New research finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt the financial viability of media outlets in southern Africa, with print media being the worst hit.

Launching the report, researcher Reginald Rumney, a journalism professor at Rhodes University in South Africa, said the media in the region had been drastically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This crisis, particularly the lockdowns and restrictions on movements, forced audiences online all to consume broadcast news,” Rumney said. “Newspapers and magazines were hard hit. And of course, with a decline in circulation came a huge decline in revenue and retrenchment of staff and a big a restructuring of the newspaper industry across the region. A lot of papers were forced to go online, stop printing completely. Retrenchments were dramatic.” 

In Zimbabwe, Alpha Media Holdings, which publishes NewsDay, the Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard, stopped printing paper copies of its newspapers for months, moving all the publications online. All of its staff received a 50% pay cut, while those not directly involved in e-paper production were put on leave. 

In South Africa, Associated Media Publishing stopped publishing its magazines, which included Cosmopolitan, House & Leisure and Women on Wheels, while Caxton and CTP Publishers & Printers announced closure of its magazine division. 

South Africa’s weekly Mail & Guardian kept publishing but said some advertisers had canceled their campaigns. 

Rumney said without a dramatic turnaround or external assistance such as donor funds, most media houses in southern Africa will not get out of the hole that the coronavirus put them in. 

Joanah Gadzikwa, a media professor in South Africa, said the pandemic had caused a “redefinition of the media industry” in southern Africa that could have a harmful effect on the region’s societies.

“The death or decline in circulation figures is worrisome,” Gadzikwa said. “What do we think should be the way forward? Because news is something that we cannot not have in our societies. A lot is happening in Zimbabwe, in southern Africa, that if issues do not see the light of print like this, we are heading towards another catastrophe. The pandemic has thrown everything upside down, but when things remain in [the] dark, it becomes a huge problem.” 

The issue has extra resonance in Zimbabwe, where advocates for the media say authorities have assaulted journalists in the line of duty.

Nigel Nyamutumbu, the head of Media Alliance of Zimbabwe, said, “In terms of Zimbabwe, you find that on one hand, we have a problem of money, we have a problem of resources. We have also the problem of politics, political will, where you can actually talk of the statutory instruments that were used to enforce the lockdowns. Where you also use the weaponization of the COVID-19 to actually clamp down in a calculated manner some civil liberties, including that of free expression, and including that of media freedom, which by extension obviously affects media sustainability.” 

Nyamutumbu said one cannot have a thriving media in an unconducive operating environment. 

And right now, even with COVID-19 slowly coming under control, southern Africa is not a conducive environment for print journalism.
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Ethiopian government security forces have reportedly rounded up and detained hundreds of ethnic Tigrayans, in a crackdown on suspected supporters of the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The crackdown comes as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls for all sides to pull back, stop the fighting and bring a “halt to what is happening on the ground.” VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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Sudan’s top general has reappointed himself as head of the army-run interim governing body, a sign that he’s tightening his grip on the country two weeks after he led a coup against civilian leaders.

There was no immediate reaction by pro-democracy groups to the move by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, which was announced by Sudan’s state television.

The development comes amid repeated promises from the military that they will hand over power to civilian authorities. Since the Oct. 25 coup, more than 100 government officials and political leaders have been detained, along with a large number of protesters and activists. At least 14 anti-coup protesters have been killed due to excessive force used by the country’s security forces, according to Sudanese doctors and the United Nations.

Sudan has been in the midst of a fragile transition since a 2019 pro-democracy uprising led to the removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir. The 11-member Sovereign Council was first formed in the summer of 2019, after the military signed a power-sharing deal with pro-democracy forces.

A number of other members of the body have also sat on the previous council that Burhan headed before he dissolved it in last month’s coup. Also reappointed to the body Thursday was the powerful paramilitary leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, as vice-president. Burhan also reappointed as council members another three generals who had served in the previous council, according to the state TV.

Eight civilians, including one from the previous council, were also appointed.

The agreement under which the council was formed after Bashir’s ouster stipulated that the council should include five civilians chosen by activists, five military representatives chosen by the armed forces and one civilian member to be chosen in agreement between civilians and the generals.

The make-up of the new council falls short of the demands of key pro-democracy groups in the African county. The Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change, the main group that spearheaded the uprising that culminated in the overthrow of al-Bashir, has said that it will oppose the reappointment of Burhan to the top decision-making position.

Before the coup, the Sovereign Council held ultimate power while the government of the now deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok oversaw day-to-day matters. Since the coup, Hamdok has remained under house arrest in the capital, Khartoum, as Western powers and U.N. diplomats try to mediate a resolution to the crisis.

The coup in Sudan has been condemned by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union — all of which have urged the generals to restore a military-civilian transitional government. Mediation efforts are ongoing to resolve the crisis.

On Wednesday, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that U.N. Special Representative for Sudan Volker Perthes met the previous day with Burhan.

In the talks, the special representative urged for “a return to the transitional partnership” and appealed on the military “to exercise restraint and to take de-escalation measures, including freeing all those people who have been detained and the prime minister who remains under house detention,” said Dujarric.

Dujarric also said the U.N. Secretary General António Guterres spoke with the ousted premier, Hamdok, earlier in the week.

Earlier on Thursday, an advocacy group said internet access remains largely disrupted in Sudan since last month’s military coup, despite a court order for providers to restore services.

According to a tweet by NetBlocks, the disruption is now in its eighteenth day and represents an “ongoing impediment” to democracy and human rights. A Sudanese court ruled on Wednesday, ordering the country’s three main telecommunications providers to restore internet access. However, authorities have not shown any sign yet of carrying out that order.
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Kenya on Thursday disbanded its national football federation over corruption allegations and said it may seek to prosecute any guilty officials.

The move was swiftly rejected by the suspended head of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF), who denied there had been any wrongdoing.

Sports Minister Amina Mohamed said the action was taken after a government investigation into FKF finances revealed it had failed to account for funds received from the government and other sponsors.

She said in a statement there would be a further probe to “establish the extent to which the misappropriation of funds in FKF may have occurred, with a view of prosecuting those who may be found culpable”.

The minister named a 15-member caretaker committee to run the federation’s affairs until fresh elections are held in six months’ time.

But suspended FKF chief Nick Mwendwa vowed to fight the move.

“I am still… in charge of the FKF. We won’t accept the decision taken by the sports ministry,” Mwendwa told a press conference. 

“The FKF reject the (caretaker) committee, and we will carry on with our operations as usual. This means all football activities in the country continue as scheduled and FKF remains in charge.

Mwendwa denied that the federation had failed to account for government funds.

“FKF fully complied with the inspection process ordered by the minister, and (provided) detailed and operational documents from the year 2016 to date. But regrettably the inspectors had no serious interest in scrutinizing our documents.”

The government investigation launched two weeks ago sought to determine if 244 million shillings ($2.2 million) given to the federation was used as intended to prepare the national Harambee Stars team for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Egypt.

Thursday’s government move may put Kenya at loggerheads with FIFA which prohibits government interference in the affairs of local federations.

Mohamed said Kenya had informed FIFA about the outcome of the government investigation.

The Harambee Stars played Uganda in a 2022 World Cup qualifier in Kampala on Thursday, a match that ended in a 1-1 draw.

Kenya is mathematically out of the running for the Qatar finals after two big losses to group leaders Mali and draws against Uganda and Rwanda.
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Ethiopia on Thursday outlined conditions for possible talks with rebels from the country’s war-hit Tigray region, following days of frantic diplomatic efforts by international envoys to head off another surge in fighting. 

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has been locked in a year-long war with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has pushed south in recent months and not ruled out a possible march on the capital Addis Ababa. 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti told reporters that one of the conditions for possible talks — which he stressed have not been agreed to — would be for the TPLF to withdraw from the Amhara and Afar regions bordering Tigray. 

“In order for there to be a peaceful solution, they say it takes two to tango,” Dina said. 

“There are conditions: First, stop your attacks. Secondly, leave the areas you have entered [Amhara and Afar]. Third, recognize the legitimacy of this government,” he said.

“By the way, don’t misunderstand, it’s not being said a decision has been made to enter into negotiations,” he added.

TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP at the weekend that pulling out from Amhara and Afar before talks begin is “an absolute non-starter.”

The TPLF is demanding the end of what the U.N. describes as a de facto humanitarian blockade on Tigray, where hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be living in famine-like conditions. 

International envoys have in recent days stepped up efforts to broker a cessation of hostilities. 

Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, left Ethiopia on Wednesday following several days of meetings there and in neighboring Kenya, according to officials briefed on his movements. 

Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, the AU’s special envoy for the region, was due to leave Thursday after a final meeting with Abiy, the officials said.

He has also recently travelled to the Tigray capital Mekele to meet TPLF leaders.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Obasanjo on Wednesday and offered “strong support” for his mediation efforts, the State Department said. 

He voiced hope that there was a “window” for progress. 

Yet it is far from clear how major gaps between the two sides can be bridged. 
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F.W. de Klerk, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela and as South Africa’s last apartheid president oversaw the end of the country’s white minority rule, has died at the age of 85.

De Klerk died after a battle against cancer at his home in the Fresnaye area of Cape Town, a spokesman for the F.W. de Klerk Foundation confirmed on Thursday.

De Klerk was a controversial figure in South Africa where many blamed him for violence against Black South Africans and anti-apartheid activists during his time in power, while some whites saw his efforts to end apartheid as a betrayal.

It was de Klerk who in a speech to South Africa’s parliament on Feb. 2, 1990, announced that Mandela would be released from prison after 27 years. The announcement electrified a country that for decades had been scorned and sanctioned by much of the world for its brutal system of racial discrimination known as apartheid.

With South Africa’s isolation deepening and its once-solid economy deteriorating, de Klerk, who had been elected president just five months earlier, also announced in the same speech the lifting of a ban on the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid political groups.

Amid gasps, several members of parliament members left the chamber as he spoke.

Nine days later, Mandela walked free.

Four years after that, Mandela was elected the country’s first Black president as Black South Africans voted for the first time.

By then, de Klerk and Mandela had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their often-tense cooperation in moving South Africa away from institutionalized racism and toward democracy.
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A homemade bomb thrown through the roof of a university lecture hall wounded 11 students on Wednesday, the vice chancellor said, in an English-speaking region of Cameroon in the grip of a bloody separatist conflict.

University of Buea vice-chancellor Horace Ngomo Manga said “the device fell to the ground and exploded.”

One boy and 10 girls were wounded, he told state radio CRTV, adding that all were in a stable condition.

He did not elaborate on the nature of the bomb or who might have thrown it.

Buea is the capital of Cameroon’s Southwest region. Both the Southwest and Northwest regions are mainly English-speaking in the otherwise predominantly French-speaking central African country.

A decades-long campaign by militants to redress perceived discrimination at the hands of the francophone majority flared into a declaration of independence on October 1, 2017, sparking a crackdown by security forces.

The conflict has claimed more than 3,500 lives and forced 700,000 people to flee their homes, according to NGO estimates that have not been updated in more than a year despite an escalation in violence in recent months.

The United Nations and international organizations regularly denounce abuses and crimes committed against civilians by both sides.

Wednesday’s bombing has not been claimed, but the anglophone separatists have regularly attacked schools and universities that they accuse of favoring French-language education.

The separatists have also recently ramped up attacks on the country’s armed forces using improvised explosive devices.

In September, a Buea court sentenced four men to death over the killing of seven schoolchildren a year earlier, however Human Rights Watch called the trial a sham.
…

Here’s a look at what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats have been doing this week.   

Ethiopia

U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman returned to Addis Ababa this week after meetings in Kenya to press all parties in Ethiopia to de-escalate the conflict and enter negotiations toward a durable cessation of hostilities. The State Department declined to provide details on private discussions between Ethiopian officials, the TPLF and associated forces, as well as the African Union.

The United States also expressed concern after the United Nations said Tuesday that 22 of its Ethiopian national staff were detained by the federal government in Addis Ababa, following raids reportedly targeting ethnic Tigrayans. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, the U.S. would “condemn arrests of U.N. staff members based on ethnicity.” 

N Says 16 Staff, Dependents Detained in Ethiopia 

US, Egypt, Sudan 

— U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry opened the U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue on Monday, where officials said discussions on human rights were high on the agenda. Blinken welcomed Egypt’s launch of a national human rights strategy, while noting there are other issues of concern. The U.S. said it would work with Egypt to advance key goals like reforming pretrial detention regulations, protecting the right to a free press and freedom of expression.

Blinken: US, Egypt Have ‘Shared Interest’ in Sudan’s Democratic Transition 

— On regional security, Blinken told Shoukry that the United States and Egypt have “a shared interest” in getting Sudan’s democratic transition back on track, after the Sudanese military seized power in late October. Egypt, one of Sudan’s neighbors, was notably absent from a recent joint statement issued by the U.S., United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, calling for a “full and immediate restoration” of Sudan’s “civilian-led transitional government and institutions.” Shoukry did not address last month’s Sudanese military takeover, nor did he answer questions from reporters. 

Belarus, Poland 

The State Department said it is concerned about disturbing images and reports from the Belarus/Poland border, after the Polish government accused Belarus of directing migrants toward the border as part of a campaign of “hybrid warfare.” Poland has warned of a possible armed escalation on its border with Belarus as thousands of migrants attempt to cross the frontier into the European Union. 

“The United States strongly condemns the Lukashenka regime’s political exploitation and coercion of vulnerable people, and the regime’s callous and inhumane facilitation of irregular migration flows across its borders. We call on the regime to immediately halt its campaign of orchestrating and coercing irregular migrant flows across its borders into Europe,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price during a briefing on Monday.

Poland Fears ‘Armed Escalation’ with Belarus as Migrants Mass on Frontier 

Iraq 

The United States is calling the attempted assassination of Iraq’s prime minister an attack on “the sovereignty and stability of the Iraqi state” and says the nature of the attack likely points to groups connected to Iran. The State Department and the Pentagon condemned the assassination attempt, warning that the Iraqi prime minister was likely not the only intended target.

US: Targeting of Iraqi PM an Attack on ‘Sovereignty, Stability’ 

Nicaragua 

The United States called Nicaragua’s election over the weekend “undemocratic,” condemning the Ortega-Murillo government for dissolving all genuine opposition parties and imprisoning all the principal presidential candidates. The State Department vowed to use all of the diplomatic and economic tools at its disposal to support the people of Nicaragua and hold accountable the Ortega-Murillo government. 

Biden Condemns ‘Pantomime Election’ in Nicaragua

Myanmar 

November 8 marked the one-year anniversary since Myanmar, also known as Burma, held elections. The U.S. said last year’s elections were deemed credible, condemning Burmese military’s coup on February 1 and ongoing violent crackdown. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for Myanmar’s ruling military junta to restore the country’s path “to a genuine and inclusive democracy,” to immediately cease its violence, and release all those unjustly detained. 

Top US Diplomat Calls for Return to ‘Genuine and Inclusive Democracy’ in Myanmar

China 

— The United States urged China not to restrict journalists’ access and movements as they report on the 2022 Winter Olympics. In a statement this week, Beijing-based journalists expressed deep concerns about “the lack of transparency and clarity” of Olympics-related reporting in China. American officials, while not revealing whether the U.S. would participate in the Games, said Washington would continue to raise concerns over China’s human rights issues. 

US Urges China to Allow Journalists Freedom at Beijing Olympics 

— Meanwhile, a citizen journalist detained in China for her coverage of the coronavirus in Wuhan could die in prison, her brother says. Zhang Zhan’s declining health was raised by the U.S. State Department when it reiterated its call this week for China to ensure her “immediate and unconditional release.” 

US Calls on China to Free Citizen Journalist Zhang Zhan 

COVID-19 ministerial 

The United States says it is stepping up efforts to boost COVID-19 vaccine production and continue donating vaccines to poor countries, hoping to reach a goal of ending the pandemic by next fall. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday during a virtual COVID-19 ministerial that the U.S. has helped broker a deal between Johnson & Johnson and COVAX to facilitate the first delivery of vaccines to people living in conflict zones. 

Blinken: US Brokers Deal to Send the First Delivery of Vaccines to Conflict Zones
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Like many nations hit by COVID-19, South Africa has seen rising unemployment and hunger since the onset of the pandemic. One school – the Green Business College – is tackling those issues in innovative ways, giving people the skills to not only grow their own produce but make money to help their families and build their careers.

At a community center east of Johannesburg, more than two dozen students are learning skills that would have been common among their grandparents’ generation.

The Green Business College is teaching them the basics of organic gardening and food preservation by making jams and sauces.

For some, it is expanding on hobbies they discovered while in pandemic lockdown.

It is also feeding their entrepreneurial aspirations.

Onkgopotse Seleka founded the company Uncle OG’s Jams.

“It’s a lost art completely. Most of my peers around my age. They would rather buy than make. I want to see myself in top retailers, I want to probably get to a point where that I can make a sustainable living from preserving Marula fruit,” said Seleka.

Making an empire of his late grandmother’s jam recipe would be a major career change for the 32-year-old, who currently works for a sporting apparel retailer.

Other students are hoping the skills will simply get them into the workforce.

More than 30 percent of South Africans are jobless.

College CEO Matshepiso Makhabane believes the school’s courses, which include bee keeping, can inspire people to create their own employment opportunities while addressing issues that come with poverty.

“They say, give a man a fish, you’ve fed him for the day, teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. It’s all about power, take back your power and use it well, invested in your soil. It’s going to benefit you so that people can come and buy from you – and buy health,” said Makhabane.

South Africa suffers from what experts call a “double burden of malnutrition,” experiencing extremes of both hunger and obesity.

Small farms like the one set up by the college are viewed as part of the solution to providing healthy food to communities.

Lise Korsten is a plant pathology professor at the University of Pretoria. 

“We believe in shifting people, their whole diet to consuming more fresh produce, to produce more food within the communities,” said Korsten.

“And then obviously, look at food gardens that to us will be a very important critical element of South Africa’s mindset. Produce your own food as well, and not only rely on the food system,” Korsten added.

More than 120 students have studied at the main college in downtown Johannesburg in the past year, while many more have participated in workshops around South Africa.

Graduates have used their creativity to expand beyond selling vegetables and jams.

Tsepiso Moloi’s line of hot sauces include a pineapple-infused variety and a ghost pepper sauce with an extreme kick.

“It starts as a hobby. And then, how do you then graduate that hobby into a business that you can live out of? I wouldn’t have been able to have had the knowledge around preservation that I got from the school. I wouldn’t have had the momentum to keep it going. Because that mentorship and coaching keeps you on the alert,” said Moloi.

And in less than four months since launching, she has had two butcher shops request her products for their shelves.
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Terrorist attacks on gold mining operations in Burkina Faso are becoming a regular occurrence. For VOA, reporter Henry Wilkins looks at the impact the attacks are having on the lives of survivors and what it could mean if extracting gold, the country’s primary source of income, becomes too dangerous
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Women from an occupied town in Ethiopia’s Amhara region are accusing Tigrayan fighters of raping them at gunpoint and robbing them.  

A new report by Amnesty International details the horrific attacks alleged to have taken place in Nifas Mewcha, located in northern Ethiopia’s Amhara region, in mid-August.  

Through interviews with 16 women, the London-based rights group detailed a pattern of gang rape, robbery, physical and verbal assault. The report also says fighters with the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, or the TPLF, looted and destroyed medical facilities in the town. Some of the survivors who spoke to the advocacy group recounted use of ethnic slurs and brutal attacks. In some instances, the women said they were raped in the presence of their children.

Amnesty called for TPLF commanders to investigate the charges and remove all perpetrators from the force. 

“The testimonies we heard from survivors describe despicable acts by TPLF fighters that amount to war crimes, and potentially crimes against humanity,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. “They defy morality or any iota of humanity.”

TPLF leadership, however, rejected the report. Spokesperson Getachew Reda tweeted Tuesday before the release of the report saying that it was “aimed at establishing impartiality by apportioning guilt” between fighters on both sides of the conflict.  

Survivors told Amnesty that the attacks began soon after the TPLF took control of the town on August 12. Local and federal officials say between 71 and 73 women were raped.  

VOA Amharic Service also interviewed victims of the attacks. A mother in her 50’s who lives in Nefas Mewcha said a fighter entered her home armed and threatening violence.

“He had bombs, a knife, a Kalashnikov and he said if I moved, he would cut my legs and then he raped me,” the survivor told VOA Amharic Service. “No one came to help. There was no one coming and it was dead silence.” 

A mother of three in her 30’s is another survivor who spoke to VOA Amharic Service on the condition of anonymity. She said the fighters who came to her home to attack her accused her of being married to authorities and she said she was raped while her children were watching. 

“There were three or four of them. And then when they came in, one of my children started crying and he said [a fighter] said ‘I will hit you. I will kill you.’” she said. “Three to four men raped me at gunpoint,” she added, saying that the fighters hurt her 8-year-old child. Her neighbor, a mother of two children, who came in to help after hearing screams was also raped by the men, the survivor said.  

VOA Horn of Africa’s Amharic Service reporter Aster Misganaw contributed to the report. 
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Representatives to the United Nations Security Council say time is running out on finding a political solution to the Tigray conflict before Ethiopia descends into all-out civil war. The warning comes as people in the Tigray region suffer food and fuel shortages due to a government blockade of humanitarian aid. VOA’s senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine reports.

Produced by: Bakhtiyar Zamanov
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The United Nations said Tuesday that 22 of its Ethiopian national staff were detained by the federal government in Addis Ababa, following raids reportedly targeting ethnic Tigrayans. Six of the U.N. staffers have been released. 

“We are of course actively working with the government of Ethiopia to secure their immediate release,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters of the 16 who remain in detention. “It is imperative that they are released.” 

He said no explanation was given for the detention of the staffers, who work for various U.N. agencies. He said “some of them have been detained over the last few days.” U.N. security officers have visited those who remain in custody.

On September 30, Ethiopia expelled seven U.N. humanitarian officials, saying they were meddling in the country’s affairs.  

The announcement of the detentions comes just a day after U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths concluded a four-day visit to the country to try to improve aid access to northern Ethiopia.  

He met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and made a one-day trip to Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region. 

Last Thursday marked the first anniversary of Prime Minister Abiy’s deployment of troops to Tigray in response to forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) seizing military bases.  

The ensuing conflict has killed thousands of people, displaced several million from their homes and left millions in need of aid and at least 400,000 residents of Tigray facing famine, according to the United Nations.

The conflict threatens to spill into the capital as the TPLF and allied groups have threatened to march there. 

A week ago, the Ethiopian government declared a six-month state of emergency and called on residents to defend their neighborhoods if rebels arrive in the capital.   

That declaration allows the government to arrest without warrants anyone it claims is collaborating with rebels, Reuters reported. There have been reports of Tigrayans being arrested in Addis Ababa. 

Asked if the detained staffers are Tigrayan, U.N. spokesman Dujarric said: “It’s a valid question, but for us, these are United Nations staff members. They are Ethiopians. They are U.N. staff members and we’d like to see them released, regardless of whatever ethnicity is listed on their identity cards.”

A joint investigation by the United Nations and the government-created Ethiopian Human Rights Commission found that all sides in the Tigray conflict have committed human rights violations, including torture of civilians, gang rapes and arrests based on ethnicity. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said some of those abuses may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

Last week, the U.S. urged all Americans to depart Ethiopia and cautioned against travel there. It renewed its call for Americans to leave on Tuesday, saying the security situation “remains very fluid.”

Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

 
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Climate change-related disasters, such as prolonged drought, floods and locust infestations, have displaced thousands of Somali farmers from their land, threatening food security in the Horn of the African nation.

Somalia contributes less than 0.003% of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere — but the impact of global warming is evident in the well-being of the country’s herders and farmers. 

Fatuma Ibrahim Aden, a mother of eight, is among thousands of farmers currently living in a displaced persons camp in Mogadishu, after her family’s livestock succumbed to the escalating drought in Qoryoley in the lower Shabelle region.

She says prolonged drought and lack of water that killed their livestock forced her extended family to the city four months ago. She added that they have not experienced such recurring famine in recent years.

Ibrahim Dagane Ali, a Somali agriculture and resilience specialist, says there is need for new strategies to mitigate the impact of such events on the lives of the farmers.

“Without getting assistance of climate investment and installation of climate smart technologies, it will be difficult. Plus, other issues of environmental conservation, regenerative agriculture, use of renewable energy, all these elements. But above all, we need to educate our people, and to do that it is the sole responsibility of the government to stand up and address this,” Ali said.

The Somali government has called upon richer nations emitting most of the greenhouse gases to act swiftly as the COP26 climate conference continues in Glasgow.

“Somalia and other poor countries are paying with their lives and livelihoods for a problem of not our making,” said Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Gulaid. “It is therefore our loud call to the countries emitting the most to start acting on the issue, especially so now that we know what the problem is, and we know actions needed.”

The world’s richest countries once pledged to deliver $100 billion per year to help developing nations cope with climate change — a pledge that has never been met. 
…

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, saw historic losses in last week’s municipal elections. Both citizens and political analysts say the results are the reflection of years of broken promises and poor service delivery. Linda Givetash reports from Johannesburg.
…

An estimated 35 schools across Kenya have been set on fire in the last month, forcing many to shut down.  Authorities say the fires are being set by students, and have warned that any student caught in an act of arson will be locked out of the education system.

The wave of arson began about a month ago and has gotten increasingly worse.  On Sunday alone, five schools were burned.  

In one incident, a girls’ boarding school in Nairobi caught fire in the middle of the night. Sixty-three students needed medical attention. 

The Kenyan government has issued a strong warning against students who are burning schools, and authorities are making arrests.

On Tuesday, six students were arrested, following the burning of a high school in Nyeri county, in western Kenya.  A total of 11 were arraigned in court on charges of attempted arson. 

Visiting a school in eastern Kenya, Education Minister George Magoha said the parents and students would rebuild the affected schools. He said those found to have participated in the arson will be banned from attending public schools.

“Anybody who is planning to burn the building, just remember that if you are caught, you are not going to go to any other school, definitely not a public school in this country. You will go back and ensure your parents contribute to the rebuilding of the school that you have burnt,” Magoha said.

Officials are blaming drug abuse, stress, curriculum overload and poor student-teacher relations for the unrest.

Sam Ndunda, secretary-general of the Kenya National Association of Parents, said teachers are not properly dealing with discipline cases. 

“There are a number of students who have already been sent out of school in the form of suspension. These students have been kept out of school for quite a long time. These students who are out there feel so bitter that our colleagues in the school are learning and whereas we are given a definite suspension so that they can feel the pinch we are feeling, then they come up and organize for the fires,” Ndunda said. 

Tomkins Baraza, a boarding school teacher, said the school calendar is short and a lot of learning is expected from the students which have made some unhappy with their studies.

“These learners may fear exams and remember the second term is when most of the schools the students sit for mock exams. Also, the pressure which is mounted on those learners. They are supposed to cover a wide syllabus within the shortest time possible, so maybe learners feel that there is a lot of academic work which is being pushed on their side,” Baraza said. 

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Kenya in March 2020, schools were closed for several months, until late last year. 

The education systems in the country have been putting more pressure on teachers and students to recover the time lost.

Some experts are pushing for open forums in schools, where teachers and students can discuss their issues, before students feel the need to take drastic and destructive measures. 
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The World Food Program says it is seeking $65 million to ease food insecurity in Zimbabwe. The U.N. agency says its assessment shows that more than 5 million people in the southern African nation are looking at food shortages in coming months. 

Belinda Popovska, the WFP Zimbabwe spokeswoman, told VOA on Monday that the U.N. agency had started looking for funds to import food for those in need. 

“The latest 2021 rural Zimbabwe vulnerability assessment committee rural report indicates that 2.9 million people in rural areas – that’s 27% of rural households – continue to be food insecure during the peak lean season between January and March 2022. In urban areas up to 2.4 million people are expected to be food insecure according to the latest 2021 urban livelihoods assessment,” Popovska said.

The government says Zimbabwe experienced a bumper harvest this year, but the lack of food in rural areas indicates the harvest was in fact disappointing.  

Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa says Zimbabwe’s perennial food shortages will end with more production in the farms in the coming 2021/2022 season, which is expected to start anytime now.  

She says the government will make sure farmers have the supplies and money they need to meet national requirements for both human consumption and industrial use.   

“The strategy will result in more area being put to crop production as evidenced by the proposed increases of the following crops: maize, sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, soybeans and tobacco. The financing of the summer cropping and livestock will be through the private and public sector as well as development partners,” Mutsvangwa said.

Zimbabwe, once the breadbasket of the region, has for years been facing food shortages, forcing it to rely on humanitarian organizations such as World Vision, USAID and the WFP to feed the people.  

The government blames the problems on recurring droughts, but its critics point to a chaotic land reform program which started in 2000 and displaced experienced white farmers from their land.   
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The United States and Egypt have had “a shared interest” in getting Sudan’s democratic transition back on track since the Sudanese military seized power in late October, said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

On Monday, Blinken and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry opened the U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue. 

“The military takeover that began on October 25 has been dangerously destabilizing,” Blinken said. “Restoration of the civilian-led transitional government is the only path to facilitating the aspirations of the Sudanese people, who have demonstrated remarkable bravery in repeatedly coming out in demand for democracy,” he added. 

Egypt, one of Sudan’s neighbors, is notably absent from a recent joint statement issued by the U.S., United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, calling for a “full and immediate restoration” of Sudan’s “civilian-led transitional government and institutions.”

The statement also encourages releasing all those detained since the coup and lifting the state of emergency in Sudan.

A report by The Wall Street Journal said that Sudanese military chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan sought support from President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt in a meeting a day before the military takeover and that el-Sissi reassured his fellow general.

Shoukry did not address last month’s Sudanese military takeover, nor did he answer questions from reporters during the opening remarks.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the U.S. will discuss the “ongoing efforts to restore the civilian-led transitional government and to prevent violence in Sudan” with Egyptian officials.

“I’m going to allow the Egyptians to characterize the nuance of their position, but certainly this will be a topic of discussion with our Egyptian counterparts,” Price said during Monday’s press briefing.

The Sudanese military has been facing international condemnation since it overthrew the transitional government in which it shared power with civilian leaders. The U.S. immediately froze $700 million in economic support after the military takeover.

The U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue on Monday is the first bilateral dialogue held between the two nations since 2015.

The State Department said top diplomats from the two countries exchanged views on international and regional issues, human rights and pathways to increased cooperation on economic, security and cultural issues. Blinken also expressed appreciation for Egypt’s role in supporting regional stability, including the de-escalation of tensions in Gaza. 

After Blinken’s visit to Cairo in late May, the U.S. said it planned to engage in a “constructive” human rights dialogue with Egypt as rights groups and activists drew attention to the country’s human rights record. 

On Monday, Shoukry said that Egypt would “continue to forge our path towards a modern democratic state” but that “equal attention” needed to be dedicated to “political rights and civil liberties and economic and social rights” as “orderly change” offered Egypt “the best chance to succeed.”

Egyptian authorities had argued that the definition of human rights was more about improving the quality of life for a majority of people rather than political space or political tolerance. 

 
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Malawi’s parliament Monday welcomed the country’s first ever elected albino lawmaker when it reconvened after months of recess. The presence of Overstone Kondowe in Malawi’s national assembly, is seen as a victory for albinos who have faced attacks in this southern African country since 2014.

Until last Thursday, when he took the oath of office in the capital, Lilongwe, Kondowe was President Lazarus Chakwera’s special adviser on persons with albinism and disabilities.

The move, following a by-election two weeks ago, comes amid continued attacks on people with albinism in Malawi.

Police records show that in the last four months, there were seven attacks on albinos, including killings, attempted abductions and physical violence. Separately, grave robbers have exhumed corpses to retrieve albinos’ bodies.

Kondowe is also the former president of the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi or APAM. He says that as a lawmaker in the national assembly, he will pursue his fight against incidents targeting albinos. 

“Let me assure them that I will do to the maximum of my potential to make sure that we should also have programs, like what South Africa put in place,” said Kondowe. “I am ready to do that. And I have also demonstrated my ability to do so when I was acting outside the system. Now, that I am in the center of the system, I am sure change is coming, not tomorrow, but today.”  

The statistics show that since 2014, more than 170 albinos have been attacked in Malawi because of false beliefs that concoctions mixed with their body parts bring luck and wealth.

To help stop the attacks, Malawian courts have imposed stiffer punishments on perpetrators.

For example, two weeks ago, the High Court in northern Malawi sentenced two men to life in prison with hard labor for killing a 54-year-old albino.

Young Muhamba is the current president of the APAM.

He says the election of Kondowe to parliament sends a clear message that albinos are equal to other Malawians.

“We will be developing some bill to do with people with albinism,” said Muhamba. “So, he will be the first voice there in parliament. He will be the first person to table the bill and to support it and also make others support it. So, he will be like our voice.”

Muhamba says the association is currently pushing the government to start implementing its program of constructing houses for people with albinism as a security measure. 

Simon Munde is acting executive director of the Federation of Disability Organization in Malawi.

Munde says he believes that Kondowe, a member of the ruling Malawi Congress Party, will also represent people with disabilities.  

“We have faith in him,” said Munde. “The fact that he is quite an advocate, he has even done it when he was presidential adviser on disabilities, and we are not doubting in any way that that kind of spirit will continue with it as now he will be able to speak within the legislative assembly.”  

Munde said the election of Kondowe to parliament should send a message to other public or private institutions that disability does not equate to inability. 
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With the arrival of a new season and low COVID-19 infection rates, the South African government has reopened music events across the country to the delight of audiences and artists. For VOA, Zaheer Cassim joins music fans in Johannesburg as live performances becomes the norm again
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The West African regional grouping ECOWAS on Sunday hardened its stance against military-ruled Mali and Guinea, imposing new individual sanctions and calling on both countries to honor timetables for a return to democracy.

The Economic Community of West African States “has decided to sanction all those implicated in the delay” in organizing elections set for February 27 in Mali, ECOWAS Commission President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou told AFP after a summit of the 15-nation group in the Ghanaian capital Accra. 

He said Mali had “officially written” to Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, who holds the rotating presidency of ECOWAS, to inform him that the Sahel country could not hold elections as planned. 

“All the transition authorities are concerned by the sanctions which will take immediate effect,” Brou said, adding that they included travel bans and assets freezes. 

In a final declaration following Sunday’s summit, ECOWAS said it “highly deplores the lack of progress” towards staging elections in Mali. 

As for Guinea, where soldiers seized power on September 5, ECOWAS decided to uphold the country’s suspension from the bloc as well as sanctions against individual junta members and their families. 

It also reiterated its demand for the “unconditional release” of president Alpha Conde, 83, who has been under house arrest since his ouster. 

In the final declaration, it praised the adoption of a “transition charter,” the appointment of a civilian prime minister and the formation of a transitional government. 

But it called on the authorities to “urgently submit a detailed timetable… towards the holding of elections” in the country of 13 million people. 

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who overthrew Conde after months of discontent against his government, had promised to restore civilian rule after a transition period of unspecified length. 

At a September summit, ECOWAS demanded that Guinea hold elections within six months.  

The regional leaders also demanded that the Mali junta adhere “strictly” to that country’s transition timetable. 

ECOWAS rescinded economic sanctions against Mali and its suspension from the organization when the junta headed by Colonel Assimi Goita pledged a transition of no more than 18 months. 

But Goita went on to mount a new coup in May, deposing transitional president Bah Ndaw and his prime minister, Moctar Ouane. 

ECOWAS suspended Mali once again, but did not apply new sanctions. 

Swathes of Mali, a vast nation of 19 million people, lie outside of government control because of a jihadist insurgency that emerged in the north in 2012, before spreading to the center of the country as well as neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. 

Brou noted that the deployment of contractors from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner in Mali was “one of the concerns of the heads of state.”
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The death toll in a high-rise collapse in Lagos, Nigeria, has risen to 42 while the number of survivors increased to 15, state authorities have announced. 

The cause of Monday’s disaster is still unknown, but building collapses are common in Africa’s most populous country, where millions live in dilapidated properties and construction standards are routinely ignored. 

“We have a total of 42 bodies that have been recovered,” Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said late Saturday. 

The 21-story building under construction in the upscale Ikoyi district crumbled on Monday afternoon, trapping dozens of people working on the site.

As of Friday, the authorities had said nine people had survived, some were rescued alive, others on the ground floor managed to escape unharmed.

Over the weekend, the number of survivors increased to 15 after six more people who escaped the collapse were identified.

The total number of people on site is unknown, but Sanwo-Olu said 49 families had so far filed a missing persons report and that “DNA examination was being undertaken on some of the bodies difficult to be identified.” 

The governor said money was set aside to help families cover burial fees and that financial support was also offered to survivors.

Search and rescue efforts were ongoing Saturday, the authorities said.

The governor set up an independent panel to investigate the causes of the collapse and declared three days of mourning starting on Friday. 

Building collapses happen frequently in densely populated areas of Lagos, which is home to some 20 million people. 

Two other smaller buildings in Lagos also collapsed on Tuesday following heavy rains, though no one was killed.

Poor workmanship and materials and a lack of official oversight are often blamed. 
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Tens of thousands of Ethiopians rallied in Addis Ababa on Sunday in support of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government as federal troops fight rebellious forces who are threatening to march on the city.

Some demonstrators denounced the United States, which is among the foreign powers that have called for a cease-fire as a yearlong war that has killed thousands of people intensified amid rebel advances last weekend.

The United States, the U.N. Security Council, the African Union, and Kenya and Uganda have called in recent days for a cease-fire.

Abiy’s government has pledged to keep fighting. On Friday, the government said it had a responsibility to secure the country, and urged its international partners to stand with Ethiopia’s democracy.

Some of those gathered in Meskel Square in central Addis Ababa draped themselves in the national flag. Many singled out the United States for criticism.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday accused Ethiopia of “gross violations” of human rights and said it planned to remove the country from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade agreement.

“Shame on you USA,” read one demonstrator’s placard, while another said the United States should stop “sucking Ethiopia’s blood.”

Other demonstrators expressed anger at the U.S. call for the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to begin talks.

The conflict in the north of the country started a year ago when forces loyal to the TPLF seized military bases in the Tigray region. In response, Abiy sent troops, who initially drove the TPLF out of the regional capital, Mekelle, but have faced a sharp reversal since June this year.

“Why does the U.S. government not negotiate with terrorists like al-Shabab?” said 37-year-old Tigist Lemma, referring to an al-Qaida linked militant group in Somalia. “They want to destroy our country like they did to Afghanistan. They will never succeed, we are Ethiopians.”

Speaking at the rally, Addis Ababa Mayor Adanech Abebe invoked Ethiopia’s history of resisting colonial power to justify the war.

The conflict has killed thousands of people, forced more than 2 million from their homes and left 400,000 people in Tigray facing famine.

On Sunday, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths and the AU’s special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo, landed in Mekelle, one humanitarian source in Ethiopia and one person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

A spokesperson for the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ethiopia did not respond to a request for comment, and U.N. officials in New York were not immediately reachable. AU spokesperson Ebba Kalondo did not respond to a request for comment.

“I can confirm only that they are both here and we are having discussions,” TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda told Reuters.

Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not respond to a request for comment on the officials’ visit.

‘No youth’ to front lines

During the Addis Ababa rally, there was one call for restraint, from popular musician Tariku Gankisi, whose songs call for unity of all Ethiopians.

“Let no youth go to the front lines to fight, let the elders go holding the fresh grass and ask for reconciliation,” Tariku told the crowd, before his microphone was switched off, it was unclear by whom. Fresh grass is a symbol of peace in the country.

A state of emergency declared by the government on Tuesday allows it to order citizens of military age to undergo training and accept military duties.

Reuters has not been able to confirm independently the extent of the TPLF advance. The TPLF and their allies told Reuters last week they were 325 km (200 miles) from the capital. The government accuses the group of exaggerating its gains.

The government has also complained about foreign media coverage of the conflict and some people at the rally held signs denouncing “fake news” in Ethiopia.

Billene Seyoum, Abiy’s spokesperson, said in a Twitter post late on Saturday: “Orchestrated media propaganda against Ethiopia is escalating … Despite it all Ethiopia will overcome!”
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The withered carcasses of livestock are reminders that drought has descended yet again in northern Kenya, the latest in a series of climate shocks rippling through the Horn of Africa.

As world leaders address a global climate summit in Glasgow, pastoralists watch their beloved animals suffer from lack of water and food. Yusuf Abdullahi says he has lost 40 goats.

“If they die, we all die,” he says.

Kenya’s government has declared a national disaster in 10 of its 47 counties. The United Nations says more than 2 million people are severely food insecure. And with people trekking farther in search of food and water, observers warn that tensions among communities could sharpen.

Wildlife have begun to die, too, says the chair of the Subuli Wildlife Conservancy, Mohamed Sharmarke.

“The heat on the ground tells you the sign of starvation we’re facing,” he says.

Experts warn that such climate shocks will become more common across Africa, which contributes the least to global warming, but will suffer from it most.

“We do not have a spare planet in which we will seek refuge once we have succeeded in destroying this one,” the executive director of East Africa’s Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Workneh Gebeyehu, said last month while opening a regional early warning climate center in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta agreed.

“Africa, while currently responsible for a negligible amount of total global greenhouse gas emissions, is under significant threat from climate change,” he said at the center’s opening. The continent is responsible for just 4% of global emissions.

Kenyatta was among the African leaders speaking at the global climate summit as they urged more attention and billions of dollars in financial support for the African continent. 

 
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