ABUJA, Nigeria — Yunusa Bawa spends a lot of time talking about the vaccine for the human papillomavirus that is responsible for nearly all cases of cervical cancer. But on most days, only two or three people allow their daughters to be vaccinated in the rural part of Nigeria where he works.

The challenge in Sabo community, on the outskirts of the capital of Abuja, is the unfounded rumor that the HPV vaccine will later keep young girls from giving birth.

“The rumor is too much,” said Bawa, 42.

As more African countries strive to administer more HPV vaccines, Bawa and other health workers tackle challenges that slow progress, particularly misinformation about the vaccine. The World Health Organization’s Africa office estimates that about 25% of the population still has doubts about it — reflecting concerns seen in some other parts of the world in early campaigns for the vaccine.

A common sexually transmitted virus, HPV can cause cervical cancer, certain other cancers and genital warts. In most cases, the virus doesn’t cause any problems, but some infections persist and eventually lead to cancer.

Across Africa, an average of 190 women died daily from cervical cancer in 2020, accounting for 23% of the deaths globally and making it the leading cancer killer among women in the WHO Africa region of 47 countries. Eighteen of the 20 countries with the highest rate of cervical cancer cases in the world are in Africa. Yet the region’s HPV vaccination rate has been low.

More than half of Africa’s 54 nations – 28 – have introduced the vaccine in their immunization programs, but only five have reached the 90% coverage that the continent hopes to achieve by 2030. Across the region, 33% of young girls have been vaccinated with HPV.

It’s a stark contrast to most European countries, where both girls and boys have been receiving HPV shots.

Part of why Africa has a high burden of cervical cancer is because of limited access to screening for women, said Emily Kobayashi, head of the HPV Program at the vaccines alliance Gavi.

“The elimination strategy is a long game … but we know that vaccination is the strongest pillar and one of the easiest to implement,” Kobayashi said.

But “it is one thing to introduce the vaccine, but if the vaccine remains in the fridge, it doesn’t prevent cervical cancer,” said Charles Shey Wiysonge, head of the vaccine-preventable diseases program in the WHO’s Africa region. He said information must be provided by people “who are trusted, people who are close to the communities.”

There is a long history of vaccine hesitancy in many African countries that is sometimes linked to a lack of trust in government, as one study published in the Nature science journal in May found, giving room for conspiracy theories and misinformation from social media influencers and religious leaders.

In Zimbabwe, where cervical cancer is the most frequent cancer among women, a group of mostly women known as Village Health Workers have been trained to raise awareness about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine in rural areas. But they fight a high level of hesitancy among religious sects that discourage followers from modern medicines, asking them to rely instead on prayers and “anointed” water and stones.

The women who eventually agree to be screened for cervical cancer do so in secret, said Zanele Ndlovu, one of the health workers on the outskirts of Bulawayo city.

For a deeply religious country like Zimbabwe, “the spiritual leaders have so much influence that a lot of our time is taken trying to educate people about the safety of vaccines, or that they are not ungodly,” Ndlovu said.

There are also success stories in Africa where authorities have achieved up to a 90% vaccination rate. One example is Ethiopia, which relies heavily on religious leaders, teachers and hotline workers.

In Rwanda, the first African country to implement a national HPV vaccination program in 2011, the coverage rate has reached 90%. Hesitancy is less of an issue due to vigorous awareness work that has relied on school-based campaigns and community outreach programs, said Dr. Theoneste Maniragaba, director of the cancer program at Rwanda Biomedical Center.

Mozambique has deployed school-based programs, a door-to-door approach and mobile outreach for girls in hard-to-reach areas that has helped it reach 80% coverage rate with the first of two doses. In Tanzania, where the HPV vaccine has been in use since at least 2018, authorities in April launched a campaign to target over 5 million girls and further raise coverage, which has reached 79% of girls with the first dose.

One of Africa’s largest HPV vaccination drives targeting girls recently kicked off in Nigeria, which has procured nearly 15 million doses with the help of the U.N. children’s agency. It will target girls ages 9–14 with single doses that the WHO’s African immunization advisory group has said is as effective as the regular two doses.

One challenge is explaining the HPV vaccination to girls ahead of the onset of sexual activity, especially in conservative societies, said Dr. Aisha Mustapha, a gynecologist in northern Kaduna state.

Mustapha has been successfully treated for cervical cancer. She said the experience helps in her meetings with religious leaders and in community outreach programs in Kaduna, where she leads the Medical Women Association of Nigeria.

They try to make the girls feel comfortable and understand why the vaccine is important, she said. That sometimes requires comic books and lots of singing.

“The (cervical) cancer … is no respecter of any identity,” she said. “The vaccine is available, it is free, it is safe and effective.”
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Blantyre, Malawi    — Malawi’s Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed the case of two applicants who wanted it to legalize same-sex relationships. State lawyers welcomed the ruling while lawyers for the applicants expressed disappointment.

The applicants, Jan Willem Akster from the Netherlands and a Malawian transgender man, Jana Gonani, brought their case to the Constitutional Court for interpretation of Malawi’s anti-homosexuality laws following their arrest in 2021.

Akster is currently facing nine charges of sexual abuse and sodomy, while Gonani is charged with unnatural offenses.

They said Malawi’s laws violate their fundamental rights, including a right to privacy and dignity.

However, Judges Joseph Chigona, Vikochi Chima and Chimbizgani Kacheche rejected their arguments.

Chigona said the applicants failed to bring evidence of how the provisions in the country’s laws discriminated against homosexuals.

Chigona also said Akster failed to prove that Malawi’s laws violated his right to health.

“The first applicant was asked in a cross examination if he had ever accessed a public hospital and replied that he had gone to Zomba Central Hospital after he had been involved in a car accident,” Chigona said. “When he was asked about his experience there, especially if he was asked about his sexual orientation before he was assisted, he said he was not. He actually said that he was medically assisted so well. The only complaint he had about the facility were spiders in the ward.”

Chigona said the court also dismissed claims that Malawi police violated Gonani’s right to privacy when they ordered him to undress, to confirm his claims that he was transgender.

“We know that by Section 24 of Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code that police are empowered to search a suspect who is reasonably suspected of having committed a particular offense and who has been arrested,” the judge said. “The caveat is that the search only extends as it is reasonably required for discovering a thing upon this person in connection to the offenses he was suspected of.”

Minority rights activists and religious leaders attended the delivery of the judgment, which took over six hours.

Rights activist Michael Kaiyatsa of the Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation said he was not happy with the ruling but would comment more after going through the written judgment.

Defense attorney Bob Chimkango said, “To be honest, we are satisfied with the process, but the only thing that we may not be agreeing with is the judgment itself. But it’s too early to comment as you will notice it’s a 135-page document. We were just listening — we were not working on it. So we will be waiting for it to be given to us, analyze it and then advise the client accordingly.”

A spokesperson for Ministry of Justice, Frank Namangale told reporters outside the court that the government was happy with the ruling.

Same-sex marriages have been a controversial issue in Malawi.

In July 2023, religious leaders led street protests across the country against the potential legalization of same-sex marriage.

Friday’s judgment means homosexuality remains an offense in Malawi, punishable by a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

The Constitutional Court said Friday that the applicants were free to ask parliament to amend the country’s homosexuality laws if they were not satisfied with its judgment.
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In Kenya, where same-sex relations constitute a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison, the only option for the LGBTQ+ community to meet is through dating apps and social media. But now, those Kenyans say, the platforms are being used to trap victims in a web of blackmail, extortion and physical and sexual assault. Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi, Kenya. Camera: Amos Wangwa.
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Johannesburg — “Kenya is not IMF’s lab rat,” was just one of many slogans condemning the International Monetary Fund that was seen this week on demonstrators’ placards at protests in Kenya against proposed tax hikes. 

The protests, fueled by tech-savvy youth on social media, were sparked by the Kenyan government’s plans to significantly raise taxes to pay off its enormous debt. 

The government did a U-turn after things turned deadly Tuesday when protesters broke into parliament in Nairobi and police opened fire, killing over 20 people, according to rights groups. 

Embattled President William Ruto announced he was listening to the protesters’ concerns and was scrapping his controversial finance bill. He said he would instead introduce budget cuts and austerity measures to try to shore up the country’s finances.   

But the chaotic events in one of Africa’s major economies, also a key U.S. ally, have led to questions about the debt choking many developing countries, and who is to blame. 

International financial institutions  

Kenya owes $80 billion in domestic and foreign debt. Its debt stands at 68 percent of GDP, well above the World Bank and IMF’s recommended maximum of 55 percent. 

The tax hikes in Ruto’s unpopular bill were aimed at avoiding default and came after an agreement earlier this month between Kenya and the IMF on a comprehensive reform package.   

Most of Kenya’s debt is owed to international bondholders, while its biggest bilateral creditor is China, to which it owes $5.7 billion.    

Washington frequently accuses Beijing of “debt trap diplomacy” — unscrupulous lending that leaves developing countries overly burdened. China, which has undertaken large infrastructure projects across Africa under President Xi Jinping’s global Belt and Road Initiative, vehemently rejects the allegations. 

Experts have different takes on whether China or Western monetary institutions are to blame for Kenya’s current woes. Kenya owes billions of dollars to Western countries and the IMF as well as China. 

“The key culprit is the lack of a well-functioning global financial safety net,” said Kevin P. Gallagher, director of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.  

“Programs from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank made the situation worse, rather than better, and the flaws in the G20 Common Framework to work out debt problems were seen as too risky for Kenya to enter into,” he said, referring to the debt restructuring mechanism that other indebted African countries like Zambia and Ghana have been using. 

China’s role 

Gallagher said China’s loans to Kenya have decreased in recent years, according to his university’s data, and it has little to do with the East Africa country’s debt woes. 

“Indeed, the Kenyan case disproves accusations of ‘debt-trap diplomacy’ on the part of China. If China was doing debt trap diplomacy it would be seizing Kenyan assets, instead Chinese capital has been the most patient during these rough times,” Gallagher told VOA. 

David Shinn, a former U.S. diplomat, said the blame couldn’t be placed on any one factor. 

“China is the largest bilateral lender, but its loans are quite modest when compared to the international financial institutions and holders of Eurobonds,” he told VOA. 

“All of these players share the blame for too much debt. The Kenyan government should not have allowed itself to take on so much debt and those who offered loans should have been more circumspect,” he continued.  

Alex Vines, director of the Africa Program at Chatham House, was also even-handed, saying, “China is part of the debt burden, but private equity is also contributing to the overall burden.”  

Aly-Khan Satchu, a Kenya-based economist, said Kenya was “in a perfect debt storm.”  

“You know you’d get whiplash for looking at Kenya’s politics. From a period of looking east, we’re back to looking west again … and therefore a big decision has been made to wrestle Kenya away from the Chinese orbit, with the support of the World Bank and the IMF.” 

However, Satchu said, one of the problems is that Kenya has had to reroute some of the IMF and World Bank’s money in order to pay its debts to China, particularly for a Chinese-built railway.  

Harry Verhoeven, a senior researcher at Columbia University, told VOA neither China nor the IMF is uniquely responsible for Kenya’s problems. 

“I think the IMF is not wrong in its diagnosis that there’s not enough revenue being raised, I think that’s certainly right,” he said. “Where you can be more critical of the IMF is, so far at least, that it hasn’t spoken up very much … about the distributional effects of how that revenue should be raised, or what the government has proposed to raise it.” 

Other factors 

Analysts note it wasn’t just loans that got Kenya into its fiscal predicament. The country was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and has also suffered from the fallout of Russia’s war on Ukraine — which has seen global food and energy prices rise. Climate change-induced floods have also hurt the country’s economy. 

Samuel Misati Nyandemo, a senior economics lecturer at the University of Nairobi, said the Kenyan government, having withdrawn the controversial finance bill, now has a tough road ahead.  

“The government should try to balance between raising revenues and address the cost of living and doing business in the midst of entrenched corruption, impunity and wastage of public resources,” he said. 

Kenya, he warned, might not be the last African country where frustrations boil over and citizens take to the streets.  

In impassioned remarks in April, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “the world cannot afford to continue throwing developing countries’ plans and futures onto a raging bonfire of debt.” 

He said around 40% of the world’s population now live in countries that spend more on interest payments than health or education.
…

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — Nigeria and Cameroon said Thursday they would no longer seek a court ruling to settle their disputed border.

Rather, the two nations said, joint delegations will validate a demarcation plan on site and put an end to long-standing territorial disputes.

The nations share about 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles) of border, from Lake Chad in the north of the Gulf of Guinea to the Atlantic Ocean coast.

Leonardo Santos Simao, chairperson of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission set up by the United Nations to solve the countries’ territorial disputes, said he is delighted the two countries decided to resolve their disputes without long and expensive processes at the International Court of Justice.

The agreement to peacefully resolve border disputes before the end of 2025 was made at a meeting of the Mixed Commission on Wednesday and Thursday in Yaounde. Simao called it a milestone.

The two countries agreed to visit disputed territories in Rumsiki and Tourou in northern Cameroon and Koche in eastern Nigeria before the end of 2024.

Nigerian Justice Minister Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, who is the leader of the West African state’s delegation to the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, confirmed that the countries have agreed to complete the project within 12 months.

“It’s a consensus between Cameroon and Nigeria. By the end of 2025, this project should be concluded,” he said. “We have so admirably and maturely handled the situation in such a way that there is hardly any dissent. We are satisfied with the outcome of the two-day meeting, and we are hopeful that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Cameroon and Nigeria say the border demarcation was slowed by Boko Haram terrorism in both countries. They say that the Boko Haram group’s firepower is drastically reduced now and that the demarcation can continue.

The two states say they will move past existing differences over the precise location of the border in about 30 villages.

The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission was established in 2002 at the request of President Paul Biya of Cameroon and the then-Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo to facilitate the implementation of an October 10, 2002, International Court of Justice ruling that ceded Bakassi, an oil-rich border peninsula, to Cameroon.

Nigeria initially rejected the verdict, with its senate arguing that the ruling, based on a colonial era agreement, was unfair and should be appealed. But Nigerian officials said the verdict should be respected.
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Nigeria is one of the world’s leading producers of ginger, but a massive outbreak of fungal disease last year caused millions of dollars of damage. The Nigerian government has launched an emergency recovery intervention to help ginger farmers. Timothy Obiezu reports from Kaduna.
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HARARE, ZIMBABWE — The head of U.S. Africa Command denied Thursday claims by Zimbabwean government officials that Washington is setting up a military base in neighboring Zambia and wants to move AFRICOM operations there from Germany.

At an online press briefing, General Michael Langley, head of AFRICOM, rejected Zimbabwe’s claims that the United States is establishing a base in neighboring Zambia.

“That’s absolutely false,” Langley said from an African Chiefs of Defense Conference in Botswana. “We have no bases in Zambia. We have no plans to put one there.”

He said the U.S.’s approach on the continent is “African-led and U.S.-enabled.”

“We have a deep partnership with Zambia,” he said. “We have increased security cooperation with them. But there is no footprint. There’s no posture. There’s no base.”

Zimbabwean officials declined to comment to VOA about Langley’s remarks. But Rutendo Matinyarare, chairperson of the pro-government Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Movement, alleged that Langley held a briefing in Lusaka and that the U.S. was setting up the AFRICOM hub in Zambia.

Matinyarare claimed that several businesspeople who have flown into the country have seen a substantial amount of American military equipment at Zambia’s airport.

“And so, the question is, ‘What are these weapons doing in Zambia?’” he said.

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema denies that his country is being militarized by the U.S. He says Zambia’s army has exchange programs with a number of countries, including the U.S., which should not be mistaken for the U.S. establishing a base.

Zambia says it has called on two regional bodies — the African Union and the Southern African Development Community — to mediate talks with Zimbabwe. Zambia and Zimbabwe are members of both organizations.

Zambian officials have also said the fallout stems from comments that Zimbabwean President Emerson Mnangagwa made during a recent trip to Russia — namely, the accusation that the U.S. has been militarizing Zambia to consolidate power in the region and isolate Zimbabwe.

Western countries imposed travel and financial sanctions on Zimbabwe’s leadership and affiliated companies in the early 2000s for alleged election rigging and human rights abuses. The U.S. recently removed sanctions on most Zimbabweans, but a few prominent figures — including Mnangagwa — remain on the list.

Meanwhile, Langley told reporters that top regional security challenges throughout Africa were discussed at the just-ended defense conference.

“Our African partners want this conference here because they want to own it. But we are AFRICOM, and the U.S. government is here because we have common values, common objectives, that will affect stability, security and prosperity on the continent,” he said.

This year’s conference provided a “valuable wealth of information” and lessons ahead of talks next year, Langley said.
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YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — The Central African Republic government has rejected calls from the opposition and civic society groups to postpone the country’s first local elections in more than 35 years. Opponents of the polls say funds are not available and security remains fragile at best, but the CAR government and the United Nations assert the October elections will help restore democracy and peace to the troubled state.

The Central African Republic’s opposition and civil society groups say a day hardly goes by in the country without reports of rebels either killing civilians or abducting people for ransom.

Rebels and armed groups also loot for survival and create chaos in towns and villages across the borders in Cameroon, Sudan, South Sudan, and three other neighboring countries.

Martin Ziguele is the leader of the MLPC party, the Movement for the Liberation of the People of the CAR. He also served as the country’s prime minister from 2001 to 2003.

He said the violence makes it impossible for local elections to be held in October of this year as the CAR government plans.

Ziguele said besides asking the government to bring back peace to the troubled state before any local elections, opposition and civil society want structural reforms so that the CAR has an independent elections management body. He said he is surprised that the CAR wants to organize local elections this year when the political, economic and security situation that prevented elections in 2023 has not improved.

Ziguele spoke Thursday at a press conference in the CAR capital, Bangui, and said elections will be disrupted if the central African state’s government fails to listen to opposition and civil society. 

Ziguele did not say his party or others would disrupt the polls.  

Opposition and civil society groups accuse CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera of preparing to rig the local elections in favor of his party, the United Hearts Movement, or MCU. They say by organizing an August 2023 referendum to scrap a two-term limit and extend the presidential mandate from five to seven years, Touadera indicated he wants to consolidate power.

Touadera, who was voted president of CAR in 2016, rejects the accusation and said he is responding civilians’ call to lead the country out of sectarian violence.

Maxime Balalou is the government spokesperson.

He said the government of the CAR has taken enough security measures to stop what he calls selfish opposition and civil society groups that want to see the central African nation in chaos by disrupting local elections. Balalou said it is an open secret that opposition and civil society groups calling for a boycott of polls are very unpopular and cannot democratically win local elections.

Balalou spoke Thursday on state TV. He said MINUSCA, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, is protecting civilians and reducing a humanitarian, human rights and political crisis.

This month, MINUSCA and the United Nations Development Program signed a $1 million agreement to help civilians register and qualify to vote in the October local elections. The CAR says it needs $15 million to organize the elections, a date for which has not yet been made public. 

The government says elections, which have not taken place since 1988 because of political instability and armed conflict will restore peace and democracy and reinstitute local governance and accountability. 

The C.A.R. has been engulfed in violence and chaos since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power and forced then-President Francois Bozize from office. A Christian-dominated militia called the anti-Balaka fought back, and both groups were accused of killing civilians.

The fighting has forced close to a million Central Africans to flee to neighboring countries.
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United Nations — A new U.N.-backed report says hunger in war-torn Sudan is at unprecedented levels, with more than 25 million people experiencing emergency levels of hunger, 755,000 in catastrophic conditions, and the risk of famine in several regions.

“WFP’s team in Sudan is working day and night in perilous conditions to deliver lifesaving assistance, yet these numbers confirm that time is fast running out to prevent famine,” Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program, said in a statement Thursday. “For each person we have reached this year, another eight desperately need help.”

McCain said humanitarians urgently need more funding and also for access to be massively expanded so they can scale-up relief operations.

Food security experts gathered the data between April 21 and June 13. Their latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, report says Sudan is facing the worst levels of acute food insecurity ever recorded by the IPC in the country. The IPC was established in 2004.

The experts concluded that more than half of the population — 25.6 million people — are projected to experience crisis levels of hunger or worse during the lean season, which runs from now through September.

In 10 of Sudan’s 18 states, 755,000 people are facing IPC 5 – or catastrophe levels. That includes all five states comprising Greater Darfur, South and North Kordofan, Blue Nile, Al Jazirah, and Khartoum states.

The food experts warned that if the conflict escalates further, there is a risk of famine in 14 areas, including Greater Darfur, Greater Kordofan, Al Jazirah states and some hotspots in the capital, Khartoum.

The IPC says its latest findings “mark a stark and rapid deterioration” of the food security situation compared to their last report in December. The report said 17.7 million people were facing acute hunger, including nearly 5 million people in emergency levels of hunger. Now, the IPC says that emergency level has risen to a projected 8.5 million people.

Children are at particular risk.

“Hunger and malnutrition are spreading at alarming rates, and without concerted international action and funding, there is a very real danger the situation will spiral out of all control,” Catherine Russell, executive director of the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, said in a statement.

“There is no time to lose,” she said. “Any delay in unfettered access to vulnerable populations will be measured in the loss of children’s lives.”

A power struggle between the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces for the last 14 months has created a massive humanitarian crisis. More than 6 million people have been internally displaced, on top of the nearly 4 million who were displaced before the current conflict. Another 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, including Chad, South Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia.

The WFP says it has reached more than 3 million displaced and vulnerable people in Sudan since January, and it is scaling up to reach 5 million more by the end of this year. The food agency also is working to expand access and open new humanitarian routes, from neighboring countries and across conflict front lines.

Additionally, the Food and Agriculture Organization is working to assist the country’s farmers and pastoralists with seeds, animal vaccinations and other critical supplies to restore domestic food production.

While UNICEF is scaling up nutritional screening, malnutrition therapies and vaccinations, it also is distributing clean drinking water to upwards of 5 million people, as part of a multi-pronged effort to prevent famine and disease.
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Residents of a town north of Nairobi are dealing with a surge in hyena attacks. In the past four months, the wild animals have killed three people, including a 10-year-old boy. The rise in human-wildlife conflict has been blamed primarily on humans encroaching on wildlife habitats. But residents of Juja blame improper disposal of livestock, among other factors. Mohammed Yusuf reports.
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Nairobi, Kenya   — Kenya braced for more protests in the capital, Nairobi, Thursday, despite an announcement by President William Ruto to put on hold an unpopular tax bill that sparked deadly riots.

Witnesses in the capital reported police set up roadblocks on streets leading to the presidential palace.

In an address to the nation Wednesday, Ruto defended the move to raise taxes on basic goods such bread and cooking oil, saying it was necessary to reduce the country’s massive debt of nearly $80 billion. But he admitted the public did not support the finance bill and decided not to sign it.

He spoke one day after more than 20 people were killed during protests against the bill that led to clashes with police.

“I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 finance bill. It shall subsequently be withdrawn and that shall be our collective position,” Ruto said in a statement to lawmakers from the State House on Wednesday.

The bill won approval in Parliament on Tuesday, but lawmakers fled the scene as clashes between police and protesters mounted and hundreds of demonstrators stormed the complex. Parts of the Parliament were set on fire and burned for hours.

Late Tuesday evening, the Kenyan president condemned protesters’ storming of the Parliament as treasonous and a threat to national security.

On Wednesday, human rights defenders and good governance organizations gathered at Kenya Human Rights Commission to condemn the violence against the protesters and accused the president of being accountable for what had happened on Tuesday.

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Kenyans getting on the streets to voice themselves. This is a constitutional provision as part of the Kenyan constitution 2010,” said Grace Wangechi, a human rights and social development expert and the executive director of Independent Medico Legal Unit, an organization created in 1993 to protest against torture in Kenya.

Lorna Dias, a human rights defender and executive coordinator of Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, said, “There’s nothing that justifies the use of live bullets on protesters. The destruction of property that happened on the streets was a security failure and this regime should take the blame,” Dias said.

Deputy President of Kenya Rigathi Gachagua, who also addressed the nation from the coastal city of Mombasa, said he sympathizes with the president but blamed the National Intelligence Service chief, Noordin Haji, for Tuesday’s violence.

Gachagua said that had the National Intelligence Service “briefed the president that this bill was unpopular with the Kenyan people, there would not have been deaths and … mayhem,” he said.

There was no immediate response from the intelligence service.

The deputy president asked the protesters to call off other planned protests tomorrow, saying that when that happens, “we can begin an honest conversation on how to work on our country.”
…

Nairobi, Kenya — In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Kenyan President William Ruto said that he’s decided not to sign a bill that included a series of tax increases.

He spoke one day after more than 20 people were killed during protests against the bill that led to clashes with police.

“I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 finance bill. It shall subsequently be withdrawn and that shall be our collective position,” he said.

Ruto made the statement from the State House on Wednesday in the presence of lawmakers and thanked those who voted yes for the bill. 

The bill won approval in parliament Tuesday but lawmakers fled the scene as clashes between police and protesters mounted and hundreds of demonstrators stormed the complex. Parts of the parliament were set on fire and burned for hours.

Late Tuesday evening, the Kenyan president condemned protesters’ storming of the parliament as treasonous and a threat to national security.

On Wednesday, human rights defenders and good governance organizations gathered at Kenya Human Rights Commission to condemn the violence against the protesters and accused the president of being accountable for what had happened on Tuesday.

Grace Wangechi is a human rights and social development expert and the executive director of Independent Medico Legal Unit, or IMLU, an organization created in 1993 to protest against torture in Kenya.

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Kenyans getting on the streets to voice themselves. This is a constitutional provision as part of the Kenyan constitution 2010,” Wengechi said.

Lorna Dias, human rights defender and executive coordinator of Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, said, “There’s nothing that justifies the use of live bullets on protesters.”

“The destruction of property that happened on the streets was a security failure, and this regime should take the blame,” Dias said.

Deputy President of Kenya Rigathi Gachagua, who also addressed the nation after his boss from the coastal city of Mombasa, said he sympathized with the president but blamed the National Intelligence Service head, Noordin Haji, for Tuesday’s violence.

Gachagua said that had the National Intelligence Service “briefed the president that this bill was unpopular with the Kenyan people, there would not have been deaths and …mayhem.”

There was no immediate response from the intelligence service.

The deputy president asked the protesters to call off other planned protests tomorrow, saying that when that happens, “we can begin an honest conversation on how to work on our country.” 
…

TAROUBA, Trinidad — A long, tortuous World Cup title drought is closer than ever to ending for South Africa after a nine-wicket win over first-time semifinalist Afghanistan at the global Twenty20 cricket tournament on Wednesday.

Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada set the foundations for the lopsided victory with destructive opening bursts of pace bowling to have Afghanistan reeling at 20-4 in the fourth over, and eventually all out for a paltry 56.

The South Africans lost just one wicket in pursuit of its first semifinal win at a global men’s limited-overs tournament, with Reeza Hendricks hitting a six and a four on consecutive deliveries to lift South Africa to 60 for 1 in the ninth over.

Hendricks was unbeaten on 29 from 25 balls in an unbroken 55-run second-wicket stand with skipper Aiden Markram, who finished 23 not out.

The South Africans will face either defending champion England or India in the final at Barbados on Saturday.

“One more step — it’s an exciting challenge for us,” Markram said in a post-match TV interview. “We’ve never been there (in a final) before, and nothing to be scared of.

“It’s an opportunity that we’ve never had and, and we’ll be really excited about that opportunity.”

The South Africans lost six and tied one — against eventual champion Australia in 1999 — of their previous seven trips to the semifinals of a World Cup in either the one-day or T20 formats.

Markram said those stats belonged to the teams that played those matches, and his lineup was full of belief.

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan won the toss and opted to bat in his team’s first appearance in a World Cup semifinal. Everything went South Africa’s way after that.

Jansen (3-16) took wickets in the first and third overs and Kagiso Rabada (2-14) opened with a double-wicket maiden as Afghanistan slumped to 20-4 after 3.4 overs.

The opening pair that had carried Afghanistan so well during the tournament was gone, exposing the middle and lower order to a South Africa bowling attack hitting form at the perfect stage.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (0) faced three balls before he edged to slip and was out to Jansen in the first over. Ibrahim Zadran (2) was beaten by a Rabada inswinger and bowled on the first ball of the third over.

Anrich Nortje (2-7) chimed in with two wickets as the pacemen continued to rip through the Afghanistan innings before wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi took three wickets in 11 deliveries — all lbw decisions to balls keeping low — to finish off Afghanistan for 56 in 11.5 overs.

Azmattullah Omarzai top scored with 10, the only Afghan batter to reach double figures.

South Africa lost only opener Quinton de Kock — bowled by Fazalhaq Farooqi for five in the second over — in the run chase.

“We just wanted to come out in this game and hit our straps, the way we’ve been doing throughout the entire tournament,” Rabada said of South Africa’s bowling onslaught. “We just felt that we needed to continue in that vein.

“And today it just happened for us.”

Asked if this is the team to finally end South Africa’s World Cup drought, Rabada was confident: “We 100% believe that this is the team.”

Afghanistan was playing in the last four for the first time, and it entered the match with three of the five leading wicket takers in the tournament and two of the top three batters, based on runs scored.

The Afghan team’s run to the semifinals, particularly its first win in any format against Australia and against Bangladesh in the early hours of Tuesday in the Super Eight stage, inspired a generation of fans.

Rashid said knowing Afghanistan could beat the top-ranked teams and be among the world’s best was his highlight of the tournament.

“It was something very special for us,” he said. “And it’s just the beginning for us, you know, we got that kind of confidence we want and the belief that yes, we can beat any side on a day.

“So overall, it was a great tournament for us.”

South Africa remains unbeaten at the tournament, but had to endure tough contests and narrow wins over Nepal, Netherlands, Bangladesh and England and only beat West Indies with five balls to spare in the Super Eight stage.

“A lot of our games have been really close and I know there’s a lot of people back at home in the early hours of the morning, waking up and we’re giving them a lot of gray hair!” Markram said. “So hopefully this evening was a little bit more comforting for them.”
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New York — A Congolese teenager appealed to the U.N. Security Council Wednesday to protect children in his country, where conflict between the military and armed groups in the country’s east is exacting an appalling toll on children.

“I ask you all to take up the cause of defending children’s rights internationally and in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” the 16-year-old boy, whose identity was protected, told a meeting focusing on children and armed conflict through an interpreter.

Last year, the United Nations verified almost 4,000 grave violations against children in the Central African nation, where armed groups have been vying for years with the military for control over the country’s vast natural resources.

More than 1,800 children were recruited by armed groups last year, according to the annual U.N. report that verifies violations against children.

Sixteen armed groups operating in the country were named and shamed for a range of offenses, from abducting and forcibly recruiting children, to maiming and killing them.

The Congolese armed forces were listed for committing rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, but the U.N. noted they have taken formal steps aimed at preventing such abuses.

More than 650 children were verified to have been killed or maimed last year, the majority by three armed groups — CODECO, the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, and M23. Thirty child casualties were attributed to the army and police.

The teenager who addressed the Security Council spoke of how he was abducted, beaten and forcibly recruited by an armed group on his way to school one day with two friends.

“We cried and trembled, begging them to let us go home to our families, but they wouldn’t listen,” he recounted. “That’s when they started whipping us and keeping us in the bush. We were heavily guarded, and they had orders to kill anyone who tried to flee. I had to leave school to serve this armed group by force.”

His job was to steal food from farmers’ fields.

“During the fighting, many [child recruits] were exposed to being killed by the enemy, and others were killed by their groups themselves, for fear they would divulge their secrets if caught by the military,” he said.

After three years in the bush and losing hope of ever seeing his family again, one day he took his chance and escaped while out searching for food. Found by the army, he was taken into custody and briefly sent to a military prison. He went through demobilization rehabilitation and has now returned to school. But not all children are as fortunate.

“Girls were also abducted,” he said. “Some became wives of the chiefs, while others were taken by other soldiers.”

Spiraling sexual violence

The United Nations report says sexual violence was perpetrated against 279 girls and two boys last year — including rape, gang rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery.

“The use of sexual violence as a modus operandi of armed groups is spiraling,” Ted Chaiban, UNICEF deputy executive director, told the council.

“During my recent visits to the DRC, I met with adolescent girls who had run away with their siblings when their villages were attacked, and who now headed their households,” he said.

Chaiban said it is especially worrying that the conflict is intensifying at the same time the large U.N. peacekeeping mission is beginning to leave the country, at the government’s request.

“There is a very real risk that the humanitarian crisis in the DRC could soon become a catastrophe,” he said.

It is not just children who are experiencing horrific abuse. Women are also subjected to staggering rates of sexual violence.

In Goma, capital of North Kivu province, instances of sexual violence in the first half of 2024 were double the amount recorded over the same time last year, from 7,500 reported cases to 15,000, said Francois Moreillon, the International Committee of the Red Cross’s head of delegation in DRC.

“Anyone with a gun feels that he can do whatever he wants,” he told reporters.

Moreillon recounted how a woman that the ICRC had treated after being raped told caregivers that she and other women were taking condoms with them into the forest when they went to collect firewood — a prime time for women to be attacked.

She said they hoped to persuade their potential rapists to wear them so they could prevent sexually transmitted diseases and lessen the anger of their husbands, who often leave women after finding out they have been raped.

The Congo has one of the largest internal displacement crises in the world, with more than 7 million people affected.
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Nairobi, Kenya — Four hundred Kenyan security officers arrived in Haiti on Tuesday, part of a contingent of international police forces sent to quell gang violence and restore democratic rule in the Caribbean nation. At the same time, protests over proposed tax increases in Kenya turned violent as demonstrators stormed the parliament building, and clashes with police turned deadly.

Some of the protesters question the point of sending police to Haiti when there is such unrest in Kenya.  

“They went yesterday to Haiti but it’s so ironic because back at home here, we don’t have peace, the police themselves are fighting us … but we have taken our police to Haiti to fight people from other nationalities, when at home we are not at peace,” one protester named Denish said. “I think the government tries to tell us we don’t have a voice, we don’t have a say.” 

Kelvin Moses was not a protester Tuesday, but he echoed those views. 

“For me it’s a double-edged sword, because you can’t take some troops out of the country when the same country is facing instability, so it’s like you are trying to help a neighbor whereas your house is on fire,” he said. “So, for me it’s self-centered … we don’t know what procedures have been taken, there was a court order which halted the same process from going on, but the government has bulldozed its way to send troops to Haiti.” 

Speaking at a send-off ceremony earlier this week, Kenyan President Willam Ruto told police officers departing for Haiti their mission will help lasting peace return to the conflict-ravaged country. 

“This mission is one of the most urgent, important and historic in the history of global solidarity. It’s a mission to affirm the universal values of the community of nations and a mission to take a stand for humanity,” Ruto said at the ceremony. 

Last year, a United Nations Security Council resolution approved the Kenyan-led mission to help tackle violence and restore peace in the mostly gang-controlled nation. But earlier this year the High Court of Kenya ruled against the deployment, saying it was unconstitutional. Issues cited by the court include the lack of a “reciprocal agreement” between the countries.  

The Kenyan government eventually secured that agreement, but the same people who sued the government recently filed another lawsuit seeking to block the deployment. The High Court has yet to make a ruling.  

Javas Bigambo, a Kenyan lawyer and governance consultant, expressed concern over the possible fallout following a decision. 

“In the event this issue is settled as unconstitutional again, what then will befall the Kenyan government, especially on the part of the executive; the issue of security officers being deep in mission in Haiti and perhaps being demanded they’d be recalled back to base, back to the country, it’s something that will leave a very bad taste in the mouth of the leadership of the country,” Bigambo said. 

Bigambo told VOA that while this mission puts Kenya on the global map as a player in international peacekeeping, all Kenyan eyes will be on Haiti to see whether the police are making a difference. 

“The success of this mission or its failure is what now will determine whether there was wisdom and appropriateness in the deployment of Kenyan police forces to Haiti,” Bigambo said. “Secondly, the way the peace mission will be handled and how the number of casualties that will emerge or fail to emerge from the deployment will also count among the major success factors.”  

In a televised address to the nation late Tuesday evening, Ruto condemned protesters’ storming of the parliament as treasonous and a threat to national security. 

In a subsequent address to the nation Wednesday, the Kenyan president said that after reflecting on the content of the finance bill, and listening to the people who are against it, he decided not to sign it. His deputy Rigathi Gachagua appealed to the demonstrators to call off planned protests Thursday.
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After more than three decades, Egypt has increased the fixed price of subsidized bread from 0.05 Egyptian pounds ($0.0010) a loaf to 0.20 Egyptian pounds ($0.0042). With record levels of inflation already straining the Egyptian people — the majority of whom rely upon the discounted dietary staple — Cairo-based photojournalist Hamada Elrasam turns his lens on bakeries and their customers amid the 300% price hike. Captions by Elle Kurancid.
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Nairobi, Kenya — Several people were shot outside Kenya’s parliament on Tuesday as police clashed with protesters who stormed the complex after lawmakers passed highly controversial tax increases.

Police fired live ammunition after tear gas and rubber bullets failed to disperse the thousands who had gathered to protest the tax hikes. 

Witnesses told VOA they saw a number of bodies on the ground outside the building, and news reports say that at least five people were killed.

Meanwhile, fires broke out in the parliament buildings after protesters made it past police barricades.  At least two vehicles in the area were set on fire and burned.

Protesters had demonstrated peacefully near parliament in Nairobi most of the day to demand that lawmakers vote against the 2024 Finance Bill. However, the bill was approved on a 195 to 106 vote.

One protester told VOA he disagrees with what the government is trying to do and had to be there to make his voice heard. 

“We are protesting against government impunity. You see the finance bill is not something that is going to make Kenyans live at peace,” he said. “And you’ve seen we’ve tried to talk to the government but they are forcing it down our throat. So I’ve decided as a youth to come here and protest and tell them that the government is made by the people, we are the people and we want the government to listen to us.” 

Kelvin Moses works near where the protests were taking place. He told VOA the demonstrations have affected many businesses in the Central Business district.

“The businesses are really down, the traffic and flow of customers has really been affected,” Moses said. “You can see that in the CBD [Central Business District], very few shops are open. We hope this matter can be resolved as soon as possible because we business people are feeling the pinch.”

After the vote, some lawmakers fled the parliament complex as hundreds of protesters broke through police barricades and rushed inside.

Kenya has seen a growing youth-led movement in recent days against the tax increases, which the government says are necessary to continue to pay the interest on its high sovereign debt.

Lawmakers made some compromises on the tax bill, dropping proposed increases on bread, car ownership and financial transactions. 

But that was not enough for protesters who said the cost of living is already too high.

The protests have been led largely by young people. However, Kenyan lawyer Javas Bigambo told VOA the opposition to the finance bill is not just limited to the youth. 

“There has been the assumption that the protests are merely a creation of the Gen-Z or the youth in the country forgetting that these protests, organic as they are, have continued to receive overwhelming support from civil society organizations, from the farmers, manufacturers, the private sector and religious leaders,” Bigambo said.

The Finance Bill still needs President William Ruto’s signature to become law.
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NIAMEY, Niger — An ambush by a “terrorist group” killed 21 Nigerien soldiers near the country’s border with Burkina Faso on Tuesday, Niger’s ruling military junta said in a statement read on national television.

The statement Tuesday evening did not specify which group was behind the attack. Niger is struggling with a deadly security crisis involving several armed groups.

Last week, the rebel Patriotic Liberation Front attacked a China-backed pipeline and threatened more attacks if the $400 million deal with China isn’t canceled. The group, led by Salah Mahmoud, a former rebel leader, took up arms after the junta staged a coup last year ousting a democratically elected government.

Niger and neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso are also battling movements linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State extremist group in a decade-long conflict in the Sahel region that is worsening.

The violence killed thousands of people last year, and more than 2 million people have been displaced, according to the United Nations

Mali and Burkina Faso are also led by juntas and have experienced two coups each since 2020. Both juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russian mercenaries as they struggle to quell the Islamist groups.
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Blantyre, Malawi — Malawi has started investigations into the cause of a plane crash that killed Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine others June 10 in northern Malawi.

Government spokesperson Moses Kunkuyu said Sunday that German experts will look into several areas leading to the crash of the Dornier 228 aircraft, including the condition of the plane and circumstances. 

The military plane went missing soon after it was advised not to land at an airport in northern Malawi because of bad weather.  

The arrival of the German experts comes after Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said last week he was puzzled with what caused the crash of the plane he has long used. 

Chakwera said he asked foreign governments to help probe the accident, despite investigations being carried out by the Malawian Defense Force. 

Michael Kaiyatsa, executive director for the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, one of several organizations in Malawi that asked for an independent investigation into the crash, welcomes the move. 

“However, it is important that the government should not interfere in any way in the investigation,” Kaiyatsa said. “This should be a totally independent investigation so that whatever comes out of it should be credible.” 

The sudden death of Chilima sparked conspiracy theories in Malawi and abroad, with some suggesting it was an assassination plot. 

Last week, police in Malawi arrested lawmaker Kamlepo Kalua and rights activist Bon Kalindo for circulating messages on social media alleging the plane crash was planned. 

The two were charged with cybercrimes and were expected to appear in court June 25. 

But Kaiyatsa said arresting those expressing their views on the plane crash would prevent some people from giving information to investigators. 

“That’s why we have issued a statement strongly condemning the arrests, because what these arrests would do is to create an atmosphere of fear at a time when we need people to freely open up and clearly come out and provide information about what they know about the cause of the accident,” Kaiyatsa said. 

Malawian security expert Sheriff Kaisi said transparency is needed in such investigations to win the confidence of Malawians regarding the investigators. 

“We need to know if they are from Germany, which company in Germany, and what is the track record that they have been doing similar jobs. For example, investigating such accidents, and for how long they have done that, and what are the reports they have,” Kaisi said. 

Kunkuyu said two of the investigators are from the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, and one is from General Atomics, a company that has taken over the manufacture of Dornier 228 aircraft.
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