celebrate special occasions. The professional version of the sport draws thousands to stadiums and can be a catapult to international stardom. 

But in most of the country, wrestling remains off-limits for women. 

There is one exception. In the Casamance region, home to the Jola ethnic group, women traditionally wrestle alongside men. At a recent training session in Mlomp, most teenagers on the sandy ground were girls. 

“It’s in our blood,” said coach Isabelle Sambou, 43, a two-time Olympian and nine-time African wrestling champion. “In our village, girls wrestle. My mum was a wrestler, my aunts were wrestlers.” 

But once Jola women marry, they are expected to stop practicing and devote themselves to family life, considered the main duty of Senegalese women regardless of ethnicity or religion. 

Sambou’s aunt, Awa Sy, now in her 80s, was the village champion in her youth, and said she would even take down some men. 

“I liked wrestling because it made me feel strong,” she said, standing outside her house nestled between rice fields and mangroves. “I stopped when I got married.” She didn’t question it at the time. 

That hasn’t been the case for her niece, who, despite her humble demeanor and small size, exudes strength and determination. She defied many barriers to become a professional athlete. 

As a teenager, Sambou was noticed by a professional wrestling coach at a competition during the annual Festival of the King of Oussouye, one of the few events accessible to women. The coach suggested that she try Olympic wrestling, which has a female national team. But she only agreed after her older brother convinced her to do it. 

Wrestling brought Sambou, who did not finish primary school, to the Olympic Games in London and Rio de Janeiro, where she placed outside the medal contenders. But being a successful professional female athlete in a conservative society comes with a price. 

“If you are a female wrestler, people are going to make fun of you,” Sambou said, recalling her experiences in parts of Senegal beyond her home region. “When I walked around in shorts, people were saying: ‘Look, is it a woman or is it a boy?'” 

Others claimed that her body would change and she would no longer look like a woman. 

Such things can “get to your head,” Sambou said. “But I tell myself: They don’t know what they are talking about. It’s in my blood, and it brought me where I am today.” 

In 2016, facing her mid-30s, she decided to retire from professional sport and move back to her village. 

“I thought it was the time to stop and think of something else, maybe find a job, start a family,” she said. “But that hasn’t happened so far.” 

Instead, she focused on finding “future Isabelles.” After not fulfilling her dream of winning an Olympic medal, she hopes a girl she coaches can achieve that. 

That mission has been complicated by the lack of resources. Female sport is often underfunded, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Around Sambou’s village, there are no gyms where girls can do strength training. They don’t have the special shoes used in Olympic wrestling, and instead train barefoot. They don’t have mats, so they make do with sandy grounds. 

And yet, at Africa’s youth championship in wrestling held in June in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, Sambou’s students won 10 medals, including six golds. 

“Despite everything, they did magnificent work,” she said. 

She has received little in return. Senegal has no pension system for retired professional athletes. Her lack of formal education complicates her career as a coach. She helps to coach the national wrestling team, both men and women, but on a voluntary basis. To get by, she works in a small shop and cleans people’s houses. 

“I gave everything to wrestling, to my country,” she said. “Now I don’t have anything. I don’t even have my own house. It hurts a bit.” 

She listed the countries she has visited, including the United States and Switzerland, while sitting outside the home she shares with relatives. Her bedroom is decorated with a picture of Virgin Mary and posters celebrating her participation in championships — the only sign of her glorious past. 

“It’s difficult to be a professional athlete. You have to leave everything behind,” she said. “And then you stop, and you come back here and you sit, without anything to do.” 

But times are changing, and so is the perception of women in Senegalese society. These days, parents seek out Sambou and ask her to coach their children, regardless of their gender, even if it’s still for free. 

Sambou’s 17-year-old niece, Mame Marie Sambou, recently won a gold medal at the youth championship in Dakar. Her dream is to become a professional wrestler and compete internationally. The big test will come in two years when Senegal hosts the Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event ever organized on African soil. 

“It’s my aunt who encouraged me to start wrestling,” she said. “When I started, many people were saying they have never seen a girl wrestle. But I never listened to them. I want to be like her.” 
…

BENTIU, South Sudan — Elizabeth Nyachiew was 16 when she watched her neighbor bleed to death during childbirth. She vowed to become a midwife to spare others from the same fate in South Sudan, a country with one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates. 

“If I saw people dying, I wanted to know why,” she said. “I kept thinking if I was educated, I’d know the cause and I could help.” 

Now 36, in her office at a hospital run by the aid group Doctors Without Borders in the city of Bentiu, Nyachiew said she has weathered civil war, hunger and displacement to make it this far. 

She is one of some 3,000 midwives in South Sudan. The country’s health ministry says that number is insufficient to serve the population of 11 million people. 

And yet Nyachiew’s journey shows the extraordinary effort needed to get here. 

As a girl in Leer in northern Unity State, Nyachiew faced pressure from her family, who didn’t think girls should attend school. She stayed home until age 9 helping cultivate beans, pumpkin and maize on their farm. 

When she finally persuaded her father to let her study, more fighting had begun in the long conflict that eventually ended with South Sudan’s independence from Sudan in 2011. 

Her family fled into the bush. Women were raped and relatives were killed, including her pregnant sister-in-law. As fighting ebbed and flowed, Nyachiew did what she could to study, even traveling to Khartoum and learning Arabic. 

At 18, Nyachiew was admitted to a midwifery course sponsored by aid groups and based in Leer. She struggled to understand medical terms and thought she’d never pass. During the second year, she became pregnant. The school had a policy of not allowing pregnant women to participate, worried they might be distracted. 

But Nyachiew wouldn’t drop out. She threatened suicide and begged her brother to intervene. The administration let her stay. 

Nyachiew named her daughter Jephaenia Chigoa, reflecting the term for “something good” in the Nuer language. 

Even after she became a midwife, Nyachiew lived the dangers that many pregnant women in South Sudan face. 

Much of the country has no road network, meaning that pregnant women often walk for hours or days to the nearest clinic. Some are carried in wheelbarrows or stretchers with the help of relatives and friends. 

Nyachiew made that journey herself. During one miscarriage, she walked for two hours to the closest clinic in Leer while screaming in pain as blood streamed down her legs. 

It was 2011, the year of South Sudan’s independence. A civil war began two years later, killing nearly 400,000 people and ending in 2018. 

When the fighting began, Nyachiew was studying in the capital, Juba. She returned to Leer, and her family again hid in the bush for months as people — including four brothers-in-law — were killed around them. Soldiers beat her, seeking money. 

But the most difficult part was still being unable to help pregnant women, watching them die for lack of proper equipment and care. 

South Sudan has made a fragile recovery from civil war. Violence between some communities remains deadly, and the United Nations says 9 million people — 75% of the population — rely on humanitarian aid. 

Nyachiew lives in a displacement camp along with 100,000 others, including 17 relatives who rely on her as their sole breadwinner. Like others in the camp, she is scared to move out, worried that conflict could resume. 

South Sudan’s health system continues to suffer. The government allocates less than 2% of the national budget to the health ministry, whose system is propped up by aid groups and the international community. Many health centers outside the capital still have a desperate, wartime feel. 

“The changes have been slow and uneven,” said Janet Michael, director general for nursing and midwifery at the health ministry. 

Data collection is so poor that no one knows for sure how many women are dying in childbirth. The U.N. has estimated that 1,200 women die per 100,000 live births. 

Some women who survive still lose their babies. 

In June, Nyalith Mauit lost one of her twins while giving birth. Health workers at a clinic struggled to deliver the first twin, who came out feet first. She was transferred to the Doctors Without Borders-run hospital, where Nyachiew leads more than a dozen midwives. But they were unable to deliver the second twin in time. 

Mauit cradled her surviving day-old son. 

“I am grateful there is a hospital here. If there wasn’t, yesterday might have been the end of my life,” she said. 

Nyachiew, slender and serious, holding a walkie-talkie as she did her hospital rounds, hopes to see more midwives emerge to help. 

The United Nations Population Fund is working with South Sudan’s health ministry to train them and create mobile clinics to reach remote areas. But schools lack textbooks and trained tutors, and there is never enough funding, the health ministry said. 

Nyachiew, who was expecting her sixth child while speaking to The Associated Press, hopes such issues can be addressed by the next generation. 

“My message to little girls is to tell that they have to go to school because school it is very important, because if you go to school, you should become a doctor, you should become a nurse, you should become a midwife,” she said. “So that you can help the entire community.” 
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HARARE, Zimbabwe — About 68 million people in Southern Africa are suffering the effects of an El Nino-induced drought that has wiped out crops across the region, the regional bloc SADC said Saturday.

The drought, which started in early 2024, has hit crop and livestock production, causing food shortages and damaging the wider economies.

Heads of state from the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) were meeting in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare to discuss regional issues including food security.

Some 68 million people, or 17% of the region’s population, need aid, said Elias Magosi, SADC executive secretary.

“The 2024 rainy season has been a challenging one with most parts of the region experiencing negative effects of the El Nino phenomenon characterized by the late onset of rains,” he said.

It is Southern Africa’s worst drought in years, owing to a combination of naturally occurring El Nino — when an abnormal warming of the waters in the eastern Pacific changes world weather patterns — and higher average temperatures produced by greenhouse gas emissions.

Countries including Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi have already declared the hunger crisis a state of disaster, while Lesotho and Namibia have called for humanitarian support.

The region launched an appeal in May for $5.5 billion in humanitarian assistance to support the drought response, but donations have not been forthcoming, said outgoing SADC chair Joao Lourenco, the president of Angola.

“The amount mobilized so far is unfortunately below the estimated amounts and I would like to reiterate this appeal to regional and international partners to redouble their efforts… to help our people who have been affected by El Nino,” he told the summit.

The drought is a major talking point at this year’s summit, alongside issues such as the ongoing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which Lourenco said was a source of great concern.
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cairo — Fighters from Sudan’s paramilitary group rampaged through a central village, looting and burning and killing at least 85 people, including women and children, authorities and residents said Saturday, the latest atrocity in the country’s 18-month devastating conflict. 

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began attacking Galgani in the central province of Sennar late in July and last week. RSF fighters “indiscriminately opened fire on the village’s unarmed residents” after they resisted attempts to abduct and sexually assault women and girls, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. More than 150 villagers were wounded, it said. 

The RSF has been repeatedly accused of massacres, rapes and other gross violations across the country since the war started in April last year, when simmering tensions between the military and the group exploded into open fighting in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere. 

Describing the hours-long attack, three residents said hundreds of RSF fighters stormed the village Thursday, looting and burning houses and public properties. 

The offensive came after the residents put up resistance and repelled an attack by a small group of RSF fighters, according to a health care worker at the local medical center who spoke to The Associated Press. 

The group retreated but hundreds of RSF fighters in dozens of pickup trucks with automatic rifles and heavy weapons returned, according to the worker and another resident. 

As of Friday, the medical center had received at least 80 bodies, including 24 women and minors, said the worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fears for his safety. 

Mohamed Tajal-Amin, a villager, said he saw seven bodies — six men and one woman — laying in the street midday Friday. 

“The Janjaweed are in the street and people are not able to recover their dead and bury them,” he said, using the name of the Arab militias that became synonymous with genocide and war crimes in Darfur two decades ago. The RSF grew out of that group. 

RSF spokespeople didn’t return requests for comment Saturday. 

In June, the RSF assaulted Sennar’s provincial capital, Singa, about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southeast of Khartoum. They looted the city’s main market and took over its main hospital, forcing thousands of people to flee. 

The latest attack came as the United States has led efforts to resume peace talks between the military and the RSF. The talks, which are boycotted by the military, began last week in Switzerland. 

Diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the African Union and the United Nations were attending the talks. The RSF sent a delegation to Geneva but didn’t take part in the meetings. 

“The RSF remains here ready for talks to start; SAF needs to decide to come,” U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello posted Friday on X, formerly Twitter, using the acronym for Sudan’s Armed Forces. 

The talks were the latest international effort to settle the devastating conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the country to the brink of famine. Already famine was confirmed last month in a sprawling camp for displaced people in the western region of Darfur. 

The conflict has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the United Nations and international rights groups. 

Sudan’s war has also created the world’s largest displacement crisis. More than 10.7 million people have been forced to flee their homes since fighting began, according to the International Organization for Migration. Over 2 million of them have fled to neighboring countries. 
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Manzini, Eswatini — Eswatini has launched an initiative to achieve sustainable development by harnessing the power of nuclear technology in such sectors as agriculture, health and energy planning. The plan was developed with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The aim of the Country Program Framework, or CPF, launched two weeks ago by Eswatini Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Prince Lonkhokhela, is to leverage nuclear technology for social and economic development. Its key focus areas are energy security, food security and human health, aligning with the country’s National Development Plan and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.

Bongekile Matsenjwa, a chemical engineer and engineering manager for the Eswatini National Petroleum Company, believes the partnership between Eswatini and the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, can help the country make well-informed decisions about its energy future.

“Access to clean, affordable and safe, reliable energy is an important ingredient for the sustainable development of the country,” he said. “I believe that this partnership can help Eswatini to make knowledgeable decisions on energy supply options with the help of energy planning so the country … can independently chart our national energy future.”

Sonia Paiva, a sustainable agriculture expert and advocate for nuclear technology, who was a panelist at the COP28 U.N. Climate Change Conference, believes Eswatini’s focus on nuclear technology is happening at the perfect moment, as the country has already established policies around the topic and is now moving toward implementation.

“The whole world is looking to see how we can make our planet a better place to live in,” she said.

In addition to its potential benefits in agriculture and energy, Dr. Mduduzi Mbuyisa, a medical doctor, believes this technology has immense potential to improve the health care system in Eswatini.

“Nuclear medicine has a potential to ensure our diagnostic capabilities such that it helps us to take clearer pictures and help us in advanced imaging because we [are] using what we call PET or SPECT, which help to improve the care and overall health care system,” he said. It will also … help develop new skills and open up new career opportunities.”

Eswatini’s venture into nuclear technology is part of a larger trend of African countries seeking to harness the benefits of this technology. Against the backdrop of rising energy demands and climate change concerns, nuclear energy is increasingly seen as a potential solution.
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ABUJA, NIGERIA — Barely 48 hours after the World Health Organization declared mpox a global health emergency, Nigeria went on high alert Friday, announcing new mpox cases and raising concerns about the country’s ability to contain the outbreak.

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or NCDC, said it has recorded 39 cases of mpox so far this year amid a surge in infections across Africa. No deaths have been recorded in Nigeria.

Bayelsa, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos states are the most affected by the outbreak.

Speaking at a news conference, NCDC lead Dr. Olajide Idris said that the nation is ramping up its response to manage the spread of the virus and prevent the disease from being imported.

Mpox is a rare viral zoonotic disease, meaning it is primarily an animal disease that can be transmitted to humans. It is endemic in several African countries, with over 2,800 cases reported across 13 countries this year, claiming more than 500 lives.

Symptoms include fever, body aches, weakness, headaches and rashes.

With a more lethal strain emerging, Idris said that vaccination plans are being considered for high-risk populations.

“The Nigerian government is making effort to make vaccines available to the public, especially for the hotspot areas,” he said. “These vaccines have been shown to have a favorable safety profile. They are not yet in the country, but they are on their way.”

Olayinka Badmus, deputy project director for Global Health Security, Breakthrough Action Nigeria, said the new strain poses a higher risk.

“This particular strain is new, and anything new requires new learning. The things that we have seen related to this particular strain is the fact that it is spreading quite fast, the presenting symptoms — especially the rash — are widespread,” she said, meaning that the rash is all over the body.

“We are also seeing more children affected with mpox compared to the other strains,” Badmus said.

Another cause for concern, she said, is that this strain has “a higher human-to-human transmission at an accelerated rate.”

Idris stressed the need for public awareness in containing the spread and urged people to seek medical attention if they experience symptoms.

“We encourage everybody feeling feverish, muscle pain, sore throat to please visit the nearest health care facility,” he said.

Public health experts are also urging people to adhere to preventive measures such as avoiding contact with potentially infected animals and practicing good hygiene.
…

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Sarah Bagheni had a headache, fever, and itchy and unusual skin lesions for days, but she had no inkling that her symptoms might have been caused by mpox and that she might be another case in a growing global health emergency. 

She also has no idea where to go to get medical help. 

She and her husband live in the Bulengo displacement camp in eastern Congo, a region that is effectively ground zero for a series of mpox outbreaks in Africa.

This year’s alarming rise in cases, including a new form of the virus identified by scientists in eastern Congo, led the World Health Organization to declare it a global health emergency on Wednesday. It said the new variant could spread beyond the five African countries where it had already been detected — a timely warning that came a day before Sweden reported its first case of the new strain.

In the vast central African nation of Congo, which has had more than 96% of the world’s roughly 17,000 recorded cases of mpox this year — and some 500 deaths from the disease — many of the most vulnerable seem unaware of its existence or the threat that it poses.

“We know nothing about this,” Bagheni’s husband, Habumuremyiza Hire, said Thursday about mpox. “I watch her condition helplessly because I don’t know what to do. We continue to share the same room.”

Millions are thought to be out of reach of medical help or advice in the conflict-torn east, where dozens of rebel groups have been fighting Congolese army forces for years over mineral-rich areas, causing a huge displacement crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people like Bagheni and her husband have been forced into overcrowded refugee camps around Goma, while more have taken refuge in the city.

Conditions in the camps are dire and medical facilities are almost nonexistent.

Mahoro Faustin, who runs the Bulengo camp, said that about three months ago, administrators first started noticing people in the camp exhibiting fever, body aches and chills — symptoms that could signal malaria, measles or mpox.

There is no way of knowing how many mpox cases there might be in Bulengo because of a lack of testing, he said. There haven’t been any recent health campaigns to educate the tens of thousands of people in the camp about mpox, and Faustin said he’s worried about how many people might be undiagnosed.

“Just look at the overcrowding here,” he said, pointing to a sea of ramshackle tents. “If nothing is done, we will all be infected here, or maybe we are already all infected.”

Around 70% of the new mpox cases in the Goma area in the last two months that were registered at a treatment center run by Medair were from displacement camps, said Dr. Pierre Olivier Ngadjole, the international aid group’s health advisor in Congo. The youngest of those cases was a month-old baby and the oldest a 90-year-old, he said.

In severe cases of mpox, people can develop lesions on the face, hands, arms, chest and genitals. While the disease originated in animals, the virus has in recent years been spreading between people via close physical contact, including sex.

Bagheni’s best hope of getting a diagnosis for her lesions is a government hospital that’s a two-hour drive away. That’s likely out of the question, given that she already struggles with mobility having previously had both her legs amputated.

Seven million people are internally displaced in Congo, with more than 5.5 million of them in the country’s east, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Congo has the largest displacement camp population in Africa, and one of the largest in the world.

The humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo has almost every possible complication when it comes to stopping an mpox outbreak, said Dr. Chris Beyrer, director of Duke University’s Global Health Institute.

That includes war, illicit mining industries that attract sex workers, transient populations near border regions, and entrenched poverty. He also said the global community missed multiple warning signs.

“We’re paying attention to it now, but mpox has been spreading since 2017 in Congo and Nigeria,” Beyrer said, adding that experts have long been calling for vaccines to be shared with Africa, but to little effect. He said the WHO’s emergency declaration was “late in coming,” with more than a dozen countries already affected.

Beyrer said that unlike COVID-19 or HIV, there’s a good vaccine and good treatments and diagnostics for mpox, but “the access issues are worse than ever” in places like eastern Congo.

In 2022, there were outbreaks in more than 70 countries around the world, including the United States, which led the WHO to also declare an emergency that lasted until mid-2023. It was largely shut down in wealthy countries within months through the use of vaccines and treatments, but few doses have been made available in Africa.

The new and possibly more infectious strain of mpox was first detected this year in a mining town in eastern Congo, about 450 kilometers south of Goma. It’s unclear how much the new strain is to blame, but Congo is now enduring its worst outbreak yet and at least 13 African countries have recorded cases, four of them for the first time.

The outbreaks in those four countries — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda — have been linked to Congo’s, and Doctors Without Borders said Friday that Congo’s surge “threatens a major spread of the disease” to other countries.

Salim Abdool Karim, an infectious disease expert who chairs the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s emergency committee, said the Congo outbreak has a particularly concerning change, in that it’s disproportionately affecting young people. Children under 15 account for 70% of cases and 85% of all deaths in the country, the Africa CDC reported.

Unlike the 2022 global outbreak, which predominantly affected gay and bisexual men, mpox now appears to be spreading in heterosexual populations.

All of Congo’s 26 provinces have recorded mpox cases, according to the state-run news agency. But Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said Thursday that the country doesn’t have a single vaccine dose yet and he pleaded for “vigilance in all directions from all Congolese.”

Dr. Rachel Maguru, who heads the multi-epidemic center at Goma’s North Kivu provincial hospital, said they also don’t have drugs or any established treatments for mpox and are relying on other experts such as dermatologists to help where they can. A larger outbreak around the city and its numerous displacement camps already overburdened with an influx of people would be “terrible,” she said.

She also noted a pivotal problem: poor and displaced people have other priorities, like earning enough money to eat and survive. Aid agencies and stretched local authorities are already wrestling with providing food, shelter and basic health care to the millions displaced, while also dealing with outbreaks of other diseases like cholera.
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NEAR MOUNT ELGON, Uganda — The dancers shook their hips to the beat of drummers who led the way, anticipating the start of mass circumcision among the Bamasaaba people of Uganda’s mountainous east. 

Yet the frolicking in the streets belied a dispute brewing behind the scenes as some locals questioned their king over the very public presentation of Imbalu, the ritualized circumcision of thousands of boys every other year in this remote community near Uganda’s border with Kenya. 

Could it be turned into a carnival, put on for the gaze of foreigners? Or should it remain a sacred ceremony in which families quietly prepare their sons to face the knife with courage? 

The king, known as the Umukuuka, had his way ahead of the August 3 ceremonial inauguration at a park in the town of Mbale, arguing for a traditional festival that also looked attractive to visitors. The organizers of Imbalu received over $120,000 in financial support from the Ugandan government and a corporate sponsor. 

In an interview with The Associated Press, the Umukuuka asserted that organizing a modern Imbalu was challenging and defended his decision to market the ritual as a tourist event in line with Uganda’s national development plan. 

“Everything is changing as the population expands. People may not manage to follow the cultural processes,” he said, citing the economic hardship and commercialization he said were diluting the communal aspect of Imbalu. “But we are fighting through the clan system that (Imbalu) remains intact.” 

Many question government intervention

But the Ugandan government’s intervention has raised eyebrows among many Bamasaaba and underscored angst over the most important ceremony for this ethnic group of 4 million Ugandans. Some who spoke to the AP said they felt the Umukuuka, in his first year in office, was trivializing Imbalu by exposing it to outside interests. 

“Our leadership is being hijacked by” national political leaders, said Wasukira Mashate, an elder who is a custodian of Bamasaaba cultural property, charging that the Umukuuka was missing the counsel of clan leaders with real spiritual authority. 

“I don’t think they are having any role” in Imbalu, he said, speaking of clan leaders. “It was for our own benefit culturally, but now it is becoming a national event because the government of Uganda has captured it.” 

At the ceremonial inauguration, an angry crowd gathered outside the totemic shrine of the clan that historically has launched Imbalu by cutting the first candidates. Clan members pointed to the young mixed-breed bull tethered to the grass as offensive, saying only a local breed would suffice as an appropriate sacrifice to the gods. 

“This cow is exotic. We are Bamasaaba, and he brought us a white animal,” said Kareem Masaba, speaking of the Umukuuka. “He has insulted us. His predecessors used to come into the shrine and participate in the rituals, but this man will not come here. He is disrespecting us.” 

The dispute over the sacrificial animal delayed the inauguration into the late afternoon as anger grew among men wielding machetes, sharp sticks and other crude weapons. The Umukuuka, seated not far away in a tent among dignitaries from elsewhere in Africa, did not budge. Clan members retaliated by refusing to present the first group of initiates before the Umukuuka, a former forestry officer whose real name is Jude Mudoma. 

The mass circumcisions will last until the end of 2024. 

‘Helps us to be strong’

The tribal initiation of boys into adulthood has long been controversial in African countries such as South Africa, where incidents of botched, deadly circumcisions among Xhosa-speaking people have inspired campaigns for safe clinical circumcision. Among the Bamasaaba, whose cutting method is just as violent, there have been no calls to end the practice. The strongest adherents see Imbalu as more important than ever amid widespread infant circumcision in hospital settings. They say those boys who are not initiated in the tribal way risk suffering lifelong social delinquency. 

Tribal circumcision is performed by a traditional surgeon wielding a knife usually fashioned from melted nails. Bamasaaba hundreds of kilometers away in the Ugandan capital of Kampala are known to hunt down Imbalu dodgers they then cut by force. The bodies of uncircumcised men can be violated before burial. 

Circumcision “helps us to be strong,” said Peter Gusolo, a traditional surgeon, gesticulating to express his people’s purported sex prowess. Those who resist circumcision will be cut “even if (they) are dying,” he said. “We circumcise you at night. We bury you in the morning.” 

He added, “We cannot bury you in the land of the Bamasaaba without (being circumcised). No, no, no. It is in the constitution of the culture of the Bamasaaba … It is a curse if you bury into the land people who are not circumcised.” 

‘We are not barbaric’

Gusolo, whose family lives in a house on the side of a hill planted with arabica coffee plants, spent days isolating himself in a cave and postponing intimacy with his wife so that he could be possessed by the spirit of Imbalu. Even though men like Gusolo wield certificates issued by local health authorities to prove their skill, the title is hereditary. The surgeons say they cannot afford to be flippant with their work because the wounds they inflict will not heal if they are not spiritually strong. 

The first candidate for initiation this year was a teenager whose face had been smeared with mud and the dregs of homemade beer. He spread his legs and unblinkingly stared at the sky while a swarm of frenzied people around him pushed and shoved, demanding courage. The surgeon, applying no anesthetic, took hold of the boy and skinned him with a swift movement of his hands. A member of the boy’s family, aiming to protect the boy from the threat of witchcraft, collected the skin and took it home. 

Emmanuel Watundu, the father of a 17-year-old boy who was among the first to be cut, said he stood by Imbalu, describing it as the life-changing event his son asked for. But he criticized what he saw as a carnival atmosphere by “peer groups (who) normally behave differently than we used to.” 

Outside Watundu’s house, where a crowd had gathered, drunken people of all ages danced wildly, and one woman briefly exposed her breasts. A politician seeking a seat in the national assembly had a procession marching in the dirt road. Boys fondled girls and swung legs at them. 

Watundu said the street dancers he saw were “from different areas” and that most people attending Imbalu came “to do business.” He said of the Ugandan government’s involvement that it had “given some bad picture” about the Umukuuka’s role as the chief organizer of Imbalu. 

Wilson Watira, who chaired the Imbalu organizing committee, defended the government’s role as a supporter of Bamasaaba tradition. The exuberant street processions left people feeling joyful, he said. 

“When it comes to performance of culture, of culture itself … it remains culture. We only want to show the world that even when we are performing this culture, it can also attract other people,” he said. 

In the past, people thought the ritual was barbaric and brutal, Watira said. 

“It’s the reason why we said, ‘No, we are not barbaric. We can make this thing very attractive, and you will enjoy it.'” 
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CAIRO — The United States on Friday called on Sudan’s military to join talks aimed at calming the country’s grinding conflict as the African country faces a worsening humanitarian crisis.

The military has boycotted the negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, now in their third day, despite international pleas that it take part in the talks. Sudan’s military is battling the powerful paramilitary, known as Rapid Support Forces.

“The RSF remains here ready for talks to start; SAF needs to decide to come,” U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello posted on X on Friday, using the acronym for Sudan’s Armed Forces.

Diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the African Union and the United Nations were at the talks, which started earlier this week. Sudan’s paramilitary sent a delegation to Geneva.

On Thursday, Sudan’s governing council, which is led by top military generals, announced that they had opened the key border crossing of Adre, from neighboring Chad into Sudan’s restive western region of Darfur, which has been the worst hit by fighting and displacement.

The announcement was welcomed by the U.N. and the U.S., but it remained unclear how it will affect aid delivery on the ground, where heavy flooding has also impeded access in recent weeks.

Both sides have traded accusations of attacking civilians and obstructing aid since the country’s war started in April 2023. The northeastern African nation plunged into chaos last year when tensions between the military and the RSF turned into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, before spreading across the country.

The Geneva-led talks come as more people face severe hunger and displacement, and civilian deaths mount.

On Thursday, UNESCO said a bomb detonated at a school and market in the city of El Obeid the previous day, killing five girls and injuring 20 other children.

Aid workers say the situation has grown even more dire for Sudanese civilians in Darfur, many of whom are facing worsening hunger and malnutrition.

Tammam Aloudat, president of the Netherlands board of Doctors without Borders, or MSF, returned from a mission in Niyala, South Darfur, this week. He told The Associated Press he saw many children at the group’s hospital who were so malnourished that they stopped eating and needed medical interventions.

“We have directly seen severe pockets of severe malnutrition,” he said, including infants whose age was more than a year old yet appeared to be no more than 4 or 5 months old.

“They can’t walk, they are severely malnourished,” he said.

Aloudat said he hopes the announcement of the reopening of the border crossing will mean more U.N. aid can reach hard-hit areas, but that many obstacles remain.

“Meaningful humanitarian access can be measured when the millions of people in need of assistance and protection start to receive it, not when decisions are simply announced,” he said.

The conflict has killed thousands of people and pushed many into starvation. The atrocities include mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the U.N. and international rights groups.

Sudan’s war has also created the world’s largest displacement crisis. More than 10.7 million people have been forced to flee their homes since fighting began, according to the International Organization for Migration. Over 2 million of them have fled to neighboring countries.

Last month, global experts confirmed that starvation at a massive camp for displaced people in Darfur has grown into famine. And about 25.6 million people — more than half of Sudan’s population — will face acute hunger, the experts from the Famine Review Committee warned.
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kigali, rwanda / washington — Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye has pardoned journalist Floriane Irangabiye, who had been serving a 10-year prison sentence.

The pardon was announced through a presidential order issued Wednesday.

Irangabiye, a talk show host for Igicaniro Radio, an online media outlet operating from abroad, was arrested in August 2022 after traveling to Burundi from Rwanda, where she had been living in exile.

She was convicted of undermining national security and collaborating with armed groups, charges that her colleagues and various human rights organizations had consistently contested, arguing that her arrest was a direct result of her work as a journalist.

The superior court of Ntahangwa had sentenced Irangabiye to a decade in prison, a ruling that sparked widespread condemnation from journalists’ associations and human rights groups. These organizations had tirelessly campaigned for her release.

Speaking to reporters outside Bubanza Prison after her release Friday, Irangabiye said it was the news her family had been waiting for.

“I am very happy and have a lot to say,” she said. “I am going to rejoin my family and meet my children again. I hope this is a special day for them. August 16, 2024, will always be a special date in my life, a date that will be part of my history in one way or another.”

She said her time behind bars had been trying and thanked those who pushed for her release.

“This is not a place you would wish anyone to be, not even your enemies. The pardon from President Evariste Ndayishimiye is something I will never forget. I have been touched in a special way. I am grateful to local and international human rights organizations that did a lot of advocacy on my behalf for such a day to happen,” she said.

The arrest highlighted a repressive media environment in Burundi where, according to Reporters Without Borders, media members face intimidation and live in fear of attacks or detention. Many practice self-censorship to report on issues in the country. VOA has been forbidden from broadcasting inside the country since 2018.

The news of Irangabiye’s pardon has been met with joy and relief by her family, colleagues and supporters.

Irangabiye’s colleagues at Igicaniro Radio have expressed their belief that her arrest was a direct consequence of her reporting.

Jeremie Hatangimana called her release a victory for free press. “We are happy and grateful about the pardon and release, but this should not have happened in the first place,” he said.

Justine Nkurunziza, a member of Inamahoro, a women’s organization that advocates for peace and security, expressed her gratitude that Irangabiye would soon be reunited with her children.

“This is a moment of relief and joy,” she said.

Irangabiye’s sibling, who preferred not to be named, also said she was overjoyed by the news of the pardon. “We have been waiting for this moment for two long years,” she said.

Burundian rights group Ntabariza, which advocates on behalf of prisoners and their families, also welcomed Irangabiye’s release but called on Ndayishimiye to extend similar clemency to other individuals who they believe have been unjustly imprisoned, including another journalist, Sandra Umuhoza.

This story originated in VOA’s Central Africa Service.
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GENEVA  — U.N. aid agencies welcome the opening of the Adre border crossing with Chad, which, they say will allow desperately needed humanitarian assistance to flow to millions of people who have been trapped in Sudan’s conflict hot spots for months with limited access to food, medicine and other essential relief.  

The decision by Sudan’s military to reopen this crucial border crossing comes as aid agencies say they are racing against time to save the lives of millions of people at risk of starvation and deadly disease outbreaks.   

The World Food Program calls Sudan the world’s largest hunger crisis, noting that 25.6 million people are “in acute hunger.” 

“That is 54% of the population. So, that basically means that one in two Sudanese is not able to put a basic meal on their plate every day, are struggling every day just to eat,” Leni Kinzli, WFP Sudan spokesperson, told journalists Friday in Geneva. 

Speaking from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, she said that about 755,000 people are in the highest stage of food insecurity, “catastrophic hunger,” which basically means they have run out of all options and are surviving in whatever way that they can — “eating leaves off trees, eating grass.” 

“In fact, we have received reports of people dying of hunger,” she said noting, “Famine was confirmed just two weeks ago in Zamzam IDP [internally displaced people] camp,” which is around 12 kilometers away from El Fasher, North Darfur’s capital, “where fighting continues to intensify week by week with more people fleeing.” 

Kinzli added that the opening of the critical humanitarian corridor through Adre will enable the delivery of aid into Sudan’s conflict-rattled Darfur region. She said WFP was “immediately” assembling vital food and nutrition supplies to be transported across the Adre corridor over the coming weeks. 

“We need to see trucks moving across this border every single day to get a consistent flow of aid into the region,” she said, noting that enough food for half a million people was being loaded, and was ready to go to famine areas in the North, Central and West Darfur states “as soon as official government communication and clearances are received.” 

Besides the Zamzam IDP camp, the U.N. Famine Review Committee recently reported that 13 other areas are on the brink of famine, largely in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Gezira. 

Aid agencies warn heavy rainfall and floods are worsening the already devastating food security situation in Sudan. They say floods are forcing more people from their homes; that broken bridges, and muddy roads are cutting communities off from vital assistance. 

This natural disaster follows months of insecurity, which have limited humanitarian aid from reaching beleaguered communities.    

The World Health Organization reports access to health care has been constrained because of insecurity in the region. This has caused a shortage of medicines, medical supplies and health workers — with those remaining “not being paid.” 

“And we are seeing many, many attacks on health care,” said Dr. Margaret Harris, WHO spokesperson. “In the conflict hot spots, 70% to 80% of the hospitals are non-functional. So, people are dying simply from a lack of access to basic and essential health care and medication.” 

The nonprofit group Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warns that the last hospital in El Fasher risks closure. It says the last MSF-supported Saudi hospital — the last remaining public hospital in the city “with the capacity to treat the wounded and perform surgery” — has been attacked, “causing extensive damage and leaving the facility only partially functioning.” 

If the hospital is hit again and becomes non-functional, MSF warns “there will be nowhere left for the injured to seek care and the death toll will soar.” 

While WHO also welcomes the Adre crossing’s opening, spokesperson Harris observed that nothing can be done to help people in dire need unless they can be reached. 

She said people who are malnourished or starving are at risk of very grave health consequences.  

“Anything that is a mild infection in somebody with good nutrition, a good immune system, becomes a catastrophic illness in somebody who is malnourished, particularly a child,” she said. “And they can die very, very quickly from what would be a minor infection if they are malnourished.”   

WHO says thousands of cases of cholera, measles, dengue, meningitis and other diseases, including hundreds of deaths, have been reported in numerous states, as well as 1.7 million malaria cases, including 173 deaths from malaria. 

“Confirmation of all these cases is very challenging because we do not have functional public health laboratories. So, again, those numbers are highly likely to be an underestimate,” Harris said. 

The decision by the Sudanese government to open the Adre crossing followed the start of U.S.-sponsored peace talks Thursday in Geneva. Aid agencies see these talks as offering an opportunity for the international community to address the widespread obstruction of aid delivery by the warring parties.   

“It is critical that warring parties leave the battlefield and show up at the negotiating table, so we can get food moving quickly to hunger-struck communities across the country in time before it is too late,” Kinzli said. 

A delegation from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, is present in Geneva.  However, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, so far has not sent a delegation. 
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Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian authorities on Thursday placed key entry points into the country on high alert following the outbreak of the mpox virus in Africa. Authorities have also put nine Nigerian states, including the commercial hub, Lagos, and the capital, Abuja, under serious surveillance.

The Nigerian Center for Disease Control and Prevention told journalists that the action is in response to surging cases of the mpox virus in Africa and to intensify coordination to limit importation and spread of the virus.

This week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had recorded 2,863 confirmed cases of mpox, with 517 deaths, across 13 countries this year. It said there are about 17,000 suspected cases of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, in total.

So far this year, Nigeria has recorded 39 cases of mpox, with no deaths.

Jide Idris, head of the Nigerian CDC, said it’s best to be prepared.

“We’re intensifying surveillance activities by tracking cases across Nigeria to swiftly detect and respond to any new cases,” he said. “Along this line, five designated international airports, some key seaports … land and foot crossing borders have been placed in high alert. Declaration forms have been distributed to airlines where there’s an ongoing outbreak of mpox in the last 90 days.”

The Nigerian CDC said authorities are distributing diagnostic tools to states. They also have issued a public advisory on ways to prevent the spread of the mpox virus, including limiting contact with animals such as rodents and monkeys.

“We’re also considering vaccination efforts for high-risk groups, as Nigeria expects to receive about 10,000 doses of the new vaccines that have just recently been approved for emergency use,” Idris said. “We’re also meeting with collaborative agencies like Ministry of Environment and Agriculture for support and coordination efforts.”

Authorities say a new strain of the virus, which is more deadly and more easily transmitted, is responsible for the recent spread. The strain was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo and later reported in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, all previously unaffected nations.

On Tuesday, the Africa CDC declared mpox a public health emergency of international-continental concern.

Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa CDC, said, “This declaration is not merely a formality. It’s a clarion call to action. It’s a recognition that we can no longer afford to be reactive; we must be proactive and aggressive in our effort to contain and eliminate this threat.”

Mpox is a viral disease that causes pus-filled lesions resembling rashes to appear on the skin.

In 2022, the World Health Organization declared it an international health emergency after cases were found in more than 70 countries.

Health analysts say the new strain is worrisome and will need a coordinated international response to control it and save lives.
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There is no evidence the United States set any conditions for Sudanese participation. According to the United Nations, Sudan does not have a government, and the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are key to a successful cease-fire.
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In Nairobi, a new restaurant is generating business and buzz – not just because of the food, but because of the staff. Robots serving dishes is the main attraction of diners who flock to the Robot Cafe. Juma Majanga reports. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo.
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Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian legislation that critics said would have allowed the government to crack down on dissent has been withdrawn.

Supporters said the bill was intended to stop what were seen as subversive activities. But Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of Nigeria’s lower chamber of parliament and sponsor of the bill, withdrew it in a statement Wednesday. He said the decision was made in response to public concerns, and after careful consideration of Nigeria’s current circumstances.

The Counter Subversion Bill, with 24 clauses, had reached the first reading in parliament — a significant step in Nigeria’s legislative process, since it was introduced in late July.

The bill called for a 10-year jail term or a hefty fine for refusing to recite the national anthem and a five-year sentence for erecting an illegal roadblock, proposing illegal curfews or conducting illegal processions.

Damilare Akinola, an Abuja-based human rights activist, called the bill “thoughtless.”

“Even before the introduction of the bill, Nigeria’s civic space has been stifled,” Akinola said. “These are just further attempts to consolidate. So these attempts are not surprising.”

The bill said citizens who disobeyed constituted authority could be jailed for three years. It was introduced in the wake of anti-government demonstrations in Nigeria.

Earlier this month, thousands marched in the streets of Nigeria’s major cities to demand a reversal of government actions, especially the removal of fuel subsidies.

The protests turned violent when security agents applied excessive force to disperse demonstrators. Amnesty International said 23 people were killed.

Amnesty’s Isa Sanusi sayid Nigerian lawmakers are supposed to focus on important matters.

“The whole matter is misplaced, ill-timed and inappropriate, because that legislation is draconian, repressive and adds no value,” Sanusi said. “It can possibly be manipulated and used to target people who disagree with the government. It must be completely withdrawn. We want to get assurance that it will not be brought back through the back door. The lawmakers are supposed to focus on addressing corruption, mismanagement, hunger and growing inflation.”

Human rights groups often blame Nigerian authorities for trying to enact repressive legislation that shrinks the civic space. In 2019, legislation calling for regulation of social media was dropped after it led to protests.

Authorities often say such legislation is proposed in the interest of national security. Abuja resident Godswill Effiom disagrees.

“I am one of the citizens who kicked against” the bill on allegedly subversive activities, Effiom said. “Let them allow citizens to express themselves. There are better ways to curb all this, not to restrict people from expression. We are in a democratic kind of leadership.”

For now, activists and citizens will be monitoring lawmakers’ next step.
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Yaounde, Cameroon — Officials in Chad are asking for international assistance to save thousands of people from persistent flooding, while officials in neighboring Cameroon are seeking help to cope with the opposite problem – severe drought. 

Officials say floods for the past three days have forced about 53,000 people to flee several towns and villages in Sila, a southeastern province bordering Sudan and the Central African Republic.

Forty-two-year-old farmer Regine Bumbai said her house was swept away by floods on Tuesday.

She said she is seeking refuge for herself and her three children at the Koukou-Angarana village primary school because heavy rains triggered flooding that is destroying houses and plantations and also displacing animals.

Bumbai told Chadian state TV Wednesday that flood victims are pleading for humanitarian assistance to save the lives of several hundred civilians, most of them children facing hunger and malnutrition.

This week, government officials, the United Nations and humanitarian agencies reported that 14 people had died and more than 245,000 civilians are affected by floods in 13 of Chad’s 23 provinces.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said about 60,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged. 

Chadian state TV has been broadcasting a message in which President Mahamat Idriss Deby calls for solidarity with all flood victims.

In the message Deby said Chad is not the only victim of devastating floods and other shocks caused by severe changes in normal environmental patterns. He said there should be international solidarity in fighting climate shocks that also affect the world’s most powerful nations.

Chad says it is building temporary shelters in several dozen towns and villages including the capital, N’djamena, and providing relief materials for affected families. The families include thousands of civilians fleeing internal armed conflicts and refugees fleeing Boko Haram terrorism and violence in conflict-ridden Sudan.

As Chad steps up efforts to help flood victims, Cameroon is facing a different situation, as rains that were expected in July have yet to come in many regions of the country.

This week, Muslims in Garoua, a northern town near Cameroon’s border with Chad and Nigeria, held public prayers for rain. 

Ibrahim El Rachidine, traditional ruler and Muslim spiritual leader of Garoua, organized the prayers.

He said he held the gathering after farmers complained that the lack of rain since July is causing droughts and making crops dry up in plantations. He says he is also calling Cameroonian government officials attention to the looming famine as droughts are already forcing farmers from their land.

Cameroon and Chad said last month the lives of more than 5 million people in the two countries were threatened by a severe humanitarian crisis triggered by the climate shocks and ongoing conflicts. 

Officials in both countries have called for international aid, though neither has given much detail on what they need.
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