Autocratic regimes in Africa don’t change their stripes. They do, however, try and disguise them. For many years African dictators and autocrats relied on the police and other security forces – who used brute force against opposition supporters – to suppress dissent, eliminate critics and consolidate their grip on power. From Kenya in East Africa to Liberia in West…
Fati Usman’s son lies on a hospital bed in north-eastern Nigeria, looking almost lifeless. He has difficulty breathing and looks extremely emaciated. A fly perches on his gaunt cheek. From his size, you would think he is about two years old. But his mother says he is actually five. He is just one of several…
Tunisia’s 81-year-old opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi appeared Tuesday before an anti-terror unit. After hours in the waiting Monday and a postponement of his questioning he was eventually questioned over an alleged involvement in sending jihadist militants to Syria and Iraq. The supporters of the Ennahdha chief chanted “freedom” and slogans as they gathered in a…
From rising prices, to a warming planet and deadly conflicts, the global state of affair is dire. Speaking Tuesday on the 77th session of the UN’s General Assembly, Macky Sall, the Senegalese president and chairperson of the African Union insisted on the threat of terrorism. “Terrorism gaining ground on the continent is not just an…
By KEMO CHAM Ghana has declared an end to its first ever outbreak of the Marburg disease, nearly two months after the outbreak was declared. Marburg, a highly infectious haemorrhagic fever disease, is caused by the Marburg virus, which is part of the family of viruses that include Ebola. The first two cases of infection…
By AGGREY MUTAMBO Kenya’s President William Ruto will use his maiden trip to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York to rally African peers to raise their voice on the danger of climate change. Africa is expected to be take the biggest hit from climate change. Dr Ruto is expected in New York…
Many residents facing difficult period in country battered by heavy rains, says head of National Emergency Management Agency. ABUJA, Nigeria More than 100,000 people have been displaced in Nigeria due to floods triggered by torrential rains. Speaking to reporters, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, the director general of the National Emergency Management Agency, said Monday that many…
KEY POINTS Tanzania expects thermal coal exports to double this year European buyers prepared to pay top dollar, miners say Loss of Russian energy leads to rush for polluting coal Landlocked Botswana also exports to Europe as prices surge DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 20 (Reuters) – The sleepy Tanzanian port of Mtwara mainly dealt in cashew nuts…
An outbreak of Ebola has been declared in Uganda after health authorities confirmed a case of the relatively rare Sudan strain, the health ministry and World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. A 24-year-old man in Uganda‘s central Mubende district showed symptoms and later died. “We want to inform the country that we have an outbreak…
Equatorial Guinea abolished the death penalty, state television announced on Monday citing a new law signed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The president’s son who serves as one of the country’s vice-presidents lauded the move he called “historic” on Twitter. The last official execution in the small country was carried out in 2014, according…