Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo — Uganda again rejected United Nations allegations that it is backing M23 rebels in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo after Kinshasa summoned the Ugandan charge d’affaires over the issue. 

Since late 2021, M23 has seized large tracts of territory in North Kivu province, with a recent report commissioned by the U.N. Security Council alleging “active support” for the rebels by Ugandan army and military intelligence officials. 

On Friday, Uganda’s charge d’affaires, Matata Twaha Magara, denied his country was helping the group after he was summoned for talks with Congolese deputy foreign minister Gracia Yamba Kazadi. 

“Our position has been clear that in the East African community we need to work together to flush all the negative forces that are disturbing us,” Magara said. 

He referred to the joint operation in eastern DRC by Congolese and Ugandan troops against ADF rebels affiliated with the Islamic State. 

The ADF, originally made up of mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels, has established a presence over the past three decades in eastern DRC, killing thousands of civilians. 

Magara claimed that Kazadi “called me to inquire about issues regarding our bilateral relations. She wanted to know what is happening. 

“Of course I assured her our bilateral relations are cordial,” he said, noting that Kampala was still “waiting for the official communication from the U.N. office” to respond to the U.N. allegations. 

“The U.N. should give, first, the concerned countries the report so that they can respond to those accusations,” he said. 

In the report published on July 8, U.N. experts said they had confirmation of “active support” for M23 from members of Ugandan intelligence. 

The report said 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers had been fighting alongside M23 rebels in the mineral-rich east, displacing millions of people, and that Kigali had “de facto control” of the group’s operations, a claim Rwanda denies. 

The experts also said they had evidence confirming “active support for M23 by certain UPDF [Uganda People’s Defense Forces] and Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence officials.” 

Two days later Uganda’s deputy defense spokesperson Deo Akiiki told AFP the allegations against Kampala were “laughable, baseless and illogical.” 
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washington — U.S. diplomats are working closely with African partners, the White House said Thursday, amid a fresh 15-day truce between the army and Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Experts on the ground say they’re holding their breath, citing the dire humanitarian consequences of spiraling violence in this fragile region.

The Biden administration believes this conflict in the northeast corner of the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa “poses a real threat to global peace and security,” a National Security Council spokesperson told VOA on Thursday.

In Congo, more than 940,000 people have been displaced this year, the United Nations says. And 7.3 million Congolese people – more than half women – are currently displaced. Conflict is the culprit more than 80% of the time.

This new truce, set through August 3, aims to quiet the constant thrum of violence that has plagued this resource-rich corner of Congo since the late 1990s. That’s when Hutu extremists with ties to Rwanda’s genocide fled over the Congolese border and began to organize militias along the shores of the massive Lake Kivu. That violence snowballed into a bloodbath that left millions dead across Congo in one of the worst civil wars of the 20th century.

Several rounds of United Nations peacekeeping missions have failed to stop the cycle of violence, which picked up anew after Congo’s violent elections in late 2023. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of backing one of the main combatant groups, M23, which is composed primarily of fighters from Rwanda’s minority Tutsi ethnic group.

State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel emphasized Washington’s diplomatic efforts.

“This is something that we are working closely on with the parties,” he said. “We’re going to work closely with the government of the DRC, Rwanda and Angola to support regional diplomatic efforts to reach a durable cessation of hostilities and set conditions for the voluntary return of displaced populations.”

He did not provide details when asked by reporters how the Biden administration plans to work with Rwanda’s government.

The last truce fell apart Monday, with an incident in the town of Bweremana that killed four children, according to media reports. White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson on Wednesday condemned those killings, while noting that “the parties to the conflict have largely respected the truce” – raising hopes that the children’s deaths may not provoke a slide into violence.

Analysts and humanitarian officials say the situation in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province – a shambolic but dynamic town in the shadow of the ever-smoldering Mount Nyiragongo – is unusually dire.

Onesphore Sematumba, a Goma-based analyst with the International Crisis Group, spoke in stark terms about a town accustomed to fielding knockout punches from both nature and humanity. In the past two decades, Goma has weathered an Ebola outbreak and multiple volcanic eruptions, all while facing a stream of violent militant groups, including an increasingly powerful Islamic State group offshoot.

Sematumba spoke Wednesday on a podcast on the subject, saying that the streets, roundabouts, storefronts and bars of Goma were thronged with desperate displaced people, among them women with babies on their shoulders and backs, begging.

“This crisis is massive,” he said in French. “This crisis is, I would say, gigantic, but as humanitarians rightly say, it is a forgotten crisis.”

Patel, of the State Department, also noted that Washington allocated more than $620 million in humanitarian aid to the nation in fiscal 2023.

Sematumba cited fears that if diplomacy fails to keep the peace, conflict could draw in neighboring Rwanda and Uganda, nearby Burundi and Tanzania and even – clear on the other side of DRC, the smaller Republic of Congo as well. And he voiced concerns that the two major diplomatic efforts conducted in Luanda, Angola, and Nairobi, Kenya, “are struggling to materialize.”

“We would be heading towards a catastrophe like we’ve never seen, even at the height of the 1996 war, which drained almost all African countries, all African armies, from the upper reaches of the continent and into Congo,” he said. “So everyone is holding their breath, and everyone is trying to hang on to all the diplomatic goings-on to avoid such a nightmarish scenario.”

Nike Ching contributed to this report from Washington; Isabella Dail provided translation assistance from Washington.
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nairobi, kenya — Kenya’s High Court on Thursday suspended a police ban on protests in the capital, stating citizens have a right to demonstrate peacefully. 

Before the high court’s decision, police had barred protests in Nairobi indefinitely, saying they lacked leadership that would ensure peaceful demonstrations. 

The suspension of the ban came before a planned protest, in which demonstrators were expected to march to the president’s office calling for his resignation over poor governance. 

Acting police inspector general, Douglas Kanja, in a statement said the lack of leadership had “made it difficult to enforce safety protocols.” 

Recent protests have left businesses counting losses after the lootings and burnings. 

Protests were yet to be seen Thursday, but major roads leading to the president’s office remained barricaded by the police. 

A month of protests

Kenya has seen a month of protests that started with calls for legislators to vote against a controversial finance bill that proposed higher taxes amid a cost-of-living crisis and ballooning public debt. 

At least 50 people have died since the protests began on June 18, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. 

President William Ruto said he wouldn’t sign the finance bill that was passed by parliament on June 25 — the day protesters stormed and burned part of the building, prompting legislators to flee. The president last week dismissed almost his entire Cabinet and the attorney general, as demanded by protesters who accused ministers of incompetence, corruption and display of opulence. 

The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi on Thursday urged police to protect the right of Kenyans to demonstrate and encouraged the government to “continue taking steps forward” toward national unity and reconciliation. 

Some businesses in Nairobi remained closed in anticipation of protests Thursday. Police remained heavily deployed around the central business district patrolling the streets.  

Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura on Thursday said the economy had incurred loses worth 6 billion Kenyan shillings ($45 million) because of ongoing monthlong protests. 

Police accused of brutality

Police have been accused of brutality against protesters. Japhet Koome, the former inspector general of police, resigned on July 12 after calls from demonstrators for him to take responsibility for the shooting of protesters. 

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority on Wednesday said it had forwarded four of 10 cases of police brutality to the director of public prosecutions with recommendations. 

The watchdog had recorded witness statements and directed that various police officers to appear before it to give their testimony. 

Kenyan police officers have in the past been accused of brutality and a contingent of 400 officers is currently in the Caribbean nation of Haiti leading a U.N.-backed police mission to combat gang violence. 
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Yaounde, Cameroon — Officials in the Central African Republic say at least 300 rebels have dropped their weapons in the past month in an operation jointly organized by United Nations peacekeeping forces and government troops. Yet, while a total of about 5,000 fighters have put down their arms in the past decade, peace seems to elude the troubled nation. 

Officials in the country say the rebels who have dropped their weapons since June 10 belong to the Coalition des Patriotes pour le Changement, or CPC.  

The government sees the CPC as a network of six rebel groups created in 2020 to disrupt the country’s presidential and legislative elections in December of that year. 

Government spokesperson Balalou Maxime, speaking on state television Wednesday, congratulated the approximately 250 CPC rebels for dropping their weapons when attacked by the Central African Republic military. He said he wants other rebels still hiding in the bush to know that they will be killed if they do not do the same. 

This week, forces of the U.N. stabilization movement in the Central African Republic, or MINUSCA, said an additional 44 fighters of another rebel group, the UPC, laid down their arms in the southeastern town of Mboki. MINUSCA said many weapons were seized but gave no further details.  

Central African Republic officials say the operation to neutralize armed groups or get fighters to surrender is aimed at making the country more peaceful before local elections slated for October. 

These would be the first local elections in the country since 1988.  

At least 5,000 rebels have surrendered their arms within the past 11 years, officials say, but fighting has yet to stop. The U.N. says some of the rebels who surrender end up rejoining armed gangs due to hardship and poverty. 

Halidou Halale, president of Cattle Ranchers Union in the Central African Republic, stressed that rebels who are cattle ranchers are willing to drop their weapons in exchange for a few cattle or goats as a source of livelihood. He said rebels either refuse to surrender or they return to armed groups after surrender because of hunger. 

Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have often reported that rebel and armed groups in the country commit war crimes, including deliberately killing civilians, raping women and girls, and destroying civilian property.  

In 2019, the government and 14 armed groups signed an African Union and U.N.-sponsored peace agreement. However, the deal failed to stop the fighting, as six of the 14 armed groups refused to honor their commitments following disagreements over power sharing and amnesty for arrested or fleeing rebels. 

The Central African Republic has been wracked with violence and instability since 2013, when a rebel group forced then-President Francois Bozize out of office.   
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MEXICO CITY — The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions Thursday on a man from Sierra Leone who is suspected of smuggling thousands of migrants from Asia and Africa into the United States. 

The ring allegedly run by Abdul Karim Conteh provided false documents and drove migrants to the border and offered advice on how to cross, the Treasury said. It also allegedly moved some migrants through Nicaragua, the Central American country that has been used as a springboard for migrant smuggling because of its lax visa requirements. 

The smuggling ring’s customers came from a dozen countries, including China, Iran, Russia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. 

Karim Conteh was arrested on July 11 in Tijuana, Mexico. The United States is pursuing Conteh’s extradition on federal migrant smuggling charges. 

Also sanctioned Thursday was his Mexican wife, Veronica Roblero, as well as two other people from Sierra Leone and Togo. 

The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control — the U.S. agency that combats illicit funds and money laundering — said the ring allegedly moved the money they charged the migrants for helping them cross the border illegally through the United States. 

The sanctions block the targets’ financial and other assets in the United States and prohibit U.S. citizens from having any transactions with them. 
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Mbabane, Eswatini — The sentencing Tuesday in Eswatini of two former members of parliament to lengthy prison terms on charges of terrorism marks a significant escalation in the tensions between the monarchy and those advocating for democratic reform in the southern African nation. Human rights groups condemned the convictions, saying the court decision raises questions about human rights and political repression. Pro-democracy activists say they are undeterred.  

The convictions of Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, who were sentenced to prison terms of 25 and 18 years respectively, sent shock waves throughout Eswatini and the international community. 

The two men were arrested in July 2021 during pro-democracy protests that were violently put down by security forces, leaving dozens of people dead. Demonstrators were pressing for reforms to a complex system of non-party elections that ensured Eswatini’s ruler, King Mswati the third, faced no meaningful dissent.  

Rights group Amnesty International urged Eswatini authorities to immediately quash what it called “the unjust and baseless convictions and sentences of the former members of parliament.”  

Alpheous Nxumalo, a spokesperson for the Eswatini government, told VOA’s English to Africa Service the convictions were “discharged through the provisions of the law, which guarantees the rights of each and everyone who has been sentenced to appeal to a higher court.” He added that Eswatini’s international partners and friends should respect the country’s sovereignty and rule of law. 

Thantaza Silolo, a spokesperson for the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO), told VOA that despite the harsh sentences handed down by the Eswatini High Court, the country’s pro-democracy movement remains resolute in its pursuit of democratic reform. 

“These MPs were strong inside the chambers of parliament and outside in calling to say we need a prime minister that is elected by the people, not a prime minister that is being appointed by the King and for that reason, they were sentenced, they were arrested and charged with heinous offenses as if they were criminals, they were murderers and terrorists,” Silolo said. “Yet, these are just advocates for change. These are just people who have been calling for freedom and we maintain as a movement that … we will continue to push for their release.” 

Political analyst Sibusiso Nhlabatsi sees the sentences as a major setback for democracy and human rights in Eswatini. She said the sentences are a classic example of “guilty until proven innocent,” with mere allegations being enough to secure a conviction. 

“You can see that the intention was to induce fear and I think most of Emaswati will now live in that shadow of fear — we don’t want to do what these people did and even members of parliament will say we don’t want to do what the other members of parliament did because we might follow suit,” Nhlabatsi said. “I think through this judgment the state has successfully entrenched itself. It has successfully been able to threaten anyone who may want to raise a voice against the establishment.” 

According to human rights activist Lucky Dlamini, the harsh sentencing of the MPs signals a wider attack on democracy and human rights in Eswatini. He said the country is a dictatorship, with the monarchy using state security forces to suppress dissent and violate fundamental human rights. 

“We remain under a cruel system of government which is an absolute monarchy where there’s immunity [for] the security forces against human rights activists and political activists and human right defenders, where they cannot be able to access justice in the courts, where they cannot be able to hold on to demonstration, where they cannot exercise freedom of the right to political participation, the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of access to the media, the right to freedom of assembly,” he said. 

A lawyer for the two former MPs said they plan to appeal their sentences. 
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LONDON — Discontented, economically squeezed voters have turned against sitting governments on both right and left during many of the dozens of elections held this year, as global power blocs shift and political certainties crumble.

From India to South Africa to Britain, voters dealt blows to long-governing parties. Elections to the European Parliament showed growing support for the continent’s far right, while France’s centrist president scrambled to fend off a similar surge at home.

If there’s a global trend, Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer said at a summit in Canada in June, it’s that “people are tired of the incumbents.”

More than 40 countries have held elections already this year. More uncertainty awaits — nations home to over half the world’s population are going to the polls in 2024. The world is already anxiously turning to November’s presidential election in the U.S., where an acrimonious campaign was dealt a shocking blow by an assassination attempt against Republican nominee and former president, Donald Trump.

Unpopular incumbents

Aftershocks from the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and spiking prices for food and fuel have left dissatisfied voters eager for change.

“Voters really, really don’t like inflation,” said Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester. “And they punish governments that deliver it, whether they are at fault or not.”

Inflation and unemployment are rising in India, the world’s largest democracy, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party unexpectedly lost its parliamentary majority after a decade of dominance. Modi was forced to rely on coalition partners to govern as the opposition doubled its strength in parliament.

In South Africa, sky-high rates of unemployment and inequality helped drive a dramatic loss of support for the African National Congress, which had governed ever since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994.

The party once led by Nelson Mandela lost its parliamentary majority for the first time and was forced to enter a coalition with opposition parties.

In Britain, the center-left Labour Party won election in a landslide, ousting the Conservatives after 14 years. As in so many countries, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a jaded electorate that wants lower prices and better public services — but is deeply skeptical of politicians’ ability to deliver change.

US-China tensions

Caught between world powers China and the United States, Taiwan held one of the year’s most significant elections.

Lai Ching-te, of the Democratic Progressive Party, won a presidential election that was seen as a referendum on the island’s relationship with China, which claims Taiwan as its own.

Beijing regards Lai as a separatist and ramped up military pressure with drills in the Taiwan Strait. Lai has promised to strengthen the defenses of the self-governing island, and the U.S. has pledged to help it defend itself, heightening tensions in one of the world’s flashpoints.

In Bangladesh, an important partner of the U.S. that has drawn closer to China, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won a fourth successive term in an election that opposition parties boycotted. The U.S. and U.K. said the vote was not credible, free or fair.

Political dynasties

In several countries, family ties helped secure or cement power.

Pakistan held messy parliamentary elections – under the eye of the country’s powerful military — that saw well-established political figures vie to become prime minister. The winner, atop a coalition government, was Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother of three-time premier Nawaz Sharif.

Opponents say the election was rigged in his favor, with opponent and former prime minister, Imran Khan, imprisoned and blocked from running. The situation remains unstable, with Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruling that Khan’s party was improperly denied some seats.

In Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest democracy, former Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto was officially declared president more than two months after an election in which he won over 58% of the vote.

His two losing rivals alleged fraud and nepotism — Subianto’s vice president-elect is outgoing leader Joko Widodo’s son, and Subianto was the son-in-law of Indonesia’s late dictator, Suharto. The country’s highest court rejected their arguments.

Some outcomes were predictable. Russian President Vladimir Putin was reelected to a fifth term in a preordained election that followed his relentless crackdown on dissent. Rwanda’s election extended the 30-year rule of President Paul Kagame, an authoritarian leader who ran almost unopposed.

Far right’s uneven march

The far right has gained ground in Europe as the continent experiences economic instability and an influx of migrants from troubled lands.

Elections for the parliament of the 27-nation European Union shifted the bloc’s center of gravity, with the far right rocking ruling parties in France and Germany, the EU’s traditional driving forces.

The EU election triggered a political earthquake in France. After his centrist, pro-business party took a pasting, President Emmanuel Macron called a risky snap parliamentary election in hope of stemming a far-right surge.

The anti-immigration National Rally party won the first round, but alliances and tactical voting by the center and left knocked it down to third place in the second round and left a divided legislature.

New faces, daunting challenges

A presidential election tested Senegal’s reputation as a stable democracy in West Africa, a region rocked by a recent spate of coups.

The surprise winner was little-known opposition figure Basirou Diomaye Faye, released from prison before polling day as part of a political amnesty.

Faye is Africa’s youngest elected leader, and his rise reflects widespread frustration among Senegal’s youth with the country’s direction. Senegal has made new oil and gas discoveries in recent years, but the population has yet to see any real benefit.

Mexico elected Claudia Sheinbaum as the first female president in the country’s 200-year history. A protege of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the 61-year-old former Mexico City mayor vowed to continue in the direction set by the popular leftist leader.

She faces a polarized electorate, daunting drug-related violence, an increasingly influential military and tensions over migration with the U.S.

Uncertainty is the new normal

On July 28, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will seek to extend a decade-plus presidency marked by a complex political, social and economic crisis that has driven millions into poverty or out of the country. Opposition parties have banded together, but the ruling party has tight control over the voting process, and many doubt votes will be counted fairly.

South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, is scheduled to hold its long-delayed first elections in December. That would represent a key milestone, but the vote is rife with danger and vulnerable to failure.

Looming above all is the choice U.S. voters will make Nov. 5 in a tense and divided country. The July 13 shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, in which the former president was wounded and a rallygoer was killed, came as Democrats agonize over the fitness of President Joe Biden, who has resisted calls to step aside.

The prospect of a second term for Trump, a protectionist wary of international entanglements, is evidence of the world’s shifting power blocs and crumbling political certainties.

“The world is in the transition,” said Neil Melvin, director of international security at defense think tank the Royal United Services Institute.

“There are very broad processes on the way which are reshaping international order,” he added. “It’s a kind of anti-globalization. It’s a growing return to the nation state and against multilateralism.”
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Abuja, Nigeria — Members of a U.S. presidential advisory council have approved a student exchange deal between an American college and a Nigerian university as part of the council’s effort to strengthen collaboration on education, health, entrepreneurship and development between Africa and Africans living abroad.

The council also visited a health facility supported by the United States Agency for International Development in the capital.

Nigerian authorities and visitors chatter with members of the U.S President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement as they tour a healthcare facility in Karu, a suburb of Abuja, on the last day of the council’s three-day visit to Abuja and Lagos.

The facility is one of many supported by the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, to improve the management of childhood illnesses, family planning, immunization and delivery.

The tour was part of the council’s effort to promote African diaspora-led investments in technology entrepreneurship, education and healthcare delivery.

“They’re doing a phenomenal job there, it really gave us a sense of what the healthcare system is in Nigeria,” said Deniece Laurent-Mantey, executive director of the advisory council. “This is our first trip as a council to the continent and we chose Nigeria for a reason — the diaspora in Nigeria is very active, very influential, and they’re really a source of strength when it comes to our U.S.-Africa policy. And so for us coming to Nigeria was very intentional.”

The council was created by President Joe Biden in September to improve collaboration between Africa and its diaspora in terms of economic and social development.

Akila Usofi, manager of the Primary Healthcare Centre of Karu, said officials in Nigeria were pleased that the council members were able to visit. 

“We’re happy that they have seen what the money they have given to us to work with has been used to do, because they have been able to assist us in capacity-building, trainings, equipment supply and the makeover of the facility,” Usofi said.

Earlier, the council signed a deal for a student exchange program between Spelman College in the southern U.S. city of Atlanta and Nigeria’s University of Lagos.

Laurent-Mantey said education exchanges are one of the council’s top priorities.

“In Lagos, we had the president of Spelman College — she’s also a member of our council — she signed an agreement with the University of Lagos to further education exchange programs in STEM and creative industries between those two universities,” Laurent-Mantey said. “And I think for us it’s very important, because Spelman College is a historically Black university, and so here we are promoting the importance of collaboration between African Americans and Africans.”

In March, the advisory council adopted its first set of recommendations for the U.S. president, including the student exchange initiative, advocating for more U.S. government support for Africa, climate-focused initiatives, and improving U.S. visa access for Africans.

The council met with Nigerian health and foreign affairs officials during the visit before leaving the country on Wednesday.
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Kigali — Paul Kagame’s win in Rwanda’s presidential election this week was widely expected, although critics say the vote was neither free nor fair.

Lewis Mudge is the central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. Mudge, who lived in Rwanda for several years, said elections there are a mere performance and always produce big wins for Kagame.

“Notwithstanding the economic progress that President Kagame has made, he’s effectively been in power since July of 1994. That progress has not been matched in terms of political and civil rights and that reflects open space for people to have an independent political platform that disagrees with the RPF,” he said.

Kagame won over 99% of the vote, according to preliminary results announced on Monday.

Earlier this year, like many analysts, Strathmore University lecturer Edgar Githua predicted the 66-year-old Kagame would win big but had no doubt the size of the victory would be greatly exaggerated.

“Rwanda is the paradox of Africa. Paradox of Africa because the Rwandese themselves are afraid to talk about their own elections. If you have a vote where 98% votes for one candidate, that is a red flag. Nobody is that popular in this world,” said Githua.

Kagame, who has held various roles since 1994, won by a similar margin in 2017. At a watch party organized by his ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front, he acknowledged that some people found his margin of victory this year suspicious.

“This is a strange thing, that’s why there are many who don’t understand it, criticize it, but instead it [votes] continues to increase. It’s the uniqueness of RPF and the uniqueness of Rwandans,” he said.

Indeed, Kagame’s supporters, including Samuel Kwazera, said they would vote for him forever if they could.

“During the genocide in 1994, I was four years old; now it’s 30 years until today you can see the progress and you can see democracy going on, I am proud. I wish myself as I love him that he can be forever, and ever,” he said.

Mudge said while there are Rwandans who will continue to vote for Kagame, this was not a free and fair election.

“For our point as an organization that defends civil and political rights of people in Rwanda to express themselves, our point is the context is very different if you want to express yourself differently, if you want to criticize government policy. There’s simply no space for them to operate,” he said.

Kagame faced two opponents — Democratic Green Party Candidate Frank Habineza and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana. Both received less than 1 percent of the vote.

Other candidates, including some of Kagame’s most vocal critics, were barred from running for president, including Diane Rwigara.

One of the reasons was that she didn’t garner the 600 signatures of support needed in her application.

Mudge said in Rwanda’s political climate, Rwigara had no chance to get the signatures or a place on the ballot.

“For people like Rwigara and [Victoire] Ingabire, it’s not about this technical aspect of signatures. This is about not allowing compelling, articulate women to run, to take attention, and basically challenging the narrative,” he said.

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, another critic of Kagame who was a presidential candidate in the 2010 elections, was arrested, tried, and jailed on charges of terrorism and threatening national security. She was released eight years later through a presidential pardon.

She said elections in Rwanda have long been predetermined.

“Persistent wins of presidential elections close to 100% is not a sign of popularity but of lack of competition. … I don’t understand why they refuse to allow the most credible challengers to participate against President Kagame in elections in Rwanda. Of course, this is not only in 2024 but it was the case in 2003, 2010 and 2017,” she said.

Recently Kagame called her a “genocidaire” and said her life will not end well.

“I was surprised to hear President Kagame talking about me being from a genocidaire family but those are accusations used by the government to intimidate everyone who challenges the Rwandan government,” she said.

Analysts acknowledge that Kagame does enjoy real popularity among Rwanda’s electorate, mainly for his ability to guide the East African country toward internal stability and economic progress since the 1994 genocide, when an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists.

At the same time, they say, Kagame continues to stifle dissent, as support for the president and his policies is not unanimous.
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Geneva — Hunger and looming famine are driving a growing number of people to flee war-torn Sudan in search of refuge in neighboring countries, according to World Health Organization officials.

Dr. Shible Sahbani, WHO representative to Sudan, recently told journalists that he met Sudanese refugees on a recent mission to Chad who’d left home only because of hunger.

“They say it is not insecurity, it is not a lack of access to basic services, but because they have nothing to eat,” he said at Tuesday’s press conference in Geneva.

An acute food insecurity analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, in late June indicates that 14 months into the conflict, “Sudan is facing the worst levels of acute food insecurity ever recorded by the IPC in the country,” noting that the number of acutely hungry people has risen from 17.7 million to 25.6 million over the last six months.

“There is a risk of famine in 14 areas in greater Darfur, Greater Kordofan, Al Jazirah states and some hotspots in Khartoum if the conflict escalates further, including through increased mobilization of local militias,” says the report.

Sahbani has previously described refugees fleeing the Darfur and Kordofan regions as “disturbing, heartbreaking even,” explaining that women and children spoke of “loss of life, loss of belongings, hunger, disease, a lack of basic services and violence, including sexual violence.” All of this, he said, has led to a massive influx of refugees in the neighboring countries.

Displacement milestone

The United Nations humanitarian affairs agency, OCHA, on Tuesday said the conflict in Sudan “has reached another grim milestone” in its displacement crisis.

Citing the International Organization for Migration, it said 12.7 million people have become displaced since war broke out in mid-April 2023, with more than 10 million remaining inside Sudan and more than 2 million displaced as refugees in five neighboring countries.

Sahbani said that Chad, which is hosting more than 700,000 refugees from Sudan, reportedly is receiving between 500 and 700 new arrivals every day.

“The Chad government and the people of Adre have been welcoming. They have opened their system and their homes,” he said. “But this is a system already overstretched, and these are people who have nothing more to share.”

The WHO is calling for stepped up cross-regional efforts to provide lifesaving humanitarian aid to millions of people trapped in Sudan’s escalating and ever more brutal conflict. Officials are specifically calling for a humanitarian corridor from Chad so essential relief can reach millions of starving people in Sudan.

The U.N.-linked health agency also says the Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Al Jazira states are “all but cut off from humanitarian and health assistance due to the relentless fighting.”

It says the situation is particularly alarming in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur where more than 800,000 people are besieged and cut off from access to food, health care and medical supplies.

“The wounded cannot get the urgent care they need; children and pregnant and breastfeeding women are weak due to acute hunger,” WHO representative Sahbani said. “Access is crucially and immediately needed so that we can avert the disastrous health situation.”

Weather could make matters worse

He warned that the situation is likely to worsen with the approaching rainy season, which can affect access to health care across the region.

Sahbani said that he expects flooding to hamper the ability of the WHO and its partners to deliver humanitarian assistance, and that the international community will be needed to urgently “bridge the huge funding gap.”

OCHA said that 30% of the U.N.’s $2.7 billion Humanitarian Response Plan has been funded, “more than halfway through the year.”

“We urgently appeal to donors to make good on their pledges and increase their support,” it said.

Sahbani warned that urgent action and a cease-fire are needed to contain an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.

“If we do not take action now, the rapidly deteriorating situation in Sudan could spiral out of hand, permitting the unchecked reign of diseases, malnutrition and trauma,” he said.

Commenting on the U.N.-mediated “proximity talks” with Sudan’s warring parties underway in Geneva, the WHO official said, “There were some promising signs.”

“Let us wait for the coming hours, days,” he said. “If we cannot get a cease-fire, we hope that at least we can get the protection of civilians and the opening of humanitarian corridors.”
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Cisarua, Indonesia — In a middle school level class, students are learning about planetary science from the gases of Jupiter to the exosphere on Mercury.

That might seem no different than lessons at many schools around the world, but this session is happening at a learning center for refugees in Indonesia.

Paying close attention is Afnaan Guleid, a 13-year-old whose family fled from Somalia to the Southeast Asian country. She said in her native country her family had to worry about violence, but now she can focus on her dreams.

“I want to be a scientist when I grow up because I love to do experiments and discover things,” Guleid said.

She is one of the 85 students at the Cisarua Refugee Learning Center. The entire curriculum is in English, whether the students are learning math, science, social studies or basic life skills. And beginning this year, qualified students could join an online program to work toward an American high school diploma.

Massoud Azimi, 15, is one of them. Azimi is a refugee from Afghanistan who has been in Indonesia for eight years but, along with his family, is scheduled to be resettled in the United States within the next few months.

 “The programs at this learning center are helping me prepare for school in America,” Azimi said. “It’s strengthening my academic skills.”

Cisarua is a town in the hills, a few hours’ drive from the country’s largest city, Jakarta, which has become a hub for many refugees in Indonesia.

A spokesperson for the United Nations refugee agency told VOA there are about 12,600 refugees and asylum seekers in the country and approximately 1,300 of them are in Cisarua.

Refugees said the town’s milder temperatures and lower cost of living compared with Jakarta make it an attractive place.

But most, if not all, of these refugees hope to eventually be resettled in a third country. The U.N. refugee agency said the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are accepting refugees from Indonesia, but the process typically takes at least seven years and placement is not guaranteed.

While Indonesia allows refugees to enroll in public schools, the Cisarua Refugee Learning Center offers its students a chance to focus on their English, which is a skill they will need if they are resettled.

“We are trying to prepare them for the next country that they are going,” said Reza Hussaini, the school’s principal, who is a refugee himself from Afghanistan.

The learning center has refugees who fled violence or persecution in countries in Asia and Africa, including Yemen, Iraq, Sudan, and Myanmar. “We have students from different cultures, students from different religions, students from different countries,” Hussaini said. “There is a diversity of culture here.”

Zahra Sakhawat is a 12-year-old from Afghanistan who dreams of becoming a doctor. She said the students at this learning center feel a connection because it fosters a sense of community.

“Everyone is very kind and dear with each other,” she said.

The facilities are basic, no high-tech science labs. The learning center is funded entirely by private donations. There are also English classes for adults, which often attracts parents of the students.

All the teachers are volunteers, and many are refugees themselves, including a 39-year-old man whose identity VOA agreed to conceal out of concerns for his family’s safety in his native Myanmar. He fled the country’s civil war just four months ago because Myanmar’s junta, which staged a coup in 2021 was about to conscript him into the army.

“They were going to force me to fight for their military. So, I will not do it because I will never help the military,” he said. He has a university degree in computer science and hopes he will have a chance to study artificial intelligence in a new country.

In the meantime, he said he is enjoying the opportunity to share his computer and math knowledge as a volunteer at the Cisarua Refugee Learning Center. The school started 10 years ago and has become a model for similar refugee programs that have opened elsewhere in Indonesia.

“All of the refugees deserve a chance to prepare for their futures,” Hussaini said.
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Abuja, Nigeria — Nigeria plans to resume local refining of crude oil in early August, national petroleum authorities announced Monday.

The resumption would end years of idleness at Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, and analysts say that if successfully implemented, it would lower fuel prices.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company made the announcement while addressing an emergency session at the National Assembly. Lawmakers called the session to interrogate central bank authorities, the national economic management team and the NNPC about the country’s economic standing.

The chief executive officer of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, said one of the two Port Harcourt refineries in the oil-rich Niger Delta region will begin operations in about two weeks.

He said the other one will come into operation by the end of the year and allow Nigeria to begin exporting refined oil.

“We’re very optimistic that by December this country will be a net exporter,” he said, “that is [in] combination of production coming from us and the Dangote refinery and other smaller producing companies.”

The Dangote refinery is a privately owned facility being built near Lagos.

Nigeria’s minister of state of petroleum resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, voiced optimism about the impact of the revived refineries.

“The easiest way for Nigeria to come out of its economic problems is through the oil and gas sector,” Lokpobiri said. “As a sector, we have a clear plan to gradually ramp up production. Right now, we have a clear plan to see how we can get 2 million barrels and more.”

This is not the first time officials have announced the resumption of domestic oil refining.

They made similar announcements in December and March. On Monday, authorities said unforeseen technical difficulties hampered previous resumption dates.

All four government-owned refineries, which can process about 450,000 barrels of crude per day, have been moribund for years, forcing the country to rely on imports to meet its petroleum needs, estimated at 66 million liters (17.4 million gallons) per day.

Oil industry analyst Faith Nwadishi voiced doubts the refineries will operate again.

“I’m just keeping my fingers crossed and trying to be very optimistic about this because it will go a long way in reducing the hardship and perhaps also reduce the pump price … especially,” Nwadishi said. “But being somebody who’s in the sector, I become a little bit skeptical. We have an allocation of about 445,000 [barrels per day] for domestic consumption, which, if properly refined, we’ll have about 70 million liters. That covers our daily consumption.”

The Nigerian oil industry has been hampered in recent years by theft and corruption. On Monday, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative said about 140,000 barrels of crude oil were lost to theft every day between 2009 and 2018.
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State Department   — The United States is encouraged by “incremental progress” on peace and reconciliation efforts in Ethiopia, 20 months after a cease-fire was implemented in the northern Tigray region, according to a senior U.S. official. 

In November 2022, Ethiopia’s government and leaders from the Tigray region reached a cease-fire, known as the Pretoria Agreement or Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, after a two-year civil war that devastated much of northern Ethiopia. 

Mike Hammer, U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, told VOA during an interview on Monday that Ethiopia is moving “in the right direction.” He noted that internally displaced people have started to return to their homes, and human rights abuses in Tigray have “dramatically decreased.” 

But he acknowledged continued conflicts in the Amhara and Oromia regions, stating that the U.S. is prepared to support any efforts to bring peace to these areas through dialogue. 

Hammer traveled to Ethiopia last week to attend the African Union’s second meeting to review implementation of the Pretoria Agreement. 

The following excerpts from the interview have been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: Given ongoing reports of starvation and food insecurity in Tigray, along with continued conflict in the Amhara and Oromia regions, what actions should the U.S. take to address these crises? 

Mike Hammer, U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa: I did see some progress during my recent visit. We conducted the second review of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement while I was in Ethiopia from July 8th to the 9th. I was encouraged to see internally displaced people starting to return to their homes, and we’re starting to move towards a comprehensive program of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of combatants (DDR.) 

In November 2022, the guns were silent. Now, 20 months later, they remain silent. This is critically significant, because at that time, it was one of the bloodiest wars in the world. And so, we’ve worked together with the African Union to create an opportunity for peace. Of course, much more needs to be done. As I mentioned, we need to work on the return of internally displaced people, a comprehensive [Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration] program, transitional justice and accountability. 

VOA: Are all the parties involved in the Pretoria Agreement following through with the promises they made? 

Hammer: Both the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray Interim Regional Administration in the TPLF [Tigray People’s Liberation Front] remain very much committed to the agreement. That’s critically important, obviously, to proceed with its implementation. Now, it hasn’t been fully implemented, and that’s why the United States continues to be very fully engaged in pressing both parties to deliver on their commitments. 

One of the major commitments, of course, is that they should resolve their issues through political dialogue. So, we must avoid any return to violence. They must come to agreements on the way forward on how to resolve some of the contested areas. We are also prepared to continue to support any efforts to try to bring peace to other regions like Oromia and Amhara through dialogue. 

VOA: Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, “War crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing” took place in the Tigray war. Why has the U.S. failed to bring this case to the International Criminal Court? 

Hammer: It’s very important that we called out the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and atrocities that were committed. We stand behind supporting the process that Ethiopia has launched to try to make sure that those responsible are held accountable. Ethiopia is developing a transitional justice process to ensure accountability for war crimes through the Ethiopian court system, and we are prepared to support that. 

VOA: You also went to Djibouti, where you consulted on regional issues with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. What was the consensus on ending the Sudan crisis?   

Hammer: There’s a lot of concern over the situation in Sudan. I was also in Addis Ababa at the African Union and participated in the launch of preparatory meetings supporting Sudanese civilians. The entire region is very alarmed by what’s happening. The United States is alarmed. The world needs to hear about the despair that the Sudanese people are experiencing in this continuous and horrific war. With a lack of humanitarian assistance, killings and atrocities are being committed. 

VOA: Do you see a resumption of Sudan peace talks soon?   

Hammer: U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello is working very hard to move forward on any opportunity to launch new cease-fire talks in Jeddah, or wherever it might be possible.
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PORT-AU-PRINCE — A second contingent of 200 police officers from Kenya arrived Tuesday in Haiti to bolster a U.N.-backed mission led by the East African country to battle violent gangs in the troubled Caribbean country.

The officers arrived nearly a month after the first contingent of 200 landed in the capital of Port-au-Prince, where gangs control at least 80% of the territory.

Authorities have declined to provide details on the Kenyans’ assignments, citing security concerns, although AP journalists have seen them on patrol in areas near the main international airport, which reopened in late May after gang violence forced it to close for nearly three months.

More Kenyans are expected to arrive in coming weeks and months and will be joined by police and soldiers from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica for a total of 2,500 personnel. They will be deployed in phases at a cost of some $600 million a year, according to the U.N. Security Council.

While some Haitians have welcomed the arrival of the Kenyans, others remain wary. Kenyan police have faced years of allegations of abuses in their country, including extrajudicial killings.
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Johannesburg     — Rotondwa Mbadaliga is a self-professed “shopping addict.” The 25-year-old South African fashion influencer says she is a huge fan of Chinese-linked e-commerce companies Shein and Temu because she can get the latest trends at the cheapest prices delivered straight to her door.

Mbadaliga has more than 200,000 followers on TikTok where she mostly talks about fashion, sometimes posting videos of herself excitedly opening her newly arrived purchases from China.

“The variety is the main thing I really like and enjoy with shopping on Temu or Shein,” she says, adding that South African brands and shops aren’t as trendy.

“I don’t think you can beat the prices,” she adds.

But the prices of clothing on these e-commerce sites are expected to soon get more expensive.

South Africa’s tax authority plans to start imposing a 45% tariff and a value-added tax, or VAT, an indirect tax on the consumption of goods and services on orders of imported clothing that cost under 500 rand, or $27. Some consumers are pushing back with an online petition protesting the higher import duties.

Chinese e-commerce in South Africa

Shein, which has been available in South Africa since 2020, and Temu, which entered the market in January, have had huge success in the country, which has a growing middle class, tech-savvy youth and widespread internet access.

For women’s clothing purchases online, Shein is the top retailer with a 35% market share, according to data from Marketing Research Foundation, a nonprofit South Africa-based marketing survey group.

For its part, Temu is the most-downloaded app among iOS and Android users in South Africa.

Mbadaliga acknowledges that quality can sometimes be an issue.

“With shopping from China, you need to be OK with making a loss in some way,” she says, adding that she has a box of clothes bought on the platforms that didn’t fit or work out.

Her aunts in their 30s, who earn more, prefer to buy from foreign brands with brick-and-mortar stores in South Africa such as Zara because they believe the quality of clothing is better, Mbadaliga notes.

But she says longevity and quality don’t matter so much to her because she will only wear a garment while it is in style.

Industry pushback

South African retailers and local e-commerce platforms have been left reeling by the success of Chinese e-commerce and fearing their inability to compete.

Some South African companies and industry groups have lobbied the government to close an import tax loophole, a so-called de minimis rule, for small parcels of clothing. The loophole was introduced decades ago for items such as gifts before the advent of online shopping.

Under that system, small parcels pay a low 20% import duty. However, local clothing retailers, who order in bulk, pay a 45% tariff plus a VAT rate.

“We don’t mind competition … but what we find unpalatable, quite frankly, is an opportunity which is being taken advantage of where we believe we actually have an unfair and non-level playing field,” Michael Lawrence, executive director the National Clothing Retail Federation of South Africa, told VOA.

“We’re seeing 100,000 parcels a day, I’m told by some players, coming in. So, we’re not talking about an occasional occurrence. We’re talking about a significant commercial activity,” he says.

When South Africa’s tax authorities implement the higher tax rate for imported clothing under 500 rand, those shippers will be paying the same rate of 45% plus a VAT as the bulk shipments incur.

Contacted for comment, a Temu spokesperson told VOA: “Temu operates a direct-from-factory online marketplace that connects consumers with cost-efficient manufacturers. By reducing the number of intermediaries between consumers and producers, we can eliminate extra costs and pass those savings on to consumers through lower prices.”

“We compete fairly and transparently, adhering to the rules and regulations of each market we serve. Our growth does not rely on the de minimis policy. We support policy changes that benefit consumers and believe that as long as rules are applied fairly, they will not affect the competitive landscape,” the spokesperson added.

Shein did not respond to a request for comment.

Local alternatives

South Africa is not without its own e-commerce sites.

E-commerce company Takealot has accused the Chinese online shopping giants of exploiting tax loopholes.

“These platforms contribute to a market imbalance by flooding the market with inexpensive imports,” the company said last month in a statement. “Such trends pose significant challenges to the development and sustainability of domestic industries.”

“This form of commerce extracts value from South African consumers without contributing to local communities, ultimately harming small businesses, local manufacturers and the limited job opportunities available,” it continued.

To boost local industry, Takealot recently signed a multimillion-dollar deal with the government in South Africa’s Gauteng province, which includes the capital, Pretoria, and economic powerhouse Johannesburg. Called the Takealot Township Economy Initiative, it is focused on creating jobs and supporting small, Black-owned businesses.

Local online fashion retailer Zando launched its international e-commerce platform Zando Global earlier this year.

“With the rise of Shein and Temu, South African consumers have often found themselves hesitant to order internationally due to concerns about product quality, delivery reliability, and returns processes. Zando Global steps in as the local hero, offering a trustworthy alternative for those seeking international products without the uncertainties of ordering from abroad,” the company said in an April press statement.

When asked whether the market is already saturated by Shein and Temu, Zando Global’s CEO Morgane Imbert told VOA she believed the company could compete.

“We genuinely believe there is room for a player like Zando, because we think that we can offer a different experience, focusing on the quality of the product, the customer service and curated local and global fashion trends,” she says.

“We’re definitely supporting local brands and companies through the marketplace,” Imbert added.

US behemoth

Zando and Takealot must also compete with U.S. e-commerce company Amazon, which entered the South African market in May, its first foray into sub-Saharan Africa. Reports suggest Amazon had a slow start, but that could change.

On its website, Amazon says it is providing South African consumers with a “new online shopping experience.” It added, the site will include products from independent South African sellers and small and medium-size enterprises “to connect customers with businesses throughout the country.”

Still, like “shopping addict” Mbadaliga, many South Africans will not be easily weaned off Shein and Temu.

The on-line petition to the South African government aimed at stopping the import duty has garnered more than 21,000 signatures since June, hoping to change the minds of government authorities who have yet to implement the new tax rules originally set for July 1.
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kigali, rwanda — Rwandan President Paul Kagame has won the country’s presidential election with 99% of the vote, according to preliminary election results released late Monday evening.

Kagame had won 99% of the 79% of ballots counted so far, the country’s electoral body said.

The president, who has been in power in various roles since 1994, won by a similar amount in 2017.

People stood in line patiently starting at 7 a.m. local time Monday to cast their ballots, saying they were excited to exercise their civic duty. Some told VOA they wanted a leader who could deliver what the population desired. Others said they’d seen progress and would vote for that to continue.

Kagame cast his vote around 1:30 p.m. at a voting center in Kigali. He had said that his priorities of building the country toward prosperity would not change.

Kagame, who was first elected president in 2000, faced two other candidates: the Democratic Green Party’s Frank Habineza and independent Philippe Mpayimana.

Habineza was in second place with 0.53% of the vote while Mpayimana had  0.32%.

This was the second bid for the top job by Mpayimana, a journalist-turned-politician whose manifesto initiatives to develop agriculture, transportation, fishing and other industries received coverage in 50-plus articles.

Habineza, who also ran against Kagame in the last election, told VOA he was in the race again this year because the incumbent has been in office too long and it was time for a new vision for the country.

Several other candidates, including some of Kagame’s most vocal critics, were barred from running for president.

About 9 million out of a population of 14 million Rwandans were registered to vote. That was 2 million more than last time, according to the National Electoral Commission.

NEC Chairwoman Oda Gasinzigwa said that more than 300 international observers were present in Rwanda, along with about 700 local observers.

One reason Kagame, 66, cruised to victory, critics said, was that he has governed with a heavy hand and has stifled dissent. But another reason, analysts said, was his ability to guide the East African country toward internal peace since the 1994 genocide, when an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists.
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Blantyre, Malawi     — Malawi has declared the end of the country’s worst cholera outbreak, which began in March 2022 and killed nearly 2,000 people.

In a statement Monday, the Ministry of Health said the country had registered no cases or deaths from cholera in 26 of Malawi’s 29 health districts in the past four weeks. Some health experts, however, said the outbreak could resurface if the country failed to address sanitation problems that caused it.

Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera launched a national campaign to end the cholera outbreak in February 2023. The “Tithetse Kolera” or “Let’s End Cholera” campaign came three months after he declared the disease to be a public health emergency in Malawi.

The campaign aimed to interrupt cholera transmission in all districts and reduce the fatality rate from 3.2% to below 1%, which the World Health Organization considers a controlled cholera outbreak.

Dr. Wilfred Chalamira Nkhoma,  co-chairperson for the presidential task force on COVID-19 and cholera in Malawi, told VOA the disease had now been defeated largely because of the campaign.

“By WHO definition, a country stands to end the transmission of cholera when they have gone at least four weeks without reporting a laboratory confirmed case of cholera,” he said. “So that is the case with Malawi right now. We haven’t had a confirmed case since 6th of June.”

Successful steps

Nkhoma attributed the development to several interventions Malawi conducted over the past two years. He said they involved educating people about transmission, prevention and control of cholera; increasing surveillance; and properly managing cholera cases.

“The key one — and that must remain the key one — is to increase access to safe water and also improve adequate sanitation,” he said. “The Ministry of Water and Sanitation was taking the lead in this, but they were supported very well by nongovernmental organizations that are working in the water and sanitation sector.”

Nkhoma said another measure was the oral cholera vaccination campaign, which began in December 2022.

“We were able as a country to access some doses from WHO,” he said. “We were able to administer not less than about  6 million doses of cholera vaccine focusing first and foremost in priority areas.”

The Ministry of Health said in its Monday statement that Malawi had registered 56,376 cases of cholera, with 1,772 deaths since March 2022.

Maziko Matemba, a national community health ambassador in Malawi, told VOA that Malawi seemed to have managed the cholera outbreak at the treatment and case-management levels, but added that sanitation problems remained a challenge.

“Because at the moment, if you go to villages, if you go to public places, people are not doing the sanitation issues properly,” Matemba said. “Even if you check in public toilets, even if you check how people are preparing food, you will find that we still have challenges as a country to contain disease like cholera.” 

Nkhoma said the government would continue its effort to educate people about how cholera is transmitted, prevented and controlled to try to avoid further outbreaks.
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CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Six firefighters have died battling a bushfire in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa and another two are in critical condition, emergency services said Monday. 

Authorities said they suspect that Sunday’s fire may have been started by poachers trying to trap animals to kill. 

Three firefighters died at the scene of the fire near the town of Boston, around 130 kilometers inland from the east coast city of Durban, emergency services spokesperson Roland Robertson said. He said another three firefighters were treated and put on ventilators, but they all died soon after being admitted to the hospital. 

One firefighter is still on a ventilator in the hospital, and another is also in critical condition, he said. 

Robertson said some of the poachers were also believed to have been injured in the fires near private farms as wind and dry ground caused them to burn out of control. No arrests of suspected poachers were reported. 

Wildfires have burned in other parts of KwaZulu-Natal for the last week due to the heat and the wind, leaving at least seven other people dead in various parts of the province, the local government has said. 

The fires come as the other side of South Africa has been battered by multiple storms, bringing gale-force winds and flooding. 

A series of cold fronts coming in from the Atlantic Ocean has caused widespread damage in Cape Town and surrounding areas on the southwest tip of the country over the last 10 days. Around 15,000 people have been affected and thousands of homes and other structures damaged or destroyed.
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