Chukwuebuka Festus, Author at African News Today

Anger As Cameroon Hospital Burnt To Ground

12Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Cameroon, Crime, News

Anger As Cameroon Hospital Burnt To Ground

A hospital in the Cameroonian city of Mamfe has been razed to the ground in an arson attack. All 45 patients at Mamfe district hospital were safely transferred to another facility and there were no deaths, according to a local administrative official interviewed by the AFP news agency. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) called Wednesday's fire an "unprecedented attack on a hospital of vital importance" that will have "a major impact on people in a region where access to healthcare has already been gravely impacted by years of violence". It is not clear who was behind the attack, but local media suspect that it was the work of English-speaking separatists who want to break away from the French-speaking majority. Read Also: Hoodlums Kill Three, Loot Hospitals in Darfur – MSF...

The Lady Of Heaven Film: Morocco Bans ‘Blasphemous’ British Film

12Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Morocco, Movies and Films, News, Religion

The Lady Of Heaven Film: Morocco Bans ‘Blasphemous’ British Film

Moroccan cinema authorities have banned the controversial British film Lady of Heaven, after it was condemned by the country's religious council. The film claims to tell the story of Lady Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad. The Supreme Ulema Council said the movie was a "flagrant falsification of the established facts" of Islam. There have been protests against the film in the UK. Egypt, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq have also denounced it. The council accused the film of "loathsome partiality" and accused the filmmakers of seeking "fame and sensationalism" and "hurting the feelings of Muslims and stirring up religious sensitivities", according to Moroccan state media. The BBC's Religion Editor, Aleem Maqbool, says the criticism centres on the the way the Shia Musl...

Egypt Court Sentences Man To Death For Killing Priest

12Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Egypt, Judiciary, News, Religion, Violence

Egypt Court Sentences Man To Death For Killing Priest

An Egyptian court Saturday sentenced a man to die for the April stabbing death of a Coptic Christian priest in an attack that shocked the Arab world’s most populous nation. Nehru Tawfiq, 60, was convicted in Alexandria criminal court of murder for killing 56-year-old priest Arsanious Wadid and illegal possession of a knife. His lawyers had argued that the killing was not deliberate. Tawfiq can appeal the verdict. Wadid was killed at a popular seaside promenade in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria in April. Investigators found that Tawfiq was an Islamist with an extremist background. During last month’s court session he appeared in court in a caged-off section of the room shouting “God is great” in Arabic. He attempted to recite verses from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, ...

Four Million At Risk Amid Kenya Food Crisis – UN

11Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Agriculture, Kenya, News

Four Million At Risk Amid Kenya Food Crisis – UN

More than four million people are facing high levels of food insecurity in Kenya, according to new data released by the UN. This figure has risen from just over three million people last year. Over 900,000 children below the age of five have been found to be acutely malnourished. The entire country’s north, and much of the north-eastern regions, are facing food insecurity at crisis or emergency levels, the data classification shows. The March to May rainfall has been low, irregular and poorly distributed in much of the distressed regions, which has affected production of food. Read Also: Northern Ugandans Face Starvation As Hunger Bites – UN Aside from a prolonged drought, the crisis has been worsened by a rise in food prices because of the spike in the cost of fuel,...

Pope Francis Postpones Trip To DR Congo, South Sudan

11Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Congo, News, Religion

Pope Francis Postpones Trip To DR Congo, South Sudan

Pope Francis has had to cancel an upcoming visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan because of a knee injury, the Vatican has announced. The head of the Catholic Church was scheduled to travel in July to the Congolese cities of Kinshasa and Goma, followed by a visit to South Sudan’s capital Juba. In Juba he was to lead a prayer vigil with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland Rev Iain Greenshields. Read Also: Pope’s July Visit To Africa To Go Ahead Despite Health Issues The Vatican said the visit would take place at "a later date to be determined". The decision had been made "at the request of [the Pope's] doctors, and in order not to jeopardise the results of the therapy tha...

World Bank To Fund $900 Million Development Projects In East Congo

10Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

African Development, Congo, Economy, News, Women Empowerment

World Bank To Fund $900 Million Development Projects In East Congo

The World Bank and Congo have signed two funding conventions of$900 million to boost female entrepreneurship and access to water and electricity in the east and west of the country, the Bank said in a statement. The projects will focus on Congo's central west Kasai province and eastern regions. Read Also: 20 Million Farmers In Africa To Benefit From $1.5 billion Emergency Food Facility "These operations supplement a portfolio of operations focused on reinforcing human capital and protecting the poorest households - including women - against socio-economic hazards," World Bank Congo Director said in a statement dated Tuesday but seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The deal was clinched at the end of a two-day visit to Congo by the World Bank's strategy and operations director for...

Kenya’s IEBC Uncovers 250,000 Dead Kenyans in Election Register

10Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Elections, Kenya, News

Kenya’s IEBC Uncovers 250,000 Dead Kenyans in Election Register

Kenya's electoral agency says an ongoing audit of its voters' roll has found the names of nearly 250,000 deceased voters on the register. Nearly half a million more voters were found to have duplicate records and more than 226,000 people were registered using documents that do not belong to them. Others had registered with invalid documents, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said in a statementon the anomalies that affect more than a million people. IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said that because of the “implementation of the preliminary audit findings” the commission would delay certifying the final register for publication. Read Also: Pro-marijuana Candidate Cleared For Kenyan Poll The commission said earlier that it would publish the re...

Northern Ugandans Face Starvation As Hunger Bites – UN

9Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Agriculture, News, Uganda

Northern Ugandans Face Starvation As Hunger Bites – UN

More than half a million people in Uganda’s north-eastern region of Karamoja are facing a high risk of hunger and starvation, according to a study by several UN agencies. Those affected are about 40% of the population in the region. In Moroto district alone, more than half of the population goes without any meal for a full day and night at least three times a month, the study found. The region has also witnessed high levels of malnutrition, especially among children under the age of five. In some cases, mothers were forced to feed their babies on a local brew made from sorghum. Read Also: UN Urges Urgent Action To Avert Famine In Somalia The semi-arid region normally has one rainy season a year and has had historical food security challenges. But an escalation of ...

South African Club Banned For Life After Beating Opponent 59-1

9Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Corruption, News, South Africa, Sports

South African Club Banned For Life After Beating Opponent 59-1

A South African club in the lower division of the county’s football system, Matiyasi FC, has been banned for life after scoring fifty-nine goals in one match. Matiyasi FC, who were vying for promotion to the Provincial ABC Motsepe League, beat Nsami Mighty Birds 59-1, with forty-one of the goals scored as own-goals. A player who was recorded to have been given a red card in the first half was also recorded to have scored a goal in the second half. After the match, the South African Football Association (SAFA) regional office in Limpopo summoned Matiyasi FC and Nsami Mighty Birds to a disciplinary committee hearing on 25 May 2022 in Giyani. Read Also: Ghana Match-fixing: Ashanti Gold, Inter Allies Players, Officials Sanctioned Both teams were charged and found guilty of ...

Soldiers Charged With Killing Nine Civilians In Cameroon

8Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Armed Forces, Cameroon, Crime, Human Rights, News, Security

Soldiers Charged With Killing Nine Civilians In Cameroon

The army in Cameroon has confirmed that soldiers have killed nine civilians, including an 18-month-old girl. An army spokesman said a group of soldiers opened fire when they encountered hostile villagers in Missong, in the country's North-West region, earlier this month. The spokesman described the use of weapons as "inappropriate and manifestly disproportionate". Cameroon's ministry of defence says four soldiers have been arrested following the shooting. Read Also: Drunk Soldiers Kill 15 in DR Congo An investigation has been launched into the killings. In the same region two years ago, 21 civilians including 13 children and a pregnant woman were killed by Cameroonian soldiers in the village of Ngarbuh. Two soldiers and a gendarme were later charged with murder, a...