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A Kenyan government agency is helping students from low-income families access laboratories for science classes. The producer is making solar-powered mobile laboratories that are cheaper than building permanent facilities. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo
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KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Two boats have collided on the Congo River in western Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials said, giving conflicting accounts on deaths.

Alexis Mampa, chief of the Maluku municipality, said no one died in the collision Monday east of Congo’s capital of Kinshasa. Another local official, Eliezer Ntambwe, at first said dozens were dead but later said the toll wasn’t clear.

It was not known what caused the boats loaded with people and goods to collide.

Horrified residents watched from the riverbank. A video seen by The Associated Press shows people flailing in the water while small boats move toward them.

Deadly boating accidents occur frequently in Congo as crews often overload small wooden vessels. Rivers are key to transport in the vast central African country with some of the world’s least developed road infrastructure. Most river traffic is run by small, informal operators, and officials have warned that adherence to maritime regulations is poor.

In January, most of the 50 passengers aboard a wooden boat that capsized on a lake in eastern Congo were presumed dead.
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A California-based company backed by tech billionaires says it has discovered major copper deposits in Zambia using artificial intelligence. The discovery comes as demand for the metal is especially high for the global transition to cleaner energy sources. Kathy Short reports from Lusaka, Zambia. (Camera and produced by: Richard Kille)
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Harare, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s government said Monday it is introducing a gold-backed currency to replace the country’s nearly worthless dollar, which most businesses have shunned, preferring the U.S. dollar or South African rand.

Minister for Finance and Economic Development Mthuli Ncube told reporters in an online press conference that Zimbabwe was making the move to ensure sustained growth.

“Really this is a quest for currency stability,” Ncube said. “What has emerged over the years is the U.S. [dollar] being the most dominant.

“Going forward, we want to make sure that the growth we have achieved so far — which is very strong — is maintained and even increased,” he said. “We can only do that if we have further stability in the domestic currency. … And the way to do that is perhaps to link the exchange rate to some hard asset such as gold.”

He did not say when Zimbabwe will introduce the gold-backed currency.

Since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, the country has introduced new currencies several times after citizens and businesses shunned the previous money.

The present-day currency, known as the dollar, bondnotes or ZWL, was introduced in 2014. Within months it started losing value, something economists attributed to the government overprinting notes and businesses failing to have confidence in the currency.

It now trades at 20,000 for 1 U.S. dollar.

Prosper Chitambara, a senior economist with the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe, said the move will help control money supply.

“It also helps to stabilize the value of the currency because, ultimately, the value of the currency would be determined to a greater extent by the value of gold,” he said. “On paper, it sounds [like] a good idea to link your currency to an underlying asset such as gold.”

Ultimately, Chitambara said, Zimbabwe needs to exercise fiscal responsibility if it wants a stable domestic currency.

“We need to ensure fiscal sustainability through ensuring there is fiscal discipline, fiscal consolidation, restructuring public spending with a view of eliminating waste and nonproductive spending,” he said.

Also, he said, it is important to ensure monetary discipline through controlling supply and making institutional reforms to address waste and inefficiencies in public enterprises.

Zimbabwe “has been losing money through subsidizing loss-making parastatals and entities,” he said, referring to state-owned companies.

Steven Dhlamini, an economics professor at National University of Science and Technology, said the success of the change will also hinge on whether people have confidence in the gold-backed currency — “whether they believe the government will indeed be transparent and accountable as to the production of the gold viz-a-vis the printing of the currency.”

“So once the trust is established, then that is critical in ensuring the currency will be acceptable and will be stable,” he said.
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After years of focus on oil and gas, Nigerian authorities are taking a new look at the mining industry as part of their drive to diversify the economy. But the country is still reeling from environmental damage caused by old mining operations, and the illegal mining that continues. Timothy Obiezu reports.
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BANGUI, Central African Republic — About 10,000 children are still fighting alongside armed groups in Central African Republic more than a decade after civil war broke out, the government said Monday.

Marthe Kirima, the minister for family and gender, said in a statement that children are still being recruited as fighters, spies, messengers, cooks and even used as sex slaves. While 15,000 children have escaped from rebel forces, she said, many are traumatized and find it difficult to return to normal life.

The mineral-rich but impoverished nation has had conflict since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power and forced then-President Francois Bozize from office. Mostly Christian militias fought back, also targeting civilians.

The United Nations, which has a peacekeeping mission in the country, estimates the fighting has killed thousands and displaced over a million people, or one-fifth of the population. In 2019, a peace deal was reached between the government and 14 armed groups, but fighting continues.

The U.N. is trying to prevent children from joining armed groups and make it easier for those released to reintegrate into society. It has created training programs for them to become mechanics, masons, carpenters or take up other professions.

Some former child soldiers told The Associated Press that their harrowing experiences had pushed them to become peace ambassadors.

“I took up arms because Seleka killed by mother and father,” said Arsene, who insisted on only his first name due to the sensitivity of the situation. He said a Christian rebel group recruited him when he was 14. After three years of fighting, he now tells young people not to join rebel groups.

Ousmane, another former child soldier, said that joining the rebels ruined his life and that of those around him. “What we did is indescribable,” he said.

The Dany Ngarasso Foundation, a local civil society group, called on the government to accelerate the peace process to protect child soldiers.

“They may have fought yesterday, but they can still campaign for peace today,” foundation head Ngarasso said.
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united nations — The U.N. Security Council said Monday that it was concerned by “escalating violence” in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, condemning in a statement the offensive launched this month by M23 rebels near Goma. 

Clashes have intensified recently between the M23 — among the strongest of dozens of armed groups roaming the country’s troubled east — and the Congolese army. 

The DRC, the U.N. and Western countries say Rwanda is supporting the rebels in a bid to control vast mineral resources, an allegation Kigali denies. 

Council members, who met Monday to discuss the issue, “reiterated their condemnation of all armed groups operating in the country. They expressed concern about the escalation of violence and a sustained tension in the region,” according to a statement read by Guyana Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett. 

Council members also specifically “condemned the M23 offensive,” launched February 7, Rodrigues-Birkett said. “They reiterated their full support to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the DRC.” 

The M23 has seized vast swaths of North Kivu province since emerging from dormancy in late 2021, in an area wracked by violence for decades following regional wars in the 1990s. 

The most recent flare-up has pushed thousands of civilians to flee the town of Sake, on the route toward Goma, capital of North Kivu province. 

According to a U.N. document seen by AFP earlier Monday, the Rwandan army is using sophisticated weapons such as surface-to-air missiles to support M23. 

A “suspected Rwandan Defense Force mobile surface-to-air missile” was fired at a U.N. observation drone last Wednesday without hitting it, the confidential report said. 

U.N. forces have been in Congo for nearly 25 years, but stand accused of failing to protect civilians from armed groups. 

The U.N. Security Council voted in December to accede to Kinshasa’s demand for a pullout despite the volatile situation.
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The World Health Organization says that in Zambia over 70% of men and over 30% of women are drinking too much, too often. Some nonprofit organizations are intervening to help those on the path to recovery from alcohol addiction. Kathy Short reports from Lusaka, Zambia. Video editor: Elias Chulu
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Nairobi, Kenya — Condolences are pouring in after Kenyan marathon world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum died in a car crash in western Kenya late Sunday night. 

“Kelvin Kiptum was a star,” said a social media post Monday from Kenyan President William Ruto.  

Ruto noted that Kiptum was only 24 yet had triumphed in several major competitions.

“His mental strength and discipline were unmatched. Kiptum was our future,” Ruto’s post said.

That feeling is shared by many in Kenya, including Jackson Tuwei, president of sports body Athletics Kenya, who spoke to VOA on Monday.

“He was a very humble person, a young family of a wife and two children. Tuwei said. “He had just started his young career and we were hoping he would go pretty far in his career. When I talked to him last time, he was telling me that he was looking forward to bringing the marathon record lower than two hours.”

Kiptum was the first man to run a marathon in under 2 hours, 1 minute when he set the world record of 2 hours and 35 seconds in Chicago last October, beating the previous record holder, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge. 

The car crash Sunday happened on a road between the towns of Eldoret and Kaptagat in western Kenya, Tuwei said.

“The report we received so far from the police was that Kelvin Kiptum was traveling in his own car… but he lost control about 11 o’clock last night and veered off the road into a ditch … and hit a very big tree somewhere there,” he said. “Unfortunately, both Kelvin and his coach [Gervais Hakizimana] lost their lives on the spot and the girl who was in the car had serious injuries and was taken to the hospital.”

Former Kenyan prime minister and opposition leader Raila Odinga described Kiptum as a remarkable individual and said the nation grieves the profound loss of a true hero.  

At a presser on Monday, Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports, Ababu Namwamba, described the day as a very dark day for the athletics community both in Kenya and across the world.  

He told reporters the passing of Kiptum was a loss of a special gem and has caused deep distress and pain for the country. Namwamba was to meet with Kiptum’s family on Monday.  
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KINSHASA — Police in Democratic Republic of Congo fired tear gas Monday to disperse protesters who burned tires and U.S. and Belgian flags near Western embassies and U.N. offices in the capital Kinshasa, angry about insecurity in eastern Congo.

The protesters, seizing on a new tactic by targeting embassies, say the West supports neighboring Rwanda, which is accused of backing the Tutsi-led M23 rebellion whose advance is threatening the strategic city of Goma in the east.

Rwanda has denied the accusations. Congo, Western governments including the United States and Belgium, and a United Nations expert group say the rebel group benefits from Rwandan support.

Despite security being stepped up after U.N. staff and vehicles were attacked on Saturday, groups of protesters gathered at the U.S. and French embassies and the offices of the United Nations mission in Congo known as MONUSCO.

Some threw stones, attempting to break the surveillance cameras at one of the United States embassy offices, while others chanted “Leave our country, we don’t want your hypocrisy.”

“The Westerners are behind the looting of our country, Rwanda doesn’t work alone, so they must leave our country,” said Pepin Mbindu, who joined the protest.

Onlookers cheered as one demonstrator removed the EU flag from the entrance of a large hotel in central Kinshasa, according to videos shared on X. Reuters has not authenticated the video.

“The international community remains silent while Congolese are being killed; they finance Rwanda,” said Fabrice Malumba, a motorcycle driver participating in the demonstration in front of the United States embassy.

Police fired tear gas and chased protesters.

Congo’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula met ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions in Kinshasa on Sunday. He said security measures would be taken to protect their representations.

“As you can see, we are ensuring the security of the partner embassies of the Democratic Republic of Congo in accordance with the Vienna Convention,” General Blaise Mbula Kilimba Limba, Kinshasa police chief, told Reuters.

Decades of conflicts in eastern Congo between myriad rival armed groups over land and resources and brutal attacks on civilians have killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more than 7 million.

Congo is the world’s top supplier of cobalt and Africa’s top copper producer. 
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A secondary school dropout from rural Malawi has brought electricity to his community using what he says is a groundbreaking air-powered generator, bypassing use of fuel, oil or batteries. Experts have questions about how the system works, but Malawi’s government is pledging support. Lameck Masina reports from Dowa District.
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ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Let the party begin.

Sébastien Haller scored late to lead host nation Ivory Coast to a remarkable Africa Cup of Nations title with a 2-1 victory over Nigeria in the final Sunday.

Haller fired in from close range in the 81st minute to complete the turnaround after Franck Kessié drew the Elephants level in the 62nd.

It was Ivory Coast’s third title after wins in 1992 and 2015, both won on penalties.

Haller’s second goal in as many games after recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of the group stage completed a personal triumph for the player, just over a year since he returned from cancer treatment.

Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong had scored in the 38th against the run of play with a header to a corner. The Super Eagles were outplayed in the first half and only threatened again in a desperate attempt to equalize after Haller’s goal.

Troost-Ekong also scored when the teams last met in the group stage for Nigeria’s 1-0 win. That match had been just the start of the Elephants’ troubles as Ivory Coast was almost eliminated in its next game. It fired its coach but recorded late comeback wins over defending champion Senegal and Mali in the knockout stage, before Haller fired the team into the final with the winning goal against Congo in the semifinals.

Ivory Coast’s unlikely progression through the knockout stage as it overcame setback after setback convinced many devout Ivorians that God was on the team’s side.

“It was an extraordinary tournament,” said interim coach Emerse Faé, the previous assistant who took over on his 40th birthday.

Nigeria conceded as many goals in the final as it had in all its previous games in the tournament. Coach José Peseiro had banked on a mean defense to earn what would have been the Super Eagles’ fourth title.

“We played a fantastic tournament, but today Côte d’Ivoire was better,” Peseiro said. The Portuguese coach said the pressure got to his players and commended the home team for showing none.

In the final, Ivory Coast’s pressure finally paid off when Kessié’s header to Adingra’s corner set off a tumult of joy in the 60,000-capacity Alassane Ouattara Stadium. Kessié ran to the corner and raised his hand to his forehead in salute as the sea of orange-clad fans rippled in delight.

A small pocket of green-and-white clad Nigeria fans behind one of the goals had struggled to make an impact.

Haller’s winner set off celebrations that will last long through the night in Abidjan and in the rest of the country of 27.5 million people.

Excitement had been building for days with streets turned into viewing areas with plastic tables and chairs set in front of TV screens in the district of Adjamé, and fan zones around the city also showed the game.

Traffic was brought to a crawl for miles around the stadium hours before kickoff, providing street vendors with a captive customer base to sell chilled bottles of water, fruit, snacks, Ivory Coast flags, hats, wigs and towels, replica jerseys for both teams, and more.

But it caused problems for the Nigeria team bus getting to the game. Armed soldiers frantically urged motorists stuck in gridlock outside the stadium to pull over for the bus and security detail to make it through.

Fans had to abandon stationary commuter buses to walk to the match.
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Nairobi, Kenya — Marathon world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum died in a car crash in Kenya late Sunday, a fellow athlete who went to the hospital and saw the body said. He was 24.

Kiptum’s coach was also killed in the crash, Kenyan runner Milcah Chemos said. The crash happened on a road between the towns of Eldoret and Kaptagat in western Kenya, she said, in the heart of the high-altitude region that’s renowned as a training base for long-distance runners.

Chemos said she was among a group of athletes who had gone to the hospital in Eldoret after hearing the news of the crash. Family members of Kiptum were also with them to identify his body, Chemos said.

Kiptum was the first man to run the marathon in under 2 hours, 1 minute. He set the new world record of 2:00.35 at the Chicago Marathon in October, beating the mark of fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge.

Kiptum’s record was ratified by the international track federation World Athletics last week.
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in Nigeria, one nonprofit is on a mission to digitize the country’s history. Its members are doing so by uploading copies of newspapers from 1960, the year Nigeria gained independence, until today. Timothy Obiezu has more from Lagos.
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Dubai, UAE — The al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab claimed an attack that killed four Emirati troops and a Bahraini military officer on a training mission at a military base in the Somali capital, authorities said Sunday.

The attack Saturday targeted the troops at the General Gordon Military Base in Mogadishu. Details about the attack and whether it killed others remained scarce Sunday, although Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud offered his condolences to the UAE for the loss of its troops.

Early Sunday, the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported the killing of three of its troops and the Bahraini officer in a “terrorist act.” A fourth later died en route to the Emirates, WAM reported.

WAM released footage of three flag-draped caskets coming off an Emirati Boeing C-17A Globemaster III at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi with an honor guard present.

WAM identified the dead as a colonel, two warrant officers and a corporal.

Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat, offered condolences to those killed and a quick recovery for the wounded.

“No treacherous act will prevent us from continuing the message of security and safety and combating extremism and terrorism in all its forms,” Gargash wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The military of Bahrain, an island nation in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia, later acknowledged the death of a major in a statement carried by the state-run Bahrain News Agency.

Al-Shabab claimed the attack in a statement online, alleging it killed multiple people involved in the Emirati military effort. It described the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, as an “enemy” of Islamic (Shariah) law for backing the Somali government in its efforts to battle al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab, or “the youth” in Arabic, is a Sunni Islamic extremist group in Somalia born out of that country’s years of anarchy following its 1991 civil war. The affiliate of al-Qaida once held Mogadishu. Over time, an African Union-led force, with the backing of the U.S. and other countries, pushed the militants out of Mogadishu. In the years since, al-Shabab has remained a threat as it seeks to overthrow the Western-backed Somali government.

Al-Shabab has carried out attacks in neighboring Kenya as well, since Nairobi provides troops and materiel to the African Union force in Somalia. The United States under every president since George W. Bush has launched airstrikes against militants in Somalia, with the number of strikes now exceeding 300, according to New America, a Washington-based security research group. The majority of those strikes took place under then-President Donald Trump.

The U.S. Embassy in Somalia on Sunday condemned what it called a “cowardly attack” against the training mission.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of those who lost their lives in yesterday’s deplorable terrorist attack against UAE military trainers and Somali soldiers valiantly working to advance the nation’s stability,” the embassy said.

Somalia has also been an intense interest for Gulf states, particularly during the Qatar diplomatic crisis that gripped the region for several years and saw four nations including the UAE boycott Doha in a political dispute. Somali troops once seized millions of dollars of Emirati cash from a jet at gunpoint, sparking a diplomatic incident between Mogadishu and the UAE that halted its troop training program there.

The UAE in recent years has increasingly invested in ports in East Africa, including in Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland region. Securing Somalia fits into the Emirates’ wider concerns about security in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, particularly as Somali piracy has resumed after years amid attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping in the region over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In 2019, al-Shabab claimed an attack that killed a man working for Dubai’s P&O Ports.
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Dakar — The death toll amid protests in Senegal over the postponement of the presidential election until December has climbed to three, as concerns grow that one of the remaining democracies in coup-hit West Africa is under threat. 

The announcement of the delay just three weeks ahead of the planned Feb. 25 vote triggered violent clashes on Friday between protesters and police in Dakar and several other cities, in a wave of unrest that many fear will spill over into protracted instability. 

President Macky Sall has said the delay is necessary because electoral disputes threatened the credibility of the poll, but some opposition lawmakers have denounced the move as an “institutional coup.” 

As the public outcry mounts, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS and foreign powers have urged Sall to put the country back on a regular electoral footing. 

The death of one young man amid reported protests in the southern city of Zinguinchor on Saturday evening took the number of those killed since Friday to three, according to Cartogra Free Senegal (CFS), a civil society platform tracking casualties. 

“We tried to save him when he arrived at hospital and unfortunately he died in intensive care,” Ndiame Diop, the manager of Ziguinchor hospital, told Reuters, saying it was not possible to determine the exact cause of death without an autopsy. 

A spokesperson for the interior ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The ministry has so far confirmed only one death, a student in the northern city of Saint-Louis on Friday. Reuters has not been able to independently confirm a reported second death: a 23-year-old merchant on the outskirts of Dakar, according to CFS. 

The U.S. Bureau of African Affairs said in an online post on Saturday that it was saddened to learn of the first two deaths. 

“We urge all parties to act in a peaceful and measured manner, and we continue to call on President Sall to restore the electoral calendar, restore confidence, and bring calm to the situation,” it said. 

What happens next is not clear.  

Opposition lawmakers and presidential candidates who reject the postponement have filed legal challenges and said they will refuse to recognize Sall as president after his original mandate expires in early April.  

The postponement bill backed by parliament included the extension of his tenure until his successor is installed after the election now reset for Dec. 15. 

“If President Macky Sall does not restore power to us on April 3, we will set up a parallel government of national unity,” opposition lawmaker Guy Marius Sagna said on the radio on Sunday. 

 
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Dakar, Senegal — Tuareg separatists announced Saturday the lifting of blockades they’d set up in December on main roads throughout northern Mali after the national army took back several towns.  

“All blockades on the routes from the Algerian border to the towns of Timbuktu and Gao have been lifted,” the Permanent Strategic Framework, an alliance of rebel forces, told Agence France-Presse, without giving more details. 

The Taureg-dominated rebel groups lost control of several localities in the north of the country after an army offensive in late 2023 that culminated with the taking of Kidal, a bastion of the separatist movement.   

Hostilities had resumed last August — after eight years of relative calm — as both sides fought to take possession of military camps abandoned by United Nations troops who left under orders of the Mali government. 

The military junta that seized power in a 2020 coup largely won those exchanges, but the rebels didn’t surrender and retreated into remote desert and mountainous areas.   

Mali’s army was backed by mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group, according to the rebels and local elected officials, but the regime denies the presence of the controversial private security group. 

In December, the rebels blocked all products and types of vehicles in the sparsely populated north.  

There also have been accusations of atrocities committed against civilians during the recent offensive by Mali’s army and the Russian force, which again the authorities have repeatedly denied.   
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DURBAN, South Africa — The controversial leader of South Africa’s third largest political party promised Saturday to create jobs for millions of the country’s unemployed and turn around its economy as he seeks to attract more voters ahead of the much-anticipated general election. 

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party founder Julius Malema addressed a packed 56,000-capacity Moses Mabhida Stadium in the coastal city of Durban as he launched the party’s election manifesto to the delight of supporters. 

“This is not a manifesto of promises, it’s a manifesto of commitments,” he said. 

With election season well underway in South Africa, most political parties who have not launched their manifestos are expected to do so in the coming weeks. A date for the election has not been announced. 

The election is expected to be highly contested because the ruling African National Congress, which has governed the country since Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically-elected leader in 1994, faces myriad challenges. 

EFF party supporters Saturday, clad in red party regalia, including T-shirts with Malema’s likeness, went into a frenzy as he entered the stadium, singing struggle songs and liberation slogans. 

The EFF is popular among many disenchanted South Africans, especially youth, due to its radical policies that include the expropriation of white-owned land and the nationalization of mines and banks. 

Malema, a controversial figure who largely divides opinion for his radical proposals to solve the country’s problems, continues to enjoy widening popularity in South Africa and increasingly across Africa. 

A former ANC youth leader who was expelled from the party, Malema is now among the ruling party’s staunchest critics. He’s an outspoken lawmaker who has become a thorn in the side of the ANC and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. 

The EFF garnered 10% of the national vote in the country’s 2019 elections to become the third largest opposition party. 

Buoyed by the decline in support for the ANC, which has governed South Africa since 1994, the party expects to increase its support in the upcoming elections. 

Polls by polling firm Ipsos released this week estimate the EFF could perform better in the upcoming elections and replace the Democratic Alliance as the second biggest party in the country. 

The same polls also suggest the ANC could dip under 50% of electoral support in what is expected to be the ruling party’s toughest elections yet. 

Malema announced the party’s slogan for the coming elections as “Jobs and land now! Stop loadshedding,” a phrase that alludes to the country’s high unemployment rate of more than 30%, the slow pace of land redistribution and the country’s electricity crisis, which has resulted in rolling power blackouts. 

“This manifesto is a manifesto of the people swimming in the pool of poverty,” said Malema. 

Malema said the party would stop the power blackouts that are impacting the country’s economy and would create jobs through, among other things, the creation of social housing and road infrastructure. 

He also promised to jail politicians and public servants who are implicated in corruption and vowed to introduce incentives for police to fight the country’s high prevalence of crime. 

“We are going to increase the visibility of police and soldiers. Many of you can’t say that you saw the police on your way here,” he said. 

Malema also promised to increase social welfare grants and introduce a basic income grant for the unemployed. 

Some EFF supporters who spoke to The Associated Press expressed confidence in the party’s chances in the upcoming elections. 

Nomonde Simelane, 28, a staunch EFF supporter wearing party regalia, said the party was the only one serious about changing Black people’s economic situation in South Africa. 

“No other party is serious about returning the land, or making sure that Black people also benefit from the country’s economy,” said Simelane. 

Raymond Zitha, 33, said he didn’t vote in the last election but would do so this year to support the EFF. He was among supporters who were bussed into the rally in Durban by the party from various parts of KwaZulu-Natal province, where fierce political competition is expected. 

Some smaller parties led by former leaders and members of major political parties also will take part in the elections. 

Former ANC and South Africa President Jacob Zuma announced the formation of a new party, Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), which has been registered to compete in this year’s elections. 

Mmusi Maimane, the former leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, has started BOSA, a new party set to run for the first time, while former Johannesburg mayor and DA member Herman Mashaba’s Action SA will take part in its first national election. 
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abuja, nigeria — Officials from countries of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS met in Nigeria’s capital Thursday to discuss the exit of three members, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, who announced their departure from the bloc last week. The bloc is also dealing with a brewing crisis in Senegal, where the president has delayed elections until December.

Thursday’s meeting of officials of the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS, was to address regional political developments, including the declared exit of three of the bloc’s 15 member states. 

After a closed-door session that lasted several hours, ECOWAS said it will continue to pursue dialogue with Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. 

But the bloc also said their decisions to leave will have consequences for the regional body and its citizens. 

“Indeed, while we were waiting and hoping to see more progress in the countries in transition, we find ourselves with more problems — problems that have been compounded by various factors,” said Omar Alieu Touray, ECOWAS commission president. “Despite our collective efforts to create a conducive and peaceful environment for our community citizens, the facts on the ground show that we still have more work to do.” 

ECOWAS accused of pandering

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, all ruled by military juntas, announced their immediate withdrawal from the regional body in a joint communique last week. 

The three nations accused ECOWAS of abandoning its founding ideals and pandering to foreign powers. 

They also criticized the regional bloc’s sanctions against military-led governments in the region, calling the sanctions inhumane. 

Then, days after the withdrawal, protests broke out in Senegal after President Macky Sall postponed the country’s presidential elections from February to December. 

The decision was approved by Senegal’s National Assembly but has been criticized by many, such as political analyst Ahmed Buhari, who calls it a constitutional coup. 

“Anytime you interfere with the emergence of leaders in a democratic space, it’s going to create shaky ground,” said Buhari. “Clearly this is an assassination on the constitution of the good people of Senegal. The executive, the legislative and the judiciary are under the full control of the president, they’re unable to make any decision that will not be convenient for the president.” 

Senegal’s foreign minister attended Thursday’s meeting. He told journalists his country’s political situation should not worry the regional bloc. 

Bloc struggles with coups 

ECOWAS was created in 1975 to promote economic prosperity among member states. But in recent years, the bloc has been struggling to deal with a wave of coups. 

Experts say bad governance is to blame for the trend and said the regional bloc must impose sanctions on Senegal over the election cycle delay. 

Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar said authorities will fix the problem. 

“We’re also here to review the unfolding situation in Senegal and develop a plan to navigate the resulting complexities,” said Tuggar. “We have faced similar crises in the past and as a region we have not been found wanting. This meeting can come up with far-reaching decisions to transform our challenges into opportunities.” 

Last year, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger created a bloc known as the alliance of Sahel States and promised to defend their countries. 

For now, it remains unclear whether ECOWAS will take a firm stance against Senegal or make a concerted effort to bring Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso back into the fold.  
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Having enough feed for livestock is critical to the food security of many African countries. Some farmers are considering adopting a Chinese-engineered grass called Juncao, advertised as high-yielding and fast-maturing. Some scientists advise caution. Francis Ontomwa has more from Kajiado, Kenya. Video: Amos Wangwa.
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