Category: Inside Africa

Eight soldiers were killed and five others injured in an attack on an army base in Bandiagara, in Mali’s central region of Mopti, the military confirmed on its website on Friday.

Unidentified armed individuals attacked the base of Malian army and the gendarmerie squadron in Bandiagara at about 9:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, the Malian Armed Forces said.

Malian security forces have come under repeated attacks recently in the central region, the last one on Tuesday, when two soldiers were killed and seven others injured in an ambush, also in the Mopti region.

Following a military coup in 2012, insurgents have been roaming northern Mali.

Armed attacks have recently extended to central Mali, in spite of the presence of the French military and UN peacekeepers in this west African country. (Xinhua/NAN)

Violent crimes increased in South Africa between Oct. 1 and Dec. 30, 2020, authorities said on Friday.

South African Police Minister Bheki Cele made this known at a press conference held in Pretoria, while releasing the crime statistics for the third quarter of 2020 and 2021 financial year, which runs from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

Cele said that during the three months, murder cases increased by 6.6 per cent with 2,481 people murdered in public spaces including the street, open fields, parking areas and abandoned buildings.

He said this figure was 389 more compared to the corresponding period in the previous financial year.

He said that there was a five per cent increase in sexual offences, or an increase of 181 cases, with 12,218 people raped between October and December 2020.

According to him, aggravated robberies such as carjacking and others increased by 7 per cent.

“The national crime statistics do not paint a good picture and hence force us as the police to dig deep and put the shoulder to the wheel.

“Commissioner, there must be accountability. It can’t be business as usual. We must all have sleepless nights over these crime numbers,’’ said Cele.

The crimes were committed when the country was on lockdown level one and three.

Economists have warned that high crimes have a potential to scare potential investors. (Xinhua/NAN)

By Samson Oti

Vice-Chancellor Edo University Iyamho Prof Emmanuel Aluyor, has been honoured for his outstanding excellence in engineering education in Africa by the Federation of African Engineering Organizations (FAEO).

The honour was bestowed on him at the 2020 General Assembly and Investiture Award Ceremony of the organization held virtually from Ghana recently, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

President of the organisation, Engr, Martin Manuhwa praised Aluyor and the Vice- Chancellor, Harare Institute of Technology, Zimbabwe for particularly making Africa proud in actualising their academic curriculum without interruptions or hindrance in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read Also: Edo varsity gets nod to run post-graduate programmes

According to him: “The engineering education category was particularly touching as those two universities were very prominent in the covid-19 interventions, in terms of modern teaching, pedagogy as well as manufacturing of intervention equipment; we must recognize these famous Vice-Chancellors, who took the challenge and went into research to assist Africa and indeed their countries to solve the problems that we faced in the pandemic.”

Manuhwa, who personally congratulated friends of Africa for their services over the years, also appreciated the Commonwealth Engineering Council led by Prof. Paul Jowitt from the United Kingdom for attracting myriads of projects through the African catalysts projects in Africa, which has prompted changes in the livelihood of African engineering.

There were other award recipient recognised in other categories, including a Nigerian, Engr M.B Shehu, who was a one-time president of the organisation and Chairman of the 2020 awards committee.

Agency Reporter

Liberia has put health agencies on alert in the wake of an Ebola outbreak in neighbouring Guinea, President George Weah announced on Sunday.

“The President’s instruction is intended to ensure Liberia acts proactively to avoid any epidemic situation, the kind the country witnessed in 2014,’’ a press release read.

This came a day after Guinean Health Minister Remy Lamah said that four people had died from the hemorrhagic fever in the town of Gouecke, close to Liberia’s northeastern border.

The Liberian President assured the public that no case of Ebola had been found in the country and that his government was doing everything to protect the people from the virus.

READ ALSO:AU voices concern over pandemic, Ebola burden on health systems

Ebola can spread when people come into contact with infected blood and other body fluids.

The disease is often fatal when left untreated.

Liberia saw the world’s longest and deadliest Ebola outbreak in 2014.

More than 4,800 people died over the span of a year, with 300 to 400 new cases reported every week at the height of the epidemic.

(Sputnik/NAN)

Attackers killed around 10 people in an overnight raid on a village in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local authorities and the army said on Tuesday, blaming fighters from a Ugandan Islamist armed group.

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan armed group active in eastern Congo since the 1990s, has committed a succession of brutal reprisal attacks against civilians since the army began an operation against it in late 2019.

The group killed around 850 people last year, according to U.N. figures.

“So far a provisional assessment is of about ten people killed. It is attributed to the Islamist ADF fighters,” said Rosette Kavula, deputy administrator of Beni territory.

An army spokesman confirmed the attack and said troops had been deployed to the area at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains on the border with Uganda.

READ ALSO: Monkeypox kills 10 in DR Congo

The Kivu Security Tracker, a research initiative that maps unrest in the region, said suspected ADF fighters had killed 10 people in the village of Kabembeu, near Mwenda. It follows a similar massacre in the nearby village of Mabule on Friday night.

“The victims are all those who left the village Mwenda to hide in the mountains, but unfortunately the ADF pursued them,” said Mbweki Juvenal, head of a civil rights group in Mwenda.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for several suspected ADF attacks in the past, although U.N. experts have not found any direct link between the two groups.

(www.newsnow.co.uk)

Agency Reporter

Two tigers escaped from a zoo in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, with one of the animals killing an employee who tried to stop them, according to local media reports on Saturday.

The white tigers ran away from Zinka Zoo in Singkawang district on Friday after a rain-triggered landslide and subsequent flooding damaged their enclosure, according to zoo official Elka Surya.

“The landslide created a big hole in the tigers’ enclosure, allowing them to escape,’’ Elka said, according to the state Antara news agency.

An employee tried to stop the tigers but was attacked and killed, Elka said.

READ ALSO: Indonesian village uses ‘ghosts’ for distancing patrols

One of the tigers was shot and killed on Saturday morning, CNN Indonesia reported.

A team is searching for the other one, it added.

“We used a tranquillizer but it didn’t work. We shot it because we feared it was running to residential areas,’’ local conservation chief Sadtata Noor Adirahmanta told the broadcaster.

(dpa/NAN)

Agency Reporter

Mauritian Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth, on Monday said that the population must not forget the devastation caused by slavery before its abolition in 1835.

He was speaking at an official ceremony commemorating the 186th anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery held at Le Morne Village, a historic location declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2008, in the south-western part of the island.

Prime Minister Jugnauth said: “We must always remember this so that humanity does not commit this horror again as the slaves experienced the worst possible humiliations.”

He added that it is imperative to pay tribute to the people who have shed their sweat and blood so as to build today’s Mauritius.

Mr Jugnauth emphasised that it is with this spirit that the government has announced a project for the construction of an Intercontinental Museum of Slavery in Port Louis.

READ ALSO: Mauritius, Morocco join AfDB Bloomberg bond index

“The first phase of this project started back in October 2020 and the museum will be constructed in the building which was used during the French colonisation period as a military hospital,” he said.

According to him, the government considers the implementation of this project a priority “so as to remember the slaves who have contributed in plantations, road and building constructions as well as other infrastructural projects”.

The Prime Minister said that it is urgent to bring about a development process that takes on board all the population and their welfare.

To that end, he announced the construction of 12,000 housing units for low-income earners.

He also reiterated his determination to fight against discrimination, exclusion and inequality.

(PANA/NAN)

Agency Reporter

Uganda has approved purchase of 18 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, said a government statement issued on Tuesday.

Uganda Media Centre said cabinet ministers in a meeting on Monday approved the purchase of the vaccine that will be used to vaccinate the elderly.

Others to be vaccinated are the people with underlying health issues, health workers, and security personnel among other essential social service providers.

The statement said a total of 9 million people would receive the vaccine in two doses separated by 28 days.

A tentative allocation of more than 3.5 million doses is expected by the end of this month or early next month.

The balance is expected on a quarterly basis, said the statement.

READ ALSO: Uganda troops leaves Bobi Wine’s residence

It said there was an emerging opportunity of acquiring vaccines through the AU mechanism coordinated by the African Vaccines Delivery Alliance.

Through this initiative, an initial 270 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the continent have been secured.

There is growing interest from the private sector to participate in the COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

“The interest of the private sector ranges from financing for vaccines targeting their staff and host communities on one hand to supporting the general service delivery components,” the statement said.

It said the ministry of health has developed a draft concept note to guide the participation of the private sector, detailing the regulatory process and controls to ensure harmonious implementation of the vaccination activities in the country.

(Xinhua/NAN)

Our Reporter

The Ugandan troops have withdrawn from around the home of opposition leader and pop star Bobi Wine, ending his house arrest since a Jan. 14 election won by long-serving President Yoweri Museveni.

With the vote behind him and fraud claims by Wine failing to gain significant traction, Museveni appears to be calculating that he can mollify pressure from Western allies to free his rival without significant risk to his power base.

The withdrawal of security forces, which the government had said were for Wine’s own protection, complied with a court order on Monday.

READ ALSO: Court lifts house arrest of Bobi Wine

A Reuters correspondent on the scene confirmed the departure of soldiers and police from his compound in a leafy northern suburb of the capital Kampala.

A police helicopter circled low over the residence.

“That is normal, nothing to worry about. Police can fly its helicopters anywhere it wants,” said Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Luke Owoyesigyire.

Former guerrilla leader Museveni, 76, has long been a Western ally, receiving copious aid and sending troops to trouble spots including Somalia to fight Islamist militants.

(Reuters)

The Ugandan High Court has lifted the house arrest of Bobi Wine after security forces surrounded the presidential candidate’s home for ten days, his lawyer said Monday.

“The Court held that the freedom to personal liberty is too crucial that it should not be restricted casually or indefinitely,” George Musisi told CNN over the phone.

Justice Michael Elubu, who heads the court’s civil division, said that if the government had evidence against Wine, he should be charged in court and not “held unjustifiably at his home,” according to Musisi.

Wine, a popular singer, was the main opposition frontrunner in the presidential elections held on January 14 and his home has been surrounded by military and police since the elections ended.

Uganda’s longtime leader President Yoweri Museveni was declared winner of the elections for a record sixth term by the country’s electoral commission.

Wine rejects the election results, saying he has evidence of fraud and intimidation.

He also posted on Twitter last week that no one has been allowed to visit his home where he was with stuck with his wife, Barbara, and her 18-month-old niece with no food.

His wife’s niece was later “safely evacuated” Wine told CNN after lawyers were briefly allowed in to remove her.

READ ALSO: Bobi Wine’s party to challenge Museveni’s victory

Soldiers remain at the compound and Uganda’s military has a “history of defying court orders,” Musisi said. He added that they would petition the court for each soldier that remains to be held in contempt.

A spokesperson for the Uganda Police Force said the officers still at Wine’s home will vacate the premises.

“We are a law-abiding institution and do respect the High Court ruling,” he told CNN on Monday.

18-month-old baby under house arrest with Bobi Wine ‘safely evacuated’

18-month-old baby under house arrest with Bobi Wine ‘safely evacuated’

Wine’s team will decide in the next 24 hours whether they will appeal the results of the elections. Wine’s team had hoped to decide sooner, but have been unable to meet because of the house arrest, Musisi added.

The deadline to do so is on February 2.

Museveni’s senior press secretary, Don Wanyama, said Wine has no evidence vote rigging took place.

“Uganda has processes. Evidence of rigging is tabled before the courts, not CNN,” he added.

(CNN)