The United Nation’s International Organization for Migration — the IOM — said Friday that border closures and airspace restrictions caused by the July 26 coup in Niger have disrupted migration patterns in the nation, putting hundreds of thousands of migrants and displaced persons at risk.

The coup by Niger’s military leaders overthrew democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and put him under house arrest.

At a news conference in Geneva on Friday, IOM West and Central Africa Regional Director Chris Gascon said there are 710,000 displaced persons in Niger, including refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons.

He said the agency is hosting 4,800 migrants at seven transit centers in Niger, with an additional 1,400 awaiting help outside the centers. Gascon said the agency is 40% over capacity.

Gascon appealed to the international community for resources to allow the agency to continue providing essential services to the stranded migrants. He said the IOM is also calling for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor so migrants can safely return to their countries of origin.

Meanwhile, officials with the Economic Community of West African States — ECOWAS — attended an informal meeting of European Union foreign ministers Thursday in Toledo, Spain, asking for their support.

The regional bloc has been dealing directly with Niger coup leaders and has leveled economic sanctions against them. The bloc has indicated it would use military force if coup leaders did not restore constitutional order.

Following the meeting, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said the EU foreign ministers agreed to “initiate a process for the establishment of a legal framework for individual sanctions” against coup leaders, but reserved judgment on the use of military force.

Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press, Reuters and AFP.
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The new leader of Gabon’s junta is due to be sworn in as president of the central African republic on Monday, but the opposition is asking for power to be handed over to civilians.

Gabon is the latest country to fall into the hands of a military junta, adding to a record-setting eight coups in three years in sub–Saharan Africa.  

While the coups bear some similarities, this latest one has notable differences, according to Sean McFate, professor at the National Defense University. 

“The major difference is that Gabon is close to Paris unlike, say, Mali or Burkina Faso where there is a lot of anti-French sentiment in the population and in the government,” McFate said. “Another thing that is different is that the president really isn’t … it’s questionable about the validity of his elections. You’ve had one ruling family there since 1967.” 

The military junta, under the leadership of Brice Oligui Nguema, annulled last week’s election results that would have handed a third term to President Ali Bongo, who’s under house arrest.  

“This is not the Niger coup, where you have a democratically elected president who has been removed in a scenario that appears that the coup makers were advancing personal interest rather than national interest,” said Kwaku Nuamah, a senior lecturer at American University’s School of International Studies. “In the Gabonese case, you have someone whose family has dominated the country, for a long time has misruled and is not popular.”  

Bongo’s family has been in power for 56 years in the manganese, timber, and oil-rich central African country of Gabon.  

Some of the countries bordering Gabon, including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of Congo, have some of the longest-sitting presidents on the continent. 

“There is a likelihood we can see contagion in other places where the military has to step in to remove long-serving civilian rulers who are under performing. That’s the danger,” Nuamah said.  

The African Union suspended Gabon’s membership on Thursday. The Economic Community of Central African States condemned the coup as well, saying it will convene a special session to discuss this most recent military takeover in the region.  

But Nuamah said he hopes the meeting won’t be one of issuing unenforceable ultimatums — which was the case recently with Niger versus the West African economic bloc.  

The coup in Gabon was unexpected, he said, but given the past three years, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.  

“It appears as if the regional and continental measures for resolving these coups or preventing them are not working. Everybody is watching how ECOWAS handles Niger,” Nuamah said. “Mali has resisted pressures to return to constitutional rule, Burkina Faso, so they look around and see the international community is unable to punish coup makers, so they plan their coups.” 

ECOWAS slapped heavy sanctions and gave the Niger junta one week to hand over power or face possible military intervention. But for now, the organization says it’s giving diplomacy a chance.  

For McFate, military coups are a dangerous trend for the continent, and he questions the response or lack thereof from some international organizations. 

“In the world of international diplomacy, credibility is your only currency and ECOWAS blew it badly,” he said. “Also, where is the United Nations in all of this, where is the African Union? Beyond strongly worded condemnations, they are absent, they are AWOL.”  

McFate and Nuamah also say democracy has recently taken a hit in many countries around the world. And while some countries like Niger and Gabon might be temporarily embracing their military juntas, the analysts say it’s no indicator the future will be better.  
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The ouster of Gabon’s president by mutinous soldiers appears to have been well organized and capitalized on the population’s grievances against the government as an excuse to seize power, analysts said.

Soldiers on Wednesday ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family has ruled the oil-rich country in Central Africa for more than five decades. The coup leaders accused Bongo of irresponsible governance that risked leading the country into chaos and said they put him under house arrest and detained several Cabinet members.

Meanwhile, the African Union Peace and Security Council met Thursday and announced the immediate suspension of Gabon from “all activities of the AU, its organs and institutions” until the country restores constitutional order.

The head of Gabon’s elite republican guard, Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, was announced on state TV as the nation’s new leader hours after Bongo was declared the winner of a weekend presidential election that observers said was marred with irregularities and a lack of transparency.

While there were legitimate grievances about the vote and Bongo’s rule, his ousting is just a pretext for the junta to claim power for themselves, Gabon experts say.

“The timing of the coup, following the announcement of the implausible electoral results, and the speed with which the junta is moving suggests this was planned in advance,” Joseph Siegle, director of research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, said. “While there are many legitimate grievances about the vote and Bongo’s rule, that has little to do with the coup attempt in Gabon. Raising those grievances is just a smokescreen.”

In an announcement on state TV on Thursday a spokesperson for the junta said Oligui would be sworn into office on Monday before the constitutional court. It encouraged people to go back work and said it would restore domestic flights.

Also Thursday, Gabon’s political opposition called for elections to resume “under the supervision” of the armed forces,” to allow the main opposition candidate, Albert Ondo Ossa, to assume the presidency, said his campaign manager Mike Jocktane.

Gabon’s coup is the eighth military takeover in Central and West Africa in three years and comes roughly a month after Niger’s democratically elected president was ousted. Unlike Niger and neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, which have each had two coups apiece since 2020 and are being overrun by extremist violence, Gabon was seen as relatively stable.

However, Bongo’s family has been accused of endemic corruption and not letting the country’s oil wealth trickle down to the population of some 2 million people.

Bongo, 64, has served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years, and there has been widespread discontent with his reign. Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in 2019 but was quickly overpowered.

The former French colony is a member of OPEC, but its oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few — and nearly 40% of Gabonese aged 15 to 24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. Its oil export revenue was $6 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Gabon’s coup and the overturning of a dynastic leader, such as Bongo, appeared to have struck a nerve across the continent that coups in more remote, volatile West Africa previously hadn’t.

Hours after soldiers in Gabon announced the new leader, the president of neighboring Cameroon, Paul Biya, who’s been in power for 40 years, shuffled his military leadership, and Rwandan President Paul Kagame “accepted the resignation” of a dozen generals and more than 80 other senior military officers. Even Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh, in power in the tiny former French colony in the Horn of Africa since 1999, condemned the coup in Gabon and denounced the recent trend of military takeovers.

Still, on Wednesday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was too early to call the attempted coup in Gabon a trend.

“It’s just too soon to do a table slap here and say, ‘yep, we’ve got a trend here going’ or ‘yep, we’ve got a domino effect,'” he said.

In a statement, the Commission of the Economic Community of Central African States, a Central African regional bloc, said it “firmly condemns” the use of force for resolving political conflicts and gaining access to power. It called for a return to constitutional order.

Since Bongo was toppled, the streets of Gabon’s capital, Libreville, have been jubilant with people celebrating alongside the army.

“Today we can only be happy,” said John Nze, a resident. “The country’s past situation handicapped everyone. There were no jobs. If the Gabonese are happy, it’s because they were hurting under the Bongos.”
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Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday floated the idea of a transition back to democracy in neighboring Niger similar to the nine-month period his country underwent in the late 1990s.

The Economic Community of West African States has imposed sanctions on Niger after troops ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in a coup on July 26 and the bloc threatened military intervention as a last resort if talks fail to restore civilian rule.

In a statement Thursday, the bloc insisted it wanted Bazoum back in power right away.

“The military authorities in Niger must restore constitutional order immediately by liberating and reinstating … President Mohamed Bazoum,” it said.

Niger’s new military leaders have dug in, saying they want a maximum three-year transition period to restore constitutional order and have ordered police to expel France’s envoy as tensions build with a key partner in Niger’s anti-jihadist fight.

Late Thursday, Niger’s interior ministry announced it was stopping U.N. agencies, NGOs and international organizations from working in military “operation zones.”

It did not specify which regions were affected, but said the measures were “due to the current security situation.”

“All activities and or movements in the zones of operations are temporarily suspended,” it said.

Transition period

Tinubu said Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 after a nine-month transition period instituted by former military head of state General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who has also headed delegations to meet the Niger junta.

“The president sees no reason why such cannot be replicated in Niger, if Niger’s military authorities are sincere,” the Nigerian presidency said in a statement.

Algeria, Niger’s influential northern neighbor, has met with West Africa leaders in a bid to avoid any military intervention in Niger and has proposed a six-month transition.

But Tinubu’s statement said there would be no relief from sanctions imposed by ECOWAS, of which he serves as chair, until the regime made “positive adjustments.”

“The soldiers’ action is unacceptable. The earlier they make positive adjustments, the quicker we will dial back the sanctions to alleviate the sufferings we are seeing in Niger,” it said.

The overthrow of Niger’s government has triggered concern around West Africa where Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso have all been taken over by the military since 2020.

Fears of contagion have deepened with this week’s military rebellion in Gabon to overthrow President Ali Bongo, toppled moments after being declared winner of a highly disputed weekend election.

Diplomatic battle

Niger’s new military rulers have also been engaged in a political battle with Paris, and stripped France’s ambassador of diplomatic immunity and ordered police to expel him, according to a letter seen Thursday by AFP.

The envoy “no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as member of the diplomatic personnel in the French Embassy,” according to their letter, dated Tuesday, to the foreign ministry in Paris.

Relations with France spiraled downwards after the July coup when Paris stood by Bazoum and refused to recognise Niger’s new rulers.

Last Friday, the authorities gave French envoy Sylvain Itte 48 hours to leave the country.

France refused the demand, saying the military rulers had no legal right to make such an order.

French military spokesperson Colonel Pierre Gaudilliere on Thursday warned that “the French military forces are ready to respond to any upturn in tension that could harm French diplomatic and military premises in Niger.”

France has around 1,500 troops in Niger, many of them stationed at an airbase near the capital, to help fight a jihadist insurgency in Niger.

On Aug. 3, Niger’s new rulers denounced military agreements with France, a move that the government in Paris has also ignored on the grounds of legitimacy.

An organization set up after the coup named the Patriotic Front for Niger Sovereignty (FPS) has led public demands for the coup leaders to take a hard line.

It is calling for a “massive” march next Saturday on the French base, followed by a sit-in until the troops leave.

Dispatch of troops

A landlocked former French colony in the heart of the Sahel, Niger is battling two jihadist insurgencies — a spill over in southeastern Niger from a long-running conflict in neighboring Nigeria, and an offensive in the southwest by militants crossing from Mali and Burkina Faso.

Bazoum came to office in 2021 after democratic elections — a watershed in a country that had had no peaceful transition of power since independence from France in 1960.

He suffered two attempted coups before finally being toppled by members of his own guard.

ECOWAS responded by warning it could intervene militarily to restore civilian rule if efforts to end the crisis diplomatically fail.

Swift to support their military comrades in Niger, Mali and Burkina have said that any such operation would be deemed a “declaration of war” against them.

Burkina Faso has approved a draft law authorizing the dispatch of troops to Niger, according to a government statement in Ouagadougou on Thursday. 
…

A record drought in the Horn of Africa has killed vast numbers of cows, goats and sheep, imperiling the livelihoods of pastoralists like the Maasai in Kenya. Now, a U.S charity called Water is Life Kenya is giving herders new animals and cash. Juma Majanga reports from Enkong’u Narok village.
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Some analysts warn that the choice of countries selected for induction into the BRICS bloc suggests the grouping as a whole may be headed on a path toward decreased tolerance for public dissent and debate.

The five-nation developing bloc, which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, announced on August 24 the admission of six countries into its fold: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Their membership is expected to become effective in January 2024.

Of the six states, four — Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Iran — have a history of heavily clamping down on dissenting voices. Their inclusion draws them closer to Russia and China, both known as authoritarian regimes that allow little engagement by independent civil society groups.

Neil Melvin, director of International Security Studies at London-based Royal United Security Institute, the U.K.’s oldest defense and security policy group, told VOA the selection of these six nations from among some 40 applicants reflected the disparate interests of the existing BRICS members.

“Argentina is there because of its neighbor Brazil. Russia and China also want to bring in Iran. And Egypt is there primarily because of the centrality of the hydrocarbon sector to many of the BRICS countries. And, for South Africa, it likely wanted Ethiopia because of its centrality for African diplomacy,” he said. The African Union is headquartered in Addis Ababa.

“We do see a group of countries that certainly have a democracy problem, and this is strengthening non-democratic trends in the BRICS, and a human rights problem,” Melvin said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has cited Ethiopia, Iran and China among the 10 most censored countries for journalists in the world. Like political analysts, the advocacy group wants openness on the part of BRICS leaders.

Guillen Kaiser, CPJ’s advocacy and communications director, told VOA that because BRICS makes up “a significant portion of the world’s population,” it is imperative for member states, “many of which are repressive regimes,” to accept that their people want to be informed.

“The public wants transparency and accountability. Journalists provide this every day, with reporting that moves markets and allows people to make informed decisions,” she said. “BRICS leaders must accept that ultimately, their chokehold on the flow of information isn’t grounded in reality and it is in their interest to embrace a free press.”

Melvin noted that the BRICS expansion follows Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the refusal by some countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to join the United States and most of Europe in retaliatory sanctions.

The expansion, he said, might be a signal of the bloc’s resolve to lead a new kind of Global South movement to broaden its legitimacy. “But I think this is going to be a very difficult agenda because it is relatively easy to complain about the existing [world] order.”

Melvin said if BRICS expects to offer an alternative to the West, it will have to address the challenges faced by its incoming members — an economic crisis in Argentina and massive debts faced by Ethiopia and Egypt.

“The West has been struggling with this for many years,” he said. “So, can China, Russia and the rest actually put something together? That’s the question they have put on themselves, and they’re going to have to answer that.”

Mandeep Tiwana, chief officer for evidence and engagement at CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance, told VOA that many of the newly inducted BRICS members have a record of suppressing human rights and dismantling the democratic aspirations of their people.

“BRICS is, in a sense, trying to reframe global governance,” Tiwana said. “Because when you have governments that are totalitarian in nature, it is going to create more challenges for people around the world rather than resolve challenges or create a better life for all.”

Tiwana said with Russia and China having disproportionate influence within the bloc, it is still not clear whether democratic states like Brazil, India and South Africa can have a positive influence on the other members.

“The leaders have not openly spoken about this, and our research shows that four of the countries BRICS is admitting have serious civic space restrictions, and so it doesn’t augur well for people-centered decision-making when you practically have no independent civil society in these countries,” he said.

“Our hope is that countries with democratic traditions within the BRICS alliance can influence the others to be more open to civil society so they can involve people in their decision-making.”

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said BRICS would expand more in the future.

This story originated in VOA’s English to Africa Service.
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A campaign in Africa to make beans the answer to food insecurity in areas affected by climate change will begin next week, with a focus on Kenya. A coalition of proponents will present its roadmap for increased production and consumption of beans and similar foods like lentils and peas at the Africa Food Systems Forum, to be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 

“Beans is How,” the name for a coalition of more than 60 non-profit organizations, companies and research institutes, has set its eyes on Kenya, pushing for a 100% increase in the consumption of beans and other foods classified as pulses. 

Jean Claude Rubyogo, head of the Pan-African Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), an organization that pushes for beans as a source of food and income for the continent, said the first step is to help farmers grow more beans. 

“First of all, we need to double the production because if we don’t have enough, like in Kenya, there are many people, maybe half, who would like to eat beans daily and even as a meal but the availability is minimum,” he said. “So, we need to increase productivity, we need to see how we can reduce the cost to the consumer and at the same time incentivize the farmer with better varieties, with better agronomic practices so that they can increase production and productivity.”  

Climate change has affected bean farming just as it has impacted other crops. Unpredictable weather patterns have made it challenging for farmers to cultivate beans and get good harvests.

Experts say low awareness among farmers about utilizing the proper seed varieties for their specific local conditions has led to reduced yields. The presence of pests and diseases has also played a role in declining bean production.

Rubyogo said a reduction of planting and harvesting time can help alleviate the farmers’ hunger and poverty.

“For now, we have varieties going up to 65 days, 70 days, 80 days,” he said. “That’s shorter than any other food crop, so you can see when it’s short, it allows farmers to get cash because it reduces cash hunger periods. It also reduces the hunger period in families so that people can get food in a short period of 70 days. That means you can grow several seasons a year if you invest in water management.”  

Experts are also working on beans that can take less cooking time, saving families energy and time.

Despite not producing enough beans, according to the Global Diet Quality Project, half of Kenyans eat pulses daily.  

Paul Newnham, head of the Sustainable Development Goal 2 Advocacy Hub, which coordinates the Beans is How campaign, said beans are universal and nutritious on top of it.

“Beans is something you find in all different cultures around the world,” he said. “So, you find traditions that have used beans right back from indigenous cultures and all types of different cuisines. Beans are also relatively cheap compared to many other foods … Beans are also super nutritious. They have not only protein, they have fiber, and they have lots of micro-macronutrients. They are also great for the soil.”

Newnham said Beans is How has developed a roadmap to increase the production and consumption of beans.

“The first is to influence and activate a community of bean stakeholders and a champion and influencers in this, being producers, retailers, champions, chefs, young people, and social media influencers, to make beans visible and accessible and desirable and at the same time to build understanding among the decision makers as the value of beans and tackling the policy agenda to ensure and inspire the public to eat, grow more beans, he said.” 

Beans is How will be featured at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Tanzania next week. Bean advocates will host a market stall there, demonstrating ways to cook the food.
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The United Nations says 1 million people have fled Sudan, confounding expectations about the scale of the exodus triggered by the country’s war. While some neighboring states, such as Chad and South Sudan, welcome refugees, others, such as Egypt, are pushing them away. Henry Wilkins reports from Renk, South Sudan, and Adre, Chad.
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The Central African regional bloc ECCAS Thursday condemned the use of force to resolve political conflicts as it called for a rapid return to constitutional order in Gabon.

The Commission of the Economic Community of Central African States said in a statement it was closely monitoring the situation in Gabon, and that heads of state would hold an imminent meeting to discuss the political and security situation.

After army officers said they seized power and placed President Ali Bongo under house arrest Wednesday, other nations condemned the events, including the United States which called for Bongo’s release and the preservation of civilian rule.

“The United States is deeply concerned by evolving events in Gabon.  We remain strongly opposed to military seizures or unconstitutional transfers of power,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Miller also noted concern about “the lack of transparency and reports of irregularities surrounding the election” in Gabon in which Bongo won a third term in office.

The mutinous soldiers announced the coup on national television just moments after the nation’s election commission declared Bongo had won.

The officers said that the election results were invalidated, all state institutions dissolved and all borders closed until further notice.

General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, chief of the Republican Guard, was designated president of the transitional committee.

Oligui is Bongo’s cousin. He had been a bodyguard for Bongo’s late father, President Omar Bongo, and was the head of the secret service before becoming the leader of the guard.

Bongo later appeared in a video calling on “friends of Gabon” to “make some noise” to support him. The 64-year-old president, seated in a chair, said he was at his residence and that his wife and son were elsewhere.

But the crowds that poured into the streets of the capital, Libreville, celebrated the news of the president’s removal, with several demonstrators saying they were glad the Bongo family was out of power.

Bongo first took office in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled the oil-producing country for the previous 42 years.

Opponents say the family has failed to share the country’s oil and mining wealth with its 2.3 million people.

Gabon is a former French colony and one of its closest allies in Africa.

“France condemns the military coup that is underway in Gabon and is closely monitoring developments,” French government spokesperson, Olivier Veran, said Wednesday. Véran restated France’s commitment to free and transparent elections, as did Great Britain and Canada. France has about 400 troops in Gabon.

However, according to a French accountability group, nine members of the Bongo family are under investigation in France, and some face preliminary charges linked to corruption. The family has been linked to more than $92 million in properties in France, including two villas in Nice, according to the group.

Gunfire was heard throughout Libreville after the officers’ initial television appearance. The U.S. Embassy has advised Americans in the capital to shelter in place and limit unnecessary movements.

Flights out of Libreville have been canceled, and the city’s port has halted operations.

Saturday’s elections were overshadowed by a lack of international observers, raising concerns about transparency.

Afterward, Bongo’s government curtailed internet service and imposed a nightly curfew across the nation, saying it was necessary to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Internet access seemed to be at least partially restored after the coup announcement.

The declared coup comes on the heels of last month’s military overthrow of President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger, the latest in a series of coups across West and Central Africa since 2020. Bongo survived an attempted military takeover in January 2019 as he was recovering from a stroke.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.
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A building fire in central Johannesburg, South Africa, killed at least 58 people and injured 43 others.

Emergency Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi released the death toll on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying search and recovery efforts were ongoing.

The fire broke out before dawn in a multi-story building that Mulaudzi said was being used as an informal settlement.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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More than four months into Sudan’s devastating war, arms dealers are struggling to keep up with demand for a trade that is booming, at a deadly cost.

“A Kalashnikov? A rifle? A pistol?” said a 63-year-old dealer known as Wad al-Daou, offering his wares with a resounding laugh.

“The demand for weapons has soared so high that we can’t possibly meet it,” he said at a market near Sudan’s borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Fighting broke out on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The war has killed thousands, displaced millions and flooded the arsenals of a country already awash with weapons.

Arms dealers say prices have skyrocketed, while authorities loyal to the army have repeatedly reported the seizure of “sophisticated” weapons.

On Aug. 10, state media said a shootout erupted in the eastern city of Kassala between soldiers and traffickers over vans loaded with weapons bound for the RSF.

A security official said it was one of “three major seizures of weapons” in Kassala and near the Red Sea port of Suakin.

“That’s in addition to smaller operations,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The newest models

But smugglers say authorities have been unable to curb the arms flow.

“We used to receive a shipment every three months, but now we’re getting one every two weeks,” Daou said.

Even before the war, authorities had sought to curb the massive influx of arms.

At the end of 2022, a government commission charged with rounding up illegal arms estimated there were five million weapons in the hands of Sudan’s 48 million citizens.

This excluded “those held by rebel groups” in the western and southern states of Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile that are served by long-established smuggling routes.

But since the war began, there have been many “fresh faces” trying to make a quick buck, said Saleh, another arms dealer who refused to give his real name.

It’s a “thriving market”, the 35-year-old said after hopping down from his new four-wheel drive clutching two smartphones.

Demand is high, since what began as a war between rival generals has spiraled to include tribes, rebels and civilians desperate to protect themselves.

‘Crossroads’

In a recent video, one of Sudan’s eastern tribes showed hundreds of its members — weapons in hand — vowing to support the army.

Such shows of force are costly, with the price of a Kalashnikov jumping to “$1,500 per rifle, up from $850 before the war,” Saleh said.

More sophisticated arms are even more expensive.

An American M16 rifle goes for $8,500, and a prized Israeli firearm for up to $10,000.

Asked where his weapons come from, Saleh cut the conversation short, only saying “machine guns and assault rifles… come from the Red Sea.”

He refused to elaborate on the supply route that the security official also blames for the arms influx.

“Smugglers take advantage of the war in Yemen and the situation in Somalia” to carry out their business via the southern Red Sea, the official said.

“These groups are connected to international arms trade networks and have massive capabilities.”

Along the coast south of Tokar, near Eritrea, traffickers take advantage of “a weak security presence,” using “isolated ports and the rugged terrain” that others can’t navigate, said the official.

“The border area has always been a crossroads for arms deals, thanks to Ethiopian and Eritrean armed groups at war with their governments,” he added.

‘We don’t ask’

The arms then converge at one spot — the sparsely populated Al-Batana region between the Atbara tributary and Blue Nile state.

In late August, police raided the area, injuring civilians in the process, according to activists.

This is where Daou sells his shipments, to customers he describes as “farmers and herders who want weapons to protect themselves.”

Authorities insist the arms they have found in the country’s east were bound for the RSF, who categorically deny any illicit dealings.

“We are a regular force,” one RSF source said, referring to the paramilitary group’s former status as an auxiliary branch of the army since 2013.

“Our weapons sources are well known and we do not deal with traffickers. We catch them,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

For Saleh, it is inconsequential.

“We sell our weapons to people in Al-Batana,” he said. “We don’t ask them what they’re going to do with them afterwards.”
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Gabon, an oil-rich coastal country in Central Africa, has found itself at the center of global attention as military officers in the nation declared they had seized power in an apparent coup on Wednesday.

The announcement made on state-run television is perhaps the most significant threat to the country’s dynastic leadership and highlights the underlying power struggles that have been simmering for years.

The coup also heightened regional and global concerns about a “coup contagion” gripping West Africa.

The Bongo dynasty

Gabon has been ruled by the Bongo family for more than half a century. Omar Bongo Ondimba, who served as the president of Gabon for 42 years until his death in 2009, was a former French air force officer and politician who took power in the post-independence years.

Omar Bongo’s legacy was carried forward by his son, Ali Bongo Ondimba, who took office after an election in 2009 that saw the worst post-election violence in years. The Bongo family’s extended rule has ensured political stability that is rare for the region, but it has also been dogged by allegations of corruption and nepotism.

“One family has turned the country into a dynasty,” Henry Muguzi, a coordinator for the African Election Observers Network in Kampala, Uganda, told VOA. “Leadership is handed over from father to son, as if there are no other Gabonese that have capacity to do this.”

In 2022, Omar Bongo’s children were charged with corruption and embezzlement of public funds in France. French prosecutors said the Bongo family had fraudulently acquired an estimated $92 million in France. The case is ongoing, and all accused children of Omar Bongo denied any knowledge of the origins of the assets.

In 2010, an investigation by the advocacy group Transparency International campaigned against what it called Bongo’s “ill-gotten gains,” pointing to the need for accountability and financial transparency.

Gabon’s latest presidential election was held Saturday against the backdrop of those historical grievances. Ali Bongo was announced the winner on Wednesday for a third term with 64.27% of the vote, according to the Gabonese Election Centre. But the opposition denounced the results as fraudulent.

Challenges to dynastic rule

The coup Wednesday in the early hours underscores the growing dissatisfaction within segments of Gabonese society regarding the continuation of the family’s rule. While the Bongo family has enjoyed support from some quarters for maintaining stability and relatively strong economic growth, others view their grip on power as emblematic of a political system that stifles democratic processes and hinders social progress.

Critics argue that dynastic leadership can lead to a concentration of power, lack of transparency and a stifling of political debates.

“In a political context, where you have an authoritarian regime for 50 years, such as the Bongos’ regime has been in Gabon, there is no civic space for citizens,” Muguzi told VOA’s English to Africa Service.

Muguzi said the president, who is under house arrest, has remained in power by making amendments to the country’s constitution to extend his power, and that gave little chance for the opposition to fairly compete with the ruling party. This, Muguzi said, is the “kind of recipe for electoral violence, but also for military coups.”

Social and economic disparities

The country of 2 million people has stark social and economic inequality. While the capital, Libreville, showcases pockets of affluence, many Gabonese citizens struggle to make ends meet, complaining of a lack of access to quality health care and inadequate education systems. The perception that the ruling elite benefits disproportionately from the nation’s wealth while neglecting the needs of the broader population has fueled resentment and unrest.

“Gabon is not a very poor country,” said Steven Nabieu Rogers, a public policy and African governance analyst. He added that despite the country’s importance to global commodities markets because of its oil and manganese, the people “have clearly not enjoyed the benefits that the country holds, because only one family has had accounts for a century, [half-century] and more than 70% of this population doesn’t even know any other president, except this one family.”

Oil production accounts for 38% of the country’s GDP, making Gabon the fourth-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank. Despite its mineral riches, 40% of Gabonese between the ages of 15 and 24 are unemployed.

But Rogers predicts “a little bit of change” in its economic stability because of the coup, especially if the military closes borders and suspends the constitution. That will allow a military junta to govern “in a way that is not constitutional, which is not acceptable, because people have a right to vote for the president that they want,” Rogers said in an interview with English to Africa Service’s “Africa 54” TV program.

International reaction

The coup raises concerns about the potential for increased political and economic volatility in the region, with a potential ripple effect beyond Gabon’s borders. Gabon joins a string of former French colonies plagued by coups since 2020, following Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and, most recently, Niger.

International reactions to the coup were swift.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Guterres called for “all actors involved to exercise restraint, engage in an inclusive and meaningful dialogue, and ensure that the rule of law and human rights are fully respected.”

“He also calls on the national army and security forces to guarantee the physical integrity of the president of the republic and his family. The United Nations stands by the people of Gabon,” Dujarric said.

Speaking at a virtual press briefing, John Kirby, U.S. National Security Council communications coordinator, said, “We’re going to also stay focused on continuing to work with our African partners and all the people on the continent to address challenges and to support democracy.”

Kirby said the U.S. would continue to promote “democracy on the continent and around the world, because we think that’s the best type of governance to promote peace and prosperity for people.”

This story originated in the Africa Division. VOA English to Africa Service’s Esther Githui-Ewart and Paul Ndiho; VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara; and VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
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United Nations sanctions on Mali will end on Thursday after Russia vetoed a renewal of the measures me that targeted anyone violating or obstructing a 2015 peace deal, hindering aid delivery, committing rights abuses or recruiting child soldiers.

Independent U.N. sanctions monitors reported to the Security Council this month that Mali’s troops and its foreign security partners, believed to be Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, are using violence against women and other “grave human rights abuses” to spread terror.

Thirteen Security Council members voted in favor of a resolution, drafted by France and the United Arab Emirates, to extend the U.N. sanctions and independent monitoring for another year. Russia cast a veto, while China abstained from the vote.

Russia then instead proposed extending U.N. sanctions in Mali for one final year, but immediately ending the independent monitoring now. It was the only country to vote yes, while Japan voted no and the remaining 13 members abstained.

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the council that Russia wanted to eliminate the independent monitoring “to stifle publication of uncomfortable truths about Wagner’s actions in Mali, which require attention.”

In response, Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told Reuters that was speculation and resembled “paranoia,” adding that Russia was “upholding the interests of the affected country — Mali, as the council is supposed to do.”

The U.S. has also accused Wagner, which has about 1,000 fighters in Mali, of engineering an abrupt request by the junta for a 13,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force to leave. The decade-long operation is due to shutdown by the end of the year.

Mali’s junta, which seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, teamed up with Wagner in 2021 to fight an Islamist insurgency. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash in Russia last week and President Vladimir Putin then ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state.

Mali’s military junta wrote to the Security Council earlier this month to ask for the sanctions to be lifted.

The current annual mandate for the U.N. sanctions regime and independent monitoring will expire Thursday. Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia made clear that Russia would not discuss the issue any further after the two votes Wednesday.

The council established the Mali sanctions regime in 2017, which allowed it to impose travel bans and asset freezes. There are currently eight people subjected to the U.N. sanctions measures. The independent monitors reported to the council twice a year on implementation and potential new designations. 
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Gay rights activists in Nigeria are criticizing the arrest and detention this week of dozens of people who attended a same-sex wedding. It is one of the biggest mass arrests in recent years targeting the country’s LGBTQ community.

A Nigerian police spokesperson said 67 people remained in custody on charges they broke the law by attending the same-sex wedding in the Delta state town of Ekpan.

The Delta state police said they received information about Monday’s wedding after officers on routine patrol Sunday randomly stopped one of the invited guests and interrogated him. It was not clear if he was stopped based on what he was wearing.

The police raided the wedding venue on Monday and rounded up the two grooms, along with guests.

Authorities also paraded the defendants before the media and said the accused will be made to face the law.

“We already have the remand warrant from the court to still have them in custody because we still have more evidence to bring up together,” Bright Edafe, the Delta state police spokesman, told VOA by phone, “but by the end of this week, they’ll be charged to court.”

Edafe said police recovered materials, including hard drugs and gay marriage ceremonial dresses, during the raid.

If convicted, the defendants face 14 years’ imprisonment, according to an anti-homosexuality law that went into effect in 2014. Police said others accused in the case will be jailed for 10 years if convicted.

The latest arrests come five years after police raided a hotel in Lagos and arrested 57 men for homosexuality.

But criticism has been growing following the latest incident. Rights group Amnesty International condemned the arrests in a statement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and asked authorities to “put an immediate end to this witch-hunt.”

The group said that the arrests discriminated based on perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, and that Nigeria’s law was being increasingly used by officers to harass, blackmail and extort victims.

“Basic rights of privacy, freedom of association has been rolled back, and it’s worrying because you don’t see public pushback against this,” said Kayode Somtochukwu Ani, founder of Queer Union for Economic and Social Transformation. “And because these human rights abuses are launched on minorities, particularly minorities … the state knows that they can drum up moral panic about [it].”

Edafe said he disagrees with activists defending the detainees.

“If Amnesty International knows what they’re doing, they’ll know that there’s a law in this country that prohibits gay marriages, so calling the same government who put that law in place to take action, I wonder what kind of action they’re requesting,” he said. “This is Nigeria, and whomever must live in this country must live by the laws of the land.”

Homosexuality is widely viewed as a Western import in many parts of Africa, including Nigeria.

In May, Uganda passed a law that punishes homosexuality by imposing the death sentence, despite pressure from Western governments and rights organizations. Two men this week were charged under the new law for what authorities called “aggravated homosexuality.”
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The apparent military coup in Gabon Wednesday is raising concern about the future of countries in the Central African economic bloc CEMAC, which has some of the world’s longest serving leaders.

Several dozen youths, a majority of them students from the University of Yaounde, watch attentively as soldiers declare on Gabonese TV that the military, united in a transitional committee, is putting an end to the leadership of President Ali Bongo.

The 64-year-old Bongo has ruled Gabon, an oil-producing nation, since succeeding his father Omar Bongo, who died in 2009 after 42 years in power.

Gabon held elections on August 26 with Ali Bongo running for re-election. But contested results indicate 69-year-old Albert Ondo Ossa, a former minister and university professor, won the poll. Ondo said Ali Bongo wanted to steal his victory.

Anong Jacob, a secondary school teacher in Yaounde, says post-election confusion in Gabon has given the military an opportunity to seize power, claiming that they want freedom for civilians, just like the militaries of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.

“It is a shared feeling with those in Niger who are thinking at the moment that the time is now or never. They have all the resources, gold, diamond, timber and all of that, but we don’t have any of the industries or factories that can process these materials, all are transported to the West and we have little or nothing to benefit from it,” he said.

Gabon is a member of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, an economic bloc that has some of the world’s longest serving leaders.

Eighty-one-year-old President Teodora Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea won elections for a sixth term in 2022. Obiang came to power in a 1979 military coup and is the world’s longest-serving head of state.

In the Republic of Congo, 80-year-old Denis Sassou Nguesso has been president for all but five of the last 44 years.

And in Cameroon, 90-year-old Paul Biya has been the president for 41 years, since 1982.

Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera hasn’t been around as long but recently extended the presidential term from five to seven years and did away with the two-term limit for presidents. The C.A.R. opposition says Touadera created a life presidency for himself.

Langeh Ngah Derick, lecturer at the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, says these leaders’ desire to hang onto power is causing systematic problems and widespread frustration.

“Something has to be done especially in French tropical Africa, ex-French colonies, particularly where egoistic interest frustrates most of the youths,” he said. “You come out from the university, policies do not favor your integration into the system and to help build your nation especially in some of these Francophone African countries.” 

Ngah said if the opposition in French-speaking central African countries remains fragmented and leaders keep their strong grip on power, the trend of militaries taking power — as happened in Gabon Wednesday — may spread even further.
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An original animated series from Africa has made its debut on the Netflix streaming platform. The series, dubbed “Supa Team 4,” was written by a young Zambian and takes place in a futuristic version of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. Kathy Short reports from Lusaka. VOA footage by Richard Kille.
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Two Ugandan males have become the first people who may face the death penalty under Uganda’s new anti-homosexuality law.

Prosecutors accuse Julius Byaruhanga in the eastern district of Jinja of performing a sexual act with a boy aged 12.

Another man, 20-year-old Michael Opolot allegedly performed an unlawful act of sexual intercourse with a 41-year-old male in the eastern city of Soroti.

Justine Balya, a lawyer from the group Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, is defending Opolot. She said her client was reportedly seen engaging in a sexual act in a public space with a person who has a disability. 

Opolot now faces a possible death sentence if convicted under the anti-homosexuality law that took effect in June.

“Having the death penalty on the books, that changes significantly the protections that one is entitled to while they are waiting for trial,” Bayla said. “And it certainly makes trial remand a punishment in and of itself.”

Because the case involves a capital offense, Opolot will probably have to wait between three and four years for his case to be heard.  

Balya said several other cases involving alleged homosexuality are waiting to go to trial in Ugandan courts. 

“We also have a case of a lady who has been charged with promotion of homosexuality and homosexuality because of what they allege people were doing at a massage parlor that she owns. And of course, there’s a host of other cases that are not in court but where people have been charged formally with homosexuality, promotion of homosexuality, even child grooming in one case.” 

Frank Mugisha, a lawyer and activist, said these cases are textbook examples of a witch hunt for lesbian, gay and transgender people. 

“Those people have not identified themselves as LGBTQ,” Mugisha said. “But the fact that there’s an assumption that they were engaging in same-sex acts. And then they are saying one person is living with disability. Which automatically the prosecution will have to prefer the death penalty under aggravated homosexuality. It’s exactly as activists what we’ve been saying that this law can be wrongly interpreted.” 

Uganda last hanged a convict in 1999 and in 2005 formally scrapped the death penalty. 

But the anti-homosexuality law reintroduced the death penalty for the offense of aggravated homosexuality, a move that gay rights activists have strongly criticized and are challenging in the courts. 

During the passing of the law, government authorities argued that they were protecting the moral values and principles of the Ugandan society against what they termed corrupt Western values.

Meanwhile, journalists and media houses in Uganda say they fear heavy fines or the loss of their registration if they are somehow found guilty of “promoting homosexuality,” a term critics say has been vaguely explained in the law.
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A group of army officers in the central African nation of Gabon say they have overthrown the government of President Ali Bongo.

The officers announced the coup early Wednesday morning on national television channel Gabon 24, hours after the nation’s election commission had announced that President Bongo had won a third term in last week’s general elections.

The group said that the election results were invalidated, all state institutions dissolved and all borders closed until further notice. 

“We have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” one of the officers said.

Bongo first took office in 2009, after the death of his father, Omar Bongo who had become president in 1967.

Gunfire was heard throughout Gabon’s capital, Libreville, after the television appearance.

Some information for this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse.

 
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In July, India banned exports of non-basmati rice to keep prices low at home. But that ban is causing problems for rice mills in Nigeria. Alhassan Bala reports from Kano, Nigeria.
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Somali President Says Military Operations Against Al-Shabab Will Continue Until ‘Final Victory’
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Malawi’s main opposition party is pushing for the resignation of President Lazarus Chakwera over a looming economic crisis resulting in fuel shortages, a scarcity of foreign exchange and increased grain prices.

A government spokesperson said pushing Chakwera to resign is unrealistic.

Dalitso Kabambe, a presidential aspirant for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), told reporters that the country’s economy is heading into a crisis.

“You see the inflation is very, very high at 28 percent,” said Kabambe. “Exchange rate is wobbling and there is no forex available. When you see growth, it has been subdued for some time now. All these are indicators that the economy has overheated and that it needs to be stabilized.”

Kabambe, also a former governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, said the problem is that the current administration has no expertise managing the economy.

“To stabilize the economy, that’s the big boy’s job to ensure that now you have opening up as many businesses as possible, you are developing as many mines as possible and in the agriculture sector you are producing large volumes of food and you are getting a lot of surplus for exports,” he said. “That’s the big man’s job because that is what will help the country to grow the economy.”

DPP spokesperson Shadreck Namalomba said the president should resign so other people can take over and address the economic problems Malawians are facing.

Ezekiel Ching’oma, a spokesperson for the Malawi Congress Party, a leading party in the governing Tonse Alliance, would not take a call from VOA to comment on the matter.

Government spokesperson Moses Kunkuyu told a local media outlet on Monday that DPP officials were making the remarks out of anger emanating from bitterness over losing elections in 2020.

Kunkuyu, also the minister of information, said Malawi faces economic challenges largely because of trends that have destabilized global economies. Pushing the president to resign is unrealistic, he said.

“What we can say is that President Lazarus Chakwera has not failed to run the affairs of the country,” Kunkuyu said. “The country has taken a path to recovery and we are not where we were when President Chakwera came into office three years ago. This country was worse than where we are today.”

Chakwera took office in 2020 after defeating DPP leader Peter Mutharika in a rerun election.

Chakwera later announced an anti-corruption campaign that saw several officials from the DPP arrested, a move that its president, Mutharika, called political persecution.

Political analyst George Phiri told VOA it is unjustified for the opposition DPP to call for Chakwera’s resignation because it also messed up the economy.

“Because the situation on the ground does not really show that people are looking to DPP and Mutharika for a solution to our situation,” said Phiri. “No, because the surveys around can show clearly that Malawians are not on Peter Mutharika and DPP, they are on somebody else.”

Phiri said Malawians are only waiting for the 2025 elections to choose whom they want.

“People are saying leave the current government until 2025 when we will have the power to bring it back or to throw it out,” said Phiri. “So, it is only when we vote that a government can get out or can remain.”

Malawi’s agricultural sector suffered severe devastation in March due to Cyclone Freddy — the country’s fifth extreme weather event since 2016 — which claimed some 500 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands.

The cyclone came at a time when Malawi was facing several other crises, including inflated food prices and the worst cholera epidemic in decades.

Phiri said that, in the meantime, the Chakwera administration should work on fixing the country’s economic problems if it wants to win back people’s confidence.
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With no political solution in sight, the United Nations refugee agency warns that Niger’s political crisis could rapidly deteriorate into a humanitarian crisis as attacks by non-state armed groups continue and sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States on the country begin to bite.

Since a military coup ousted Niger’s democratically elected president on July 26, “there has been a crisis of uncertainty,” said Emmanuel Gignac, the representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Niger.

“It is difficult to see what will happen,” but given the unsettled situation, he said, “the UNHCR and U.N. agencies are developing contingency plans to be prepared for whatever emergency may arise.”

Gignac said violence and attacks by armed groups, especially near the Mali and Burkina Faso borders, have displaced more than 20,000 people in the last month.

During the same period, he noted that up to 2,500 refugees, mainly from Mali and Burkina Faso and some from Nigeria, have fled into Niger — a situation that “has heightened protection risks for refugees, asylum-seekers, and their hosts.”

Currently, said the UNHCR, Niger is hosting 700,000 forcibly displaced people; half are refugees and asylum seekers and the other half are internally displaced people.

On a visit to Geneva from his post in Niamey, Gignac told journalists Tuesday that Niger’s status as a hub for refugees was in jeopardy.

“It is also a route, a migration route towards North Africa and Libya in particular,” he said. “And we do have asylum seekers and people in need of international protection who are mixed with these movements.”

Because the borders are closed, he said, it was not clear whether these flows would continue.

“If they do,” he said, “they will have to happen in a way that is far more underground than what they used to be. So, this may also lead to more exploitation and abuses.”

Additionally, Gignac noted that since the UNHCR established the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) in 2017, Niger also has offered protection to more than 4,242 vulnerable asylum-seekers and refugees evacuated from Libya.

“Prior to the July 26 coup, an ETM flight from Libya was planned for the fourth quarter,” he said. “UNHCR is awaiting approval from authorities for the transfer and will keep monitoring conditions to determine the feasibility of bringing new ETM refugees into the country.”

Concern about sanctions, military intervention

Gignac said the threat of military intervention by ECOWAS, though seemingly unlikely, hung in the air and must be taken seriously. He said he was particularly concerned by the sanctions imposed by ECOWAS, which made no exceptions for humanitarian relief.

He called for the sanctions to be lifted, warning that the inability to bring sufficient humanitarian aid into the country would have a catastrophic effect.

“The fact that people do not have access to, as they used to have, to food commodities and the scarcity of goods in general will lead to a number of protection risks that will develop,” he said. “We are talking about early marriage, sexual violence, trafficking and exploitation.”

He said the sanctions already were creating difficulties as they kicked in during Niger’s so-called “hunger period”—the time before the next harvest when food stocks are at their lowest.

“These factors, with an expected increase in agitation by non-state armed groups, as well as ongoing heavy rains, have worsened the already dire humanitarian outlook for vulnerable populations,” he said.

Gignac said the two main non-state actors in Niger were Islamic State militants who operate on the Mali side of the border, and an al-Qaida affiliated group based on a riverbank near Burkina Faso. He added that criminal gangs in the Mali region “enacted similar damage and acts of violence.”

Violence increases since coup

The UNHCR, which has a well-developed monitoring system that tracks incidents of abuse, found there to be 255 incidents in July including kidnapping, gender-based violence and domestic violence. The agency blames the incidents on militants and criminal gangs.

“These data are in line with other months of 2023,” said Gignac. “UNHCR teams have witnessed a sharp increase in such incidents since July 26” noting that “between July 26 and July 31, we observed a 50 percent increase in similar incidents from the earlier weeks in July.”

For now, Gignac said there have been no reports of large movements of people fleeing from Niger to neighboring countries. But given the political crisis, related uncertainties, and the potential for increased inter-communal violence, he said, this could change.

“If there was a military intervention, we know that Nigeria would play a key role in the force,” he said, adding that Nigerians comprised nearly two-thirds of the 350,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Niger.

“How would the host community react?” he asked. “On the one hand, generously hosting refugees from Nigeria and on the other hand being a kind of attacker, you know?”
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Cameroon officials say a fifth case of polio was reported in the capital, Yaounde, this week, despite the launching of a new polio vaccination campaign in the central African country and its neighbors. Health officials are increasing surveillance and encouraging parents, many of whom still resist vaccination programs, to have their children inoculated. 

Cameroon’s health ministry says that five cases of type-2 poliovirus variants were discovered in the central African state’s capital, Yaounde, this week.  

The Cameroon government says sequencing results indicate the virus belongs to the NIE-ZAS-1 group that circulates in Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria.

The five cases constitute a national public health emergency given the high risk of the virus spreading very fast in the ongoing rainy season, according to the government.

Alma Mpiki is a pediatrician at Cameroon’s health ministry. She said to stop the spread of the disease as soon as possible the government of Cameroon has increased efforts to vaccinate all children under the age of five.

“There are still sporadic cases (of polio), that is why even though we are beginning to move towards the injectable form of the vaccines, we still continue to give the oral vaccination which is helpful and more efficient in protecting children,” she said.

Alma said the government is sending caravans to markets and communities to ask civilians to make sure all children are vaccinated.

Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease that is caused when the polio virus invades the nervous system of an infected person. The World Health Organization says polio has no cure and can cause paralysis and even death. 

The outbreak was reported three months after the launch of Africa’s largest polio vaccination campaign since 2020.

Cameroon health officials say they joined the massive inoculation exercise to reach out to children whose parents were refusing to take the children to hospitals for inoculation because of fear of the coronavirus.

Tchockfe Shalom Ndoula is the permanent secretary of Cameroon’s Expanded Vaccination Program.

Tchokfe said the inoculation exercise launched in May was a combined effort by Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic and Niger to immunize a total 21 million children under the age of five. He said before this week’s outbreak in Cameroon, 14 type-2 poliovirus infections were detected in sub-Saharan African countries.

Tchocfe said one case was detected in Niger, six confirmed cases were reported in Chad, and seven more in the Central African Republic since January.

Cameron’s health ministry says more than three million children in the country have been inoculated against polio since May. 
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African women are looking for different ways to style their hair, particularly to reduce the use of harsh chemicals that can have adverse health effects. One option is synthetic hair. While no apparent health issues are associated with its use, disposing of it raises environmental concerns. As Juma Majanga reports, women in Kenya’s Kisumu County have found a clever way of recycling it. Camera — Amos Wangwa
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